Chapter 22: Alternative Universal Education

  "Hey kid, where are your parents? I mean, where are your mom and dad?"

  "They are not here, Grandpa is at home, Dad has gone out, and Mom is planting vegetables in the field!"

  "And you? Kid."

  "I'm playing with mud, making cars." The little kid said with a smile to the government worker wearing a red sun hat, his hands covered in mud but not stopping him from occasionally wiping the sweat off his face, resulting in a muddy face, looking like a mud man.

  "When can they go home for lunch? I'm looking for your dad, they have something to discuss."

  "They've been gone for a long time, they'll be back soon!" The child said, and happily lay on the ground playing with his mud, his hands trying to knead out a rectangular shape, but no matter how he kneaded it was still soft. In the end, he had to gently place the rectangular shape on the ground and then gently press down on the uneven parts with his hand, and before long the rectangle turned into a pancake.

  Watching the little doll play with the mud was also enjoyable, and time passed quickly. Before 11:30, a man pushed a wheelbarrow back into the yard, followed closely by a woman carrying a large basket on her back, of course, she also had a small iron shovel and a small basket full of seedlings in her hand. The two saw someone wearing a red hat in their own yard, were overjoyed, quickly put down their things, washed their hands, and went to greet them.

  "What's up brother, looking for my kid?"

  The villagers naturally knew that the people wearing red hats were a different kind of person, and after the new government was established, they were unlike the military governments of the past. They not only didn't collect taxes but also frequently sent these "red-hatted" people to the countryside to explain various policies beneficial to the people. What made him remember them most, however, was the small reservoir in the village. To prevent unexpected droughts and floods, the villagers organized a group to build a reservoir, which was precisely what these red-hatted people came down to organize. At that time, many people even received some labor fees, so whenever they saw someone wearing a red hat, it was always good news.

  "It's like this, the county is planning to open... Never mind, let me put it this way: the provincial people's autonomous government plans to build free compulsory education schools in each region. Children from five to fifteen years old can directly enroll for free. Each semester lasts ten months, and students are picked up and dropped off by a special government bus when traveling between the county town and their hometowns. On January 1st of each year, there is a holiday, and the school will send buses to take students back to their hometowns. And on March 1st of each year, the school will also send buses to pick up children from their hometowns."

  Just then, the woman brought over a stool for the two to sit on and talk, while she quickly took the child to wash his hands and prepare dinner. "During this period of study, no money is needed at home, nor can any pocket money be given to the children. The school has a special cafeteria, teachers, and security guards who will take good care of the children's studies and daily life. In terms of food and accommodation, it must be better than at home. You also often go into the county town, have you seen those beautifully renovated houses? Those are our children's schools."

  When this remark entered the ears of Hanzi, it was just like what he thought in his heart earlier. The arrival of the person wearing a red hat is absolutely good news. However, the good news that came out this time really has some thorny issues. After all, the child is only six years old. Being locked at home playing with mud may not be beneficial for the child's future, but there won't be any safety concerns either. But once they leave their parents...

  "Isn't that just one year after another, and the kid is only at home during Chinese New Year? Moreover, this kid doesn't know how to do anything, can't even wash clothes or fold blankets, how can he live independently in school?" The husband expressed his concerns, but since no parent doesn't want their child to study and succeed, he didn't directly refuse the idea of the kid going to school.

  "This... doll will eventually leave his parents one day, he needs to live and learn independently, leaving the care of his parents can make him more independent faster. Doing laundry and folding clothes, schools can have machines to help them clean at first, but it won't last long. Right, after they arrive at school, from clothes to socks, everything is free, in short, once the doll enters school, he will never spend a penny of his parents' money again, the government will provide all things for free until graduation!"

  "Is this really a good thing in the world?" The man turned his head to take a look at the low and small tiled kitchen, where fragrant smells were already coming from, before continuing: "You also know our family's situation, just one child waiting for us to grow old. This kid is always cooped up at home, actually we don't want it that way either, but you also know the situation in the old society, without money or power, where can you send a child to school?"

  "We all knew this, but now it's different. Our party has come to power, a government representing the people's interests has been established, and everyone is equal Chinese citizens. Apart from fulfilling their responsibilities and obligations, they naturally have the right to receive education and other benefits." The staff member changed his mind after thinking for a moment and said: "Brother, don't you think about it? How did the Qing government exploit us ordinary people in the past? Now that the new government has come to power, we can get free education for our children. What kind of reason is it not to let children go to school?"

  The man heard this and could only smile wryly, patted the best clothes he had at home, which was the shirt he wore today to go out on the street, took out a cigarette from inside, handed one to the staff, and lit one for himself. After striking the match, he first lit it for the staff, then his own ignited, and after sucking in a few mouthfuls, puffing out smoke, his mood became even more calm.

  "Your brother knows that in recent years, if it weren't for the new government taking office, Lu Rongting's military government would have made life better for us ordinary people? It's not easy to wait for a good government to take office, why don't you seize this opportunity well. Look at your village, some have gone to join the army, and some have gone to the city to learn skills, everyone's life is getting better and better. You definitely don't want to be stuck in this situation either, after sending your children to receive education, you can also do business with confidence."

  Although smoking is not good, taking a few puffs and chatting idly, men often communicate better through such conversations. "Besides, this new government relies on modern industry, selling high-tech products. One car sold to foreigners can earn enough money to cover the education expenses of one child. Moreover, under this new government, there are countless factories, each being a lucrative business, so the government won't mention collecting taxes from farmers and will even go out of its way to do good things for them. In the future, after solving the education problems of all children in the province, the government will also promote the construction of cement highways in village-to-village projects. Later on, everyone will have money, every household will build new houses, buy cars, and no longer need to rush to sell vegetables and fruits on the streets, their income will definitely keep rising."

  "I've also heard about these things, the currency needs to be exchanged for RMB, children need free education, highways need to be converted into cement roads, and all dangerous houses need to be rebuilt... During my days wandering around the county town, I heard about many new government measures, but didn't expect them to affect my child so soon..."

  After a long talk, the staff actually already understood what this traditional Chinese peasant was thinking. He quickly said the last powerful medicine: "Do you know why this new government can make so much money and change the countryside and cities upside down? It's because there are a large number of technical talents. Some of them can smelt steel, mine, build cars, drive ships... In short, they earn more in one month than you do selling things on the street for two or three months. And when it comes to festivals and holidays, they have red envelopes and vacations... It's all because others have technology. If you're willing for your child to just rely on mud to survive and be a farmer for life, of course, you don't have to send them to receive an education. But when the child grows up and finds that all their peers are knowledgeable and skilled people, what will they think?"

  After a round of lecturing, the man agreed to send his child to school. The one wearing a red hat then rushed off to the next household. The man's family had slaughtered a chicken in preparation for a feast, but only they ended up eating it. On the road, the one wearing a red hat was eating canned food and biscuits, occasionally taking two sips of cold water, as he headed towards his next destination. His task was to persuade all families with school-age children in this village before the start of school.

  In Guangxi, the temperature in January is around 10 degrees Celsius. By the end of February, when children are about to start school, the temperature has already risen to 15 or 16 degrees Celsius. The warm weather means that locals do not need to bundle up like people from northern China during winter. When school starts, children wear their best clothes for the new year and carry small backpacks carefully prepared by their parents. However, instead of books and pens, these backpacks often contain snacks such as dried bread or even dried meat, which many families have prepared for their children. This year is a rare bumper harvest, so every household has enough cured meat to eat.

  "These things are not needed for the kids, the high salt content is not good for their development. The school prepares a lot of fresh pork, vegetables, fruits and eggs every day, so you can keep these things for your own consumption! By the way, this is the summer and autumn uniforms and shoes and socks for the kids. From now on, the school will distribute one set to each family every year as a keepsake, and the style will be different every year until the kid graduates. Of course, the kids have three sets of uniforms for spring and autumn seasons in school, and there are enough reserves of shoes and socks for them. Now, let's get the kids changed into their new uniforms! The underwear is made of cotton, and there is a special place to change clothes, but after that, there won't be any more. On the first day of school, students must wear their uniforms and gather in the courtyard of the town government."

  As soon as the lecture was over, many parents began to take off their children's backpacks and took them to the changing room to measure their height, etc. After receiving two sets of uniforms, they immediately opened a bag of packaging, quickly changed into a blue and white striped school uniform, snow-white socks and leather shoes. In no time, they were all dressed up. The previous muddy, cow-herding, tree-climbing kids had a complete makeover, looking even more handsome than the young masters of the past.

  "After arriving at school, students will be divided into different grades and classes to study. The school uniforms for children of different grades are not the same, but since they haven't been assigned to grades yet, this set of clothes is their casual wear that can be worn at any time, and so is the one in your hands.

  Tomorrow, when the children return from the Spring Festival holiday, we will give you a set of formal school uniforms for safekeeping. Along with them, there will also be report cards, homework assignments, etc. Students are required to submit their holiday homework, so parents please supervise your child to complete their homework during the break."

  After a lot of explanation, the parents finally understood: on New Year's Day, the children will return to their hometown with their report cards, homework and proof that they completed the previous year's school uniform and a new set for the next grade level. When school starts, they will wear the new uniform for the upcoming year, which is also the next grade level. They will bring their completed homework on March 1st to gather in their hometown, then take the bus to the county town to attend school. Meanwhile, the children will leave last year's four sets of uniforms at home and wait for the new set of four uniforms for the upcoming year.

  This arrangement is first and foremost to cater to parents. Different school uniforms represent different grades, elementary school is definitely different from middle school, and the first grade of elementary school is naturally different from the second grade. Calculating in this way, if a child starts reading books from the first grade of elementary school, five years of elementary school and four years of middle school, by the time they graduate from middle school, they will have nine styles and 36 sets of school uniforms, plus one set of casual wear given by the school every year during holidays, and the one they just put on. In other words, after finishing middle school, children will have 46 sets of clothes, which is more than what their parents wore in a lifetime.

  If the child can skip grades, it is estimated that there will be fewer clothes. Skipping grades reduces the number of semesters and naturally reduces the amount of clothing received. Going to university means taking four or even five years of clothes. This kind of treatment for wearing clothes has made many parents sigh, not to mention how the children eat in school.

  "The school provides three meals a day. Breakfast includes buns, steamed bread, porridge and eggs. Some students who lack nutrition will be given milk to supplement their needs. Lunch and dinner mainly consist of vegetables and meat, with lunch being more focused on meat. Students who attend evening self-study can go to the cafeteria to receive night snacks according to their actual needs, which mainly include congee and soft bread."

  When the children were boarding one after another, some parents still cared about their children's food problem. "The school is so prepared, the children read thirteen years of books, how much money does the government have to spend? Can the government afford it?"

  The teacher who came to pick up the students immediately burst out laughing and said, "What's the big deal about not being able to afford it? Even if a student can eat and read every day, they will still damage some things. On average, one academic year costs only about 50 cents per day. With 6 million students in Guangxi, the daily expenditure of 300,000 yuan is still affordable for the government. Moreover, the food they eat is not provided by you, but by farmers who raise pigs and cattle, plant vegetables and rice. The government just buys from you and cooks for the children. Isn't this a way to increase income and wealth for the general public? As for school textbooks, teacher resources, student experiment materials, etc., these are not expensive at all."

  The teacher used extremely light language to make the parents' worries disappear, everyone knows that this new government has a lot of money, and the cost of more than 300,000 students on this day is definitely affordable, but when they were happily sending their children off by car, some people in another place were not in that mood.

  "Occasionally, we Chinese are really lacking in everything except for people!" Zhang Yu saw the plan implemented by his older brother Sun Wei and his first feeling was that the machines printing renminbi were probably too few. With daily expenses of over 300,000 yuan, this crazy Zhang Yusheng was indeed daring to take it on.

  "Do you know, I haven't changed into a new set of clothes for several months? These socks have holes in them, and you haven't even thought about getting me some new ones. But the students are able to enjoy absolutely preferential treatment!" After saying this, Zhang Yu pretended to want to take off his shoes, so that his older brother could see if his socks had already let his big toes come out for a stroll.

  "What can I do? The foundation of our country's development is education, and I didn't expect this small province to suddenly produce so many talents. Are you asking me to pick and choose among these flowers? Are those who aren't chosen not the country's talents too? I'd rather drink thin porridge for 13 years than give up on this education opportunity, because our basic education foundation is too weak. But we won't have to drink thin porridge, as long as the European war continues to produce orders and we can earn enough money, and the Asia-America Group can provide us with sufficient nutrition, we can maintain our rapid development momentum!" Zhang Yu Sheng said confidently while looking at the latest updates on the European war.

  "All kinds of construction projects can issue government construction bonds, and the products produced by factories can also be purchased by the masses. After all, this money is always circulating around the government, and we still maintain a huge trade deficit."

  Zhang Yusheng heard these four words and immediately stood up, as if he had been electrocuted. "What did you just say? Is it a trade deficit?"

  "What's wrong? Is there a problem?" Zhang Yu had always believed that the bigger the foreign trade, the better. However, looking at his brother's face, it seemed like having too many sales also had its drawbacks.

  A trade deficit is a situation in which a country or an independent region (such as the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, which issues its own currency) has a lower total value of exports than imports over a certain period of time. It is also known as an unfavorable balance of trade or a trade gap. This reflects the state of commodity trade between countries and is an important indicator for judging the macroeconomic performance.

  "Zhang Yu, if you hadn't reminded me, I would have been too proud of myself." Zhang Yusheng immediately put down the brief sales report of various European products in his hand and said after a moment of hesitation: "The traditional idea has always been that making more money from others is the best, but in my time and space, the Republic was precisely because of long-term exports exceeding imports, resulting in a very serious trade deficit. Making too much money from others is not necessarily a good thing!"

  These words immediately made Zhang Yu's expression even darker than before. "Can you just finish what you're saying at once? It's really annoying to be left hanging like this!"

  "Let me put it this way, trade should strive for balance to be the best. First of all, if one side benefits too much, it will definitely make others dissatisfied and lead to various trade disputes. Moreover, earning too much money from others actually also indirectly means that you haven't made good use of this money, and storing currency in warehouses is not conducive to economic development. The most important point is that such trade will lead to the continuous appreciation of one's own currency, leading to inflation. So, we can't earn too much, but we also can't not earn, the key is how to earn."

  As Zhang Yu-sheng thought of these things, his pace back and forth became more frequent. After a period of continuous thinking, he finally made up his mind. "Our foreign trade will no longer use our newly issued RMB as the settlement currency. European countries at war must pay for goods with their own currency, neutral country currencies, or hard currency, including some mineral development rights in their colonies that can be exchanged for goods of equivalent value. And the benefits we gain will also be converted into actual benefits as soon as possible, such as investing in various enterprises in neutral countries, especially the United States, or continuously using foreign exchange income to carry out domestic construction, and promoting the use of income through continuous reasonable expenditures. Currency must circulate to be on the right track. But I feel that my knowledge of economics is too poor, and some things may be wrong. However, the key direction is correct, which is to never let one's funds stagnate."

  "You mean that we should either only collect gold, antiques, mining rights and other valuable items, or make use of the large amounts of German marks, French francs and British pounds we've collected, rather than storing them in bank vaults. We can invest them in overseas markets or use them for domestic construction, but we absolutely cannot let them lie idle!"

  "It's exactly this meaning, having more money can't let it go moldy, otherwise it can't be called money. We can even use those foreign trade incomes on the spot, such as acquiring those enterprises with development potential and so on. In short, at this moment, to achieve trade balance is impossible, the key lies in that we can't grasp tightly the world's wealth and not let go, letting it circulate throughout the whole world, only then can we walk out of the predicament brought by long-term trade deficit. Of course, the domestic construction situation will also become better following the disposal of the deficit."

  Since the start of the European war until March 1, 1915, Zhang Yu-sheng and others have been adhering to the continuous struggle, with the idea of "looking at money and making a thick profit" guiding all foreign trade actions for several months. Even when there were no orders, they continued to transport materials and stockpile them in anticipation of future orders, but this approach does not seem to be the best method.

  Money, sometimes the greatest benefit is not how much you have, but rather how flexibly you use the limited amount of money.

  P.S: As for trade deficits, I'm really limited in this area. Please forgive me if there are any mistakes.

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