After touring Yangzhou, Dong Shuheng could finally return eastward without any worries. His return this time was not just to visit relatives. In fact, he wanted to use this opportunity to examine and accept his achievements over the past few months.
His first stop was back to Gaoyou. Gaoyou is now a city that is gradually industrializing. The industrial zone in the north of the city and the new urban area in the east of the city are changing day by day. The west side of the city near Gaoyou Lake is basically owned by the academy. Today's Gaoyou
The county magistrate has always been vacant. Anyway, government orders are handled by the Office of Cooperation, and everyone can go to the court if they have disputes, so it doesn't matter to the people whether there is a county magistrate or not.
Dong Shuheng arrived at the academy first. The academy enrolled students for the first time. A total of more than 2,000 students were admitted from more than 5,000 students. Since some buildings had not been built yet, the academy seemed a bit crowded. Wei Yuan stayed in Yangzhou for only a few days.
After returning to the academy, he has always regarded this place as his own job.
"Master, are there any difficulties in the academy recently?" Dong Shuheng saw that his teacher seemed to be in a bad mood, so he asked.
"There are too many difficulties. The most important thing is that there are too few teachers. I have used all my connections to gather this small team of teachers. Especially those in science and engineering disciplines. We in Qing Dynasty have too many talents in this field."
not enough."
"Master, how about this? We hire some foreigners to teach these majors, but in this case, our students may have to learn a foreign language."
"Then let's take English as a basic main course. Most foreigners can speak English," Wei Yuan said.
"Okay, just wait, master, I will help you bring the person back soon."
Then Dong Shuheng went to the college's financial officer to find out about the college's expenses. He didn't know, but he was shocked when he saw it. It really costs money to run a school, and he had to pay 10,000 taels of silver every month.
After leaving the academy, Dong Shuheng returned to Gaoyou City and visited Wei Yuzhen and his sisters. The two sisters and the third wife all moved to the house Dong Shuheng bought for them.
Dong Shuheng has always lived in this house, but he rarely comes to live there. Also with him is Wei Yuzhen. The bookstore is still in Gaoyou. This girl is very enterprising and focuses on her work. During the day, Dong Shuheng saw her
At that time, Wei Yuzhen came up and showed off a French paragraph to him. It turned out that she had recently been learning foreign languages from the bookstore's translator. Moreover, she was learning English, French, and German three foreign languages at the same time, so Dong Shuheng had to admire that she was really a female academic master.
Dong Shuheng brought Wei Yuzhen here because Lao Wei basically lives in the academy now, and it is inconvenient for Wei Yuzhen to live alone in the state government office. He simply asked her to move here to live with his sisters. They are all women anyway, so it is convenient.
Mainly because of the protective force he has set up here.
Dong Shuheng met an unexpected person at the door of the house.
…
"Wal, why are you here? There are no classes at the Army Academy today?"
"Oh, hello, Mr. President, I'm looking for someone here. Today is my day off." Wall said coquettishly, holding a bouquet of flowers in his hand with an embarrassed look on his face.
"The person you are looking for lives here?" Dong Shuheng pointed to his house and said.
"Yes, Mr. President, when I was visiting on the street, I met an angel. She smiled at me. I wanted to dedicate my soul to her at that time." Wall said in blunt Chinese,
But this still made Dong Shuheng and Wei Yuzhen beside him have goosebumps.
"Okay, Hua Er, you are too direct. We Chinese girls don't like such direct men." Dong Shuheng quickly interrupted him.
"Come on, come in with me. I want to see who is your angel?"
"Go in? Is that okay?" Hua Er looked at Dong Shuheng doubtfully.
Dong Shuheng ignored him and walked in. The guard guarding the door naturally knew him.
Knowing that Dong Shuheng was coming today, Bai made a table of dishes. Now that Dong Shuheng's identity was different, the entire Bai family had to rely on him. Whether it was true or false, Bai was much more polite to Dong Shuheng than before.
Shuyun and Shumei followed her to greet her brother. The two girls wore the same style of long skirts, and most people couldn't tell who was who.
When they saw Hua Er behind Dong Shuheng, the three of them were surprised. How could there be a foreign devil?
Dong Shuheng quickly explained: "This is Hua'er, he is an instructor hired by our Huaihai Navy."
"Hello ladies!" Wall also bowed and said.
His eyes turned to the two sisters from time to time, and he was extremely confused: "Why did two angels suddenly appear?" Foreigners see that Chinese people are inherently face-blind, so how can they tell the difference between a pair of twins?
Shuyun was relatively conservative. When he saw this foreigner looking at him, he quickly turned his head away. Shumei, on the other hand, walked up to Dong Shuheng and said hello to Dong Shuheng and Wei Yuzhen.
This girl playfully called Wei Yuzhen sister-in-law, which made Wei Yuzhen blush. Dong Shuheng glanced at her with pleasure in his heart.
"Brother, why did you bring this foreigner home? I think I saw this man on the street a few days ago." Shumei continued.
"Oh, everyone, please stop standing here. Miss Wei, please come and sit inside. I have already cooked dinner."
The group of people then walked towards the dining room.
"Girl, you can't smile at foreign devils on the street from now on. You see, they are blocking the door of your house." When everyone walked to the dining room, Dong Shuheng said to Shumei with a smile.
"Oh, brother, what are you talking about? It's not that there are few foreigners here. I just took a look at him because he looked strange."
Hua Er next to him had a dark look on his face: "My lord and my lady angel, I can speak your Chinese. Have you considered my feelings when you say this?"
"Uh, sorry! Wall, let me introduce you. This is my sister Shumei. She was just joking with you. Don't you Americans like to joke the most?" Dong Shuheng said apologetically.
"Hello, Big Beard." Dong Shumei also greeted him.
Hua Er touched his beard, smiled and nodded in greeting.
Today, Mr. Bai cooked a sumptuous dinner. Everyone had a great time, especially Hua Er, who had been eating from the big pot in the military camp for a long time. Dong Shuheng didn't like the old rules, so everyone, regardless of gender, sat at the same table to eat. Said
Time passed after talking and laughing for a while.
When he heard that Shumei and his embroidery factory had made a profit of nearly one hundred thousand taels in a month, Hua Er felt ashamed. He felt that the gap between himself and Mei Angel was so huge that he felt sorry for himself.
The two sisters were very happy when they heard that Wei Yuzhen was moving to their home. Wei Yuzhen worked in a bookstore and had extensive knowledge, so she could often tell them about outside things.
"Yuzhen, I'm going to start a newspaper. Do you think we have the conditions now?" Dong Shuheng put down his chopsticks and said.
"Based on the conditions of our bookstore, there is no problem in running a newspaper. We are just worried about attracting the attention of the court. After all, newspapers have a huge influence."
Wall interjected: "We have many newspapers in the United States. All we need to do is report it to the government. Don't we still have newspapers in China?"
"Wal, you don't understand our current court. They are a group of conservative people. Making remarks at will may violate the laws of the court."
"Well, let's test the water first by running a business newspaper. It's called "Changjiang Business News". We can send people to Shanghai to collect foreign newspapers, translate the business information in them, and publish them in our newspapers. You can also find
People can write some articles introducing the West and publish them on it. Just be careful not to include articles involving domestic situations and politics."
"By the way, since it is a commercial newspaper, a certain amount of space must be reserved for advertising. This will be the main source of income for your newspaper." Dong Shuheng added.
"Brother, can our Yunmei Embroidery place an advertisement in this newspaper?" Shuyun, who had been silent for the whole time, suddenly asked.
"That's Fang Ran, but you also have to pay Yuzhen's newspaper advertising fees."
"Sister Shuyun, I will put you in the best position in the newspaper when the time comes!" Wei Yuzhen said with a smile. Of the two future sisters-in-law, she liked the quiet Shuyun better.
"And Shuyun, how are you doing with the trademark I told you about last time?" Dong Shuheng asked again.
"Oh, it's ready, brother, look." She took out a handkerchief, which was produced by an embroidery factory. In the corner of the handkerchief, there was a plum blossom wrapped in auspicious clouds. It was very freehand and beautiful.
"Well, that's good. From now on, your products will all be embroidered with such a logo. This is called a trademark. As soon as people see this logo, they will know that it is your product. When conditions are met in the future, we will also introduce laws to crack down on it.
For those who are counterfeiting other people’s trademarks and brands, your trademarks will be more valuable.”
"Shu Heng, you are really a shrewd businessman." Wei Yuzhen said with a smile.
"Of course, we salt merchants are the best among businessmen."
…
After dinner, all the girls went about their own business. Shuyun and Shumei took Wei Yuzhen to choose a room.
Dong Shuheng took Hua Er to the study room.
"Wal, I have something to ask you. Do you know any American missionaries who came to China?"
"President, you really asked the right person. Most of the American missionaries in China now come here to make money in the name of missionary work. But I do know a real missionary. His name is John Cena, and he is from the United States.
The plenipotentiary representative of the Southern Methodist Church in China. Mr. Senna extended a helping hand to me when I was at my lowest point." Wall recalled, lowering his head.
"Oh, can you help me introduce Mr. Senna?"
"This is easy, Mr. President, you don't know that these missionaries want to meet your Chinese officials."
"Okay, Wall, do you want to be a rich man?" Dong Shuheng suddenly changed the subject.
"Oh, President, you are asking this question. If you don't want to get rich, why should I run around the world? I originally wanted to make enough money, then go back and buy a farm, then marry a wife and have children, and continue my family."
"Wal, I have to say that your goal is really small. But I will not let my sister go to the United States with you and help you milk cows on the farm."
"President, I have changed my mind now. I want to stay with you. The land you manage now is larger than a state in the United States. I am just a poor boy in the United States, and I am a German. I can't live in the United States."
There is no future." Wall said sincerely.
"Then don't you miss your motherland?" Dong Shuheng asked.
"President, the United States is just a place where a group of immigrants seek their own interests. It is not a nation-state in the strict sense. My father moved to the United States from Bavaria just to survive. We only care about our own family, and you have also seen it.
, I am just a single man now with nothing to worry about, so my motherland does not matter to me. When I get married, wherever my family is, that will be my motherland."
It is difficult for Dong Shuheng to understand this, but for the current United States, such a loose immigration country, it is normal for citizens to have such thoughts.
"Oh, President, you just said you wanted to make me a rich man. I really want it. My Angel is much richer than me now. Then I would have no shame to pursue her."