Ding Haoliang also received a notice from Zhang Baixi, the minister of official education, and came to the newly opened Capital University Hall on the east side of Jingshan in the afternoon.
Zhang Baixi was previously the Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, a department with absolute real power. The Qing government appointed him as the Minister of Management and Education, which is enough to show that it attaches great importance to the university.
Ding Haoliang is the chief teacher of Western Studies. When he arrived, the chief teacher of the middle school Wu Rulun, the deputy chief teacher Gu Hongming, as well as the general manager of the Institute of Translation Studies Yan Fu and the deputy general manager Lin Shu had already arrived.
Zhang Baixi sat at the top and first said: "Thanks to everyone's recent efforts, the preparations for the university hall have been completed. The recruitment work is imminent, and the new school must have a new atmosphere. I hope everyone will do their best to help the imperial court with the important task of selecting talents."
The current Capital University is indeed a "new atmosphere." Although the Capital University was established four years ago, in 1898, it soon came to a standstill due to the restoration of the old system by the Qing government after the 1898 Coup.
At that time, there were less than 100 students. The university hall was originally scheduled to offer 10 subjects. In fact, it only held four classes: poetry, calligraphy, Yi, Li, and two spring and autumn classes. Each class had only more than 10 students. The content studied was still Confucius and Mencius and Zhu Xi's Neo-Confucianism. The nature is still similar to that of an old-style academy.
Moreover, due to the restoration of the eight-legged essay system, college graduates could only enter official careers after passing the imperial examination. Therefore, when the imperial examination period came, students took leave one after another to take the examination, and the schools were in vain.
This time, Zhang Baixi absorbed the lessons from past failures and formulated the "Capital University Charter" in detail from the beginning, which clearly stipulated a series of systems from examinations, schooling, graduation assignments to punishment and discipline, learning content, etc.
Although judging from the current public opinion, the officials have not fully accepted the new thing of the university hall, it is still better than four years ago.
Wu Rulun said: "It is our duty to do our best for the university."
Gu Hongming and others also agreed.
Wu Rulun is the dean and lecturer of Lianchi Academy. Lianchi Academy, also known as "Zhili Academy", was built by Li Wei during the Yongzheng period and gradually developed into the highest academic institution in the entire north. Liu Chunlin, the last number one scholar in China, studied here for ten years and was also a disciple of Wu Rulun.
Zhang Baixi said: "I feel relieved that you are in charge of the work. Since it is a new school, the examination method should not be the same as the scientific examination. According to the previous recommendations, I think that questions should be jointly developed by multiple disciplines. , both middle school topics and Western studies topics should be examined, and only those who pass the exam can be admitted."
Zhang Baixi took out a handwritten manuscript and continued: "After combining the suggestions submitted by you these days, I have proposed that the exam topics are: One article on moral ethics, one article on education, twelve questions on Chinese and foreign history, Chinese and foreign places Twelve questions on Neo-Confucianism, six questions on arithmetic, proportions, square roots, algebra, six questions on physics and chemistry, one article in English or one article in Japanese literature. What do you think?"
For the first time in the history of the Capital University, the assessment content is very comprehensive. According to modern terms, it includes Chinese, education, history, geography, mathematics, physics, chemistry, and foreign languages.
Except for education, which is relatively new, the other subject settings are still very similar to those a hundred years later.
How about it? Do you feel very confident?
Ding Haoliang attended an American university and nodded: "Based on the university entrance exam, it's very reasonable."
Yan Fu also studied in the United Kingdom, and was a foreign language teacher at Fuzhou Shipbuilding School and Beiyang Naval School. He was very familiar with Chinese and Western education. He also agreed: "The subject setting is reasonable. In addition, I would like to ask, Mr. Management, what do we think? How to determine admission criteria?”
Zhang Baixi made up his mind and said: "Since the new atmosphere is of course based on the Western hundred-point system, the full score is a perfect score, and sixty points is a pass."
This is the beginning of China's higher education institutions calculating student test scores with a passing standard of 60 points!
Countless university students also started cheering for 60 points from this day.
Yan Fu was still uneasy: "Sir, there are not many people who are proficient in various subjects of Western learning, especially foreign languages. I am afraid that there are not many people who can write in English or Japanese."
"Yeah!" Zhang Baixi nodded, "I have already considered this. If you really don't understand foreign languages, you can choose not to do the foreign language questions, but you need to have higher scores in other subjects. And arithmetic, geography, physics, chemistry, etc. For subjects, you can also just answer a few words, draw inferences from one thing and learn from other things, and prepare for generalists. After all, this is the beginning of the school, and the admission conditions can be relaxed appropriately. "
However, even if the conditions were relaxed, there were not many people in the Qing Dynasty who had these knowledge.
Lin Shu continued to ask: "According to the scheduled plan, 200 people need to be admitted. What should we do if there are not enough applicants or not enough people with satisfactory grades?"
After hearing this, Gu Hongming, the vice president of the middle school, said: "Of course you can't enroll if you fail. If there are not enough people, there is nothing you can do. You can't recruit a bunch of mediocre people!"
Gu Hongming is still very determined on this point.
Zhang Baixi also agreed with his point of view: "Yes, the conditions can be relaxed, but not without conditions!"
Seeing their attitude, Ding Haoliang felt relieved, so he also asked: "Master Guan Xue, can we formulate the examination questions as soon as possible?"
"That's right." Zhang Baixi arranged, "Education and self-cultivation and righteousness will be taught by Wu Rulun, Chinese and foreign history will be taught by Gu Hongming, arithmetic and physical chemistry will be taught by Ding Ailiang, and geography and foreign languages will be taught by Yan Fu. .Do you have any objections?"
Everyone replied: "No objection."
Zhang Baixi said: "Very good. Everyone, please go back and formulate the topic as soon as possible and submit it to me in three days. The enrollment of the University Hall will officially start on September 13th!"
Now that the date has been finalized, all teachers immediately started to write questions in full swing.
The reason why the questions need to be set in three days is because Zhang Baixi, the Minister of Management and Academic Affairs, wants to shorten the time for setting the questions as much as possible to prevent leaks.
There are still many people who have this idea, even if it is a new school and a new exam.
Three days later, several teachers submitted their topics, and Zhang Baixi immediately approved them all after reading them.
Another Minister of Management and Education, Rongqing from the Zhenghuang Banner of Mongolia, naturally saw the problem, and many people came to ask for some information.
They knew that Zhang Baixi was in trouble, so they could only try to break through Rongqing, but they didn't expect that Rongqing would be extremely determined this time, tight-lipped, and even said that he would not entertain guests until the end of the exam!
Thanks to this concerted effort, the first enrollment in the history of the Capital University was conducted in a fair environment.
Although the learning conditions are uneven, being able to unify the admission conditions is the best that can be achieved now.
Since it was special care, Ding Haoliang had naturally already registered Li Yu's school status in advance, and he only needed to take the exam on time.
Li Yu is not worried at all, review? That is impossible!
He even wrote a scientific inspection report for Tang Wenzhi in the past few days.
On September 13, the twenty-eighth year of Guangxu, that is, October 14, 1902 in the Gregorian calendar, the examination was held as scheduled at the Capital University Hall!
Li Yu ate a fried dough stick and two eggs early in the morning. This was a tradition when he was young, and it meant he could score 100 points in the exam. Then he came to the examination room with the student status certificate and examination registration form given by Ding Haoliang.
After verifying his identity, Li Yu entered the examination room and followed the instructions of the examination room staff to his seat.
There are only fourteen people in each examination room, which are far apart, and there are three invigilators patrolling at all times.
This is the second "college entrance examination" in his life, and it seems to be no different from the last time.
Because he was not taking the civil service examination. If he were taking the civil service examination, he would have to spend three days and three nights in a small cubicle of only about one square meter for each subject.
When Li Yu once visited Nanjing, he visited Jiangnan Gongyuan, which is the Chinese Imperial Examination Museum. He also went into the small cubicle to experience the feeling. It was impossible for him to sit in such a small place for three days and three nights in such a cramped environment.
Moreover, according to the tradition at that time, you could not go out to defecate casually, because defecation was considered to be very unlucky...
If you think about it, you can't accept it. What kind of perseverance does it take for someone to persevere?
The first exam on the first day is the Twelve Questions on Chinese and Foreign History.
The invigilator first handed out answer sheets. The sheets were large because basically all candidates wrote with brushes.
Only Li Yu writes with pencil, and he feels that half a piece of paper is more than enough for him.
Although he is a man in science and engineering, he has also studied history! And no matter how poor his historical level is, he is still far superior to the students of 100 years ago, right?
Student, right?
Bar?
?
When the test papers were handed to his hands, Li Yu instantly felt his head buzzing!
this! This, this, this!
How many points does it take to pass?
Let me show you the original questions from that year’s exam. It’s not easy to see them.
Question: Western historians say that for a country to be able to create a civilizational pole, it must extend its sea lines and feed it with rivers. In ancient times, they conquered Greece and Rome, and in recent times, they have experienced England. However, the islands in Asia, Southeast Asia and the coastal countries of Korea are convenient for transportation, but they are not considered to be a superior country. Is it not a precedent, or is there another reason?
Question: Which one has greater merit, Peter the Great, Washington, or William the Great?
Question: There are three famous generals in Europe. One of them is Alexander, one is Hannibal, and one is Napoleon. The three generals have their own shortcomings and strengths due to their unique circumstances. Can you give a brief summary of each?
Question: Who are the three founding heroes of Italy? What are the similarities and differences between what they do?
Question: In ancient times, countries with cultural relics had to deal with long-term public security and were trapped in the wild and simple nations. This was not only true of Taidong, but also of Greece, Macedonia, Rome, Russia, and Germany. Since the introduction of firearms, this matter has ceased. Can you understand why?
Question: Where did Islam begin? Who did it start from? When in China, what is the most detailed history of its leader’s founding deeds in ancient Chinese books? Give it a try.
Question: Prussia was stronger than the enemy, and it first tried to use its troops against the two nearby countries. Can you give a brief summary of what happened?
Question: The internal corruption of Poland may not be greater than that of Turkey. However, if Poland is divided and Turkey remains, is there a reason?
Question: The outline of negotiations between Persia and Greece in ancient times.
Question: Where did the Great Qin State come from when it came to the history books? Where is Europe today?
Question: The Franco-Prussian War has a rough outline.
Q: The founding of the United States is a rough and tumble story.
Li Yu felt his eyes twitch when he looked at the questions. He really underestimated the difficulty of the exam. Fortunately, he was not blind. After calming down, he calculated and felt that he could at least pass the test.
But for him, a former exam bully, he never expected to hit a new low in his first exam when he came to Qing Dynasty.
Yes, it’s not the lowest!
