Bringing the Railway to Daming

Chapter 368 Sending my daughter to school, overseas first issue [Please subscribe]

After dinner, Liu Kuan chatted with his family in the side hall.

Zhu Huilan glanced at Su Caiwei and asked Liu Kuan, "Ruoxue is already six years old (in lunar years). Do you plan to teach her yourself, or hire a female teacher?"

It is not surprising that Zhu Huilan asked about this matter - although Liu Ruoxue is not her biological daughter, she is her legal wife and should be involved in this matter.

It was extremely rare for a woman to be a teacher in the early Ming Dynasty, but with Liu Kuan's current status, he could still find one.

Liu Kuan thought for a moment and said, "Let's teach her ourselves first. Maybe a girls' school will be established in the capital in the future, and we can send Ruoxue there then."

"The capital is going to establish a girls' school?" Zhu Huilan and Su Caiwei were surprised to hear this.

The two of them watched a lot of videos and movies from later generations, so they knew that boys and girls in later generations could receive the same education in the same school.

But they also knew that it was almost impossible to do so in the Ming Dynasty. However, it was still possible to establish a girls' school that only taught female students.

Even so, they were still surprised to hear that a girls' school would appear in the capital.

"The thing is..." Liu Kuan immediately recounted his discussion of education with Old Zhu in Fengxian Hall today, concluding, "Establishing a girls' school in the Ming Dynasty and allowing girls to attend school may be somewhat difficult and may even be shocking, but I'm still prepared to give it a try."

"Let's not talk about other places, but you can definitely succeed in the capital—most of the Jinshi are from powerful and wealthy families, and the daughters of these families are also able to go to school and have the need to do so."

"For Ruoxue, learning and growing with her peers in school is better than staying at home."

Zhu Huilan and Su Caiwei were actually very envious of women in later generations. It was impossible for them to go to a girls' school to study, but they were still happy to think that their daughter could.

"Then I'll listen to you, my husband." Zhu Huilan smiled. "By the way, Ping'an is five years old now, and it's time to send him to school. What do you think, my husband, should he go to the main hall or the official school in the capital?"

Liu Kuan knew that his son was destined not to have too distant a relationship with the royal family, so it would be better to lay a good emotional foundation early on.

He then said, "Let's send it to the Great Master—he's still a little young after all, so we can send him this autumn in September."

"it is good."

As for their second son Liu Dingan (name changed), he is less than one year old, so the couple will not discuss the issue of his schooling.

The next day is a ten-day holiday.

Liu Kuan came to Nature magazine with his entourage and guards.

Today is the publication day for the first issue of "Overseas Scenery", the second publication that the magazine has spent a year planning. Liu Kuan will naturally come to personally check it.

The magazine now has about 10 to 20 people, and even in the capital of the Ming Dynasty, it is considered a small-scale "private enterprise".

Although Liu Kuan did not come very often, he did not come very often either. Therefore, the employees were all familiar with his habits. When they saw him, they would just bow and greet him and then go about their business.

"Master Hou."

"I've met the Marquis."

"My Lord is well."

"···"

In this way, Liu Kuan came to the "office area" in the backyard of the magazine at the invitation of the employees.

Xu Zhen and others had already heard the noise. Even though they knew Liu Kuan's habits, they did not dare to sit inside, but came out to greet him.

"The Marquis is here?" "Well, is the final printed edition of the first issue of Overseas Scenery out?" Liu Kuan responded and went straight to the point.

Xu Zhen led Liu Kuan inside and said, "Of course I came out, and I'm waiting for the Marquis to review it."

After he finished speaking, an editor with good eyesight brought the printed copy.

Liu Kuan immediately flipped through it.

"Overseas Scenery" is similar to "Natural Science", combining text and pictures, and the words and sentences used are more easy to understand. It can be said to be a publication that is very suitable for ordinary people to entertain themselves and understand overseas affairs.

The first issue of "Overseas Publications" mainly introduced the landscapes, geography, customs and people of the South Pacific Islands and various countries.

Liu Kuan flipped through it and found that its layout adopted some characteristics of "Natural Science", such as horizontal text, colorful illustrations, classification of content by topic, etc.

In the past few years, the quality of Ming Dynasty paper, like its printing technology, has been steadily improving. Even if the improvement is only a little each time, the accumulation of small improvements will have a significant impact on the Ming Dynasty publishing industry.

If someone compares the books published by Ming Dynasty in recent years with those published seven or eight years ago, they will find that the quality is much better, but the printing volume has increased dramatically.

But even though the overall quality of books in the Ming Dynasty has improved by more than one level, this book "Overseas Scenery" is still a masterpiece in Liu Kuan's eyes.

Liu Kuan had known the content of the first issue for a long time. This time he was just looking at the typesetting and printing effects, so he flipped through it quickly and finished it in a short while.

"This edition is well done, the content is easy to understand, and quite interesting—we should follow this edition for the first issue."

Seeing that Liu Kuan approved this edition of "Overseas Scenery", the editors in charge of this edition all showed joy.

Liu Kuan had previously rejected several versions, keeping them busy for months and feeling anxious. Now that it was done, they not only felt less stressed but also gained a sense of accomplishment.

At this time, Xu Zhen asked again: "The Overseas Scenery, which focuses on Nanyang, is planned to be divided into three phases. So in the fourth phase, where should we focus on introducing the main topic?"

Liu Kuan pondered for a moment and said, "Oriental—Korea, Japan, Ryukyu County, Beiyang Dusi, Jilin Dusi."

Xu Zhen was slightly surprised. "Beiyangdusi is okay, but Jilin can't be considered overseas, right?"

Liu Kuan smiled and explained, "One of the main purposes of publishing this publication is to let the Han people understand the wild and barbaric places overseas that they used to know, and to encourage them to explore those places."

"Although Jilin isn't considered overseas, the Han Chinese are still unfamiliar with it. Furthermore, although the imperial court has been using various methods to increase the number of Han Chinese in Jilin's military headquarters over the past few years, the results haven't been significant."

"If we can introduce Jilin in our publications, it will be of some help in this matter."

Xu Zhen nodded suddenly, "I understand now - Your Majesty is concerned about state affairs, which is truly admirable."

Liu Kuan knew that Xu Zhen might be aware of his intention to introduce Jilin. Listening to his explanation, it seemed that he was trying to flatter him to some extent, but Liu Kuan did not expose it. In fact, he quite enjoyed this feeling.

"After introducing the East, we can consider introducing the Western Regions, and then the Indian subcontinent, North and South America, Australia, Africa and other places."

"These places are very far away. I suggest recruiting a group of young and capable editors to go there in advance to collect folk stories. This way, we can write more authentic articles."

Hearing Liu Kuan's words, Xu Zhen nodded first, and then said: "My Lord, going to these places to collect folk songs will probably cost a lot of money."

Liu Kuan: "You don't have to worry about funding. The key is to recruit qualified editors."

Xu Zhen: "I understand. I will write a set of rules for the Marquis to review later."

　Second update.

　　Good night~
　　
　　
　
(End of this chapter)