6kv Chapter 48 Education
Chapter 48 Education
The next day, Iron Anvil Territory began its first major construction project.
Under Hans's command, the Bear-Eye family of refugees were divided into three groups.
A group of young men followed the carpenters of the Anvil Leader to cut down trees and build simple wooden houses.
The second group consisted of young women, all of whom were taught by Veresa to weave and sew.
The remaining elderly and children, like the other villagers, went out into the wild to collect goblin magic cores, while the strong ones were responsible for dragging the goblin corpses back.
After receiving the food, the refugees did not resist it; on the contrary, they were very enthusiastic.
After all, once the houses were built, they would have a real home. Not only would they become members of the Anvil Territory, but they would also receive food, something they had never dared to imagine before.
As for the dozen or so people with craftsmanship experience, they were directly recruited by various workshops. At present, whether it is blacksmithing or cement making, there is a severe shortage of manpower.
Of course, Vilan did not forget to recruit other refugees on the North Shore. He sent Scarface, along with Bear Eyes, to negotiate with Old Man's family.
If you tell them about the current standard of living of the Bear Eye family, I believe that old man will be unable to hold back.
Of course, this was just initial negotiation and the provision of some simple food; the actual takeover would have to wait until the wooden house was built.
After all, Hans was already very busy, and Wieland didn't want to really work him to death.
For this reason, Vilan put something he had been thinking about for a long time on his agenda.
"Literate? Lord Vilan, do you want those serfs to learn to read as well?"
Inside the study, Llorente asked in surprise.
Just now, Vilan proposed the idea of opening a school to him, since the literacy rate in this era was really too low. Almost none of the serfs were literate, and even some poor freemen were not.
The low level of education severely hampered the development of the territory, to the point that Vilan couldn't find any assistants for Hans.
He said helplessly, "This is necessary. If no one can read, culture cannot be spread, and the lord's orders cannot be directly understood by them. More importantly, we need more literate people."
Llorente was stunned for a moment before he understood what Vilan meant.
He nodded and said, "The town used to have a school with two teachers, but it has been unable to continue operating since the food crisis and is now vacant."
"That's what I'm talking about. How can the school be left empty? I plan to expand it this winter, to build a school that can accommodate all the children in the territory, and at least teach them to read and do math."
As Vilan spoke, he skillfully began drawing blueprints.
Llorente leaned closer and saw that Vilan's blueprints clearly depicted the shape of a building!
"Lord Vilan, is this the new school?"
Vilan raised his head, a smug smile on his face. "Yes, but education is the foundation of everything. I don't want to wait until the new school is built before classes start. Go and meet those two teachers, and then select a group of people with the highest moral character from the free people in the territory. Have them switch careers to become teachers, and I will pay them a salary."
These free people in the territory watched the serfs work every day while they themselves were quite leisurely. Vilan had long wanted to find something for them to do.
Being in Tiezhenling, how can we not contribute to its development?
Of course, Vilan still treated them with dignity; those skilled in craftsmanship had joined the workshops, and those who could make clothes had joined the textile factories.
Now it's the turn of those free citizens who don't have any special skills. Even if they can't do anything else, they can at least read, right?
Being able to read and write is enough; they can go straight to being teachers and contribute to the literacy campaign in Tiezhenling.
"By the way, recruit a few more young and smart people, give them a test, and if they are suitable, send them to Hans as assistants."
"As for the size of the school... including the newly received refugees, all children aged 6 to 15 will have to go to school."
After Vilan finished speaking, Llorente showed a hesitant expression.
"Excuse my bluntness, it's easy to talk about children under 10, but those over 10 have to help with chores at home. Although they don't have to farm now, they still have to go out every day to collect magic cores to exchange for food."
Llorente's meaning was clear: those serf parents didn't want their precious labor force to go to school.
To this, Vilan could only give a wry smile. "Tell them that the school provides a free lunch every day at noon, and if they study hard, they can get an extra meal."
"If that's the case, those parents should be more willing to send their children to school," Llorente nodded.
"Education is the most important aspect of people's livelihood and cannot be taken lightly. Once you have recruited enough people, get to work on this immediately. I will cooperate with you in whatever way you need. However, you can entrust the specific tasks to those two teachers. This is also a test to see if they have the ability to become principals."
Llorente has many things to do, and Vilan can't let him focus solely on education; he still needs to promote some people.
Now, everyone under him is so desperate that they wish they could split each person in two, resulting in a severe shortage of talent.
Hans was in charge of people's livelihood, Carreras and Rossi were in charge of training new recruits, Goy and Mount managed the mines, Bering was in charge of all the workshops, McKinney had to focus on business research and had to go on business trips from time to time, and Saka managed the collection of magic cores in the square every day.
Those left with nothing to do...
Huh? It seems there are still 3 available slots?
Vilan has a total of 10 guards, and 3 more protect his safety every day, not leaving his side for even a moment.
"Three people protecting me is too much. Let's spare one. Let Raya take charge of the North Shore, and assign Scarface and Bear Eye to him for command. Besides receiving the refugees, he also needs to keep an eye on the group from Casaran. By the way, the sulfur mine you mentioned earlier, isn't it next to the Casaran refugee camp?"
Vilan suddenly remembered.
In fact, Llorente was in charge of the most important thing: the development of gunpowder.
This is an indispensable resource for him, and he has to get it even at a great cost.
Just then, he asked about Llorente's progress.
The latter nodded. "Yes, it's a huge sulfur mine, right at the foot of the Stag Mountains. I've been there; it's perfectly suitable for open-pit mining. The only problem is those Casalan refugees."
Vilan nodded. "What about saltpeter and charcoal?"
"The stonemasons have produced a good amount of saltpeter, and the charcoal is also fine. Many free people will buy the charcoal for heating."
"Is that so... We can't wait any longer. Although the cut on Steel Cable was quite severe, it should be almost healed. Tonight, you take the new recruits to the north bank to dig for sulfur. Don't worry about those Casalans, just make sure there are no conflicts."
"As you wish, I will bring back enough sulfur."
Seeing Vilan's urgency, Llorente immediately withdrew and headed straight for the military camp.
Vilan leaned back in his chair and rubbed his temples.
"There's so much to do. Being a lord isn't easy, is it? Why don't we take a break?"
"Lord Vilan, the new batch of magic cores has been sorted. Time to get to work," Igris's voice rang out from outside the door.
"..."
"Damn it!"