The Rise of the Writers of the Republic of China

Zhou Hexuan became an official, an official of the Ministry of Education.

He was young and lacked qualifications. If Zhang Zuolin wanted to arrange for him to be the president of Peking University, he had to give him a decent government post.

The official positions in the Beiyang period were divided into nine grades and twenty-two grades.

The most senior are special officials, who are appointed by the government in the form of special orders, such as ministers of central ministries and local governors; next are brief officials, who are selected by the government to serve as qualified officials, such as deputy ministers of central ministries and provincial government committee members; and then In order to recommend an official, the person in charge is recommended by the chief executive, such as the section chiefs of various central ministries and local county heads.

Zhou Hexuan did not have any government positions before, so he is more suitable to be a recommendation officer.

The Ministry of Education has 8 recommended officials, including 1 secretary-general, 3 directors, and 4 counselors.

The Secretary-General and Director are now full, but there is still a vacancy for the Counselor. Zhou Hexuan was promoted to the Counselor of the Ministry of Education naturally.

The whole process was in full compliance with formal procedures. Firstly, the Minister of Education Ren Kecheng issued an invitation, and after Zhou Hexuan agreed, the Ministry of Education officially issued a letter of recommendation. Zhou Hexuan suddenly became a county-level official of the Beiyang government, slightly higher than the local county magistrate, with a monthly official salary of 360 silver dollars.

The salaries of the Beiyang government are very interesting, and technical officials often get more than administrative officials. For example, administrative officials at the deputy ministry level can earn up to 500 yuan, while technical officials at the same level can get up to 800 yuan.

Zhou Hexuan harbored deep malicious associations: Is it because administrative officials are easy to embezzle, so high salaries are used to compensate technical officials?

When the letter of appointment from the Ministry of Education was issued to Peking University, the professors there were collectively confused and held a Peking University council overnight.

Not many people participated in the meeting, only Ma Heng, the director of the Archaeological Research Office of Peking University, Li Shuhua, a professor of physics at Peking University (acting president of the Sino-French University), Ma Yuzao, director of the Department of Chinese Literature of Peking University (father of Ma Jue, Peking University), Tan Xihong, director of the Department of Biology of Peking University, and Botany of Peking University. The director of the herbarium, Zhong Guanguang, the Peking University professor Hong Taosheng, and Wu Yu (who was hailed by Hu Shi as the scavenger of the Chinese ideological circle), etc., add up to less than 10 people.

A letter of appointment for the president of Peking University was placed in front of everyone, and the scene fell into silence.

Ma Yuzao was the first to speak, knocking on the table and saying, "What's going on? Why did you suddenly choose a young man to be the principal?"

Tan Xihong said: "I know Zhou Hexuan, and his character is still very good."

"It's not a matter of character," Wu Yu questioned, "Why did the Ministry of Education arrange for Zhou Hexuan to be the principal of Peking University, and what kind of shady behind-the-scenes deal did he have with Zhang Zuolin?"

Zhong Guanguang sighed: "In this critical situation, someone is willing to be the president of Peking University and dare to take over this mess. It is already a blessing."

"Yes, it is better to have a headmaster than no headmaster," Li Shuhua said. He also took over a mess this year. During the "March 18 Massacre", Li Shi, the president of the Sino-French University (merged into BIT after the founding of the People's Republic of China), was wanted by the government, and Li Shuhua was appointed as acting president when he was in danger.

"Fourth, what do you think?" Ma Yuzao asked Ma Heng, the two of them are brothers.

"I have no opinion, you have the final say." Ma Heng belongs to the kind of person who devotes himself to learning and doesn't like to participate in common affairs. He will serve as the director of the Palace Museum in the future.

Tan Xihong is more inclined to support Zhou Hexuan. He said: "I think no matter what, the most important thing is to let Peking University resume classes as soon as possible. Now that the Ministry of Education is willing to appoint a principal, it shows that things have turned for the better."

Wu Yu complained: "The problem is that Zhou Hexuan is only in his twenties, at the time when he is young and energetic. He has no experience in running a school before. If he came to Peking University to command randomly, what should we do?"

Zhong Guangguan had a good impression of Zhou Hexuan, and argued: "It can't be said that he has no experience in running a school. He has also participated in the Hope Primary School in Zhili area."

"Can university be the same as elementary school?" Wu Yu asked.

Hong Tao said with a smile: "Old Wu, you have always despised authority and opposed etiquette, why do you start to rank seniority instead?"

Wu Yu explained: "I'm not judging seniority, but I'm afraid that Zhou Hexuan will be too young and mess around after he arrives at Peking University."

Zhong Guangguan suggested: "We can't discuss the results here, why don't we contact Zhou Hexuan first, and try to test his ideas."

"Okay," Ma Yuzao said, "You and Zhong Kui know Zhou Hexuan, so I'll trouble you for a walk."

...

The next day, Zhong Guanguang and Tan Xihong went to Tsinghua Garden to find Zhou Hexuan who was creating "Goddess".

Neither of them beat around the bush, and Tan Xihong went straight to the point and said, "Mingcheng, why were you suddenly appointed as the president of Peking University?"

"Xu Zhimo was arrested a few days ago, and Mr. Liang Rengong and I went to find Zhang Zuolin to release him..." Zhou Hexuan explained the situation in detail, and said with a wry smile, "I just wanted to take this opportunity to say good things for Peking University, but I didn't expect to involve myself in it." gone."

"So that's the case, it's a good thing." Zhong Guanguang said with a smile.

Tan Xihong asked: "If Mingcheng is the principal, what do you plan to do?"

Zhou Hexuan said: "Everything is as usual. I am only responsible for asking the Ministry of Education for money. I usually live in Tianjin. You choose an acting principal to manage the daily school affairs yourself. I will not participate in it."

Zhong Guanguang and Tan Xihong looked at each other and smiled, both seeing the joy in each other's eyes.

In fact, when Cai Yuanpei was the principal of Peking University, he was the shopkeeper for several years. Jiang Menglin has been serving as the acting principal, responsible for handling school affairs, while Cai Yuanpei is traveling in Europe.

Jiang Menglin was on Zhang Zuolin's blacklist a few months ago, but now he has quietly gone south and defected to the Nationalist government. The current situation of Peking University is very embarrassing. The principal Cai Yuanpei resigned and the acting principal disappeared. The school affairs can only be handled by the school council.

If Zhou Hexuan fulfills his promise, he will not care about the daily affairs of Peking University. Then Peking University chooses an acting principal again, which is no different from before, which is acceptable to Peking University teachers and students.

Just when Zhong Guanguang and Tan Xihong were happy, Zhou Hexuan said: "But I have one request, that is, Peking University cannot openly shout revolutionary slogans, publish revolutionary publications, and form revolutionary associations."

"Well," Tan Xihong frowned, "it seems to be against Peking University's ethos of freedom."

Zhou Hexuan said: "If you can't do this, then I will resign as the principal."

Zhou Hexuan was on both sides, first asking Zhang Zuolin for money and promises, and then asking Peking University for various demands. Anyway, it was Zhang Zuolin and Peking University who wanted to solve the problem as soon as possible. He was only in charge of connecting the two, and he could withdraw at any time. At that time, the headaches will still be Zhang Zuolin and Peking University.

Zhong Guanguang said: "Mingcheng, I can pass on these requests to the Peking University Council on your behalf. As for the specific answer, we will discuss it before making a decision."

"No problem," Zhou Hexuan said with a smile, "I'll go back to Tianjin tomorrow, and if you have reached the conclusion of your discussion, just send me a telegram."