Chapter 91 Careful Thinking

Zhou Shuren called his two sons and Rong Chuan who were studying, first carefully moved out the books and put them away, and then took out the pens, inks, papers and inkstones. There is only one set of expensive pens and inks, and Zhou Shuren keeps them for scientific examinations, and there are three sets that are less frequent A set can be worth ten taels of silver. It’s too annoying to take it out for children to use. Zhou Shuren also kept it. The ones distributed to three children were bought with money. A set of one tael is only worth If you can stay at home and go out to study, you can still use the existing cheap ones.

As for the paper, Zhou Shuren’s rewards are all high-quality rice paper. It’s too wasteful to paint red and practice calligraphy. Zhou Shuren bought a lot of money in one go with the money in his hand, and the three children first shared a hundred of them.

Chang Lian and Chang Zhi happily took it over. They have always used the cheapest paper. The paper has many textures and uneven ink marks. Large characters are easy to write, and small characters are easy to blur. Hugged tightly in his arms, "Thank you dad."

Rong Chuan felt ashamed to get the pen, ink, paper and inkstone, let alone the good paper, and hurriedly put his hands behind his back, "Uncle Zhou, I'll just use the paper written by my third and fourth brothers to practice calligraphy, good paper , I wasted too much."

When Zhou Shuren woke up and waited for the noodles, he had already taken the time to read the big characters practiced by the three children. The old son of the third son did not make much progress in handwriting, and the one who improved the most was Rong Chuan. They are all practicing hard. Smart people are not scary. What is scary is that smart people work hard.

Zhou Shuren looked at his old son from the corner of his eye. The most talented old son in the family was very arrogant. He was praised all the time in the private school. Since he started studying, it went smoothly. I thought he was the only one who was smart and would suffer a lot in the future.

Zhou Shuren put the paper in Rong Chuan's hands, "Silly, good handwriting is very important for the imperial examination. Uncle sees that your handwriting has gained some strength. Uncle is very pleased with your hard work. Don't worry about your family with the paper. Uncle will help you to study." It’s still affordable. You’re half a child here with Uncle, so don’t feel burdened. When Uncle finishes his work, pick a good day and we’ll settle the matter between you and Xuehan.”

Rong Chuan blushed, and he didn't have time to think about the paper, his mind was full of thoughts of engagement.

Chang Lian and Chang Zhi were not happy. The third son, Chang Lian, felt that Rong Chuan had robbed him of his resources. Without Rong Chuan, he could share more paper. As for who his younger sister would marry, anyway, sooner or later she would marry. His parents were worried, he only cared that Rong Chuan would not only become his brother-in-law, but also send Rong Chuan to a private school according to his father's wishes.

Before the family changed, Chang Lian also calculated how much money the family had, always worrying about whether it would be enough for him and Chang Zhi to study. After the winter, he saw all the changes in the family. After coming back with so many things, he realized that his family background was not what he saw on the surface, even if his family background was strong, Rong Chuan had allocated some resources to him after all, and he didn't like Rong Chuan from the bottom of his heart.

Changzhi was much more intuitive, he didn't care about common affairs, and he didn't care about how much money the family had. He was not happy that his sister had been cheap so early, and even if he admired Rong Chuan, he was not happy at heart.

Zhou Shuren didn't care about the eyebrows and lawsuits of the three boys, and he waved away those who should be divided.

Zhulan cleaned up the kitchen, and Zhou Shuren had already put away the pen, ink, paper and inkstone. He was holding a book and putting it on the kang table. Looking at the set of pens and ink, Zhulan slipped on the kang and said, "Do you want to copy the book?"

Zhou Shuren cut the paper, "Well, these are not books, but the examination questions and articles of the provincial examinations in several states in the south of the Yangtze River. I got it with a lot of effort and thought.”

Zhulan picked it up and looked through it, "There is no one from our side? Examiners in different places are different, and their preferences are also different. Is it useful to learn from these?"

Zhou Shuren, "Of course it works,

The questions in Jiangnan are among the most difficult. Many of the exam questions remain the same. Thorough research is very helpful for the rural exam. As for the examiner's preference for the articles, it depends on one's luck. "

Zhulan understood, and asked, "How much money did you spend on this trip and the things you bought?"

Zhou Shuren reported, "The total cost was nearly two hundred taels. Specialty fans are not expensive in the south of the Yangtze River, so they are relatively rare in the north. What are expensive are books and paper, and the cheapest second-hand books cost twenty taels!"

Zhulan took a deep breath, "It's really expensive, and reading in ancient times was too difficult. Books are something that ordinary people can't afford."

Zhou Shuren smiled, "Why don't you say that the imperial examination is difficult, and it is even more difficult for poor families. The aristocratic family has a lot of books, and there is no shortage of famous people's famous explanations. As long as you have some talent and work hard enough, you can get a scholar. If you keep a lot of books, you will be admitted to Juren Fengmao Lingjiao, and you will be admitted to Jinshi, which is like a fish leaping through a dragon's gate."

Zhulan was a little worried, "Then do you have confidence?"

Zhou Shuren was very confident, "I will go to the scholar examination next year, and I will take the triennial provincial examination the year after next. Don't worry, I know it well."

Zhulan was relieved when she got Zhou Shuren's promise. Zhou Shuren never made unashamed promises, "You copied the test questions for the clan?"

She remembered that there were five scholars in the clan, and they were not too young, the youngest was in their twenties, and they must try in the next year.

Zhou Shuren nodded, "Yes."

Zhulan had nothing to ask, she took out the fabric and prepared to make clothes, she really likes making clothes now.

Zhou Shuren couldn't calm down anymore, and looked up at Zhulan several times, Zhulan sensed it, "What's the matter?"