Chapter 219: Going to the Banquet

Chapter 219: Going to the Banquet
In the blink of an eye, it’s almost February, in the time after the new year, Irene will be her own “education plan” carefully organized, after Paul’s official approval, she began to start the first of the three fires of the new official.

Before the State Council’s investment in education has been sporadic, in Irene’s strong suggestion, education funds as a formal expenditure was independent, with the military, industry, agriculture and listed as one of the four major financial expenditures.

Starting with the town of Lakewood, John Morrison, the original dean of Wise College, was sent by Paul to the monastery to “assist” Fr. Anderson, and the dean’s position was left vacant, so Irene took over the position.

She gave the current students a final exam in reading, writing and simple arithmetic, temporarily divided them into three grades according to their level, reorganized the work of the teachers, and set up a system of regular exams to test the students’ learning.

After a long period of recruitment, the number of teachers in the Vis Academy had reached twenty, and their salaries were now in the hands of Erin, who had become the head of the Education Department.

Irene called a meeting with the teachers and announced that in the future, their salaries would be linked to the test scores of the students they taught, with those whose scores were too poor having their salaries deducted, and those with good scores having their salaries increased.

The new policy has revitalized the atmosphere in the academy, and the teachers who used to be lazy have become diligent, and the academy is filled with the sound of their reprimanding their students all day long.

In short, the previous kind of sheep-like teaching mode disappeared, and the students’ good days came to an end.

In addition to daytime education, the literacy night school of Vis Academy is still in operation, targeting those adults who work during the day and have nothing to do at night.

Irene stipulated that as long as a member of the night school could pass the basic literacy and arithmetic tests, the teacher in charge of teaching him would receive a bonus on top of his normal salary, per head, more teaching, more pay.

Some teachers took it upon themselves to publicize the greatness of education in the town, while after dinner they cooperated with the soldiers to “search” for people who had nothing better to do at home.

……

On the third of February, the city of Sente was in a festive mood, the streets were filled with flowers that had bloomed in the early spring, jugglers and minstrels performed in the square in the center of the city, and housewives went to the stores with their large bags of goods, as the merchants of the whole city were selling at reduced prices on this day.

The whole city was cleaned and refreshed, and even the beggars in the streets were banished to the outskirts of the city.

Because tomorrow is the city’s lord – Duke Ferdinand’s birthday, under the auspices of the duke’s brother, Viscount Henry, this year to be a big special.

A group of people appeared on the main road outside the city gates of Sente, and one of the current riders was holding a flagpole, with a flying dragon flag fluttering at the top of the pole.

It was Paul and the others who had come to attend the Duke’s birthday banquet.

In addition to Earl Myron Garnard, who came to the banquet together, there was the female counselor Laddie, the intelligence chief Cecil, the commander of the 1st Battalion of the Army, Bryce, and his adjutant (a squire from his previous days as a knight).

Squire Victor – who spent three months in bed after a mage kicked him in the ribs last year – commands fifteen of his elite inner guardsmen, who act as escorts for the trip.

There were only fifteen soldiers, but each was a speedy little loader.

Each of them was armed with a newly produced flintlock rifle, equipped with a bayonet, carrying four grenades, and a flintlock pistol at their waist.

Now the soldiers could just load and shoot when they encountered an emergency situation, instead of having to light a fire rope as before.

They were able to fire shoulder-to-shoulder without the obstructing cord of fire, greatly increasing the density of firepower.

Since the last incident, both the Internal Defense Force and the Army had intensified their training in firing in unexpected situations, so that if an ‘assassin’ reappeared in the middle of the road, they would be able to finish loading and shoot the opponent into a sieve in less than a minute.

“Ah~ We’re finally catching up!”

Paul’s voice was tinged with fatigue, after two days of riding wildly all the way from Lakeshore Town, he had finally reached Sentry City.

To be honest, he really didn’t want to come, but he had to. The gift he prepared was a pair of porcelain vases that were about half a man tall with exquisite designs painted on them.

All along, the porcelain sold by Alda was mainly small pieces, and a vase as large as this could be considered precious, just not sure if it could make it into the eyes of the Lord Duke.

Of course, the gift has been sent over in advance, after all, porcelain can not be bumped on horseback.

This time, the reason why I brought along the female counselor Lardy, is because the other party holds a mysterious power, and may be able to help a lot when something untoward happens on the road. Pah pah pah, or don’t crow’s mouth, the Duke’s rule can encounter what misfortune.

The group soon arrived at the city gates, where the guards bowed and saluted.

They saw the flag flying on the flagpole, the pattern on it looked like the family crest of the nobles, although they didn’t know which family it was, but all in all, they couldn’t go wrong if they bowed.

“Wow! As expected of the largest city in the northwest of the kingdom, it’s just different!”

Seeing the prosperity of Sentry City, Paul let out an exclamation.

“I heard that this city has a permanent population of 50,000 to 60,000 people.”

Elon, like Paul, was a first-time visitor to Sente City and was also stunned by the size of Sente.

The casual Squire Victor and the guards didn’t need to be told that, in their perception, Butua, the capital of Baildin next door, was already a very large city.

Of the group only Cecil, Bryce and the female counselor, Laddie, were calmer; Cecil and Bryce had been to Sente several times before, and the female counselor, who came from Horn Bay, needed no introduction.

The group made their way to the lord’s mansion as they explored the area. Though the streets were bustling with people, they all consciously moved out of the way when they saw a group of people approaching under the banner of nobility.

In front of the lord’s mansion, they were received by a welcoming officer who was well-dressed and whose etiquette was standardized to the extent that it did not lose to Philip’s butler, and Paul and Myron handed him the invitation.

“House Graiman …… House Garnard …….”

After confirming that the invitations were correct, the welcoming officer with the monocle counted Paul’s number and explained a few words to a servant at his side.

Then he slightly owed Paul and the others, “Your Excellencies, the two counts, please follow the servant to the official residence prepared for you to rest, and we will inform your Excellencies before the banquet begins.”

Do we have to take care of dinner ourselves? Paul’s stomach was rumbling with hunger at this moment, he thought he could have a big meal after arriving at the lord’s mansion.

Following the servants to a mansion near the lord’s house and resting temporarily, Paul couldn’t wait to let Bryce and Cecil, who were familiar with this place, lead him out to a restaurant.

Upon his return, the soldiers who stayed behind reported to Paul that a nobleman who claimed to be Henry Ferdinand had come to see him.

Wasn’t that the Duke’s brother? It seems that he doesn’t have much friendship with himself!

Paul turned to Myron: “Do you know him?”

Myron spread his hands and said, “Never met.”

Cecil, on the other hand, whispered in Paul’s ear, “Viscount Henry has been very active ever since his brother Duke Ferdinand’s health deteriorated, making friends with other nobles everywhere.”

Uh…… this banquet won’t run into any dog blood drama, right?
(End of chapter)