In China, there are two places that pay the most attention to ranking, one is the sports field, and the other is the officialdom. The latter, in particular, has reached the point of reaching its peak. From the position of the label on the table during a meeting to the order in which a serious issue is decided, the order must be carefully drawn up according to the size of the leader. If you overstep the slightest, it will be considered rude, **. So much so that some smart people can analyze who is proud and who is defeated by Maicheng just from the order in which the names of the leaders are displayed in the newspapers.

And after thousands of years of baptism, this concept of dignity and order has long been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. It was to watch the performance that there was a fire, and the life was in danger, and the people on the side did not forget to shout: "Let the leader go first" This can be seen.

It is said that when Sun Yuan got off the ship, he saw the expulsion crowd, and there was no master of ceremonies to command, so it was naturally neatly displayed: those wearing official uniforms were at the front, the other well-dressed villagers were next to the second, and the outermost were ordinary expulsees and some spectators who did not know the truth. Everything is orderly, and the only discordant factor on the scene is that a certain official at the front of the queue is pulling and pulling with people, humility to each other. Seeing that Sun Yuanqi was about to approach, the official had no choice but to let go and walk in the front.

When he first came to Hubei, Sun Yuanqi was like Sister Lin who had just arrived in Jiafu, so she was naturally cautious everywhere. At this time, I hurriedly looked at the person who came, and saw that he was around seventy years old, with a gray beard, and at first I thought that Zhang Zhidong, the governor of Huguang, had come to expel him personally, and then I thought of what Yang Du said himself: Since when he was in Shanghai, Zhang Zhidong had arranged for his henchman "Mrs. Yipin" Zhao Fengchang to be expelled at the dock; In addition, he is already seventy years old, and he is a feudal official from Yipin, so it is unlikely that he will lower his price and wait for Sun Yuanqi at Hankou Wharf in person.

Sun Yuanqi thought of this, and his eyes turned to look at the complement on the man's official uniform, and it was indeed not the auspicious crane sunrise picture full of auspicious clouds like the first-class master, but the same brocade rooster greeting the sun as himself. I already guessed in my heart that the person who came should be Li Minchen, the political envoy of Hubei.

Since everyone is from the second grade, it saves countless troubles. Sun Yuanqi bowed his hand and asked An Dao: "I've been tired of Li Fantai for a long time, Sun is really ashamed to be ashamed."

Li Minchen also bowed in return: "Sun Xuezhi has been dusty all the way, and the carriage and horses are tiring. Li is just a little bit of a moment, how dare he call it hard? Come on, let me introduce you first, this is the eldest son of Xiang Shuai, and he was ordered to invite the envoy to welcome the two of them, so you might as well get to know each other. ”

It turned out that it was Zhang Zhidong's eldest son who was pulling with Li Minchen, and it was also said that in the Hubei territory, how many people would dare to tear up with the political envoy?

Before Sun Yuanqi had time to give a salute, the man preempted a long bow: "Student Zhang Renquan is ordered by his father to welcome the envoy to Hubei Province."

In other words, Zhang Renquan's original name is not like this. When he was just born in the tenth year of Xianfeng (1860), his father Zhang Zhidong used the sentence "can be established with the right" in the "Analects" to name him Zhang Quan, and the word Junli. How do you know that his political enemies attacked Zhang Zhidong on this basis, and wanted to "establish a king" and "hold (Zhang) power", and asked Zhang Zhidong to punish the nine clans. For a time, Zhang Zhidong was in a very passive position, but fortunately, the Qing court did not pursue the matter. Afterwards, Zhang Zhidong, who had palpitations, added the word "benevolence" to his name, which became today's Zhang Renquan.

Although Zhang Renquan calls himself a "student", he is actually forty-six or seventeen years old. In terms of age alone, Sun Yuanqi didn't dare to hold him up, so he hurriedly supported him at the moment: "Mr. Zhang is polite, I don't know how Xiangshuai and his old man are recently?" ”

"My father's body is still quite strong, but he has been busy with official business recently, so he can't take time out to come to expel him in person, and I hope that the scholar will make the master Haihan" Zhang Renquan replied respectfully, and asked: "Is Shouzhou Zhongtang healthy?" ”

"Uncle and grandfather, his old man is in good health, thank you Mr. Zhang for your care" Between the questions and answers, Sun Yuanqi looked at Zhang Renquan slightly: it was a little twilight, and there was nothing brilliant between his eyebrows and eyes.

Compared with the Zeng Guofan brothers, Li Hongzhang brothers, and Sun Jianai brothers, the descendants of Zhang Zhidong and Zhang Zhiwan brothers do not have too many dazzling figures. Among Zhang Zhidong's thirteen sons, the most "famous" is probably Zhang Renli, who once served as the mayor of Wang and the puppet North China Political Affairs Committee, and was executed by the people's government in 1951. And Zhang Renli's daughter is Mr. Zhang Houcang, a professor at Beijing Normal University and a famous psychologist.

As he was talking, another official of the same age as Zhang Renquan came over, and greeted him very familiarly: "Master Scholar, you came just in time." Now that the imperial examination is abolished and the school is built, who is good at this way, who will give up respect? The father of Hubei Province has been looking forward to the monarch for a long time."

can interject casually at this time, thinking about it, there is only another deputy provincial-level cadre - according to the inspector Liang Dingfen, and he can't be replaced by the governor of Hubei Grain Road and the prefect of Wuchang Mansion. You must know that in Zhang Zhidong's career in the sea, Liang Dingfen, as one of the most powerful staff, constantly did his best to make wind and rain for him, and block the wind and rain. Zhang Zhidong also reciprocated to him, and he was very important, and recently he was promoted to be the envoy of Hubei Province.

Sun Yuanqi pretended to glance at his official uniform unintentionally, and sure enough, it was the peacock dance day of the three-grade civil official, and he hurriedly saluted: "The two adults from Xiangshuai to Fantai and Zhentai are the first to advocate new education.

Zhang Zhidong founded new schools in Sichuan and Hubei, which is well known and goes into no detail.

According to Yang Du's introduction to Sun Yuanqi, Li Minchen served as the superintendent of the Peiyang University Hall from 1896 to 1903 (similar to today's president); As for Liang Dingfen, it is even more amazing, when Zhang Zhidong founded the Lianghu Academy in Hubei in 1892, he served as a history teacher, teaching middle school. After that, Liang Dingfen was in charge of transforming the Lianghu Academy into the Lianghu Higher School and the Lianghu General Normal School, and served as the school supervisor and the general promotion of the Hubei Student Affairs Office. Like Sun Yuanqi, he has only recently entered officialdom from the education sector.

Li Minchen answered at this time: "Don't be in a hurry if you have something to say, wait for the banquet to come slowly, Sun Xuezhi, I will introduce you to the Hubei official gentry who are present today."

Under the guidance of Li Minchen and Liang Dingfen, Sun Yuanqi got to know the Hubei Governor of the Grain Road, the Governor of Wuchang Prefecture, the Governor of Hankou, this Taoist, that Tongzhi and other officials.

After greetings, despite their physical exhaustion, they followed them to a restaurant on Guishan Mountain, where they were drunk before being sent back to the backyard of the Hubei Embassy on Shuilu Street in Wuchang.

Early the next morning, tired and drunk, Sun Yuan fell asleep to death. When he was getting better, he felt that someone kept shaking himself, and when he tried to open his eyes, it was Yang Du. After struggling a few times, he sat up and asked, "Huizi, what's the matter?" ”

"Baixi, today is the first day in Wuchang, I have to hurry up to visit Lord Xiangshuai," Yang Du said hurriedly.

Sun Yuanqi sighed secretly: It's really not free

In desperation, I had to get up and wash. has changed into a new official uniform, out of the courtyard, before he ordered Lao Zhao to set the carriage, I saw a soap cover, soap curtain, and silver-topped eight-lift sedan chair parked outside the door, and couldn't help but praise: "Lao Zhao, are you Xiao Zhuge ah?" There was a foresight when to hire a sedan chair? ”

Lao Zhao snorted and said: "Master, it's not me, this is the sedan chair for you in the yamen......"

originally thought that he would be able to go, but Yang Du also followed. Seeing that he is dressed very neatly today, he is dressed in a fish-white silk robe, plus a peach blossom sprinkled gold paper fan in his hand, and he actually has the posture of a jade tree in the wind. Only then did I remember that Yang Du had also worked as a staff member in Zhang Zhidong's mansion a few years ago, and the two were naturally familiar.

The thorn was handed in, and he was soon invited into the house. Zhang Zhidong was wearing an official uniform, wearing a cool hat with dazzling eyes, his face was serious, a white beard hung down to his chest, and he sat on the Taishi chair with a golden sword. After Sun Yuanqi kowtowed to say goodbye, he said slowly: "The old man and Shouzhou Zhongtang have a very good friendship, a few days ago, the old man got his letter, let the old man treat you as a grandchild, and teach him strictly." Therefore, today's gift to the old man was born."

Looking at his more serious demeanor, Sun Yuanqi couldn't help but cry out "bitter" in his heart

Next, it's nothing more than gossip, asking the boss about his physical condition, discussing the scenery along the way, and talking about the customs of Hubei. and Yang Du reminisced about the old days, and Lala was homely. After talking for half an hour, Zhang Zhidong's voice changed: "Baixi, this time I will be appointed as the envoy of Hubei, I don't know what your plans are?" ”

Sun Yuanqi had already discussed this issue with Yang Du on the passenger ship on the Yangtze River, and he was naturally confident: "My lord, the younger generation has just arrived, and the first task is to guard against arrogance and rashness, be familiar with the situation, and plan before acting." There are two main tasks in the near future, one is to roughly build up the various yamen under the Ministry of Learning; One is to take a walk around the following prefectures and counties to investigate how education is in Hubei Province. Only after these two things have been done can further planning be made. ”

Zhang Zhidong nodded: "Well, this is a safe way, young people are strong, and it is good to have the courage to do things, but the most taboo is to be angry." You have the help of the skin, and you can make no big mistakes. Before, the old man also heard that the queen mother and the emperor allow you to act cheaply. However, the people of Hubei are brittle and easy to mess up, so the old man still has to advise you to think twice before doing anything, and don't be reckless."

When it comes to this, words are enough. So Zhang Zhidong raised the teacup, and the two of them left with a sense of humor.

According to the regulations of the previous department, the Department of Enlightenment is divided into six departments: the general affairs department for the management of documents and teaching materials; In charge of the special department of university and scientific research; In charge of the general subjects of teacher training, primary and secondary education; In charge of vocational education, survey and statistics; Library section for the management of books and instruments; Accounting Department for the management of finance and the establishment of the school. In addition, there was a school office, which was an institution where the local gentry discussed education.

Sun Yuanqi was in control of the overall situation for the first time, and only then did he feel that in addition to the Academic Affairs Office, the other six subjects were very important, and he didn't want to fake it. But there is no way to decentralize power, after all, I don't have so many available talents on hand. As the former general manager of the Hubei Student Affairs Office, Liang Dingfen volunteered to "recommend" the section chiefs of the four sections to himself.