1932: Playing with the Japanese Communist Party with a doll

"What...what do you mean?" "Haven't you figured it out yet?" Wanrong said helplessly.

"Your Highness is implying that the confiscation of our family's property, and indeed that of all the Manchu nobles' property, was ordered by him to Zhang Xueliang and the Kuomintang. In other words, it was some kind of exchange condition for a ceasefire between the two sides."

"What! ! ! "

Wang Mintong jumped up in shock, her face full of disbelief: "How is this possible!?"

"You've been in Northeast China for so long, haven't you noticed yet that His Highness has always had no good feelings towards us Manchus... no, towards the old Qing nobles?"

Wanrong sneered and mocked:

"Think about it, besides the two of us, how many other Manchus are there in the entire Queen's Company? And how many Manchus are employed in the entire Manchukuo?"

"Think about it again. Why do you and I control the management and product design rights of the Queen Company, among other things, but lack personnel control? Why do you want me to abdicate? Why has the country changed its name again?"

"Besides, you don't think that without His Highness's authorization, those southerners who were beaten to the point of ceding territory in exchange for peace would have the guts to attack us, the 'royal relatives' of Manchukuo, right?"

Wang Mintong looked pale.

She didn't want to believe it, but rationally speaking, she had to believe it.

Having been the deputy general manager for such a long time, and having built the Queen Company from scratch into a nationally renowned enterprise with nearly 1000 employees, Wang Mintong had learned a lot.

But obviously, Wanrong, as the general manager, had learned much more than her because of her royal education and her close contact with several Communists.

"He He..."

"This matter is between you and me, and we should keep it to ourselves. Don't tell anyone until you die, lest it cause unnecessary trouble. We have a lot of idiots in our family, and if you don't want them to die, don't say a word."

Even though her family had been ransacked by her "husband" and her father, brother, and other family members were imprisoned, Wanrong's expression remained calm:

"As for you, just calmly participate in the selection process. If you're chosen, that would be great. If you're not, don't feel resentful. Just honestly continue with our work and serve His Highness."

"...He...He...Why...How could he do this!?"

"Because His Highness cares about the people of the world, and he hopes that they will be happy and healthy, and that the country will be prosperous. The existence of us old nobles stands in his way;"

"Those termites in our family are good for nothing but evil, and yet they happen to be incredibly wealthy. Your Highness is already merciful enough by not killing them all."

Wang Mintong knew this.

In fact, in the beginning, because of the relationship between the two of them, several children of old aristocrats came to work in the Queen's Company;

As a result, the task was not accomplished, but people from the Ministry of Internal Affairs came several times! Since then, Wanrong, who felt deeply humiliated, completely gave up her power over personnel and asked His Highness to bring in talents like Hu Di and Shen Zui. Only then did the company's development enter the fast lane.

"But...but not all of us are bad people...our family has always been kind and has never...never oppressed the people..."

"Never? Good?"

Wanrong laughed and said:

"Your grandfather, Wanyan Chonghou, spent 30 taels of silver to escape imprisonment. Where did he get the money? You've been working for so long, you must know how hard it is to make money. Could he have earned that much with his salary?"

"Even if it's a salary, let me ask you again, where does our salary come from? Who supported us before? How many people did the officials under you have to exploit to get this 30 taels of silver as tribute to us?"

"Would your grandfather, like Your Highness, have taken the initiative to donate his own money to the country's development and the welfare of the people? Compared to Your Highness, do you still have the nerve to call them kind?"

Wang Mintong was speechless.

Things were a little better now. Back in the early days of the Queen's Company, they were so happy to sell 100 sets of underwear and make 10,000 yuan that they got drunk. She certainly knew what 300,000 taels of silver meant.

Only after she personally stepped into the work did she realize that silver and dollars had to be earned from customers through hard work, rather than growing in the warehouse or being handed over by her mother.

It was precisely because of her contact with labor, money, and finance that Wang Mintong discovered one thing - Fujiwara Kanezane may have been sending money to the Northeast, and the amount was huge.

A man who is always making money like crazy but does not love money is really fascinating and admirable.

"I've been reading history books recently, and I found a quote by Fan Xiwen of the Former Song Dynasty: 'It's better for everyone to cry than for one family to cry! It's better for officials to cry than for the people to cry! If the complete demise of the Qing Dynasty can bring about the realization of Your Highness's ideals, then it would be worth it!"

"If our Queen's Company remains just an ordinary money-making tool, His Highness will abandon us sooner or later. If we don't want this, we must seek change! We must make contributions that go far beyond making money!"

"Wang Mintong, if you truly want to continue this career, if you truly want to stand before His Highness and ask him to marry you, remember these words in your heart and never forget them!"

ae

Wang Mintong stared blankly at her familiar yet unfamiliar cousin. For a moment, she seemed to see the Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang, who had assisted two emperors, but something seemed different.

Behind her, there seemed to be a red star shining, stained with a little gray but still unable to cover up its brilliance.

433 A Future Where Everyone is Like a Dragon

"Hello! Brother Xun! Are you busy?"

Hearing this frivolous voice, Lu Xun, who was in the middle of the final round of reviewing the Chinese language textbooks that would be used when school started on April 1st of this year, froze. Without even turning his head, he said unhappily:

"Is there something wrong? If not, don't bother me!"

"Oh, my dear Mr. Zhou Xun, your attitude towards me, your old friend, is so awful. I really want to use my bear-like arms and steel-hard fists to smash your..."

“Alright, alright, alright!”

Knowing that if he didn't "accept the customer" now, he would have no chance of working today, Lu Xun reluctantly put down his textbook, stood up, and opened the office door:

"Come in! I'm very busy. If you have any instructions, please tell me right away!"

"How could I possibly do that? I wouldn't dare..."

"If you keep acting weird, get out!" "Alright!"

The "King of the Northeast" smacked his lips nonchalantly, pulled over a stool and sat down nearby.

"Actually, there's nothing else to do. I just came over to ask if there's anything you need my support or help with. If so, please let me know as soon as possible..."

"I..…."

Lu Xun, who was the "Director of Education of the Ministry of Education of the State Council of the Five-Star Eastern Republic (with the treatment of a vice minister)", opened his mouth, thought carefully, but really couldn't think of anything to say.

Because the support that Fujiwara no Kanezane gave him and his education career was indeed great enough, so great that it made him a little nervous, so great that he couldn't believe it.

Before Lu Xun arrived, the country had already formulated relevant documents such as the "National Literacy Education Law," the "Preschool Education Law," the "Compulsory Education Law," the "Interim Regulations on Primary and Secondary Schools," the "Teachers Law," and the "Teacher Education Law."

Even from Lu Xun's perspective, he could not find much that could be modified, at least not before the first semester was completed and enough experience and lessons were accumulated.

As for the human and financial support such as "transfer anyone as required", "give as much as required", and "American construction teams and engineers traveled thousands of miles across the ocean to be responsible for facilities and equipment and guide the construction", there is no need to mention it.

In addition, there are some very "special" regulations, which are the most important reasons why Lu Xun was willing to accept the position and even write letters to invite many friends to come here, despite the risk of being labeled a traitor:

For example, the National Literacy Education Law stipulates that all citizens of the Republic can freely choose to use Chinese or Japanese as their main daily language, but must at least learn to write the country's name, the numbers "0-9" and their own names in simplified Chinese characters;

For example, the Compulsory Education Law stipulates that the Republic implements a "nine-year compulsory education system of six years of primary school and three years of junior high school," which requires all children over the age of six to attend school and exempts them from all tuition and miscellaneous fees.

For example, the Teachers Law and the Normal Education Law provide detailed regulations on how to train teachers, how to define the status, duration, and interconnectedness of schools at all levels and types, the responsibilities, obligations, and rights of teachers, and how to ensure the development of the teaching staff.

Fujiwara no Kanezane once told him that Chinese was a far more perfect language than Japanese and English, and that it was easier to cultivate intelligent children. That was why he did not force people to learn Japanese, but instead forced them to learn "New Chinese."

This time, Lu Xun was completely convinced—this Japanese royal family member didn't consider himself a Japanese at all, nor did he intend to colonize Northeast China. On the contrary, he wanted to carry forward Chinese culture and even create a "New China"!

Thinking of this, even Lu Xun, who always had a bad temper, couldn't help but soften his attitude and sighed:

"No, your support for education is already great. If you can't even do this, then I really should learn from you Japanese and commit seppuku... But since you're here, I do have a question for you."

"Oh, you say?"

"Why do you insist on restricting teachers from teaching outside of school? Even unpaid teaching? And completely banning this... tutoring? I see you've emphasized this point in many documents."

Regulations such as "banning extra classes" and "guardians of those who provide extra classes illegally and teachers of extra classes will be punished together" were very difficult for Lu Xun to understand.

In his view, "there is no distinction between classes in education";

Isn't it a great thing for teachers to spread their knowledge and culture to more people?

"This..."

Fujiwara Kanezane thought for a moment and snapped his fingers:

"Xun'er, tell me, what is the purpose of our new-style education?"

"To break the old culture, break the old world, and build a new culture, build a new world."

"If that's the case, then if the new world doesn't even provide equal access to education for its people, can it still be called a new world?"

"Educational...opportunities?"

Lu Xun seemed to be thinking about something.

"Yes, think about it. Obviously, in most cases, the more you put in, the more you gain. So, hiring excellent teachers for tutoring will inevitably lead to a surge in grades. On the surface, this seems like a good thing."

"However, there are always rich and poor people in this world. The rich can spend a lot of money to hire the best teachers and use the best educational resources, while the poor can't afford anything.

"If poor people don't take tutoring classes with the rich, then all the high-scoring students will be from wealthy families. If they do, the high tuition fees could bankrupt even a poor family."

"No matter which one they choose, the poor will be tormented to death by the rich using money and power, losing confidence in life, society, and the future of the country, and becoming numb;"

Fujiwara Kanezane spread his hands:

"In this case, is it still possible for the poor to change their fate through education? If the poor can't even rise above society, won't social classes gradually become rigid? In a society with rigid class structures, is there any hope?"

In fact, there are teachers, students, and parents who are crazy about internal competition and make everyone

There are a series of problems such as being exhausted to death, but there is no need to talk about this, because the fundamental problem is still uneven distribution and class solidification;

Just a lesson for future generations.

Of course, Fujiwara Kanezane never expected to completely eliminate the existence of tutoring with just one order. He simply increased the overall cost of tutoring administratively and narrowed the scope of people who were eligible to take tutoring as much as possible.

It doesn't matter if there are a few "Zhongguancun XX Primary Schools" where the children of powerful people gather and even Lei Jun, old man Mo Yan and overseas peacekeeping forces condescend to send graduation congratulatory videos;

It would be terrible if the entire nation were to be driven to extremes by remedial classes and the crazy internal competition, and only a large number of bureaucrats and educational foundations became fat.

As for a true "equality for all" and "classless" society...

The agents said that it would not be fully realized by 2082, and there were still many remnants of the old era trying to ride on the people's heads and shit on them, so there was no need to dream of such a beautiful dream in 1933.

Lu Xun thought for a moment and shook his head.

"This problem arises because the method you've established for evaluating students relies primarily on scores. If we adopt a more flexible approach..."

“Quality education?”

"Quality...education?"

"Yes, for example, if someone is good at music, we can let him study music and become a music master..."

Fujiwara no Kanezane briefly explained part of the concept of quality-oriented education. Lu Xun's eyes lit up after listening to it:

"Isn't this great? In this way, our country will produce many elite talents, and will definitely be able to..."

"Masters of literature, music, art, dance, and technology... In theory, quality-oriented education can indeed better uncover talent. But, I won't explain how to identify them. You should know how much it costs to cultivate such a talent."

Lu Xun understood immediately and fell silent.

Even studying is not something that ordinary people can afford and needs financial subsidies from great men like Fujiwara no Kanezane, let alone these things?

The biggest obstacle to full-time study is "full-time study".

"Quality-oriented education must be promoted, but not now, and certainly not across the board. What we can and should do now is to discover talent while ensuring fairness."

"You're right, but according to your design, our country will probably only produce basic and ordinary talents. The truly top elites will easily be buried by your system. But the progress of society and the country depends on elite talents!"

"Elite historical perspective..."

It is not surprising that Lu Xun would have an elitist view of history, because before the Soviet Union truly rose to prominence, shook the world, and exposed its lies, most countries in the world basically held an "elite view of history."

To be honest, this cannot be entirely blamed on them, because judging from the facts on the surface:

The elite, a minority of the population, are significantly more capable and creative than the average person, and ordinary people simply cannot compete with them.

It is indeed these elites who improve social efficiency and create more social wealth and jobs.

All these facts easily lead people to believe that "elites are the main driving force for social progress."

The country that took this approach to the extreme was Britain. Even after the First World War, when the aristocracy was shattered, the entire society's cognition did not change significantly.

"But, you're wrong again."

"What?"

"I can tell you with absolute certainty that the more a country focuses on the elite, the fewer true elites it will produce. The more it focuses on ordinary people, the more true elites it will produce."

This was a rather counterintuitive view, and Lu Xun's brow furrowed once again. How could it be so?

Just like taking extra classes, I put in the effort and may not succeed, but how can I be sure of failure?

I focus on elite talents, but it is not as good as focusing on ordinary people to produce elite talents?

What's the point?

Although he didn't understand, Lu Xun was already familiar with Fujiwara no Kanezane's character and knew that he would not talk nonsense.