"National language!"
Mister Li chewed on the two words carefully and nodded.
The national language, the language of the country, was just as its name suggested. More importantly, once such a book was compiled, literacy was one of the reasons. Secondly, it could spread some basic knowledge. Thirdly, it could promote loyalty to the emperor and serve the country. Naturally, the imperial court would support such a book.
In this way, the imperial court would not be a hindrance to the implementation of compulsory education. Instead, it would become the main force of compulsory education. The Emperor would definitely be tempted by the requirement to be loyal to the country.
"Now that we have the books, we still need some teachers!" Meton continued.
"Teachers?"
Mister Li frowned and wanted to refute.
Meton quickly waved his hand and said, "After compulsory education is successfully implemented, there will be so many students in the world. What will happen when there are so many more students?"
"What?" Mister Li suddenly frowned.
"There are more than a million people of the right age in the world. Even if we were to select one in ten, there would be no less than 100,000 outstanding students. Where would these 100,000 outstanding students find a way out? You must know that a family needs a lot of money to nurture one student. Can these 100,000 students become officials? "Merton asked.
Mister Li shook his head solemnly. The imperial examination was held every three years and only one or two hundred people were admitted each time. For 100,000 students, it was just a drop in the bucket.
"Not all families value knowledge. If there is no bright future, I'm afraid it will be difficult to implement compulsory education." Meton nodded.
"You mean to let these outstanding students become teachers?" Mister Li suddenly understood what Meton meant.
Meton nodded and said, "First of all, to implement compulsory education, we will need a large number of teachers. After compulsory education is implemented, we will select the outstanding students to enter a school like the Imperial College that specializes in nurturing teachers. In this way, we will be able to nurture more teachers for compulsory education and find a way out for all the scholars in the world. Isn't it the best of both worlds?"
"A school that specializes in nurturing teachers?" Mister Li's eyes suddenly lit up.
Meton nodded and said, "That's right. Since compulsory education requires the teaching of a new language and mathematics, the traditional teachers will naturally not be suitable. It is better to nurture our own. As more and more schools were built, more and more teachers were needed. There are ten provinces in the Tang dynasty, and each province has ten counties. Each county has ten villages. The entire Tang dynasty needs to build at least ten thousand schools. "
"Ah! Ten thousand! "Master Li was so shocked that he was speechless.
It was no wonder that his repeated petitions were like stones thrown into the sea. The construction of tens of thousands of schools would probably be an astronomical figure. It was no wonder that Meton said that compulsory education must be supported by the emperor. Without the support of the imperial court, who would be able to start such a large project?
"There are ten thousand schools, and each school needs at least twelve teachers. That is to say, once compulsory education starts, the imperial court can provide at least one hundred and twenty thousand teachers." Meton revealed another shocking number.
"120,000 teachers!" Teacher Li was already numb.
Meton chuckled and said, "For the aristocratic families of officials, a teacher is naturally nothing in their eyes. However, for the ordinary people, the temptation of being able to make their children into scholars and become teachers for the rest of their lives is no less than being an official."
Master Li nodded. There were only a few officials in the Tang dynasty. In contrast, the teachers, who had many positions and were easy to pass the exam, were more important to the ordinary people.
"But can the imperial court afford the salary of 120,000 teachers?" Master Li clicked his tongue. There were less than ten thousand officials in the Tang dynasty. The imperial court could naturally afford it with taxes. If the salary of 120,000 teachers was suddenly added, the imperial court might not be able to afford it!
"Compulsory education will naturally not be completed in one go. In the early stages, priority will be given to the cities first and then slowly spread to the countryside. I'm afraid that it will take at least twenty years to see results. In the early stages, the tuition fees of the students are enough to pay for the teachers' salaries. There is no need for the imperial court to allocate much money. Compared to the future benefits, the imperial court is still very clear about this. "
"I'm afraid that compulsory education will be greatly reduced in this way." Master Li sighed.
He had always been looking forward to the real compulsory education where all the students in the Mo Family Village were enrolled and received free education. If they had to pay tuition fees, the effect would be greatly reduced. Many poor families would not be able to afford it.
Meton said helplessly, "There is no other way. We can only take it step by step. In the future, when the imperial court is rich and powerful, it will not be too late to implement compulsory education. What we can do now is to prepare in advance and take it step by step."
"That's right. If you don't do it, and I don't do it, I'm afraid that the day of compulsory education for all will never come," Master Li stood up and said firmly.
Now, Master Li felt that his whole body was full of enthusiasm. He had made the right decision to come today. Everything was clear now. He had to compile the "National Literature" that satisfied the Emperor and then establish a special teachers' college. All that was left was to hand over all the plans to the imperial court. One day, compulsory education for all would definitely be realized.
"Master is indeed righteous! Of course, students should not be stingy. Mo Hospital is going to build a medical school in Qu Chi Square to train doctors for Mo Hospital. If you don't mind, you can be neighbors with Mr. Hua, "Meton said.
After a year of development, Mo Hospital was a great success. If it were not for the shortage of doctors, Mo Hospital would have already opened a branch hospital. When they saw the model of the medical school for women, Mo Hospital immediately prepared to train their own doctors. However, the scale of this medical school was much larger. In the end, Mr. Hua and Doctor Sun discussed and finally chose Qu Chi Square, which had the cheapest land price.
"Really?" Master Li was surprised.
"What's so difficult about this? It's just building a few more schools, "Meton said generously.
Master Li immediately beamed with joy.
Meton continued, "In addition, the Mo Family Village will also build 50 schools in the Guanzhong area within three years for you to use."
Master Li looked deeply at Meton. If there was only a plan to train teachers, perhaps it would only be an armchair strategy. However, now that there were 50 schools, the trained students would have a place to use their talents. His entire plan for compulsory education began to be on the right track.
Everything was difficult at the beginning. These 50 schools were simply timely help.
Master Li put down the teacup in his hand and said solemnly, "The School of Mo is paying so much. I wonder what they want in return?"
Although he was known as a weird Confucian and could not stand the hypocritical style of the Confucian school, he was still a member of the Confucian school. Once compulsory education was established, it would certainly bring great fame to the Confucian school. However, Meton was paying for it. Master Li did not think that his reputation was worth so much money.
Meton smiled slightly and said, "While the Confucian school gains fame, it can also train a large number of elite talents. The School of Mo is just picking up some students who have no intention of entering the officialdom. However, Master Li can rest assured. Being an official and studying the Art of Mo are two different kinds of people. There is no conflict between the Confucian school and the School of Mo."
Master Li suddenly smiled bitterly. How many students in the world actually entered the officialdom? It was likely that many talents who were in dire straits would go to the School of Mo. However, the benefits of this for the Confucian school were immeasurable. Naturally, Master Li could not resist this temptation.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
