Lu Baichuan raised his hand to indicate, "Please speak."
The village chief then spoke up, saying, "I believe that with the workshops built in our village, many people from other villages will be envious. Your protection is only temporary. We villagers must be vigilant and guard our workshops so that our good days can last."
Everyone agreed that the village chief's words made a lot of sense, and no one said a word, waiting for the village chief to continue.
Seeing that no one objected, the village chief felt more confident and continued, "I want to arrange for the able-bodied men in the village to form several teams to take turns patrolling and protect the safety of our village. Even if your family doesn't live in the village in the future, we will still have the ability to protect ourselves."
Then, the village chief turned to the other villagers and said, "Everyone, the interests of the workshop are the interests of all of us. If we want to live a good life, we have to make certain sacrifices. This is not only to protect the workshop, but also to protect our own families. What do you think?"
An immediate response came from the crowd: "The village chief is right! It's not easy for us to have such a good opportunity, and no one should try to ruin it!"
"Yes! I'd like to join the patrol team!"
"Count me in!"
The villagers were enthusiastic, and their starting point was the good of the collective. Lu Baichuan naturally did not refuse and said, "Uncle Village Chief's suggestion is very good. If everyone is willing, I can arrange for someone to teach you some martial arts so that you can protect yourselves to the greatest extent when you are on patrol."
When everyone heard about this great opportunity, no one was unwilling, and they all rushed to sign up.
The village chief was very pleased to see that everyone was giving him face. He stepped forward and said, "The village belongs to all of us, and every household has someone working in the workshop. So I propose that every family with a male member should send one person to join the patrol team."
I'm not going to take advantage of you all. To be honest, the village has made a lot more money from selling land recently. I've decided to use some of that money to build a school and hire a teacher for the children in our village. The teacher's tuition will be paid by the village, and all the young boys and girls can go to school.
The remaining money will be used to pay the patrol team. I, this old man, won't be presumptuous and won't give too much. Each patrolman will receive ten coins that night, and ten people will be assigned to patrol every night. I will publicly disclose the money in the village's public account every now and then to prove that I, this old man, haven't taken advantage of anyone!
"While Mr. Lu and his family are here, please be my witnesses."
As he spoke, the village chief bowed deeply to Old Man Lu, his eyes resolute and sincere.
The villagers were stunned. They hadn't expected the village chief to be so thoughtful, even considering the children's schooling.
"Village chief, is this girl capable of going to school?"
Some people are puzzled, saying that they have never heard of a girl being able to go to school. Even if they were willing, their teachers would not be willing to teach her!
Many men nowadays believe that a woman's virtue lies in her lack of talent. Such remarks originated from those who held prejudices against women, and I'm afraid no one would agree with them.
The village chief glared: "How can we not be willing? Madam Lu is right. Whether it's a boy or a girl, they are all our own children and can bring hope to the family. Back then, we didn't have the means. Not to mention girls, even boys were hard to afford to go to school. Now that our village has the means, we should naturally hire a good teacher to educate the children."
Among them, besides the villagers, the happiest person was probably Jiang Jiuniang. She really didn't expect the old village chief to be so farsighted, and a sincere sense of awe for the old village chief rose in her heart.
“Uncle Village Chief is right. Nothing is impossible. We can find an open-minded teacher who will treat boys and girls equally. They are all children. We can put a screen in the middle to separate them. It won’t interfere with the teacher’s lessons or the children’s learning.”
Jiang Jiuniang agreed wholeheartedly, saying there was no better way.
Old Lu also said, "That's right. Nothing is more important than the future of children. Don't always think that the girls in the family are inferior to the boys. The girls in my family are all very capable. They can now hold important positions in the capital. Moreover, the young ladies of wealthy families also have to learn poetry and literature. None of them are truly illiterate. If they were, I don't know how they would be ridiculed."
The most respected and capable people in the village all said so, so the villagers had some doubts and stopped talking. They themselves were not very educated or capable, so they would just watch what the capable people did and follow suit.
Some even suggested, "Village chief, we patrol for ourselves and our families. We don't want the money. Let's save it for the village children to hire tutors. That's the most important thing."
Recently, there has been a surge in enthusiasm for reading in the village. Everyone knows that reading is a good thing, and they are happy that the children can enjoy the benefits they never had before, so they no longer care about the patrol fee.
After all, isn't the reason I work so hard to earn money to support my family so that my children can have a better future?
Now that they can send their children to school without spending any money, it's already a windfall, so they no longer care about the money.
After all, hiring a tutor is a long-term commitment, and building a school also costs a lot of money, so it's better to spend the money wisely.
When the others heard this, they thought that what the person said made sense. Since the money came directly from the village's public account and didn't pass through their hands, they would feel that the money didn't come from them and that they had gotten a great deal.
But if this money ends up in their hands, and the village's public accounts run out of money, they will definitely be unwilling to pay the teacher's tuition themselves. Rather than that, they would rather have never received this money.
Seeing that everyone agreed, the village chief decided to use all the money for the children's schooling. The Lu family did not say anything. Although they were also villagers, they did not participate in these matters. After giving their suggestions, whether or not to adopt them was up to the villagers.
So, before the workshop even started working normally, the young and strong men in the village began to learn martial arts from the people arranged by Lu Baichuan.
At their age, learning new things is quite difficult, but none of them complained of being tired. They gritted their teeth and persevered, learning again and again until they mastered it.
With everyone's efforts, the workshop was quickly built. With guidance from the group of people from the capital, everyone got the hang of it quickly and produced a lot of stock in just a few days. The shop that the Lu family had set up in Changzhou finally opened for business.
On the opening day, the entire city turned out to be watching. The wealthy came to spend money, while ordinary people just watched the spectacle and wondered if they had a chance to become a member of this group.
After all, these shops pioneered the recruitment of female workers in Changzhou, giving many women hope.
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