The second volume is full of glory and splendor in the capital, and the spirit is full of vitality in the foggy city. Chapter 153 Apprentice
Subtitle of this chapter: Really, the jokes about Lanxiang and New Oriental are so old that they are no longer interesting.
"Hongjian, do you suggest that Mr. Hoover start an engineering technical school?"
Meng Xiancheng was very disappointed. He shook his head and sighed, saying in great disappointment: "Hongjian, Hongjian, you didn't study education after all. You don't know..."
"Bohong, please stop talking." Our Master Yuan also sighed and said, "I know!"
He thought to himself, I really know... because I am a time traveler!
He certainly didn't understand pedagogy, but as a Serbian intellectual, how could Yuan Yanshu not know the importance of personal education and the urgency of compulsory education for all?
But, but, but he is a time traveler who understands the general trend of history, and is not unfamiliar with political economy.
At this time, various "national salvation" theories emerged one after another in Seris, such as military, finance, railways, industry, agriculture, Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism, mahjong... some were serious, and some were absurd.
The theory of saving the country through education was quite popular at that time, and many famous intellectuals, such as Yan Fu, Liang Qichao, Cai Yuanpei, etc., were advocates and practitioners.
Tianmo Chuanren's mentor and Taishan Yang Changji were among those who believed in saving the nation through education. As his favorite disciple, Tianmo Chuanren was naturally influenced by him.
But let me say it again, the descendant of the Heavenly Demon is the descendant of the Heavenly Demon after all.
In 1917, while still a student at Hunan Provincial No. 1 Normal School, he wrote to a friend : "Today's reforms all begin with minor details, such as parliament, constitution, president, cabinet, military affairs, industry, education—all are minor details. Minor details are also necessary, but these minor details must have a root. ... The root is the truth of the universe."
The truth of the universe... well, these words sound very childish, and in fact, he followed this line of thought throughout his life.
The descendants of Tianmo advocate starting with the transformation of philosophy and ethics to "fundamentally change the thinking of the whole country."
Later, he really did "fundamentally change the thinking of the whole country" consistently.
However, this is a metaphysical question, and only great communist revolutionaries like the descendants of Tianmo are qualified to think about it. Our masters of neoclassical liberalism can only answer some "small questions" in the physical world.
This little problem is...
He exhaled a puff of green smoke and asked leisurely, "Bohong, let me ask you, what is the purpose of education?"
"What's the purpose of education? Hahaha..." Meng Xiancheng laughed dumbly, "Hongjian, are you kidding me? Education is naturally for the purpose of enlightening the people."
Our Master Yuan smiled and asked, "So what happens after we enlighten the people?"
The great educator Meng said as a matter of course: "Once the people's wisdom is awakened, we can develop industry and practice democracy. If these two can be successfully implemented, we can become a country as rich and powerful as Germany and Japan..."
He is right. Among the countries in the world, Germany and Japan are the most enthusiastic about implementing compulsory education for all.
Germany, or more precisely, Prussia, was the first country in the world to implement universal compulsory education. As early as 1717, King Frederick William I of Prussia promulgated a "Compulsory Education Ordinance," stipulating that "all minors, regardless of gender or social status, must receive education." Upon his succession, William I's son, Frederick, resolutely implemented the fundamental national policy of compulsory education, personally signing the world's first "Universal Compulsory Education Act" on August 12, 1763.
The newly emerged Japanese nation implemented compulsory education in 1872, the fifth year of the Meiji era. The Japanese government promulgated the "School System," which for the first time advocated universal primary education and demanded that "every household in the city be educated, every family be educated." This was four years earlier than the United States and ten years earlier than France. By 1937, at the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, their nine-year compulsory education coverage rate was a staggering 89%!
Upon hearing this, Yuan Yan suddenly sneered and interrupted, "Are you going to war like Germany and Japan? Haven't you heard that those who do evil will eventually perish? Germany has already become like this, and I don't think Japan's fate will be much better."
Germany and Japan enjoyed brainwashing their people, which resulted in the emergence of the "Two Germans", "Three Germans" and the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere.
There is no way around it. Compulsory education will inevitably lead to nationalist education, and nationalist education has side effects.
Meng Xiancheng said unconvincedly: "The same goes for Britain, France and the United States..."
Master Yuan interrupted again, "Bohong, can we compare with the three great powers of Britain, France and the United States?"
"This..." Meng Xiancheng was speechless when he heard this question.
Yuan Yan suddenly slowed down his tone and said, "Okay, Bohong. As a great educator, why don't you listen to the ideas of an economist like me?"
"We must eat one bite at a time, and walk one step at a time. Let's focus on the present." He again advised gently, "Since Mr. Hoover has made such a righteous move, we must do it well. This is the long-term solution and can also set an example for the people of our country."
Meng Xiancheng pondered for a moment before nodding and saying, "Hongjian, you're right. So what do you think we should do with this technical school?"
Our Master Yuan naturally had a plan in mind long ago, and he said directly: "Bohong, I have some immature ideas, and it's just right for you, a great educator, to help me think about them..."
"This school has three principles: work-for-relief, work-for-study, and work-for-pay."
It must be said here that his purpose in opening this technical school was very clear: to train a group of senior technical workers and junior engineers. In fact, in this era, there is no difference between the two.
Yuan Yanshu knew, of course, that history had proven that industrialization in Serbia required the land revolution. But asking a high-class Chinese like him to roll up his trousers and run an agricultural training school alongside the peasants—how could that be justified?
Well, to be honest, he didn't want to suffer this hardship.
Then he could only settle for the second best and train some technical backbones and managers for the future industrialization of Seres.
In short, if grassroots officers are as important to an army, then these technical backbones and managers are as important to industrialization.
As a Shanghai native, Yuan Hongjian naturally knew that in the regional discrimination chain in Serbia, Shanghai, which is afraid of his wife, is no different from the Dutch who steal manhole covers and the Northeast, which is full of gangsters. They are at the bottom of the list and can easily be targeted by people all over the country.
However, no matter how much the Seris people look down on the Great Demon City, they cannot deny the fact that after liberation, the Great Demon City sent a large number of engineers and skilled workers to support national construction.
During the planned economy period from the beginning of the Liberation War to the 1970s, at least hundreds of thousands of people from Da Modu went to various parts of the country to support the construction of various regions..
Especially in the autumn of 1964, the CPC Central Committee and the State Council decided to build a large-scale rear base in preparation for war, requiring Shanghai to relocate 342 military and basic industrial projects involving 458 factories.
Of course, the whole country is like a chessboard, and as people from Seres, this is also the obligation of the people of the Great Demon City.
However, this shows how much China lacked engineers and skilled workers at that time.
"After discussing it with Mr. Hoover, we decided to set up a charity school. The target students should be those in the third and sixth grades of primary school who are unable to continue their studies. These students will not only receive free education, but also free food and lodging, and will be given several sets of clothing each year. Of course, since the school offers such generous conditions, these students will take turns to take care of daily affairs, such as cooking, shopping, and cleaning. The school will only assign someone to supervise..."
"Hongjian, is this feasible?" Meng Xiancheng couldn't help but ask, "And won't this affect the students' studies?"
Master Yuan said matter-of-factly, "Why wouldn't this be feasible? Children from poor families grow up early, don't you educators encourage students to be self-sufficient? As for delaying their studies... if they become apprentices, wouldn't they still have to do odd jobs for their master and mistress, cook, wash clothes, take care of the children, and even wash footbaths?"
He paused and said, "Next, let's talk about work-study programs. This school will open one or more school-run factories, and students with a certain foundation will go to work in the factories..."
"Hongjian , you still want to use child labor?!" Meng Xiancheng couldn't help but say loudly in a blaming tone.
Yuan Yan suddenly waved her hand disapprovingly and said, "Hey, Bohong, I don't like what you're saying. What child labor? We're not recruiting well-fed and well-clothed young masters. If they didn't enter our school, they would still have to farm and work. Besides, practice makes perfect..."
"The last option is work-for-pay. After graduation, students must work in a factory designated by the school for a number of years before they can choose their own jobs. Of course, during this period, their wages belong to the school, which will provide them with some subsidies as appropriate. If they don't want to work, they must return the fees they paid to the school."
Meng Xiancheng said rather listlessly, "Hongjian, I understand. Aren't you just an apprentice? You'd better seek help from someone else for this matter."
This is the good thing about being a master of neoclassical liberalism. Master Yuan is more accustomed to capitalism than Mr. Meng.
In a capitalist society, who would be willing to do something that has no profit? On the contrary, as long as there is profit, everyone will rush to do it.
To achieve his goal, opening such a technical school is certainly not enough.
Yuan Yanshu wanted to establish a teaching model, a teaching model that would make money instead of losing money, a teaching model that would attract national capitalists.
This way, we can achieve our goals in many ways, which is much more useful than trying to raise funds everywhere.
Of course, there are bound to be people who are selling dog meat under the guise of sheep, nominally running a charity technical school, but actually recruiting unpaid child laborers. This kind of thing...
For the Seres, this is a cruel era. If one cannot even be so hard-hearted, then he might as well stop opening a technical school and start a charity instead.
"Bohong, Bohong..." This time, Master Yuan also used a tone of reproach, saying earnestly, "As your old classmate and old friend, I have to say a few words to you. It seems that you have been in the United States for too long, so long that you have forgotten the environment back home..."
He stood up, looked down at him and said, "Brother, all you think about is compulsory education, college, literature, history and philosophy..."
"What use are those college students graduating from these days?!" Feeling somewhat disappointed, exhausted, and a bit irritated, Yuan Yan suddenly couldn't help but curse, and also spoke a few words from her heart. "And what use are literature, history, and philosophy to China today?!"
"Can the complete Twenty-Four Histories and Thucydides' History save the country?"
"Can Dream of the Red Chamber, Journey to the West, Water Margin, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Homer, Dante, Goethe, and Shakespeare save the country?"
"Plato, Aristotle, Bacon, Descartes, Kant, Hegel, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, Marx... well, can Dewey and Russell, who are visiting China now, save the country?"
"These things are useless!"
His eyes gleamed as he spoke, "Only iron and blood can save our country! Do you understand? Iron and blood!"
Meng Xiancheng shuddered under the vicious gaze of his old classmate and nodded blankly.
Yuan Yan suddenly slowed down her tone and said, "Bohong, you have to understand. This blood is not only shed on the battlefields fighting foreign enemies, but also on the construction sites of our motherland."
He raised his voice slightly: "Someone has to endure the hardship, suffer the pain, and do the work. What we can do is to help these people complete their tasks better."
He became more and more passionate, saying, "Don't think the students in this school have a hard time. They can learn real skills here, and they will make real contributions to our country. They will understand, and when they understand, they will be grateful to us."
Master Yuan's eyes gleamed as he suppressed his emotions and said, "When that time comes, not only them, but all of China will be grateful to us. What does it matter if we endure temporary infamy and misunderstanding? As long as we have a clear conscience, isn't that enough?"
"so……"
Yuan Yan pointed outside and said, "Comrade Meng Xiancheng... um, sir. Now, I have an honorable task for you. I've already had a room booked for you. Based on these three principles, write a plan for the establishment of this school overnight!"
“This…that…”
"Bohong, don't be so picky. I'm just asking if you can do it."
"Hongjian, let me give it a try."
Master Yuan nodded with satisfaction and saw him out the door. Before leaving, he extended his hand and said, "Bohong, keep going!"
Meng Xiancheng, who always felt something was wrong, had no choice but to shake his hand and said, "Hongjian, I will!"
“This…that…”
"Keke, don't be so picky. I'm just asking if you can do it."
"Oh, let me give it a try."
"Keke, come on!"
"Ah, I can't do it anymore..."
