CHAPTER 211: CHAPTER 206: FOOLING PEOPLE INTO COPYING BOOKS

Zhao Hanzhang, though disappointed, still went to Zhao Hu’s house to fetch those books.

Because she also needed them.

Books were hard to come by at this time, even simple enlightenment books were difficult to obtain.

In the usual bookstores of the county town, they mostly sold various stationery like pens, ink, paper, and inkstones, while books were actually the least available.

At least when Ji Yuan went to buy them, he didn’t find many suitable books for teaching new students.

Zhao Hanzhang also had quite a collection of books, but she didn’t have extra volumes; even though she prided herself on her generosity, she wasn’t willing to let these books be used by those just beginning their studies.

So they had to copy the books!

Such an important task was entrusted by Zhao Hanzhang to her newly pieced-together brothers.

Zhao Hanzhang handed out the paper she had just taken from Zhao Hu’s house, "Brothers, I know you all want to find the answers sooner, I do too, so why not start searching for them now?"

Receiving the paper and books from Zhao Hanzhang, the young men looked bewildered, "What is this?"

Zhao Hanzhang: "These are the books you have to copy."

The young men looked even more confused, glancing at the books in their hands, "The ’Quick Study,’ ’Instruction Compilation,’ ’Study Encouragement,’ aren’t these enlightenment books? Why do we need to copy them?"

Zhao Hanzhang said solemnly, "What, do you look down on these books just because they’re enlightenment books?"

She said, "You should know that these three articles have replaced the three ’Cangjie’ articles revised and compiled by Yang Xiong and Cai Yong."

The young men flinched, Zhao Kuan promptly said, "We don’t look down on these enlightenment books at all, we’re just puzzled, what’s the relation between these books and the answers we’re looking for?"

"Though these are merely enlightenment books, they are the foundation of hundreds of schools, they are all-encompassing, filled with anecdotes, truths, involving a hundred schools of thought, if you want to know if mathematics is indeed the mother of all schools, start researching here."

Zhao Kuan said, "We’ve memorized them all."

Zhao Hanzhang: "But only by copying can you think more deeply about the meanings within, and as previously agreed, once you get into the county government, you have to follow my command, now I want you to copy books!"

The young men: "...How many do we have to copy?"

Zhao Hanzhang: "Start by copying each book ten times."

The young men’s vision darkened, Zhao Kuan, as a representative, asked, "...Each person?"

Zhao Hanzhang nodded, "Each one person!"

That means one person has to copy thirty books...

Zhao Kuan was about to resist when Zhao Cheng walked out from the pavilion and directly ordered, "Hanzhang is right, though these three are enlightenment books, they contain many truths, you may have read many books over the years, and your travels are rich, but you may not remember the truths learned during enlightenment, let alone having achieved them."

"As the saying goes, ’Review the past to learn the new,’ you should really reread these enlightenment books closely," Zhao Cheng said, "Start copying from tonight, submit one article each day, I will check."

The young men couldn’t help but moan in anguish, regretful of their wager with Zhao Hanzhang.

There are many ways to find answers, why did they choose the least controllable one?

Seeing that there were people to copy books now, Zhao Hanzhang was relieved and, after enjoying the mutton feast, took Fu Tinghan back to the county town.

Zhao Erlang stayed at Wu Castle to continue cherishing family time, returning tomorrow.

He had become friends with the eight-year-old Zhao Zheng, and the two seemed to have a good relationship, so Zhao Erlang had no objections to being left at home.

Zhao Hanzhang and Fu Tinghan leisurely rode their horses back, discussing confidential matters along the way, while Qiu Wu and others followed from a distance.

"Are you planning to have Zhao Cheng enlighten all the children in Yushan Hall?"

Zhao Hanzhang immediately shook her head, "That’s not realistic; for one, I’m not that wealthy right now, and secondly, Zhao Cheng might not agree to give large lectures, embracing all without distinction."

’Embracing all without distinction’ may sound simple, but in this era, there are few who can truly achieve it.

The children in Yushan Hall have different backgrounds; some came from once decent families but lost everything when the city fell; others were from poor families, and there are orphans who were in Yushan Hall even before the city fell; and some were beggars who have been begging in the city since childhood.

Currently, even officials need to have their rank determined first, and the Nine-Rank Merit System initially considers family background.

Therefore, she’s uncertain if Zhao Cheng would be willing to teach these children, embracing all without distinction.

Before she completely understands Zhao Cheng, she doesn’t intend to take action in potentially contentious areas, lest she loses good talents.

Fu Tinghan nodded, "Education is crucial, but it should also proceed step by step. My suggestion is to initially train the Government Officials, clerks, and centurions like squad leaders and centurions in the army."

"Great minds think alike," Zhao Hanzhang said excitedly, "When I saw Zhao Cheng and those brothers of mine, it felt like seeing a group of teachers."

"Apart from the Government Officials, clerks, and minor military officers in the army, you could also pick some clever, older kids from Yushan Hall to learn," she said, "My requirements are not much, as long as they can read these three enlightenment books, recognize thirty percent of the words, and know basic addition and subtraction, that’s enough."

Though it might only be elementary education level, it can still be utilized, some simple county affairs can be assigned to them.

Zhao Hanzhang is in great need of manpower right now.

Fu Tinghan asked, "Have you ever thought of compiling your own enlightenment textbooks?"

"Are you talking about ’Thousand Character Classic’ and ’Three Character Classic’?"

Fu Tinghan nodded, "Don’t you remember? I can still recall most of it, I thought with Teacher Zhao’s memory and understanding of literature and history, she should remember even better."

"I remember," it’s just that she hadn’t thought about it.

Zhao Hanzhang rubbed her chin and said, "It’s not that it’s impossible, I’ll start writing when I go back, and then use two sets of enlightenment books together to see the speed of literacy, finally determining the best set."

Though such is the idea, Zhao Hanzhang and Fu Tinghan both knew that ’Thousand Character Classic’ and ’Three Character Classic’ should be able to surpass the ’Instruction Compilation’ and the other three articles.

After all, they’ve been validated by over a thousand years of history.

"Unfortunately, even if I compose them, they can only be disseminated by handwriting, we don’t have a printing workshop."

Fu Tinghan calculated the resources Yushan Hall might consume in the future, shook his head, and said, "To expand education, books are essential, relying only on manuscript copying is too difficult, though setting up a printing workshop is hard, it is necessary."

Seeing Zhao Hanzhang moved by the idea, he asked, "Why not take a direct leap to studying movable type printing?"

Zhao Hanzhang thought for a moment, then shook her head, "Forget it, there aren’t many literate people in the entire county town, let alone literate craftsmen, studying movable type printing might require the effort of the entire town."

"Currently, food is also very important, so we cannot take away labor from farming," Zhao Hanzhang said, "Better study block printing, if it’s just for printing enlightenment books, block printing is the cheapest and most convenient method."