In late January, approaching mid-spring in February, the vast and undulating Mount Tai has changed from the original mosaic of emerald brown and overlapping pale yellows to now the mountains are covered with jasper and dyed with layers of forests.
The team slowly came from south to north, and they could already see the huge city standing on the horizon from a distance.
Cao Cao looked around. In addition to the vast Taishan Mountains near Linzi City, to the east is the vast Jiaolai Plain area, with fields, mulberry forests and beautiful bamboos. The fish in the ponds are splashing in the waves, and you can see a thousand miles of prosperity at a glance.
Farmers are working in the fields, young children are playing in the countryside, and villages are thriving. Everyone's face is full of smiles, like spring flowers blooming against the morning sun.
What made Cao Cao feel a little strange was that there were many people coming and going, but there were no children over six years old and no young people under thirty years old.
Young people are easy to understand. After all, we are fighting. There is a shortage of young people all over the country, but what about children?
Does Qingzhou even recruit children over the age of six?
With such doubts in mind, Cao Cao turned to Chen Mu and said, "Zi Gui, why do I see so many children with yellow mouths, but not a few with gray hair?"
Children with yellow mouths refer to children under the age of ten, while children with crotch hair refer to children aged four to five to eight or nine years old. At this age, children do not need to tie their hair, so it will hang down and hang on the head.
Chen Mu explained with a smile: "Qingzhou implements a compulsory education system. All school-age children over six years old can go to academies and be supported by government subsidies."
"Is there anything else going on?"
Cao Cao was shocked, and Guo Jia, who was accompanying him, also showed a surprised expression.
Chen Mu said: "Actually, this job is still very difficult to do now. Many people don't want their children to go to school. There are many school-age children in Qingzhou, but less than one in ten enters school."
"Isn't ten less than one? You have to spend a lot of money every year."
Cao Cao and Guo Jia were both speechless. Even one tenth of the number would be outrageous.
Because these days only aristocratic families and poor families can afford to read, and even many rich and powerful people may not be able to study. For example, some poor families have ancestors who were rich and left behind dozens or hundreds of volumes of bamboo slips. These are worth thousands of gold, but no one
Will sell.
The families of down-and-out nobles like Liu Bei were no different from poor people. If Lu Zhi had not happened to return to Zhuo County to start teaching, and his uncle had helped him, the famous Emperor Zhaolie might have been illiterate.
Now that the situation in Yanzhou and Xuzhou has calmed down for the time being, Cao Cao and Lu Bu fought hard and both were injured. While both of them were licking their wounds, Cao Cao came to Qingzhou in the name of visiting Xi Zhicai.
He had only heard of Qingzhou's wealth before, but he didn't know how rich it was. Now seeing is believing, and it was only now that he saw with his own eyes how rich Qingzhou was.
We can actually implement compulsory education and let children study for free.
For a moment, Cao Cao felt ridiculous.
If all this money was used for military expenses, Yuan Shao might not be able to hold on for so long and would have been defeated by Liu Bei long ago.
Chen Mu did not hide anything, and introduced with a smile: "It doesn't cost much, how many children of this age are there in Qingzhou? And they won't be supported for a long time."
"It doesn't cost much..."
Cao Cao was even more speechless.
Maybe one or two won't cost much, but with so many school-age children going to school, the family will lose a lot of labor, reduce productivity, and have to bear the burden. In the end, the loss to a base area will be huge.
Guo Jia next to him couldn't help but said: "Letting children study may be useful in the future, but now the big men are fighting everywhere. Is there anything more important than pacifying the world?"
"hehe."
Chen Mu laughed: "Fengxiao, do you know what is the fundamental measure of whether a country is strong and whether it can stand in this vast world for a long time in the future?"
Guo Jia pondered: "For example, King Qin conquered the six kingdoms and Emperor Xiaowu Shizong conquered the Xiongnu. Having a strong army is the foundation of a country."
"wrong."
Chen Mu shook his head: "What a big mistake."
"oh?"
Guo Jia asked in confusion: "Doesn't even having a strong army count as a country's prosperity?"
"Of course not."
Chen Mu smiled slightly: "If this is the case, where is the Qin Dynasty? Where is the Han Dynasty?"
Guo Jia frowned and thought for a moment: "Money, only when a country has money can it stabilize the world and control the world."
"wrong again."
Chen Mu raised his eyes and looked into the distance: "Back then, the State of Qi boiled sea salt and became richest in the world. There were so many people in Linzi City who got rich doing business. They were much richer than Qin, Chu, Zhao, Yan, Han, and Wei. But what happened in the end?"
"Forehead......"
Guo Jia thought for a long time, but did not think of anything other than the army and money as the basis for measuring the country's strength, so he was unconvinced and asked: "Brother Gui, why don't you tell me what is the foundation of a country."
Chen Mu pointed to Taishan Academy in the distance and said, "Young man!"
"juvenile?"
Guo Jia and Cao Cao looked at each other, confused.
Chen Mu rode on his horse and looked at the huge school palace stretching for dozens of miles in the direction of Mount Tai. He said calmly: "Yes, it is the young man. A strong young man will make a country strong, a young man wise will make a country wise, and a young man will be rich. If a country is
If all the young people are homeless, then this country will have no future."
"If all the young people in a country can read and write, and have a stable environment to grow up, then this country will be strong and prosperous for every generation. Because the young people will grow up, become pillars of talent, and become the cornerstone of this country.
.”
"When they grow up, some will become soldiers and form a strong army. Some will become businessmen and bring wealth to the country. Some will become wise men and lead the country to a more prosperous future."
"But the premise of everything is that these children get a good education, let them read and learn calligraphy, and let them understand the principles of the world. Soldiers must learn to fight, businessmen must learn to do business, officials must learn to be officials, and even farmers working in the fields must learn
Only by learning how to farm intensively can we increase food production."
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! "If we do not cultivate and let the young people grow like weeds, then when we are hungry for talents in the future, it will be like seeking a millet seedling from the basil and weeds.
It’s difficult. And if we vigorously cultivate them, when we look for talents in the future, the ground will be filled with the fragrance of rice and ears of wheat everywhere.”
The ground is filled with the fragrance of rice and ears of wheat everywhere?
Cao Cao and Guo Jia were thoughtful. After thinking about it carefully, they felt that Chen Mu's words seemed to be thought-provoking words of wisdom.
Because he is right, there are few talents in this world, isn’t it because knowledge is monopolized?
If everyone can read, with a huge base, talents will increase exponentially. By then, won't the country be able to become prosperous very quickly?
Seeing the two of them thinking, Chen Mu also smiled calmly.
At present, the total population of Qingzhou, not counting the newly acquired Langya Kingdom and Donghai Kingdom, is close to the five million mark, and the number of school-age children aged 6-10 is around 13%, almost 800,000.
But just like many rural families in later generations were unwilling to let their children go to school, there were also many people in the Han Dynasty who did not want their children to go to school.
Because the ancients were already half of the family's labor force from the age of four or five. Digging weeds, cutting pigs and grass, going down rivers, fishing for fish and shrimps, going up trees, and digging out bird eggs could all bring some food to the family and provide productivity.
Even many ignorant people think that reading is useless, which makes only less than 70,000 to 80,000 children out of 800,000 actually studying.
But even this is not bad. In the past, how many people in the entire Han Dynasty could study?
In order to enable these children to study, schools were opened in every county. After graduating from Guangtai Mountain Academy, no fewer than two to three thousand graduates entered the school as teachers.
Because those who have teaching experience in primary schools and have no bad records will be carefully considered for promotion.
As mentioned before, Qingzhou is governed by virtue, and "morality" is extremely important in archives. Those with high moral character are often selected as officials.
Therefore, students from all over the country enter Taishan Academy because of its reputation. After graduating here, students who cannot find a suitable place for a while will choose to teach. Firstly, they will have a job guarantee, and secondly, they will improve their "morality", killing two birds with one stone.
certainly.
This can be done now because the population is small, which is in line with Lao Tzu's thinking of a small country with few people, which makes it easier to promote the rule of virtue.
After all, just a few people can spread the word quickly if they do something immoral.
If there were more than a billion people like in later generations, it would be inconvenient to promote the rule of virtue. First, it would be easier to practice fraud and it would be inconvenient to manage. Second, the population base would be too large and difficult to manage uniformly.
Special periods require special policies.
However, it is said to be compulsory education, but in fact it only allows children to recognize words.
Qingzhou will only pay for three to four years of compulsory education for these children. After the age of 10, if they still want to study, they have to pay tuition.
It is definitely incomparable to the nine-year free admission for hundreds of millions of children in compulsory education across the country in the new era.
But in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, this was already a very exaggerated ratio, because it meant that the number of illiterate people would be greatly reduced.
The ancient feudal dynasties always liked to engage in policies that obscured the people, but they did not know that human civilization has needed intellectuals for thousands of years to promote the progress of civilization and social change.
Even in the European Renaissance, although a small group of elites took the lead, it was their efforts to open up the people's wisdom, defeat feudalism, and break the ideological constraints of Catholicism, which finally created the splendid civilization that has existed in Europe for hundreds of years.
Compared with the great changes in history, what Chen Mu is doing now is just an insignificant wave, including his dream, which is just to open the first door of the industrial revolution in his lifetime.
But in the hundreds of years after his death, the process of allowing Chinese civilization to completely move towards glory and take steps toward the entire world must be left to future generations.
Before that, education was the cornerstone of a strong country and a major plan for the next hundred years.
Even though wars are going on everywhere now, education cannot be ignored.
Fortunately, Qingzhou now dominates the world's salt market and makes a lot of money from salt. Coupled with the increase in productivity and sufficient food, it can afford the hundreds of millions of education funds that need to be spent every year. Otherwise, it would not be able to afford such a huge education.
expenses.
Chen Mu led Cao Cao to the outside of Linzi City. At the Spring Breeze Pavilion outside the city, Liu Bei had already been waiting. When he heard that Cao Cao was coming, he came from the front line specially. Because there was a cement road, it only took two days to cover more than 200 kilometers.
The time has come.
"Hahahaha, Xuande!"
When Cao Cao saw Liu Bei, he got off his horse, laughed and said, "We haven't seen each other for several years since we last saw each other in Puyang."
The last time the two met was when Liu Bei went back to fight Wang Fen and stopped by Yanzhou.
Liu Bei also said happily: "Brother Meng De, I heard that brother is coming to Qingzhou, I have been looking forward to it for a long time, hurry up, hurry up, please come in!"
Everyone dismounted and followed Liu Bei to the city.
When they arrived at the city gate, they saw that the originally narrow city gate had been demolished, and the city walls on both sides had also lost a small section, opening up a large road five or six feet wide.
There are countless people walking on the road, going in and out, and you can't see the end at a glance. Even though it is such a big road, it still makes people feel crowded.
Cao Cao knew that Liu Bei would not harm him, so he did not bring any guards with him this time. However, there were still thirty or forty people, plus Liu Bei's retinue, the total number of people was nearly a hundred, and they blended into the crowd, as if they were a drop of water.
into the sea, without a single splash.
"I once read the history books, and Su Qin once said: On the way to Linzi, the carriages hit each other, people shouldered each other, the folds formed a curtain, the sleeves formed a curtain, and the sweat turned into rain. I didn't believe it at that time, but when I saw it today, I found that Su Qin
In other words, it’s better than anything else.”
Seeing this scene, Cao Cao couldn't help but sigh.
There was a sea of people around, some rushing into the city, some setting up stalls near the city gate to do business, some shopping, and various government officials maintaining order. It was surprising to see that there were so many people, but it didn't look chaotic.
This chapter is not over, please click on the next page to continue reading! Because it was too noisy, Liu Bei did not hear what Cao Cao said clearly. He only heard what Su Qin said. He thought Cao Cao was asking how many people there were, so he smiled and said: "Shi Shuyan
At that time, Linzi had 70,000 households and more than 200,000 to 300,000 households. Today, Linzi has more than double that number, with 150,000 households and more than 400,000 households."
Why are you saying everything to others?
Chen Mu really wanted to poke his head at Big Brother. Big Brother is good at everything, but when he is proud, he becomes very honest and won't lie or deceive. In addition, he is a righteous man, but Cao Cao said it shamelessly.
It would be disgusting to take this opportunity to cry out and complain, and then seek help from him.
Fortunately, Cao Cao didn't quite hear what Liu Bei said. There was nothing he could do, there were too many people.
If future generations have seen people who go to train stations and bus stations during the Spring Festival, they will have the same feeling. There are so many people that you have to squeeze in to take two steps forward, and you can't hear the people next to you at all.
Cao Cao didn't pay much attention to Liu Bei's words. There was only envy in his eyes. When would the city under his command be so prosperous?
As the group of people moved slowly toward the Prefectural Shepherd's Mansion, there was a sudden commotion around them, and someone started shouting.
"Shijun Liu is back. Look, everyone, it's Shijun Liu."
"It's really Liu Shijun. I heard that Shijun went to Bohai this year. Why are you back now? Come on, waiter, get that basket of eggs."
"Your Majesty, this is home-brewed wine. Get a jar quickly. Don't be polite."
"Your Majesty, this is my family's silk."
"Your Majesty..."
Liu Bei was walking on the street as if he had entered a supermarket. When the merchants and people around him saw him, they all took out their own goods to give away.
There is no way, in a society governed by virtue, people with high moral character and prestige will be respected by others.
Currently, there are four recognized virtuous people in Qingzhou: the first is Zheng Xuan, who is highly virtuous, the second is Wang Lie, who is of noble character, the third is Liu Bei, who is universally benevolent and righteous, and the fourth is Chen Mu, who kills for his father and is filial to the emperor.
Among them, Zheng Xuan and Wang Lie were originally the most famous scholars in Qingzhou. They were widely respected by the local people, and it was normal for them to be loved by the people of Qingzhou.
The reason why two foreigners, Liu Bei and Chen Mu, were so respected was naturally because of their good moral character and their governance.
Needless to say, Chen Mu left Linzi and went to Luoyang to serve as Shangshu Ling, and he brought all the people together because he kept Qingzhou in order, so that everyone could eat and be clothed.
In fact, he only did his duties as an official, and the people remembered him for many years, which shows the simplicity of the people in ancient times.
Liu Bei, on the other hand, has his own style. After all, he has never heard of anyone whose prefecture is like a vegetable market, allowing people to come in and out, and let people eat in their own homes. Based on this alone, the people of Qingzhou let
feel admired.
It is also for this reason that the officialdom of Qingzhou is very clean.
Although the main reason is that the high salary in Qingzhou supports integrity and the official salary is extremely high, so there is no need for corruption. The second reason is that it is easy to get into Liu Bei's house, and any common people can go to his house to complain.
If you are an official in a certain place and commit corruption and bend the law, no one will be able to bear it if the people in Qingzhou go to the state pastoral office to petition, not to mention that Qingzhou's disciplinary inspection department will secretly investigate at any time.
Therefore, even if many tycoons want to bribe officials and continue to annex people's land through the collusion between officials and businessmen in the past, it is already impossible.
As Liu Bei walked on the street, he instantly became everyone's star. People flocked to him and surrounded him.
Seeing more and more people around him, he quickly covered his face with his hands and shouted: "Fourth brother!"
Liu Bei was careless. In order to prevent this kind of thing from happening, he usually took a carriage. But this time, in order to pick up Cao Cao, thinking that he had not seen his old friend for many years, he was excited and forgot about it, so he hurriedly shouted to Chen Mu, hoping
He thought of a way.
Unexpectedly, there was no response after he shouted several times. When he looked around, he saw Chen Mu covering his face with a veil and already squeezing out of the crowd. While squeezing, he shouted: "Liu Shijun is inside, everyone, hurry up."
.”
As he spoke, he disappeared without a trace in a few flashes. Liu Bei was dumbfounded. Is this what the fourth brother often said, a dead Taoist friend is not dead but a poor Taoist?
This seller must have sold out too quickly.
And while he was stunned, Cao Cao and others next to him were also squeezed away by the people. The team of hundreds of people was actually squeezed into pieces on the streets of Linzi, which was simply unheard of.
Liu Bei had no choice but to keep thanking the people for their kindness. Although there were guards around him, they could not hold back the enthusiasm of the people, and they came up one after another to give gifts.
In early spring, the north wind was still cold, but the scene suddenly became fiery, dispelling the severe cold of early spring.
In order to prevent stampedes and accidents, Liu Bei had no choice but to let his guards accept the gifts from each family one by one, and thank them in various ways along the way before the team could continue to move forward.
But when Liu Bei could not withstand the enthusiasm of the people, he was forced to hang himself with gifts.
Cao Cao, who was not far away, became more and more envious as he looked at him.
Is this the state of things that the Analects of Confucius says: "Wen, Liang, Gong, and thrift are all things that can be understood by others. What Master seeks, are they different from what others seek?"
Being so loved by the people, Liu Xuande's reputation is really enviable.