northernbook Chapter 245: About the Development of the Fiefdom (3)
Chapter 245: About the Development of the Fiefdom (3)
When Chen Zhao heard that Shi Lidie was going to pay from her own private treasury, he was a little surprised:
"Princess, this is not a small amount of money. If it all comes from your private treasury, how much subsidy will you have to pay?"
"Who said I'm going to subsidize it? I'm just lending it out." Shi Lidie said with a smile, "Have someone keep a record of the account and write me an IOU. When there's a profit in the future, deduct it from the taxes collected. Pay off my debts, and the rest will be the profit of the fiefdom."
Chen Zhao didn't feel relieved after hearing this, he just said:
"Princess, are you so sure that the fiefdom will be profitable? Even if it is profitable, it will probably take time. If it takes ten or eight years, what should the princess do?"
"What can I do? Just wait!" Shi Lidie didn't care. "Money is something you can't bring with you when you are born and you can't take with you when you die. To be honest, I don't value it very much. If I can use it to develop people's livelihood and make the fiefdom more prosperous, then I am willing to do so."
Of course, that's what we say, but no one doesn't like money.
If the fiefdom develops and there is a surplus in tax revenue, she will naturally want to get her capital back, but if she really cannot get it back in ten or eight years, she will not keep chasing the money.
Chen Zhao understood what Shi Lidie meant, and stood up and bowed to her:
"Princess justice."
"Okay, get busy." Shi Lidie said with a smile, "I'm waiting for your good news."
Chen Zhao took the key to Shi Lidie's private vault, and then went to work diligently.
Agriculture, industry and commerce developed simultaneously. According to the policies provided by Shi Lidie, he subsidized agriculture, supported industry and took care of commerce. For a time, all industries in the fiefdom flourished.
The number of factories is gradually increasing, and more and more workers are applying for jobs.
This move has created a large number of jobs in the fiefdom. Many elderly people who were originally unable to work in the fields have now found jobs within their capabilities.
For example, peeling peanuts, peeling potatoes, peeling cotton, etc. These do not require walking or much strength.
Anyone, old man, woman or even child can do it.
One more person working in a family means an extra income for the family, and people’s lives get better and better.
The planning of the commercial street is gradually taking shape, and the site selection for the night market is also under preparation.
During this period, Shi Lidie wrote a booklet that could improve the efficiency of the accountant's work:
She introduced Arabic numerals, the multiplication table, addition, subtraction, multiplication and division, as well as the classic double-entry bookkeeping method, and asked Chen Zhao to hand them over to the people in the Finance Department and the Ministry of Economy.
With these things, whether it is calculating or keeping accounts, it is much more convenient than before.
This booklet was also circulated and became a learning material in the fiefdom. In this process, the use of counting sticks and abacus decreased, and calculations became simpler and more life-like.
In the blink of an eye, half a year passed.
Shi Lidie's ideal model of mutual support and development among industry, agriculture and commerce has been initially formed, forming a virtuous cycle, and everything is running well.
Chen Zhao is good at using people and putting everyone in the right position, eliminating corruption and obstruction, making this model run more mature and smoother.
It was also from this time that the fiefdom's fiscal revenue began to increase slowly and show positive growth.
Although Shi Lidie had invested a lot of money from her own private treasury in the early stage, at least from this time on, she was no longer in pure loss, but saw the hope of making a profit.
***
After the people's material lives improved, Shi Lidie began to pay attention to their spiritual level.
She started building a school.
Shi Lidie still used her own money to build a public school in her fiefdom, accepting both boys and girls.
Her schools are divided into three categories:
The first category is specifically for boys who want to study and take the imperial examinations.
This kind of people will be sent to the imperial court in the future. After all, the officialdom of the Dayin Dynasty also needs a steady stream of fresh blood. However, Shi Lidie's school is not like the ancient times where only imperial examinations are taught, but also moral education, which is the so-called ideology and morality.
The correct three views must be established from an early age, and children should be taught in school to be good people and officials who are honest, kind, principled, and people-oriented.
Although they may inevitably be corrupted by the vanity of officialdom in the future, these things cannot be avoided.
At least, if these children can remember their original intentions when they become officials in the future, there will be more good officials in this world and the people will be able to live a good life.
The second category is for boys who have no talent for studying but want to learn a craft.
These boys are indeed not good at studying, but studying is not the only path they can take in the future. Shi Lidie lets them learn professional knowledge from an early age to reserve talents for the fiefdom.
For example, those who have learned carpentry since elementary school can go to Zhu Xinghe’s R&D department when they grow up; those who have learned arithmetic since elementary school can go to the Ministry of Finance; those who have learned farming and doing farm work since elementary school can go to the Ministry of Agriculture, and so on.
Even if you don't study well and cannot become an official, you can still be assigned by the school to work in a factory, or do business, etc. In any case, you will never have no hope in this life.
The third type is girls' school, which only accepts girls.
The reason why she wanted to separate men and women was because of the social background of that era. Although the customs of the Dayin Dynasty were relatively open, the way men and women studied was different.
If you get together often, even if you are innocent, you can't stop people from gossiping about you.
The education of girls requires much more refinement.
After all, in this era, boys are the focus of family training, resources are generally tilted towards boys, and girls are mostly taught how to support their husbands and raise children, etc.
Therefore, in Shi Lidie's school, she wants to make up for the lack of resources for girls.
In addition to teaching them to read and write, they must also be taught to respect themselves, to pursue their dreams and realize their self-worth, rather than confining themselves in the inner house all their lives, revolving around their husbands and sons.
At the same time, girls were also taught some skills. If they wanted to learn accounting, carpentry, or medicine, they could learn them just like boys, so that they would have the capital to make a living in the future.
Women can earn money on their own, whether in their parents' home or in their husband's home after marriage, and they can hold their heads high.
If you have money, you don’t have to worry. If you have money, you will have confidence and you will be respected.
The reason why Shi Lidie put education after industry, agriculture and commerce and started running a school so late was because she felt the time was ripe.
In the past, ordinary people could not make any money. Farmers worked on the land all year round and could barely fill their stomachs. Most people spent more than they earned, and no matter whether they were boys or girls, they were the labor force in the family.
Even if they have extra money, they will only send boys to school and will not consider girls.
But now, the people have more money left. Even if there are no girls to help supplement the household expenses, the family will not be so poor that they cannot survive, and they will not sell their girls as slaves or prostitutes.
More importantly, during the three years of the economic war, factories recruited female workers, laying the foundation for women to go out and earn money.
The people all knew that if a woman could learn a skill, she could work in the factory owned by the princess in the future and receive a monthly salary no less than that of men, so everyone was willing to invest.