Chapter 401 Preparation

The two of them exchanged glances.

After a moment, Su Qing'an said, "Okay, I agree."

Shopkeeper Ding let out a long sigh.

"Yongfeng is a timely help. From now on, all the materials needed by our Qingshan Academy will be purchased by Yongfeng."

Shopkeeper Ding smiled immediately. Manager Li said that Madam Su was a smart person who understood everything at once, and it was true.

"Thank you for your trust, Madam Su."

Then the two of them discussed various materials, quantity, quality, color, size, etc.

In addition to books, they also need to purchase pens, ink, paper and inkstones for the students' daily use, which is the big part. There is also a lot of cloth for making clothes for teachers and students. There are also some other materials.

If the academy continues to run, Yongfeng will continue to cooperate with them. Yongfeng is a business that has to support many people. It has the intention to give back to the mountain people, but it will not do business at a loss.

For Su Qing'an, this supplier will work for anyone, and it is better to do it with a familiar one than a new one.

Although Li Guanshi of Yongfenghao is a shrewd person, he has a bottom line and credibility. In the cooperation with Su Qing'an, he knows her rules very well, and the two of them cooperate very happily.

She didn't want to change to an unfamiliar business and have to start over.

After the books were done, it was time to build the school building.

There were Xiang Shang and Wei Fuchang on the construction site. She had nothing to worry about. She just drew the blueprints and found all the carpenters in Lianzhai to work together to make tables and chairs for the school.

She also posted a notice, asking the students who were going to enroll to come and sign up, prepare to be measured and tailored, and prepare various enrollment items.

As soon as the notice was posted, the market town was once again crowded.

The distant mountain villages also received the news, and the registration was completed in three days. Because the enrollment age was raised to fifteen years old, there were quite a few people who signed up.

There were also many people who thought that thirteen, fourteen or five years old was too old to enroll? Many people hesitated around the table.

After all, at this age, they are already half the labor force at home. And the school system is three years. Fourteen or fifteen years old is the age for marriage, do they have to study until seventeen or eighteen years old?

"Do I have to study for three years?"

"Not necessarily. It's not mandatory. If you can recognize a lot of words in a year or half a year and feel that it is enough, no one will force you to leave if you don't want to come."

Gu Hongde and other gentlemen sat at the table, surrounded by people asking various questions, and they answered them patiently one by one.

"Will there be any impact if I drop out of school midway?"

They can come and go as they please. If they anger the president, the president will not accept their goods and will not look for them when there is work to do. That would be a big loss.

The president always tells the village leaders that he will not take a village to play, and their village leaders will go back to the village and say that they will not take a certain family to play. They are very scared.

"It doesn't matter. The president just wants everyone to recognize some words, at least to be able to read the plaques of the shops in the market town? You have to understand the contents of the contract, right? If you can understand the riddles at the Lantern Festival on New Year's Day, you don't need others to help you read, right? No matter how long you study, it's your freedom."

"Can you really drop out at any time?"

"Yes. This year is the first time, and there are many situations that the president can't estimate. In the future, it will be adjusted according to the situation. Don't worry, it's your freedom to study or not, and it's also your freedom to study for a long time. The president doesn't have so much free time to remember these little things of yours."

"Okay, I'll register my child. He's fourteen years old this year. You write it down..."

It took three days for the registration to end.

A total of 886 people. Less than twenty in each village.

There are far more children aged six to fifteen. But even if Su Qing'an doesn't stop practicing, there are still various situations where they don't come to study. For example, families with many children only let one or two come, and some families with few people still rely on their children to look after the house, so they don't come.

And girls only account for a quarter.

Although girls have a higher status in the mountains than outside, the general idea is that it is not very useful for girls to learn to read and write. When they have time, they can go up the mountain to collect some mountain products and sell them for money, which can also make a lot of money for the family in a year.

For these, Su Qingmei did not force them.

And she didn't think too far.

She didn't know what future the children would have after they finished their studies in the academy, how to arrange them, and whether they could have a better living environment and better quality of life than now.

Let's take it one step at a time. She just thought that being able to read and recognize some words was better than being blind.

She simply wanted to do this thing, and she couldn't control what effect it would achieve.

She couldn't impose her will on her mountain people.

After the registration was over, Yongfenghao also delivered the cloth she needed.

This time she didn't hang up the notice, but moved the cloth back to Xingeng Village. She recruited female workers in her own village to make school uniforms for students.

There are many women with good hands in the main village, the second village and the third village of Xingeng Village. Since the money should not be wasted on outsiders, the wages should be paid to them first. If there is a shortage of workers, she will post a notice to recruit outsiders.

Su Qingmei posted the school uniform styles for boys and girls, divided them into processes, and asked the female workers who came to take the work to take each process and take the cloth back to their own homes to make it.

It is still produced on an assembly line, with some drawing the size of each part, some cutting pieces, and some sewing. This division of processes and assembly line operation can ensure speed.

Dozens of women happily took the cut pieces of cloth like a small mountain home.

Yaya and Qingxing originally followed Su's mother to learn needlework, but now they have the opportunity to operate. They dare not let them do sewing, but they can still do some work such as drawing lines and cutting pieces.

Su's mother dragged them to the female workers every day and asked them to learn. The aunt and nephew stood until their feet were numb every day, but they didn't dare to complain.

After all, their school uniforms were also there.

Qingxing and Yaya were so happy when they heard that they were allowed to go to the academy to study. Mu Ye was looking forward to escaping from Su's mother's clutches.

A few days later, Ma Mingwen's letter arrived.

After getting the kaolin produced in Tiantai Yongjia mentioned in Su Qing's letter, Ma Mingwen sent people to see it in person, and also found many craftsmen in Yuedi to prepare to open a kiln to burn porcelain. In the letter, he said that if it was made, it would be a great achievement for Su Qing's mother.

In the letter, Cui Yuying also made a mud mask for her face with kaolin according to her method, and the effect was very good. She also took people around to try it, and many people came to her to ask for it. Her wife's diplomacy was very successful. She was very happy.

A lot of cloth and jewelry were sent to her with the letter.

Hearing that Su Qing'an was going to run a school, Ma Mingwen expressed his strong support in the letter, and said that if he needed a teacher, he could send someone over.

Five thousand taels of silver were also attached to the letter for her to use as school fees.

Su Qing'an was very moved.

The reason why she could go so smoothly along the way was inseparable from meeting Ma Mingwen, a noble man. If he hadn't backed her up, she wouldn't be so safe in this mountain. Many people and forces had come to attack the village and plunder.

Ma Mingwen is now one of the major forces in the south, with more than 100,000 soldiers and horses, strong soldiers and horses, abundant food and excellent weapons. Ordinary villains dare not fight against the stone with eggs.

Even if Yang Bi felt that his Wu country was uncomfortable being caught in the middle and wanted to swallow up Yue, he didn't dare to make a big move, and only dared to let his men fight small and tentatively provoke.

He was afraid that Ma Mingwen would be irritated and swallowed up his Wu country.

The more stable Yue State is, the more stable Su Qing'an, her family, and the people in the forty-five villages in these mountains will be.