Chapter 437 Big Landlord

"There's nothing different about your silkworm!" Song Xuanyu looked up and down, left and right. The silkworm in the winnowing basket was the same as other silkworms.

"Shi Lun, these silkworms seem to be getting bigger!" Master Liu saw that the silkworms here were obviously bigger than any he had ever seen after a nap.

"Really?" Song Xuanyu didn't pay much attention to the silkworms and couldn't feel it.

"Yes!" Master Liu was very sure.

"Master Liu is very observant!" Su Ying didn't expect that Master Liu was so talented. To be an aide to the knowledgeable Song Xuanyu, one must have some real skills.

"Thank you, thank you! I think Master Su has some tricks in feeding the silkworms, or he chose different silkworm seeds." Master Liu said modestly.

"The silkworm seeds are all the same. They are collected from the county government and hatched in the same way. Wuxian and Wuzhou use garlic and brown sugar water to feed the silkworms." Su Ying introduced.

"But apart from being a little bigger, there's nothing special about it!" Song Xuanyu wondered if he had missed some details.

"Yeah!" Su Ying nodded.

"Huh, that's strange. We have the same silkworm species, and the garlic and brown sugar water feeding method is also public, so why do your silkworms produce colored silk? And why do the mulberry leaves differ?"

Song Xuanyu picked up the mulberry leaves and looked at them carefully. There was nothing different!

"The difference will only appear after three sleeps! When Lord Song comes again, the mystery will be revealed!" Su Ying kept it a secret.

"Okay! I must take a look!" Song Xuanyu was really curious.

"Sir!" Cao Li from the county government's workshop brought people to select a site for the women's official school and determine the scale of construction.

"Well, let's go and see where to choose!" Song Xuanyu and Master Liu went out.

"Master Su, Master Fu, let's discuss this together!" Song Xuanyu saw that the two men did not move.

"I seem to have forgotten something!" Su Ying was annoyed. "I forgot to reply to County Magistrate Lin. He's still waiting for my letter to discuss the follow-up."

"Just tell him that we have already selected a site in Huanggou Village. If you are interested, the school will open in two months. The first phase will enroll 30 girls, with 10 places in Tong County!

Tuition, textbooks, food, and lodging are free. Travel expenses are at your own expense. The program lasts three years. Girls under eight years old are accepted.

After graduation, you'll have to work in the county government textile factory or a designated textile factory for at least three years, and you'll get paid! " Song Xuanyu thought for a moment and said.

"?" Su Ying's eyes widened.

"Isn't he too young? Not only does he have to learn to read and write, but he also has to learn skills and management. He's only ten years old in two years. What does he know?"

These are professional technicians and managers in silkworm breeding and textile production, not child laborers!"

"Girls are married off at the age of thirteen. If they are older, their parents will not let them go. When they are around eight years old, they go to school for two years and then work in a textile factory for three years.

The transition from the old to the new doesn't delay getting married!" Song Xuanyu said.

“But the technicians and managers who have worked for three years and have just matured and accumulated a lot of work experience are having to resign.

Isn't it a waste of talent? There are always newbies in the textile factory! "Su Ying shook her head.

The two had a disagreement on the age for admitting students. Song Xuanyu was an ancient man, and according to the laws of the Tang Dynasty, girls could get married at the age of thirteen.

Su Ying comes from the modern era and has been influenced by her surroundings. She believes that people mature mentally after the age of twenty-two or twenty-three, and that thirteen years old is still a child, a kid in the first or second grade of junior high school.

In Song Xuanyu's mind, they are old people and should be eliminated.

"Sir Song, if the girl is successful in her studies and can bring great benefits to the family, I think her parents will not be willing to let her marry off early, not to a cheap in-law family!"

Su Ying insisted, "I think all girls under ten years old can be admitted.

After graduation, you will work in the textile factory for at least three years. Your salary will increase year by year, and outstanding candidates can be employed until they are 18 years old!

Song Xuanyu was silent for a moment, "Let's set the admission requirement at ten years old first, and the rest will be determined later!"

There was no trace of the textile factory, it was mentioned purely on a whim.

Women who graduated from official schools were at least literate and proficient in advanced silk reeling and textile techniques.

The successful cultivation of white calamus and its large-scale promotion led to the booming textile industry, at least ten years later.

By then, you don’t know where you will be working!

"In that case, why not relax the age limit to eleven?" Su Ying pressed the issue, hoping more girls would benefit. "After all, the age limit is thirteen!"

"You!" Song Xuanyu pointed at Su Ying and smiled, understanding what she meant. "There are only thirty of us in total. How much does age have to do with it?"

"I'm obsessed!" Su Ying patted her head.

I wanted to propose expanding the number of admissions, but after thinking it over I decided not to.

The threshold is too low and no one is interested. For these thirty people, the tuition, book fees, food and accommodation fees will be a considerable expense.

Wu County was able to sustain itself because of its abundant profits, taxes and tax grain.

Besides, normal county schools have not yet achieved this, which is an unfair treatment of educational resources for boys.

Only County Magistrate Song is decisive, drastic, and dares to make direct decisions. He should just be content.

I wonder which girls are lucky enough to be admitted to the women's official school.

A few people walked around the village. The houses in the village were sparsely scattered, and there were scattered vegetable fields.

The official school occupies a large area, with school buildings, teachers' and students' dormitories, a canteen, a bathhouse, a playground, a library, and practice workshops (for sericulture, silk reeling, weaving, etc.).

Unable to find a suitable place, I finally turned my attention to the village school at the end of the village.

This area is far from the village. Apart from the fields, there is only the Su family and a lot of undeveloped wasteland.

The Song family, Zhou family, and Qin Tieniu family were all close to the village and close to the Su family, but there was still a gap of one or two miles in between, which was just right for building an official school.

The Su family is at the end of the village, and it is full of women and children. Coming from the head of the village, one has to pass by several villagers' homes. It is not easy for a scoundrel to harass them.

Unfortunately, the Su family is leaving in September, and there will be some trouble afterwards. That place is completely empty, right next to the woods and mountains.

Dozens of girls living there will definitely be scared. We'll have to figure out how to arrange people to guard them then.

Official schools are different from village schools, and all the buildings are made of brick and tile structures.

"It's just right to use cement as adhesive!" Su Ying thought of the modern bungalow.

In ancient times, clay, lime, glutinous rice, etc. were used as adhesives. Now we have cement, so why not use it as a substitute?

"Cement? Isn't it used for paving roads? Can it also be used as an adhesive?" Song Xuanyu was surprised.

"Of course! The effect is no worse than glutinous rice adhesive, and it also saves food!" Su Ying said confidently.

"Great! If it comes true, it will be the first cement-brick structure house in our Tang Dynasty!" Song Xuanyu clapped his hands and laughed.

"Can it be used in the north as well? Can it be used to build a textile factory?"

"Of course I can!" Su Ying said with a smile, "Sir Song, I suspect you came to Wu County to learn from the master! Are you planning to replicate it in Xingzhou?"

"If we can't do Xingzhou, at most only the Song family members and the manor can be replicated. Xingzhou is not the Song family's world!" Song Xuanyu was melancholy.

There are so many things that can be done here, and he wants to try them all, and he also hopes that the Song family can develop with this.

If the cultivation of Baidiezi is successful, the Song family will become the largest landlord in Xingzhou.

"Master Xiao Su, how do you mix the cement adhesive?" asked the workshop clerk.

"Well, the ratio is similar to the cement used for paving roads. You can adjust the proportions appropriately. If you're not sure, try building a wall with cement adhesive first."

Building a house requires professional knowledge, and Su Ying is not in a position to give blind instructions.