Chapter 216: go to dinner

In the twinkling of an eye, it is almost February. During the period after the New Year, Irene sorted out her "education plan" in detail. After Paul officially approved it, she began to ignite three The first fire in the fire.

Previously, the Government Council's investment in education had been sporadic. Under Irene's strong suggestion, education funds were separated as a formal expenditure, and it was listed as the four major financial expenditures along with military, industry, and agriculture. .

Starting from Huxin Town, the former dean of Weiss College, John Morrison, was sent by Paul to the monastery to "assist" Father Anderson. The position of dean had always been vacant, so Irene took on this post without hesitation. .

She conducted a preliminary examination of current students, including reading and writing and simple arithmetic, temporarily divided them into three grades according to their level, rearranged the work of teachers, and established a regular examination system to test students' learning results.

After a long period of recruitment, the number of teachers in Weiss College has reached twenty, and now their salaries are all managed by Irene, who has become the director of the Education Department.

Irene called a meeting of the teachers and announced that in the future, the salaries of the teachers will be linked to the test scores of the students they teach. If the grades are too ugly, the salary will be deducted, and the salary will be raised if the grades are good.

The new policy revived the atmosphere in the college. The teachers who used to be lazy and dawdled became diligent, and the college was filled with their voices of yelling at the students all day long.

In short, the previous teaching mode of herding sheep has disappeared, and the good days of the students are coming to an end.

In addition to daytime education, Weiss College still offers evening literacy classes for adults who work during the day and have nothing to do at night.

Irene stipulated that as long as a member of the night school can pass the basic literacy test and arithmetic test, the teacher responsible for teaching him will receive a bonus in addition to his normal salary.

So some teachers began to spontaneously publicize the great significance of education in the town, and after dinner, they cooperated with the soldiers to "hunt" people who were idle at home and had nothing to do.

…

On February 3rd, there was a festive appearance in Center City. The streets were filled with flowers that bloomed in early spring. Jugglers and bards performed hard in the central square of the city. Housewives carried large bags to the shops. It is a big purchase in Lili, because on this day, merchants all over the city are on sale.

The whole city was cleaned up and looked brand new, and even the beggars on the street were driven out of the city.

Because tomorrow is the birthday of the lord of the city—Duke Ferdinand. Under the auspices of the Duke’s younger brother, Viscount Henry, a special event will be held this year.

A group of people and horses appeared on the road outside the city gate of Center. The rider in front was holding a flagpole with a flying dragon flag flying from the top of the flagpole.

It was Paul and others who came to the Duke's birthday banquet.

In addition to the Earl Myron Garnard who came to the dinner together, there were also the female advisor Ladi, the intelligence chief Cecil, the army's first battalion commander Bryce, and his adjutant (the attendant when he was a knight before).

The captain of the guard, Victor—his ribs were kicked by a mage last year, and he lay in bed for three months—commanded fifteen elite internal guard soldiers to act as guards for this trip.

Although there are only fifteen soldiers, all of them are extremely fast reloading experts.

Each of them is equipped with a newly produced flintlock gun, a bayonet, four grenades, and a flintlock pistol on their waist.

Now soldiers can just reload and shoot when they encounter emergencies, instead of having to light the match as before.

Because there is no fire rope in the way, they can shoot side by side, which greatly increases the density of firepower.

Since the last incident, the internal guards and the army have strengthened their shooting training in emergencies. If an 'assassin' appears on the way again, they can reload within a minute and beat the opponent into a sieve. .

"Ah~ We finally caught up!"

With exhaustion in Paul's voice, he rode wildly from Huxin Town for two days and finally arrived in Center City.

To be honest, he really didn't want to come, but he had to.

The gift he prepared was a pair of porcelain vases about half a person's height with exquisite patterns painted on them.

For a long time, Arda mainly sells small pieces of porcelain. Such a large porcelain vase can be said to be very precious, but I don't know if it will be able to fall into the eyes of the Duke.

Of course, the gift has already been delivered in advance, after all, porcelain can't be bumped on horseback.

The reason why I brought the female advisor Ladi with me this time is because the other party has a mysterious power, and if there is any accident on the way, it may be of great help. Bah bah, it's better not to be crowed, what kind of accidents will happen under the rule of the dignified duke.

A group of people soon arrived at the gate of the city, and the guards guarding the gate bowed and saluted one after another.

They saw the flag fluttering on the flagpole, and the pattern on it looked like the family crest of a nobleman. Although they didn't know which one it was, they couldn't go wrong in saluting anyway.

"Oh! As expected of the largest city in the northwest of the Kingdom, it is just different!"

Seeing the prosperity of Center City, Paul sighed.

"I heard that this city has a permanent population of 50,000 to 60,000 people."

Elon, like Paul, was visiting Center City for the first time, and he was amazed by the scale of Center.

Needless to say, the casual head of the bodyguard Victor and the guards, in their cognition ~www.readwn.com~ Butuya, the capital of Bairdin next door, is already a big city.

Among the group, only Cecil, Bryce, and female advisor Ladi were calmer. Cecil and Bryce had been to Center several times before, and the female advisor who was born in Kowan needless to say.

While visiting, everyone walked towards the Lord's Mansion. Although the streets were bustling with people, they all consciously moved out of the way when they saw a group of people approaching under the banner of nobles.

In front of the lord's mansion, they were received by a well-dressed and well-mannered welcome officer who was as ceremonial as Philip's butler, and Paul and Mellon handed him invitation cards.

"The Greymans...the Garnards..."

After confirming that the invitation was correct, the welcoming officer with a monocle counted the number of Paul and explained a few words to a servant beside him.

Then he bowed slightly to Paul and the others: "My lords, please follow your servants to the official residence prepared for you to rest. We will notify your lords before the banquet begins."

Shall we fix dinner by ourselves? Paul's stomach was growling with hunger at this time, and he thought he would have a big meal when he arrived at the Lord's Mansion.

Following the servants to a mansion near the lord's mansion to rest temporarily, Paul couldn't wait to let Bryce and Cecil, who were familiar with the place, lead him out to eat out.

After returning, the remaining soldiers reported to Paul that a nobleman who claimed to be Henry Ferdinand had come to him.

Isn't that the Duke's brother? It seems that he has no friendship with himself!

Paul turned to Myron: "Do you know him?"

Macron spread his hands and said, "I've never met."

Cecil whispered in Paul's ear, "Viscount Henry has been very active since his elder brother, Duke Ferdinand's health deteriorated, making friends with other nobles everywhere."

Uh... there won't be any gossip at this banquet, will it?