Chapter 63 He is really poor

How can I describe the teaching atmosphere in Yanquan County? It can be said that it is almost non-existent.

Rich families, such as the Shen family and the Zhao family, have their own clan schools, while poor families basically don’t consider this.

For those who have some money but don’t have a clan school, they can go to the families that have a clan school, say a few good words, and pay some money to attend the class.

However, in Yanquan County, the opportunity for children to go to school is basically monopolized by a few wealthy families, and ordinary people have almost no access to it.

Is Lu Chenyang planning to rebuild the county school? Is he going to start recruiting students?

Shen Shiqian reacted the fastest: “Sir Lu, this is a good thing, our Shen family is the first to support it.”

Zhao Tingyuan glanced at him. Ah, what a quick reaction! He immediately said, "Yes! Our Zhao family is also willing to support it."

Shen Shiqian pondered and said, "But repairing the government office is urgent. We can't let you fall into danger. I think it's better to repair them all at once. It will be a convenient thing."

Zhao Tingyuan looked at him again. Ah, how come Shen Shiqian reacted so quickly! How come he became the good guy!

"Yes, Lord Lu, our Zhao family is also willing to support!" Zhao Tingyuan added.

Lu Chenyang smiled and shook his head. "Since you've agreed to help renovate the county school, I'm incredibly grateful. I'll repair the government office myself. You're right. I do want to reopen the county school. It doesn't make sense that under the leadership of a top scholar like me, who achieved the highest score in the imperial examination, I can't find many talented students. I won't accept that!"

Everyone laughed.

Lu Chenyang said, "Take your time. The county school will reopen soon, and Yanquan County will get better and better. I'll have someone post a notice recruiting teachers tomorrow. If you know of any talented people, please recommend them to me."

Everyone responded quickly.

Lu Chenyang did not do this on a whim, but had wanted to reopen the county school for a long time.

He can tolerate seeing people in their twenties asking for directions or money on the street, but if it was a child doing the same thing, he would be furious, really furious!

Although there are many things to do now, Xu Zhenghui also told him that he can take it slow and make sure the people have enough to eat before considering education issues.

But Lu Chenyang felt that education was urgent and must be started.

The customs of Yanquan County must be eradicated from a young age, and no matter how hard it is, money must be squeezed out. Because of this plan, he felt hesitant and distressed about repairing the government office. Now that Shen Shiqian took the initiative to bring it up, he can save some money.

Lu Chenyang said, "Okay, let's not talk about this anymore, let's go eat."

Eating with Lu Chenyang wasn't torture, because he was a very easygoing person, not too particular. He also didn't drink (actually, it was expensive, so Lord Lu couldn't afford it), euphemistically saying that drinking would delay things, so everyone could chat more.

But Lu Chenyang wasn't so stingy. After all, these people had promised to build a county school for him. He asked someone to take out all the peach blossom wine that the leader of the Dongyi people had given her. When Abu later delivered documents to him, knowing that he loved drinking this, he brought him several jars and asked Lu Chenyang to take them out.

"This was given to me by the leader of the Dongyi people. It's called Peach Blossom Wine. Although it's not as strong and refreshing as white wine, it has its own unique flavor. Everyone should try it." Lu Chenyang said with a smile.

The food and wine on the table were really light, mostly consisting of the most common mushroom ingredients in Yanquan County. A chicken was cut into pieces and shared between two tables.

The budget given by Lu Chenyang was already difficult enough for the county government's chef.

Everyone watched the whole meal, tears almost falling. How could their Lord Lu live so miserably? I had heard that Lu Chenyang usually couldn't bear to eat even an egg, and had to give it to his own little maid who loved to eat it. But today he gave them chicken. It was so touching!

In short, everyone enjoyed the meal very much. Although the feast was not sumptuous, they all felt Lu Chenyang's sincerity. Therefore, they were more willing to pay for the renovation of the county school.

After the banquet, Shen Shiqian did not leave, but stayed outside the door to ask to see Lu Chenyang.

He was here to buy a shop. He wasn't stupid. What was there to think about? He had heard that this area was built by Lu Chenyang. He could already predict that this would be the most prosperous place in Yanquan County in the future. Of course, he couldn't miss this opportunity. He had to grab the best location before everyone else. The more the better.

While eating, he even asked someone to go home and get some money, fearing that if he was late, his favorite shop would be bought by someone else.

Lu Chenyang was a bit amused, but he still met him. After all, he was poor now and had no right to have sexual relations with Director Jin.

As soon as Shen Shiqian walked in, he stated his purpose.

Lu Chenyang was helpless and couldn't refuse. However, he didn't agree to sell him all the shops. He only sold him two-thirds of the shop. Shen Shiqian looked disappointed.

Shen Shiqian lowered his eyes and asked softly, "Are you still blaming me, sir? It's all because I failed to control my family and caused you so much trouble. It's only right that you're angry with me."

Lu Chenyang: “???” No, isn’t your attitude a little wrong?

You are the eldest son of the Shen family, why do you act like a little girl?

Lu Chenyang quickly comforted him: "No, that incident has passed. The Shen family has already paid the price. I won't hold on to it anymore."

Shen Shiqian breathed a sigh of relief. All he wanted was Lu Chenyang's assurance.

He immediately became happy: "Your Excellency is open-minded, then I feel relieved." After a pause, he continued: "The teacher who teaches at our Shen Family School now is quite good, and he is also a scholar. I will ask him to find a few classmates later. I hope Your Excellency can use them."

Lu Chenyang said hurriedly: "That's great, I'm really worried about not having a teacher now."

Shen Shiqian said happily: "It's good to be able to help you, sir. In fact, you are doing this for the people of Yanquan County. Sir, the county school has opened, and our Shen family will send our children to study there."

Lu Chenyang nodded: "Yes, children must study, so that our Yanquan County can be better in the future."

Shen Shiqian finished talking about the business and left with satisfaction.

The entire Yanquan County has begun construction at full speed, and the digging of ditches cannot stop. This is related to the planting of herbs and multiple seasons of rice by the people of the county next year. These are the seeds that the Dongyi people and Tan promised to give to the Han people.

A market and a county school were also under construction, and all the people in Yanquan County were busy.

Lu Chenyang took this opportunity to expand the army, that is, to expand the garrison in Yanquan County.

Lu Chenyang knew very well that the reason he was able to gain a foothold in Yanquan County so quickly and seize the initiative was because he controlled the military power of the garrison and because the garrison was combat-ready.

So he plans to continue expanding the number of garrisons.

Even though peace talks have been reached with the Dongyi people, and even though all the bandits, big and small, in Yanquan County have been almost wiped out by Yan Xing, he still decided to continue recruiting soldiers and expanding the army.

Xu Zhenghui felt that it was unnecessary. "How much food and fodder would this require? Sir, our government doesn't have much silver and grain left."

The Shen family had just donated half of their funds to support the construction of water conservancy projects. Lu Chenyang not only provided meals, but also silver and food for the garrison.

The county government spends a huge amount of money every day, and Xu Zhenghui feels distressed just thinking about it.

Lu Chenyang said, "That's what we have to do." After a pause, he said calmly, "Only if we have combat capability can the peace treaty be valid. If we don't have troops stationed there, then the peace treaty is just a piece of waste paper."

While this was true, Xu Zhenghui felt that the situation wasn't that serious. At least there was no need to rush into military expansion; it wouldn't be too late to do so later, once the county government had some spare cash.

Xu Zhenghui said, "It wouldn't be too late to expand the army after we have planted herbs throughout the county next year. By then, our pressure will be much less."

Lu Chenyang said, "Some things can't wait. It doesn't matter if you suffer a little now. It's better than being beaten later. Just listen to me. I will talk to Coach Yan about this tomorrow."

Xu Zhenghui thought to himself, you say this every time, even when you rebuilt the county school. Education cannot wait, but there are too many things you cannot wait for, right?

But he didn't dare to say it out loud. Seeing that Lu Chenyang had made up his mind, he nodded and said, "Okay, I'll go write the document and post it tomorrow."

Anyway, it’s Lu Chenyang who is worried about having no money, so why should he worry about it?

Without the pressure of supporting his family, Xu Zhenghui happily went to write official documents.

Lu Chenyang sighed and fiddled with the abacus, wishing he could break the penny into eight petals.

Ah, he is really so poor.