The Supporting Female Character Refuses to be Cannon Fodder Chapter 65

Jiang Chan raised her hand: “I know, you can go with Cousin without worry.”

Lin Shi also smiled: “I’ll supervise Xiao Chan, don’t worry.”

Based on Jiang Chan’s personality, she wouldn’t even want to mention Jiang Miao’s name. It was only out of consideration for Jiang Sen and Mrs. Lin that Jiang Miao maintained outward courtesy.

In the end, Jiang Chan was still immature. No matter how mature she seemed for her age, she couldn’t compare to someone as experienced as Jiang Sen. If Jiang Chan had a personality like Jiang Sen’s now, it would be unknown whether Lin Shi and her husband would have adopted her back then.

Watching Jiang Sen and Jiang Miao leave, Lin Shi shook the clothes in her hands: “The weather is getting colder, and I see you’ve grown taller recently, so I made you an inner garment.”

Jiang Chan put down her book: “Mother, you’re pregnant, so you should do less needlework. I have enough clothes. It’s best if you take care of your health and give me a little brother sooner.”

Lin Shi was pleased by her words. She smiled, pressing her lips together: “I don’t insist on having a son. A considerate daughter like you would be good too.”

Jiang Chan’s lips curled up: “A boy would be better. He can support the family, and you won’t have to worry. If you have a little sister, you’ll worry about her future, whether she gets bullied by her in-laws and so on.”

Lin Shi folded the clothes and set them aside: “According to what you say, having a boy is indeed better.”

The mother and daughter chatted intimately in the study. Meanwhile, Jiang Sen and Jiang Miao left the Jiang residence and walked towards the newly opened private school in town. The private school was for enlightening young children. After passing the entrance exams, they would attend a formal academy.

Given Jiang Miao’s current level, he was qualified to teach young children. After all, he was a legitimate scholar. The private school wass still some distance from Jiang Sen’s house; it would take a quarter of an hour to walk there.

Jiang Miao felt uneasy all the way and finally couldn’t help but ask, “When we entered, were you testing Jiang Chan’s lessons, Uncle?”

Although Jiang Miao realized that his actions were somewhat inappropriate, he still harbored some resentment towards Jiang Chan. This was particularly evident in the way he addressed her. After all, he was still a young man; how could he truly meet and let bygones be bygones with a smile?

Jiang Sen glanced at Jiang Miao and didn’t bother with the way he was addressed. He wanted to praise Jiang Chan in front of Jiang Miao, implying that the person they discarded like an old shoe is now, under his guidance, far ahead of them.

“Yes, Xiao Chan has a very good understanding and is willing to endure hardships. Although she has only been studying for a year, she is already able to independently complete the autumn exam questions and answer them very well. It’s a pity she is not a boy; otherwise, she would surely achieve great success in the future.”

Jiang Miao was genuinely surprised this time. He didn’t expect Jiang Sen to rate Jiang Chan so highly. Jiang Sen was known as the strictest teacher in the academy, rarely praising anyone.

Even the academy’s top student, Li Yifei, seldom received Jiang Sen’s approval.

Jiang Miao wondered if his uncle was deliberately praising Jiang Chan in front of him. Suspicious, his expression inevitably showed it.

Jiang Sen saw through Jiang Miao’s thoughts and took out a few sheets of paper from his sleeve: “These are last year’s autumn examination questions and Xiao Chan’s answers. You can take a look.”

The private school is relatively remote, and there are hardly any people on the road. Walking along and reading would not cause you to bump into anyone.

Jiang Miao took the exam papers and immediately noticed the strong, vigorous handwriting. He sincerely praised: “Good handwriting!”

Jiang Sen’s lips curled up: “Xiao Chan is very dedicated. She practices writing with a brick tied to her wrist in the cold weather, two hours a day. Most people can’t persist.”

They say that handwriting reflects the person. Each stroke is sharp and clear, and at a glance, you can tell that Jiang Chan’s personality is one that can’t tolerate any nonsense. Just by looking, you can see she’s not an easygoing person.

Just by looking at the handwriting, Jiang Miao could roughly discern Jiang Chan’s character. Since Jiang Chan was adopted by Jiang Sen, he had very little interaction with her.

Seeing this handwriting now, Jiang Miao realized Jiang Chan was completely different from before. This made him abandon his preconceived notions and start reassessing Jiang Chan.

One of last year’s autumn examination questions was about the land system, asking for opinions on it. Jiang Chan wasn’t someone who stayed at home all the time; she had a general understanding of the current land system.

There were mentions of the evolution of the land system in feudal society in middle school history. To Jiang Chan, the current land system was quite similar to the equal-field system of the Northern Wei Dynasty.

The state distributed land based on population. Adult males received 40 mu¹ of public fields and 20 mu of mulberry fields; women received 20 mu of public fields; and slaves and oxen also received corresponding fields. The land couldn’t be bought or sold. When the recipient grew old or died, the public fields were returned to the state, and the mulberry fields were passed on to descendants.

This was a relatively sound land system because it legally ensured farmers had the right to possess and use land. However, it also had its downsides.

It stipulated that after farming the land for a certain number of years, the land would belong to the farmers themselves. During wartime, this could stabilize society and encourage people to settle down.

But once society stabilized and the population increased, land annexation would become severe. The equal-field system fundamentally harmed the interests of the nobility, and the ones who suffered were still the common people.

Take the example of Jiang Chan buying people last year. The Zhou family were originally free people with their own land. But due to land annexation and poor harvests last year, they became refugees.

Ultimately, this was because the land system was flawed. Therefore, when answering this question, Jiang Chan was particularly confident. She detailed the advantages and disadvantages of the current land system and briefly mentioned the two-tax system of later periods.

Although not stated explicitly, her few words were enough to make Jiang Sen applaud. When Jiang Sen praised her, Jiang Chan, standing on the shoulders of predecessors, was uncharacteristically a little embarrassed.

The two-tax system was proposed by Chancellor Yang Yan during the Tang Dynasty. This system was formulated by unifying various taxes based primarily on the existing land tax and household tax. Since it was collected in two seasons, summer and autumn, it was called the “Law of the Two Taxes.”

Seeing Jiang Chan’s objective evaluation of the land system, Jiang Miao’s pupils contracted. He didn’t expect Jiang Chan to have such insight.

1. A mu (亩) is a traditional Chinese unit of area commonly used in agriculture. One mu is equivalent to approximately 666.67 square meters or about 0.1647 acres. ↩︎