I was reborn without dreams

Chapter 211 I've already started criticizing before you guys even have a chance to.

It would normally be difficult for an article titled "Humanities Education Without Scientific Literacy is Meaningless" to be published. However, Zhang Da'an personally supplemented the subscription funds of Sucheng City State-owned Investment, making Sucheng City equal in equity share with the other eleven cities, and thus the article was published.

There was no other way; the editor-in-chief was originally the "second master" of Sucheng County, Huaiyin City. Times have changed, and the "second master" was going all out for the benefit of his hometown.

Of course, it wasn't done haphazardly. "Second Master" also reported the situation to the higher-ups. As a major newspaper in East China distributed nationwide, it was essentially an internal reference for the province. Registering it with the propaganda department was just in case.

Despite the numerous mishaps of "second-rate media," Jiangkou Province is still not even as good as second-rate.

Sucheng County was later expanded and merged into Sucheng City. There's a reason for that: many policies that couldn't be piloted in the Yangtze River Delta region were tried here.

Selling hospitals and schools is nothing compared to what's happening now; people from Sucheng usually still go to Huaiyin City for medical treatment.

When older locals say "go to the city," they mean Huaiyin City, not Sucheng City.

The city's state-owned investment company has definitely made a killing in this situation, and the city is making a big fuss about it at a meeting. It's a pity they couldn't get Zhang Da'an to come, otherwise they could have discussed building a super primary school.

In fact, by this time, the capable and ruthless people in the province had all figured it out. If the province wanted to talk about the difficulty of "attracting investment," finding Zhang Da'an was the easiest way. The requirements were also low. It was impossible for him to make outrageous demands, like asking for a certain number of acres of land east of the Huangpu River. That was simply not going to happen.

As long as it matches the business scope of the "Zhang An Group", then we can talk.

This is the case with schools like the Xindongwei Port Middle School Mazhou Branch and Jianggao Branch.

This year's top scorers in both counties of Sucheng came from the "top scorer class" at the main campus of Xindongweigang Middle School. Of course, the top scorers in both counties are registered in Sucheng City, but they took a year of sick leave to go to Shazhou City for "treatment".

Based on this level of friendship, Sucheng City can usually meet most of the reasonable requests.

Now that the big spender, the "three-time champion," is about to start another war of words, the literary talents of Sucheng City, with each capable person contributing 5,000 yuan, are writing furiously to provide support at any time.

These "writing fees" have nothing to do with Zhang Da'an; they are just a small token of appreciation from Sucheng City.

To be honest, the major contribution was some corrections made to the article "Humanities Education Without Scientific Literacy is Meaningless". Zhang Da'an rarely used standard language when writing editorials and commentaries. After all, he was not a government employee, so he had no taboos when publishing articles and did not engage in obscure or difficult-to-understand language.

If a theoretical editorial is incomprehensible to a veteran like Zhang Qihong, then it is a failed article, or even, to put it more seriously, an irresponsible one.

An article must be understandable even to someone like old man Zhang Qihong for it to have any practical significance.

Therefore, the literary talents of Sucheng City could not easily correct the text according to the norms and theories. They mainly made slight adjustments to some risky words.

The offensive nature remains unchanged; the "Flying Boat" style is still incredibly unrestrained.

"...I saw some discussions in society before. Some scholars, at a conference advocating for strengthening the cultural literacy education of college students, said that humanity's emphasis on science and technology and pursuit of material interests have brought about a series of social problems. In higher education, this is manifested in the fact that science education is highly favored while humanities education is neglected."

"This is clearly a complaint against humanities education, and a great injustice at that, as if the inheritance of humanities has been suppressed because of the rise of science education."

"But twenty years ago, our scientists were building atomic bombs, yet they were worse off than those selling tea eggs. I haven't seen any scientists come out to complain that humanities education was highly valued while science education was neglected."

"Back then, in university, if a young person could write poetry, they were a prominent figure and would receive much praise and favor; if they could also play the guitar and talk about democracy, freedom, progress, and the direction of development, they were even more outstanding and became the pride of heaven, attracting the attention of everyone."

"I think this is probably where he suffered the greatest injustice. After all, the romantic and talented man is only romantic now. He has no real skills and is just a mouth that can't be burned away even if he goes into the crematorium."

"Some scholars argue that this kind of education only cultivates 'one-dimensional people,' rather than 'well-rounded people' who have developed knowledge, abilities, and qualities comprehensively. I don't think so. Decades ago in Beijing, there was a man named Hu Shi. People at the time praised him as a master for decades, and when I was young, I also thought so, so I wanted to see what classics and works this Master Hu actually had."

"It would have been better if I hadn't looked at it. I was shocked to find that this Master Hu, apart from having the title of 'Master,' didn't even have any decent research. Last year, a professor from Jiangning University said that 'An Outline of the History of Chinese Philosophy' was quite good. If I wanted to go to university and study philosophy, I could take a look at it."

"I took a look at it, flipped through it over and over but still couldn't understand it. It felt like leftover rice that had gone bad overnight, so I asked a professor at Jiangning University if there were any other famous works."

"The professor is a cultured man, far more cultured than I am, a country bumpkin. He is more refined, so he covered the bookshelf and said to me with difficulty: 'Not much, not much.'"

"Not much, not much, is it too much? It is not much."

"I thought that most so-called masters were like this. After learning more about them, I was even more shocked. It was one thing for Master Hu to betray his country, but the Japanese didn't want him either, simply because he was a useless object. He had no function of undermining the morale of the resistance against Japan. Instead, he would lose several Japanese women, which was not worth it at all."

"People nowadays talk about 'one-dimensional people,' but I think this Master Hu is not a 'one-dimensional person' at all. He is naturally very well-rounded. He is impressive wherever he goes, and he can even preach at Peking University. He has more female confidantes than I do. It's truly an eye-opener."

"After thinking it over, I felt that this new country, even if it's one-sided, is still much better than a 'two-faced person'."

At this point, the article was no longer suitable for the front page. This was a typical tactic of a mudslinging match. However, the editor-in-chief withstood the pressure and, in order to contribute to the development of his hometown, risked being dismissed by publishing it.

At the same time, he registered a personal account called "Yangtze Late Autumn" on the "Jinbang Blog" and forwarded some online electronic content from his workplace.

They also made some comments.

"I imagine some people will say that I am praising scientific literacy while belittling humanistic literacy because of my portrayal of Master Hu. However, that is not the case. After all, I have some experience in the education industry over the years."

“Last month, an aesthetics professor from Jinghua University said that cultivating well-rounded and innovative talents with a strong sense of national spirit, social responsibility and historical mission, as well as high cultural taste, aesthetic appreciation, humanistic literacy and scientific literacy has become an urgent task for higher education.”

"It seems to make a lot of sense, but I'm not questioning the professors at Peking University. I just really don't understand how cultural taste, aesthetic appreciation, and humanistic literacy can be used in an emergency."

"Since 'backwardness inevitably leads to being attacked,' the way to respond to emergencies and cultivate people with a strong national spirit, social responsibility, and historical mission as quickly as possible is to have 'strong ships and powerful cannons.'"

"Our cannons have a longer range, and this strong national spirit, even if it is zero at birth, should have been present by the time you finish kindergarten."

"Our large ships can sail freely across the five continents and four seas. I think we can't even fail to fulfill this sense of historical mission like Zheng He's voyages to the Western Ocean."

"Having humanism without scientism is just cultivating another batch of 'Master Hu,' not producing humanistic warriors who can help us expand our intellectual space, but only members of the new era's 'low-key club.'"

"The past ten, twenty, thirty, or even forty years have all proven this point: humanities experts without scientific literacy have a very shallow and crude understanding of the world. Their fear of imperialism is ingrained, and they believe it is invincible. The reason is simple: they do not clearly recognize that imperialism has its limits. If it has limits, then it is not invincible."

"Science is not for testing truth; science is naturally meant to be practiced, and it is also meant to be falsified."

"The scientifically literate warriors have already proven that imperialism can be defeated. So in this new era, why should the warriors who have already disproved it listen to your meddling? Since the masters of humanities want to prove something, they should first boldly criticize the cultural offensive of imperialism, fight to a draw, and then talk about strengthening it."

"If we can't do it, I think we should stop mentioning it."

"After all, this only proves one thing: humanities education without scientific literacy is meaningless."

This verbal battle may not have been particularly high-profile, but it was of great significance. First of all, it marked a complete split within the cultural circle of Jiangkou Province, with only two factions and no middle ground. People either aligned themselves with "Zhang An Education" or not.

As things stand now, "Zhang'an Education" has actually assumed certain social responsibilities and obligations of a district and county state-owned enterprise, and its level of ideological education is relatively advanced.

After all, there's plenty of money, plenty of people, and plenty of role models. Let alone a "three-time champion," just throw a bunch of district and county champions around and Zhang Da'an's rap and dance is the direction of advanced culture. He might even gain some popularity.

This is strength.

The battle with "Shi Xiangdao" and his gang, from its initiation to its full-scale attack, took only one day.

It was completely unexpected.

Wang Yongzhi was completely bewildered in Luzhou. Just yesterday he was saying he would visit the "three-time champion" in Shazhou City, but today the person he was ordered to protect was publicly executed.
It's hardly a public execution; as long as they can fight back, there's not much of a problem.

The key question is, can we retaliate?

I don't have that ability.

There's absolutely no chance of a counterattack.

In fact, there are quite a few "official writers" employed by Head Coach Zhang. Even a Chinese language teacher like Han Tieguai is incredibly skilled with a pen. It's just that the previous platform wasn't suitable for Han Tieguai to show off his talents. Life is tough, so dreams should be put on hold for now.

As for his later extravagant spending in the Jiangning university circle, that was just something he did on the spur of the moment.

These are the true henchmen of the hawks and hounds, constantly biting and stalking.

In the past, it was the "pure stream" who used the theories they had accumulated in their workplaces to argue with others. Those who led foreign exchange and roamed around the 1930s and various clubs in Beijing were not afraid of the "pure stream". On the contrary, because the light of the beacon shone far and wide, and the purchasing power of the US dollar was indeed very strong, they would beat the "pure stream" when they were cornered at the spring.

At the same time, the new era of internet tools is hard to adapt to, and the mature internet public opinion hegemony that has been developed in the United States for more than a decade is not only unstoppable domestically, but also unstoppable in the United Kingdom, the European Union, Japan, South Korea, Southeast Asia and other countries. Eastern European countries, led by Russia, have been completely turned into internet colonies.

At this stage, there are basically no people who can carry the flag and demonstrate their skills, and there are actually very few decent communities. The combined value of all the forums would not exceed five million.

Not only are the websites worthless, but the value of these forum users is also pitifully low, with almost zero commercial value.

Of course, its value in united front work is also almost zero.

In this era, blogs like "Jinbang Blog," which appear open on the surface but are actually tightly controlled in terms of public opinion, are absolutely unique. What's even more interesting is that it's really difficult for various groups to accuse Zhang Da'an of receiving government subsidies. Firstly, Zhang Da'an is wealthy and powerful, and "Brother An" is a symbol; secondly, the intensity of Zhang Da'an's criticisms far surpasses that of those criticizing "foreign lackeys."

While the average American might at most praise the US and criticize China, Zhang Da'an goes straight for the point, criticizing this policy as problematic and that plan as having shady dealings.

Some people know that "Flying Boat" is Zhang Da'an, but others do not.

However, after the article "Humanities Education Without Scientific Literacy is Meaningless" became a "viral hit," the number of "Dog An teenagers" who knew that "Flying Boat" was Zhang Da'an suddenly increased.

After criticizing someone, Coach Zhang didn't rest. He continued criticizing, randomly picking someone and posting the criticism on "Jinbang Blog".

"I heard yesterday that the Nandu City Philosophy and Social Sciences Planning Conference was held, and we plan to increase the social science planning funding to 10 million yuan. This funding will mainly be used to support the research and publication of planning projects, support the construction of key discipline sites, organize domestic and international academic exchanges, seminars and popular science activities, and provide learning and training funds for key research personnel."

"Personally, I wholeheartedly support it. However, I think I can take over the organization's domestic and international academic exchanges, seminars, and popular science activities. It won't cost much, just three million will suffice. I'll take you on a tour of Europe, America, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, and so on. You can exchange ideas with whomever you want, and discuss whatever you want. I can even invite the deputy director of the CIA to discuss the four ways to carry out 'color revolutions'."

“There will definitely be friends from Lingdong Province who say: ‘Hey, you from Jiangkou Province, you’re quick to meddle in everything, but why don’t you criticize your own province?’”

"Before criticizing Nandu City, I had criticized all twelve cities in Jiangkou Province except Sucheng. I had also contracted social science international academic exchanges and seminars for eleven cities in Jiangkou Province, with multiple supervisions and tripartite audits. On average, the contract signed with each prefecture-level city was worth 2.2 million yuan per year."

"So I thought that since Nandu City is the provincial capital of Lingdong Province, its economic level must be higher. Asking for a three million contract... isn't too much to ask, right?"

"Even if Nandu City wants to organize social science intermediary activities, I can accept commissions from all the bureaus and commissions in Nandu City that have such needs."

"Don't worry about the qualifications, they're guaranteed."

Coach Zhang's random shots really messed with Nandu City, as he used them to his advantage and make fun of them online.

So that very evening, Nandu City sent people to "cross the province," but unfortunately, no one in Jiangning City cooperated, and they couldn't "cross the province" at all.

The phone lines were constantly ringing off the hook.

"Mr. Zhang, I'm calling you on my knees right now. Let me tell you, I have a heart condition!"

"If you're sick, go to the hospital, take your medicine, and go about your business. What? Just because you have heart disease means you can do whatever you want? You son of a bitch..."

"Why did you criticize the Philosophy and Social Sciences Planning Conference so sharply on the 'Jinbang Blog'?! Doing this will prevent many people from carrying out their work!"

"What's it to me? I've already done my criticizing, and now you're telling me I can't criticize? Where were you before? As a morally sound citizen, what's wrong with me monitoring my colleagues' work? It's just exercising my personal rights."

"That way, others will follow suit!"

"You're crazy. I've already done it before anyone else has even started criticizing the twelve cities in Jiangkou Province. And I'm even subject to supervision, a three-party audit, comrade. Do you think I'm afraid others will follow suit? What a joke, there's no way anyone will follow suit. Whoever does, I'll crack down on them. After all, I'll increase the intensity."

"..."

"Don't worry, it's a small matter. We want a peaceful debate, not a physical one. Anyone who resorts to violence is just being a hypocrite; anyone who escalates the situation is still being a hypocrite."

"Mr. Zhang, I beg you..."

"It's no use begging me. My magical power is weak. At best, I can help someone pass the imperial examination and become the top scholar. I'm not good at anything else."

"..."

"I'll hang up now, nothing else. I got a call from Beijing. By the way, I heard your son is taking the college entrance exam next year? Have you decided where to go? How well do you think he'll do? To be honest, the tuition at Xindongweigang Middle School is going up again this year, to 128,000 yuan. Hurry up if you want to come, there's a discount."

"..."

Click.

After switching lines, Head Coach Zhang changed his tune: "I'm Zhang An. Oh, just call me Xiao Zhang. It's not meant to be arrogant, just call me Xiao Zhang, Xiao Zhang, Xiao Zhang..."

As a "top enforcer," Chief Instructor Zhang wasn't actually very familiar with the inner court. However, even if they weren't familiar, they would become familiar with each other once their work overlapped.

This isn't about asking Zhang Da'an about the Lingdong Province Nandu City Philosophy and Social Sciences Planning Conference; that's a trivial matter, nobody takes it seriously. Only the person who just started doing public opinion tracking is extremely nervous.

The main purpose of this phone call was to inquire about the foreign exchange payment made by Zhang Da'an.

It's not that we need to use a little bit, but rather borrow it. We plan to buy a batch of fighter jet engines and are discussing a project with Russia.

It's not that the purchasing party doesn't have the money, but changing hands is very troublesome. Zhang Da'an currently has a bunch of shell companies quietly waiting to be used internationally, all prepared for the World Cup, and they can continue to be used for the next two World Cups.

Besides the World Cup, the Olympic Games are also a major event in the global sports betting industry, with betting available for any sport that is higher, faster, stronger.

Especially for projects that don't make money but still have a certain level of interest or basic motivation, the prize pool is actually quite generous.

For example, classical wrestling, weightlifting, discus, javelin, hammer throw, etc., these are not profitable, but the number of enthusiasts is quite large and their spending power is not bad.

Typically, established sporting goods companies partner with betting companies to operate betting operations. In recent years, there have been many illegal betting operations in Japan, and some trading companies have been involved in covering them up. So far, not many have been shut down.

There are actually quite a few wealthy people like Zhang Da'an who start companies to make a fortune from events of the "World Cup" level, and some of them are even owners of football clubs.

These companies have transparent and auditable financial records, and their accounting is easy to do. At worst, they can create a separate, targeted jackpot with a gambling company. As long as they pay more taxes, the country where the company is registered will not interfere.

In this way, even if the Americans are incredibly resourceful, they won't have any evidence even if they find out.

Only words like "perhaps" and "maybe" can be used; even "suspected" cannot be used casually.

"It will probably cost a little over four hundred million, do you have that much?"

"Yes, where do you need it? In the Mediterranean or Southeast Asia?"

Is Hong Kong an option?

"can."

"Then Hong Kong."

"time."

"Wait for further notice."

"Row."

After hanging up the phone again, Zhang Da'an leisurely lay back in his boss's chair. His willful and reckless behavior had reached a certain level. Although he was not yet at the point of being wanted by the CIA, after this case, he would definitely be put on the list of people to be closely watched.

However, Chief Instructor Zhang was also quite unhappy with the CIA. They had sent someone over to discuss cooperation, but the "earnest money" they were willing to offer was sixty million US dollars.

Are you kidding...

How could he possibly defect?
That's too little.

You should at least add some money; he's a super-rich man now.

Of course, the 60 million "earnest money" was just a small part; the real prize was the ability to ring the bell on Wall Street and become the son-in-law of a certain family.

Once it's done, making tens of billions of dollars will be a piece of cake.

Here's a little-known fact: the total assets of the dozens of families in the "American Eight Banners" are far, far greater than the combined assets of the remaining 300 million people in North America.

Even if we narrow it down to the top few wealthy families among the "American Eight Banners," they can still take away one-fifth of the assets in North America.

As long as the United States remains the "world police," then spending tens of billions of dollars on a regional power's "new money" is simply a matter of manually entering numbers.

Unfortunately, after being reborn, Coach Zhang has become increasingly eccentric, his mental state is seriously problematic, and the industry he works in has been completely distorted by him. On the issue of "choice is more important than effort," he has also gone to extremes, leaving many people both tense and excited.

After all, if Zhang Da'an really defected, it would be better to let him rant about the problems with the work meeting in Nandu City.

If that's not enough, adding a Shanghai-based one wouldn't be a bad idea.

(End of this chapter)