Roland took a sip of tea and then said: "In addition, I plan to carry out basic education in Changsong Fortress. This is also an assessment item for whether you can continue to take charge of Changsong Fortress."
Hearing the word assessment, Pei Luo's ears perked up immediately, "Basic education?"
"That's right," he smiled and nodded. Now that the church has been destroyed, the high priest has been killed, and the church's power here has been weakened by half. He doesn't expect to transform all believers into potentially qualified workers, just further remove the influence of the church. If the Holy City wanted to get their hands on the Changsong Fortress again, Roland had many ways to keep them out, and even don't even think about building a new church.
"Basic education is for all residents of the fortress under the age of 40, regardless of gender. The content includes writing and reading, simple calculations, popularization of natural knowledge, and ideological education." Roland waved his hand and suppressed the other's doubts, "Relax, this The fee will be deducted from the tax paid to Border Town. Starting from this month, you only need to pay 20% of the tax, and the remaining 10% will be used for special education expenses - you can recruit a few scholars from the capital, or Hire local knights and nobles, but these people don’t cost much. 10% of the tax is at least a thousand golden dragons, so you have to do much more than that.”
Pei Luo thought for a while and said, "Your Highness, do you mean to use this money to motivate residents to receive education?"
The guy's reaction was really sharp, and Roland laughed, "Yes, except for children, most people have a job to make a living during the day, so their education should start at night. But after a busy day, they finally arrived. During the break, no one wants to listen to other people’s nagging, let alone learning to read and write.”
"So you can use some means to lure them to study, such as providing dinner with meat, for example, those who study fast can get monetary rewards, etc. Of course, bright and spacious classrooms are also essential." He paused, "In short, you must do everything possible to popularize this work to all residents of the fortress. As I said, this is also a test for you: a year later, I will require more than 50% of the fortress to be literate."
"But Your Highness..." Pei Luo said hesitantly, "Whether scholars or nobles, they have no experience in teaching people to read, let alone popularize natural knowledge and ideological education," he said a few awkward terms, "In fact, I don't even understand it myself. With these people, I'm afraid it won't achieve the effect you want."
"I have also considered this," Roland reassured. "Don't worry, I will send a group of city hall officials to assist you in this matter. At the same time, all the books required for education are provided by Border Town. They are experienced and can First teach the people you recruit, and then educate the residents. When you talk to them in detail, you will understand that the specific issues can be handled by them.”
In this way, as long as he wants to continue to take charge of the fortress, he will inevitably use this group of people, the prince thought, and through the placement of cronies by the officials of the Ministry of Education, the news of Changge Fortress can also be passed back to Border Town as soon as possible.
Seeing that Peiro did not express any objection, Roland began to explain the last order: "The third thing, I plan to build a road between Changsong Fortress and Border Town to shorten the time for pedestrians and caravans to travel between the two places."
"Your Highness, there is already a road between the two places?" Pei Luo asked in surprise.
Can a mud trail run by people also count as a road? It is less than two meters wide, and it is full of mud when it rains, and the road is full of potholes, which is not suitable for high-speed horse-drawn carriage. Roland shook his head and said, "The road I want to build can accommodate at least two carriages passing side by side. The road is flat and straight, and it won't cause water accumulation when it rains, just like the streets of Border Town."
"Are you talking about gravel roads?" The acting city lord looked a little surprised, "The cost of this kind of road is not low. It needs to be cut by stone masons, and the stones of the right size can be selected and matched together before they can be used. A gravel road to Border Town will cost at least 5,000 golden dragons. Your Highness, I am bluntly speaking, if there is no tax increase in Changge Fortress, I am afraid that you will not be able to get that much money."
"Fortresses only need to provide manpower." The prince said bluntly, "You publish recruitment announcements to various territories in the Western Region, not only Changge Fortress, but also major clan territories. The salary is six silver wolves per month, and the construction period is one year. I believe that many people should apply."
"For a handyman, six silver wolves are a relatively high salary," Pei Luo nodded. "I wonder how many people you want to hire?"
"At least two thousand," Roland replied.
In this way, the cost of hiring handymen is not a small amount every month. Adding masons and gravel workers, it is definitely a high cost in the eyes of others. Few lords are willing to use their own money to build this building. A seemingly unrewarding thing, which can be seen from the other party's expression. But now Frontier Town has been able to sell steam engines, and the income and expenditure can basically be kept in balance. Roland never planned to store all the golden dragons in the warehouse. The so-called want to get rich first, build roads and invest the remaining money in infrastructure construction is undoubtedly the best choice. .
The construction of a high-quality road connecting the fortress and the border town is of great significance, not only to facilitate future trade and connections between the two places, but also a prerequisite for the rapid deployment of the army. If the traffic is inconvenient, even if you receive the news that the fortress has been attacked, wait until three days later to rush over, I am afraid that the flag of the enemy will be flying at the top of the city.
"I understand." Pei Luo took the lead.
"For now, that's all you have to do. I'll go back to Border Town soon and work hard, Mr. "Ambassador", don't let me down again. "
When Pei Luo retired, he suddenly remembered something, stopped and asked, "His Royal Highness, what should I do with those detained in prison?"
Roland didn't answer so smoothly for the first time. He was silent for a while before he said, "Keep them up, they won't live too long."
…
Boarding the township, the prince embarked on his way home.
"You don't seem to be in a good mood?" Nightingale turned her head and asked, "Is it because of those civilians?"
"They were all forced by Tifeko," Roland sighed. "If it wasn't for taking pills and being manipulated, they wouldn't have acted as each other's minions and died in this strange land."
"It's not your fault." Nightingale reached out and grabbed his arm.
"Of course not," Roland said without hesitation. "If I can't stop them, the town will become a victim of Tifeko's power. Of course, the church that makes pills is also one of the culprits."
"So you will destroy the church, end the strife, and make people no longer have to kill each other for such useless reasons, right?" Nightingale asked with a smile, "whether ordinary people or witches, can be happy under your rule. live on."
"..." Roland looked at the other party's shining eyes and nodded lightly, "Well, I promise."