Yuan Xi discovered that he was actually quite mentally abnormal.
The more Madam Wu tried to act dignified and elegant, the more he wanted to see her defenses break.
Of course, Mrs. Wu would not let his evil taste succeed easily. Although Yuan Xi took advantage of the fact that no one was around to make advances towards her several times, Mrs. Wu still verbally expressed her contempt for Yuan Xi's behavior.
But later, when Mrs. Wu's hypocritical scolding was discovered, Yuan Xi became even more aggressive. Mrs. Wu resisted symbolically, but finally gave up.
Seeing Yuan Xi scooping the medicine into his mouth with a wooden spoon, Mrs. Wu became angry and anxious, and glared at Yuan Xi.
Yuan Xi smiled shamelessly and said, "Don't worry, Madam. No one can see it."
Mrs. Wu thought to herself, this is even more troublesome!
It would be fine if there was someone else around, Yuan Xi would not act so recklessly. But now, Yuan Xi closed the door, and even if nothing happened between the two people inside, people outside wouldn't believe it!
She said angrily: "We are all people of status, please respect yourself, young master!"
Yuan Xi chuckled and said, "What identity? How come I don't know?"
"Oh, I remember now. You are my wife. When will you marry me?"
Mrs. Wu was furious: "Who promised to marry you?"
"You are such a shameless person!"
Yuan Xi sighed, "I know that Madam definitely wants to go back."
"A forced melon is not sweet. If Madam still doesn't change her mind after giving birth to the child, and if you can agree to one of my conditions, I may be able to send Madam back."
Madam Wu glared at Yuan Xi and said, "Don't try to trick me!"
"Are you so kind?"
Yuan Xi sighed, "Really? And I promise not to reveal anything about Madam here."
Mrs. Wu heard this and felt a little hopeful. "Really?"
"What conditions?"
Yuan Xi asked without hesitation: "Give another child?"
Mrs. Wu was almost angry and cried, "Are you still the ruler of a state like this?"
Yuan Xi sighed, "Madam, have you ever thought about how you would cope if you saw Bo Fu and I killing each other on the battlefield after you returned and one of us died at the hands of the other?"
"Madam, when you go back, will you help Bofu deal with me?"
Madam Wu bit her lip and said, "After I go back, I will persuade Bo Fu to be on good terms with the young master."
Yuan Xi sighed: "Is it possible?"
"From what I have heard, Bofu is under the command of Yuan Shu, right?"
"Now Lord Benchu and Yuan Shu are at war to the death. What can Bofu do to change that?"
Madam Wu said gloomily, "Doesn't the young master also obey the orders of Lord Benchu?"
After hearing this, Yuan Xi sighed, "Madam is really smart. Open your mouth!"
Mrs. Wu was in a upset mood and subconsciously opened her lips slightly, and Yuan Xi handed over the medicine spoon in his hand.
Mrs. Wu opened her mouth and drank it. This time she reacted and was so angry that her eyebrows were raised. She raised her hand and hit Yuan Xi, "You are so dishonest!"
Yuan Xi was hit and said with a smile: "Madam, you can hit me, but don't get angry, otherwise you will get a miscarriage."
Mrs. Wu hit him a few times and was about to pick up the wooden plate on the table. Yuan Xi saw that the situation was not good and quickly ran away.
Mrs. Wu looked at Yuan Xi's embarrassed back and suddenly felt much better, as if all the endless troubles were thrown behind her.
She found that the longer she spent with Yuan Xi, the younger she seemed to become, as if she had returned to the carefree state she was before she got married.
A thought came to Mrs. Wu's mind: if she had been born a dozen years later and met Yuan Xi, she would probably be happier than marrying Sun Jian, right?
She was horrified and quickly drove the thought out of her mind, secretly cursing herself for being shameless. She was already a middle-aged woman with several children, what was she thinking!
Yuan Xi ran out of the door and saw Cao Xian and Cao Jie playing happily with two girls. He did not disturb them. He was in a very good mood and went to the study to find Cai Zhaoji.
As a result, he found the study room empty, and then he slapped his head and remembered that today was the day Cai Zhaoji went to the charity school to teach.
The earliest record of women teaching can be found in the pre-Qin period. The Chuci "Ode to the Goddess" mentioned that "they shook their ornaments, rang the jade phoenix, put on their clothes, restrained their faces, looked at the female teacher, and ordered the imperial tutor."
"Ge Tan" in the Book of Songs Zhou Nan says, "Tell the teacher, tell the teacher, tell the teacher, and return."
However, female teachers were mostly professors among aristocratic women, and had no connection with common people. The things they taught were mostly moral books such as Women's Commandments, which were not very practical.
But even so, there was a gap in the basic education of children between the samurai and the common people.
You should know that the enlightenment of many scholars in their childhood was provided by their mothers, because their mothers were mostly ladies from prominent families, well-educated and well-mannered. Their knowledge and education directly determined the scholars' future study habits and moral conduct.
From the earliest female teachers to the present day, only a few have left their names. The first one whose name was recorded in history books was Ban Zhao, who participated in the compilation of the Book of Han and wrote the Book of Women in the Eastern Han Dynasty. Because her husband's surname was Cao, she was also called Lady Cao.
Ban Zhao's father Ban Biao wrote more than 60 chapters of "The Sequel to Records of the Grand Historian", and her eldest brother Ban Gu and second brother Ban Chao compiled "The Book of Han" based on this.
Later, Ban Chao gave up his pen to join the army, and Ban Gu died unjustly in prison before completing his book, leaving the most difficult Eight Tables and Astronomical Records unfinished. Later, Ban Zhao was ordered to enter the palace, and compiled the scattered chapters into a book, and added Eight Tables to the "Book of Han", completing the Astronomical Records.
It took Ban Zhao thirty years to complete the manuscript of "Han Shu". Throughout thousands of years, Ban Zhao was the only woman who participated in compiling history as a scholar.
Emperor He of Han Dynasty summoned Ban Zhao to the palace many times and asked her to teach the ladies in the harem. Ban Zhao became a palace teacher, and her teaching content was very wide, covering everything from Confucian classics to astronomy and mathematics. The empress and the nobles respectfully called Ban Zhao "Da Jia".
As the compiler of the Book of Han, many male scholars treated Ban Zhao as their disciple. Due to the difference between men and women, male disciples usually knelt outside the library to listen. One of them was named Ma Rong, who later became a great scholar in the country with thousands of disciples, one of whom was Lu Zhi.
The Han Dynasty attached great importance to the inheritance of master and apprentice and family background. Therefore, after Liu Bei and Gongsun Zan became Lu Zhi's disciples, they became famous among the gentry. It must be said that Lu Zhi's identity as a disciple played a huge role in this.
But because of this, Lu Zhi later defected to Yuan Shao, leaving Gongsun Zan and Liu Bei, who were against Yuan Shao, at a loss as to what to do. Liu Bei left Gongsun Zan, which may have been partly due to this.
Yuan Xi founded free schools in order to enlighten the people, but at this critical juncture when the country was being fought for power, he should not have been so hasty in doing so.
This kind of thing should be best implemented when the country is stable, the country is peaceful, and people are living a prosperous life.
Yuan Xi was definitely not someone who did things without expecting anything in return. The promotion of free schools at this time was a well-thought-out decision.
One is to gain fame.
Establishing free schools and enlightening the people is the act of a saint. It can echo the rumors about oneself and greatly enhance one's reputation.
The second is to train and select officials.
One of the charges for Xu Jie's murder was corruption and abuse of power. Yuan Xi personally examined the officials he promoted and found that most of them were uneducated and had bought their positions by bribing Xu Jie.
After Yuan Xi killed Xu Jie, he deposed all unqualified officials and re-selected them. Charity schools then became an important means of selecting and training officials.
The third is to use identity to suppress.
He is the founder of the free school and is the mentor and sponsor of all those who benefit from it. If these people want to betray him in the future, they should think carefully.
Yuan Xi was a man who would not do anything without profit. He had already made up his mind. He planned that the charity school would not only teach men, but also women. With this two-pronged approach, no one could escape from his control.
He established a charity school and appointed Cai Zhaoji as the main teacher to impart basic knowledge to women of different status so that they could teach their children and grandchildren after they got married, thus planting a seed of hope that would blossom everywhere in the future.
What it covers is not limited to Confucian classics, but is a set of miscellaneous books compiled by Yuan Xi and Cai Zhaoji by streamlining various types of knowledge, covering everything from basic literacy to textile tips, from hygiene habits to cooking and first aid for illnesses.
Many things in it are actually in conflict with orthodox Confucian classics. The reason why Yuan Xi dared to teach these things was thanks to the chaos in the world at that time, when rituals and music were in decline and no one would care what was taught in Youzhou's charity school.
This is a great time to establish new rules!
Therefore, a time of great chaos is also a time of great contention, filled with opportunities and challenges.
This thing may not have obvious effects for several years, but the sooner you do it, the sooner you will reap the rewards. If this model is successful and promoted throughout the world in the future, Cai Zhaoji, Hua Tuo and others will also be remembered in history, right?
He closed the door of the study and returned to the room, only to find Zhen Mi sitting on the couch in front of the window with some accounts spread out in front of her. She was clattering on an abacus with one hand and writing something on a bamboo slip with a brush in the other.
She was so focused at the moment that she didn't even notice Yuan Xi coming in.
When Yuan Xi saw Zhen Mi's five fingers flying nimbly, he couldn't help but think of certain night scenes, and thought that Zhen Mi was quite talented in this area.
While Zhen Mi was calculating on the abacus, she was rubbing her equally white forehead with her slender jade fingers. It was obvious that she was thinking about something that was quite taxing.
Yuan Xi didn't want to disturb her, so he waited for Zhen Mi to count for a quarter of an hour and then stopped, then he said, "Don't tire yourself out. Go out and exercise when you have time."
Zhen Mi then woke up and smiled, "My husband is here, so I'm fine."
She pointed at Cao Xian and others outside the window and said with a smile, "They are young, so they have no concerns about practicing the Five Animals Exercises."
"As the legal wife, if I openly turn over and bow my head, I am afraid that others will criticize my husband's family style, so I can only practice boxing secretly in the room."
After hearing this, Yuan Xi smiled and said, "It's really difficult for you."
"What do you mean?"
Zhen Mi replied: "I am calculating the amount of iron ore transported to Jicheng."
"My husband proposed to test a new steel forging method. In the past month, the Zhen family has transported a large amount of iron ore from Yuyang to Jicheng via the trade route. I am calculating how much manpower and time are needed to smelt and forge it."
After hearing this, Yuan Xi said, "It just so happens that I'm going to go out and see if there's any progress on this new law."
Seeing Zhen Mi eager to try, he said, "You have just recovered from your illness, and the air in the blacksmith shop is not good. Wait for a while before going out."
After hearing this, Zhen Mi could only nod, feeling quite regretful.