Zhou Hexuan became an official, an official of the Ministry of Education. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

He is young and lacks qualifications, and if Zhang Zuolin wants to arrange for him to be the president of Peking University, he must be given a more decent government position.

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

The first class is the special office, appointed by the government in the form of special orders, such as the ministers of the central government and the local governors; The second class is a short-appointed official, who is selected by the government to serve as a qualified official, such as the deputy ministers of the central ministries and members of the provincial government; The third class is the recommending officer, who is recommended by the chief in charge, such as the section chiefs of the central ministries and local county heads.

Zhou Hexuan did not have any government positions before, so he was more suitable to be a third-class recommending official.

There are a total of 8 third-class recommended officials of the Ministry of Education, including 1 secretary-general, 3 directors and 4 counselors.

The secretary-general and the director are now full, but there are still vacancies for counselors, and Zhou Hexuan was naturally promoted to counselor of the Ministry of Education.

The whole process is fully in line with the formal procedures, first the Minister of Education Ren Kecheng issued an invitation, and after Zhou Hexuan agreed, and then the Ministry of Education officially issued a letter of recommendation. Zhou Hexuan became a third-class official of the Beiyang government, with a level equivalent to that of a local county magistrate, with a monthly official salary of 360 silver dollars.

The salaries of the Beiyang government are interesting, and technical officials tend to get more than administrative officials. For example, administrative officials at the deputy ministerial level can only receive a maximum salary of 500 yuan, while technical officials of the same level can get up to 800 yuan.

Zhou Hexuan had a deep malicious association: Is it because administrative officials are prone to corruption, so they use high salaries to compensate technical officials?

When the appointment letter of the Ministry of Education was sent to Peking University, the professors there were collectively stunned and convened a Peking University Council overnight.

There were not many people who 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 Department of Literature and Literature of Peking University (father of Hua Ma Jue of Peking University), Tan Xihong, director of the Department of Biology of Peking University, Zhong Guanguan, director of the herbarium of Peking University, Hong Taosheng, professor of Peking University, Wu Yu (praised by Hu Shi as a scavenger in the Chinese ideological circle), etc., a total of less than 10 people.

A letter of appointment from the president of Peking University was placed in front of everyone, and the scene fell silent.

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

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

"It's not about character," Wu Yu asked, "Why did the Ministry of Education arrange for Zhou Hexuan to come to Peking University as the president, and what shady behind-the-scenes deals did he have with Zhang Zuolin?" ”

Zhong Guanguan sighed: "At this critical time, it is already fortunate that someone is willing to be the president of Peking University and dares to take over this mess." ”

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

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

"I don't have an opinion, you have the final say." Ma Heng belongs to the kind of person who immerses himself in learning and does not like to participate in mundane affairs, and 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 fact that the Ministry of Education is now willing to appoint a principal shows that things have taken a turn for the better. ”

Wu Yu complained: "The problem is that this Zhou Hexuan is only in his twenties, just when he is young and vigorous. He didn't have any experience in running a school before, so if he came to Peking University to command indiscriminately, what should we do? ”

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

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

Hong Taosheng said with a smile: "Old Wu, you have always despised authority and opposed etiquette, why did you become seniority today?" ”

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

Zhong Guanguan proposed: "We can't discuss the results here, so it's better to contact Zhou Hexuan first and test his thoughts." ”

"Yes," Ma Yuzao said, "you know Zhou Hexuan with Zhong Kui, so I'll bother you to take a trip." ”

……

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

The two of them didn't beat around the bush, 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 the opportunity to say good things about Peking University, but I didn't expect to get myself into it." ”

"I see, that's a good thing." Zhong Guanguan said with a smile.

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

Zhou Hexuan said: "Everything is business as usual, I am only responsible for asking the Ministry of Education for money, and I usually live in Tianjin. You choose an acting principal to come out and manage the day-to-day school affairs on your own, and I don't get involved. ”

Zhong Guanguan and Tan Xihong looked at each other and smiled, and they both saw the joy in each other's eyes.

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

Jiang Menglin was blacklisted by Zhang Zuolin a few months ago, and now he has quietly gone south and defected to the Nationalist Government. The current situation of Peking University is very embarrassing, the president Cai Yuanpei resigned, the acting president disappeared again, and 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 will choose an acting president by itself, which is no different from before, which is acceptable to teachers and students in Beijing.

Just when Zhong Guanguan and Tan Xihong were happy, Zhou Hexuan said: "But I have one request, that is, Peking University cannot openly shout revolutionary slogans, publish revolutionary journals publicly, and form revolutionary associations in the future." ”

"Well," Tan Xihong frowned, "it seems to go against the liberal school spirit of Peking University." ”

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

Zhou Hexuan belonged to both sides, first asking Zhang Zuolin for money and promises, and then making various demands to Peking University. Anyway, Zhang Zuolin and Peking University want to solve the problem as soon as possible, and he is only responsible for pulling the strings from it, and he can withdraw at any time. At that time, the headache will still be Zhang Zuolin and Peking University.

Zhong Guanguan said: "Mingcheng, I can convey these requirements to the Peking University Council on your behalf. As for the specific answers, we will need to discuss them before making a decision. ”

"No problem," Zhou Hexuan said with a smile, "I'll go back to Tianjin tomorrow, you can just send me a telegram if you discuss the results." ”