Chapter 274 – National Policy

Schools. Not only humans had them, but beastmen as well. However, only major battle races had schools. The most famous school was in Beast G.o.d City, which was the oldest one in the long history of beastmen. But in that school, only the high ranked battle races and some prophets, shamans and witch doctors were taught. Common beastmen would never be able to take lessons there.

It was exactly due to this reason that schools had a very high standing in the hearts of beastmen. Due to old age and the fact that they had experienced a lot of things, Alaes and Alea got the impression from Laura that she wanted to build a school, since the purpose of schools for the major battle races was to conduct concentrated management and training.

The 2 of them looked emotionally at Zhao Hai, who glanced at Greene and said, “In the days to come, our population will be higher and higher, and with it, the number of children. In light of this, building a school is inevitable. I think we should build one now, when our population is still small, and compile the experience. That way, if we want to build schools when the population becomes greater, we will not have our hands tied.”

Greene nodded, “Young master has a point. A school should be in order. There are quite a number of rooms in the castle right now, so we should do it immediately.”

Kun Zheng also nodded and said, “I think we should make a magic-martial school. Examine the children when they’re little, put the ones that are good at martial arts to be taught martial techniques, and the ones that are good at magic to be taught magic spells. The teacher for martial arts can be settled with Seyer. As for the magic teacher, how about Meg?”

Zhao Hai shook his head and said, “No, that’s too broadly laid out. If we want to build a school now, we have to do it right, for the sake of future experience. It’s definitely a ‘no’ if we do it according to the format of magic-martial schools on the continent. We need to have more detailed curriculums. How about this? First we survey the number of children and get their ages, then separate them based on their age. My plan is to have the children taught by their parents before they are 4 years old. Upon becoming 4 years old, we send them to a unified kindergarten, and have them taken care of by specific personnel. We bring them to the kindergarten every morning, and bring them back to their homes every night. They will eat there at noon. While they’re at kindergarten, we give them a rudimentary education, so that they know some basic words and arithmetics.

At 7 years old, they’ll officially go to cla.s.ses, divided into literature, mathematics and martial arts cla.s.ses, which will have to be conducted in the same time period. For example, the three cla.s.ses could all be an hour long each. They’ll go to school and come back from it at the same times as the kindergarteners, with the same meal time.

At 12 years old, they’ll be officially split by categories. Like for the ones talented in martial arts, most of their time will be spent on martial lessons and general learning. For the ones talented in magic, their attention will be mainly put into magic spells and general learning. If there are ones who have talent in neither, they can then focus on learning other lessons, and we can then hire some workers to teach them some skills. That way, even if they aren’t good with words and numbers, they will have some skills to ensure their own safety. Even barring that, at least they will know about basic arithmetic, which can only be good for them. What do you think?”

Greene and then others didn’t expect that Zhao Hai had actually taken everything into consideration. They knew from his words that this wasn’t a spur of the moment plan, because the plan which he had just proposed was very detailed. It could be said that the magic-martial schools on the continent were not as detailed as what Zhao Hai had suggested, and starting from 4 years old at that. One should know that schools on the continent generally started from 6 to 7 years old, during which only basic training and words were taught and nothing else. They couldn’t possibly know that Zhao Hai had simply brought Earth’s education over after giving it a facelift.

However, they had to admit that Zhao Hai’s schooling plan was far better than that of the other schools on the continent. If they managed to pull it off, it would definitely be a one-of-a-kind school on the continent, which would make it a historical first.

Because the people of the continent valued martial strength, magic-martial schools normally taught martial techniques and magic spells as their main curriculums. However, the school which Zhao Hai had proposed was different, as it was mainly teaching writing and mathematics. From start to finish, the importance was put upon those, which for Greene and the others was something they had never heard of before.

Laura frowned, “If we do it as you say, Hai-bro, the cost we will need to put into it will be hefty. For example, children from 4 to 7 years old are very hard to take care of, and with the amount of different lessons, and the ones who will need to be in charge of making meals and babysitting, they all need people. Who do we put in charge of them? Every member of this kindergarten has to eat, and teachers have to get their wages. Do we have to pay them ourselves? The investment will be a bottomless pit, and there are too many things in need of budget allocation when it comes to developing the Black Wastelands. I’m afraid it won’t work.”

Greene and the others nodded, as they knew what Laura meant. Indeed, if they did set up such a school program as Zhao Hai had suggested, the amount of investment would be too great. They might not be able to feel it right now when they were few in number, but if there were a lot of people, the expenditure would be an astronomical sum.

Zhao Hai nodded, “I know about that, of course, which is why lesson fees will have to be received. But we can’t take too much. The students’ parents will pay a portion, while we will pay another. That way, the school can be built. My plan isn’t made based on a fief’s, but a country’s outlook. Schools have to be managed by a country directly, instead of leaving them to someone else. Besides, we are few in number and have almost no commerce, but once there are a lot of people, there will surely be merchants, and we will have taxes. What are taxes for? Just to equip troops? I think there’s no need to. We can implement military style management in the school. That way, when there’s any kind of battle, we won’t have to worry about a lack of soldiers. For the sake of Buda family’s prospects of becoming a long-lasting dynasty, I think we will have to look at taxes rationally. The taxes we receive must be used on the right places, in accordance to these words, ‘from the people, for the people’.”

Laura and the others were stunned. It was the first time they had heard of Zhao Hai’s ideal, which was different from all the other countries on the continent when it came to the view on taxes. Currently on the continent, the highest rulers were royal families, followed by n.o.bles. Although a part of the taxes which they received was used on necessary construction and military expenditures, little was put into other aspects. Even the schools on the continent required lesson fees. What Zhao Hai had proposed was something they had never heard of.

Everyone went silent for a moment before Kun Zheng slapped his own thigh and said, “Great! Very well put, little Hai! Your words are too appropriate. For the sake of Buda family’s great future, this is what we should do. Otherwise, what’s the use of losing our entire home for the sake of piling up money? I support little Hai.”

Greene wasn’t someone uncultured. He was simply taken aback for a bit due to the shock of all this. He had never thought that Zhao Hai would plan so far ahead. Thanks to Kun Zheng, he returned to his senses and spoke with a face full of excitement, “Right! Too right! I support young master.”

After the words of those 2, the entire matter was basically settled. All that was left was finding a place and teachers.

Maylin said, “Finding a place isn’t hard, but for children, we will have to find a more quiet and s.p.a.cious place, so that they can learn martial arts. They can also play under the supervision of adults. I choose the back of the castle.”

Behind the castle was a place that was originally intended to be a place for storage, servant quarters and stables.

No one had been there, but the houses were intact. Just some cleaning, and they could be used for schooling. They were distant from the outer parts, far away from the oil and milling factories. This quietness was exactly the ideal condition for a school.

Right now, the one who was the most knowledgeable about the castle was Maylin, so when she made her point, no one opposed her. Zhao Hai nodded, “Then let’s pick the back of the castle, and have granny Maylin be in charge. Next up is the selection of teachers. We can have Seyer handle the role of martial arts teacher, but due to a majority of children being large-horned raging bulls, we will have to let one of the tribesmen become a teacher. I will leave you to it, Alaes. Find a warrior from your tribe to teach the children, but remember to find someone smart. We’re teaching children here. If he cannot even speak and doesn’t even know how to teach, the children will be brought up wrongly.”

Zhao Hai knew that the martial arts of beastmen and humans were very different. Evidently, humans couldn’t teach soul fusion-related techniques to beastmen children, thus, Zhao Hai wanted to select a teacher from the tribe.

Alaes and Alea suddenly knelt down in front of Zhao Hai, with the former proclaiming loudly, “O great magician, your heart is as wide as the prairie itself, and your power is as omnipotent as the Beast G.o.d. Your knowledge is even greater than prophets, and you are as kind as the Mother River. Please be at ease, for we will surely handle what you have asked of us well.” After those words, the 2 of them kowtowed to Zhao Hai 3 times.

Zhao Hai didn’t expect that they would act this way. He waved his hand before Blockhead and Rockhead held both of them up. Zhao Hai looked at the 2 of them and said, “Remember that while you are my slaves, I am different from other humans. In here, you and humans are equals, but you must never betray me. If you do, I will have you become a part of my undead army.”

Alaes bowed down and said, “Benevolent master, please relax. Once a beastman acknowledges a lord, it will never change for life.”

Zhao Hai nodded, “Also, do not forget that the tribe is already no more. Tell your people to get used to the life around here as soon as possible. If there’s any a.s.sistance you require, just find any of the people you see in this meeting. That reminds me, do you still have your tribe’s friends.h.i.+p flag?”

Alaes nodded, “We still do. Do you need it, master?”

Zhao Hai nodded, “Bring it to me after a while. I need friends.h.i.+p flags in order to do business on the prairie.” It was something Zhao Hai had thought up all of a sudden. The Big-bellied Pig Tribe’s friends.h.i.+p flag which Spiel had given him had garnered a lot of positive feelings from a lot of beastmen, which made the importance of such flags clear to Zhao Hai. Now that Alaes himself was his, using his flag was even less of a problem.

Alaes nodded immediately, “Relax, my master. I will immediately bring it to you after I return.”

Zhao Hai nodded, “Alright, sit down. Remember to call me young master. Didn’t I tell you that already?” Alaes and Alea both heeded with a sound before sitting down.

Zhao Hai turned to Greene and the others and said, “Seyer is the martial arts teacher, and there will be another one from the large-horned raging bulls, which should be enough for the time being. If Seyer has matters to attend to, have Blockhead or Rockhead take care of it. However, both of them are still primarily about martial training. When it comes to the magic teacher, I pick Baphay. Even though he’s become an undead creature and his level was decreased by a lot, he should be able to manage. He was once a level 9 mage after all.”

Maylin and the others didn’t want to let an undead creature teach the children, but there was no other way. They had no suitable candidates right now. However, having Baphay act as a teacher wouldn’t be too big of a deal. Beastmen couldn’t learn magics, so Baphay only had to teach the children how to react to magical attacks.

Once Zhao Hai saw that no one had anything to say, he continued, “Making meals won’t be an issue. Select 2 women from the large-horned tribe, and another 2 women from among the slaves. Teaching the kids about reading and writing will be more difficult. Oh right. We can let Orloba try his hand at that. He can teach them about words and mathematics, which should be possible. What do you think, granny Maylin?”

Maylin felt that this was the only way. They didn’t have a lot of people at their disposal right now. Maylin could do it, but she didn’t have the time for it. They could only do as Zhao Hai suggested.

Once he confirmed that there were no objections, Zhao Hai spoke to Greene and Kun Zheng, “Grandpa Greene, grandpa Kun Zheng, I’ll leave these matters to you both. We’re heading back to the prairie. Contact me if you need anything. Alaes, bring me the friends.h.i.+p flag.”

Alaes and Alea heeded with a sound and left. Zhao Hai spoke to Maylin, “Beastmen mostly eat meat. They will not get used to our eating habits right now. Their lifestyle will have to be changed little by little as well. Keep an eye on this, granny.” Maylin nodded. Just then, Cai-Er told him that the blood hawk had returned.