plumnovel Chapter 20 Qingyun Academy
Chapter 20 Qingyun Academy
Shen Qing took a piece of paper from her sleeve and handed it to him.
Zhou Bo took it and unfolded it.
The inscription, written in neat regular script, reads: "A Letter from Qingyun Academy to the Elders of Qinghe."
"Qingyun Sect upholds the teachings of its founder and is willing to benefit the local community through education. From this day forward, Qingyun Academy will be open to the public. All school-age children in Qinghe County, regardless of their background or wealth, can enroll for free."
"The academy offers two courses: literacy and arithmetic. The headmaster is Shen Qing, the sect leader of Qingyun Sect, and the instructors are disciples of the inner sect of Qingyun Sect. Enrolled children are provided with one lunch a day, free of charge."
Eligibility: Children aged six to twelve, regardless of gender. The first cohort will enroll forty children, and enrollment will close once the quota is filled.
Registration dates: May 15th to May 20th; Registration location: Qingyun Mountain gate.
After reading it, Uncle Zhou looked up, his face full of astonishment.
"Sect Master, this... free tuition? And even a meal provided? Where will we get the money and supplies?"
Shen Qing didn't answer directly, but instead asked, "Uncle Zhou, what do you think Qingyun Sect lacks most right now?"
Zhou Bo thought for a moment: "Grain and money."
Shen Qing nodded first, then shook his head, "We're certainly lacking in money and provisions, but what we lack most is reputation!"
"Uncle Zhou, you should know that after Master passed away in Chuzhou, there are many people who covet Qingyun. With just this bunch of chickens and dogs on the mountain, it will be too difficult to protect Qingyun."
"Therefore, I plan to use the academy to earn some fame for Qingyun. Those who covet Qingyun will cherish their reputation to some extent. This move may not be able to dispel their greed."
"But it might make them more hesitant and buy us some time."
Shen Qing pointed to the academy's gate: "It would be a waste to use this academy only to teach Qingyun disciples. Children aged six to twelve are at the best age to lay a solid foundation."
"Free schooling and a meal provided—what a temptation that is for those poor families in the north of the city! They'd do anything to send their children here."
"If even one of the forty children has good potential, we'll break even. If two do, we'll make a profit. If three or more do, the future of the Qingyun Sect will be guaranteed."
Zhou Bo fell silent. He had to admit that Shen Qing made a good point, but...
"But Sect Master, what about food? Forty children, one meal a day, that's a considerable expense over a month."
Shen Qing gazed calmly at the plaque hanging above the academy's gate.
"Forty children alone, guarding this vast Qingyun Mountain, what difficulty could there be in providing them with just a meal?"
Shen Qing turned around and looked at Uncle Zhou.
"When you go down the mountain tomorrow, besides posting the notice, there is one more thing."
"What is it?"
"Go to the county town and find a few people. They need to be literate, from poor families, and ambitious young people. Tell them that Qingyun Academy is recruiting teaching assistants, with room and board provided, and a monthly stipend of one tael of silver. The condition is that they sign a five-year contract and cannot leave Qingyun Mountain within five years."
Zhou Bo was completely dumbfounded. They still needed to hire a teacher?
"Sect Master, this...where are we going to get the money to pay the allowance?"
Shen Qing took out the last six small porcelain bottles from his sleeve, and handed two to him.
"Sell these two Qi Gathering Pills for money and food to get through this most difficult time first, and then I'll think of something else."
Zhou Bo opened his mouth to try to persuade Shen Qing, saying that constantly selling off the things left behind by the Qingyun ancestors was not a solution at all.
But he swallowed the words back down. After all, Shen Qing was the sect leader of Qingyun Sect, while he was just a servant. In any case, the fate of Qingyun Sect couldn't be too bad.
"It's better to let him struggle; what if things get better?" Uncle Zhou sighed, realizing his idea was somewhat naive. He then bowed deeply.
"Sect Master, I will descend the mountain tomorrow."
On May 15th, Qingyun Academy officially opened for registration.
The news caused quite a stir in the county town: free schooling, plus a free lunch.
This kind of good thing has never happened in Qinghe County before. Not only can you read books for free, but you can also get a free meal.
More importantly, a six-year-old child is a burden in a poor family, and sending him to Qingyun can ease the family's burden.
Therefore, even though it took an hour to walk to school in the morning and evening, poor families from the north of the city still flocked to the school, with more than thirty people signing up on the first day.
On the recommendation of several craftsmen, Zhou Bo found three literate young men. They were poor scholars from poor families, neither good at literature nor martial arts, and barely made a living by copying books and writing for others in the county town.
Shen Qing met them in person; the three of them were named Sun Wenyuan, Li Molin, and Fang Jingzhi.
They were all in their early twenties, not very knowledgeable, but more than capable of teaching young children to read.
Shen Qing signed a five-year contract with them, which included room and board and a monthly allowance of one tael of silver. After the five-year term, he could choose to stay at Qingyun Sect to continue teaching or leave on his own.
The three of them were trembling as they signed the contract. Not out of fear, but out of excitement.
Copying books for others in the county town meant that after expenses, there was hardly any money left over each month, and you also had to be subservient to people.
Now, with room and board provided, a monthly allowance of one tael of silver, and the opportunity to teach at the academy, it's like a windfall for them.
On May 17th, all forty children were recruited.
The youngest was six years old, and the oldest was twelve. Ninety percent of them came from poor families in the north of the city, and a few were younger siblings of Qingyun Sect disciples.
Wang Shouzhou brought the son of one of his old brothers from the dock, and Su Shoujing brought the little girl from her neighbor's house.
Shen Qing personally gave the children their first lesson.
Inside the lecture hall, forty children who had spent an hour traveling sat upright.
Perhaps it is their parents' reverence for knowledge that, although their clothes are not exactly proper, they are clean, just like their bright eyes.
A group of children looked at the headmaster in white on the podium with curiosity and awe.
Since today is the first day, Shen Qing, as the sect leader, chose to give the child his first lesson, which aroused the curiosity of all the Qingyun disciples.
Therefore, apart from the disciples who took turns looking after the wasteland behind the mountain, even though it was time for martial arts training, a group of disciples from poor backgrounds secretly came to the outside of the school to listen in.
Despite this situation, Zhou Bo, the martial arts instructor, did not get angry today, because he was also curious about how Shen Qing would address these children.
Shen Qing picked up some lime and wrote a large "人" (person) character on the blackboard.
"This is the character for 'person'. It's a left-falling stroke and a right-falling stroke, standing tall and upright. Today, you will learn to write this character. Tomorrow, you will learn to be this character."
Shen Qing turned around and looked at the children.
"You are all children from poor families. Your parents sent you to Qingyun Academy not hoping that you would become officials."
"They just want you to be literate and able to do accounting. Perhaps more than that, they want you to come here for a good meal so that I can watch over you and let them do more work."
Shen Qing's words brought knowing smiles to the faces of the disciples eavesdropping outside the school. They too came from humble backgrounds and naturally knew that before these children left home, their parents would always give them these words of advice:
"Learn if you can, it's okay if you can't, but you must eat your fill."
"Now, pick up the sand table in front of you. Write it down with Master Benshan."
Forty children picked up tree branches in unison and scribbled crooked strokes on the sand table.
Looking at them, Shen Qing suddenly recalled the scene two months ago when he first taught Wang Ergou and the others to write the character "天" (tian, meaning sky).
Back then, the "lecture hall" was a drafty wooden hut. Now, he stands in a real lecture hall, with forty real children in front of him.
Everything has changed, yet it seems like nothing has changed at all.
After school, for their safety, Shen Qing arranged for Zhao Shoucheng and several outer disciples to escort the group of children back to the north of the city.
The following day, Lin Shouwei, an inner disciple, led several outer disciples to pick them up from the mountain, and they took turns on duty.
Of course, there are rewards of immortal affinity points for picking up and dropping off, and since none of the disciples come from particularly good backgrounds, they are all happy to accept this task.
That night, Shen Qing, who was waiting for midnight to arrive, suddenly heard a system notification sound.
[Host identity detected: Sect Master of Qingyun Sect, Headmaster of Qingyun Academy]
Qingyun Academy officially opens, with its first batch of forty students.
[System determination: The child's recognition of Qingyun Sect and Qingyun Academy has reached the binding standard]
[Newly added bound disciples: 40 (children)]
[Total number of currently bound disciples: 97]