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Wang Yi had returned to Anyi, where he had already begun taking over the relevant affairs. After cross-checking their accounts one more time regarding the recent military campaign in Hedong with Fei Qian, the two men each drafted their respective memorials and submitted them to the court.
Most of Wei Ji's assets and real estate holdings were located near Anyi. This time around, the bulk of them essentially ended up benefiting Wang Yi.
There was little that could be done about it, however. Fei Qian could not possibly relocate himself to Anyi, so the assets had been converted into cash and grain, which were now being shipped over to Pingyang.
In addition, the various craftsmen, tenant households, and even a considerable number of maids and servant women previously registered under Wei Ji's name were all sent along as well...
The commandery troops from Xihe could not remain stationed here indefinitely either, and they too began their journey back. Before departing, in addition to the standard provisions and fodder, they made repeated earnest requests. In the end, they left in high spirits, carrying away two complete sets of heavy armored equipment.
This matter left Fei Qian with a faint sense of being stirred in his heart, yet for the moment he could not quite grasp the key point. He pondered it for a long while, but the sudden flash of insight that had appeared seemed to slip away like a loach burrowing into the mud of a paddy field—no matter how he tried, he could not catch hold of it with his hands.
He decided to set it aside for now.
With craftsmen now available under his command, the progress of agricultural work advanced significantly. Various pieces of equipment and tools began to be produced in a steady stream, and they were immediately distributed into the hands of the common people.
For Fei Qian, however, certain items required greater caution at present. At least, some of the more advanced and practical plows he had seen on the Huang family estate in Xiangyang were things he did not dare to introduce just yet.
For the time being, he would make do with whatever was available and use what they had.
Huang Dou had remained focused on the production of armor, weapons, and related implements in Bei Qu, and he was already stretched thin with no time to spare. If only he had requested a few more master craftsmen to accompany him when he left Jingxiang back then...
Unfortunately, in this world, there was no such thing as being able to foresee and prepare for every single matter perfectly.
Just like Jia Qu right now, who sat before Fei Qian with an expression that was both crying and laughing at the same time, looking utterly aggrieved and frustrated. "My lord! On this matter, your servant truly feels powerless!"
His tone was so full of resentment that it genuinely resembled the classic line from later theatrical dramas: "Your servant cannot do it!" Fei Qian nearly burst out laughing. He quickly rubbed his nose with his hand, coughed a couple of times, and only then managed to compose himself somewhat before asking, "Shuliang, what exactly is the issue?"
Jia Qu had no choice but to explain the troublesome situation he was currently facing...
In this period of reconstruction, with everything in ruins waiting to be rebuilt—especially here in Pingyang—the place was practically one enormous construction site.
Inside the city, roads needed to be reorganized and old houses cleared away.
Outside the city, irrigation channels required dredging once more, and existing farmland needed to be plowed anew.
Within the camps, grain and fodder had to be distributed and allocated, while new supplies were being received.
A vast number of administrative tasks demanded handling, and a huge volume of data and documents required verification. There were not enough personnel available to assist, nor sufficient clerks to manage the related affairs. Under these circumstances, they could only rely on their own efforts to cultivate talent by teaching the most basic literacy and numeracy. This allowed some of the simplest routine tasks to be shouldered by soldiers at various levels...
Therefore, aside from hastily producing a batch of wooden plaques for emergency use, the first group of basic-level officers in the army—from squad leaders upward—were gathered together. Every afternoon, before the evening meal, they would engage in study sessions.
This could be considered the rudimentary prototype of the simplest military academy ever established by Fei Qian during the Han dynasty.
There were only two instructors: Ma Yue and Jia Qu.
Ma Yue was still relatively young and had not yet fully grasped the deeper nuances of this undertaking. Nevertheless, he readily took on the role of a basic instructor, beginning to teach the simplest things—such as the numerals from one to ten, or common characters like those for "grain," "ox," "horse," "sheep," and so on.
Ma Yue's teaching method... well, it basically involved no real explanation at all. He would simply write the number or character he intended to teach onto a piece of white cloth, hang it up, tell everyone how to read it, briefly explain what it meant, and that was it—there was no "and then."
As for the students participating in the lessons, when they used twigs to draw on the ground, whether the strokes for a character went from left to right or from bottom to top, whether the character for "ox" ended up looking ornate with extra flourishes or plain without them—Ma Yue largely paid no attention to such details...
Jia Qu's responsibilities, by contrast, were somewhat more complex. Building upon the foundation laid by the former, he had to teach the most elementary addition and subtraction, along with practical applications of the written characters. Trouble was therefore inevitable...
Jia Qu would ask, "What is one plus one?"
The handful of squad leaders who had somewhat mastered the numbers from one to ten would reply, "Two."
Jia Qu would nod in satisfaction: "Very good. Then what is one plus two?"
The squad leaders would answer quickly as well: "Three."
Jia Qu would continue: "Excellent. Now, what about two plus one?"
The squad leaders would respond: "Four."
"..." Jia Qu's face would instantly darken, his expression falling.
The squad leaders were all sharp individuals. They immediately realized they had given the wrong answer and tried to salvage the situation: "Or perhaps it equals five?" Seeing that Jia Qu's complexion had not improved, they would then chime in chaotically one after another—
"It's two!"
"Five—no, six!"
...
These were still the relatively intelligent ones, at least those who had first learned the numbers from one to ten. Many others had not even mastered the ten numerals after three or four days.
Jia Qu truly could not bear it any longer and had come running to Fei Qian to vent his grievances.
This was indeed a genuine problem. For people encountering arithmetic for the first time, there was a necessary process of moving from concrete objects to abstract symbols. Adding physical items one by one posed no difficulty for them, but once those tangible objects were removed from view and they had to rely solely on mental imagery, very few could directly form an abstract answer.
"Have them use counting rods," Fei Qian said after careful consideration, addressing Jia Qu. "Shuliang, go and tell them what kind to make. Let them find the materials themselves—whether twigs or straw, anything will do to serve as their own counting rods. Once they have the rods in hand, they should gradually become more proficient... We must take it one step at a time..."
It could only be done step by step.
Jia Qu nodded as well and said nothing more. Matters of this sort could only be handled in this manner. He cupped his hands in respect and then took his leave.
Fei Qian watched Jia Qu depart and let out a long sigh in his heart. Both Jia Qu and Ma Yue were young men, and it was only because of the severe shortage of personnel at present that they had reluctantly agreed to instruct these big-headed soldiers...
Moreover, neither of them was particularly enthusiastic about it.
In this Han dynasty era, the protection of intellectual property was, in many respects, far better than in later ages!
Was Jia Qu really complaining merely because the problem of "two plus one" could not be answered correctly? In later workplace settings, when subordinates went to their superiors to pour out their troubles, was it truly just for the sake of complaining?
Heh.
Knowledge was money, after all!
To expect these scholar-gentry families—or those who could be called the vested interests in the realm of knowledge—to voluntarily relinquish the advantages they held in their hands, all for the benefit of thousands upon thousands of people?
It was difficult indeed.
Across the entire great Han realm, only members of the scholar-gentry, or those in the close service of certain scholar-gentry figures, had the opportunity to learn characters. Ninety-nine percent of the population remained illiterate.
For Fei Qian, this situation was no less challenging than asking someone who had never encountered arithmetic before to solve the problem of "two plus one"...