Little Lord

The reason why Woye Province was named "Woye" was not because its land was fertile, but because after the imperial capital had named the provinces, they took a closer look and found that there was still a large piece of wasteland in the north that had no owner.

It has been set up as a separate administrative region. No matter how desolate and remote it is, it cannot be called a wilderness province, right? So the namer waved his hand and gave it such a misleading name.

The fertile land province is not completely barren. For example, the thickly shelled scraping millet is a gift from God to this land. It grows wildly all over the mountains and does not require careful care from the locals. When the sunny season comes, the trees will be full of golden scraping millet to nourish the creatures on the earth.

Nature is so wonderful sometimes. The things you want to plant are difficult to grow, but the things you don’t want to plant grow freely.

The only crop that the locals can grow is probably the black bean, which is very resistant to cooking - this is the cheap staple food that Jiang Zhuozhuo recently used to make braised beans.

What is even more terrible than the difficulty of farming is that the winter here is extremely long. When winter comes, the locals have to hide at home and cannot even go out.

There is a fishing village on the pier, and most people in the village make a living by building ships and fishing. On this day, the young and strong people in the village who went to the pier to earn money returned home early, opened the door with a happy face and shouted: "Mom (wife), look what I brought back for you!"

Some of their family members came out to lock the door and complained about his carelessness: "I've told you so many times to close the door when you come back. What if the children get frozen?"

Even if they close the doors and windows to keep warm, a lot of firewood is consumed in a winter. They usually stay at home by closing the doors and windows tightly.

The young man didn't get annoyed by being nagged. He excitedly grabbed his mother or wife's hands, which were red from doing housework in the winter, and told them about the magical effects of the cheap braised beans.

The women, who had been stuck at home for half a winter, couldn't believe it: "Can food like this really be sold so cheaply? Are you being fooled?"

The young man then took out the braised beans he had bought and asked them to try some. If it worked, he would let the children try it as well.

Such conversations took place almost simultaneously in every household in this small fishing village.

Ivan also lives in this small fishing village. He is the teenager who sold the Guaizui Valley to Jiang Zhuozhuo some time ago.

He used the silver coin to invite the best doctor in the neighboring village, who braved the severe cold to see his mother, and now his mother's health is getting better.

The weather had been getting colder these days, and Ivan listened to his mother and did not go out. The mother and son stayed at home and worked together to weave a thick and warm blanket, preparing to go and thank the kind lord after it was finished.

Ivan was helping his mother earnestly when he suddenly heard the clear laughter of a child outside. He was stunned for a moment, thinking he had misheard, and then he pricked up his ears and listened carefully, only to find that there were really children playing outside.

What's going on? Aren't they afraid of the cold?
Ivan could no longer sit still, so he ran to the window, lifted the thick curtain, pushed open the heavy wooden window and looked out. He saw many children outside making snowballs, and some were already having snowball fights with each other.

Since winter came, all the children have been locked up at home and not allowed to go out. Why is it suddenly so lively?

Ivan was shivering from the cold, but he didn't want to close the window. He asked the closest friend loudly: "Hey, aren't you cold?"

When the friend heard Ivan's voice, he ran over excitedly to share: "Is there no one in your family who buys braised beans? I'll give you some, and you can buy some and pay me back!"

Ivan hesitated: "But our family has no money."

The friend said, "You can buy it for free. You can exchange it for beans and scrape rice. It tastes great, and you won't feel cold after eating it! We have agreed to go to the foot of the mountain to pick up more scrape rice to exchange for marinated beans. Do you want to come with us?"

When Ivan heard this, he accepted the braised beans that his friend shared with him, happily closed the window, turned around and told his mother about it.

If they can go out in winter, they won’t have to worry about winter being too long!

Ivan's mother met Ivan's expectant gaze and nodded, agreeing to go out and buy braised beans.

Is there really such magical food in the world?

Ivan's mother was full of doubts like many women who were forced to stay at home after winter, but after a serious illness, she found that her child had grown into a little man who could support the family, so she decided to support Ivan in doing what he wanted.

Not long after Ivan ran out with a bag of beans, the old lady living next door came and knocked on their door.

Ivan's mother got up and opened the door a crack, only to see the old lady also walked out of the house, standing there with a smile on her face, holding half a bowl of black beans that exuded an enticing aroma.

She quickly opened the door and invited the old lady in.

"This is what my son sent me. I was afraid it would go bad if I didn't finish it, so I thought of giving you some." The old lady said, "Your hands are red from the cold, you must be feeling very uncomfortable! Eat some quickly, and you won't be cold after you finish it."

This is the braised bean curd that makes their entire fishing village lively!
Neighbors often shared food or helped each other with small favors. Ivan's mother did not refuse the old lady's kindness and ate half a bowl of braised beans under her urging.

Almost as soon as Ivan's mother swallowed the braised beans, she felt a warmth spread through her blood throughout her body.

This is completely different from the state of being numb from the cold and not being able to feel the cold anymore.

She felt... very warm.

Even the cold north wind blowing in her face could not freeze her.

I heard that the upper-class ladies in the imperial capital don’t feel cold even in thin dresses in the middle of winter, and they always attend various banquets with their most beautiful appearance. Do they also... eat such food before attending the banquets?

If that's the case, then it's understandable.

No one would want to stay indoors in a cramped place for months unless absolutely necessary.

Even Ivan's hardworking mother couldn't help but suggest: "How about we go out for a walk?"

She couldn't wait to breathe the fresh air outside.

Just let her be willful for once!

The two walked out of the house together.

The cold air was sucked into my chest, but it did not cause any discomfort. Looking around, every household could not help but open all the doors and windows.

Joy filled everyone's heart.

Their new lord must be the wisest and most merciful man in the world!
……

Jiang Zhuozhuo, the most wise and benevolent new lord in the world, was now stretched out like a bird pancake, lying listlessly on Adjutant Maine's desk.

Her usually bright eyes had lost their luster.

The thing is, because she said something stupid at the dock, she wanted to provide all the employees with five insurances and one fund.

Beautiful Maine didn't say anything. She just gave her a piece of paper and a pen and asked her to calculate the five social insurances and one housing fund for the maids, butlers and knights employed in the castle this month.

"It's impossible to count it all. It's impossible to count it all."

The little round bird rolled around on the table and started to act like a spoiled brat.

"I don't count it anymore, I don't count it anymore!"

Maine poked her finger over and stopped the little round bird that was rolling around and made her dizzy. She smiled and said, "Your Highness, do you know how difficult it is to calculate the five social insurances and one housing fund you mentioned?"

The little round bird lowered its head guiltily: "I was wrong, how about we not do this anymore?"

Jiang Zhuozhuo felt that he should have some conscience as a boss only after listening to his seniors who were looking for jobs complaining all the time, "Why is it so difficult to find a job with two days off a week now?" and "Why is it another rubbish company that doesn't pay for the five social insurances and one housing fund?"

Didn't you forget that everything here has to be calculated manually?

This is no longer the era where you can just input numbers into a spreadsheet and have all the results calculated in seconds.

If she could get in touch with alchemists in the future, she would ask them if they could make her a computer! A cell phone! And connect the entire empire to wifi!

You alchemists are so good, you must be able to do it!
If you can't do that, then you're no better than an alchemist!
Birds look down on you!

Maine didn't know that Jiang Zhuozhuo was planning to embarrass those arrogant alchemists. Seeing the little round bird in front of him admitting his mistake pitifully, he removed the finger that was sealing the little round bird's belly and said seriously: "No, since His Highness has said it, we must do it."

The little round bird squeaked: "It's too difficult. I can't figure it out."

Maine smiled and said, "Why do we need His Highness to come and calculate? We will get things done. The reason why we asked His Highness to calculate it personally this time is that we hope that if His Highness has any new ideas in the future, he can discuss them with us before announcing them to the public."

Jiang Zhuozhuo nodded like a bird pecking at rice, indicating that he understood.

She spent the whole afternoon calculating and realized how much more work she had added to Maine's workload.

Jiang Zhuozhuo made a big promise to Maine without any instruction: "When our territory becomes rich, we will increase your salary and give you a lot of bonuses!"

When she said the word "a lot", she spread her wings vigorously to show Maine, meaning there would definitely be a lot.

Maine glanced at the little round bird that was jumping up and down again, and asked, "Before that, Your Highness, why don't you tell me what nine-year compulsory education is?"

Jiang Zhuozhuo:?

What? Did she mention this again?
Maine saw the confusion on Jiang Zhuozhuo's face and explained with a smile: "Your Highness has never mentioned this to anyone, but I accidentally heard it when Your Highness was muttering this word once."

Nine years of compulsory education sounds more difficult than the five social insurances and one housing fund.

Jiang Zhuozhuo quietly moved back before explaining to Maine what nine years of compulsory education meant.

The so-called obligations are what every citizen must do. Specifically, it means that all children of school age in our territory must go to school - from elementary school to junior high school, a total of nine years!
It is illegal to prevent children from completing compulsory education!
Maine asked, "So what does this nine-year compulsory education teach?"

Jiang Zhuozhuo started to sign up for subjects without thinking: mathematics, Chinese, history, geography, politics, physics, chemistry, biology, art, music, physical education...

The smile on Maine's face gradually disappeared.

Why were some of these subjects so unfamiliar even to her, a former top student?
Jiang Zhuozhuo didn't notice her dear Mei Yin's mood at the moment, and continued to emphasize: "Sports are very important, every child should have a happy time in physical education class!"

At first glance, he is a poor kid who once missed a physical education class.

Jiang Zhuozhuo then explained to Maine the specific learning content of each subject: That's right, a mature junior high school student should know everything about astronomy and geography, have good enough language expression skills, and have a solid foundation in mathematics, physics, and chemistry. At the same time, he should develop a variety of interests and hobbies, and strive to achieve all-round development in morality, intelligence, physical fitness, aesthetics, and labor!

After Jiang Zhuozhuo finished his speech, he noticed that Maine's face looked a little strange.

The little round bird came over and asked with concern: "What's wrong?"

Why didn't Maine smile anymore?

Birds are worried!

Facing the concerned eyes of the little round bird, Maine showed a professional smile: "I'm glad that His Highness did not announce in public that he would implement this matter immediately."

Jiang Zhuozhuo:.

It's over. It seems that laughing is more terrible than not laughing.

(End of this chapter)