Chapter 219 Attending the Banquet
February is almost here in the blink of an eye. During the period after the New Year, Irene organized her "education plan" in detail, and it was officially approved by Paul. Later, she began to light the first of the three fires of a new official.
Previously, the Government Affairs Council’s investment in education had been sporadic. Under Eileen’s strong suggestion, education funds were separated as a formal expenditure, alongside military, industry, and agriculture. These are the four major financial expenditures.
First of all, starting from Lake Town, John Morrison, the original dean of Weiss College, was sent by Paul to the monastery to "assist" Father Anderson. The position of the dean has always been vacant, so Irene took the role. held this position concurrently.
She conducted a thorough examination of current students, including reading, writing and simple arithmetic, temporarily divided them into three grades according to their levels, rearranged the work of teachers, and established regular examinations system to test student learning outcomes.
After a long period of recruitment, the number of teachers in Weiss College has reached twenty, and their salaries are now managed by Eileen, who has become the director of the Department of Education.
Irene convened a meeting of teachers and announced that from now on, teachers' salaries will be linked to the test scores of the students they teach. If the scores are too bad, the salary will be deducted, and if the scores are good, the salary will be increased.
The new policy has boosted the atmosphere in the college. Those teachers who used to be lazy have become more diligent. The college is filled with their scolding of students who hate students.
In short, the previous sheep-herding teaching model has disappeared, and the students’ good days are over.
In addition to day education, the literacy evening school at Wyss College is still open, targeting adults who work during the day and have nothing to do at night.
Eileen stipulates that as long as a member of the night school can pass the basic literacy test and arithmetic test, the teacher responsible for teaching him can receive a bonus in addition to the normal salary, calculated on a per-capita basis, and the more he teaches, the more he gets.
So some teachers began to spontaneously promote the great significance of education in the town, and after dinner, they cooperated with the soldiers to "search" for people who were idle at home.
......
On February 3rd, there was a festive atmosphere in Center City. The streets were filled with flowers that bloomed in early spring. Jugglers and minstrels were in the central square of the city. They performed hard on the street, and housewives carried large and small bags to the stores to make big purchases, because merchants all over the city were on sale on this day.
The whole city was cleaned and brand new, and even the beggars on the street were driven out of the city.
Because tomorrow is the birthday of the lord of this city, Duke Ferdinand. Under the auspices of the Duke's brother Henry, Viscount Henry, there will be a special event this year.
A group of people appeared on the road outside the center gate. A rider was holding a flagpole, and a flying dragon flag was flying at the top of the flagpole.
It was Paul and others who came to attend the Duke's birthday party.
In addition to Earl Myron Garnard, who also came to the banquet, there were also female counselor Ladi, intelligence director Cecil, Army 1st Battalion Commander Bryce and his adjutant (formerly the knight's squire).
The captain of the guard, Victor - his ribs were broken by a mage last year and he lay in bed for three months - commanded fifteen elite internal guards to act as the guide for this trip. Guard.
Although there are only fifteen soldiers, they are all experts at reloading extremely fast.
Each of them is equipped with a newly produced flintlock pistol, equipped with a bayonet, carries four grenades, and has a flintlock pistol on his waist.
Now when soldiers encounter an emergency, they can simply load and shoot without having to light a match as before.
Because there was no obstructing match rope, they could shoot side by side, greatly increasing the density of firepower.
Since the last incident, both the internal security forces and the army have strengthened their shooting training in emergencies. If an 'assassin' appears again halfway, they can reload it within a minute. And beat each other into a sieve.
"Ah~ we finally caught up!"
Paul's voice was full of exhaustion. After two days of horseback riding from Lake Center Town, he finally arrived at Center City.
To be honest, he really didn’t want to come, but he had to come. The gift he prepared was a pair of porcelain vases about half a person's height with exquisite patterns painted on them.
For a long time, the porcelain sold in Alda has mainly been small pieces. A porcelain bottle as big as this can be said to be very precious, but I don’t know if it can belong to the Duke. Dharma eyes.
Of course, the gift has been delivered in advance, after all, porcelain cannot be bumpy on horseback.
The reason why I brought along the female consultant La Di this time is because the other party has mysterious power and may be able to help a lot if there is any unexpected incident on the road. Bah, bah, it’s better to stop being so cunning. What mishaps can happen under the rule of the dignified Duke?
The group of people soon arrived at the city gate, and the guards guarding the gate bowed and saluted.
They saw the flag fluttering on the flagpole. The pattern on it looked like the crest of a noble family. Although they didn't know which family it was, in any case, it was right to salute.
“Oh! It is indeed the largest city in the northwest of the kingdom, but it is different!”
Seeing the prosperity of Center City, Paul sighed.
“I heard that this city has a permanent population of 50,000 to 60,000 people.”
Elon, like Paul, was visiting Center City for the first time, and he was also impressed by the size of Center. Shocked.
Needless to say, the casual guard captain Victor and the guards knew that Butua, the capital of Bailding next door, was already a very big city.
Among the group of people, only Cecil, Bryce and the female consultant Ladi were relatively calm. Cecil and Bryce had been to Center several times before, and needless to say the female consultant who was born in Corner Bay.
While everyone was sightseeing, they walked towards the Lord's Mansion. Although the streets were bustling with people, when they saw a group of people approaching under the banner of nobles, they all consciously moved out of the way.
In front of the Lord's Mansion, they were received by a receptionist who was well-dressed and whose etiquette was as good as Philip's butler. Paul and Myron handed him the invitation.
"The Gleiman family...the Gardner family..."
After confirming that the invitation was correct, the usher with a monocle counted Paul's number and asked a servant beside him Explained a few words.
Then he bowed slightly to Paul and others: "My lords, please follow the servant to the official residence prepared for you to rest. We will notify you before the banquet begins."
Shall we fix dinner ourselves? Paul's stomach was growling with hunger at this time. He thought he would have a big meal when he arrived at the lord's mansion.
He followed his servant to a mansion near the Lord's Mansion to rest for a while. Paul couldn't wait to let Bryce and Cecil, who were familiar with the place, lead him out to eat out.
After returning, the soldiers who stayed behind reported to Paul that a nobleman claiming to be Henry Ferdinand had come to see him.
Isn’t that the Duke’s younger brother? It seems that he has nothing to do with himself!
Paul turned to Mellon: "Do you know him?"
Myron spread his hands and said: "I have never met."
Cecil whispered in Paul's ear: "Viscount Henry has been very active since his brother Duke Ferdinand's health deteriorated. Make friends with other nobles. "
Uh... there won't be any bloody drama at this banquet, right?
(End of this chapter)