Chapter 203: Triumph??

“This, we really couldn’t do anything about her. That female ’s ability to escape was just too powerful.” Green Beren said with a bitter smile, his face marked with mud, leaves hidden in his hair, and not a single clean spot on his body.

Originally, he seemed to want to scratch his face in embarrassment, but halfway through raising his hand, he noticed there was still wet mud on it. So, he could only put his hand down with an awkward and sheepish look.

“Even with the two of you together, you couldn’t keep her there?” Stone Marx, whose left arm was hanging in a bandage across his chest, quickly got up from the ground and asked with a look of surprise.

Although Fral Ursin did not look as miserable as Green Beren, he was still in a sorry state: “That one’s skills were truly, how should I put it, quite bizarre!”

“She was indeed a very rare Shadow Dancer! With a guy like that, if she is determined to flee, it is not so easy to intercept her.” George, the employer who had nearly lost his life because of the escapee just moments ago, was not as angry as some might have imagined. Instead, he showed considerable tolerance and understanding. Because he knew that some things could not be forced.

It was not just a matter of strength being inferior. Even if their overall strength far exceeded the opponent’s, beating the enemy was one level of difficulty, killing the enemy was another, and finally, capturing the enemy alive while they were fleeing was yet another level of difficulty.

“Originally, if it were just me and Ursin dealing with her, it wouldn’t have been a big problem. Although she belongs to the Black Lead Rank, which would suppress us to some extent in terms of class, I, strengthened by the Vow of Poverty, could actually suppress her in a head-on confrontation. At the same time, Ursin could handle her Stealth and Shadow Jump abilities quite well. As a Trickster, he is very knowledgeable about shadow and illusion abilities. He also has some experience in dealing with mental spells.” Green Beren didn’t even bother to wipe the dirt off his face and immediately started to defend himself. He seemed to think that George was looking down on his and Fral Ursin’s abilities.

Although they were an adventuring group with their own ideals and beliefs, and many of them were actually well-off and didn’t rely on this for a living, the employer’s evaluation and payment were still very important to them.

The former represented reputation, which was not just a matter of vanity. It could also bring tangible benefits. After becoming famous, the squad was more likely to accept commissions. Whether it was promoting ideas or fighting Evil, opportunities were needed. Without relevant commissions, just running around like headless flies, the chances of encountering anything were really too slim.

This was just like in the world George lived in before he crossed over; no matter the profession, once someone became famous, they would have opportunities to make extra money. Whether it was actors, doctors, or lawyers. To put it bluntly, only by becoming famous could one often get more and better job opportunities.

As for money, at least during this period of contact, it was discovered that Green Beren still maintained a strong interest in this kind of thing. Don’t look at the Vow of Poverty as a special agreement with an Upper Plane where the user gives up money and enjoyment in exchange for power through asceticism.

But that didn’t mean he couldn’t receive payment during the adventure. It was just that these payments were donated directly or indirectly to people in need. For example, the monastery Green Beren belonged to before had a significant portion of its daily operating expenses donated by disciples like him who traveled outside. Of course, he also viewed this behavior as one of his responsibilities.

That was why he reacted so intensely when George’s words showed a trend that might affect their evaluation.

However, George was already quite skilled in dealing with such situations. He turned his gaze to Priest Mario.

Mario, who had finished treating the wounded, saw this and had to stand up and ask: “Ursin, tell us exactly what happened. It seems Beren is too excited to speak clearly.”

The hidden meaning in his words was very obvious. If there was a reason for this failure, say it quickly. As for Green Beren’s behavior of unilaterally emphasizing his own strength just now, it felt like he was acting a bit crazy.

The people in this world were quite different from those bureaucrats in Tianchao before the crossing. Those guys with pigswill in their heads would only say to their employees: “Don’t give me objective reasons; you must show your subjective initiative.”

Although in some cases, subjective initiative could influence the outcome of events to a certain extent, it absolutely could not contend with objective laws.

Like the earlier “Great Leap Forward” where one radish weighed a thousand catties and two donkeys couldn’t pull it, and the “buzzing” Red Guards running all over the street, they were all too far from Li Desheng before the crossing. But just two years before the crossing, there was another concentrated outbreak of contradictions caused by this problem.

Reports such as “Only 40% of scientific research funds used for projects, wanton squandering becomes an unspoken rule,” “13 universities, 940 million in research funds, unclear where it went,” and “Ministry of Transport misappropriated 180 million in research funds to pay wages” frequently appeared in newspapers and major media.

At a press conference of the Information Office, Minister of Science and Technology Wan XX said “angry” twice in a row about the “malignant problems” of research funds, and expressed “heartache” and “shock.” It seemed like these were battle reports of Tianchao’s vigorous crackdown on corruption, but as a certain commentator’s article put it well, “Don’t force scientists to become thieves.”

Because according to current regulations, for research funds allocated by the state, apart from a monthly labor fee of 800 yuan for graduate students, no wages, bonuses, or overtime pay could be listed. However, a commission of 10%-15% was allowed. Not to mention this was far lower than the personnel cost standard of at least 40% in developed countries, researchers were actually forced to become thieves, having to use various receipts to settle accounts to obtain legitimate income. To outsiders, this was shocking corruption, but to insiders, it was a huge black absurdity.

Therefore, the main source of income for scientific researchers was the work income from undertaking scientific research projects. This kind of research commission, generally speaking, “vertical projects” with funds allocated by the state could commission 10%-15%; “horizontal projects” with funds provided by enterprise cooperation units could commission 20%-40%. This was allowed by regulations over the years, and it was roughly the same from the central to local levels, from universities to research institutes.

But strangely, this was illegal! According to current regulations, personnel remuneration could not be listed for vertical research project funds. No labor costs for project team researchers, and no wages, bonuses, or overtime pay other than the monthly 800 yuan labor fee for graduate students.

However, didn’t various regulations already admit that researchers could withdraw research commissions as work income for undertaking research projects? Then how should this 10%-15% commission ratio be listed in the accounts? Very simple, the higher-ups approved you to be a thief! Allowed you to create various expenditures, find various ways to reimburse, and steal your own wages and bonuses yourself!

Since the higher-ups (including universities, the Academy of Sciences, and the Ministry of Science and Technology) approved scientists to be thieves, naturally they could only turn a blind eye to their behavior of using various receipts and invoices to cash out. As long as the proportion “stolen” by these cashing-out behaviors was indeed within the prescribed commission ratio, then this illegal but not disciplinary behavior got a green light all the way.

To outsiders, “can reimburse anything, dare to reimburse anything” was completely shocking corruption. But to insiders, it was a huge black absurdity. And this could definitely not be solved simply by blocking.

So those so-called scientific research black holes in the newspapers were mostly confusing the public. But now in some people’s eyes, building laboratory buildings and buying instruments to fill the laboratories, that was the only legitimate use of research funds. Scientists had better sit in the laboratory every day, and that should solve all research problems.

And the labor of researchers, the wear and tear of parts and consumption of consumables for instruments, domestic and foreign academic activities and exchanges, going to the site for field trips and experimental calibration, etc., were all unnecessary and could not be counted as part of “used for scientific research.” Thus, the shocking statement that “only 40% of scientific research funds are used for scientific research itself, 60% of funds are lost” could be calculated.

If managed strictly according to regulations, researchers would all starve to death. First, research funds could not be used to distribute welfare to individuals, so researchers could only get the fiscal funds allocated per capita, the so-called basic wage, about 1000 yuan. Just like in universities, if those professors and academicians only took the basic wage, let’s see how many people would still do research. If it was a self-financed unit, they would just have to die. The court didn’t try to improve the basic treatment of researchers but came to accuse them like this; X Gang probably had enough wages for himself.

Moreover, even after calculating a series of extra expenses like employee benefits and project losses, there was still a lot of water to squeeze out of that shocking statement “only 40% of scientific research funds are used for scientific research itself, 60% of funds are lost.”

At least in the impression of someone who was still called Li Desheng at that time, for biomedical projects, material costs alone accounted for more than 40%. The 5-10% personnel fee wasn’t even enough to pay student allowances.

And let alone local projects, for national projects like 973, what could be “squandered” was probably “conference fees” for an occasional meal, travel expenses for an occasional transportation reimbursement, and international inspection exchange fees for going abroad for a meeting. Added together it was less than 10%, and most of it was necessary for the project.

Scientific research wasn’t engineering; many things couldn’t be planned at all. Those auditors didn’t understand anything and only knew how to arbitrarily cut funds.

Speaking of which, what made someone even more angry was. Doing biology, the budget required in the proposal, calculated by experiments, material costs could account for 60%+ of the total cost. This was just material costs, not even instrument costs! When it came to actual operation, when some steps required a large number of samples for comparison, how could the consumption of reagents and consumables be budgeted casually?

Then there was instrument wear and tear. Under high-load operation, not many domestic instruments could last a year or two. Imported ones? One instrument cost almost as much as the project, how to buy it?

And 40% used for the project, has the person who wrote this ever been to a place where real experiments are done? Pure congenital brainless idiots. The wages of associate senior and senior titles were two or three times lower than in companies, and that tiny labor fee wasn’t even enough for students, let alone mentioned. Then the budget worked out with such hardship was cut by 30% by auditors for no reason, which happened often. Squandering, squandering my ass. The one who wrote this is truly a prostitute.

A biology lab with a year-end bonus of 1500 yuan for masters, 2500 for PhDs, and 200 for undergrads. That could be considered doing well among peers! Of course, this was mainly in agriculture.

Even taking ordinary 211 or 985 universities as an example, a university lecturer’s monthly income was only 3000 yuan, and an associate professor less than 4000. And this 4000 salary already included position allowances, which also came from outside the headcount fees. If strictly according to national standards, the so-called basic wage, an associate professor only got 2000 yuan.

Now if a young teacher was a PhD staying at the university, and hadn’t independently undertaken a project yet, the subsidized basic wage would be around 2000. Counting position allowances, substitute teaching fees, some subsidy released by the school this year, plus money and bonuses for doing odd jobs in other projects, adding up all the chicken feathers and garlic skins, the average monthly would be about 5000. The salary of a research institute, deducting performance pay from research funds and adding various subsidies, the take-home was also around four thousand. And the workload was much heavier.

And Fang Xin, Deputy Secretary of the Party Group of the Tianchao Academy of Sciences, publicly stated in an interview that current funds could be used to buy research equipment and do things, but not for people. This problem was never solved before a certain unlucky guy crossed over.

So the standard set by the state for researchers was ridiculously low. Masters graduates 2000, PhD graduates 4000. If research units used this standard, they wouldn’t recruit a single feather.

Business trip subsidy was only 20 yuan a day according to regulations, what could that do? Just a few roaming calls on a mobile phone would use it up? Going on a business trip, one had to pay out of their own pocket. Finished a PhD almost at age 30, just for this monthly wage of 4000?

In the past two years, Huawei offered around 200,000 a year for PhDs in relevant majors from 985 universities, while research institutes basically offered 100,000 to 150,000, and the work intensity was about the same.

Even as a traditional military-related major, some students would rather earn a bit less and go to a more stable research institute to show their ambition. But if the institute really paid only 4000 a month, only a ghost would go.

Having said so much, some might think this was a generalization and couldn’t be taken as true. The fact that researchers’ wages were on the low side was indisputable. A certain female PhD went to a research institute and got 1800 a month when she started! This number was something her juniors didn’t dare to believe; one should know that PhDs in this major going to enterprises got 10,000. If she hadn’t immediately applied for two provincial-level projects and paid herself a labor fee of 1000 a month, she wouldn’t have been able to survive.

Also, in 20X7, a master from the Academy of Sciences who stayed at the institute got only 3400 (including basic + performance), plus subsidies it was 4000. What was frustrating was that renting a house in the Magic City cost 1800+, and buying some things, it was purely living paycheck to paycheck. Without the few hundred deducted from project funds every month, how could university labs recruit people! The salary given by the college wasn’t enough for food and housing! If a certain buddy and his wife’s family weren’t doing okay, he wouldn’t even be able to support a family.

Later, he had no choice but to apply to go abroad. PhD subsidy was about 1000 Euros a month, about 9000 RMB (exchange rate at the time), and the cost of living was lower than in Shanghai. Now looking for a postdoc, the best in the country was only about 150,000 RMB a year, while in Germany it was about 45,000 Euros, roughly 350,000 RMB. Even if he wanted to come back, he had to consider it. He was over 30, his child was going to school, how could he work in Shanghai?

Another highly talented person went to a research institute in Shanghai for half a year, published three SCI papers with the industry average impact factor, applied for a million in funds, and often received calls headhunting him—yet his monthly actual income was 3800. This was forcing people to leave, so half a year later he went to America for a postdoc. Life was really impossible; he was over thirty when he graduated, and his wife was pregnant.

As for those unlucky ones who, due to industry sensitivity, couldn’t easily get out once they were in. The 12th Institute of China Electronics, located in the Imperial Capital, after paying insurance and such, the take-home was 3000. When units from the Imperial Capital came to their school to recruit, if it was less than 150,000 a year, let alone dropping off resumes, no one even went to listen to the recruitment talk, and they had to drag people to fill the audience. Such a gap was really too big!

However, that guy was timid. According to him, once the lab wanted to buy a device. He was responsible for the research. The agent hinted that he could quote a higher price, and then the two of them could split the difference. The device cost about 40,000, and the agent said some units used to quote 100,000 directly. Only then did he realize that he would hesitate and be tempted even when encountering such a thing; it turned out he wasn’t as noble as he thought. In the end, he still felt it was better not to touch such things. 40,000 it was.

But later, because that company was in Changping, it took 6 hours round trip by bus to see the device sample. That buddy got motion sickness, and the bus and subway fares were paid with his own card, without any extra subsidy. In his own words, “It’s not even worth his honesty.”

Also, things were often better in universities. There was a cooperative project with a research institute. An assistant researcher there, funds he applied for himself, he couldn’t even control! Asked why, because the unit’s administrative leaders’ meal expenses were too high! The leader’s own reception expenses couldn’t be fully reimbursed, so in the end, they froze the subordinate’s research funds, and then at the end of the year, they used the subordinate’s research funds to reimburse their food and drink expenses!!

Ridiculous or not? The National Youth Fund, in the end, had a countermeasure from below; without the leader’s signature, nothing could be reimbursed.

In countries around the world, part of scientific research funds served to pay wages to researchers; otherwise, where did the treatment given by various units come from? Of course, it didn’t deny that there was inappropriate corruption, but every time it was brought up, it was “low research output ratio.” Shouldn’t research expenditure pay researchers for their labor? Are researchers all gods? Don’t need to eat or drink, don’t need wages? Can shrink distance and fly around?

Refusing to recognize the right of research workers to receive reasonable remuneration for their labor, “wanting the horse to run but not wanting the horse to eat grass,” this was the most backward and rigid aspect of the planned economy era. Only when material needs were at least sufficient could spiritual incentives be considered! Otherwise, if shouting slogans every day was useful, North Korea would have been number one in the world long ago.

More than thirty years after the Reform and Opening Up, it was still a stubborn resistance to Tianchao’s scientific progress, which was already a great tragedy. But please think about it, no business trips, no meetings, no going to the site, what kind of research can be done? Sitting in the lab every day, can one write out scientific research results?

Detached from reality, what was this research preparing to study? Never heard of a scientific research project that could be solved just by working behind closed doors. This understanding was clearly encouraging, or even forcing, scientists to close their doors and fabricate fake data and mass-produce fake papers. This was a man-made disaster facing Tianchao’s scientific research!

On one hand, clamoring about the lack of high-end talent every day, on the other hand, policies only stipulated extremely low treatment. Various units could only pay everyone through crooked ways. Although Li Desheng didn’t like being a system party, or even a fifty-center, on this issue, he really wanted to say, this TM was a system problem.

At the same time, he was also sighing about his own mediocrity! It was precisely because of his mediocrity that he couldn’t be like those scholar senior brothers and sisters, constantly obtaining high degrees and then holding wages that were not even as good as his current one. As for what would happen in the future, he was still unclear even after changing from Li Desheng to George.

So for the pragmatic rather than impractical atmosphere of this world, George appreciated it quite a bit. Of course, habits from his previous life would still constantly influence him, but he was always warning himself not to make similar mistakes again.

Fral Ursin answered without even thinking, with a rather helpless expression: “Originally, we were suppressing her all along, but we didn’t expect that besides Shadow Jump, she also prepared a Dimension Door scroll and a Directed Teleport scroll. She used her summoned Shadow to entangle us. Then she used Dimension Door to open up the distance, and then used the Directed Teleport scroll to escape! Without abilities like Dimensional Anchor, we really didn’t have a good solution for this kind of tactic! However, the Shadow she summoned was completely destroyed by us, so we made her pay a little price.”

Hearing this, George could understand the frustration of the two in front of him: ‘It seems that guy’s status among these people was not low! Speaking of which, that tactic of burning scrolls wasn’t just used by us! But it really was a big investment! One 4th Level and one 6th Level spell, together at least a thousand Gold Coins just flew away like that. You could say she crushed us with money!’

Facing such a result and the glances stolen by the other adventurers waiting for the outcome, what could George say! Nitpicking on such matters wasn’t his style!

In this world with Magic, sometimes things would become different because of one or two spells. Although not carrying Magic Items or scrolls that could use Dimensional Anchor seemed like a not small mistake.

But truly perfect preparation only existed in ideals and novels. Hindered by various objective material limitations, it was always difficult to be perfect. One couldn’t be too demanding in this aspect.

“Although we let a big fish get away, we still gained something. Among the remaining survivors, we should be able to get some useful information!” George’s words seemed to be comforting the colleagues in front of him.

“I say George, how should we proceed next?” Hiren, who had finally cleaned himself up, came to ask about the next move. However, in this environment where water was not very sufficient, those bloodstains couldn’t be cleaned very well. It looked a bit incongruous.

“Of course we go back to the Territory! In our current state, and with these captives, are we going to a blind date? Besides, such a big incident happened, in a few days, the whole Duchy will definitely know about it. I think if we send someone to explain later, Baron Cranston will be able to understand our difficulties in postponing. Furthermore, the bodies of the two deceased should be buried as soon as possible. This is the last thing we can do for them.” George immediately showed his presence as the Acting Lord and made a decision in front of everyone.

After cleaning up the remains on the scene and the Loot, George’s group left behind a messy ground and many broken poplar trees on both sides. Even the trees that were still standing had wounds of varying depths on their trunks. They were also telling people how tragic it had just been here.

Because he always had a bad premonition in his heart, George did not send someone to rush back to the Territory to deliver the message as usual. Instead, he arranged for everyone to travel together to prevent accidents.

Compared to when they came, this team looked slightly bloated, and the feeling it gave people became a bit depressing and heavy.