Chapter 41: Ants Moving
Bai Shanbao said, "Then you have to be as good as Confucius. Zigong said that Confucius was gentle, kind, respectful, frugal and modest, so people were willing to share stories with him."
Manbao was full of confidence, "I can do it, too. By the way, what is gentleness, kindness, respect and frugality? Let me know, it means being humble, right?"
Bai Shanbao looked down on her, "You don't even know what it is, but you say you can do it. Children who brag are not good children."
"You know what? Koko said that you should set a goal before doing anything so that you can make a plan. Of course, the bigger the goal, the better."
system:"……"
Bai Shanbao rolled his eyes and asked doubtfully, "Really?"
Manbao nodded vigorously, "Of course it's true."
"Well, then I want to be a high-ranking official in the future, a higher-ranking official than my father. I don't want to be the same official as my father."
Manbao exclaimed, and asked with great interest, "What official position does your father hold?"
Bai Shanbao said with some pride, but also with some reserve: "My father is the county magistrate."
Manbao had a bad feeling towards the county magistrate. She said, "The county magistrates are not good people. They always take our money."
Bai Shanbao was unhappy, "My father is a good official, and he was rewarded by the court."
As soon as Mr. Zhuang entered the classroom, he heard what the two children said. He frowned. How could they, at such a young age, discuss state affairs?
Do you two little kids know what a county magistrate does?
Mr. Zhuang took the two children to the yard to talk.
Bai Shanbao was a little nervous at first, because according to his experience, being called out alone by the master would never lead to good things.
But Manbao is different. Compared to sitting in the classroom and listening to lectures, she is more accustomed to sitting in the yard with Mr. Zhuang reading and talking.
So she followed happily.
Seeing Manbao's happy face, Bai Shanbao thought it should not be a bad thing, so he relaxed and went over.
Mr. Zhuang sat down on the stone bench, called the two children over and asked, "What were you talking about just now?"
Shanbao lowered his head. In his opinion, the teacher's question was an accusation, scolding them for talking in class.
But Manbao didn't think so. When she heard the teacher's question, she happily told him everything they had said, and asked, "Sir, is there anything good about the county magistrate?"
Mr. Zhuang couldn't help but ask her, " Why do you think the county magistrate is bad?"
Manbao told her that she had to pay an extra penny to enter the county town the day before yesterday. She also told her about the news her fifth brother had heard from the county town that after a while, even pedestrians would have to pay an entrance fee to enter the city.
So she thought that all county magistrates were bad and only knew how to take money from the common people.
Mr. Zhuang was silent for a while, then asked, "Do you know what a county magistrate does?"
Shanbao looked at Manbao, then at Mr. Zhuang, and felt that Mr. Zhuang was different from the previous ones, so he was not afraid and answered quickly: "The county magistrate is the parent official of the county, who is in charge of the people."
Mr. Zhuang stroked his beard and asked with a smile, "Anything else?"
Bai Shanbao was not an honest child. If he was an honest child, he would not have been called out by the teacher so often in the clan school. And he would not have made faces at Manbao in front of the teacher's parents yesterday.
So with Mr. Zhuang's encouragement and Manbao's example, he rushed to answer the question with her.
Manbao said: "It's for the city fee!"
Shan Bao said, "The judge."
Manbao said: "I collect grain taxes. My family just paid the tax not long ago."
It was also during that time that Zhou Silang followed the villagers to escort grain to the county town, and thus became involved in gambling.
Shanbao said, "There are also people who catch thieves and defend the people."
Shanbao tilted his head to think about it, scratched his head and said: "We should also persuade the people to sow grain, plant mulberry trees and raise silkworms."
Manbao said to him, "You are so stupid. My family is engaged in farming. We will plant crops by ourselves when the time comes. Do we still need the county magistrate to persuade us?"
"Yes, if you don't believe me, ask the master. My grandmother said that a county magistrate should encourage people to farm and cultivate crops. My father died when he encountered bandits while trying to encourage people to farm and cultivate crops."
Mr. Zhuang did not expect that Shanbao was a martyr. His expression became even gentler. He reached out and touched his head, saying, "You are only convinced by the appearance you see. This is wrong."
The two children were ignorant.
Seeing the confused eyes of the two children, Mr. Zhuang was speechless about what he wanted to say. The two children were still young, and they might not understand what he said.
Mr. Zhuang was in deep thought, with his eyes lowered , and no one knew what he was thinking.
The two children waited quietly. After not hearing him speak for a long time, Manbao scratched his head, shook his body left and right, and accidentally bumped into Shanbao.
Shanbao glanced at the gentleman and pushed back with his little body.
Manbao almost fell down, but he blinked and fell back.
The two children seemed to be interested in competing with each other. While Mr. Zhuang was not paying attention, the two little bodies were close to each other. You pushed me hard and I pushed you hard.
Mr. Zhuang was still in deep thought when he saw an ant nest not far away. He instantly had an idea. He looked up and saw two children pushing and shoving each other. He couldn't help but cough lightly because of the headache.
Manbao and Shanbao stood up instantly, but because Shanbao retracted his strength faster, Manbao was a little slower and bumped into him, knocking Shanbao to the ground.
The two children rolled together, and Mr. Zhuang was afraid that they would cry, but they rolled over and got up from the ground and stood up.
Mr. Zhuang was amused and angry, so he waved at the two of them: "Come here."
The two men came forward, and Mr. Zhuang pointed to the ants on the ground and asked them, "What is this?"
The two children answered quickly, "Ant!"
"Yes, this is an ant. Do you think it is good or bad?"
The two children were stunned. "There are good and bad ants."
"You guys even classified the county magistrates as good or bad, so why can't ants be classified as good or bad?"
Manbao said, "Then it is bad, because it is stealing our food. Look, they are transporting rice, so it must have been stolen."
Shanbao nodded.
Mr. Zhuang laughed and asked, "I'm not going to ask you whether ants are good or bad. I'm going to ask you what you saw."
Shanbao said: "They are queuing up to move things."
Manbao had played with ants many times, so he knew a little more than him and said, "When ants move, it will rain."
Mr. Zhuang asked her, "How do you know it will rain when the ants move? Did you see the rain coming?"
The two children looked up at the big sun in the sky and shook their heads at the same time, but Manbao insisted, "My mother said that when ants move, it will rain."
Mr. Zhuang nodded, "Then let's see if it will rain today."
Shanbao whispered to her, "The sun is so bright, how can it rain?"
Manbao also hesitated, because this was what her mother and others often said, so she remembered it, but she had never paid close attention to it before to find out whether it would rain when ants moved.
