The school project was now a priority in Li’s life. It was necessary to decide on the location. So that morning she chose to take a walk around her father’s estate in an attempt to find a suitable place. The future facilities should allow, as far as possible, easy access and be as close as possible to the surrounding villages. It was also desirable to have a minimal cost solution, perhaps with the remodeling of one of the existing buildings. As Li’s uncle reminded her, the total costs are always significant. She would also have to think about the basic equipment needed for classrooms, offices and so many others. At that moment, the important thing was to find the appropriate building, everything else would come in due time. Li walked around all morning without finding a solution that to her seemed appropriate. The existing buildings did not fit in with the global goals she had set. After the midday meal she stayed home scribbling out possible solutions for the construction of facilities. Near the afternoon, Li left. She had an absolute need to talk to the people, to know their needs. So she decided to make a walking tour around the village. She collected opinions about the school (generally favorable), but the people were permanently concerned - the costs of attending it. The weak financial resources of most people in the village were the main reason for so much concern. The financial issue had already been widely considered in her reflections, but still with no solution in sight. Li was convinced, however, that a solution would be found in due time - she expected a positive contribution from her uncle on this matter, too. The following days went by peacefully, but also with great anxiety. Her uncle’s response was delayed and with it doubts about the motives grew. Since she was a little girl she had a strong affective and trusting connection with him, so she had no choice but to wait.
One fine morning Li received the news that her uncle was coming to visit her in two days. He would stay to have lunch and talk about school. That news left her in a state of even greater anxiety, only balanced by the serenity of her mother who welcomed the good news with great satisfaction. Since her father’s death, her mother would spend the days gathered over herself, so the uncle’s visit would also represent a different day for her. At noon, as he had promised, the uncle entered her mother’s house with his wife and son. The first moments, after the welcome, were built with great silence. The painful departure of her father was still very much present in everyone’s memory. Little by little, however, the conversation took hold, pulled by recent events and the school. The arrival of her cousin, a lively and well-educated boy, recently returned from distant lands, made him a new and pleasant subject of conversation.
In the past, her cousin, still very young, had left in a wagon of rich silk merchants. When he left home, driven by adventure and trade with distant peoples, he did not expect such a distant return in time. He left with parental permission, despite the many reservations of his mother and aunt. The merchants, who traded regularly with his father and uncle, were well-known people who could be trusted. For that time the son’s departure represented a serious risk, but it ended up representing a great opportunity, not only in the strengthening of commercial relations, but above all, opening horizons of knowledge for the boy. After all these years, the balance is frankly positive, not only because of the business, that has experienced an unusual growth, but because it has allowed him to have a solid professional training. The early days required a great effort of adaptation and dedication on both sides, but over the years, the results came and were strongly encouraging. At present the boy holds a significant share of the company’s capital that he shares with the merchants. A real commercial empire! The genius for business was in his blood and the merchants soon realized it. From a very young age he began to participate in the business meetings that his father and uncle had with the merchants, revealing a great insight. The result is in plain sight today. During lunch Li revealed herself to be a satisfied woman and had good reason for it. With the arrival of her son, her uncle now had a frankly more positive attitude. The dark and sorrowful air had disappeared from his face. There were other reasons for those changes, as Li would later confirm. Hence her intervention.
- So, Uncle, have you had a chance to think about it?
- Yes, the school is one of the reasons we’re here today. Let’s talk about that later. Right now I want to give your mother some support. To tell her that, after all, life goes on. Kids can be a good reason to keep fighting. I confess that my boy’s recent arrival has brought great joy to our home. I thank heaven he has arrived well and in good health. Today, a man made, full of vigor. Isn’t that a satisfaction?!
Li’s mother sketched a little smile, for everyone’s pleasure. Since her husband’s death, the lady’s face was wasting away every day. She rarely spoke and when she articulated a word she did so with a bitter expression - of a totally shattered soul. It was already difficult to convince her that she had to eat. It was with great joy, then, that Li observed that her mother showed the first signs of hope for life! Confirmation of this fact was in itself a strong reason for satisfaction, but lunch would reveal greater surprises.
- My boy’s got a lot of projects on his hands. I therefore ask your attention to what he has to tell us! After that I will then talk about the school.
The eyes fixed on the young man, curiously, waiting for his words.
- The question is very simple. We have several trading posts spread throughout the Mediterranean, some of them with great strategic importance, such as those in Tunis, Florence and Alexandria. As we intend to open others in Asian cities, with emphasis on the commercial warehouse that we plan to install here, we need skilled people to manage all this business. Now, the school can make a good contribution in this sense. My father has some ideas on this subject, so I ask for your attention to what he has to tell us.
- In my opinion, the State has had a very restrictive stance on Education, confined to Public Administrationfunctions without taking care of other needs of the country, in particular those emerging from trade. On the other hand, it is necessary to train people who want to learn a profession without social class restrictions. From this perspective, my child is available to contribute financially to the school, especially in the training of the children of the most deprived farmers. For my part, I am open to making available the houses located near the village for the installation of the school, and also to contribute to the costs of rehabilitation.
- The ones at the village entrance? - Li asked, curious.
- Those same ones! Does that sound good?!
- An excellent location! - Li replied, with a broad smile.
- Well, it is then agreed that next week we will stop by to make a survey of the changes to be made.
Those words enlivened the lunch, which also helped for Li’s mother to have an increasingly positive attitude towards life. That fact in itself was already a great cause for satisfaction, but the revelations of her cousin gave her even more confidence in the promising future.
Six months later...
Li now proved to be a woman grateful for life and for very good reasons: the school had scheduled to start the next month; the hiring of the schoolmasters had been completed; the cousin’s commercial warehouse was running and, as if all this were not enough, financial aid to the school was guaranteed. Among the schoolmasters hired was Zeng, an acquaintance of Li since palace times, where he held public office in the State Administration at the time of the Emperor, a position which, together with his father, he abandoned following the Emperor’s death.
Zeng’s arrival in the village provided Li with news from the palace. Empress Xi was now the woman of whom much was spoken, not only because she had assumed the regency of the empire in place of the heir who was still too young to reign, but above all because of her wrong attitudes in the conduct of affairs of state. As a result, a deep uneasiness among many state cadres was installed in the palace. The old sages did not forgive the Empress for having put Zhu as their advisor - now the affairs, before being dispatched by the Empress, had to go through Zhu’s screening. This situation was unacceptable to most state leaders, who thought that in this way one day the government of the empire would inevitably fall into ruin. Among all the news brought by Zeng, one made Li curious. The Emperor made a will to donate goods,