59. Discrimination Chain

After Mr. Fujino came over, Saifu also introduced him to Bai Gui. Only then did he know that he was a Japanese, named Hachiheiji, from Kyoto. Like most intellectuals, he wore glasses on his nose. He was a teacher at the Japanese crash course in Shiwuzhai. Reading

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"Mr. Fujino?"

Bai Gui was surprised to hear this familiar name.

But he soon calmed down. This should not be the Mr. Fujino in Xun Ge'er's writing. Mr. Fujino in Sendai studied medicine and should still be teaching at Sendai Medical College at that time.

In 1870, in order to meet the needs of conscription, taxation, and household registration, the Emperor Meiji of Japan promulgated the "Order to Allow Common People to Use Surnames", and later in 1875, the "Order to Use Common People to Use Surnames" stipulated that all Japanese people must have surnames. However, Japanese common people with low cultural level can only use names they are familiar with, so Japanese surnames are mostly words such as river, field, mountain, and field.

Fujino, as the name implies, means the wild with vines.

This is also a common surname of the Japanese, similar to Zhao, Qian, Sun, and Li.

As for the fact that the teacher of the Japanese crash course is a Japanese, there is nothing strange about it, just as most of the Western lecturers now are also Westerners. Few students who have studied abroad will "degenerate" and become only a foreign language lecturer after returning to China.

At this time, Japan was just barely squeezed into the ranks of the great powers. The lives of civilians in the country were not necessarily better than those of the people under the rule of the Qing Dynasty. It was common for civilians to starve to death. However, the Japanese who learned Chinese only needed to travel far to the Qing Dynasty to find a good job as a Japanese lecturer and get a generous reward.

"Bai Sang, you are very welcome to study in my class. I have handouts here. You can borrow them to study first."

Hearing that Bai Gui was a new member of their Japanese crash course, Fujino Yaheiji was also very happy. For every additional person, he would get more rewards accordingly.

He spoke Chinese well, but his pronunciation was like a stuck tape, with a special Japanese pronunciation, just like the Cantonese speaking Mandarin, you can tell at a glance, the pronunciation is correct, but it is weird.

Fujino Hachiji added, "The textbooks are specially customized, there are no extra ones."

"Thank you, Mr. Fujino."

He stood up and bowed to thank him. Teachers are polite, and we cannot be prejudiced just because he is Japanese.

Soon, the meal was over.

Bai Gui first went to the Donglang apartment where Fujino Hachiji lived and borrowed a set of handouts. It was a thick book, two or three inches thick, with a cowhide cover. The publisher on the title page of the textbook was written in Japanese, which should be a textbook published in Japan.

He left the Normal School, bought a few snacks, and then went to the side room of the lecture hall to find Zhaifu, gave the snacks to Zhaifu, and thanked him for the meal today.

Zhaifu was also very happy. He led Bai Gui to the dormitory in Xipu and found a dormitory with fewer people.

The dormitory is a large bunk bed, which may be shared by several people or dozens of people. According to the rules, students like Bai Gui who are exempted from tuition fees will sleep in a dormitory with many people. But Zhaifu saw that Bai Gui was returning the favor, so he showed favoritism and used his power to transfer him to a superior dormitory.

It is superior, but it is just that there are fewer people and the lighting is better. It is impossible to live in a single room!

"The students here are also in the Japanese crash course. You are in the same class with them, and you can ask them for advice."

Zhaifu said.

The Normal School is divided into several halls, such as Zhidao Hall, Qiuzhi Hall, Xuegu Hall, Xingyi Hall, and Shiwu Hall, and there are several subjects in the halls. It is similar to the division of college majors in later universities. This division method originated from Hu Ai's teaching method of divided halls in the Song Dynasty, also known as Suhu teaching method, which was adopted by local colleges in later generations.

Entering the dormitory, there was a boy of about 17 or 18 years old half lying on the bed, with his legs crossed and folded on the fence, holding a magazine in his hand and reading it with relish.

Zhaifu said a few words to him, and he also got off the bed and greeted Bai Gui enthusiastically.

"Thank you for your advice!"

The two bowed to each other and also announced their names.

This boy of about 17 or 18 years old is called Liu Mingda. His family is a wealthy businessman in Qin Province, doing raw silk business. His father rented a mulberry garden in the south and transported it back to sell to Wu's Cotton Mill.

"Brother Bai, if you want to buy cloth, just tell me. I will get a discount if I go to get it."

Liu Mingda put the book under his ribs, smiled and said to Bai Gui, then walked straight out of the dormitory and walked towards the lecture hall. It was almost time for the class to start.

The status of merchants at this time was different from that of decades ago, and it was not at all despised. Under the influence of the West, most people's eyes were also aligned with money. After all, a top scholar could set up a factory and do business.

After Liu Mingda and Zhaifu left, he took a closer look and found that there were only two people in the dormitory, including him.

The other person's bed was also expensive, made of coarse blue cloth, and the cotton quilt was sewn with silk, showing the owner's wealth inside and out.

"This should be the rich man Zhaifu specially picked to take care of me."

Bai Gui thought secretly.

Although the students who came to the Normal School to study were basically not short of money and had much more money than ordinary people, they were also divided into different grades. Different grades meant different dormitories.

He probably relied on his status as the top student, so no one would say anything if he lived here.

...

Bai Gui had just registered for school, and the dean gave him two days off.

He returned to the inn.

Zhou Yuan and others were already waiting for him.

"The teacher who taught us English turned out to be a red-haired foreigner. It's really strange." The three people who entered Xianning County School talked about the interesting things about entering school.

Like Fujino Hachiheiji, the teacher of English was also a Westerner.

"Red-haired, knowing English, must be Scottish!"

Bai Gui said while eating. The Scots must have been unable to make it in China, so he came to Qing to be a Western teacher. This is indeed a good way out. Upper-class British gentlemen would not go to such a remote place as Qin Province and teach Western in the county school.

They specially ordered a table of dishes in the restaurant. After this meal, if they have time to meet again, it will be when the Higher School is on vacation.

"Aren't Scots English?"

Several people listened to the conversation with interest.

"In Europe, when the Holy Roman Empire was still around, black-haired people were the noblest race. Today's Italians have mostly black hair, and they are descendants of the Romans. Today's blond and blue-eyed Westerners are barbarians who invaded the Western Roman Empire..."

"The red-haired Scots were originally the natives of the British Isles. The native land of England is the British Isles..."

Bai Gui wanted to use the Turks and the Huns as examples, but suddenly remembered that he was still in the Qing Dynasty, so he stopped talking here.

Things like cultural self-confidence seem to be commonplace in later generations, and no one would think that Westerners are superior to themselves. But at this time of national crisis, advocating Westernization is a very common thing, and how could there not be a tendency to worship foreigners?

He didn't want to see his classmates become like this.

"There is a record in the "Book of the Later Han Dynasty: The Western Regions": The people are all tall and straight, similar to the Chinese, so it is called Daqin..."

Bai Gui saw that several people did not believe it, and raised the record in the history book.