Chapter 45: The Grand Plan of Education

This regular meeting.

Finally truly finalized the specific implementation guidelines for the Production Team.

First, it was the issue of the team leader candidates, which Zheng Yueru brought up. But after discussion by the County Marquis Mansion, it was decided that it would be best for the team leader candidates to be produced from within the village. Then, on this basis, the County Marquis Mansion would dispatch a "Secretary"! These secretaries, naturally, were all selected from among the elite.

Most were from Powerful Clans or landlord families—after all, in this era, only these families who did not worry about food had the money to study.

This was something Liu Zheng was happy to see.

Since the class of Powerful Clans and landlords could not truly disappear, they could be made to truly mix with the farmers. Contact in all aspects would no longer be a state of opposition, but a state of cooperation and mutual supervision.

In this way, things like corruption and bullying the local community would be reduced by a lot.

Secondly, it was the establishment of the Inspection Department. This was also something that had to exist, but in this regard, it sounded another alarm for Liu Zheng. Manpower was insufficient again! He had to continue recruiting, which meant he had to continue earning money!

Finally, it was about the formulation of various rules and regulations for the Production Team, such as how to draw lots and how to distribute, striving to be fair and just so that those team leaders could not obtain private gain from it.

Government decrees were issued one by one.

The entire Yinzhou became lively once again.

To express his gratitude for Zheng Yueru's reminder this time, Liu Zheng conceded another ten percent of the Perfume sales to the Zheng Family, in addition to the ten percent from the bet.

In other words, the profit from Perfume sales was already a fifty-fifty split!

This made Zheng Yueru ecstatic.

This day.

Liu Zheng came to Fengming Tower again; this had been his daily routine for the past few days. As the Production Team was being built in full swing, he still felt that the talent he could put forward was truly too scarce.

The secretaries dispatched to the villages were all cobbled together. The beginning was fine; Powerful Clan and landlord families could provide some people who were literate or even proficient in arithmetic, but by the end, it was simply picking the tallest among the short—as long as they had read a few days of Private School, anyone could go!

Therefore, Liu Zheng was now thirsting for talent. These days, he had also selected quite a few talents here at Fengming Tower. However, the few he found acceptable were all traveling through Yinzhou and rarely had plans to develop in Yinzhou long-term.

This made Liu Zheng a bit depressed.

This parasol tree of Yinzhou still could not retain talent.

Inside Fengming Tower, it was still bustling with activity.

A corner of Fengming Pavilion was once again bustling today, but the real talent had already been poached. These discussions mostly continued the topics of the previous few days.

Topics like "How to view the Production Team" and "Is Young Master Liu a benevolent ruler or a cruel ruler"—these topics no longer had any nutritional value.

"Brother Liu, do you feel that there is nothing left to say?"

Zheng Yueru had come again.

Liu Zheng chuckled and said: "I was thinking, the County Marquis Mansion is probably draining the pond to catch the fish now, relying only on a Fengming Tower to attract talent—is this not putting the cart before the horse!"

Zheng Yueru's delicate brows furrowed slightly: "What does Brother Liu mean?"

Liu Zheng laughed out loud: "The matter of education is what brings merit to the present and benefits for a thousand years!"

Zheng Yueru's delicate body trembled: "Does Brother Liu want to build a Private School? But, the common people of Yinzhou mostly do not have spare money to provide for their children to study, right?"

Liu Zheng shook his head: "Since it is a school, why must it be private? If we are going to do it, we should do a Public School!"

Zheng Yueru was suddenly shocked: "Brother Liu..."

Liu Zheng sighed: "But this matter should be discussed in the long term; the current County Marquis Mansion is really too poor!"

Zheng Yueru heard this and did not know whether to laugh or cry: "Brother Liu often cries poor to Yue Ru, you might as well point at Yue Ru's nose and curse the Zheng Family for being wealthy but unkind!"

Liu Zheng laughed out loud.

Zheng Yueru was so shrewd, she chuckled and said: "If Brother Liu truly wants to establish this Public School, it is not impossible! The Zheng Family will certainly do their humble best to support a few teachers!"

Liu Zheng was overjoyed: "Is this true?"

Zheng Yueru smiled and nodded.

Actually, in ancient times, the income of a Private School teacher was not very high. The so-called Private School was originally a folk early childhood education institution in ancient society established in families, clans, and villages—look, it was only at the level of a kindergarten. There were several distinctions for this kind of Private School: Village School, Family School, and Clan School. The money these teachers earned each month was only equivalent to that of an Executive in the County Marquis Mansion.

Probably just a few taels of silver.

And corresponding to this was the Public School.

It referred to schools founded by the authorities, which were naturally much more formal. But Yinzhou had been exhausted for too long; apart from those Powerful Clans that had their own Clan Schools, there was only one Private School in the entire Yinzhou.

Therefore, most children from poor families could not possibly get to study.

Scholars from humble backgrounds like Shen Xing were mostly children of parents who worked as long-term laborers or Tenant Farmers for Powerful Clans, which gave them the opportunity to steal a study outside the window; if the Powerful Clan master was kind, he would also let them sit in.

But such cases were still few and far between.

Therefore, Liu Zheng felt that education was a major matter, a major matter for a thousand years. But in the eyes of a Powerful Clan member like Zheng Yueru, the monthly salary of a few teachers was really not worth mentioning.

"Good, then it is settled!"

Liu Zheng was high-spirited, thinking that the matter of education must be put on the agenda as soon as possible.

Building a school would cost about a thousand taels of silver in Yinzhou, and the remaining expenses would just be the teachers' monthly salaries. This matter was actually not difficult.

The two discussed for a while, and Liu Zheng asked curiously: "Why do I not see Miss Manqing today?"

Zheng Yueru looked over ambiguously and chuckled: "Has Brother Liu become delirious? Manqing has not been at Fengming for several days; you only noticed today?"

"What?"

Liu Zheng slapped his forehead; indeed, he really had not seen Shen Manqing for several days.

Zheng Yueru gave a playful smile and shook her head: "Perhaps Miss Manqing felt that someone was cold and heartless, and her heart no longer lingered in Yinzhou. A few days ago, she already followed our Zheng Family caravan to Liangzhou."

"Ah?"

Liu Zheng was suddenly very embarrassed and hurriedly drank wine.

Zheng Yueru giggled: "Just a joke, Brother Liu, do not take offense! In reality, Miss Manqing is currently laying out the strategy for our Perfume in Liangzhou!"

Upon hearing this, Liu Zheng's eyes lit up.

It seemed this Zheng Yueru was indeed a business genius. She also knew that this Perfume would be a major source of income for the County Marquis Mansion and the Zheng Family in the future; the profits of a monopoly luxury good were simply unimaginable. Therefore, the Perfume had to be an instant hit. Under Liu Zheng's guidance on advertising, Zheng Yueru already had a basic strategy.

"Liangzhou is wealthy, this is feasible!"

Liu Zheng nodded.

Zheng Yueru sighed softly: "This is all because of Brother Liu; that day, a performance of 'Fisherman and Woodcutter's Dialogue' stunned Yinzhou and spread your fame far and wide. A noble in Liangzhou entrusted Yueru to invite Manqing to perform..."

Speaking of this, she glanced at Liu Zheng again, and seeing that he remained expressionless, she sighed inwardly; she remembered the day Manqing left, how she had not slept all night, standing by the window, gazing toward the County Marquis Mansion, her eyes misty and tears streaming down.

Who would have thought that the goddess had the intention, but the King of Xiang was heartless...

She had originally thought Liu Zheng would blame her.

Who would have thought Liu Zheng would chuckle: "This is a good thing; a person like her shouldn't have stayed in Yinzhou forever."

Zheng Yueru gave Liu Zheng a fierce glare and continued: "Brother Liu, you don't understand; once a woman enters a flower house, she is a woman of the red dust for life... How could Manqing change her fate by going to Liangzhou?"

Liu Zheng nodded.

This was also a matter with no Method, but at least in Liangzhou, there were still many opportunities, and in terms of life, it would be much more prosperous than here in Yinzhou.

"So, what is the plan?"

Liu Zheng was very interested.

Zheng Yueru chuckled: "Brother Liu was the number one playboy of Liangzhou back then, yet you don't know about the Liangzhou Top Courtesan Competition?"

A flash of insight struck his mind, and Liu Zheng slapped his forehead hard again.

He remembered.

This so-called Top Courtesan Competition was a grand event held by the flower house circle of Liangzhou every year after the Spring Festival and before the Lantern Festival; calling it a grand event was less accurate than calling it a competition. Every year, each flower house would cultivate the beautiful top courtesans in their hands to participate in this selection. Zither Chess Calligraphy and Painting, graceful dances—it was truly a hundred flowers blooming and competing for beauty.

Actually, in later generations, this was just a Beauty Pageant.

Whenever this time came, young masters and wealthy men from all walks of life would swarm in to support their favorite top courtesans.

The top-ranked courtesan would not only receive huge benefits but could even potentially marry into a wealthy family.

Most importantly, it was the fame!

And the fame that this top courtesan would bring to the flower house behind her!

Liu Zheng couldn't help but mutter to himself, who said ancient people didn't know how to play with advertising? Isn't this it?

"Miss Manqing went to participate in the Top Courtesan Competition?"

Liu Zheng asked.

She was indeed suited for such a grand event; not only was she as beautiful as a celestial being, but she also had excellent zither skills and a remarkable temperament.

Zheng Yueru nodded with a smile: "And it was in the name of our Fengming Tower; is Brother Liu satisfied?"

Liu Zheng slapped his thigh: "Satisfied, very satisfied!"

Could there be an advertisement more awesome than this?

By then, the entire Liangzhou, with its thirty-plus prefectures and counties, so many flower houses, so many top courtesans, so many young masters, wealthy men, and fans would flock there.

How could such an advertisement not be gratifying?

If Shen Manqing could truly win, it wouldn't just be an advertisement for Fengming Tower, there was also the Perfume! Could there be a better advertisement than this?

Seeing Liu Zheng so happy, Zheng Yueru sighed faintly again in her heart.

Poor Miss Manqing, who was originally indifferent and wanted to live a life free from worldly disputes in Yinzhou, heard of this opportunity and invited Zheng Yueru to her boudoir.

Shen Manqing asked: "Yueru, who is Young Master Liu?"

Zheng Yueru pondered: "A great talent of the age!"

"The young master toils day and night, what is he seeking to gain?"

"For Yinzhou!"

A simple exchange of two questions and answers.

Shen Manqing set off on her journey without hesitation. Not for anything else, just to win back some reputation for "Young Master Liu," to let him earn more silver, and to let him not have to stare at panda eyes every day coming to this Fengming Tower to watch those scholars get drunk.

Few are the soulmates, who will listen when the strings break?

Zheng Yueru suddenly felt a bit of envy, and even began to admire a woman like Shen Manqing.

"When the Top Courtesan Competition begins, you and I will go to Liangzhou together to see it!"

Liu Zheng did not know there were so many stories behind it, and said with a smile before leaving.

Zheng Yueru stood up to see him off.

Who would have thought that just as Liu Zheng stepped out of Fengming Tower, a person covered in blood rolled off a horse, and upon seeing Liu Zheng, knelt down and cried out: "Young Master, those, those thieves have humiliated us too much!"

Liu Zheng was startled and hurriedly helped the person up to ask what had happened.