People in the Three Kingdoms: Starting from Preaching

Chapter 400 Girl
"Come here, girl. Do you want some candy? How about I ask you a few questions and then buy some for you?"

On one side of the street market, a little girl carrying a cloth bag on her back was looking at the two strange uncles in front of her with puzzled eyes. The younger uncle was pointing at the various candies displayed on the stall next to him and talking with a smile, which seemed a bit wretched.

This made the little girl alert and she immediately took a few steps back, staring at the other person.

At this time, if the other party made the slightest movement, she would scream loudly.

Although she was tempted by the candy, she swallowed and shook her head firmly: "Master said that we can't trust strangers casually and can't eat strangers' food casually, otherwise we will be caught and sold by strangers!"

The girl's serious look made Mi Zhu and Mi Fang's expressions freeze.

Mi Fang looked around feeling somewhat guilty, and was relieved to see that no one was paying attention to him. Otherwise, it would be a joke if he was really mistaken for a bad guy.

Mi Zhu was more resourceful. He took out two pieces of magic money that were exchanged in Xuan Xia and waved them in front of the girl.

"Don't be afraid, girl. We are not bad people. We will leave after asking a few questions. If you can answer the questions, you can take the money and spend it. You don't have to worry about me harming you."

Mi Zhu's demeanor is more calm and steady, which obviously makes the girl trust him more than the frivolous Mi Fang.

After such patient persuasion, the girl's psychological defenses were finally shaken.

Perhaps the bustling crowd around her gave her a sense of security. In the end, she stared at the money in Mi Zhu's hand and nodded.

Seeing this, Mi Zhu sat down at a nearby stall and said with a smile, "You are a student here, so let me ask you, how long have you been studying and what have you learned?"

The girl was wondering what the problem was, but it was these, and she immediately relaxed: "I have studied for two years, I can recognize most of the characters, I can do addition, subtraction, multiplication and division, I can recite the scriptures, and I know some of the studies of various philosophers."

Hearing the girl's answer, although it was all very basic knowledge, it still surprised the two brothers.

After all, the girl in front of him was only about seven or eight years old, which was the time when she was just beginning to learn. It was quite good that she could learn these things. Even if she was a child of a noble family, it was no more than that.

Moreover, the children of the gentry were mostly educated at home, and usually specialized in only one school of Confucianism. In fact, their knowledge was very narrow. In comparison, Xuan Xia's students had a broader knowledge.

Mi Fang became interested and started to test the girls. After the test, they were convinced.

When it comes to mathematics, after he gave a question, the girl could answer it smoothly just by gesturing on the ground, especially the multiplication formulas that the girl memorized, which were catchy, simple and useful.

Of course the two brothers could see that the girl had a very solid grasp of these basic mathematical knowledge.

When tested on other subjects, the girls were able to recite some chapters and paragraphs of the various schools of thought, and could also memorize most of the contents of the Natural History. They could even talk about the basic concepts of natural science such as the microscopic world, air pressure, refraction, etc.

After this test, the girls seemed to have been aroused to perform and they kept talking.

Mi Zhu and Mi Fang were surprised and stretched out their hands to stop her, and the girl stopped reluctantly.

Honestly speaking, it's a stretch to say that any random student on the street could reach this level.

Mi Zhu was also more curious about another thing, which was to what extent such education had become popular.

"How do your parents make a living?" Mi Zhu asked again.

The girl had already let down her guard by this time, and blurted out, "My parents are just factory workers."

Mi Zhu and Mi Fang looked at each other and asked, "How much is your tuition?"

The girl thought for a moment and replied, "The tuition fees are different for each family. My family has five brothers and sisters, and each of them only needs 100 coins for tuition. For example, our neighbor's family has only two brothers and sisters, so the tuition fee is 200 coins."

Mi Zhu and Mi Fang took a deep breath when they heard this.

This tuition fee may not be small for ordinary people, but it is definitely not too much. At least considering the living conditions of the people of Xuanxia, ​​it is completely affordable.

However, judging from Mi Zhu and Mi Fang's business acumen, running a school in this way is almost like doing charity.

From this girl, they can feel the teaching strength of the Xuanxia School. A school like this only charges one or two hundred coins per student. This is incredible no matter how you look at it.

If the Xuanxia government runs a school like this, isn't it simply losing money? How can it continue like this for long?

Mi Fang and Mi Zhu just felt puzzled.

After thinking for a while, Mi Zhu asked the last question again: "Among the neighbors you know, do all the children go to school?" The girl nodded affirmatively: "Of course, if you don't let your children go to school, the government will arrest the parents. I have seen this happen with my own eyes!"

As she spoke, the girl made a face at them and then giggled.

At this point, Mi Zhu finally stopped asking any more questions. Anything more in-depth was not something that the seven or eight-year-old girl in front of him could answer.

After touching the girl's head, Mi Zhu stuffed a few coins into her hand, smiled and said words of encouragement "study hard", and let the girl leave on her own.

When the little girl happily disappeared in the crowd, Mi Zhu saw a sentence written on the wall not far away: "No matter how poor you are, you cannot be poor in education", and he couldn't take his eyes off it for a long time.

The two brothers watched here for a long time, and saw people coming and going, including students, workers, women, and businessmen. Together, they formed a picture full of vitality and vitality.

This also reminded them of the debate between the businessman and the students when they entered the city yesterday.

"The coverage of Xuanxia education is so wide that it is hard to imagine. The children of ordinary workers and common people can all go to school. If it continues in this way, the investment in education alone in the future will probably be a astronomical figure." After a long time, Mi Zhu sighed.

Mi Fang came back to his senses, but his eyes were full of doubts: "But what I don't understand is, what exactly is the Xuanxia court seeking? Is it just to earn a few hundred coins from the people with such a huge investment? If it were me, I would never do such a loss-making business of using my own wealth to support the poor people."

With Mi Fang's businessman mind, he really couldn't understand such things.

If it were me, even if I wanted to run a school, it would definitely not be to serve these ordinary people. The tuition fees of the one or two hundred yuan in the hands of these poor people are not even a fraction of the cost of running a school.

In the education business, there is only one way to make a profit, and that is elite education for the wealthy class. This is not a heinous crime. From ancient times to the present, knowledge has always been one of the most precious resources in the world.

Mi Fang found it unreasonable that Xuan Xia's comprehensive education, which was aimed at the general public, gave away precious resources such as knowledge at a loss to thousands of poor people.

Mi Fang was just a pure businessman, but his elder brother Mi Zhu's vision was obviously much higher.

"Don't you understand? It's precisely because businessmen won't do business at a loss that they do it."

Mi Zhu sighed and stood up, his tone was full of admiration and deepness: "Before, the world belonged to the Liu family, and the people of the world supported the Liu family, but the world of Xuanxia belongs to the people of the world, and it is the court that serves the people, so they must do these things."

As soon as he finished speaking, Mi Zhu walked forward, but Mi Fang behind him was stunned. He couldn't help but ponder over this sentence.

Thinking of the naturalistic doctrine which was the foundation of the Xuanxia nation, and the statement of "receiving orders from the people", Mi Fang gradually understood the profound meaning of his brother's words.

Is that so? The different political foundations of the court determined the direction of the route.
After waking up, he was about to speak, but when he turned around, he found that his brother had already walked away. He hurriedly followed him, and just as he ran to his side, he heard his brother's words.

"If education is left to businessmen, it can be done, but the poor certainly can't afford it, but who cares?"

Mi Zhu walked and listened to the laughter of the people passing by, and sighed from the bottom of his heart: "Education is like this, and so are the medical fields and other careers. The people of this world may usher in the happiest era in history."

Mi Fang was stunned when he heard this. This was an exaggerated statement, but when he thought about it carefully, he really couldn't refute it.

As expected, one can only deeply understand everything by seeing it with one's own eyes. Now that they have come to Xuan Xia, they have truly understood what kind of existence Xuan Xia is.

It turns out that Xuan Xia is not as ferocious and brutal as rumored, but truly fits the way of the Holy King that China has always pursued.

If the pre-Qin philosophers were to come to this time, they would probably become Xuan Xia's supporters, right?
"Although the merchant won the debate at the city gate yesterday, who was right and who was wrong is another matter. After entering the city, I saw similar debates everywhere. I'm afraid this great debate will be fierce."

When the two of them walked, whether they were going to restaurants or teahouses, or gatherings, the topic of conversation among the crowd was all about this matter. Apparently, this had become a very hot topic in Xuan Xia.

People of different identities and positions, and people of different levels of knowledge, often have different opinions on matters like this, and usually no conclusion can be reached through arguments.

This is just like the great salt and iron debate in the Han Dynasty. Who can tell who won and who lost in the salt and iron debate?

Of course, this debate was also different, at least Mi Zhu quickly noticed the difference.

"Debate is just a means to popularize knowledge. In the end, the winner will definitely be the official faction of the court." Mi Zhu said.

Mi Fang became interested: "Why do you say that, brother?"

Mi Zhu turned his head and looked into the distance, where the Xuanxia Government Office was located. "Because all debates end with sages, and Xuanxia has a living sage. He will definitely watch this debate from beginning to end, and then make the final judgment at the appropriate time."

(End of this chapter)