Why did poor scholars in ancient times have extremely poor students?

An extremely young man was an underage servant who served his master and children in ancient times. You don't have to be rich to have a very good reader. For example, why is Liang Shanbo's family so poor, but he is a good reader? Because of the birth of the imperial examination system in ancient society, especially in the Song Dynasty, the status of scholars is very high, so learning knowledge becomes particularly important, and the poor will be assigned to be extremely bookish.

So what is the real function of the ancient pole?

Maid use

After all, that's a servant, so extremely bookish will be treated as a maid. Serving tea, washing clothes and cooking, what the servant girl can do, is a perfect thing. Including sorting out books on calligraphy, and going out to buy them if there is not enough ink and paper.

Accompany students in Beijing

I studied hard at the cold window for ten years just to become a champion. It's hard to get to Beijing for the exam, and you need a book boy to accompany you and help you with your daily necessities. These manual jobs can only be done by men, but not by maids. It's not easy to be a bodyguard and stand up to protect your master when in danger.

Physiological drive

In ancient times, male chauvinism prevailed, and some extremely handsome and delicate children often became the targets of male owners to vent their sexual needs. For example, in Jin Ping Mei, Ximen Qing is having sex with an extremely young person.

The book says: pick up the cookies cooked in the charcoal stove very quickly and pass the tea in both hands. Ximen Qing tea in hand. He approached slowly and stood at the table. For a long time, Ximen Qing made a mouth and told him to close the door, with one hand in his arms and one hand covering his face. Ximen Qing spat out his tongue, and Xiao Langjun handed him the Feng cookie in his mouth and made it for him below. ...