Chapter 1381 - 1303: Education Law (Part 2)

Wei Jie said: "Let’s wait for another three years. Children should start their enlightenment at the very least after the age of five."

Although Shi Le was not satisfied, he was persuaded by everyone.

Only two years old, how pitiful.

Then there were the children of Youzhou.

Youzhou may not be the state with the most widespread education, but it certainly has the highest school enrollment rate for children and the closest ratio of male to female students.

Even though Shi Le had difficulty reading, he liked to listen to storytelling.

He knew the importance of knowledge, so he would listen to storytelling for an hour every day. Having suffered from a lack of education himself, he was the most supportive of Zhao Hanzhang’s widespread establishment of schools and promotion of civilian enrollment.

He had a fierce reputation, and his policies were even more stringent, requiring that as long as boys and girls are of school age, they must enroll. If any parent was found obstructing a child’s education, the parent would be taken to the military for service.

Parents were terrified, so any child over seven years old, boy or girl, would be sent to school for at least three years.

No one dared to disobey, fearing that Shi Le, the great demon, would throw them in jail.

So even though Youzhou had a sparse population, their schools were the best established, and Zhao Hanzhang allocated him more teachers for this reason.

She knew his methods were somewhat extreme, but she turned a blind eye and ignored it.

She even wanted to emulate it, so she sought out Zhao Cheng and Chen Si Niang to discuss educational legislation, "All school-aged children, seven years and older, but under fourteen, who have never been to school, must enroll for three years, regardless of being boys or girls. If violated, their elders must serve three months until the child enrolls."

Zhao Ming frowned and said: "Fourteen years old, isn’t the age too high?"

Chen Si Niang: "I think this age is just right, or even a bit small. The education law should also specify that anyone who desires to learn may enter school for three years, with no restrictions on age or gender."

Zhao Hanzhang lightly clapped her hands in praise: "It should indeed be like this."

Zhao Cheng also nodded in agreement, with an educational philosophy of teaching regardless of class, which he advocated.

Zhao Ming frowned deeply, Chang Ning spoke for him of the difficulty, "Your Majesty, money."

Zhao Hanzhang said: "No matter how much is spent on education, it is worth it."

At this point, Zhao Hanzhang was quite moved, "Our teachers are truly great people."

At the early stage of compulsory education, the ones who benefited were the people and the country, with the greatest sacrifice being from the frontline teachers.

Because of limited national finances, little salary could be given to teachers.

Thinking of the private property currently being inventoried, Zhao Hanzhang gritted her teeth and said: "Starting this year, ten percent of the profits from my private properties, whether from workshops, shops, or farmland, excluding trade caravans, will be used for compulsory education."

Zhao Cheng and Chen Si Niang were overjoyed and immediately said: "Your Majesty is wise."

Only Zhao Ming and Chang Ning looked serious, but considering the importance of education, they agreed nonetheless.

Zhao Hanzhang smiled and said: "The wisdom of the people is the wisdom of the nation, is the wisdom of the future. This money, from the nation and myself, is not squandered. Chang Ning, do not be stingy when it comes to education."

Chang Ning agreed.

Since so much has been invested in education, there must be results, otherwise, it would be a waste of money.

Chang Ning did not have patriarchal thoughts, in his view, whether male or female, as long as they could work, they could create value, and that value would feed back to the nation.

Thus, he was the first to support this punitive education law and also contributed more specific methods, "If there is a father, then punish the father. If no father, then punish the grandfather. Next, punish the mother, and thereafter, punish the elder brother aged sixteen and above. Anyone who obstructs a girl’s enrollment will serve three months’ hard labor repairing riverways, irrigation, roads, or in the military camp doing hard labor. I imagine the world will no longer obstruct girls from attending school."

It’s rare for people to prevent a boy from studying.

They all know that studying is beneficial, so no matter how difficult it is, they will allow boys at home to enroll in school, but will use excuses like needing to work or a lack of labor force to keep girls at home.

Fortunately, this was during the Wei Jin period, when the burden on women was not as great as in later generations, and with Zhao Hanzhang becoming emperor, there were many female officials in the court, so gradually a trend of valuing women emerged among the people.

This decree was the quickest to pass and was implemented immediately. Before long, it was published in newspapers and disseminated by the prefectures and counties, so all the people across the nation knew it.

Even in remote villages, the village chief was called to the county government and took back a stack of pamphlets for spreading the law.

The village chief had significant authority and directly called all the adults from each household to a meeting for specific learning.

When it was known that daughters over the age of seven but under fourteen were also required to be sent to school, or else the adults in the family would have to serve three months, some were displeased but did not dare to stop their daughters from enrolling.