Chapter 777 (1/2)

Chapter 777: Vol V Chapter 137

Geerteng Hill was naturally the first place to implement the movement for civilians to choose their surnames. The day after the Republic of Northwest announced this policy, Geerteng Hill also announced the same policy. But as compared to the Republic of Northwest, Geerteng Hill made the announcement in a slightly different way—only those who had resided in Geerteng Hill for at least more than one generation as citizens of this place were entitled to this benefit. Even adventurers who had settled down here as residents did not have this entitlement.

This was because Geerteng Hill did not require more talents. This territory was stable and peaceful at present. It had no intention of further expanding production, nor did it have any wishes of expanding abroad. The group of government officials who revolved around the Church of the God of Knowledge as the core was enough to rule the place. And they were able to rule the place very well.

The literacy rate of the members of the Church of the God of Knowledge was very high. All core followers were all able to read and write, and it was needless to say for the clergymen. Not only that, but they saw teaching and educating people as the best way to show their devotion to the gods. So long as they had the money and time, they were all eager to volunteer to teach. So in terms of literacy rate of citizens, Geerteng Hill had the highest rate in all of the entire Main Plane, even surpassing that of Void City.

Based on the statistics from previous years, Geerteng Hill had practically eradicated all traces of illiteracy. Even the farmers in the fields could read around a hundred words and were able to understand simple notices and could write their names.

This level was already way beyond that of many developing countries on Earth. With such a profound cultural heritage, what was a little governmental affair to them?

The residents of Geerteng Hill were also very proud of their level of education. Taking a walk along the streets, it was a common sight to see people reading books in their spare time. It did not matter whether they were reading about the travels written by retired adventurers or novels written by bards—reading was a good thing to do anyway.

Reading could make people wise and sensible. Reading could make people intelligent and noble… In the doctrine of the God of Knowledge, reading was simply the best thing in the world. When Sui Xiong first laid eyes on this doctrine, it never failed to give him feelings like “a book holds a house of gold, a book contains a thousand bushels of millet, a book holds the key to the hearts of pretty women…”

Regardless of whether or not there were so many benefits to be found in the books, the people of Geerteng Hill had indeed greatly increased their wisdom and cultivation through reading books. So even though they were all big and burly like barbarians who moved over from Northern Iceland, they were all in fact, civilized people who were well-educated and highly-cultivated—on the plus side, there was no need to worry about a big fist landing in one’s face when dealing with them; on the minus side, the difficulty level in trying to fool them was so high that one had to be at least the level of a master.

The vast majority of merchants had no intention of competing with the people of Geerteng Hill in their ability of deception. They generally bargained about more practical problems, for example, the quality, capital, profits and so on. Occasionally, someone would bring out a wooden board and pen made of charcoal to write and calculate. This was their way of illustrating the problem with actual statistical data.

This commercial atmosphere could only be seen here. After leaving this place, one could forget about seeing the same thing in any other city on the continent.

After all… if the merchants of Geerteng Hill were to go to other places, they’d all be qualified as scholars.

In fact, Sui Xiong could clearly see that almost every adult in Geerteng Hill was graded as first or second-level scholars. This place was literally a “City of Culture.”

Sui Xiong floated in the air, smiling as he admired the scene of this City of Culture. From time to time, he would nod his head and even sing praises.

“Your Majesty, this Geerteng Hill is pretty well-built,” a voice said. There were some ripples in the air around him; then Wall, who was also invisible, appeared by his side. With a smile, Wall said, “Every time I see this place, the scene that greets me makes me feel proud of myself. I’ve not accomplished anything major in this lifetime, but just this thing alone makes everything in this life worthwhile.”

“These words of yours are very inauspicious! As a god with immortality, this lifetime of yours has only just begun.”

Wall laughed and did not debate further on this topic. Instead, he talked about something else, “By the way, some time ago, Olian told me that she’s getting old, while the younger generation of the Geerteng family has grown up. It won’t look good for her to continue to hog the spot as lord, so she intends to retire and focus on the work in the church. What do you think about it?”

Sui Xiong froze for a moment and suddenly remembered that Olian was in fact almost 70 years old. In this world, she was no doubt considered an old lady. Even the younger generation of the Geerteng family was, in fact, already in their forties and fifties—many of those who were from the generation before had even died of old age.

“Who does she intend to pass the seat of viscount to?”

“Tom Geerteng, nicknamed the ‘Flying Fish,’ who is a young man highly-skilled in combat in water. He was once a sea merchant at one point in time,” said Wall with a wave of his hand. Then Sui Xiong could instantly see a middle-aged man in the office building in the center of the small commodity market of Geerteng Hill. He had a short beard and a body that glimmered, and he seemed to be quite intelligent and capable.