Royal Gold Medal County Magistrate

A group of people came out of the dormitory and immediately took deep breaths of fresh air.

The smell inside the room really didn't seem fit for human habitation.

Fang Zheng Yi's face wasn't too good either. He said in a low voice to Xie Xian beside him, "Arrange for bath tickets for the workers in the future, a few free baths each month."

"As for the number of times, go back and discuss it with the bathhouse people, but it can't be less than four!"

Xie Xian nodded, took out paper and pen, and started writing.

Emperor Jing looked sideways at Xie Xian, who was holding a thin charcoal pencil. The paper was densely covered with words, with some pictures interspersed between the lines.

Seeing him recording so seriously, he couldn't help but ask, "Who is this person...?"

"Oh, let me introduce him to Your Majesty. This person's name is Xie Xian, a citizen of Taoyuan County."

"Xie Xian is the most capable person under my command. I was too busy, so I called him over from Taoyuan County. He's even a Juren!"

Xie Xian put away his notebook and immediately saluted, "Student Xie Xian greets Your Majesty."

"Usually, all the large and small affairs are recorded by Xie Xian for me. Without him, I'm afraid the work in Jianjiang would be difficult to carry out."

Emperor Jing smiled and said, "It seems that Taoyuan County has produced many talents."

"Then, tell朕 (zhen, Chinese first person pronoun used by emperors) about the situation here."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Xie Xian took out his small notebook with a normal expression.

Many things he had memorized, but having an auxiliary tool would obviously reduce many errors.

Emperor Jing walked and asked various questions.

"How many disaster victims are there in the entire dormitory area?"

"Reporting to Your Majesty, there are a total of 37,852 people, including 26,541 men, and women..."

"Elderly people in their sixties account for 1,890 people."

To a simple question, Xie Xian replied with a long string of numbers, in great detail.

Emperor Jing didn't quite react and continued to ask, "Then, how many people are working in the city?"

"There are a total of 27,895 people working in the city, including 19,236 laborers, bamboo craftsmen..."

Again, it was a series of answers, with no ambiguous numbers.

Moreover, he seemed very familiar with the records of the number of workers, and he didn't even look at the notebook.

It was evident that he had memorized it carefully.

Emperor Jing looked at Fang Zheng Yi, pointed at Xie Xian, and said in surprise, "This person! Is a talent!"

"Do you want to be an official?"

Fang Zheng Yi remained silent.

Xie Xian wanted to be an official. Initially, there was a severe shortage of manpower, so he was directly brought back.

Although Xie Xian had said several times that he didn't want to be an official, Fang Zheng Yi didn't think so.

Now that the opportunity was presented to him, let him choose for himself.

It could be considered compensation for him.

Xie Xian hesitated for a moment and replied, "Reporting to Your Majesty, this student was a clerk in Taoyuan County."

"Heh, what is a clerk! With your ability, you can be a county magistrate. 朕 (zhen, Chinese first person pronoun used by emperors) think it's a piece of cake."

Xie Xian respectfully said, "Thank you for Your Majesty's praise, but I am already struggling to be a clerk."

Emperor Jing was a little surprised that he rejected such an opportunity presented to him.

It was really interesting.

He stared at Xie Xian and suddenly smiled: "It seems... that life in Taoyuan County is much better than serving 朕 (zhen, Chinese first person pronoun used by emperors)."

"No! No!" Fang Zheng Yi quickly jumped out.

"Your Majesty! It's a misunderstanding! It's not that Xie Xian is unwilling, it's that he really can't do it."

"He has kidney deficiency! He gets tired after standing for a while and can't be a county magistrate."

Xie Xian froze in place, his face flushed red.

There were so many people here, and Master didn't give him any face at all. Who has kidney deficiency?!

Emperor Jing smiled and said, "Alright, no need to explain. Everyone has their own aspirations, and 朕 (zhen, Chinese first person pronoun used by emperors) won't force it."

"朕 (zhen, Chinese first person pronoun used by emperors) just heard you mention a school. Is there a school in the community?"

"Yes! But it's not in the community. I'll take everyone to see the school!" Fang Zheng Yi volunteered.

This was a bonus point!

What did the officials value most? Education! Wasn't he here for education?

There were also nutritious meals! Even a saint rising from the grave couldn't find fault with it!

The group urgently moved to the school, and from a distance, they could hear the children inside shouting at the top of their lungs..

Arriving at the school, as arranged, the sound of reading was deafening!

The group continuously inspected each classroom. Fang Zheng Yi ran in the front, afraid that some students wouldn't study hard enough.

Whenever he heard that the sound in a classroom was low, he immediately ran to the back door and poked his head in through the small window.

He gave the children a death stare, and the volume immediately went up!

The officials listened with excitement and joy!

Wonderful! Too wonderful. This learning atmosphere, the capital doesn't even have it!

Emperor Jing's face was flushed with excitement: "Fang Qing! Was this school also funded by merchants?"

"Yes! They built the houses, hired the teachers, and even take care of the meals."

"They eat dry rice and stewed vegetables every day, and an egg every few days! Tuition, food, all free!"

Emperor Jing gasped: "How much money does it cost for so many students?"

"Including the initial construction costs, which were a bit more expensive, everything is according to the best standards, roughly less than twenty thousand taels!"

"What!" Everyone was shocked.

Twenty thousand taels. Were the merchants so kind, spending twenty thousand taels every year to support these students?

Emperor Jing's expression became serious, and he said to Fang Zheng Yi:

"You have already promised the people free education. If the merchants are unwilling to pay, this money will have to be borne by the government treasury."

"An annual expenditure of twenty thousand taels is too huge."

"When you leave, are you going to leave this mess to the next prefect?"

Fang Zheng Yi smiled confidently: "Your Majesty, don't worry! This school is very large in scale. When the disaster victims leave, one school can meet the education needs of all school-age children in Jianjiang."

"But I built two schools to solve this matter."

"When entering the school gate just now, I don't know if Your Majesty noticed, but the Sun family and Liu family's signs are hanging above."

Emperor Jing frowned: "朕 (zhen, Chinese first person pronoun used by emperors) saw them. So what?"

"The sign hanging at the other school is the Wang family and the Zhou family."

"These four families are the most powerful families in the city, and their main business is cloth."

"This school was built by me, and then I brought them together to raise funds and invest in it. The children who come out of here in the future will remember their kindness!"

"If any school treats the students badly, it will be a huge blow to their family's business."

Everyone suddenly understood.

A balancing act, not a clever trick, and not necessarily useful, the risk is still great.

Then, they heard Fang Zheng Yi continue to say: "Besides this, it's not enough."

"I robbed... invited the ancestral tablets of the four major families to the school, two honorary principals for each school!"

"The students have to worship the principals every morning!"

"In this way... they wouldn't dare not do their best for the school."

"If anyone dares to tamper with the school or withdraw their investment, I will announce the coordinates of their ancestral graves... oh no, the location."

"Let those slackers steal their offerings like crazy!"