Chapter 1382 - 1303: Education Law (Part 3)

"What if the girls at home just can’t learn and don’t absorb the studies?"

"Then they still need to be sent to school," the village chief said, "Otherwise, the government will charge them all with an offense."

Seeing their discontented expressions, the village chief continued, "You know, this year the court is not imposing labor, and if any village wants, it can organize its own people to dig canals and repair roads, so the county roads are very bad and waiting for someone to fix them."

"If you commit an offense, the county government will be happy about it. When the county’s officials come down to inspect, if they find out there are eligible children in your home not attending school, you’ll have to go serve at the county. Calculate it—if you start your service in September, you’ll have to work until next January, and if there’s a pause in between, it’ll happen right during the farming season, which will ruin your livelihood for the whole year."

The crowd shuddered, not daring to neglect it, and returned home to count, reluctantly sending their children to the county school.

In an instant, the number of students in school increased by about twofold, with girls and boys, but the number of girls was several times more than that of boys.

The teachers in the school were overwhelmed, and the bookstores in each county were also busy, leading to an industry boom including paper mills and other associated industries.

Schools naturally couldn’t immediately construct new buildings, so a class originally meant for thirty students was packed with sixty to seventy students, making space by squeezing in.

But the children attending school were very quiet and obedient. At this point, most of them didn’t have books, pens, ink, or paper. The teachers began teaching them how to make sand trays or find suitable slates as tools for recognizing characters.

The first thing he taught them was the simplest Chinese characters, as well as counting.

One of the reasons Zhao Hanzhang established three-year mandatory education is that in three years, most common characters can be recognized, they can know simple arithmetic, and understand some of the simplest principles.

Currently, Hua Country only has this capability, and if she wants to extend the duration of mandatory education, she has a lot of work ahead.

National education unfolded vigorously, and shortly, it welcomed schools’ first long holiday—the harvest vacation.

This was also the first long holiday Zhao Hanzhang announced after her accession.

The harvest vacation was not fixed but happened during the busiest time of the autumn harvest each year, when Zhao Hanzhang would grant a seven-day holiday.

Not only the universities under the Imperial College but also schools nationwide would have a holiday, along with court officials, and even local officials, who would also take time off for the autumn harvest.

Zhao Hanzhang hoped that every official whose family farmed would return home for the harvest; only then could they understand the year’s harvest situation, experience the joy of harvest, and the hardships of farming.

Zhao Hanzhang herself carried a sickle to the fields to harvest rice.

This season’s rice was planted later, so it matured late, and now it’s past Chongyang Festival. After harvesting the rice, winter wheat must be planted.

Zhao Hanzhang hunched over in the field, wearing a large straw hat, deftly harvesting rice, while Fu Tinghan, who was always quick with his hands, was much slower than her.

Zeng Yue and the imperial guard crowded around cutting, while only about ten guards sporadically stood on the ridge for vigilance.

Mrs. Wang stumbled over with her people, just bumping into the neatly dressed Princess Hongnong and Fu Xuan.

She paused for a moment, "Princess?"

Princess Hongnong rarely appeared in public, perhaps to minimize conflicts with Zhao Hanzhang, to avoid outsiders overinterpreting their relationship. Apart from Prince An and the family of King Langya, she focused solely on her own business dealings, hardly interacting with court officials, and rarely visiting the palace.

Mrs. Wang had stayed in the Imperial Palace for over a month and had only seen her once at the palace banquet on the day Zhao Hanzhang ascended the throne.

Princess Hongnong saluted, "Greetings, Empress Dowager."

Mrs. Wang hastily helped her up and quickly asked, "Is the princess looking for Hanzhang about something? I’ll have someone call her over."

"No," Princess Hongnong hurriedly stopped her, saying, "I heard Your Majesty was here for the autumn harvest, so I came to help."

She also brought a sickle with her.

Fu Xuan stood aside with a blank expression; even during their toughest years as a couple, she had never set foot in a farm.

Although Princess Hongnong had never farmed, she understood the importance of agriculture for a country and the role of the emperor as an exemplar.

Since even Mrs. Wang came, she couldn’t not come.

Mrs. Wang bewilderedly led her to find Zhao Hanzhang. She was just there to deliver food and hadn’t intended to go down to harvest rice.

It had been like this for the past two days; her daughter and son-in-law were working in the fields while she sat on a mat under the shade, eating and drinking, while appreciating the autumn scenery, treating it as an autumn outing.

Although the Imperial Palace was vast, it could become stifling after a long stay, and Mrs. Wang was thinking of moving out of the palace and living at home, so she seized the opportunity to leave with Zhao Hanzhang.

She just wanted to leave the palace, not to go down and harvest rice.

Throughout her life, she’d held scissors, a kitchen knife, but she’d never held a sickle.

Stealing a glance at her in-laws walking proudly beside her, Mrs. Wang felt a bit insecure.

If Fu Xuan knew what she was thinking, she would surely tell her, "Mother-in-law, don’t worry because she is just like you."