After Transmigration: Building a Kingdom in Turbulent Times

Because the manager offered a lot of money, Xi Le kindly reminded him, "This house is okay for guards to live in, but it’s not suitable for the masters, it’s damp and rundown. There are many people coming into the city today; if the lords want to stay at a nice inn, it’s best to book now. Besides the inns, there are also some families in the city willing to rent out their houses, but you’ll have to inquire at the county government’s real estate office to find out who rents."

The manager understood and, after sending Xi Le off, promptly returned to report to Zhao Fan and Zhao Qing.

Zhao Fan and the others had already looked over this residence. It’s not very big, but there’s more than enough room for the goods they brought, as well as the livestock and carriages.

Zhao Fan and Zhao Qing only took a few guards and the manager with them, leaving the others here to watch the goods.

The Zhao Family’s clan member, Zhao Hanzhang, had already made arrangements. There are many vacant houses in Luoyang City, not suitable for residing in, but they can be used as warehouses.

Because of her actions, the pressure was alleviated, preventing massive caravans from blocking the streets with nowhere to go.

The people in Luoyang City were not foolish. Some of the bolder ones immediately ran off to mark off some land for merchants to park and store their goods, charging only a little rent.

The merchants were reluctant to agree, because there’s no shelter, the safety isn’t high, and if it rains...

The young men proudly said, "Rest assured, this area is under our protection, there’s definitely no safety issue. Rain? During this season, how could it rain in Luoyang? So you can be one hundred percent assured."

Seeing their hesitation continue, they added, "There are limited warehouses in Luoyang City. Except for some large shops that have warehouses, who else has them? Plus, renting a warehouse would be expensive. This plot of land, just fifty cents a day. If your goods are here for ten days, it’s only five hundred cents, quite worthwhile."

Only then did the merchants agree, paying to rent the land.

The people of Luoyang City saw that they had both carriages and goods coming in, and welcomed them warmly, immediately preparing extra rooms in their homes. Even without extra rooms, they’d squeeze to make room for one and warmly invite them in, renting out the vacated room.

Many families also took care of their meals, from meals to full board, taking responsibility for feeding the entire caravan team, making quite a bit of money just by cooking each day.

It’s not inferior to the young men going out for work.

All the children in the households were put to work; they ran to the city gates to guide the merchants, introducing accommodation, and could earn five or six cents in a single trip, enough for a day’s meals.

The children enjoyed earning money so much that they didn’t want to go to school.

"Mom, there are still a lot of people outside the city. I heard from the government official at the city gate that the Great General specifically instructed that the city gates not be closed tonight until all the caravans outside have entered." So the child also wanted to stay up all night, "I don’t want to go to school tomorrow. I think I can make ten trips in a day, five cents for a trip, that’s fifty cents if I make ten trips."

Not only did he not want to go to school tomorrow, he didn’t want to the day after either, "More and more people are coming to Luoyang, I’m the smartest, they can’t compete with me. I might as well not go to school. I’ll go to the city gate to help guide people every day. I can at least make eight trips a day, earning more than the adults."

Before he could finish speaking, his mother started looking for a stick. As soon as he finished, she had the stick in hand, grabbed his arm, and whacked him on the butt, "Not going to school! I told you not to go to school, told you not to go to school..."

The boy jumped trying to dodge but the stick always landed accurately on his buttocks, causing him to wail in tears.

His mother also cried, dropping the stick and using her hand to hit his butt instead, "This is a blessing given to you by the lady. Before, even if you wanted to go to school, the family couldn’t afford it. It’s rare to have such an opportunity, to learn to read and write for free, and you still don’t want to go?"

"How many years can you work as a guide at the city gate? They only use you now because you are a child. Two years from now when you grow up, who would let you guide them?" His mother patted his butt and said, "You reckless thing, don’t understand what’s important at all."

The boy sobbed and said, "But sister is going to school next year too, Mom works so hard."

His mother calmed down upon hearing this and said gently, "Don’t worry, the lady has newly opened a weaving mill in the city. I can work as a short-term laborer there, and combined with farming, we’ll be able to support you."

She lifted his shirt to wipe his face clean of tears and snot, gave him a disdainful look, then released him and said, "Study hard. If you can get into secondary school in three years, even if you can’t enter the Imperial College to become an official, you can still take the county government exam to become a small official. The village chief said at a meeting a few days ago, anyone who writes well and is good at arithmetic can take the county government exam, at the very least you could be a clerk."

Her voice grew more and more enthusiastic as she spoke, looking at her son and then at her daughter, she envisioned, "You’ve always been mischievous, never losing in a fight. Next year the school will add martial arts classes, so you should study well. Even if you’re not great at reading, you can take the exam to become a government official. Your sister takes after me, and she’s even smarter than you. Maybe she’ll be better at studying and when she finishes the three-year elementary education, I’ll send her to secondary school. She could then take the exam to become an official at the lady’s side."

Since Zhao Hanzhang has a number of female officials around her, and Great Jin has produced two female governors now, families with daughters are all hopeful, especially for those who show intelligence, they are being looked upon with high expectations.

Zhao Hanzhang’s school initially functioned as a private school, mainly to accommodate and appease orphans. Also, because orphans have no one to rely on, raising them ensures that after a few years, they can be of use, most of whom are extremely loyal to her.

Later, she converted the school to a public academy, allowing all other suitable-age children besides orphans to enroll for free for three years of primary education.

Oh yes, ages six to fourteen are considered suitable ages.

For those older who wish to learn literacy, there are lecturing halls in the military and workshops. By becoming her soldier or working in one of her workshops, they can learn.

This law was issued in the middle of last year, but war broke out afterward. Although local governance continued, the focus remained on the war, so the law wasn’t strictly enforced.

This family was enlightened, knowing the benefits of education. So when the law was announced and the village chief called, she immediately led her suitable-age son to attend the school for his primary education.

Her neighbors, however, mostly kept their children home, not sending them to school.

Some were cautious, "How could there be free benefits like this in the world?"

"Reading is something only noble families can do, how could people like us be fit to study?" They suspected that the county officials were trying to trick them into going to school, then demand money from them, fearing they would bankrupt themselves trying to repay tuition.

"Nonsense, the school was opened by the lady, do you know that? When she was in Yu State, she set up schools to shelter orphans, teaching them to read and acquire skills, how could she deceive anyone?"