My Wife is Unbeatable in the Whole World, Touch Me If You Dare!

It's truly unexpected that the Chen Family, after eighteen generations of peasants, could actually produce an Advanced Scholar.

Once his son becomes an official, he can buy more land without paying taxes and no longer have to act according to the whims of those officials.

Perhaps, they will have to act according to his wishes instead.

At this moment, a figure walked in from outside, and Chen Tieniu showed a pleased expression, getting up to say, "You're back. How was today at the academy? No one bullied you, right?"

The young man in Confucian attire said, "Father, don't worry unnecessarily. The academy has its own rules, and no one dares to bully others casually."

Chen Tieniu smiled and said, "That's good, that's good..."

Frankly speaking, the Chen Family just had a little bit of money.

This little bit of money was only relative to ordinary people.

Many of those students in the academy came from families that were both powerful and wealthy, not something the Chen Family could provoke.

Even though the court's tax reform wasn't great, the changes in the law were indeed good.

Now, the scions of those prominent families no longer dare to bully people casually, and us small traders rarely experience dignity.

He patted his son's shoulder and said, "Wash your hands and get ready for dinner."

The Chen Family's dinner was very sumptuous; for the three of them, there were over ten dishes including chicken, duck, fish, and meat.

During the meal, the young man looked at Chen Tieniu and said, "By the way, father, you need to prepare one thousand taels of silver for me; I need it tomorrow."

Chen Tieniu was taken aback and asked, "What do you need so much silver for?"

Though the Chen Family had money, one thousand taels of silver was not a small amount.

The young man explained, "Li Nuo, the Six Subjects' Scholar, started an Imperial Examination tutoring class. Registration requires one thousand taels of silver, and I've passed the exam today. For just one thousand taels of silver, the Six Subjects' Scholar will personally guide me for five days..."

Chen Tieniu said in disbelief, "So expensive?"

Because he often got bullied by local officials in business dealings before and was extorted, at that time, he vowed that the descendants of the Chen Family must pursue officialdom in the future.

Therefore, from his son's early age, he spent heavy funds to cultivate him, hiring many excellent teachers for this purpose. However, those teachers at most charged several taels to several dozens of taels; one thousand taels for just five days, isn't that just daylight robbery?

The young man said, "Father, you don't understand. That's the Six Subjects' Scholar. If I can get his guidance, I'll have a better chance at being the top scholar this year. Moreover, one thousand taels is considered cheap. For those disciples of the Great Families, five days cost them ten thousand taels..."

"Top Scholar?"

If his son could become the Top Scholar, let alone one thousand taels, he'd be willing to give up all his possessions, and Chen Tieniu's eyes lit up. With great joy, he said, "Good, good, I'll give it to you later. This money has to be spent, this money has to be spent..."

With a smile on his face, he said, "Once you become an official, our family's land won't need to be taxed, and we can buy more land, hire more tenants, open more shops, earn more silver, and expand the glory of our Chen Family..."

The young man nodded and said, "Rest assured, father, I'll definitely work hard and not let this money go to waste..."

...

The location where Li Nuo, the Six Subjects' Scholar, taught was inside an Imperial Examination Hall in Chang'an.

The Four Great Academy in Chang'an, along with some small academies, had a total of five hundred people successfully registered.

The registration far exceeded five thousand people, but he only accepted five hundred.

These five hundred were all the cream of the crop among the Chang'an scholars.

The fees charged to everyone were not uniform. For the scholars from poor families, he didn't take a single coin, but for those from the Great Families, he charged a colossal fee of ten thousand taels.

This naturally caused some dissatisfaction, but their dissatisfaction had no impact.

The class was conducted at will; those unwilling to attend naturally didn't need to pay that fee.

However, the scions of the powerful families, who had to pay a high fee, ultimately paid the full tuition honestly.

Pay, and they only lose ten thousand taels.

Don't pay, and if their position were snatched by others, or if the seventh rank descended to the eighth, and the eighth to the ninth, the loss would be far more than ten thousand taels.

Faced with such unfairness, they could only accept it begrudgingly.

Several days later.

Chen Mansion.

Chen Tieniu couldn't wait to ask his returning son, "How did the teacher's lessons go?"

Chen Qi's face still carried a trace of reverence as he nodded and said, "The teacher taught very well. In today's lesson, I gained a lot. I believe my calligraphy and painting skills can reach a new level before the Imperial Examination..."

He originally thought that as a Six Subjects' Scholar, the teacher would merely be at the same level as the academy instructors.

Seeing it firsthand today, only then did he realize how naive his thoughts were.

The academy's instructors were like fireflies compared to the bright moon, streams compared to the vast sea when compared to him.

This thousand taels was the most worthwhile thousand taels he had ever spent in his life.

On Chen Tieniu's weathered face also appeared a look of satisfaction. Indeed, the Chen Family's ancestors' graves were smoking with luck; their first scholar who could make it to the golden list. If he became the Top Scholar, even if just for a single subject, he could stand proudly before the ancestors when he died.

Lately, those prominent families had begun frequent visits, hoping to marry into the Chen Family; the Chen Family was about to achieve great things...

Chen Qi returned to his room and had just sat down by the desk when a maid came in, knelt beside him, and grabbed his arm, saying, "Young master, your arms must be tired from your writing and painting today. Let me massage them for you..."

In the past, Chen Qi would have closed his eyes to enjoy it.

But today, seeing the maid kneeling there and earnestly massaging his arm, an inexplicable unrest surged in his heart, making it hard to enjoy everything with peace of mind.

He reached out and grabbed the young girl's wrist, saying, "No need, I have to read later, go about your business."

The young girl nodded obediently, about to leave when Chen Qi suddenly asked, "Ping'er, how did you come to serve as a maid in my house?"

The girl, hearing this, was slightly stunned, her gaze gradually turning somber, and said in a low voice, "That year, the harvest was bad. My parents couldn't pay the rent to the landlord, so they sold me to a broker to exchange for silver to offset the rent. Later, the master bought me back from the broker..."

Chen Qi nodded and said, "I see, you can go about your work."

The young girl respectfully said, "Yes, young master."

Watching the young girl's departing figure, Chen Qi was deep in thought.

The sages said that the significance of Confucianism's existence is to let all people in the world live a good life.

Being a servant or maid, indignantly humbling oneself, serving others to secure a living, does this count as living a good life?

To be honest, they studied Confucian classics just to cope with the Imperial Examination, while those Confucian officials would sacrifice themselves for reforms; he admired them but did not agree.

The teacher said today, when poor, care for oneself; when successful, bring prosperity to the world.

This provoked some deep reflection in him.

Born into a wealthy family, enjoying wealth from a young age, his home was filled with hidden silver and storerooms piled with grain, but how much silver could he use, and how much food could he eat?

Every meal at home had more than a dozen dishes, and the leftovers discarded daily were by the barrel.

Yet, on the streets of Chang'an, many beggars still begged.

In Daxia, wealthy families like the Chen Family were numerous, and there were even noble families whose wealth could rival a nation. A small part of these people occupied large tracts of land, leaving numerous common people without land to farm, forced to the point of selling their children...

Is this really right?