It was almost February in the blink of an eye. During the period after the New Year, Irene organized her "education plan" in detail. After Paul officially approved it, she began to light the first of the three fires of the new official's appointment.
Previously, Government Affairs Council's investment in education had been sporadic. Under Irene's strong suggestion, education funds were separated as a formal expenditure and listed as the four major fiscal expenditures along with military, industry, and agriculture.
First starting from Lakeheart Town, Ves Institute's original dean John·Morrison was sent to the monastery by Paul to "assist" Father Anderson. The position of dean has been vacant, so Irene took up this position without hesitation.
She conducted a benchmark test on current students, including reading, writing and simple arithmetic, temporarily divided them into three grades according to their levels, rearranged the work of teachers, and established a regular examination system to test students' learning achievements.
After a long period of recruitment, the number of teachers in Ves Institute has reached twenty, and their salaries are now managed by Irene, who has become the director of Department of Education.
Irene convened a meeting of teachers and announced that from now on, teachers' salaries will be linked to the test scores of the students they teach. If the scores are too bad, the salary will be deducted, and if the scores are good, the salary will be increased.
The new policy has boosted the atmosphere in the Academy. Those teachers who used to be lazy have become diligent. Academy is filled with their voices scolding students for their hatred of students.
In short, the previous sheep-herding teaching model has disappeared, and the students' good days have come to an end.
In addition to day education, Literacy Night School of Ves Institute is still open, targeting adults who work during the day and have nothing to do at night.
Irene stipulates that as long as a member of the night school can pass the basic literacy test and arithmetic test, the teacher responsible for teaching him can receive a bonus in addition to the normal salary, calculated on a per-capita basis, and the more he teaches, the more he gets.
So some teachers began to spontaneously promote the great significance of education in the town, and after dinner, they cooperated with Soldiers to "hunt" people who were idle at home with nothing to do.
On February 3rd, the city of Center looked like a festival. The streets were filled with flowers that bloomed in early spring. Jugglers and minstrels performed hard in the central square of the city. Housewives carried large and small bags to the stores to make big purchases, because merchants all over the city were on sale on this day.
The entire city was cleaned and brand new, and even the beggars on the streets were driven out of the city.
Because tomorrow is the birthday of the lord of this city - Duke Ferdinand. Under the auspices of the Duke's brother Viscount Henry, there will be a special event this year.
A group of people appeared on the road outside the Cent City gate. A rider was holding a flagpole, and a Flying Dragon Flag was flying on the top of the flagpole.
It was Paul and others who came to attend the Duke's birthday party.
In addition to Count Mellon Garnard who came to the banquet, there were also Female Advisor Laddie, Intelligence Director Cecil, First Army Battalion Commander Bryce and his Adjutant (who was his squire when he was a knight).
Chief Guard Victor—his ribs were broken by a mage's kick last year and he lay in bed for three months—commanded fifteen elite Inner Guard Soldiers to serve as escorts for this trip.
Although there are only fifteen Soldiers, all of them are extremely fast reloading experts.
Each of them is equipped with a newly produced Flintlock Gun, equipped with Bayonet, carries four Hand Grenade, and has a flintlock pistol at his waist.
Now when Soldiers encounters an emergency, they can simply load and shoot without having to light a match like before.
Because there was no match rope in the way, they could shoot side by side, greatly increasing the density of firepower.
Since the last incident, Internal Guard Unit and the Army have strengthened their shooting training in emergencies. If an 'assassin' appears again halfway, they can reload it within a minute and beat the opponent into a sieve.
"Ah~ we finally caught up!"
Paul's voice was full of exhaustion. After two days of horseback riding from Lakeheart Town, he finally arrived at Cent City.
To be honest, he really didn't want to come, but he had to come.
The gift he prepared was a pair of porcelain vases about half a person's height with exquisite patterns painted on them.
For a long time, the porcelain sold by Arda has mainly been small pieces. Such a large porcelain bottle can be said to be very precious, but I don't know if it will catch the eye of Duke.
Of course, the gift has been delivered in advance, after all, porcelain cannot be bumpy on horseback.
The reason why I brought Female Advisor Laddie with me this time is because the other party has a mysterious power and may be able to help a lot if there is any accident on the road. Bah bah, it's better to stop being so cunning, what mishaps can happen under the rule of the dignified Duke.
The group of people soon arrived at the city gate, and the guards guarding the gate bowed and saluted.
They saw the flag fluttering on the flagpole. The pattern on it looked like the crest of a noble family. Although they didn't know which family it belonged to, they could still salute it.
"Oh! It is indeed the largest city in the northwest of the kingdom, but it is different!"
Seeing the prosperity of Cent City, Paul sighed.
"I heard that this city has a permanent population of 50,000 to 60,000 people."
Elon and Paul were both visiting Cent City for the first time, and they were also shocked by the scale of Paul.
Needless to say, the casual Chief Guard Victor and the guards knew that the capital Butuya next door to Bairdin was already a very big city.
Among the group of people, only Cecil, Bryce and Female Advisor Laddie were relatively calm. Cecil and Bryce had been to Sente several times before. Needless to say, Female Advisor, who was born in Jiaowan, was more calm.
While everyone was visiting, they walked towards the Lord's Manor. Although the streets were bustling with people, when they saw a group of people approaching under the banner of nobles, they all consciously moved out of the way.
In front of the Lord's Manor, a well-dressed and etiquette officer who was as good as Butler Philip received them. Paul and Mellon handed him invitations.
"Greiman Family...Garnard Family..."
After confirming that the invitation was correct, the usher wearing a monocle counted the number of people in Paul and said a few words to a servant beside him.
Then he bowed slightly to Paul and the others. "My lords, please follow the servant to the official residence prepared for you to rest. We will notify you before the banquet begins."
Shall we fix dinner ourselves? Paul His stomach was growling with hunger at this time, and he thought he would have a big meal after the Lord's Manor arrived.
Following the servant to a mansion near the Lord's Manor to rest for a while, Paul couldn't wait to let Bryce and Cecil, who were familiar with this place, lead him out to eat out.
After returning, Soldiers, who was left behind, reported to Paul: A nobleman claiming to be Henry Ferdinand came to see him.
Isn't that the Duke's brother? It seems that he has nothing to do with himself!
Paul turned to Mellon: "Do you know him?"
Mellon spread his hands and said, "I've never met."
Cecil whispered in Paul's ear, "Viscount Henry has been very active since his brother Duke Ferdinand's health deteriorated, making friends with other nobles everywhere."
Uh... there won't be any bloody drama at this banquet, right?