"If you entered government service, what could you do?" Fang Yun asked again.
"My learning is too poor. I couldn't even become a clerk, only a runner. As for village and ward chiefs, those posts are held by powerful, influential locals. They have nothing to do with me."
"Then what trade would you choose?" Fang Yun asked.
"I could only plead with every grandfather and grandmother to get into a workshop as an apprentice, then learn the craft on the sly. Once I had mastered it, I could go to a better workshop and earn more money," Zhang Jing'an said.
"Why would you learn a craft?" Fang Yun asked.
"If I didn't, how could I start a family and establish myself? How could I support everyone in my household, young and old?"
"Is there any difference between learning a craft in a workshop and studying in a school?"
"No."
"If you had chosen to study back then and were a Child Scholar now, what would happen if you joined the army?"
"I would immediately be selected for the elite troops and could soon be promoted to lead a squad of five or ten. I might even have a chance to become a company commander. With luck, I could receive a ninth-rank official title and become a deputy or full commandant. Then I would be a real military officer. In my old age, I would certainly be granted the title of Township Baron and never have to worry about food or clothing."
"After becoming a Licentiate, if you didn't want to be a soldier, what workshop would you choose?" Fang Yun asked.
"Why would I need to choose a workshop? I could open a private school and teach, become an instructor at the County Academy, or teach at a great lineage's