Ang Lee was right. If he hadn't proposed universal basic education, allowing all children to enroll in school, as well as a host of demands, the officials of the Ministry of Rites, including Little Wei, would not have to work so hard. Thus, as an official of the Ministry of Rites, it was normal for him to complain about Ang Lee in his heart.
This was like a teacher in the future. Originally, they were teaching well, but suddenly, they were given a task to help the poor. Moreover, it was a task that had to be completed. This naturally made many teachers dissatisfied, but even if they complained, this was a task given by the higher-ups, and it had to be completed. Thus, even if they complained in their hearts, they still had to complete it.
As the Director of the Ministry of Rites, Little Wei was mainly responsible for this promotion and was the busiest. Thus, Ang Lee felt that it was normal for Little Wei to complain in his heart.
"Haha! Assistant Minister Li is joking. Although it is a bit tiring, if not for Assistant Minister Li's proposal of universal education, this lowly official would not have had the opportunity to be promoted to a lower fifth-rank Director of the Ministry of Rites. This is a two-rank promotion in a row! "
Little Wei said with a smile.
His previous rank was upper sixth-rank, a position that had just been promoted. Now, he was an upper fifth-rank official. Wasn't this a two-rank promotion? Based on his young age, it should have taken him many more years to get another chance for promotion. Now, not long after his promotion, he had another two-rank promotion. How could he not be happy?
Although Xiao Wei was from an aristocratic family and had a powerful backer, even if he was a descendant of an aristocratic family, under normal circumstances, he would not be promoted so quickly. Those who could be promoted so quickly were extremely rare phenomena. Most people would only be able to rise one rank after many years. Ordinary imperial examination talents without a backer would have to endure for ten years to rise one rank. Some of the more serious officials would remain a seventh-rank official their entire lives, never having the opportunity to be promoted. These were all common occurrences. After all, official positions were very limited. The higher the rank, the rarer it was. Wanting to be promoted was not that difficult. Even in the capital where high-ranking officials walked everywhere, wanting to be promoted was not that easy, not to mention the provinces and counties where there were not many official positions.
Thus, Little Wei was very satisfied to be promoted to an upper fifth-rank official. He only felt gratitude toward Ang Lee, without the slightest complaint. Although the work was very tiring, he was still relatively young. This bit of hard work was not worth mentioning to him. Compared to the opportunity for promotion, a little hard work was simply a fart.
"Hahaha! It's great that Little Wei can think this way. It's fine. The hard work will only last for a while. Once the work of universal education is completed, Little Wei will be able to rest. "
Li An said with a smile.
Everything was difficult at the beginning, but it would get easier and easier as time went on. Otherwise, there would be no saying that everything was difficult at the beginning. As long as the beginning was done well, Little Wei would not have to work so hard later.
Little Wei nodded, expressing his approval of Ang Lee's words. He asked, "Assistant Minister Li, just what is the purpose of your visit?"
In Little Wei's view, Ang Lee was not simply here to take a look. There was definitely something he wanted to talk about.
Ang Lee asked, "Little Wei! How is universal education going? So far, how many people are willing to fund schools? "
"Replying to Assistant Minister Li, so far, more than one hundred people have begun to set up schools. There are even more people who are interested, but they have not yet chosen a location. I believe that in at most half a year, universal schools will be set up in all the schools in the capital."
Little Wei said.
Ang Lee nodded in satisfaction. "Good, very good, very good. There are already more than one hundred people following this official to set up schools. This is a very good start! Right, who are these people, and what stage are they at? "
Just having people to set up schools was not enough. They had to be serious and responsible. If it was just for the sake of fishing for fame, then there was not much point in setting up schools.
Little Wei replied, "Replying to Assistant Minister Li, at present, more than half of the people setting up schools are the dignitaries of the capital. Merchants are less than a third. In terms of progress, it is naturally the dignitaries who are making faster progress. Besides Assistant Minister Li, the schools of the Right Minister's family are the fastest. I heard that in order to finish as soon as possible, the Right Minister mobilized the garrison outside the city. The Noble Consort's elder sister, in order to speed up the process, transferred all the servants in the manor to work. The school set up is rather large, much larger than Assistant Minister Li's school. It should be able to accommodate three thousand people without a problem. That's right, this official's uncle has also set up a school. In order to speed up the process, uncle and several of his cousins are personally working on it. I estimate that it will be completed within three months. There's also Assistant Minister Zhao, Duke Ying, the Southern Commandery Prince …"
After listening to Little Wei for a long time, Ang Lee suddenly felt that the reason why the number of merchants was lower was not that they did not want to set up schools. It was because they wanted to let the dignitaries choose the location first. When the dignitaries were almost done choosing, it would probably be their turn. Otherwise, if the location they chose was chosen by the dignitaries later, should they give it up or not? If they did not give it up, it would be difficult for them to survive in the future. If they gave it up, wouldn't they be working for nothing? Moreover, the dignitaries had not chosen yet. If they chose first, wouldn't that be not giving face to the dignitaries? It was like donating money. The big boss only donated one million, but you, a small boss, donated five million. Wouldn't that make the big boss lose face? Therefore, in many cases, everything had to be done according to seniority. If one's seniority was not high enough, many things could not be done casually. Otherwise, it would be easy to get oneself into trouble.
"The Right Minister is amazing! In order to complete the school as soon as possible, he mobilized the army. The Left Minister is actually working on it personally. It's even more amazing! If this official doesn't go and take a look, wouldn't it be too inappropriate? "
Ang Lee said with a smile.
After saying that, Ang Lee left the Ministry of Rites. When he passed by the gate of the Ministry of Rites, he saw many wealthy merchants coming over to inquire about the situation. Obviously, these people were very interested in setting up a school. They came over to have a clearer understanding of the policy so that it would be easier to set up a school.
After leaving the Ministry of Rites, Ang Lee first went to the school that Wei Jiansu was in charge of. This school was the closest. Naturally, he had to go to the nearest school first. Maybe he could see the touching scene of Master Wei working in person?
The housing prices within the city walls of the capital were too high. Even in the remote south of the city, the prices were frighteningly high. Therefore, those who could live in the city were definitely not poor. At least, they could afford to go to private schools. As a result, the universal education school was naturally outside the city. Only outside the city there were poor children who did not go to school.
With the increase of the population of the capital, the imperial court had already planned the roads. Several circles had been formed around the capital. The first circle was the city wall. There were two large circles outside the city wall. These two circles were formed by roads. They could be regarded as the Third Ring Road and the Fourth Ring Road. The city wall was equivalent to the Second Ring Road. There were indeed roads around the city wall. However, these roads were built a little distance away from the city wall. They were built outside the moat.
In fact, between the Second Ring Road and the Third Ring Road of the city wall, there were not all poor people. Many relatively well-off families lived in this area. There were also many neatly built cement buildings in this area. The overall feeling was not bad. Of course, there were also many poor people. Between the Third Ring Road and the Fourth Ring Road, it was completely the world of the poor. The proportion of poor people was at least 80%. There were also some villas of the rich in the middle, and there were also some important roads and scenic spots. Outside the Fourth Ring Road, almost all of them were slums.
Outside the Fourth Ring Road and the Fourth Ring Road were the best locations. That was to say, if one sincerely wanted to run a universal school, the area between the Third Ring Road and the Fourth Ring Road was the best location. There were the most slums there, and there was also more land to provide. However, no matter which ring it was, there were always some good locations and some bad locations. All the people who ran a school would definitely prefer a better location and not a bad location.
If one were to talk about the relationship between a school and its location, it would mainly be the traffic and environment. Setting up a school in a place with convenient traffic and an elegant environment would naturally make people feel very comfortable. However, setting up a school in a place with poor traffic and an unfavorable environment would make people feel quite uncomfortable.
On both sides of the main road with convenient traffic, it was the best location to run a school. When the time came, the gate would face the main road, and there would be a tall rockery in front of the gate. Don't mention how stylish it would be. The most important thing was that the plaque on the gate could be seen clearly by passersby. Thus, they would deeply remember the school and who built it. This was a great help to improve a person's reputation.
For example, the school built by Ang Lee was not far from the intersection, and the main gate was also facing the intersection. Passersby could see the words "School of Telepathy" when they turned their heads slightly. Then, they would know that this school was built by Ang Lee. This was naturally a great help to improve Ang Lee's reputation.
Because the location of the slums was not all near the main road, some were in more remote locations. They needed to go down the side road of the main road and then walk a long distance on a muddy road to reach it. These muddy roads would become extremely rugged when it was rainy. Except for the poor and profit-seeking businessmen, the dignitaries and envoys of various countries would not take such roads. Therefore, if the popularized school built at one's own expense was built in such a location, it meant that it would be difficult for people with status to see it. This would naturally be a great detriment to improving one's reputation. Therefore, the dignitaries would try their best to choose good locations near the main road. When designing the school, they put the gate as the most important thing. Not only did the gate have to face the main road, but the name of the school on the gate also had to be large and eye-catching so that passersby could see it from far away.
The school built by Wei Jiansu was at the corner of the Third Ring Road and the main road into the capital. This location was quite good because whether it was the main road into the capital or the Third Ring Road, they were all roads with relatively high traffic. There were really many pedestrians coming and going, which was very good for improving the school's reputation.
When Ang Lee arrived at the location of the school, he found that Wei Jiansu had built two school gates. One gate faced the main road into the capital, and the other gate faced the Third Ring Road. Both gates had been built. Although there were slight differences in appearance and size, they were quite large. At first glance, one would feel that they were very imposing. Moreover, there was a screen wall built inside the two gates to block the view. The screen wall was made of high-quality bluestone. Several craftsmen were carving the screen wall. They were probably going to carve some relief carvings to persuade people to read!
Ang Lee let the car circle around the school a few times. Then, he entered the school through one of the gates. The interior was obviously under construction. Everywhere was a mess. All kinds of building materials were piled up in a disorderly manner.
"Why is Assistant Minister Li here?"
A small leader recognized Ang Lee and hurriedly came over to salute.
"Oh, this official just came to see. Where is Master Wei? I heard that he came to work in person. This official also wanted to come and help. "
Ang Lee said with a smile.
"Assistant Minister Li must be joking. These dirty jobs are all done by us ordinary people. Oh, by the way, Master Wei is inside."
The small leader said.
Hearing this, Ang Lee nodded slightly and walked inside the tent.
At the entrance of the tent, the attendant guarding the door was about to speak, but was stopped by Ang Lee in time.
Gently entering the tent, he saw Wei Jiansu lying on a rocking chair with his eyes closed and his legs propped up on a high stool. That posture was beyond ecstasy. Looking at his clothes and shoes, they were clean, without a single speck of dust. This clearly didn't look like he had done any work.
"So Master Wei is working here! It was really hard to find! "
Ang Lee softly said.
Wei Jiansu's eyebrows slightly twitched. When he opened his eyes and saw Ang Lee, he hurriedly put down his legs and stood up. "I'm getting on in years and my body can't take it anymore. I've just arrived at the construction site and I'm already exhausted. I've let Assistant Minister Li see a joke."
These words were spoken as if he had really done any work. In fact, this fellow clearly hadn't done any work at all. This could be seen from his clean clothes. But as long as he stayed at the construction site, the people below could brag that Master Wei Jiansu had personally come to work at the construction site.
This was like the Arbor Day of the modern era. Officials at all levels of the Imperial Court would take a shovel and put on an act. They would say that they were personally planting trees, but in reality, they were just posing for photos. First of all, they weren't the ones who dug the hole to plant the trees, nor were they the ones who placed the trees. They also weren't involved in the final reinforcement and maintenance. The only thing they did was take a shovel and add a bit of soil to the planted trees. Then, someone would immediately come over to take photos. Finally, they would spread the news that the leader had personally planted the trees.
This sort of thing was very fake, but this sort of thing really happened in every dynasty. There was no lack of such things in any era. There was no lack of such tricks that couldn't fool anyone.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
