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The Xiangjiang River is in the shape of a crescent moon from the southwest to the north, surging and rushing through most of Hunan, on this Xiangjiang River a steamship is slowly sailing, its chimney spews soot, and the same as the steamboat in Hunan, it burns the coal produced in the five acres of Chong Coal Mine, which is the largest coal mine in Hunan. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

The emergence of steamships has not only changed the traffic in Hunan, but also changed all aspects of Hunan. Coal mines that were once untouched flourished because of steamships, such as the bituminous coal produced by Wumu Chong Coal Mine because of its sulfur bottom and low ash content, which was adopted by the Wuchang Arsenal and Daye Iron Works. Anthracite coal produced on the banks of the Zishui River in Loudi County was loaded by steam ships along the Zishui River into Dongting and sold to various parts of Hunan, and cheap coalless furnaces and honeycomb coal replaced the increasingly scarce fuelwood in the mountains.

The steamship representing the Western industrial civilization is slowly changing the life of Hunan people, and now the Western industrial civilization is infiltrating all aspects of Hunan, whether people want to or not, they can not resist the changes of modern industrial civilization to people's lives, just like now, even the most conservative people are accustomed to taking ships.

"A Thousand Miles of Gangneung ...... a Day"

Standing on the bow of the ship and reading this sentence on his lips, Li Du's expression seemed quite emotional, once upon a time, he also opposed steamships like others, and even called on his neighbors in the countryside not to take foreign ships and not to wear foreign cloth. But now, like many people, he has also become accustomed to the convenience of foreign ships, and even the clothes on his body, although they are made of homespun cloth, are woven of foreign yarn.

Whether it is woven yarn produced in Changsha or imported foreign yarn, it is quickly replaced by native yarn because of its low price.

"Brother Peilin, I remember that last year you lamented that the impact of this foreign ship was not good for the livelihood of the shippers!"

The laughter beside him made Li Du turn around, look at Wang Yulin beside him and smile.

"In the past, the lie was really for the brother to the steamboat puzzled, only know the livelihood of the wooden boat, but do not know the convenience of the steamboat, compared with the wooden ship, the steamship has its unattainable advantages, its large volume, fast, and safe and reliable......"

Just as the government advertises steamboats in newspapers, Li Du uses the same language.

"Moreover, as for the livelihood of tens of thousands of boat owners and slender men in the Xiangjiang River, the government has not taken it into consideration, the five acres of Chong Coal Mine and the coal mine in the Lengshui River all employ slender men and boatmen, and it is not an overnight achievement for steamboats to replace steamers, and this wooden boat will be eliminated sooner or later, just like the people are now less and less accustomed to spinning silkworms into raw silk at home, but selling silkworms to silk factories......"

Behind the seemingly plain words, in fact, there is no telling of another reality - in the rivers of Hunan, there are tens of thousands of slender men, all of whom rely on the employment of civilian ships for their livelihood, but with the increasing number of steamships, there are more and more unemployed boatmen, sailors, and slender men, and all those who make a living by sailing on civilian ships are not affected by it, such as shipbuilders, shipyards, carpenters, blacksmiths, cable shops and even restaurants, all of which are in decay, and even more difficult to maintain in some places.

Despite the efforts made by the Hunan wooden boat guards to protect their own interests, and even used violence to prevent the steamers from entering the river, the government never compromised on the issue of principle, after all, the wooden boats were destined to be eliminated due to their objective limitations such as small capacity, lack of safety, and long transportation time.

In particular, more and more steamships continue to enter the rivers, and small steamships with a displacement of only more than 40 tons are now beginning to enter the tributaries, and it is a matter of time before wooden boats are eliminated.

"You......"

looked at his friend Wang Yulin and smiled.

"You're talking more and more like a person in officialdom now."

The words of his friend made Li Du's mind sink slightly, and he shook his head and said.

"Officialdom? You know, in the past, my brother had no intention of taking the imperial examination, but now that there is no imperial examination, how can my brother do it again? ”

You belly, so I say this because the current sudden governor Zuo Zongtang is his teacher, if he is willing, he can naturally come to the door to ask to see the governor.

"Brother Peilin, are you sure you want to go to that teacher training?"

Looking at Li Du, Wang Yulin asked with some puzzlement, Li Du is different from him, the Li family has hundreds of acres of fertile land, so naturally there is no need to worry about livelihood, and the reason why Wang Yulin wants to participate in teacher training is to make a living with a salary of five taels of silver a month.

For the children of the poor families in Hunan, the salary of five taels of silver a month is enough for them to maintain the livelihood of the whole family, after all, this imperial examination is still a distant thing, and not everyone is willing to be a "thief official", but there is no psychological burden on being a teacher to educate children, this is not an "official" after all. Although it is also a "thief", the nature of the two is completely different.

"To tell you the truth, brother, I want to go there to see what our Zuo master is selling in the gourd?"

Li Du shook the paper fan in his hand, his eyes were full of suspicion, he couldn't figure out what Zuo Zongtang was thinking, although once upon a time, he was one of Zuo Zongtang's favorite students.

"Each county sets up a model primary school, and the school does not charge tuition, and the children of the people in the city must enroll in the hall to study......"

Reciting the notice that Yu had seen in the county, Li Du said again.

"From ancient times to the present, reading has always been voluntary, and the husband is set up to be private, and the students are bound, so how can there be anything about the official office? But now, our Lord Zuo has ordered the whole province to build a primary school, not only forcing the children of the people to go to school, but also in order to run a school, we will also dismantle the dormitory, the main hall and the statue of the side hall of the City God Temple, and change it into a primary school, which is a little similar to what he did in Changsha, what kind of soldiers are brought by this paragraph......

When the sarcastic words came out of Li Du's mouth, there seemed to be no too much respect for the former teacher in the words, and there was some dissatisfaction with it. The dissatisfaction in his friend's tone made Wang Yulin's mind a little complicated, and he saw that he was about to arrive in Changsha, so he reminded him lightly.

"Brother Peilin, you have to pay attention, just talk about it here, otherwise it will be spread to the ears of Lord Zuo by outsiders, I am afraid that Lord Zuo will not like it, after all, Lord Zuo was Peilin's mentor."

Although Wang Yulin's words seemed to be tactful, they were actually a tactful reminder to him that Zuo Zongtang was his teacher no matter what, and as a disciple, he had to pay attention to his words.

Li Du didn't know about his friend's reminder, he first smiled, then shook his head and said.

"Even if you know it for your teacher, I just have different opinions with my teacher, but I think that at this time, it shouldn't be enough to talk about state affairs, and if everyone is a slave of the government, then I'm afraid that such a teacher will not be in the eyes of the teacher!"

Li Du can be said to know his teacher very well, and it is precisely because of this understanding that he will be so "fearless".

Seeing that his friend didn't understand his advice, Wang Yulin changed the topic and asked.

"Calculate the time, it should be almost to Changsha!"

"Well, according to the time I asked when I got on the boat, it will be almost time to Changsha in two hours! I heard that the Normal School is located in the Gongyuan, but I never thought that the first time you and I went to the Gongyuan, it was ......"

After a slight pause, Li Du shook his head and sighed.

"This tribute courtyard is gone!"

Hunan Gongyuan is gone!

It is precisely because the Hunan Gongyuan was destroyed by Zuo Zongtang that Li Du was extremely dissatisfied with his mentor, how could he be like this as a native of Hunan? If he had followed his previous temper, he even wanted to go to Changsha to question the teacher in person, but in the end he dispelled this idea.

The steamer continues to sail on the Xiangjiang River, and the steamship of more than 100 tons surpasses the wooden ships at a speed of seven or eight knots, although the steamships are constantly expanding their routes with the support of the government, but the wooden ships are still the main force of shipping on the Xiangjiang River and other rivers. Staring at the wooden boats with broken sails, Li Du's brows were tightly locked, thinking that these wooden boats might be eliminated one day, his mind sank slightly, but a thought couldn't help but appear in his heart.

What else will be eliminated in the future?

Imperial examination!

Suddenly, when this word appeared in the bottom of his heart, Li Du's heart was like a thunderclap, and his face was full of fear.

The imperial examination will be eliminated!

Could it be, could it be that this is what the Han Governor thought, and this is the reason why the teacher insisted on changing the Hunan Gongyuan to Hunan Academy?

If it weren't for that, with the teacher's temperament, how could he be so persistent? Even if he was called a "country thief" by the Hunan people, he did not change his heart to abandon the hospital. The understanding of the teacher made Li Du realize for the first time that what he had thought before seemed too simple, if it was just to cancel the tribute court, with the character of the teacher, how could he insist so much, obviously, in addition to the abolition of the tribute court, the governor also has a more far-reaching plan, is this plan to abolish the imperial examination?

But if the imperial examination is abolished, how will officials be elected in the future?

Elect an officer!

Li Du couldn't help but think of the friends around him who had been admitted to various ministries and schools, and then were elected as officials, how could they have been on the right path for the imperial examination? And want to be admitted to the Wuchang ministries run the school, the threshold is extremely low, only need to show talent and fame, and even some schools only need children to apply for the examination, these two years in the government without exception without exception, but this does not prevent them from constantly sending officials, master the place, compared with the past, now Hunan local officials, there are a few people are born in the imperial examination, even if there are occasional prefects, counties for the imperial examination, the various subjects in the room without exception graduated from the new school in Wuchang, and those outstanding people, There are countless people who know the county.

"He, he really wants to abolish the imperial examination...... And this, this elementary school ......"

What is there in this primary school hall is "education and no class", it is basically to prepare for the abolition of the imperial examination, thinking of this, Li Du felt an unprecedented fear for the first time, his lips trembled slightly, and he muttered silently.

"This, this is not, it can't be ......" (To be continued.) )