Thousands of students demonstrated outside the official residence of the Peking City Government, shouting slogans:
"Give me back my school, give me back 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 in the distance, and the person sitting in the car was He Qigong, the mayor of Peiping.
Inexplicably, students blocked the door of the government office. He Qigong frowned and said, "What are you making trouble? I haven't heard that anything big has happened recently!"
The secretary said: "Mayor, do you want to call the police to disperse?"
"Nonsense!"
He Qigong criticized: "There must be a reason for students to hold demonstrations. Go there and ask questions before talking about it."
He Qigong was expelled for participating in student demonstrations when he was a student. He came to Peking to make a living as a teacher at the age of 18, and later became a reporter. Because of his own experience, he had an understanding and sympathetic attitude towards the student movement and did not play any tricks.
Suppression by force.
The secretary went over to inquire for a while, and soon came back to report: "Mayor, these are students from the 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 confused and said confusedly: "It's okay to say Peking University and Beijing Normal University. Beiyang University is from Tianjin. Why are they coming to the Peking City Government to make trouble?"
The secretary explained: "The Nanjing government announced the establishment of the Peking University District, and merged the nine national universities in Peking and Tianjin into one, and renamed it Zhonghua University. However, the president and vice-president of Zhonghua University are still in Nanjing, and there is no one to handle school affairs.
, no one has released the salary, and all nine universities cannot start classes normally.”
"What a mess!" He Qigong scolded, "Let them go to the university to make trouble, and don't come to the city hall."
The secretary smiled bitterly and said: "The Grand College (Northern Department of Education) is still an empty shell, there is no one working in it at all."
He Qigong said with a headache: "The education system is full of pig brains, and they are recklessly engaging in educational reforms. Teachers are not even paid, and the school cannot open classes. What a change!"
"Then what should we do?" the secretary asked.
He Qigong thought for a while and ordered: "Send a telegram to the Nanjing government and Central University to urge them to resolve this matter as soon as possible. Otherwise, how can I, the mayor of Peiping, still carry out my duties?"
To be honest, if Li Shizeng had money, he might really be able to successfully reform the Peking University District.
But what is 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. As a result, the new university could not see the principal or vice president, and there was not even a person in charge.
These schools have been in arrears with wages since June. Not to mention the teachers, even the school workers who boil water in the schools have no food.
Now that the new semester starts in September, students come to school to have a look...
Nima, what's going on?
Their school was delisted and merged into the damned China University. The teachers just went on strike and refused to go to work. They went to the principal but couldn't find anyone. How could they not make trouble?
It's funny to say that when Zhou Hexuan helped contact Northeast China, Chang Kaishen reciprocated the favor and asked people to supplement education funds for Peking University. All the money was withheld by Nanjing, and the teachers and students of Peking University did not see a penny.
The marching students blocked the entrance to the Peiping City Hall for a long time. After lunch, they started to separate again.
The parade at Peking University was the largest, and they made two demands: first, to restore the name of Peking University, and second, to restore Zhou Hexuan's position as president.
"Give me back Peking University, give me back my school!"
"We want to read, not march!"
"Drive away Li Shizeng and welcome back Principal Zhou!"
"..."
On the side of the road, Liang Sicheng, Lin Huiyin and his wife, who had just returned to China, looked stupidly at the marching students.
They were recommended by Liang Qi 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 took charge of school affairs. The two left Tsinghua angrily, and encountered a student demonstration as soon as they walked onto the street.
Lin Huiyin was surprised and said: "Didn't it mean that with the victory of the Northern Expedition, everything in China would be renewed? Why is the education sector even more chaotic than during the Beiyang government?"
"How did I know?" Liang Sicheng was quite depressed. He and his wife came back specifically to build the country after they heard that the new government of the Republic of China was established and the past ills were eliminated.
Lin Huiyin approached the parade, pulled a student and asked: "Classmates, why are you marching?"
The student said angrily: "All nine public universities in Pingjin and Tianjin have suspended classes. We want an explanation!"
The student next to him also said: "Yes, you must give me an explanation. Why should Peking University be abolished? Why should President Zhou be dismissed? What qualifications does that Li Shizeng have to be the president of Zhonghua University? Where was he when Zhang Zuolin forced Peking University to attend the lecture?
When President Zhou used his own money to advance the salaries of Peking University employees, where did Li Shizeng hide it?"
"We want Principal Zhou, not Li Shizeng!"
"Drive away Li Shizeng and welcome back Principal Zhou!"
"Give me back Peking University, give me back my school!"
The students were filled with indignation and the slogans became louder and louder.
After Zhou Hexuan became the president of Peking University, although he did not specifically take charge of the matter, at least students were able to attend classes normally, and the fact that he personally paid faculty and staff salaries was widely spread among students.
Compared with Li Shizeng, who has caused the school to close now, Principal Zhou is really great, one of the few good principals in the world!
The demonstrations at nine public universities in Beijing and Tianjin were called "reading movements" because their demands were very simple: they wanted to resume classes and study.
It is natural for students to study, and this move has won widespread sympathy from society.
"Ta Kung Pao" bluntly criticized: "During the Fengcian era, Liu Zhe, who was considered to be the most reactionary by the world, was still able to negotiate with Russia and secure funds for each school... The National Government was especially inferior to the former."
The declaration expressed by the "Reading Movement" of the students of the Ninth School was more straightforward: "In the warlord era, the Ninth School of Peking has never been new. Hebei's bad governance reached its peak with Zhang Chu (Zhang Zuolin, Chu Yupu), but the government established
The university has not yet broken the string song. Now that Pingjin has been restored and it is more than three months ago, the university has no practical way to deal with the nine national schools other than sending people to accept them in name..."
Li Shizeng's educational reforms were unanimously regarded by academic circles and society as inferior to even the Beiyang warlords.
Historically, this matter has been raging for more than half a year, and it has become more and more intense.
In the end, the students directly attacked the graduate school (Department of Education) and went to the residences of Li Shizeng and Li Shuhua, causing a bloody incident that shocked the whole country.
Li Shizeng had no idea what to do about it, and it was Cai Yuanpei and Jiang Menglin who came forward to solve the problem.
Today, Li Shizeng is still in Nanjing, trying to find ways to raise education funds. With no money in hand, he went to Peking to no avail.
Looking at the telegram on the table and today's newspaper, Li Shizeng felt a terrible headache.
Money, it’s all about money.
Why is education reform so difficult?
In particular, the slogan shouted by Peking University students to drive away Li Shizeng and welcome back President Zhou deeply hurt Li Shizeng's heart. 8
