African Entrepreneurship Record

August 12, 1916, Bangkok.

Bangkok is the capital of the Kingdom of Siam, the largest city in the country, and one of the most prosperous cities in Southeast Asia.

Since the 19th century, in the face of Western aggression and expansion, Siam, the most typical ancient country in Southeast Asia, has also initiated a series of changes, including the end of the "isolated" policy.

Yes, Siam also implemented a policy of seclusion. After all, most backward countries facing threats from Western forces, in order to ensure the stability of their rule and maintain their traditional markets, seclusion is the most effective in a short period of time.

However, seclusion is obviously not a long-term solution, especially for a backward country like Siam. After all, the West's powerful ships and guns are no joke.

Therefore, after the 19th century, Siam could not withstand the pressure after all, and carried out a series of measures to keep pace with the times, among which opening up was an important one.

As the royal capital, Bangkok also ushered in great development in the mid-to-late 19th century. The introduction of steam engines, factories, modern roads, etc. gave Bangkok unprecedented prosperity.

On a street in the southeast of Bangkok, it was particularly lively today.

This is a Chinatown in Bangkok. The whole street can be seen with a strong cultural flavor of the Far Eastern Empire.

"Crackling..." With the sound of firecrackers, Lin Jiawen lifted the red curtain on the sign hanging on the roof of the house.

I saw six big characters "Jiawen Chinese School" written in silver with a stylus on the sign.

He walked up to the people who came to join in the fun and said: "Welcome to come and support me. I, Lin Jiawen, am a Chinese lover who is committed to promoting the culture of the Far Eastern Empire to the world. To this end, he founded a Chinese school in Guibao, so I hope Neighbors, friends, and anyone in your family who loves Chinese can come and learn.”

For the Chinese in Nanyang, education is an extremely important matter, so there are many Chinese schools in Nanyang.

Of course, Bangkok's Chinatown is also a gathering place for Chinese people, but the people on the street are obviously not very enthusiastic about what Lin Jiawen is doing.

An old man stepped forward and said: "Young man, what you are pursuing is naturally a good thing, but how dare you make such a big show of blatantly opening a Chinese school in a prosperous place like Bangkok? Now the government is strictly investigating, even if you want to establish such a 'Illegal schools' are also mostly conducted in private."

Lin Jiawen politely said to the old man: "Old man, this is wrong. I opened the school for education. What does this have to do with the Siamese government?"

The old man said: "Young man, from the tone of your voice, which is mainly spoken in the northern vernacular of the Far Eastern Empire, I guess this is your first time in Siam, right?"

Lin Jiawen did not admit or deny, but asked: "Oh, what's the significance of this?"

The old man said: "Well, most of the Chinese in the Kingdom of Siam are from the south, especially from Guangdong and Guangxi. For example, I am already the third generation in the local area. It is rare to see immigrants from the north of the Far East Empire in Siam."

"In addition, you are now opening a Chinese school, so I infer that you have just arrived in Siam not long ago. You are not familiar with local policies and have few connections. Otherwise, you would not be able to do such illegal things in Bangkok."

"Right now, it is not allowed by the authorities to open Chinese schools or spread the Chinese language in Siam. Even if it is done, it is done secretly. Your blatant approach obviously does not work."

"Take our street as an example. You should have seen it. It can be said that most of the people here are originally from the Far East Empire. But have you seen any Chinese advertisements on the street?"

Lin Jiawen shook his head and said, "No."

The old man said: "That's right. The King of Siam who is currently on the throne is quite disgusted with the culture of the Far Eastern Empire, so he issued a decree not to allow the spread of culture related to the Far Eastern Empire, such as languages, calligraphy and other traditions. Neither culture nor culture.”

"Under such circumstances, if you openly open a Chinese school in a busy city, it won't be long before the authorities come to your door. By then, let alone teaching, the school will be closed down for you." Lin Jiawen said to this kind old man: " Thank you for your warning, but I am determined to spread the culture of the Far Eastern Empire, how can I give up halfway because of such a trivial matter. "

The old man hated the iron and said: "This is someone else's territory. Do you still want to twist your arm over your thigh? Let alone your arm, you are not even as good as a hair on someone else's body, so you better stop!"

"I think your school is quite big. Wouldn't it be good to use it for some business? If you have to quarrel with the Siamese government."

Lin Jiawen said to him: "I appreciate the kindness of the old gentleman, but I am a stubborn person. Is it possible that the Siamese government really wants to cause trouble for me for a school?"

"Even if they really cause trouble for me, I'm not afraid. After all, this is my ideal..."

Seeing how stubborn this young man was, the old man had no choice but to say: "Forget it, just take care of yourself!"

The passers-by who were watching also said to Lin Jiawen: "You really don't understand good people's hearts. As the saying goes, the people do not fight with the officials, let alone the officials of Siam. You cannot open this designated school."

Someone else said: "Anyway, I will not let my children attend this school. The limelight is so tense now, so I can't joke with my future and life..."

What's more, some people have begun to sneak away from the streets quietly, preparing to expose Lin Jiawen and obtain rewards from the Siamese government.

Lin Jiawen didn't care. He continued to do his own enrollment work. He said to everyone: "Jiawen Chinese School has more than 20 teachers and staff. It offers courses such as calligraphy, Chinese, Far Eastern Empire and world history, world geography, etc...."

This school sounds quite formal, but there are few responses.

This is certainly not because the Chinese in Siam do not attach importance to Chinese education, but under the current situation, no one is willing to accompany Lin Jiawen to take risks.

There are naturally many Chinese schools in Siam, but they are all enrolling students and conducting teaching work in secret. There is no open school like Lin Jiawen.

And Lin Jiawen's school obviously has not been registered with the Siamese government, so any normal person would not choose to study in this school.

When Lin Jiawen opened his school in Chinatown with a large-scale public enrollment, the Bangkok Municipal Police Department also received the news.

Director Naisala said to a whistleblower: "Is your information reliable? Someone really dares to openly run an illegal school in my jurisdiction, and it is a Chinese school."

"Officer, the information is absolutely reliable. That person is still recruiting students on the street! His school is at No. 231, Kunbu Street. It is quite large, and the signs are all Chinese signs written in Chinese characters."

Director Naisala said: "Very good, if it is confirmed, you will definitely benefit."

The man asked: "Officer, let's go and seal this school now. Do you want me to lead the way?"

Naisala waved his hand and said: "No, we can't alert the enemy now. Wait until this Jiawen Chinese School starts teaching activities, and then we will catch the person and the evidence. It will be a great achievement at that time. After all, we haven't encountered such a thorn in the side for a long time."

In Siam, it is expressly forbidden to spread the culture of the Far East Empire, and the Siamese government has cracked down on it many times across the country. At present, there is no Chinese school in Siam.

The emergence of Jiawen Chinese School made Director Naisala very interested, especially after learning that the school was not small in scale. After all, it must have made a lot of money to buy such a large piece of land in the downtown area of ​​Bangkok and employ more than 20 people.

If this case can be confirmed, Naisala believes that he can definitely make a lot of money, so he plans to stay put for now. If the news leaks out, the principal will not be able to stop running the school. What Naisala wants to do is to catch the person red-handed.