"Mother, this egg is so fragrant."
Bao'er said to his mother, who had just returned with the rice.
"If it's fragrant, eat more. If it's not enough, my mother will give you this one."
Bao'er's mother gave her son the egg in her hand.
"Bao'er doesn't want it, keep it for tonight, okay, Mother?"
"Okay, okay, Bao'er, you're so good."
Bao'er's mother held the porridge bowl in one hand and stroked her son's hair tenderly with the other. Both mother and son smiled happily.
After the meal, everyone voluntarily returned their bowls. Bao'er's mother, along with Bao'er and several other women, helped wash the dishes.
Among the refugees, some elderly people walked up to Fang Er and knelt down straight.
"Thank you, young master, for the congee!"
The elders kowtowed to the ground, catching Fang Er off guard.
"Quickly, get up. Zhuzi, help them up."
Fang Er quickly stepped forward to help them.
"My elders, what are your plans now?"
"Who knows? It's just a pity for these children, who have to suffer with us. We can't go back home; if we go back, we'll just starve to death. The government can't provide enough grain for disaster relief. Heaven knows what to do!"
An old man pounded his chest and stamped his feet, speaking to Fang Er, tears streaming down his face.
"Since that's the case, I have an idea. I wonder what you all think?"
Fang Er thought for a moment and then said.
"Please speak, young master. As long as we can live, we'll do anything you ask!"
When the old men heard that Fang Er had an idea, they immediately looked at him with expectation.
"You have nowhere else to go, so why not stay in Fangjia Village? There are still some empty houses in the village. You can stay there for now, and once your bodies recover, you can build new houses. The young and strong can work in my Fang manor. You'll be provided with three meals a day and a monthly salary, which should be enough to support your families. How about it?"
Fang Er said.
These people were all from nearby villages and were within the Yunmen Township. Since he had promised the magistrate of Wannian County, he had to keep his word.
More hands make light work. Fang Er's workshop was planned to be very large, and it needed people to operate it and to earn money to save more people.
"Does the young master truly intend to take in us useless people?"
The old man asked Fang Er in disbelief.
"What do you mean by useless people? It's just that you've been in the wrong place. My family's business is very large, and we need a lot of people. If you stay, you'll be helping me. As long as you can work, I guarantee you won't starve."
Fang Er patted his chest and promised.
The old men trembled with excitement. Their sons and grandsons were among these people; almost their entire families had come together.
Fang Er's willingness to take them in was a great kindness to them.
The grace of saving a life is like a rebirth.
One old man stayed to talk with Fang Er, while the others went to inform their families that they could stay. After a while, everyone learned that Fangjia Village was willing to keep them, and the treatment offered by Fang Er was beyond their wildest dreams.
The crowd gathered around Fang Er.
When everyone had gathered, the old man led them and knelt down again.
"Thank you, Young Master Fang. The old and young of Zhangjia Village are willing to work like oxen and horses for you to repay your kindness in saving our lives!"
The old man kowtowed to Fang Er. When he raised his head, his forehead was already bleeding.
The old man ignored the blood flowing from his forehead and said loudly, word by word.
The others also knelt down at the same time and kowtowed to Fang Er.
"We are willing to work like oxen and horses for you to repay your kindness in saving our lives!"
Fang Er became a little agitated.
These people were too quick to kneel, which made him uncomfortable.
"Everyone, get up! No more kneeling casually! My Fangjia Village has no such rules. If you must kneel, only kneel to Heaven, Earth, parents, and teachers. Others are not worthy of your kneeling! If anyone kneels casually again, don't blame me for driving them out."
Fang Er said to the people kneeling on the ground.
After everyone got up, Fang Er asked Zhuzi to lead them to the empty houses in the village to settle them.
Tang Chu, due to the continuous wars and military conflicts, almost every village had a large number of empty houses, and Fangjia Village was no exception.
Due to the tight schedule, Fang Er only knew that they were from Zhangjia Village, five li to the south, and knew nothing else. Therefore, when asking Zhuzi to settle them, he also asked him to gather information about these people to facilitate their future work arrangements.
"Young master, they are thirteen households, with forty-seven people. There are eighteen able-bodied men, and the rest are old, weak, women, and children. How do you plan to arrange them?"
After Zhuzi returned, he found Fang Er, who was sitting in the courtyard enjoying a massage from Xiao Qing, and reported the situation of the Zhangjia villagers.
"Those who can work should be arranged in the workshop to assist the artisans. As for the children, forget it. By the way, how many children are there in our village?"
Speaking of children, Fang Er thought of something.
He came from later generations and deeply understood the importance of education. He often saw the children in the village doing nothing but playing, which was a waste of precious time.
"Replying to the young master, we haven't counted the children in the village, but there should be about twenty, and it seems like almost every family has them."
Zhuzi said, scratching his head uncertainly.
"Then find a large house in the village. If there isn't one suitable, ask the workshop to send some artisans to build one and set up a school to teach them to read."
"It's not a solution for them to be idle all day. Go and announce it. Those who are idle should help. They are their own children, so they should be very enthusiastic."
Fang Er said.
Although he himself had the skill to support himself, if the workshop became truly busy later, he would definitely not be able to manage it alone. Taking this opportunity to accept some disciples would be good.
When Zhuzi conveyed Fang Er's intentions throughout the village.
The entire village was ignited!
To study?
That was a privilege reserved for the wealthy.
It was true that the poor practiced literature and the rich practiced martial arts.
But if you don't even have money to buy paper and brushes, how can you study!
Writing on the sand with a branch? It's possible, but without books, what can you learn!
Life in Fangjia Village now had hope, and life was getting better day by day. Fang Er was also generous. Almost every family had someone in the Fang Family Guard, and in the past month, they had received over ten taels of silver, making them dream happily. Who would have dared to imagine such a life in the past?
Now, to hear that a school was going to be built made them even happier, and they were happy for their children.
"Of all things, only reading is noble" was said by Wang Dewen of the Northern Song Dynasty, but knowledge has always been the way for impoverished families to get ahead.
Although the Tang Dynasty still mainly relied on the recommendation system, with knowledge, even becoming a scribe was a step forward.
Even if they couldn't become scribes, doing small businesses would prevent them from being cheated due to miscalculations.