Chapter 1323 - A Visit to Fangcao Di: Technology is the Primary Productive Force

What impressed the delegation most was this: the full-time transmigrators at Fangcao Di were one and all occupied from morning till night, with scarcely a moment of leisure. Of course, if one looked closely, each and every transmigrator teacher—particularly when observing students, especially female students—had somewhat bloodshot eyes.

"With the pirates being so wealthy, they still teach so tirelessly—admirable indeed. We could never match them." Liu Dalin remarked to Wang Ci. This spirit of teaching and nurturing—anyone who witnessed it had to admire it.

"It's merely that what the pir—Australians teach runs entirely contrary to the sages' righteous path. As the saying goes: when the Way is crooked, the more knowledge one has, the more reactionary one becomes!" Wang Ci applied a phrase he had picked up from sitting in on classes these past days.

Liu the Successful Candidate stroked his beard, eyes closed, pondering for a moment before responding: "Though what the Australians teach differs from the books of the sages, it nonetheless follows the Way of the sages. An ancient sage of Australia once declared: 'All roads lead to Chang'an.' We too should not be rigidly bound by antiquity—consider this Lingao, this Qiongzhou! The common people live in peace and contentment—is this not a rare era of good governance?"

Wang Ci remained unconvinced in his heart. Indeed, the Australians' arts of governing the people and managing finances were unparalleled in the world. Even if the sages were reborn, they could probably do no better. But he always sensed something too heretical in their methods: was it sufficient to claim one was implementing the sages' teachings merely because the common people received practical benefits? If the Australians didn't employ the sages' teachings to educate and govern the masses, then what use were the gentry and scholars?

A chill rose in Director Wang's heart. He ceased disputing and walked away alone, as if his soul had departed his body.

At the delegation's repeated insistence, they were finally granted permission to enter the library. Fangcao Di's library was limited in scale—after all, there weren't many books that students at the elementary level could read. And the Council and Fangcao Di's educators cultivated students in a purely "materialistic" manner—meaning the knowledge they learned, read, and mastered was all oriented toward practical principles. Stories, fairy tales, and such—which occupied a considerable portion of children's literature—were all prohibited from publication except for a select few with "educational significance." This meant the variety of books collected in this library was constrained. Roughly speaking, aside from textbooks, political propaganda readers, and various dictionaries, there was a large quantity of popular science volumes.

Even so, the scale of twenty thousand volumes left the delegation speechless. In this era when printing and publishing were severely backward, and books were few in variety and expensive in price, possessing several hundred or several thousand volumes established one as a book collector. Ten thousand books or more—only government offices and the imperial family could amass that. For the Australians to equip such a school with so many books in just a few years—this alone was enough to command prostrate admiration.

In Hu Qingbai and Principal Zhang's estimation, this really wasn't remarkable. For a nationally certified model high school with forty-two teaching classes, per-student book holdings had to meet fifty volumes; even for ordinary middle schools, at least ten volumes per student was the minimum standard. As a complete school spanning elementary through middle school, Fangcao Di had two hundred residence groups and six thousand students. Even by the lowest standard, it should possess sixty thousand volumes—Lingao's printing industry was still far from impressive.

When Liu Dalin beheld an entire great hall with densely packed shelves filled with books, he was rendered speechless for a long while: all the books on the entire island of Hainan probably didn't equal what filled this room. The delegation lingered here for an extended time, flipping through book after book on the shelves. But they never examined any for long before shaking their heads and putting them down—aside from a select few, they found most books incomprehensible. Then observing the students bent over reading in the reading room, Director Wang suddenly felt as though he were an illiterate peasant: so there was this much learning in the world, and what he knew was so little!

The pirates' "clever tricks and frivolous skills" that he had once disdained were generating miracle after miracle in Lingao, yet he knew nothing of any of it. He couldn't even comprehend the books placed before him. No wonder the Australians paid them no attention and took no precautions, permitting them to wander freely and observe at will. Reflecting on this, Wang Ci painfully replaced the volume he held, unable to continue reading.

Huang Bingkun searched through many books in the library but was similarly disappointed—until he came across a large multi-volume work entitled One Hundred Thousand Whys, which he treasured like a precious gem. Of course, there remained much in this book that he couldn't comprehend, but some chapters he could follow.

Reading through it, he discovered that the content spanned everything from astronomy above to geography below, encompassing every conceivable field of knowledge. Most remarkably, though the language was simple and concise, it could explain all manner of phenomena in accessible terms. Even he, knowing nothing of "Australian learning," could understand portions of it. His heart leaped with joy: wasn't this the Australians' secret scripture?! With this, the pirates' secrets would be laid bare for all to see! At this revelation, Young Master Huang's breathing grew rapid. He wished he possessed a bag to conceal these dozens of volumes and smuggle them out.

However, several male and female academic affairs staff kept their eyes trained on the visitors throughout. Huang Bingkun watched for opportunities for an extended period but was never able to successfully pilfer any books. He could only replace them in frustration, scheming about how to find another method.

Just as he was plotting, he noticed some students reading books while copying into small notebooks. His heart leaped with renewed hope—since copying was permitted here, he could simply have Huang Ping transcribe the books. If one person proved insufficient, at worst he could send two more boys to attend school.

That day at dinner time, Wang Ci was queuing for food at the cafeteria and as usual obtained a portion for Liu Dalin the Successful Candidate. The delegation's meals were complimentary, but the food was at the same level as that of the students and faculty—no special treatment.

As the two sat down to eat, Wang Ci began: "Master Liu, these past few days have truly broadened my horizons and benefited me greatly. These Australians are indeed extraordinary people."

"The Australians are certainly talented and intelligent." Liu the Successful Candidate sensed Director Wang had something further to say, so he offered a perfunctory response and waited for him to continue.

"Wealth and goods are the foundation of the Australians' power! Consider, sir: this school—magnificent buildings; that library—books numbering not merely in the hundreds or thousands. Consider these meals: every meal includes both meat and vegetables, with ample refined rice. Our court could never accomplish this. I'm not afraid to confess to you: last year when the Australians hosted me, the ingredients were genuine delicacies from mountain and sea. I, your student, very nearly swallowed my own tongue, ha ha."

"Do you truly believe, sir, that the Australians can achieve all this merely because they are wealthy?"

"Headmaster, there are many ears about. Why don't we continue this conversation back in our dormitory?" Wang Ci observed that Liu Dalin was about to speak freely and feared being overheard in the cafeteria. This place differed from others—everyone here was an Australian student. If any word was misspoken, the only Successful Candidate in Lingao County's history might face irreparable consequences.

But Liu Dalin waved his hand dismissively: "Oh, ho ho, no matter, no matter. This place is precisely noisy with many voices, so the Australians' secret eavesdropping methods cannot be employed."

Director Wang continued: "If wealth and goods are not the Australians' foundation, why do they toil so tirelessly, treating the accumulation of wealth as their mission? Not only do they accumulate wealth, but they are also remarkably austere in their personal consumption..."

"Accumulating wealth is for national use." Liu Dalin spoke slowly and deliberately. "From ancient times to the present, when courts have collected taxes, promoted industry and commerce, and opened all avenues of revenue, it has been precisely for ample national resources. What the Australians do is no different. But their true foundation lies elsewhere."

"Please enlighten me, sir."

"Consider, sir: Lingao has been a county since the Tang Dynasty—that's eight or nine hundred years now. During these centuries, aside from acquiring some additional fields and registered households, how much has the Ming differed from the Tang? Sir, you have also studied the Qiongtai Gazetteer and this county's local records, so you naturally know."

"Indeed, after all, this county is a small frontier district, and with the Li people causing disruptions, merely maintaining the current situation has been no simple matter."

"Precisely. From when the Tang established the county until now, only this modest state has been maintained and developed. So why is it that once the Australians arrived, there has been this unprecedented great transformation?"

Wang Ci had never carefully contemplated this question. The deepest impression the Australians had made on him was "lavish extravagance" and "knowing how to make money." Many things they accomplished succeeded mainly because they could generate revenue—like magicians, they could produce endless streams of money and grain to sustain their enterprises.

"That's naturally because the Australians can make money," Wang Ci replied. "Many beneficial policies for the county—it's not that the county wouldn't implement them, but simply that lacking money and grain, they proved impossible to execute."

"Ha ha," Liu Dalin gave a meaningful slight smile. "Let's set that aside. Since they can make money—why can they make more money than others? Isn't this still Lingao County?"

This question left Director Wang momentarily dumbfounded. He had always felt the pirates were particularly adept at making money, but had never thought to question why.

After pondering for a moment, he ventured: "The Australians possess various secret techniques..."

"Exactly!" Liu Dalin slapped the table and clapped in appreciation. "What Brother Wang says is correct. The Australians can make more money than others precisely because they possess secret techniques that others lack." He continued: "Local farmers here—one able-bodied man with one ox can tend no more than twenty mu of land, and the harvest amounts to barely over a hundred jin per mu per year. Observe how the Australians farm—one person with horses, cattle, and those unknown iron contraptions can tend a hundred mu or more, yielding one to two thousand jin per mu per year. That is the essential difference."

Wang Ci's understanding suddenly crystallized. He nodded: "What the headmaster says is true. Not only in farming—the Australians accomplish everything better and produce more than the local people..."

"Correct," Liu Dalin confirmed. "Rather than saying the Australians are skilled at making money, it would be more accurate to say they can produce more grain and cloth. Moreover, they possess secret methods for building ships and paving roads. Road-building proceeds rapidly, ship-building achieves great scale. When goods are scarce, they can be transported from distant places; when goods are abundant, they can be sold to far markets. Adjusting surplus and shortage, balancing plenty and scarcity—there is neither grain so cheap it harms farmers, nor prices so high all commodities become dear. Operating in this manner, how could the Australians not become wealthy!"

"What the headmaster says is entirely true!" Wang Ci nodded excitedly again and again. Liu the Successful Candidate's analysis, though straightforward, was extremely lucid. He too had contemplated this before, but never so thoroughly. Indeed, the Australians could generate this unprecedented great transformation here precisely because they possessed every manner of "secret art" and commanded "productive power" far beyond what local people could approach!

(End of Chapter)