Datang: What's wrong with my fief being a billion points larger?

Chapter 272 Li Er is getting more and more uncomfortable

Li Er couldn't imagine how much potential would be unleashed here once a war broke out.

Although these people will not have much combat effectiveness without training, as long as they are trained and then put into battle, those who survive will become veterans with combat experience.

If the Tang Dynasty wanted to mobilize more people to join the army, it had to use all kinds of methods, including coercion and inducement, but here, it was so easy.

The most important thing is that what he has seen initially in Lingnan has already surpassed the Tang Dynasty. So what else has he not seen in the darkness?
Something that you can show off without fear of others seeing it or imitating it is definitely not the best.

Li Er also thought that what he saw now might be something that others could not imitate.

For example, the weapons of the Tang Dynasty had long been seen by the surrounding countries, but what could they do? If the smelting technology was not up to standard, they could not produce them, and they could not create weapons of the same quality.

Li Er stopped thinking about it and looked at the guy with a smile.

"You misunderstood. I am here to do business, too. How could I possibly slander the King of Qi? It's just that this is my first time here, and I don't understand a lot, so I specifically asked.

Let’s check out here and go out for a walk.”

Seeing that Li Er was still somewhat sincere, this guy was as tough as before.

"Okay, as long as you don't slander the king, otherwise, the government doesn't need to take action. Even though you guys look strong and like martial artists, don't think you can leave here easily.

Next time you ask someone, think carefully about how you ask, otherwise it will cause misunderstandings and be bad for everyone."

Li Er said thank you and sorry for the trouble with a smile on his face, but he felt more and more serious in his heart. As for the guy's words, they did not make him angry.

But Li Junxian and others who followed Li Er looked at the waiter with murderous eyes. If this was not in Lingnan and Li Er had not spoken, they would definitely chop this ignorant waiter to death.

After paying the bill, Li Er walked out of the restaurant, his face suddenly becoming gloomy.

"It seems that the King of Qi is very popular in Lingnan. I never thought that these ordinary people would be respected so much by everyone."

Li Junxian was standing by and admitted his mistake immediately.

"Boss, this is my fault for not arranging it properly. I didn't have anyone present these matters. Please punish me, Boss."

Li Er shook his head and said, "It's good that you know it. From now on, remember to report the local customs and practices.

These things may seem insignificant, but they are all details that cannot be missed and will affect your judgment of this place.”

After Li Er finished speaking, he stepped out and strolled along the way, feeling very comfortable.

When they arrived at an oil mill, Li Er walked in curiously.

There were oil mills in the Tang Dynasty, but they were almost all government-owned. There were very few privately-owned ones, and the oil output was not much, and not much raw material was grown.

"How much do you sell the oil here?"

Smelling the fragrance and looking at the soft and shiny Jinhua oil, Li Er became very interested.

The worker at the oil mill saw Li Er, looked him over and immediately smiled.

"You are a merchant from outside, right? One pound of oil costs 60 wen. If you order more than 100 pounds at one time, you can get a discount of 2 wen per pound. How much do you want?"

Li Er was stunned, then full of confusion.

"Isn't it fifty cents a pound? Why is it sixty cents now?"

The oil mill worker said as he was doing his work: "That was before. Next year, the price will go up to 70 wen per catty.

But don’t worry, after it reaches 70 wen per jin, the price will not go up any more, and it won’t affect your profits if you sell it outside.”

Li Er laughed inexplicably when he heard this.

"Okay, then I want 500 kilograms. When can I come get it?"

Upon hearing this, the guy immediately put down his work and came to Li Er.

"You can do it anytime, but you have to choose the jar you want to put it in. Look over there, a big jar can hold 100 kilograms of oil, 500 kilograms of oil is five, and you need to pay one penny of silver.

However, this kind of big jar is not easy to carry. Although there are handles on both sides, it is not very convenient to transport. If you can solve it yourself, then I suggest you use this kind of jar.

There are also different types of jars, such as 50 jin, 30 jin, 10 jin, 5 jin, and 1 jin, and the price of each jar is different.

If you use 50-jin jars, you will be charged two coins for ten jars.

If you have your own jars, you don’t need to buy them, you can just bring them to us and we will fill them for you.”

Li Er pondered for a moment. One penny of silver was actually only one hundred coins, which was equivalent to buying five large jars with one hundred coins, or five jars weighing fifty kilograms each. This price was actually quite cheap in the Tang Dynasty.

At least the jar seemed to be of good quality, but Li Er discovered a problem.

"Hey, man, why is this big jar of yours cheaper than the small one?"

Li Er was very puzzled. According to the size, the big jar should be more expensive, but why was this the case?

The guy also laughed when he heard this.

“We are an oil mill here, not producing these jars. As for using these jars, it is also to satisfy you and save time.

As for why the big cans are cheaper, it is because someone bought 300 kilograms of oil before, but in order to make things convenient for himself, he used all small cans, which caused us a lot of trouble.

So our employer lowered the price of the big jars and raised the price of the small jars a little.

If you think our jars are too expensive and you don't have oil jars, you can go to West Street. In the third alley on West Street, you will see jars, pots, pans, and bowls all sold there.

The price of the cans there is cheaper than here. You can buy them and we will clean them and fill them with oil for you."

Li Er was suddenly surprised and looked at the waiter in confusion.

"Then you can just use the same size of cans to store the oil, and you can make more money by selling the cans, why don't you do it together?"

"You don't understand. This oil mill is not owned by the government. The government selected a group of people to open the oil mill, and our boss was one of them.

Originally they were all common people, and the owner had made some money through the oil mill. Thinking that they were all common people and that he had already made money from selling oil, he would not compete with others for the money from selling the cans.

Not only our family, but also other oil mills, whether they are government-owned or privately-owned, have not thought about making more money by selling these cans. This is mutual. We make money, but we cannot intercept others’ money.”

Seeing this guy's frank face, Li Er felt a little ashamed. He knew that this kind of awareness was probably only among the common people.

Not only him, but also those businessmen outside, who doesn't want to make more money? But the people here make their own money and don't steal other people's business.

Li Er laughed immediately.

"Then let's use a 50-jin jar. Do we have to pay for it now?"

The guy immediately took out a receipt and started writing, then handed it to Li Er.

“For this money, you need to pay 30% first, and the remaining 70% can be paid when you come to pick it up.

Please keep this receipt. When you go to pick up the oil, we will recognize the receipt instead of the person. There are so many people coming and going, so we don’t want to get confused. I hope you can understand.”

Looking at the documents in his hand, Li Er was a little curious for a moment.

"Can you all read and write? Does everyone here know how to read?"

Li Er was really curious. He had seen a similar receipt in the restaurant, and now he had another one when buying oil. Moreover, these people seemed to recognize the words on it.

You have to know that in the Tang Dynasty, it was impossible for ordinary people to read and write.

Upon hearing this, the guy immediately smiled smugly.

"How can we, the rough people, read and write? These words are taught to us by the government. In the city, any store that uses receipts will receive training from the government, teaching us how to recognize the words on the receipts and how to write them.

We can't recognize the other characters either, so thank you for praising us.

But things will probably be different in the future. There is news that the king is planning to build an academy and recruit students. Even the descendants of people like us will have the opportunity to study in the academy, learn to read and write, and even become officials in the future.

However, the government has not yet issued a document to confirm this news. It is just that construction is underway in the north of the city, and it may be a college. "

Li Er's pupils suddenly shrank. Establishing an academy?

Li Er was really shocked this time. Establishing an academy? Does this mean they are preparing to train their own talents?
Li Yuanji knew that there was a lack of talent here, so he was very strict in controlling the talent in order to prevent anyone from coming to Lingnan.

But he did not expect that Li Yuanji would take a different approach and actually open a college.

He knew how difficult it was to open a college. He had thought about doing so, but the resistance was too great and the difficulties were too great. Under the double pressure, it was impossible for him to build this so-called college in the Tang Dynasty.

Li Er could already imagine what kind of impact these students would bring when they leave the academy in another ten or twenty years.

Especially with this academy, Li Yuanji can get rid of the constraints of the aristocratic families, which is the most important thing.

The Tang Dynasty today cannot leave those aristocratic families. The children of those who followed him are all married to people from other aristocratic families, and it is still difficult for children from poor families to have children.

As for the common people, let alone the others, all the knowledge is in the hands of the big families and the common people at the bottom cannot access it.

Just then, a man came over with excitement.

"Xiao Si, we're leaving work an hour early today. You all should go back home early. We have good news. The government has issued a document announcing the establishment of the academy!"

The guy who was talking to Li Er responded immediately and then ignored Li Er.

"Boss, is this true? The king is really starting to build an academy?"

The boss's face flushed, obviously excited.

"Yes, the government has already issued a document, how could it be false? According to the government, they originally planned to establish academies in all prefectures, but due to great difficulties, they were first established in Leizhou and Guangzhou.

The lowest level of county school only requires children to be six years old to enter, and the government officials said that children of us common people can enter.

The specific admission requirements will not be announced for some time, when people from the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of War will come down together with government officials to announce it.

Everyone from the Ministry of War is here. Xiaosi, there will be no problem with you. Isn’t your eldest brother in the king’s Type A army?

Although I don't know the specific requirements, your nephew will definitely be admitted to the academy. Don't forget to treat us to a meal when the time comes."

After hearing this, Xiao Si's face also flushed. He was so excited that he danced with joy and spoke incoherently.

"Boss, if my nephew can enroll in the King's academy, I will treat him, I will definitely treat him!"

Xiao Si's face was full of excitement. Although the news had not been confirmed yet, they still understood the meaning of the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Education coming together.

Just because of the treatment of Type A Army, they all knew it very well. Everyone had thought about joining the army, and wanted to join the Type A Army, but now, no matter how many people they wanted to join, they would not be accepted. There were quotas every year, and after the quota was exceeded, they would not be accepted.

Li Er was listening carefully at the side. When he heard that children could go to school at the age of six and that the children of common people could also go in, his face was full of shock. Finally, when he heard about the Type A army, Li Er was even more confused and curious.

"Master, I am a foreign merchant and this is my first time here. Could you please tell me more about the academy you just mentioned? And what kind of army is the King of Qi's Type A army?

I have never heard of these and am really curious.

Of course, if it is inconvenient, you don’t have to say it.”

The boss turned to look at Li Er and immediately smiled.

"No problem, there is nothing that cannot be said. You just came here. If you have been here for a longer time, you will also know.

I don't know much about the academy, but I heard that they are planning to build county schools, state schools, and prefectural schools. One will start from the county school and then move up in order. One will need to pass assessments before entering.

The provincial and prefectural schools will also directly recruit some students from outside. The government has not yet announced the specific requirements. You can go to the bulletin board to check. There are bulletin boards in every alley, but there should be a lot of people gathered there at this time.

As for the king's Type A army, I also heard that as long as you become a Type A army, even if you are an ordinary soldier, you will receive a lot of salary every month. If you die in battle, your family will receive a lot of subsidies. At the same time, your children, especially the eldest son, will receive special subsidies from the government.

In addition to these, there are many more. If I really want to talk about them, I can’t finish them in a short time.

Now, there are two kinds of armies under the king, namely Type A Army and Type B Army. Type A Army is only responsible for fighting and does not need to worry about anything else. Type B Army has more things to do, and I don’t know the details.

Anyway, after joining the army, as long as you become a Type A soldier, you don’t have to worry. Even if you die, you don’t have to worry about your family, the king will be responsible for them.

I also thought about joining the army, but unfortunately I didn’t get the chance to join the army as soon as I could. It’s a pity to think about it.”

(End of this chapter)