Training the Heavens

Chapter 344 Different Life

First, in the process of organizing young people to study in France, Li Shizeng and others exposed a common problem among many progressive people since the late Qing Dynasty, that is, they were passionate about doing things but lacked planning and details.

Li Shizeng and others accepted anarchism when they studied in France in their early years. They tried to rely on the power of society, family and even individual students in everything, excluded necessary support from the government, lacked planning and foresight, and found it difficult to resolve the situation when they encountered major difficulties.

How would young people find jobs in France? How would they use the money they earned from work-study programs to attend French schools? There was no unified plan for these matters. Li Shizeng's tofu company alone couldn't accommodate so many people, and not all French schools welcomed Chinese youth.

Secondly, these groups of students came at the wrong time. It was better in the early years because all the young and strong men in France went to the trenches to be Teletubbies. There was a shortage of labor everywhere. As long as they could come, they could always find opportunities to work.

Things were different now. Shortly after the war, many European countries were hit by an economic crisis, and France was no exception. The severe economic crisis had left French society in a state of depression. Factories were laying off workers, and prices were skyrocketing. Even the French struggled to find work, let alone Chinese students who hadn't yet mastered the language barrier. Even among the Chinese, the students' physical strength and hard-working spirit could not compare to those of the Chinese workers.

Based on the information revealed by the young people in the room today, Zhang Xingjiu roughly estimated the current situation of Chinese students studying in France. It is estimated that only one-third of the young people find opportunities to study in various schools, one-sixth of the young people work in factories, and the remaining nearly half of the young people become "drifters" with no work and no education.

Most of the young people who participate in work-study programs come from ordinary families. Their families cannot provide them with much support, and they cannot find opportunities to make money. They cannot even afford a boat ticket back home. Now they are in a dilemma.

The students who found jobs did not have an easy life either. They had truly experienced what a real capitalist sweatshop was. Some of them got up at five in the morning and went to bed after nine-thirty in the evening. They worked eight hours a day in the steel mill and squeezed out two hours to read.

Some worked thirteen hours a day at the Renault car factory, carrying heavy iron blocks to make iron molds.

Some people feel heartbroken every time they go to the market to buy meat and vegetables, watching their hard-earned money being spent.

Comrade Xixian spent five years and two months in France, taking only a brief French course at the Lycée de Bayeux in western Normandy. He spent about four years working as a laborer. Decades later, he joked with a French friend, "Why am I so short? It's because at the age of 16, when I was still growing up, I was working in a French factory pulling red iron, and I had only hard bread and cold water to eat."

These words solved a long-standing doubt in Zhang Xingjiu's heart. He originally didn't understand why so many young people studying in France would take the red path. Now he finally understood. They were exploited so miserably by capital in France, so how could they not have a good impression of the red?

The experience of hard labor in France made these young people, who originally had diverse ideas, despair of the capitalist system. They witnessed many strikes by French workers, took advantage of the relatively convenient cultural environment, read a large number of propaganda-related works, and were deeply touched. After returning to their country, they became the gravediggers of the old regime.

Of course, not all students studying in France have a hard life like them. Some young people live a very carefree life. They are the vast number of literary and artistic young people. France's freedom, romance and relatively low cost of living attracted them, so they came to Paris.

They either came from well-off families, financially able to cover their living expenses in France without having to work in factories, or had connections that allowed them to attend French schools. Alternatively, they possessed a skill and could earn money through respectable means like painting, sculpting, or playing music. Even those without music or art skills could write novels or simply write articles about their experiences in France and send them to newspapers and magazines back home to earn royalties to cover their expenses.

Art schools in France, especially fine arts schools, have very unique teaching methods. The school management is loose, students do not have to strictly attend classes, and they have few opportunities to meet with teachers.

After students pay tuition, the more famous art schools will issue passes to major museums. Students can spend the whole day in the world's top art halls such as the Louvre, the Palace of Versailles, and Notre Dame de Paris. They can also go to the Impressionist Museum, the Museum of Modern Art, and private studios to get in touch with the latest cutting-edge schools. Whether they want to follow a routine in school or wander along the Seine depends entirely on their personal character and interests.

This further stimulated their casual character. These literary young people often sat in cafes for hours, talking about everything, or wandering in museums and art exhibitions.

Objectively speaking, these young artists are not without contribution. Some of them have combined European modern art with traditional Chinese art and blazed a new trail; some have learned the essence of European art education and opened a new chapter in Chinese art education.

But what China needs most right now is not these, and their contribution is far from comparable to Feifei and others.

After listening to the students' stories, Zhang Xingjiu felt it difficult to directly criticize the actions of Li Shizeng, Cai Heqing and others, so he solved the problem for them based on practical considerations. He spent several days finding relevant people and secured opportunities for a group of students to enroll in school.

He also used his influence in the capital field to invest in some companies. Although it is now a period of economic crisis, the crisis will pass sooner or later, and the current investment will reap profits in the future. At the same time, these companies can also recruit young Chinese and provide them with an opportunity to earn tuition fees.

They then spent money to rent a few places and recruited teachers to open night schools for these young people studying in France.

Finally, if anyone loses confidence in studying abroad, Zhang Xingjiu will also sponsor them a boat ticket so that they can return to China.

After using various means in turn, Zhang Xingjiu finally cleaned up most of the mess caused by Li Shizeng and others' rash trend of studying in France, and many aspiring young people got new opportunities.

During this period, I also took the time to chat with Zhang Guoqiang. He has now become friends with Feifei, 501 and others. They meet every few days and talk about each other's recent experiences and the latest learning results. Judging from his attitude, he will probably take the same path as Feifei and others after graduation and returning to China.

Zhang Xingjiu left him a sum of money and asked him to use it to help those who needed help. Then he gave several lectures and academic exchange activities in Paris, and then returned to China with Wu Lien-teh.

(End of this chapter)