Arthur and Elder stand in Old Carmarthens Square, University of London, and look up to see the school's iconic building, the octagonal building, built by William Wilkins, the famous architect who designed the National Gallery of England.

Although it was still early in the morning, the statue of Athena in the square was already crowded with supporters of Bentham who were ready to listen to the speech.

In fact, it is not uncommon for the campus to be crowded with visitors, because no matter what the newspapers say about it, it does not change the fact that the University of London is currently the most open university in England, because even its campus is usually open.

The University of London admits students regardless of origin, race, creed, or political beliefs, and treats anyone who wants to be educated, as long as you can afford to pay a tuition fee of 23 pounds 6 shillings.

Although this may sound like a lot of money, it is a lot lower than the hundreds of pounds charged by Oxford, Cambridge and other law houses.

Just like the school motto that hangs on the red wall and is written in Latin - Cuncti adsint meritaeque expectent praemia palmae.

If translated literally, the meaning of this phrase is, let all those who deserve to be rewarded for their qualities run to us.

In elegant terms, it can also be translated as, to get the world's talents and educate them, or to let all efforts win the crown.

For the University of London, Arthur has mixed feelings.

On the one hand, he thinks that he has wasted four years here, after all, after finishing his studies, the school can't even issue a degree certificate, and he can't complain about Arthur's complaints.

But on the other hand, he is also grateful to his alma mater, because it does give him an equal opportunity to receive an education.

Through his four years here, he was able to survive the war of words with Oxford and Cambridge graduates, as well as the graduates of King's College, which was founded by conservatives as rivals of the University of London.

After all, it is not easy to receive higher education these days.

In general, Arthur's gratitude to his alma mater is better than complaining, because it taught him to see the world from an equal perspective, and it also gave him the knowledge and ability to see the world as an equal.

At this time, in addition to visitors, you can also see some students rushing to class, as well as some construction workers who are working on the campus.

The reason why we can see construction workers on campus is that although the University of London has been established for more than four years, it has been in a state of funding shortage for many years due to its unique openness and questionable educational concept.

While there are occasional donations from progressives, the University of London receives less than a fraction of the donations from Oxford and Cambridge each year.

Even King's College, which was founded later than the University of London, is far more well-funded than the University of London.

The reason is also very simple, as you can see from the name, the founder of King's College is the current King George IV, and there are a number of Tory bigwigs behind the school, of course, they are not short of money.

However, due to the shortage of funds at the University of London, the buildings on campus have been repaired and stopped, and it took more than four years to build the teaching area, and as for some decorative buildings or extracurricular activities such as galleries and libraries, they have to be built and expanded step by step.

And even at this point in the construction process, thanks to the fact that most of the designers who planned the campus were also progressives, they did not charge much for it, or even did it on a voluntary basis.

If they were to charge at market rates, the University of London would probably not have much to do.

Perhaps two hundred years from now, it's no coincidence that architecture is the number one in the world, because you don't think you'll find a school where students can get so close to a construction site.

Students can even sit directly in the construction site for classes if they wish.

Thanks to their alma mater, even students of history and classics, such as Arthur and Elder, know more about architecture than the average school architecture student.

Maybe that's an exaggeration, but even if they don't know as much about architecture as the architecture department, at least they know more about construction sites than the architecture department.

At this time, Arthur and Elder happened to pass by the classroom of the classics major.

Seeing this, Elder excitedly pulled Arthur to stop outside the classroom door and looked inside.

At this time, the professor in charge of teaching had just stood on the podium, and saw the old professor with pale hair first take out a handkerchief and wipe the rain on his face, and then threw the book weighing several pounds under his armpit onto the podium.

There was only a thud, and a cloud of dust from chalk ash rose from the podium.

At this time, the students who were originally sitting under the stage and dozing off were also instantly refreshed, and they straightened their backs to face the teacher.

The old professor raised his hand and fanned the dust mist, then his anger sank into the dantian, his face turned red, and he roared angrily with all his strength.

"What are the graduates of Oxford?"

The students excitedly slapped the table and yelled, "Bitch! ”

"What about Cambridge!"

"And so do they!"

When the old professor heard this, he nodded with satisfaction.

"Good! Also very energetic today! So, let's start the lessons. Today we will mainly talk about the humanist spirit in Shakespeare's tragedy, as well as the poetic and romantic aesthetics contained in it......"

When Arthur saw this, his eyelids couldn't help jumping.

And Elder, who was standing beside him, was almost moved to tears.

Elder took out a handkerchief and wiped the moist corners of his eyes: "Oh, I know that the education of the University of London is the whole of England, no, it is the whole of Great Britain, no, it is the best in the world!" ”

Arthur held back for a long time, and finally couldn't help asking, "Is your classical school engaged in this kind of hate education every day?" ”

"Hate education?"

Elder frowned and shook his finger at Arthur, "Arthur, this is not hate education. If we don't scold Oxford and Cambridge, they won't be against us? ”

Arthur shook his head and said, "Of course they will still oppose us, and the difference between us and them is completely different in educational philosophy, and it has nothing to do with scolding them or not." ”

"That's right!"

Elder smiled and poked Arthur in the chest with his elbow: "Since it's the same whether you scold or not, why not scold?" At least we're pretty happy after scolding, so why are we holding back? Our Department of Classics has never been used to those fools.

Have you forgotten? Our spiritual mentor at the University of London is Jeremy Bentham, egalitarian education, utilitarianism, and our Department of Classics has implemented both of these points quite well. ”

When Arthur heard this, he couldn't help but wipe the sweat from his forehead: "Eld, you're not utilitarian, you're snobbish." As far as I know, utilitarianism and snobbery are two different things, don't you scold Oxford and Cambridge if they don't get in our way? ”

"Of course not!"

Elder said: "If they don't stand in our way, it means that our school's education charter has been issued, and since we don't have anything to ask them for, then of course Lao Tzu will scold even more fiercely." ”

Arthur glanced at him, shrugged helplessly, and said, "In my opinion, you should have gone to Oxford in the first place." If you go to Oxford, you will bring them a lot more damage to their teaching reputation from within than if you went to London. ”

"Arthur, fuck you! Let me go to Oxford, and you might as well let me die. ”

"But after Oxford, won't you join the Royal Navy? Maybe you can get a councillor. ”

Elder foamed at the mouth of the flot, and he slapped the wall and said, "Arthur! Being a councillor is worse than going to the Royal Navy! ”

Just as he wanted to argue with Arthur again, he suddenly saw a few people behind Arthur.

Elder took a deep breath and hurriedly took off his hat in greeting, "Mr. Horner! ”

Horner?

Arthur remembered that it was the principal's last name, and he turned his head to see that the principal was walking towards the lecture hall with several college deans supporting a gray-haired old man with a cane.

Principal Horner heard someone greet him, and turned his head suddenly, and a helpless smile suddenly appeared on his face.

"Elder didn't you graduate? Do you want to come back for a PhD? ”

The old man beside him also glanced back at the long corridor in front of the classroom, his gaze swept over Elder and finally fell on Arthur.

The old man touched his forehead and thought about it, then suddenly pointed at Arthur and smiled: "Young man, I remember you." I didn't give you an answer to the question you asked me last time, and I came back to you when I thought it clearly, only to find out that you little thing had already graduated.

Look at your police uniform, it seems that I guessed well at all, the officer Arthur Hastings who appeared in the newspaper is really you! ”

When Arthur heard this, he also smiled, took off his hat and nodded, "It's a pleasure to meet you again, Mr. Benthham." ”