Hearing the two people's answers, Chen Hongyu raised a smile, and then a look of embarrassment appeared on his face.
"Repairing public schools in various places is originally the responsibility of the county government. Now it is left to you guys. Will the burden be too heavy?"
"Thank you to the county magistrate for your concern, but these are just things that should be done. I and other companies have long wanted to give back to the villagers further.
Now that you, the magistrate, have proposed repairing the public school, it just points out a clear way for us."
Chen Hongyu smiled and said: "Don't regret it?"
"I will never regret it!"
Why they suddenly agreed was not because Chen Hongyu had previously said that he would invite several people to give lectures, including himself who would give lectures from time to time.
You must know that these powerful private schools are at best just scholars to teach the younger generations, just like the original Xu family.
But now, Chen Hongyu plans to invite several people to give lectures in the newly established Duxian School, and even himself, a Jinshi, will go to give lectures.
It is completely foreseeable how high the teaching level of this county school will be. Even some talented people in their family can go to school.
"Originally, even if I was the top pick in a new science, I might not be able to tie a few powerful men onto the chariot.
After all, although the Minglian Clan is powerful, there is a limit to its influence on several powerful people. After all, these powerful people only live in Linjiang County.
Moreover, as a new top scholar, I would only serve as county magistrate for a few years, so they were not too enthusiastic about my arrival.
Now, after the barbarian invasion, I have gotten along with them to a certain extent.
Coupled with the inducement and benefits, it’s strange that they didn’t agree.”
After a few hours, the officials behind him gradually dispersed, leaving only a few confidants. Chen Hongyu naturally knew that they were busy returning home to discuss matters.
"Youzhi, have you collected the topographic map of the county that I asked you to prepare?"
"Collected!" Wang You responded, and then hesitantly said: "Master County Magistrate, now that they have just agreed to repair the public school, and now they have to build water conservancy projects, are they too pressed?"
The county government is definitely not responsible for the losses when building water conservancy projects. This is simply unrealistic. It can only be a beggar for the families of these powerful people.
However, now that these powerful men have just met some of the conditions proposed by Chen Hongyu, no one can bear to build water conservancy projects again.
Hearing his doubts, Chen Hongyu smiled calmly: "I know your doubts, but naturally I won't be so anxious.
On the one hand, the construction of water conservancy projects will not be put on the agenda immediately. Now it is just preliminary preparations. Work such as surveying the terrain can be done in advance.
On the other hand, in the past, this newly reclaimed land was owned by the imperial court.
If it is just a simple contribution, these powerful people will definitely not agree, and if the matter is revealed, their reputation will be lost, so naturally it cannot be like this.
However, this time we can reach a condition with those powerful people, and the county will transfer the ownership of part of the reclaimed land in exchange for the initial investment of these powerful people.
At that time, part of the newly cultivated fields will be allocated to the powerful to make up for their initial investment, and the other part can be leased to the poor people on a kind of foothold tenancy.
While improving the lives of people in the county, it can also create an income for the county government."
…
In April of the 10th year of Hongguang, at the Anding County School, Chen Hongyu stood in the school hall wearing a white Confucian shirt and kept talking about his understanding of the "Confucian Classics".
However, most of the students in the school are middle-aged people in their thirties or forties, and there are even some old men, while the real students are crowded in the back of the school by their elders, and they are very aggrieved.
After public schools in various places are repaired, the corresponding rules and regulations will also change.
In this county school, people are selected based on their grades. Even those from poor families can enter the county school if they have excellent grades and can also enjoy subsidies.
As for these subsidies, they are naturally provided by the county government, so the appearance should not be too ugly.
In order to fulfill Chen's promise, he specially invited several candidates from the Minglian School to give lectures here.
These candidates are all old men who have resigned from office, and are just suitable for the position of county lecturer.
It is precisely because of this that the powerful people in these counties often come to the county to ask for advice.
Half an hour later, Chen Hongyu finished his lecture and walked out of the school towards the county government office.
"Magistrate, the drawings of the Anding Canal have been designed!" Wang You walked towards Chen Hongyu with a roll of drawings in his hand.
"Oh?" Chen Hongyu entered the study and opened the drawings with interest.
In fact, when the barbarians attacked last time, Chen Hongyu had already had the idea of building water conservancy projects in his mind.
After all, the barbarians would not be able to recover for several years after this heavy blow, so they could take advantage of this time to dig canals and utilize large areas of idle wasteland.
Anding County actually still has great potential in terms of land.
Originally, Anding County was a certain distance from the Wujiang River and the Dianjiang River, a tributary of the Wujiang River. Therefore, a large part of the land in Anding County was relatively barren, and there was even a lot of idle land.
Once the planned Anding Canal is dug, his tenure in Anding County will be completely fulfilled.
When they returned to the county government office, Zhou Yang, Du Ming and others were already waiting in the study, along with a scholar from the Ma family.
"I've met the magistrate!" The three of them saluted respectfully.
"No need to be polite!" Chen Hongyu pointed to the drawings on their table and asked, "Have you all read the plans on this drawing?"
Suddenly, the three of them had troubled expressions on their faces.
"My Lord Magistrate, although the construction of the Anding Channel is a good thing for Anding County, it will benefit the county and the people.
But now the county's finances are not well-off, and our family doesn't have much savings after the last renovation of public schools in various places."
Looking at the expressions of the three people, Chen Hongyu laughed directly.
Naturally, his intention has been revealed to the three families a long time ago, but they are acting like this now to gain more benefits.
"You also know my style of doing things. You are responsible for the investment in digging the Anding Canal. You can share some of the fertile farmland opened up and the commercial benefits brought by the connection of the Anding Canal with Wujiang and Dianjiang."
As he spoke, he glanced at a few people and continued: "Although there is no explicit law on this matter, I, Da Wu, have already set a precedent. Sima Xianggong will help promote this matter. You don't have to worry about the county magistrate not admitting his fault after the change."
Besides, even if the county magistrate is replaced and refuses to admit his fault, he may not be able to achieve anything in the complicated situation.
The reason why he was able to hold great power in Anding was, on the one hand, his profound background, and on the other hand, the interests that tied these local wealthy families to him.
For example, in the previous renovation of public schools in various places, these wealthy families contributed funds to the county government to help him improve his political performance, and he invited several people to give lectures here through the Minglian School.