Another Life in History-Hong Rong?

Hong Rong is known as the father of overseas students in China. His real name is Rong Dameng and his scientific name is Hong Rong. Later generations generally call him Hong Rong.

1828 (eight years of Qing Daoguang) In late autumn, Hong Rong (No.Chunfu) was born in a poor peasant family in Nanping Village, Xiangshan County, Guangdong Province. Now it is a small village near the sea in Zhuhai City, Guangdong Province, which is close to Macao, about four kilometers apart. At this time, Macao, a small island originally belonging to Xiangshan County, has been occupied by Portuguese colonists for nearly 300 years.

Hong Rong was taken to Macau by her parents at the age of seven and sent to a missionary school. When I first arrived in Macau, it was an eye-opener. At that time, Hong Rong described: "The sail walls of countries in the harbor are like forests. After the fire, the archway of St. Paul's Church in Weasion Wei stood tall, and priests from foreign countries could be seen everywhere on the dock. "

What puzzled Hong Rong was why his parents sent him to a missionary school and why they didn't send him to a private school like his brother. At that time, I went to a private school to read four books and five classics, and later I became famous. This is a normal life trajectory. Perhaps only Yung Wing's parents know this problem. Perhaps it is because of frequent contact with foreign businessmen and frequent dealings with foreigners. Learning a foreign language well can lead a good life, or it may be because the family is so poor that they can't afford to send their two children to private schools. There are also missionary schools, where tuition is free and accommodation is all inclusive. Whatever the reason, the first day of Yung's arrival in Macau opened the prelude to his legendary life.

At first, the study in the missionary school went smoothly, but it was interrupted by the first Sino-British Opium War. In the fire, the missionary school was forced to close and Rong was forced to return to his hometown. However, Mrs Carl Gutzlaff, the principal person in charge of the church, never forgot Yung. After the war, she specially appointed a missionary and told him that he must find Yung Wing and help him to continue his studies in another missionary school, that is, the famous Ma Lixun School. At that time, the principal was Dr. Brown, who graduated from Yale University in the United States.

While studying in Ma Lixun school, one day, Dr. Brown came into the classroom and said in front of the whole class, "I have some physical problems recently, so I may not be able to continue to be your principal. I may go back to America to recuperate. This time, I'm going to take three students from China with me. I am willing to subsidize two years of tuition and two years of room and board. Which one of you would like to study in the United States with me? " If this happened today, it would be a nerve-racking thing. Not only will it subsidize tuition, but it will also subsidize accommodation and take you to study in the United States. But that was not the case at that time, because China people were still in a state of ignorance and even fear about what foreign countries were like at that time. At that time, there was a lot of folk saying that "foreign countries are places where animals eat blood. Foreigners wear long red hair and often catch children to eat." Anyway, it's scary. So those children were afraid to say anything at that time. And no one dares to go. Dr. Brown repeatedly asked, "Who wants to go with me?" At this time, several people stood up. First, two surnames are Huang. Two brothers, Huang Sheng and Huang Kuan, expressed their willingness to go, and the third was Yung Hong.

1847, Dr. Brown set out from China with three children, boarded a ship to the United States, set out from Hongkong, crossed the Straits of Malacca, bypassed the Cape of Good Hope in Africa and entered the Atlantic Ocean. In the Atlantic Ocean, they made a short stop on the famous island of St. Helena, where they paid tribute to Napoleon and remembered the spirit. Dr. Brown also suggested that three young people could go to the island and each of them could fold a piece.

After arriving in the United States, Yung Yong entered the famous monsoon middle school in the eastern United States. At the beginning of his study, Yung Hong didn't have much thought, because according to his original plan, he only came to the United States to study for two years, just to gain a long knowledge and learn something. But with the deepening of his study, his thoughts have changed. He wants to stay in the United States for a longer time, he wants to go to college, and even he wants to study at Dr. Brown's alma mater, Yale University. The dream is beautiful, but the reality is cruel. You need money to go to college. Without money, how can we pay the tuition, even though Hong Rong works part-time to make money. But how can the money saved by doing odd jobs like this be enough to pay the tuition of Yale University? At this time, the local church heard about it. They are willing to pay Yung Wing's college tuition, but at the same time, they also put forward conditions. They say you use our money to go to college, you must be a missionary after graduation, and you must preach in China when you return home. Faced with such an opportunity, or such a deal. Hong Rong refused. He said: "Although I am poor, I am still free to choose my favorite career. No matter what major I choose, my only hope is that it is most beneficial to the country. " So he turned down this so-called opportunity.

Fortunately, God never shuts one door but he opens another. After a while, Dr. Brown called Rong again and told him excitedly, "I found an opportunity for you. This time, I got a grant from a charitable foundation under the American Women's Association. And the foundation didn't ask for anything. After all, you are the first person from China to study in the United States. So with this luck and his hard work, he was finally admitted to Yale University.

While studying at Yale University, it is conceivable that it must be the most difficult at first, because Yung Hong's English level was difficult to adapt to the professional education in English in the university at that time. Adapt to his special efforts, special efforts, and strive to make up for his lack of language. Not only did I make up for my own shortcomings, but I did very well in some school-wide English competitions in the second and third semesters. Through hard work, he finally won the respect of his American classmates.

Academic performance did not bring him too much happiness, but brought him a lot of pain. Of course, this is not for himself, but for the poverty and backwardness of his country.

The more you learn, the more you think; The more knowledge, the deeper thinking. As his knowledge and vision became more and more abundant, he became more and more deeply aware of the gap between China and the world at that time. So in the following conversations with his classmates, he expressed his dream. He said, "My dream is to let more China people enjoy world-class education like me in the future." He wrote such a passage: "The person who was given was educated by this civilization, so the person who was given later should also enjoy the same welfare." "Instilling western learning into China has made China increasingly prosperous and civilized." This passage later almost became his lifelong career. Of course, it also achieved the highest value in his life.

When Hong Rong graduated from Yale University, he exchanged guest books with his classmates. In the guest book, Hong Rong wrote the following sentence: "An adult should not lose his heart." It means: no matter what a person will become in the future, no matter how miserable he is, don't forget the dream he set at that time. His classmates also wrote him a sentence in the guest book: "We are waiting to hear the news that you will do a great job in the history of China in the future."

With honor and dreams, Hong Rong graduated from Yale University and embarked on a journey back to China. After returning home, Yung Yong immediately realized that he was out of place with this long-lost motherland. As soon as he got home, his mother asked him the first question: "where is your hair?" Why is your braid gone? " Then she asked, "What is your so-called Yale degree equivalent to me? Is it a scholar, a juren, or a scholar? Do I recognize your Qing education? Can you get an official position with your education? " This series of questions was very embarrassing and speechless. Embarrassment is embarrassing, after all, you have to live. So yung wing, a graduate of American real rattan school. He started selling tea for a living. At this time, he urgently needs a stage to show his dreams and ambitions.

One day, he suddenly remembered someone, Hong Rengan. Who's Hong Rengan? Hong Rengan participated in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Uprising in his early years. He broke away from the organization in a battle. So I lived in Hongkong for two years, during which I got to know Hong Rong. Hong Rong was very happy to hear that Hong Rengan was about to become the monarch of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. As the saying goes, it is easy to do things with acquaintances. So he risked his life to find Hong Rengan.

Under the recommendation of Hong Rengan, Hong Rong met several leaders of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and elaborated his own strategy of governing the country. He talked about how to establish a modern military defense system, a hospital medical system, a banking financial system and a school education system. Take out everything you can think of, design a general plan for governing the country without reservation, and come clean. However, after his presentation, he found that these leaders didn't seem to be interested at all. He was particularly disappointed. After a period of time, after careful observation, he came to the conclusion that the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was simply unreliable, had no future at all, and remained silent all night. The administrative management system of the whole country basically relied on documents to govern the country. The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom promulgated two very important documents: the land tenure system and a new chapter on high-level affairs. The contents of these two documents are really good, but they have only become learning materials and learning documents for officials. In the process of real national governance, these two documents were not implemented at all, so Yung was particularly desperate and decided to leave the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Despite Hong Rengan's repeated requests, Yung Hong made up his mind and refused again and again, preferring to go back to his hometown and continue to sell tea for a living.

After two years of silence at home, another person paid attention to Rong Hong. This man is a famous mathematician. He is the originator of modern mathematics education in China. His name is Li. Li assisted Zeng Guofan to build an arsenal-Anqing Ordnance Institute. At this time, Li heard that a real American college graduate was selling tea at home. He was so excited that he scrambled for talent. On the recommendation of Li, Yung Hong met Zeng Guofan for the first time. When they met, Zeng Guofan first raised a very sharp question. He asked, "What do you think is the most beneficial and important thing in China today?" There is a mystery in the question, which is difficult to answer. On the surface, he is asking what you think is the most important thing in China today, but in essence, he is asking me what I think is the most important thing in China today. Once the answer to this question is wrong, once your answer is different from Zeng Guofan's mind. Zeng Guofan will think that you have no knowledge, and different ways do not seek common cause. Fortunately, Yung Hong was prepared. Rong Hong's dream is education, but this is something he can't answer. Because education is Hong Rong's dream, not Zeng Guofan's. Boy deeply understands that if I want to use Zeng Guofan to realize my dream, I must first help him realize his dream. After his dream comes true, he will graft his dream onto his dream. So Hong Rong replied at this time: "I think the most important thing for China now is to establish an advanced western-style factory as soon as possible." When it comes to Zeng Guofan's heart, after listening to Yung's answer, Zeng Guofan praised it. At this time, Hong Rong added, "I think this Anqing Ordnance Institute is still not very good, or it is too low-end." This aroused Zeng Guofan's interest. Hong Rong went on to explain: "Anqing Ordnance Research Institute uses machines to produce guns. This mode of production is a low-end industry and a downstream industry of foreigners' industrial chain. The most powerful thing for foreigners is that they can use machines to produce machines. This is their high-end upstream industry. Once we learn this technology, we can copy countless Anqing ordnance warehouses in a short time. " As soon as this passage came out, Zeng Guofan brightened up at the moment and was suddenly enlightened. He simply completed a cognitive upgrade. Clap your thighs and scream immediately. So he gave such a big project to Hong Rong, and he deeply knew that he had to do it well. Because this is something that Zeng Guofan is very concerned about, we must do it well.

to be continued