African Nationhood

Chapter 3 Classmates

The capital of Connecticut, Hartford City, Crean Street.

The four-story building stands silently under the sky of the United States. This is the headquarters of the Qing Dynasty Study Abroad Affairs Bureau, the headquarters of students studying in the United States.

This building was built by Shi Jintang and his colleagues in the second year after they arrived in the United States. It cost a total of more than 7 US dollars, and the appropriator was Li Hongzhang and Li Zhongtang, the big boss of Beiyang.

Therefore, these children have never lived and studied here, and now they have little impression of Shijin Hall.

Looking around, he found that no one was paying attention nearby. He quickly found a corner to hide himself and started doing some jumping movements.

This was mainly done to relieve muscle stiffness after riding a long-distance carriage. In this era, apart from trains and ships, the only means of transportation was animal power.

After his body relaxed, he opened the Louis Vuitton suitcase he carried with him and took out a black and shiny braid. He tied it skillfully on his head and put on a silk top hat. In this way, he was disguised.

Braids are a symbol of the Qing Dynasty, and he cut off this "pigtail" immediately after traveling through time.

At first, no other students noticed, but later someone noticed the abnormality in Shi Jintang's braids, but none of them reported it. Instead, they followed suit and cut off the braids.

Everyone tacitly agreed with each other and chose to wear wigs when they came to the headquarters.

With everything in place, Shi Jintang slowly walked into the affairs bureau.

During the holidays, it was still quiet here. After all, this was a foreign festival, and there was no need for Qing people to join in the fun.

As I walked slowly into the gate, I saw a dark and thin middle-aged woman coming towards me. She greeted her warmly in Shanghai dialect: "Jintang is back. I haven't seen you for a long time. Goose, the young man has grown taller again!"

Shi Jintang responded with a smile and replied in Chinese: "Yes, Aunt Qin, long time no see. How are you doing recently?"

This woman called Aunt Qin is an official attaché of the Secretariat and one of the nannies for young children studying in the United States. Everyone is very kind to her when they see her.

"Okay, okay, I'm even happier to see Nong Ala."

Shi Jintang approached the woman with a smile and calmly handed a small box to her hand, "Christmas gift."

"Oh, why are you so polite, kid? How can you be so embarrassed..."

Although the woman said this, she quickly looked around and then put the box into her sleeve.

The two exchanged some pleasantries, and then the woman led Shi Jintang to the large conference room on the first floor.

"Come in quickly, several classmates are already back."

Shi Jintang nodded and opened the door to the conference room on the first floor.

There are already five or six young people sitting here, all with childish faces but clear eyes.

"Oh, the great talent Shi Shi has arrived. There are only a few visitors here!"

The person who spoke was a tall and thin guy with a long face, his name was Ouyang Geng. He was among the first batch of 30 people and was tied with Zhan Tianyou as the top academic figure.

When he first arrived in the United States, he was assigned to attend New Haven Elementary School in Manhattan, New York City, and then successfully passed the exams to enter Yale University.

In 1881, the Qing government suspended the training program. He and Zhan Tianyou were the only two outstanding people to obtain university degrees. They both completed the studies in 9 years, which took others 16 years. Most of the other students dropped out of school midway.

Later, this man engaged in diplomatic career. His cousin Ouyang Ming is now the Consul General of the Qing Dynasty in the United States. Later, Ouyang Geng succeeded his cousin and did a lot of work to protect expatriates during his tenure.

It was crucial for Shi Jintang to go to Africa to create a situation and establish a good relationship with this person. After all, his cousin had a wider network of contacts.

"Talent Ouyang is used to making fun of people. Who is the real talent between us? I don't know, but don't you know?"

"Ouyang's talent comes from hard work, and your Shi Jintang's talent comes more from natural talent, so you are both talented."

The person who said this was a young man with a Chinese character. He was none other than Zhan Tianyou, who was famous in China.

To be honest, this is a true academic master. He is younger than Ouyang Geng and Shi Jintang. He is only 16 years old this year.

But being able to come from behind and achieve so many achievements is really amazing!
  He and Ouyang Geng were classmates at the same school, so they came back together during the holidays.

Shi Jintang smiled and greeted several other students, and everyone sat down again.

"Have you invented anything new recently? Although we often hear your name in school."

The other thin, dark boy who spoke was a second-term student named Tang Guoan.

He later became the first president of Tsinghua University, but he was not very familiar with Shi Jintang.

Shi Jintang obtained a patent for the "Band-Aid" and his popularity continued to rise among American teenagers after newspaper reports.

In addition, he performed many famous songs such as "500miles" and "Moon River" in order to pick up girls during college. The rapid spread of these songs has deepened people's understanding of him. Also, his status as an overseas student from the Qing Dynasty only added to his legend.

Most of the students from the Qing Dynasty felt proud after hearing the good reputation of their classmates. After all, they were their own compatriots.

I don’t usually see it, but today I saw it and couldn’t help but get closer to get some news.

Shi Jintang smiled and waved his hand, "It's just a false name, not worth mentioning."

"By the way, do you have any plans today? If not, I'll invite you all to go out for a meal tonight."

These students who have already been admitted to university are different from the students in the Secretariat who are still fighting for their studies. They come here mainly to report in regularly and receive discipline from the supervisors.

Basically, there is nothing else to do, so we gather in the conference room to study. After all, the main task of everyone here is to study.

But young people are naturally excited, so when Shi Jintang said he wanted to go out and have fun, everyone was naturally moved.

"Oh, it's rare. Mr. Shi is about to bleed. The students have to go. He must spend a lot of money. Go, it's a rare opportunity!"

Shi Jintang pointed his finger at Ouyang Geng, "You're just as bad as your mouth."

The latter laughed: "You are really right. I have determined to be a diplomat, so I have to practice now."

Everyone was amused by Ouyang's promiscuity, and Zhan Tianyou also laughed and said: "You guys are too impatient. Brother Shi has not yet met the two academics, the chief and the deputy. He will wait until he meets the two academics." Something about going out.”

Zhan Tianyou's reminder was very timely, and everyone nodded in agreement.

"Vice Assistant Rong is tutoring the students on the second floor, and Chen Xue is in his office."

Shi Jintang nodded to Zhan Tianyou as a thank you, then stepped out of the conference room and walked towards Xuezheng's office.

"buckle"

"Come in."

Pushing the door open, I saw a middle-aged man with a serious face wearing a warm hat with flower feathers on his head and a blue and black official robe.

The patch on his chest is a mandarin duck, which is the symbol of a fourth-rank official in the Qing Dynasty.

Shi Jintang raised his hands and bowed, and said loudly: "Student Shi Jintang has met Mr. Xuezheng."

Chen Xuebin was reading a book before. After seeing clearly that the person coming was Shi Jintang, his expression became more solemn.

"Shi Wenyuan (zi), we haven't seen each other for a while. You have made progress in your studies recently. You went to school in Nuozhou, and I don't have time to test whether your Chinese studies have improved."

This man was a conservative from the Qing Dynasty, and he had very strict control over the affairs of young children going to the United States, so international students had a bad impression of him.

Associate student Zhengrong Hong is a liberal, fair and kind-hearted person, and is highly supported by students.

"What Chen Xuezheng taught is that students are indeed slack. Although Western studies are arduous, they still need to work harder on Chinese studies in order to integrate Chinese and Western studies."

Chen Xuebin was quite satisfied when he saw the student bowing his head and looking humble.

This schoolboy still did not forget to serve the country while studying abroad. The "Allicin Extraction Method" and Band-Aid he contributed were both rare and good medicines, and the imperial court sent letters of commendation many times.

Li Zhongtang even stated directly that after completing his studies in Shi Jintang, he would directly go to Beiyang Yamen to listen.

He was highly recommended by Li Zhongtang for his ability to fill the post of study abroad scholar.

Once Shi Jintang joins Beiyang Yamen, the relationship between the two people who are officials in the same Yamen will become closer.

So his expression brightened, and he stroked his beard with his hand, "Well, your ambition is good, but it's so difficult to connect China and the West.

I have been involved in Western affairs for many years, but I dare not say that I have a thorough understanding of both China and the West. I should be humble and never be complacent or arrogant. "

"Yes, to learn from Master Zheng's lesson, students must keep it in mind."

"Okay, you go down."

"Yes, students are resigning."

After coming out of Chen Xuebin's place, Shi Jintang muttered to himself, why is Chen Xuezheng so easy to talk to this time?
  In the past, when we met, we would first give him a stern admonishment and then give him a few words of encouragement before letting him go.

Naturally, he didn't know Chen Xuebin's psychological activities, otherwise he would really laugh out loud.

Rather than mediocre for half a life in the decadent Manchu Qing Dynasty, it would be better to go to the vast world of Africa and show off your talents!
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  (End of this chapter)