Confucian and Taoist scholar

Chapter 148: The Kind One Is Invincible

When the man saw Zhang Bo and his three companions, who were covered in dust and dirt, he quickly invited them to his home.

Zhang Bo waved his hand to refuse, saying that they would wait for Lu Zheng here.

Zhang Bo returned the farm tools to the man and said, "We've already plowed that wasteland. You can go take care of it later. There shouldn't be any problems."

"Hey! You guys have worked so hard! Why don't you come to my house and rest for a while?" The man said gratefully, "Have a cup of hot tea and wash your face."

Zhang Bo and the others looked at each other, did not insist any more, and followed the man away.

The woman in the man's family slept for a while and felt refreshed and without any discomfort. She got out of bed and started doing housework again.

When the man returned home, he saw his wife working again and couldn't help but say something.

The woman couldn't help but say, "The medicine that young master gave me is very effective. I am fine now. Is there anything I can't do?"

The man looked at his wife, whose complexion was rosy and who looked more energetic than before she got pregnant, and felt relieved.

He asked the woman to boil water while he received Zhang Bo and his three companions.

Zhang Bo saw this and quickly said, "Brother and sister-in-law, please go and take care of your own business. We just need to borrow some water. There's no need to make such a fuss..."

They had known before that this family was not well off and basically relied on the man alone to support them, so it was really not convenient to trouble these people.

Although Zhang Bo and his companions were usually spoiled, they were not so lazy as to let outsiders serve them when they were away from home.

Zhang Bo took Li Zhao and others to fetch water for washing.

When the man saw it, he couldn't stop it even if he wanted to.

Zhang Bo and his companions washed up and left for Lu Zheng.

"These scholars are really different." The woman couldn't help but whisper when she saw the four people leave.

In the past, when they went to the market, they had also seen some scholars.

Those people are always very arrogant, how could they be so easy to talk to?

The man couldn't help but say, "They are all good people. They have helped me open up so much land. We must treat them well. I'll go kill two chickens..."

At this time, Lu Zheng had treated almost all the villagers.

These villagers have more or less some illnesses, most of which are caused by overwork and are difficult to cure.

Lu Zheng could only ask them to pay more attention in their daily lives, and also told them some simple herbal prescriptions and some treatment methods.

If you have any minor illness, you can treat it yourself, which can save you a lot of trouble.

Lu Zheng still used interesting little stories to popularize science. The villagers listened attentively and found it novel and impressive.

Li Zhao, who was listening not far away, was amazed and muttered quietly, "If Brother Lu were my teacher, I would listen carefully in every class and could take the imperial examination by now."

"Brother Lu is quite talented..." Zhang Bo exclaimed, "Speaking of which, we should ask Brother Lu for some advice."

He is about to take part in the autumn examination. With the talent Lu Zheng has shown, he will definitely gain something from asking him for advice.

I was having so much fun these two days that I forgot to discuss academic matters with Lu Zheng.

"I haven't learned much, so this is all I know. There's nothing more to say. Sorry to bother you guys with your work! Everyone, go and do your own thing."

Lu Zheng finally finished his popular science lecture and then clasped his fists towards everyone.

Upon hearing this, the villagers either bowed or put their hands together and bowed to express their gratitude.

Some people were busy with farm work and left in a hurry.

Some people were still not satisfied with what they heard, or had more questions to ask, so they stayed.

When these villagers saw Zhang Bo and his companions and learned that they were Lu Zheng's companions, they were also very polite.

Lu Zheng patiently answered questions for those who stayed.

Then he looked at an old man next to him, who was the village chief.

"Village chief, I'm afraid I'm going to trouble you with something." Lu Zheng said.

The old man heard this and smiled amiably, "Master Lu, if you have anything to say, please tell me!"

Lu Zheng took out a few pieces of paper and handed them over. "Reading is wise. I think the village chief can read. Please have someone carve these contents into a stele and erect it at the entrance of the village so that the villagers can read it regularly and learn more characters. That would be beneficial."

The village chief carefully took the paper and took a look. It contained some common Chinese characters with pictures and texts, as well as simple arithmetic. It was clear at a glance and not difficult to learn.

Zhang Bo and his companions took a closer look out of curiosity and were quite surprised.

Learning characters in this way is much better than memorizing them by rote with primers. You can even understand them without being taught.

The village chief had seen some of the world and felt the preciousness of the contents of the paper.

He said happily: "Mr. Lu is so virtuous!"

Lu Zheng waved his hand and smiled, "It's just a small thing I do for the villagers."

He did not have the audacity to mention the monument of merit just because of what happened in Dali Village. He just let things take their course.

Lu Zheng turned around and asked, "By the way, are there any demons near the village? We came out to study and we also want to kill some harmful demons and gain some experience."

Upon hearing this, the village chief couldn't help but stroke his beard and said, "As for demons and ghosts, I don't see them very often, but there have been monkey demons that have caused trouble a few times in the past."

"Oh? I'd like to hear more about it." Lu Zheng and the others became interested.

The village chief said slowly, "About ten years ago, a group of monkeys came to our village. One of them could talk. It said it was their king's birthday and asked us to donate some food. Otherwise, they would come into the village and cause trouble and destroy the crops."

"Hundreds of monkeys, armed with sticks and stones. Even ordinary monkeys are annoying, let alone some spirits. We had no choice but to pool some food and even give them some chickens and ducks before they left..."

"After that, the monkeys would come back every one or two years. We reported them to the authorities, but the monkeys were deep in the mountains, there were so many of them, and they ran so fast, the officials couldn't do anything about them."

"Come to think of it, they didn't come last year, and I don't know if they will come this year. If they do, they should be here soon."

The village chief added, "This year's harvest is decent. If everyone shares the harvest and gives some food away, we can barely get by. If we don't, those monkeys won't let us go."

Li Zhao glared and said, "There's a monkey demon leading a group of monkeys to rob people everywhere. How abominable!"

"Have they hurt or killed anyone?" Lu Zheng asked.

The village chief stroked his beard and said, "Anyway, no one in our village has been in trouble. Those monkeys are very clever. They know that if they hurt anyone, they won't be able to come to us for food in the future... One year when the harvest was bad, we didn't want to give them any, so they came into the village and killed some chickens, ducks, pigs, and sheep, and even stole some food."

"Where do they live?" Lu Zheng asked.

The village chief raised his hand and pointed in a direction. "It's in the mountains to the northwest. None of us have been there, but those monkeys always go that way, so the location should be correct."

The village chief looked at Lu Zheng and the others again and advised, "But I, an old man, still advise you not to go. There are quite a lot of monkeys there, and there are also some mountain kings. There are probably hundreds of them. The government can't deal with them. There are only five of you..."

The village chief didn't think five scholars could deal with so many monkeys.

"I understand." Lu Zheng nodded.

Lu Zheng looked at the sky. It was already noon and smoke was rising from many people's homes.

Lu Zheng said, "It's time for us to get going. We'll take our leave now."

Upon hearing this, the man who had just arrived hurriedly said, "Gentlemen, please don't leave. I just slaughtered a chicken and am stewing it at home. Come and visit me!"

Lu Zheng smiled and said, "Next time, let my sister-in-law and baby eat more chicken."

Lu Zheng bowed and said goodbye, then left with Zhang Bo and others.

Some villagers tried to persuade them to stay but failed, so they brought out eggs, rice and noodles from their homes, and some even brought live chickens to give to Lu Zheng and his friends.

It was the first time that Zhang Bo and his companions felt the people's enthusiasm, and they were a little overwhelmed for a moment.

This is the will of the people! Zhang Bo was deeply moved.

Finally, the group finally left the village in a somewhat embarrassed manner, with everyone holding something in their hands.

Li Zhao was holding a large rooster and sighed, "I have to say, my father has never encountered such a scene when he went out."

Everyone looked a little strange when they heard this. I wonder how your father would feel if he knew this.

Zhang Bo looked at Li Zhao and said with a smile, "Brother Li, why are you still carrying a chicken?"

Li Zhao looked down and widened his eyes. "Hey, I don't know who put this in my hand. Should I give it back?"

The big rooster in his hand was quite heavy, and when he thought about it being a gift from the common people, he felt a little reluctant to part with it.

Lu Zheng smiled and said, "Let it go. It will go back on its own."

"oh oh……"

Li Zhao loosened his hands, and the roosters flapped their wings and walked towards the village.

At the entrance of the village, some villagers were watching them from afar.

Lu Zheng held a small bundle of vegetables, waved to the villagers, and turned to leave.

[A gentleman is kind and virtuous. You are loved by the villagers. Literary Aura +50!]

Lu Zheng led his men to an open space in the mountains, stopped to rest, and then divided the work and prepared lunch.

A few people took some ingredients given by the villagers and cooked a meal.

It wasn’t a sumptuous meal, but perhaps because everyone was tired from all the busy work, and Lu Zheng’s cooking skills were pretty good, everyone had a good appetite.

After eating and drinking, the group rested there.

Li Zhao lay comfortably against a tree, rubbing his stomach, and said leisurely: "Brother Lu, your cooking skills are also very good. How many skills are you good at?"

Lu Zheng smiled and said, "I only know a little bit, how can I say I'm good at anything?"

Lu Zheng sat cross-legged aside, took out a pen and paper, and recorded the basic situation of the village.

Zhang Bo watched from the side and whispered, "Is this how Brother Lu used to study?"

Lu Zheng nodded and said, "That's about right. I wanted to travel all over Kaiyang County and find a way for the people to settle down, but this kind of thing is very difficult..."

This world is very different from the previous life, and many experiences cannot be transferred here.

For example, in such a world, it is extremely unrealistic to talk about world peace and equality for all.

All he wanted now was to ensure that the people in the county could have enough food to eat and a place to live.

But it is very difficult to achieve this.

But Lu Zheng will not give up, because this is his way of practice.

(End of this chapter)