The preparatory class for young children studying in the United States later evolved over the years into today’s Guangdong Provincial Experimental Middle School, which is also one of the top middle schools in Guangdong.
Zhan Tianyou studied here for a period of time as one of the first batch of young children studying in the United States.
There are four batches of 120 young children studying in the United States. The first batch can almost be said to be the most successful because the study time is relatively long and the largest number of students have entered prestigious American schools.
At that time, the United States had a very good attitude towards Chinese students. 22 of them entered Yale University, which is very difficult to get into among private universities in the United States. Another 8 entered the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 3 entered Columbia University, and 1 entered Harvard University.
They are all well-known universities in the United States. They can offer so many places. It can be seen that the American education community is very welcoming to this matter and can even be called friendly.
However, this very meaningful study abroad program was stopped by the Qing government in 1881, and all young children studying abroad were forcibly recalled.
Counting from 1872, it was less than ten years. The original plan was to study and travel in the United States for fifteen years. In such a short period of time, only two people, including Zhan Tianyou, completed their studies and obtained formal university degrees.
It is hard to imagine what would happen if everyone successfully completed their studies. Even if they could not have much influence on the general trend, at least there would be dozens of beautiful waves.
As for the reason for the recall, it is because the children studying in the United States were too young when they went to the United States. It is equivalent to growing up in the United States and accepting the modern Western lifestyle. Not only did they start partying with their American classmates, they even
The braids were cut.
The poor Manchus only had this ridiculous bottom line. After all, it was the strongest means they used to control all Han people.
It turned out to be him. Li Yu said, "Master Huang, please introduce him."
But the school building in front of us was indeed abandoned because the Haba couple left. After all, the church did not expect that they would never return, and this area was delayed for too long.
So the Qing court couldn't bear it any longer. If they rebelled, they would all be summoned back to me!
After returning to China, young children studying in the United States are not only ignored at all, but are even condemned by all walks of life.
Nowadays, we, including Japan's Shinkansen, have always wanted to develop overseas. We even want to build railways for others by providing interest-free loans and so on. In fact, our thoughts are too busy.
Most of the areas currently being developed in Guangzhou are on the banks of the Pearl River, very close to the port. The terminals are very powerful and complicated. You must be familiar with the hidden lines, otherwise it will be difficult to intervene.
Moreover, judging from the last contact, Li Yu felt that the professional level of Yang Sisheng and Gu Lanzhou was acceptable, and they could at least gain a foothold in the demanding Shanghai concession construction market.
After all, there are only 30 children in each batch of young children studying in the United States, and not all of them are in Guangzhou. For example, there is such a preparatory class in Shanghai.
However, the construction process of the Guangdong-Hankong Railway was more complicated than that of the northern section of the Beijing-Hankong Railway.
Li Yu said with a smile: "These are objective reasons. The most important reason is of course that the foundation that provided the money comes from the United States."
But just from an architectural point of view, the two houses are indeed well built and usable, and they are not far apart.
Liu Yongfu said: "What the emperor said makes sense. I have fought with the French before, and they speak differently from the British."
Now that we have arrived in Guangdong, where the atmosphere is more open, we are sparing no effort in promoting new learning.
Li Yu also had considerations in choosing Yang Sisheng, Gu Lanzhou and others in Shanghai, and he had to let them grow up technically as soon as possible.
This saved money, so Li Yu and Huang Feihong went to where today's No. 623 Road is and saw the school building.
Although he didn't know how to solve it for the moment, Li Yu is not too worried now, because even if Yang Sisheng, Gu Lanzhou and other Shanghai construction businessmen cannot break the monopoly of local snakes and enter the Guangzhou market, they can still adopt a cooperative approach. This is better than finding a construction factory from scratch.
Be more efficient.
The construction of the Beijing-Hankow Railway is now in full swing. Zhan Tianyou is very busy and the progress is very gratifying. Except for some bridges crossing the river, most of the lines have been completed.
Huang Feihong asked: "I heard that the most powerful countries now are in Europe, England, France, etc., why don't you go there?"
Huang Feihong thought for a while and said: "I don't know much about the school. Based on the limited information I have, there is also a Gezhi Academy nearby. It used to be a missionary school, but it was closed after two years of opening. It doesn't count.
It has been abandoned for more than ten years."
In fact, the Christian Church rebuilt Gezhi Academy in Haizhu District, but the name was changed to Lingnan University.
Of course, there is no technology to build a bridge across the Yangtze River now, so the Guangdong-Hankou Railway can only go to Wuchang on the south side of the Yangtze River.
Li Yu said awkwardly: "It's so troublesome."
At that time, Rong Hong had a very hard time gathering young children studying in the United States. Many of them were unwilling to go out at all, so he chose children from civilian backgrounds. Unexpectedly, he was scolded.
Xie Yuxi quickly finished walking around this small hospital and asked: "Are there any more places that can be used?"
Huang Feihong knew Li Yu's concerns. After all, he was an old Jianghu. He had been in Guangzhou for a long time and knew the local situation. He said: "It is indeed a bit troublesome to pass through Guangzhou Prefecture, but I have a way."
Li Yu said: "It looks very good. Is it true that no one will use it?"
Doesn’t this mean that the United States can cut off China’s arteries at any time?
Xie Yuxi is also quite satisfied with the land, but it is indeed a bit small and obviously cannot be used for its purpose. According to their expectations, schools in each city must exceed one hundred acres, so there must be enough land.
But he still had to give it a try. Li Yu said, "Where is the Governor's Palace?"
Huang Feihong nodded and said, "That's true."
Huang Feihong said: "As an imperial teacher, you can go beyond the Guangzhou Prefecture and directly contact Cen Chunxuan, the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi. He is an honest and upright official, and he is a person who values new learning. I am sure he will be very interested in your approach to running a school."
But Li Yu said that this place is very meaningful, "In the future, the schools run by the foundation will send a group of students to study in the United States. Choosing this place also has the meaning of inheritance."
Teaching, canteens, scientific research buildings, libraries, office buildings, accommodation buildings, etc. all occupy a large area. At this time, many schools adopted a boarding system. If the houses were built on one floor, the upper limit had indeed been reached.
The area in the middle of the key area is also undeveloped. If you buy it, you can connect it to almost 100 acres. Although the shape will be a bit irregular, it doesn't matter. You can save some money by using existing buildings.
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In front of us are two two-story buildings that combine Chinese and Western styles. The overall look is Western style, but the roofs use traditional Chinese pitched roofs. Perhaps people in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China looked quite western, but with Li Yu's
From a modern perspective, at least the design is a bit nondescript.
Huang Feihong suddenly realized: "It turns out there is still this level of consideration."
For a long time, only some Han ministers and frontier officials such as Yuan Shikai, Zhang Zhidong, and Li Hongzhang were using them. It was not until the Qing Dynasty was gone that they could really shine, but it had been too long.
But when I came up to see him, it seemed that he still had some connections. Although Li Yu was called the "Emperor's Master", he didn't have any official position, so it was somewhat difficult to meet an unfamiliar feudal official.
Li Yu suddenly felt a little headache and asked, "I wonder if it can be done smoothly?"
Huang Feihong said: "This place was earlier regarded as a Christian university by foreigners, but the founders, Haba and his wife, both fell ill and returned to China. It only opened for two years and was closed in the 16th year of Guangxu (1890)."
It makes sense that Wuhan is called the thoroughfare of nine provinces. It is located in the middle of the map, so Guangzhou requested the construction of a Guangdong-Han railway to connect Wuhan and become an artery running from north to south in the future.
Fortunately, there is a big tree like Huang Feihong, so there is no problem in building a school.
Nowadays, many people believe that the most powerful empire in the world is the Empire on which the sun never sets, which "brings the British".
It just so happened that the Qing government also had this idea in the capital. Since ancient times, the Guangdong and Guangxi areas had not been very controlled. The sky was high and the emperor was far away. A modern railway could strengthen the connection.
According to previous estimates in Tianjin, due to the difficulty of building high-rise buildings, one hundred acres of land, or more than 60,000 square meters, can only recruit 100 to 200 students each year on the premise of ensuring the source of students.
Huang Feihong smiled and said: "If you want to see the governor, you need an intermediary to connect the line."
Huang Feihong said: "Zheng Guanying, Master Zheng of Zuojiang Road."
Li Yu quickly said: "Master Huang, please speak!"
The Beijing-Hankou Railway actually ended at Hankou Railway Station on the north side of the Yangtze River. It was not until 1957 that the two were connected via the Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge, and the name became the Beijing-Guangzhou Railway in later generations.
He also attached great importance to reform. As early as when he was the governor of Shanxi, he and Timothy Richard founded Shanxi University Hall, the predecessor of Shanxi University.
Since it is called a preparatory class, and the students are all relatively young, so only English is taught, so naturally it does not require a large school building.
Huang Feihong said: "But I think this person also wants to see you."
The "Shenbao" directly stated: "The state spared no expense to condemn all the apprentices to go abroad. Who would have thought that after going abroad, they would not know how to take care of themselves. The first time China went abroad, there was no aristocratic family. The children of giant businessmen and big businessmen were recruited.
The sons of Duozhuilu are of various kinds, how can such people be able to talk about Western learning, how can they talk about naval warfare and other matters."
Cen Chunxuan was indeed a ruthless man and had a very strong backing. When Cixi fled to Xi'an, he made a lot of contributions and was regarded by Cixi as "one of his family members".
However, Cen Chunxuan was a good official. As soon as he took office in the Guangdong and Guangxi regions, he began to vigorously punish corrupt officials, and was even dubbed the "official massacre".
However, it may be more difficult for Yang Sisheng and Gu Lanzhou's construction business to enter Guangzhou.
Cixi attaches great importance to this fact. Only one of his own people can be valued by him. It can also be said to be "nepotism".
Unless upgrades are slowly carried out in the future, more reasonable construction of multi-story college buildings will not be possible until China has a better grasp of reinforced concrete structures.
Li Yu asked: "Who is it?"
It seems that the place is not small. The stadium occupies more than 10,000 square meters. Even if the primary and secondary schools add up to nine years, it will reach a scale of one to two thousand people.
Huang Feihong contacted Zheng Guanying the next day, who is still the person in charge of the Guangdong-Hankou Railway Land Purchase Company.
This company is not a company in the traditional sense.
The construction of the Beijing-Hankong Railway immediately stimulated major cities to build railways one after another.
Li Yu said: "It has been so long. If you want to acquire this land, you must have obtained the approval of the government?"
The Beijing-Hankong Railway was fully opened to traffic two or three years later, while the Guangdong-Hankou Railway was not officially opened to traffic until 1936, thirty years later.
The United States lives alone in the Americas, and is still in the stage of quietly making a fortune, focusing on industry. When it came to the fore in the military and world disputes, it was after World War I, when a few loud slaps initially woke up most of Europe.
After all, Li Yu himself is not a civil engineering major. It would take some effort to allow Yang Sisheng and Gu Lanzhou to master the reinforced concrete construction skills as quickly as possible. Some things have to be understood by themselves, and it is unrealistic for Li Yu to solve everything.
Li Yu explained: "European education is of course very strong, and scientific research is also very strong. However, the education and scientific research environment in the United States is not bad now, and only learning English as a foreign language can also help streamline the curriculum. As for Europe, it is too scattered and a strong country
Too much, and if students are asked to spend more time learning French, German will take up too much time."
Don’t think that we are being taken advantage of by building railways in Africa.
Previously, the two pieces of land in Shanghai and Tianjin were purchased through the Ministry of Industry and Concession Bureau, but now it is a lot more troublesome to deal with the Qing government.
The gentry and merchants from the three provinces of Guangzhou, Hunan and Hubei that the railway passed through immediately quit and strongly demanded to regain the right of way.
In short, it is to use limited means to make progress in supporting industries as much as possible.
Public opinion and reports scolded them because they felt that these people came from humble backgrounds, had no moral education, and were not worthy of much use.
First of all, it was because the Qing government was too naive in handling the matter at first, and gave the right to build roads to an American company without even thinking about it.
However, the United States quickly transferred part of the road construction rights to Belgium. This was obviously a violation of regulations. It is called illegal subcontracting in modern construction law. How could the main project be subcontracted?
Huang Feihong took Li Yu to the institution where the preparatory class for young children studying in the United States was located and inspected it. Twenty years later, the place had become very deserted, and the place was obviously not big enough.
At the beginning, Railway Minister Sheng Xuanhuai borrowed money from the United States through Wu Tingfang, the then Minister to the United States, on the condition that China would repay the debt after 50 years before taking back the railway management rights.
But you can’t say too much about this kind of thing... Anyway, it’s just that you’re making a lot of money.
Zhang Zhidong also sided with the gentry and merchants of the three provinces and felt that the Guangdong-Hankong Railway could not be handed over to the Americans. Just now the United States had breached its contract again. After signing the contract, the construction period has been delayed again and again.
In fact, they did not have the ability to build, so Zhang Zhidong and others asked for the right of way to be taken back from the perspective of safeguarding their rights, and finally took back the right of way at a high price of US$6.75 million.
Although it cost a little more money, it will definitely be beneficial in the long run.
There were not many railways at this time, but everyone knew the importance of railways. Later events caused by the road protection movement have always influenced the course of China's history.