Not only him, but the young wives in the courtyard were also experiencing this set of "noble" etiquette for the first time. Although they pretended to be busy with work in their hands and wore disdainful smiles at the corners of their mouths, their eyes kept glancing over here, filled with envy and jealousy.

Adam Brooks saw the "fake bustle" in the courtyard. He coughed harshly and scolded, "No brains at all, go home, all of you, go home."

※※※

Recently, as Brooks Hollow developed, Adam Brooks's authority had grown day by day. At his shout, no one in the courtyard dared talk back. The girls immediately stopped their "work" and scattered like startled mice.

Adam Brooks did not come alone. With him were the four oldest members of Brooks Hollow: Brooks the Second, Brooks the Fifth, Brooks the Ninth, and Brooks the Eleventh. The timid Brooks the Seventh stood hesitantly at the entrance of the courtyard, not daring to enter. In the end, he simply squatted at the gate, peering through the open door at Julie Brooks inside.

Hearing Adam Brooks's shout, Julie Brooks also straightened up, swiftly tidying away the tea set from the lacquer box, preparing to leave. But when she saw Brooks the Seventh at the door, she stopped and turned her gaze to Adam Brooks.

Adam Brooks walked into the room with a stern face, completely ignoring Julie Brooks's presence, and sat down with Henry Clark as host and guest. The other elders hesitated at the doorway for a moment, then simply copied Brooks the Seventh, squatting outside and looking in.

With Adam Brooks's tacit approval, Julie Brooks immediately understood she had the right to stay. She quickly poured several cups of tea and handed them one by one to the clan elders.

Adam Brooks didn't know how to explain Julie Brooks's presence. He looked around and saw the book Henry Clark had tossed aside, its pages filled with drawings, many of which looked like farm tools, such as a plowshare.

"Teacher, what book are you reading? Why are there farm tools drawn in it?"

"This is 'Essential Techniques for the Welfare of the People' from the Southern and Northern Dynasties. I went to the county town this time and didn't expect to find such a book even in a small county... It's a good book. I was just adding punctuation to the text."

Classical Chinese has no punctuation or paragraph breaks. So knowing where to break sentences is a real skill. Henry Clark himself was not yet proficient in this technique, so he simply hid his shortcomings and only taught his students popular science from his surroundings. As for mathematics (then called "shushu"), that was his specialty—he could teach the basics even without a textbook. Now, in terms of calculation skills, his students could claim to be the best in all of Huangzhou, and that was his greatest pride.

However, in ancient times, it was acceptable not to know mathematics, but not knowing the "Six Classics" was unthinkable. So Henry Clark began to study the classics of this era, starting with "Essential Techniques for the Welfare of the People." But because he wasn't skilled at breaking up the text, he was getting a headache reading it, and when Adam Brooks arrived, he simply tossed the book aside.

After a few words about "Essential Techniques for the Welfare of the People," Adam Brooks still couldn't think of an explanation, so he changed the subject to this year's farming plan: "Teacher, do you mean that we shouldn't rush to start work this spring, but wait until the children have passed the qualifying exam, and then Brooks Hollow will apply to the prefecture for registration?"

Henry Clark didn't understand why the other party's thoughts jumped around so much. Before he could answer, a pair of small hands handed him a teacup. Using this as a buffer, he silently accepted the cup and lowered his head to drink.

Henry Clark was usually a man of few words. His lowering his head was taken by Adam Brooks as agreement. Adam Brooks then thought of the boatmen the other had brought back and said in an understanding tone, "Teacher brought back a few boatmen... Not bad. If our little village of ten households in Brooks Hollow produces a few scholars, and then we make them trek over mountains to the county for exams, that's just not right.

With boats, it's much more convenient. Traveling back and forth on the river, it only takes a day and a night... I've made arrangements with those boatmen: a monthly salary of five hundred wen, and the village will build them houses by the river. If they're willing to settle here, the village will allow them to register as residents. Teacher, what do you think of this?"

Adam Brooks was doing his best to speak in a refined manner, but Henry Clark's mind automatically translated his speech, which was full of Song dynasty slang, into modern language. As he nodded, he reminded, "Blacksmiths, I still need blacksmiths."

In the Song dynasty, carpentry was not considered a highly technical job. Wood carving techniques of this era had reached the pinnacle of Chinese civilization. All surviving Song dynasty wooden artifacts, doors, windows, and beams are intricately decorated and exquisitely carved. In this era, it was easy to find skilled carpenters—just give someone a saw, and most Song people could handle woodworking.

However, blacksmiths were hard to find.

Because of constant wars on the borders during the Song dynasty, the court had a huge demand for military supplies, so local governments spared no effort in recruiting blacksmiths. Skilled blacksmiths were all registered as craftsmen by the authorities and put in charge of military production.

As Brooks Hollow developed, the lack of blacksmithing skills became a bottleneck. With blacksmiths, plus strong transportation capabilities, Brooks Hollow would become a fully self-sufficient economic collective, able to export large quantities of goods.

"It's just... good blacksmiths are hard to find," Adam Brooks said worriedly. "I've been thinking, there aren't any good blacksmiths in the surrounding villages. Would people from farther away be willing to come to Brooks Hollow? ...Teacher, please help me ask around. Our clan is willing to offer a monthly salary of two strings of cash."

In fact, the "monthly salary of five hundred wen" that Adam Brooks offered the boatmen was already considered a high wage for this era. In Huangzhou city, a full-grown pig sold for only about a hundred wen. And a full-grown pig weighed two to three hundred jin; in modern society, such a pig would sell for at least a thousand yuan.