There are no issues, absolutely no issues.
As long as the financial deficit in France can be resolved and the unrest among the populace can be settled, all remaining issues will naturally cease to be problems.
The thought of soon possessing his own fief and title made Pierre’s heart burn not only with excitement but also with an intense gaze directed at Zeng Cheng. "My dear Zeng, I truly don't know how to thank you enough."
Zeng Cheng, however, felt his insides clench at Pierre's gaze.
My dear? Damn it, could this barbarian have homosexual tendencies? I am a man of seven feet, not some sycophantic dog like Qian Long!
While Zeng Cheng was lost in his thoughts, Pierre continued, "My dear Zeng, I hope to send some people to study in the schools of our Ming country. Is that possible?"
Upon hearing Pierre's question, Zeng Cheng froze.
This is bad. This question is outside the scope of what the boss previously instructed. How should I answer? Waiting online, it's quite urgent.
If it were back when I was a prefect in the Great Qing, Zeng Cheng would have undoubtedly agreed without hesitation and applied to the Qing court for funds as stipends for these French students. After all, as the Celestial Dynasty, it should act like one.
However, ever since he defected to Zhu Jinsong, and through constant exposure, Zeng Cheng's thinking had gradually changed.
When our own Great Ming subjects haven't all been able to read, why would we spend money on these barbarians?
After careful consideration, Zeng Cheng tentatively asked, "May I ask how many people Mr. Pierre intends to send?"
Pierre thought for a moment and tentatively replied, "One hundred people, how about that?"
Zeng Cheng did not think it was acceptable.
When he was a prefect in the Great Qing, he didn't feel it was much. But ever since he went to Menglianggu and began to truly bend down to work, Zeng Cheng realized how difficult the lives of the common people were and how arduous the situation of the Menglianggu rebel group was.
Taking the Great Qing as an example, in the elementary school stage, a student had to pay six taels of silver in tuition per year. Assuming a child started school at the age of eight and continued until the provincial examination, it would take about fifteen years, which amounts to ninety taels of silver.
In addition, each scholar would spend approximately twelve taels of silver annually for stationery, textbooks, academic exchanges, and travel, accommodation for imperial examinations at the prefecture, province, and national levels. Over fifteen years, this amounts to one hundred and eighty taels of silver.
Once a student passed the preliminary imperial examination and prepared for the jinshi examination, they would begin to study independently. Generally, the preparation period would not be less than ten years. Calculating at ten taels of silver per year, each student would need to spend at least another one hundred taels of silver.
This means that from the age of eight, through fifteen years of elementary education, ten years of self-study, and finally passing the jinshi examination, a student would need at least thirty-five years and no less than three hundred and seventy taels of silver saved to enter officialdom smoothly.
"General History of China": In the twenty-first year of Qianlong's reign, Lü Kuiyuan of Tanghe County, Henan, worked as a long-term laborer for the Zheng Tianlu family, earning two thousand five hundred wen per year. Three hundred and seventy taels of silver would require him to work for one hundred and forty-eight years without eating or drinking.
Dai Yi, "China and the World in the Eighteenth Century: Peasants": In the Qianlong era, a middle-income peasant household had an annual income of about thirty-two taels of silver. Supplying one successful candidate for the provincial examination would require twelve years of not eating or drinking.
As for community schools... Zhu Chongba of the Great Ming did establish community schools and even allocated funds from the national treasury to subsidize them. But that was the Ming Dynasty, not our Tartar Qing. Our enlightened emperors of the Great Qing only wished to see how many community schools there were on paper to boast and deceive the servants, not truly expecting the common folk to be able to read.
Therefore, the community schools of our Great Qing were actually like Xue's cat, always existing in a state of either being or not being.
After Zhu Jinsong, the ringleader of the rebels, captured Yizhou Prefecture and stabilized his footing, the first thing he did was revive the community school system, mandating that children from common households enroll in schools. He even spared no expense from the then-tight treasury to subsidize them. Moreover, Zhu Jinsong, the leader, personally wrote language and mathematics textbooks for the community schools under the jurisdiction of Yizhou Prefecture.
However, even with Zhu Jinsong's slogan, "We will tighten our belts to promote education and enlighten the people," and his practical actions, Yizhou Prefecture at that time could not afford to send every child to school.
As Zhu Jinsong's territory grew larger and his subjects increased, this situation became even more pronounced. No matter how much they tightened their belts, even to the point where Zhu Jinsong, the Emperor of the Great Ming, only had one vegetable dish and one semi-meat dish per meal, the money saved was still desperately insufficient for the vast number of people.
Therefore, when our own Great Ming subjects haven't all been able to read, you barbarians still want to occupy our Great Ming's already limited educational funds? Are you not afraid that the old miser Liu Huaiwen will come at you with a knife?
However, Zeng Cheng had served as a prefect in the Great Qing and had studied under Zhu Jinsong, the notorious rebel leader, for two years. His mind was indeed incomparable to that of ordinary people.
After calculating in his mind, Zeng Cheng tentatively said, "The tuition for one student is one hundred taels of silver per year, and miscellaneous expenses such as books, meals, clothing, and accommodation are about sixty taels of silver. Can your country accept this?"
Zeng Cheng completely avoided mentioning subsidies for the students. Instead, he immediately demanded one hundred and sixty taels of silver per year for tuition and miscellaneous fees for each student.
After deducting costs, each student would generate enough profit annually to cover the educational expenses for ten children from Great Ming families. One hundred students would be enough to cover the educational expenses for one thousand children from Great Ming families.
The thought of being able to solve the schooling problem for one thousand Great Ming children made Zeng Cheng want to go and shake down Liu Huaiwen, the stingy old man. This was a thousand students, almost the size of a rural district. He should at least get a bag of good pipe tobacco in return.
Of course, after quoting this price, Zeng Cheng felt a little guilty.
Taking our Great Qing as an example.
Although our Great Qing was not very enthusiastic about the education of the Central Plains people, it was very generous to foreign students. In the sixth year of Yongzheng's reign, Russia sent students to study abroad, and the Ministry of Revenue provided them with monthly silver, grain, and objects. Upon completion of their studies, they were sent back.
Therefore, in previous years, foreign monks could chant scriptures, and foreign students received subsidies. It was truly unprecedented to suddenly charge foreign students tuition and miscellaneous fees to subsidize our own people's education and enlightenment.
Pierre, after listening to Zeng Cheng's quote, lowered his head and calculated.
The tuition and miscellaneous fees for one student per year amounted to one hundred and sixty taels of silver, approximately three hundred and twenty francs. For one hundred students, the tuition and miscellaneous fees for one year would be sixteen thousand taels of silver, or thirty-two thousand francs.
If they wanted to improve the living conditions of these students and provide them with more opportunities to broaden their horizons, the corresponding expenses would increase significantly, with an annual cost of around forty thousand francs.
After a quiet calculation, Pierre raised his head and looked at Zeng Cheng, saying, "An annual cost of eighty thousand francs is not a problem for our France. If Madame Déficit were to build one less garden, this money would be saved."
If others heard Pierre say this, they would likely be utterly confused. Who ever heard of someone doubling their price when haggling?
But Zeng Cheng understood immediately.
However, Zeng Cheng found Pierre's stinginess somewhat contemptible.
Sixteen thousand taels of silver became merely forty thousand taels in his hands, only a little more than double.
Furthermore, if you can't handle this yourself, why bother telling me?
But since you've told me, I'm wide awake now!
Zeng Cheng smiled and extended his hand, showing a "six" with his fingers, and said, "Eighty thousand taels is a bit too little. You must know that this knowledge is the secret, unrevealed knowledge of our Great Ming. Even many of our Great Ming subjects cannot learn this knowledge. Therefore, it must be at least two hundred thousand francs."
As the words left his lips, Pierre's eighty thousand francs were transformed into eighty thousand taels of silver. Subsequently, these two hundred thousand francs were equivalent to one hundred thousand taels of silver. Therefore, the four thousand francs Pierre originally intended to pocket directly became sixty percent of one hundred thousand taels of silver, which was sixty thousand taels.
Zeng Cheng thought that as long as he could reach an agreement with Pierre and turn the original ten thousand taels into forty thousand taels, this matter would definitely be more than just a bag of good pipe tobacco.
It would at least warrant a good meal and drinks in addition.
Zeng Cheng, like a devil luring a child with candy, said, "I can guarantee you that the invoice will state two hundred thousand francs. For the friendship between His Majesty the Emperor of our Great Ming and Your Majesty the King of your country, the taxes will be borne by our Great Ming. What do you think, Mr. Pierre?"
Pierre was tempted.
Two hundred thousand francs, in France, was merely the matter of Madame Déficit building one more garden or one less. But in the Ming country, it could not only cultivate one hundred talents for France but also allow him to pocket one hundred and twenty thousand francs.
This was a profitable deal!
Pierre gritted his teeth and hardened his heart, raising his tea cup to Zeng Cheng and saying, "I offer this tea as a toast instead of wine to Lord Zeng. I wish our cooperation to be pleasant."
Zeng Cheng, mimicking Pierre, also picked up his tea cup and smiled, saying, "Pleasant cooperation."
After they both put down their tea cups, Zeng Cheng smiled and said, "Speaking of which, I have another matter that I'd like to trouble Mr. Pierre with."
Pierre, however, did not show any annoyance at being troubled. Instead, he smiled and responded, "Please, Lord Zeng, tell me what you need. Pierre is very happy to serve you."
As a connoisseur of officialdom, Pierre knew very well that with people in the bureaucracy, it was not that you feared them asking you to do troublesome things, but rather that they didn't think of you for anything.
When dealing with people in official circles, the ideal situation is that today you have a small matter to ask me to handle, and tomorrow I will also have a small matter to ask you to handle. Only through such back-and-forth can a friendship be gradually established.
Pierre had already decided that, for the sake of... for the sake of one hundred and twenty thousand francs, no matter what Zeng Cheng wanted him to do, even if he wanted to be friends with Queen of France, "Madame Déficit," Marie Antoinette, he would find a way to make it happen.
However, to Pierre's surprise, Zeng Cheng did not directly state what he wanted to ask Pierre to do. Instead, he asked a somewhat perplexing question: "Have you heard of Jinni Pavilion, Mr. Pierre?"
Pierre shook his head and said, "I apologize, Lord Zeng, I have not heard of Jinni Pavilion. May I ask, is this a newly opened brothel? Does the name Jinni Pavilion mean treating gold like mud?"
Zeng Cheng thought to himself, what the hell kind of newly opened brothel, what the hell kind of treating gold like mud! I've only heard of regarding money as dirt, but I've never heard of treating money as mud!
After thinking for a moment, Zeng Cheng changed his question: "Have you heard of Nicolas Trigault, Mr. Pierre?"