Ding Haoliang also received a notice from Zhang Baixi, the minister of official education, and came to the newly opened Capital University Hall on the east side of Jingshan in the afternoon.
Zhang Baixi was previously the Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, a department with absolute real power. The Qing government appointed him as the Minister of Management and Education, which is enough to show that it attaches great importance to the university.
Ding Haoliang is the chief teacher of Western Studies. When he arrived, the chief teacher of the middle school Wu Rulun, the deputy chief teacher Gu Hongming, as well as the general manager of the Institute of Translation Studies Yan Fu and the deputy general manager Lin Shu had already arrived.
Zhang Baixi sat at the top and said first: "Thanks to everyone's recent efforts, the preparations for the university hall have been completed. The recruitment work is imminent, and the new school must have a new atmosphere. I hope everyone will do their best to help the imperial court with the important task of selecting talents."
The current Capital University is indeed a "new atmosphere". Although the Capital University was established four years ago, in 1898, it soon came to a standstill due to the restoration of the old system by the Qing government after the 1898 Coup.
At that time, there were less than 100 students. The university hall was originally scheduled to offer 10 subjects. In fact, it only offered four classes: poetry, calligraphy, Yi, Li, and two spring and autumn classes. Each class only had more than 10 people. The content studied was still Confucius and Mencius and Zhu Xi's Neo-Confucianism.
The nature is still similar to that of an old-style academy.
Moreover, due to the restoration of the eight-legged essay system, college graduates could only enter official careers after passing the imperial examination. Therefore, when the imperial examination period came, students took leave one after another to take the examination, and the schools were in vain.
This time, Zhang Baixi absorbed the lessons from past failures and formulated the "Regulations of the Capital University Hall" in detail from the beginning, which clearly stipulated a series of systems from examinations, schooling, graduation assignments to punishment and discipline, learning content, etc.
Although judging from the current public opinion, officials have not yet fully accepted the new thing of the university hall, it is still better than four years ago.
Wu Rulun said: "It is our duty to do our best for the university."
Gu Hongming and others also agreed.
Wu Rulun is the dean and lecturer of Lianchi Academy. Lianchi Academy, also known as "Zhili Academy", was built by Li Wei during the Yongzheng period and gradually developed into the highest academic institution in the north. Liu Chunlin, the last number one scholar in China, once studied here for ten years.
For many years, he was also Wu Rulun's disciple.
Zhang Baixi said: "I feel relieved that you are in charge of the work. Since it is a new school, the examination method should not be the same as the scientific examination. According to the previous suggestions, I think it is indeed necessary for multiple disciplines to jointly set questions
, both middle school topics and Western studies topics should be examined, and only those who pass the exam can be admitted."
Zhang Baixi took out a handwritten manuscript and continued: "After combining the suggestions submitted by you these days, I have suggested that the examination questions are: One article on moral ethics, one article on education, twelve questions on Chinese and foreign history, Chinese and foreign places
Twelve questions on Neo-Confucianism, six questions on arithmetic, proportions, square roots, algebra, six questions on physics and chemistry, one article in English or one article in Japanese literature. What do you think?"
For the first time in the history of the Capital University, the assessment content is very comprehensive. According to modern terms, it includes Chinese, education, history, geography, mathematics, physics, chemistry, and foreign languages.
Except for education, which is relatively new, the other subject settings are still very similar to those a hundred years later.
How about it? Do you feel very confident?
Ding Haoliang attended an American university and nodded: "Based on the university entrance exam, it is very reasonable."
Yan Fu also studied in the United Kingdom, and was a foreign language teacher at Fuzhou Shipbuilding School and Beiyang Naval School. He was very familiar with Chinese and Western education. He also agreed: "The subject setting is reasonable. In addition, I would like to ask, Mr. Management, what do we think?
How to determine admission criteria?”
Zhang Baixi made up his mind and said: "Since the new atmosphere is of course based on the Western hundred-point system, the full score is a perfect score, and sixty points is a pass."
This is the beginning of China's higher education institutions calculating student test scores with a passing standard of 60 points!
Countless university students also started cheering for 60 points from this day.
Yan Fu was still uneasy: "Sir, there are not many people who are proficient in various subjects of Western learning, especially foreign languages. I am afraid that there are not many people who can write in English or Japanese."
"Yeah!" Zhang Baixi nodded, "I have already considered this. If you really don't understand foreign languages, you can choose not to do the foreign language questions, but you need to have higher scores in other subjects. And arithmetic, geography, physics, chemistry, etc.
For subjects, you can also just answer a few words, draw inferences from one instance and don’t ask for preparation, and treat nine out of ten things in order to be a generalist. After all, this is the beginning of the school, and the admission conditions can be relaxed appropriately. "
However, even if the conditions were relaxed, there were not many people in the Qing Dynasty who had these knowledge.
Lin Shu continued to ask: "According to the scheduled plan, 200 people need to be admitted. What should we do if there are not enough applicants or not enough people with satisfactory grades?"
After hearing this, Gu Hongming, the deputy head teacher of the middle school, said: "Of course you can't enroll if you fail. If there are not enough people, there is nothing you can do. You can't recruit a bunch of mediocre people!"
Gu Hongming is still very determined on this point.
Zhang Baixi also agreed with his point of view: "Yes, the conditions can be relaxed, but not without conditions!"
Seeing their attitude, Ding Haoliang felt relieved, so he also asked: "Master Guan Xue, can we formulate the examination questions as soon as possible?"
"That's right." Zhang Baixi arranged, "Education and self-cultivation will be taught by Wu Rulun, Chinese and foreign history will be taught by Gu Hongming, arithmetic and physical chemistry will be taught by Ding Ailiang, and geography and foreign languages will be taught by Yan Fu.
.Do you have any objections?"
Everyone replied: "No objection."
Zhang Baixi said: "Very good. Everyone, go back and draft the questions as soon as possible and submit them to me in three days. The admissions examination for the University Hall will officially start on September 13th!"
Now that the date has been finalized, all the teachers immediately started working on the questions.
The reason why the questions must be finalized in three days is because Zhang Baixi, the Minister of Management and Academic Affairs, wants to shorten the time for setting the questions as much as possible to prevent leaks.
There are still many people who have this idea, even if it is a new school and a new exam.
Three days later, several teachers submitted their topics, and Zhang Baixi immediately approved them all after reading them.
Naturally, another Minister of Management, Rongqing from the Zhenghuang Banner of Mongolia, also saw the problem, and many people came to ask for some information.
They knew that Zhang Baixi was in trouble, so they could only try to break through Rongqing, but they didn't expect that Rongqing would be extremely determined this time, tight-lipped, and even said that he would not entertain guests until the end of the exam!
Thanks to this joint effort, the first admissions in the history of the Capital University can be conducted in a relatively fair environment.
Although the learning conditions of candidates are uneven, the unified admission conditions are the best that can be achieved now.
Since it was special care, Ding Haoliang had already registered Li Yu's school status in advance, and he only had to take the exam on time.
Li Yu was not worried at all. Review? That is impossible! He even wrote a scientific inspection report for Tang Wenzhi in the past few days.
On September 13, the twenty-eighth year of Guangxu, that is, October 14, 1902 in the Gregorian calendar, the examination was held as scheduled at the Capital University Hall!
Li Yu ate a fried dough stick and two eggs early in the morning. This was a tradition in his youth, which meant he could score 100 points in the exam. Then he came to the university hall with the student status certificate and exam registration form given by Ding Yuliang.
After verifying his identity, Li Yu entered the examination room and followed the instructions of the examination room staff to his seat.
There are only fourteen people in each examination room, which are far apart, and there are three invigilators patrolling at all times.
This is the second "college entrance examination" in his life, and it seems to be no different from the last time.
Because he was not taking the civil service examination. If he were taking the civil service examination, he would have to spend three days and three nights in a small cubicle of only about one square meter for each subject.
When Li Yu visited Nanjing, he visited Jiangnan Gongyuan, which is also the China Imperial Examination Museum. He also went into a small cubicle to experience the experience. Anyway, the cramped environment made him sit in such a small place for three consecutive days and nights.
It certainly can't be done.
Moreover, according to the tradition at that time, candidates were not allowed to go out to defecate casually, because this was considered very unlucky...
If you think about it, you can't accept it, so what kind of perseverance does it take for someone to persevere?
The first exam on the first day is Twelve Questions on Chinese and Foreign History.
The invigilator first handed out answer sheets, which were very large because basically all candidates wrote with calligraphy pens.
Only Li Yu writes with pencil, and he feels that half a piece of paper is more than enough for him.
Although he is a man in science and engineering, he has also studied history! And no matter how bad his history level is, it is still far better than the students of 100 years ago, right?
Student?
Bar?
?
When the test papers were handed to his hands, Li Yu instantly felt his head buzzing!
This! This, this, this!
How many points does it take to pass?
Let me show you the original questions from that year’s exam. It’s not easy to see them.
Question: Western historians say that for a country to be able to create a pole of civilization, it must extend its sea line and feed it with rivers. In ancient times, they conquered Greece and Rome, and in recent times, it was England. However, in Asia, the Nanyang Islands and the coastal countries of Korea,
The transportation of Zhengupo has not yet become a kingdom. Is it not the same as the previous one? Or is there another reason?
Question: Who has greater merit, Peter the Great, Washington, or William the First?
Question: There are three famous generals in Europe, one is Alexander, the other is Hannibal (later translated as Hannibal), and the other is Napoleon. Each of the three generals has their own shortcomings and strengths due to their unique circumstances.
Can you give a brief summary of each?
Question: Who were the three founding heroes of Italy? What were the similarities and differences in what they did?
Question: In ancient times, countries with cultural relics had to deal with long-term security problems and the country was trapped in the wilderness. This is not only true in Taidong. Greece is like Macedonia, Rome is like Russia, and Germanic people are especially famous. Since the fine art of firearms,
But this matter is absolutely impossible. Can you understand the reason?
Question: Where did Islam arose? Who did it start from? When was it in China? What is the most detailed history of the founder’s deeds found in ancient Chinese books? Let’s try to give some examples.
Question: Prussia was so powerful that it tried to use troops against two nearby countries. Can you give a brief summary of what happened?
Question: Poland’s internal affairs may not be more corrupt than Türkiye’s, but is there a reason why Poland was divided but Türkiye remained?
Question: In ancient times, Persia and Western Greece negotiated briefly.
Question: Where did the Qin Dynasty come from? What country is it in Europe today?
Question: A brief overview of the Franco-Prussian War.
Question: The overall story of the founding of the United States.
Li Yu felt his eyes twitch when he saw the question. He really underestimated the difficulty of the exam. But fortunately, he was not blind. After calming down, he did some calculations and felt that he could at least pass the test.
But for him, a former exam bully, when had his score dropped below 90? He didn’t expect that he would hit a new low in his first exam in Qing Dynasty.