The old steward brought back the news to everyone at noon the next day.
Two slaves carried a basket and followed the steward into the small courtyard where the students lived.
The steward stood in front of everyone and said: "My old lady has agreed to let you husbands use the village to deliver food, and you don't need to pay. The old lady said that since the husbands are not going home, they don't know how to cook.
Then I will add another class for all you gentlemen..."
As he spoke, a strong-looking man with a sinewy face walked in, with a short knife around his waist.
"This is the chef specially invited by the old lady for you! He is proficient in the art of handling cattle and sheep, and he is also good at cooking. When you stay at the Zhuangzi, you can learn to cook from him. When the Zhuangzi slaughters the livestock, you can follow this chef.
The chef learns the art of handling cattle!"
"The old lady said that food comes first in farming! Since you are here for farming, you must be good at cooking."
The attitude of the steward and the old lady was very tough, leaving them no room to refuse.
One person stood there and paced for a while, then he couldn't help but stepped forward and said: "The sage once said, 'A gentleman is far away from the cook'..."
The steward raised his lips when he heard this and interrupted him directly.
"My old lady also told me that a gentleman should go far away from the kitchen. My old lady said that there are a few words before the gentleman goes far away from the kitchen, 'A gentleman is like an animal: when he sees it living, he cannot bear to see it die; when he hears its sound, he cannot bear to eat it.
"The meat is meat, so a gentleman cooks it far away." What this means is that a gentleman has a kind heart and cannot bear to see killing."
"Everyone who has been to Zhuangzi for so many years has never heard of anyone who can't eat meat! The old lady said that those who say this are either trying to be lazy and not working, or they can't read books clearly, so they can deceive those who don't.
Those who have read books.”
The man stood there with a red face.
"The old lady asked me to come over, and she still meant the same thing! Whether you gentlemen can take these classes or not depends entirely on your own discretion! The old madam will still give you these scores as usual! But the cooking class, since Mu
If you learn it while studying, it is naturally not the main course and will not be counted in your grades!"
"If your husband studies well, the old lady will give you a few nice words and praises for him in the summary every three months. If he doesn't study well, of course he won't."
Hearing this, the students with lower scores were slightly moved.
This score is already a foregone conclusion. If the old lady can give him a few nice words, he may not be punished by the head of the family.
Some people are still unmoved! They think Qiao Lan’s move is just to amuse them!
They had to do it themselves when it was clear that they could solve it with just one servant! The sons of their aristocratic family were so precious! Even if they had to do the farm work themselves, they also had to learn to cook! It was really an insult to the family tradition!
"Gentlemen, come with me, Lao Niu! I, Lao Niu, am a good chicken cook. The chickens made by my family are very popular in the capital. Today, I will show you my skills in cooking chicken!" Niu Laoer, the cook!
shouted.
Niu Laoer was the first to pick up the basket and move forward to clear the way.
Seeing this, the other students followed out of the courtyard one by one...
They just went to see Niu Laoer’s skills, not to learn how to cook!
-
Qiao Lan returned to Zhuangzi after finishing her two-day vacation. All the stewards of Zhuangzi, big and small, were waiting at the door to greet Qiao Lan.
After getting off the carriage, Qiao Lan was concerned about the students' movements.
Qiao Lan: "How's it going? Does anyone want to drop out of school today?"
The steward responsible for taking care of the students said respectfully, "Old madam, those gentlemen are still fine and none of them want to go home."
Not one of them wanted to drop out of school and go home.
It was already past lunch time when Qiao Lan arrived at Zhuangzi, and after a while it was time to go to work in the afternoon.
Calculating that the time was almost up, Qiao Lan was too lazy to go back to his yard to rest, so he took Yinque and others directly to the small courtyard.
Before the group reached the front of the courtyard, they heard a howl in the distance.
"I don't want to farm anymore, when can I rest?"
"...I just went to inquire with those farmers! They said that they will rest when it rains. As long as it rains, we can rest!"
"Really? You're not trying to trick me, are you?"
Qiao Lan stood outside the yard and shook her head gently. She was still too young.
Farmers can indeed rest when it rains, but they are not here to farm, so they can take a lot of classes under the roof.
After a few days, everyone was looking forward to the stars and the moon, waiting for the rainy day, and it was still during the tenth day of school.
The rain came in the afternoon, so Qiao Lan asked the steward to call the person back quickly. She didn't have to attend the afternoon class and went back to rest.
After hearing the good news, everyone no longer looked forward to going home. They only looked forward to a few more days of rain, so they didn't have to go to school or go out to harvest crops.
You really don’t have to go out to harvest crops on rainy days!
However, in the early morning of the next day, the steward came over and woke them up.
Steward: "The old lady said, it's raining today, so you don't have to go to the field for class. You have to go to the house and follow the old lady to take other classes."
Some people were immediately overjoyed. Was this the old lady who wanted to teach them the art of breeding?
Some people still feel bad!
What classes are available in the house?
With various thoughts, everyone was led to one of the courtyards by the housekeeper. As soon as they entered the room, they found that the room was empty, with only two or three tables and a batch of wood placed in the corner.
Qiao Lan: "If a worker wants to do his job well, he must first sharpen his tools. It's raining today, so come and learn how to make farm tools!"
Although this year's class on strengthening the country is about tools, Qiao Lan doesn't plan to teach them the content of the class on strengthening the country yet. After all, the tools in the class on strengthening the country are too advanced, so it's better to learn some simple ones first.
For example, make a wooden rake, or forge iron to make a hoe.
Qiao Lan called all the carpenters and blacksmiths in the village and taught them a lesson.
There will always be a day when the crops in the fields are harvested. You have to go to class when the crops are not being harvested. It is better to take advantage of this time to learn more.
After all, Qiao Lan put some thought into it, not only letting them learn to make farm tools, but also letting them use them.
Letting young students take the farm tools they have just made and go to work in the fields is not just a combination of practice and experiment.
It can also help them realize the problem faster and know where the things they have made are wrong.
——
Soon, by the end of September, there were no more crops to harvest.
After two months of training, a group of students were successfully educated by Qiao Lan into obedience.
Even work such as weeding on fertile land is not looked down upon as before. Before doing any work, one would think about what the work is and why it is done.
Good tools can make farming work more efficient, not only when cultivating crops, but also when harvesting crops.
They have accumulated a lot of knowledge about harvesting and fertilizing from their daily labor.
For example, the necessity of fertile land, the difference of fertilizers, and even what kind of fertilizers are needed for various crops at what stage. I even learned about grafting, and by the way, the trees on the farm grew a lot, and even my cooking skills improved by leaps and bounds.
In two months, I learned a lot about breeding-related things, but I didn’t learn about breeding.
However, everyone is no longer as shallow as before, and their patience is increasing day by day.