Chapter 2573 - 2547: Groundless Speculation

The County Magistrates educate the people, and aside from supporting local educational initiatives, the most common practice is to have the Chief give talks about loyalty, righteousness, propriety, and building the rule of law, among other things.

However, teaching numeracy has never been done before, but Manbao and Bai Shan both deem it necessary.

Learning to read is too difficult, and the vast majority of people around the world are illiterate. Furthermore, to learn to read, you must have books and also have someone nearby who can read.

But recognizing numbers is different. Manbao believes that recognizing numbers is the simplest enlightenment game in the world; it doesn’t require any materials, just counting on your fingers or grabbing a handful of stones from the ground can be useful.

First, recognize numbers, know their values, then add and subtract on your own. Adding the same numbers is multiplication; subtracting the same numbers is division. There is no more convenient and low-cost method of enlightenment than recognizing numbers.

Moreover, numeracy is crucial in everyday life. Take today’s accounting, for example. Her mother and older sister-in-law taught her to count her fingers and toes when she was very young—she had just begun to speak back then.

Of course, these events are now a blur, just fleeting fragments in her mind, but Keke remembers.

Manbao thinks the people in her fief should also be enlightened a little, hmm, need to chat with the local chiefs later.

Passing the section of road co-funded by County Magistrate Guo and County Magistrate Xun, they reached the segment funded by Zhou Man, then arrived at the fork. They only glanced towards Liyang County, saw the road was well-paved and as wide as theirs, nodded in satisfaction, and continued towards New City.

This is Mingda’s royal estate; she has a residence here.

Previously, this royal estate didn’t have any courtyard specifically prepared for the masters to live in. After all, this estate is neither the closest to the capital nor the largest nearby, so no one in the royal family thought of staying here.

But when the Emperor decided to build this row of houses, he conveniently allocated funds to build a residence within the estate for his daughter Mingda to stay in when inspecting the property.

Otherwise, what would she do? New City is some distance from the capital; where would she rest if she got tired while inspecting the property?

So, this time Mingda and her party headed directly to her estate.

Once they unloaded their luggage and most of the people, they brought some attendants to New City.

Now there are more people in New City than during their previous visit. The manager in charge of the shops on this street rushed over to pay respects and reported to Princess Mingda, "Currently, nine shops have been rented out, and six are under renovation. But for some reason, some families from the capital sent managers over this morning to reserve shops, and some families even requested that the already leased spaces be vacated for them..."

Mingda asked curiously, "Which families?"

The manager said, "Two shops were reserved by the Prince’s Mansion, and one by Princess Danyang’s residence..."

They are all members of the royal family.

The manager stole a glance at Mingda and continued, "The State Duke Zhao’s residence also reserved a shop, but one was reserved by the Lord State Duke and another by the Young Duke himself."

The manager paused and then added, "The Young Duke said that he wants his shop next to Lord Zhou’s shop."

Manbao immediately asked, "By the way, what is my shop selling?"

Everyone: ...

You, the owner, are asking everyone what to sell?

Manbao looked innocent, "I originally planned to sell ointments and creams, but didn’t Changyu and Lijun agree that our Zhou’s would not open a shop in Yongzhou in the future?"

The manager smiled and replied, "I asked Second Lady Zhou, and she said the Zhou Family only excels in medicine and food, so the shop will be used for food. They are planning to open a restaurant now."

This time, the restaurant is quite upscale, unlike the one in the outskirts, because many houses around here are rented to scholars, and Zhou Lijun wants to make it more elegant.

Manbao has been busy, and Zhou Lijun has been busy too, so they hardly meet and naturally haven’t discussed this matter.

After all, Manbao only made a single comment about the shop, while the renting, handover, and renovation are all Zhou Lijun’s responsibility.

Unlike Princess Changyu, who can have as many properties in her name as she likes, Zhou Man obviously cannot, so this shop is leased under Xiang Mingxue’s name.

When he was punished back then, he was disqualified from official service, and even his children would find it difficult to serve, as attempting to assassinate royalty is a grave crime. Not being exiled was already quite fortunate for him.

At this time, the shop is half-renovated.

Zhou Lijun smiled and greeted them.

Changyu had interacted with Zhou Lijun a few times; the two were about the same age and had similar temperaments, hence they got along well. Before Manbao could speak, Changyu invited her, "Come, let’s rest at the estate together."

So, Zhou Lijun accompanied them from one end of the street to the other, and then from one end to the other again, before heading to the estate.

The manager then quietly reported to Princess Mingda, "The Prince’s Mansion is eyeing the shop currently owned by Lord Zhou..."

Mingda frowned and asked, "Which Prince’s family?"

The manager first apologized, then said, "It’s the Prince of Hejian, but the one who came was a manager."

"Didn’t you say the shop was already leased out?"

"At the time, he was in a hurry. He directly circled the place on the map and left. When I noticed and went after him, he was already gone."

Mingda gave him a cold look and said, "Then you personally go to their residence to apologize."

The manager shivered, immediately knelt down, and fearfully said, "Yes, I will go personally tomorrow."

Mingda looked down at him and asked, "Besides this matter, is there anything else?"

The manager paused for a moment and said, "Princess Danyang’s residence mentioned that the Princess and her consort will visit Yongzhou soon, and they wish to borrow the Princess’s residence to rest."

Princess Mingda’s expression mellowed slightly, she nodded and said, "Alright."

The manager knelt on the ground, waiting for a long time. Seeing the Princess didn’t give any orders, he bowed his head and quietly retreated.

Mingda lowered her eyes, pondered for a while, and still couldn’t help but sigh. She couldn’t help telling her confidante maid, "There are too few usable people by my side."

The maid smiled and said, "Your Highness has high standards. If he’s not useful, slowly nurture him. His Majesty and Her Majesty gave you many people. If you say there are few usable ones, the other princesses will be mad when they hear it."

Mingda shook her head and said, "They are not useful. Recruit a batch of young and sensible ones to cultivate."

She said, "One can tell from the Zhou Family; if they can’t gauge my thoughts, they should at least follow the rules and not make mistakes; even if there are mistakes, they are minor ones."

"He cannot fathom my thoughts, yet insists on conjecturing and assumes my position," Mingda sneered, "Presumptive speculation is already a major taboo, and such unintelligent speculation cannot be used."

The maid said nothing more.

Mingda never expected so many of the people vetted by her parents to have so many issues.

You wonder if those under Father’s command might have problems as well.

Mingda was pondering such serious questions, while Changyu and others were resting elsewhere, sitting cross-legged in two groups. Knowing that Princess Danyang would be visiting, Changyu laughed and said to Manbao, "Aunt Danyang and Uncle Consort have a good relationship. When they come, let’s invite them to Yongzhou City to enjoy some good food."