Chapter 169: Become a disciple of the emperor, serve as deputy minister of management and principal, and accelerate the New Deal education reform
After Li Qiwei came out of the Forbidden City, he registered with the Ministry of Personnel and officially became an official of the Qing Dynasty.
While going through the formalities, he did not encounter any unkind people who came forward to provoke him.
Officials are all talented people. There is no conflict of interest. No one will take the initiative to look for trouble and make enemies for themselves.
If I offend someone I shouldn’t offend, I have no choice but to go home and farm.
Li Qiwei, the deputy minister of management and education, is nominally in charge of all schools in the country.
However, since all provinces are currently in the early stages of new education reform, the situation is chaotic and it is difficult to centralize management.
So, at his suggestion, his position was adjusted.
The Minister of Management, Zhang Baixi, is in charge of the reform of Capital University (which has been renamed), while the Vice Minister of Management, Li Qiwei, is in charge of the reform of Guangdong University.
According to Li Qiwei's proposal, Guangdong University will be a new university that completely draws on the West. It must have an experienced person as its president. The candidate is self-evident.
Therefore, Li Qiwei had just arrived in the capital and was about to return to Guangdong.
He will concurrently serve as the president of Guangdong University in his capacity as Imperial Master and Vice Minister of Management.
There is Capital University in the north and Guangdong University in the south.
These two universities will be the leaders in the Qing Dynasty’s university education reform and play an exemplary role.
Li Qiwei himself has become the most popular figure in the field of education in the Qing Dynasty.
On June 1, 1903, the Qing government ordered to speed up the reform of the New Deal.
Among them, in the field of education, almost all of them were implemented in accordance with Li Qiwei's outline.
However, the cancellation of the imperial examination and the establishment of academic departments are serious matters and will affect the national system, so they are still under discussion.
Of course this is just an official announcement. The real situation is that the big bosses have not yet reached an agreement on the division of interests.
After all, this reform may lead to the establishment of several central institutions such as the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Commerce, and the Ministry of Education.
Who will be the minister, minister, and other chief officials cannot be determined in a few days.
This involves countless interests, favors, intrigues, layouts, etc.
However, all this has nothing to do with Li Qiwei.
When the identity of his imperial master was announced, it immediately caused an uproar in the court and the people.
The officials were immediately dumbfounded.
Damn it, what's going on? This guy just returned home, only met the emperor once, and now he's become the emperor's master?
Although he was a teacher of Western learning and had a lower status in the traditional system of the Qing Dynasty, he was still a real imperial teacher.
Throughout the ages, how many people have wanted to obtain this lofty status.
Nanyuan of the capital, the barracks of the Wuwei Right Army.
Yuan Shikai looked at the "Beijing News" in his hand, and the news above made him feel incredible.
No wonder Li Qiwei was unwilling to be his adviser. It turned out that he was valued by the emperor.
He sighed in his heart. Fortunately, Li Qiwei was devoted to education. If he had other thoughts, he might not be able to sleep.
The current situation in the Qing Dynasty is turbulent, but Yuan Shikai discovered a hint of mystery.
He is slowly accumulating strength and will not expose his ambitions.
When Li Qiwei said goodbye to his eldest brother Li Bokai, he said: Recharge your batteries and wait for the opportunity.
The brothers made eye contact and said no more.
When Li Qiwei returned to Guangzhou, Zhou Ziyu and others admired him.
Go to the capital and come back as the imperial master.
This kind of holy family simply makes everyone crazy with jealousy.
Li Qiwei was very calm and said with a smile: "I am just teaching the emperor Western knowledge. He is incomparable to a real imperial teacher like Weng Tonghe."
The Weng Tonghe he refers to is a veteran of three dynasties who served in Xianfeng, Tongzhi, and Guangxu dynasties, and was the teacher of the two emperors Tongzhi and Guangxu.
He was appointed Minister of Household Affairs, joined the Military Aircraft Department, and participated in domestic and foreign affairs.
However, because he supported the Hundred Days Reform and helped Guangxu draft the "Edict to Determine the Country", he was ordered by Cixi to open a vacancy and return to his hometown, dismissed from his post and never used it again.
Now Weng Tonghe is retiring in his hometown of Changshu. In real history, he will die next year.
It can be seen that being an emperor's teacher is not that easy. If the emperor is unlucky, you will also have to be unlucky.
The second brother Li Zhongxing's eyes almost popped out of his head. He had been an official for several years and had never been seen by the governor, let alone the emperor.
As for my third brother, he is already an imperial master, and the gap between people is too big.
"Third brother, you have to support me, second brother, from now on."
"Say a few kind words for me in front of the emperor."
Li Qiwei didn't know whether to laugh or cry, "Second brother Brother, you and I are two different systems, we can’t compete with each other.”
"Unless you change your class to the education yamen, I can help you with the operation."
When Li Zhongxing heard this, forget it. He was not interested in education and just liked to do administrative management.
His dream is to be the chief envoy of a province.
Li Qiwei patted him on the shoulder and said with a smile: "Second brother, don't worry, you may be able to be a more powerful official than the chief envoy in the future."
Li Zhongxing didn't believe it at all, "Okay. Then I’ll lend you some good advice.”
Next, Li Qiwei officially started his work.
After the New Education Reform, at the suggestion of Li Qiwei, a new department in charge of education was established at the provincial level: the Education Department.
As for prefectures, prefectures, and counties, "encouragement centers" were established.
At present, the Qing Dynasty still focuses on running universities, and universities are established in the name of each province, so they have a high status.
Originally, Li Qiwei proposed the Department of Education, but the court did not agree.
The Supervisory Government Affairs Office believed that this title was incompatible with the Chief Envoy Division and the Inspection Envoy Division, so it was changed to the Education Envoy Division.
The real reason is that Yi Kuang and other bannermen were very unhappy with Li Qiwei. They felt that this kid had been too popular recently and wanted to suppress his arrogance.
Originally, everyone was working on the New Deal slowly.
It's better for you. The memorial you wrote in so many words is both data and logical, so you are the only one who is loyal to the court. Now when the Queen Mother reprimands them for their incompetence in doing things, with Li Qiwei as a benchmark, the reasons are even more sufficient, and it is difficult for officials to argue.
In later generations, Li Qiwei was a typical struggler.
So, some of the big guys don’t like him.
However, there are still many people who support Li Qiwei.
After the establishment of the Education Envoy, the original academic administration was cancelled, and was renamed the Education Envoy.
And the education envoy is no longer a mission directly appointed by the central government, but has its own direct officials and subordinate departments.
In other words, education makes you a local official.
Because of its special status and role, the Education Envoy is not a subordinate of the Chief Envoy. The two are on the same level.
It can be seen that the Qing Dynasty attached great importance to educational reform.
Because in Li Qiwei's educational reform outline, there are so many tasks that education needs to bear, and it is impossible for one person to be busy.
So educationists must have their own subordinates and offices.
The officialdom was originally a carrot and a pit. Now that there are new official positions, it means that the competition has become smaller. Of course, those candidate officials who are waiting for real vacancies are happy.
When Li Qiwei came to the Guangdong Education Department, he was immediately warmly welcomed by Yu Shimei.
Now Yu Shimei is the first Guangdong Education Envoy, with many people under his command and funding from above.
He truly understood what it was like to be an official.
"Master Li, I haven't seen you for a few days, but you have become the Imperial Master."
"It really puts me to shame."
Li Qiwei smiled and said: "Xuetai, there are no outsiders here, you and I don't want to see outsiders."
"If you don't mind, How about I call you brother?”
Yu Shimei was overjoyed to be able to call him brother-in-law. This honor was unimaginable to a scholar.
Although he didn't dare to call Li Qiwei brother in public, it didn't matter in private.
He has clearly recognized Li Qiwei's character, and he is definitely not the kind of person who stabs him in the back and reports that he is disrespectful to the emperor.
Otherwise, if he, a small educator, dares to call the Imperial Master his brother, he may be too long-lived.
"Brother Qiwei, you are really my lucky star."
"How long has it been since then, the academic administration that no one wanted has turned into a hot commodity."
“You don’t know how many people envy me. Some of them are still working as editors in the Hanlin Academy. I have become a parent official in charge of education.”
Yu Shimei was so happy that he even called him brother, regardless of the fact that he was more than twenty years older than Li Qiwei.
Li Qiwei cupped his hands and said with a smile: "I have to thank Brother Yu for handing me the memorial, so I have a chance to be summoned by the emperor."
Yu Shimei pretended to curl his lips, "Hey, I am too modest. Wow, your piece of writing is a blockbuster."
"The Queen Mother and the Emperor are full of praise. It shows that you have a lot of potential, brother."
"I don't know about the school. How much do you know?”
Li Qiwei was speechless. When he first met Shimei, he was still upright and elegant.
Why am I so obsessed with officialdom now?
How did he know that there was no way out before Yu Shimei, so he could only muddle along.
Now that there is an opportunity, the desire to climb up naturally grows.
As for the promotion of education, one must serve in the newly established academic department.
"Brother, you think too highly of me."
"How could I possibly know about such a big thing as the establishment of the school department? That is something that the big guys in the court have to consider."
"I think, brother, you might as well improve the education in Guangdong honestly. When the time comes, let your grades speak for yourself, and you can be a minister."
Yu Shimei suddenly felt embarrassed and smiled, " That is, that is.”
“But I have to ask you to help me with the new education.”
"To be honest, I have studied your recipe repeatedly."
"Although the method is described in detail, I am still a little worried."
Li Qiwei smiled and said: "Brother, Don't worry, the emperor has asked me to serve as the president of Guangdong University and have absolute management power."
"I am going to let you serve as the vice president. I wonder if I am willing?"
Yu. Shimei immediately opened his mouth, "Yes, yes, I can't ask for it."
What kind of university can't be run behind such a great master of Western learning?
When the time comes, he Yu Shimei may become the second person in Western learning.
Li Qiwei also smiled slightly. He pulled Yu Shimei over to use him as a coolie.
His own focus must be Huangpu University of Technology, and he will not have much time to devote to Guangdong University in the future.
It is better to train Yu Shimei to help you share the pressure.
It can also win the favor of other educators, so why not do it.
I will definitely be in charge of education across the country in the future. If the education officials in every province follow my lead, are we afraid that I will not be able to get things done?
Now that he is ordered to preside over the construction and reform of Guangdong University, he must make some achievements in order to gain the trust of the Manchus and give him greater power.
Therefore, Li Qiwei will spare no effort to run Guangdong University well.
At the same time, you can also accumulate experience for Huangpu University of Technology.
You know, so far, all plans exist on paper.
Li Qiwei didn’t know whether any unexpected problems would arise during actual teaching.
Guangdong University is his test subject.
(End of this chapter)