In the seventeenth year of Guangxu, the Spring Festival is about to pass, and there is a topic spread among the readers on the border between Beijing and Tianjin.

And this is the news, not a big news, just the news of the enrollment of Tianjin Tongwen Hall, no one knows who set it up, looking at this name seems to be somewhat similar to the "Tongwen Hall", which can be different from the official title awarded after graduating from the Tongwen Hall, which is recommended to work in a foreign bank after graduation.

"The monthly salary is no less than dozens of taels!"

Looking at this silver seems to be not much, but in the eyes of those poor children, this is beyond his reach, in the past, I don't know how many people want to enter the foreign bank, but they can't get out, now it's good, there is such a school "specializing in Western learning" not to say, and there is an opportunity to recommend to the foreign bank, how not to make people excited.

The most exciting thing is that this East Asian Tongwen School can not only recommend students to foreign companies, but also do not charge tuition fees and provide meals, this news has just been published in the newspaper, and I don't know how much interest it has aroused, especially those scholars in Beijing who have failed to take the examination in various provinces, are all talking about it in private.

This place is good, not to mention what to learn from the same school, that is, it does not charge tuition and includes food, if you live in the school for a long time, wouldn't you be able to make friends outside the school, visit famous teachers in Beijing and Tianjin, and study articles?

I don't know how many people have their own plans, so they stayed in Tianjin, waiting for the opening of the middle school in the concession, because of the limited number of Chinese in Tianjin, its prosperity is far from being comparable with the Shanghai concession, there is a lot of idle land in the concession, and the land price is very cheap. Even this school site near the sea river. It was also given to the school by the U.S. consul in the form of half sale and half gift.

With the construction of the school building, the school building was built. Enrollment has also begun, and the initial rule is to "gather 200 students"

However, perhaps because of the good response from everyone, the number of teachers has expanded to 400, and their teachers are 12 foreign teachers recruited from Tianjin, Shanghai and other places. The textbooks and teaching content are all based on the textbooks of "Mathematics", "English", "Nature" and "Geography" in Tianjin Church School.

As for the entrance qualifications of this East Asian Tongwen School, there are almost no requirements. "A person who has general knowledge and has learned the text", that is. Regardless of whether he is a child or a talent, as long as he can read the Four Books and the Five Classics, and can write decent articles, he can enter this school, and the tuition fee is completely free as the legend says, and even in addition, the school also pays a monthly allowance of two yuan, which is not only enough for food, but also enough for the daily expenses of a scholar.

Once this news was confirmed, I don't know how many people were shocked. It is not only those scholars who fail to make the list who see this as a place to eat and eat in, and wait for the transition from the annual entrance examination. I don't know how many poor children from poor families regard this as a place to continue their education and even earn a living, after all, this school is not only able to study, but also has a two-yuan stipend.

Early in the morning, Zhao Shiliang came to the Tongwen School in the foreigners' concession by the Haihe River, outside the door of the house with the sign of "Teaching Affairs Department" hanging next to the Western-style gate of the school, there were already many people standing, there were one or two hundred people going out, including many old people with gray beards, today is the day of registration for the Tongwen School, the people in this registration, both teenagers and 56-year-old elders, that is, those who study to make a living, and there are also people who eat and live here.

Just in the expectation of everyone, a young man in a blue and gray robe walked to the crowd, with a small cloisonné medallion hanging on his chest, the card seemed to be the word "East", he looked at the crowd waiting for registration, and frowned.

"All of you are all people who have signed up to study at our school!"

"We are the people who want to sign up for the school!"

As the crowd responded, the young man pointed to the paper on the wall.

"Do you know how to read?"

"Why did this gentleman say that!"

A 50-year-old man with gray sideburns had a look of dissatisfaction on his face, wasn't that saying that they were illiterate?

"Since you are literate, don't you read the first item of the registration conditions listed in the notice? Need to be over fifteen years old, under thirty years old, dare to ask sir, this year's longevity? ”

The young man's words were full of respect, but the tone was full of contempt.

"How can this be true, sage cloud ......"

Before the man could finish speaking, the young man looked at the crowd and said loudly.

"It is not that the school is old enough, but because the students taught by the school are all Western studies, if they fail the exam, not only must they be returned to the school, but our school also reports their academic inadequacy to the Beiyang Yamen, and asks the Yamen to change their reputation......"

As soon as the young man's words came out, those thirty or forty-year-old scholars who were still in the queue and wanted to borrow free food and lodging in the school to stay in Tianjin to visit friends and apprentice left the queue one after another.

"Remove your fame?"

When Zhao Shiliang in the crowd heard this, his eyebrows only raised slightly, and then he had no thoughts, he was just a child who passed the guò county test and the government test, and even his studies were cut off two years ago due to poor family background, what kind of fame? It is also good to study Western studies here, and in the future, I will enter a foreign industry, at least I don't have to worry about my livelihood.

In fact, most of the young people and teenagers who were still waiting outside the school gate had similar thoughts, and while they were waiting outside the school, in the academic affairs department, Li Qingyang, who had blown away hundreds of scholars, was preparing for a while of registration there, and the entrance examination would not be held until the five-day registration was over.

The questions of the entrance examination are not complicated, in fact, there is only one article, and writing an article is not complicated for those children and talents, but for the school, it is hoped that this article will screen out students who can accept Western knowledge. As an official of the Ministry of Education of the Ministry of Education, Li Qingyang knew that both the Tianjin Tongwen Hall and the Tongwen Hall set up in other treaty ports were used as preparatory departments for the East Asian Tongwen College.

It is a preparatory school for the university, and originally according to the plan of adults, in addition to the East Asian Liberal Arts College, the East Asian Institute of Technology will be established, but because of the faculty and the source of students. In the end, only the Department of Science and Engineering was established under the East Asia College of Liberal Arts. And the college has a rate of recruiting students from the country. The reason for this is the establishment of Tongwen schools of different sizes in various treaty ports in China. That is to say, through one year of study, students can basically master English, mathematics and natural science and technology, and then select the best students to be sent to the same college.

Ten days later, when Zhao Shiliang came to Tongwen School again and entered the teaching affairs department, there were more than a dozen people in front of him who were registering, and the person in charge of registration was the young man who bombed hundreds of scholars outside the school that day.

"Your grades are lower than A."

As he spoke, he opened the text in his hand, and Li Qingyang began to explain in detail.

"This is not a bad result, the article is so good. If you study for a few more years, you may not be able to make the list, so why not continue to read? ”

"Back to Mr. Hui's words, the family is poor ......"

For a very common reason, Li Qingyang nodded, and then asked:

"How old are you?"

At this time, he asked a little knowingly, and the age was written on the form in front of him:

"Fourteen-Year-Old ......"

Zhao Shiliang replied in a low voice, this is still a virtual age. Hearing this, Li Qingyang suddenly made a very embarrassed look:

"It's a bit difficult, you're not old enough!"

According to the regulations, it must be over 15 years old. Li Qingyang didn't immediately embarrass him.

"Let's wait until next year!"

Is it possible to work as an apprentice in a restaurant for a year? Thinking about it like this, Zhao Shiliang naturally wanted to go to the academy even more. After all, you can get an allowance of two yuan a month here, which is a deduction of one dollar for food, which is still a lot more than a few hundred yuan a month for restaurant apprentices, and you can still learn here.

"Then there's another way"

At this moment, Li Qingyang's words reached Zhao Shiliang's ears, but he took out a piece of paper and said:

"Give you half an hour, if I memorize this paragraph in English, I'll make an exception."

The so-called exception is actually told by adults that they can be extrajudicial and benevolent, and the premise of extrajudicial benevolence is to be able to quickly memorize a piece of English - whether it is a Tongwen school or a Tongwen college, the teachers and professors are all foreigners, and even the textbooks are also foreign textbooks, which naturally requires them to be proficient in foreign languages, and with the advice of Mr. Gu, a consultant of the Ministry of Education and a professor of literature at the Tongwen College, endorsement is the best way to learn a foreign language well.

Li Qingyang, who graduated from the church school, naturally did not doubt that when he learned foreign languages, he also relied on his back.

"But, but this is a foreign language?"

When he took the paper and looked at it, Zhao Shiliang suddenly felt that his head was big for a while, and he didn't know the foreign text written on it at all.

"Don't know? It's okay, I'll teach you now,"

More than a dozen sentences of English are not complicated, and it is extremely simple for these teenagers who have been learning by rote since childhood, although the speech is not accurate, but half an hour later, Zhao Shiliang still passed the test, and before finally signing up, Li Qingyang asked the last question.

"Now that you have passed the exam, I have another question here, after passing your studies for one year, if the school recommends you to study abroad, will you refuse?"

"Overseas? Where are foreigners? ”

"You answer me, just refuse or accept!"

"What about travel expenses and tuition fees overseas?"

Li Qingyang smiled bitterly in his heart, sure enough, nine out of ten people asked this question, it is really not easy to find someone to study in China, no wonder the matter of children studying in the United States back then was gone, if the same problem was in the church school? I'm afraid there aren't many people in the church who want to study at the East Asia Liberal Arts College, right?

If it's European, American, and Western...... Now Li Qingyang's more important duty is to help the college "deceive" some students, so he settled down and replied:

"Well, naturally, the school is in charge!"

(Regarding the protagonist's school can't recruit students, I want to explain here that China in 1890 was not China in 1900, in fact, in history until 1905, Chinese scholars were still only curious about the West, but they were unwilling to learn modern science, which is also the reason why Zhang Zhidong turned to abolish the imperial examination in history, no one wants to go to a new-style school without abolishing the imperial examination, in this case, the school run by the protagonist, naturally not many people are willing to sign up, Even the Tongwen Hall is just like the military academy and the sailor academy in history, it is just a transit station for those who intend to take the imperial examination, and even Yan Fu, who is known as the first in modern naval knowledge, when he served in the Sailor Academy, he also took leave to go to Beijing to find a famous teacher and seek fame, this is China's reality, and it is also China's sorrow! Having said all that, it's almost the end of the month, ask for a monthly pass! Imperial Sunrise Reader Exchange Group: 150536833 welcome to join! (To be continued......)