Fang Xuanling was very emotional.
The son who had been ignorant and stupid since childhood not only grew up to be intelligent and capable, but also had such lofty ambitions as he does now, which really comforted him.
What made him even more delighted was that he had done such a big thing behind his back without saying a word in Chang'an. It can be seen that his character has gradually become calmer with age, and he is no longer as arrogant and domineering as before. This is maturity. Performance is one of the keys to success in officialdom.
He is restrained and determined in his moves. Before, Fang Xuanling was worried that Fang Jun would retaliate against the Jiangnan nobles because of Le Yanwei's frame-up. Now it seems that with this calm mind, he should not go too far. This is very good. alright……
Pei Xingjian, who was extremely meticulous and cautious, was in charge of this project. Fang Xuanling had nothing to worry about. After listening to Li Jing's words, he couldn't help but laugh and said: "That bastard doesn't need to be praised. Your Majesty beats him every day and even gets restless from time to time." If he praises these things and makes him raise his tail, he will make some big and lawless mistake."
Li Jing disagreed and said, "Are you showing off in front of someone?"
Fang Xuanling wanted to politely say no, but then he thought of Li Jing's two strange sons who had already become the laughing stock of Chang'an after he entered the palace. Li Jing was embarrassed, so he had to laugh and change the subject: "The sea breeze here is too strong and the humidity is deep. It's too much for our old bones, so we should hurry back to Huating Town to wash up and rest."
Even if Fang Xuanling changed his mind without leaving any trace, what kind of person was Li Jing?
It was easy to hear the taboo in the words, and then think of the evil son of his family who had prepared a funeral for him. He felt as if there was a big stone in his chest and said depressedly: "When you get here, you are the landlord, and you can do whatever you want."
Fang Xuanling laughed and said nothing more.
Pei Xingjian ordered Wang Xuance to stay here to supervise the construction site, while he personally accompanied the two bosses off the island and returned to Huating Town by boat.
The warship sailed away from Sheshan Island. Looking back, the small island in the vast sea was like a drop in the ocean. But in the future, this ancient golden lighthouse will stand tall and will shine for centuries and be immortal for thousands of years!
When they stopped at the dock in Huating Town, the soldiers on the ship each stood on the side of the ship, paying attention to Fang Xuanling and Li Jing as they stood at attention. The group of people disembarked, and the warship raised its sails and sailed upstream, returning to the military port.
Li Jing has commanded thousands of troops for many years. He nodded and praised: "Just looking at this strict military discipline and neat military appearance, you can tell that it must be one of the strongest troops in the world."
In the era of cold weapons, tactics, strategy, and equipment are certainly conditions that affect the outcome of a war, but none of them are as important as military discipline and morale.
Human beings are the main force in wars in this era.
One thousand four hundred years from now, a city can be destroyed with a single cannonball thousands of miles apart across the ocean. No matter how many people are faced with the destructive super weapon, they will all end up in ashes...
Officials from the town office were waiting on the dock. When they saw Wang Xuance replaced by Pei Xingjian, they all politely stepped forward to salute Fang Xuanling and Li Jing again.
Fang Xuanling smiled gently, comforted everyone, and said some light words. She did not hold back her status and was arrogant at all. She was not like a super powerful minister who had been in charge of the empire for more than ten years, but more like an old man from his neighbor in the countryside. He was kind, gentle, and approachable. .
Li Jing was a serious man with a solemn expression and hardly spoke as he stood behind Fang Xuanling. But who doesn't know this "Military God" of the Tang Dynasty?
The officials were in awe...
Pei Xingjian said: "The Prime Minister and Duke Wei have already arranged their stay. It is where Erlang lived before. Because Erlang sent someone to tell him not to make a big fuss, it would be too wasteful, so I only changed the bedding, and nothing else was done." Please make more replacements, and I hope you can forgive me."
Li Jing looked at Fang Xuanling with a half-smile, "You are the prime minister of the dynasty, the head of hundreds of officials, and you are so powerful in Guanzhong. It can be said that one person is less than ten thousand people, but your son is so powerful." But the management is very solid. Even if you, the prime minister, come here, you have to listen to others...
Fang Xuanling didn't care about this at all, and said with a smile: "That's very good, but it's still early in the morning. To keep the promise, you might as well accompany me and the two old guys to walk around. While in Guanzhong, I just listened to various rumors and watched. Various reports have made me curious about Huating Town, which controls the commercial lifeline of Jiangnan."
Pei Xingjian said: "As a humble person, you should obey your orders."
He first sent away all the officials from the town office and kept them here for too long, fearing that the whole Huating Town would be paralyzed, and then only a few government officials were left behind, which led Fang Xuanling and Li Jing to slowly walk in Wandered around the town.
The entire pier is full of pedestrians, merchants, officials, government servants, porters... People are walking in a hurry and will never stay in one place for too long. It seems that if you delay for a moment, you will lose a lot of wealth. , we must hurry up and get ahead of everyone.
This rhythm is completely different from the leisurely and slow pace of Chang'an. The contrast is extremely profound and unaccustomed...
Fang Xuanling sighed, looked at the hurried passers-by and the piles of goods, shook his head and said: "Even though this place is prosperous, it is too secular. People chase fame and fortune and forget the fundamentals of life. They don't know the true meaning of purity and tastelessness. Too philistine.”
He was indifferent to fame and fortune, so he naturally had no good impression of the merchants rushing to make money on the dock.
In his view, there is business to be done, but business cannot be the only thing in life. In life, making money is just to survive, but if you want to live a better life, you obviously can't just make money.
Pei Xingjian did not flatter Fang Xuanling because of his backup and status, but said: "I don't agree with the words of Fang Xuanling. It is said that people know etiquette only when they are in the warehouse. Obviously, the master also believes that the primary goal is to make people Only when you have a full meal can you have the mind to study, and only when you study can you be sensible. The pace of life in Huating Town is more than twice as fast as that in Guanzhong, and the accumulation of wealth is more than twice as fast. Merchants must speed up, otherwise goods will be in short supply. Then it was bought by others. The porters should hurry up because the next job is waiting for you. If you are slow, it will be someone else's. In the newly built village behind the town office, people are working day and night to transport the goods from the Western Regions. The profits earned by spinning wool into thread and weaving into cloth are several times that of farming... However, the value they create is not only the bulging of their own family's wallets, but also massive taxes. "
He pointed to a protruding roof not far away, which was obviously a tall building, and said: "That is the school of Huating Town. All local residents, children between the ages of six and twelve must attend school, eat and drink. Free of charge. Children who are not registered locally will need to pay a certain fee to enroll in school. However, any family whose school-age children do not go to school but work outside the school will be expelled from Huating Town regardless of the reason!"
Fang Xuanling and Li Jing were both stunned.
The school in Fangjia Farm also has compulsory free admission, but there is no such coercive means for outsiders.
Li Jing couldn't help but frown: "Isn't this a bit excessive? Since they are coming to work in Huating Town, they must be poor people who have suffered from famine or misfortune. Life is already not easy, but you come to ask for such coercive measures. Although the intention is good, it is a bit unreasonable."
Pei Xingjian shook his head and said, "What Duke Wei said is ridiculous. I have the guts to ask you, looking at the world, are there any places in the world that value education as much as Huating Town?"
Li Jing said calmly: "It's unique."
If children don't go to school, they will be kicked out. You attach too much importance to education. Where in the world can you compare it?
Pei Xingjian asked again: "Does Duke Wei know how many people have poured into Huating Town from this year to last month and actively sent their school-age children to school?"
Li Jing frowned and said, "How did I know this?"
"The specific number of people is 117,000! The number of school-age children has reached more than 10,000, and the original schools in the town have long been overwhelmed..." As he spoke, Pei Xingjian pointed to the mountains on the other side of the Wusong River: "That was originally The building built for the martial arts hall. Now that the martial arts hall has been moved to Guanzhong, it will soon become the town's school and will be expanded. The total cost has exceeded 300,000 yuan, which is enough to accommodate 30,000 children to attend school at the same time. .”
In this day, Fang Xuanling and Li Jing had been surprised countless times, but they still couldn't hide their surprise when they heard the two figures of 300,000 yuan and 30,000 people.
Three hundred thousand dollars, what is this concept?
Even if it is a medium-sized state capital, it may not be able to collect 300,000 yuan in taxes a year, but now, Huating Town is using it to build a school.
What is the concept of thirty thousand people?
Since Zhenguan, the society has been stable, the people have been prosperous, and the population has multiplied rapidly. Chang'an and Wannian counties under the jurisdiction of Chang'an have a population of hundreds of thousands, but this is the only example in the world. Generally speaking, in a prosperous place like Jiangnan, the population of an upper county is only around 100,000. If it is a lower county in a remote area, there may only be a few thousand people...
The school in Huating Town can accommodate 30,000 children...
The total population is probably between 20 and 300,000, so it is undoubtedly the number one town in the world!
