Chapter 446 - 171: Prefectural School (2)
Chapter 446: Chapter 171: Prefectural School (2)
De’an muttered, "I wonder which family that girl is from. She seems so unassuming, but she must have some powerful backing."
He mused further, "Why didn’t Wang Jun and Wang Xiao’s sister pull some strings and get into the academy too?"
"It’s not that they don’t want to. It’s that they can’t."
The one who said this wasn’t Zhao Jing, but Mr. Sun.
De’an was so engrossed in his muttering that he hadn’t even noticed when Mr. Sun had come up beside him.
His pockmarked cheek drew near, startling De’an so badly his heart hammered in his chest and he nearly jumped out of his skin.
But he didn’t complain about Mr. Sun. Sensing a kindred spirit, De’an ignored the age difference and the usual respect for a teacher. He threw an arm around Mr. Sun’s neck and asked in a chummy tone, "What do you mean by that?"
"What’s there to explain? The three high officials sent their precious daughters here. Regardless of their true motives, other families hoping to curry favor would naturally want to send their own young ladies to the prefectural academy as well. But this is a prefectural academy, not a girls’ school. Even the daughters of other officials were turned away, so of course, a young lady from the Wang Family couldn’t get in either."
He shook his head and added, "Mr. Wang is just a regular instructor at the academy. His wife’s business may be big, but no matter how big, it’s still a merchant’s affair. It has nothing to do with the imperial examinations or an official career, so naturally, no one is willing to speak up for them."
"And it would be useless even if they did. Taking in these three has already made the Headmaster regret it endlessly. If any more were to get in, the Headmaster would have to march over to the Prefectural Magistrate’s Office... If the Lord Prefect hadn’t promised to allocate three hundred mu of school land this year, the Headmaster wouldn’t have accepted a single girl..."
School lands were the main source of the prefectural academy’s funding.
The academy would rent the land out to the common people and use the rent as funds to maintain its operations.
Although the Prefectural Magistrate’s Office also allocated a sum of money to the academy each year, the academy had far too many expenses.
They had to subsidize poor students and the heavily burdened instructors. On top of that, various buildings required annual repairs, and the incense in Dacheng Hall burned year-round...
Even tiny expenses add up, and enough of them can crush you. The academy was truly poor. Trading three admission spots for girls in exchange for three hundred mu of school land—you couldn’t ask for a better deal.
As for whether letting girls into the academy was against the rules, or if someone might report it to the higher-ups... unless you had a death wish, who would meddle in such affairs?
Mr. Sun and De’an were two peas in a pod. The more they talked, the more enthusiastic they became, wishing they could become sworn brothers right then and there.
The two felt as if they should have met sooner. As they followed Mr. Sun toward the dining hall, De’an couldn’t help but ask, "Are all the masters at the academy as amusing as you? If so, studying here might actually be fun."
A strange expression crossed Mr. Sun’s face.
He looked at the eager expression on De’an’s face and, for a moment, didn’t know whether he should throw a bucket of cold water on his enthusiasm.
’This is the prefectural academy, not some teahouse on the street,’ he thought. ’Here, studying is the only path. The monthly and seasonal exams are the whip. One misstep, and you’ll be expelled.’
’To avoid finishing last, being ridiculed by others, and having their future careers ruined, the students study as if their lives depend on it.’
’And this kid... does he think this is some kind of brothel? Coming here to have fun, of all things.’
In the end, Mr. Sun didn’t have the heart to crush De’an’s good mood.
’He’s young,’ Mr. Sun thought. ’Let him be happy while it lasts. Once he’s been at the academy for a while, he’ll see just how many different kinds of people there are.’
’I hope that when the time comes, he can still be as clever and likable as he is now.’
The dining hall was packed. As far as the eye could see, students in identical uniforms swarmed like a school of fish.
Zhao Jing and De’an, the two newcomers, hadn’t yet received their academy uniforms and were still in the long robes they had worn from home. Standing among a crowd of students in their blue academy attire, how could they not stand out?
"Zhao Jing, De’an, I’m over here..."
Wang Jun was like a whirlwind, rushing over from a distance before he’d even finished speaking.
His face beamed with joy as he gave De’an a huge hug.
"Didn’t you say you were enrolling yesterday? Why are you only here today? I waited all morning and didn’t see a trace of you. I was starting to think you were going to procrastinate indefinitely."
"Watch your mouth! If I really kept putting it off, my parents would skin me alive. Ow, hey, let go! You’re strangling me."
Mr. Sun could see the boys were good friends. Thinking carefully, he recalled that although Wang Jun’s family lived in Xinghuai Prefecture, wasn’t his ancestral home the same place as Zhao Jing’s and De’an’s?
Mr. Sun clapped his hands and said with pleasant surprise, "Since you’re familiar with Wang Jun, I’ll leave you two in his hands. Ah, Wang Jun, this old teacher here only has a few copper coins to his name each day. I really can’t afford to treat them to a meal. Your purse is bulging, so you won’t miss the pocket change. You can treat them to this meal. After you eat, take them to get their identification tablets and academy uniforms, then get them settled in next door to you. Alright, that’s everything. I’ll be on my way."