1900: A physics genius wandering around Europe

Chapter 174 There are always blind people who come out to provoke
On January 1904, 1, Nagaoka Hantaro and the delegation, led by Vice President Yu Shimei, first visited Guangdong University.

The current Guangdong University has just been integrated, and there is still a faint smell of lime on the outside of several teaching buildings.

According to Li Qiwei's academic system, Guangdong University will officially start school in September this year.

So there are no students or teachers on campus now.

Since there was no college entrance examination in the Qing Dynasty, the students admitted were mainly graduates from previous higher education institutions, which was equivalent to high school students in later generations.

The enrollment work is also in full swing.

Yu Shimei introduced the educational philosophy and curriculum setting of Guangdong University to Nagaoka Hantaro.

This typical science and engineering university established during the Qing Dynasty received special attention from Hantaro Nagaoka.

He knew that in the current Qing Dynasty, there was a saying that "the north is big and the south is vast".

Imperial University of Peking is a symbol of universities in the Qing Dynasty and has irreplaceable significance.

Guangdong University was established at the suggestion of Li Qiwei. It focuses on the teaching of practical science and engineering and cultivates technical talents.

As the first pilot university, Guangdong University can pursue uniqueness and unconventionality in its educational approach.

As long as the content taught publicly did not have a negative impact on the Qing Dynasty's rule, the Qing court gave Li Qiwei a great deal of discretion.

Principal Li Qiwei has enormous power.

For example, as soon as he took office, he immediately appointed Yu Shimei, the historian of education in Guangdong, as the vice president of Guangdong University, responsible for the overall work of the school.

And with the introduction of Yu Shimei, students at Guangdong University can change their majors at will during their freshman and sophomore years.

When Nagaoka Hantaro and the members of the delegation heard this, they found it incredible.

Yu Shimei said proudly: "Lord Li, the Minister of Education, believes that education should be free and should not be subject to excessive government control."

Ishihara Jun quickly took out a pen to write it down. This was the innovation of Qing Dynasty education.

Nagaoka Hantaro nodded slightly, obviously he didn't expect to be so shocked as soon as he arrived in Qing Dynasty.

In real history, after the Meiji Restoration, the Sakura Country proposed the overall goal of "enriching the country and strengthening the military, developing industry and commerce, and promoting civilization and enlightenment."

This goal is also the guiding ideology of their education reform.

In 1871, the Meiji government established the Ministry of Education, which was responsible for managing the country's cultural and educational affairs.

After the Ministry of Education was established, it immediately began to reform the school system.

In 1872, the Ministry of Education promulgated the "School System Order", deciding to divide the country into eight university districts.

Each university district has one university and 1 secondary school districts, and each secondary school district is divided into 32 primary school districts.

The administrative management of education is completely centralized, that is, the Ministry of Education manages all schools and establishes an Inspectorate of Schools.

However, this plan encountered huge obstacles during its implementation, and the centralized education system made the local school very dissatisfied.

Later in 1879, the "School System Order" was abolished and the Ministry of Education re-issued the "Education Order".

This was the second attempt by the Sakura Country to establish a national education system.

The Education Order relaxed the central government's bureaucratic control over local education and instead delegated education management rights to local governments, with local residents electing education committees to manage schools.

However, in the second year, the Education Order was revised and the central government of Sakura Country strengthened its control over public education.

In 1886, the Meiji government promulgated the "School Order", which included the "University Order" and the "Normal School Order".

The Normal School Order stipulates that normal schools should place special emphasis on cultivating the temperament of obedience, trustworthiness, love and dignity in terms of morality.

Military gymnastics training was given to teacher trainees, the schools were transformed into barracks, and the nationalist ideas of "loyalty to the emperor and patriotism" were instilled into the people of the Sakura Country.

All these laid the groundwork for the Sakura Country to go to extremes later on.

Therefore, Nagaoka Hantaro felt incredible about the model of Guangdong University.

In his impression, the Qing Dynasty was a feudal country that paid particular attention to the control of thoughts. How could it allow Li Qiwei to carry out reforms at will?

If Li Qiwei were here, he could certainly explain Nagaoka Hantaro's doubts.

But now he is still in the principal's office dealing with things.

As the imperial tutor of the Qing Emperor, how could Li Qiwei take Nagaoka Hantaro around the campus like a tour guide?

This task naturally fell to Yu Shimei.

After the visit, the two sides will conduct formal academic exchanges.

At that time, Li Qiwei, as the president of Guangdong University, would receive Nagaoka Hantaro and his party.

Although the other party is only a university professor, he represents a country after all, so it is appropriate for the president to come forward.

In fact, the question about Nagaoka Hantaro is caused by the cultural differences between the East and the West. (It is inconvenient to elaborate)

Although the Qing Dynasty was a feudal country, its special historical and political environment made it a typical small government.

What this means is that although the Qing Dynasty seemed very large, there were very few things that the central government could govern.

With foreign powers outside and powerful aristocrats and Han officials inside, a strange political balance was formed.

No one can make arbitrary decisions, not even Cixi.

This is especially true in the field of education.

The Eight Banners descendants of the Qing Dynasty have been turned into waste.

Asking them to learn Western scientific knowledge and manage schools is even more bizarre than asking a sow to climb a tree.

Therefore, the field of education was still dominated by Han elites, but was also restricted by the general direction of the Qing Dynasty. Due to various factors, the education in the Qing Dynasty was very similar to that in Europe at that time.

Especially universities, they have very strong autonomy.

In his education reform outline, Ridgway particularly advocated the benefits of this system and cited Cambridge University and Oxford University as examples.

He successfully persuaded those in power in the court.

But the situation in the Sakura Country at this time was completely different, as it did not have the conditions of the Qing Dynasty.

Nagaoka Hantaro could only envy silently in his heart. As a scientific researcher, he certainly understood the significance of Guangdong University.

At this moment, he felt a little worried.

It seems that Li Qiwei is not only extremely smart, but also good at education.

He almost copied the methods of Western countries, and the key is that he adapted well to them.

I just don’t know what will happen when school actually starts.

Nagaoka Hantaro has made up his mind that after returning to China, he will keep a close eye on the development of Guangdong University.

After the tour, Yu Shimei led the delegation to the reception room that had been prepared in advance.

After a while, Li Qiwei came in, followed by He Yujie, Xia Yuanzhao and Xu Qitai.

Nagaoka Hantaro stood up and looked at the three people behind him, guessing that they should be Li Qiwei's three direct disciples.

The three of them looked ordinary and had no aggressive aura.

But looking at Li Qiwei, he was completely different from the one he was at the banquet last night.

At this moment, Li Qiwei walked with the gait of a tiger, and at a height of 1.8 meters he was the tallest in the conference room.

He exuded a powerful aura that made people dare not look directly at him, and it made everyone in the room feel breathless.

It is the energy field that is naturally formed when one's own strength reaches a certain level, and it can influence the will of those around him.

Nagaoka Hantaro, who is only 1.65 meters tall, is a whole head shorter than Li Qiwei.

He could clearly feel the gleam of light in Li Qiwei's eyes, as if it could penetrate people's hearts.

This man is scarier than I imagined!
In Shimei's view, this scene was a great boost to his morale.

After the two sides shook hands, formal academic exchanges began.

Before Li Qiwei could give his opening remarks, a discordant voice suddenly emerged from the Sakura Country delegation.

"Humph, I just heard you guys bragging so much, but now you haven't even recruited any students."

"A newly established university could become the hallmark of the Qing Dynasty, which shows how backward the education in the Qing Dynasty was."

"Professor Nagaoka, I really don't understand what's worth visiting here."

"The so-called university in Qing Dynasty is probably not as good as a high school in Sakura Country."

As soon as he finished speaking, the young He Yujie and others immediately became furious and wanted to slam the table on the spot, but were stopped by Li Qiwei's eyes.

Even the mature and steady Yu Shimei's expression changed instantly and he looked towards the person who spoke.

He was a young man who looked to be in his 30s. He had a sinister look in his eyes and one could feel his hatred and contempt for the Qing Dynasty.

Nagaoka Hantaro's expression did not change at all, but he said calmly: "Professor Nogami, this is an academic exchange meeting between the two countries, please be aware of the occasion."

Nogami Shinsuke didn't care about what Nagaoka Hantaro said, and still looked at Li Qiwei provocatively.

In his eyes, Li Qiwei was just an inferior person in the Qing Dynasty and was not worthy of talking about science at all.

That’s right, this is a fool like Jun Ishihara before, arrogant and conceited, looking down on the Qing Dynasty and, by the way, looking down on Li Qiwei.

At a young age, Shinsuke Nogami became a law professor at Kyoto Imperial University in the Sakura Country. He was successful at a young age and always judged people by their noses.

In addition, he was a law major and knew nothing about physics, so he naturally had no idea of ​​Li Qiwei's status in the academic world.

His status was equal to that of Nagaoka Hantaro, but because the latter was so famous, he became the person in charge of this visit.

However, this does not mean that Nagaoka Hantaro has the right to order Nogami Shinsuke to shut up.

However, Nagaoka Hantaro was happy to see the other side openly provoke him and create enemies for him.

Because Nogami Shinsuke is a typical person who values ​​literature over science.

He believes that the country should be managed by liberal arts students, and science and engineering students just need to work honestly.

Moreover, he graduated from the Law School of Kyoto Imperial University, and it is certain that he will enter politics and become an imperial bureaucrat in the future.

So, he actually looked down on Nagaoka Hantaro.

What's the use of being famous? It's just that the country is deliberately praising you and using you as a pawn.

In the eyes of politicians, honor without any substantial benefits is just a means to fool those dull and honest smart people.

Today, we are facing the newly built campus of Guangdong University and the difficult situation it faced when it was just starting out.

Shinsuke Nogami couldn't help his inner sense of superiority and directly mocked him.

In his eyes, everyone present is trash.

For a moment, the atmosphere in the conference room suddenly became solemn.

(End of this chapter)