Star Calendar Year 128, March 1st.
Mars Junior Academy, Section Thirteen.
History Class.
The holographic projector clearly displayed several words:
"The Dawn of the Interstellar Age!"
"Do you see it? Do you all see it? The Dawn of the Interstellar Age. Are there people who don't recognize these words, or don't understand them? Didn't I explain this clearly at the start of the semester? I made it explicit.
And yet, some of you got it wrong on yesterday's exam.
For those who answered incorrectly, did you never listen in class? Or is there a problem with your logical thinking? What's wrong with your brains? Writing that the dawn was the M country's moon landing!
Can't you read the question properly?
It's asking about the dawn of the Interstellar Age.
Not who was the first to step into space."
"When asked about the dawn of the Global Age of Exploration, you all knew to write about Magellan's circumnavigation, right? Why didn't you write about the first person to build a ship, or the first person to row a boat? Oh, right, I forgot, you don't know who the first person to build a ship was?
But is there any difference between these two questions?
The M country's first moon landing was correct, but did it open the path for the Interstellar Age? If you transferred the moon landing effort to Earth, what's the difference compared to rowing from one continent to a known small island?
Can that be considered interstellar exploration?
You haven't even left the solar system and you call it interstellar exploration. Can't you think for yourselves?"
The teacher, He Dongyun, was almost roaring as he pointed at the few students who had answered incorrectly and bellowed. After a minute of silence, he calmed himself down.
"Come, Xie Kui, stand up and explain."
Xie Kui immediately stood up and replied,
"The dawn of the Interstellar Age was the landing on Mars by the Gali Aerospace and Aeronautics Company, and its subsequent terraforming."
"The reason is that the M country's moon landing was intermittent and unsustainable. For a long time afterward, they didn't make any major pioneering efforts.
But after the Gali Aerospace and Aeronautics Company landed on Mars.
In the following years, they successfully terraformed Mars, landed on gas giants like Jupiter, transformed Jupiter and other gas giants into energy supply bases, and flew out of the solar system, initiating a series of sustainable exploration paths.
At the same time, over the next fifty years, the Gali Aerospace and Aeronautics Company also successfully discovered three ecoplanets, 172 mineral planets, 96 energy planets, and terraformed 27 habitable planets."
"Taking the last Global Age of Exploration as an example, the mark of success was the discovery of more unknown lands and the creation of new sources of wealth.
The Gali Aerospace and Aeronautics Company achieved all of this.
Therefore, it is reasonable and fundamental knowledge to consider their company's landing on Mars as the dawn of the Interstellar Age."
"Exactly, student Xie Kui's explanation is very comprehensive.
When I taught this class, I repeatedly told you that this question would be on the exam, and was it difficult? Not at all.
If you answered it wrong, it's either deliberate mischief.
Or you simply never listened.
This time I'll let you off the hook. But if anyone makes the same mistake on this question next time, I won't spare you."
After praising them, He Dongyun issued a threat. He then casually swiped across the holographic screen and began the next question. After a few questions, he flipped to the one about who was the world's richest person from ancient times to the present and stopped, pointing at the question in disbelief.
"This class of yours has truly opened my eyes. For a question like this, a question that almost everyone in the world knows, there are still people who got it wrong. Who is this person named Huang Haiyu?
Stand up! You got a question like this wrong.
Why don't you just drop out of school!"
Immediately, there was whispering below, and a boy stood up without any signs of shame.
Clearly, he was Huang Haiyu.
"So, out of over ten thousand students in the school, you're the only one who got this question wrong. What do you mean by this? Do you genuinely not know, or are you deliberately trying to be difficult?
The world's richest person record, recognized as undisputed and unbroken to this day, is Shi Jiali. Is there anything difficult about this? Although Ms. Shi Jiali passed away nearly a century ago, are her stories not common knowledge?
Don't tell me you don't know!"
Unsurprisingly, He Dongyun's temper flared up again.
Huang Haiyu let out a nonchalant scoff.
"Heh, teacher, I wonder if you've heard the old saying that truth is only in the hands of the minority. Who says what's written in books is always correct?
Which historian today doesn't believe her status as the world's richest person is questionable? Who doesn't think there are problems with the process of her becoming the world's richest person, and that her will is also problematic?
Setting aside the issue of her donating all her assets to the state, just the sheer quantity of assets she possessed is absurd, it's simply impossible.
A daily chemical conglomerate worth over three trillion, a pharmaceutical company worth over ten trillion, an intelligent robot company worth over twenty trillion, an appliance company worth over seven trillion, an energy company worth over 107 trillion…
All these messy companies and conglomerates combined.
The total assets are nearly a quadrillion.
Is this possible? Doesn't this seem too outrageous?
Those ancient noble families that have been around for thousands of years haven't accumulated so many assets in a millennium.
And she, an ordinary woman with average grades,
created such a massive industry in just a few decades?
Not to mention the constant stream of new technologies from her companies, and the fact that most of her employees were transferred from state-owned enterprises.
And even if we set all this aside for now.
Can a mere ordinary businesswoman get involved in aerospace technology? Let alone occupying Mars, terraforming Mars, occupying other planets, and terraforming them. These are things even the world's top superpowers couldn't achieve, yet she did it?"
"So how can she be considered the world's richest person? She was merely a figurehead put forward by the Xia Kingdom. I don't know why the Xia Kingdom did this.
But to have a nation's power help one person in business and then claim that person is the world's richest, is that fair to others? I don't recognize the so-called Shi Jiali as the world's richest person, so what if I didn't write her name?
I will resolutely defend truth and facts!"
As soon as Huang Haiyu finished his righteous speech, He Dongyun immediately slammed the table in displeasure.
"I don't care what you think. As long as the textbook hasn't been changed, everything must adhere to the textbook.
Don't challenge authority with your assumptions.
Furthermore, when we study history, we respect facts, not for you to delve into and consider potential conspiracies behind those facts. The factual situation is that before Ms. Shi Jiali passed away, the assets and planets you just mentioned truly belonged to her. They belonged to her, so what's the problem with calling her the richest person?"
"Ms. Shi Jiali had no descendants, and her relationship with her brother was not good, so donating her wealth to the state is also reasonable. These are all supported by facts. On what basis do you, with no evidence, rely on your own conjectures and attempt to change the content in the textbook!"
"To put it bluntly, even if there is now evidence to overturn a certain piece of content in the book, if the textbook hasn't been changed, then no matter how correct you write, it's useless.
For those who have deeply researched biology and physics, don't they find biology and physics textbooks ridiculous? Don't they find many errors and inaccuracies within them?
Information is changing rapidly. Biology and physics technology advance yearly, even monthly.
It's possible that previous theories have been overturned.
If the textbooks were to change and be revised accordingly with every advance, what would you be learning, and how would you be tested? A new theory emerges before an exam, would you be able to accept it?"
"Forget it, I'm not going to waste my breath on you. Answer however you want.
Your grade isn't my responsibility anyway.
Now, let's move on to the next question!"
...