Chapter 324: Application Boom
Fortunately, Fan Yuanrang's skills are indeed solid. Despite all the trouble, Aurora University can still get some dividends. Those troublesome things can only be slowly dealt with by Zhang Jian and other shareholders. Zhang Xingjiu will not waste time on this.
The MSG business has always been good and has encountered far fewer troubles than salt production, because MSG is an emerging industry with no competitors and not many entanglements with the old forces.
The salt industry is different. This business has always been very troublesome. Zhang Jian's establishment of the Tongrentai Salt Company was like touching someone else's cake, so it was reasonable to encounter these troubles. But it didn't matter. It was 1905 now, and the old order was about to collapse. The salt company would soon usher in new opportunities. It depended on whether Zhang Jian could seize them.
With the dividends from MSG and salt industry, plus other income, Aurora University had relatively abundant funds, so it rushed to continue its expansion, purchasing land, building school buildings, and recruiting teachers and other staff.
After a while, Yuan Xiangcheng, Zhang Xiangshuai and others formally wrote a letter for the third time, requesting the court to abolish the imperial examination system. This time, many people responded. Seeing that the trend was hard to go against, the old witch softened her attitude.
There was no way she would not loosen up. The Boxer Rebellion had brought disgrace to the imperial court. The Southeast Mutual Protection indicated that the influence of the local faction could compete with that of the imperial court, and the sacrifice of the Seven Gentlemen of the Reform Movement of 1898 made the reformists lose confidence in the imperial court.
Who can the court rely on now? Those Manchus who carry bird cages? This is obviously impossible. The old witch can only give in and accept the suggestions of Yuan Xiangcheng and Zhang Xiangshuai to abolish the imperial examination system and start a constitutional government. Perhaps they can save the lives of their descendants. If they still refuse to change, then these people will die without a burial place in the future. The old witch knows very well how the Qing Dynasty dealt with the descendants of the Zhu family when they entered the pass.
Therefore, even though she knew that abolishing the imperial examination would make countless conservatives lose confidence in the court, the old witch had to drink poison to quench her thirst, because these actions might allow her to survive for a few more years, but if they caused local powerful figures such as Yuan Xiangcheng and Zhang Xiangshuai to turn against the court, she would lose everything.
If it were twenty or thirty years ago, the old witch would definitely not surrender so easily, but she is seventy years old now, her health is getting worse day by day, and she won’t live long. How could she have the energy to compete with Yuan Xiangcheng and others in wits and courage?
Although the imperial edict had not yet been issued, many people had already figured out something from the court's movements, so the outsides of all the new-style schools were crowded with applicants.
They thought clearly that the abolition of the imperial examination system was almost a foregone conclusion. So after the abolition of the imperial examination system, from which channels would the court recruit talents? Yuan Xiangcheng and Zhang Xiangshuai wrote clearly in their memorials that the new school students would replace the Jinshi and Juren and become the first choice for the court to appoint officials.
Therefore, if you want your children to have a chance to become an official in the future, you should send them to a new school as soon as possible. The earlier they enroll and the better the school they enter, the brighter the future of your children and grandchildren will be.
Of course, not all applicants have such utilitarian ideas. There are many young students like A Zhang, Qian Junfu, Fan Yuanrang and others who are determined to make China wash away humiliation and move towards prosperity. They also regard entering the new school as the only way out.
As one of the most famous universities in the country today, Aurora University is naturally favored by many students. Long queues form outside each registration point, and students from all over the country come to register, hoping to pass the screening and enter Aurora University.
New-style schools such as the Imperial University of Peking, Beiyang University, and Shanxi University were not well prepared for this. When they suddenly encountered so many students applying for the exam, they were a little panicked and didn't know how to deal with it.
The situation was different at Aurora University. Zhang Xingjiu, Yan Fu and others had realized this possibility last year and had already developed a response strategy. They prepared multiple test papers in advance. As long as the number of applicants reached a certain level, they would hold an exam and immediately grade the test papers and announce the results to prevent these students from staying in Shanghai for too long.
Basically, the exam was held every ten days or half a month. Many students who failed the exam were unwilling to give up and went to the registration point to sign up again. Aurora University did not stop them. As long as you wanted to take the exam, you could take it as many times as you wanted. What if someone did not perform well in the first exam? In the two months of summer vacation, Aurora University held five exams and screened and admitted nearly a thousand students, half of them were liberal arts and half were science. This scale was also the first in the country. Neither the Imperial University of Peking nor the Beiyang University had the ability to recruit so many new students.
When the news came out, Aurora University became famous again throughout the country, and many forces also took notice of Aurora University. The imperial court sent an imperial decree and bestowed some silver, hoping to use the opportunity to win over Aurora University. Unfortunately, half of the money was gone before it left the capital, and by the time it reached Aurora University, there was almost nothing left. Not only did this money fail to win the favor of the teachers and students of Aurora University, it also made them even more disgusted with the imperial court.
The consuls stationed in Shanghai also took action and visited the school one after another. They all left some money before leaving. They believed that the rule of the Qing Dynasty was already in jeopardy. With the teaching level of Aurora University, the students they trained would definitely occupy important positions in the new government in the future. If they could leave a good impression in their hearts now, these good impressions might play an unexpected role when they ascend to high positions in the future.
Zhang Xingjiu and Ma Xiangbo took the opportunity to talk to them again about studying abroad. Several consuls readily agreed, and Aurora University obtained some valuable study abroad places.
Local powerful figures such as Yuan Xiangcheng and Zhang Xiangshuai also sent their confidants to Shanghai, presenting generous gifts to congratulate Aurora University. Many of them were old acquaintances of Ma Xiangbo, Yan Fu, Ma Jianzhong and others, and they tried to win them over with words, but Ma Xiangbo and Yan Fu temporarily brushed them off.
As for the local gentry who came to donate silver, there were even more of them. Even though Ma Xiangbo repeatedly emphasized that even if they gave money, they could not interfere with the school's teaching work, few people gave up this opportunity and still kept the silver. This made the financial situation of Aurora University much more abundant.
Some people were even afraid that their money would be rejected, so they simply bought land around the school and brought the deeds to donate to Aurora University. This way, they even had land to continue expanding the school next year.
In the blink of an eye, it was time to start school. As soon as the freshmen completed the registration procedures, they heard big news.
On September 2, the imperial court issued an edict, announcing that "starting from the Bingwu year (1906), all provincial and municipal examinations will be suspended, and the annual provincial examinations will also be suspended."
This news spread across the country like a thunderbolt, shocking the world and bringing new opportunities to Aurora University.
There will be more later (end of this chapter)
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