Back In Time (The Reincarnation of the Cruel Concubine)
The same book
The heartwarming encounter continued until the next day, when Wu Li Mei's mother looked very fond of her. The mother asked for a special time to spend with her this morning, Liu Yang Li said that she wanted to remind Wu Li Mei of her childhood memories. And this was where the great concubine was, in a pavilion that was still very well preserved even though there were no inhabitants, the pavilion used to belong to Wu Li Mei from childhood to adolescence.
The Hang Imperial Palace was much larger than his palace, and this pavilion was also much more beautiful, there were many gardens and shelves full of books. One of the most interesting is the books of herbal plants and healing techniques on the pavilion shelf, apparently the owner of the body has loved the science of medicine since childhood. The book became his proof, some were obsolete and were old books that were not written anymore, he knew because he had bought books with Physician Zhong. The beautiful woman's hand grabbed a large, worn-looking book, the sheet turned yellow and as the book opened, the distinctive aroma of the old book was stinging. It must have been a long time since it was opened again.
“Do I like medical science, Mom?”
Liu Yang Li turned his head quickly, he approached the princess who was standing by the bookshelf. “Sweetie, long time ago you liked books on herbs and medicine. More precisely you really like to read books, Mei-mei.”
“Really?” wu Li Mei asked in surprise, “But don't princesses usually practice skills like embroidery, knitting, or lute playing?”
“You're different, Mei-may. You are not the same as the other imperial princesses. Even with your brothers you are very different. In the past, you were much closer to the late Emperor Wu Ming Hao, so he taught you a lot to read and learn the skills of a scholar instead of knitting and embroidery.” Liu Yang Li looked up at the time when the youngest princess was still very small, the memories with Wu Li Mei felt much more memorable because she was the youngest dearest.
Liu Yang Li smiled gently as he rubbed the princess' fine mane, “Emperor Wu Ming Hao taught you a lot about medicine and governance, so that you grow into a figure full of ambition and thirst for science.”
“Emperor Wu Ming Hao?”
“Yes, he is your grandfather, the wise former emperor. The emperor is the one you respect and miss the most, to the extent that you name your son by his name. Don't you remember it?”
Wu Li Mei shook her head wryly, if the emperor was a figure who took a big role in the formation of his nature and mindset, there should be few memories left. Unfortunately nothing at all.
“What's Mei-may, later we will visit her resting place together. He must miss you too.”
Wu Li Mei nodded and looked back at the books on the shelf, it would be great if only he could bring all these books back to his pavilion. There must be a lot of knowledge that he will get from the books, moreover there are many books about the treatment of this dynasty era that will be useful for him. Wu Li Mei began to think of many ways, why couldn't he, wasn't he very wealthy. But it doesn't seem like everything is going to be brought with it, just a few of the important ones. His steps continued to walk around the shelves containing the neatly arranged book.
Until the step of the concubine stopped in one book that is quite familiar, he seemed to have seen it but somewhere. Wu Li Mei grabbed it, and he rounded his eyes instantly as he read the title. Demi god who was in the sky, Wu Li Mei to the point of not blinking looked at him. This was a book similar to the one taken by Yang Jia Li, a book about the manufacture of poison and poisonous herbs. Some of the other books he had piled up with him were also important books on the manufacture of antidotes, truly this was a miracle. The grand concubine grabbed him and kept him at the table. “Emm... ma'am, may I bring some collections of this book?” wu Li Mei asked as she pointed at the pile of books.
The mother turned her head and nodded without hesitation, “Of course you can, all this is yours Mei-mei. You may take it or give it to the palace library only, some time ago I thought to transfer it to the palace library or the people's library.”
“People's library?” wu Li Mei asked quickly.
“Does such a thing exist, ma'am? I mean can people... read?”
Liu Yang Li chuckled, the twilight-aged woman smiled until the wrinkles around her eyes were clearly imprinted. “Of course Mei-may, for the nobility of course they can read and write. But for ordinary people, they are not illiterate even though they are not very literate. The emperor gave the people education in reading and writing, because the empire realized the importance of reading and writing to support people's lives for the better.”
Wu Li Mei was quite impressed by the statement, education is indeed very important for a people. And one of the steps is to read and write, if people can read and write, of course everything will be better. Wu Li Mei became curious about the joints of life in this country in greater depth, maybe next time he would ask the emperor to accompany him around. Emperors should know and learn from this great land, if a good system of government could run in the Ming Land as well. It's gonna be great.
“Bu, how is the education system here?” wu Li Mei asked, the woman began to put her book back and leave all attention to the mother. They sat in the courtyard of the pavilion enjoying the cool breeze and the gurgling of the pool water.
“Emm... I'm not sure I know much about it, maybe you can ask your father. But as far as I know, the empire made schools for children to read and write, so that as they grow up they are not illiterate.”
“Is it like school?”
“School?” Liu Yang Li frowned, “Is it like a reading and writing center?” tanyakanya.
Wu Li Mei nodded, “Ya, the center of obtaining education.”
“I think like that is also in this country, in every district of the emperor built a special hall in charge of teaching children or adults who want to be able to read and write for free, no charge at all. But the condition is that they must maintain the hall well along with the books in it.” Liu Yang Li continued his explanation, it was only as far as he knew. The empress' duties did not go that far, although she was involved several times in the new government and governance system.
“Bu, do the nobility and the gentry...usual also get the same education?”
The mother shook her head with a smile, it was one thing that still could not be done well in this country, what else if not equality. The practice of slavery is still commonplace and the gap between rich and poor is vast and deep, obtaining education and being able to read and write did not make the people equal to the nobility who always raised their degrees as if higher. And some do support that inequality. “Unfortunately not Mei-may, the nobility has its own education hall, they are superior in every way and more educated. While ordinary people can only recognize letters, read, and write sober. Just like basic education. Ordinary people do not have enough money to buy books and ink, so they only write in ejection and other media.”
“But I think it's been very good ma'am, at least the people already know the letters. It was a good move, and I feel it should be applied in my country as well.” Wu Li Mei's reply was full of admiration.
“Bu, can you tell me more about this country?”
