jdhmnovel Chapter 238 Crazy Showing Off
Chapter 238 Crazy Showing Off
Aside from beating Wang Qiong, the interpreter, Liu Hongchang, and other local gentry, and irrigating the fields of the Chen clan, it seems that... probably... maybe the people of Ningyang County haven't done anything else.
Thinking of this, Magistrate Yang couldn't help but feel a little guilty.
The twenty-nine scholars present were unaware of the past achievements of the people of Ningyang County, nor did they notice the guilty conscience of Magistrate Yang. They were even unaware of Magistrate Yang's illustrious reputation. These scholars, whom Zhu Biao had specially sent from a relatively remote area to help his brother-in-law, were also completely ignorant of Magistrate Yang's past achievements.
To ensure that these people could arrive in Ningyang County smoothly and teach there honestly, Zhu Biao even specially assigned a centurion to escort them, so as to prevent these scholars and craftsmen from having too much contact with outside news.
Now, Zhu Biao's thorough preparations have come in handy.
After hearing that the people of Ningyang County were kind and virtuous people who had been praised by Xu Da and Chang Yuchun, the twenty-nine liberal arts students finally felt relieved and were no longer as uneasy as they had been at the beginning. Even their displeasure at being treated like cattle and horses had faded a bit.
Especially after the next day, when Yang Shaofeng personally led the twenty-nine students on a tour of the Confucian Temple, allowing them to see with their own eyes the children diligently studying and learning to read, proving that Magistrate Yang was not just making empty boasts, these students couldn't help but feel a little more expectant.
Standing at the entrance of the Confucian Temple, Magistrate Yang smiled and looked at the twenty-nine candidates for the civil service exam, saying, "As I said yesterday, Ningyang County is a small and poor county. Conditions in all aspects are indeed difficult. Even the window glass can only be made of these mixed colors. We can only try to improve it gradually in the future."
"But don't worry, since His Highness has sent more than 300 craftsmen to our Ningyang County, I will definitely find a way to make transparent glass as soon as possible, and replace it with Minglun Hall first."
Magistrate Yang genuinely believed that Ningyang County was small and poor, and that conditions in all aspects were quite difficult. However, these words were interpreted by the twenty-nine liberal arts students as Magistrate Yang showing off wildly.
They automatically translated Magistrate Yang's words: "Our Ningyang County is small and poor, but the Minglun Hall of the Confucian Temple already has glass windows. You bumpkins have never seen that before, have you?"
“Our Ningyang County is small and poor, but each of the classrooms in Minglun Hall has four stoves, so it’s warm even in winter. You bumpkins have enjoyed that, haven’t you?”
“Our Ningyang County is small and poor, but there are no uneducated people in Ningyang County. Not only can children from ordinary families come to school to study, but even young adults come to school to learn to read. You bumpkins should not think that you are great just because you know a few words.”
“Our Ningyang County is small and poor, but every student gets a set of the Four Books and Five Classics. Do you bumpkins have any?”
"..."
accurate.
I'm very unhappy.
The most important reason why these twenty-nine liberal arts students were able to be lured to Ningyang County by Zhu Biao was that they were not from the prosperous Jiangnan region, but from some poor and remote areas. Their living conditions were certainly much better than those of ordinary people, but they were still far from meeting the standards of having glass and a set of the Four Books and Five Classics for each person.
Now that they have seen with their own eyes the Minglun Hall of the Ningyang County Confucian Temple with glass windows, and that every child in the families of Ningyang County has a set of the Four Books and Five Classics, how can these academic geniuses not feel envious, jealous and resentful?
……
There are 29 liberal arts students and 318 engineering students. If we add Chen Choulu and Zhu Dalang, who were previously sent to Ningyang County, Ningyang County now has a total of 320 engineering students available for Magistrate Yang to use.
After pondering for most of the day, Yang Shaofeng finally decided to let these engineering whizzes handle the iron smelting workshop first.
Then, Magistrate Yang directly sent people to the household registration office to bring back the files of these 318 engineering oxen and horses.
"This is the blacksmith, put him here for now."
"This is a tinsmith; we don't need him for now."
"This is a stonemason, let's put him aside for now, he might come in handy."
"This is a glassmaker, let's put him aside for now and have him work on the glass later."
"..."
Magistrate Yang carefully reviewed the information on more than 300 engineering oxen and horses, and finally summoned the two blacksmiths to the county office.
"I have summoned you here because I have two things to tell you."
Magistrate Yang said with a smile, "The first thing is to investigate whether there are any good iron mines in our Ningyang County."
"The second thing is to set up an iron smelting workshop."
The two blacksmiths exchanged a glance, and one of them stepped forward and said, "Your Excellency, rest assured, I will find an iron ore mine as soon as possible. However, we will need some manpower to set up an iron smelting workshop."
Compared to the twenty-nine liberal arts students, the three hundred and eighteen engineering students adapted to Ningyang County much faster.
In particular, after Yang Shaofeng allocated two mu of vegetable land to each of the more than three hundred craftsmen according to their population, and then allocated land to them in the name of the county government at the standard of fifteen mu per person, and required the children under the age of sixteen in these craftsmen's families to attend school, these more than three hundred craftsmen completely sided with Magistrate Yang.
For these three hundred engineering students, all other nonsense is meaningless; their own children's education is the most important thing. Even the land of fifteen fields per person is not as important as their children's education.
Being able to study meant being able to participate in the imperial examinations, which would give one the opportunity to become an official and save one from having to toil away in the artisan camp like I do every day.
Magistrate Yang grunted in agreement, then called over Lame Five and instructed, "Prepare two horses for the two of them, and arrange for two brothers to accompany them to look for iron ore."
Yang Shaofeng remembered that Ningyang County seemed to have iron mines.
Especially when China had just established its nation, it vigorously pursued the development of five small industries, with small steel mills being the most prominent among them.
As for whether it was a rich or poor mine, easy or difficult to mine, Yang Shaofeng couldn't remember.
But it doesn't matter, as long as it can be mined by manpower.
Magistrate Yang had figured it out. Ningyang County's current grain could feed more than a thousand prisoners. If they were replaced with Semu prisoners, it would probably feed even more. As long as an iron mine could be found and preparations for an ironworks could begin, he would immediately ask Xu Da for two thousand Semu prisoners, half of whom would be used to mine iron ore, and the other half would be used to mine coal.
As for how many Semu prisoners are needed per ton of ore, that's not something Magistrate Yang should be concerned with.