Chapter 311 A Visitor Arrives
Now that winter vacation has arrived, seeing that more and more people are visiting, Zhang Xingjiu simply returns to Shaoxing with his family. When passing through Hangzhou, he gives a lecture at Qiushi Academy. In the evening, he rests at Qian Junfu's house and talks with Ah Zhang and Li Shouzhi by candlelight.
Now they have all passed the qualification exam to study in Japan at public expense and are preparing to work hard. Zhang said excitedly, "We have already contacted the general department of Hongwen College in Tokyo, Jiangnan Class. We plan to spend a year learning Japanese and then choose a school of our choice to apply. If we want to strengthen our country, we must first strengthen the people's physique, so I want to study medicine."
"Me too!" Li Shouzhi and A Zhang had similar ideas.
In fact, he went further in medicine than Zhang. He studied at Kanazawa Medical College (the predecessor of Kanazawa Medical University) and the Faculty of Medicine of Kyoto Imperial University in Japan, and successfully obtained his degrees.
After graduating and returning to China, he witnessed Guangji Hospital and Guangji Medical School, which were sponsored by the British Church at the time, defrauding patients and making huge profits. He then determined to open a hospital of his own in order to compete with foreign hospitals and safeguard China's medical rights.
Li Suizhi, together with several medical classmates who had returned from studying in Japan, founded the first Western hospital, Zhejiang Hospital, on Yangshi Street in Hangzhou, which specialized in treating Chinese people. In order to run the hospital well, the doctors did not receive a formal salary, but only a minimum living allowance. Li Suizhi also donated his other income to the hospital.
Later, with the support of his relative Shen Junru, he founded Zhejiang Medical School (the predecessor of Zhejiang Medical University) in June 1912, with Li Suizhi as the first president.
The school was the earliest specialized medical school funded and founded by Chinese people themselves. It offered courses that were basically the same as those of pharmacy majors in Western medical universities at the time. It trained a large number of medical talents for the country, and he was therefore known as the "Father of Western Medical Education in China."
Qian Junfu's idea was different from theirs. "I believe that education is the foundation of a strong country, so I want to go to Japan to study education, and after returning to China, I will promote education to save the country and run a school like Zhouping to cultivate talents for China."
Although the paths they chose were different, they all shared the same concern for the country and the people. They talked for a long time, until late at night before they fell into a deep sleep.
When they woke up in the morning, they felt that they had not had enough fun talking the night before, so Li Shouzhi and Qian Junfu simply followed Zhang Xingjiu back to Shaoxing. On the one hand, they wanted to pay New Year's greetings to their good friend's parents, and on the other hand, they could take the opportunity to chat a few more times before leaving.
When he arrived at the Shaoxing wharf, Zhang Xingjiu saw several officials who had been waiting there for a long time. When they saw him, they congratulated him again and again. It seemed that the news that the court had granted him the status of a Jinshi and a fifth-rank hat had already spread to his hometown. These people thought that he had a bright future, so they came to get to know him in advance.
Considering that his family still had to live in Shaoxing, Zhang Xingjiu could only suppress his impatience and deal with them perfunctorily. He finally sent them away and took Li Shouzhi and Qian Junfu back to his own home. As for Ah Zhang, he had to go home first.
Zhang Fuqing also learned the news that Zhang Xingjiu had become a Jinshi and an official of the fifth rank. He was very happy and felt that Zhang Xingjiu had brought honor to the family. As soon as he came back, he clamored to go home to worship his ancestors and tell them the good news.
But he didn't understand why Zhang Xingjiu didn't go to Beijing to be an official. Zhang Xingjiu had to patiently explain, "The situation in the court is unclear now. If I rashly intervene, I might be thrown into jail. So I'd better wait a few years and wait until the situation stabilizes before going to Beijing."
"That's good, that's good!" Zhang Fuqing nodded repeatedly. He came from a small peasant family, and most people like him were very cautious. When he heard this, he immediately gave up the idea of letting Zhang Xingjiu go to Beijing.
He felt that since Zhang Xingjiu was now an official and his family had money, it would be nice for them to live a peaceful and stable life. So he quickly took his family to prepare for the ancestor worship and stopped disturbing Zhang Xingjiu.
Zhang Xingjiu took Li Shouzhi and Qian Junfu to pay New Year's greetings to A Zhang's mother. After coming out, he called Xu Xilin, Wang Ziyu and others. They ate fennel beans and drank rice wine at the Xianheng Restaurant, and talked about various national affairs. They felt very happy.
After staying in Shaoxing for a few days, Li Shouzhi and Qian Junfu returned to Hangzhou to celebrate the New Year. They were about to go to Japan to study abroad, and they would probably not be able to come back for several years. So they should spend more time with their family while they still had time.
Not long after they left, Zhang Xingjiu accompanied his family back to his hometown in Jiangpu Village. When he came back this time, many of his childhood playmates were very cautious when they saw him, and called him "master" the moment they spoke.
At this time, Zhang Xingjiu understood what Ah Zhang was thinking when he met again in the original history. There was a sadly thick barrier between them.
Zhang Fuqing enjoyed the feeling of returning home in glory, but Zhang Xingjiu found it quite boring, so he stayed in Jiangpu Village for a few days. After the seventh day of the New Year, he left on the pretext of going back to Shanghai to pay New Year's greetings to his father-in-law and mother-in-law.
After returning to Shanghai, he met with close relatives such as Ma Xiangbo and Ma Jianzhong without disturbing others. This time he also met several children of Ma Zongwen's aunt Ma Jianshu. The eldest, Zhu Zhiyao, was quite successful in industry. The second, Zhu Yunzuo, was proficient in English, French, and Japanese, and had a photographic memory, but he just didn't like running a business. Zhang Xingjiu persuaded him to teach at Aurora College, and he agreed.
After the fifteenth day of the lunar month, Aurora University reopened its doors. While attending classes, Zhang Xingjiu used various equipment purchased from Europe to conduct experimental research. He also selected several students who were talented in experimental operations to serve as his assistants.
After a few days of classes, A Zhang, Li Shouzhi, Qian Junfu and others also came. They were preparing to take a ship from Shanghai to Japan. Zhang Xingjiu chatted with them for a few more days, and when they were about to leave, he went to the dock to see them off.
"Zhang, Shouzhi, Junfu, if you encounter any trouble when you go to Japan, remember to send me a telegram. If you don't have enough money, I can lend it to you first, and it won't be too late to pay it back when you finish your studies and return to China."
"If it were anyone else, I might feel embarrassed, but I will definitely not be shy with you!" Ah Zhang said generously, holding his hand.
"Don't worry about things at home. I've already told my mother to visit your house more often so she can take care of you if anything happens! But from what my aunt said, it seems that she really wants you to get married as soon as possible. She might even arrange a marriage for you. If you don't want to marry a wife without feelings, you'd better think about it when you receive the telegram from home. It's not too late to send me a telegram to verify it first." Zhang Xingjiu thought of Zhu An again.
After seeing off Zhang and the others, Zhang Xingjiu returned to school. As soon as he sat down in his office, another guest came to visit. Seeing the name card of the visitor, Zhang Xingjiu couldn't help but smile, "I just sent off a few people going to Japan, and here comes another one going to the West."
The two chapters should be updated on time tomorrow.
(End of this chapter)
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