Chapter 29 Schooling system
--------The next day------
Since Landon couldn't start the mission until Tim came back, he decided to open his school today.
The adults could attend classes anytime of the day, due to the fact that some of them worked at morning shifts while others worked at afternoon shifts. Landon forbade anyone, especially the miners to work above 9pm in Baymard. Mining while using lamps air candles was still too dangerous in Landon's opinion.
The children on the other hand, had to attend only morning classes.
After training, he asked the knights to gather all the villagers around the town square in the central region. Even the miners and farmers had to attend, plus the alchamists and fishermen. Everybody!!
He looked at the large crowd and climbed up the podium in the city square in the central region.
"Citizens of Baymard. Within this past month and a half, history has been made here in this glorious city. The farmlands have bored food, the people are healthy and the town is growing steadily...Some of you have had steady wages from working in the various jobs in Baymard, and can now afford to feed your families. You all need to feel proud because, this is the result of your hardwork." Landon said
Everyone nodded and felt warm inside, especially those who had been working in factories and farmlands.
"As you all know, Baymard is no longer part of Arcadina. The empire has rejected us because in their eyes we the trash of Arcadina. The empire abandoned us and left us for dead. But do we need them?..No we don't. We will make our own empire and make them regret ever throwing us away."
As they listened, they blood began to boil. For years now, they had been requesting food and assistance from their former king, Landon's father, King Barn.
But what did he do? Absolutely nothing. He neglected them for years and left them to their hunger.
"The empire laughed at Baymard thinking that we would always remain weak and die from starvation....But, haven't we proven them wrong? It is my dream to make Baymard a paradise on earth for you all. We will progress mentally, physically and financially together. We will fight and trample on our enemies together... I promise to make the city a holy land to all who see it. Are you all with me? Are you all with me!!!? Landon asked loudly.
"Yes" They yelled passionately.
"Good....In future, I will offer up more jobs to you all allowing all of you to make as much money as you would like and live better lives than your current states.... But for this to happen, I need my people to become literate.... I will teach you all and allow you to further yourselves in the world. My people must not be looked down on by anyone in the empire. I will make you all leaders of tomorrow and Baymard, the promise land for all. This is my promise to you."
They were stunned. His highness was willing to teach them? Their hearts were filled with joy and gratitude towards Landon. Their children would become literate and smart like people in flourishing cities. They vowed hat they were going to seriously learn and develop Baymard alongside with Landon. They also wanted to witness history in the making.
Landon explained the schooling system to them and had everyone register for a session.
He had Lucius and the three Major general's, write out their names on parchment papers. Lucius wrote down the names of all children, while the three generals Registered the adults. Gary registered adults for morning classes, Josh for early afternoon classes and Mark for late afternoon classes.
Registering, allowed Landon to know how many people would attend the classes daily. Just like that, the first day of class was set for tomorrow morning.
He also told them about the slaves and refugees that would come at the end of the month, and got 100 volunteered men and women who would aid in building houses for them.
He discussed the pay and also promised to provide them with food and guards while they were working. He wrote down their names and told them that they would start the next day.
And finally, he gathered 350 men and women in advance for the building and development of cannons. He also wrote down their names and told them to begin work Monday next week, since Tim would come on Friday.
Off the bat, he decided to let most of the women work with making glass, as that did not involve strenous digging for ores in the mines.
Although women could do the job, men had more raw strength and were just faster than women.
On earth, women could work in alot of jobs due to the progress of technology. There were machines that dug up the ground and carried raw materials for people. All one needed to do, was to control these machines.
But now, in this ancient and wayward era, there was no way he would allow women carry heavy stones and rocks all day. They'd get sick and damage their organs and bodies. Landon wasn't risking it.
But he could allow them to be a part of putting sand in sacs and letting the men load them unto carts that would transport them to the glass making factory. The women could also become alchemists or scientists if you will.
They could also weld and mold the cannons in a giant furnace...but he would never allow them to work in the mines.
The women who signed up were happy and excited. Women in this era only cooked, took care of their families, sewed, farmed, mold mudbricks or became maids for rich households. Even working as a blacksmith's apprentice was not allowed.
They were bored with these jobs and wanted something new, but now they could. And the best thing was, they got to earn the same salary as a man.
In this era, even in the same profession, men earned more than women. For example, In the same backery or farming jobs.
Even if a woman did exactly the same thing as a man, she'd still get lower wages compared to that man. They usually got frustrated because they too have families to take care of. Some of them were widows and some had husbands who were became bedridden with illness.
They became the bread winner in those cases, and had to support their slhusbands and children. But this era made things too hard for them.
Over the past month, Landon had been teaching Lucy, his mom Kim, Grace and little Momo math. Likewise, Lucy and Kim also taught Grace and little Momo how to write, read, count numbers, and also do basic addition and subtraction.
In Landon's opinion, Grace was very intelligent and had a sharp mind. With more time, Grace would definitely become a master in mathematics. In the future, he would let his mom teach math 2, while Grace thought math 1. But not for now....she had to continue learning properly.
Landon went down to the Alchemy department and transported a huge stack if chalk to the classrooms in the upper region.
Each student would be given 2 packs of 12 stack chalk sticks (24 pieces of chalk in total) and 2 slate-boards for free at the beginning of the term.
Once they lost or finished their school supplies, they could buy extra supplies from the school store or the local stores in the central region.