Chapter 2022: Chapter 1806: Two Choices (2)
"On one hand, there is a severe shortage of scholars. Back in the days, the ability to establish academies one after another on Mount Tai of Qingzhou was entirely because I had plundered the entire Yuzhou, abducting nearly all the scholars. Now, these scholars are far from enough, even if one scholar were to teach ten it still wouldn’t suffice," Chen Xi said with a wry smile.
Back then, when Chen Xi took the scholars from Yuzhou, it indeed caused quite a stir, but in the end, under the repression of the Library Pavilion, the matter blew over, and an educational framework was barely established. However, as Liu Bei’s territory expanded more and more, the scholars gradually became insufficient.
Chen Xi always believed that one teacher guiding five students at a time was an appropriate level. Taking on ten students already meant some are neglected, and with twenty students, it’s almost as if they’re left to fend for themselves.
The shortage of teachers is a significant issue. In the past, Chen Xi’s worries were about insufficient money and grain, making it unsustainable. Now, money and grain are no longer problems, but the number of teachers has become the issue.
As for quickly training teachers, Chen Xi had considered it, but under the current circumstances, the last batch of barely qualified students eligible for the great examinations were only a dozen or so, and as for those who passed, to be honest, Chen Xi didn’t hold back; there wasn’t even one who met the passing criteria.
With this level of quality, even with Chen Xi’s generous standards, it took three years to barely teach over a hundred qualified students. As for teachers of higher standards who could teach others, forget it; Chen Xi simply gave up.
It was precisely because of this that Chen Xi came to realize that for most students of this era, the majority of the knowledge he imparted held little significance. They were either pursuing the free meal or the craft skill.
Even those genuinely seeking knowledge, for the common folk of this era, had no conditions to apply what they learned. It’s much like the future of China’s English classes, where ninety percent study English but rarely use it.
This led to most children of this era initially being extremely enthusiastic about learning, with their families willing to go to any lengths to support their children’s education. However, after some time, they realized that learning these characters had nowhere to apply. Once the initial excitement faded, once the idealism returned to reality, people of this era question its value.
Clearly, for most average people, it’s challenging to truly grasp and understand everything taught to them in such a short time. For these students, a free meal and learning a skill to make a living are far more valuable than incomprehensible words and numerology.
After all, geniuses in this world are extremely scarce, not to mention those living in ordinary families destined not to inherit refined wisdom from their ancestors, nor receive the right education at the right time, nor engage in corresponding practice.
Without these elements, even with the same intellect, the wisdom shown under influences of social environment, exposure, and perspective would differ vastly, which is why Chen Xi’s educational system has not produced a sage from ordinary backgrounds.
No matter what, teaching by example and social environment significantly impacts a person, and the education Chen Xi constructed, under such short conditions, is insufficient to change a person. Of course, it’s not impossible, but the cost is tremendous.
"In conclusion, everyone here is aware of the current situation. This was one of the four tasks I took on at the time. What do you think I should do? Should I extend the education period, find more scholars, or directly change the educational model to one that suits the needs of the people?" Chen Xi spread his hands and looked at the people around him.
After listening, Chen Qun and the others all appeared thoughtful. Chen Xi’s question is very clear, but the answer to this question could affect society for the next hundred years or more.
Choosing to extend the education period would not only double the costs; leaving aside where those scholars and teachers would come from, but the mere point that, as the education period extends, the common folk will genuinely learn knowledge, which will impact society fundamentally.
Chen Xi’s current education model has very little impact on the Great Aristocratic Family who have been practicing elite education for hundreds of years. Once the education time is extended, providing a complete education like the aristocratic family to the common folk, within at most three generations, the aristocratic family would be finished.
After all, the aristocratic family only accounts for one percent of the population. Even if the proportion of sages is slightly higher, compared to the vast base of ordinary people, their only path is to perish.
It can be said that choosing to extend the education period would cause a tremendous impact on the currently stable social structure, leading to a radical change in the current social structure.
Hence, Chen Qun and others immediately rejected extending the education period; it’s almost the natural instinct of the aristocratic family for self-preservation.
As for the second type, vocational education, only conducting basic education to make the common people literate and understand simple numerology, providing them with basic abilities to continue learning, and then teaching them professional survival skills, this seems very appropriate to these people.
After all, the danger of the second type is significantly lower than the first. Though there are those few extraordinary individuals who break through, that essentially belongs to unforeseeable factors.
"The first type is challenging to achieve, too many students and too few scholars. More importantly, the common folk might not necessarily want these things. Didn’t you mention before that they are more interested in survival skills?" At this point, naturally, it was Chen Qun who stood up.
"The problem is that the first type can create a large number of middle-level cadres, making the entire organizational structure more reasonable," Chen Xi furrowed his brow and said.
Chen Xi also knows how difficult it is to implement the first type, but when it comes to conquering Central Asia and the Kushan later, if it’s simply a matter of conquering, that’s not a problem; as long as military power is strong enough, it can be done. But if it is to be managed, the organizational structure is unavoidable.
Although Chen Xi doesn’t have a habit of slaughtering, he absolutely wouldn’t hand over the territory he painstakingly conquered to the locals for management, as people not of my clan are bound to have different intentions; this point Chen Xi very much agrees with, so a large number of middle-levels are undoubtedly needed.
Indeed, various Great Aristocratic Families can pull together some barely usable middle-levels, but Chen Xi can’t exclusively use the aristocratic family; maybe in the future, but certainly not at the beginning. This means Chen Xi must have a large number of formed middle-level cadres.
As for how to create a large number of middle-level cadres, Chen Xi can think of only two ways: one is a pure military management model, and the other is to expand the scale of education, extend the education period, broadly disseminate education, and cultivate many middle-level civil officials.
In fact, the biggest issue with this approach doesn’t lie in the impact on the aristocratic families and social systems that Chen Qun and the others think, but in how people later perceive the issue when these individuals gain official positions through education.
If this situation becomes a societal phenomenon, those scenarios from the Song and Ming Dynasties—where people became adept at sycophancy and factionalism, focusing on party struggles instead of the nation’s welfare—are bound to sooner or later occur.
Because civil officials gaining positions is too easy, bypassing the military merit system and avoiding the battlefield slaughter, this path looks safer and more reliable, and more importantly, easier, as exam fraud is far easier than battling in the warfield.
So, Chen Xi presented this option, as this mode of extending education is indeed unsuitable for the present, and its various drawbacks are too numerous to count. As long as Chen Xi’s mind is intact, it’s impossible for him to choose this imperfect method at this unsuitable time point.
Moreover, offering these two choices to those present, this option that is destined not to be selected, isn’t it just a way to make waste useful again and extract something valuable? Who would have thought Chen Xi would be short on manpower!"
