The Age of Steam

Over these years of experience, Damian discovered firsthand that the quality of people who attended elementary school is much better than that of illiterate individuals.

After a hundred years of civil-military education, not only did they develop the habit of observing discipline, but they also acquired some military experience that improved over time. Now everyone can read texts, familiarize themselves with basic calculations, and develop a bit of mental discipline. Turning these people into basic officials and skilled workers would save a lot of time.

Damian knew that most members of various scientific research institutes were just talented enthusiasts who had moved from alchemical chemistry to science. In fact, there were only a few individuals with outstanding talents who could genuinely research like he did all the time. The intellectual gap between humans can be greater than that between humans, like Damian and pigs. This is why many even called him a messiah.

But becoming a worker for a research institute also requires certain knowledge, besides having the idea of creating intercontinental missiles. When an illiterate person enters this kind of department, their sight does not understand what they see and is incompetent for any work. If you want to turn an illiterate person into a talented individual, you must pay a very high cost of time and waste a lot of effort.

Two hundred years have passed since the secondary school was established, and a new generation of more competent students began to graduate just today.

These secondary school students not only learn more courses but also geography, history, law, biology, and scientific practice. The knowledge they learn is deeper, and their quality is higher than that of elementary school graduates. They also have a higher IQ, much higher than recorded history two hundred years ago.

However, only more than 300,000 secondary school students graduate this year, which leaves much to be desired. Most students who did not graduate engage in carpentry, livestock farming, become soldiers, or work in the mines.

Puppets did many of the jobs that humans once considered normal, but now that Damian facilitated this, magical research matched that of demons.

This year, the elementary school took the initiative in inventing the steam engine, and several mechanical talents were far from sufficient. The demand for high-level talents in the territory is very strong, and the thousands of dozens of secondary school graduates each year are a drop in the ocean for the size of the cities where there are millions of inhabitants.

There are very few secondary school graduates, and their future is certainly brighter than that of elementary school graduates who dropped out.

Basically, Damian organized this group of people into various research institutes, and some people were organized into the Mage Association and became assistants in mage research. Others chose to stay in school and become secondary school teachers, enriching their educational capabilities.

Secondary school teachers in Damian's territory earn three gold coins a month. This salary level is slightly higher than that of the city mayor in the territory and is about the same as that of a squad leader in the army. But a town mayor must have a gray income.

In any case, in human territory, with an annual income of more than thirty gold coins, one is already a high-income person. This kind of income exceeds that of a family of freedmen with four workers.

Prices in the human territory are relatively low when it comes to necessities, and one can certainly live very comfortably with an annual income of thirty gold coins.

Additionally, becoming a secondary school teacher has a high social status. You often meet with territory superiors and are highly respected by others. You don't need to face danger and fight various enemies to be respected.

Given the current evolution, secondary school teachers will undoubtedly be an enviable profession now and in the future.

In another hundred years, as a large number of secondary school students graduate, academic qualifications will depreciate, salaries will fall, and status will decrease, just as it happened in the modern age.

For example, the social status of current elementary school teachers has dropped a lot, their salaries have also dropped significantly, and their remuneration is no longer as good as that of bureaucrats.

After so many years of development, the total number of elementary school graduates has exceeded millions. As the saying goes, things become more valuable when they are scarce. The more people there are, the less valuable the educational qualifications that elementary school teachers provide, and social status is now more common.

For the past two years, elementary school graduates have no longer been assigned jobs. This policy has decreased the enthusiasm of the middle class to send their children to school.

But given the current situation in human territory, going to school is still an important channel for changing the fate of educational development and is mandatory.

Attending elementary school means you will be able to understand official documents and will not be deceived by base-level bureaucrats. It will also be easier to learn combat techniques after joining the army. Although they cannot directly enter the government as public officials, the platform for elementary school graduates is still much higher than that of illiterate people. The jobs offered to them are basically mental work, and the salary and social status are also better.

Truly intelligent people still make every effort to ensure their children become literate and read.

Humans have different physical and intellectual talents, which naturally differentiate them into different social classes. The first group of free middle-class citizens in Damian's territory, many of whom have very average IQs, talents, and abilities, They can earn gold coins and achieve class jumps mainly because of the opportunities the new modern age offers.

It's not that their own qualities are better than those of ordinary people. As the number of free people increases, population involution in the human territory will become more and more severe. A considerable number of middle-class families will fall out of class and become ordinary people. This is determined by personal quality and ability. Like the wheel of history, no one can stop it.

The fact that children are forced to go to school is a key factor in helping their parents stabilize their class in the future.

Because there are more and more elementary school graduates and the base is getting larger, Damian has expanded teaching academies, placing each student at the growth points they are most enthusiastic about.

[Enhancing learning skills is always the best; children are the future of humanity, and their children will depend on them.]

Unlike elementary school, secondary school does not charge tuition. After enrollment, there is a living allowance of one silver coin per month, which is enough for the students' daily expenses so as not to increase the burden on their families.

Due to limited educational resources, the selection of secondary school students is very strict, and only truly deserving and talented students are selected.

If you want to be admitted to secondary school, you not only have to take culturally oriented courses but also examine memory, logical thinking ability, study habits, and students' self-control.

Only one in ten elementary school graduates can go to secondary school. This year, about 80,000 elementary school students graduated from this border city, and fewer than 35,000 students were admitted to secondary school. On average, a secondary school can only admit one class of students. One of the important factors in setting such a high threshold is that resources will not be invested in young people who do not value education.

Damian had a lot of experience, as in his past life, millions of scholarships were wasted on drugs by students and classmates who didn't care about studies because they were within their reach. If he limits opportunities here, then these will be maximized by those who make use of them.

"Any news?"

"The armies are mobilizing, my lord."

When Damian learned this, he began to move in the body of a puppet that could use 30% of his real power, which was enough to exterminate millions of demons.