Chapter 1275: Denied
Although he did not understand what Chen Yu wanted to do, the old scholar still painstakingly screened the list before handing it back to Chen Yu.
"It's ready, Young Master. The Grand Confucians on the list were all carefully selected by me. There should be no problems."
Pushing up his reading glasses, the old scholar said leisurely, "These people have all retired. Before retirement, they held official posts, though only around the eighth rank. The Dao Method Seeds they used were ancestral seeds passed down within their departments, and they were taken back after retirement. Still, because they once possessed Dao Method Seeds, they remained qualified to be called Grand Confucians."
The ranks mentioned by the old scholar were rather archaic, making Chen Yu feel another wave of decay wash over him.
After getting a grasp on the ranking system, Chen Yu asked, "Since they were all officials, why do they still have to write books to make money?"
"They're short on money. While they were officials, they had no idea how expensive firewood, rice, oil, salt, sauce, vinegar, and tea were. Only after retiring did they realize that everything cost money. If none of their daughters held even a minor official position, household expenses would skyrocket severalfold. The lower and upper classes of Righteous Qi Prefecture are practically two different societies. Without an official in the family, you simply can't get by."
"Hiss... Why is it so miserable?"
"This is still all right. You haven't seen those in the mountain villages. Some spend their entire lives without knowing what the outside world looks like. Plenty of places worship Evil Gods or other messy things. Some finally manage to get out, only to discover they're Demonic Cultivators after all. Then they can only ride their dog-riding rabbits