Chapter 565 Charity School
In the study room, Yan Ning finally finished today's homework.
He rubbed his sore hands. At this time, Ma Yan came in and said:
"Your Majesty, this is the draft submitted by the cabinet today. Please take a look."
Yan Ning said she was tired and asked him to read it to her directly.
"This cabinet draft is confidential. I dare not read it..."
"Just read if I ask you to. If you talk too much, I will ask someone else to be the chief eunuch." Yan Ning said with his eyes closed.
Ma Yan was secretly delighted, but he still looked frightened.
He carefully opened a memorial, read through its contents and memorized them in his mind, and then read it aloud.
After reading the contents of the memorial, Yan Ning would also have to read the cabinet's draft opinion, and decide whether to approve it.
If approved, the matter will be handled in accordance with the cabinet's opinion.
If the cabinet disagrees, it will be returned to the cabinet for redrafting, which is called "revision".
Of course, Yan Ning's final decision must be submitted to the Queen Mother Qin Yuwei. If she does not approve it, even if Yan Ning decides to approve it, it will still be sent back to the cabinet.
Every time Ma Yan read a sentence, Yan Ning listened attentively and gave his opinion carefully after serious consideration.
Ma Yan had already read the fourth volume, which was a memorial submitted by the Ministry of Rites, mentioning that the funds for charity schools in the Daliang national treasury were unevenly distributed, and that many charity schools in remote areas were difficult to maintain, and requested an adjustment in the allocation of funds.
The cabinet's opinion gave specific adjustment ratios and attached corresponding reasons.
Yan Ning nodded after hearing this, and Ma Yan picked up the imperial pen and was about to make some notes.
"Wait." Yan Ning suddenly interrupted him.
"Keep this document for now and discuss it at the court meeting."
…
It was a dark night. No lanterns were lit in an inconspicuous courtyard in the south of the capital. Faint voices could be heard in the darkness.
"You mean, His Majesty has kept a memorial about the expenses of the charity school?" Li Zhengqing, the Minister of Rites, asked into the darkness, wearing a cloak.
Ma Yan's voice came, soft and gentle:
"Yes, His Majesty was going to approve it, but for some reason he kept it, apparently intending to discuss it with the adults at the court meeting."
Li Zhengqing pondered for a moment and slowly raised the corner of his mouth.
Setting up free schools in various places in Daliang was a policy initially promoted by Zhu Lan.
Now that the charity school has run into problems, Your Majesty has kept the petition requesting the allocation of funds and has not sent it out. He must have some thoughts on this.
It’s just that the current Majesty is still young and his strength is not enough to contend with the Queen Mother and Zhu Lan.
Then at this time, it is natural for us to go with the flow and lend a helping hand to Your Majesty.
"You did a good job." Li Zhengqing threw out a gold ingot, turned and walked out, his voice floating over.
"Since you can now even see the cabinet's draft, you must always keep an eye on the movements of the people in the court."
Ma Yan's soft voice came from the shadows behind him:
"I know what's going on, Lord Li, don't worry."
…
At the court meeting a few days later, the Ministry of Rites again raised the issue of adjusting the allocation of funds for charity schools.
Yan Ning asked the court officials to discuss it.
Xiao Wan stepped forward and said that based on the current situation of the Ministry of Revenue, the annual funds used for the construction and maintenance of charity schools could be increased from 80,000 taels to 100,000 taels at most.
However, Li Zhengqing, the Minister of Rites, said that 100,000 taels was far from enough.
“Your Majesty, under the promotion of Zhu Zhongcheng, Daliang has established more than 2,000 charity schools, including 400 specialized girls’ charity schools.
However, although there were many charity schools, there were not enough teachers to support their development.
Those who study mostly study to get a good reputation, and not everyone is willing to sacrifice their time and energy to teach students. So now it seems that we must increase the remuneration to attract more people to participate in the construction of free schools. "
"How much silver does Minister Li think it will take?" Xiao Wan asked.
Li Zhengqing said: "At least 150,000 taels are needed."
Xiao Wan simply shook her head, indicating that it was impossible for the Ministry of Revenue to allocate so much silver.
Zhu Lan said to Li Zhengqing, "Master Li, I have also heard about the issue of the charity school you just mentioned, but isn't it too much to increase the annual expenditure from 80,000 taels to 150,000 taels?"
Li Zhengqing looked calm and said that this was the result of the Ministry of Rites' speculation.
Without waiting for Zhu Lan to speak, Li Zhengqing said to Yan Ning:
“Your Majesty, the plan to build a charity school was proposed by Zhu Zhongcheng, and our Ministry of Rites is only carrying out the order of the late emperor.
Now we are facing difficulties, mainly because the situation below is too complicated. Since no one can clearly say how much additional money is appropriate, it would be better for Zhu Zhongcheng to come forward and personally visit all the charity schools in the community to see the actual situation. "
After these words were spoken, Xiao Wan and Zhu Lan frowned at the same time.
Qin Yuwei's expression behind the scenes also darkened.
Xiao Wan took the lead and said, "The actual visit is certainly important, but this matter should be handled by the Ministry of Rites. Why does the Chief Censor need to come in person?"
"The charity school was proposed by Zhu Zhongcheng. Now that we are facing problems, I think Zhu Zhongcheng should take responsibility." Li Zhengqing said.
Censor Zhao Fangfei stepped forward and said, "Ms. Zhongcheng is in charge of the Censorate and has a heavy responsibility. How can she leave the capital so easily? If she leaves, how will the Censorate operate?"
At this time, Yan Ning, who was sitting on the dragon throne, suddenly spoke, with a somewhat innocent tone:
"Can't the Censorate do anything without Zhu Zhongcheng?"
Zhao Fangfei was stunned and didn't know how to respond for a moment.
"Your Majesty." Zhu Lan said with a steady voice, bowing.
"My colleagues in the Censorate have worked hard and conscientiously to perform their duties. Even if I am not here, they will never slack off.
The issue of charity schools was indeed proposed by me, so I cannot ignore it. However, there are more than 2,000 charity schools in Daliang, scattered across the country, and some of them are remote and difficult to access.
If I were to visit them all, it would be difficult for me to do it alone."
Zhao Fangfei also followed suit and suggested that the court could set up a special team to investigate the situation of charity schools in various places and then report to Zhu Lan. In this way, Zhu Lan only needs to stay in the capital to coordinate the overall situation.
Zhao Fangfei's proposal was feasible and reasonable, and some court officials also stood up to agree with it.
Li Zhengqing smiled and said:
"There is no need to visit all the more than 2,000 charity schools one by one. We only need to visit one or two schools in each prefecture and county to check the situation, and then have the county magistrate report to us.
If we do this, there will definitely be a result within a year.”
"One year?" Zhao Fangfei was a little anxious. She wanted to say something but was stopped by Zhu Lan's gaze.
Zhu Lan vaguely sensed something and just looked up to see Yan Ning's expression.
Yan Ning smiled:
"Lord Li's suggestion is very good, then I'll trouble Minister Zhu to make the trip.
Don't worry, when you come back, you will still be the Imperial Censor."
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