Eagle-eyed and wolf-watching

Chapter 1708: Benevolence as the Foundation
Although he had a question in his mind about whether his father was also forcing himself, seeing that the guards were all around, Jingren knew that now was not the right time to ask. He nodded slightly and continued to struggle with the steamed bun. He really couldn't eat the stir-fried cabbage, so he could only compete with this steamed bun.

After filling his stomach, Ye Mingsheng suddenly remembered something and asked the shopkeeper:

"You've told me so many good things Zhang Dafu has done, but has Zhang Dafu ever done anything bad here?"

Hearing Ye Mingsheng ask this, the shopkeeper paused for a moment, then asked back with some curiosity:
Why do you ask that, sir?

Ye Mingsheng smiled and said:

"Shopkeeper, to be honest, I'm a merchant from Yijing. I've come to Rao'an to investigate its local customs and see if there are any business opportunities!"

"You know, when you do business in our Great Qian Dynasty, the first thing you have to do is to get along well with the government, otherwise you can't do any business at all!"

"So I wanted to find out about the situation at Rao'an Yamen, to see if things were going well!"

Perhaps Ye Mingsheng's reason was too convincing, for the shopkeeper had no doubt whatsoever, and without hesitation continued:

"In the past, there were still some cases of extortion and bribery in Rao'an, but I heard that since Prefect Zhang came, the yamen runners have become more disciplined. As for Prefect Zhang's specifics, I don't know, after all, Prefect Zhang certainly wouldn't tell a commoner like me if he took money!"

"However, I heard that Prefect Zhang is quite hospitable to wealthy people. He previously treated many merchants to meals at restaurants and took them to inspect the situation in Rao'an. However, although many of these merchants came, very few stayed to do business..."

Ye Mingsheng nodded slightly and then asked:
"Have you heard what hobbies your Prefect Zhang has?"

"Hobby?"

"Yes! It's a hobby, like gold and silver jewelry, antiques and calligraphy, land deeds and such!"

"I haven't heard of those, but I have heard a rumor!"

"Rumors? What rumors?"

"About two months ago, Liu Qianqian, the top courtesan at our Rao'an Chunxiang Pavilion, was redeemed. I heard that the person who redeemed Liu Qianqian was very mysterious and low-key. He went to Chunxiang Pavilion at night to pick her up!"

"This Liu Qianqian is the most famous prostitute in Rao'an. Her eyes are captivating, and her waist and buttocks are simply juicy!"

At this point, the shopkeeper, who had previously appeared to be an honest and unassuming man, became excited and continued speaking:
"So after Liu Qianqian was redeemed, there was a lot of discussion in Rao'an City. One of the rumors was that when Prefect Zhang went to Chunxiang Pavilion for drinks, it was Liu Qianqian who accompanied him. It is said that the two of them had a one-night stand at Chunxiang Pavilion, and Prefect Zhang did not go to the yamen the next day!"

"So some people speculated that Prefect Zhang had taken a fancy to Liu Qianqian, and that he redeemed her from her servitude in order to keep her as a mistress!"

"This Liu Qianqian is so famous here, it must cost a lot of money to redeem her, right? Does your Prefect Zhang have that much money?"

"Sir, you're mistaken. Does the prefect need to spend his own money to do what he wants? Those wealthy merchants are all vying to pay the bill. The fact that Prefect Zhang can use them is a favor to him..."

Ye Mingsheng nodded slightly upon hearing this and said:
"Okay! I understand! Thank you for the guidance!"

"Please enjoy your meal, sir. Please call me if you need anything!"

Ye Mingsheng nodded, then began to ponder. Just then, Jing Ren leaned over and asked curiously:

"Dad, what is a brothel girl?"

Ye Mingsheng paused for a moment, then turned to look at his son. Seeing the curiosity in Jingren's big eyes, Ye Mingsheng hesitated for a moment before saying:
"They are women who engage in the sex trade!"

"Sex trade? Does that mean prostitutes?"

"That's right! It has different names in different places, but it's all the same thing!"

Upon hearing this, Jingren blinked, his expression seemingly hesitant to speak.

Upon seeing this, Ye Mingsheng also said:
"Speak up if you have anything to say!"

"Dad, why are you protecting them?"

"I'll protect them? What makes you say that?"

"My mother said that your reforms are becoming increasingly improper, even protecting prostitutes now. You're concerned about whether clients get fish balls when they're with prostitutes, about the prostitutes' income, and about how they look when they're old and past their prime. My mother says you have a special fondness for brothels..."

As Jingren spoke, his voice grew softer and softer, and his face became somewhat embarrassed.

Before Jingren could finish speaking, a guard next to him couldn't help but laugh. Ye Mingsheng didn't seem to care much, but Zhang Hu glared at him fiercely, and the guard immediately lowered his head in fear.

At this moment, Ye Mingsheng couldn't help but chuckle. He patted Jingren's head and said:
“Jingren, although these women are engaged in special professions, they are still subjects of the Great Qian Dynasty. As the emperor, you cannot be prejudiced against them. Many of these women have suffered hardships and often have no choice in their own lives!”

"The prosperous era I desire is not just a prosperous era for the nobles, women, and gentry, but a prosperous era for all the people of the Great Qian Dynasty. I hope it is a safe and secure environment, and that these women are also just ordinary people!"

"Furthermore, this industry is not only one that has existed for thousands of years, but it is also a very important industry!"

"Do you know how much tax revenue this industry brings to the imperial court each year?" Jingren shook his head and said:

"do not know!"

Ye Mingsheng didn't keep anyone in suspense and held up two fingers, saying:

"Nearly two hundred thousand taels of silver every year! And actually, the most important thing isn't the silver, but that this industry can reduce crime!"

"Father? Mr. Gu said that lust is the worst of all evils. How can you say that this profession can reduce crime?"

Ye Mingsheng said with a smile:

"Jingren, do you remember the Maslow's hierarchy of needs principle that I explained to you?"

"Remember!"

"Maslow's hierarchy of needs divides human needs into five levels. The first level is physiological needs, such as water, food, air, sleep, and also human relationships!"

"Remember this, it's a basic need that almost everyone has to meet!"

"The cases handled by the Ministry of Justice can basically be categorized into several types, such as disputes over money or property, disputes arising from hatred or anger, and disputes over women..."

"To solve this problem of X, men have always had to pay a great price to get married. Now, after decades of war, many men have died in the chaos, but many women have survived, so getting married is relatively easier now!"

"But twenty years ago, getting married was a matter that would drain a family's savings of decades. The bride price, the three gold pieces, and the change of address fee all cost money!"

"Therefore, many men cannot afford to get married, but their sexual needs always exist. Many men suppress themselves, but if this suppression continues unresolved, it can easily lead these men to do things that harm themselves and others!"

"If these men can satisfy their needs in places like Chunxianglou, they won't have to go astray and harm themselves and others. In this way, crime will decrease, and our entire environment will become safer!"

“Jingren, in any environment, if there are people with needs, there will be people who will provide them. Just like these restaurants, places like Chunxianglou can never be completely eliminated unless people lose all their emotions and desires!”

"So rather than letting them develop haphazardly underground, I would prefer to formalize them. This would solve some problems, such as the source of the girls, the spread of diseases, and the future of these girls!"

"And the imperial court can also earn some money from this to subsidize the treasury. Let me tell you, this industry is incredibly profitable. Many honest, hardworking men, who are frugal and stingy with their daily lives, dare to spend lavishly at Chunxiang Pavilion..."

Hearing his father say this, Jingren nodded as if he understood, and Ye Mingsheng continued:
"I'll say it again! Many women in this line of work suffer greatly. After more than ten years, many of them are riddled with illnesses and die young. So if possible, we should treat them kindly, so that they won't regret coming into this world!"

After saying this, the other guards finished their meal. Ye Mingsheng then instructed his men to pay the bill. Although the food was indeed not very good, it wasn't expensive either. Ye Mingsheng had a dozen or so men, and the total cost was only 130 copper coins, less than 10 copper coins per person on average.

The innkeeper, beaming with joy upon receiving payment for the meal, warmly invited Ye Mingsheng and his companions to come again next time.

After leaving the restaurant, Ye Mingsheng and his group encountered the old man who had been selling kites again. This time, the old man had not sold a single kite and looked very worried.

Seeing this, Ye Mingsheng initially wanted to leave, but after thinking for a moment, he asked Jingren:
Would you like to visit the public school in Rao'an?

"A public school? I'd love to!"

Upon hearing this answer, Ye Mingsheng instructed Zhang Hu:
"Go buy a few kites; we need to bring some gifts for the children at the public school!"

Although Ye Mingsheng spoke casually, Zhang Hu glanced at the old man not far away and immediately understood Ye Mingsheng's intention. He promptly went over, took out his money, and bought back all the kites the old man was carrying...
The old man, who had just been frowning, suddenly looked at the silver coin in his hand and his face lit up with joy. He looked up at Ye Mingsheng and the others, but only saw their backs. Realizing what was going on, the old man bowed repeatedly to their backs with gratitude.

Over the next two hours, Ye Mingsheng led Jing Ren and the others to Rao'an's public school. Rao'an's public school had nearly three thousand children under the age of fifteen, more than Ye Mingsheng had expected, but the overall situation was still as Ye Mingsheng had anticipated.

Firstly, the public school lacked sufficient funding, which meant it was short of teachers. Apart from one dedicated supervisor, the dozen or so teachers in the public school were all part-time. The math teacher was the accountant of the government office, the language teacher was the clerk of the government office, the physical education teacher was the constable of the government office, and so on.

Besides the lack of teachers, the public school also lacked desks, chairs, and books. Students basically sat on the floor, with five or six people reading a book together.

Besides the extremely poor teaching conditions, the students here are not very interested in their studies. Of the three thousand students, Ye Mingsheng estimated at a glance that only two or three hundred of them had a serious desire to learn, while the remaining two thousand or so seemed to be just wasting their time.

These teachers also failed to properly manage these students who were just coasting along, and they were all just getting by, with everyone doing the same thing without any real commitment.

The main reason these students came to the public school was to get a free meal, thus reducing the burden of food on their families...

The only thing that made Ye Mingsheng feel gratified was that these three thousand students were basically able to write their own names, half of them could understand some common Chinese characters, could do addition and subtraction within 100, and could recite some of the Analects and the laws of the Great Qian Dynasty!
Although Ye Mingsheng was very disappointed with the overall situation of the public school, he also understood that it would be difficult to change the situation in the short term, since change would require investment!
Ye Mingsheng had the Ministry of Revenue calculate how much silver would be needed to build a classroom for every 500 children and arrange it for all the public schools, based on one table and five books per child, and three full-time teachers for every 500 children!
The Ministry of Revenue calculated that the cost would be between 25 taels and 370,000 taels of silver. In addition, because new children enrolled every year, the desks, chairs and benches inside the public school were subject to wear and tear, and the teachers of the public school also needed to be paid. Therefore, nearly 100,000 taels of silver had to be added to the investment every year!

Therefore, it will be difficult for Ye Mingsheng to change the current situation of the public school in the short term. He must wait until the government's finances improve before gradually improving the situation of the public school, so that every child can study at a table, instead of five or six people sharing a book as they are now.

After giving the kites to the children at the public school, Ye Mingsheng and the others returned to the inn.

Ye Mingsheng had just sat down on the sofa in the inn and hadn't rested for long when Zhang Hu came to report that Zhang Dafu had arrived!
Although he was a little tired, Ye Mingsheng still met with Zhang Dafu.

Zhang Dafu did not come empty-handed; he brought more than a dozen design drawings. After greeting Ye Mingsheng, he introduced them to Ye Mingsheng:

"Your Majesty, these are the design drawings I had someone work on regarding the construction of a dam on the upper reaches of the Rao River. Please take a look!"