Chapter 336 Tan Kah Kee

After some consideration, Zhang Xingjiu politely declined Yuan Xiangcheng's invitation. He knew very well that in the minds of Yuan Xiangcheng and even the Beiyang clique, the Imperial University of Peking was far less important than the Beiyang University. Even if he went, he would not get much funding and would not be able to run the school well.

Zhang Xingjiu sent a telegram back to Yuan Xiangcheng, saying that he was studying a very critical topic and could not leave Shanghai for the time being. He would consider going to other places only after completing the topic in the future.

Yuan Xiangcheng was very dissatisfied when he received the reply, but Zhang Xingjiu spoke very politely, and he had a huge reputation at home and abroad. He had not yet firmly established his position as president, so it was not easy for him to punish Zhang Xingjiu.

So he could only express his regret and politely sent another telegram to Zhang Xingjiu, wishing Zhang Xingjiu a breakthrough in his research as soon as possible. Then he selected Yan Fu, a director of Aurora University, as the president of the Imperial University of Peking and renamed it Peking University.

Yan Fu had earlier served as the "foreign language instructor" of the Beiyang Naval Academy's navigation school, the co-organizer of the Beiyang Naval Academy, and the general manager of the Beiyang Naval Academy. Many Beiyang generals had been his students. Perhaps Yuan Xiangcheng felt that with this relationship, Yan Fu would definitely be able to help him manage Peking University.

This time Yan Fu did not refuse. He felt that Peking University was in a state of disrepair and he had close ties with the Beiyang clique. He might be able to gain a lot of support to help Peking University recover as soon as possible.

He accepted Yuan Xiangcheng's invitation and immediately packed his bags to go north. Before leaving, he found Ma Xiangbo and Zhang Xingjiu and asked them to help select a group of teachers to teach with him at Peking University.

He planned to reorganize the school curriculum in accordance with the modern academic system and the prevailing model of higher education in the world, merge "economics" into "liberal arts", change "science" to "science", and actively offer courses to introduce new Western studies. All of these require excellent teachers. Now Aurora University is the best school in the country, and the quality of its teachers is also the best in the country. If a group of teachers can follow him to Beijing, then Peking University will have hope.

Now, many students graduate from Aurora University every year. Many of these students hope to stay on as teachers, and their personal qualities are indeed sufficient for the job of a teacher. Therefore, Aurora University is fully capable of exporting teachers abroad, which is also very helpful in expanding the influence of Aurora University and improving the comprehensive strength of China's higher education.

So Zhang Xingjiu readily agreed, but only reminded him, "Peking University is not a direct descendant of the Beiyang government after all, and it is hard to say how much money the Ministry of Education can allocate to support Peking University, so I think it is better to have fewer teachers in the first batch. If the Ministry of Education allocates more money, it will not be too late to increase the number."

Yan Fu thought about it and agreed, and took a dozen teachers to the north to make a big move. However, not long after, the Ministry of Education wanted to close Peking University on the grounds of financial difficulties.

Yan Fu immediately wrote "On the Reason why Peking University Should Not Be Closed" and "On the Improvement of Specialized Universities" to the Ministry of Education, stating the reasons why Peking University should not be closed and emphasizing that universities have the mission of "preserving all noble academics to uphold the country's culture" and "should be inclusive and absorb all schools of thought to become great." Faced with strong opposition from Peking University students and teachers and all sectors of society, the authorities gave up the closure of Peking University.

This ordeal exhausted Yan Fu's spirit, and he resigned soon after. Many of the teachers who followed him to Peking University also left. However, although they only stayed for a few months, they also preserved some seeds for Peking University.

Of course, these are all things that happened later. Zhang Xingjiu had just seen Yan Fu off when he welcomed a distinguished guest. Chen Jiageng, who had returned to China from Southeast Asia, came to Shanghai specifically to visit Zhang Xingjiu. Zhang Xingjiu invited Wu Lien-teh, who also came from Southeast Asia, to accompany him, and found an authentic Fujian restaurant to entertain Chen Jiageng.

After three rounds of wine and five kinds of dishes, Chen Jiageng explained his purpose. He has always been passionate about education. Two years ago, he raised more than 50,000 yuan from overseas Chinese in Fujian to build school buildings. This year, he returned to China and planned to set up a school in his hometown of Jimei. This school is the predecessor of Jimei University.

Tan Kah Kee had been doing business in Southeast Asia for many years and had considerable family wealth. He was also the assistant director of the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce, the president of the Tao Nan School, and the chairman of the Fujian Baoan Donation Committee. He had no shortage of channels for fundraising, so the Jimei School under preparation did not have much trouble with funding.

But to build a new school, money alone is far from enough. In addition to classrooms, dormitories, and office buildings, the school must also have teachers. The quality of the teachers determines the teaching level of a school.

There were some schools in Fujian, but the overall quality of these schools was far from comparable to that of Aurora University, so Chen Jiageng, like Yan Fu, thought of introducing teachers from Aurora University.

Moreover, Chen Jiageng wanted more than Yan Fu. Yan Fu himself was a senior education expert and had his own understanding of education. He wanted to be the principal and his teachers would be responsible for implementing his ideas.

Chen Jiageng used to be mainly engaged in business. He valued education but did not know how to build a university. Therefore, he wanted to hire a president from Aurora University and run Jimei School based on Aurora University.

In response to Tan Kah Kee's needs, Zhang Xingjiu gave practical suggestions, "Mr. Chen wants to establish a school in his hometown to teach students, which is really a great achievement. However, there is a shortage of teachers everywhere now. Even if our Aurora University can send some teachers to Jimei, it is just a drop in the bucket. So it is best to open a normal school in the local area first, so that the problem of teachers can be greatly alleviated."

"Once the normal school is on track, we can add business, fisheries and other majors based on Fujian's specific conditions. In this way, Jimei School can become a real university."

Tan Kah Kee was very supportive of Zhang Xingjiu's proposal. "Your words are like a revelation to me. This is the long-term solution. So, are you willing to introduce some capable talents to this normal school?"

"Aurora University also has an Education Department. Many teachers in the department have ideas on how to establish a normal college. I will introduce a few of them to Mr. Chen tomorrow. Mr. Chen can talk to them and choose a suitable president from among them!" Zhang Xingjiu agreed readily. This is also a good thing to expand the influence of Aurora University.

At the same time, he also gave Tan Kah Kee a generous gift, "Once the school building is completed, Aurora University may set up an enrollment point in Jimei. As long as local candidates can pass the exam, they can come to Aurora University to study."

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In the past, students who wanted to apply to Aurora University had to come to Shanghai to take the exam. Many students who lacked travel expenses could not come to study. Now Zhang Xingjiu is preparing to set up test sites in multiple cities to recruit students from other places. Today, he happened to meet Chen Jiageng and gave Jimei an opportunity.

(End of this chapter)