Chapter 202: The Road to Pioneering
Roland took a sip of tea, and then said: "In addition, I plan to carry out basic education in Longsong Fortress. This is also an assessment item for whether you can continue to manage Longsong Fortress."
Hearing the word assessment, Pei Luo's ears immediately perked up, "Basic education?"
"That's right," he nodded with a smile. Now that the church has been destroyed and the high priest has been killed, most of the power of the church in this place has been weakened. It is a good time to compete for ideological positions. He does not expect to convert all believers into potential qualified workers, but only to further eliminate the influence of the church. If the holy city wants to get involved in Longsong Fortress again, Roland has many ways to keep them out, let alone building a new church.
"Basic education is for all residents of the fortress under the age of 40, regardless of gender. The content includes reading and writing, simple calculations, popularization of natural knowledge, and ideological education." Roland waved his hand to suppress the other party's doubts, "Don't worry, this sum The fee will be deducted from the tax paid to Border Town. From this month, you only need to pay 20% of the tax, and the remaining 10% will be used as special expenses for education. You can recruit several scholars from the capital, or hire Local knights and down-and-out nobles, but these people don’t spend much money. Ten percent of the tax is at least nearly a thousand gold dragons, so you have to do much more than that.”
Pei Luo thought for a while and said, "Your Highness, you mean to use this money to motivate residents to receive education?"
This guy's reaction is indeed very sharp, Roland smiled, "That's right, except for children, most people have jobs to earn a living during the day, so their education should start at night. But after a busy day, they finally arrived No one wants to listen to other people's nagging when they are resting, let alone learning to read and use their brains."
"So you can use some means to lure them to study, such as providing dinner with meat, for example, those who study fast can get monetary rewards, etc. Of course, bright and spacious classrooms are also essential." He paused, "In short, you must do everything possible to spread this work to all residents of the fortress. As I said, this is also your assessment: after one year, I require that the number of literate people in the fortress exceed 50%."
"But Your Highness..." Peiluo said hesitantly, "Whether it's a scholar or an aristocrat, they have no experience in teaching people to read, let alone popularize natural knowledge and ideological education," he said those awkward terms , "Actually, even I don't quite understand it myself. Using the words of these people may not achieve the effect you want."
"I have also considered this point," Roland reassured, "don't worry, I will send a group of city hall officials to assist you in this matter, and all the books needed for education will be provided by Border Town. They have rich experience and can Give lectures and training to the people you recruit first, and then educate the residents. When you talk to them in detail, you will understand that the specific matters can be handled by them.”
In this way, as long as he wants to continue to be in charge of the fortress, he will definitely use this group of people, the prince thought, and through the officials of the Ministry of Education placing cronies, the news of Longsong Fortress can also be transmitted back to Border Town as soon as possible.
Seeing that Pei Luo did not express any objection, Roland began to explain the last order: "The third thing, I plan to build a road between Longsong Fortress and Border Town to shorten the time for pedestrians and caravans to travel between the two places."
"Your Highness, there is already a road between the two places?" Peiluo asked in surprise.
Can a mud path stepped on by people count as a road? It is less than two meters wide, and it is full of mud when it rains, and the road is full of potholes, which is not suitable for high-speed driving of a carriage. Roland shook his head and said, "The road I want to build can accommodate at least two carriages to pass side by side. The road surface is smooth and straight, and there will be no stagnant water even if it rains, just like the streets in Border Town."
"Are you talking about a gravel road?" The acting city lord looked a little surprised. "The cost of this kind of road is not low. It needs to be excavated by a stonemason, and the stones of the right size must be selected and matched together before it can be used. Build it from the fortress." A gravel road leading to Border Town will cost at least five thousand gold dragons. Your Highness, with all due respect, if Longsong Fortress doesn't raise taxes, I'm afraid it won't be able to spend so much money."
"The fortress only needs to provide manpower." The prince said bluntly, "You issue recruitment announcements to all the territories in the western region, not just the Longsong Fortress, but also the territories of the major families. The salary is six silver wolves per month, and the construction period is one year. I believe there will be many applicants.”
"For a handyman, six silver wolves is considered a relatively high salary," Pei Luo nodded, "I wonder how many people you want to recruit?"
"At least two thousand people," Roland replied.
In this way, the cost of hiring handyman is not a small amount every month. In addition, stonemasons and gravel workers are definitely considered high expenses in the eyes of others. Few lords are willing to use their own money to build this building. This kind of seemingly unrequited thing, which can be seen from the expression of the other party. But now that Border Town is able to sell steam engines, income and expenditure can basically maintain a balance. Roland has never planned to store all the golden dragons in the warehouse. The so-called building roads first if you want to get rich is undoubtedly the best choice to invest the remaining money in infrastructure. .
It is of great significance to build a high-quality road connecting the fortress and Border Town. It will not only facilitate the business and communication between the two places in the future, but also a prerequisite for the rapid deployment of troops. If the transportation is inconvenient, even if you receive the news that the fortress has been attacked, you may have to wait three days before rushing over, and the enemy's flag may be flying over the top of the city.
"I understand." Pei Luo took the order.
"For the time being, that's all you have to do. I'll return to Border Town immediately and work hard, Mister Ambassador, don't let me down again. "
When Peiluo left, he suddenly remembered something, stopped and asked, "Your Highness, what should we do with those who are detained in prison?"
Roland's answer was not so smooth for the first time, he was silent for a moment before he said, "Let's keep them, they won't live for long."
...
Boarding the Township, the prince set out on his way home.
"You don't seem to be in a good mood?" Nightingale turned her head and asked, "Is it because of those civilians?"
"They were all coerced by Timothy," Roland sighed. "If they hadn't been manipulated by taking pills, they would never have acted as the minions of each other and died in this strange land."
"It's not your fault." Nightingale reached out to hold his arm.
"Of course not," Roland said without hesitation. "If I can't stop them, the town will become a victim of Timothy's desire for power. Of course, the church that made the pills is also one of the culprits."
"So you will destroy the church, end disputes, and make people no longer have to kill each other for such senseless reasons, right?" Nightingale asked with a smile, "Whether it is ordinary people or witches, they can live happily under your rule." live on."
"..." Roland looked into the other party's shining eyes and nodded slightly, "Well, I promise." The biggest motivator. Mobile phone users please go to read.)