Bringing the Railway to Daming

Chapter 381: The People's Will, School Girls' Department [Please Subscribe]

Thirty years ago, it was the chaotic time at the end of the Yuan Dynasty. Even in the Jiangnan region, famines were frequent. For places like Gejiakou, which only had three or four mu of paddy fields, it was naturally more difficult to cope with the famine.

That year, Ge Sanqi's parents and younger sister all starved to death in the famine.

Other elderly villagers in Gejiakou were perhaps infected by the incident and began to shed tears when they recalled what happened in the past.

Although Zhu Biao had not experienced the famine of that year, he had heard Zhu Yuanzhang and Empress Ma talk about it many times, and he felt very emotional.

He stepped forward and said, "Mr. Ge, I think our ancestors would be happy to know that we have a high-yield food like sweet potatoes."

"Because we and our descendants will no longer experience famine as frequently as at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, and so many people will not starve to death."

Ge Sanqi looked at Zhu Biao with tears in his eyes and asked, "Is what Your Highness said true?"

Zhu Biao smiled and said, "Of course it's true - you may not know, but this time the court is not only promoting high-yield crops like sweet potatoes, but also new crops such as corn, potatoes, and peanuts."

"Although corn yields less than sweet potatoes, it's still a good crop. Potatoes grown in the north have a yield per mu that's not much less than sweet potatoes."

"With so many new crops and our hard work, even if there is another famine, so many people will never starve to death."

Hearing this, Ge Sanqi pulled himself out of his sentimental mood and asked, "Your Highness, when will corn, potatoes, and peanuts be introduced to our village?"

"This time, we Gejiazhai will definitely cooperate fully. We will plant whatever the agricultural officials tell us to do, without any hesitation."

Zhu Biao, Liu Kuan, the magistrate of Jurong and others couldn't help laughing when they recalled the situation when the villagers of Gejiakou refused to plant sweet potatoes, and compared it with the situation now when they took the initiative to plant new crops.

Zhu Biao said, "Don't worry, Mr. Ge. The imperial court has plans for how to promote the cultivation of new crops. As long as the Ge family is suitable for cultivation, it will definitely be planted."

"Next, Mr. Ge should lead everyone to transport the sweet potatoes back to the village. We still have other villages to go to, so we won't stay any longer."

After saying this, Zhu Biao left with Liu Kuan, the magistrate of Jurong, and other officials, guards, and patrolmen.

Ge Sanqi and other villagers watched Zhu Biao's team disappear on the dirt road before they started to pack the sweet potatoes into baskets.

At this time, the villagers' joy at the bumper harvest was fully revealed.

"The yield per mu is 1,000 kilograms. If I hadn't harvested it myself, I wouldn't believe it even if you beat me to death."

"What kind of place is America, you ask? How can there be such high-yield crops? Haven't the people there always had no worries about food?"

"I heard that America is east of the East China Sea, and it takes tens of thousands of miles to get there."

"Tens of thousands of miles? Holy shit, that's too far."

"By the way, what did the agricultural officer say about eating these sweet potatoes?"

"You can steam it, mix it with rice porridge, or cut it into slices and dry it into sweet potato chips. Oh, you can also make it into sweet potato flour and make sweet potato vermicelli. There are so many ways to eat it."

Ge Sanqi listened to the villagers' discussion with a smile on his face. He then said loudly, "The imperial court has allowed us to grow such good crops. This year, we, the Ge family, must be more proactive in paying our grain taxes. Don't wait for the township to send people to urge us to pay."

"Also, since the imperial court wants to promote these sweet potatoes, we should also help. If you have relatives from other places, you can find a way to send some sweet potatoes over so that they can taste this good thing and speak well of the imperial court."

"Okay!"

"Don't worry, Second Master!"

The villagers all happily agreed and transported sweet potatoes to the village in batches, working hard!

On that day, Zhu Biao went to three different villages in succession, and either witnessed it with his own eyes or learned the results. All three villages had a bumper harvest of sweet potatoes!

A glimpse of one spot reveals the whole leopard.

It was foreseeable that all areas promoting sweet potato cultivation would see a bumper harvest this year. Thus, with Zhu Biao's skill in cultivating his Qi, he smiled constantly on his way back to the city.

Before entering the city, Zhu Biao sighed, "It would be great if we could harvest this much corn."

Liu Kuan shook his head. "Although corn may yield over a thousand kilograms per mu in the future, it's impossible under current conditions."

Zhu Biao was just expressing his feelings casually. He knew the corn yield in the experimental field - even if the experienced farmers cultivated the field meticulously, the yield per mu was only three or four hundred kilograms.

When promoting corn planting, it is impossible to use fields as good as experimental fields, and the intensive farming will inevitably be inferior. Therefore, agricultural officials estimate that the per-acre yield of corn promoted this time may be around 200 kilograms, which is not as high as the per-acre yield of rice.

Of course, even so, corn is worth promoting.

Previously, the dry land of Jiangnan was used to grow a variety of grains, such as beans, but their yields were not as high as corn, nor were they more suitable as staple food. Most importantly, growing corn did not conflict with growing rice.

But in the future, when sweet potatoes, corn and other American crops are popularized, people will inevitably plant more sweet potatoes and less corn. After all, sweet potatoes and corn are both planted in dry land, and the planting and harvesting seasons are not much different.

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Time flies and it is September.

All parts of the Ming Dynasty were bustling with activity during the harvest season, and a few scholars began to sing praises of the prosperous era.

On the morning of the tenth day, after Liu Kuan had breakfast, he took Liu Ruoxue out in a carriage to send her to school.

Schools in the capital were established earlier than those in other places, so in early August, primary and middle schools in the capital started one after another.

According to the Ming Dynasty custom, Liu Ruoxue was already six years old. After Liu Kuan discussed with Zhu Huilan and Su Caiwei, they decided to send her to elementary school for preschool.

Not long after leaving Taiping Street, the carriage arrived in front of a walled building complex near the imperial city. On the side of the gate, there was a plaque with large black characters written in a flamboyant style - The First Primary School of the Capital.

According to the Ministry of Rites, this primary school only enrolled the children of nobles and officials of the seventh rank and above in Beijing, making it a true aristocratic primary school. Among the dozens of primary schools in the capital, it not only had the best teachers and facilities, but also top-notch security.

However, Liu Kuan's carriage did not stop, but continued to move forward for dozens of steps and came to another slightly smaller gate.

A similar vertical sign was hung on one side of the gate, with a row of large black characters on it - The First Primary School of the Capital (Female Section).

There is a special parking lot in front of the school gate. After the coachman parked the carriage, Liu Kuan took Liu Ruoxue's hand and got out.

Liu Ruoxue, about five or six years old, was carrying a strange yet beautiful backpack and had a cute girl's bun on her head. Her mouth was pouting, and after getting off the bus, she looked up and said pitifully, "Daddy, can I not go to school today? Just ask for a day off for me?"

Liu Kuan really couldn't stand his lovely daughter acting like a spoiled child.

But he still hardened his heart and put on a serious face, saying, "Didn't we agree that Daddy would take you to school today and you would come? Could it be that our Ruoxue doesn't keep her word?"

It turned out that today Liu Ruoxue was throwing a tantrum after breakfast and didn't want to go to school. Su Caiwei scolded her, which made Liu Ruoxue cry. Finally, Liu Kuan, who was on a day off, said he would take her to school and coaxed her into silence.

Of course, Liu Kuan's actions inevitably led to complaints from Zhu Huilan and Su Caiwei about doting on their daughter too much.

In fact, Liu Kuan didn’t think he doted on his daughter that much. He just didn’t want to play the role of a strict father and wanted to educate his daughter in a reasonable way.

At this moment, Liu Ruoxue remembered the agreement they had made before leaving. Although she had been very disgusted with going to school in recent days, she thought about it and said, "Okay, I'll go to school... Then Dad must come pick me up early."

Liu Kuan smiled and nodded, "Don't worry, Daddy is on vacation today, he will come to pick you up early."

Afterwards, Liu Kuan took Liu Ruoxu's hand to the school gate and handed her over to a female teacher.

After watching Liu Ruoxue enter the campus, Liu Kuan finally had the mind to look at other people.

In fact, he had visited this "girls' school" once after it was renovated and was very familiar with the buildings inside.

Speaking of which, when the Ministry of Rites was carrying out educational reforms, there was a lot of controversy over whether to recruit female students - mainly between Liu Kuan and other officials of the Ministry of Rites.

Officials from the Ministry of Rites naturally believed that there was no need to recruit female students.

Li Shuzheng and others did not use the argument that "a woman's virtue lies in her lack of talent". Instead, they believed that women today could not become officials and there were few other industries they could engage in in society, so there was no need for them to go to school.

In this case, if the school admits female students, it will not only cause criticism from both the government and the public, but also waste resources.

Liu Kuan’s explanation is: There are not many women working in the Ming Dynasty now, but that doesn’t mean there will not be many in the future.

In addition, even if a woman does not work, a more educated and virtuous woman will raise better children after becoming a mother.

Therefore, even if only for the sake of raising the next generation, girls should be given the opportunity to receive school education.

In the end, it was Zhu Yuanzhang who conveyed the message on behalf of Empress Ma, asking the school to set up a women's department and recruit female students.

However, only the families of nobles and officials were required to send girls of school age to school, while there was no requirement for ordinary people.

Therefore, even in a big city like the capital with a population of over 800,000, there are not many female students in the First Primary School of the Capital.

This can be seen from the number of carriages in the two parking lots in front of the school gates - the large parking lot in front of the main gate (South Gate) is almost full of various carriages at this time; while the parking lot on the side gate (West Gate) is obviously smaller, but there are less than ten carriages parked there at this time.

In addition, as far as Liu Kuan knows, in order to concentrate and save teaching resources, not all schools have women's departments.

That is to say, if some girls want to go to school, they may have to go to a school far away from home.

All things are difficult at the beginning. Liu Kuan felt that it was already a good thing that the Ming Dynasty had achieved this in educating women.

Moreover, since the imperial court required the families of nobles and officials to send girls of school age to school, whether they were willing or not, it would become a trend over time.

Ordinary families would believe that sending girls to school is a symbol of power, so most people with a little knowledge and ability would follow suit and send their girls to school.

Of course, if Ming Dynasty wanted women to receive universal education like in later generations, it would probably take at least several decades, or even forever - after all, Ming Dynasty was an autocratic feudal dynasty.

Liu Kuan planned to take advantage of his rest to do some personal errands. After getting back on the carriage, he ordered, "Let's go to the bathroom exhibition hall."

"Yes."

The driver agreed and drove towards the east of the city. The speed was not fast, and the guards of the Yiluansi could easily keep up.

Soon, the carriage stopped on a rather busy street in the east of the inner city.

There is a two-courtyard building facing the street next to it. The rooms on the street side have now been connected and equipped with glass windows, making it very eye-catching on this street.

However, what is more eye-catching is the porcelain plaque placed horizontally on the roof of the store. The plaque is sky blue in color and has seven large characters on it - Super Clean Sanitary Ware Exhibition Hall.

This is very different from the ordinary store style, and even made it the most talked-about store in the East District after it opened, and it has continued to this day.

"Chaojie" is naturally the name of the bathroom brand chosen by Liu Kuan.

This exhibition store has been open for more than a month, and Liu Kuan originally wanted to come to the store to understand the sales situation.

But after the carriage stopped, he lifted the curtain and saw the store owner sending out a customer and welcoming another one in. There were also two or three people sitting in the reception hall of the store, obviously there were quite a few customers.

　First update.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)