The right of way was recovered, but the project was too big and the procedures were cumbersome, so Zheng Guanying was appointed as the head of the specialized Guangdong-Hankow Railway land purchase company.
Zheng Guanying was one of the four major compradors in the late Qing Dynasty and served as the general office of the Steamship Merchants Bureau. But he was full of ups and downs, coupled with the two major defeats of Sino-Japanese War and Gengzi, which made him physically and mentally exhausted. In his later years, he finally understood the corruption of the Qing court and began to pay attention to education.
Lin Zexu is known as
"Open your eyes and see the first person in the world", so late Qing Dynasty
"The first person in the world to see everything comprehensively" is Zheng Guanying. His most famous work is "Warnings in a Prosperous Age". This book had a great influence on modern Chinese history. The reformers, Zhang Zhidong, Cai Yuanpei, and the early leaders of our party were all influenced by this book.
Especially since this book was published in 1894, just before the Sino-Japanese War of Sino-Japanese War. What followed were two defeats that could be called a national disaster, which made everyone know that what Zheng Guanying said was
"Scare", but not
"sensational". front
The word "prosperous age" is also very ironic. Zhang Zhidong spoke very highly of this book.
"If you use it to help the world, it can be a good medicine; if you use it to store talents, it can be like a golden needle." It is said that Emperor Guangxu once ordered two thousand volumes to be printed and sent to his ministers for reading.
It is a pity that after the Reform and Reform, although Zhang Zhidong still strongly recommended this book to the Qing court, the Qing court was unable to adopt it.
After all, the Aixinjueluos at this time were so broken that they could not think of many ways to govern the country other than betrayal.
Although betraying the country did allow the Aixinjueluo people to stay in power for several decades, it was really coming to an end and there was nothing left to sell.
——Almost all the various tariffs that can be mortgaged have been mortgaged. If they dare to cede land again, all regions will really stop doing it.
——Huang Feihong chose the Taipingguan Hotel, which is now famous in Guangzhou. The owner of this restaurant is very skilled. He used to be a chef in a foreign restaurant and is good at cooking local Cantonese cuisine. He combines Chinese and Western cuisine, and his business is very good.
This store has also been passed down to later generations and is a century-old brand. Premier Zhou and his wife held a wedding banquet here.
The location of the store is quite good. It is located in the bustling Beijing Road Pedestrian Street in Guangzhou. The owner is good at management and very innovatively made it the earliest music restaurant in Guangzhou. Later during the Republic of China, a nightclub and dance hall was even built on the second floor. How can it not be popular?
Li Yu, Xie Yuxi, Huang Feihong, and Liu Yongfu arrived at the hotel early, and Zheng Guanying also rushed over soon after.
Huang Feihong stood up and said: "Master Zheng!" Zheng Guanying waved his hand: "I will no longer be an adult. I have long been tired of officialdom. My official title as the person in charge of the Guangdong-Hankou Railway Land Purchase Company was only obtained at the strong request of the gentry and merchants from the three provinces. Accept it." Huang Feihong introduced him: "This is Mr. Li Yu, the imperial master and scientific giant at the time." Zheng Guanying clasped his fists and said, "I have admired the name of the imperial master for a long time. I am very lucky to meet you today!" Li The edict said: "I have also read Sir's "Warnings in the Prosperity", which can be a good medicine to alert the world." Zheng Guanying sighed: "Master Huang understands pharmacology, but after all, the potency of my medicine is a bit weak." Liu Yongfu said: "Master Zheng is of course a good doctor, but if the patient does not take the medicine if the prescription is correct, there is nothing you can do." Zheng Guanying said: "The general is right." Liu Yongfu added: "I have seen through it all. I have the intention of returning to seclusion." Although Liu Yongfu is still in charge of the Black Flag Army, the Qing court's transfer orders have long been
"Follow the tune and not the propaganda," he promised, and he would not do anything to suppress the bandits. After all, he himself was a rebel.
He knew "Water Margin" no matter what. Fortunately, his fate was much better than that of the Liangshan heroes.
Zheng Guanying said: "I would like to go into seclusion in the mountains and write books, but the current situation is forcing me to escape." Li Yu said: "If everyone gives up, the situation will probably get worse." Zheng Guanying said: "I have this idea, so today I heard that the emperor arrived in Guangzhou and wanted to open a school. I was very grateful and decided to come to the banquet in person." Li Yu said: "Education should be a major matter for the country." Zheng Guanying Said: "If it is run by someone like Emperor Shi who really understands Western learning, I think it will be an extremely excellent school." Huang Feihong said: "When the school is successfully run in the future, I will definitely send my son to study." Huang Feihong's son He is not very old now, only five years old, and is indeed almost old enough to go to school.
Li Yu also hoped to let the children of these celebrities come over, so as to increase their popularity, so he said: "I will definitely live up to the love and support." By the way, the thirteenth aunt in the later movies has not yet met Huang Feihong, so counting the thirteenth The prototype of my aunt, Mo Guilan, was only eleven years old at this time.
Zheng Guanying said: "The emperor's teacher is far away in the capital, but he goes to Guangzhou to run a school. It really makes us locals in Guangzhou feel quite ashamed and surprised." Li Yu said: "China is a huge land, and there are outstanding talents everywhere. I only have Establish more schools in several provincial capitals and spread them around as much as possible. By then they will have the opportunity to enter the university I established, and they will also have the opportunity to study abroad." Zheng Guanying was not very sure about the quality of going abroad, and asked "Do you have to go abroad to study?" Li Yu said, "Of course! If you want to learn something real, you must study abroad." Zheng Guanying had been in officialdom and doubted, "I'm afraid there will be intrusion from revolutionary ideas. Moreover, what will happen if you go out and don’t come back?” When young children studying in the United States were recalled, some openly defied it and stayed in the United States to continue studying.
Li Yu said with a smile: "If you don't want to give up your children, you won't be able to trick a wolf. After all, there will be people who are willing to return to the country to serve." Even in the 21st century, developed countries, especially immigration countries like the United States and Canada, still have a great ability to attract talents from developing countries. Yes, a large number of outstanding graduates will choose to stay in the United States and Canada.
But there is no need to criticize this kind of thing. After all, it is a free environment. As long as someone is willing to come back, it can be beneficial to us.
Game, it is the most cold-blooded game of international relations. If you don’t benefit the other party, how can they let your students in?
So it seems to be a state of equilibrium. Zheng Guanying said: "The emperor has traveled all over the world. Now that you say so, I feel relieved. For example, Zhan Tianyou, the chief engineer of the Beijing-Hankou Railway, I really want to recruit such talents to build the Guangdong-Hankou Railway, but he is the only one People really have no skills at all. It is conceivable that we are short of talents now, and there are very few people who know how to build roads." Li Yu said: "So we must vigorously build education so that there will be more Zhan Tianyou." Zheng Guanying said "What the Imperial Master said is absolutely true." Li Yu then told Zheng Guanying the land he had already chosen and the locations of the two abandoned schools.
"I hope Mr. Zheng can help introduce Mr. Cen Chunxuan, the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi." Zheng Guanying said: "Don't worry, Imperial Master, I will definitely persuade Cen Zitai to set aside enough time." Huang Feihong said: "Don't just talk about things, the food in this restaurant can be called One of the best, not only Guangzhou's fried steak, but also foreigners' fried steak, which tastes very good when paired with foreign wine." Cantonese food is indeed quite good in taste. After all, Cantonese people can also eat it~ Most Chinese restaurants abroad It also mainly focuses on Cantonese cuisine.
Within two days, Zheng Guanying came to tell Li Yu that he could go to the Governor's Mansion to meet Cen Chunxuan, the Governor of Guangdong and Guangxi. In fact, according to the official system of the Qing Dynasty, the highest official in Guangdong and Guangxi should be the Guangzhou general, whose status is higher than the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi.
However, since the Opium War, the decadent combat effectiveness of the Eight Banners Army has been exposed, the official order it carried has also fallen apart, and the status of the Guangzhou generals has declined.
By the beginning of the 20th century, he was no longer comparable to the governors of Guangdong and Guangxi. Zheng Guanying took Li Yu and Xie Yuxi into the Governor's Mansion.
"Hello, Mr. Cen!" Cen Chunxuan was a little dissatisfied when he saw Li Yu's haircut: "Why does the Imperial Master look like a foreigner?" Zheng Guanying explained for him: "The Imperial Master is now a foreign academician of the Royal Society of England. His status is aloof. In order to adapt to In order to comply with the requirements of the British Royal Society and participate in international scientific research, naturally you have to look like a foreigner in all aspects." Cen Chunxuan was dubious: "You can't learn without cutting your hair?" Li Yu brought out Timothy Li, who had a good relationship with Cen Chunxuan: " Taiwan must have seen Bishop Richard Timothy, just like him." Cen Chunxuan was still very loyal to the Qing court, and he always remembered Cixi's
"It's a gift from acquaintance," so he said: "You are not a revolutionary party, are you?" The revolutionary party in Guangdong is indeed very common now, and hair cutting is a symbolic action.
Li Yu said: "I only came here to provide education. If I were a revolutionary party, how could I still teach Western learning courses to the emperor." Cen Chunxuan thought about it for a while, and it was indeed true. After all, Lafayette didn't say anything, so he just No need to ask more.
"I heard Mr. Zheng say that you want to run a school on a piece of land. This is a good thing. I agree, but the land is too big, right?" Li Yu explained: "I want to run a larger school. Only in this way can schools benefit more people and provide more talents for the country." Cen Chunxuan said: "More than one hundred acres are needed?" Li Yu said: "It is very common for schools in foreign countries to have this size because the facilities used to run schools are relatively large. It’s more than just reading in class.”
"Is this true?" Cen Chunxuan asked again. Li Yu said: "If you don't believe me, you can ask this lady from the United States, Ms. Xie."
"Sports?" Cen Chunxuan said,
"I'm confused. Are you going to run a liberal arts school or a martial arts school?" Xie Yuxi said: "In Western-style schools, students need to do physical exercise so that they can develop in a balanced way." Cen Chunxuan said: "It turns out that the new school is like this It’s done. It just so happens that you are from the United States. You can set an example by doing it, so that the governor can continue to implement it.” Li Yu quickly praised: “The Taiwanese leader cares about education and is doing it to benefit the country and the people.” Cen Chunxuan said: “ The governor also ran a school when he was in Shanxi, and he knows the pros and cons, but I think that if we only run a big hall without a new primary school, we will have to teach in the big hall as a small school, which is not appropriate." Li Yu said: " It is precisely because of this concern that I want to make the primary school larger so that we can provide more students." Cen Chunxuan said: "In this case, I have no reason to refuse, but you must remember that if you preach revolution , I will not turn a deaf ear." Li Yu said helplessly: "Master Taiwan, you will not become a revolutionary party by learning new knowledge, these are two different things." Cen Chunxuan said: "This is the best." There is no concession in Guangzhou now, and the land price is higher than Shanghai and Tianjin are much lower, and the area is not developed much, only 50 taels per mu.
In total, it totals 130 acres and costs 6,500 taels. Cen Chunxuan doesn’t charge any fees, so it’s quite cheap.
If you go to the local officials in Guangzhou, I'm afraid the benefit fee will be more than twice the land price. With the seal of the Governor-General's Office of Guangdong and Guangxi, the following matters will be much easier to handle. Although Li Yu and Xie Yuxi are not good at dealing with officialdom, Zheng Guanying has been an official and can handle these things.
Li Yu also understood the key and gave Zheng Guanying some money as funds for activities. Fortunately, Cen Chunxuan was very aggressive in anti-corruption and could not spend too much.
Zheng Guanying also found a person to assist Li Yu in school-related matters. This man's name is Qiu Fengjia, a famous patriot, patriotic poet, and educator who fought against Japan and defended Taiwan.
After the defeat of the Sino-Japanese War, the Treaty of Shimonoseki not only paid compensation but also ceded the island to Japan. Qiu Fengjia refused to accept it and organized a resistance on the island.
However, without the support of the Qing court, they were ultimately outnumbered and defeated. At that time, he also wrote a poem to express his inner resentment: "The prime minister has the power to cede the land, but the lonely minister has no power to return to heaven. I went to be a barbarian in a small boat, but I look back at the mountains and rivers with a sad feeling." It means that the prime minister Li Hongzhang has the power to cede the land.
But in fact Li Hongzhang is also a chess piece. After returning to Guangzhou, Qiu Fengjia began to focus on education, first in Shantou, and just came to Guangzhou this year.
As the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, Cen Chunxuan respects his deeds in protecting Taiwan. In three years, he will be promoted to the position of inspector of the Guangdong and Guangxi Academic Affairs Office and supervisor of Guangzhou Fuzhong School. This is a new position, which is actually in charge of the affairs related to the new schools in the Guangdong and Guangxi regions.
Qiu Fengjia admired Li Yu very much. He had fought with the Japanese and understood the power of Japan. He also knew that Japan was once a backward country. It relied on constitutionalism and education to get to where it is today.
There is no way to talk about the establishment of a constitution. The Qing government could not make up its mind until the day before its demise, so there was no hope.
But there is still room for education, especially when it comes to new learning. According to the current estimates of most people, it will take at least one generation of education to grow up before they can compete with Japan.
As for the European and American powers, it is not within the scope of consideration. In other words, most people now feel that the great powers are unimaginably powerful and invincible.
But Japan, the country around us, used to be a dependent country, a small Japanese country. Even though Japan is powerful now, the Qing court sent overseas students to study, and many institutions are learning from Japan, but they are still not convinced, especially the scholar class.
Of course, people who have been to Japan, such as Zhang Jian, have a clearer and more sensible understanding of the gap in strength between the two.
Li Yu did not expect that Zheng Guanying would directly find such a capable person. If he was not in Guangzhou, Qiu Fengjia would be a good candidate to take charge of school affairs.
