Chapter 98: Going to Sea
After the contents of the three enlightenment books were determined, the Ministry of Internal Affairs was responsible for printing them into books. An initial print run of 5,000 copies was distributed free of charge to the first batch of students in experimental primary schools. More copies will be printed and distributed free of charge to enlightenment primary schools across the country in the future.
You have to know that in this era, books were precious things. Because of the backward printing technology, most of the books in the folk were handwritten. The price of an ordinary book was between 200 and 300 wen. Books with illustrations were even more expensive, and one could sell for about 500 wen. The court actually gave three books to ordinary students for free, which shows that it was a huge investment.
The first experimental primary school was soon built in Gu'an County near Shangjing. The school's classrooms were renovated from the abandoned city guard post of the previous dynasty. Originally, it had been used to store miscellaneous items, but now it has been cleared out, the doors and windows have been replaced, and carpenters have been hired to nail tables, chairs and benches, turning it into five classrooms.
The school also hired ten teachers and a principal. These teachers were carefully selected by the county magistrate. Most of them were scholars with good tempers and solid knowledge, who were able to teach the children to read and write diligently.
Soon the school began to recruit students from all over the county, and any child under the age of fourteen, regardless of gender, could apply.
When the people in the county heard that a new school had been opened, teaching children to read and write for free, they did not believe it at first. Later, the county magistrate came in person and announced to the people that it was true.
When people heard about this good thing, they all dragged their children to sign up. In the past, many people wanted to learn but didn't have the chance! There were also a few girls who tried to sign up, and the school recorded their names.
Their parents didn't expect them to achieve much. It was enough for them to be able to write their own names and count how many ducks and sheep there were in the family.
It was still the registration stage, but more than 300 children from all over the county had come, and the classrooms could not accommodate so many people. The county magistrate also sent people to temporarily build five brick and tile houses next to it, plus an office for classrooms and rest, and a simple elementary school was built.
On the first day of school, a group of children aged seven or eight, wearing new clothes and carrying small cloth bags on their shoulders, which were filled with books issued by the school, walked towards the school with smiles on their faces.
Several teachers stood at the door to greet them, and couldn't help sighing: "When we were studying, we not only had to bring tuition fees, but also had to kneel down and kowtow to the teacher to teach us literature. Now these children are really in a good time!"
Another teacher took out a textbook from his sleeve and said, "Yes, the court actually gave away books for free. The content of the book is really well written. I heard that the paintings on it were all painted by great painters."
The principal was an old man in his fifties. He shouted, "Enlighten the people and follow their will. Our emperor is wise. Long live the emperor!"
The other masters followed suit and said, "Long live the emperor!"
The students gathered at the school gate, lined up in neat rows, and shouted in unison in their childish voices: "Long live the emperor! Long live the emperor!"
Not far away, Qin Fengtu and Xu Bing boarded the carriage. They were entrusted by the emperor to come and see whether the school was built as required.
Seeing this scene, Qin Fengtu was so excited that he choked up. Although Xu Bing was not as emotional as him, he was also quite excited.
Allowing ordinary people to read and write is something that has never happened in thousands of years.
Qin Fengtu wiped his eyes and said, "Prime Minister Xu, how did you find the emperor and give him advice?"
Xu Bing smiled and said, "As for me, I was designed by the emperor himself!" Qin Fengtu was so jealous when he heard her proud expression.
*
Spring is here, flowers are blooming, grass is growing, and birds are flying. People take off their thick coats, put on light short shirts, and start sowing the seeds of hope for the new year.
Spring always makes people particularly happy, and there are many good news in the court.
First, the cement road from Shangjing to Jizhou was completed and could be used by horse-drawn carriages.
This road was one of the earliest sections of cement road. The entire road is 320 miles long and cost 1.5 million taels of silver. It took three years and employed 100,000 people to build.
The newly built road was paved with compacted gravel and cement. It was two meters wide and could accommodate three carriages running side by side. Its general appearance was similar to the cement roads of later generations.
There were two checkpoints in the middle of the road, which were used to collect tolls, equivalent to the highway toll stations of later times. Every carriage passing through this section of the road had to pay ten coins as a road usage fee.
Ten cents may not seem like much, but it can be accumulated over time. In the future, as more merchants' carriages increase, more money can be collected, which can be used for subsequent repairs and maintenance of the roads.
Inns, tea shops, repair shops and other shops were built in the middle of the road, greatly facilitating pedestrians on the road.
Song Yuzhu asked the Imperial Astronomical Observatory to select an auspicious day, and he personally went to cut the ribbon and announce the opening of the first Beijing-Hebei Highway!
The opening of this road accelerated the economic development of the north. It used to take three or four days to travel from Shangjing to Jizhou, but now it only takes two days at most to arrive by driving a horse-drawn carriage on the road, greatly reducing the travel time.
Song Yuzhu checked the map and found that the road construction speed in other places had slowed down, and in some places, the people deliberately delayed the construction period in order to make more money. After all, it was not easy to find a job that paid ten cents a day, so where would they make money after the road was built?
Song Yuzhu directly issued orders to local governments, requiring the projects to be completed before the end of next year. If the projects could not be completed without a reasonable explanation, the local officials would be rated low and dismissed from their posts.
After the order was given, the road construction speed was indeed much faster, and it is expected to be completed by the second half of next year at the latest.
The second good thing was that the Hope ship officially entered the water for sea trials! It also meant that the two would be separated.
Song Yuzhu has been in low spirits these past few days. When she thinks that they will be separated for a long time, she feels sad and worried.
It would take at least two years to travel from Binzhou to Europe, even by steamship. If there were any delays, it might take even longer.
Zhao Xiao knew that he felt bad, but he had to go in person and bring back the corn seeds and rubber trees that Yuzhu wanted.
In the evening, Zhao Xiao returned to the palace from the parade ground and saw Song Yuzhu leaning on a chair in a daze.
Just as Li Dehai was about to greet him, Zhao Xiao waved his hand and told him to leave. He walked over and put his arm around his shoulders and asked, "What are you thinking about?"
"fine."
Zhao Xiao lifted his chin and saw tears in his eyes. He couldn't help but lean over and kiss him.
"Ah Xiao, I'm scared." Song Yuzhu hugged his back tightly. If it were modern times, he would definitely not be so hypocritical. But thousands of years ago, the sea routes were not planned, and there was no weather forecast for sailing. Even if the ship was strong, what if it encountered a typhoon or reefs?
Zhao Xiao rubbed his nose with the tip of his nose: "Don't worry, I promise you that I will come back safely."
Song Yuzhu leaned over his shoulder and bit him hard. Zhao Xiao reluctantly picked him up and walked towards the bed at the back.
The bed curtains fell, and muffled groans and rapid gasps were heard from inside.
*
The Hope is the first steamship of the Great Qi Dynasty. It will travel to distant Europe and America and bring back grain seeds, vegetable seeds and rubber seeds.
When Zhao Xiao saw this huge ship for the first time, he was so shocked that he couldn't speak for a long time. He had only heard Song Yuzhu mention that this ship was very large before, but he never thought it would be so big! Even the Dongzhou soldiers who lived by the sea had never seen such a big ship. Looking up at the cabin, it was almost as high as a small mountain.
The entire ship is made of hundreds of years old fir wood, brushed with tung oil, making the old fir wood look particularly hard. The words "Da Qi Hope" are also painted in large letters on the hull.
After boarding the ship, the soldiers were shocked again. The huge deck was more spacious than their training grounds!
The Englishmen also came along. They had planned to build a boat to go home, but when the boat was half built, they heard that the emperor of Daqi had built a very large ship. Antonio immediately asked to see the emperor and asked for permission to borrow Daqi's ship to go back. Song Yuzhu would not refuse, after all, these more than ten people would not take up much space, and they could just show the way.
They got off the carriage, looked at the huge ship not far away, took off their hats and knelt on the ground.
"Oh my God, is this Noah's Ark?"
"Oh my God, this must be a miracle!"
Song Yutang, who was walking behind, replied in fluent English: "This is not a miracle. This is a ship built by our emperor."
Antonio got up from the ground, tears in his eyes, and said in broken Chinese: "Your emperor is so great. Thank him for his kindness so that we can board the ship and go home."
Sailing on the sea is a very dangerous thing. Often a storm can take a person's life. With this big ship, they will definitely be able to reach the port safely!
Song Yutang puffed out his chest and nodded proudly. His cousin was indeed a great and ambitious emperor! With such a big ship, did he want to take down the whole of England?
In addition to a thousand well-trained officers on board, there were also thirty experienced sailors who would sail with the English.
There were also five accompanying officers, three doctors, and ten workers responsible for maintenance on the ship. They were all specially trained personnel and could skillfully repair steam engines.
Five thousand stones of coal have been prepared in the bottom level of the cabin, which is enough for the Hope to reach Europe and return safely.
The second floor of the cabin is a resting place. There are more than one hundred dormitories here. Each dormitory has bunk beds and can accommodate more than ten people.
The second floor also stored a lot of fresh water and food. In addition to rice, flour, grain and oil, there were also a lot of fresh vegetables and fruits. These things were not durable and had to be eaten first. The rest were dried fruits and bacon.
When sailing at sea, the crew members are prone to necrosis due to lack of fresh food and vitamin C. Song Yuzhu also ordered people to build a planting area on the first plywood, where some easy-to-grow vegetables and fruits can be grown.
The third floor of the cabin was filled with cargo, including 30,000 pieces of porcelain and 50,000 pieces of silk. Song Yutang was responsible for selling these things to England in exchange for their goods or gold and silver.
Song Yutang learned from Antonio that Europe was in the middle of the Middle Ages, the royal power was declining, and the country was controlled by the Holy See. The Holy See was very rich and extravagant, and these porcelain and silk must be able to sell for a good price.
The Hope chose May 1st to set sail.
It was a clear, cloudless day, and Song Yuzhu and all the civil and military officials came to see them off. Everyone stood on the shore, looking at the huge ship and couldn't help but take a deep breath!
Liu Lin's neck was sore from tilting his head back, and he thought to himself that the seven million taels of silver were not wasted, as they actually built such a huge thing.
Zhao Xiao stood at the bow wearing armor, looking into Song Yuzhu's eyes, and all the words were unspoken.
Song Yuzhu's eyes turned slightly red, and she felt an unbearable bitterness in her heart. She scratched her palms until they were bruised before she could force back the tears.
He didn't know how long it would take him to come back, and there were many storms on the sea. He was also afraid that he would never come back... At this moment, he wanted to order Zhao Xiao to be tied off the boat and not allowed to go.
Xu Bing stepped forward and said loudly: "General Zhao! May you travel a thousand miles and return safely soon!"
Zhao Xiao put his hands in front of him and shouted, "Got it! Please help me take good care of His Majesty. I will definitely come back safely!"
As the whistle sounded, the ship slowly sailed away from the shore, and the ministers spontaneously clapped their hands and sang farewell poems.
(End of this chapter)
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