Although he already had the idea of "dismantling and merging" in his heart, he could not do it immediately. You must know that a few days ago, Zhang Zhidong had just overturned the teacher system that Zhang Zhidong had worked so hard to build over the years, and if he tossed another of his proud works now, it is estimated that the old man would definitely think: "You kid came to Hubei to set up education?" Or did you dismantle my platform? Although it is not distressing to beat other people's children, Sun Yuanqi still has to consider Zhang Zhidong's feelings.

If you don't do it now, it doesn't mean you stop. After carefully reading the investigation materials, Sun Yuanqi decided to establish an engineering school in his mind based on the Hubei Technology School. After making up his mind, Sun Yuanqi immediately sent someone to the Hubei Arts and Crafts School to send a message to Qian Sui, and asked him to go to the Yamen of the Envoy to mention the school.

Before Qian Sui was promoted to the academy, he was the prefect of the province of Sipin, and when he saw Sun Yuanqi's post, he hurriedly threw away the books in his hand and took a sedan chair to Shuilu Street.

After the guests of honor were seated, Sun Yuanqi said straight to the point: "A few days ago, the Governor's Office forwarded a message from the School Department, asking all provinces to effectively hold industrial schools. Under the supervision of Xiang Shuai, the province has already established a relatively complete industrial education system, and there is no need to worry about people. It's just that I first arrived in Hubei, and I don't know the specific situation of each school, so I want to ask you to introduce the relevant situation of the craft school, and I have a number in my heart."

Qian Sui even said "I don't dare", so he gushed and said: "In the twenty-fourth year of Guangxu (1898), Xiang Shuai saw that the skills of various industrial and mining enterprises in Hubei were relatively backward and could not be produced and manufactured by the new method, so that the profits and rights spilled over and the people's livelihood was poor, so he created this school, in order to adopt the Western method, pay attention to the strength, and open up the atmosphere and benefit the source. At the beginning, the school was under the jurisdiction of the Iron Administration and Foreign Affairs Bureau, and then it gradually became **.

"At the beginning of the preparation, the school invited two Oriental teachers, one in charge of physical chemistry and the other in charge of mechanics. In addition, more than a dozen craftsmen were recruited from the iron factory and the gun factory to help educate the students. Up to now, the school has more than 30 faculty members, which is a leader in various industrial schools in Hubei. ”

Sun Yuanqi took out a pen and paper, wrote down some of the main points casually, and asked, "What majors are there in the school?" ”

"If you go back to adults, there are more than ten crafts in the school, such as steam engines, lathes, sand turning, drawing, woodwork, iron, copper, glass, candles, soap and perfume."

Sun Yuanqi scratched his head a little when he heard this: if you want to talk about steam engines and lathes, they can be regarded as industrial technology; As for woodwork, iron, copper, glass, candles, soaps and perfumes, they are all handicrafts, I originally thought that this school was similar to a technical secondary school or vocational and technical school, but listening to him say this, it looks like a copy of Lanxiang Technical School and New Oriental Cooking in the late Qing Dynasty.

"Where do you recruit students from? How do you go to class? Sun Yuanqi then asked.

Qian Sui replied: "The students are recruited from the children of the gentry and merchants of this province, and they are required to know a little about writing, have read the "Four Books", are between the ages of twelve and sixteen, have a clean family background, and are guaranteed by the masks of the gentry and wealthy businessmen. In the first and second years of entering the school, students will first specialize in one course; By the third year, all the skills are learned. ”

"How much does the school cost each year?"

"The school funds are practical and reimbursable, and they are reported on a monthly basis, but there are no certain rules. At present, 60 students are enrolled every year, the duration of the school is three years, and the number of students enrolled is 180. For more than 100 people, meals, books, paper and pens are all provided by the school, and no other anointing fire will be issued. It was divided evenly every month, and it cost about six hundred taels of silver. The monthly salary of the faculty and staff is a large expenditure, at least 900 taels of silver. Plus other expenses, how can I get 20,000 taels in a year."

Each student only has three taels of silver a month, but each faculty member has thirty taels, a tenfold difference, which makes Sun Yuanqi a little surprised: "Why is there such a huge disparity between faculty and students? ”

Qian Sui replied: "Ordinary miscellaneous servants are only five or six taels of silver a month. Even those craftsmen only have more than ten taels. The key is that a few Oriental teachers will cost two or three hundred taels per person per month, accounting for the majority. ”

After listening to Qian Sui's words, Sun Yuanqi had the idea of kicking away the Japanese teaching of the craft school.

"After listening to Mr. Qian's dictation, I have a general understanding of the craft school. However, the former sages have a cloud, 'The paper is shallow, and I never know that I have to do it.' 'Why don't we take advantage of the time now, let's go to the school together, how about it?' Sun Yuanqi suggested.

"......" leaders have said so, can subordinates object? Qian Sui had no choice but to get up and replied, "It's an honor."

Knowing that the craft school was not very far from the government office, Sun Yuanqi didn't even sit in a sedan chair, and walked all the way with Qian Sui.

The school building of the craft school was originally the office of the Hubei Mulberry Silkworm Bureau, so it doesn't look like a school, and the deep courtyard house looks like a yamen. The two of them entered the door and walked through the shadow wall, but they didn't hear the sound of Langlang books, but there was a burst of "bang-bang" knocking sounds. Qian Sui was a little embarrassed: "The craft school has always been mainly familiar with the methods of various crafts, and as for physics, chemistry, arithmetic and painting, I usually learn little. ”

"What about Japanese teaching? What do you usually do? ”

Qian Sui said: "The Japanese teacher thinks that the curriculum is too dense and is reluctant to take classes. Every time there were a little more classes, they shouted that they wanted to quit, so they had to arrange fewer subjects such as physics and chemistry......"

Following the sound, Sun Yuan got up and went to a classroom. Before I got closer, the strong smell of copper came to my face. I saw that the ground and shelves in the house were full of all kinds of copper pots, copper basins, and copper kettles. More than a dozen teenagers were swinging hammers, thinning and bending the copper pieces in their hands, and the fifty or sixty-year-old master next to them walked back and forth, giving a few words of guidance from time to time.

It was already July and August, and there was a stove in the house that melted scrap copper, and the windows were not very ventilated, and it was very hot. The teenagers were sweating profusely, and they all took off their shirts and wore only a pair of shorts. It doesn't matter if everyone sees it on weekdays, but I didn't want to let the scholar meet it today, it's really "Sven sweeping the floor"

Qian Sui felt that his face was gloomy, so he wanted to go in and scold him angrily. Sun Yuanqi waved his hand: "It's hot, take off your clothes and cool down, anyway, there is no one else here." Let's not go in and join in the fun."

With that, he took the lead and walked to the back hall to see what the other students were doing. As soon as he passed the corner gate, he was hit by a small middle-aged man who was walking slowly and hurriedly, Sun Yuanqi was fine, the person stumbled and almost fell on his stomach.

Before Sun Yuan could speak, the man glared angrily: "What kind of land are you doing?" If you can't walk, where are your eyes? ”

Yo, little Japan, you hit me, and you still blow your beard and stare at me?

Sun Yuanqi didn't have time to speak, and the little man caught his eyes when he saw Qian Sui following behind, and immediately shouted angrily: "Qian Sang, the students of your academy, their conscience has greatly damaged my class, they don't listen to the class, but instead question and ridicule me. Rotten wood can't be carved, in short, I have to resign."

Qian Sui didn't care about him, but introduced Sun Yuanqi and said: "This is Mr. Takahashi, the physical chemistry teacher of the school." ”

Sun Yuanqi frowned: "Mr. Takahashi, why did the students question and laugh at you?" ”

Takahashi didn't look at Sun Yuanqi squarely, so he snorted angrily and said, "You can't take care of it."

Qian Sui was afraid that Sun Yuan would get angry, so he hurriedly asked, "Yes, Mr. Takahashi, how can the students question and laugh at you?" ”

Takahashi then replied, "I said, copper, red." But the student said, "Copper, red, white, cyan, yellow, I commented, it was mixed with paint." They work hard in a hurry."

When Sun Yuanqi heard this, he couldn't help but laugh.

Takahashi was even more angry: "What are you laughing at anyway, Qian Sang, the students don't apologize, I absolutely have to resign"

Sun Yuanqi smiled, turned around and said to Qian Sui: "Okay, Master Qian, you just let him resign." ”

"This ......" Qian Sui hesitated.

"Don't worry, I can't find a new teacher, I'll teach the students in person"

Seeing that Sun Yuanqi said categorically, Qian Sui could only turn his head and say to Takahashi: "Okay, Mr. Takahashi, the school accepts your resignation"

"Ahh

After returning from the craft school, Sun Yuanqi generally felt very satisfied, although the students' cultural quality was not high, but their lively and cheerful and hands-on ability made their eyes shine. It is believed that by making up for the theoretical knowledge, they are guaranteed to be able to become a qualified technician who can not only operate practically, but also participate in scientific research.

However, how to make up for theoretical knowledge is a big problem, involving the hiring of teachers, the purchase of teaching materials, the design of courses, the extension of the school system, and so on, and the most indirect consequence is the increase in the cost of running the school. According to the calculations of Sun Yuanqi, Yang Du and Zhang Shizhao, if all the courses are completed, the school-running funds will need to increase by at least 15,000 taels of silver every year.

The secretary of education has no financial power, and all the expenses are allocated by the governor's office, one radish and one pit. Now that I have a new plan, I can only apply to the Governor's Office again.

Sun Yuanqi came to the Governor's Office with the "Hubei Arts and Crafts School Expansion Plan", and happened to be the envoy Liang Dingfen was also there. Zhang Zhidong looked at the excerpt and handed it to Liang Dingfen on the side: "Xinghai, you can also take a look"

Liang Dingfen looked at it, and respectfully handed the fold back to Zhang Zhidong. Zhang Zhidong asked casually: "Xinghai, what do you think of Baixi's discussion?" ”

Sun Yuanqi sat on the side, where would Liang Dingfen say bad things: "The reform of Baixi Xuezhi is to the point, turning decay into magic, and it is naturally excellent." It's just a little bit ......."

Zhang Zhidong nodded: "Yes, now Huguang's finances are tight, and the left and right are weak, I'm afraid I can't do it." ”

Sun Yuanqi was a little speechless: Others dare to say that there is no money, and you Zhang Zhidong also dare to say that there is no money? Who doesn't know that you are the head of the "Three Massacres" in the late Qing Dynasty

At the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, there were "three massacres", which refers to the three massacres in Jiading, one of the famous atrocities committed by the Manchu Qing Dynasty after entering the customs. At the end of the Qing Dynasty, there were "three massacres", but they referred to three feudal officials: Nanpi (Zhang Zhidong) Tucai, Xiangcheng (Yuan Shikai) Tumin, and Xilin (Cen Chunxuan) Tuguan.

Zhang Zhidong, who has the reputation of "slaughtering money", will have no money? Isn't this the great fallacy of the world and the great ridiculousness of the world?