In 1865, Japan built its first railway in Changqi. During the Meiji Restoration, the construction and development of railways progressed rapidly, and they basically realized the laying of rail tracks and the establishment of stations in cities across the country.
Early the next morning, the minister in Japan took them, the students studying abroad, on the steam train.
I bought a cheap ticket.
The carriage was crowded and chaotic, and there were all kinds of people. There were ronin, mostly wearing thick tweed kimonos, which are the finest materials imported from England; there were entertainers carrying shamisen and some drums, wearing high-toothed clogs.
There was a crisp echo on the hard iron floor; there were students, mostly teenagers, in black crotch-collared uniforms, holding books and reading; there were also businessmen in suits and leather shoes, but judging from their appearance, they were relatively defeated.
Only the clothes that can be called good are left, otherwise I wouldn't have fallen into a low-class carriage...
There were some small conversations next to my ears, and the carriage was not too noisy.
Maybe it was too late to buy the tickets, so the students studying in Japan were disrupted. Bai Gui was assigned to another car, and he did not sit with Wu Huaixian, Liu Mingda or other students studying in Japan. He had something on the table in his hand.
A book, memorized silently, and read it with relish.
It was "Japanese Records" written by Huang Zunxian and published in the 13th year of Guangxu's reign.
Classical Chinese.
I bought it in the Shanghai market before parting, and the scent of printing ink still lingers.
"Before the creation of heaven and earth, there was a god who stood in Gaotianyuan. He is called the Lord of Heaven, the Lord of Rigao Emperor, the ancestor of creation..." Bai Gui memorized silently in his heart. This tells the history of Japan.
If you want to understand the culture of a place, you must first read the history.
He read a few pages when a soft and elegant female voice came from the other side, very softly.
"Bring me some Tianjin sweet chestnuts..."
This was said to the waiter in the car.
When Bai Gui heard the familiar place name, he couldn't help but raise his eyes and glanced at the woman opposite. She was about sixteen or seventeen years old, good-looking, wrapped in a snow-white kimono, not too embroidered, and the quilted belt was rich in color.
I don't know much about the decorations, but they are dressed up to complement each other.
This train is owned by Kyushu Railway Co., Ltd., a private company.
Therefore, the number of hawking services can be increased.
Changqi County belongs to Kyushu Island.
The waiter quickly brought some roasted chestnuts. It was already October, the weather was getting colder, and it was the season to eat chestnuts. The roasted chestnuts were packed in small paper bags.
The girl in the kimono ate the chestnuts, like a hamster, gnawing at the hard shell of the chestnuts, biting out a small crack, and then peeled off the shells with her hands, stuffed them in her mouth, and started chewing.
After eating for a while, she felt something was strange, so she took out the chestnuts from the paper bag, about five or six, and handed them to Bai Gui.
"You can eat too."
She seemed to be doing something ordinary and out of habit.
"Thank you."
Bai Gui nodded, thanked him a few times, and took the sugar-roasted chestnuts. He also didn't expect that he could eat Tianjin Ganli on the Japanese train. It tasted really good, but the sugar-roasted chestnuts couldn't taste any unpleasant.
.
After chatting with the girl in kimono for a while, he finally understood that the Tianjin Ganli was probably just in name. The chestnuts were also local, but they were just for sale, so they were far-fetched and mentioned Tianjin.
This is probably similar to Tianjin rice, which was the queen of Japanese Chinese food in later generations.
"Are you from Jinling?"
The girl in the kimono became curious. At first she didn't dare to ask, but after she got acquainted with him a little, she started to ask about her place of origin.
Asking people where they are from is probably a common topic on the train.
Bai Gui nodded and said yes.
Japanese people often do not call Chinese people from Qing Dynasty, but call Chinese people from Jinling. The origin of this term started from the Ming Dynasty.
It was just a chance encounter on the carriage. No one thought that they would meet again, so they didn't continue to tell their names.
After eating the Kimono Girl's Amanuri, Shiro waited until the waiter was selling lunch and bought a portion for the Kimono Girl, which was a special box sushi made on the train.
Box sushi is different from the usual roll sushi, it is placed in a box.
Two boxes of sushi cost him one silver coin worth one day. (There was no word for yen at this time, and coins were usually printed with round characters, but for convenience, yen was used uniformly.)
It’s quite expensive!
At this time, Japan was also on the gold standard, and one gram of gold was about 1.36 yen.
In an ordinary restaurant or inn, a piece of Edomae sushi only costs 15 yuan per person.
But this is a box of sushi, which is considered to be high-quality sushi. It contains a lot of good ingredients, including sea bream, conger eel, and shrimp. It tastes good and is quite appetizing.
Don’t invite too cheaply in return. Besides, the food on the train is often more expensive than other places.
"I'm gonna start now!"
The girl in the kimono looked at the exquisite box of sushi and was very happy. After all, a portion of Tianjin Ganli was only five yuan, and she didn't give much, so she made a lot of money.
Soon, the girl in kimono got off the train at Shikoku Station.
The new person who came over was a middle-aged uncle, so Bai Gui lost interest in talking to him and continued reading.
It was already afternoon when we arrived in Tokyo.
The minister in Japan took them to the embassy in Japan to meet with the minister in Japan, Hu Weide. The embassy in Japan is a two-story Western-style building with seven rooms on the lower floor and five rooms on the upper floor. It is well decorated.
Ambassador Hu met with these Japanese students and gave them a few words of encouragement.
The general idea is to study hard and serve the country. It should be noted that during your stay in Japan, you should not negotiate too much with the rebellious party. If found, the embassy will negotiate with the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, expel your student status, and send you abroad.
The next step is to record your name, place of origin, etc. at the embassy in Japan.
"He is a member of the official branch!"
The gangster shouted.
Bai Gui and some official students came out. There were about 200 official students this time. They were mainly selected from the five special schools. Other official students would arrive later and were not with them.
Five hundred students were born on a day-long basis, and the remaining three hundred were students at their own expense.
Not long after, the embassy gave them a sum of money, not much, thirty yen per person.
But it’s not much.
You must know that these government-sponsored students studying in Japan, in addition to paying tuition and other fees, also need to pay a special "training fee" to the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. This training fee is 200 yen per person, which is equivalent to the tuition fees of ordinary Japanese students. Four to seven times.
The annual tuition fee for the University of Tokyo is fifty yen per person.
"Those who have merit will go out!"
The gangster shouted again.
Bai Gui and a group of students came out again. This time there were fewer people, only about a hundred people. Only two or three people had the title of scholar, and the others had the title of scholar.
Those with meritorious status were re-registered, and then received an additional ten days of yen.
"This is your rice and some silver."
"Although you are in a foreign country now, the imperial court still remembers you. Don't forget the kindness of the imperial court in nurturing you."
