Raising chickens and pigs and digging for wild vegetables, the county magistrate's promotion wa

Chapter 252 The old folks aren't stupid.

Zhu Biao couldn't understand why his future brother-in-law would act so erratically, and why he could suddenly veer off into the students' studies when they were talking about learning from history.

But on second thought, Zhu Biao felt that this was actually quite good, after all, it was better to make things difficult for the students than to make things difficult for himself.

Then Zhu Biao chuckled and said, "Brother-in-law, don't worry, I will sort out these issues and have the students of the Imperial Academy study them later."

As soon as Zhu Biao finished speaking, Magistrate Yang immediately gave him a thumbs up, and a storm of praise poured over him: "Your Highness is right. As the saying goes, one person's wisdom is limited, but many people's plans are long. With the students of the Imperial Academy involved, these problems will surely be solved soon."

"Whether or not we can produce odorless fertilizer, as long as its fertilizing power is stronger than that of manure and wood ash, it will be a great merit and a great act of kindness that will benefit all people and benefit future generations. At that time, people will be grateful for Your Highness's kindness, and those students will also be remembered in history."

"Well, actually, besides fertilizers that don't smell bad, we should also study petroleum properly. I always feel that relying solely on distillation to obtain flammable oil is ultimately not quite right."

"The same principle applies to steel and glass."

"..."

Zhu Biao nodded vigorously while frantically memorizing what Magistrate Yang had said.

The decision was made happily. After returning to the capital, the students of the Imperial Academy were instructed to study fertilizers, petroleum, steel, and glass in their spare time.

Well, we should also make use of our own foolish younger brothers. After all, they are royal children, and they can't just think about loafing around all day.

And those纨绔 (spoiled brats) in the capital, led by the Chang brothers, are just thinking about how to enjoy themselves all day long. How can that be enough? Why not let them study oil? Just say that this stuff can help their family members get promoted and make them rich. I don't have to worry about these纨绔 not being tempted.

As for the officials in the Court of Imperial Sacrifices... let's forget about them. Many of the officials in the Court of Imperial Sacrifices hold two positions at the same time. They have to participate in the compilation of books such as the "Hongwu Great Dictionary" and the "Hongwu Great Encyclopedia" and handle various official duties in the court. If they were to study these messy things, they might really work themselves to death.

Just as Zhu Biao was lost in thought, Limpy Wu walked over with a smile on his face, handed a few eggs to Magistrate Yang and Zhu Biao and said, "Your Highness, Magistrate, Liu Ergou's wife from Jia Yilu has given birth to a big, healthy boy. These are eggs sent by Liu Ergou's family."

Magistrate Yang laughed, picked up an egg, cracked it open, and ate it clean in a few bites. He then instructed Lame Wu, "Have someone send ten catties of flour and five catties of eggs to Liu Ergou's house in the name of His Highness the Crown Prince and the county government. Also, go to the farm and see if there are any pig trotters left over from today's slaughter. Have someone take two of them, and also grab an old hen, and send them over as well."

Zhu Biao, however, picked up an egg with great curiosity and examined it for a while. He looked at Yang Shaofeng and asked, "Brother-in-law, why is this egg so red? Was it dyed with some kind of pigment? Also, when people have a baby, do they give eggs to the county government? You accepted the eggs from the people, but then returned all these other things. In the end, won't you lose even more?"

Magistrate Yang chuckled and said, "If this were during the time of Hu Yuan, when a family had a baby and couldn't afford to give eggs as a gift, they would probably give out steamed buns with red dots on them to their neighbors. This would both let everyone share in the joy and let their neighbors know that they had a new baby and that the baby might cry at night, so they hoped everyone would be understanding."

"The red color is made with safflower water, so it's perfectly fine to eat it directly, not to mention there's an eggshell on it."

"And we also sent back so many things... Ten catties of flour, five catties of eggs, and an old hen are the most valuable, but this year the wheat harvest was bumper, and there are chicken farms in the county, so these things won't cost much."

"The leftover pig trotters are actually considered scraps at the pig farm. They are usually bought by people who crave meat but are reluctant to spend money to stew and eat, or by families with new mothers to stew with soybeans to help the new mother recover."

As for whether it's a loss or not... Magistrate Yang figured that since it wasn't his own money being spent, there was no question of whether it was a loss or not.

Of course, Zhu Biao was not informed of this.

Zhu Biao nodded as if he understood, glanced a few times in the direction outside the county government office, and said, "Brother-in-law, if the people of Ningyang County have more children, won't the population of Ningyang County increase rapidly?"

Magistrate Yang reached for the second egg, gently tapping the shell on the table as he chuckled and said, “There will be more, but the extra ones are newborn babies who do nothing but eat and sleep all day, or cry a few times. Can you expect them to clear land for you or farm for you?”

“Not only can you not count on them, but they also require one person to look after them until they are six or seven years old and can start school.”

At this point, Magistrate Yang couldn't help but sneer again, saying, "Although Hu Yuan nominally built many community schools back then, do you think any ordinary person would be willing to let their child go to school? Not to mention whether it would reduce the family's labor force, the cost of schooling was something that ordinary families could afford."

"Buying books costs money, buying writing brushes, ink, paper and inkstones costs money, buying scholar's robes costs money, tuition fees cost money, there's no place to go to school without spending money. Ordinary people can't even get enough to eat, yet the Tartar government has the audacity to say they want the people to study?"

"Of course, whether or not people go to school is not up to them—if you don't want to study, the county officials will force your children to go, but you can't afford to send them to school, what can you do? You can only give money to those officials."

"Damn it."

The magistrate, Yang, grew angrier and angrier as he spoke. After cursing angrily, he simply stuffed the whole peeled egg into his mouth, as if chewing the egg would allow him to vent his anger.

Zhu Biao, however, said thoughtfully, "So, brother-in-law, what you promoted in Ningyang County was that the government covered the expenses of the people's children's education and promised to give them money if they did well in their studies, which is why the people were willing to send their children to school?"

Magistrate Yang nodded and said, "Actually, it doesn't matter whether you give a reward or not, and it doesn't matter whether you cover the expenses of the people's children's schooling or not. What's important is that you have to make sure the people have enough to eat before you can talk about anything else."

"To put it bluntly, if even one person in a family becomes a scholar, it's like the whole family is benefiting from his success. Ordinary people aren't stupid; they certainly know that studying can lead to becoming an official, and that being an official means you don't have to toil in the fields anymore."

“In the past, there was no other way to prevent children from going to school. Now that they can have enough to eat, they naturally want to send their children to school so that they can change the fate of their families.”

Zhu Biao nodded again and said, "So, it doesn't matter whether the disaster-stricken people in Hongzhou are farmers or salt producers. The important thing is to make sure they have enough to eat. Is that the logic?"