vstars Chapter 151 The Grand Educational Plan of Li Family Village
Chapter 151 The Grand Educational Plan of Li Family Village
Despite the Jin army's all-out pursuit and interception, a significant number of Mongol troops managed to break through their encirclement and successfully return to the grasslands along the Western Great Wall. However, the Mongol army suffered a major loss this time, as most of the countless supplies and slaves they had plundered along the way were seized by the Jin people.
When Wan Hanzhong saw Naza again in Ulanqab, Naza had gathered nearly 30,000 troops around him. He had taken advantage of the opportunity of Gerti's death to bring most of the fleeing Ongud soldiers back under his control. Now his strength was enough to command the entire Ongud tribe.
However, the Ongud tribe suffered heavy losses this time, losing not only the soldiers who died inside the Great Wall, but also a large amount of northern territory.
After Yue Ying and his men escorted Wan Hanzhong to the Great Wall in Xijing, they returned to Anyang as planned. Before leaving, he left Wan Hanzhong with ten guards equipped with semi-automatic rifles and a letter from a scoundrel.
After Wan Hanzhong opened the letter, he saw its contents. This was the next step plan devised for him by Bu Liang. Without going into the details, the main point was to prevent Mongolia from unifying and to maximize the instigation of hostility between Mongolia and the Jin Dynasty.
The people of Lijiazhai are preparing for spring plowing. Although they have several large tractors for plowing, some tasks still need to be done manually.
Li Zhen was lying lazily in a chair, basking in the sun, enjoying a rare moment of leisure while telling his son stories from "Water Margin".
"Son, that vast expanse of water, stretching for eight hundred miles, was teeming with blue waves. The Northern Song army, led by Gao Qiu, was completely wiped out at the bottom of the lake. Fortunately, Gao Qiu was captured by Ruan Xiao'er, otherwise he would have been fed to the fish and shrimp in the lake."
Upon hearing this, Emperor Huizong of Song, Zhao Ji, who was lying next to him, became displeased.
“My dear son-in-law, you can’t make up stories about the Song Dynasty like that. Do you really need to send a military commander to quell a rebellion against just a few dozen bandits from Liangshan? I think I know about Song Jiang. They were chased and intercepted by government troops near Jiangsu, where they were captured by a local magistrate. Later, most of them surrendered to the court, and then they rebelled again, and as a result, they were all killed.”
Li Yuchen stared with his small eyes and asked in confusion, "Grandpa, your story is not as interesting as Dad's. Dad said that the people in 'Water Margin' are all great heroes, and that the emperor of the Northern Song Dynasty was a big fool who was completely fooled by his ministers."
Hearing this, Zhao Ji was not angry. He smiled and said, "My Yuchen is right. Emperor Huizong of Song was the most foolish idiot in the world. Otherwise, the Northern Song Dynasty would not have perished."
Li Zhen, who was standing next to him, said somewhat embarrassedly, "Well, father-in-law, please don't be angry. I heard this from a folk storyteller. It's all fiction and shouldn't be taken seriously. It's just something to amuse the children."
Zhao Ji: "Hahaha... Don't worry about these things. Actually, you've been telling the children quite well lately. For example, the 'Romance of the Three Kingdoms' a few days ago, the story of the late Eastern Han Dynasty in it is very exciting. Sometimes I think, if you were to be the emperor of Song, you might manage it better than the Zhao imperial family."
Li Zhen took a big gulp of water from the purple clay teapot and said slowly, "I wouldn't do it. I feel that my life is pretty good now. I have tens of thousands of people working as tenants under my command, and I am carefree. Being an emperor is not a good job. There are endless national affairs to deal with every day, and you have to guard against assassination or usurpation. Look at how many emperors in history lived to be a hundred years old."
At this point, Li Zhen ignored Zhao Ji and continued telling the story of "Water Margin" while holding his son in his arms. When he got to the most exciting parts, Zhao Ji, who was standing next to him, also leaned in with great interest, not caring that the muddle-headed emperor in the story was himself.
Just then, Zhao Yingluo came over with food and dishes: "You old folks, stop bickering and come eat. I cooked fish and meat for lunch and warmed up a pot of wine. You two have a good drink."
Li Zhen picked up Yu Chen and pinched his nose: "Let's eat, we'll talk after we finish eating."
While enjoying the fresh fish at noon, Zhao Ji drank too much and was eventually helped to the inner room to rest by Zhao Yingluo. After finishing his meal, Li Zhen wandered around the mountain stronghold and discovered that the area of Li Family Stronghold seemed to be larger than that of Anyang Prefecture; it would be more accurate to call it Li Family City than Li Family Stronghold.
At this time, Li Family Village was still divided into the inner village where the core members lived and the outer village where important people who joined later lived. As for the merchants and the people who moved there later, they could only live in a few small towns on the outskirts of Li Family Village. The managers here were also from Li Family Village, actually the same group of people who had followed Li Zhen from the beginning. They were also the most devoted believers of Li Zhen. It is said that many of their homes had portraits of Li Zhen, and they would bow to them several times every three hours.
Now, the land around Lijiazhai has been distributed to the people. If someone is willing to cultivate the land, Li Zhen will exempt the newly cultivated wasteland from taxes for three years, so that all arable land in the surrounding area has been turned into farmland.
Besides Lijiazhai, large numbers of people from surrounding areas, including Tangyin City, Neihuang County, and Anyang Prefecture, came to seek refuge there every day. Most of them had suffered enough from the cruel rule of the Jin people, and knowing that such an outdoor paradise existed in Daming Prefecture, how could they not yearn for it? Li Zhen gradually relaxed the relevant household registration policies for these outsiders. Anyone who could contribute to the local area would undergo a detailed investigation, and once approved, they would be immediately included in the household registration system and issued very unique identity documents.
Another way to join is by marrying into the local family or becoming a son-in-law. As long as you register with the local government, you can obtain permanent resident status.
As the sun was about to set in the afternoon, Li Zhen wandered into the school in Li Family Village. At this time, the school was divided into primary school, middle school and university according to the children's age. Here, as long as you can pass the exam, all tuition and room and board are free. However, most students failed the middle school to university entrance exam. Most of them went to the workshop opened by Li Zhen, while many who did not want to work went on to study at the military academy.
Of course, there are exams to get into military academies. Theory is one aspect, but the most crucial thing is that you have to be physically fit, since graduates of military academies will be going to the battlefield in the future.
Watching the teachers in the school teaching mathematics according to the books provided by Li Zhen, carefully instructing each student in addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, Li Zhen felt very gratified. In ten or even twenty years, these children would become the backbone of Li Family Village.
In Lijiazhai, besides the children's schooling, Li Zhen also opened a night school in the schoolhouse, allowing villagers who enjoyed reading and writing to come and learn in the evenings. The school taught not only characters but also mathematics, biology, various crafts, and even basic medical knowledge, all of which was provided free of charge.