kvmb Chapter 672 Observations ( )
Chapter 672 Observations ( )
"Boss, don't listen to his nonsense. Just give us a pair of chicken and duck feet each."
After glaring at Li Qiao, Li Mingyuan hurriedly said to Lu Dahe that 40 chicken and duck feet would cost 400 coins, and he was reluctant to spend so much money on snacks.
"Yes, sir!"
Lu Dahe wasn't disappointed that he didn't close a big deal; in fact, he didn't have that much braised food left in his pot.
Soon, Lu Dahe scooped two pairs of chicken and duck feet out of the pot, wrapped them in an oil paper bag, and handed them to Li Mingyuan.
As Li Mingyuan took the food, he asked in a casual tone, "Boss, I see that most of the people buying braised food from you are children. Are all the children in Chenjia Village this rich?"
"Of course!"
Lu Dahe said with a smile, "Old man, you should know that the people in Chenjia Village can earn 800 coins a month, right?"
"know."
“If one person earns 800 coins, and there are five adults in the family, that would be 4 taels of silver a month.”
Lu Dahe said, "A family can earn 4 taels of silver a month. It's not surprising that they would occasionally give the children a few dozen coins for pocket money. The children you just saw mostly come from families with large members and relatively wealthy families."
"I see."
Li Mingyuan suddenly realized that four taels of silver was equivalent to 4000 copper coins. If a family earned 4000 copper coins a month, it would not be a problem to give the children a few dozen coins as pocket money.
"Also, all the children in Chenjia Village can go to school for free."
Lu Dahe added, "Moreover, once you finish your studies, you can immediately become a hired worker in Chenjia Village, earning a much higher wage than ordinary workers. Therefore, the adults in Chenjia Village value their children very much."
"Free books?"
A look of surprise flashed in Li Mingyuan's eyes; this was something he had never known before.
"Not bad!"
Lu Dahe nodded and said, "Children from all families registered in Chenjia Village can study at Chenjia Village School for free. The way children study in Chenjia Village is different from others. Others study to take the imperial examinations and become officials, but the children of Chenjia Village study to get jobs in Chenjia Village!"
Every child who finishes their education in Chenjia Village can obtain job opportunities provided by the village, and their wages are often higher than those of ordinary workers. Some of the better students can even earn more than twice the wages of ordinary workers!
This is the result of education!
Li Mingyuan's body trembled, and he was shocked!
Since ancient times, this land has attached great importance to education. For example, the imperial court's evaluation of officials' performance included education as one of the criteria.
In other words, education was a matter of evaluation for Xia state officials.
Therefore, both scholars and officials attached great importance to education.
However, the education they valued had nothing to do with the general public. In Xia Kingdom, whether it was private schools or official schools, ordinary people's children had no opportunity to study. Just like Li Mingyuan in the past, even if he had a desire to learn, he could only eavesdrop on the teacher's lectures outside the private school. If it weren't for the private school teacher's love for talent, no matter how much Li Mingyuan liked reading, he would not have been able to embark on the path of studying and taking the imperial examinations.
But how many people like Li Mingyuan can the Xia Kingdom have?
It is no exaggeration to say that over 90% of children from commoner backgrounds in the Xia Kingdom had no opportunity to study. Taking the imperial examinations and achieving official rank was simply a pipe dream for them. Only children from wealthy families had the chance to study.
But in Chenjia Village, Li Mingyuan saw a completely different scene. A "school," something that should have nothing to do with the general public, was a place where every child in Chenjia Village could attend, and the education was free…
This made Li Mingyuan feel particularly complicated. As a scholar who cared about the people, he had thought about promoting education during his time in office, so that all the children under his jurisdiction could go to school, acquire knowledge, and no longer live a life of ignorance.
Unfortunately... his abilities were limited, and he could never do what Chenjia Village did, ensuring that every child could study for free.
After all... in the land of Xia, the price of knowledge is extremely high; the cost of writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones is enough to bankrupt ordinary people.
Moreover, studying was of no use to ordinary people, because the only way out of studying was to pass the imperial examination and become an official. The pass rate for the imperial examination was... outrageously low. For ordinary people's children, let alone passing the imperial examination, even passing the preliminary examination or becoming a scholar was as difficult as climbing to heaven.
Under such circumstances, ordinary people would naturally not send their children to school, because it would be something they could not see any return on.
"Is it true that everyone in Chenjia Village can go to school?"
Li Mingyuan stared intently at Lu Dahe.
"Not everyone can read books."
Lu Dahe shook his head. "Only those with Chenjia Village household registration can have their children attend school for free."
"What exactly is this Chenjia Village household registration system?"
Li Mingyuan asked, looking puzzled.
"I don't know how to say it."
Lu Dahe scratched his head and replied, "Having a household registration in Chenjia Village is roughly equivalent to having the status of a villager in Chenjia Village. With this status, you can eat half-price food in Chenjia Village, your wages can rise to 800 wen a month, and children can go to school for free. In short, there are many benefits. No one in Taiping County doesn't want to obtain a household registration in Chenjia Village."
"So how many people are registered residents of Chenjia Village now?"
From Lu Dahe's words, Li Mingyuan roughly understood the value of Chenjia Village's household registration. Before that, he had heard that Chenjia Village had a population of nearly 20,000. It was impossible for all 20,000 people to have Chenjia Village household registration, right?
"Not many! Probably only two or three thousand people."
Lu Dahe said with his head held high, "Among the two or three thousand people who have household registration in Chenjia Village, I happen to be one of them. This makes me feel proud whenever I mention this!"
"Two or three thousand people..."
Li Mingyuan muttered this number. The people of Xia Kingdom often had a large number of children. Under normal circumstances, a couple would have at least three to five children in their lifetime.
If two or three thousand people have household registration in Chenjia Village, then the number of children who can attend school for free is probably more than two or three thousand!
Indeed, this is true. The Chenjia Village School has been expanded many times and now accommodates more than three thousand students.
Of course, not all children receive free education. Some children's parents do not yet have household registration in Chenjia Village, but they hope that their children can learn to read and write and obtain jobs provided by Chenjia Village. Therefore, they pay for their children to attend school.
"This Chenjia Village is truly unique in every way!"
Li Mingyuan couldn't help but exclaim in amazement. Chenjia Village was so different from the places he had seen in his travels all over the years. Almost everything he learned about from Chenjia Village was novel and shocking to him!