Upon hearing Li Zhu's words, the entire court fell silent. They then remembered that this was merely an idea; whether it would succeed depended on the person in the Imperial Study…
But just then, Tang Gonggong's shrill voice rang out.
"Imperial edict has arrived!"
All the civil and military officials immediately knelt down to greet him. Even Li Zhu had to get down from his seat as the crown prince, after all, this was his adoptive father, the emperor, and he had to show him the respect due to him.
"By the grace of Heaven, the Emperor decrees: The Crown Prince is virtuous and all his proposals regarding the academy are approved. He shall complete the academy within one month!"
A commotion erupted!
The entire court was shaken…
What does the timely arrival of the imperial edict signify? It means that the emperor has been paying close attention to this matter. Li Zhu has been killing people every day for the past few days, yet he hasn't seen any imperial edict of punishment. This implies that the emperor has no objection to Li Zhu's actions!
The civil and military officials realized this, as did the second and third princes, so both of them couldn't help but frown, wondering what their father meant...
"Your Highness, please take the matter of the academy seriously. To prevent anyone from causing trouble and affecting the academy's construction, their entire family must be executed! Any royal child who is six years old and does not attend the academy will be stripped of their royal status and demoted to a commoner!"
Upon hearing Tang Gonggong's words, everyone had only one thought in their minds: "Damn it!"
"Yes, please inform Father Emperor, Your Majesty, that I will do my utmost!"
"You all continue with the morning court session; I'll head back now..."
After finishing his words, Eunuch Tang turned and left, leaving the entire court of officials in shock!
"Cough cough..."
Li Zhu coughed twice to attract the attention of the court officials before speaking.
"I will build this academy as soon as possible, but building an academy will require some money. I plan to hold a large-scale fundraising event to raise funds for the academy's construction, and at the same time, I will set aside thirty places for you all. As for who gets these places, it will depend on who is more sincere..."
After Li Zhu finished speaking, he observed the reactions of the civil and military officials. He noticed that their eyes were darting around, and he couldn't tell what they were thinking. He knew that these people might form groups, so he waited for them to process what he was saying before continuing.
"I will also relay the news about the academy and the available places to all the prefectures. This is a wonderful thing for spreading knowledge, and it should definitely be celebrated by everyone..."
Hearing Li Zhu's words, everyone couldn't help but curse inwardly. They had originally planned to form a group and privately agree on the amount to be donated, which would have settled the matter of the quota...
This way, people won't have to spend so much money competing with each other. When people compete, no one knows how much money they need to donate to get a spot!
"I know what you're thinking, worried that your donations will be wasted. Rest assured, not a single penny of your money will be wasted..."
I will arrange for someone to register the donations. Those who are not included in the quota this time can wait for the second release of quotas. The person with the highest sincerity from both donations will still get a quota. The academy recruits a fixed number of students every year. Whenever there is a vacancy for a royal child, it can be given to the person with the highest sincerity in donations…”
Upon hearing Li Zhu's words, everyone couldn't help but give him a thumbs up. This idea was truly brilliant; to play it this way was just a disguised way of making money.
But faced with the dual temptations of a promising future and the prospect of getting married, everyone had no choice but to reluctantly accept it...
"Alright, everyone can go back and prepare your donations. Those who submit their donations today will have an opportunity to meet with me privately after the fundraising ends..."
Li Zhu thought to himself, "I'll make you pay. I don't believe you'd dare to gang up on each other. Today, I'll completely dismantle this whole group..."
What does it mean that anyone who pays today will still be able to meet with him at the last minute? It means that even if they aren't in the top 30 donors, they can still add more funds in time to secure a spot among those 30. It's practically a guaranteed admission...
No one could resist the temptation, but once someone buys this opportunity, it means the complete collapse of this group. Some have privileges, some don't. This blatant unfair treatment will force those without privileges to pay more to guarantee their place, while those with privileges will spend even more to buy a spot. Regardless of the outcome, Li Zhu won't lose out...
Some people were already secretly cursing Li Zhu for being heartless and greedy, even going so far as to exploit the civil and military officials, but there was nothing they could do but accept it…
"Your Highness, arrange for the defense of the Eastern Palace to be strengthened. I'm afraid someone might resort to desperate measures. Also, have Yingying and Qingqing be in charge of tallying the number of people and the amount of money donated today..."
"yes…"
"Prime Minister, post a notice. We need to recruit workers and craftsmen. We will not only pay wages, but also provide room and board..."
"Yes, Your Highness..."
"General Wang, will you accompany me to find a suitable location to build the academy..."
After saying that, everyone went their separate ways to do what Li Zhu had arranged!
The emperor, of course, also received a reward. Seeing what Li Zhu had done, he couldn't help but applaud. He looked at Eunuch Tang and asked in confusion...
"Is this still the same useless Li Zhu? How could he come up with such an idea?"
He was clearly still in shock; after all, there aren't many ways to scam someone, and even fewer that can make someone willingly fall for it…
These powerful families had monopolized many things, such as grain. Each family had more grain than they could eat, but when faced with insufficient military rations and the people going hungry, these families did absolutely nothing…
As emperor, he had considered forcing these powerful families to provide relief to the people, but the backlash was enormous, and there were even signs of rebellion, which forced him to abandon the idea!
Now that Li Zhu has established this academy, it will immediately bring unimaginable revenue to the national treasury, thus enabling them to do some work to help the people...
It took the Emperor a long time to recover from his shock. He then ordered his men to keep an eye on Li Zhu and see what other moves he might make…
Li Zhu's questionable actions certainly don't stop there. What's most important in education? The speed of dissemination...
What can speed up the spread of information?
Of course, it's the carrier of knowledge and the technology that turns knowledge into reality!
The superior papermaking techniques combined with movable type printing were the foundation of Li Zhu's confidence in making the academies even more successful. With the money from these powerful families, he could establish free academies in various prefectures, allowing everyone to enjoy education...
However, this is a long-term endeavor. Even in the 21st century, there are still many illiterate people, but as long as you persevere, you will definitely see results…
He led Wang Yanzhang through the streets surrounding the palace, searching for a suitable place…
He's about to pull off an even more unexpected move, one that will absolutely leave people speechless, because he's going to get involved in real estate and financing. This is definitely not about ripping people off, absolutely not...
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
