The expeditionary force began to dominate Southeast Asia by recruiting defeated soldiers

Chapter 199 General Chapter Education, Examinations and Universities

Time ticked by, and at the stroke of the hour, 44 years had arrived.

However, no matter how urgent the superiors urged, the terrain in western Yunnan determined that they had to slowly take down one hill at a time in order to gradually annihilate the Japanese.

Now that Longling has been captured and the two armies have joined forces, Zhang Chi, as the supreme leader of the Anmin Army, naturally does not need to stay on the front line anymore.

So he rushed back to Myitkyina early with his guard brigade.

-----

At this time, Myitkyina was still a large construction site.

As a time traveler, Zhang Chi naturally also got out the two civil engineering artifacts: plywood and precast concrete panels.

Backed by several concrete plants that were first put into production during the three-year plan, the newly established Nanhua Construction Group recruited a large number of civil engineers from home and abroad, and recruited a group of strong men from immigrants to "put up the cement", and began a 100-day emergency construction campaign.

In the early to mid-20th century, industrial workers in various countries were treated much better than farmers who worked in the fields.

Not to mention that Zhang Chi, who is not short of money, is trying to buy horse bones for a fortune, and the salary and benefits he offers to workers and engineers are almost comparable to those of a blue-collar worker like Bai Ying who works alone to support a family of five and a car.

Therefore, even though Nanhua Construction Group implements a three-shift work schedule with almost no rest time, there are still few plasterers who run away with their buckets.

After several months of construction, Myitkyina, one of the largest cities in Bago, has been completely transformed. The European buildings with colonial colors have been destroyed in the war, and the newly built Myitkyina city is now mostly modern buildings blended with Chinese style.

At 7 o'clock in the evening, as night fell, electricity generated by the hydropower station upstream of the Irrawaddy River was transmitted through high voltage and illuminated this brand new city through the newly installed street lights.

Xia Yingwei, who came from the coastal city of Pontianak in Borneo in Southeast Asia, and his co-workers found a restaurant run by a Cantonese person on the street after get off work.

"Everyone, what would you like to eat today?" The restaurant owner, wearing a white apron and speaking Mandarin with a thick accent, came out to greet the customers. "We have freshly arrived chicken and fish today. If you want some, I'll kill and cook them right away. I guarantee they'll be fresh."

Xia Yingwei raised his eyebrows and asked in Hakka, "Uncle, why don't you speak your hometown dialect?"

"Hey, Marshal Zhang has said that if you want to do business in this secret city, you must speak the new official language called 'Mandarin', otherwise you won't be issued a business license." As he said this, the restaurant owner pointed to a piece of paper hanging in the inner hall.

Xia Yingwei nodded. The policy of compulsory promotion of Mandarin had just begun to be implemented within Nanhua Construction Group.

He had already been mentally prepared for Hakka not being chosen as the official language.

After all, the three major dialects, Cantonese, Hakka and Teochew, have always been in open and covert conflict due to regional and ethnic issues. Zhang Chi, a time traveler who was originally a Cantonese, took the initiative to speak Mandarin for the sake of fairness. Naturally, it is impossible for him to choose any of the three as the Nanyang official language to be promoted.

After all, the lessons learned from the previous warlords are there: the Fenghua dialect of the White Party, the Wutai dialect of the Shanxi faction, and the Min dialect of the Navy. As long as Zhang Chi speaks the dialect, he will immediately follow the example of his superiors and subordinates and form a small circle centered around his fellow villagers and dialects, excluding others.

This is definitely unacceptable to Zhang Chi, who has the whole of Nanyang in mind and is not willing to settle for a corner.

On the contrary, "Mandarin", the greatest common denominator, can best unite the majority of people. Therefore, the "Mandarin" brought by Zhang Chi from the 21st century naturally became the legal first language under the rule of the Anmin Army.

"Kill and cook right after? How long will that take?" a worker immediately complained. In the industrial age, even eating requires efficiency. The worker just wanted to finish his meal quickly and go back to sleep. "Boss, just bring over a few servings of barbecued pork rice."

"Hey, it's my treat today, so listen to me." Xia Yingwei immediately stopped the other person and said to the boss, patting his chest, "Two boiled chickens, two steamed grass carps with soy sauce, three pounds of steamed shrimp, three pounds of barbecued pork, three pounds of blanched vegetables, and two bowls of rice."

More than a dozen workers were divided into two tables. Xia Yingwei knew that they all had big appetites, so he was not stingy when ordering dishes.

"Is there any fresh beer from Deyun Brewery?"

"Yes, the factory's delivery truck just delivered it this morning. We also have glass bottle beer from Nanhua No. 1 Factory, cooling it in the well."

Xia Yingwei nodded immediately after hearing the boss's answer. "Tomorrow is our day off. Feel free to bring us some fresh beer from Deyun Brewery. Let's have a great time!"

Tired workers could not do without the comfort of alcohol. In addition to the Nanhua No. 1 Distillery, which was personally controlled by Zhang Chi during the three-year plan, Nanyang businessmen raised their own money to build a series of distilleries.

In addition to traditional white wine and yellow wine, beer with a clearer taste, better taste when chilled and full of bubbles is also being promoted in Zhang Chi's control area.

"Great! Long live Xiatou!"

"Thank you, Xiatou. We won't go home until we're drunk!"

When the workers heard that they could drink as much as they wanted, they immediately cheered.

Wu Shisan, who was sitting next to Xia Yingwei, also joined in the fun excitedly, but tears couldn't stop falling from the corners of his eyes.

When he was a child laborer in Shanghai, the so-called "foreman" was the person he hated the most.

These guys who suck the blood of workers are mostly connected with Shanghai's underworld tycoons, and the workers' wages are often deducted as protection fees by the "team leaders" and "foremen".

After he came to Pegu to make a living and joined the Nanhua Construction Group, he thought that squad leaders like Xia Yingwei were also ordinary vampires, and was mentally prepared to be charged commissions.

He didn't expect that not only were the salaries paid directly to the workers on time, but small bosses like Xia Yingwei would also pay for meals for the workers out of their own pockets. He felt that he might be dreaming.

For this reason, he naturally worked very hard, fearing that his current happy life would disappear when he woke up.

In fact, most of the dozen or so workers in Xia Yingwei's class think so. Except for Ake, a local mixed-race worker with dark skin, most of them come from all over the country. They are either oppressed by foremen or landlords, and have never had a good day.

Xia Yingwei felt that since his fellow workers had worked so hard and he had been commended by his superiors, he should naturally treat everyone to a banquet as a reward.

"Look at the vendor selling bamboo baskets across the street. He looks like a Saka native, and he's also speaking Mandarin." A worker pulled Wu Shisan and pointed across the street.

Wu Shisan wiped his tears and took a look. "Really? You know what? Those two roars of his were 6 cents each, 10 cents for two, and they were quite authentic."

The boss who brought the hot water took the opportunity to interject, "This is also Marshal Zhang's rule. From now on, even if you want to set up a stall in the city, you must obtain a license. The prerequisite for obtaining a license is to pass the Mandarin C-level test."

"You guys..." the boss said with a condescending air, "If you want to get ahead, take the exam sooner rather than later. I guess if you want to live in the city, even if you're working as a porter, you'll need to pass the Mandarin exam."

When the workers heard this, they looked at each other in confusion.

In fact, everyone has undergone Mandarin training after joining Nanhua Construction Group. Even the youngest mixed-race worker, Ake, can speak a few words intermittently. Otherwise, they would not be able to cooperate with each other during construction.

Wu Shisan scratched his head in confusion.

What level is this Grade C exam?

The night school twice a week only teaches us to write our own names and numbers. I wonder if we can pass this level?