"Oh~" Fang Zheng leaned back and said jokingly, "Master Chen, everyone wants to leave a name in history, but it's inappropriate for you to use the people's money to leave a name for yourself, right?"
So disrespectful? Why point it out?
"Hey...hey..." Chen Hong smiled awkwardly: "What you said is official business, official business!"
"Of course." Fang Zhengyi agreed. "Although it's a matter of official business, 500,000 taels is indeed too high. I have a cheaper and better way. Would you like to listen to it?"
"Master Fang, please speak."
Fang Zhengyi sorted out his thoughts and said, "I plan to organize an event at Dongjiao University to gather all the foreign envoys in the Honglu Temple together for a sports meeting."
"Sports meet? What is a sports meet?" Chen Hong asked puzzled.
"To put it simply, it is to gather people together and see who can run faster, jump higher, throw sandbags farther, or shoot arrows more accurately. That's about it."
"This... this is complete nonsense! It's ridiculous! Does it have any meaning?" Chen Hong stood up in surprise, dumbfounded.
He had thought of countless possibilities of Fang Zhengyi intervening in this matter, but he never expected that Fang Zhengyi would come up with this solution.
Get a group of people together to see who can run faster?
Are you bored because you have eaten too much?
Fang Zhengyi was not surprised by his reaction.
After all, many people nowadays don’t even have two pieces of meat for a meal, and fat people are even rarer.
Only rich kids and soldiers do physical exercise.
Fang Zhengyi stretched out his right hand and pressed down, saying softly, "Master Chen, please don't be anxious. Sit down and talk."
Chen Hong sat down and said persistently, "How can I not be anxious? This is absolutely not okay. If you tell others about it, people will laugh at you."
"It's not as serious as you think. This is definitely a good thing." Fang Zhengyi said patiently, "You have to know that the foreign guests of the Honglu Temple are from different countries, cultures, and even skin colors. If we want to do a good job, we have to find their common ground, and this common ground is nothing but sports."
"Through the sports games we can definitely bring everyone together, help each other get to know each other and enhance friendship."
Chen Hong frowned.
Fang Zhengyi continued, "The most important thing is that if Dajing can win every game, it will be a great encouragement to the people. In addition, it can also promote Dajing culture and promote exchanges with other countries. The benefits are countless. Not just this time, I plan to do it every four years."
"No! Lord Fang, you are taking it for granted!" Chen Hong rejected. "Let's not talk about whether you are right or wrong. Dajing is the home team, and the delegation only brought a few guards. If we win the game and get the reputation of bullying the weak, neither you nor I can bear the responsibility."
Fang Zheng said, "You're right, but since this is our first time hosting an event, it can be a friendly match and the scale won't be too big. The contestants can be selected from the Honglu Temple, so it won't be considered as us bullying outsiders."
"And I can tell you responsibly that this sports meeting format is not something I came up with on a whim. There is a small country overseas called Greece that often hosts this kind of event. It is quite popular and has existed for a long time."
"Really?" Chen Hong showed suspicion on his face.
Fang Zheng swore, "Lai Gou'er told me this. If you don't believe me, go ask him. The culture of foreigners is different from ours, but the only thing they have in common is that they all like to have fun. Don't worry, it's absolutely correct!"
"If there are problems, blame me. If there are no problems, the credit belongs to you. Even if we fail, think about it, we will trade with the West in the future, and the fleet will bring more countries to the sea. Isn't your credit enough?"
Chen Hong fell into deep thought, and spoke after a long while: "I still feel it's inappropriate. This is too risky. This is not the way we treat guests at Dajing."
"Actually, there's nothing risky about it." Fang Zheng said seriously, "Actually, I'll tell you the truth. Besides, holding this sports meeting is beneficial to the exchanges between countries."
"On the other hand, I need them to visit Dongjiao University as a group to see the achievements of Dongjiao University so that I can recruit more talents from all over the world in the future."
Chen Hong's expression was solemn: "Master Fang, you are not kidding, are you? How can Dongjiao University let outsiders enter so easily?"
Fang Zheng laughed: "What's going on? Haven't you all always looked down on Dongjiao University?"
Chen Hong said: "Since you have mentioned this, I will not deny that Dongjiao University was indeed looked down upon by everyone in the past, and people thought that it only taught some strange and tricky things. But later on, we went to Dongjiao University to attend classes several times... Dongjiao University has made many achievements."
"I have to admit that there is still a lot to be done. This book of sages talks about the great principles, and what we learn at Dongjiao University is the small techniques. Techniques have their own uses, and we must not let outsiders learn them."
Fang Zheng laughed angrily: "I understand. It turns out that you still look down on our Dongda!"
"You are wrong! The Tao is inseparable from the technique, and the technique is inseparable from the Tao. I don't mean to look down on it. It has quick effects, so it cannot be leaked to outsiders." Chen Hong said earnestly.
"Don't worry about that. With the Jinyiwei here, confidential and important technologies will never be leaked. As for the textbooks in school, it doesn't matter whether others learn them or not." Fang Zheng said, "Even if we try to stop them, we may not be able to do it."
"Science is a discipline with many flaws, and it needs people to constantly fill in the gaps. Moreover, much of the knowledge at the University of Tokyo is open to everyone, otherwise I would not have published all my papers in the newspaper."
"But we should be prepared for the worst?" Chen Hong said worriedly.
"If you are afraid of making mistakes, then there is no need to do anything. I can tell you responsibly that the value created by one genius is better than that created by ten thousand mediocre people. Therefore, Dongjiao University must recruit talents from all over the world to maintain its leading position forever. This is not only for Dongda, but also for Dajing." Fang Zheng said earnestly.
"The foreigners in the Honglu Temple should be able to understand newspapers and have read them. If there are smart people among them, they will definitely follow the example of Dongjiao University. Let me be frank, the scholars in our Dajing are too burdened and still look down on the so-called art from the bottom of their hearts, so it is extremely difficult for true geniuses to be willing to enter Dongjiao University."
"On the other hand, the foreigners are much more lax. As long as they avoid theology, they can do whatever they want and recruit talents. If they rely on theology to develop science, they may even get strong support. Our Dajing has strong ships and powerful guns today. If we don't really pay attention to science, what will happen in a hundred years? What if the foreigners' guns and cannons are better than ours, and they can defeat a hundred with one, but our Dajing technology is stagnant, how can we rely on people's hearts when a war breaks out!?"
.....
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