Chapter 174 Chapter 174 Public Conference

For the first time, Fan Ying felt that time passed so quickly. She was already a sophomore.

The Department of Physics and the Department of Chemistry are just like the Department of Medicine. I visited the Science Department of the Ministry of Engineering during my freshman year, and sometimes I took practical classes directly in the Science Department.

The two technicians from the Science Department seemed quite satisfied with Fan Ying and asked her if she would like to come to the Science Department after graduation.

Fan Ying has not yet thought about this. Nowadays, there are many career options for university graduates. They can become teachers, start from the grassroots level as minor officials, and students majoring in physics and chemistry can also stay in the Ministry of Industry.

Fan Ying only replied that he would think about it again.

Now that I am in my sophomore year, the Science Department has assigned a simple research project to my physics and chemistry departments.

Students from the two subjects need to form their own groups and then work in pairs to complete the task.

As for the topic, it is to make a simple bamboo hard pen according to the operating procedures.

The materials will be distributed during class, and we will then see which group makes the best bamboo hard pen.

Fan Ying looked at the operating procedures and quickly understood the principle behind this simple bamboo pen. A hollow pen barrel served as the ink reservoir, through which ink was continuously transported to the metal nib via capillary action.

There are quite a few steps required to make the pen, including the nib, feed, body and cap.

Finally, assemble these four items and fill them with the prepared ink.

Although it may seem simple, the production of the pen tip is very complicated. Not only does the metal sheet need to be cut into a small spade or diamond shape, but it also needs to be gently tapped with a tool to form the arc suitable for writing.

Then comes the most critical step.

Open the seam.

A thin slit is chiseled in the middle of the pen tip, which is responsible for dividing the ink into two parts and guiding it stably onto the paper.

Fan Ying served as the team leader.

This was her first experience of how the work of the Science Department was done.

Finally, a simple bamboo hard pen was made. As the team leader, Fan Ying first held the bamboo hard pen to feel its texture.

The size of the bamboo tube was specially measured by them, and it is just the right size to hold in the hand.

This simple bamboo hard pen is a success, but there is still some sticking to the paper when writing. However, it is not serious and can be used to write.

The other students in the group reflected that the seaming step was not done carefully enough and they could improve the process next time.

This was the first time that Fan Ying created a physical object based on the knowledge he had learned.

Her heart was filled with an unprecedented sense of satisfaction, and the more she looked at the imperfect simple pen, the more satisfied she was. It turned out that this was the daily work of the Science Department.

Fan Ying began to wonder if she should go to the Science Department again in a couple of days. It seemed like a good place to go. She already liked physics and wasn't particularly interested in the grassroots bureaucracy.

After completing the research project, Fan Ying's life returned to a peaceful university life, where he ate, attended classes, and slept every day. In his spare time, he went to the library to read books and went out with his roommates to try new dishes in restaurants.

Although the current "Li County Monthly" is called "Li County Monthly", it is not only printed in Li County.

There is also a printing place in Anjing.

Every month, only people in Li County and Anjing can see the newspaper the fastest, while people in other counties have to wait two days before they can see it.

This is also one of the reasons why the people of Li County can walk with their heads held high.

People at Anjing University subscribe to newspapers every month. Fan Ying paid at the door, picked up a newspaper and read it while walking.

Then her eyes remained wide open! She stared intently at the contents of the newspaper.

Your Majesty is actually going to convene a public meeting of the people!

This was the first time Fan Ying heard these words. He continued reading and realized that this meant electing representatives of the people to come to Anjing for a meeting. The representatives would put forward suggestions and questions, which would be recorded by the representatives and then presented to His Majesty.

Fan Ying looked very strange standing at the door holding the newspaper, so several junior and senior students and classmates asked:

"Sister, why are you standing here? Is there any explosive news in this newspaper?"

Fan Ying then raised his head. "Your Majesty wants to elect representatives of the people for a meeting..."

"Is it true or false?"

"The newspapers said that?"

"Show me now!"

There are students from all kinds of families in Anjing University, among whom the children of ordinary people, poor families and businessmen feel the most deeply.

Merchants were not allowed to take the imperial examinations, common people had no money to go to school, and those from poor families who did study were looked down upon.

These children are the ones who can truly feel that governing a country and laws have nothing to do with them.

But now, ordinary people, workers from all walks of life, and farmers can elect representatives to attend meetings and put forward their own suggestions and questions.

Fan Ying was so excited that he didn't know what to say.

Lin Si still handed over the venue and layout of this public meeting to the Ministry of Rites.

The Minister of Rites was almost crying. After such a long time, the Ministry of Rites finally had work to do again.

Since His Majesty ascended the throne, there has been no sacrifice to ancestors or heaven for five years. He did not dare to ask, and had to live on thin ice every day.

Now, this public consultation meeting is a very important matter. As long as he handles it well this time, the Ministry of Rites can continue to exist and he can continue to serve as the Shangshu.

What is published before newspapers are the government decrees that are transmitted to various states and counties. County magistrates and prefects are required to select representatives from all walks of life.

After reading the newspaper, many people were eager to sign up.

Even the streets and alleys of Li County were discussing this matter.

"We need to carefully select representatives for Li County. We can't let those people in Anjing look down on us."

"That's right! We need to make An Jing understand that if it weren't for Li County, they wouldn't be where they are today."

Kang Zhuqing is an experienced worker. After reading the newspaper, she was so excited that she could hardly sit still.

She said to Shi Tu, "I want to try being the people's representative."

The same thing happened in other states and counties.

Many people saw the news in the newspaper and wanted to give it a try.

Whether or not you get selected is one thing, but if you are selected, you can brag about it for the rest of your life, and it must be recorded and passed down.

As a result, the county governments and prefects in each state were extremely busy. The number of representatives was limited, but there were so many applications submitted.

And at first glance, the questions raised seem to make sense.

After representatives from all walks of life and all regions arrived in Anjing, the Ministry of Rites arranged accommodation for them and issued attendance letters, one letter for each person, and they were not allowed to bring in unimportant people.

Naturally, soldiers had to be called in to maintain order, and someone had to record the entire process.

The meeting was long and tedious, leaving Lin Si with a mountain of documents and decisions to review. Because he had recently dispatched a number of personnel to Xiping, reconquest drills were frequent, and gunpowder and weapons training was also underway.

Therefore, the public discussion meeting of the people was chaired by Liang Nian.

Lin Si has thanked Liang Nian and Zuo You, two capable and energetic mother and daughter, more than once, otherwise she would have been exhausted to death sooner or later.

On the first day of the meeting, Liang Nian briefly read out an opening speech and then selected the first representative on the lower left to speak.

The representative was a female worker. It was her first time attending such a large occasion, and she didn't expect that she would be so lucky to be chosen to speak first.

The female worker's mouth trembled with nervousness. She spoke slowly, "I work eight hours a day in the workshop. My husband also works in the factory. My parents passed away during the cold snap. Now my baby is in the care of a neighboring grandmother. Could the court open a special institution to hire someone to look after young children? We're willing to deduct the cost from our wages."

The female worker still remembers that when she went to submit her application, Nie Zhizhou only told her not to think about national affairs, but to just talk about the problems that she and the people around her needed to solve most.

After much thought, the female worker felt that now that she had a job and a salary, this was probably the only worry she had compared to other female workers.

After the female worker finished speaking, the rest was time for free speech.

Kang Zhuqing was the first to raise his hand. "I think this proposal is very necessary. Many elderly people died during the cold snap, and couples without parents really have no one to help raise their children. Leaving young children with someone else's family is always worrying."

After the first person spoke, the people following him became less nervous and more relaxed.

A female farmer took several deep breaths before finally speaking again, "There's a widow in our village. Her husband passed away a few years ago, leaving behind a few acres of small farmland. However, she has no children, so her parents-in-law have taken all of that land away from her! I beg Your Majesty to see to it and allow the widow to inherit the family business!"

Regarding inheritance, when Lin Si ascended the throne, he enacted a law allowing his daughters to inherit farmland and property. The issue of widows did fall into a gray area in the law.

During the free speech session, most of the businesswomen and female workers supported the female farmer's remarks, but some others also expressed objections.

You and I were talking back and forth, and we were about to start arguing.

Then the officials asked them to be quiet.

………

The meeting lasted from early morning to night, and everyone's heads were buzzing.

Not only the people's representatives, but even the officials felt dizzy and were ready to put the documents at the yamen and go back to rest.

Liang Nian felt that this level of intensity was not so bad, and he even vaguely wanted to light a calcium carbide lamp to sort out the key points of these records so that he could show them to Lin Si tomorrow.

Others were shocked!

"Prime Minister Liang, this is absolutely unacceptable. I beg you to go back and rest!"

"Yes, my head is all messed up today. You should go back and rest soon."

"Liang Xiang, don't you feel tired?"

Liang Nian didn't take it seriously. She just sat down and asked others to go back and rest. She would lock the door when she left.

Seeing that they could not persuade him, the other officials had to repeatedly urge Liang Nian to rest early before turning around and leaving.

Liang Nian had just sat down and was about to add water to light the calcium carbide lamp when a man rushed in from the window of the government office.

"Prime Minister Liang, it's time for you to rest." Tang Duosi jumped in from the window and said respectfully.

Liang Nian was just about to use the same words to fool him, but he heard Tang Duosi add, "His Majesty had long predicted that you would work overtime without permission, so he asked us to watch you go home and rest."

Liang Nian: ...She actually predicted it.

Okay, let's go back and rest.