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Chapter 766 Nanyang (I)

A month later.

A plaque inscribed by the emperor himself was hung up, and the four big characters "Nanyang School" shone brightly in the dazzling sunlight.

The people who gathered to watch the excitement were so crowded outside the school that no one could get through. Most of them had sent their daughters to study there.

Just as Jiang Shaohua expected, the promotion of girls' schools went quite smoothly.

Reform from the top down is much simpler than reforming from the bottom up. Daliang already had a female emperor, female selection, female officials, and the Ye County Women's Academy, which had been established for six years. Now it was only natural for the capital to have a women's school.

Most of the women teachers hired had a good background. These families would naturally protect Nanyang Academy in public opinion.

Furthermore, the money and grain consumed by Nanyang Academy in the future would be paid by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the Ministry of Revenue would not have to pay a penny. The court officials had no right to oppose such a good thing.

For the common people in the capital, it was a great thing for their daughters to go to school without paying tuition and to have a free lunch. If their daughters were good at studying and could participate in the female examination in the future, like the legendary Lu Sheren, who was a daughter of a commoner in the countryside and passed the examination to become an official... Such a good thing would make people laugh in their dreams.

In short, over the past month, a steady stream of people have brought their daughters to register. Some are even shameless and bring their own children with them: "Let my child go to school too! My child is very smart, much smarter than a girl. Anyway, the school has been built, so it's a good thing to have a few more students, right!"

Cui Wenxiu had been a teacher in Ye County for several years and had dealt with all kinds of parents. He was not angry when he heard this. He smiled and said, "Nanyang School is a girls' school established by the emperor himself. It only accepts female students. Boys want to study. There are official schools in the capital, and there are also many private schools. You can send your children there."

"We are ordinary people, how can we get into the official school? The private school charges a lot of money, so we can't afford it. Please accept my boy..."

Having said that, he asked the boy in the family to kneel down and kowtow.

Cui Wenxiu had no choice but to persuade the man to leave with kind words.

This was still easy to deal with. There were always some people who were stubborn and unreasonable. Seeing that the free school would not accept boys and that they had no daughters, they could not take advantage of the benefits and would come to make trouble outside the school.

Fortunately, the palace had already sent a team of imperial guards. When they encountered these people making trouble, they drew their weapons with murderous intent and drove them away.

Cui Wenxiu had been worried a lot in the past month. She sighed to Li Ying, "Now I know how difficult it was for Ye County Women's Academy to open smoothly."

Li Ying also smiled and sighed: "It's not easy to do things. At the beginning, we tried our best to promote it, but we only accepted five female students. Since we couldn't hire a female teacher, my county magistrate Cui set his sights on me. Later, with the full support of the princess, things gradually got better."

He smiled and comforted Cui Wenxiu: "You have done a good job. The female teacher has been hired, the academy has been renovated, and there are nearly two hundred students who have registered. Think about the Ye County Women's Academy, which only reached this scale in its fourth year."

Cui Wenxiu thought about it and laughed: "That's right. No matter how difficult the task is, we have to do it one by one."

Under the watchful eyes of the public, a plaque was hung at the Nanyang School, and formal classes began on this day.

Li Ying had stayed in the capital for so long that her husband and son wrote to her urging her to return. The Ye County Girls' Academy also needed her, so she quickly packed her bags and set off for Nanyang.

Before leaving, Lu Zhen came to see him off.

After working in the palace for more than a month, Lu Zhen's vigor and vigor have not diminished at all, and he is more calm and confident than before. Just like a piece of beautiful jade, it will shine with a little carving.

Li Ying held Lu Zhen's hand and reluctantly whispered: "Work hard in the palace in the future, and don't let the emperor down." Lu Zhen nodded vigorously: "Don't worry, Shanzhang, I will work hard and never bring shame to Ye County."

Li Ying smiled and reached out to touch Lu Zhen's head.

Lu Zhen was not happy about this and muttered, "I am now an official of the imperial court, the emperor's attendant. Principal, please don't treat me like a child who doesn't understand anything."

Li Ying laughed, retracted her hand, turned around and said goodbye to Cui Wenxiu for a long time. The moment she left in the carriage, Li Ying felt reluctant and looked at the tall city gate from afar.

……

After traveling for more than half a month, when we returned to Ye County, it was already May and the weather was gradually getting hot.

County Magistrate Cui and his two sons came to greet them outside the city gate, and many female students and female teachers also came to greet them.

Li Ying was very happy to receive such a grand welcome, and smiled: "Why are there so many people here?"

County Magistrate Cui, who looked even more handsome and mature with his short beard, smiled and said, "Three women from Ye County Women's Academy passed the imperial examination. This is such a great event. Everyone couldn't go to the capital, but when they heard that Li Shanchang was back, they took the initiative to come and greet him and congratulate him. I couldn't stop them."

The emperor of Daliang held a special examination for women and selected twenty female Jinshi. Three of them came from Ye County, and one of them, Lu Zhen, stole the show.

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Magistrate Cui was filled with pride and his eyes were full of his wife.

As they grew older, Cui Dalang and Cui Erlang also rushed to their mother's side and looked at her with admiration: "Mom is also a female Jinshi."

"Mom is so awesome!"

Li Ying was flattered by her sons and looked radiant and happy.

The female students gathered around and asked in a chattering voice: "Headmaster, is Senior Sister Lu really going to stay in the palace to serve?"

"Of course." Li Ying seized the opportunity and painted a big and round pie for all the female students who were looking forward to her: "She is the top female Jinshi, and now she is a female official of the eighth rank, and she also has a formal official uniform. She can receive a salary every month, and she is also eligible to attend the court during the grand court meeting."

All the female students exclaimed in surprise.

Li Ying smiled and said, "You should study hard in the future, and when the court holds the imperial examination again, you can also sign up to participate. As long as you can pass our internal selection examination, you will be escorted to the capital for the examination, and the travel expenses will be paid by the academy."

It took nearly a month to travel from Ye County to the capital by horse carriage, and food, drink and accommodation were a huge expense. For female students from ordinary families, it was basically unaffordable. Li Ying's promise solved the students' biggest worry and immediately caused a burst of joy and cheers.

Then, a pair of familiar faces rushed over.

One is Lu Zhen’s grandmother, and the other is Lu Zhen’s biological mother.

Without saying anything, Mrs. Lu knelt down and kowtowed to Li Ying: "My daughter is what she is today, all thanks to the teaching of Principal Li. I kowtow to you and thank you for your kindness."