Chapter 1416 - 1325: Education (Part 1)

Xie Xiangrong read the New Year’s address twice and, with eyes shining with excitement, pondered for a moment. She put the newspaper away and pulled out paper to write a transfer request; she did not want to stay at the Imperial College. She desired to go to the local regions.

It was said that schools in various places were extremely short of teachers, especially in places outside Si Province and Yu State.

After the matchmaking was over, Father Xie and Mrs. Xie did not take Xie Xiangrong away. She stayed in the Capital City, teaching poetry and prose at the Imperial College while also organizing documents and providing accompaniment reading for Zhao Hanzhang.

Many people believed that she would be the next Zhao Yunxin, thus treated her with great courtesy.

Xie Xiangrong quickly adapted, yet she always felt her heart floating, like there was a sense of unreality.

It wasn’t until just now that she realized it was because she was too far from the ground. The words from Your Majesty were for all the students under the sky, especially the newly enrolled children.

Among the students worldwide, the sons of ordinary people were the most numerous, with children aged seven to fourteen being the majority, yet she was teaching directly at the Imperial College, so far away from them.

She decided to go to the local regions.

The court was already sealed; most officials were on holiday, except those on duty who were standing guard.

But Chen Si Niang was a workaholic; even when it wasn’t her turn, she was in the Imperial College.

When Xie Xiangrong came to deliver the letter, she was still there, "Yangxia is not far from the Capital City, isn’t Mr. Xie going home for the New Year?"

Xie Xiangrong said, "If the Imperial College agrees to my transfer order, I will go home once before taking office."

Chen Si Niang quickly read through her application and pressed down the letter, "Do you know how hard it can be to be a teacher in the local regions? The schools opened in the past few years will be more and more, and the location of schools will be increasingly remote. Some villages are several days’ walk from the county town, and to ensure the children there can also attend school, teachers will be stationed in large villages to teach. The diet is poor there, travel is difficult, and there can even be personal danger. With such conditions, do you still dare to go?"

"I dare!" Xie Xiangrong said, "Although I am weak, I learned the six arts from my grandfather. During wartime, I was able to lead my family to escape troubled soldiers and am not a person incapable of binding a chicken."

"The hardship in the rural areas, coupled with the current low literacy rate under the sky, means teachers are very few. Your Majesty desires a flourishing Great Hua twenty years from now, and I also wish to contribute a little to that effort."

Chen Si Niang’s eyes lit up, lightly patted the table, and praised, "Good! No wonder Your Majesty holds you in such high regard. Mr. Xie is indeed worthy."

Chen Si Niang agreed to Xie Xiangrong’s transfer application and asked, "Where do you wish to go?"

Xie Xiangrong bowed and said, "I am willing to follow assignments."

Chen Si Niang then pondered, "In September this year, we just allocated a batch of graduates to various places to teach. Qingzhou received fewer teachers than needed, and Governor Zhao has always had opinions. How about you go to Qingzhou?"

Xie Xiangrong agreed.

Chen Si Niang then sent her to Xia Mi County in Jinan County of Qingzhou, "I will write to Your Majesty."

Zhao Hanzhang naturally would not prevent officials from seeking their own path. Knowing that Xie Xiangrong had voluntarily requested the transfer, she agreed, "Write a letter to Zhao Kuan, asking him to take care of her a little. She is young and has never been to such a harsh place alone."

Chen Si Niang agreed, "I did not expect it. Though she seems delicate and fragile, she has learned all six arts. Before entering the palace, I saw her archery and chariot skills; both were outstanding. She also knows some swordsmanship, though her hand-to-hand skills are somewhat lacking."

"I want the teachers at local schools to study martial arts regularly, regardless of gender. This way, travel will be much safer, and when in remote areas, even encountering robbers, they will have the ability to protect themselves."

Zhao Hanzhang praised, "This idea is excellent! How much time should be allocated for learning each year?"

"From this year’s autumn harvest situation, the ten-day autumn harvest holiday is still too short. Now, whether boy or girl, those of the right age should enter the school. But from July onward, in the north, spring wheat, soybeans, rice need harvesting, lasting until mid-August. In the south, soybeans, rice need harvesting, and winter wheat planting continues to September; the busiest time also stretches to mid-August. Clearly, the ten-day holiday is insufficient."

"One year or two may be fine, but if this continues, agriculture will inevitably be affected, and the trend of sending children to school may also be impacted," Chen Si Niang said, "I would like to extend the autumn harvest holiday, but only for schools."

Zhao Hanzhang raised an eyebrow.

In this era, there is no winter or summer vacation. Students had the longest holiday known as the field break, specifically for spring plowing and autumn harvesting, each lasting ten days for farming.

With Chen Si Niang’s extension, isn’t the summer vacation coming?

Zhao Hanzhang: "Do you want the teachers to learn martial arts during the summer vacation?"

Chen Si Niang nodded, "They don’t need to learn for a whole month, as teachers also need to farm at home. There can be a ten to fifteen-day field break, and the rest of the half month can be dedicated to focused martial arts learning. This is merely learning and consolidating; martial arts require perseverance, so there must be routine exercise. However, it is a bit unclear where to hire so many martial arts instructors."

Zhao Hanzhang laughed, "What’s the difficulty? Every place has stationed troops; gather the teachers and send them to the army."

Chen Si Niang’s eyes brightened, "That’s a good idea."

"Learn one set of martial arts each year; my teachers will be both scholarly and martial. The students they teach will also be well-rounded. Good!" Zhao Hanzhang became more excited as he spoke, "Once the court unseals, we will discuss this matter."

When Xie Xiangrong arrived in a poor village in Xia Mi County, Qingzhou, newly dispatched documents from the school had already arrived, stating, "The world is yet to be at peace, protecting the country requires strength, governing the country requires wisdom, and a teacher should lead by example. If a teacher is not proficient, how can they teach students effectively?"

The document required all school teachers to study both scholarly and martial arts and to ensure their students also learned both. Cultural courses were not mentioned, but for martial courses, emphasis was placed on archery and swordsmanship.

Archery was believed to calm the mind and teach control, while the sword taught in schools was the Gentleman’s Sword, which retained vigor yet remained proper.

Those who could master these two martial arts rarely exhibited aggressive behavior, curbing the tendency for violence stemming from martial skills.

Receiving such a document, Xie Xiangrong turned her head to see two students wrestling for a desk, fighting and locked in each other’s arms. She stepped forward, with a stern face, and shouted, "Aren’t you going to stop fighting?"

Seeing the teacher intervene, the students who were watching the commotion scattered back to their classrooms, and the fighting pair also separated, lowering their heads in admitting fault.

In this era, teachers were akin to parents, and whether students or parents, they showed absolute respect for teachers, with only a very few daring to offend them.

Evidently, such people were absent from this small school.

Xie Xiangrong admonished the two students, teaching them about fellowship and cooperation instead of conflict, letting the two hold hands standing at the back of the classroom for one lesson.

She decided that the martial class would begin with stance training, teaching them archery once they could hold a stance for an entire class period.

While the teacher had this patience, the students did not. Many began martial class training and, every day after school, had to run home shouting and laughing.

Zhang Taohua took first place in the cultural class again. After calculating her credits, she raced home, "Mother, if I make first place two more times, I can trade it for a bow from school."