Raising chickens and pigs and digging for wild vegetables, the county magistrate's promotion wa

Chapter 560 One minute a dutiful son-in-law, the next a scoundrel?

If you randomly grab any ordinary person, they should be able to recognize at least 500 characters.

The Zhu Emperor was envious.

Emperor Zhu was jealous.

Being able to recognize 500 characters doesn't necessarily mean one has a high level of scholarship, but it does allow one to stumble through books and gazettes.

If you can read books and official gazettes, as long as you're not too stupid, you can at least understand the imperial decrees.

If one can understand the imperial decrees, one will not be easily manipulated by petty officials, yamen runners, or gentry.

Just as Emperor Zhu was shocked by the literacy rate of the people of Ningyang County, Yang Shaofeng added, as if he hadn't had enough: "In addition to being able to recognize five hundred characters, they can also do ordinary addition and subtraction, and multiplication and division of two-digit numbers."

Emperor Zhu was even more shocked.

Seeing the stunned and dumbfounded Emperor Zhu, Yang Shaofeng couldn't help but feel smug.

To achieve this, Yang Shaofeng spent more than two years, or even close to three years, teaching literacy.

From the initial exile to Ningyang County, where the scholars from Liu Hongchang's and Geng Ju's families were conscripted to become teachers, to the later assignment of twenty-six scholars sent by Zhu Biao to become teachers, and the students from the county school also serving as junior teachers after returning to their villages, Yang Shaofeng utilized almost every available resource to the fullest extent.

By employing such a multi-pronged approach, and promising a generous reward of fatty meat to whoever first learns five hundred characters, the problem of widespread illiteracy in Ningyang County was finally solved.

Emperor Zhu probably knew how much effort Yang Shaofeng had put into solving the illiteracy problem.

However, Emperor Zhu never expected that Yang Shaofeng would not only solve the problem of literacy, but also teach arithmetic to the people.

This means that even if only one-tenth of the four or five thousand people in Ningyang County are able-bodied, there would still be four or five hundred able-bodied people who can read and do arithmetic.

At this moment, Emperor Zhu had no time for envy or jealousy.

Unconsciously wiping his mouth with his sleeve, Emperor Zhu chuckled and said, "My dear son-in-law..."

Yang Shaofeng took a small step back. "Father-in-law, please speak your mind. You can call me a scoundrel if you want, but I would never dare to accept the title of 'worthy son-in-law'."

“Yes, yes,” Emperor Zhu’s eyes, which were not very big to begin with, narrowed into slits when he smiled. “If even my son-in-law is not worthy of this title, then who else in the world is worthy of it?”

"My dear son-in-law..."

"With so many scholars in Ningyang County, isn't it a complete waste of talent to send them to farm, mine, and quarry stones?"

"If you ask me, why don't you pick a few of the smarter ones and assign them to other places as clerks or assistant officials or something?"

Yang Shaofeng rejected Emperor Zhu's proposal without even thinking.

"Father-in-law, you flatter me."

"Where are the scholars in Ningyang County? There are only about twenty proper scholars in the county school, which is far from enough to be considered as good as the prefectural school. How can they possibly become clerks or assistant officials?"

"As for the people of Ningyang County..."

Yang Shaofeng curled his lip, "They're a bunch of idiots who don't know what's good for them and have no brains. If you let them be officials, they might get tricked and killed one day."

Emperor Zhu immediately became anxious and angrily said, "Who dares to cheat them? With a scoundrel like you setting an example for them, it's already good enough if they don't cheat others. How can they be cheated just because someone says so?"

Ok?

He was still a devoted son-in-law just a moment ago.

Seeing that I refuse to release them, you've become a scoundrel, haven't you?

You old man Deng, you change your mind pretty quickly, huh?

Unfortunately, even I, the official, am short-handed. Where would I find extra manpower to spare for you, Old Deng?

Moreover, the more officials who leave Ningyang County, the worse it is for this official.

Of course you old Deng don't care.

Little Deng probably won't take it to heart.

You two probably wish I would raise a Ningyang faction to compete with the Huaixi and Jiangnan factions.

But how could those fools in Ningyang County be a match for those old foxes?

Besides, these fools are all people under my jurisdiction.

You're trying to get rid of people without even offering any money?

While inwardly grumbling, Yang Shaofeng said, "It's not that I'm unwilling to release them, but these people are all of great use to me."

Emperor Zhu snorted coldly and said, "Then tell me, what do you intend for them to do?"

Yang Shaofeng said, "First, Dengzhou Prefecture has not yet started literacy campaigns."

"Dengzhou Prefecture has ten counties under its jurisdiction. Once the literacy campaign begins, it will require more than just one or two teachers. I plan to transfer some people from Ningyang County to Dengzhou."

"Once literacy is completed in Dengzhou, Father-in-law, you can allocate manpower to us, whether to make us clerks, assistant officials, or teachers in other prefectures and counties. I will have no objections."

"Secondly, the construction of Dengzhou University is of great importance and requires the use of the best craftsmen, preferably those who can read blueprints, read, and understand the son-in-law's planning intentions."

"Apart from the craftsmen that my father-in-law and His Highness the Crown Prince transferred from the capital, the rest could only be drawn from Ningyang County."

“If I release the man now, when large-scale manpower is mobilized later, Ningyang County will be short of able-bodied men, and the people’s farming will become a problem.”

In short, it boils down to eight words: no money, no people.

Looking at Emperor Zhu's dark and smelly old face, Yang Shaofeng began to think about how to make things worse for the old man.

At the very least, we should find him something to do, so he won't always be thinking about poaching people from me!

After a moment's thought, Yang Shaofeng laughed and said, "You see, we've forgotten about the important matter again while we're talking."

"Tsk."

Emperor Zhu smacked his lips, his face dark, and said, "It was clearly you, you scoundrel, who first dragged Ningyang County into the literacy campaign, and now it's become our fault?"

Yang Shaofeng chuckled and said, "It's all the same, it's not important. The important thing is that the Ministry of Rites is short-staffed."

Emperor Zhu sneered and said, "It's different, it's very important. If you're willing to release them, at least we can transfer some clerks or minor officials from other places."

"Several hundred."

"With several hundred people on the job, how could the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Works be short of manpower?"

Yang Shaofeng opened his mouth, and after a long while, he finally spoke: "What a coincidence! I was also thinking of increasing the manpower of the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Works."

Emperor Zhu snorted.

If you, you dog, refuse to release the people, how can the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Works possibly increase their manpower?

Just as Emperor Zhu was cursing inwardly, Yang Shaofeng continued, "Actually, the solution to the shortage of personnel in the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Works is quite simple."

"As long as we can find a group of people to help Kong Xixue and Kong Xilu quickly repair the Hongwu Dictionary and the Hongwu Encyclopedia, the manpower they are occupying will naturally be freed up."

"Will the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Works still be short-staffed?"

Emperor Zhu clicked his tongue again, looking at Yang Shaofeng with the same care one would give a fool, and said sarcastically, "In order to compile the Hongwu Great Dictionary and the Hongwu Great Encyclopedia, Kong Xixue and Kong Xilu have gathered almost all the scholars and literati from the north and south of the country to the capital. Where are you going to find manpower now?"

"Besides, the Hongwu Great Dictionary and the Hongwu Great Encyclopedia took two or three years to compile. If you put people in now, do you think Kong Xixue and Kong Xilu will appreciate it?"