School Plan

School Plan

"Go back to school? Big Brother, I don't understand."

Lao Liu was visibly flustered.

He had thought Lynn was trying to drive him away.

Had Big Brother discovered that he had not put enough effort into teaching Lao Si and Lao Wu these past few days?

But the two of them were truly terrible at learning. They could not even sit still for half an hour, so how could they possibly learn well?

Lao Liu had long since grown accustomed to the life of a Horse Bandit.

Moreover, through observation, he had realized that Lynn had decided to settle permanently in White Bear Territory, so he had also been actively changing his mindset and adapting to the role of a Territory System administrator.

He had thought he had fully integrated into the Horse Bandit group and would be able to contribute to the territory's construction in the future. He had never expected Big Brother to drive him away now.

Second Brother beside him also grew anxious. "Big Brother."

Lynn smiled and reassured him, "What are you panicking for? In White Bear Territory, where everyone graduates from prenatal education, you're the most valuable talent we have. Why would I ever bear to drive you away?"

Lao Liu understood Lynn's joke, and a smile returned to his nervous face. "Please enlighten me, Big Brother!"

"What I mean is, I want you to build a school in White Bear Territory. There's no need to teach anything too profound—just what you learned during your early education: literacy and arithmetic."

As he spoke, Lynn casually checked Lao Liu's attributes. A pixelated blond male figure appeared on the panel.

[Timo★]

[Command E][Strength D-][Constitution E+][Intelligence D-][Administration E-][Charisma E-]

[Loyalty: 95 (Accepted as a follower)]

[Trait One: Edification—Has an advantage in educational activities]

Judging from his trait alone, Lao Liu was clearly better suited to be a teacher who educated others than a Horse Bandit who swung a sword and hacked at people.

The main reason Lynn had been willing to accept him into the group in the first place was because he valued his [Edification] trait.

Even if this trait were not used for territory construction, it could at least make him an early education teacher for several illiterate brothers.

And the effect of this trait was indeed obvious.

After a year of education, the already clever Lao San had learned to read and write.

Although Lao Si and Lao Wu were naturally mischievous, they could at least recognize all the letters and had barely escaped the ranks of the illiterate.

As for Second Brother, he would not study even if someone beat him to death, so Lynn could only give up on him.

After a year of training in the life of a Horse Bandit, Lao Liu's strength and constitution had both noticeably improved. He was no longer the frail scholar he had been when he first joined, which showed that his potential as a Horse Bandit was not bad either.

Build a school in White Bear Territory?

Lao Liu had initially thought he had misheard, but after considering it carefully, he somewhat understood Lynn's meaning and asked:

"Big Brother wants those stewards and Farm Managers to learn arithmetic and bookkeeping, like Old Albert?"

Among the stewards and Farm Managers of White Bear Territory, aside from Old Albert and his son, only two or three people knew even the most basic arithmetic and bookkeeping.

Lao Liu knew that Lynn would certainly expand the territory and its population. In the future, these few "educated people" alone would clearly be unable to govern the territory properly.

"Not only must they be taught, but so must their descendants. We can also select clever children from among the serfs. In short, the more people who know arithmetic and bookkeeping, the better."

Lynn had no intention of teaching anything too advanced. It would be enough for them to learn literacy, arithmetic, and bookkeeping. That was sufficient for lower-level officials.

Lao Liu asked again, "Who will pay the tuition?"

"It'll be free. The territory will pay for it." Lynn knew very well that if he charged money, they would most likely be unable to recruit any students at all.

In a feudal manor, children could already be considered Labor force once they reached seven or eight years old. Though they could not do heavy work, herding sheep, growing vegetables, and collecting manure were more than within their abilities.

If attending school cost money, it would mean reducing both a family's wealth and its Labor force at the same time.

In all of White Bear Territory, perhaps only a small number of stewards would be willing to spend money on their children's early education.

Lao Liu nodded thoughtfully and continued asking, "Then the teaching materials and parchment will also be paid for by the territory?"

Lynn replied encouragingly, "I'll have Leon buy them from Three Rivers City. These most basic teaching materials should not be too expensive, and there's no need for every person to have their own copy. Two or three people can share one. I believe that with your abilities, you can definitely teach them."

In this era, there were not even blackboards or chalk. Teaching mainly relied on tools such as parchment and quill pens.

During lessons, teachers needed to consume large amounts of parchment for demonstrations, while students also relied on writing to copy and learn.

That was why education was so expensive.

Of course, there were cheaper methods, such as carving onto wooden boards, but that was limited to only a few subjects like arithmetic.

Thus, Lao Liu worried, "Big Brother, if we don't charge tuition, this school's expenses may be extremely high. And I alone can't teach too many students."

Due to the lack of teaching tools such as blackboards, teachers of this era could not teach too many students at once.

At the Monastery school Lao Liu had attended, a class usually had only five or six students.

"It doesn't matter. Once the Salt Mine opens, will we still be short of this little money? We won't lack teachers in the future either. I'll find a way to solve that. Besides, this school won't open until after this year's Autumn Harvest at the earliest. Just prepare in advance."

In Lynn's view, anything that could be solved with money was not a problem.

He did not intend to save the money earned from the Salt Mine.

Based on his experience playing the game Lord in the past, during the early stages of territory construction, if there was even one idle gold coin left in the accounts, it meant the player had not managed things well enough.

Lynn was already prepared to spend money lavishly.

"I understand, Big Brother. Once we return, I'll begin compiling teaching materials and strive to finish two books before the school opens."

Lao Liu did not dislike teaching others. In fact, he even felt a faint sense of anticipation.

As night fell, White Bear Territory's first day of plowing also came to an end.

"My Lord, a total of 3,200 mu of land was plowed today. In another four or five days, all of your Public Land will be fully cultivated."

Old Albert hurried to the Castle with the serfs' work results to deliver the good news.

Lynn was eating dinner. He did not stop moving his spoon when he heard this, merely praising him calmly. "Well done. I may head out tomorrow, so I'll leave the territory's farming work to you."

"My Lord, where are you going?" Old Albert could not help but be startled. In April, what could possibly be more important than farming?

"I'm going to take a look in the forest. I won't be gone for more than a week."

Before Leon arrived in White Bear Territory with his younger sister, Lynn planned to make another trip to the Salt Mine.

This time, he would bring most of his men to guard against any Wild People who might appear.

At the same time, he would take a different route in an attempt to explore more potential resource sites.

Repairing a full sixty kilometers of road solely to connect the Peat and Salt Mine was somewhat of a loss.

If they could discover other resource sites as well, there would still be time to adjust the construction route plan.

(End of chapter)