1900: A physics genius wandering around Europe

Chapter 193 Education, children, country, everything is reborn

After solving the problem of education funding, Li Qiwei began to carry out drastic reforms in other areas.

The first is the issue of international students.

During this era, the Qing Dynasty's official favorite country for studying abroad was the Land of Cherry Blossoms.

According to statistics, in 1896, the Qing government sent the first batch of students to study in Japan, which consisted of only 13 people.

By 1904, the number had skyrocketed to more than 2000.

As of now, there is no exact number because the number of people is too large, but the total number is definitely more than 1.

Of course, most of them pay for it themselves.

If nothing unexpected happens, the organization that will change the country's history for decades to come should be established in a few months.

Its main members were students studying in Japan during the Qing Dynasty.

But what Li Qiwei needed was scientific talents, and Sakura Country had basically nothing to do with science at that time.

So, he chose Europe, including Britain, France, Germany, etc.

You know, he also set up a Chinese student aid fund at Cambridge University in the UK. If he doesn't send international students there, it would be a big loss.

With his influence in Europe, sending international students to study there will surely be welcomed by all schools.

Moreover, Western countries, including the Land of Sakura, very much welcomed the Qing Dynasty's actions.

Because they are confident that these international students will be influenced by their home countries, and when they return to their countries and take power, they will be more inclined to favor the country where they studied in terms of policies.

After all, in this era, those who can go abroad to study are definitely not from the lower class, and will definitely become middle and high-level officials of the country in the future.

This will also lead to many unclear relationships between China and the Cherry Blossom Country in the next few decades.

Now, when the governments of Britain, France, Germany and other countries received Li Qiwei's request, they immediately paid close attention to the matter and expressed warm welcome.

Li Qiwei immediately submitted a memorial to the court, stating the pros and cons, and obtained the approval of Manchu rulers such as Cixi and Guangxu.

The imperial court ordered that each province should pay the expenses required for international students.

Li Qiwei also stipulated that all European government-funded students must work as lecturers at domestic universities for five years after returning to their home countries before they can be free.

Self-funded students are not subject to this restriction.

In extraordinary times, Li Qiwei certainly cannot miss any resources.

These people must contribute to the country, otherwise what is the point of studying abroad? It is impossible to simply improve your personal abilities.

Therefore, Li Qiwei selected a group of students from Guangdong Province and sent them to Cambridge University, University of Paris, University of Berlin, etc.

Although these people are not part of his Spark Plan, they are still crucial to the country's development.

The second is to establish and improve a scientific reward system.

The award here does not refer to the selection of professional titles such as professor, but rather a professional evaluation of the achievements of scientific and technological workers.

In this era, not only in China, but even in Europe there is no such national reward system.

That’s why when the Nobel Prize is announced, it causes such a big sensation.

For scientists, the honor of an award far outweighs the material of the award itself.

Moreover, rewards can stimulate competitive awareness and increase enthusiasm for scientific research.

Li Qiwei proposed the establishment of national science and technology awards and provincial science and technology awards.

The court should give adequate rewards to outstanding individuals and teams.

This move has been unanimously agreed upon by almost all universities in the country.

Even several bigwigs in the department supported Li Qiwei.

They are not concerned about the reward, but that Li Qiwei is too troublesome.

But this kind of turmoil is a good thing for the department. The more things it can manage, the greater the power of the department.

All the suggestions in Li Qiwei's memorial were aimed at expanding the boundaries of the ministry's power.

There is indeed a lot of room for development in the field of education.

In addition, Ridgwell also called on society to encourage private individuals to establish scientific awards, just like the Nobel Prize in the West.

Thanks to Ridgwell, even ordinary people in China are now familiar with the Nobel Prize.

He listed many benefits, which made many wealthy people eager to make a move.

In order to deceive... no... to optimize the domestic scientific research environment, Li Qiwei has also put a lot of effort into it.

Soon, he invested 1 taels in his own name to establish the Li Qiwei Award.

Like the Nobel Prize, this award is specifically given to those who have made outstanding contributions in the field of natural sciences.

But unlike the Nobel Prize, the Ridgway Prize does not have a fixed research field.

Regardless of physics, chemistry, mathematics, biology, or materials, as long as it falls within the scope of natural sciences, it is eligible for selection.

In the early days, the selection of this award was very rough, and as long as Li Qiwei agreed, the award could be given.

At first, although many people in China admired Li Qiwei's status as a grandmaster of Western studies, they did not take the award seriously.

But decades later, when a white-haired old man tremblingly took out a slightly wrinkled and yellowed piece of paper from the drawer, everyone immediately stood in awe.

That was the certificate for winning the first Li Qiwei Award.

Although the old man's achievements seemed very superficial to people at that time, he might not have been qualified to win the award at all.

But the significance it represents is extraordinary. It has witnessed the great journey of the rise of Chinese science and its standing at the top of the world.

This was something Li Qiwei had not expected. What he was thinking about now was how to tap the potential of college students.

His third reform measure was a strict graduation system.

Li Qiwei adopted the university graduation defense system in Guangdong.

We will resolutely put an end to any behavior that wastes resources and wastes space.

Gradually, he was called Demon Li among his students.

Many universities in neighboring provinces took a look at this and said, "Wow, this is a good system."

What kind of place is a university? How can such a sacred place for studying allow lazy and unruly people to stay here?

In this way, Li Qiwei carried out in-depth educational reforms with Guangdong as the base.

It was basically based on the quick-learning system of later generations, including the division of liberal arts and science, the sea of ​​questions, etc. He even planned to try out a small-scale college entrance examination in Guangdong to select outstanding talents.

But he also knew that he couldn't act too hastily, otherwise it might end up being a case of forcing things to happen.

Although he wanted to immediately have hundreds of millions of science and engineering students in the country, that was unrealistic.

The road must be walked step by step, and the meal must be eaten one bite at a time.

When Li Qiwei was busy with these things every day, a piece of news made him rush back home regardless of everything.

"Lu Yao, Xiang Lan, is it true that you two are pregnant at the same time?"

Li Qiwei was dancing with excitement. After so much hard work for so long, he finally reaped the rewards.

Wang Luyao smiled sweetly and said, "Of course it's true. The doctor said that our pregnancy times were almost the same."

Li Qiwei laughed. It was understandable. After all, it was a Saturday and a Sunday, so they were very close.

"It's August now, and the baby should be born in April next year."

"My husband, have you decided what to name your child?"

After Wang Luyao finished asking the questions, Xiang Lan just smiled foolishly beside him. She just listened to the young master.

Li Qiwei put his arms around the two of them and said with a smile, "I've already thought of a name."

"For boys, the generational order is [Cheng], and the order is [Daode Renyi Li Zhixin]."

"Girls, choose nice reduplicated words from the Book of Songs, such as Zhen Zhen, You You, Guan Guan, Yao Yao, etc."

"My sons, although you will be engaged in scientific careers in the future, you must not forget the excellent traditional qualities of China."

"As for our daughters, I want them to be happy all their lives and become carefree princesses."

Both women covered their mouths and laughed. Wang Luyao joked, "You're still a princess? I think you want to be an emperor. Where are the three palaces and six courtyards?"

Li Qiwei scratched his head awkwardly and swore immediately, "I will only love you two in this life."

Women's minds are very developed and active during pregnancy, so you must follow their thoughts, otherwise they will easily become depressed.

Li Qiwei had seen this news on the Internet in his previous life, so even if it was a joke from Wang Luyao, he would take it seriously and make a promise.

"Lu Yao, after you give birth to your baby, if you feel bored, you can go to Shanhe Primary School to be a teacher."

Wang Luyao was very happy, "Wow, really? I can be a teacher too?"

"It's just a matter of my saying something. Now the country has relaxed the rules and women can go to school and become teachers."

"And you, Xianglan, you have to go to school too, but not as a teacher, but as a student."

"If we don't learn some scientific knowledge, how will we educate our children in the future?"

"Ah?" Xiang Lan suddenly looked worried.

When they were in the UK, Li Qiwei planned to teach Xiang Lan some scientific knowledge, but she was unwilling to do so because it was too difficult.

However, now that Li Qiwei has raised the banner of the child, no matter how much Xiang Lan resists, she will have no choice but to learn.

Li Qiwei was immersed in the joy brought by his child and even worked harder.

However, an event that shocked the whole country instantly made him feel deeply moved and sigh.

On July 1905, 7, in order to cope with domestic and international pressure on "constitutionalism", the Qing Dynasty had to decide to send ministers abroad to study the politics of various countries.

On September 9, the five ministers who were sent abroad by the edict of Empress Dowager Cixi: Zai Ze, Duke of Zhenguo, Dai Hongci, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, Xu Shichang, Vice Minister of the Ministry of War, Duan Fang, Governor of Hunan, and Shao Ying, Right Prime Minister of the Ministry of Commerce, set out from Zhengyangmen Station in Beijing and embarked on an overseas inspection.

This was in preparation for the upcoming constitutional monarchy.

However, just as the five ministers boarded the train and hooked up their luggage, a deafening explosion suddenly occurred in the carriage.

The scene was instantly in a mess, with blood and flesh flying everywhere, it was a horrible sight.

Immediately afterwards, the rescue workers got on the car to check for casualties.

In the explosion, Zai Ze and Shao Ying were seriously injured, while Duan Fang, Xu Shichang and Dai Hongci were basically unharmed.

The initiator of the explosion was discovered by the patrol on the train and had to detonate the bomb in advance, which resulted in him being unable to evacuate and being killed on the spot.

After the incident, governors and governors-general from all over the country called the court one after another, speculating that it was the work of the revolutionaries.

"This must have been done by the revolutionaries. They were afraid that if the government implemented the new policy and carried out constitutional reform, their revolutionary tricks would gradually fade away, so they did this outrageous act."

The explosion interrupted the plan of the Five Ministers. The Qing government wanted to order the cancellation of the plan, but at the insistence of the constitutionalists, it was restarted.

However, this incident effectively deterred the Qing Dynasty.

For a time, the entire capital was under martial law. All Qing ministers felt insecure, and princes and nobles stepped up patrols in their residences.

Li Qiwei knew why the revolutionaries wanted to carry out the assassination.

Because in their view, the so-called constitutionalism of the Qing Dynasty was completely different from that of Western countries and was only used to fool and deceive the people.

The revolutionaries were not wrong.

In real history, in 1911, the Qing Dynasty formed a new cabinet with a total of 13 members, of which 9 were members of the Manchu royal family.

People sarcastically called it the "Royal Cabinet".

Some time after the explosion, Li Qiwei discovered that Zhou Ziyu was extremely depressed.

He also vaguely heard the other party say: Brother Meng Xia, have a pleasant journey, you are a hero to all revolutionaries.

Li Qiwei stood there for a long time, silent.

All the beautiful things in the world may have gone through countless pains before they appeared.

Giving birth is painful for women; insufficient education funding is painful for teachers; a poor and weak country is painful for people with lofty ideals.

However, after pain comes a great new life.

Children are hope, education is hope, and the country is the hope of everything.

Li Qiwei knew that he had no ability to change the fate of everyone, and he could not stop the sacrifices of people with lofty ideals.

Even the bombs were purchased through his channels.

He must experience some pain personally in order to develop a will of steel.

He will always follow the path he has chosen.

(End of this chapter)