In years of famine and drought, their village even rejected fatty meat.

Chapter 685 Observations (23)

Li Mingyuan shook his head, pulling himself out of his jumbled thoughts, and said kindly to Chen Fei, "Xiao Fei, may I take Grandpa Li into the school for a look?"

"of course can."

Chen Fei nodded without hesitation, then turned and led Li Mingyuan and the others into the school.

The school in Chenjia Village was arguably the largest building Li Mingyuan had seen since entering the village.

Because of the large population and limited land in Chenjia Village, houses are generally small and often multi-story buildings to increase land utilization and accommodate more people.

This also explains why the houses Li Mingyuan saw along the way were generally small in size, except for the school in front of him, which not only occupied a huge area but also looked quite exquisite, making people feel at a glance the importance that Chenjia Village attached to education.

Stepping through the gate, the first thing you see is the scenery inside the school. Chen Fei pointed to the flowers and plants nearby and introduced them to Li Mingyuan and the other two: "This is the front yard of the school, but we prefer to call it the garden. During breaks, the students in the school like to play here."

After saying that, Chen Fei led the three of them through the garden and into a classroom.

"This is our usual classroom."

Chen Fei pointed to the classroom and said.

Li Mingyuan stepped into the classroom, looked at the neatly arranged desks and chairs, and at the bright and clean environment inside, and nodded approvingly.

The environment inside Chenjia Village School was no less than that of many official schools that Li Mingyuan had seen, and perhaps even better.

Children will surely learn more by reading in such an environment.

Chen Fei continued to lead Li Mingyuan and the other two to look around the school. As they visited each classroom, Li Mingyuan felt increasingly emotional.

Based on the number of teachers in the school, he roughly calculated the number of students in Chenjia Village School to be around 3000.

What does it mean to have a school with 3000 students?

It's no exaggeration to say that even Li Mingyuan, whose footprints have covered all of China, has never seen a school of such a large scale and with such a large number of students.

As far as Li Mingyuan knew, education at Chenjia Village School was free. Providing free education for so many children was truly a generous gesture from Chenjia Village!

Li Mingyuan deeply understands the importance of education. He even fantasized about what he should do after becoming a scholar. In Li Mingyuan's view, children are the hope of a country and a nation. Therefore, he hopes to become a teacher after becoming a scholar, to contribute to the education of Xia Kingdom, to teach children to read, and to guide them to become pillars of the country.

Unfortunately, things didn't go as planned, and his ambitions were not fulfilled. His plans for the future after retiring from officialdom naturally became empty talk.

"Xiao Fei?"

Just then, a voice came from their side. They turned around and saw a middle-aged man in a scholar's robe standing outside a school, looking at Chen Fei with surprise: "School's out, why aren't you home yet?"

"Chief of the mountain."

Chen Fei recognized the newcomer. This person was none other than Li Zheng, the only scholar in Chenjia Village back then. Of course, that was his former identity. Now, he was the headmaster of Chenjia Village School, in charge of dozens of teachers and three thousand students.

"Ah."

Li Zheng nodded slightly, looking warily at Li Mingyuan and Li Qiao, and asked, "Who are you people?"

"I am Li Mingyuan."

"Li Qiao".

Li Mingyuan and Li Qiao naturally noticed the wariness in Li Zheng's eyes, but they still calmly gave their names.

Li Zheng clearly mistook them for malicious human traffickers or other bad people, but they had nothing to hide.

"Li Mingyuan!"

Li Zheng's body trembled, his pupils contracted, and he stared intently at Li Mingyuan, saying incredulously, "You are...Prime Minister Li?"

"you know me?"

Li Mingyuan asked in surprise. He, Li Mingyuan, was indeed quite famous in Kyushu, but in this Chenjia Village, there were very few people who could recognize Li Xiang just by hearing his name.

"Prime Minister Li is famous throughout the land, how could I not know him!"

A burning light suddenly flashed in Li Zheng's eyes, as if he had seen his idol.

In fact, Li Mingyuan was indeed Li Zheng's idol.

Even when he was young, Li Mingyuan's reputation had spread throughout Qingzhou, and he was a role model for countless poor students, including Li Zheng.

"Student Li Zheng greets Prime Minister Li."

Li Zheng stepped forward with a face full of surprise and bowed, even with the respect due to a disciple. He had never met Li Mingyuan, but had received kindness from him.

When he was young, his family was very poor, and he couldn't even afford to go to school or have enough to eat.

It was Li Mingyuan's series of policies to benefit the people when he governed Qingzhou that changed his family's impoverished situation. It was also the school that Li Mingyuan opened in Qingzhou that gave him the opportunity to study.

The so-called Huimin School was a policy formulated by Li Mingyuan during his administration of Qingzhou. Simply put, it meant that the government would set up schools and provide books, writing materials, and paper free of charge for children from families who could not afford to go to school.

Li Zheng was one of the poor people who received free education at the Huimin School.

"No need to be polite."

Li Mingyuan helped Li Zheng up with both hands, his eyes showing relief.

Seeing the scholars in Chenjia Village who had benefited from the policies he had formulated undoubtedly made him extremely happy.

"Li Zheng, are you now the headmaster of the Chenjia Village School?" Li Mingyuan asked curiously.

"Exactly."

Li Zheng nodded and said modestly, "I am grateful to Brother Dao for valuing this school and entrusting it to the students for management."

"The fact that Chen Dao entrusted this school to you shows that you are capable."

"You flatter me, Prime Minister Li. I am but a student of limited knowledge and learning, and am not even half as good as you."

After a few words of modesty, Li Zheng said, "Prime Minister Li, how about I show you around the Chen Family Village School?"

From the moment he learned Li Mingyuan's identity, Li Zheng roughly knew Li Mingyuan's purpose in coming.

Li Xiang has always valued education, so seeing the Chenjia Village School naturally aroused his curiosity.

"Can!"

Therefore, the person leading Li Mingyuan changed from Chen Fei to Li Zheng.

As Li Zheng helped Li Mingyuan inside, he introduced the school to him: "Chencun School currently has three thousand students, eighty teachers, and thirty-five classrooms..."

Li Zheng was clearly very familiar with the situation of Chenjia Village School, reciting the numbers one by one as if they were his own treasures.

Li Mingyuan listened quietly, then suddenly asked, "Where did the teachers at Chenjia Village School come from?"

Upon hearing this, Li Zheng paused for a moment before replying, "To be honest, Prime Minister Li, most of the teachers in Chenjia Village are impoverished scholars."

What does it mean to be down on one's luck as a scholar?

Simply put, they are scholars who have no official rank and can only struggle to make a living.