Travel through the Qing Dynasty and become emperor

Chapter 668 Compulsory Education
Guan Xuqing stared blankly outside, pursed his dry lips, said nothing more, gently rolled up the planning map of the Summer Palace with his hands, handed it to Xiong Xiling, and then said: "Give it to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, pass the decree to them, Don’t allocate the money for repairing the garden, let me think of other ways. This Li Hongzao! Well, I planned to watch the repair of this garden in my lifetime.” He shook his head and smiled wryly, but the next words did not come out.

Xiong Xiling thought about it for a while, and said with a smile: "I thought there was no need to build new scenic spots. Now there are the Summer Palace, Changchun Garden, Xiyuan, and Xihaizi. They are connected, and the scale is also very large. Expanding the terrain. Those that have been repaired can be put into use immediately, repaired and used year by year, so it is more affordable and the momentum is smaller. Otherwise, even if Li Hongzao has no objection and the money is too much to bear, the Suzheng historians will swarm and shout, On the contrary, it loses the dignity of the court."

Guan Xuqing shook his head, and said slowly: "I guess you ministers, there will be people who disagree. What you say now, not only understands my heart, but also takes care of the people in charge. It is really the best of both worlds." Originally, I entrusted Zhijun to handle this errand. He is in his thirties this year. After all, he is in the prime of life and has a quick mind. It's a pity."

Seeing the dull atmosphere in the room, Kang Youwei made fun of it, and said, "Master, when he talked about 'Erli', I remembered a joke. The scholar's answer sheet said, "Today we know that the ancients were weak, and they could only stand up and manage affairs when they were 60 years old." Li Hongzao thought the candidate was interesting, so he called him here, and he said confidently, "The sage's original words are still wrong." ?’ Li Hongzao said, ‘According to you, if you know your destiny at fifty, you can tell fortunes. If your ears are smooth at sixty, you must be deaf before the age of [-].’” Before he finished speaking, Guan Xuqing laughed loudly, “Okay, Good! The characters and stories of this dynasty can be included in "Xiao Lin Guang Ji"!"

Seeing that the time was almost up, Xiong Xiling said: "Although Li Hongzao has overcorrected, what he said about Enke's acquisition of scholars is true. Seeing that Enke is approaching, the examination institutes in various places have been in disrepair for a long time, leaking rain, and collapsed. It collapsed, and the richer places are alright, barely spending money to repair and repair, but the poor provinces are stretched thin, and one after another, they ask the court for money."

Guan Xuqing restrained his smile, and pondered: "There are thousands of examination institutes in various places. Some of them can be repaired, and some of them are seriously damaged and need to be rebuilt. This is not a small amount of money. Let the Ministry of Finance review it first. .”

Xiong Xiling said: "I have already greeted Tang Shaoyi before, and he hid when he saw me, saying that he has no money, and I have nothing to do, so I have to come and invite the emperor to judge."

Guan Xuqing frowned and said: "I understand what he means. There is still money in the Gongyuan, but I have a bigger plan."

"Oh? Please make it clear, Your Majesty."

"I plan to implement compulsory education. I had a brief discussion with Kang Youwei on this matter. This time I plan to bring it to the table for implementation. According to the new education law, all legal citizens of the empire must be sent to the state, government, and government after they reach the age of 4. All kinds of local schools accept national education. Children go to kindergarten for two years, and they can also be sent to private schools, but the quality of teaching must be guaranteed before they can receive national and local financial subsidies. All education starts from kindergarten education until university After graduation, all relevant expenses will be borne by the national and local finances. A 15-year compulsory education system is implemented throughout China. This wave of huge investment and the popularization of university education will have a strong impact on the next generation of China's national economy. 15 years later The next generation of Chinese people, who have popularized university education, and the quality of the people at that time has improved significantly, what is given back to China is not the value of this wave of investment, but a return of more than ten times the value. The awakening of the consciousness of the Chinese nation is the sign that China has truly become the number one power in the world." Guan Xuqing said confidently.

Both Xiong Xiling and Kang Youwei also felt encouraged, and later Xiong Xiling pondered and said: "This is a good thing for the people of Zebei. However, to carry out compulsory education, we must first build schools in various places, and state capitals and county roads must complete this. This project is by no means a one-time effort, and the funds required are astonishing. If 25 schools are built first, based on [-] dragon coins for each school, the total will be [-] billion yuan. The remuneration for school servants is astonishing."

Guan Xuqing said: "I've thought about it, 100 schools are definitely not enough. With such a large territory of the empire and such a large population, without [-] schools, this compulsory education cannot be established. The money must be prepared at least [-] billion."

Ah!
Xiong Xiling and Kang Youwei were dumbfounded when they heard the number, 100 billion?Isn't this fatal?Although the empire is now rich and powerful, its annual fiscal revenue is only more than 30 billion. It also needs to support industrial construction in various places, subsidize agricultural taxes, build water conservancy, etc. Such a large amount, I am afraid the country cannot bear it.

Guan Xuqing said to Xiao De'an: "Go, pass on my will, take advantage of the enthusiasm, and invite the cabinet and several officials to discuss matters in the Zhengda Guangming Hall of Yuanmingyuan."

Little De'an agreed, and ran away without a trace.

Guan Xuqing also glanced at the greenery all over the garden, and said with a wry smile: "Li Hongzao, Li Hongzao, it doesn't matter if you become a direct minister once, you will wipe away all the prosperity of Zhenyou Garden, let's go, let's drive Yuanmingyuan!"

Guan Xuqing said to Jingfen on Longchao: "Look, Li Hongzao interrupted a wonderful tour. I originally said that I would have a good time with you."

Jing Fen smiled and said: "Didn't the Emperor say at the beginning that a direct minister is better than a million soldiers, and Li Hongzao dared to die against this spirit of worrying about the country and the people? The Emperor should also be relieved. Too much, Li Hongzao seems to be past his age, his hair is all white, if he dies in the future, the emperor will have one less mirror around him. We will have plenty of time after the Spring and Autumn period, the emperor should put state affairs first."

Guan Xuqing held Jingfen's hand, and said leisurely: "I have a direct minister and a virtuous queen by my side, what else is there for me to be dissatisfied with? Don't worry, I will repair this garden sooner or later, not only to repair, but also to make it sound , The scenery is beautiful, so that the civil and military people of the Manchu Dynasty and the people of the empire can't fault it."

"Okay, the concubine will return to Kunning Palace first, and you can go to Yuanmingyuan to govern."

"The ministers kowtow to see my emperor, long live, long live, long live!"

Guan Xuqing sat up in Zhengda Guangming Hall, looked at the civil and military officials kneeling all over the floor, immediately raised his heart, waved his hand and said: "Everyone, let's go to peace. Today is not the day when the imperial gate is in charge of politics. The ministers came here to discuss something important." Speaking of this, he glanced at Kang Youwei, Kang Youwei understood, cleared his voice and stood facing south, and told everyone about the preparation of compulsory education.

Yang Du, Minister of Culture, came out of the class and saluted the emperor on the throne, saying: "The emperor's wise decisions will surely benefit future generations. The emperor often said: It takes ten years to grow trees, and a hundred years to cultivate people. If the country is to prosper, it is necessary to establish science and education. The education reform carried out over the years has had a considerable effect, and it is only now that it will be a matter of course. In the past, large and small enterprises have been scrambling for people who have gone to school. The supply is in short supply, and many of them have just completed their studies. It is inevitable for the development of the country, and what we need most now is talents. Of course, it is also related to the education law of the empire. Many students actually want to continue their studies, but the tuition fees are staggering. , many people cannot afford it, and the strict examination system prevents many students from entering colleges and universities. At the same time, most of the participating students are from rural areas, and the family burden is heavy, requiring them to give up their studies and rely on work. Come to support the family. The traditional thinking in our country is that everything is inferior, and only reading is high. Now that there is an opportunity to go to university for free, ordinary people all over China are not crazy about signing up. What does university mean? It means the former first-rank bachelor ! That is the greatest dream of poor scholars, the ideal palace of scholars, and now that this gate is open to them, it really is the boundless grace of the emperor."

Minister of Health Sun Wen also came out of the shift and said: "Everyone, be quiet, we have a huge plan, maybe you have never heard of it. It is universal medical care."

The ministers looked at me and I looked at you, whispering in twos and threes, talking a lot, Guan Xuqing looked at everyone with a smile, and motioned for Sun Wen to continue.

Sun Wen said loudly: "The national medical plan is divided into three steps. I need to introduce it to you here. The first step is Medisave. Medisave is a compulsory national savings plan that helps individuals save and use To pay for hospitalization expenses. People who have a job must deposit 6% to 8% of their monthly salary income into health savings. Of course, this is also interest-bearing. Savings accounts are limited to paying hospitalization expenses and a few expensive outpatient expenses. , used jointly by three generations of a family. Hospitalization expenses are composed of three parts: imperial finance, personal medical savings payment and personal self-payment, rather than the full amount paid by the individual. Although the insurance savings account is owned by the individual, it has strict withdrawal limits, and the excess part Take care of yourself. If you live in a high-grade ward, the personal deductible will increase accordingly.”

"The second step is to voluntarily purchase medical insurance, that is, employed practitioners voluntarily purchase insurance through their employers or pay for it themselves. Of course, there is also the public medical part for special groups. One is medical care, which provides medical care for the elderly. services; the other is Medicaid, which provides medical services to the poor and disabled. Public insurance is subsidized by the imperial court and local governments.”

(End of this chapter)