Chapter 322: National Literacy Campaign Begins

The provincial governments in various places recruited all students who were above the level of Tongsheng to teach, paying them wages and providing them with food and accommodation.

To teach children and soldiers how to read and write, Tongsheng is enough.

Many poor students who had given up studying due to poverty now seemed to see hope!

Look, you don’t have to pass the exam to get a salary, and it also includes food and accommodation!

This is easy money that can be earned without working in the fields or being exposed to the wind and sun!

Hurry up and study hard to take the exam to become a Tongsheng!

It's not as hard to pass the exam as a scholar...

Just at this time, the Tianwu court issued a new regulation: all students taking the Tongsheng examination do not need to write with a brush, but can directly answer the questions with water-based pen refills!

Water-based pen refills are so cheap!
If they use them sparingly, they can save a lot of money compared to using brushes, ink sticks and inkstones!

The students' enthusiasm is even higher!

The Tongsheng, who used to be a useless person, has become popular in all parts of Tianwu Country... Even when he goes on blind dates, he is more popular than before!

The imperial court recruited a large number of students to teach them to read and write, and they were paid!

There’s nothing we can do about it, the imperial court is rich and generous!
Xiao Yingchun was also busy: she bought whole truckloads of water-based pen refills and draft paper, and then asked Fu Chenan to ship them to schools and shops all over Tianwu Country.

Even though Fu Chenan tried to sell at the lowest price possible, he still couldn't resist the huge price difference between the two sides.

Both the Tianwu court and Xiao Yingchun made a fortune!
The Tianwu Kingdom was busy, but the morale in the territories of the two rebellious kings was low.

The people in the rebel king's fiefdom are secretly fleeing to the surrounding prefectures controlled by the Tianwu court.

Because the relatives there have already told them about the preferential policies of Tianwu Kingdom.

You only need to pay 10% tax for farming?
Can I get three years of rent-free for land reclamation?

In the past, you could register as a local resident and find a job in the local state capital?

Can wages not be delayed or owed and the family be able to have enough food to eat?

As long as they are Tianwu citizens, can the elderly over 70 years old who cannot get food go to the orphanage?
All ten-year-old children who are willing to go to school can go to school and work part-time without paying tuition?

Let your children become readers!
Who can resist this temptation?

The rebel king wouldn't let him go and sent people to block the passage?

Everyone went there secretly over the mountains and hills!

Could such a vast wilderness and mountains be a problem for the people who have lived nearby for many years?

When more and more people left one village after another and the number of people in the rebel king's fiefdom became smaller and smaller, they became extremely anxious.

No one cultivates the land anymore, no one pays taxes, all industries are in decline, merchants can't make any money, let alone pay taxes.

If this continues, what's the point of fighting against the Fu family father and son?
Can you take back the country just by saying that the Fu family father and son came to power by rebellion?

This obviously doesn't work!
Now they couldn't even keep the people under their control, and they all began to flee to Tianwu State with their families.

The two kings had their first fierce argument.

Prince Donghu blushed, which was unusual for him. "Brother, you said at the beginning that you would take things step by step, but now the people have all run away. What else are you going to do? To take care of two kings without any support?"

Emperor Nanming looked at his brother in disbelief.

"When I made this decision, you supported it. Why, now that the result is not what you wanted, you can turn around and criticize me?"

Prince Donghu's face turned even redder: "I know I supported it at the beginning, but this is definitely not okay now. You are the Emperor of Southern Ming, you have to think of a solution!"

Emperor Nanming sneered: "Do you think I haven't thought of a solution? Then what do you think we should do?"

"Are we going to do the same as Fu Zhonghai and ask the people to pay only 10% of the taxes?"

"Do you have any Western merchants who can get you a lot of profitable Western goods?"

"Can you get more money from the wealthy families in the fiefdom?"

King Donghu paused.

It was impossible to get wealthy families to pay willingly. No one would contribute the wealth accumulated by their families for generations to them.

But what if you take the initiative to ask for it?
Or even rob?
The voice of the King of Donghu trembled: "Brother, what if we insist on asking them to pay?"

Emperor Nanming looked at Prince Donghu in astonishment: ...

Prince Donghu: "Brother, we have no other choice! If this continues, the people of our Southern Ming Kingdom will flee without the Fu family father and son sending troops!"

"What's the point of talking about gentlemanly conduct when the country is no longer a nation?"

Emperor Nanming:!!!

The Southern Ming Kingdom was close to the edge of the Tianwu Kingdom. A wealthy family who owned hundreds of hectares of fertile land was suddenly encountered by bandits in the middle of the night.

The beautiful manor was burned down overnight, and the entire family was killed, even the elderly, children, women, and servants were not spared.

Seeing the flames rising into the sky in the middle of the night, no one nearby dared to step forward to help put out the fire.

This kind of fire cannot be put out even if you want to...

When it was dawn and everyone looked carefully, they found that in addition to the charred corpse and the house, all the gold, silver, valuables, food and cloth in the house had been looted.

The Southern Ming Emperor then ordered a thorough investigation and took over all the land tenants of this family.

The Southern Ming Emperor also announced to the world that if the owner of this family was still alive, they could go directly to the Southern Ming capital to claim their belongings...

The news spread among the people quickly as if it had wings.

Fengshui City, which is separated from the city by a city, belongs to the territory of Tianwu State. In an ordinary courtyard, a young man and woman are arguing.

The man carried a bag on his shoulder and insisted on going out. The woman disagreed and grabbed his arm and dragged him back.

"Aze, are you stupid? Where did the bandits come from in our area?"

"There are hundreds of people in our family, and there are more than a hundred young and middle-aged men alone. How could they kill so many people in one night, and not a single one escaped? Could it be possible for bandits to do this?"

Kong Mingze refused to listen and struggled with tears streaming down his face: "Sister, those are our parents and brothers and sisters!"

"No matter what, I should go back and collect the bodies, right?"

"We can't just throw the Southern Ming Emperor into a big pit and bury him there, right?"

Kong Li Niang still refused to let go: "What if it was the Southern Ming Emperor who sent someone to kill him? If you go back, won't you be walking into a trap?!"

Kong Mingze paused, his pupils dilated in shock: "How is this possible?!"

Although Kong Li'niang was a concubine's daughter, she married a scholar who loved reading. Her husband, the scholar, had recently been working in the government office and had heard many differences and analyses between the two courts.

She had also heard the scholar's analysis of the matter.

"How is it impossible?"

"The people of the Southern Ming Emperor are almost all fleeing. They are all coming to Fengshui City and several nearby cities. Where can he collect taxes?"

"If the people don't pay taxes, how can they support the Southern Ming court and army?!"

"Of course, we're targeting the wealthy families close to Tianwu Country!"

"They must be afraid that these wealthy families will also come to Tianwu Country, so they chose to strike first!"

After Kong Li'niang finished speaking, the struggling force in her hands disappeared, and Kong Mingze stood there in a daze, as if he had lost his soul.

Although he was an unappreciated bastard, he was well educated.

He understood what his biological sister said, and he knew very well: it made sense.

Maybe that’s the truth!

"Sister, what should we do?"

Kong Li Niang was sweating from exhaustion. "It's impossible to take back our parents' money and land from the hands of the Southern Ming Emperor. If you go back now, you'll be sending food to the doorstep, like a sheep walking into a tiger's mouth..."

"Why don't you just settle down here? First, pass the exam to become a student, then find a way to settle down, and then plan for the future!"

(End of this chapter)