A stone stirred up a thousand ripples. Since Ang Lee's proposal of universal basic education was too advanced and beyond the knowledge of the people of this era, it naturally caused a great response. Coupled with the promotion of the Tang dynasty's newspaper, this matter became a household name and became known to all the people. There were also fierce debates in the streets. Whether it was the nobles or the peddlers, everyone could say a few words and express their own unique opinions.
The shopkeeper of the teahouse just now was just an uneducated person. He might know a few words, but he definitely could not be called a scholar. What he knew were a few words related to his business, such as tea, wine, food, money, and so on. Especially the word "tea", he saw it every day, so it was impossible for him not to recognize it.
Although he did not know many words, the shopkeeper of the teahouse, as a person, had a deep understanding of the whole society. He understood the personality of scholars very well. He knew that scholars were quite arrogant. Relying on their knowledge, they would not lower their faces to do low-level things. Even if they were too poor to eat, they would not be willing to do low-level things, because it would be a disgrace to them. How could a cultured person do low-level things?
Therefore, when the shopkeeper of the teahouse heard that Ang Lee was going to implement universal education in the whole country, he sighed. Obviously, there were still many people like the shopkeeper of the teahouse who were prejudiced against universal education. They were very rigid and thought that as long as one was a scholar, he would be very arrogant.
"Yes! Scholars are always busy. How can they know how to make a living? These poor scholars really don't know anything except studying and studying. "
"A hundred useless scholars. Isn't that what you mean by these scholars? What the hell was he trying to do by making everyone go to school? Who will open a teahouse in the future? If no one opens a teahouse, how can we drink tea in the future? "
While talking, a guest ridiculed the shopkeeper of the teahouse, which made the shopkeeper of the teahouse feel embarrassed.
"What are you talking about? You really don't know much. You just listen to the wind and the rain."
A young man who looked like a scholar said.
"The Tang dynasty's newspaper clearly said that we will implement comprehensive education and let all children go to school and study. How can it be wrong?"
A businessman said.
The scholar said arrogantly, "Assistant Minister Li's intention is indeed to have all the children enter the school to learn how to read, but not to nurture all the children into scholars. He only wants them to be able to read and understand some principles. That's right, when the children are older, they still have to go to school to learn how to butcher pigs. Can they be called scholars? "
"Go to school to learn how to kill pigs? Really? I didn't see it.
The businessmen only paid attention to the most eye-catching headlines. As for the detailed analysis articles, they did not read them. After all, these businessmen's cultural level was very limited. They did not know all the words. Reading words was also a very tiring thing for them.
They were eager to have a heated discussion before fully understanding the whole matter. Therefore, it was inevitable that they would be biased. This made the scholars present feel a little unreasonable. At the same time, they also sighed that these uneducated people were so low-level that they could not even read the article carefully.
In order to show off, the scholar stood up, walked to the group of businessmen, and said, "I've read this Tang dynasty newspaper from the beginning to the end. I admire Assistant Minister Li very much. The universal education proposed by Assistant Minister Li is not to cultivate scholars who can pass the imperial examinations as you think, but to let all the people know how to read so that they won't be blind. Let all the people know how to read and write. This is the original intention of Assistant Minister Li. In addition to this, the higher schools should learn the skills of farming and raising pigs, butchering pigs, and craftsmen. In this way, there will be more and more talents in all aspects of the Tang dynasty in the future, and our Tang dynasty will become more and more prosperous. You are actually worried that no one will open a teahouse in the future. You are really worrying for nothing!"
After that, he put on a condescending attitude.
The status of businessmen was much lower than that of scholars. Moreover, businessmen were generally more tactful. Even if they were quite unhappy with the scholar's arrogant and domineering attitude, they did not show any resentment on their faces. Instead, they praised the scholar for knowing more.
"I understand. This means that people like me who open a teahouse can also read newspapers in the future. This is really a good thing! Every time I see others reading the Tang dynasty newspaper, I always feel envious. Maybe it's because I don't know many words, so it's very tiring to read. I can only stop others from reading. If I had learned a few more words when I was young, I wouldn't be like this. "
The manager of the teahouse sighed. What he said was from the bottom of his heart. He did know a few words, but he knew too few words, so it was very tiring when he read.
Several businessmen next to him also showed expressions of sudden realization. Their literacy level was slightly better than that of the manager of the teahouse, but they all learned it casually from scholars when they were adults. Their literacy level was very average. When they read the Tang dynasty newspaper, they also felt very tired. Doing business was easy for them, but reading newspapers was relatively difficult for them.
Seeing that several businessmen were quite approving of him, the scholar happily told them a lot of details he knew. Suddenly, everyone had a deeper understanding of universal education.
There were still many scholars like this who liked to show off in the Tang dynasty. They played the role of commentators and quickly spread Ang Lee's ideas, so that all the uneducated people in the Tang dynasty understood the benefits of universal education and applauded it.
Among them, the thing that made the commoners clap their hands the most was naturally the funding provided by the imperial court. In this way, their children would not have to spend a single cent to learn how to read. Moreover, it was said that children who learned well would be given additional rewards. In other words, not only did the children not have to spend money to learn, but if they learned well, they would also receive an additional substantial reward. Where else could such a good thing be found? In this way, all the commoners would support this universal education. As long as the commoners supported this policy, once it was passed, there would not be any obstacles when it was implemented. It would be implemented very smoothly.
For ordinary people, what they cared about most was that their children did not have to spend money to go to school. This was more important than anything else. For some businessmen with strong financial resources, the Merit Monument was obviously very attractive.
This was because some businessmen were too rich. However, the status of businessmen in the Tang dynasty was relatively low and they were even looked down upon. Their status was far inferior to that of the highly respected scholars. This made many rich businessmen feel quite disappointed. How to improve their social status was a very important matter for many rich businessmen. It was something that could not be ignored.
In order to improve their status, many rich businessmen in history would do some charity work and use their money to help the poor. In this way, they would package themselves as very caring people and improve their social status.
Now, the universal education proposed by Ang Lee required a lot of funds. The imperial court naturally had to bear part of it. However, if a businessman was willing to fund all the operating expenses of the school, then the school could be named after the businessman. If he supported part of it, it could be recorded on the Merit Monument of the school, so that future generations would revere it forever.
When a person had no money, he would always desperately pursue money. For money, he would not care about anything else. But when a person had a lot of money, he would begin to pay attention to reputation. He would regard reputation as more important than anything else. For many big businessmen, sacrificing part of their money for reputation was a very worthwhile thing. How could the reputation accumulated by occasionally doing charity be compared to sponsoring a school? It should be known that this sponsored school would be named after the businessman. This was a great honor. In the future, as long as someone passed by this school and saw the school's name, they would think of the businessman. This was a great honor. In the future, as long as someone passed by this school and saw the school's name, they would think of the businessman.
Profit was the foundation of businessmen. However, when they had too much money, they would begin to pay attention to reputation. After all, if they had too much money, they would not be able to spend it all. It was better to use the extra money to improve their reputation. A person's life pursuit was nothing more than fame and fortune. When a businessman earned enough profit, he would inevitably pursue fame. Moreover, in many cases, fame could also bring benefits, which would encourage the businessman to obtain more benefits.
For example, a rich man would take out part of his funds to do charity work and package himself as a great philanthropist. This way, after increasing his reputation, people would recognize this businessman. Perhaps they would buy the businessman's products specifically for this purpose. This would allow the businessman to obtain more benefits. It could be said that it was true fame and fortune.
People lived for fame and fortune. Since they could gain fame and fortune at the same time, who could resist the temptation of fame and fortune? Therefore, after the Merit Monument and naming rights were proposed, there were immediately a lot of businessmen who had a strong interest in it. Even the influential and well-off officials began to be restless and prepared to fund a school.
The rich and powerful businessmen could naturally sponsor a school on their own. As for the less powerful businessmen, for the so-called fame, they would also contribute a little. They would choose to form a group to sponsor or follow behind the big businessmen. The big businessmen would sponsor most of the schools, and they would provide a part of the funds. In this way, the name of the school would naturally be decided by the big businessmen, but their names would also be recorded in the Merit Book. In this way, they could be considered to have gained some fame. Moreover, because they would be following behind the big businessmen in donating, they were considered to be on the same side. In the future, they would definitely be taken care of in certain aspects in business, and they would be able to do better. In short, it was absolutely guaranteed to be profitable. Therefore, as long as the leader of an industry set an example, the small businessmen who had business dealings with him would more or less express their opinions. Otherwise, they would not know how to talk to the big businessmen in the future.
And all of this was exactly what Ang Lee wanted to see. As long as these merchants joined in, then the pressure on the imperial treasury would be greatly reduced. The resistance to promoting comprehensive education would be reduced once again. Perhaps in a few months, it would be able to be implemented in the capital first.
Ang Lee felt that with the number of rich and powerful merchants in the capital, all the schools would not need the imperial court to fund. These big merchants would not be able to use them all. In fact, some of the big merchants might not even be able to get a place to fund a school. As such, they could only go to other cities to fund it, or even to the poor countryside to fund it.
For these big merchants, there was another great advantage to funding a school, and that was to buy people's hearts. In the process of the merchants fully funding a school, they would definitely not forget to exert their own influence. For example, they could increase the income of the teaching staff, communicate more with the children in the school under their name, and give some gifts to the teachers and students when they were free to move these people. Using these small favors to gain the favor of the teachers and students in the school, especially the favor of the children, was the most meaningful. These children who received the favor of others would remember the big merchant who funded them for the rest of their lives. Perhaps one day, the big merchant would encounter trouble, and these people who were funded by him and received his favor might be able to help the big merchant avoid the biggest crisis at the critical moment.
With a little investment, they could gain the loyalty of a large group of people. This was really attractive to the big merchants. Even if not everyone was grateful, as long as they could gain the loyalty of one person, their investment would not be in vain.
In order to let the merchants actively fund the school, Ang Lee first volunteered to set up a school, which was the School of Transmitting Sound. It was expected to enroll more than a thousand poor children in the surrounding area. As soon as Ang Lee's action began, the Tang dynasty's newspapers carried an in-depth report on it. This made some big merchants who could not forget the Merit Stele even more eager to take action.
Many big merchants formed groups to go to the relevant government offices to inquire about the news and expressed that they could make a small contribution to the education cause of the Tang dynasty. However, because this matter was still under discussion, it was naturally impossible to give these big merchants an accurate answer, which made them feel quite regretful.
However, these big merchants would not wait too long. Ang Lee had contacted many departments of the imperial court and was pushing forward this matter in full swing. Moreover, he had also persuaded many influential people to point out the necessity and urgency of promoting universal education from the perspective of interests and necessity, so that the influential people would realize their previous ignorance and mistakes. Then, they would choose to support Ang Lee and the cause of universal education in the Tang dynasty so that all children could learn the most basic culture.
Such a big thing had already caused a stir in the city. Almost all the people knew about it, and the streets and lanes were talking about universal education everywhere. Therefore, it was impossible for the emperor, who lived in the palace, not to know about it. When he first heard about universal education, the emperor was a little angry. He felt that Ang Lee seemed to be neglecting his proper business. He did not solve the problem of transmitting sound over thousands of miles as soon as possible, but he was actually doing such a thing. However, as he continued to pay attention to this matter, he gradually felt that Ang Lee was doing the right thing. The urgency of universal education was no less than that of transmitting sound over thousands of miles. This was a century-long plan.
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