Chapter Thirty-Three Who Can See Clearly?

  When the fierce battle on the European battlefield did not stop, when the so-called National Protection Army in Yunnan was struggling to hold on at the front line of Sichuan, and when Yuan Shikai felt that being an emperor was not good for the first time, the autonomous region, which had been quiet in various constructions, finally had something new happen, because it welcomed the large-scale return of the second batch of overseas students.

  The "Twenty-One Demands" of the Japanese and Central Government's collaboration, broke the hearts of countless students studying in Japan, who returned to China and called for a boycott of Japanese goods and opposition to Japan in various coastal cities. Of course, some were also selected by the autonomous region after certain screening and special "brainwashing" by Zhang Yu-sheng, and came to the southwestern border. Their arrival brought many high-quality talents to the autonomous region, especially some students who studied medicine, quickly became the main force of the medical research base established in Guilin and Nanning.

  Among those who returned, there were also some students studying abroad. The European continent was a battlefield, and it was no longer a good place to study. Most of the students studying abroad returned home one after another. As for the United States, which was a neutral country at that time, although the students who completed their studies there had very good prospects for development, they also chose to return home to contribute to their country's development. Among them, some people were destined to receive special treatment because they were leaders in this field.

  "This world's aviation industry is still largely a blank slate, and it's rare that our country has a batch of overseas students who have completed their higher education, and it's systematic aviation engineering professional studies. They can be said to be the first batch of aviation talents in this world, what a treasure! About ten days ago, upon receiving a special telegram from the American side, Zhang Yu-sheng and others knew that national treasure-level talent was returning home."

  Wang Zhuo, Ba Yumo, Zeng Yijing and seven others were all graduates of the Aeronautical Engineering Department at MIT. Only seven people in the department received bachelor's degrees, five of whom were Chinese. These five Chinese students returned to China without hesitation to develop their careers. On the way from the United States to China, they followed the old habit of the Asia-America Group and spent their time on the ocean studying. They also reviewed Simplified Chinese writing for a long time, although their knowledge level was not low. As soon as they arrived at Fangchenggang Port, they were warmly received by the welcoming fleet, and the next day they were taken back to Liuzhou in high spirits.

  "Imperialist nations are at each other's throats for their own interests, and the economic development and scientific research, industrial production technology of the whole world are mainly based on the European continent. Now they are deeply mired in the quagmire of war, it is a good opportunity for our impoverished and weak motherland to rise up and catch up. Your return will surely add a pair of wings to our cause."

  A few days later, at the collective reception banquet for the second batch of returned overseas students, Zhang Yusheng, as the general affairs officer, naturally had to attend and receive them. The entire second batch consisted of nearly 150 people, covering not only natural sciences, mining geology, chemical engineering, mechanical power and other fields, but also adding aviation engineering due to the return of Wang Zhu and others. Almost all modern scientific professions needed by the autonomous region have been filled with talents, although the number is still small, a single spark can start a prairie fire.

  "As for the work arrangement of all of you, the government still takes your opinions as the main consideration. The first batch of students who returned to China have now become indispensable talents in various positions. Luo Wenhua and Gao Zhihang are already playing important roles in the power equipment manufacturing company in Hechi City, while Dai Rui, Du Hongwei, Cao Zhenglin and others are also holding important positions in major emerging industrial cities in Guangxi. The current development of the autonomous region is stable and rapid, with steady agricultural development, rapid industrial development, booming commercial development, and rapid economic progress. However, the progress of education is still relatively slow, which is related to the lack of sufficient educational talents in the autonomous region."

  At the banquet, everyone was roughly the same age, and there were no differences in status or position to begin with. Sitting in a big circle discussing things made it even more egalitarian, without any sense of official hierarchy. It was just sincere exchange and interaction between each other. "So, what the Premier meant is that we need to establish a higher education school? For example, a university." A student who had returned from France had only interned at the Asia-America Group's Paris office for a period of time, but naturally knew many of the development paths and ideas of the Revival Party, including the autonomous region. Of course, he also had a deeper understanding of the current difficulties in development. Even while in France, he knew that the industry in the autonomous region was relatively strong, but it just didn't have a complete education system.

  "It is indeed the case that all our development ultimately depends on education. Currently, various aspects of our development are going well, but this does not mean that such development can be sustained in the long run. Just like the cars we sell, if the technical level remains stagnant, it will eventually be squeezed out of the market by others' products. The innovation ability of enterprises, the improvement of national quality, and the orderly development of agriculture and commerce all depend on the improvement of people's quality. Of course, to truly achieve national rejuvenation and prosperity, education must catch up, otherwise our so-called dreams will always be empty talk."

  The fact that the autonomous region is promoting universal education is well-known to all, and although the huge investment is certainly astonishing in terms of amount, the benefits of such development are also obvious. If this can really continue and develop, China will surely become strong one day, because its education industry is advanced, and other industries are not to be bullied. Just like a phrase often circulated on the battlefield, "Weapons are dead, but people are alive", when backward weapons encounter clever people, they can also burst out with vitality. Of course, Zhang Yusheng actually means another thing in his heart: blindly introducing foreign technology is never a solution.

  "To set up a university? Currently, a university only needs to cover majors such as mechanical electronics, electrical telecommunications, civil engineering, chemical engineering, materials metallurgy, aerospace engineering, biomedical engineering, financial management, language literature, and teacher education. The first six are the most important. If we put them together, we can set up all the major colleges and departments, covering even more majors than universities in imperialist countries."

  Zhang Yu-sheng took out a preliminary draft of the higher education development plan, letting everyone browse through it in turn, and added: "We have established some technical research departments in a special technological development zone. In the future, universities will also be located in this development zone. The university and research units will be combined to form a research chain and talent chain for future high-tech technologies and advanced industries. Advanced technologies will emerge from there one after another, and high-tech talents will be cultivated there. It will continuously provide fresh nourishment and strong support to the autonomous region."

  "Premier, I have a question!" Wang Zhuo said after browsing through the materials for a few moments and clearing his throat to get Zhang Yu-sheng's attention: "Our basic education just started last year at this time. Elementary school plus middle school will take at least six or seven years, and those who learn slowly may need nine years. That is to say, we will gradually have hundreds of thousands of students who have received basic education after 1922, that is, a large number of students will be qualified for university education or at least have the minimum knowledge level only after 22 years. Now we are busy establishing higher schools, not to mention the shortage of teacher resources, where do the students and teaching materials come from? Of course, in terms of hardware, it's definitely not a problem with the current strength of the autonomous region."

  Wang Zhuo's words were very direct, which also showed that they didn't consider themselves outsiders. This made Zhang Yusheng feel extremely relieved, and he smiled slightly before saying: "Among the people present, who has received complete basic education? And it's not just a few years of language, mathematics, physics, chemistry and other foundational knowledge education? Even those who graduated from foreign schools only studied for a few years, but you all went through your own efforts and brought back degree after degree and award after award in fiercely competitive foreign universities! Are our local students not good enough? Can't students who have only received technical school education enter university for further study?"

  The biggest confidence in Zhang Yusheng's heart comes from the technical schools all over the autonomous region. Excluding purely applied technical schools, such as driving and engineering vehicle control, there are still many students in technical schools and night schools who have a certain level of scientific and cultural knowledge. They have been working on their jobs for a long time and have a deeper understanding of the value of advanced knowledge and technology. They also know that mastering more knowledge will bring them infinite power. With basic knowledge, they can understand the words and symbols in books, and with time and hard work, they can learn more profound theoretical knowledge, and eventually, they will triumph over the complex and difficult university knowledge.

  "Our higher education undertaking, first and foremost, focuses on building a university with a scale that emphasizes quality over quantity. The target students are selected from various technical schools, and within three years, teachers and students progress together, striving to complete the foundational construction of all faculties within this timeframe. We aim to reap a batch of talented individuals equipped with rich knowledge in five or six years. By then, our higher education undertaking will be seamlessly connected with basic education, enabling more universities to be established and more students to succeed."

  A university is not about its large scale, but rather it has erudite masters engaged in teaching and research work. With good leaders, the educated can take the most correct and shortcut path. Relying solely on self-study cannot make one a scientist; Moreover, those who receive higher education are not many, but diligent. "The mountain of books has a road that is diligent, the sea of learning has no bounds, and hard work is the boat." Facing the vast and boundless university knowledge, it is impossible for one person to grasp all the knowledge, and even fewer can fully understand the knowledge covered by their own major. Therefore, the higher education industry does not need to produce a large number of results, but rather cultivate diligent, studious, and tireless students.

  The abundance of time and the richness of teaching materials are the two major advantages for the development of higher education in the autonomous region. At present, the autonomous region is focusing on basic construction and has not yet reached a sufficient level of strength, let alone expanding into broader areas of construction. This period of time just happens to be suitable for preparing for the development of higher education, which is also the golden period for the development of basic education. When the autonomous region really needs large numbers of high-tech talents, the supply capacity of the education industry will just meet the requirements. Of course, this period is a long process, as Zhang Yusheng said earlier, using time to achieve results.

  "Just now, the Premier said that there are still many research institutions in the technical development zone. If it really develops like this, we can not only cultivate a group of high-level educational talents but also use these research units to create scientific and technological achievements. However, this is a long and arduous process. Can the autonomous region afford to wait for 'three to five years or eight to nine years' of hard work?" A graduate student occupied a draft for a long time, looking at it again and again, thinking about it, and after spending a lot of time, finally asked this question, which is obviously a concern about whether the autonomous regional government can bear the pressure.

  When this question entered Zhang Yusheng's ears, he could only shake his head and smile: "This problem is not something we can think of now. Since we have the courage to take this difficult road of revival, whether we can bear it or not is no longer a problem. And as long as money can solve the problem, then it's not a problem at all."

  Here is the translation:

  "Now, Zhang Yusheng rummaged through his file bag and pulled out a document, saying: 'According to the latest and most detailed statistical data, last year we enrolled 3.128 million students in primary schools in the autonomous region, which was the first batch of students. This year, they have been promoted to second grade. The new first-grade students, or the second batch of students, totaled 3.358 million this year. You can calculate that when the first batch completes all their studies, our education system will reach its peak burden. Thirteen years, or thirteen batches of students, will need government support. Even if each batch is calculated at 3 million people, our education expenditure will rise linearly until it reaches a peak of nearly 40 million people and remains at that level. In other words, our education budget will reach its peak in 1928, with nearly 40 million students to support every day. And starting from last year, we will increase by 3 million people each year, which means the proportion of education expenditure in government fiscal budgets will rise year after year.'"

  The bill for this expenditure stunned everyone around. The autonomous region has a population of nearly 30 million people, and the number of children of school age is about 3 million every year. The autonomous region's proposal for free compulsory education for all citizens is mainly aimed at them. "On average, a student eats one egg, one bun, and one bowl of porridge for breakfast every day, and three liang of meat, six liang of vegetables, and seven liang of rice for lunch and dinner. Each year, eight sets of clothes, 16 pairs of socks for summer and autumn, four pairs of sports socks, six pairs of sports shoes, and three pairs of training shoes are provided. Three steel pens, two bottles of ink, 40 notebooks, five notebooks, and three textbooks need to be replaced or used up every year. For students who have reached the junior high school stage, some military supplies will also be consumed every week. Can you calculate how much it costs to support a student for a semester of ten months?"

  Zhang Yu-sheng, in front of everyone, with a serious expression and fingers flying across the abacus, calculated various expenses. Everyone else was also calculating non-stop, until they all had an answer in their minds. Only then did he say: "Last year's education expenditure was 4.5 billion yuan, while this year's budget is around 9 billion yuan. By 1928, even at its peak, it will only be around 58.5 billion yuan. Last year, the autonomous region's GDP reached 125 billion yuan, and education spending accounted for only 3.6% of the total value. As our economy continues to grow, even by 1928, education spending will not exceed 30% of government budget. We have the ability and strength to continue this universal compulsory education system, provided that the number of people must be kept at an increase of only 300,000 per year."

  The autonomous region relies on its relatively developed industrial production capacity, and it is indeed capable of not collecting a single penny in agricultural taxes while providing free compulsory education. However, as Zhang Yusheng just said, it must ensure that the national GDP increases steadily, and the number of new students added each year is limited to around 300,000. This may be the limit of the autonomous region's financial resources and also the limit of the development of the education sector without interfering with other normal developments. If this limit is not exceeded, the government's huge investment in education will actually benefit the sustained economic development. At least agriculture needs so many students to ensure that the grain produced can be sold out, and the vegetables grown and the chickens, ducks, cattle, and sheep raised have a stable sales channel.

  Regarding the preparation work for the university, we started on the first day of this month. Currently, everyone's job is still temporarily undecided, and each of you can have two months of free time at your disposal. You can choose to return to your hometown to take a look or plan to visit the major industrial development zones, projects, and large enterprises in the autonomous region. After you have your own ideas, the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the Ministry of Finance will arrange for someone to handle expenses and guide you.

  After arranging the next steps for everyone, Zhang Yu led Wang Zhuo and others aside and said: "There is someone waiting for the seven of you in the study room next door. You can go over first!"

  When it comes to national treasure-level aviation talent, looking back at the beginning of 20th century China, Feng Ru and Wang Zhuo are absolutely rare talents. The unfortunate death of Feng Ru made China lose its precious aviation pioneer, but fortunately, seven of them were obtained in autonomous regions, which is definitely not a treasure that can be easily let go.

  In another time and space, Feng Ru and other aviation talents were all patriots. Except for the unfortunate death of Feng Ru, Wang Zhuo and others had planned to return to China for development when they were studying at MIT. Later, they resolutely returned to the Naval Aviation Engineering Department and Naval Flight School established by the Beiyang Government in Mawei, Fuzhou, where they not only taught but also designed and manufactured aircraft. Even before that, he was hired as the chief engineer of Pacific Aeronautical Products Company, and with the help of only a few dozen workers, he designed the first plane for Boeing, which was sold to the US military at $11,500 per unit, with 50 units sold.

  Such a great achievement still couldn't make him stay abroad, and he returned to his hometown. This move was enough to make Zhang Yusheng remember these people, of course, the development of history has undergone some changes, Zhang Yusheng's efforts have gained the support of a large number of overseas students such as Wang Zhuo, allowing Wang Zhuo and others to avoid various special experiences in another time and space and return home directly, and then got the help of these talents returning home, so there was the event that Zhang Yusheng specially arranged for Zhang Yu to meet these national treasure-level talents.

  "I am the commander-in-chief of the People's Liberation Army and also the Minister of Industry. Please, don't be so formal, take a seat!" As soon as the knock on the door came, Zhang Yu rushed to open it and shook hands with the seven people one by one, not forgetting to introduce himself. "Right, everyone please come in!" After some small talk, Zhang Yu realized that the others had not yet entered the room.

  "When we were in the United States, President Tang took us to visit the Asia Motors factory in San Francisco and the Asia Group Industrial Park in New York. President Tang often mentioned a technical director who was all-powerful, I suppose it was Director Zhang! He often said that if there wasn't an all-powerful Director Zhang, we wouldn't be where we are today."

  Ba Yumo and Zhang Yugang shook hands, excitedly talking about his experiences in the US. "At first, we thought that AsiaMe Group wasn't founded by some big capitalist, but rather a masterpiece of a scientific genius? After asking around, we found out it was actually an emerging monopoly enterprise, definitely not something a big capitalist would be involved in, must be a super genius's work! But unexpectedly, it turned out to be our Chinese people. Car after car rolling off the production line, to us, this is simply unimaginable, didn't expect that our Chinese enterprises could also thrive and grow in the US!" Ba Yumo recalled her experiences in the US, with the greatest feeling being witnessing the powerful achievements of Chinese enterprises developing in the US.

  "Did that premier or whatever just tell you guys not to worry about the education funds?" After finishing, Zhang Yu mysteriously smiled and looked at everyone, saying: "He's just trying to make you believe our revival project is absolutely guaranteed to succeed, don't listen to his nonsense. He hasn't even given me a new set of clothes in three months, I'm so embarrassed that I can only hide here and secretly meet with people, what do you guys think, is he a stingy premier or what? Everyone sit down and talk, don't be polite."

  Zhang Yu's words quickly left everyone speechless and laughing, as they couldn't believe that the legendary genius was actually so shameless. The commander of tens of thousands of soldiers was like this? They burst into laughter, and the atmosphere of the secret meeting immediately became lively. After they sat down, they finally started discussing official business.

  "Everyone should know by now that Germany has been using bombers on a large scale in the battlefield. And the effect is quite good, if I look at it from a military perspective, future wars will not be limited to land and sea like they are now. With the progress of fuel-powered technology and aviation technology, war will inevitably spread to the skies, just like Germany deployed hundreds of planes to bomb the French army in Verdun! The French army was completely helpless against the German bombers in the air, a one-sided slaughter is the ultimate pursuit of war."

  Zhang Yu finished speaking and handed over a long telegram from Europe for everyone to share, which made everyone feel even more warm-hearted. First, the prime minister took out all the important things and treated them as ordinary topics of conversation, and now Zhang Yu directly handed over confidential telegrams for everyone to read at will, and the degree of trust can be imagined.

  "The invention and creation of airplanes is no longer just a primitive human dream of flight, any advanced technology cannot escape the fate of being used in military warfare. Of course, the advanced nature and leadership shown by imperialist countries in this regard must be given sufficient attention. With your return, we can also start relevant research work as soon as possible. It's best to combine education and scientific research, we have ample time for research work, and we can also bring out batch after batch of aviation talents."

  Here is the translation:

  "Up to this point, Zhang Yu shook his head and then opened his file bag, taking out seven copies of materials and handing them to each person. "This is some flight technology information we obtained in Europe and some people's ideas. You have three months of free time, don't you? I hope you can use these three months to think carefully about things like all-metal single-wing aircraft. You can boldly imagine what might be feasible or not, and even present your thoughts on the general direction of future aviation development. I'll wait for your answers in three months. Of course, these materials are classified as top-secret technical information, and losing them is absolutely not allowed."

  "What time and place can we see the top-secret technology?"

  "There are only two situations, first is when all seven of you are together without any outsiders, not only can you look but also discuss and exchange. Second is when one of you is alone, after ensuring there's no second person, can view and research. In other words, these materials can only circulate among the seven of you, absolutely do not allow anyone else to know even a bit. If leaked, the remaining people's materials must be immediately destroyed, absolutely do not let anyone outside our eight people know or obtain this material."

  Such a deep warning has stunned everyone present, and the autonomous region and Asia Group must have very perfect technology and confidentiality system to achieve today. If these technical materials are really leaked out, I'm afraid I will become a criminal, and absolutely a national criminal, so everyone nodded in agreement.

  Zhang Yu just shook his head again because he really didn't want to plagiarize the technical materials of later generations, but often times, it's like an old saying "people in the world, body not by oneself". Can only deceive one's own rationality and morality once again, taking out things that shouldn't belong to this world.

  To achieve a leapfrog development, narrowing the gap with China and imperialist countries to the lowest level, even surpassing them by a large margin, there is still much work to be done in the autonomous region, of course, a lot has already been done. As the old saying goes, "do one's best, wait for fate", unable to see the future development direction and specific results, they can only seize every fleeting opportunity, do their own job well, what will the future be like? How can we know now?

  Of course, many people want to see what the future holds, but who can really see it clearly?

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