Chapter 237
Everyone thought about it and shook their heads. Athens might be the wealthiest, but it could not provide so many benefits to its citizens. As a city-state with a long history, there were too many vested interest groups, deep-rooted legal systems, and traditional ideologies. It could not do all that the emerging city-state alliance of Diónia could do. Even though it was considered to be very considerate of its citizens among the Greek city-states.
"Can the powerful Persia of the Mediterranean do all this?" Plesinas asked loudly again.
Everyone shook their heads. Persia was a dictatorship where the nobles oppressed the civilians, and the Persia oppressed the other races.
"Then, Diónia is the Elysium of the Greek city-states! I believe that after the Greeks know the rights that our citizens enjoy, they will definitely pour into Diónia more actively! "Plesinas said with certainty.
"Plesinas's guess should be right. Before the war with Crotone, the number of free citizens in the port of Turín had been increasing … And after the war, we fulfilled our promise and even distributed land to the preparatory citizens. There will definitely be more immigrants pouring into Diónia. We need to make preparations to settle them down. "Cunogorata took over the conversation and reminded everyone in advance.
Everyone was both happy and worried when they heard that.
"Now, please allow me to add one more right for the citizens of Diónia." Devers continued, "I noticed that when everyone heard Cunogorata say that 'more immigrants will come to Diónia', they all seemed a little worried. Worried about what? I think it's more that they are worried that the Diónia alliance will not be able to maintain good order in the city! They are worried that with so many immigrants, most of them are civilians without education. When they all become citizens of Diónia, the overall quality of our citizens will decline! It will decline rapidly! — — "
"Lord Devers is right!" Turín senator Masisakus immediately stood up and loudly criticized, "Now there are already such signs in Turín, especially in the port. The new immigrants with all kinds of accents are rude and uneducated. They curse and fight at the drop of a hat. I heard that the port patrol has to deal with dozens of conflicts a day. Isn't that right, Cunogorata? "
Cunogorata shook his head and said seriously, "It's not that serious. If a free citizen wants to smoothly become a citizen of the Alliance, they don't dare to break the law. According to statistics, there are no more than five cases a day, and most of them settle themselves before the patrols arrive."
Masisakus asked for a snub and muttered, "Three or four conflicts a day, that's not a small number …"
Polyxis looked at Masisakus, his eyes flashing.
Devers smiled and said, "Because of these problems, my next proposal is to set up a school in Turií. All the citizens of Diónia can send their children to the school to learn literacy, arithmetic, drawing, music, and sports after paying a small fee …"
School?! Everyone pondered over this new term. At this time, the Athens School had not yet been established. The Greeks' method of education mainly relied on wealthy nobles and the rich to hire private tutors and buy learned slaves to educate their children. Or famous scholars opened private schools, charged exorbitant tuition fees, and recruited disciples. It was still unheard of for the city-state to fund the construction of a school to collectively educate the children of its citizens! But the senators were very interested, and most of them felt that this could really help solve the problem of the low literacy of the citizens of Diónia, so they all stood up and asked questions.
Devers was very familiar with schools. Combining the experience of his previous life with the reality of this life, he easily answered their questions.
For example, Amyntas asked, "What if the citizens also want to study in the school?"
Devers answered, "Set up a special class in the school to educate adults. Its curriculum and education methods are different from children's, so it is convenient to quickly eliminate illiteracy."
For example, Cunogorata asked, "The children are of different ages and have different levels of education. How can they benefit and improve in the school?"
Devers answered, "Set up three levels of education: beginner, intermediate, and advanced. Children who have never learned anything will enter the beginner class and begin to learn how to read, count, and read articles … For those who are already literate and have a certain foundation in arithmetic, they will enter the intermediate class and learn how to use words to form sentences, write articles, and do complex calculations … The advanced class will mainly master rhetoric, speech, debate, and calculate a large number of complex data … This is to prepare for the cultivation of high-level talents such as lawyers, accountants, and intermediate officials …"
…
The senators were satisfied with the detailed answers of Devers. Even Cunogorata, who rarely praised others in public, could not help but exclaim, "Senor Consul, I now really think that you have the blessing of the gods. Otherwise, it is impossible for you to come up with so many wonderful ideas and a complete implementation plan!"
Cunogorata's words were approved by the senators.
Devers smiled and continued, "I propose that Ancitanos be the person in charge of this school."
"Agreed!" The elders all expressed their agreement. The most knowledgeable person in the Senate was undoubtedly Ancitanos, who was once a disciple of Herodotus. Of course, there were also people who thought that the Devers, who was rumored to be illiterate but had always been mysterious because of Pluto's revelation, had unfathomable knowledge.
"Ah? I … "Ancitanos, who was sitting in the back row, was awakened and hurriedly shook his head and refused," I can't, I don't have time! The History of the Peloponnesus War written by Thucydides of Athens has been completed, and it is said that it has been very well received by the people of Athens, but I haven't even started writing my History of Great Greece! "
Under the repeated requests of the senators, Devers even promised everyone that all the senators would do their best to contribute materials for his creation, and if he wanted to interview someone, they would do their best to cooperate …
Ancitanos reluctantly accepted, but he immediately began to complain, "Sirs, it's not that I don't want to manage the school just now, but you have to know that there are thousands of children in the Diónia Alliance, including the city of Turií! And you just said that you want them to learn Greek words, arithmetic, drawing, music, and so on. How many teachers do you need? The Diónia Alliance can't find so many teachers to teach the children! "
After hearing what he said, everyone immediately realized that this was indeed a problem. But Devers had obviously thought about it long ago, and he said unhurriedly, "The Diónia Alliance doesn't have enough teachers, but the other city-states do. We are in urgent need of rosin, and we can reduce the tariff for it to encourage the merchants of Cyrenaica to ship it into the port of Turií in large quantities to sell. We lack teachers, so of course, we can make a preferential bill for them to encourage outstanding foreign scholars to come to Diónia … Am I right? "
The senators were deep in thought, and Ancitanos asked anxiously, "What kind of bill?"
"My proposal is that all foreigners who come to Diónia to become teachers, even if they are slaves, will immediately be granted citizenship in Diónia! But the premise is that they first have to pass the assessment of a specialized agency of the Senate to determine that they have the ability to be teachers … Well, Ancitanos, you can take the lead in this assessment. But once they have citizenship and become teachers of the Alliance, they must devote their lives to teaching children. If they change professions halfway, their citizenship will be revoked immediately and they will be expelled! In addition, the citizenship of the Alliance only applies to the teachers themselves, and their children cannot inherit it unless they also become teachers … "
Everyone was moved by the Devers' proposal.
Ancitanos, who did not care about being the school administrator at first, said with some excitement at this moment, "Since Lord Plesinas and Cunogorata think that the Greeks are envious of the citizens of Diónia and want to become citizens of Diónia, then I think the situation of the lack of teachers in Diónia will soon change! I remember that there was a Alliance bill specially made for doctors, and now there is a bill for teachers that is beneficial to them. My lords, doctors and teachers are the two sacred professions besides the priests of the gods. One heals the body, and the other improves the mind. I thank the governor for your vision! I also hope to get your support! The Senate of Diónia has fully demonstrated its respect for knowledge! It will make our Alliance not only prosperous in trade, strong in military, but also glorious in culture! The Alliance of Diónia will become a great city-state alliance! "
… …
The meeting went on until dusk, and there were still two people who had proposals to make. The senators had to let the guards light the candles and continue the meeting.
The first to speak was Scombras. He said apologetically, "I'm sorry for delaying your dinner time. I've just consulted Lord Devers, Capus, and Hieronymus in detail. I learned that there is a large swamp north of Crimissa. Especially in spring, when the rain floods, the swamp will expand outwards, affecting the road traffic and encroaching on the farmland … I'm wondering if we can invest a lot of labor to fill up the swamp and build a dam for the Lacoeli River. This will ensure the safety of the territory, prevent the outbreak of diseases, and add a large area of fertile land! … "
"You've just been elected as the governor of Crimissa. You haven't even taken office, but you've already begun to implement your management of Crimissa!" Protesilaus joked with a smile.
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