Guan Zhuofan cocked his thumb and said with a smile: "That's a good point!" In my opinion, what Hanlin, what Jinshi, and how many court bigwigs are not as insightful as our family! Those 'well-educated Confucians', compared with our family, read to the belly of a dog! ”

Bai's face turned red, snorted lightly, and said, "What are you...... What about praising me? Or scold me? ”

"Of course it's a compliment on you!" Guan Zhuofan's expression was solemn, "Shuangshuang, to be honest, in the imperial court, if there are a few more clear-headed people like you, China's affairs will be much easier!" ”

"Alright, alright," Bai said with a smile, "the more I talk about it, the more out of line!" I'm a woman, what do I know? I can't wear such a big hat of yours! ”

"What's wrong with the woman's family? In all dynasties, there are many women who are officials and lead soldiers! If a talent like our family comes out to do things, he will become a female prime minister, I don't think it's unusual! ”

"What female prime minister? Don't bluff me—it's all in the play! Before, I thought it was true, but then I realized, where is the matter? ”

"Drama? In the future, the world will probably be more brilliant than what is sung in the play! ”

Bai looked at Guan Zhuofan curiously and said, "What's wrong with you today?" All these strange things? ”

After a pause, he said with a smile: "It seems that there is really something to ask me!" Well, is it related to this 'international student'? ”

Shuangshuang, you're so smart.

Guan Zhuofan smiled and nodded.

"Just say it," Bai Duanrong said, "don't go around in circles anymore." But. I'm really curious. This thing. How can I help? ”

"I'll have to go around in circles again." Guan Zhuofan smiled, "This 'international student' is divided into two kinds, one is already an adult, over eighteen years old, at least a little foreign language background, sent out." Going directly to an American university can be as short as one year or as long as three years – that is, after one to three years, you will be able to return to your home country and come in handy. ”

After a pause, he continued: "There is another kind, which is a teenager, who is enlightened, intelligent and studious, and does not need to have a background in foreign languages. went out, and entered someone's elementary school first. While tutoring foreign languages, I studied my homework, laid a good foundation, and then went to middle school, and finally, entered the university hall. ”

Bai Shi softly "ouch" and said, "It's been a lot of years!" went abroad at a young age, and when they returned to China, they were already adults - this, their parents, are they willing to do it? ”

Good question – I was just about to ask you that too.

As for the "primary school hall", "middle school hall", and "university hall", and Guan Zhuofan "have been together for many years", and they have been exposed to it, and the Bai family knows what it is, and there is no need for special explanations.

Guan Zhuofan said: "Reluctance is certain. However, if you have an open mind and can think about things, you will know that this is not only for the good of the children, but also for the good of the whole family! Think about it, this class of children, but the first batch of 'foreign' people, will return to China after completing their studies in the future, and they will be covered in the whole body, isn't that glittering? ”

"No matter which profession they learn - machinery, railways, mining, telegraph, water conservancy, banking, law, as soon as they return to China, they are all the 'leaders' of the industry, and they are all 'mainstays' for a little vacation, one by one, they are the foundation of the future Shangshu and Shilang!"

Guan Zhuofan said that the sky was falling, Bai Shi listened, his eyes couldn't help but shine, nodded again and again, and said: "That's really the case!" After returning to China, all of them are 'Yang Hanlin'! It can be regarded as the glory of the ancestors! At home, if there are several children, you can really pick one and send them to the United States to 'study' - especially for poor families, the children 'go abroad' and return to China, and the whole family will be developed! ”

"Yang Hanlin"? Hey.

However, what "a few children", what "poor families" - unconsciously, Bai Shuangshuang said one sentence at a time, but they were all "to the point", and they all got to the point - amazing!

What if there is only one child?

What if it's not a poor family?

Well, and what if, this "child", not a boy, but ...... What about girls?

Guan Zhuofan secretly took a breath.

He already had a premonition: Today's "ring" is not easy to fight.

The "little international students" in Guan Zhuofan's plan are similar to the "young children studying in the United States" in history.

"Young Children in the United States" was initiated by Rong Hong - it is the Rong Hong who helped Guan Zhuofan to handle foreign affairs in this time and space; Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang strongly supported it, and the junior and younger brothers jointly played it, which finally contributed to it.

Zeng and Li said in their compromises, "Select bright young children, send them to the academies of Taixi countries, learn military administration, ship administration, step arithmetic, and manufacturing, and return to China after more than ten years, so that the skills that Westerners are good at can be understood in China, and then they can gradually strive for self-improvement." ”

The ideal is very plump, and the reality is very skinny.

From the 11th year of Tongzhi to the first year of Guangxu, that is, from 1872 to 1875, the Qing court successively selected four groups of young children to study in the United States, and originally planned to study for 15 years, that is, primary school, middle school, and university. However, in the seventh year of Guangxu, that is, in 1881, the Qing court withdrew most of the young children who stayed in the United States, at this time, less than nine years after the eleventh year of Tongzhi.

It can be said that the career of "young children studying in the United States" died halfway.

It's a pity.

In fact, the Qing government attached great importance to these earliest group of government-sent students, and really spent a lot of effort and money.

At the beginning of the year, recruiting students was extremely difficult. A child of more than ten years old has traveled thousands of miles to a foreign land, separated from his parents and relatives for 15 years, and has to sign a life and death contract, which is like parting from life and death. With the social atmosphere at that time, the difficulty of recruitment can be imagined.

In the end, the first batch of 30 "young children studying in the United States", 25 from Guangdong, 3 from Jiangsu, 1 from Shandong, and 1 from Fujian, all of them were from coastal provinces. Among them, 13 of the 25 Cantonese children are from Xiangshan, Rong Hong's fellow villagers.

The distribution of the origins of "young children studying in the United States" is very illustrative.

Although it was difficult, it was finally off to a good start.

The cost of a young child in the United States is all-inclusive by the imperial court. A huge sum of 1.2 million taels of silver was specially allocated from the customs revenue for "young children studying in the United States". There were 30 children in each batch of children studying in the United States, and a total of 120 children in the four batches, and on average, the imperial court spent 10,000 taels of silver on each young student.

At the same time, the Qing court set up a "Foreign Settlement Bureau" in Hartford, the capital of Connecticut, USA, and stationed commissioners to manage and take care of young students.

In fact, the investment of "young children studying in the United States" is more than 1.2 million taels of silver. In the third year of Guangxu, that is, in 1877, the Bureau of Foreign Affairs requested additional appropriation on the grounds that the prices in the United States had risen in recent years and that the original money was not enough.

Li Hongzhang immediately went on the occasion and strongly stated that the United States "has increased taxes and materials, and the cost of restraints, anointing fires, rents, and food and clothing is twice as high as before," and supported the allocation of additional funds.

In the middle of the compromise, Li Hongzhang said this: "This move is to cultivate talents, and gradually strive for self-improvement, which has a great relationship. It has been reported that the first and second batches of students, within one or two years, have children who can enter the university, and they should concentrate on their studies for practical purposes, and there is no reason to stop at any cost! ”

However, four years later, the "move" was "suspended", why?

It is indeed not for "regretting money", but for other reasons.

Later historical commentaries generally believe that the halfway death of the "young child studying in the United States" was caused by "obstruction and sabotage by conservative forces", but Guan Zhuofan believes that the fact is just the opposite, and it is not the "old school" but the "new school" that bears the greatest responsibility for this matter.

In the final analysis, it is the managers of the young children in the United States, the "Overseas Vocational Bureau", who have extremely strict differences on the "school-running policy", and they are in the same position and cannot be coordinated, so that the "young children studying in the United States" as a whole are in danger of deviating from the established track and leaving the country.

As a result, the Qing court had no choice but to cut off its own siblings, and spent a lot of effort and expense, leaving a sigh in vain.

Guan Zhuofan believes that the first person responsible for this matter is Rong Hong, who first advocated "studying in the United States" and has been doing his best for it. Even, in a sense, it can be said that Rong Hong single-handedly ruined his painstaking career.

There are many differences within the "Bureau of Foreign Studies", but they are mainly concentrated on two points: first, a considerable number of young children studying in the United States have joined the foreign religion - Christianity or Catholicism; Second, young children studying in the United States generally only focus on "Western learning", and they despise or even abandon "middle schools".

Rong Hong not only supports the religious belief and "light China" of young students, in fact, he himself is one of the driving forces behind these behaviors of young children studying in the United States.

*(To be continued......)