Chengdu, August.
The storm season that brought Dujiangyan's emergency flood had just passed, leaving a small tail. The annoying autumn rain knocked down the fallen leaves, still disturbing the ancient city that had become the political and cultural center of Huaxia. These days, the city's mud seemed to have answered the curse of all the enemies in the world, not even for a moment.
The withered leaves of the trees were knocked down by the rain, falling into the annoying mud, waiting to bring more pressure to the ancient city's drainage system. On the road, many pedestrians either carefully or hurriedly walked through the streets and alleys. However, being careful was only temporary. Sooner or later, the muddy water on the road would splash on those beautiful and brand-new trousers. Therefore, while people grumbled, they gritted their teeth and slowly became indifferent.
There were still naive children playing under the eaves by the roadside, using the soaked mud to build a dam in front of the door to defend against the "flood" on the street. Some played with mud all over their bodies, and were hysterically spanked by their mothers when they found out and dragged home.
Large carriages pulled by large horses traversed through the streets and alleys of the city. Occasionally, they would stop at a fixed station. People dressed in either new or old clothing alighted from the carriages, avoiding the muddy water and holding up umbrellas. The flow of people was like a sea of umbrellas.
Restaurants and teahouses of all sizes were doing better business in such weather. People with different purposes met at the agreed place, entered a room facing the street, sat at a tea table with an open window, and looked down at the people running in the rain. First, they complained about the weather, then began to talk about the purpose of the meeting under the company of warm tea and snacks.
"You don't know, the road outside the city is much worse than here."
"The Huaxia army is doing a lot of construction, and the outside of the city is a whole circle bigger. Didn't you see it in Tiandu News? Chengdu has been the center of Shu since ancient times. Many Shu kings' mausoleums are here, whether they know it or not. It's said that digging the ground last year touched the royal mausoleum … "
"The Huaxia army said that the development is too fast, and the drainage system is not complete. The main thing is that there are not enough drainage openings outside, so it can't be drained in the city. This year, there might be a tax outside the city. "
"Digging ditches for drainage, this is a big business. We have a way, think of a way to contract it …"
"In July, they were still talking about the unity of the army and the people. Who would've thought that in August, they would start a rectification movement …"
All kinds of information were mixed in this busy city, becoming a part of life in the city.
In the afternoon, the first and most prosperous new factory area to be built outside the old city walls of Chengdu, part of the road was muddy due to the traffic. Lin Jingmei was wearing a straw raincoat and carrying a waterproof leather bag for work. She walked with a middle-aged woman who was her partner.
She hadn't been deployed to Chengdu for a long time, so she wasn't very familiar with the surrounding situation. Therefore, the person assigned to her was an old Huaxia army cook who had long been involved in the development of the factory area. The female cook's surname was Shen Juan. She was tall and strong and illiterate. At first, Lin Jingmei didn't know why she was transferred to the education department. But after a few days, she understood. This woman's character was like a mother hen. She could control her children and was very protective of them. Lin Jingmei came to work with her because she could make up for the other's shortcomings in literacy.
They were now visiting the nearby factories one by one.
"We are from the education department. Regarding the 'Good Learning' program that will be starting soon, the higher-ups should have already notified you. This is the original text of the order. This is a summary of the situation of the foreign children who are registered here by the household registration department. Now, we need to do a comparison and verification. At the beginning of September, all the children in the vicinity will have to go to school at 'Good Learning'. They can't run around outside anymore. There are rules and regulations here … "
"We still have to pay?"
"Our Huaxia army pays most of the basic expenses. We are responsible for the daily meals. You will pay part of it. In the future, you can also deduct it from the taxes. You should have already mentioned it at the end of July during the meeting … "
"You have so many meetings and documents every day. How can we read it? Look at our small workshop … We didn't say anything about sending the children to school. Also, why does a girl have to go to school? She's a girl … "
"Girls have to go to school too. However, as long as you let the children go to school, we will allow the children of the right age to work in your factory every time they have a break to supplement the family expenses. You can apply for this. If you don't, then you are using child labor. After September, we will investigate this area. In the future, the punishment will be very heavy … "
"You … These children have to follow the adults to do things … They don't want to go to school. Since ancient times, education has been the business of the rich. How can you do this? How much money will it cost? These people are poor. They are here to earn money …"
Out of the ten workshops, eight would encounter all kinds of obstruction. Perhaps this was because the Ministry of Education did not have much deterrence. In addition, it was two women. Some people joked, while others tried to say, "There were so many children when we came in, but when we arrived in Chengdu, there were some of them … not so many …"
Shen Juan stood up. "What did you say?"
Lin Jingmei's eyes darkened. "You mean, there are children here who died or ran away, and you didn't report it?"
The work of checking the list was quite difficult. Occasionally, there would even be people with a bad attitude who began to show off their relationship with certain officials of the Huaxia government, shouting at them to get out. Some factory security guards would be slapped to the ground by Shen Juan. Sometimes, Lin Jingmei would begin to ask who the other party's "relationship" was. She would take out a small notebook and make a simple record until the other party's face became unconfident and doubtful.
This was destined to not be an easy task to complete.
In addition to the area that she and Shen Juan were responsible for, there were also different people pushing forward the same thing in other areas outside the city.
"The weather in July and August is really annoying …"
Running in the mud until evening, Lin Jingmei and Shen Juan returned to the address of the new "Shanxue" school in this area. Shen Juan made dinner and welcomed the school members who came back one after another to eat together. Lin Jingmei washed her feet with the rainwater in the sink under the nearby eaves. Her feet were almost soaked.
Peng Yueyun came over twice to eat. He was very sweet with his words, and praised Shen Juan's delicious food. Shen Juan beamed with joy, patting her chest and promising to take good care of Lin Jingmei. And of course, everyone knew that Lin Jingmei was now taken. It was for this engaged husband that she had been transferred to Chengdu from other places.
For the time being, no one knew their relationship with Ning Yi.
After dinner, the two of them took a public carriage back to the inner city. There were often many people in the spacious carriage. Lin Jingmei and Peng Yueyun huddled in a corner and talked about work.
"If it's just the education side, without a stick to beat them down, these people will definitely play tricks. The children who were transported to the southwest were originally child labor, and now it's very common for them to follow their parents to work in the workshop. We say that we want to regulate this phenomenon, but in fact, in their eyes, we want to steal from them what they already have. Father said that the children will be enrolled in school in September. I'm afraid that the Ministry of Commerce and the public security side will have to jointly take action to ensure that. But recently there has been a rectification, and the implementation of 'good learning' is not limited to Chengdu. For such a large-scale matter, will there be no manpower … "
Education was the first priority in a hundred-year plan. The construction of the Huaxia military's education system was started almost immediately after the regicide, but the scale of the Huaxia military was different at each stage. A few years ago, they were trapped in a small place like Hedeng County, and the number of teachers they had trained was close to enough. But then they jumped out of the Chengdu Plain and expanded again. After defeating the Female Zhenren, they opened up to the world and expanded again.
Although Ning Yi had set up a large night school and simplified the teaching process, it would still take some time for the teachers to adapt to such a huge place even if they were to be promoted exponentially. In the first half of this year, there was a large shortage of teachers. In the second half of the year, Ning Yi racked his brains to squeeze out some teachers to cover the elementary school to the foreign children near Chengdu. Everything was actually quite rushed.
Such a school that was "good at learning" was destined to have insufficient teachers. Moreover, the inclusion of these boys and girls who worked as child laborers in the school itself would inevitably cause a wave of incomprehension and backlash. However, Ning Yi still decided to push forward. Lin Jingmei came here and was also an important 'observer' placed in the internal department of this work.
She had followed by Ning Yi's side since she was a child and was trained by the core and most outstanding figures of the Huaxia military. She was originally in charge of a large number of core secretary-related work, and her vision and thinking ability had long been cultivated. At this time, what she was worried about was not just some things in front of her.
"… Actually, what I'm most worried about is that this time's matter will make the situation outside worse … These refugees who were sent to the southwest have no home. The reason why the nearby factories and workshops let them bring their children here is because they want to take advantage of the children who can do child labor. This time, we have to regulate things. Of course, we have to do it, but after we do it, I'm afraid that more families will be broken up when people come in from the outside. Some of the children who could have come in might not be allowed in … Does this also count as me not killing the people, but the people will die because of me? "
Peng Yueyun smiled. "Sometimes, it is indeed like this."
He did not express his own opinion on this matter because similar thoughts were surging in the core of the Huaxia military every moment. Every action of the Huaxia military now would affect the entire world in a chain reaction. The reason why Lin Jingmei was feeling sentimental at this moment was because she was expressing these sentimental thoughts in front of him. On the other side of her personality, there was also her unique determination and tenacity. This kind of combination of hardness and softness was the unique woman he liked.
"Liu Guangshi and Zou Xu are fighting very fiercely … Liu Guangshi temporarily has the upper hand …"
They chatted about many things in the carriage. People came in one after another and left one after another. When they arrived at the Huaxia military's dormitory area at the end of the carriage, night had already fallen. The night sky was as clear as water. The two of them talked side by side as they walked inside. They were not married yet, so they each had their own room. Even if they occasionally stayed together, no one would say anything about them. They would talk about many things, and the rapid changes in Chengdu and the Huaxia military also gave them many topics to talk about.
At the same time, on the other side of the city, Yu Ho-chung, who had become one of the important figures in the southwest, visited the courtyard where Li Shishi lived. In the past year, they would usually meet up as friends about twice a month. It was not common to visit at night, but it was just getting late. Yu Ho-chung passed by nearby, so it was natural for him to come over and take a look.
Perhaps it was because he had just finished socializing, but Yu Ho-chung smelled a little of alcohol. Shishi was not surprised. She called for someone to bring out tea and snacks and warmly received him.
"Fighting the flood in July, you people said good things about the army all over the news. Now that August is here, your rectification this time is really big …"
Facing Shishi, Yu Ho-chung had long been used to getting to the point. He also knew that some of his thoughts could not be hidden from her eyes, so he always spoke very bluntly. And these things were actually inextricably linked to this "rich and idle person" in front of him …
(End of this chapter)
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