Lord: My Shop Connects to Modern Times

"School?"

In the conference hall of the Grey Rock Town municipal building, Martha asked a question out of curiosity.

Just as dawn broke, someone came to call her, saying that the lord was in the city hall and there was a meeting to be held.

She was still holding the account books she had brought from the public treasury, thinking she would need them.

Several sheets of paper were spread out on the table; they were the Gray Rock Town map that Lynn had asked Leon to hang up earlier.

The map is simple, mainly marking the workshop area, residential area, warehouse and farmland, with large areas still blank.

"Yes, the school," Lynn affirmed.

There were seven or eight people sitting in the conference room.

Martha, Joel, Eero, Leon, and two representatives from Ironstone Castle representing Roland.

Lia also arrived, huddled in a corner, pretending to help Martha organize the ledgers, but actually listening intently.

"Sir, is this a school for learning your kind of professional knowledge? I must join," said the naturalist, Ero.

During this time, he had been at the Ministry of Agriculture, researching those novel crops from another world, and he had an unparalleled curiosity about the things Lynn brought.

"It's not that kind of school." Lynn was somewhat amused and exasperated. "But we do need you to join us, not as a student, but as a teacher."

"teacher?"

Ero was stunned: "Me? I've never taught before!"

"It's okay." Lynn indicated that he didn't need to be nervous: "No one is born knowing everything; you can learn gradually."

Lynn stood by the table: "The academy I want to establish is not the kind of academy that only admits the children of nobles, but a school for everyone—commoners, artisans, farmers—anyone who is willing can come and learn. Children and adults are no exception."

This statement surprised the managers present.

Is it a school, or a school for everyone?

Previously, no one had ever set up schools specifically for commoners. The few literate commoners either paid for teachers to teach them or learned on their own, but they couldn't learn much by themselves.

The majority of ordinary people are still illiterate.

Now that the lord says he'll set up a school for them, what will they learn? Farming? Or blacksmithing?

It couldn't possibly be about learning to read, could it?

None of the people present believed that residents would spend money specifically to learn to read.

This is especially true for people like Joel, who come from farming backgrounds.

"My lord, what does this school... teach? Technical skills?" Joel couldn't help but ask.

Lynn waved his hand: "No, there may be extensions to technical knowledge later, but for now, I will be teaching literacy, accounting, and basic reading and writing."

When everyone heard Lynn actually say that he could teach people to read, they were even more surprised.

Joel sat in the chair, leaning forward.

He was born into a migrant family and had never attended school in his life. He only learned to write his own name after coming to Gray Rock Town. Later, as he took a position in the Ministry of Agriculture, he gradually learned to recognize a few more characters.

He opened his mouth as if to say something, but then swallowed it back.

Lynn saw it.

"Joel, what do you want to say? Just say it."

Joel rubbed his hands together. "Sir, I just... don't quite understand. What's the use of commoners' children learning to read? They'll still grow up to farm and do manual labor; they won't become scribes..."

He paused, his voice lowering further: "Especially for those adult farmers and craftsmen, learning these things... is it really necessary? Besides, no one has ever taught refugees, I've never even heard of it..."

Joel spoke cautiously, for he was the one among these people who least understood the lord's decision.

Lynn didn't rush to answer.

He looked out the window and saw several children walking along the streets of Gray Rock Town. The oldest was no more than twelve or thirteen years old, carrying empty buckets, probably going to the stream to fetch water.

They were barefoot, their trouser legs covered in mud.

"What's the use of learning to write your own name?" Lynn asked.

Joel paused for a moment.

He looked down at his hands, which were covered with calluses and cracks, and had large knuckles.

He remained silent for a few seconds.

"...If I had to say, after I first learned my own name, during the period when I went to collect my wages, I could see my name at a glance in the ledger and know exactly how much money I had earned that day..." Joel said, "Does that count?"

Lynn nodded: "Of course it counts. This is the convenience that simple knowledge brings. The more knowledge you have, the more obvious the convenience in life becomes."

Lynn continued with an example: "It's the same with accounting. To put it bluntly, once you can do the accounting, at least when you receive your wages, you'll know whether you've been shortchanged."

Joel fell silent, lost in thought.

Martha gently put down the ledger.

She is one of the few people here who received an education from a young age. Having grown up in Cole's family, she learned basic reading, writing, and arithmetic.

But she knew that it wasn't something she should take for granted; she only had this opportunity because of the kindness of the Cole family.

"My lord, where do those teachers come from?" she asked softly. "There aren't many literate people in this territory."

"Choose from the prisoners," Lynn said.

There was a moment of silence in the conference room.

Leon frowned. "Those old Gavin's men?"

"Not all prisoners committed capital crimes." Lynn flipped through the roster beside him. "We tried quite a few forced laborers in the previous public trial. Their crimes weren't serious. Some of them were literate, and some could do accounting. Most of them were Gavin's scribes and knights."

"That's still a criminal, sir." Leon felt something was amiss.

As a traditional knight, he didn't have much sympathy for these prisoners.

And isn't it too hasty to have criminals teach?

Lynn sighed inwardly.

He felt that his "personal knight" was excellent in every way, whether it was his abilities, loyalty, or even his appearance.

He's just a bit too serious and rigid usually.

He straightened his expression: "Those with minor offenses should be given a chance. Labor is a profession, and teaching is a profession. Grayrock Town will treat everyone equally; this is a promise I made."

Upon hearing this, Leon said no more.

Lynn's gaze slowly swept over the crowd: "Those who behave well can have their sentences reduced. They can work half a day and teach half a day. Each lesson they teach will be counted as working hours."

"Lynn," Leah, who had been eavesdropping in the corner for a long time, couldn't help but say, "Are these people really reliable? I'm afraid they might do something bad behind my back."

"I don't completely trust them." Lynn looked at Leah. "But we have to give them a chance. In the beginning, we'll only let them teach the most basic content. I'll provide the teaching materials, and I'll decide what to teach and how to teach it. Someone will sit in on each class, and anyone found to have problems will be suspended immediately."

After saying that, Lynn seemed to remember something else: "In formal settings, you should call me 'Sir'."

Lia stuck out her tongue and weakly replied, "Okay, my lord!"

"What if they teach something wrong?" Lia asked again.

Lynn smiled. "You're here to sit in. If you find any problems, report them to me. Besides, didn't you tell Martha you wanted to learn accounting and literacy? You can learn them while you're at it."

Lia blinked, seemingly surprised that she had been assigned this task.

She pursed her lips, pulled her head back behind the ledger, and the tips of her ears turned slightly red.

Joel then asked, "Sir, where...is the school built?"

Lynn pointed to an empty space on the map, located on the east side of the artisan district and diagonally opposite the public treasury.

That place used to be an abandoned shed used to store miscellaneous items, which Thorin and his men had just emptied a few days ago.

"Here. Existing building renovations, no major changes needed," Lynn said.

"First, prepare two rooms: one as a classroom and the other as a textbook storage. Have the carpentry team make the tables and chairs—long tables and benches, simple and sturdy."

He paused for a moment, then said, "The first batch will consist of thirty to fifty students, regardless of age. Anyone who wants to come will be accepted. Adults can attend classes in the evenings so it won't interfere with their daytime work."

Martha quickly jotted down in the booklet: "Is there a fee, my lord?"

Lynn waved his hand: "No charge! And from now on, we will require all children under the age of 14 in the territory to attend school as much as possible."

"I call this—compulsory education!"

compulsory education.

This was the first time anyone present had ever heard of this term.

I thought that setting up schools for commoners was already merciful enough, but I didn't expect that the lord would not take a penny.

At this moment, one of the representatives from Tieshibao, who had been silently listening and taking notes, spoke.

"Sir, I have another question."

"explain."

The man hesitated for a moment: "I feel that even if it's free, not many people will be willing to come. They work hard all day and then have to learn something at night. If I were them, I definitely wouldn't want to."

This is indeed a problem. People at the bottom of society often have outdated ideas, and it is very difficult to get them to take time out of their rest to study.

Even for young children, parents would make them work at a very young age to earn money to supplement the family income, and they were not too willing to let them go to school.

But Lynn already had a plan.

"That's a good question." Lynn looked at the Ironforge representative. "So, the night school provides dinner."

The meeting room was silent for a few seconds.

"Provide...dinner?" Joel wondered if he had misheard.

"Yes. A hot meal is provided for students who attend classes every evening after class." Lynn counted on his fingers: "It doesn't need to be fancy, just potato soup with dark bread, or bean paste with pickled vegetables. The cost can be kept very low."

Of all those present, only Joel and Leah truly understood the allure of a hot meal.

Joel was born a refugee and ate grass roots and tree bark when he was starving.

Lia was born a slave, and during her worst days, she only had half a bowl of spoiled porridge a day.

"But this is losing money." Another Ironforge representative hesitated. "My lord, losing money to run a school... no one has ever done this before."

"No one used cement to build city walls before," Lynn said. "No one used steam engines to pump water from the mines, and no one paid migrant workers to build roads."

He paused for a moment: "Haven't we done enough things that 'no one has ever done before'?"

The man stopped talking.

Lia peeked half her face out from behind the ledger and whispered, "Then... what if someone comes to class just to freeload?"

"Let him freeload," Lynn said. "As long as he can sit down and listen to a lesson, even if he only absorbs ten words, the meal won't be a waste."

Lia blinked and didn't ask any more questions.

Lynn continued, "But free dinners alone aren't enough. To get adults willing to spend time learning, they need to see that literacy can lead to earning more money."

"Starting next month, all new administrative positions in Greystone Town and Ironstone Fortress—statisticians in the Agricultural Affairs Department, bookkeepers in the Public Treasury, materials accountants in the Public Works Department, and clerks in the Security Team—will be filled with literate people."

He paused for a moment: "The wages are 30% to 50% higher than those for similar physically demanding jobs."

Leon looked up, seemingly wanting to say something but then stopping himself.

Lynn noticed his expression: "Leon, what are your thoughts?"

Leon carefully chose his words: "My lord, it's fair to give priority to literate people. But in Ironstone Castle, most of the existing clerks and tax collectors are Gavin's old subordinates."

"Those who have served their sentences can reapply," Lynn said. "But like everyone else, they have to pass an assessment."

Leon nodded, offering no further objections.

……