Quick Wear: Lu Ming She Has Many Children and Blessings

The reason why Lu Ming set these conditions was not because Lu Ming was short of money, but mainly because the food problem in the fiefdom had not been solved yet. If the academy was directly free, she knew without thinking that it would be a mess.

At that time, not only will people come to eat and drink for free, but I guess after a long time there will be people protesting, asking why food and drink are provided to people under the age of fourteen. They are all people in the fiefdom, so why are they different?

Lu Ming naturally understood the principle that "what is worrying is not the scarcity of wealth but the inequality of wealth".

Moreover, even in modern times when people live in relative equality, there is no such thing as free food and accommodation.

If she really sets a precedent, she would definitely be courting death.

Of course, the main reason was that the fiefdom was too poor, and even few of the people working in the yamen could read.

Then, the group of people in charge of publicity began to make their efforts. These were the prototypes of the reporters that Lu Ming copied in order to eat melons. They were very adept at manipulating public opinion.

"The ancients once said, 'It is difficult for a noble son to come from a poor family', but today, Prince An hopes to convey a message to everyone present: your destiny is always in your own hands.

Reading is the key to changing your destiny, and knowledge is the cornerstone of shaping your future.

Although we cannot choose our own birth, we have the power to shape our own future and even more so to pave a different path for our children.

What Your Highness is offering now is precisely such a hopeful path!"

When Lu Ming first heard these words, she couldn't help feeling a little shy, but after thinking about it carefully, she realized that what these people said was right. She was just that kind of person, and the people understood her.

After a brief silence, the crowd suddenly burst into cheers.

"it is good!"

Some people wiped their tears silently, some broke down and cried, releasing their inner emotional repression, and more people were ecstatic.

They shared their stories one after another, about the losses and grievances they had suffered due to illiteracy and numeracy.

"As long as I can teach the children to read a few words, I will be satisfied. I have suffered a lot of losses and been cheated by others because of my illiteracy."

"Yes, it's the same in my family. The baby's father couldn't read and write his own name, so he was cheated out of half a year's wages when he hired someone to write for him. We had no place to complain, and the government ignored us. They just said it was written in black and white, and whose name belonged to whomever it belonged to."

......

Following the guidance of this commoner, everyone told about how much they had suffered and how much injustice they had endured because of their illiteracy and lack of numeracy.

Now that Prince An has exempted their children from paying tuition fees and allowed them to go to school for free, why would they not be willing to do so?

After all, this is an era where studying is paramount, and no one would be stupid enough to miss this opportunity.

As long as there are people willing to study and as long as there are people who can achieve success in their studies, Lu Ming will dare to employ them.

Once the factories in the fiefdom are built, these talented and knowledgeable people will get real benefits.

By then, she probably won't have to do anything, and these parents will actively send their children to school.

And this achieved Lu Ming’s goal.

She believed that day would not be too far away.

A few days later, Chen Antai came to report to Lu Ming in detail about the enrollment situation of Anqin College.

"Your Highness, the main college has admitted 342 new students, and the secondary college has 79 students." Chen Antai's voice was steady and clear.

"so little?"

Lu Ming frowned slightly. This was completely different from what she had imagined. She expected the number of students to be small, but she didn't expect it to be so small.

"Are there so few young people in the fiefdom?" Lu Ming asked doubtfully.

Chen Antai shook his head slightly and explained, "Your Highness, to be honest, a considerable number of these new students are children under the age of eight. They mainly hope to learn a few words at the academy. There are actually less than a hundred children over the age of eight."

Lu Ming couldn't help but frowned. She asked in confusion: "Why don't those eight-year-olds want to come to school?"

Lu Ming didn’t understand. With such good conditions, why should he give up?

Chen Antai sighed, his expression slightly gloomy: "Your Highness, your original intention of exempting the tuition was indeed to seek welfare for the people. However, in addition to the tuition, the expenses of schoolchildren's books, pens, ink, paper, and inkstones for several years are also a considerable burden. For older children, they think it is difficult for them to achieve academic success, so they are more willing to go home early to help with farming..."

As Chen Antai spoke, his voice gradually became lower.

His mood became increasingly complicated. He hoped that people would actively send their children to school, but he also understood their helplessness and choices. After all, what they said was not wrong.

Now, Lu Ming understood.

To put it bluntly, books nowadays are too expensive and we cannot afford them.

It is simply impossible to get ahead by studying, and it is difficult for a poor family to produce a noble son. They don't believe that such a good thing will happen to them.

Nowadays, even paper is a luxury. Many places still use bamboo slips. Reading is something only rich people can do.

This is the limitation of the times.

Lu Ming didn't think their idea was wrong, she just felt that she had to learn to read anyway to give herself more options.

Moreover, studying does not necessarily mean taking the imperial examination. It is more important to gain wisdom and broaden your horizons.

Lu Ming took a deep breath and said in a deep voice: "This prince has understood. Let's leave it at that for now. The school's publicity should not stop. The deputy dean should also hurry up and teach me a group of people next month. This will be useful to this prince."

Chen Antai nodded to show his understanding. He knew that under the current conditions, there was really no better way to solve the problem of people being unwilling to send their children to school.

Unless the cost of learning can be reduced, but is this possible?

"Yes, Your Highness, I'll do it right away." Chen Antai replied respectfully.

After Chen Antai withdrew, Lu Ming summoned Zhao Changshi again. Zhao Changshi had been very busy recently, and he was followed by several capable assistants.

Lu Ming didn't waste any time and went straight to the point, handing all the information on papermaking and printing to Zhao Changshi.

Seeing Zhao Changshi's bloodshot eyes due to overwork, Lu Ming suddenly felt a little guilty.

Did she exploit people too much?

In just a second, the guilt disappeared. She couldn't feel guilty. If such a capable tool like her failed, she would definitely be in trouble.

Inside the palace.

"Is it Xiaojiu?" Emperor Jian'an looked at the hairy crabs on the table and was a little confused for a moment. He asked in surprise, "Isn't that place extremely poor?"

"Your Majesty, this is the fief of His Majesty the Nineteenth Prince. She sent you a letter some time ago, saying that some paper was made in Lingnan and sent to you. However, the paper was very rough and was not delivered to the emperor.

It is also said that Lingnan has introduced good varieties from Jiangnan, and the harvest is good, but due to the severe floods, it is not enough to provide disaster relief for such a long time, and I hope Your Majesty will support it. "