My eunuch godfather

Chapter 90 Public Health Campaign

The literacy rate in our time is neither high nor low.

It is considered advanced because many ordinary people can recognize dozens or hundreds of characters and can write and draw.

It's considered low because most ordinary people can't recognize one or two thousand characters, or even three or four thousand, and are still considered illiterate.

Zhang Kun wouldn't be out of touch with reality; he would only teach the river workers and their children to recognize three or four thousand characters, and one or two thousand characters would be enough.

In addition to the literacy school, Zhang Kun also wanted Guangwenhao to compile new literacy teaching materials.

Incorporate "personal touches" into literacy textbooks, such as basic scientific knowledge and thinking skills.

Zhang Kun planned to invite Xu Guangqi and his disciple Sun Yuanhua to participate in this matter, as they had studied a great deal of Western learning and had a certain foundation in it.

In the 34th year of the Wanli reign, Xu Guangqi collaborated with Matteo Ricci to translate the first six books of Euclid's Elements.

The following year, Xu Guangqi's father passed away, and he returned to his hometown to observe the mourning period. During this time, he translated and finalized the "Measuring Methods".

After the mourning period ended, Xu Guangqi was reinstated and began to study the introduction of American crops, such as the book "Sweet Potato Treatise".

They are also researching local crops, such as rice being trial-planted in Tianjin.

Xu Guangqi was also very interested in Zhang Kun's cultivation of danbagu in the Western Hills of Beijing, and personally went to places like Yuhedu and stayed there for more than ten days.

If Zhang Kun hadn't had a eunuch godfather, the two would have sat down together for drinks and conversation, instead of just exchanging letters.

......

A new broom sweeps clean, and Zhang Kun's first act was to start with the public toilets, rather than suppressing bandits.

In Zhangjiawan and Hexiwu, suitable locations were selected, and land was requisitioned to build public toilets.

The public toilets are free, and the land acquisition costs are borne by Fengguhao's branches in both locations.

Correspondingly, Zhang Kun began to punish urination and defecation on the streets in both locations.

Anyone who dares to urinate or defecate on the road will be arrested and taken to the patrol office. Those with powerful connections can pay money to be released.

Those without powerful backers don't have to pay money; they just have to clean the ditches. They can only leave after they've cleaned five cubic meters of ditch!

The people of Zhangjiawan and Hexiwu generally supported Zhang Kun's first major initiative upon taking office.

Zhangjiawan and Hexiwu are located right next to the Grand Canal.

Besides the Grand Canal, there are also rivers such as the Xiao Taihou River, Liangshui River, and Feng River, so the capital city is not as short of water.

In some cases, ditches and waterways are available for you to relieve yourself.

Those who urinate or defecate on the road are either in a moment of panic or are shameless individuals.

Many of them were scoundrels and thugs; they were captured by Zhang Kun and forced to clean ditches, which everyone was happy to see.

What's more, Zhang Kun has built so many new public toilets and made them free for everyone to use, which is definitely a benevolent policy!

What no one expected was that the fire would burn even brighter and brighter:

Zhang Kun erected notices at various public toilets, asking people to fill in the depressions in their yards and remove the stagnant water.

If someone reports it and an inspection reveals that the depressions in your yard have not been filled in and the water has not been cleared, then...

Then they would be punished. Those with powerful connections would have to pay money, while those without would have to sweep the streets.

This is something that everyone finds incomprehensible:

Urinating or defecating on the road will bother others, but if there are depressions or puddles in your own yard, won't that bother others too?

"Gentlemen,"

The storyteller, hired by Zhang Kun, stood beside the notice board and repeatedly explained to the gathered crowd:

"This low-lying area easily floods when it rains, and the floodwater breeds mosquitoes, which in turn breed diseases..."

Alright, whatever the official says goes.

Those with money hired laborers, while those without money called on relatives, friends, and neighbors to scoop out the water and fill in the depressions.

A few days after this matter was resolved, a new notice was posted on the notice board:

All wells must be reported to the Inspection Department, and well covers must be made according to the size of the well opening, and the well opening must be covered when water is not being drawn.

The reason is that by covering the well opening, the well water is less likely to be polluted by birds, animals, mosquitoes, fallen leaves, dust, and the like.

If the patrol officers find a well opening that is not covered when no one is drawing water, then the patrol officers will be responsible for the consequences.

They will also be punished!

All you do is punish! Why does this new official like to make things difficult for people?!

Fortunately, not every household has a well, so most people can just stand by and watch.

Some malicious individuals even deliberately leave the well opening uncovered after drawing water.

The households that owned wells reported the matter to the patrol office, which quickly provided a solution:

Send people to install a flip-up well cover that will automatically close when not supported, and the cost will be borne by the inspection department.

At this point, everyone felt that although the new official liked to cause trouble, he was reasonable and not difficult to deal with.

Soon, another round of turmoil began:

A notice posted in the public restrooms requires all businesses to place covered waste bins next to their entrances.

If the shops are not large, several shops can share one waste bin to make it convenient for passersby to dispose of their trash.

The restaurant's garbage, apart from swill, should be placed in a separate bucket, or it can be thrown into the waste bin.

The inspection department will hire people to collect the trash cans once a day and check which shops do not have trash cans.

Those who don't run a shop at home certainly support this, but those who do run shops have a lot of worries.

However, not all shop owners objected; some felt that the inspectors' help in cleaning up the garbage saved them a lot of trouble.

......

Zhang Ye's private residence.

"Godfather,"

Zheng Anshi put down his rice bowl and asked Zhang Ye, puzzled:

"What is Sixty-Sixth Brother up to these days, running around Zhangjiawan and Hexiwu?"

Several elderly officials from the arresting officers' office and the patrol bureau came to find me, asking me to persuade my sixty-sixth brother.

"This kid's got some big ambitions!"

Zhang Ye had already realized that Zhang Kun was not only not making money from what he was doing, but was even losing a lot of money.

He was probably putting his own governance strategy into practice, so he didn't explain much to Zheng Anshi, but instead asked:

"I remember Old Sixty-Six gave them a raise, and quite a lot, didn't he?"

"yes,"

Zheng Anshi's ears burned, and he nodded to Zhang Ye in acknowledgment:

"The sixty-sixth brother didn't want his share of the usual allowance; he distributed it all to those below him."

Zhang Kun, a powerful officer in charge of arresting criminals stationed in Zhangjiawan and Hexiwu under the Western Division of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, held considerable authority.

They could receive about 4200 taels of silver per year, or 350 taels per month, which was equivalent to the salary of all the imperial guards and spies.

Moreover, there were also patrol inspectors from the patrol inspection office, and officers from the arresting officers' offices, including the captains and captains of the arresting officers.

After receiving their customary gifts, they also had to set aside a portion as a tribute to their superiors.

Zhang Kun not only distributed the usual rewards but also refused any tributes, significantly improving the actual treatment of the Patrol Inspectorate and the Arresting Thousand-Household Office.

"Those who receive a higher monthly salary will have to do more work. Anyone who can't handle it can resign!"

Zhang Ye said to Zheng Anshi in a deep voice:

"These people don't want to follow you, so why bother with them?"

If they come to you again with any questions, just tell them, and next time tell Old Sixty-Six their names!

Zheng Anshi was transferred to the Flag Guard, where he was put in charge of the guards, a position with little real power and little lucrative reward.

The only advantage was that it allowed one to frequently appear before the emperor and become a familiar face.

It will be of great benefit to future promotions, but for now, you just need to persevere.

Therefore, many of Zheng Anshi's old subordinates did not follow him to the Flag Guard, but chose to stay in Zhangjiawan and Hexiwu.

"yes!"

Upon hearing Zhang Ye's arrangement, Zheng Anshi quickly nodded in agreement:

"From now on, I will no longer interfere in Zhangjiawan and Hexiwu."