Three Kingdoms: Start by buying a governor.

At this moment, Shen Wansan brought over several books.

Liu Ce took it and handed it to Cai Yong: "Father-in-law, this is an introductory textbook that I compiled. Please take a look."

Cai Yong took it and first looked at the first book—the Three Character Classic.

"At birth, people are inherently good. Their natures are similar, but their habits differ..."

Cai Yong read it softly, his eyes growing brighter and brighter. "Excellent! It's simple and easy to understand, catchy, and full of wisdom! This is an excellent textbook for elementary education!"

Let's look at the second book – the Thousand Character Classic.

"Heaven and earth were dark and yellow, the universe was vast and boundless..."

Cai Yong exclaimed in admiration, "Not a single word is repeated, yet it encompasses a vast range of topics; its literary talent is outstanding! Bo Lue, you are a true genius!"

Liu Ce blushed and silently said to himself: I'm sorry, everyone, I'm just borrowing your masterpieces.

Cai Yong then read the third book—"Pinyin Zhuyin".

"This is..." he asked, puzzled.

Liu Ce quickly explained, "This is a method of phonetic notation. Each symbol represents a pronunciation. Children learn pinyin first, then recognize characters, which is twice as effective. By using these symbols to mark the pronunciation of characters, children can learn to recognize characters and read books on their own, without needing a teacher to teach them one by one."

He demonstrated: "For example, the character '天' (tiān) is pronounced 'ti-an'. When you spell it out, that's the pronunciation of '天'."

Then I spelled out a few more words using pinyin.

Cai Yong was a master of phonetics; he could understand it immediately upon hearing it.

He tried spelling out a few words, then exclaimed excitedly, "Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant! This makes learning to read so much easier! Before, teaching children to read relied entirely on rote memorization, but now with pinyin as an aid, the efficiency is increased several times over!"

The fourth book is "Basic Arithmetic Tables".

Cai Yong flipped through the book and saw the strange symbols: "This is..."

"These are numerical symbols. They are simpler than Chinese numerals, faster to write, and easier to calculate."

Liu Ce, without batting an eye, said, "My son-in-law's self-created 'Bo Lue Numbers,' starting from 0, 1, 2, 3...9, are simple and easy to remember. Combined with addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division multiplication tables, learning arithmetic becomes twice as effective."

Cai Yong looked at the books for a long time, then suddenly grabbed Liu Ce's hand, tears streaming down his face: "Bo Lue! I thank you on behalf of the people of the world! These four books are invaluable treasures for the enlightenment of all people! If they are widely disseminated, their educational impact will be no less than that of Confucius! You are ushering in an era of peace for all generations!"

Embarrassed by the praise, Liu Ce quickly changed the subject: "Father-in-law, I would like to divide the village school into three classes: a primary school class to teach literacy, pinyin, and arithmetic; a classics class to teach classics such as the Analects and the Classic of Filial Piety; and a skills class to teach basic agricultural knowledge, carpentry fundamentals, and craftsmanship."

Cai Yong was taken aback: "This..."

Liu Ce said seriously, "It's no harm for children to learn some practical skills. Besides, the skills class is not mandatory. Those who want to learn can come, and those who don't want to learn can go to the classics class."

Cai Yong exclaimed, "Bo Lue's thinking is thorough. This move not only educates the children but also brings stability to the displaced people. Now, the people of Youzhou are all hoping that you will stay and govern for a long time."

Liu Ce chuckled inwardly: This village school is not only a place of education, but also my talent pool and the foundation of the people's hearts. Moreover—what's free is often the most valuable. If the people benefit from this, what will I do in the future? Won't they support me?

He immediately took Cai Yong to the governor's mansion and told Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui, Xun Yu and others about setting up a village school, asking them to cooperate fully.

Everyone agreed.

Education is a major issue, related to long-term stability and security.

Xun Yu was in charge of site selection and planning; Fang Xuanling was in charge of resource allocation; Du Ruhui was in charge of teacher management; and Cai Yong was in charge of textbook compilation and scholar recruitment...

The education cause in Youzhou began in a great and vigorous manner.

……

Time flies, and a year has passed in the blink of an eye.

April, 186 AD, the third year of Zhongping.

The changes in Youzhou that year were so great that even its own mother wouldn't recognize it.

Let's start with the ordinary people. Walking down the streets of Zhuoxian, all you see are people with rosy cheeks and upright postures. The wrinkles on their faces have all smoothed out with smiles—no wonder, life is good, their mood is cheerful, and their wrinkles have diminished.

The market was so bustling it could practically lift the roof off. Vendors selling flatbread, making farm tools, weaving cloth, running restaurants… business was booming. The cries of vendors, the sounds of haggling, and children's laughter mingled together, carrying for miles. A merchant from Luoyang, seeing this, exclaimed in astonishment, "This is even more lively than the West Market of Luoyang!"

The agricultural sector has undergone a complete transformation.

The potato and sweet potato harvest astonished everyone.

Potatoes? Those things are as big as fists, and you have to be careful with the hoe when digging them up, lest you break them. An acre can yield dozens of bushels, piled up in the yard like a small mountain. People are happy to see potatoes now—they're filling, and you can steam them, boil them, roast them, you name it.

Sweet potatoes are even more amazing; their vines climb all over the ground, and when you dig up the soil, you see clusters of plump red potatoes. Roasted, they're incredibly sweet and juicy; steamed, they're soft, sticky, and fragrant. Every child has one, their mouths covered in a black paste. Now, the people smile whenever they see sweet potatoes—they'll never go hungry again!

Hybrid rice is equally impressive; planted in the paddy fields, it looks like a green carpet, rippling in the wind. At harvest time, the heavy ears of rice bend low. The harvested grains are a gleaming white, and when cooked, their aroma fills the entire street. An old farmer, holding a handful of the new rice, exclaims with tears streaming down his face, "I've never seen such good rice in my life!"

The people had never seen so many high-yield crops before. They were so excited that they knelt down and kowtowed to thank the Marquis of Champion for bestowing "divine food".

The fields in Youzhou today are no longer the desolate, overgrown fields they were last year.

The fields are neatly arranged, and the irrigation ditches are straight, making irrigation very convenient. In the past, five households shared one ox, but now many families have bought their own oxen, and iron plows can turn the soil three times faster than manual labor.

The refugees hummed tunes as they worked, and when they got tired, they would nibble on a roasted sweet potato, muttering, "The Marquis of Champion is truly a living bodhisattva; this life is better than any dream!"

The grain in the warehouse was piled higher than the city wall.

Shen Wansan happily calculated every day: "My lord, this year Youzhou has had a bumper harvest of grain! It's more than enough to be self-sufficient, and we can even sell it to Jizhou and Qingzhou, making a fortune!"

Liu Ce was also pleased: With grain in hand, I have nothing to fear.

Next, let's look at the population and public security.

The millions of refugees who came to Youzhou are now all registered citizens. It's all clearly written on their household registration books. Their children can attend village schools, and those who want to join the army can just sign up—each battalion recruits year-round, and the benefits are excellent.

The market in Zhuoxian County was so crowded that your feet barely touched the ground.

The vendors selling flatbread, making farm tools, weaving cloth, blacksmithing, and selling wine... their businesses were booming. The powerful families who used to bully the displaced people had long been subdued by the Imperial Guards—some were exiled, and others obediently handed over the land they had seized. Now, no one dared to act arrogantly.

The grievance drum hanging at the entrance of the governor's mansion had been there for more than half a year, but it had never been sounded even once.

The drumhead is almost rusty.

Lu Bing complained to Liu Ce every day, "My lord, if no one beats the drum anymore, the brothers in Youzhou are getting bored out of their minds! How about... I find a few people to beat it?"

Liu Ce laughed and scolded, "Get lost! It's a good thing no one's complaining; it means the people are living in peace and prosperity!"