August in Chengdu.

The season of torrential rains that brought alarming floods to Dujiangyan had just passed, leaving behind a small tail. Annoying autumn rains battered the trees, relentlessly encroaching upon this ancient city that had become the political and cultural center of the Huaxia Army. These days, the city's mud seemed to mirror the curses of enemies from all directions, never quite drying up.

Yellowing leaves, knocked down by the rain, fell into the bothersome mud, waiting to add even more pressure to the city's drainage system. On the roads, many pedestrians walked through the streets, some cautiously, some hurriedly. But caution was fleeting; the muddy water would sooner or later splash onto those beautiful and brand-new trousers, and so, amidst complaints, people gritted their teeth and eventually became indifferent.

Some still-naive children played under the eaves of roadside houses, using soaked mud to build dams in front of the doors, defending against the "floods" from the streets. Some were covered in mud, discovered by their mothers, who hysterically beat their behinds and dragged them away.

Carriages pulled by tall horses traveled through the city's streets, occasionally stopping at fixed stations. People dressed in novel or outdated attire descended from the carriages, dodging the mud, raising umbrellas. The flow of people came and went, forming a sea of umbrellas.

The business of restaurants and teahouses, large and small, was even better in such weather. People with various purposes met at agreed-upon locations, entered the street-facing rooms, and sat at the tea tables by the open windows, watching the miserable running of the crowds below in the rain. They first complained about the weather as usual, and then, accompanied by comforting tea and snacks, began to discuss the purpose of their meeting.

"You don't know, the roads outside the city are much worse than here."

"The Huaxia Army is undertaking large-scale construction, and the outside of the city has become a whole circle bigger. Didn't you see it in the *Tiandu Daily*? Chengdu, since ancient times, has been the center of Shu, with the mausoleums of many Shu kings, known and unknown, located here. It is said that last year, while digging, they disturbed a royal tomb..."

"The Huaxia Army's Yamen says that development is too fast, and the drainage facilities are not fully in place. The main problem is that there are not enough drainage outlets outside, so the city can't drain properly either. There may be a tax levied outside the city this year."

"Digging ditches for drainage is a big business. If we have connections, let's find a way to take it over..."

"In July, they were still talking about the military and the people being one family. Unexpectedly, in August, there is another rectification movement..."

All kinds of information mixed in this busy city, becoming a part of urban life.

In the afternoon, in the new factory area outside the old city wall of Chengdu, which was the first to be built and the most prosperous, some roads were even muddier due to the traffic of vehicles and horses. Lin Jingmei, wearing a raincoat and carrying a waterproof leather bag for work, walked ahead on the road with her partner, a middle-aged aunt, each step sinking deep into the mud.

She had not been assigned to Chengdu for long and was not very familiar with the surrounding situation. Therefore, she was paired with an old Huaxia Army cook who had been involved in the development of the factory area for a long time. This female cook, surnamed Shen and named Juan, was large and sturdy and illiterate. At first, Lin Jingmei did not know why she was transferred to work in the education department, but after a few days, she understood. This woman's personality was like a hen, she could control the children and was very protective. Lin Jingmei's partnership with her could be regarded as making up for the other's shortcomings in writing work.

They were now visiting the nearby factories one by one.

"We are from the Ministry of Education. Regarding the 'Shanxue' (Good Learning) plan that will begin soon, the superiors should have already sent you a notice. This is the original text of the order, this is the information on the foreign children registered here, which was previously collected by the household registration department. Now we need to compare and verify it with your information. In early September, all the children in this area must go to 'Shanxue' to study and can no longer run around outside. Here is the regulations on fees..."

"We have to pay?"

"The Huaxia Army has paid the bulk of the basic expenses. We are responsible for the daily meals, and you bear a part, which can be deducted from the taxes you will pay in the future. You should have talked about it at the meeting at the end of July..."

"You have so many meetings and send documents every day, how can we read them all? Look at our small workshop... We didn't say we had to send our children to school, and what does a girl need to study for? She's a girl..."

"Girls must also go to school. However, as long as you let your children go to school, we will allow eligible children to work in your factories during their holidays to supplement their families. Look, you can apply for this. If you don't apply, it's child labor. We will investigate this area after September, and the fines will be very heavy in the future..."

"You... it's normal for children to work with adults... they don't want to go to school. Since ancient times, studying has been a matter for the rich. How can you do this? How much will it cost? These people are all poor families, they come here to earn money..."

Entering eight out of ten workshops, they encountered various kinds of evasions and obstructions. This may also be the reason why the Ministry of Education itself has little deterrent power, coupled with the fact that two women were coming. Some people joked, and some tried to say, "When we came in, there were so many children, but when we arrived in Chengdu, some of them... there weren't that many..."

Shen Juan stood up: "What did you say?"

Lin Jingmei's gaze also darkened: "Are you saying that children have died or run away here, and you haven't reported it?"

The work of checking the list was quite difficult, and occasionally they encountered even worse attitudes, people starting to flaunt their connections with certain officials of the Huaxia government, shouting at them to get out. Some factory security guards would be knocked to the ground by Shen Juan. Sometimes, Lin Jingmei would enthusiastically start asking who the other party's "connections" were, taking out a small notebook to make simple records, until the other party's face turned incredulously uneasy.

This was destined not to be a simple task to complete.

And apart from the area that she and Shen Juan were responsible for, at this time, there were still different people in various parts of the city pushing forward the same things.

"This weather in July and August is really annoying..."

Running around in the mud until evening, Lin Jingmei and Shen Juan returned to the address of the new "Shanxue" school in this area. Shen Juan made dinner, welcoming the school members who returned one after another to eat together. Lin Jingmei washed her feet with rainwater from the sink under the nearby eaves. Her feet were almost soaked.

Peng Yueyun came to freeload twice, and his extremely sweet words praised Shen Juan's cooking so much that Shen Juan smiled happily, patting her chest and promising to take good care of Lin Jingmei here. And everyone, of course, knew that Lin Jingmei was now a taken woman, and it was for this betrothed husband that she had been transferred to Chengdu from another place.

For the time being, no one knew their relationship with Ning Yi.

After dinner, the two took a public carriage back to the inner city. The spacious carriage was often crowded with many people. Lin Jingmei and Peng Yueyun squeezed into a corner, talking about work.

"If it's just the education side running around, without a stick coming down, these people will definitely be slippery. Those children who were transported to the Southwest were originally their intended child laborers. Now it is very common for them to work in workshops with their parents. When we say we want to regulate this phenomenon, in their eyes, we are actually taking away what they already have. Dad said that the children should be enrolled in school by mid-September. I'm afraid it will take a joint action by the Ministry of Commerce and the security side to guarantee it. But recently there has been rectification up and down, and the promotion of 'Shanxue' is not limited to Chengdu. Such a large-scale event, will we be able to spare the manpower..."

A century-long plan, education comes first. The construction of the Huaxia Army's education system has been going on almost since the assassination of the emperor, but the scale of the Huaxia Army has been different at each stage. A few years ago, confined to small places like He and Deng counties, the teacher training force was almost enough. However, after jumping out of the Chengdu Plain, there was another major expansion, and then defeating the Jurchens and opening up to the world, it continued to expand once.

Although Ning Yi ran night schools on a large scale and simplified teaching, even if the people who could serve as teachers really upgraded exponentially, it would still take time to suddenly adapt to such a large territory. The number of teachers in the first half of this year was already severely lacking, and in the second half of the year, Ning Yi racked his brains to squeeze out some teachers to cover the primary schools for the foreign children near Chengdu. Everything, in fact, was quite rushed.

The teaching staff of such "Shanxue" schools was destined to be insufficient, and enrolling these foreign boys and girls who were doing child labor in schools would inevitably cause a wave of incomprehension and backlash, but Ning Yi still decided to push it forward. Lin Jingmei's coming here also belonged to an important "observer" inserted within this work.

She grew up following Ning Yi since she was a child, and was cultivated by the most core and outstanding figures of the Huaxia Army. Originally responsible for a large number of core tasks related to the secretary, her vision and thinking ability had already been cultivated. What she was worried about at this time was not just some things in front of her.

"...Actually, what I am most worried about is that this incident will instead lead to a worse situation outside... These refugees who were sent to the Southwest have lost their homes. The reason why the nearby factories and workshops let them bring their children is because they want to take advantage of the children to do child labor. This time, we are regulating the situation, and of course, we must do it, but after we do it, buying and selling people from outside may cause more families to be separated, and some children who could have come in may not be allowed in... Could this also be considered, 'I didn't kill Boren, but Boren died because of me'?"

Peng Yueyun smiled: "Sometimes, that's true."

He did not express his own views on this matter, because similar thoughts were surging in the core of the Huaxia Army every moment. Every action of the Huaxia Army now affects the chain reaction of the entire world, and the reason why Lin Jingmei has the melancholy of the moment is only to express these melancholy thoughts in front of him. On the other side of her temperament, there is also her own unique decisiveness and tenacity. Such a combination of strength and gentleness is the unique woman he likes.

"Liu Guangshi and Zou Xu are fighting fiercely... Liu Guangshi has the upper hand for the time being..."

They chatted about many things like that on the carriage. People got on the carriage one after another, and then got off one after another. When they arrived at the Huaxia Army dormitory area, which was the terminal station of the carriage, night had fallen. The night sky was clear as water, and the two walked shoulder to shoulder, talking, towards the inside. They were not yet married, so they each had their own rooms, but even if they occasionally lived together, no one would say anything about them anymore. They would talk about many things, and the rapid changes in Chengdu and the Huaxia Army also gave them many topics to talk about.

At the same time, on the other side of the city, Yu Hezhong, who had become one of the important figures in the Southwest, visited the courtyard where Li Shishi lived. In the past year, they usually had about two gatherings a month as friends. Visiting at night was not common, but at this time, it was just after nightfall, and it was natural for Yu Hezhong to pass by nearby and take a look.

Perhaps he had just finished socializing, and Yu Hezhong had a slight smell of alcohol on him. Shishi was not surprised, and asked someone to bring out tea and snacks, and received him kindly.

"In July, your newspapers were full of praise for the army for fighting the floods. As soon as August arrived, your rectification this time is really a big deal..."

Facing Shishi, Yu Hezhong had long been accustomed to getting straight to the point, and he also knew that his little thoughts could not escape the other's eyes, so his words were always very direct. And these things, with the "wealthy idler" in front of him, had actually produced countless connections...

(End of this chapter)