The group emerged from the dormitory, immediately taking deep breaths of fresh air.

The smell inside was truly unbearable, making it hard to believe people could live there.

Fang Zheng’s face didn’t look too good either. He whispered to Xie Xian beside him, “Make arrangements to provide bath tickets for the workers. They should get a few free baths each month.”

“As for the number of times, discuss it with the bathhouse people when we get back. It can’t be less than four times!”

Xie Xian nodded and began taking notes with his paper and pen.

Emperor Jing glanced at Xie Xian, who was using a thin charcoal pencil to write densely packed characters on the paper, with some diagrams interspersed between the lines.

Seeing him taking notes so seriously, the Emperor couldn’t help but ask, “Who is this person…?”

“Oh, let me introduce him to Your Majesty. This is Xie Xian, a citizen of Taoyuan County.”

“Xie Xian is the most capable among your subject’s subordinates. When your subject was overwhelmed with work, I called him over from Taoyuan County. He’s even a successful candidate in the imperial examinations!”

Xie Xian quickly put away his notebook and pen, then bowed, “This commoner, Xie Xian, pays respects to Your Majesty.”

“Xie Xian helps your subject record all matters, big and small. Without him, the work in Jianjiang would be difficult to carry out.”

Emperor Jing smiled, “It seems Taoyuan County has produced quite a few talents.”

“Why don’t you tell me about the situation here?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.” Xie Xian calmly took out his small notebook.

He had memorized much of the information, but having a tool to assist him would clearly reduce errors.

As they walked, Emperor Jing asked various questions.

“How many disaster victims are there in the entire dormitory area?”

“In response to Your Majesty, there are a total of 37,852 people, including 26,541 men, and women…”

“There are 5,890 people over sixty years old.”

“From sixteen to twelve years old… below twelve years old there are…”

For a simple question, Xie Xian rattled off a long string of answers, leaving no detail untouched.

Emperor Jing, somewhat taken aback, continued to ask, “Then how many people are working in the city?”

“In the city, there are… among them, laborers number… bamboo craftsmen…”

Another series of answers followed, with not a single number being vague.

Moreover, he seemed very familiar with the worker count records, not needing to look at his notebook at all.

It was clear he had memorized it diligently.

Emperor Jing looked at Fang Zheng, pointing at Xie Xian with delight, “This man! He’s a talent!”

“Do you want to become an official?”

Fang Zheng remained silent.

Xie Xian did want to become an official. Initially, when they were severely short-handed, Fang Zheng had directly intercepted him.

Although Xie Xian had said a few times that he didn’t want to, Fang Zheng didn’t think so.

Now that the opportunity was presented to him, let him choose for himself.

It could be considered compensation for him.

Xie Xian hesitated for a moment, then replied, “In response to Your Majesty, this commoner is a clerk in Taoyuan County.”

“Hah, what’s a clerk! With your abilities, being a county magistrate wouldn’t be beyond you, in my opinion.”

Xie Xian respectfully said, “Thank you for Your Majesty’s praise, but this commoner is already struggling as a clerk.”

Emperor Jing was a bit surprised. Such an opportunity was right in front of him, yet he refused.

How interesting indeed.

He stared at Xie Xian, suddenly smiling, “It seems… life in Taoyuan County must be much better than serving me.”

“No, no! That’s not it!” Fang Zheng quickly jumped in.

“Your Majesty! You misunderstand! It’s not that Xie Xian is unwilling, he truly can’t do it.”

“He has kidney deficiency! He gets tired after standing for a while, he can’t handle being a county magistrate.”

Xie Xian stood there dumbfounded, his face turning red with embarrassment.

With so many people around, the master didn’t give him any face at all. Who has kidney deficiency?!

Emperor Jing smiled, “Alright, no need to explain. Everyone has their own aspirations, I won’t force it.”

“I just heard you mention a school. Is there really a school in the community?”

“There is! But it’s not in the community. Let me take everyone to see the school!” Fang Zheng volunteered enthusiastically.

This was definitely a bonus point!

What do officials value most? Education! Wasn’t this exactly what he had provided?

They even had nutritious meals. Even if a sage jumped out of his grave, he couldn’t find fault with it!

The group urgently turned towards the school. From far away, they could hear the children inside shouting at the top of their lungs.

When they arrived at the school, as arranged, the sound of reading was deafening!

The group continuously patrolled various classrooms, with Fang Zheng running at the front, worried that some students might not be studying hard enough.

Whenever he heard a classroom getting quieter, he immediately ran to the back door, poking his head through the small window.

He would give the children a death stare, and the volume would instantly increase!

The ministers listened with boiling blood, thoroughly enjoying themselves!

Wonderful! Too wonderful, this learning atmosphere, even the capital didn’t have this!

Emperor Jing’s face was flushed with excitement as he said, “Minister Fang! Was this school also funded by the merchants?”

“Yes! They built the houses, hired the teachers, and are even responsible for the meals.”

“Every day they eat proper meals, stewed dishes and such, and every few days they get an egg! Tuition and meals, all free!”

Emperor Jing drew in a sharp breath, “How much money does it cost for so many students?”

“Roughly less than twenty thousand taels!”

“What!” Everyone was shocked.

Twenty thousand taels, were the merchants really so kind-hearted to support these students with twenty thousand taels every year?

Emperor Jing’s expression turned serious as he said to Fang Zheng:

“You’ve already promised the people it would be free. If the merchants are unwilling to pay, this expense will have to be borne by the government treasury.”

“An annual expenditure of twenty thousand taels is too enormous.”

“When you leave, will you leave this mess for the next prefect?”

Fang Zheng smiled confidently, “Your Majesty, please don’t worry! This school is extremely large in scale. When the disaster victims leave, one school will be enough to meet the educational needs of all school-age children in Jianjiang.”

“But your subject built two schools to solve this issue.”

“I don’t know if Your Majesty noticed when we entered the school gate, there were signs for the Sun family and the Liu family hanging above.”

Emperor Jing frowned, “I saw them, so what?”

“The other school has signs for the Wang family and the Zhou family.”

“These four families are the most powerful in the entire city, and they all mainly deal in the textile business.”

“After your subject built the schools, I arranged for them to invest and become shareholders, two families per group. In the future, all the children who graduate from here will remember their kindness!”

“If any of the schools treat the students poorly, it would be a huge blow to their family business.”

Everyone suddenly understood.

It was a balancing act, not a particularly clever strategy, and it might not necessarily work well, the risk was still high.

Then they heard Fang Zheng continue, “Besides this, it’s still not enough.”

“Your subject… requested the ancestral tablets of the four major families to be placed in the schools, with two honorary principals for each school!”

“Every day during morning classes, the students must pay respects to the principals!”

“This way… for the sake of the school, they wouldn’t dare to be anything but wholehearted in their efforts.”

“If anyone dares to mess with the school or withdraw funding, your subject will announce the coordinates… I mean, the location of their family graves.”

“Let those poor students go crazy eating their sacrificial offerings!”