Rebirth Tokyo 1986

Chapter 432 The Difficulties of Education

Without hesitation, Masato Takeshita quickly arranged a time to visit his senior, Noboru Takeshita.

After exchanging pleasantries, the young man respectfully asked for guidance.

"Senior, that's how it is. What do you think, should I agree?"

Takeshita Noboru did not give a direct response, but instead spoke mildly about the Liberal Democratic Party.

"Ya-ren, you should know that Changxin Bank belongs to the Mori faction, right?"

"Yes, that's why I'm still hesitating."

"Since you know that, you should understand that under the current circumstances, we will not undermine internal unity."

Changxin Bank is not yet in dire straits, and the Mori faction, led by the Fukuda family, will not give up their money.

Unless everything at Changyin continues as before, there is only a slight chance.

"Yes, senior, I understand."

After losing the prime ministership in 1993, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) finally came to power in 1996. Therefore, all factions within the LDP cherished this opportunity.

Takeshita Noboru was unwilling and dared not jeopardize the party's unity for the sake of a long silver note.

The Takeshita faction is simply the strongest, not invincible within the Liberal Democratic Party.

Since there was no chance for Changyin, the young man stopped thinking about it.

He's not in a hurry; there will be plenty of similar opportunities in the future.

Next, the two discussed their views on Sino-Japanese relations and Japan-US relations.

In short, don't offend anyone.

The three remaining leaders of the Takeshita faction, Ryutaro Hashimoto and Noboru Takeshita, were visited, and naturally, the last leader, Keizo Obuchi, was not overlooked either.

The two were now bound together, so the young man didn't stand on ceremony when they met.

He noticed that Kobuchi Keizo seemed to be unwell, his face was a little pale, so he quickly and reproachfully offered some words of comfort.

"Given our current relationship, you should just say so if you're sick. We can meet again once you're better."

"Also, you need to get plenty of rest and take care of yourself; health is the foundation of everything."

Keizo Obuchi's previous life was marked by a combination of impatience and overwork, which led to his death while serving as prime minister.

Therefore, the young man is very careful in his daily life and often advises his senior, Obuchi, to rest more.

It did have an effect, but not as significant as I had imagined.

"It's nothing, just a minor issue. Did you call me today because you need something?"

Keizo Obuchi, not wanting to get bogged down in this pointless discussion, quickly changed the subject.

"Nothing much, it's just that we haven't seen each other in a long time and I wanted to chat."

"I never expected that you would be a patient now."

Takeshita Masato regretted it somewhat, and then continued to persuade him.

"Well, let's grab something to eat and head back. We can talk again once you're better."

"okay."

After thinking it over, Keizo Obuchi ultimately decided not to refuse his junior's offer.

He is indeed a bit tired now, so it would be good for him to rest for a while.

However, Keizo Obuchi was not willing to leave empty-handed, so he decided to eat while trying to get information out of his junior.

"Junior, what have you been busy with these past few days?"

"Well, the main reason is that Prime Minister Hashimoto wants me to acquire Changyin, but Senior Takeshita thinks the chances are slim."

Masato Takeshita knew what his senior wanted to hear, and then told him everything without holding anything back.

He was still hoping to leverage Senior Xiaoyuan's political influence to gain more benefits, so he dared not conceal anything and cause a misunderstanding.

"I see. There really isn't much of a chance."

Keizo Obuchi nodded in understanding, and breathed a sigh of relief.

He certainly didn't want his biggest economic supporter in politics to be poached by other forces.

After finishing his visit to senior Obuchi, Masato Takeshita sat in his car, squinting and lost in thought.

"How about we host a private dinner and get together with some politicians we can unite?"

Xinghai Group's current political investments are too fragmented, resulting in very low cohesion.

He wanted to invite Waseda politicians, as well as figures on the political spectrum who leaned toward Asian reconciliation, such as Hiromu Nonaka, Taro Kono, and Koichi Kato, to strengthen the influence of the Seikai Group in Japanese politics.

As for famous quotes about staying away from politics when doing economics, they're basically nonsense.

As a company grows, it inevitably comes into contact with politics; you can't avoid it.

After all, power and money have never been separated since ancient times.

"Forget it, Xinghai Group isn't strong enough yet, let's wait and see."

The opening of the private banquet was tantamount to announcing to the Japanese high society that the Xinghai Group had established its status as a zaibatsu (conglomerate) from that day forward.

However, given the current size of Xinghai Group, it can only reach the scale of a medium-sized conglomerate at best, which does not meet the aspirations of young people.

Perhaps we should wait until the domestic conglomerates suffer another major blow and the Xinghai Group becomes even stronger.

At that time, even if it didn't reach the status of the top six conglomerates in the country, it could still become the seventh force, second only to them.

Once his mind had calmed down, Masato Takeshita simply closed his eyes, not thinking or doing anything, and lazily sat in the car.

……

Time always flies, and before we know it, summer vacation is coming to an end.

Takeshita Masato flew to Shanghai to inquire with Lin Qingqian about donating money to support education.

Have this year's college freshmen made plans for all aspects of their lives, including tuition, accommodation, and food expenses for the first month?

Since last year, tuition fees for Chinese university students have skyrocketed.

It rose from 200 yuan in 1989 to around 800 yuan.

Just last year, Xinghai Group launched a global donation campaign that helped all new university students in China solve their tuition, accommodation, and first month's food problems.

In this collaboration, Xinghai Group works directly with the university. Xinghai Group pays the university for every student it admits.

This way, we can avoid being robbed by bad people who leave empty-handed.
In addition to giving presentations at universities, Xinghai Group also goes to high schools across China to tell all high school students directly that they do not need to pay tuition and accommodation fees this year.

Xinghai Group has already paid for their meals and also given each student 300 yuan for food. However, the students will have to cover the rest of their food and living expenses themselves.

Work-study programs, student loans, and various scholarships and grants can all be easily solved.

As for why Xinghai Group doesn't distinguish the students' backgrounds and only donates to children from poor families?

the reason is simple,
Xinghai Group doesn't have the resources to distinguish between the poor and the rich.

In any case, last year and this year, Xinghai Group only needed to donate 2000 yuan to each college freshman.

Yes, that's right, each student only needs to donate 2000 yuan.

This is because university tuition fees have generally increased by 500 yuan this year, compared to only 1500 yuan last year.

The total number of new university students in China is just over 90.

Excluding art students, sports students, and other subjects whose families have some money, as well as a few programs that require tuition of two or three thousand.

Xinghai Group's annual New Life Program donates to just over 70 people.

Yes, Xinghai Group also excluded courses with tuition fees of several thousand yuan.

Because truly poor people would never choose to take these subjects.

They were targeting the subjects with the lowest tuition fees.

In this way, the total expenditure of all the donations received by the Xinghai Group will not exceed $2 million.

Yes, in 1996, less than $2 million was needed to almost cover all donations to new university students in China.

If Masato Takeshita were to fully dedicate himself to developing Xinghai Investment, he could earn that much money in a single day.

Of course, Xinghai Group values ​​new students, but it hasn't forgotten its seniors. As early as last year, when it first implemented its university freshman donation strategy, it donated 1500 yuan to students from sophomores to seniors.

The key is to treat everyone equally, so as to avoid being blamed for doing good deeds.

In addition to individual collaborations with universities, Xinghai Group also communicated with universities and railway departments.

Aren't some people so poor that they can't even afford the fare?

No problem, Xinghai Group will pay the car fare for you.

Even if you are alone, you can still go to university.

Yes, Xinghai Group has prepared a full range of services for every college student.

Not only train tickets, but also daily necessities such as blankets were all provided.

Anyway, it's not much money; on average, each student won't spend more than 100 yuan.

Even with 100 dollars, 90 students would only amount to a little over 1000 million US dollars.

This amount of money isn't even enough for Xinghai Group to conduct a single research and development project.

In addition to donations for university freshmen, Xinghai Group also has scholarships and other special programs.

This amount is less than the freshman grant, only $1 million, and it's highly competitive, with all college students vying for it.

However, scholarships also have advantages, namely that the amount of money is relatively large, with each scholarship amounting to 5000 yuan.

In addition to students, Xinghai Group also has a donation policy for university teachers.

University teachers in the 1990s had a very tough time; many of them didn't even earn enough to make ends meet.

There was a saying in society at the time that perfectly reflected this phenomenon.

Those who build missiles are not as well off as those who sell tea eggs.

Xinghai Group may not be able to solve other problems, but it is quite simple to ensure that university teachers have enough to eat.

"There shouldn't be any problem. I visited more than 1000 high schools this year, and the students and teachers all know about our new student policy."

"I see. Then there shouldn't be any major problems."

More than 1000 high schools already constitute a very sufficient sample.

If there are things you don't know, then there's nothing you can do about it.

Lin Qingqian has other work to do and children to take care of.

Visiting more than 1000 high schools in a year or so was almost the limit of her energy.

Takeshita Masato patted her hand with a hint of sympathy, "You've really worked hard."

"It's nothing, I'm just getting started. Those high schools in county towns and townships are the really tough ones."

Thinking of the dilapidated environment of many high schools and the students with patches upon patches of clothing, Lin Qingqian felt extremely sorry for them.

She couldn't help but say, "Yato, how about we extend our donation program to high schools as well?"

"Yes, but there are too many high school students who don't have the ability to earn money yet, so our donations will have to continue for three years. We can only target the poorest students with the best academic abilities."

"That's enough. I really can't bear to see those good students drop out of school because they can't afford the tuition."

In the 1990s and early 21st century, many students, even those who were very talented, had to drop out of school because their families couldn't afford it.

Unfortunately, neither the government nor individuals can afford sufficient funding for education.

Xinghai Group can only make a partial contribution in this regard.

“Well, let’s also allocate $1 million for these things, and the money will come from our Xinghai Group’s China branch.”

Although Xinghai Group's China branch is still in a phase of rapid expansion, most of its businesses, except for the real estate sector which is still suffering severe losses, have begun to generate profits for the group.

In particular, projects such as Xinghai Internet Cafe, Shencheng Luggage Factory, Xinghai Food, and Xinghai Manufacturing have made huge profits.

Instant noodles alone generate billions of RMB in revenue and billions of RMB in profit every year.

However, although Xinghai Group donates a lot every year, it cannot give all of it to the education department.

Xinghai Group is required to make donations annually for natural disasters across the country and for vehicles used by police, industry and commerce departments, and other organizations.

"Well, thank you, husband."

"It's all the duty. If I weren't limited by my abilities, I would love to solve all the tuition fees for students in the previous world."

Xinghai Group's donations to Chinese students have the widest coverage, but this does not mean that the amount spent is the highest.

In fact, Xinghai Group's donations to education in Japan and the United States are more than those in China.

However, in the United States and Japan, Xinghai Group only dares to implement a scholarship system.

Japan is actually not that bad. Even though tuition fees have increased several times, public schools generally only cost a few hundred thousand yen or a few thousand US dollars.

Private schools are a bit more expensive, but they won't exceed $1.

If Xinghai Group were to grit its teeth, it could still cover hundreds of thousands of students.

The United States is different; most top universities there easily cost around $50,000 to $60,000.

Even if Xinghai Group wanted to do it, it could only cover 20,000 to 30,000 people at most.

With such a small number of people, the publicity effect is nowhere near as good as that of a scholarship.

Hearing her lover say this, Lin Qingqian's eyes flashed with admiration.

"Ok, I know."

The girl was well aware that the young man had always harbored a desire to help the world.

Even if it were someone else, no matter how difficult things were, they wouldn't donate at least half of the money Xinghai Investment earned.

That's hundreds of billions of dollars; anyone would be confused by that.

In addition, Lin Qingqian also knew.

The other companies in the Xinghai Group, as well as the young man himself, which do not disclose their assets, also make huge donations every year.

Although the amount is not as large as that of Starsea Investment, it far exceeds that of other private funds internationally.

It shouldn't be said that it far exceeds; it should be said that it far surpasses.

This donation is several times larger than that of other private foundations.

Of course, this doesn't include wealth that's ostensibly charitable but is actually the private wealth of the descendants of the wealthy.

He donated real money, instead of using various tricks to let his family squander the charity fund on lavish spending.

"hey-hey."

Masato Takeshita felt a little embarrassed by his lover's gaze, so he simply changed the subject.

"Are the cooperation between Xinghai Group's various projects and the Chinese side going smoothly?"

"I think it's a great idea. We provide the money and equipment, and they provide the manpower and resources. In the end, we share the results."

"Our research and development capabilities have been enhanced, and they can receive additional rewards for their research achievements."

"I had someone investigate and visited several schools, and I was quite satisfied with them all."

Xinghai Group and Chinese universities are currently in a state of comprehensive cooperation.

Many of Xinghai Group's miscellaneous tasks, as well as some high-end projects, are outsourced to universities.

The school gained ample opportunities for hands-on experimentation, and Xinghai Group received more intellectual and talent support.

A win-win situation for both sides, and common progress for both sides.

In addition, the cooperation between the two parties can bring many material rewards to the school, teachers and students.

Xinghai Group is not stingy; they award bonuses for every useful research and development.

The majority of these prize money goes to the school, but the smaller portions allocated to teachers and students are still a considerable sum.

For high-reward R&D projects, the bonuses earned by the project leader could even buy a 100-square-meter apartment within Beijing's Third Ring Road.

Of course, this was also related to the fact that houses in Beijing were cheap at that time.

A 100-square-meter apartment in the third ring road only costs three to four hundred thousand yuan.

(End of this chapter)