Chapter 491: The Future Deputy Minister of Education (II)

Shangguan Wan blushed and muttered, “How can I be a teacher with so little knowledge?”

Jiang Pengji replied, “You’re very intelligent. You just have to teach simple knowledge. You can certainly do it.”

“But…” Looking at Jiang Nongqin who was sitting beside her, she mumbled, “I prefer to be like Sister Nongqin…”

Along the journey to the north, Shangguan Wan had encountered many things that she had not been exposed to before.

This made her want to protect herself more with strength.

Jiang Pengji could understand her thoughts, so she did not force her.

“It’s right for you to do that, but your martial art skills are still lacking. It’s dangerous if you’re on the battlefield. Why don’t we do this? You’ll teach in school for a period of time and I’ll assign you a martial arts master. I’ll allow you to fight on the battlefield when you’ve finished your apprenticeship.”

Shangguan Wan thought about it and agreed with a smile.

Jiang Pengji secretly frowned, thinking that she would insist that Li Yun be stricter with his standards when the time came.

If her martial arts skills could not reach a certain level, she would not be released.

What kind of a place was the battlefield?

One would die if they were not careful. Shangguan Wan still needed time to mature.

After catching up, Shangguan Wan could not help but think of the streets and houses that she had seen along the way.

She thought about it and said emotionally, “I’m deeply aware of how chaotic the situation is in the north while travelling from Hejian to Xiangyang with the troops. Under such circumstances, the people under your governance can still live and work in peace. The sight of spring ploughing is extraordinarily lively too. Sigh, the people of Xiangyang are blessed to have such an excellent official like you.”

Jiang Pengji was at a loss whether to cry or to laugh. She replied, “You’re buttering me up… Your flattery is about to crisp my bones.”

She ordered the small kitchen in the district headquarters to prepare some food for Shangguan Wan and Jiang Nongqin. The two of them had not eaten well along the way. They usually made do with cold and dry grains mixed with boiled ice water for their meals.

Smelling the tempting aroma of food, they did not care about their images and ate with abandon.

Jiang Pengji went to the government office and asked someone to call for Li Yun.

“I’ve found an apprentice for you,” she said.

Stunned, Li Yun hurriedly shook his head. “How can I be a teacher when I’m not skilled in martial arts?”

Jiang Pengji replied, “I’m not asking you to do it now. We’ll talk about this after we’ve completely taken Fengyi County. You just have to keep your mind on the war preparation for now. You can go for war when the preparation is complete… As for Wan’er, she’s a good student who’s eager to learn. You can just guide her occasionally in school. I forgot to mention that I’ve appointed Wan’er as the teacher in school.”

School?

Li Yun was momentarily puzzled. Qiguan Rang was dumbfounded as well. Since when did Xiangyang District have a school?

Jiang Pengji crossed her arms in front of her chest and added, “It’s a decision that I’ve just made, so I haven’t had time to discuss it with all of you.”

To be precise, she had only decided to build a school when Shangguan Wan showed up.

Qiguan Rang and Li Yun were speechless.

As the subordinates of a master who acted hastily, they felt exhausted.

Qiguan Rang knew that Jiang Pengji often caused trouble, but he knew that she was not a reckless person. Her every move was thought over with consideration.

He suddenly asked, “Why would you think of building a school?”

Jiang Pengji turned around and asked rhetorically, “Do you think that we have too few capable people?”

Scratching his head, Li Yun asked ingenuously, “But… can’t we recruit people? It isn’t easy to run a school, right?”

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Jiang Pengji rolled her eyes. Other matters could be postponed, but the school was related to the long-term development of the future.

“The people who are recruited won’t be as loyal and reliable as the talents we nurture ourselves. I’m powerless now. The real talents may not even be interested.” Jiang Pengji continued with amusement, “Do you know how Xiangyang District has become what it is today? You can ask Wen Zheng and the others about how worn out they were last year. If a group of capable people can be trained, we can save a lot of effort.”

There would never be an excess of talents, no matter when.

Jiang Pengji added, “They don’t have to be very learned, as long as they’re literate and able to tell a story.”

She planned to start nurturing elites when there were enough basic talents.

The former would produce the desired result in a very short period of time. On the other hand, the latter would take a long time, but it was beneficial for future development.

She understood that an abundance of talents was indispensable to a country’s prosperity. Elites who would act as the ‘brain’ were even more crucial.

However, it was too early to think about that now. She was going to take it step by step.

Qiguan Rang instantly figured out the gist of it.

Indeed, they did not lack top talents at the moment. They were short of the basic talents that could be used.

A higher building could only be built when the foundation was solid.

However… there wouldn’t be just one school. It should have a bigger scale than private academies. How much would that cost?

Qiguan Rang suddenly felt somewhat sorry for Xu Ke. If his lord was really building a school, Xu Ke had to do a budget.

Li Yun asked, “When will the school be built then?”

Jiang Pengji thought about it and replied, “It’ll be built after Fengyi County is besieged. There are spies who’ve gone there to investigate the situation. The Tsing Yi Army doesn’t know how to govern the place and they’re like stupid pigs. Not to mention that half of the population in such a big county is lost, it’s so desolate and poor that it’s even worse than a small district… It’ll take at least half a year and at most one year to restore it to how it was in the past… We’re considered to have established a solid footing when Fengyi County is stabilized.”

She was only a district magistrate or a county chief now. By rights, she had to obtain the permission of the royal family of Dongqing.

However, it did not matter. Whoever had the biggest fists would have the right to speak.

The chief of Fengyi County could fawn over and bend to the Tsing Yi Army, so he would listen to her obediently.

Jiang Pengji specially set up a barbecue party when Feng Jin and the others had returned.

Everyone could not help but be startled when they realized that there were two more women at the table. What was going on?

Feng Jin vaguely felt that one of them looked familiar, as if he had seen her somewhere.

“This is Jiang Nongqin. From now on, she’ll be fully in charge of the affairs of the female battalion,” Jiang Pengji introduced.

Luo Yue and Li Yun were stunned. Then, their gazes fell on Jiang Nongqin at the same time. They wondered in their minds, Is she Maiden Jiang?

Including the female troops who came with Jiang Nongqin, there were already more than 1200 people in the female battalion. It could manage to be considered as a battalion if more women joined and it could be regarded as an independent combat unit. According to the existing rules and such scale, the commander could be called a general or a lieutenant… Their lord actually appointed a woman as a general for real!

Meng Hun congratulated Jiang Nongqin who smiled back at him. “Please guide me from now on.”

Meng Hun replied with a smile, “I don’t deserve the honor. You’re able to take charge as the chief now too.”

Jiang Nongqin was quiet by nature. She did things in a low-key and honest manner. Meng Hun felt very satisfied and impressed once he worked with her.

Jiang Pengji fixed her gaze on Shangguan Wan and introduced, “This is Shangguan Wan. Before the school is built, she’ll be in charge of the affairs of the female staff in the government office.”

The female staff in the government office referred to the 20 or so women who were working as subordinates in the government office.

The things that they dealt with were not huge, but the details were very cumbersome. They helped Xu Ke to share a lot of the workload.

Shangguan Wan?

Li Yun glanced at his future student. Although she was quite tiny, her eyes were full of determination. She looked like someone who could endure hardship