In the Qing Dynasty, Jinshi could continue their studies, which meant that they could climb to a higher position in the future. Only those with poor grades would go directly to become officials. Therefore, those who could enter the Hanlin Academy or the Imperial Academy were basically those with names. characters.
In particular, many of the eighty people who came to the Jinshi Hall will be sent to Japan to study in the future, and they will exert a certain degree of residual enthusiasm after returning home.
But Li Yu obviously didn't come to give lectures to them. After all, they were all Jinshi.
Fortunately, Li Yu is also an "honorary Jinshi" now, so everyone can still communicate normally when they sit down.
Those who can give them high-level lectures and convince them can only be important ministers of the court. After all, except for a very small number of people who pass the Jinshi examination, they basically want to pursue a career as officials.
Although Rongqing's current official title is the same as that of Zhang Baixi, another minister of management and education, Rongqing also holds the important position of minister, so he was the one who spoke first.
When this group of Jinshi participated in the Guimao Science Examination, Rongqing was still the deputy examiner.
In the auditorium, Rongqing said: "You and I will be colleagues in the future, and we will discuss national affairs together."
To say this actually means that from now on we are all our own people. In the feudal dynasty, those who passed the scientific examination would often be recognized as the examiner's disciples, so being an examiner in the feudal dynasty was a great job.
Rongqing added: "Being able to enter here shows that the imperial court values you, and you should devote yourself to the imperial court in the future to enter more important positions."
"..."
Rongqing Balabala talked for a long time, basically talking about how to let them learn to be officials from a personal perspective in order to achieve higher positions.
These are exactly what the Jinshi want to hear most, which can be regarded as a stimulant.
After that, another minister of management, Zhang Baixi, had a slightly different perspective. He said: "You are already Jinshi, but now that you have come to the official school, you still have to continue studying. Judging from the time when I was in charge of the university, , you have a lot to learn. You will all be important officials in various ministries in the future. If you are really dedicated to the country, the court, and prosperity, then you can even be said to have just begun to learn.
"I can tell you here that the imperial court will set up many new departments in the future to learn from Western systems such as Japan and England, such as the Police Department, the Ministry of Commerce, the Postal and Communications Department, etc. The new departments will naturally need people who understand Western learning. , the imperial court also wanted many talents with talents in this field to set up Jinshi Hall in the university hall. But regarding the knowledge of the new department, even I only have a partial knowledge, or even a partial understanding.
"Most of you don't understand Western learning even if you think about it. If you really want to be a minister in the future, this is absolutely unavoidable.
"Therefore you should do your best here to devote yourself to new knowledge. Don't look down on Western learning, let alone be afraid of Western learning. Because we have a successful case in front of us - Li Yu, who has made great achievements in the science that is very difficult to master in Western learning. The extremely high achievements are admired by foreigners. So I think the Chinese can do it. You must have such determination to learn the knowledge of foreigners, that is, learn the knowledge of prosperity."
It can be seen that Zhang Baixi still wants to make some achievements in the Imperial University, and also hopes that the Jinshi will grow into experts in Western learning.
Although in his mind, the position of the Capital University was somewhat borrowed from the Hanlin Academy in the framework of Western learning, at least there was nothing wrong with his idea. These Jinshi can excel in the imperial examination room where tens of thousands of people cross the single-plank bridge. It is assumed that at least their learning ability is not too weak.
Li Yu never thought that Zhang Baixi mentioned himself at the end, so he really wanted to set himself as a benchmark.
After that, Yan Fu, Ding Haoliang and other chief teachers of the Capital University successively explained to the Jinshi students their future study directions and subject settings.
It is very different from the Hanlin Academy, because in the Jinshi Hall, you learn a lot of things that Jinshi have never had any contact with.
Considering that they will basically enter the official career in the future, the subject setting is biased towards the direction of politics and law. Later, when they studied in Japan, most of them majored in this field.
It's just that no matter how well most of them learn, they still can't understand the true core of reform or revolution in politics and law.
After hearing the diversion direction, Wang Shoupeng, the number one scholar in Guimaoke, asked, "Are we all going abroad?"
Yan Fu had been abroad before, so he replied: "It's best this way, because if you don't go out, you won't know what other people are like."
Wang Shoupeng said: "Is it possible that I can't learn the knowledge of managing the world and applying it here?"
Yan Fu said: "Unfortunately, at least we have not learned enough. Although we are called a university, there is still a big gap between us and the universities in Japan or Europe and the United States."
Wang Shoupeng asked again: "So after we go out, we still have to enter a foreign university?"
Yan Fu nodded: "That's right."
Zhu Guozhen, a second-class Jinshi, also asked: "Are there many such students in foreign universities?"
Yan Fu nodded again and said slightly seriously: "A lot."
In fact, in the two scientific examinations in 1903, one in Guimao and one in Economics, the number one candidates were all changed.
Originally, the number one scholar in the Guimao Zhengke Examination was Zhu Guozhen, who ranked first in the first class in the Baohe Hall examination.
But when the list was sent, our Empress Dowager Cixi raised her monocle and looked at it: "This name doesn't work!"
The surname is Zhu, which is the surname of the previous emperor! Moreover, the name seems to have the meaning of making the Zhu family's country prosperous, which is quite a metaphor for seizing power at the table.
Then I saw Wang Shoupeng's name, hey, this is a good name!
Cixi happened to be seventy years old, which means she "lives longer than Peng Zu".
Good, really good!
In addition, Cixi also likes this feeling of being a top scholar, because as long as she mentions it, this person will definitely be grateful to her.
Mixed with unfounded reasons and political considerations, Zhu Guozhen and Wang Shoupeng exchanged positions because of their names.
One is caused by the name;
One is the blessing of the name.
One family is happy and the other is sad.
Zhu Guozhen must have been extremely disappointed when he lost the top pick.
Not only him, but officials from Hubei also complained about him and went on strike for a day in protest.
Many people in the society also expressed doubts about the authenticity of this matter, and public opinions arose, with no consensus.
The new champion Wang Shoupeng wrote a limerick specifically for this purpose:
Some people say that I am an accident, but I say that it is very difficult to do so by accident.
Even if there are accidents in the world, how can they be accidental again?
It's just that Wang Zhuangyuan has been quite mediocre since then and has not achieved any achievements.
The only thing worth mentioning may be that when the warlord Zhang Zongchang came to power and wreaked havoc on the great Shandong Province, he suddenly thought of a fellow countryman who was the number one scholar, so he asked his subordinates: "What official position did Wang Zhuangyuan serve in the Qing Dynasty?"
The subordinate replied: "The Hubei Scholarship Envoy is equivalent to the Director of the Hubei Provincial Department of Education."
Zhang Zongchang waved his hand and said: "Then let him come to Shandong and become the director of the Department of Education!"
So Wang Zhuangyuan came out again.
He suggested to Zhang Zongchang that the original schools should be merged to form the Provincial Shandong University.
Because when the National Government implemented the establishment of university districts across the country in 1914, it only established universities in the central cities of each district. Since Shandong University Hall was affiliated with the central city of Beijing, the University Hall was abolished.
It is said that this so-called university district system was implemented once more than ten years later. Anyway, it was a bad move. Later, the reform of the university district became even more chaotic, and Cai Yuanpei and others almost became angry.
But when the warlord Zhang Zongchang heard this, he felt that the number one scholar was different. He got to the root of it. After such a merger, at least his level had improved. So Wang Zhuangyuan was appointed as the first president of Shandong Provincial University, and he was also the only person among the number one scholar to serve as university president.
However, after all, Wang Shoupeng was the number one scholar in the old era and knew nothing about modern university education. He still followed the rules of the feudal era, requiring students to wear long robes and mandarin jackets, and to kneel before Confucius, which made the students very dissatisfied: Come on, now they are all It’s the 20th century, we go to university, not private school!
At that time, all kinds of denunciations against Confucianism were very loud across the country, and Wang Zhuangyuan was basically reversing the course of history.
Even Zhang Zongchang thinks something is wrong. What college students want to overthrow is the old ethics, but it would be a good idea for you to pick it up again.
So Wang Zhuangyuan couldn't even be the principal.
But as the number one scholar in the former Qing Dynasty, Wang Shoupeng's calligraphy was still good.
When he was the principal, he once told students at the High School Affiliated to Shandong University that whoever could get first place for two consecutive semesters would be given a pair of couplets.
The person who got this couplet was the cultural master Ji Xianlin.
At this moment, Wang Zhuangyuan heard that there were so many college students among foreigners at the Capital University, and he was surprised: "So, foreigners also have so many Jinshi?"
Yan Fu corrected: "We can't say Jinshi, we can only say college students. Moreover, foreign universities not only have political and legal subjects that you will focus on studying in the future, but also many other subjects such as mathematics, physics, engineering, and mechanics."
Wang Shoupeng asked in surprise: "These knowledge also need to be learned in the university hall?"
Yan Fu patiently explained: "Yes, they are equally important in foreign universities."
Wang Shoupeng said: "I thought it was all the detailed knowledge of craftsmen."
Yan Fu said: "That's not the case. That's why I want you to go out and see what the world is like. In the world of foreigners, people like Li Yu are also very important. Technology is our major weakness. And what Li Yu said The position of foreign academician of the Royal Society of England obtained is extremely high, ranking at least two levels in the university."
Yan Fu knew that by elevating Li Yu as much as possible, he could make them study Western learning more diligently.
Zhu Guozhen, who lost the top prize, was very interested: "Is the technology mentioned by Master Yan really so important and can it make foreigners so powerful?"
Yan Fu said to Li Yu, "You should be able to explain this matter clearly."
Li Yu said: "It is indeed very important. The fact that the West can be so powerful is a very complicated issue. To put it simply, it is largely due to the fact that after they completed their respective bourgeois revolutions, experienced the Age of Discovery, and plundered countless resources, The two industrial revolutions once again improved productivity in all aspects.
"To a large extent, it is a coincidence of history and the foreshadowing of the previous hundreds of years. Although this kind of foreshadowing and coincidence is a historical necessity that cannot be copied, the powerful results are obvious. There is nothing to say about the victor and the defeated bandit, so there is a lot worth learning from. Just like politics, law and technology.
"The difference with us is that the West is strong in industry, while we are only in agriculture. This is a generational difference. There are many factors that support the strength of industry, and one of the hidden lines is the development of science and technology, otherwise there would be no progress in mechanics. , foreigners would not have advanced weapons capable of plundering the world; without steam engines, there would be no ships and trains traveling around the world. And the greatness of mechanics cannot be separated from the development of basic science. In short, they are all linked together, and it is a process of accumulation."
Although Li Yu had spoken as concisely as possible and even omitted many important details, the scholars were still confused.
Mainly, some words that look like common sense to modern people are inscrutable terms to their ears.
It is difficult for them to understand "bourgeois revolution", "productivity", "great voyage", "resource plunder" and "basic science".
But Zhu Guozhen listened with great interest: "This is the knowledge of governing the world! It turns out that Teacher Li Yu is not only proficient in science, but also understands the principles of governing the country."
Li Yu definitely didn't know much about politics and law. He knew that these were all learned in the politics class of middle and high school history classes, so he smiled and said: "I only know a little bit about it, and I'm not a teacher. I also graduated from a university."
Zhu Guozhen said: "Then you are senior brother."
Li Yu said: "In terms of age, I may not be as old as you."
But Zhu Guozhen said: "There is a sequence of hearing, and the word "Senior Brother" is indispensable."
Unexpectedly, this man who was a Jinshi in the dynasty and almost became the number one scholar would become Li Yu's little fanboy.
However, Zhu Guozhen was indeed disappointed with the imperial examination and the Qing court, and he did not make much achievements after that. If he could really defect to Li Yu, he might be able to do something. When writing articles about him in the future, he might not just say that he was because of The name lost its title.
(End of chapter)
