Chapter 8: Recruiting a Disciple
Although Manbao can recognize a lot of words, she still can't understand stories that are too complicated. She can only understand these stories by feeling.
Fortunately, these books are different from the books on Mr. Zhuang's bookshelf because they are written in plain language. As long as you can recognize the characters, you can read the whole book. Although you may not understand everything, you can still understand the general story.
Manbao became excited and read the book with great interest.
The book begins with a preface, which says that these stories are anecdotes handed down from ancient history, some true, some false, and some half true and half false.
But regardless of whether it is true or false, the stories are evaluated differently in each era. This book aims to study the ideology of the time and the evolution of ideology through the different evaluations of these stories in different eras.
Manbao is still young, and he can understand every word in the preface, but he can't understand them when they are put together.
She tried hard to read most of the article, but she really couldn't understand it, so she just turned to the back and read the story.
Still a good story.
Although it is about a scumbag father, it doesn’t look too tragic at the beginning. The first story is ranked tenth, about an emperor named Kangxi.
It tells the story of how he raised his sons like raising insects. In order to guarantee his own rights, he deliberately let his sons fight with each other and create a balance.
Manbao didn't see how bad this father was at first, and just read it as a story. Then the system reminded her: "Look at the fate of his sons, aren't they all miserable?"
Man Bao was stunned for a moment and asked, "They are all princes and emperors, what's so tragic about that?"
Koko explained to him, "You see, they are princes, but most of them were imprisoned and exiled in the end. Do you know what imprisonment and exile meant?"
Manbao said confidently: "I don't know."
The system choked for a moment, then explained to her in detail what confinement and exile meant. In the final analysis, it meant imprisonment and serving a sentence.
Manbao was shocked. "My father is the emperor, my brother is the emperor, and they still have to go to jail?"
Koko said: "That's why you call him a scumbag dad."
Manbao pouted and thought that this father was indeed not a very good person. She read the story twice and figured out the meaning of it a little.
This is actually a father who wanted to keep his power. In order to maintain balance, he deliberately let his sons fight with each other. In the end, he imprisoned three of his sons. Then he chose one son to be the emperor. The emperor's son imprisoned and exiled several more, so his sons were all miserable.
Manbao didn't like this story very much, and it gave her a headache to read it. There were several people's names in the story that she didn't recognize, so she pointed to Keke and asked.
Koko said that he not only taught her how to pronounce the word, but also explained the meaning of the word.
Manbao turned to the next story and started crying.
This father was much worse than the previous one because he actually starved his daughter to death just because his daughter accepted a piece of bread given by a neighbor.
Manbao was still a kind-hearted child. She cried loudly and angrily said to Keke: "This father is really too bad. How can he be an upright official?"
Keke: "Generally speaking, human character is diverse, and there is no exclusivity between an honest official and a bad father, so a person can be an honest official and a bad father at the same time. However, this story was considered fictional in ancient times, which involves another character of human beings, that is, for the sake of a certain interest of a certain party, they can make up a story that caters to their own interests. You are still young, and when you grow up a little and read more books, you will understand that human beings can distort the words of those you think are saints for the sake of their own interests, and this kind of thing is nothing."
Manbao was completely confused and didn't quite understand. Although she knew the story was made-up, it was so well written that Manbao still decided to hate him. The little girl was about the same age as her, and she starved to death. How painful it must have been for her.
Manbao's eyes turned red from crying.
When Mr. Zhuang came back from get out of class, the system detected someone at the door and immediately confiscated the book from Manbao's hand. So Mr. Zhuang saw Manbao sitting alone on the steps crying with red eyes.
Mr. Zhuang's grandson was only a little older than Manbao, and he loved her the most. He felt so distressed that he took two quick steps forward and asked softly, "Manbao, who bullied you?"
Manbao wiped his tears and grabbed Mr. Zhuang's sleeve, looking up and asked, "Sir, are you a good father?"
Mr. Zhuang was stunned for a moment, then thought for a moment and said, "Manbao, my grandson is older than you. Even if we talk about seniority, he should be the grandfather."
"Wow, sir, are there a lot of bad fathers in this world who specialize in bullying children?"
Mr. Zhuang asked, "Did your father scold you?"
Manbao shook his head, "My father is very good to me. He is not a bad father."
Mr. Zhuang breathed a sigh of relief, looked at Manbao, and knowing that she was still young, he sat next to her and asked patiently, "Why do you ask such a question?"
"I saw a story about an honest official. His family had little food. His daughter was hungry. A neighbor saw her and gave her a piece of bread. His daughter ate it. When the official found out, he was very angry and locked his daughter up and starved her to death."
Mr. Zhuang's cheek twitched and he said, "How can there be such an official?"
Manbao insisted, "Yes, there is. The book also said that it was a time when girls were very strict. In that era, if a girl showed her ankles, she would be forced to marry any man who saw her. If she couldn't marry, she would have to commit suicide."
Mr. Zhuang frowned. Even though he knew that one should not be too serious with children, he still thought that such books should not be read by children of Manbao's age, lest they corrupt his character.
But the other party had already seen it, so Mr. Zhuang could only refute the contents of the book, "Even if there are such officials, they are just seeking reputation and fame. It is not worthy of the name to be called an honest official. It's just a piece of cake, why go to such lengths? If you are truly honest, just give your neighbor two pieces."
"As for the outsider, that's even more nonsense. Outsiders are what I am to you, and what the students in the school are to you. Although there are differences between men and women, it is not necessary to guard against them to this extent. If there is, the person is either a lunatic or a devil."
Mr. Zhuang said, "The latter is crazy to think so. The former did it on purpose, exchanging his daughter's life for a reputation. You should stay as far away from such people as possible in the future. But I have never heard of such a story. Where did you see it from?" so that he could confiscate it.
Manbao immediately said, "It's a book called "The Ten Evil Fathers in History"."
"Since it is history, it must be recorded. I wonder which dynasty the honest official you just mentioned belonged to?"
"A person from the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty."
Mr. Zhuang couldn't help laughing out loud, and touched her little head and said, "It can be seen that these are all fictitious experiences of characters. Where is the Ming Dynasty in this world?"
Manbao blinked, but still believed Koko, and asked it in his heart: "Koko, history doesn't even exist? Are you lying to me?"
The system, which had been silent all this time, actually showed a joyful emotion. It said, "No, host, just because there is no Daming in your space does not mean there is no Daming in other spaces. Just like me, in this space and in this era, only you have me. But in the era of my inventor, I was not rare. I dare not say that everyone has one, but as long as they have money and are willing to buy, everyone can buy one."
Manbao seemed to understand, but she still summarized her understanding, that is, Keke did not lie, but Mr. Zhuang was also right, so she decided to listen to both of them.
She looked up at Mr. Zhuang and asked, "Sir, do you know any bad fathers in our history?"
Mr. Zhuang asked, "Why are you interested in this? You know, a son should not speak of his father's faults. Even if the father did something wrong, few people would publicize it to the world. If the father loses face and the family loses face, what good will it do to you?"
Manbao was stunned, so Mr. Zhuang simply took the opportunity to talk to her about etiquette. After a while, he said, "Manbao, you are a smart child. I know you love reading. In this case, then study hard. You have already finished learning the Thousand Character Classic. Now it is time to learn the Analects. After you finish learning the Analects, the teacher will teach you about etiquette."
Man Bao was stunned, and the system couldn't help but remind her: "Host, why don't you thank your teacher?"
Manbao came back to his senses and immediately knelt on the ground, "Sir, teacher!"
Manbao kowtowed to Mr. Zhuang.
Mr. Zhuang felt regretful for a moment as soon as he said this, but when he saw her kneeling on the ground and calling him teacher with a happy face, that trace of regret disappeared.
Forget it, although she is a female apprentice, she is smart and cute, which is some consolation.
Mr. Zhuang helped the child up and said, "Go back and tell your parents what happened today."
"Why? Didn't the teacher never let me tell my parents about what happened here?"
Mr. Zhuang touched her head and said, "Since I asked you to kneel down, it should be done properly."
Mr. Zhuang touched her head and sighed, forgetting about confiscating her books.
When I first met Manbao, she was just a little girl who could just stand up by holding on to the wall. She seemed to be only eight or nine months old and could barely stand by holding on to the wall.
Xiao Qian came to cook. Since she had just taken on this job, she cherished it very much and always came early. Not only did she have to clean the house inside and outside, but she also had to chop wood, light the fire, and cook.
So he couldn't help but neglect this child. At that time, Manbao climbed to the threshold of the classroom, turned over and hugged the door to listen to his lecture.
At first, Mr. Zhuang was a little angry, thinking that Xiao Qianshi was incompetent, so he put down the book, hugged her and went to find Xiao Qianshi.
I originally wanted Xiao Qian to take good care of my child, but I saw her chopping wood with an axe and sweating profusely.
Mr. Zhuang was invited by the white landlord to teach in such a mountain village. Naturally, his family was not rich. In fact, he also came from such poverty.
As far as he could remember, this was how his mother raised him, so Mr. Zhuang hesitated for a moment, did not call her Xiao Qian, turned around, picked up Manbao back, and let her sit on the doorstep.
Fortunately, this child is well behaved. She sits on the doorstep without crying or making a fuss. She eats when she is given food. When she sees the students reading aloud, she also follows them and talks to them.
Later, the first word she said was "Sir", and Mr. Zhuang insisted on this statement.
This child is really smart. As soon as she could speak, she followed the students to read “天地玄黄…”
The youngest of his students was six years old. He would read it ten times and remember it, but forget it the next day. However, this child remembered it very clearly in his little head.
Of course, she could only shout and could not recognize any words.
So Mr. Zhuang copied a copy of Thousand Character Classic and gave it to her.
Later, Mr. Zhuang liked her even more because he found that Manbao not only could memorize things quickly, but also could remember them immediately after hearing them, and she could recognize words quickly too.
After reading it a few times, she will be able to remember the word.
How can such a smart, cute and kind child not be a boy?
Mr. Zhuang expressed regret more than once.
Then he couldn't help but teach her, teach her to recognize words, teach her the truth, and even specially found some books for her to practice calligraphy, and then gave her the manuscripts for her to keep.
Although the idea of taking her as his disciple came out suddenly, he had been thinking about it for a long time. He was just hesitant because she was a girl.
In fact, he was just a scholar who was expelled from the provincial school. His knowledge was limited after all, so why should he care too much about those false reputations?
Does she really want to seek fame and reputation like the bad father she described?
Mr. Zhuang rubbed Manbao's head harder and said with determination: "You should go find your sister-in-law now and ask your parents to choose a good day to bring you home."
Manbao left in a daze.
