Chapter 257: Education Commissioner

Chapter 257: The Education Commissioner

In fact, Emilio not only described sweet potatoes to Meng Wan, but also chili peppers, green beans, mangosteen, and so on.

Not to mention anything else, just sweet potatoes and chili peppers alone were enough to make Meng Wan overjoyed.

He himself was not a person who craved spicy food, but having been exposed to all sorts of modern snacks and delicacies, he occasionally enjoyed eating foods with chili peppers, such as his favorite trio: stinky tofu, barbecue, and liangpi (cold skin noodles).

None of these would taste good without some chili, and as for hot pot and spicy malatang, if he couldn't make them himself, couldn't he get others to research them?

Falling asleep with these thoughts, he started drooling without realizing it, and by morning, his drool had soaked Song Tingzhou's arm.

Song Tingzhou sighed in resignation, pulled his arm out and gently got out of bed.

Meng Wan, half-asleep, felt someone wiping his face and asked with his eyes closed, "Why haven't you gone to the prefectural office yet?"

Song Tingzhou's voice was even gentler than his movements: "I'm leaving soon. You sleep a little more."

"Okay." Meng Wan's hand lifted halfway, waved at him twice, then fell back onto the thin quilt. He turned over and fell asleep again.

After sleeping for another hour or so, he got up, washed his face and got dressed. Overnight, he had roughly formed an idea about how to settle Emilio and his group.

"You can't just mooch off me forever, right?" Meng Wan said to the anxious Emilio and his group, standing at the main gate of the Zhen Guan Workshop.

Emilio opened his mouth, wanting to retort, "You could let us leave, then you wouldn't have to feed us."

Meng Wan didn't need their answer; he was more like talking to himself: "I see you're pitiful wanderers in a strange land, not having enough to eat or wear, so I've decided to hire you to work. Room and board included, how about it?"

Emilio was surrounded by a group of strong men on all sides. What could he say? Faced with an unknown situation, he could only nod reluctantly through Meng Wan's threats and promises.

If he'd known those two bowls of rice noodles would cost him this much, he would have never let Meng Wan treat him!

As if agreeing was enough; Meng Wan also "invited" the nine of them to sign some kind of contract.

After putting down their signatures and fingerprints, they felt as if they had sold themselves.

Meng Wan waved the contract to dry the ink and smiled with satisfaction: "Very good. From now on, you'll work in my workshop for ten years."

"What!"

"Ten years!!!"

Emilio cried out in shock.

Meng Wan frowned slightly: "What? You think it's too few? Then make it fifteen years." He took out another stack of contracts.

The group was stunned. What kind of devil was this!

Emilio shook his head and waved his hands repeatedly: "No, no, no. Ten years, ten years is fine."

"I've already pulled them out. Come on, you guys, sign these new ones." Meng Wan's tone was impatient, his posture more wicked than a bully's.

After getting the new contracts, the companions all looked at Emilio resentfully, while Emilio was already in tears. The dark-skinned man had two teardrops at the corners of his eyes: "Fifteen years... I just got hitched last year..."

Meng Wan snatched the newly signed contract from him: "If you don't return for a few years, won't your wife remarry? Don't worry about that."

After he said this, their hearts sank even further.

Meng Wan summoned Tang Jinshuang and told her that this group of foreigners was very important, instructing the workers responsible for patrol in the workshop to keep a tight watch on them and make sure they didn't escape.

In fact, compared to Xi Wu Prefecture, Hexian County was more like his stronghold. The local people respected and trusted him, making it a good place to settle people.

But Emilio and his group were too important and somewhat slippery, so Meng Wan figured it would be safer to keep them under his own nose.

Sure enough, they only stayed put for seven days. After figuring out the layout while working at Zhen Guan Workshop, three of them actually managed to sneak out successfully, while the other six were too slow and got caught.

Emilio was one of the three who sneaked out, and he had even planned the whole escape.

Unfortunately, Meng Wan had eyes everywhere in Xi Wu. The three sneaked out at night and were caught again before daybreak.

"You're pretty good at faking it, huh?" Meng Wan looked at Emilio in surprise.

Emilio seemed completely desperate, shouting like a madman: "It's useless even if you catch me! I won't surrender! I'm telling you, the names we signed on your contract are not our real names! It's invalid!"

Meng Wan's eyes curved into a smile: "I know you all filled in random names, but that doesn't make a difference."

He pulled out several sheets of paper and waved them in front of everyone: "See? I used the fake names you signed to register your household registration cards. From now on, you nine are now registered as locals, so the contract is perfectly legal and binding."

The nine glared at the papers in Meng Wan's hand with eyes blazing with fury, wanting to snatch and shred them.

Meng Wan seemed to read their thoughts: "Tearing them up won't do any good. Our local government has already registered your household registration cards. Getting a replacement is no big deal."

Emilio's eyes lost their luster again and became numb. He no longer had the courage to struggle again.

This man was absolutely a demon. No wonder he had so many servants; they were probably all deceived like himself!

In early May, the imperial examination at the prefectural level ended. Song Tingzhou had already known the results the night before.

"Six xiucai (scholars): two from the prefectural seat, two from Hexian County, one from Shakeng County, and one from Heiye County." Song Tingzhou felt relieved when he got the list.

Although he knew that the Education Commissioner wouldn't fail to admit any out of respect for him, passing six was already an excellent result in Song Tingzhou's view.

The Xi Wu Prefecture had been suspended from holding the imperial examination four times in recent years due to too few candidates for the prefectural exam and the low average level of the prefectural exam.

The two xiucai, Lu Su and Zheng Yuan, as the only seedlings, might not have much real talent, but they had some luck.

Song Tingzhou had a premonition that in the future, there would be more and more scholars in Xi Wu Prefecture.

After the prefectural exam, the Education Commissioner had to go to the next prefecture to preside over the exam. Places like Qinzhou and Leizhou Prefectures were also suspended, Qinzhou due to turmoil in the past two years, and Leizhou Prefecture simply because it was too poor, with only two counties under the prefecture and the prefectural seat not even as large as Hexian County.

Although Song Tingzhou was strict, he was not ignorant of worldly affairs. Before the Education Commissioner left, he invited him to a farewell banquet at a restaurant.

"I have been in Xi Wu Prefecture for only half a month, but I have seen much. I heard that ordinary students can also study at the county and prefectural schools?" the Education Commissioner asked Song Tingzhou with great curiosity.

To avoid suspicion, he had rarely spoken deeply with Song Tingzhou since arriving, except for necessary official business. In fact, he had long admired the reputation of this Xi Wu Prefect, who was quite famous among the Qingliu (upright scholar-official) circles.

Song Tingzhou wore a simple dark blue long gown. Although his expression was not particularly warm, his manner was polite. He courteously invited the Education Commissioner to take a seat: "As for the fees for ordinary students to attend school, I have already petitioned the imperial court, and the Xi Wu Prefecture will bear the costs itself."

In this way, although they were nominally county and prefectural schools, they were actually more like private academies.

The Education Commissioner weighed his words: "The expenses involved... probably not a small amount, right?"

"If everyone aims for the imperial examinations, Xi Wu Prefecture currently cannot afford it. But what is more important now for the county schools is to screen talents and to enable more and more ordinary people to become literate and enlightened." Song Tingzhou gave the Education Commissioner a general idea of the current state of the county and prefectural schools.

When the cost of schooling becomes lower, ordinary people will be more active in sending their children to school. Among them, children with literary talent can go further and participate in the imperial examinations, while those without talent can at least learn basic literacy.

Moreover, with Meng Wan's Songyun Academy working in tandem, if in the future there are no illiterate people left in Xi Wu Prefecture, what a splendid sight that would be?

The Education Commissioner had never seen a prefectural school place such emphasis on talent cultivation. Although he thought it somewhat wasteful to allocate so many resources to ordinary children, he said, "If you allocate more resources to the xiucai, wouldn't it be easier for Xi Wu to cultivate ju ren (imperial candidates) and jin shi (advanced scholars)?" Song Tingzhou stopped him with just one sentence: "I want every child in Xi Wu Prefecture to be able to read and write, so that more ordinary people who cannot afford to send their children to school can see the benefits of education."

The Education Commissioner was momentarily speechless. Having come to Lingnan this time to oversee the provincial examinations and inspect the schools, he had witnessed firsthand the region's barrenness—so few scholars that the entire prefecture's exams had been suspended, a truly rare sight. He admitted to himself that he lacked Song Tingzhou's boldness to nurture the students of the entire prefecture.

Yet it was precisely this that deepened his heartfelt admiration even more.

The Education Commissioner rose from his seat and solemnly bowed to Song Tingzhou, sighing with emotion, "I have long heard of Jingxing's great virtue, but meeting you today, I see that others' words fall short of even a third of your true character!"

Song Tingzhou quickly helped him up, saying, "Your Excellency An overpraises me. This is but a trivial matter; I truly am unworthy of such praise."

Scholars had their integrity. If you flattered them too eagerly, they would look down on you. Song Tingzhou remained consistently composed and aloof in his speech and actions, yet this earned him the heartfelt admiration of His Excellency An.

The two drank and chatted happily until late into the night. When they left the tavern, Song Tingzhou first saw the Education Commissioner safely off before being helped into the carriage by Xue Sheng.

"Master, the magistrate is back," Xue Sheng called out in their courtyard.

Meng Wan, still groggy, threw on an outer robe and opened the door, only to be immediately embraced by Song Tingzhou.

"Wan'er..."

Song Tingzhou rarely drank and even more rarely attended social functions. Though he wasn't yet completely drunk, his steps were indeed unsteady.

Holding him, Meng Wan waved at Xue Sheng behind him. "Xue Sheng, go to the kitchen and ask for some hot water."

"Yes, Master," Xue Sheng replied before turning and leaving.

Song Tingzhou was tall and heavy. Meng Wan half-supported, half-carried him into the room, helping him sit on the soft couch. The short distance had him sweating profusely.

Meng Wan threw his own wine-stained outer robe to the ground, then removed his own outer robe before starting on Song Tingzhou's.

Song Tingzhou, dazed, grabbed his hand and mumbled, "Wan'er?"

Still groggy, Meng Wan yawned and replied, "It's me. Be good. Let me wipe you down, or you won't sleep comfortably."

Song Tingzhou, whether he understood or not, loosened his grip on Meng Wan's hand.

Xue Sheng placed the warm water outside their room. Meng Wan brought it in, ladled two scoops into a wooden basin, wrung out a cloth, and began wiping Song Tingzhou down. Halfway through, Song Tingzhou fell asleep.

It was nearly the third watch by then, and Meng Wan was tired too. He simply tossed the cloth aside, lay down on the outer side of the soft couch, and fell asleep leaning against Song Tingzhou.

The next morning, Meng Wan woke up to find himself in bed. Song Tingzhou was already fully dressed but hadn't left for the yamen. Instead, he was leaning against the bed, reading a book.

Wearing casual clothes with a relaxed expression, he looked more at ease than when working at the office, carrying the refined air of a scholar.

"Not going to the yamen today?" Meng Wan sat up, got out of bed, and began to dress and wash.

Song Tingzhou closed his book, following him closely. "I saw off His Excellency An this morning. I have the day off."

Meng Wan brushed his teeth and washed his face. After tidying his clothes, he reached out and touched Song Tingzhou's forehead. "You slept so late last night, and yet you got up early to see off someone. Are you feeling unwell?"

Song Tingzhou took his hand and walked with him to the main hall. "It's fine. Since there's nothing to do today, I'll take a short nap in the afternoon."

Huang Ye brought dishes from the kitchen, and the two ate a simple meal. Song Tingzhou, having slept very little, was already drowsy before noon.

Meng Wan lay down with him for a while but couldn't sleep, so he sneakily got up and went to the corridor to cool off.

By May, Xiwu Prefecture was already hot. Huang Ye brought out two plates of lychees. "Master, the post station sent over lychees this morning."

Meng Wan put down his fan, picked one up, and peeled it. The flesh was white, probably not from the nearby area. "These must be from the earliest batch. As the weather gets hotter, the Zhen Guan Workshop will start bustling too."

Since fruit preserve jars had become hugely popular in Shengjing last year, merchants from everywhere had been flocking to Xiwu Prefecture since early this year to place orders. After the weather warmed up, even more out-of-town merchants came.

Local businessmen seized the opportunity. Not only did a few more small sugar workshops appear in Heshan County, but dried fruit and candied fruit workshops also sprang up one after another in towns across the region.

At that time, baking costs were high, and the humid weather made fruit-drying expensive, but dried fruits and candied treats were still not as costly as fruit preserve jars.

To his surprise, Meng Wan's drying workshop received many orders, even from local pastry shops that hired him as a contract manufacturer—they provided the fruit, and his workers handled the drying.

In July, the hottest month, Third Master Zhu returned to Xiwu Prefecture with Xiao Yu. Third Master Zhu was now fully occupied with the post station business, having handed over the annual task of transporting sugar from the Heshan Sugar Mill to one of his managers.

Although the Shijian post station hadn't yet been extended to Shengjing or the more distant Changping Prefecture, transportation had already become much more convenient than before.

"That boy—instead of going home first, he rushed straight to the Zhen Guan Workshop," Third Master Zhu laughed and teased Yu Yandong.

"They're not married yet, so after a long separation, they're bound to miss each other," Meng Wan expressed his full understanding.

Hearing that Third Master Zhu was back, Meng Wan immediately went to visit him with gifts. The two were now sitting in the house Third Master Zhu had bought in Xiwu Prefecture.

Third Master Zhu chuckled. "True. When Xiao Yu and Manager Tang get married, I'll give them a big red envelope."

Meng Wan was surprised. "Third Uncle, aren't you going back to Shengjing this year to spend New Year's with Ze Ning and the others?" Last year, due to the busy post station work, Third Master Zhu hadn't gone back to see his granddaughter, and he had even handed over the sugar mill to his subordinates.

Third Master Zhu thought for a moment. "I am going back, but Wan Geer, I won't hide it from you—those fruit preserve jars have people fighting over them in Shengjing. No matter the price, the wealthy and powerful are willing to pay. I'm truly tempted."

Tempted as he was, he still didn't dare to take the plunge. After all, his son was an official in Shengjing, and if making a quick profit brought trouble to Zhu Zening, it wouldn't be worth it.

"I still don't plan to expand into Shengjing this year. I won't head back before New Year's; I'll stay in the prefectural city until Xiao Yu's wedding. After that, I'll spend some time at Ze Ning's place in the new year and return to Xiwu in the latter half of next year."

Meng Wan quite agreed with Third Master Zhu's plan. With the Zhu family lacking power and influence at the moment, even with the backing of Lan Niang's own family, the Count Fuen Mansion, stepping out in Shengjing would have them devoured with nothing left. It was better to keep a low profile for now and expand elsewhere.