Chapter 256 255 [Welcome Back Principal Zhou]

Outside the official residence of the Peking City Government, thousands of students marched and demonstrated, shouting slogans:

"Return my school, return my school!"

"Education saves the country, reading rejuvenates the country!"

"Li Shizeng, get out and oppose the merger of the nine national schools!"

"..."

A car stopped far away, and the person sitting in the car was He Qigong, the mayor of Peking.

Unexplainably blocked by students at the gate of the official office, He Qigong frowned and said, "What's going on? I haven't heard of any major incidents happening recently!"

The secretary said: "Mayor, do you want to call the police to disperse?"

"Nonsense!"

He Qigong criticized: "Students parade, there must be a reason for it, go there first and ask for clarification."

When He Qigong was studying, he was expelled for participating in the student parade. He came to Peiping to make a living as a teacher at the age of eighteen, and later became a reporter. Because of his own experience, he has an understanding and sympathetic attitude towards the student movement, and he will not use force to suppress it.

The secretary went over to inquire for a while, and soon came back to report: "Mayor, these are students from nine national universities, mainly Peking University, Beijing Normal University, and Beiyang University (the predecessor of Tianjin University and Hebei University of Technology)."

He Qigong was at a loss, and said in a daze, "Peking University and Beijing Normal University are okay, but Beiyang University is from Tianjin. Why did they come to the Beiping Municipal Government?"

The secretary explained: "The Nanjing government announced the establishment of the Beiping University District, and merged nine national universities in Pingjin and Tianjin into one, and renamed it Zhonghua University. However, the president and vice president of Zhonghua University are still in Nanjing, and no one is handling school affairs. , No salary was paid, and all nine universities were unable to start classes normally.”

"What a mess!" He Qigong scolded, "Let them go to the university to make trouble instead of the city hall."

The secretary smiled wryly, "The University College (Northern Department of Education) is still an empty shell, and there is no one working there."

He Qigong said with a headache: "The education system is full of pig brains. What kind of education reform is being carried out recklessly. This doesn't even pay teachers' salaries, and schools can't open classes. What a change!"

"Then what should we do?" asked the secretary.

He Qigong thought for a while, and issued an order: "Send a telegram to the Nanjing government and Central University, urging them to resolve this matter as soon as possible. Otherwise, how can I, the mayor of Beiping, do my job?"

To be honest, if Li Shizeng had money in his hands, his Peking University district might really be able to reform successfully.

But what about the actual situation?

Inexplicably, nine schools including Peking University, Beijing Normal University, and Beiyang University were merged, but Li Shizeng and Li Shuhua stayed in Nanjing and could not come to the new university. As a result, the new university could not see the principal and vice president, and there was no one in charge.

These schools have been in arrears of wages since June, not to mention the teachers, even the janitors who boil the water in the schools have stopped cooking.

Now that the new semester starts in September, students come to the school to have a look...

Nima, what's the matter?

Their school was expelled and merged into the damn Zhonghua University. The teachers went on strike and didn't go to work. They couldn't find anyone to find the principal.

It’s funny to say that when Zhou Hexuan helped contact Northeast Yizhi, Chang Kaishen reciprocated and asked for a supplementary education fund for Peking University. All the money was withheld by Nanjing, and the teachers and students of Peking University never saw a penny.

The parade students blocked the entrance of the Beiping City Hall for a long time. After lunch, they started to separate again.

The scale of the parade at Peking University was the largest, and they put forward two demands: first, to restore the school name of Peking University, and second, to restore Zhou Hexuan's post as president.

"Give me back Peking University, give me back my school!"

"We want to study, not to parade!"

"Get rid of Li Shizeng and welcome back Principal Zhou!"

"..."

On the side of the road, Liang Sicheng and Lin Huiyin, who had just returned to China, looked at the parading students stupidly.

They were recommended by Liang Qichao to apply for jobs at Tsinghua University. As a result, Luo Jialun, the new president of Tsinghua University, was still in Nanjing, and no one was in charge of school affairs. The two left Tsinghua angrily, and encountered a student parade as soon as they walked onto the street.

Lin Huiyin was surprised and said: "Didn't you say that the victory of the Northern Expedition will renew Vientiane in China? Why is the education world more chaotic than the Beiyang government?"

"How do I know?" Liang Sicheng was rather depressed. He and his wife rushed back to build the country when they heard that the new government of the Republic of China was established and that the past ills had been swept away.

Lin Huiyin approached the parade, pulled a student and asked, "Classmates, why are you parading?"

The student said angrily: "The nine public universities in Pingjin are all closed, we need to ask for an explanation!"

The student next to him also said: "Yes, we must give an explanation. Why should Peking University be cancelled? Why should President Zhou be dismissed? That Li Shizeng, what qualifications does he have to be the president of Zhonghua University? Where was he when Peking University was forced to suspend classes by Zhang Zuolin? Where did Li Shizeng hide when President Zhou paid the salary of Peking University employees in advance?”

"We want Principal Zhou, not Li Shizeng!"

"Get rid of Li Shizeng and welcome back Principal Zhou!"

"Give me back Peking University, give me back my school!"

The students were filled with righteous indignation, and the slogan became louder and louder.

After Zhou Hexuan became the president of Peking University, although he didn't take care of the specific affairs, at least the students can go to class normally, and the fact that private money is paid to the faculty and staff is also widely spread among the students.

Compared with Li Shizeng who has caused the school to suspend classes now, Principal Zhou is really good, a rare good principal in the world!

The demonstrations at the nine public universities in Pingjin are called the "Reading Movement" because their request is very simple, that is, they want to resume classes and study.

It is a matter of course for students to read books, which has won widespread sympathy from society.

"Ta Kung Pao" bluntly criticized: "During the Fengshi era, Liu Zhe, who was considered corrupt and reactionary by the world, was able to negotiate with Russia and make the funds of the schools fall... The National Government is even worse than the former."

The declaration issued by the "Reading Movement" of the students of the Nine Schools put it more bluntly: "In the era of warlords, the Nine Schools in Peking have never been new. The school, and the song has not been broken. Now that Pingjin has been restored, it will be more than three months, and the university has no real way to send people to accept the National Nine Schools in name..."

Li Shizeng's education reform was unanimously believed by the academic circles and the society to be inferior to even the Beiyang warlords.

Historically, this matter has been troubled for more than half a year, and it has intensified.

In the end, the students directly attacked the University College (Department of Education), and then went to the residences of Li Shizeng and Li Shuhua, causing a bloody incident that shocked the whole country. Li Shizeng had nothing to do about it, and it was Cai Yuanpei and Jiang Menglin who came forward to solve it.

Today, Li Shizeng is still in Nanjing, trying to find ways to raise funds for education. With no money in hand, it will be useless for him to go to Peiping.

Looking at the telegram on the table and today's newspaper, Li Shizeng only felt a headache.

Money, it's all about money.

Why is education reform so difficult?

Especially the slogan chanted by Peking University students—drive away Li Shizeng and welcome back President Zhou, deeply hurt Li Shizeng's heart.