Chapter 218: The Education Foundation

Wang Ci was satisfied with the various sponsorships and systems proposed by Xiong Buyou, but he made it clear: the curriculum of the school must be decided by the headmaster, and the Crossing Group could not insert their own books for instruction. Xiong Buyou readily accepted this. In his view, the Jasmine Pavilion Academy was completely irrelevant to the future educational endeavors of the Crossing Group—they could teach whatever they wanted. For the Crossing Group, the reopening of the Jasmine Pavilion Academy was a victory in itself. At least in form, they had achieved a collaboration with the local intellectual class of Lingao.

From the perspective of the common people, if the scholars, with their mouths full of benevolence and righteousness, could accept the sponsorship of the Australians, why couldn’t the common folk? The scholars of China had always served as the role models of society. Their allegiance often influenced many other classes.

Before the opening ceremony even ended, a group of raggedly dressed tongsheng crowded around Liu Dalin and Wang Ci, eagerly expressing their fervent desire to study and advance themselves, moving both men to tears. Xiong Buyou, however, made a malicious comment on the scene:

“Hmph, they’re definitely here for the free food.”

But that was fine. People who came for free food were generally not difficult to handle. Xiong Buyou did not concern himself with the specific admission affairs. He had already agreed with Wang Ci that the academy would reserve three spots for the Crossing Group—one of whom was Zhang Xingjiao.

As for the other two, the Crossing Group had not yet selected suitable candidates. The personnel of the Social Work Department, responsible for this task, believed that sending young people back to an academy concentrated with traditional values before they were thoroughly brainwashed was dangerous—there was a risk of being counter-brainwashed.

As for Zhang Xingjiao, his hatred had firmly tied him to the Crossing Group’s boat. During the attack on the Gou estate, his hands were stained with the blood of the Gou family—he could not go back. He had no choice but to wholeheartedly work with the Crossing Group.

Wang Ci had some reservations about letting Zhang Xingjiao study, but considering that the Australians were providing everything, he couldn’t object and agreed.

After the ceremony, those who attended the opening received a souvenir. The gentry, including several juren and the county officials, each received a thermos flask with a rattan casing—this novel item was treasured by everyone. The ordinary scholars received fifty yuan in circulation coupons. The use of this paper currency was already familiar to everyone. As for Liu Dalin, he had originally been determined not to accept any gifts, but the gift presented to him was one he could not refuse.

It was a wheelchair. It had been meticulously crafted by the Mechanical Factory of the Industrial and Energy Committee. Except for not being foldable, it was identical in structure to a modern wheelchair. It could be pushed by a family member, or he could propel it himself by turning the wheel rims. To reduce weight, it used steel rims and hubs, and the axle was fitted with locally produced ball bearings—the quality was not great, but they were usable. The ball bearings greatly reduced the friction of the axle, requiring much less force to move.

The only drawback was the lack of rubber, which made the ride a bit “hard.”

This item scratched Liu Dalin right where he itched. He had plenty of servants at home, but moving around always required two of them to help carry his chair, which was very inconvenient. Now, with this wheeled chair that allowed him to move forward and backward at will, his daily life would be immensely more convenient.

Liu Dalin tried sitting in it. Whether moving forward, backward, or turning left and right, it was remarkably convenient. The onlookers all marveled at it. Liu Dalin also secretly praised: no wonder they say the Australians have “marvelous skills and are masters of a hundred crafts.” It was indeed true.

He could refuse novelties like thermos flasks, but this item was simply too useful. So he accepted it. Xiong Buyou secretly nodded. That fellow Wu Nanhai really had a trick up his sleeve. His suggestion to gift a custom-made wheelchair had worked wonders!

Now that you’re using our wheelchair, you’ll have to rely on us for service in the future. The wheelchair needs oiling, the bearings need replacing, and in this era, no one but us can do that for you.

Unexpectedly, the appearance of the wheelchair brought another business opportunity. A gentleman pushed through the crowd and bowed deeply to the grinning Xiong Buyou, startling him.

It was Liu Youren from the Liu Family Village in Jialai. The Liu Family Village was the only major local landlord to have joined the Tiandihui. He had purchased the title of jiansheng (student of the Imperial College), which made him a scholar, and he had been invited to the opening ceremony. For the occasion, Liu Youren had even changed into a scholar’s robe, though the attire looked rather out of place on a country squire like him.

His purpose, it turned out, was to buy two more wheelchairs.

“My aged father and mother are old, their legs are weak, and they have difficulty moving. If you could sell me two of these wheelchairs, I would be eternally grateful.”

At his words, several other gentlemen also crowded around, hoping to buy wheelchairs for their elderly relatives. Xiong Buyou hadn’t expected this custom-made item to have such business potential. He quickly announced that they were temporarily out of stock, but that they would be available at the East Gate Market in a few days. The crowd was insistent, wanting to place orders with silver on the spot. Xiong Buyou figured that manufacturing a few wheelchairs wouldn’t have a negative impact on Lingao’s industrial system, so he accepted the orders, but he didn’t take any silver—the price was still to be determined.

This unexpected little episode brought the opening ceremony of the Jasmine Pavilion Academy to a perfect close. Everyone was happy. Liu Dalin’s family solemnly carried the wheelchair behind his sedan chair as they returned to the city in a grand procession. The gentry had their servants carefully carry the thermos flasks as they returned home in their own sedan chairs. The tongsheng and xiucai clutched their circulation coupons and hurried to the East Gate Market to make purchases. Their wives and children had been nagging them about many of the fine goods there for a long time. Those from the Nanbao area didn’t need to, as they could use the coupons at the local Nanbao Mining Bureau service cooperative.

Wang Ci was so excited he couldn’t calm down for a long time, pacing back and forth in the courtyard of the Jasmine Pavilion. He wanted to compose a few poems and was racking his brains for words and phrases. But Xiong Buyou interrupted his elegant mood—there were other details to discuss with him.

After a round of negotiations, both sides agreed to use Lingao’s school lands as the capital for the “Lingao Education Foundation,” with the specific operations managed by the “Tiandihui” under the Crossing Group. The Lingao County School would not collect any form of land rent from the Tiandihui, and the county school would not interfere with any form of development or use of the school lands by the Tiandihui.

In return, the Tiandihui would be responsible for all the daily operational and maintenance expenses of the Lingao County School, the Confucian Temple, and the Jasmine Pavilion Academy, including the living allowances for the xiucai and tongsheng. At the same time, the grain taxes due on the school lands would also be borne by the “Tiandihui.”

In other words, Wang Ci had handed over the “perpetual tenancy” and rent-collection rights of the school lands in exchange for full financial support for the county school from the Tiandihui.

All these funds were settled in circulation coupons and deposited in the Delong Grain Bank under the name of the “Lingao Education Foundation.” As for the foundation, the chairman of the Tiandihui, Ye Yuming, and Wang Ci would serve as co-chairmen. Apart from routine daily expenses, temporary expenditures required the consent of both parties before funds could be withdrawn.

With the agreement reached, Wang Ci felt that the financial problems that had long plagued him were finally resolved. He would no longer have to worry about funding. As for the school lands, they were still under the name of the county school, merely “perpetually leased” to the Tiandihui.

For the Crossing Group, the Agricultural Committee was confident that the income from the school lands, using scientific farming methods, would be sufficient to cover the regular expenses of the county school and the academy. There would even be a considerable surplus. Even if there were no surplus, the Executive Committee felt it was a worthwhile endeavor, at least in terms of winning the hearts of the local intellectuals.

In addition to the Jasmine Pavilion Academy, the renovation of the county school and the Confucian Temple was also in full swing. Before long, these renovation projects were completed one after another. The stipends provided by the foundation also brought the sound of reading back to the long-abandoned county school. The subsidized scholars returned one by one. The foundation not only provided the subsidized scholars with the stipulated six dou of rice per month but also had Wang Ci compile a list of fusheng and zengsheng with financial difficulties to study at the county school, also providing them with six dou of rice. The short haired bandits, who had previously had a poor reputation among the scholars, suddenly became the “Australians.”

Xiong Buyou was in high spirits after accomplishing this task. He left the city with his men and boarded the public ox-cart from the West Gate of the county to Bairen. After trial-running an ox-cart freight system, Shan Daoqian had also set up a simple ox-cart public transport system. There was a main station in both Bopu and the East Gate Market, with temporary ox pens and vehicle repair shops. The service ran from five in the morning to four in the afternoon, with departures every hour. There were several stops along the route. They used four-wheeled carts pulled by two oxen, with seats, steps for getting on and off, and a foldable canopy for rainy days. To accommodate the local farmers who were accustomed to carrying large amounts of goods, luggage racks were installed on the outside of the carts for hanging rattan baskets and loose items.

These ox-carts were not only for the transmigrators but also for the natives. The fare was extremely cheap; one cent in circulation coupons could take you from Bopu to the East Gate Market. With the construction of the school land estate outside the West Gate, the bus route was extended to the West Gate of the county town. The fare increased by one cent—for two cents, you could take a cart to the county town. This greatly facilitated the travel of the people along the route.

The highway and the ox-cart public transport system gradually made the people of Lingao aware of what public services were—this kind of official service that benefited the entire population was almost non-existent in traditional Chinese society. The superiority of the public services provided by the Crossing Group over the actions of the Lingao County Yamen was clear at a glance. The regularity of the public ox-carts also slowly instilled the concept of precise time into the minds of the people.

Unfortunately, the Crossing Group had not yet been able to produce clocks and watches, and thus could not further instill the modern concept of time in the natives. Dr. Zhong Lishi’s entire focus was on developing the radio—which was more important than clocks.