Chapter 421 - 415: Studying for the Girl
Zhao Hanzhang listened and nodded with satisfaction, "Not bad, not bad."
She said to everyone, "If conditions allow, you should eat more eggs, especially children, eat well to be healthy and also smarter."
Everyone agreed immediately, at this moment, no matter what she said, they all said yes, agree first and then consider further.
As Zhao Hanzhang looked along, she got a good idea of the goods in the market. She squinted her eyes, "There is still too little fabric. Next spring, plant more mulberries and hemp on dry lands and field edges. Mulberry trees can raise silkworms, hemp can produce hemp cloth. Does anyone know how to raise silkworms?"
The crowd was silent for a moment, then two hands tremblingly raised, followed by three more hands.
Zhao Hanzhang had five people come forward, three women and two men.
Zhao Hanzhang smiled as she asked their names and hometowns, and then asked how many years they had been raising silkworms.
The five answered one by one. Zhao Hanzhang had Fan Ying, who was following behind, write down their names, and then said, "It’s winter now, no rush, plant mulberry trees first, when the trees grow, I’ll have someone find silkworm seeds for you."
She said, "Currently, the manor’s grain can self-sustain, but in terms of clothing, we can’t fall too far behind. If we have excess, we can sell it. Right now, Yuan State lacks everything, especially grain and cloth."
"So we must tend to the farmlands well and also plant more mulberry and hemp." Zhao Hanzhang preached about agriculture and sericulture as she walked, even she was surprised at how she took on the work of a County Magistrate again after becoming a Governor.
After seeing the market, she decided to take a look at the school in the manor.
There’s also a school in the manor, different from the one in Shangcai. Shangcai’s school mainly cultivates talent for Shangcai County and Ru Nan County, while the school in the manor has one sole purpose.
To cultivate talent for Zhao Hanzhang.
If Shangcai and Xiping County’s schools occasionally cultivate students’ loyalty to Zhao Hanzhang, the school’s daily routine was focused entirely on this.
All the people here belonged to Zhao Hanzhang, whether the manor master Zhao Tong or the children’s parents and elders. They would tell them daily that their master is the Zhao Family’s lady, ranked third, named Hanzhang, currently the XiPing County Magistrate (Ru Nan County Governor, Prefectural Governor, Yu State Governor), without her, there would be no them, everything they have belongs to her.
What they learned here was slightly different from what was taught in Shangcai County and Xiping County schools, but they were happy nonetheless.
In this school, there were equal numbers of boys and girls, and daily chores were performed before studying.
Their learning was targeted, the smartest class learned the Four Books and Five Classics with the teacher, while the rest studied various subjects based on their strengths.
One class had about forty students, all girls.
They learned the skills of service, riding, and martial arts, making it the most prestigious class every student aspired to be in.
Zhao Hanzhang was learning about this class for the first time, momentarily stunned, she asked, "Service... what do they learn?"
Not knowing when he arrived, Zhao Tong bowed and answered, "They learn a lot, knitting, sewing, cooking, grooming, dressing, fragrance cultivation, and tea brewing. They must master all."
Zhao Hanzhang could not help but glance back at Ting He following her.
Zhao Tong grinned broadly and said, "Indeed, these people are prepared for the lady."
Zhao Hanzhang asked, "Whose idea was this? Why do I not remember such a class in the school?"
"It was the lady’s idea," Zhao Tong said, "She said, you’re fighting on the battlefield now, the maids kept at home before are no longer suitable to be by your side, but you can’t always have only Miss Ting He, so she instructed me to find you some maidservants skilled in martial arts."
"But it’s difficult to find maidservants who can ride, shoot arrows, and know martial arts. Even if found, they serve the lady improperly. So I started a class, selecting smart girls to learn," Zhao Tong said proudly, "When they graduate, they can serve the lady."
Upon hearing this, Zhao Hanzhang remained silent for a long time.
She glanced at the little girls lined up in four rows, eagerly awaiting her inspection. After a brief thought, she said, "Then you should study martial arts well, and better yet, study some military strategy, Zhao Tong, find a teacher to teach them strategy."
Zhao Tong said, "Ah?"
Zhao Hanzhang gave him a sidelong glance and said, "Even as maidservants, those by my side must be proficient in both civil and martial arts. Study well, perhaps in the future, you might go to battle like me. As long as you can fight and achieve merit, I will grant you the position of General."
The girls brightened their eyes as they heard this.
This was a pleasant surprise.
Those who made it into this class all had ambition.
The girls eagerly agreed, eyes shining as they looked at Zhao Hanzhang, ensuring they would not betray her trust.
Since the school was opened for Zhao Hanzhang, all study was centered around her. So, in the manor, regardless of gender, any opportunity to study at the school was taken by the families, without concerns about whether girls should read or if a foolish son should study.
Because everything belonged to Zhao Hanzhang, she asked them to study, and so they studied, asked them to learn skills, and they learned.
Upon realizing this thought, Zhao Hanzhang was uncertain whether she should change their mindset.
Seeing her rare silence, Fu Tinghan spoke up, "The process is not very important, what’s important are the results."
"Moreover, people think as they grow. Some wisdom, when they grow to a certain age, they will naturally understand," Fu Tinghan said, "At that time, even if you want them to wholeheartedly work for you, they will have selfish desires for themselves and their families."
He said, "I hope by then, you’ll still want them to study for themselves, for the country, and not just for you."
Zhao Hanzhang raised her eyebrows, "If I forget, remind me."
Fu Tinghan nodded, "If I can remain true to my original intentions and remember this, I will remind you."
"You have no confidence in yourself," Zhao Hanzhang lifted her chin and said, "I’m different, I think I can always stay true and not forget my original intentions."
Fu Tinghan said, "Is that how ’staying true until the end’ is used?"
"Of course, I think it’s quite fitting."
The two whispered as they headed towards the courtyard.
At the courtyard gate, Zhao Hanzhang waved to the manor residents who still followed closely and said, "Those who need to work, go work, those going home, return. I’ve arrived home now, with so many people, I won’t invite you all to sit in my house."
People laughed for a while, relaxing a lot, they expressed that they want to see Zhao Hanzhang enter before departing.
Zhao Hanzhang didn’t fuss in return, pulling Fu Tinghan as she entered, the door closed behind, only then did the manor residents begin to disperse, each face filled with excitement, talking eagerly in groups of threes or twos about their recent encounter with Zhao Hanzhang.