"What? Haps drowned in the latrine?"
"Yes, according to the servants at the inn, it seems Haps was too heavy and collapsed the latrine," Sasan replied with a calm expression.
"Really?" Norn looked at Sasan with some disbelief.
Sasan nodded expressionlessly.
Norn's face was odd. "Fat really is bad for your health."
Shaking his head, Norn banished the unpleasant thought from his mind.
"Never mind that. DeMol, how's the property takeover going?" Norn turned to DeMol beside him.
DeMol stood up and replied, "My lord, aside from gifting several shops and some weavers to the guildmaster, Haps also had an estate outside the city, not far from here. The estate has a ready-made textile workshop and about 200 slaves."
DeMol added, "Moreover, through this cooperation, our relationship with the textile guild has deepened further, and our woolen yarn orders have more than doubled."
"Good. Uncle Patrick, contact the craftsmen from before and build 10 more windmills at the new estate."
"Uncle William, recruit 50 more strong lads, train them as usual, and then rotate with Captain Hammo to guard the two estates."
"Sasan, pick 30 skilled people from your people and send them to the new estate to train the employees. The new employees' payment will be 80% of the old employees'."
Everyone stood up and agreed. Although the person in front of them was only 9 years old, they had already recognized Norn's ability to make money from the heart.
As everyone dispersed to carry out their orders, the hall became quiet again.
"Norn!" Anna at the door looked at Norn eagerly.
"What's up, Anna?"
Anna ran up to Norn, "Everyone has something to do, and I want to help Norn too."
"Well, work can be tough!"
"I don't care, I want to help Norn," Anna continued to look at Norn with her big eyes, looking pitiful.
"Alright, can Anna write Frankish?"
"Yep!" Anna nodded.
"Good, you're my secretary now!" Norn patted Anna on the head.
"Secretary, your first task is to gather all the children aged 6 to 12 in the estate to the eastern warehouse this afternoon."
"Yes, sir!" Anna curtsied formally and then ran off happily to do her job.
Norn watched Anna's retreating figure, and the events of just now reminded him that his estate now had nearly 400 people, including nearly 40 children. It wasn't a good idea to just let them be.
"Education should start from childhood!"
In the afternoon, a group of children who had been working in the workshop gathered together under their parents' instructions. Most of them were ragged, but their faces were rosy. Although they didn't know what the baron wanted, they followed Anna's instructions.
Norn stood on a small wooden barrel, looking at the children with eyes full of unease and fear. It was said that poor children grow up fast, and these kids might have been working in the workshop for a while.
Norn glanced at the crowd and shouted, "From now on, you are my servants!"
"From Monday to Friday, in the morning you will train with Knight William, and in the afternoon you will learn language, arithmetic, and nature with Secretary Anna. The rest of the time, you can go home."
"You are still young, and I, the lord, will provide you with three meals a day. The top 5 students each week will also get an extra chicken leg!"
With Sasan's translation, the unease in the children's eyes was swept away, replaced by eagerness and longing.
"Now Secretary Anna will give you the first lesson."
Anna, standing by, picked up a piece of charcoal and walked to a specially made wooden board to start teaching the alphabet.
"Repeat after me..."
During the break, Sasan found Norn, who was dozing off to one side, and looked at her strange master with an odd expression.
"What's up, Sasan?" Norn asked groggily.
"May the True God reward your kindness and generosity," Sasan knelt on both knees, placed her right hand on her chest, and bowed deeply to Norn.
"Huh?" Norn quickly pulled Sasan up. "Why are you suddenly doing this?"
"My lord not only provides us with shelter but also imparts valuable knowledge," Sasan remained kneeling deeply. "We have nothing to repay you with, except to defend our loyalty with our lives."
"Get up first," Norn pulled Sasan up forcefully. "Knowledge should be used to benefit the majority, not be a tool controlled by a few."
"My lord's brilliance truly makes us ashamed," Sasan bowed her head again.
"Sasan, you're learning to flatter people now," Norn chuckled. "By the way, you should also pick a few kids and teach them some anti-assassination skills."
"As you command, my lord," Sasan thought to herself that she must train the best assassins and anti-assassins for her lord.
Checking the time, Norn ended the chat and stepped up to the podium. "Class is in session!"
The children, who had been chatting privately, immediately sat up straight again.
Norn wrote ten Arabic numerals on the wooden board. "See these ten numbers? I'm going to teach you arithmetic."
Despite the children's efforts to learn, Norn still felt the fatigue of being a kindergarten teacher from his past life.
It was a struggle to teach them that 1 + 1 = 2, but when it came to 10 - 1 = ?, the children came up with all sorts of answers. Although Norn wanted to just stuff the knowledge into their little heads, he still had to painstakingly explain it to them.
By the end of the class, a few smart kids had understood addition and subtraction within ten.
"Ah, being an elementary school teacher is really not easy," Norn sighed, watching the children go home after class.
But what gave Norn more of a headache was yet to come.
"Norn!"
The next morning, William stormed into Norn's room, looking furious. "What have you done! You actually want me to take care of a bunch of kids."
"Well, kids also need some armed training."
"I'm a knight! Not a babysitter," William folded his arms across his chest, looking like he would go on strike if Norn made such an arrangement again.
"Uncle William, didn't you train so many soldiers before? Couldn't you just pick two good ones to train the kids?"
"Well... they probably wouldn't be willing."
Seeing William's hesitation, Norn upped the ante. "The kids' instructors will get an extra 2 copper pennies in salary every day."
"Deal!" William's expression softened. "I'll pick two promising young lads."
William turned around and announced the news. The soldiers, who had been disdainful at first, eagerly raised their hands when they heard about the pay raise.
In the end, two young men were selected as the kids' instructors. And they immediately resorted to the most primitive method—using a teaching rod—to discipline the children.
From a distance, Norn saw children who made mistakes being hit with a stick. Some kids wanted to cry but were hit again to stop them.
"Tell DeMol to prepare some first aid ointment," Norn instructed, feeling a pang of sympathy.
At noon, the kids, who had finally finished their training, collapsed on the ground. Many of the children who had been whipped had tears in their eyes and were checking each other's wounds.
Norn walked over with two small clay pots.
"Good day, my lord," the kids, who had been resting, immediately greeted him with a bow.
Norn casually waved his hand. "I've brought some first aid ointment. It will feel better if you use this on your injuries."
With a glance, Norn pointed to a child with several wounds on his body. "You, come here."
The child looked at Norn in surprise, and after making sure it was him, he ran over nervously.
"Turn around," the boy hesitated for a moment after hearing this, but still turned around to show the wounds on his back to Norn.
Looking at these wounds, Norn knew that the soldiers had still been restrained in their punishment; they were just flesh wounds.
"What's your name?"
"Replying to my lord, I am called Togo," Togo, not expecting Norn to ask him this question, hurriedly replied.
At that moment, Togo felt a cool sensation on his back. Realizing what was happening, he was about to make a move but was held back by a hand on his shoulder.
"Don't move, I'm applying the medicine for you."
"This... my lord,"
Togo and the surrounding children were all very surprised. Their parents had always told them to maintain reverence for the lord, or else the lord would kill them at any time. They never expected that their lord would actually help them apply medicine.
"Done!" Norn withdrew his right hand, which was covered in ointment, and then noticed that the children around him were all looking at him strangely.
"What are you all staring at? Help each other apply the medicine!"
The children then began to work in pairs to apply the medicine to each other.
Looking at Togo, who was still at a loss in front of him, Norn patted his shoulder, "Study hard and make progress every day."
"Yes, my lord!" Togo immediately straightened up, his eyes shining with determination.
In the afternoon, Norn once again took to the "podium" and looked at the children who were clearly more spirited than before.
"Today we are going to conduct an experiment. The Church says that all things come from the earth."
"So today we are going to verify this statement. These are two pieces of meat from the same pig and the same part of the body," Norn picked up two clay pots, each containing a piece of fresh meat.
"We will sprinkle dust on both, then leave one pot open, and cover the other pot with a black cloth to prevent anything else from mixing in. Then place the pots in a cool place."
"Let's wait for a while, so let's start with other lessons first."
When the sun slid from noon to the edge of the mountain, the children finally completed their day's studies.
"Look!" A sharp-eyed child pointed at the open clay pot, where there were already some white maggots wriggling, while the other pot remained still.
Norn took out the two clay pots and showed them to the children, "Who can tell me why there is a difference?"
The children's faces all showed puzzled expressions, and they were all trying to recall what had gone wrong in the process.
"Think about it, what is the difference between these two pots," Norn continued to inspire the children.
After a while, a hand trembled and raised.
"Togo, share your thoughts," Norn encouraged, looking at Togo.
"It's... flies?" Togo said very hesitantly.
"That's right! Togo gets a special meal tonight!" Norn continued to explain to the children, "It is the flies that lay eggs too small for our eyes to see that produce the maggots, not the creation of all things from dust."
"Think about it when you go home, and see if there are any other similar situations in life. Report back one by one tomorrow," Norn assigned homework and announced the end of the class. The children bowed in unison and left the classroom.
William walked over, looking skeptical, "The Church really got it wrong?"
"Of course they did," Norn said confidently, "The world is so vast, and only by constantly understanding the laws of the world can we better grasp the will of the Lord."
But in reality, what Norn really thought was, let me sow the seeds of science and enlighten this dark age.