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On the passenger liner coming from the south, two scholars walked down the gangway with suitcases.

The elder, about 60 years old, was named Zhong Guanguan, a pioneer of modern Chinese botany, and the first in China to use scientific methods to study plant classification. The youngest is only in his 30s, named Tan Xihong, the founder of the Department of Biology at Peking University and a pioneer of modern biology in China.

The two came back from Hangzhou, and as representatives of Peking University, they just went to the south to meet Cai Yuanpei, hoping that Cai Yuanpei could come back to be the principal, but unfortunately they were politely rejected by the other party.

Peking University is in a terrible situation right now, with more than a dozen professors leaving at the end of the semester at the end of June. Among them were Ding Xielin, head of the Department of Chemistry, Yan Renguang, head of the Department of Physics, Feng Zuxun, head of the Department of Mathematics, Hu Shi, professor of the Department of Philosophy, as well as Li Siguang, Lin Yutang, Shen Jishi, Qian Xuan, and others, who were either asked to leave by other schools or resigned themselves.

In addition, Gu Mengyu, Li Dazhao, Chen Qixiu, Yu Shude, Zhu Jiahua and others did not teach again due to political reasons. Jiang Menglin and Feng Xulun also disappeared, hiding and not daring to show up.

By September, the situation at Peking University was even more serious, almost equivalent to its collapse. Due to the shortage of faculty members, Peking University can only announce the continuation of the holiday, and the start of the semester is far away. Including Lu Xun, Chen Yuan and more than a dozen other faculty members, some went to Xiamen, and some went to Tsinghua University.

The remaining Peking University teachers who have not left all hope to invite Cai Yuanpei back to preside over the overall situation, otherwise they will not see any hope of resuming the school.

"Well, if it goes on like this, I'm going to the south too." Zhong Guanguan sighed.

Tan Xihong could only smile helplessly, they went south this time, not only to persuade Cai Yuanpei to come back, but also to invite scholars to Peking University to fill the shortage of teachers in the school. When he was in Hangzhou, Tan Xihong went to invite an old classmate, but the old classmate persuaded him to stay in Zhejiang to teach.

Tan Xihong said: "There are also many scholars in Tianjin, let's visit a few more." ”

Zhong Guanguan shook his head and said: "Peking University can't even pay the salary of teachers now, how can I have the face to ask someone to teach again?" ”

"I have to try, I have a classmate named Yan Zhiying, who studied physics, and is now mourning at home," Tan Xihong said, "and Zhou Hexuan, who wrote "The Rise of a Great Power", you can also talk to him, please go back to Peking University to teach world history." ”

Zhong Guanguan did not hold out hope and said, "Let's go to the hotel again." ”

The two walked out of the dock in a low mood, and suddenly heard the newsboy shouting: "Read the newspaper, read the newspaper, the national education is discussed, whether the son of a murderer and a prostitute has the right to study!" ”

"Hey," Tan Xihong suddenly became interested, beckoning, "A copy of the newspaper!" ”

The newsboy ran over and spread his hands and said, "Ta Kung Pao, three cents and five cents." ”

"No need to make change." Tan Xihong handed over 5 large copper plates.

"Thank you, sir." The newsboy said happily that he got a tip of five cents for this business.

The two called a rickshaw, and Tan Xihong sat in the car to read the newspaper, and soon came across the article discussing the right to education. He repeated the situation and said to Zhong Guanguan: "Professor Zhong, this Zhou Hexuan seems to be enthusiastic about the cause of education, maybe he can be invited." ”

Zhong Guanguan reminded: "Don't forget that the education foundation was initiated by Zhang Xueliang. ”

Tan Xihong was silent, Peking University has become what it is now, mainly thanks to Zhang Zuolin. directly sent troops to surround Peking University, but Zhang Dashuai scared the teachers and students of the school enough.

The two went to the hotel to put their luggage, Zhong Guanguan was old, and he didn't want to toss anymore, but Tan Xihong ran to invite Zhou Hexuan in a hurry.

Arriving at the newspaper office, Tan Xihong asked a clerk, "Is Mr. Zhou Hexuan here?" ”

"Well, that's Mr. Zhou." The clerk pointed to the past.

Zhou Hexuan was preparing to go out with someone, and Tan Xihong walked over and said, "Hello Mr. Zhou, contemptible Tan Xihong, head of the Department of Biology of Peking University. ”

"Luckily!" Zhou Hexuan shook hands in confusion, not knowing what this person was looking for him.

"Is Mr. Zhou going out?" Tan Xihong asked.

"Well, take someone out and do a survey." Zhou Hexuan nodded.

The questionnaire survey is relatively new, and Tan Xihong took the initiative to ask to follow and go out with a few newspaper employees.

When he got to the street, Zhou Hexuan said to his subordinates: "When you do a questionnaire, the sampling must be as comprehensive as possible." Xiao Zhou, Lao Zhang, Brother Zheng, and Limin, you are responsible for the east, west, north and south of Tianjin, and I will personally run the concession here. Survey respondents should cover different age groups and different occupations, and each survey should be recorded in detail. Do you understand? ”

"Understood, President!" The crowd answered.

Tan Xihong asked curiously: "Mr. Zhou, do you do this questionnaire for any purpose?" ”

Zhou Hexuan explained: "Ta Kung Pao is going to do an in-depth series of reports on the people's right to education. This questionnaire is to collect the views of ordinary people on this. ”

"Oh, I see," Tan Xihong praised, "It's like doing a scientific experiment, you need to collect and analyze data, and I didn't expect a newspaper to be so particular." ”

Zhou Hexuan said: "The news written by patting the head is inevitably divorced from the actual situation. The principle of running our "Ta Kung Pao" newspaper is not to be party, not to be selfish, not to sell, and not to be blind, and this is not to blindly follow popular customs, but also not to blindly report. ”

Tan Xihong affirmed: "This is also the attitude of engaging in science. ”

The two didn't take a few steps before Zhou Hexuan found a vendor and said, "Hello, I'm a questionnaire investigator for Ta Kung Pao." ”

"Well?" The peddler looked confused.

Zhou Hexuan elaborated: "In the Hope Primary School in the north of the city, there is a student whose father is a murderer and his mother is a prostitute, and the parents of other students oppose his study and demand to be expelled. What are your thoughts on this? ”

The peddler said, "Of course you have to be fired!" ”

"Why?" Zhou Hexuan asked while recording.

The peddler said: "Dragons give birth to dragons, phoenixes give birth to phoenixes, and the sons of rats will make holes." The murderer's son can't even study, and how many people will be killed when he becomes a bad guy in the future. ”

Zhou Hexuan asked: "The constitution of the Republic of China stipulates that all citizens have the right to education. Do you think this student has the right to read? ”

The peddler rightly asked, "What else are you reading?" The father is a murderer, the mother is a prostitute, this kind of person is definitely not a good thing when he grows up, and it will save trouble if he dies early. ”

"Okay, thank you for your cooperation," Zhou Hexuan said, "may I ask your name, age, occupation, have you ever read a book?" ”

The peddler smiled: "My name is Li Quan, 32 years old, I sell candy piles, and I can't read. ”

Zhou Hexuan asked seven or eight people one after another, and even investigated the Indian patrol, and the answer was surprisingly consistent: The son of a murderer and a prostitute should not study!

Tan Xihong witnessed the whole process and said in disbelief: "How can this be? How can this be? ”

"Don't rush, take your time." Zhou Hexuan intercepted another bespectacled one, who seemed to be an intellectual.

The man said: "Of course, there is the right to study, and now that the Republic of China is in place, a progressive civilized society must give every citizen the opportunity to receive education." ”

Zhou Hexuan asked: "What if this person grows up in college?" Knowledgeable bad people can be more harmful than illiteracy. ”

"Then it is even more important to be educated, and the school can guide the person to goodness and correct his dangerous behavior." That's humane.

Zhou Hexuan smiled: "Thank you for your cooperation, please ask your name, age, occupation and education level." ”

The man replied happily: "My name is Lu Xingfang, my name is Runliang, 29 years old, a master of finance, and a clerk of a foreign bank. ”

After this question, Tan Xihong said: "It seems that the reader is still sensible." ”

"Not necessarily." Zhou Hexuan said.

Soon asked a vegetable seller, she said: "It is good to study more, and the son of this murderer may have a future when he grows up." ”

After half a day's work, a total of 500 questionnaires were received, and the final statistics showed that 87.2% of them held negative views, believing that the offspring of murderers and prostitutes should not study; Only 12.8 per cent (the vast majority of whom are women and intellectuals) hold a positive view.

Seeing this result, Zhou Hexuan was silent, he didn't expect it to be so bad.

Tan Hongxi forgot the purpose of his trip, sighed and said: "The concept of the Chinese people still needs to be improved." ”

The next day, Ta Kung Pao disclosed the results of the investigation, which immediately sparked heated discussions among the intellectuals in Beijing and Tianjin, and many scholars published articles one after another to expound their thoughts.

As mentioned in the previous chapter, there were three kinds of education in the early days of the Republic of China. Among them, the theory of popular education holds that men and women, young and old, rich and poor, have the right to education. Historically, this concept originated during the Northern Expedition.

What Zhou Hexuan didn't expect was that his report actually prompted the "concept of popular education" to rise in advance and ignited the fire of education for all.

As a modern person decades later, it is difficult for you to imagine that the ignorant and unworthy son of a criminal in the early years of the Republic of China would be the consensus of most people.

It is really important to emancipate the mind!