Chapter 574: Education Expansion
Summer arrived in a downpour.
Dense raindrops pattered against the windowpanes, blurring the view outside. One could only distinguish the town from the distant mountains by the outlines of their colors.
Roland stood before the floor-to-ceiling window, gazing at the hazy city beneath the rain, the strains of "The Song of the City of Love" still echoing in his ears.
He hadn't expected the effect of the play's premiere three days ago, combined with Echo's ability, to be so astonishing.
At the moment the performance ended, the entire audience was silent, many with tears in their eyes—Roland had thought such scenes would only occur in high-end opera houses of later generations. Even a slightly more down-to-earth movie theater wouldn't produce such an effect, let alone a group of ordinary people in a backward era.
Even he, who had been bombarded with all sorts of tear-jerking scenes, felt a tremor from the bottom of his heart.
This was the power of the "Song of Resonance."
Roland certainly knew what an inspiring song meant—in a protracted war, machines don't tire, but people do. Even if guns and ammunition can be continuously transported to the battlefield, people will be overwhelmed by the invisible pressure of survival. Especially when the situation is unfavorable and casualties are heavy, this emotion can easily be magnified infinitely, ultimately leading to the loss of the army's will to win.
Historically, many methods have been devised to boost the morale of troops, such as providing soldiers with hot meals as much as possible, air-dropping ice cream, assigning political commissars and chaplains, etc. However, these requirements were too high for Roland. The former severely tested logistical support capabilities, while the latter made it difficult to cultivate a group of steadfast and persuasive key members in a short period of time.
But Echo's ability showed him a quick way to boost morale.
Although it sounds absurd, cultivating an idol is indeed more reliable than other methods.
As he was thinking, the office door was suddenly knocked, and Barov walked in.
"Your Majesty, the housing purchase statistics for the past few days are out."
"What's the result?"
"Just as you predicted," he excitedly spread a list on the mahogany table, "Since the new play was staged, the number of people applying to the City Hall to rent or buy housing has increased significantly, along with a rise in marriage registrations."
"Is that so?" Roland returned to the table, examining Barov's statistics. "The Song of the City of Love" was not an entertainment work without purpose. In addition to promoting the glory of labor and the greatness of construction, another point it contained was to link marriage with a stable home. Rather than letting outsiders slowly develop a sense of belonging and allowing locals to gradually accept these newcomers through daily contact, it was better for him to define a simple standard to promote the integration of migrants from various places.
This standard was housing.
"Having a house means you're one of us"—it seemed very crude, but it could save a lot of integration time in times of crisis.
To gain people's recognition and to have one's own family, one must have a dwelling. Once outsiders have permanent property, they will consciously maintain everything here. Of course, these ideas are not suitable to be stated directly, but it is more effective to put them into a play and tell them through stories.
Just like diamonds.
A classic advertising slogan of "A diamond is forever" pushed it to the position of king of gems, a must-have for marriage, making people completely ignore its nature of being neither rare nor precious.
At least houses have extremely high practical value.
For this reason, the goal cannot be set too far away, making people feel unattainable. One Gold Dragon can be used to apply for renting a house, and only one Gold Dragon needs to be paid as rent each year thereafter. When the rent paid is equal to the price of the house, the house will automatically belong to the renter.
Of course, this goal cannot be too easy to achieve. Even the cheapest single room requires twenty Gold Dragons, meaning that laborers and temporary workers need more than twenty years to buy one—and this kind of house is less than fifteen square meters, only enough to put down a bed, a dining table, and a toilet. Putting it in later generations would definitely be labeled as a black-hearted real estate developer.
In short, according to Barov's statistics, the promotion of "The Song of the City of Love" was clearly successful.
Most of the rental applications came from the first few batches of migrants and serfs who arrived in the Border Region, while most of those who requested to buy houses were craftsmen with higher salaries and impoverished nobles who had previously carried property. When they settle down here, they will forever become a part of Neverwinter City.
So Roland had already thought about the content of the next new play, the theme of which was getting married, working hard, and buying a big house.
"Well done," he rolled up the list and handed it to Barov, "Also, the matter of recruiting migrants must continue to be expanded. A sufficient population is the guarantee for the development of Neverwinter City, and other tasks can be temporarily set aside for it."
"Yes, Your Majesty." The steward smiled, his mustache twitching.
"By the way, go get Scroll, I have something to tell her."
……
"Your Majesty, you're looking for me?" Dressed in a white shirt and a black skirt, Scroll walked into the office with a capable air.
"I want to expand the scope of education and include those migrants who have just arrived in Neverwinter City," Roland poured her a cup of tea, "If it is only aimed at formal residents, they will have to wait at least a year before receiving primary education."
"This may be difficult to do at present," Scroll said frankly after thinking for a moment, "There are too many of them, and the existing teachers can't take care of them, and there are not enough classrooms. If implemented as you said, the Ministry of Education would have to expand its staff by at least two or three times."
"I have a method that can reduce the pressure on teachers," Roland paused, "Let them study on their own."
"Self-study?"
"That's right, hold a public class once a week, only teaching the most basic writing, and the rest of the time, let them practice on their own through booklets with patterns and pronunciation. There are no grade tests and no mandatory requirements, it's all based on self-awareness."
"This..." She subconsciously straightened her hair that was wet from the rain, "It may not have any effect. Your Majesty, if no one supervises, it would be good if one out of ten people could learn."
"Even half a person will do," Roland smiled, "I just want to give them a chance."
There will always be some people who are not satisfied with boring and low-paying jobs, and who long to achieve their goals faster. To prevent such people from going astray, they must be guided to achieve self-improvement in the right way.
In future recruitment, the proportion of jobs requiring literacy will become higher and higher, and the salary will be much higher than that of laborers. If you want to obtain a stable residence as soon as possible and get rid of a poor and tiring life, self-study will be a good choice.
Through this method, those motivated people can also be allowed to join the city's construction as soon as possible.
To maintain the vitality that a new regime should have, the most important thing is not to cut off the path for those at the bottom to rise.
Roland deeply agreed with this.