Chapter 980 979 [Education During the Anti-Japanese War]

The daily household expenses of Zhou Mansion are all drawn from Zhang Leyi, and then Cui Huifu arranges the use and keeps accounts.

Only halfway through July, Cui Huifu announced that she had no money.

After Zhang Leyi handed the money to Cui Huifu, she couldn't help complaining in front of Zhou Hexuan: "Oh, the price of rice has risen sharply again."

"How much has it increased?" Zhou Hexuan asked casually.

Zhang Leyi said: "It has increased by more than one-third."

Zhou Hexuan was a little surprised: "The rice harvest is coming soon, so the price of rice should fall. Even if the legal currency depreciates, logically speaking, the price of rice should not rise sharply."

Zhang Leyi explained: "The government has just issued a decree. From now on, land tax will not be collected in legal currency, but in kind. Grain merchants have begun to stock up on grain, and the price of grain on the market has also risen across the board, including vegetables. "

Zhou Hexuan suddenly had nothing to say. The grain tax was only collected in kind. Which dynasty was this going back to?

The Nationalist Government now doesn’t even recognize the banknotes it issued, so what should the people do? Farmers are the ones who really work hard. They work hard to grow food, but most of it has to be handed over to the government and landlords. The little surplus grain left was sold, and the money earned was almost useless. It was probably not enough to buy salt and other necessities.

If the government does this, it will inevitably devalue the legal currency, and the devaluation will be even more severe than in previous years.

However, the collapse of fiat currency will have to wait until the war between the United States and Japan begins.

Before 1941, legal tender could be circulated throughout the country, including Communist base areas and Japanese-occupied areas. When the Pacific War broke out, Japan completely occupied Shanghai and confiscated the banks of Britain, the United States and other countries and the property of the Kuomintang in Shanghai. The exchange channels between French currency and US dollars and pounds were directly cut off.

This has led to a series of consequences. Legal currency is no longer recognized by the international community and has lost its way of foreign exchange exchange. Japan took advantage of the situation again, manufacturing counterfeit currency on a large scale, and at the same time taking the legal currency in the Japanese-occupied areas to purchase supplies in the Kuomintang-controlled areas and base areas, resulting in the proliferation of legal currency and serious material losses in the Kuomintang-controlled areas and base areas.

Finally, the Communist base couldn't bear it anymore and had to expel the legal currency and issue its own "anti-currency".

The Nationalist Government had no choice but to continue to use it, and the legal currency became a local currency only in the Kuomintang-controlled areas. The value of the currency is falling steadily. It is not the fault of Kong Xiangxi's incompetence. Even if we invite economic experts from all over the world, it will be useless.

…

Hechuan, Yucai School.

The first half of the semester has just ended, but funding for the next semester has not yet been secured. In particular, the depreciation of the legal currency and the soaring food prices made Tao Xingzhi anxious. After running for several days, he raised some money, but the little money was not enough to pay the teachers.

"Jingle Bell!"

Tao Xingzhi answered the phone and asked impatiently: "Who are you?"

The other party said: "I am Qiu Yicheng from the Central Bank. The nephew of the section chief of the Executive Yuan wants to work at the Central Bank. This is a dandy boy. Our leaders don't want him, so we asked him where he graduated. The boy insisted that he graduated in the 18th century of the Republic of China. I graduated from Xiaozhuang Normal University in 2011, but I can't produce my academic certificate. Mr. Tao, that guy is coming to you this afternoon to issue a certificate. I hope you won't issue any certificate to him. He is a bastard. He can only do bad things if he comes to work for the Central Bank. It’s not good for the country or the people!”

Tao Xingzhi asked: "What's his name?"

"Duan Zhikai." The other party replied.

Tao Xingzhi said: "Send someone to deliver the student's file this afternoon."

Xiaozhuang Normal University was a school previously run by Tao Xingzhi. When he moved inland, he brought all the files to Chongqing.

This kind of playboy looking for someone to open the back door would have been rejected by someone else. But Tao Xingzhi went to check the files seriously and found out that there was a student named Duan Zhikai in the class of 1929. After receiving the letter from the Central Bank, he immediately wrote back: After verification, the student did graduate from our school in 1929, with satisfactory academic performance, and studied sociology...

When the Central Bank received the reply, it went crazy and called him quickly: "Mr. Tao, please be accommodating and help us get rid of this related account. This guy is really nothing. He has no ability at all, even if he joins the Central Bank." A freeloader."

Tao Xingzhi said calmly: "Whether he is good or bad now, or whether you want him or not, I am just reflecting the situation truthfully. He graduated from Xiaozhuang Normal University. I can only prove this."

Two days later, the young man named Duan Zhikai came to the door with a gift and said he wanted to thank Principal Tao for his help.

Tao Xingzhi closed the door to no one and only wrote a note: "I am engaged in education and I have always emphasized truth. I hope you have not used my truth badly."

Duan Zhikai was stunned for a long time holding the note, and he didn't know what kind of ideological struggle he was having. He suddenly put down the gift and turned around to leave. Instead of reporting to the Central Bank, he chose to join the army and eventually died on the anti-Japanese battlefield.

This is a true story.

Late July.

Tao Xingzhi came to visit Zhou Mansion from Hechuan. He really had no other choice. Hearing that Zhou Hexuan had donated generously, he came here to try his luck. Other schools still have some government funding, but Yucai School is privately run, and all funds are met by Tao Xingzhi's alms.

"Principal Tao, rare visitor, rare visitor!" Zhou Hexuan greeted with a smile.

Tao Xingzhi did not beat around the bush and said straight to the point: "Mr. Zhou, to be honest, I am here to ask for help this time. The funds for Yucai School are not enough..."

"How many are needed?" Zhou Hexuan asked directly.

Tao Xingzhi said: "Ten thousand legal coins."

Zhou Hexuan smiled and said: "Now that prices are soaring, how can 10,000 French currency be enough? I will give you 100,000!"

Ten thousand French currency in the summer of 1941 was only enough to buy dozens of bags of flour.

As soon as Tao Xingzhi sat down, he stood up again, clasped his fists and said, "They say Mr. Zhou comes at the right time. This time I really believe it. Tao is very grateful!"

Zhou Hexuan said: "If the school does not have enough funds in the future, feel free to come to me."

Tao Xingzhi was so moved that he didn't know what to say. He just kept clasping his fists and waving his hands, saying repeatedly: "Thank you, thank you so much!"

Hope Primary School has been running for many years. Before the Japanese invasion of North China, Zhou Hexuan asked Wenxiu and others to take the students south. There are now more than 80 Hope Primary Schools in the rear area, which mainly admit war orphans and poor children. By the way, they also help some low-level intellectuals find their livelihood (become teachers).

If there was any highlight of the National Government's policy during the Anti-Japanese War, it was undoubtedly education.

In the early days of the Anti-Japanese War, Chang Kaishen issued special instructions to separate students from conscription targets and vigorously develop education to prepare for post-war recovery. After eight years of all-out resistance, the government's territory has become smaller and smaller, and the economy has become increasingly difficult. However, education has ushered in unprecedented development.

The number of primary school students in schools (in the rear area) increased from 3 million in 1936 to 6.76 million in 1943. The number of middle school students in schools increased from 480,000 in 1936 to more than 1.2 million in 1945. The number of college students (including junior college students) increased from 40,000 in 1936 to more than 80,000 in 1945 - which also excludes a large number of students who dropped out of school to join the army.

The number of universities and secondary schools across the country has not only returned to pre-war levels, but has even nearly doubled.

This is a very interesting phenomenon. Although Chang Kaishen has done a lot of bad things, he attaches great importance to education and is still increasing efforts in education despite financial difficulties. Let's be honest, these students who emerged from the Anti-Japanese War made great contributions to the later development of New China.