Chapter 191 The imperial examination was cancelled, the academic department was established, and Li Qiwei was promoted
March 6, 1905, the first day after the first month of China.
The Qing government issued an edict to abolish the imperial examination system that had lasted for more than 1,300 years.
As soon as this edict came out, it immediately caused an uproar in the country.
All newspapers across the country are rushing to report it, and even foreign newspapers are paying close attention.
For Western countries, this was an obvious signal, meaning that the Qing Dynasty began to abandon its feudal remnants and accept the outside world.
No longer use stereotyped writing to recruit scholars and imprison people's thoughts.
Such a country is what the West likes. Their products can flow in without any resistance and they will no longer be considered monsters.
Along with it are various Western ideas.
As for the people in China, they only feel empty in their hearts.
Although insider information that the imperial examination will be cancelled has long been popular among the people, most people think it is a rumor.
Without the imperial examination, how will we select talents to become officials in the future?
Without the imperial examination, what would happen to so many scholars?
However, when the result was really placed in front of them, countless people fell silent.
The scholars in the coastal areas of Jiangsu and Zhejiang are fortunate. They have been exposed to Western ideas early and even attended new Western schools.
But many students in inland counties just feel like the sky is falling.
They have no information. They only immerse themselves in reading all year round and do not care about national affairs at all.
When I suddenly heard the news, my first reaction was that it was impossible, absolutely impossible.
Then there was the feeling of despair and powerlessness of being unable to face the truth.
It is like being a question writer in a county town in later generations, struggling for twelve years, and finally waiting for the college entrance examination, the carp jumped over the dragon gate.
As a result, the country suddenly announced that the college entrance examination was cancelled. What should you do?
This kind of blow can be imagined.
Protests by scholars occurred in many provinces.
However, this is a mighty national trend that is not dependent on human will.
And scholars are notoriously defenseless and can hardly make any waves.
However, the Qing government did not do everything right and introduced relevant remedial measures.
For example, a special decree was issued that these scholars preparing for the imperial examinations could be unconditionally admitted to local middle schools or universities to receive education.
The tuition fee is also discounted, and priority will be given to placement after graduation.
It can be regarded as giving an explanation to these imperial examination abandoners.
Ever since, a very funny phenomenon has appeared across the country.
Scholars who used to shake their heads and talk nonsense are now shouting every day: odd changes to even and remains unchanged, symbols look at the quadrants.
According to Li Qiwei’s education plan, science and engineering are the main subjects in China.
So the Four Books and Five Classics have become mathematics and physics.
Of course, there are also many stubborn old diehards who believe that the cancellation of the imperial examination is only temporary.
The emperor and the queen mother were only deceived by treacherous ministers, so they made such a decree.
Once they react, all those who advocated the cancellation will be put to death, and the imperial examination will definitely be started again.
So, when others are starting to learn new knowledge and open up the future.
They still hold on to the sage's book and don't let go, hoping that the emperor and the queen mother can see through the traitor and bring peace to the Qing Dynasty.
There is nothing better than this in the world.
However, these old stubborns did not wait for the imperial examination to be restarted. Instead, what they waited for was deep despair.
A few days later, the Qing government issued another edict announcing reform measures in the field of education.
On March 20, the Department of Education was established to unify the management of national education and govern all schools in each province.
The academic department has one minister, one left and right minister, one left and right prime minister, and several counselors.
The Faculty has five divisions: General Affairs, Specialized, General, Industrial, and Accounting.
The five departments include a total of 12 departments, each with positions such as doctor, Yuanwailang, and chief officer.
At this point, the new education system of the Qing Dynasty was officially established.
The educational administrative organs are divided into:
The central level, which establishes academic departments, manages all schools, and formulates educational charters.
At the provincial level, the Department of Education is established to implement the orders of the Ministry of Education and manage universities, middle schools, primary schools, elementary schools, etc. in the province.
At the prefecture and county level, a persuasive school is established, which is responsible for going to the grassroots level, promoting new education, and expanding the number of students.
Currently, only the provincial level has universities, and prefectures and counties only have middle schools, primary schools and elementary schools.
In addition, academic departments and local provinces have established inspectors.
The former is responsible for inspecting academic affairs across the country, and the latter is responsible for inspecting academic affairs in all prefectures and counties in the province.
On March 25, the Qing government appointed Rongqing as the Minister of Academic Affairs, Xiying as the Left Minister, and Yan Xiu as the Right Minister to assist the Minister in his work.
Among them, Rongqing is a Mongolian, Xiying is a Manchu, and only Yan Xiu is a Han.
This was also the decentralization and checks and balances strategy commonly used by the Qing Dynasty.
In addition, Li Qiwei was appointed as the Guangdong Education Envoy and granted the title of Right Minister of the Academy.
This appointment perfectly reflects the cunning of the Manchus.
The right minister of the academic department is from the second rank, and the Guangdong Education Envoy is also from the second rank. The two seem to be equal.
But one is a central official who is in charge of education nationwide; the other is a local official who is only in charge of education in the province, and their functional powers are not comparable.
Originally, Yuan Shikai and other Han ministers proposed to make Li Qiwei the right minister of the academic department.
But Cixi did not agree and instead transferred the title of Guangdong Education Envoy.
Li Qiwei presented the laser bead, of course she had to express it, and she couldn't be too stingy. Cixi wanted to let everyone know who was covering the sky of the Qing Dynasty.
She will satisfy anyone who satisfies her.
However, Cixi always believed that the Han people should not control too much power, so she simply asked Li Qiwei to only torment Guangdong.
The purpose she gave was that Guangdong was the first to be opened up by the Qing Dynasty, and many affairs in business and education were arduous and arduous, and each needed a decent and practical minister to oversee everything to ensure nothing went wrong.
Li Qiwei, the Imperial Master of the Qing Dynasty, was loyal to the emperor, patriotic, and had the overall situation in mind. You should be loyal and diligent in order to be worthy of your appointment.
The meaning is, Li Qiwei, you are very powerful, but the education of the country cannot be left to you, because you are a Han.
You have meritorious service. To comfort you, I will let you be the Guangdong Education Envoy.
Guangdong is located at the forefront of opening up and has a complex educational environment. It’s just the right place to test your abilities.
But after all, Li Qiwei contributed a rare treasure, and his thoughtfulness is commendable.
In order to take into account the opinions of Han ministers, Cixi gave him a false position, the right minister of the academic department.
This is very common in official circles.
Generally, officials have made great contributions, but due to various reasons, they cannot be given too big a powerful official position, so they are given an honorary position.
To put it bluntly, Li Qiwei could use the name of the right minister of the academic department to put forward various opinions to the academic department and the imperial court.
But he does not have the real power of the right minister of the academy.
Li Qiwei was very satisfied with this. He didn't want to be the right servant.
That is a capital official, which means that he will have to be stationed in the capital in the future. This obviously does not fit in with his plan.
And once he goes to the capital, he will be helpless and can only be manipulated by others, and the gain will not be worth the loss.
How can I stay at ease in Guangzhou?
It was impossible for Cixi and other Manchu rulers to guess Li Qiwei’s thoughts.
In their inherent understanding, Beijing officials must be countless times more important than foreign officials.
If Li Qiwei comes to the capital, with his ability, he will definitely be able to make friends with many high-ranking officials, which is something Cixi and others do not want to see.
And if he is moved to Guangdong, no matter how hard he works, he will be limited to one province and his influence will be much smaller.
Little did they know that what Li Qiwei wanted more was to have real power and truly control the education of a province, so that he could do more.
Yu Shimei, the former education envoy of Guangdong, was promoted to Zuocheng of the Academic Department, but he looked sad.
“Hey, brother, why do you think I am so unlucky?”
“Others are doing well, going up, but I am not doing well, going straight down.”
Li Qiwei smiled and said: "Brother, don't take advantage of yourself and behave well."
"You are going to the capital this time to be an official. If I go to the capital in the future, I will have to rely on you to receive me."
Logically speaking, the education envoy of Guangdong must be of a higher rank than Zuo Cheng, the academic department. Why? It still belongs to promotion.
This is due to historical factors.
When Yu Shimei was still studying politics in Guangdong, although he seemed to be of the same rank as the chief envoy, he was still in the second rank.
But academic administration is still an errand, with a high status, and its own rank is related to the person who is elected.
Yu Shimei's own rank was very low, he was just a minor official from the fourth rank of the Hanlin Academy.
Later, Li Qiwei implemented the New Deal reforms, and the academic coup became an education envoy, from a errand to a direct official, and he had his own government office and education envoy.
Power is not the same thing.
The education envoy has been fixed as a second-grade official.
Before the academic department was not established and the education system was in chaos, Yu Shimei temporarily changed his position from academic administration to education officer.
Now that everything is on track, Yu Shimei can only "reveal his true colors".
He is essentially just an official from the fourth rank. It is impossible to directly jump to the second rank.
After all, Yu Shimei doesn’t have a gift like a laser orb.
He is now the Zuocheng of the third-rank academic department, and he is also a capital official. Of course, he has been promoted, and his name is justified.
During his tenure, Guangdong University has achieved outstanding results, the education reform in Guangdong has been orderly, without any trouble, and its performance has definitely passed the test.
Therefore, overall, Yu Shimei is very satisfied with his treatment.
"Hey, brother, when I go to the capital, Guangdong will be left to you."
"You have to get more money from the chief envoy, otherwise this job It can’t be carried out.”
“The Education Department’s funding last year was only more than 1,100 taels, which is enough for what we can do!”
“I can’t get the money, so I can only look to you, brother. .”
Li Qiwei smiled and said nothing.
In any country, the central and local governments will argue over funding.
The total amount is fixed. The more provinces you have, the fewer provinces I have.
So the main job of local officials is to find ways to get money from the central government.
The same is true within a province. Road construction requires money, disaster relief requires money, and education also requires money.
Who has more and who has less can only rely on the heads of their respective departments to complain and argue with each other.
It's okay to say that wealthy provinces are always crowded.
Officials in poor provinces can definitely fight for funding.
Yu Shimei is a soft-tempered person, and it would be strange if he could ask for money.
As for Li Qiwei, he is planning to implement compulsory education in Guangdong Province. The annual funding of 1,100 taels is simply a drop in the bucket.
It seemed that he had to think of a solution.
(End of this chapter)