Recently, Wei Yuzhen has been busy with matters at the bookstore, and she and Dong Shuheng have spent less time together and more time away from each other.
"Pictures of the Sea Kingdom" and "A Brief History of the Modern West" spread to the north and south of the Yangtze River along with the caravans, and a wave of Western learning craze was formed for a while.
Beijing, Forbidden City, Imperial Study Room, young Xianfeng holds a book "A Brief History of the Modern West" in his hands, frowning as he reads it.
Yi Bing, who was waiting on the side, interrupted: "Your Majesty, these small Western countries are just a group of bandits. They have robbed so many countries. We should just stop dealing with them."
Xianfeng glanced at her. This Yehenala was considered a smart one among his many concubines, but she couldn't understand it. Even the ministers of the Manchu Dynasty couldn't understand the situation.
"Will a wolf that has eaten meat spare its injured prey?" he said with a thoughtful glance at Yibin.
"This author named Dugu is a sensible person. He is so proficient in Western learning. I really want to chat with him. But it seems that he uses a pen name."
"Send a few people to check the author of this book." He said to the darkness of the study.
"Hey..." A thin male voice came from the darkness.
After a while, an inconspicuous yamen in the imperial city flew out and headed south. No one knew the name of this yamen, but this yamen could actually fly out of the imperial city at night, which shows that it was extraordinary.
"Your Majesty, that Wei Yuan wrote such a big book "Hai Guo Tu Zhi", he is also very powerful." Yibin said from the side. Yibin did not praise Wei Yuan for no reason, but someone in the family came to spread the news, and there was a man who called himself Yangzhou.
People from the government office in Beijing paid a lot of tribute to the family. She was just a concubine, and not many people came to fawn over her.
"Well, Wei Yuan is also an old minister. He has served in the county for so many years and has indeed been buried. For such a great talent, one Yangzhou magistrate is not enough." Xianfeng said.
In a teahouse in Suzhou Prefecture, two groups of scholars were arguing.
"Du Hui, Ding Honglin, Luo Zhengchu, Lu Bin, Jiang Yuqin, you five, please don't confuse the public with your monstrous words here. What's so great about those Western barbarians? They're just a bunch of foreigners who don't understand etiquette. This bullshit book "A Brief History of the Modern West"
"It is to boost the ambition of others and destroy one's own prestige." said a scholar wearing a brocade robe.
The five people in question were just exchanging this book in the teahouse, and the content of their exchange was overheard by others, which led to a dispute.
Lu Bin, the youngest of the five, said: "You look down on the barbarians so much, why don't you go to Shanghai to drive these barbarians away? Why are you watching barbarian ships sailing on the Yangtze River?"
"You...you are using strong words to make excuses!" the scholar in gilded clothes said angrily.
"Hmph, brothers, I heard that Duke Wei is planning to open an academy in Jiangbei, and I want to join his family. What do you think?"
"Let's go together!"
"Let's go together!"
"Count me in!"
Everyone hit it off immediately and went back to prepare their bags and cross the river to the north.
At the house of Zhang Liangji, the governor of Changsha, Hunan, Zeng Guofan, the newly appointed Hunan regiment training envoy, was having a drink with Zhang Liangji.
"Mr. Zeng, what do you think of this Wei Yuan? Recently, the "Hai Guo Tu Zhi" compiled by him has become quite popular, and this opened my eyes."
"Wei Yuan is a great talent. He is a sensible man. We should indeed learn Western skills, but we cannot learn all Western knowledge, otherwise it may break the foundation of our Confucianism." Zeng Guofan said, "It is a pity that he is an official in Jiangsu.
, otherwise Mr. Zhang can take him under his command, he is also from Hunan!"
"I heard that the Huai Navy under Wei Yuan has sharp firearms and has been winning streaks against bandits. Please send someone to take a look." Zhang Liangji said.
"I'm going to let Xiaojiu go over and see if I can buy a batch of muskets from Shanghai."
"In this case, I'll let Ji Gao go too. He has an old relationship with Lin Gong, and Wei Yuan is also an old friend of Lin Gong."
In Wei Yuan's house, the study room was filled with more than a dozen old people.
"Old Wei, since our Renaissance Association was founded, we haven't had many gatherings. I thought we were about to break up!" said an old man.
This man's name is Feng Daoli, courtesy name of Wutang, No. Xiyuan. Today he is seventy years old, but he is in good health. He is from Dongtai and an expert in water conservancy. He has been diligent and studious since he was a child. He is well-read, a scholar of classics and history, and a master of astronomy and phenomena.
Yudi River Canal, Nine Chapters Prophecy, Medicine and Weapons are all studied, especially in water conservancy research. He entered the Imperial Academy in the second year of Daoguang, was a student of Enke Gong, and was a candidate for Zhili Prefecture Magistrate. In the first year of Xianfeng, he was elected as a filial, honest and upright person.
, granted aid to Chengdelang. He witnessed the flood disaster of the people in Huaiyang, and had no intention of fame or fortune, and was determined to relieve the people of floods. He hired boats many times to go to the seaside, the Yangtze River, the Yellow River, the Huaihe River, Hongze Lake, Baima Lake, and Gaoyou Lakes.
During the inspection, we traveled all over northern Jiangsu, interviewed elders, fishermen, woodcutter, and farmers, consulted local hydrology and historical materials, and understood the ins and outs of the Huaiyang Waterway. We surveyed and mapped hundreds of water maps, and summarized the concepts of "sparse" and "smooth".
, the four water control methods of "dredging" and "bundling" envisioned the path for the west water to be discharged from the river into the sea. He has participated in many large and medium-sized water conservancy projects such as controlling polder breaches, dredging the Salt River, and dredging the estuary.
"Mr. Feng, don't worry, I have a big surprise for you today!"
Most of those who are doing it are obsessed with practical learning. Most people who study practical learning in this era have a wide range of interests, but they also have their own expertise. Most of those who are doing it are the best in various fields, but they are not favored by traditional Confucian people.
"Come, Shu Heng, come and pay homage to all the masters and uncles."
Dong Shuheng looked confused. Today Wei Yuan called him here mysteriously, just to meet the old man in this room!
"Old Wei, is this your new apprentice? I heard that you relied on this boy for your promotion!" an old man said jokingly.
Wei Yuan was made red-faced because he obviously supported this kid himself.
"Everyone, I am not praising my apprentice. I have two advantages: one is to train soldiers and fight, and the other is to make money by doing business. Old men like us are not good at these things, so there is one thing we can't do and we can only rely on him. Before, the apprentice
The disciples discussed with me and planned to build an academy to teach practical knowledge and spread the new ideas of the Renaissance Society. Otherwise, when old guys like us are buried, who will remember us."
Everyone's eyes lit up when they heard this. You must know that practical learning is not very popular in this era. If you want to open a school to teach, you may not be able to recruit students, and you will not be able to maintain the operation of the academy.
Wei Yuan looked at Dong Shuheng and said, "You don't know everyone here yet. Let me introduce them to you."
"This is Mr. Xiyuan, a water conservancy expert who knows the hydrology and geography of northern Jiangsu best."
"This is Mr. Youren. He was formerly the Chief Secretary of Hunan Province and has now returned to Suzhou to serve as the training envoy of the Southern Jiangsu Regiment. He is an expert in mathematics and is particularly good at the study of Pythagorean geometry."
"This is Master Kangping, the Xinglin Sage."
"This Prince Wang Chongqian was once the master craftsman of the Supervisory Academy..."
…
…
"This is the Academy of Sciences and the Academy of Engineering in the late Qing Dynasty! All of these people will be academicians in later generations." Dong Shuheng never expected that Wei Yuan's "Fuxing Society" turned out to be just an association of scientists in the late Qing Dynasty. He originally thought it would be an association of scientists in the late Qing Dynasty.
What about political organizations?
Dong Shuheng stood up and respectfully stood up. All the bosses stood up and saluted.
"The younger generation is guilty of disturbing the seniors to come out and not be able to enjoy their leisure time."
"It is true that the current imperial court is weak, surrounded by foreign enemies, civil strife continues, and the people are trapped in dire straits. I hope that your seniors can spread knowledge, cultivate talents for the country, and save the people from the dire straits." He bowed deeply again.
bow.
"Old Wei, Nephew Dong Xian is the one who can talk. Boy, tell me your specific plan!" Feng Daoli, the oldest, asked. Old Feng is obviously very prestigious among everyone.
"Uncles, I plan to invest 1 million taels in succession to establish this academy. I can assure you that our academy will definitely be a first-class academy in the Qing Dynasty and even in the world. The academy will be divided into various colleges, such as the School of Liberal Arts and the School of Philosophy.
School of Mathematics, School of Medicine, School of Foreign Languages, School of Water Conservancy, School of Engineering, School of Mechanical Engineering, School of Agriculture..."
"You can choose to lead a certain college based on your expertise. Each college will have a dean, professors, associate professors, and teaching assistants. Some colleges will have special laboratories to facilitate research. The college will establish a foundation.
Each college with good projects can apply for scientific research funds from this foundation..."
…
…
Dong Shuheng spoke for a long time in one breath, telling all his thoughts about the academy. The characteristics of the new academy are inclusiveness, a hundred schools of thought contending, and a hundred flowers blooming.
Even though all of you who are working on it are experts in various fields, you are still shocked by Dong Shuheng's unconventional school running philosophy and the huge amount of investment.
"Shu Heng's plan probably draws on the experience of many foreign universities!" Wei Yuan interjected.
Only then did everyone understand that among those who are doing this, who knows the most about the West, it is Wei Yuan.
"Exactly, and this time I will hire some teachers from the West to join our academy. Please forgive me, teachers."
"It doesn't matter, I just want to see how powerful this foreigner's knowledge is and how he can catch up in these years."
"Uncles, since the publication of Master's "Hai Guo Tu Zhi", we have announced the establishment of an academy. Unexpectedly, the response has been so great. Now many students have come to Gaoyou. Therefore, we have to establish an academy in advance. Gaoyou Lakeside
Our new academy has already built some buildings and can be put into use first. Anyway, there won’t be many students enrolled in the first class.”
After speaking, Dong Shuheng took out a hand-drawn color map. This is the floor plan of the entire academy. The entire academy is probably the size of a county town and is divided into different areas. Each area has a main building and some auxiliary buildings. These architectural styles are different.
Differently, there are Chinese-style brick-and-wood buildings, Western Gothic, Baroque buildings, and even Arabic-style buildings. There are various green facilities in the academy, rockeries, rocks, small bridges and flowing water. The entire academy looks like
It is like a garden. In addition, the academy also has special student dormitories and teachers' villa areas. There is also a special pier on the bank of Gaoyou Lake for cruise ships to dock.
Everyone couldn't help but imagine the scene of studying knowledge in such an academy, and couldn't help but be intoxicated by it.
…
In this way, Huaihai Academy, the first university in the modern sense, was established on the bank of the beautiful Gaoyou Lake. Many big figures from the Renaissance Society became teachers at the academy, including Wei Yuan, who would gradually put down some government affairs and shift his focus to the academy.
superior.
After discussing the academy, Dong Shuheng took out a map and asked Mr. Xiyuan about his main irrigation canal plan in northern Jiangsu and the seawall reconstruction project. All of a sudden, Mr. Feng’s attention was attracted. These two plans were exactly
The old man had been thinking about a plan for many years but could not implement it. Now that Dong Shuheng was willing to pay for him to realize his dream, the old man was moved to tears.
The old man immediately took over these two projects, and he even had a large amount of survey data in his hands. Under the condition that the old man promised not to delay the affairs of the college, Dong Shuheng handed over the preliminary work of these two projects to the old man.
gentlemen.
Then he discussed with Master Kang Ping to establish a large medical clinic in Gaoyou as a practice base for medical students.
Several other students also have to go back to gather their old students. Each field has its own circle. A few masters and uncles cannot support a college by themselves, and they always have to go back to find helpers. Most of them are also hanging around.
It was not satisfactory. After all, they were aliens in the eight-part circle. This time, they were able to have such a good place to stay and show what they had learned. Everyone was very happy and acted vigorously and resolutely.
Wei Yuan will do some preparation work for the academy's enrollment, and some matters concerning Wei Yuan's government affairs will be handed over to Zeng Gong. After receiving Qishan's "Sword of Shang Fang", Dong Shuheng is now preparing to integrate the entire government affairs in northern Jiangsu. He has established a
General Administration Department, Mr. Zeng has rich experience in handling government affairs, so he will be in charge of this General Administration Department.
At the local level, the Xie Xiang Office takes over the prefects and county magistrates. After the troops are reorganized, the Xie Xiang Office will follow the garrison troops to various states and counties. The Xie Xiang Office controls the treasury through the army, thereby controlling the entire state and county.
The government officials, and then by improving their treatment, completely eclipsed the county magistrates and prefectural magistrates. The previous "dove occupying the magpie's nest" plan had already attracted most of the state and county officials to join them. This time, Qishan's order was added
, the whole plan is not difficult to implement.
Very early on, Dong Shuheng ordered the Ministry of Manpower to recruit a large number of senior officials and junior officials. These people had rich administrative experience, but their income was not guaranteed. Under the high salary offered by Dong Shuheng, the Ministry of Manpower recruited hundreds of such people.
, they were organized to learn Western learning, and Dong Shuheng himself went to the battlefield to train these people. Now these people will finally be put to use.