Chapter 318 Aurora University
"Student Li Siguang greets Mr. Zhang!" A boy of about fourteen or fifteen years old saw Zhang Xingjiu and immediately saluted respectfully.
Zhang Hongzhao, who transferred from Nanyang Public School to Aurora College last year, said, "Si Guang's original name was Zhong Kui, with the courtesy name Zhong Gong. He was from Huanggang, Hubei. Last year, he went to Wuchang to apply for the Higher Primary School. When filling out the application form, he mistakenly wrote down the word 'fourteen' in the name column. After he finished writing, he realized that it was wrong, so he changed the 'ten' to 'Li' and added the word 'Guang' at the end. From then on, he was called Li Si Guang."
Zhang Hongzhao is also from Zhejiang, and has the same surname as Zhang Xingjiu. He is not as reserved as the others when speaking. "Soon after Siguang entered the elementary school, he passed the exam to study abroad in Japan at public expense. Now he came to Shanghai, firstly to wait for the opportunity to study in Japan, and secondly to learn Japanese in advance. It happened that Aurora College had a Japanese crash course, so he came to sign up, and became good friends with the student right away."
"Si Guang has admired you for a long time. Today, I heard that Mr. Zhang would come, so I came to visit you."
Zhang Xingjiu couldn't help feeling a little proud when he heard this. All his hard work over the past few years had not been in vain, and he had finally gained some fame. Just now Zhu Kezhen came to ask for advice, and now Li Siguang came to visit him again. If he could help him achieve greater achievements than in the original history, that would be a good thing.
"Zhonggong, there's no need to be so polite. It's not easy for you to pass the exam to become a government-funded overseas student at such a young age. I wonder what subjects you are going to take when you go to Japan?" Zhang Xingjiu returned the greeting and muttered to himself, "You have a good name."
"I have long had the ideal of 'saving the country through science'. Now our country is poor and weak, and is constantly invaded by foreign powers. This is all because we do not have a strong army, especially a navy to keep the enemy out of the country. So I decided to go to Japan to study shipbuilding machinery, and when I return home after graduation, I will build a powerful armored fleet for the country." Li Siguang said in a firm tone.
Recalling his later experiences, Zhang Xingjiu couldn't help but think of A Zhang. A Zhang was also planning to join the navy, so he entered the Jiangnan Naval Academy. However, after studying for a while, he found that to build a navy, he must first have steel, and to have steel he had to learn how to mine, so he transferred to the Mining Academy.
Li Siguang, who had studied shipbuilding machinery in Japan for a period of time, also discovered the same problem. He realized that in order to change the country's current situation of poverty and weakness, it was necessary to strengthen the exploration and development of natural resources. So he went to the University of Birmingham in the UK to study further, specializing in geology. Only then did he become one of the founders of Chinese geological science.
The patriotic spirit of this generation is truly touching. Zhang Xingjiu encouraged him a lot and left him his contact information, telling him that he could ask for help if he encountered any trouble in Japan. If he couldn't find a good place to go when he returned to China in the future, he could also come to Aurora College to teach.
Two months later, when Li Siguang was about to leave, Zhang Xingjiu held a farewell banquet for him and gave him some gifts that would be useful for his study abroad. He also asked him to help send letters and gifts to Ah Zhang, Li Shouzhi, Qian Junfu and others. "We are all studying in Japan together. If we get to know each other, we can take care of each other in the future. Besides, they have also studied at Hongwen College. They can pass on their experience to you and help you avoid some detours."
"Thank you for your kindness, Mr. Zhang. I will definitely help to bring him there." Li Siguang was a little worried about his study abroad life. Now that he heard that there were acquaintances there to help take care of him, he finally felt relieved.
Watching the passenger ship that Li Siguang was on slowly sail out of the port and disappear below the sea level, Zhang Xingjiu couldn't help but feel emotional. Since the Opium War, countless aspiring young people have boarded ships like him, traveling to other countries without fear of risks, determined to find a new way out for China. Although this road is extremely difficult, there are always people who continue to take the risk.
Perhaps it is precisely because of this spirit that China has been able to achieve rebirth like a phoenix after a century of humiliation and once again stand at the top of the world's nations.
Shortly after Li Siguang left, the MSG production equipment ordered from abroad returned. This time, Zhang Xingjiu chose American products. Currently, Europe's chemical industry is still stronger, but the United States is developing very rapidly. Their product performance is not bad, and the price is cheaper than that in Europe. After comprehensive consideration, Zhang Xingjiu finally decided to place an order with an American manufacturer.
Relying on his relationship with Morgan, Mellon and other financial groups, and taking advantage of the American companies' eagerness to open up the Chinese market, Zhang Xingjiu secured a very good discount for the Lotus MSG Factory.
The American technician who arrived in Shanghai on the ship quickly led the workers to install the equipment. Then he was responsible for the technical work of the MSG factory while training students from Aurora College. After he completed the training, he could return to the United States, and these students would take over his technical management work at the MSG factory.
Zhang Xingjiu had high expectations for these students. Before the training class started, he called them over and told them, "You should not only learn how to operate and repair these devices, but also understand the operating principles of these devices. We can't always import equipment from the United States or other countries. Sooner or later, we will have to produce equipment of the same level or even better. Whether we can do it depends on you."
These words made the students feel a lot of pressure, but more of an encouragement. They all said, "Students must live up to the trust of teachers."
They said it and did it. They got up early every day to follow the American technicians in class and practice. After class, they gathered together to review and discuss the day's learning results. It only took them a few months to fully master these equipment.
After MSG was put on the market, it was immediately welcomed. Not only did restaurants and hotels in Shanghai compete to buy it, but many foreign businessmen also came to wholesale it and bring it back for local sales. As a result, Aurora College also had a relatively stable source of funds.
With the departure of the American technicians, Aurora College also ushered in summer vacation. Students could go home and rest for a while, but Zhang Xingjiu, Ma Xiangbo and others became even busier.
Because the annual enrollment season is here again, they placed advertisements in local newspapers in advance, attracting many aspiring young people to apply. The number of applicants increased by one zero compared to the first year, and the quality is getting higher and higher.
After the exams were over and the number of qualified candidates was counted, it turned out that nearly a thousand people met the admission criteria, and a similar number of students were admitted to the preparatory classes.
Ma Xiangbo, Zhang Xingjiu and others were overjoyed and thankful at the same time, "Fortunately, the school has expanded its scale before, otherwise it really can't accommodate so many students."
At this time, Zhang Xingjiu made a suggestion, "Now that the school is on the right track, can we change the college into a university?"
(End of this chapter)
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