1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 3998

Even if the military content is reduced to one-fifth, it still far exceeds the relevant teaching standards in Haihan, so it's no wonder that the temporary school in Fubo Port has the nickname of a junior military academy.

After understanding the reasons for this special situation, Su Zhixing knew that it was impossible to completely cut this part of the content. Therefore, he could only compromise and reduce the teaching of military content to a relatively small proportion. This way, both sides could take a step back and continue to move forward with the cooperative education program.

However, the concessions that Su Zhixing considered acceptable did not satisfy Chang Mingxuan.

Although Chang Mingxuan came from a scholarly background, he was now considering the issue from the military's perspective—wasn't it only natural for a school run by a special operations division to arrange for its own children to learn essential skills like marching and fighting?
“Mr. Su, I understand and can accept that you want to explain the classics and history to the children and teach them poetry and songs. However, this school is different from schools in China. It is nominally a school for the children of special operations divisions, and all related expenses are paid by the special operations divisions. Therefore, the teaching goals should be based on our wishes.”

"Furthermore, many of these children will choose to join the military in the future, and their future academic pursuits will be to attend military academies in China. The earlier they are exposed to this kind of thing, the easier their future studies will be. So, receiving military training and skills training from a young age is entirely beneficial to them. To put it bluntly, the military courses they are learning now may be much more useful than classics, history, philosophy, poetry, and prose."

Chang Mingxuan immediately refuted Su Zhixing's proposal, arguing that his idea of ​​reducing the content of military training was putting the cart before the horse and disagreeing with making major adjustments.

Su Zhixing said helplessly, "Lord Chang, I already consulted General Qian about this matter yesterday."

Chang Mingxuan stared at Su Zhixing without saying a word, while Su Zhixing simply smiled slightly, indicating that he had everything under control.

Yesterday, Qian Shaobao, Chen Pingliao, and Li Yuande arrived together. Su Zhixing had already mentioned this matter to Qian Shaobao, and Qian Shaobao's response at the time was to let Su Zhixing make the decision himself, but not to completely cancel the military teaching content.

Chang Mingxuan was somewhat displeased, thinking to himself that since you have already gained an advantage from General Qian, why don't you take the initiative to mention it so that I don't have to waste my breath.

Su Zhixing said, "As for who will teach the military training and what will be taught, I am new here and have no knowledge of this. I will have to trouble Lord Chang to continue to take care of it."

Chang Mingxuan's expression softened slightly, thinking to himself that he knew how to handle people. If Su Zhixing were to take away even the military training arrangements, Chang Mingxuan would not tolerate it and would definitely drag Su Zhixing to Qian Shaobao to seek justice.

Although the disagreement hadn't been completely resolved, as long as one side reluctantly conceded, that would be fine. Chang Mingxuan, seeing that it was getting late, invited Su Zhixing to have lunch together.

Unlike the communal canteen Su Zhixing went to yesterday, Chang Mingxuan took him to the officers' mess hall in the military camp this time. Officers could order their own food there, but of course, they had to pay extra.

Chang Mingxuan ordered Cantonese dishes, which were relatively light and refreshing, just right for Su Zhixing, who had drunk too much the day before.

After lunch, Chang Mingxuan took Su Zhixing on a tour of the campus.

Chang Mingxuan explained that the school was included in the infrastructure project when the Fubo Port site was planned. It was built simultaneously with the special forces division's barracks and is only about half a kilometer away from the residences of teachers like Su Zhixing. Since the number of students that can be enrolled in the near future will not be too large, the campus is not very big. In fact, it is just a large courtyard covering less than ten acres.

There are six classrooms on the east and west sides of the campus, with teachers' offices and storage rooms on the north side. The school gate is located on the south side, where several spare rooms have also been built. Currently, these rooms are temporarily used as dormitories for several local Arab students who live far away and two handymen. They may be converted into classrooms in the future, depending on the situation.

Flower beds were built outside the buildings, but the plants planted were not exactly flamboyant; they were mostly local, drought-resistant species. These green plants at least added a touch of life to the campus. Su Zhixing had seen quite a few spiky cacti and succulents in the neighborhood these past few days, but he hadn't expected the school to use them as a landscaping method.

This playground in the courtyard serves as both a training ground for students' military exercises and a venue for school-wide assemblies. A flagpole over four zhang (approximately 10 meters) tall stands beside the playground, with a red and blue flag hanging atop it.

This is now standard practice at Haihan Public Schools, where a regularly held flag-raising ceremony is essential. Although there are no strict regulations yet, many private schools and academies are gradually following this new practice to avoid appearing to be unconventional.

Su Zhixing noticed that the campus was very clean, which was undoubtedly due to the military style.

The windows in the campus buildings are all made of glass. Although the material used is only palm-sized pieces of glass, inlaid piece by piece in a wooden frame, and its value cannot compare to those large flat glass panes, they must have been transported from China from afar.

Even in schools in China, such glass windows are not commonplace; a small school with only a hundred or so students certainly couldn't afford them. In the Middle East, they would definitely be considered a luxury item, which shows how much Qian Tiandun valued this school.

At this time, classes were not in session, and only a few children were chasing and playing on the playground. As Su Zhixing got closer, he could see the children's faces clearly. They had deep-set features and thick hair, which were indeed different from Han Chinese children. They should be local Arab students.

Chang Mingxuan explained, "To show their loyalty, most of the powerful and wealthy people in Xihu Kingdom will send one of their children here to study and learn to read and write, which will give them an additional skill to make a living in the future."

Sending hostages to study in the suzerain state of Haihan was a common practice in China. Even Wansong Academy had students from Annam and Champa, so Su Zhixing was not surprised by it.

However, he keenly noticed a detail in Chang Mingxuan's words: "Only one per family?"

Chang Mingxuan nodded and said, "Arabs still pay more attention to religious traditions and are not as concerned about education as we are. Moreover, the Kingdom of Shihu has not been established for long and has not yet truly tasted the benefits of integrating into our culture. In time, the number of local students will definitely increase, so Mr. Su does not need to worry about the number of students."

Su Zhixing beckoned the children to his side and asked them about their studies.

However, these children were clearly not familiar enough with Chinese. Su Zhixing asked them questions repeatedly for a while, but their answers were still somewhat nonsensical.

Su Zhixing had no choice but to try a different approach. He squatted down and wrote words on the sandy ground of the playground with his finger, then asked the children if they recognized them.