Seeing Gu Shaoyong's determined attitude, not intending to back down even a step, even if he were the King of China, he couldn't force him on such a private matter.
With a deep sigh, His Majesty swallowed back the thought that was in his mind: "It's because they're so young that we should let them get engaged first." He forced a nonchalant expression, nodded at Gu Shaoyong, and said, "Yes, I know that both children are too young. Otherwise, we could ask them what they think. Maybe they'd be quite happy with it themselves."
Anyway, his son was very happy.
Unfortunately, Gu Shaoyong's youngest daughter looked rather unwilling. It was unclear whether this was due to her young age and lack of understanding, or perhaps her past experiences in the countryside had instilled fear in her.
Ultimately, it's because the new policies in China were implemented too slowly... No, it's not that the new policies were implemented slowly, but rather that the people were ignorant, illiterate, and short-sighted, unable to understand the benefits of the new policies...
Thinking of this, His Majesty the King recalled the plan to help his youngest son become illiterate, which he had proposed to him a few days ago when his son returned.
He had originally considered whether to postpone the plan for two years.
Firstly, a nationwide program like the literacy program, no matter how simplified, still requires a considerable amount of money. The country is already poor and has to pay off debts, so their finances are really stretched thin. Postponing it slightly is to give them some breathing room and avoid creating financial pressure.
Secondly... he still wanted to build up some political capital for his youngest son. He thought that in two years, that kid should also go to the army like his brothers, and then build up his own loyal followers. Once he had the ability to protect himself, it would be a good debut for him to formally propose the plan to eliminate blindness, which would definitely win him a lot of prestige.
But now, His Majesty the King thought differently. He felt that improving the quality of the people and getting rid of the fact that entire villages in China were illiterate was still an urgent matter.
Thinking of this, the king suddenly asked Gu Shaoyong, "Shaoyong, if I were to propose a nationwide free literacy education program, do you think the Co-Government Council would have more than 70% support it?"
Nowadays, many things in China cannot be done without the Co-Government Council, especially anything that wants to be promoted nationwide must go through the Council. Even a proposal by His Majesty the King will not be implemented if it does not receive more than 70% of the votes in the Co-Government Council. At most, it will be revised and resubmitted, then the Council will play games with the proposal until it reaches the required number of votes or is simply abandoned.
Just like when Li Bingchen suggested to the king that silkworm cultivation be promoted throughout the country, and the king, in order to bypass the Co-governance Council, directly handed the matter over to Gu Shaoyong.
However, this time, the task of providing free literacy training nationwide cannot be entrusted to a 'private company' under any circumstances.
However, he still wanted to ask Gu Shaoyong what he thought.
This matter was told to His Majesty the King after Li Bingchen visited the Gu family's young lady named Gu Yunduo. The King believed that his youngest son was probably inspired by the Gu family's young lady.
As for his son's claim that it was the suggestion of one of the young ladies in the Gu family, he didn't believe it. How could a country girl think of something so profound?
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
