mtl008 Chapter 617 Guan Xing Wants to Quit
Chapter 617 Guan Xing Wants to Quit
Upon hearing this, the entire room fell silent, and many people subconsciously turned their heads away from Guan Xing's questioning gaze.
They couldn't respond to that, for a simple reason: due to the limited medical and cognitive levels, almost every family of the officials in the palace had experienced heartbreaking events such as stillbirths, the death of two unborn children, and infant mortality.
If even officials in the palace are like this, then the poor common people who can't afford to eat or see a doctor are even worse off.
It's no exaggeration to say that infant mortality is common in this era, and growing up to adulthood is a miracle.
This might be barely acceptable for large families, but for families with few members, or even those with only one son per generation, it could be fatal. Even a minor ailment could lead to the extinction of their lineage.
Otherwise, why are widows who can bear children so valuable?
Therefore, as soon as the news of Zhuge Liang, as the prime minister, ordering Cheng Li and Dong Feng to experiment with new birthing techniques spread, it attracted everyone's attention. After learning that handwashing and disinfection could increase the success rate of birthing by 20% to 30%, everyone was shocked. After the shock, many families immediately issued strict orders that in the future, midwives must be supervised to wash their hands, and they must never be allowed to use dirty hands to deliver babies for their own mothers.
Faced with such a severe birth situation, and with the strong obsession with continuing the family line, the people of the Han Dynasty were naturally unwilling to let go of any opportunity to increase the birth rate. Therefore, no one dared to take up Guan Xing's challenge, otherwise Guan Xing would blame them for the low birth rate, which would be troublesome.
No one present, including Liu Bei, could bear the blame for this.
Seeing that everyone fell silent, Guan Xing continued, "Since the Yellow Turban Rebellion, after decades of war, the population of the Han Dynasty has been reduced to less than one-tenth. The most important thing right now is to restore the population. Restoring the population is of paramount importance and the most important national policy at present. How can we fight against Cao Wei without enough people?"
"Restoring the population is not just about getting pregnant; it also requires successful births and healthy growth. To achieve this goal, given the precarious physical condition of both pregnant women and infants, the only way is to improve medical standards. And the only way to improve medical standards is to establish medical schools, research more advanced medical techniques, and train more medical professionals."
"To establish a medical school, on a grand scale, is for the prosperity of the Han Dynasty and its rapid rise to its peak. On a smaller scale, it is also for the benefit of everyone present and for the people of the world, so that they can better continue their lineage and heal their ailments. Is there anything wrong with that? Shouldn't such a school be built?"
Everyone rolled their eyes. Their manners were appalling, their medical standards were questionable, and Guan Anguo was spouting all these new terms.
That's actually quite fitting.
Seeing that no one responded, Guan Xing turned his gaze to Yuan Hui and asked with a smile, "Supervisor Yuan, shouldn't a medical school be built?"
Yuan Hui's lips moved as if he wanted to say something, but he tragically found that he couldn't refute it. Medical school was indeed a great thing that would benefit the Han Dynasty and all mankind. If he opposed it, he would instantly become a public enemy.
As a great Confucian scholar, Yuan Hui relied on the pretense of speaking out for the people to persuade the majority to support him. Therefore, he would never dare to disagree with something that was beneficial to the whole nation.
He also agreed with this viewpoint, but he just didn't want to see Guan Xing's smug face.
This leads to him not wanting to say anything in praise, but not daring to say anything in opposition, so he can only remain silent after thinking it over.
But Guan Xing was staring straight at him, and remaining silent wasn't a solution, so Yuan Hui had no choice but to pinch his nose and say, "Even if what you're saying is right, and a medical school is indispensable, what about an engineering school? Are you sure it's not just to restore the tradition of miscellaneous studies?"
The Miscellaneous School is one of the Hundred Schools of Thought, and Yuan Hui's purpose in bringing this up now is self-evident.
Guan Xing snorted coldly, "Don't try to label me as a revivalist of the Hundred Schools of Thought. If you do it again, I'll sue you for defamation."
"Regarding this issue, I'd like to ask Supervisor Yuan a question: if I remember correctly, you had your nephew build a paper mill outside the city, right?"
Yuan Hui calmly replied, "The construction of the factory was ordered by His Majesty. According to you, I am simply responding to the court's call. Is there anything wrong with that?"
Guan Xing laughed in anger and retorted, "I have no objection to you responding to the imperial court's call, but what the hell is this about you poaching people from my Wushang Paper Mill?"
"Not only did you pay my paper mill workers three times their wages, but you also sent beautiful women to my paper mill manager, using their beauty to seduce him to leave with you. Do you really think I don't know about this? I respect you as a great scholar, yet you stole my man behind my back. Shouldn't you give me an explanation for this?"
Ever since Liu Bei issued an edict encouraging the construction of factories, the Wushang Steel Plant and Paper Mill have become highly sought-after, with people coming to the gates of the two factories every day to poach employees.
Furthermore, with the unification of Jiangnan, the ban on the two factories has been lifted. They are factories, not military camps, and cannot continue to implement militarized management, preventing workers from returning home.
Workers were thus allowed free access to the factory, but these guys took advantage of the situation and poached nearly half of the workers from both factories. This forced Guan Xing to raise workers' wages, otherwise all the workers would leave.
"Well... well..."
Yuan Hui was speechless for a moment, standing there awkwardly picking his toes. Finally, he laughed helplessly and said, "Building a factory requires craftsmen. Without craftsmen, how am I supposed to make paper?"
Guan Xing said speechlessly, "So you knew all along, huh? So what do you think my School of Civil Engineering is all about?"
"I have no problem with my colleagues actively responding to His Majesty's call and investing in building factories, but isn't it a bit excessive for you all to come and poach people from my factory?"
"Furthermore, there are already dozens of steel mills registered, and there are probably hundreds of paper mills, textile mills, and other factories in total. Even if you poach all the people from my factory, will it be enough for you? Can you manage without building an engineering college to train more workers?"
“I funded the construction of the engineering college out of my own pocket, and the students I trained will work for you. I haven’t even asked you for tuition fees yet, and you’re already unhappy. Fine, I won’t build the engineering college anymore. Wouldn’t it be better to keep the money for running the school for eating, drinking, gambling and whoring?”
Upon hearing this, the officials in the hall all changed their expressions. Zhang Zhao was the first to step forward and bow, saying, "Your Majesty, this old minister believes that it is still very necessary to establish an engineering college. Those factories urgently need all kinds of talents. Without craftsmen, they cannot start production."
Zhang Zhao has already arranged for his nephew Zhang Fen to serve as the magistrate of Zhang'an (Taizhou), and has built the Zhang Family Shipyard in Sanmen Bay in the name of the family. Without workers, how can his shipyard start construction?
Officials who had already registered their factories and were in dire need of workers to start operations stepped forward and bowed, saying, "Your Majesty, I second your proposal."
Some things are difficult to do only when you start doing them, and factories are difficult to build only when you start construction. For these officials from aristocratic families, the most difficult thing about building a factory is not funding but workers. They have money but can't find anyone to work, so they can only go to Guan Xing's factory to poach workers.
But Guan Xing's corner is only so big. Even if it is dug down, it cannot fill the gap in the number of craftsmen from the major clans. Because of this, those clans that have registered to build factories have been worrying themselves sick lately.
In this situation, they were already too busy encouraging Marquis Shence to spend his own money to build an engineering college to train craftsmen for everyone. They dared not dampen Marquis Shence's enthusiasm. Otherwise, what would they do if this kid really used the money to build the school to eat, drink, gamble, and whore? Building a school with his own money? That would be too expensive.