He paused, thinking of something, and said, "The plan for the smart city project has been issued, and you have to help follow up on it. If the province doesn't pay attention, the people below will probably just shirk responsibility and make excuses. Yesterday, Zhicheng told me that Hongda has established Huainan Smart City Construction Co., Ltd. The first round of funding has been in place, and it is expected to be officially put into operation next month."
Zhao Guoyi smiled and said, "The efficiency is really fast. I originally thought it would take at least six months for it to take shape."
Song Wendi smiled and said, "This is the power of the market. As a businessman, I have already set my sights on this huge market. Although the National Development and Reform Commission has not yet made it clear, it has also attached great importance to it. Now all provinces in the country are waiting and watching. Once the policy is issued, there will definitely be a large amount of guidance funds. The company will be able to obtain sufficient returns with this fund."
Zhao Guoyi naturally understood the logic behind this. It was impossible for the Hongda Group to do a business that would lose money. It must be Fang Zhicheng who had fooled Zhao Qingya into getting involved in this field.
Zhao Guoyi smiled faintly and said, "We still have to look at it from a brighter perspective and recognize Hongda's pioneering attitude. If it were other companies, I'm afraid they wouldn't have the courage and guts to take such risks."
Song Wendi naturally understood what Zhao Guoyi was defending, and said with a smile: “We must thank Hongda Group, it will definitely become a great enterprise in the future.”
Chapter 0897: The Regression of Science and Education
Sui Qi took the initiative to call Fang Zhicheng and asked him to treat her to a meal. Fang Zhicheng certainly would not refuse and finally chose a special barbecue restaurant. In recent years, with the development of the economy, the catering industry has also changed. In the past, northern Xinjiang special barbecue was rare in Qiongjin, but now many restaurants have opened in Qiongjin.
Fang Zhicheng had been to this barbecue restaurant once before. He didn't like meat, but this barbecue restaurant left a fresh impression on him. Before entering the door, he saw the boss put the barbecue stove outside. The cumin was roasting under the charcoal fire, emitting bursts of strong fragrance. The oven was placed on a grill, and a lamb leg was placed on it. It had already turned golden yellow. The chef in a white suit kept sprinkling various seasonings on it. Just watching from the side, he was already salivating.
The environment in the restaurant was just average, with several tables of guests drinking and toasting each other, making a lot of noise. There was a private room upstairs, which was much quieter after the door was closed.
"Isn't it a little bit tasteless for two people? Do you have any colleagues? You can call them over as well." Fang Zhicheng ordered the menu and handed it to Sui Qi.
Sui Qi took a few glances, drew a few lines on it, and spread his hands and said, "We are meeting in private, why did we invite so many people over? I really hate being with those guys now. After drinking, they are completely different from normal people. They don't talk much normally, but after drinking the piss, they are like crazy people."
Fang Zhicheng couldn't help but stare in disbelief when he heard Sui Qi's comments about his colleagues after the dinner. He said, "I never thought you would say something like this."
Sui Qi smiled and said, "It's called 'the closer you are to the red, the more red you are.' Now I have developed a loud voice, and my previous working methods in the central government are no longer effective. These people in the city are not so self-conscious. If you don't teach them a lesson, they won't take you seriously."
Fang Zhicheng shrugged and said with a smile, "You have changed a lot now. You have become more down-to-earth. Being an official means being down-to-earth and understanding the suffering of the people. Only then can you come up with policies that can truly change people's livelihood. Caoyao City has recently received several grants from the Ministry of Education and has introduced several large private education groups. It's quite a big deal."
Sui Qi blinked and said, "Caoyao's geographical location is not as good as the cities in the south of Huainan, but in this environment, the education atmosphere in the city is better than other cities. From top to bottom, an atmosphere of relying on learning to change one's destiny has been formed. Therefore, Caoyao's students are particularly hardworking, love to study, and are particularly motivated. As long as they are well guided, they will definitely become a major education city in the next few years."
Fang Zhicheng nodded and said with emotion: "Ultimately, the development of a city still depends on people. Only when the basic quality of the urban population is improved can the society become more civilized. Caoyao City's approach is desirable, cultivating talents through education and then using talents to feed back to the city. In this way, the city's development will have sufficient stamina."
Sui Qi shook his head helplessly and said with a wry smile: "Ideals are beautiful, but things often go against one's wishes. Caoyao City has not been able to cultivate elites in recent years, but the colorful world outside is particularly beautiful. Once you leave Caoyao, you will never come back. So this has led to Caoyao becoming a city that lacks young pillars. The young people cultivated by Caoyao all go to other places to work, and there are very few young people left in Caoyao."
Fang Zhicheng nodded and said, "Let's not talk about the temptation of Yan, Yun, and Yue to young people. But judging from the development trend of Qiongjin and Yinzhou in the past two years, they have become the first choice for young people in the province to find jobs. This phenomenon has caused difficulties for the development of local cities. If there are no talents in the local area, the cost of recruiting enterprises will increase, and they will be unwilling to settle in the local area. Without good enterprises, talents are even less willing to stay in the local area, which has formed a vicious circle."
Sui Qi said: "The competition between cities is too fierce. Everyone wants to attract people, but it is difficult to retain their hearts."
Fang Zhicheng said: "This requires efforts in education. There are serious problems with the education of the post-90s generation. They know those entertainment stars and can talk about celebrity gossip. But they lack the most basic foundation. For example, they don't even know the year when the new China was founded. If they don't even have a sense of belonging to the country, how can they talk about a sense of belonging to a city?"
Sui Qi's eyes showed deep thought, and he said: "There are indeed problems with education now. School-based education has turned into family-based education. Many students only study in school for part of their time. After finishing their classes in school, they go to training institutions for supplementary lessons. This makes it difficult to monitor the education system."
Fang Zhicheng sighed, "Education is a very profound subject. The post-90s generation has completely lost their sense of collective honor, which is not a good thing, so the education department should still provide guidance."
Sui Qi nodded and said, "Since the year before last, the Ministry of Education has paid attention to this issue. So I came to Caoyao with this purpose, and I will start from next year and try a new type of education."
The waiter interrupted their conversation by serving the dishes. Fang Zhicheng cut a piece of meat from the lamb leg with a knife and handed it to Sui Qi, saying, "Put aside your prejudices. We can get some inspiration from studying the education of island countries. Because of their lack of land and resources, island countries give children a kind of superiority education from an early age. They clearly tell you that we have no resources. To survive, we must fight and create. We must always rely on ourselves and not on others. In China, the younger generation is too well cared for. A family has only one child, who is spoiled by two or even three generations."
Sui Qi took the piece of meat but did not eat it immediately. He said, "The island country sends a large number of students abroad. However, few of the students do not return after completing their studies. The dedication and sense of responsibility of the island people to their nation are difficult for Chinese people to understand."
Fang Zhicheng cut a piece of mutton for himself and said, "China's education policy does need to change, and the responsibility falls on you."
Sui Qi chuckled and said, "What can I do? I can only stand by and worry."
Fang Zhicheng didn't think so. With Sui Qi's promotion speed, he would definitely make further progress after settling in Caoyao City for a while and returning to the Development and Reform Commission. A full-time cadre in a department of the Ministry of Education could already influence the policies and guidelines of the education system.
China's education system has exposed many problems. Educational accidents happen frequently, and all kinds of negative news are exposed almost every day. This is mainly because there is a smell of decadence from top to bottom. The times are constantly moving forward, but the teaching team is standing still. Society no longer emphasizes the dignity of teachers, and teachers have no sense of belonging to the profession. They use the resources in their hands to become tools for profit.
Twenty years have passed since the policy of rejuvenating the country through education was adopted in 1995. Many people have forgotten the original intention and have turned it into a slogan.
Fang Zhicheng believes that an open attitude can be adopted in many fields, but absolute control must be maintained in education. Today's society is complex and people lack faith. The reason for this is still due to the failure of education. Compulsory education is a national policy initiative, but it also makes a large number of schools and teaching teams slack off.
As they chatted, they had unknowingly finished most of the lamb leg. Sui Qi sucked her fingers and said, "I like chatting with you because we can always talk about deep things. If I didn't know your background, I would have thought you were an expert in the field of education!"
Fang Zhicheng shrugged and said, "Although I am not in charge of education in the Development and Reform Commission, I used to be the top leader in Xiaguang, so I am very familiar with the grassroots education situation. The quality of teachers in the grassroots education team is not high, and there is a serious problem of forming cliques. More importantly, the management model is too single. The principal can do everything by himself, and the vice-principal uses his position as a tool to seek personal gain."
Sui Qi paused and said with a smile: "It seems that I have to report to the higher-ups and arrange for someone to conduct a secret visit to Xiaguang!"
Every year, various state ministries and commissions conduct unannounced visits to various places and then take a series of measures. The places under investigation are naturally unlucky, but it does not have much impact on the overall situation.
Fang Zhicheng waved his hand and smiled, "If you only investigate Xiaguang, it will be useless, because most schools in the country are very different. The education system must be reformed, otherwise it will leave a chronic and serious disease that is difficult to cure for national development."
Sui Qi sighed softly and fell into deep thought.
Fang Zhicheng was right. Not only Hanzhou's Xiaguang, but Cao Yao's education system was also fraught with shady dealings. Only by going deep into the grassroots level could we find out the cause.
The exchange between the two today had a profound impact. They talked about business matters, but they also touched their hearts. Fang Zhicheng regarded Sui Qi as his own. Although he knew that there was an inexplicable hatred between the Fang family and the Sui family, Fang Zhicheng still regarded Sui Qi as someone who could be close to him in terms of strategic planning.
This feeling is just like when I first met Qi Yun in Dongtai. As my social experience became richer, Qi Yun and I gradually became more distant, at least when it comes to national-level research, it is difficult for us to talk about it.
Fang Zhicheng felt different when chatting with Sui Qi, especially when talking about the smart city plan. He could see a glimmer in Sui Qi's eyes, and he became more certain about the route he was promoting.
Sui Qi had a good alcohol tolerance, but after drinking two bottles of beer, his behavior became a little strange. He sat next to Fang Zhicheng and kept asking him what he thought of his appearance and whether his personality was annoying.
Fang Zhicheng sighed and said with a smile: "You are quite good. The reason why you haven't found the right person yet is mainly because your marriage destiny has not arrived yet."
Sui Qi shook her head, poked Fang Zhicheng's nose with her finger, and said incoherently: "I can't wait for marriage. I am a single person. I used to admire your mother very much, but your appearance poured a bucket of cold water on me. It turns out that my idol is not a pure single person. So I hate you!"