Zhou Hexuan became an official, an official in the Ministry of Education.
He is young and has insufficient qualifications. If Zhang Zuolin wants to arrange for him to be the president of Peking University, he must be given a more respectable government position.
Official positions in the Beiyang period were divided into nine levels and twenty-two levels.
The first level is specially appointed officials, who are appointed by the government in the form of special orders, such as ministers of central ministries and local governors; the second level is briefly appointed officials, who are selected by the government to serve as qualified officials, such as deputy ministers of central ministries and provincial government members;
The third level is recommended officials, who are recommended by the chief executive, such as the section chiefs of central ministries and local county heads.
Zhou Hexuan had not held any government positions before, so he was more suitable to be a third-class recommended official.
There are a total of 8 third-class recommended officials in the Ministry of Education, including 1 secretary-general, 3 directors, and 4 counselors.
The positions of secretary-general and director are now full, but there is still a vacancy for counselor. Zhou Hexuan was naturally promoted to counselor of the Ministry of Education.
The whole process completely complied with the formal procedures. First, the invitation was issued by Ren Kecheng, the director-general of education, and after Zhou Hexuan agreed, the appointment letter was officially issued through the Ministry of Education. Zhou Hexuan suddenly became a third-class official of the Beiyang government, with a rank equivalent to that of a local county magistrate.
The monthly official salary is 360 silver dollars.
The salaries of the Beiyang government are very interesting. Technical officials often earn more than administrative officials. For example, the maximum salary for administrative officials at the deputy ministry level is only 500 yuan, while technical officials at the same level can earn up to 800 yuan.
Zhou Hexuan had a deeply malicious thought: Is it because administrative officials are easy to corrupt, so they use high salaries to compensate technical officials?
When the Ministry of Education issued the appointment letter to Peking University, the professors there were collectively confused and held a Peking University Council meeting overnight.
Not many people participated in the meeting, only Ma Heng, director of the Archaeological Research Office of Peking University, Li Shuhua, professor of physics at Peking University (acting president of Sino-French University), Ma Yuzao, director of the Chinese Department of Peking University (father of Ma Jue, the school beauty of Peking University), Tan Xihong, director of the biology department of Peking University, and Botany of Peking University.
Zhong Guanguang, the director of the herbarium, Hong Taosheng, a professor at Peking University, Wu Yu (who was hailed by Hu Shi as a scavenger in the Chinese ideological circle), etc., totaled less than 10 people.
A letter of appointment as 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."
"This has nothing to do with character," Wu Yu asked. "Why did the Ministry of Education arrange for Zhou Hexuan to come to Peking University to be the president, and what kind of shady behind-the-scenes dealings did he have with Zhang Zuolin?"
Zhong Guanguang sighed: "In this critical situation, it is fortunate that someone is willing to become the president of Peking University and dares to take over this mess."
"Yes, having a principal is better than not having one," said Li Shuhua. He also inherited a mess this year. During the "March 18th Massacre", Li Shi, the principal of the Sino-French University (which was merged into the Beijing Institute of Technology after the founding of the People's Republic of China) was wanted by the government.
, Li Shuhua was appointed as the acting principal in times of crisis.
"Fourth brother, 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 is the kind of person who immerses himself in learning and does not like to get involved in worldly 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. The Ministry of Education is now willing to appoint a president, which shows that things have turned around."
Wu Yu complained: "The problem is that Zhou Hexuan is only in his twenties, and he is in his prime. He has no previous experience in running a school. If he comes to Peking University and gives random orders, what should we do?"
Zhong Guanguang had a good impression of Zhou Hexuan and argued: "It cannot be said that he has no experience in running schools. He has also participated in the Hope Primary School in the Zhili area."
"Can university be the same as primary school?" Wu Yu asked.
Hong Taosheng smiled and said: "Old Wu, you have always despised authority and opposed ethics. Why are you now ranking based on seniority?"
Wu Yu explained: "I am not ranking based on seniority, but I am afraid that Zhou Hexuan is too young and will mess around after arriving at Peking University."
Zhong Guanguang suggested: "We can't come up with any results from our discussion here. Why not contact Zhou Hexuan first and test his ideas."
"Okay," Ma Yuzao said, "you and Zhong Kui know Zhou Hexuan, so I'll bother you to go there."
…
The next day, Zhong Guanguang and Tan Xihong went to Tsinghua Garden and found Zhou Hexuan who was working on "The Goddess".
The two did not mince words. 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. 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 the opportunity to put in a good word for Peking University, but I didn't expect that I would be involved.
Already."
"I see, this is a good thing." Zhong Guanguang said with a smile.
Tan Xihong asked: "If Mingcheng becomes the principal, what do you plan to do?"
Zhou Hexuan said: "Everything remains as usual. I am only responsible for asking the Ministry of Education for money. I usually live in Tianjin. You can choose an acting principal and manage the daily school affairs by yourself. I will not be involved."
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 president of Peking University, he worked as a hands-off shopkeeper for several years. Jiang Menglin has always been the acting president, responsible for handling school affairs, while Cai Yuanpei was traveling in Europe.
Jiang Menglin was on Zhang Zuolin's blacklist a few months ago, and now he has quietly gone south and defected to the Nationalist Government. The current situation at Peking University is very embarrassing. The president Cai Yuanpei resigned and the acting president disappeared again. School affairs can only be left to the school council.
to handle.
If Zhou Hexuan fulfills his promise and does not care about the daily affairs of Peking University, then Peking University will choose an acting president, which will be the same as before. This is acceptable to Peking University teachers and students.
Just when Zhong Guanguang and Tan Xihong were happy, Zhou Hexuan said again: "But I have one request, that is, Peking University cannot openly shout revolutionary slogans, publish revolutionary publications, or form revolutionary associations."
"Well," Tan Xihong frowned, "it seems to go against the free school spirit of Peking University."
Zhou Hexuan said, "If I cannot do this, then I will resign as principal."
Zhou Hexuan was at the mercy of both sides. He first asked Zhang Zuolin for money and promises, and then made various requests to Peking University. Anyway, it was Zhang Zuolin and Peking University who wanted to solve the problem as soon as possible. He was only responsible for pulling the strings between them, and he could withdraw at any time. It would give him a headache then.
It’s still Zhang Zuolin and Peking University.
Zhong Guanguang said: "I can forward these requests to the Peking University Council on your behalf, Mingcheng. As for the specific answers, we will have to discuss them before making a decision."
"No problem," Zhou Hexuan said with a smile, "I will return to Tianjin tomorrow. Once you have discussed the results, just send me a telegram."
