"Goodbye, Big Brother! Melly's going to school!" Melly waved at Claire, slung on the backpack Yuna had sewn for her, and ran outside.
Ever since those twenty-odd Minotaurs had joined the construction site, the building progress had soared. The school was soon completed, and those goofy Minotaurs were practically professional laborers now, willing to work hard and capable of doing anything at the site.
After finishing the school, they had moved on to digging sewers, with more than half of them assigned to road construction. Nafu City was in the midst of a major building boom, so there was no shortage of work for them.
Claire planned to first build a road leading to other territories so merchants could enter his viscountcy without trouble.
Without an influx of outside funds, Nafu City would be stagnant water, unable to develop.
As for the school, Claire had first built several teaching buildings, then many dormitories. Children who lived far from Nafu City could stay at the school directly, and there was no tuition. This was the other-world version of nine-year compulsory education. It might not necessarily last nine years, but compulsory education definitely had to be free. The children only needed to bring their own grain and hand it over to the school, where the cafeteria would cook it for them.
Of course, those provisions alone were definitely not enough. Claire still had to subsidize the school with quite a bit of money every month, but it was all worth it. No matter how hard things got, children could not suffer; no matter how poor they were, education could not be neglected.
The dozen or so teachers at the school had been hired by Claire at great expense from other places. Each received three Gold Coins a month and a house in Nafu City, and could even bring their families to live there. Claire had assessed their character, and there were no major issues. He had only spent several days explaining the textbooks he had written to them. If they did not understand them, how could they teach the children?
After all that work, the school finally opened smoothly!
Claire had not even needed to use any coercive measures. The people of the territory had eagerly sent their children over. They had lacked the opportunity before, but now that their children could attend school for free, they could hardly wait to send them. If their children studied well enough to work for the viscount in the future, it would bring glory to their ancestors and ensure a worry-free life.
Just a few days after the school opened, the children began arguing with their parents after returning home from class.
"Mom! You have to boil the water, or there'll be tiny bugs in it! People will get sick if they drink it!"
"You've been spoiled rotten! Drink it or don't! Who told you there were tiny bugs in the water?" the woman asked with her hands on her hips, assuming it was some joke a neighbor had used to tease children.
"The teacher told me! It's written in the textbook, and the textbook was written by the viscount!" The child also put his hands on his hips and answered righteously. He would never have dared speak to his mother like that before, but now that the viscount was backing him, he instantly found his courage.
"This..." The woman hesitantly glanced at the well water she had scooped from the bucket. In the end, she lit a fire and boiled it.
Of course, other situations also occurred.
"Mom! You have to boil the water, or I won't drink it!"
Smack! Smack! Smack! The woman pulled down her child's pants and began hitting him. "Who spoiled you like this? I've been drinking it for so long and never got sick!"
"Waaah! The teacher said it! Stop hitting me, I was wrong! I won't drink boiled water anymore!"
A future scientist had fallen on the spot...
Although it was knowledge taught at school, some people still habitually drank unboiled water. It had nothing to do with whether they respected Claire; it was simply a long-standing habit. Even in his previous life, China had spent considerable time and effort promoting boiled water.
After discovering this issue, Claire decided to personally visit the school and give a speech on the subject. Fortunately, the school had been built. This time, he finally did not have to run to the city gate.
The audience would not just be students, but also their parents and those attending Night School. In any case, anyone in Nafu City with free time could come listen.
Once the news spread, the people in the viscountcy grew excited again.
"We get to hear the viscount speak again! That last speech got my blood pumping!"
"I wonder what he'll be talking about this time."
"We'll know if we go. Are you going?"
"Of course. I've got nothing to do this afternoon anyway."
"..."
Before the appointed time even arrived, people continuously poured into the school. The field was packed, everyone standing on tiptoe and staring at the stage to see when Claire would appear.
When the time came, Claire stepped onto the stage. He was the principal of this school, and he had been in the principal's office since early morning preparing the materials he needed for the speech.
The moment Claire took the stage, he received thunderous applause.
Clap! Clap! Clap!
"Lord Viscount, I'm here!"
"Long live Lord Viscount!"
The moment Claire took the stage, he received thunderous applause.
Claire smiled. He often felt the people's enthusiasm. He raised a hand, signaling for everyone below to quiet down.
Then he cast an Amplification Spell on himself. "Hello, everyone! I called you here today mainly to explain some knowledge about hygiene."
"I imagine all of you parents who sent your children to school have heard them tell you something after they returned home: boil your water before drinking it, otherwise there will be Germs in it."
Those in the crowd whose children attended school nodded.
"I wrote those textbooks, and what they say is true, so the children were not lying to you."
"Do you know about the sewer construction currently underway? You all know I spent a great deal of money building it, but do you know why I did it?"
Someone in the crowd raised a hand. "So the streets won't have garbage and excrement on them anymore, and it won't smell so bad when people walk around."
Claire pointed at the person. "That's right, but you haven't reached the root of the matter. Eliminating the smell is one aspect, but would everyone be happy living in such an environment for a long time? What effect would it have on your health?"
They still understood this much. The person who had raised his hand answered again, "We'd get sick!"
"That's right! Everyone knows rotten food cannot be eaten because it has maggots on it, and rotten food can make people sick. If you live in a stinking environment for a long time, your body will develop problems too."
"Everyone knows that, but you cannot understand why you need to drink boiled water, right? Some of you may think, 'I've been drinking raw water for years, and there's nothing wrong with me.' That way of thinking is wrong. Maybe you could have lived to fifty, but instead you die at forty. The illnesses it causes may not be especially dangerous, but they quietly damage your body. Sometimes you feel perfectly healthy, then suddenly fall ill. That may be harm caused by drinking raw water."
"Think about it. If there were a rotting corpse in the water, would you drink it?"
The crowd shook their heads. "No!"
"But if water that had soaked a corpse were placed before you, could you tell whether it was clean water or dirty water?"
The crowd shook their heads again. "We couldn't tell."
"People get sick from eating rotten food because rotten food contains Germs that can cause illness. Eating it causes problems in the body. When rotten food seeps into water, the Germs it carries also enter the water. Since we cannot distinguish them with the naked eye, drinking raw water can sometimes make us sick for this very reason."
Claire had already tried his best to explain it in a simple, understandable way. If he went any deeper, he feared the people would not understand. This was also why compulsory education needed to be introduced. He did not want the people in his territory to remain ignorant of even such basic matters in the future.
"Of course, Germs are not only found in rotten food. They are on many things, and the best way to kill them is with high heat. So, do you all know what to do now?"
The crowd raised their hands and shouted, "Boil the water, drink boiled water!"
Hearing that, Claire smiled with satisfaction. All that explaining had not been for nothing. When he had time in a few days, he would make a microscope for them to see. That would be much more convincing. Even Leeuwenhoek could make a microscope by hand, and he was at least an Intermediate Mage, so it would not be difficult for him.
"That's all for today. Go home, everyone." Claire gave a slight nod and stepped down from the stage.
Regan immediately came forward. "Young Master, you've worked hard."
"Recruit more people to share this work. We can't gather so many people every time we announce something, and Nafu City will only have more and more affairs. I can't personally handle every little matter."
"Yes, sir!" Regan nodded. He truly had been so busy lately that he could barely catch his breath. He was the only administrative officer managing the entire city of Nafu City, which was incredibly draining.
After Claire left, the people below gradually dispersed as well.
A little boy walked ahead with his hands on his hips, pouting in dissatisfaction. "I told you it was taught at school, but you still hit me! Now the viscount has said it too. Are you still going to drink raw water when we get home?"
"What are you so pleased about? If you could explain it as clearly as the viscount, would I have ignored you?" the woman snapped. "Stop right there! You think you can run?"
"Mom! I was wrong, don't hit me!" The little boy covered his head and sprinted away.
Chapters without an actual story, like transition chapters, really were difficult to write. It felt clunky writing them, and it took a long time to finish this one. The next chapter will be much better.
Also, thanks to "Look, This Is My..." (forgive me, I can't type the last two characters of your ID) for the 100 book coin reward and one monthly vote, "Book Friend 20210523231816053" for the 100 Qidian coin reward, "Book Friend 140416233018826" for one monthly vote, and "Ran Bi Le" for two monthly votes!
Thank you, everyone!!!!!!!
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