Walking 25 kilometers north from Huanggang city, there is a small village called Zhangjiawan, which is surrounded by clouds and mountains. This is Li Siguang's hometown. At the beginning of the 20th century, Li Siguang was only a teenager. His name was Li.
When Zhong Yi was twelve years old, he told his parents that he wanted to study in the provincial capital. Li Zhuohou once sent his second son to school for further study, but he was worried that his family's income was not plentiful and it was difficult to raise tuition and travel expenses. Now my son has put forward his own request to go to school, and he immediately agreed. The next day, he found relatives and friends and collected some money. His mother Gong can't read, but she married such a scholar, fully aware that it is the first priority for her children to study. She sewed a blue cotton-padded jacket for her son overnight and prepared a simple bag. So Zhong Yi bid farewell to his parents, the village, resolutely hit the road, and went straight to Wuchang, the provincial capital.
The young man who went out for the first time inquired all the way and finally found the provincial academic affairs office and the water and land street police yamen. It is crowded with people who signed up for the exam, which is more lively than the imperial examinations in the past. Zhong Yi met such a scene for the first time. When he realized that it was a decisive moment, he was very nervous. When he arrived at the registration office, someone handed him a form with columns such as name, place of origin and age. This is the first time he has got this thing. He was in a panic when he filled it out. He filled in his age in the name column and wrote the word "fourteen". The clerk told me not to give any more forms and not to fill them wrong. Zhong Yi was surprised to find a writing mistake. But he had a brainwave and added eight words to the cross to become his surname, so his name became Li Si. But he felt that the name was too vulgar. When he looked up, his eyes met the plaque in front of the hall. The words "four tables alone" on the plaque made him happy, and the word "light" was added after the four words. He took the entrance examination by chance, and got good grades. Li Siguang was admitted. It is distributed in the West Road School of Wuchang Fifth Road High School (divided into East, West, South and North Road). Students' accommodation and school supplies are provided by the school, with a monthly subsidy of six yuan.
Write a report to your parents immediately. How precious it is for a child from the countryside to have such an opportunity for further study! Li Siguang fully understood that he worked harder in his studies, and the school offered many courses, including Bible reading, self-cultivation, arithmetic, Chinese, history, geography, and Gezhi (natural sciences such as physics and chemistry were then called Gezhi). The school stipulates that the exam will be taken once a month, and the top five students can enjoy the official fee. Be recommended to study abroad (Britain, France, Germany or Japan). Li Siguang came first in all three exams after he entered school, but he was not on the list of studying abroad published several times. Siguang felt strange, and a good classmate quietly told him, "You are a child of a poor family from the countryside, with no family and no backer. They squeezed you out. " Siguang was so excited that he left the school in a rage to show his protest. A strange big city, where can he go? Finally, the school brought him back. When the school supervisor saw it, he scolded him and said, "Are you running away?" ? Pay back the tuition, 21 taels of silver! "Li Siguang flushed with anger, eyes full of tears. He asked: "According to the regulations of the school, I will be sent to study abroad if I get into the top five. I won the first place in three exams. Why didn't you send me? "The school wants to suppress rural children who have no money or power, but it has been resisted by Li Siguang. They argue vigorously, but they are also afraid of making a mountain out of a molehill. At this time, a teacher surnamed Zhang, who was a student of Li Zhuohou, learned that Li Siguang had been wronged and came out to intercede. He suggested that the school allow Li Siguang to take the exam again. If he fails, he will blame himself for disappointing. If he is still among the best, the school should send him abroad to study according to the regulations. This is also related to the reputation of the school. The school accepted the teacher's advice, and Li Siguang still ranked first in the next exam. 1July, 904, Li Siguang was finally selected to study in Japan with excellent results. Li Siguang's name is listed in the submission of Hubei Governor to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The submission says: "Li Siguang, a student of the second higher primary school, can be sent to Japan to study at public expense to train them. "Four students from Wuchang High School have gone with him. Li Siguang returned to his hometown in Huanggang, bid farewell to his parents, had a sumptuous reunion dinner and set off happily. Go abroad to study this time. After arriving in Shanghai, he and nine students studying in Japan boarded a seagoing ship for Japan.