"What if there is an order or a law is issued so that every child of school age must receive education?" Mr. Xue finally understood what Li Fu had been worried about.
"No, introducing laws now will only be counterproductive. Currently, in Zhao State, only the Hetao area has established academies in every county and township. If a law is introduced to force school-age children to go to school, it will force some people to leave the Hetao. We have worked hard to do so much before The work is to keep them in the Hetao, how can we dare to send them back now?" Li Fu shook his head decisively.
The low enrollment rate of school-age children is limited by the factors of the times. The people have not even solved the problem of not having enough food and clothing. They can only eat two meals a day. Even if you want them to take a long-term view, they cannot take a long-term view.
You are about to starve to death. There is a piece of steamed bun or a golden mountain in front of you. Which one do you choose?
The answer is obvious.
Why are most of the people who enroll in the school come from soldiers? Because these people have strong men in their families, the backbone is still there, some even have military exploits, their families are relatively wealthy, and they can fully support their children's education.
In some families, the breadwinner of the family has passed away, and the children have not yet reached adulthood. They cannot afford to go to school even if it is free, because the children have to help the family chop wood, irrigate the land, spring rice, etc.
Of course, part of it is forced, and part of it is really short-sighted.
After all, some people in later generations think reading is useless, let alone this era.
"Then... what about incentives instead?" Xue Gong said.
"Be specific." Lifu said.
"After the end of each semester, the college selects outstanding students, and the dean goes to their place of residence to commend them in front of everyone. The village that has cultivated the most outstanding students will also be rewarded. The number of outstanding students will then be used as a measure One of the indicators for the promotion of officials at all levels." Mr. Xue said slowly.
Face, everyone wants it.
Don't you envy other people's children who have good grades in college and have their parents show up in front of everyone and earn enough face? Not jealous?
what to do? That must be sending their children to the academy and then surpassing other people's children.
In Zhao State, there is only three months of teaching in winter and three months in summer. There is no teaching in spring and autumn. So every three months is a semester.
The main reason is that Zhao State cannot support the annual education expenses, and teachers have to go home to collect food and farm when they are busy.
After all, Zhao State is an agricultural country. If teachers are completely out of work, they will not be able to support so many people.
"I will report to Handan and leave it to the king to make a decision." Li Fu nodded. Xue Gong's method is still implementable to a certain extent.
"Reporting to the Commander-in-Chief, Commander Le and Commander Mao would like to see you." At this time, the guard came in from outside and said with cupped hands.
"Lejian? Mao Gong?" Li Fu was a little surprised. Although he has jurisdiction over the four counties of Hetao, under normal circumstances, except for Jiuyuan where the Governor's Mansion is located, the governors of other counties will not come in person. " Let them in."
"Governor Li, I wonder if you have seen the recruitment lists of various colleges a few days ago." Mr. Mao said directly without any polite words after entering the mansion, with white frost still hanging between his brows.
Li Fu and Xue Gong looked at each other and nodded, "I've already seen it."
“We have to find ways to recruit more students,” Lejian said.
"That's right. The academy with the fewest enrollment in Shuofang County only has six students. If this continues, this academy will be demolished sooner or later."
Mao Gong also said.
Once the township college is dismantled, it will be absolutely impossible for these children to go to other colleges to study and become literate given the transportation conditions of this era.
And once one college is eliminated, more colleges will continue to be eliminated.
The nobles who originally did not dare to stand up to oppose will definitely stand up at this time and join forces to push the college and education into the abyss.
"Mr. Xue and I were discussing this issue just now. Do you have any good suggestions?" Li Fu pointed at the chair and motioned for the two of them to sit down.
"My subordinates discovered that the reason why people are unwilling to send their children to study in colleges is not only due to their own factors, but also partly because... there is a force secretly promoting the theory that studying is useless, saying that even if you have gone to school, you can just go home and raise seeds. My subordinates didn't pay attention at first... but they realized something was wrong after hearing it more than once. However, this force is very cunning, and my subordinates sent people to look at it twice but failed to find it." Mao Gong said solemnly.
"If you say so, it seems that Jiuyuan also has this situation." Xue Gong said suddenly. If Mao Gong hadn't reminded him, he really wouldn't have thought that someone was deliberately promoting it.
Li Fu looked at Le Jian, who shook his head, "Helan is not in this situation."
Helan is a remote place. There is only one river connected to Zhao State. There are deserts on both sides of the river and it is desolate. It is not easy to reach it.
Helan County has therefore become the county with the highest enrollment rate among the counties in Hetao, but it is not much higher, only about 5%, which is still very low overall.
"Since Mr. Mao discovered this matter first, then Mr. Mao will be responsible for investigating. I will ask everyone to cooperate with you. In addition, report it to Handan and ask the king to send someone to assist." Li Fu said.
This matter is very important. If someone is really promoting the theory that reading is useless, it means that there are serious hidden dangers in the country of Zhao, and there is a force that is beyond the control of the court.
Zhao must find a way to uproot this force.
"No." Mao Gong said, clasping his fists.
"What other ideas do you have?" Li Fu asked.
"Perhaps we can compile some poems or proverbs to promote the importance of reading and literacy." Lejian said. Poems and proverbs are the easiest to spread. Even if people are illiterate, they can still sing along with a few sentences.
"Give certain financial subsidies to families in dire straits. Most people cannot afford to go to school because they are too poor," Mao Gong said.
"In this way, the expenditure will be even greater." Li Fu frowned and said, Zhao State's support for education is very large, second only to the military, and even more for road construction and officials' salaries.
Before this, the largest expenditure of each country, besides the military, had always been the salaries of officials.
Unlike other aspects, investment in education cannot see returns in a short period of time, and at the same time it offends the interests of the nobility. Chestnut belly is difficult to guarantee passage.
"We will submit our suggestions and let Handan make the decision." Xue Gong said.
"Okay." Li Fu nodded. Even if they agreed, it would not be implemented without Handan's funding. In this case, it is better to leave the decision-making power to Handan.
…
At this time, Handan was immersed in joy. Queen Tian Shu had just given birth to a son, and the mother and son were safe.
Zhao Wangkuo named the child Zhao An, rewarded the ministers, pardoned minor criminals, and moved to Monan.
