Chapter 360: Observations at the Enlightenment School

Zhu Ti packed a hundred sets of stationery for him, and Da Wang took them to Youzhou Enlightenment School.

This school is a rare self-funded project of Da Wang in Youzhou, with both construction and teachers paid out of pocket, and Da Wang is visiting for the first time.

Zhu Ti handling affairs puts him at ease; the school is located in the newly incorporated eastern part of Youzhou City, leaning against the old city wall, making transportation convenient and not far from habitation. As a ground-level building, it certainly can't compare to the Northern Border Academy, but it is still solemn and grand.

Using Zhu Ti's token to enter the gate, he found it was just in time for the morning break. Da Wang had eaten a chicken leg in advance at the Northern Great Camp, wandered around, and arrived at the Enlightenment School just as people were having their meal.

"Is there a cafeteria here, or do the students bring their own food?"

Hearing Zhu Ti say that for now they bring their own food, Da Wang felt regretful, "I thought I could mooch another meal!"

Zhu Ti: "... Really easy to feed."

Considering the importance of this Enlightenment School, Da Wang decided to go incognito, claiming that's the only way to discover problems.

Ignoring the Chief Steward's objections, he drove her and the personal guards away, then himself carrying a small bag of stationery, inquiring as he went to the classroom.

Da Wang chats with anyone he meets, two sentences each, whether older or younger, he can exchange a couple of words.

"... You look unfamiliar, are you also from our Enlightenment School? Why haven't I seen you before?" The newly chatted little fatty, in a few sentences Da Wang pumped out his family's business, is a Ding Class student at the Enlightenment School studying the Thousand Character Classic.

Da Wang raised his head proudly, "I just arrived today, you not seeing me is normal. But I'm studying in Class A, so we can't be classmates." The Thousand Character Classic is something Da Wang can recite backward; in this lifetime he's impossible to study it again.

"Do you know how to get to Class A?"

"Cheating! Newcomers all have to study in Class D; what qualifies you to go to Class A?"

"Because my grades are good~ If you study well you can also go to Class A!"

"You just arrived, how do you already know your grades are good? Newcomers must take the Class D exam; only after passing can they go to Class C! You still want to go straight to Class A? You're bragging!"

Da Wang stood with hands on hips, "I'm just good at studying~"

As long as he leaves the illiteracy-eliminating Enlightenment School, he wouldn't dare speak so boastfully.

For example, the Northern Border Academy.

What he's facing now is the Illiteracy-clearing Class D students; Da Wang speaks with extra confidence. This makes the little fatty feel sufficiently provoked, "What's so great about that? I also want to test into Class A!"

Da Wang silently gave himself a thumbs-up in his heart, "Look, this is encouraging learning."

The personal guards hidden not far away stared with black lines as the two little schoolchildren bickered; Da Wang really is... versatile!

An old man behind Da Wang had also been watching them for a while; after the little schoolchildren's harsh-talk segment ended, he approached and asked Da Wang, "I heard you're a newcomer? You also want to go to Class A? Where are your parents?" Literate enlightened children are a rare breed in Youzhou.

When he spoke, that little fatty was like a mouse seeing a cat, shouting "Mountain Chief!" and bowing before fleeing.

Da Wang turned his head and saw an old man dressed as Xie Yuanfeng; this place's Mountain Chief he had never seen before.

"Isn't studying here free? I came to register myself."

As Da Wang turned around, Wu Youdong saw him for the first time and silently praised his good looks!

What a clever and perceptive young lad.

He looks like a sharp kid; maybe he's material for studying.

He stroked his beard, "Thanks to the grace of the Meng King, there's no tuition fee here, but you also need a senior family member to bring the household register to enroll; the child should go home and bring his father along for a trip."

Da Wang blinked, "But my father is already gone..."

Mountain Chief Wu, seeing he was young, couldn't help feeling pity. Not wanting to pry further, he softened his tone, "Let your mother or elder brother come once; bring the family household register, and I'll handle your enrollment."

Da Wang openly said, "My mother is also gone, and my brothers are estranged."

Wu Youdong: "..."

"Grandparents?"

"Gone."

"So young... truly pitiful."

He already imagined a family ethics drama.

He then spoke with extreme gentleness, "... So you live alone now?"

Da Wang nodded, "I live with an old servant; he's busy today, may I first audit Class A for a day, then come back to have you process my enrollment when he's free?"

"Sure, I'll take you there."

Along the way Da Wang bombarded the Mountain Chief with a hundred thousand whys, such as how many enlightened children are in this Enlightenment School, how many can reach Class A, and how many students it can send to the Northern Border Academy each year.

Mountain Chief Wu realized, this child wants to go to the Northern Border Academy.

He couldn't help but encourage Da Wang a bit.

Upon arriving at Class A, Mountain Chief Wu pointed to the front building and let him enter on his own, "If there's an empty seat, just find a place to sit; I'll let Mr. Zheng of Class A know... Did you bring your writing supplies?"

Da Wang raised the stationery bag in his hand; Mountain Chief Wu nodded, seeing the child's attire suggests considerable family wealth, reckoning that older brother hasn't been utterly wicked.

"What's your name?"

"Wei Taiping."

"Good, I'll remember that; if you have any business, just go to the Quiet Thinking Studio to find me."

Da Wang bade farewell to the Mountain Chief and hurried to Class A; at lunchtime many people were playing outside, the classroom only had two people inside. One sat upright writing; Da Wang simply passed by, having nothing to say with the good students.

One was silently gnawing a sesame roll at his seat...

Da Wang walked over; the young man looked about the same age, maybe two or three years older at most. Sensing someone approaching, he glanced up, then lowered his expressionless head and continued chewing.

"Yo, pretty aloof?"

"This King specializes in treating aloofness."

"Give me a bite."

In the room, two of the three people stared at him in shock...

Da Wang: "... Everyone sit down, perform normally."

Class A consists of students with decent foundations; their family backgrounds are easy to guess—scholar gentry or impoverished scholar gentry. Because those of other origins are still in Class C eliminating illiteracy.

This sesame-roll-chewing young man is clearly the latter; from his washed-out whitish clothes one can roughly tell.

As soon as the Great King made a move, it was impossible to ignore him; he was still considered a rather pure‑hearted boy.

People had never seen a child like him; after hesitating, they broke off a piece from an untouched part and handed it to him, saying, "... You try it."

"Oh, it's salty too—your mother's cooking is not bad!" the Great King loudly praised whatever merits he could find.

Seeing him really showing off, the boy let out a sigh of relief.

The boy was quite shy, "…It's my grandmother's baking; she always puts salt in her hu bing."

"How nice—I've never even seen my grandmother. Is your family from Youzhou? I've only moved here these past few years…" Hu Cheng had never met someone so outgoing in his life.

The Great King spent a lunch break getting to know Class A inside out, and his heart felt wonderfully cool.

Next year, the academy could send off at most twelve students, two of whom planned to study here for two free years and then quit.

The Great King listened to a lecture on the Analects, yawned several times, and then headed straight to Class B for the second period. When Mr. Zheng finally had a moment to come see a promising seedling described as "having a troubled fate but being clever and perceptive," he was told that the "promising seedling" had transferred to Class B…

The Great King spent half an afternoon touring the elementary school; there were no real problems, from teachers to students everything was quite good.

Classes A and B consisted of relatively older, sensible students; the classroom atmosphere was decent and they studied earnestly. The school's only problem was that too few had any foundation, and too few saw education as a path to rise in life.

Classes C and D each had four sections, filled with little kids who barely knew a few characters from the Thousand Character Classic; the Great King couldn't expect much from them in the short term.

He felt it was time to start promoting the civil service examinations!

Never mind, let's take it slow.

Wei Taiping flashed through the elementary school for half an afternoon, leaving behind a pile of legends. The students would talk about the kid who handed out stationery to anyone he saw; the headmaster regretted that this perceptive child never came back to enroll, and wondered if something had happened.

Indeed, the Great King had indeed run into some trouble—someone actually dared to smash his stall!

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The Great King wasn't just randomly setting up a stall—wasn't spring plowing coming up soon? He planned to promote corn on a large scale within his territory.

The land linking to Liaodong had already broken ground; tens of thousands of Xianbei were sent out to reclaim it, and for this the Youzhou Guard diverted troops to oversee the prisoners—now the Great King's regular army is holding the city.

Not only were the restaurants and eateries on Zhuque Avenue ordered to stock all corn‑based foods, but he himself went out to personally set up a stall.

Of course, the Great King firmly denied that he was just coming out to play after being cooped up for too long.

Corn can serve as a staple food or a snack, and the Great King set up a stall on the street to sell popcorn.

His brother Bai Ge gave him the tools he'd bought online for the job, warning him that they were noisy and required some skill; the Great King glanced at the manual and thought it wasn't that hard.

He bought two, sending one to the Imperial Workshop for study and keeping the other for himself to give it a go.

He set up his stall in front of the stationery shop on Zhuque Avenue, thinking this was where schoolchildren would most likely pass by.

Who would have thought Bai Ge wasn't exaggerating this time—popcorn really is a technical skill, and the Great King stumbled at the step of lighting the coal, eventually having the guards take over.

Ever since they lit a fire on the street, idle onlookers gathered to watch.

The Great King watched the clock from the sidelines, and when the time was about right, the guards sounded a gong, warning the spectators to step back and cover their ears.

The onlookers reacted uniformly, mostly unimpressed, wondering how big a commotion a big commotion could really be.

After the Great King gave a friendly heads‑up, he stopped worrying, following the manual to a tee and urgently directing the guards to catch the popcorn in clean cloth bags and open the cans.

Then came a loud boom— the Great King felt the glass windows of the shops behind him tremble!

The street‑side spectators were dumbstruck, panicking and scattering in all directions as they fled, and on the spot three or four kids were scared into tears……

The Great King was dumbfounded too—such a huge commotion?!

It wasn't over yet—people from the noodle shop across the street also came running out, shouting, "The earth is moving! The earth is moving!"……

Zhu Ti on the second floor was laughing hysterically, "Anyone else who caused this kind of ruckus on Zhuque Avenue would be hauled away by the Youzhou Guard."

The Great King froze for a moment, then rushed to the finished popcorn; seeing the tiny grains turn into white, fluffy puffs—two or three times their original size—he knew it was a success!

The Great King grabbed his big ladle and charged forward, crunching softly, "Selling popcorn, three wen per serving!"

The townsfolk who hadn't fled far, watching warily: ……

"They're making something tasty?"

The Great King firmly believed they'd get used to it after hearing it often, and immediately ordered the guards to make another pot.

If nobody bought the popcorn, it didn't matter—the Great King personally stepped in to eat it on stream.

He dragged over a small stool, sat in front of his stall, and munched on a huge bag of popcorn, giving passers‑by a full‑sided demonstration that the stuff was really delicious.

He took a big gulp, shoving a handful in.

Zhu Ti thought that if the frail Grand Tutor saw this, he'd have a heart attack.

"It smells great, tastes sweet, is crisp, and has sugar—just three wen~"

Those who weren't short on cash immediately wanted to try it, after all it was quite novel, and the stall owner's own child eating it smelled quite nice.

After the first person who ate crab came along, then a second and a third, and the Great King's first batch of popcorn sold out quickly.

Everyone who tried it said it was sweet. In the Great Jin, this was a fresh novelty, and being sweet made the Great King's stall instantly popular, supply unable to keep up with demand.

With the Great King's paper bags selling for three wen, you could buy another serving of popcorn, and many folks simply lifted their shirt hems to tuck the bags in.

He not only made noise, he also affected the cityscape.

After his antics, the otherwise ordinary evening became much livelier.

He popped two more batches, and the regular spectators, now used to it, would cover their ears as soon as they saw the cloth bags come out.

Not long after the Great King felt proud, the Youzhou Guard showed up, having heard that someone had set off firecrackers on the main street, causing a disturbance.

The Youzhou regular army, acting as city marshals, came rushing in like wolves and tigers; seeing the scene, Commander Ling was holding the bag while the Great King was collecting money……

The team leader slammed on the brakes, pretending nothing had happened as they drove past the Great King's stall, as if they were just passing by.

The Great King sold popcorn at three wen per serving; although a huge scoop looked big, it actually didn't use much corn—only the sugar was a bit costly—and he thought the business had great potential.

Once the business stabilized, he finally felt hungry.

You didn't eat a proper lunch today?

This guy threw the little box holding the money to the personal guard, saying, "I'll go get something to eat first, and I'll pack it up for you when I come back."

The personal guard didn't dare to complain; the one goofing off at the stationery shop followed them, while the two miserable fellows outside kept setting up their stall.

Who would have thought that, just a moment after the big king left, they messed up his big business?

The pedestrians on the street had gotten used to the sound of the popcorn machine popping, but the horse had not.

"I, this young master, never imagined that this poor, remote part of Secluded Prefecture would have such a lively street!"

It's quite spacious.

Wen Ying gave an arrogant nod and rode his horse leisurely down the street.

When they arrived at the entrance of a cloth shop, the clerk who was trying to attract customers saw them riding their horse in the pedestrian area and kindly warned them.

"Sir, only the area between those two yellow lines is for horses and carriages; the sides next to the shops are for pedestrians! Riding like this, you could easily knock someone over..."

The one called Wen Zi flicked his whip and told him to scram, while Wen Ying didn't even lift an eyelid.

The clerk hadn't encountered such an arrogant person in Secluded Prefecture for ages; he stared for a moment, then ran back to tell the shopkeeper, "Two lawless ruffians have shown up on Vermilion Bird Avenue—should we report them to the Secluded Prefecture Guard?"

Who would have thought that, before they could even act, those two would meet with retribution?

Riding on horseback with an entourage, they strolled along the sidewalk; pedestrians scattered to avoid them, and plenty pointed and gossiped, yet the two paid no mind. Maybe it's because this poor backwater has never seen such a dashing young master!

Just as they reached the big king's stall, ill-timed as it was, they happened upon a fresh batch of popcorn straight from the pot.

With a loud boom, unsurprisingly, the horse beneath them was startled.

Wen Ying, sitting loosely without holding the reins, was thrown straight to the ground; Wen Zi finally managed to grab the reins, half his body hanging off the horse, but it was the big king's personal guard who quickly reached out and saved him.