Is this cheat code from Bika? Just do it!

"Although the lord is very kind, opening a school without charging fees is simply a money-losing business. I think no one would do a money-losing business, so it is normal for the lord to charge fees, and I support the lord charging tuition fees."

Johnny, holding his money bag, spoke, and the others nodded in agreement.

Obviously, they all thought so.

They fully support the school charging tuition fees.

Because they didn't want the lord to lose money because of them.

"Johnny! Johnny!!"

Just then, Basilin's panting voice came from outside the door.

"It's Baslin."

Johnny's home is on the fourth floor of a building, which is the top floor.

Basilin had already run all the way from the school, and now he had climbed four flights of stairs, so he was naturally exhausted.

"What's wrong, Basilin?"

Johnny wiped away his tears and asked.

Basilin entered the room, sat down in a solid wood chair, picked up a glass on the table, drank the tea in one gulp, rested for a moment, and then said, "I have some great news to tell you. It was said by the lord himself, about the tuition fees."

"About tuition?"

Upon hearing this, everyone's attention was drawn.

Johnny listened with some trepidation.

"This was said by the lord himself! It's about the school tuition."

Everyone was listening intently.

"Free for everyone!"

"I speak with utmost solemnity," Basil said.

"What?! Free?!"

Upon hearing those two words, Johnny immediately cried out in surprise.

His shock was exactly the same as that of Baslin, who had just heard the news from Link.

151. Advanced City

When the exciting news spread like a spring breeze throughout every corner of the North—that the soon-to-be-built school would be open to the public free of charge, allowing children to study without worry—the entire North was as if a stone had been thrown in, creating ripples across the landscape.

Everyone was so shocked by the sudden good news that they were speechless.

Knowledge, once an unattainable treasure belonging only to a select few, is now being unconditionally and freely imparted to the children of ordinary people!

This is simply a fantasy, unbelievable!

"This...what have we done to deserve such an honor?" An old farmer's hands trembled, tears welling in his eyes. "The lord is using his own money to benefit us common people!"

“No, this won’t do. How can we accept such generosity from our lord with a clear conscience?” Another villager said worriedly. “If this continues, won’t our lord suffer a great loss, and all the benefits will go to us commoners?”

"Yes, what have we done to deserve such a favor?" the crowd echoed, their hearts filled with gratitude and unease.

Immediately, many ordinary people mustered up their courage and submitted petitions to Link, pleading with him to reverse his decision and cancel the free school policy, or at least charge a symbolic fee, which would make them feel better.

In their view, their children are not worthy of such nobility and honor if they can learn valuable knowledge without paying a penny. They believe that their hearts will never be at peace if they do not pay tuition.

When Link heard the people's opinions, he was stunned for a moment, then couldn't help but laugh in anger.

“I’m promoting knowledge for free, and they still think I’ll suffer a huge loss and lose a lot of money.” He shook his head, feeling both touched and helpless. “In the end, it’s because the people are too loyal to me and don’t want to see their lord suffer a loss.”

Faced with such a loyal populace, Link felt a profound sense of responsibility. He knew that knowledge was the key force for changing destiny and driving social progress.

Therefore, he decided to personally issue a statement to dispel public doubts and anxieties.

“Fellow citizens of the North,” Link stood on the high platform, his gaze firm yet gentle, “you believe that knowledge is precious and noble, and should not be taught to you for free. However, I have something to say about this.”

He paused, then continued, “Knowledge is indeed valuable, but it is not noble. Anyone, regardless of their background, has the right to learn and pursue it. The imperial nobles outside monopolize knowledge and instill in you the wrong idea that knowledge is noble and should not be learned by lowly people. However, I, Link, believe that no one is born lowly.”

“A person’s worth should not be judged by their social status, but by their inner character and aspirations!” Link’s voice was firm and powerful. “Knowledge should be recognized and used by more people to benefit their homes and change their destiny.”

"Therefore, I opened schools so that children can learn knowledge and understand a completely new worldview and values. This is something I have been committed to." He looked at the audience with deep emotion. "After graduating, the children who enter the school will work in the government departments of the North. They will use their knowledge to better serve me and the North and further build our beautiful homeland."

Link's words were written down and posted in prominent locations in various residential communities in the North.

Moreover, a clerk was placed nearby to read aloud to the city's residents, ensuring that everyone could hear, understand, and remember it.

Link stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window on the top floor of the building, looking down at the prosperous scene of buildings everywhere in the North, but his heart was filled with worry.

Although people's quality of life has improved significantly and they are living very happily—he dares to say that if you take any person from the Northern Territory and compare them to the nobles outside the territory, the nobles' standard of living would be worse than that of an ordinary person from the Northern Territory.

However, people's level of education is still too low, so the masses remain ignorant.

This ignorance, coupled with the general high degree of loyalty the people have for Link, has led to the people of the North being basically blindly loyal to Link.

The best loyalty in the world is blind loyalty, because it is pure and unwavering; but the worst loyalty is also blind loyalty, because it is blind and rigid.

For rulers, while blindly loyal people are easy to manage and convenient to govern, Link will inevitably need a large number of talented individuals in the process of building up the North and promoting social progress.

Can someone who is rigid and inflexible be considered a true talent?

He may be talented, but he can only be considered mediocre.

A city and a regime inevitably need a large number of mediocre talents to work hard and maintain stability; but at the same time, they also need true geniuses to explore, innovate, and drive development.

Otherwise, if only mediocre talents are available, the North will only be able to stagnate and remain unchanged.

Link certainly doesn't want the North to stagnate; he wants it to keep progressing, endlessly progressing without end.

He knew that only knowledge could change all of this, and only education could cultivate truly talented people.

"I hope my efforts will be effective and that we can truly build an advanced and progressive city."

Link prayed silently, then got back to work on getting the children in the North enrolled in school.

There are about five or six hundred children in the city, around twelve or thirteen years old.

However, when enrollment began, more than a thousand people applied, including some boys and girls who were around fifteen or sixteen years old.

However, there are far fewer people over the age of seventeen or eighteen.

People in this era married early, and fifteen or sixteen years old was considered an adult.

Therefore, the fact that quite a few fifteen- or sixteen-year-old boys and girls enrolled was already somewhat beyond Link's expectations.

If those over seventeen or eighteen years old didn't all have jobs in the North and couldn't spare the time, they would also enroll in school.

After all, in this era where knowledge can change one's destiny, who wouldn't want to learn more and improve their competitiveness?

A student body of over a thousand is a bit large for Link, but thankfully, the expanded school is well-planned and has plenty of buildings and classrooms.

Therefore, these classrooms are still able to accommodate more than a thousand students.

The start of the school term is tentatively set for one week from now.

The reason for the one-week extension is due to the printing of textbooks and the quantity of teaching materials.

Link also used the movable type printing technique of his ancestors to print textbooks, but this took time after all.

Moreover, some of these are cultural textbooks about the customs and history of various places around the world, compiled by teachers in the city, led by Basilin.

The writing and printing of these textbooks will require working overtime to complete, and it will take at least a week to resolve the issues with the books.

Link plans to first teach the children academic subjects, enabling them to recognize characters and read; then teach them basic knowledge such as elementary school mathematics; and once the children have solidified their academic level in elementary school, they can be taught more advanced subjects such as physics and chemistry.

This period also served as a buffer time for the teachers recruited by the school to thoroughly understand and study the knowledge of physics and chemistry.

Only when school teachers understand and master this knowledge can they better teach children.

Link also gave special instructions to Tsubaki Miyajima and her daughter, telling them that they could come to him anytime if they had any problems or needs.

After all, the school-related matters are now handled by Tsubaki Miyajima and her daughter, and their work is directly related to the school's future and development.

The first day of school has finally arrived.

After school, Johnny excitedly picked up his son and took him home.

"Johnny, you're back from picking your kid up from school." The neighbors all looked at Johnny with envy, as if they saw hope for the future.

“Yes.” Johnny smiled sheepishly, unable to suppress his pride.

He knew how difficult it was for his son to be able to go to school, and he knew that as a father, he should be proud of his son.

"Little John, what did you learn at school? Tell Uncle Hans about it."

Just then, another neighbor, holding a lollipop, spoke to little John.

He knew that although he couldn't go to school, he could learn about school life and learning through Little John.

"The teachers at school taught us some simple characters and taught us to recognize them."

John spoke somewhat reservedly, but his eyes sparkled with excitement and curiosity.

He knew this was a major turning point in his life, and the first step he would take towards the hall of knowledge.

“Johnny, let little John tell us about it. I have a feeling that people in the future can’t live without education,” Hans said to Johnny, his tone full of expectation and longing.

Johnny glanced at his neighbors and saw a thirst for knowledge on their faces.

Johnny also had the idea of ​​having his son explain the simple words he learned at school that day, and now the neighbors were talking about it too.

Suddenly, an idea popped into Johnny's mind: "Perhaps, we can do this."

"Ahem, today, our community's joint learning and teaching association is officially established!" Johnny cleared his throat and announced loudly, "Now, let's welcome Johnny's son, John, and Martin's son, Fidani. They will share what they learned at school today with us! Please give them a round of applause!"

In a small open-air activity area within the community, Johnny and Fedani sat among the crowd, listening to the enthusiastic applause and cheers around them.

They clapped enthusiastically, their faces beaming with pride and joy.

"Little John, what did you learn at school today? Tell us!"

"Yes, tell us about it!" the adults urged, their eyes filled with a thirst for knowledge.

John and Martin, aged ten and twelve respectively, looked somewhat reservedly at the adults whose eyes held a thirst for knowledge.

But with the guidance and encouragement of adults, they mustered their courage and began to write and draw on a small blackboard behind them...

"Today, we learned the twenty-three letters that make up a font at school."

John and Martin, holding their notebooks from school, began to speak haltingly but earnestly.

For them, children have a strong learning ability, and they study and memorize very diligently at school.

Therefore, they learn and master even the simple things taught in schools very quickly.

"So that's what words are made up of!"

Listening to John and Martin's somewhat hesitant explanations, the adults took out their notebooks and pencils from the newly opened stationery store and began to try to write down and memorize the letters.

They knew this was their first and most important step toward the hall of knowledge.

The school didn't teach much today, but looking at their notes and recalling what they had learned in class, the two little "teachers" still managed to stammer as they spent some time explaining it to the adults.

"Okay, that's about it. I forgot how to pronounce some of the letters, but the teacher will explain it when we get back to school tomorrow. I'll explain it to everyone tomorrow night."

John thought about it carefully for a moment, and then said.

"Alright, that's enough for today. Everyone, go home, it's time for dinner," Hans suggested. "I have a suggestion, let's all cook and eat together. We can share what we've learned today while we eat together."

"I think this is a good suggestion!" Soon, everyone agreed.

They have a strong desire for and pursuit of knowledge.

Although John and Martin are just two children, they have already earned the respect and recognition of adults by learning knowledge.

Therefore, adults are also willing to put aside their adult status and airs and humbly learn from children.

The adults with children were admired and envied by their childless neighbors. They would get together and have their children tell them what they had learned at school that day, and learn and grow together.

The things the children learn at school are taught to the adults in their families and to neighbors who don't have children.

Teaching and learning in this way every day not only solidifies children's knowledge base and improves their learning and expression abilities, but also allows adults to learn and progress together and keep up with the times.

In this way, the learning progress of adults who did not go to school was the same as that of children who went to school!

They were all immersed in the ocean of knowledge, enjoying the joy and satisfaction that learning brought.

And so, a wave of enthusiasm for learning swept across the North!