The strongest devouring system in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 180 Qufu University

Kong Sheng was also a shrewd person, and immediately seized the opportunity: "Then this humble one will be too bold. Come, Mingde, please."

Following Kong Sheng, Chen Er visited the mausoleum of Confucius, offered three sticks of incense to Confucius, and paid his respects before returning to the reception room of the Confucius Mansion with Kong Sheng.

After some pleasantries, everyone began to talk about serious matters, which was also Chen Er's sole purpose for coming here: for the Lakong family to contribute to the local education cause.

"Sir, I'll get straight to the point. As you probably know, I've come today to ask for your and your Confucius family's help."

Sitting down in the reception room, Chen Er went straight to the point with Kong Sheng. Chen Er wasn't good at negotiating, so he simply came up with a quick and decisive solution, asking Kong Sheng directly.

In this way, even if Kong Sheng wanted to make a quick buck in this matter, he couldn't go too far for the sake of his reputation. Besides, this matter only brought benefits to the Kong family and no harm to them.

"Your Highness, please speak."

Although Kong Sheng already knew what Chen Er was going to say, he couldn't be so direct about it. The proper formalities still had to be followed, and those in the Kong family who were still unaware of the situation needed to be informed, since they would be the main force in this matter later.

"As you all know, our local area is vigorously promoting the development of education. This is a good thing that benefits the country and the people, and it will also be of great benefit to your Confucius Mansion. However, as you all know..."

"There are indeed not many literate people in my country. Although I started preparing a few years ago, it is still a drop in the ocean. There are still too few people who can be teachers. So the main reason I came to the Confucius Mansion this time is to ask the people of the Confucius Mansion to come out of retirement and help build local schools and cultivate more literate people."

Chen Er doesn't really like calling himself "Gu" (孤), as he always feels that the word "Gu" is rather unlucky. So, over the years, the locals have basically gotten used to Chen Er referring to himself as "I" (我) or "I" (吾).

Xun Yu and the others had no choice but to accept it.

When Kong Sheng and the others heard Chen Er's words, they weren't too surprised. After all, they were quite concerned about the development of education in the area, and they had helped build many schools in Qingzhou. It was just that this time Chen Er was asking for their help on behalf of the entire area.

Kong Sheng, representing the Kong family, stepped forward and said, "Mingde, establishing schools and enabling more people to study is in line with the wishes of our ancestors. Our Kong family should certainly do our part. However, as you know, although most people in our Kong family are literate, the number is still limited. I wonder how you plan to arrange things for us?"

Kong Sheng raised the most important question: the issue of interests. Before Chen Er arrived, he had already received advice from Guo Jia, Xun Yu, and others. The Kong family valued reputation more than monetary gains.

Therefore, Chen Er had already come up with a plan. He said to Kong Sheng, "I have a relatively safe plan for this matter. One of them is that a university, Qufu University, will be established in Qufu."

"This university will be one of the top three institutions of learning in the area. The older generation of teachers from the Confucius family can all teach there, and they can teach however they want. However, there is one condition: they cannot interfere with the teaching of others."

“That’s feasible.” Although he didn’t quite understand what a university was, Kong Sheng understood when he heard the word “highest.” “However, there are two heads of this university. One is you, Mr. Kong, and the other is Tian Feng. However, Tian Feng is only responsible for administration, that is, daily management. You are in charge of teaching.” Chen Er said.

"That's good then." Kong Sheng nodded in agreement.

Then Chen Er continued, "As for the Confucius family, there are many more young people. Those who are young and strong can naturally go to more distant places. I want to divide these people into different ability levels and send them to various prefectures and counties to serve as local educational officials."

Kong Sheng asked in confusion, "Mingde, what is the main responsibility of this academic official?"

"They are responsible for the construction and teaching of local schools, and they are also responsible for training junior teachers who can teach children to read," Chen Er explained.

"I wonder, Your Highness, what are the treatment and benefits of these academic officials and so-called university teachers?" A long-bearded old man stood up and asked Chen Er.

Kong Sheng quickly introduced, "These are the two clan elders."

"So it's an elder. Since the elder has asked about this matter of treatment, then I'll say it. The lowest salary for a university teacher is fifty taels of silver per month, and the highest is one thousand taels."

"As for local school officials, their salaries range from fifty to two hundred taels of silver, depending on their abilities and the tasks they undertake," Chen Er said simply to the people from the Confucius Mansion.

Actually, the people in the Confucius Mansion didn't really care about how much money they had; what they cared about was Chen Er's attitude. They couldn't very well make them work for free.

"very good."

Upon hearing Chen Er's offer, everyone became excited. Such conditions were already quite good, not to mention that Chen Er also promised other benefits, such as free housing, and that the local government would reimburse almost all of their food, clothing, and transportation.

Of course, Chen Er also suggested that the Kong family should take the lead in promoting private investment in education, since the local area was indeed short of funds to carry out such a large-scale construction project.

Kong Sheng and the others expressed their understanding. Moreover, the Confucian scholars had always looked down on those merchants. Now, asking them to donate money to develop education was, in Kong Sheng's view, a great opportunity for those merchants.

“I think this is a good idea,” Kong Sheng said to Chen Er.

Now that the general policy has been finalized, the specific details will be left to Kong Sheng to discuss with Tian Feng, Xun Yu, Xun You, and others. He doesn't need to worry about it anymore. As the lord, all he needs to do is provide a general framework, and leave the rest to his subordinates.

Chen Er did not stay at the Kong family residence for long. After having lunch with Kong Sheng and others, Chen Er led the Dragon Cavalry Battalion toward Xuzhou, where there were still many matters that required his attention.

In particular, Chen Er needed to conduct an on-site investigation of the affairs in Yangzhou and Yuzhou. As the saying goes, the emperor is far away and the sky is high, although Chen Er had enough trust in Xiahou Dun and others.

However, those below him and Xiahou Dun and others may not fully understand his orders. As the saying goes, seeing is believing, so Chen Er still needs to go and check it out.

When Chen Er left the Kong family, news of what happened in Meishan Town had already spread to various parts of Qingzhou, including Beihai and Qufu, and officials from all over the country heard that Chen Er had come in person.