Chapter 27: Benevolence?

"Rushing into this matter is not advisable. First, it is said that a woman without talent is virtuous, and coeducation is not a good idea. Second, the children of the villagers are all around six or seven years old and help their parents work in the fields. During the busy farming season, if they all go to learn to read, who will do the farm work?"

Chen Xie listened carefully. He grew up in an orphanage in the countryside; how could he not know about the life of farmers? The problem was that the farmers of the Ming Dynasty could not be compared to those of modern society. So when Zhang Yao mentioned this, he realized his thinking was not comprehensive.

It seemed that setting up a formal school was not practical. Since that was the case, he would have to settle for a literacy class.

"Uncle Zhang, what you said makes sense. How about this: children of the right age can help their parents work in the morning and attend classes in the afternoon. We can call this a literacy class. Yes, we can also open classes in the evening, and attendance will be voluntary. To encourage parents to send their children to school, those who send their children to the school will have their rent reduced to 30%, and this will only be implemented in Zhang Family Village."

Zhang Family Village was now essentially Chen Xie's. The rent and other matters were handled by the old people of the Zhang family, with a maid named Yuhan helping to supervise. Using reduced rent to encourage tenants to send their children to school was a good idea.

"Thirty percent? Isn't that too low? With the best irrigated land, one mu can only produce about 200 pounds of wheat. How many rents can be collected in a year?" Zhang Yao's question startled Chen Xie, reminding him of an important issue. In this era, there was no chemical fertilizer, and there were no hybrid seeds. In Shandong, they grew winter wheat. Under modern technology, the yield could be 800 to 1200 pounds per mu, but in the Ming Dynasty, that was out of the question.

"How could I forget such a big thing?" Chen Xie regretted it. The planting season for winter wheat had passed, and it was too late to get seeds. The winter in Shandong was very cold, and other crops could not be planted now.

"Let's make it 30%. In the future, I plan to set up some workshops. Without literate workers, everything will be slow. With silver, we won't have to worry about food." Chen Xie said this firmly, and Zhang Yao smiled bitterly, saying nothing more. He was still worried, though. Everyone else collected 60% or even 70% rent, and the Zhang family already collected 50%. Reducing it to 30% would certainly cause public outrage. Now that Zhang Family Village belonged to Chen Xie, Zhang Yao couldn't say much. Besides, Chen Xie was a divine doctor, and there was a hospital in Zhang Family Village. Even if the big families had grievances, they wouldn't do much about this special case.

"Once it's decided, let's get it done. With so many things, can you handle it alone?" Zhang Yao was a smart man and saw through Chen Xie's plan at a glance.

"I can't handle it alone. That's why I'm asking for your help. Find a few old students, and I'll provide the textbooks." Zhang Yao found Chen Xie's idea a bit fanciful, but he understood the term "textbook."

"Are you going to create the textbooks? For启蒙, don't you use the Thousand Character Classic, the Hundred Family Surnames, the Three-Character Classic, and the Precious Forest of Early Learning? Do you plan to start from scratch?"

"Yes, what you mentioned isn't bad, but for the literacy class, teaching the children to read is enough. If I can explain the meaning in simple terms, it will be a success."

Despite finding it absurd, Zhang Yao did not contradict Chen Xie. He thought that preaching might not be effective, and it would be better to start and then persuade when encountering obstacles.

After returning to Zhang Family Village, Chen Xie realized that his plan to set up a school had a problem: there was no building.

Without a building, they would have to construct one. It was the off-season for farming, so there was plenty of labor. The problem was that they needed materials. There were craftsmen and kilns in Dengzhou City. Zhang Family Village also had enough empty land, so they could build. After looking around, Chen Xie discovered another issue: the households in Zhang Family Village were scattered, with one here and another there. The animals they raised roamed freely, and the hygiene was terrible. As a medical student, Chen Xie had no good solution to this problem.

After much thought, he decided to take it one step at a time. First, he went to the city to find craftsmen, and he entrusted this task to Changsheng. Then, Chen Xie himself looked around for a suitable location to build the school. Once the site was chosen, the craftsmen from the city arrived. A man named Wen Bajin, who was about the same height as Chen Xie, stood before him.

Holding the rough sketch Chen Xie had drawn, Wen Bajin looked at it for a while, then at the lines drawn on the ground with lime, and frowned. "Divine Doctor, building this house isn't difficult, but it will require a lot of bricks—about 50,000 to 60,000. Also, the central beam will need to be made from wood, which can be obtained from merchants who import wood from Korea. We will also need glutinous rice and other materials. Just preparing these materials will cost about 400 to 500 taels of silver."

When he heard about the glutinous rice, Chen Xie was a bit annoyed. "Wait, why do you need glutinous rice?" Chen Xie asked directly, and Wen Bajin replied matter-of-factly, "Dengzhou is by the sea, and strong winds often blow. If we don't mix the mortar with glutinous rice, the house won't withstand the wind. Also, the central beam and pillars need to be thick, or they won't support the structure." He made a gesture to indicate the thickness of the pillars.

Chen Xie realized that there was no cement in the Ming Dynasty, let alone reinforced concrete. If he tried to build a house in the Ming Dynasty using modern methods, even with cement and concrete, he would be called a wasteful person. There wasn't enough steel to waste on building houses, and using steel would be considered extremely wasteful, even inviting lightning strikes.

"I understand. Here's what we'll do. First, find a kiln master. You will be in charge of building the kiln and hiring strong men to make the brick molds. I'll pay five coins per day, and provide lunch." Chen Xie was speaking enthusiastically, but Wen Bajin couldn't bear to listen anymore and angrily said, "Divine Doctor, who told you that you can hire people to work for one meal and five coins a day?"

Chen Xie was clearly thinking too much. According to the purchasing power of one coin (a good coin, not a broken one), paying 25 yuan a day for a worker and providing one meal was already quite unfair.

"No one told me. What's the problem?" Chen Xie hesitated, thinking there was nothing wrong with it. In modern construction sites, he had worked, and even carrying a bucket of mortar paid 70 yuan a day. Even so, it was hard to find young people to do this job, and only older people were willing to do it.

"Divine Doctor, our Ming Dynasty is different from where you come from. Building a kiln and hiring people to make brick molds costs at most one coin a day. If you provide a meal, they'll be overjoyed. You haven't seen the wheat harvesters who work for just a meal and get a few pounds of mixed grains at the end. That's considered a kind-hearted employer." Wen Bajin was very responsible and felt he needed to remind the young divine doctor that being kind was good, but it had to be within limits. The workers were all very cunning.

"No, one coin is too little. I'll pay two coins and provide two meals—breakfast and lunch. That's the minimum. We're building a school, a good deed, so we can't be too frugal." Even so, Chen Xie felt he was being unfair. According to the prices in the Ming Dynasty, two meals on a construction site would cost no more than three coins.

"Ah! You are indeed kind-hearted. Fine, let's do it this way." Wen Bajin didn't say anything more. Chen Xie instructed him to prepare the materials and told him not to prepare the glutinous rice, as he had a way to solve the adhesion problem. Wen Bajin was skeptical but thought there was still time to persuade the divine doctor. He took 50 taels of silver to get the job done.

Watching Wen Bajin leave happily, Chen Xie felt very uncomfortable. He thought, "Is this price for labor really considered kind-hearted? It seems that there are many more unscrupulous people in the Ming Dynasty." As he walked, he met Hongguo and four other women, each carrying a basin of washed clothes.

Seeing Chen Xie, Hongguo greeted him with a bow. After a period of treatment, her illness was almost gone. It wasn't a serious condition, but the Ming Dynasty had no good methods for treating gynecological inflammation. Chen Xie's treatment was simple—antibiotics and potassium permanganate solution. The results were immediate, and most of the women, including Hongguo, were almost fully recovered, with a few needing more time.

"Divine Doctor, I greet you!" The four women greeted him brightly. Chen Xie