Chapter 286: The Eve (1)
A naless alliance, casually called the Continental Covenant.
Its influence, connected by a dense trade network, stretched widely from Florida in the south to the Arctic Circle far north. That vast domain acknowledged Nemo’s supremacy.
Even counting just the various countries that had formally joined the “Covenant,” its sphere of influence was already larger than England and France combined.
A newly established country, rapid expansion, a war just recently, and sudden encounters with foreign peoples…
Despite all these factors…
‘Hmm… a university. If I establish an agricultural university, would I be the first? What next?’
Things had decreased to the point where Kin Issei could have such idle thoughts.
To be precise, there was less for Kin Issei to be involved in.
Particularly beneficial was the Virginia community’s recent steady economic expansion.
There was the effect of improving the trade balance with Europe as various consur goods beca self-sufficient.
On the other hand, the Virginia community’s dependence on Kin Issei also greatly diminished.
For example, with the spread of reverberatory furnace and crucible thods in iron and steel production, there was no longer any reason to transport iron materials from Kin Issei’s farm every day.
With the exception of various regular dications and dical supplies, Lexan sheets, and aluminum, there were virtually no essential resources among those Kin Issei provided to the community.
Even dical supplies like alcohol and purified water were already being manufactured at dical centers everywhere, and aluminum was mainly used as a luxury item for trade, so it didn’t have a major impact on community operations.
On the military front too, research continued to find flint mines to replace Kin Issei’s lighter components used in flintlock muskets, and to consider various materials to substitute for Lexan sheets.
Of course, the community still needed Kin Issei.
As the spiritual pillar and political focal point of the community, and as a catalyst for the religious fervor leading the community to prosperity.
But the community no longer depended on Kin Issei.
Kin Issei took this as a positive sign. After all, it ant the community was becoming healthier.
‘…Now I can use these surplus resources here?’
Instead, Kin Issei began to think of other things.
Resources that had to be distributed in all directions were gathered in one place again.
So now, it might be good to embark on more ambitious endeavors.
==
I thought extensive civil engineering would be needed on Croatoan Island after a long ti, but surprisingly, there was no need to build a magnificent building.
There was already space for storing seeds and experinting with various varieties.
There was also a lounge where vineyard keepers stayed while working.
And spaces for vineyard keepers from various regions to gather and hold etings had been prepared for a long ti.
All I had to do was rena these spaces as “laboratory,” “dormitory,” and “lecture hall.”
Of course, we did start building campus buildings. A Renaissance-style university building finished with red bricks, giving a solemn impression, was in the design stage.
But what’s important is that even without building structures, we could break ground on the work.
It ant the frawork of the knowledge community was already established.
The vineyard keepers were already sharing knowledge among themselves and delving deeper into more profound knowledge through each other’s research results.
So what I needed to do was just to provide direction so they could teach future generations.
“First… our university will also teach so Latin, mathematics, and classics.”
Grammar, logic, rhetoric, arithtic, geotry, astronomy, music… the seven liberal arts of the dieval period.
It’s a collection of seven disciplines that could be considered education for free people. So of these are still useful and necessary even today.
First, grammar… that is, Latin, which still exerts influence as an international academic language, must naturally be known to interact with European scholars.
For the sa reason, classical textbooks used as logic and rhetoric materials also needed to be taught.
As for mathematics, represented by arithtic and geotry, its importance goes without saying.
In the end, only astronomy and music were excluded.
Even if not music, astronomy of this era is intertwined with astrology, so there’s no particular need to teach it.
Since there’s no middle or high school in this era, this level of basic academics had to be taught here.
Thus… with “essential liberal arts” established, it was ti to move on to the next step.
Living in Croatoan and taking on a role was considered highly honorable by the people of this community. As such, nurous applicants flocked to the news of building a new “agricultural university.” And this was even before recruitnt started.
Everyone was puzzled that a university would cultivate “agricultural scholars” rather than doctors or theologians.
Of course, that wasn’t the only difference from existing universities.
“…You’re granting doctoral degrees?”
“That’s right. After earning a master’s degree first.”
From now on, master’s and doctoral degrees are not separate, distinct concepts.
It still ans the sa that a master’s degree is for those who et the minimum conditions to work as faculty.
But now, even masters will have a major in “agricultural science.”
And if soone who beca a master proves that they can now create knowledge independently as a researcher, they could beco a doctor.
It was exactly like the academic system of the 21st century that I knew.
The reason for this change was that I had changed the purpose of the university itself.
Now, a university is not an institution for cultivating aristocratic cultured individuals.
It will nurture specialists who can create knowledge through their own research, and enable them to teach others knowledge so they can create specialists like themselves.
That was the essence of the university I would create.
“College of Engineering… do you an you’ll nurture chanics? At a university?”
“That’s correct. At the university.”
And in creating such a university, I wasn’t satisfied with just one agricultural college.
The Knight School and chanic School were rely institutions for educating practitioners. The quantity and depth of knowledge they taught were far from enough to build a proper think tank.
Hence, an engineering college was needed.
Combining the knowledge of an average Japanese who had completed high school education with the knowledge of knights and chanics working in the field, we could sohow complete sothing resembling a curriculum.
Adding to that philosophy, linguistics, natural sciences, and theology colleges with the help of exiles from England, we could finally establish a university that would seem sufficiently cultured even to people of this era.
The most important thing was to establish the structure.
The path for students to learn specialized knowledge, acquire the capacity to beco educators, and finally accumulate enough learning to beco researchers.
Paving such a path was my goal.
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