Chapter 68: Chapter 68: Establishment of Village School
The matters of the village school were not few, but the village head had basically handled them all.
There were no brushes, ink, paper, or inkstones in the village, so the village head used tree bark and charcoal instead, a method taught by the old Scholar, who had used these materials in his early years.
Yet, the village head was still fixated on this, and he thought about it even in his sleep, talking about it to anyone he met.
“You were quite fortunate back then,” he said, “Tongwen helped resolve most of the issues with brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones, otherwise, you would also have had to use charcoal for writing, which these children are unlucky enough not to have access to.
But using charcoal is ultimately inadequate; how can one study without practicing calligraphy? I’ll go and check Tongwen’s books to see if there’s a solution!”
In the village head’s mind, writing with charcoal wasn’t really writing at all, and the purpose of the village school wasn’t aimed at scholarly examination, otherwise, the school couldn’t even be managed.
…
“Brushes are actually okay,” he mused, “I remember old man Wang knows how to make them. Although his skills aren’t great, they’re usable. The main problems are ink and especially paper…”
Listening to the village head’s complaints, Wang Sheng arrived at the village school “classroom.”
Although called a classroom, it was actually the largest cave in Qingshan Village, which had been used in various films as a bandit’s meeting place.
After the people of Qingshan Village moved in, they repurposed this cave, turning the bandits’ meeting hall into their village meeting hall.
Now, it had been converted into a “classroom.”
The lit torches illuminated the entire “classroom.”
“The lighting is a bit dim,” he observed, “but after looking around, there’s no other suitable house. This place will have to do for now. We’ll make do with this until next year when we have time to build a proper facility.”
Wang Sheng listened to the village head, but his attention was fixed on the torches.
“Village head, what oil is used for these torches?”
Torches couldn’t just be made with cloth wrapped around a stick; they needed to be soaked in oil, but what kind of oil was it?
“Tung oil, why?” the village head replied. “Earlier, Yongfeng and others found a tung forest while scouting the area, so they brought some back to extract the oil. However, we don’t have much in the village and need to conserve it. We’re just testing its effectiveness now. On clear days, the light outside the cave is quite decent, so there’s no need for torches…”
“Tung oil?” Wang Sheng exclaimed, “Village head, we might have a solution for ink.”
He suddenly remembered a method for making ink.
Zhou Zhengwen: “???”
What were they talking about just now that suddenly led to a solution for ink?
Such a surprise was too sudden!
“Yun Sheng, are you serious?”
“Truly… ah, wait, village head, does anyone in the village know how to boil glue?”
The “glue” Wang Sheng referred to was animal glue, typically used as an adhesive and essentially an ancient version of glue, which he remembered people in the village using. It was also a crucial ingredient in making ink.
“Glue? Yes, they know how, but it’s seldom used. What do you need it for?”
“For making ink, of course!”
Wang Sheng hadn’t thought of it initially, but hearing about the tung oil triggered some memories.
He had once watched a video titled “Traditional Method of Making Ink,” where the ink was made using soot from burnt tung oil as the main material.
Of course, the ink in the video was high-quality and included various herbs.
However, for basic educational purposes in the village, the simplest form would suffice.
“Yun Sheng, you know how to make ink?”
“Yes, I read about it in a book a long time ago. I didn’t remember it well, but now I recall. I’ll write down the methods for you later, village head, you can have someone study it!”
Making good quality ink required many details, but merely creating usable ink was straightforward.
They just needed soot from the oil and animal glue.
“That’s wonderful!”
The village head was very pleased; inferior ink wasn’t something rare under normal circumstances, but it was in the village where he realized how important some skills were.
With a solution for ink at hand, the village head was delighted and showed Wang Sheng many things.
For instance, simple desks made from stumps.
All in all, everything was made simple.
After looking around, Wang Sheng was silent for a moment before speaking up, “Village head, aren’t we rushing a tad?”
“Well, I originally intended to start next year, but some people in the village urged me to start earlier.”
“?”
“Mainly because now that we’re up in the mountains, it’s not as safe as in Qingshan Village. The adults are busy farming, so they want someone to help watch the children. There was already one child who wandered into the woods. If we hadn’t found him in time, who knows what might have happened.”
“So that’s why the school is for age six to twelve?”
“Actually, the oldest is only eight. Twelve is the highest age I set.”
Kids from six to eight aren’t much help with work and tend to be very mischievous, often getting into trouble—commonly referred to as a pain to deal with.
Wang Sheng couldn’t help but marvel.
This was like setting up a daycare with just a few meals, a huge win!
But soon, he realized that his modern thinking was limiting.
In this era, Scholars often didn’t farm, and being able to trade what they were skilled in for food, coupled with the deep-seated respect for teachers in those times, meant that children were definitely easier to manage than in Wang Sheng’s era.
So, the Scholar wasn’t at a loss either.
Both parties were winning big!
As they chatted, people from the village gradually arrived, one from each household.
About half an hour later, the village head went to what originally was the chieftain’s “throne” and addressed the gathering, “I believe you’ve all heard why I’ve summoned you. Yes, it’s to establish the village school… Education enlightens people… Therefore, after much consideration, we’ve decided to set up the school. If anyone has any objections, speak now!”
Since the village head had already communicated this matter, naturally, no one objected.
“Well then, let us have Jiang Minxue, Mr. Jiang, say a few words.”
Jiang Minxue was the Scholar who had fled to the village. Almost thirty years old and also from Lushui County, he knew of Qingshan Village’s existence.
His presence here was also because of Zhang Ze, the Martial Artist, who gave him the courage to follow.
“…”
Jiang Minxue was a typical scholar; while his speech was a bit stiff, he was very aware of his situation and spoke calmly.
After he spoke, he oversaw a simple ceremony where the twelve students paid their respects to the teacher and offered tea.
Jiang Minxue was clearly not the sort to skimp on his duties; he simply explained his rules and established authority.
Both the village head and the parents of the children were quite satisfied.
This was the right way to teach.
Kids are like that sometimes; the words of a teacher can have more impact than those of parents.
The entire process took about one or two hours to complete.
With the “school opening ceremony” concluded, the children of the village finally had a place to “attend school,” which allowed the adults to focus on their own work, and Jiang Minxue secured a job.
Everyone was overjoyed!