I traveled through time, starting with two acres of land and a dog

His father said a lot in one breath, and Du Chenyu did not interrupt. He knew that by the end of November, all provinces in the country would become independent, and the Qing Dynasty would fall from its pedestal within a month or two. He could not remember the exact time, and the era of war among the Beiyang warlords would begin. In a great era, a dictator Yuan Shikai and a revolutionary Sun Yat-sen took turns to take the stage in the north and the south. Unfortunately, both of them had opportunities to unify China and end the chaos, but they both lived long. They could only leave behind a fragmented Republic of China, which allowed the Japanese to take advantage of the situation and trample on China's rivers and mountains.

Let's get back to the point. After watching his father finish, he said, "In this great era, we must strengthen our strength. Every time a dynasty changes, countless people are buried with it. Bones are scattered in the wild, and no roosters crow for thousands of miles. Survival is the key. Don't care about money and land. If people survive and land is lost, both people and land are preserved. If land is preserved and people are lost, both people and land are lost." Du Chenyu repeated the famous entrepreneurial quote of later generations in advance.

“If the people survive but the land is lost, both the people and the land remain; if the land survives but the people are lost, both the people and the land are lost,” my father said to himself. This sentence does make sense.

"What do you think?" asked the father.

"I don't have any specific ideas at the moment. Mrs. Zhang has passed away. After Gouwazi finishes the seven-day mourning period, you can take him in to live with us, and you can also adopt him as your adopted son. Although it will increase the burden by adding two mouths to feed, we can still afford it at the moment. If we can't afford to support more, we'll talk about it later. Also, I'm thinking of setting up a free night school in the evening. We'll first select a few children from poor families who are about 10 years old from Class and teach them to read for free. It'll be every day from dusk to night for about an hour." Du Chenyu said, sitting on a bamboo chair, counting on his toes.

"Of course, you have to understand that this kind of thing may not have obvious effects, but it can unite people and win over people's hearts. The concept of "once a teacher, always a father" is deeply rooted in people's hearts," Du Chenyu continued.

My father picked up the teacup, took a sip of water, and thought for a moment.

"It is feasible, but there is no precedent. Paying money for education is a natural thing, and I'm afraid of criticism," said my father doubtfully.

"The revolutionaries dared to overthrow the Qing Dynasty, but you are still afraid of criticism and wait for wealth to come to you. Is that possible? Besides, you can give it a try. If it doesn't work, forget it." Du Chenyu stood up and said.

"Okay, let's do it this way. Nothing can be accomplished if we hesitate. I will go to Mrs. Zhang's house right now to help and bury her as soon as possible." My father stood up, grabbed a steamed bun in his hand, and then went outside to hand over matters to my mother and second uncle.

Du Chenyu walked alone to the stone beside the yard in the moonlight outside and sat on it, looking at the autumn Milky Way, which was deep and bright, and a crescent moon was showing the tip of a sickle. He would be one year old in a month, and under the care of the whole family, he was growing up healthily. Thinking of his parents and Niuniu in the future, a feeling of loneliness arose spontaneously, and tears flowed down his face unconsciously.

"Brother, brother, what are you looking at? I miss mother and brother." At this time, little Yaya had woken up and walked to the front without knowing when.

"Sister Yaya, I don't know where your mother went. She must have gone to make money. You can ask your father," Du Chenyu said.

My father came out of the house, lit a bamboo torch, and prepared to go to Mrs. Zhang's house. He walked up to Yaya and touched her forehead. She no longer had a fever. "Yaya, come back with me. You need to stay at home with your mother and brother at this time."

"Okay, Uncle Du, little brother, I'm going back now. I'll come play with you later." She said, holding his hand.

Looking at their backs as they left, it seemed that little Yaya didn't know that her mother had passed away. At noon, she was still sleeping due to a fever and had no idea what had happened.

Time passed while Du Chenyu was playing with Xiao Heizi. Four days later, Mrs. Zhang had been buried and Grandpa had returned.

The new thatched house has been covered with bamboo leaves and thatch, and it is ready for living. Tonight, we are going to start the night class. My father prepared a large wooden board, which was made of three pieces spliced ​​together and stood upright. He wrote on it with black charcoal. After writing on this side, he wrote on the back side. After washing it, he used it again the next day. Two bamboo torches were placed on both sides for lighting. The students included Li Long, He Cunyi, Hu Haisheng (Hu Laosi), Hu Guisheng (Hu Laowu), Zhang Yuxi (Zhang Gou Wa), Zhang Yaya (Zhang Sao Xiao Yatou), and several 10-year-old children from neighboring families. They used a wooden board as a table below. Some had paper and pens, and some used a bamboo stick to write on the ground. Although they were of different ages, these children had almost never been to school, and they still started learning from the Three Character Classic today.

"When a man is born, his nature is good. Habits are similar, but natures are different..." Everyone learned well. After all, it was rare for the children of tenants and refugees to go to school in the Qing Dynasty. Generally speaking, my father was a competent teacher, teaching them how to write. He watched and learned from the side. Hu Laosi had a better foundation, so he also helped as a teacher and taught everyone how to write.

Du Chenyu watched everyone writing and drawing. To be honest, the older ones were not paying enough attention. He was thinking about how to educate them ideologically and make them work hard. Zhang Ergou was the most serious one. The death of her mother was a big blow to her. She wanted to make a name for herself and avenge her parents.

After studying for about an hour, he asked his mother to cook a pot of sweet potato and corn porridge to warm everyone up. All the students' eyes lit up. They could not imagine having a free meal. Then, he asked his father to tell everyone that starting tomorrow, the porridge would be limited. Those who did not study well and could not recite, the last two, would not be provided with porridge and would be responsible for washing the blackboard. Everyone was only concerned with eating and did not take their father's last warning to heart.

The next day, Du Chenyu was thinking at home. Those who came to study yesterday were very willing to study and they trusted his family. He estimated that those kids would go back and tell everyone that there was porridge in the evening. It was estimated that more people would come tonight and tomorrow night. It seemed that an assessment was needed. At most, four or five people who were able to study and in good health would be selected.

His father got out of school early in the afternoon, and he told him about the assessment plan. They couldn't accept too many people as they couldn't afford it financially at the moment. It would take half a bowl of grain to cook porridge for 10 people every day. He also planned to give some military training to those security team members.

"You know military training, but no one in our mountain area knows martial arts. You can't run or jump, so how can you train?" the father asked.

"I don't know how to do other things and I can't demonstrate them, but I can do some simple movements to increase my physical strength. Several people in the security team are too thin and lack physical strength. It was quite strenuous for five of us to climb a beam weighing more than 300 kilograms that day. But training will increase our food rations," he said.

"The food ration has to be increased again. My ancestors, there are almost ten mouths to feed in our family, and we need to spend nearly two loads of grain a month, which is worth three or four taels of silver. Although we have a warehouse of grain, that is all our family property, and we still owe twenty oceans. Although the price of grain is rising, there is not much profit at the moment," said the father, patting his forehead and frowning.

"At present, we are living off the land and the wheat will have to wait until next spring to be harvested," the father continued.

"I have also considered these. In the future, only 13 or 14 people will be allowed to attend the night school. We will use half a bowl of cornmeal to make porridge. The top 10 students with excellent performance will be rewarded with porridge. The armored team members will be given an extra half bowl of cornmeal to make steamed bread as a snack so that they can train. We will start tonight. I have also found a way to solve the food problem." He raised his little fist and said.

"What can we do? You won't go and rob, will you? Mind your own business. I'll do as you say for now," the father said with some doubt, and then went to prepare for the night school.

As expected, there were 5 more kids today, all of them were related to me. My father also explained the rules clearly, and the first 10 students would have free porridge. Then the class started. My concentration had obviously improved a lot today, and my father also did some ideological education before class, and first talked about the benefits of learning. The class started when the sun was setting. After an hour, around 8 o'clock in the evening, school was over. The first 10 students were selected to have porridge, and they all went home with torches. Fortunately, those armored team members did not lose face and all passed the assessment.

Du Chenyu asked Lao Si to carry him on his back and act as his messenger, and began to prepare to train them. Each person was given a small steamed bun as an extra meal, and after eating, they lined up in a row according to Li Long, He Cunyi, Hu Lao Wu (Hu Guisheng), and Zhang Gou Wa. The official name was the Armor Team.

Hu Laosi first gave a detailed explanation of the training discipline:

No one is allowed to tell anyone about the training, including parents and brothers. Violators will be expelled, beaten with 20 strokes of the cane, and fined 20 dollars. They are the irreconcilable enemies of the armor team.

You are not allowed to tell anyone about the young master. Violators will be punished according to the first rule.

Obey orders, obey orders, obey orders, and those who disobey orders will be expelled;

You can quit the armor team freely, but you cannot violate the first and second rules;

Hu Laosi announced the end and began the training. They learned the military posture, two high-leg exercises, and three push-ups. Du Chenyu also joined the team to train together. He sat on a bamboo chair to supervise. After half an hour, they did two rounds and several people were exhausted and sat on the ground. He thought there was no need to rush and take it slow, after all, they still had to work during the day, and then went back to the house to rest.

Two days later, the thatched house was completed. In the afternoon, we sat on the ground to rest and chat. At this time, an old man came up from the beam, leaning on a black bamboo stick with a pipe in his mouth. When we got closer, we saw that it was the rich man Ma.

"Oh, Brother Du is building a new house, and Xiucai has been promoted. Now the new house has been completed. It's really a double happiness. Congratulations," Boss Ma said with a smile as he walked to the edge of the yard, and bowed with his fists.

“Brother Ma, what brings you here? I’m taking advantage of your good wishes to build two thatched huts, which are nothing compared to the high walls and courtyard of your Ma family,” said the grandfather, standing up and laughing.

"No, no, we are just a small farm family. This clerk has also returned. According to him, the school plans to continue to use him. He also knows a few capable friends. They are also planning to burn a few kilns of bricks and tiles and expand the yard to entertain friends." Boss Ma found a piece of wood to sit on, shook the ashes out of his pipe vigorously, and kept showing off.

It seems that the weasel has no good intention in paying a New Year's visit to the chicken. Du Chenyu was listening to their conversation carefully.

"Congratulations, it's a blessing in disguise for the clerk. It's a great joy and we should celebrate!" Grandpa responded casually.

"Alas, our family is in a difficult situation now. We have spent a lot of money on the clerk's affairs, and we are almost broke. The clerk was very dissatisfied to see that I rented out such a large piece of land at such a low price, and he blamed me severely. So I shamelessly come to ask Brother Du for help. The scholar is not at home, so when he comes back, you can discuss with him to see if the rent can be increased to solve my family's difficulties," said Boss Ma with a pitiful look.

Zhang Gou Wa, sitting behind Li Long, tightly grasped the axe in his hand, and looked at Boss Ma viciously. Listening to their conversation, he finally realized that Boss Ma's usual style was finally used again. Raising the rent, raising the rent, that was his style. Unfortunately, he met someone he shouldn't mess with. He lay in Hu Lao Si's arms and whispered: "Brother Si, go back to the house!"

Hu Laosi carried him into the house and walked into the inner room: "Young master, please tell me what to do."

"Fourth brother, when you go out, do this..." After Du Chenyu finished making the arrangements, Hu Laosi continued to carry him out.

Grandpa and Boss Ma were still arguing with each other, and they were no longer so polite, and the tension was growing stronger and stronger.

"Boss Ma, do you still have any shame? The land lease agreement is written here in black and white, signed and sealed. You are a half-buried man, and your words are as nonsense as farts. You don't go to a brothel and you are a whore with integrity!" Hu Laosi put Du Chenyu on a bamboo chair, walked up to Boss Ma, and shouted at him.