Qingyang Academy

In Cangshan Town, the entire small town had only one north-south and one east-west street.

It was an obscure small town in the southern part of Chu State, under the jurisdiction of Qingyang County. Qingyang County had dozens of such small towns.

At Wan Family Furs Merchant, a shopkeeper loudly hawked, "Worm-eaten, rat-bitten, bald and shedding fur, one wolf pelt for fifty wen."

Wang Hong gritted his teeth secretly, not engaging in a pointless argument. He reached out and took the fifty wen.

The furs in Cangshan Town were monopolized by the Wan family. All fur prices were decided by the Wan family.

Anyone who interfered with the fur business either mysteriously disappeared or had their family wiped out by thieves. After that, no one dared to touch the fur business again.

After leaving the Wan Family Merchant, he went to the pharmacy to sell his medicinal herbs. Three stalks of Solomon's Seal sold for seventy-five wen, Kudzu Root for one hundred and thirty wen, and other medicinal herbs he had gathered previously sold for over twenty wen.

Walking on the street, Wang Hong repeatedly reached into his embrace to touch the heavy copper coins, feeling a sense of accomplishment.

Not long after, he saw a crowd gathered ahead, chattering and discussing animatedly.

Wang Hong also went closer and saw a large notice posted on the wall, with a bright red official seal on it.

As for the specific content, Er Gouzi couldn't recognize a single character.

At the front of the crowd, a middle-aged man dressed as a poor scholar, with a pale face and a goatee, was reading loudly.

Eight or nine out of ten onlookers were illiterate, and they all pricked up their ears to listen.

Although the language was flowery and difficult to understand, Wang Hong grasped the general meaning.

Qingyang Academy in the county town would expand its enrollment next spring. At that time, as long as one was under fifteen years old, passed the entrance examination, and paid ten taels of silver annually, they could enter the academy.

Those who passed the graduation examination before the age of twenty had the opportunity to be recommended for official positions in various regions or to join the army and serve as military officers.

"I heard the county magistrate came from Qingyang Academy."

"The county magistrate was a humanities student at Qingyang Academy, but Qingyang Academy's martial arts department is the most formidable. General Wu of the Northwest Army today also came from Qingyang Academy."

"It's a pity I was born a few years too early! Otherwise, I would definitely pass the exam and become a general. I'd ride a tall horse, with a precious saber at my waist, charging into battle. How glorious!" A young man with bushy eyebrows, triangular eyes, and exposed buck teeth was beating his chest and stamping his feet in regret.

"Get real! You with the triangular eyes, you want to be a general? You look like a little chick. Those generals are all burly and broad-shouldered. You, like a little chick, carrying a fire poker and standing at the front line. With you, Triangular Eyes, here, people would think our Great Chu State has no one left." A strong, dark-skinned youth mocked.

Wang Hong ignored the commotion and quietly left the crowd. He also started to ponder.

"This is a good opportunity, but the tuition is ten taels per person. My younger brother and I would need twenty taels. We need to earn enough silver in the next few months. I need to plan carefully."

"I have one fen of land. Time flows more than twenty times faster there than outside. Wheat and rice mature in about half a year. One fen of land can yield twenty to thirty jin of grain per season. Even if we eat dry rice for every meal, half a fen of land is enough."

"The other half fen of land needs to be planted with something more valuable. The first thing that comes to mind is planting ginseng. There are about five months left until the assessment next year. In the space, it will be about ten years."

He went to the pharmacy again and spent a hundred wen to buy 150 ginseng seeds, and also bought some wheat seeds, rice seeds, rice, and coarse salt, thus ending his trip to Cangshan Town.

"Brother!"

He heard his younger brother's call from afar.

"Why are you back so late? I've already cooked the meal."

"Little brother is so capable!" He took out a paper-wrapped package from his embrace and waved it in front of his brother.

"Guess what it is. If you guess correctly, I'll let you eat this sugar figurine."

"Hmm... Pig's head meat!" His younger brother deliberately put on a sly expression.

"Brother! I'm already eight years old, not a three or four-year-old child, still playing such a childish game with me."

Wang Yi reached out to snatch the paper package.

"Give me the sugar figurine!"

Opening the paper package, it indeed contained a very exquisite sugar figurine.

The brothers walked home, arm in arm.

"Brother! It's so sweet, you have a bite too."

Wang Hong glanced at the sugar figurine, which was covered in slobber.

"No!"

"Have a bite, it's really sweet! I'm not lying to you."

"Crunch!" Wang Hong closed his eyes and took a bite.

"You bit off its head! I licked it for so long and didn't bear to bite it," his younger brother said angrily, his face turning a little red.

"I'll buy you another one next time we go to town," he promised.

"You mean it?"

"Of course! Your brother always keeps his word." Wang Hong patted his bony chest.

Back home, they each had a bowl of thin wild vegetable congee. Wang Hong thought, this congee was so thin, if you poured it on the ground, even a dog wouldn't chase it.

"Little brother, starting tomorrow, we'll eat cooked rice."

"Every meal?" His younger brother was a little surprised, not quite comprehending.

"Of course, every day, every meal." Wang Hong proudly patted the rice bag and declared with great spirit.

"From now on, our family will eat well and drink heartily. We'll eat whatever the landlords eat!"

"Xu Da Sha was eating chicken legs just two days ago. I was digging for wild vegetables outside their village and saw that big idiot standing by the road gnawing on a chicken leg, as if he was afraid no one would know. Snot was running down his chicken leg, but he was still eating it with such gusto," the younger brother said with a hint of sourness.

"We'll eat chicken in a few days too. We'll squat by the village entrance and eat chicken legs then," Wang Hong licked his lips and said.

"They even slaughter pigs for New Year!"

"We'll slaughter one too!"

"Where's the pig?"

"We'll buy one!"

"You're bragging! Brother! If you always brag, you won't find a wife." The younger brother was completely unconvinced. He had eaten meat only a few times in his life.

"Your brother! Never brags. Besides, we can do our own laundry and cooking. What do we need a wife for?"

The younger brother suddenly understood. "Right! No need to get married. If we get married, our wives will snatch our chicken legs too. Our neighbor Niu Dan got married, and his wife beats him every night. They yell so loudly, it's quite scary to hear."

Wang Hong felt something was off, but he couldn't quite figure it out for a moment.

The two brothers each held a bowl of congee and sat on a rock by the door, slurping it down.

After eating, he discussed going to the academy next spring with his younger brother. The younger brother was also looking forward to it, dreaming of becoming a great hero who roamed the world with a sword.

That night, he entered the space again. The Solomon's Seal he had planted before was growing vigorously. He planted half a mu with wheat and rice, and after planting ginseng seeds, he found a small patch of land still empty. Er Gouzi pondered what to plant in the empty plot. As a farmer, leaving land fallow was unbearable.

"I'll go into the mountains tomorrow and dig up some other medicinal herbs to plant in the space."

The next morning, Wang Hong entered the space and found that the wheat and rice he had planted last night had already grown several inches tall. The rice was growing just as well as the rice planted in the paddy fields, and the ginseng had already sprouted green seedlings.