"Brother, how come you have time to come to Ziyun Valley today?" The little princess walked up to Li Chengqian and asked with a smile.
"Hey, Sizi, you are a very busy man now. It is harder than climbing to the sky to see you."
Li Chengqian stood up, shook his robe, and turned his head away with a complaining look.
The little princess smiled and said jokingly, "Big brother, you are joking. How dare Sizi keep you waiting for so long?
It's just that I'm really tied up with the research in this lab, so I hope you can forgive me."
"Alright, alright, I won't joke with you anymore." Li Chengqian waved his hand and said seriously, "I'm here to discuss something important with you."
Seeing this, the little princess also restrained her smile and looked at Li Chengqian seriously, "Brother, please speak. Sizi is all ears."
Li Chengqian took a deep breath and slowly stated his purpose: "Sizi, I heard that your Mingda Academy is thriving.
Not only did it attract many students to study here, it also received unanimous praise from my father and the whole government.”
The little princess smiled modestly, "Big Brother, you're too kind. Mingda Academy's success today is inseparable from the support of our father and the hard work of everyone."
"Hey, don't be so modest." Li Chengqian waved his hand and continued, "I have been acting as regent for a while now, and I also want to make some achievements.
I think your Mingda Academy is a great example. If it can be promoted throughout the Tang Dynasty and allow more people to benefit, it will be a great achievement that will benefit generations to come."
The little princess was slightly stunned after hearing this, but then nodded happily, "Sizi will naturally fully support my elder brother since he has such an ambition.
If Mingda College's educational model could be promoted throughout the Tang Dynasty, it would undoubtedly greatly promote the prosperity and growth of the Tang Dynasty."
Li Chengqian couldn't help but feel secretly happy when he saw that the little princess supported his idea so much.
He struck while the iron was hot and said, "Sizi, since you also think this is a good idea, why don't we work together to push Mingda College to a new level."
The little princess was slightly stunned and looked at Li Chengqian with some confusion, "Brother, what do you mean..."
"I want to bring Mingda College under the management of the imperial court." Li Chengqian expressed his true thoughts.
"This way, we can get more resources and support to make the college bigger and more..."
"That's great!" Before Li Chengqian could finish, the little princess interrupted, "Hey, I've been so worried about the expenses of this academy."
Hearing the little princess's ready agreement, Li Chengqian was stunned. He thought it would take some time to convince her and was even prepared to be rejected by the little princess.
But I didn't expect the little princess to agree so readily.
"Sizi, are you really willing to hand over Mingda College to the court for management?" Li Chengqian couldn't help but confirm again.
The little princess nodded and smiled, "Of course, big brother. Although I founded Mingda College, I have always hoped that it can better serve the people of the Tang Dynasty."
If the imperial court could take over and provide sufficient resources and support, I believe Mingda College would develop even better.”
At this point, the little princess suddenly thought of something and added, "However, brother, the expenses of Mingda College are not a small amount.
The operation of the college, the salaries of teachers, the scholarships for students, the updating of teaching equipment, etc. all require a large amount of financial investment.
If the imperial court really intends to take over, it must make sufficient budget preparations."
After hearing this, Li Chengqian frowned slightly. He had indeed not considered these issues in detail before.
But since the little princess has brought it up, he naturally cannot ignore it.
"Sizi, can you give me a rough budget? Then I can go back and discuss with the ministers to see how to arrange the funds." Li Chengqian asked.
The little princess thought for a moment and said, "I need to go back and do a detailed calculation before I can give you a specific budget.
But generally speaking, it would require at least several hundred thousand guan of investment each year. This does not include some unexpected expenses and future expansion plans.”
Hundreds of thousands of strings of cash! Li Chengqian couldn't help but gasp after hearing this. This number far exceeded his expectations.
He couldn't help but ask in confusion, "Sizi, I heard that the academies run by those aristocratic families are all profitable. Why does Mingda Academy have such a huge annual expenditure?"
Upon hearing this, the little princess smiled softly and explained, "Brother, you don't know this. Although the academy run by the aristocratic families charges high tuition fees.
However, their teaching methods and content are often more traditional and conservative, focusing on maintaining the interests and status of the family.
Mingda College is different; our goal is to cultivate truly talented and visionary individuals for Datang."
"To achieve this goal, we not only provide a comprehensive curriculum, including classics, history, mathematics, astronomy, geography, etc., but also focus on the cultivation of practical and innovative abilities.
The supply of experimental equipment for each profession alone is an astronomical figure.
In addition, we provide scholarships to students to encourage them to study hard and become pillars of the country."
After hearing this, Li Chengqian pondered for a moment and then said:
"Sizi, I understand your philosophy and I greatly appreciate your efforts for the future of the Tang Dynasty.
But the investments you mentioned seem a bit too large to me.”
The little princess looked at Li Chengqian and frowned slightly, "Brother, why do you say that?"
"Sizi, look, those academies run by aristocratic families can all make money, so why can't Mingda Academy?"
Li Chengqian asked doubtfully, "The academies of the aristocratic families also teach and educate people. They can provide high-quality education while also making a profit.
Since Mingda College has such high educational quality and reputation, it should also be able to make a profit."
The little princess sighed and patiently explained, "Brother, the difference is not as simple as it seems.
The academies of aristocratic families make money largely because they have deep family backgrounds and resources.
Furthermore, their education model focuses more on maintaining family interests, so they have a great advantage in terms of connections and reputation.”
“But Mingda College is different, we focus more on equitable education.
Let every talented student have the opportunity to receive quality education, regardless of their background.
This means we need to invest more resources to attract and retain excellent teachers.
Providing a comprehensive curriculum and constantly updating teaching equipment all require funding.”
Li Chengqian was still a little puzzled after hearing this, "But Sizi, you can't ignore the operating costs of the college just because you want fair education.
If Mingda College could be profitable like the academies of the aristocratic families, then we would have more funds to support your educational philosophy, right? "
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