Because the manager had given generously, Xile also gave a friendly reminder: “This house is fine for some guards to stay and watch over things, but it’s not suitable for the masters to live in. It’s moldy and broken. With so many people entering the city today, if you gentlemen want to stay at good inns, you’d best go reserve rooms now. Besides inns, some households in the city are also willing to rent out their houses. For specifics about who is renting, you’ll need to go to the brokerage office at the county office to inquire.”
The manager indicated he understood. After seeing off Xile, he immediately returned to report to Zhao Fan and Zhao Qing.
Zhao Fan and the others had already toured the mansion once. It wasn’t very large, but it was more than enough to store the goods they’d brought, and they could even keep the livestock, horses, and carts they’d brought here.
Zhao Fan and Zhao Qing only took a few guards and the manager, leaving the rest to guard the goods.
Zhao Hanzhang had made arrangements for the Zhao clan members. There were many vacant houses in Luoyang City. They weren’t suitable for living in, but could serve as warehouses.
Because of her actions helping to share the burden, there weren’t massive convoys blocking the main streets with nowhere to go.
The common people of Luoyang City weren’t fools either. Some bold ones immediately went and cordoned off several plots of land for the merchants to park vehicles and store goods, charging only some rent.
The merchants were very reluctant to agree, because these areas had no shelter or protection. Not only was the security coefficient low, but if it rained…
The young men said proudly, “Rest assured, gentlemen. This whole area is under our protection. Security is absolutely no problem. Rain? At this time of year, how could it rain in Luoyang? So put your minds completely at ease.”
Seeing they still hesitated, they added, “There are limited warehouses in Luoyang City. Besides some large commercial establishments having warehouses, who bothers with such things now? Besides, renting warehouses is expensive. Our plot of land only costs fifty coins a day. Store your goods here for ten days and it’s only five hundred coins. Quite a bargain.”
Only then were the merchants persuaded and paid to rent the land.
The people of Luoyang City saw they all had vehicles and goods and were very welcoming. They immediately cleared out spare rooms in their homes—or if they had none, squeezed to make room for one—then enthusiastically welcomed them into their homes and rented out the rooms they’d cleared.
Most households would also take care of their meals, covering everything from individual meals to taking on the food for their entire convoy of workers. Just cooking meals could earn quite a bit of money each day.
No less than the robust men going out to do labor.
The children in the family were all put to use too. They ran to the city gate to guide merchants, introduce lodging, and such. One trip could earn five or six coins, enough for a day’s food.
The children were happy earning money and didn’t want to go to school anymore.
“Mother, there are still so many people outside the city. I heard the gate guards say the General has given special orders—tonight the city gates won’t close until all the convoys outside have entered.” So the child also wanted to stay up late. “I won’t go to school tomorrow either. I think I can make ten trips in a day. One trip earns five coins, ten trips would be fifty coins.”
He not only didn’t want to go to school tomorrow, but the day after too. “Now more and more people are coming to Luoyang. I’m the cleverest—they can’t compete with me. Why don’t I just stop going to school and go to the city gate every day to guide people? I can make at least eight trips a day, earning more money than adults.”
Before he could finish speaking, his mother was already turning her head looking for a stick. When he finished, the stick was in hand. She grabbed his arm directly and struck his bottom. “Not go to school! I’ll teach you not to go to school, teach you not to go to school…”
The boy jumped around dodging, but the stick always landed precisely on his bottom. He couldn’t help crying out loud.
His mother also cried. She threw down the stick and used her hand to beat his bottom. “This is the grace the Young Lady has given you children. In the past, even if you wanted to study, our family couldn’t afford it. It’s rare to have such an opportunity where you can read and learn characters without spending money, and you actually want to skip it?”
“Guiding people at the city gate—how many years can you do that? You’re a child now so they’ll use you, but in two years when you’ve grown up, who will still let you guide them?” His mother slapped his bottom and said, “Inconsiderate thing. You don’t know what’s important at all.”
The boy sobbed and cried, saying, “But little sister will enter the school next year too. Mother works too hard.”
Hearing this, his mother’s expression softened and she said gently, “Don’t worry. The Young Lady opened a new weaving workshop in the city. When the time comes, I can take short-term work from the workshop. Combined with farming, I can support you both.”
She lifted his clothes to wipe his face, wiping away tears and snot. After glancing at it with disgust, she let go and said, “You study hard. Three years from now, if you can test into middle school, even if you can’t enter the Imperial Academy to study and become an official, you can still take the county office exam to become a minor official. Two days ago at the meeting, the village chief said that anyone who writes well or is good at mathematics can take the county office exam. At the very least, you could become a clerk.”
The more she spoke, the more excited she became. Looking at her son, then at her daughter, she envisioned: “You’ve always been mischievous and never lose when fighting with others. Next year when your school adds martial arts classes, you should study hard too. Even if your studies are a bit lacking, you can still take the exam to become a county official. Your little sister takes after me and is smarter than you. After she finishes three years of elementary education, I’ll send her to middle school. When the time comes for the recruitment exams, maybe she can even become an official under the Young Lady.”
Because Zhao Hanzhang had quite a few female officials around her, and Dajin had now produced two female regional inspectors, families with daughters also had some hopes. Especially those who showed signs of intelligence were given high expectations.
When Zhao Hanzhang’s school first opened, it was considered a private school, mainly to accommodate and comfort orphans. It was also because orphans had no one to rely on. Taking them in and raising them meant that in a few years they could be put to use, and the vast majority were utterly loyal to her.
Later, she made the school official. Besides orphans, all other school-age children could attend for free for three years of elementary education.
Oh, ages six and above but under fourteen counted as school-age.
For those older, if they wanted to learn to read, there were also lecture halls in the military and workshops. Becoming one of her soldiers or workers would grant access.
However, this regulation was issued in the middle of last year. Later the chaos of war began. Though local governance continued, the main focus was still on military affairs, so this regulation wasn’t strictly enforced.
This family had an enlightened mother who knew the benefits of education. So when the regulation was issued and the village chief made the announcement, she immediately took her school-age son to enroll him in the school.
Her neighbors, however, mostly kept their children at home and didn’t send them to school.
Some people worried, “How can there be such a thing as a free lunch in this world?”
“Reading is something only aristocratic families can do. How are we common people worthy of reading?” They suspected the county officials wanted to trick them into the school, then make them pay money. By that time, they’d probably have to bankrupt their families to repay the tuition.
“Nonsense! This school was opened by the Young Lady. Do you know who the Young Lady is? When she was in Yuzhou, she opened schools and took in orphans, teaching them to read and learn skills. How could she deceive people?”