Chapter 348 Supporting the Southwest
Exams are all things of the future. Currently, there is a special guest who came to Shanghai to ask Aurora University for support. He was warmly received by Zhang Xingjiu. He is Dong Ze from Yunnan.
Dong Ze, whose courtesy name is Yucang, is from Baofeng Town, Yunlong County, Yunnan Province. He is 33 years old this year. In his early years, he studied at the Class A Agricultural School of Kunming Gongyuan, Yunnan Province. Later, he was admitted as a public student to study in Japan and studied at Tokyo Dobun College. A few years later, he returned to China and joined the Xinhai Revolution Movement. After making many contributions, he returned to Yunnan and served as a secretary of the Yunnan Military Governor's Office.
After working for a while, he was admitted to Columbia University in the United States to study politics, economics and education. During this period, he sometimes returned to China to participate in the revolution and sometimes returned to the United States to continue his studies. Last year, he obtained two master's degrees from Columbia University and returned home with honors.
Although Yunnan is located in the border area and has a backward economy, the locals have a desire to develop education. They have long proposed to build a university in Yunnan. Dong Ze and other Yunnan students who have studied abroad have invested a lot of effort in this and made many efforts. Finally, they got the support of Yunnan’s leaders and decided to set up a new university in Kunming.
However, the resources that the local area can provide are limited. Land is certainly not a problem, but it is more difficult to raise funds to build a campus. China has been plagued by warlords for years, and most of the taxes that were collected with great difficulty were spent on the battlefield, leaving very little for this university.
The problem can be solved with money. Although Yunnan is poor, there are many local elders who are enthusiastic about education. When the time comes, the government will give some money and the local elders will raise some more money, and the school building will be built.
But to open a university, it is not enough to have a school building, but also to have a group of excellent teachers, and Dong Ze was in a difficult situation. Although he was a master of education from Columbia University, and had several friends who returned from studying abroad to help him, how many students could they teach? Now that he heard that Aurora University strongly supported universities across the country, Dong Ze hurried over after hearing the news. He went all the way from Yunnan to Myanmar, and then took a boat north to Shanghai. He didn't even take a rest and went to Zhang Xingjiu for help.
Zhang Xingjiu was also quite emotional after hearing this. "It has been more than ten years since the establishment of the Republic of China, and a border province like Yunnan still does not have a decent university. This is really inappropriate. Yu Cang has traveled across mountains and rivers to seek help for the education cause of his hometown. If I don't agree, it will chill the hearts of Yunnan students!"
"How about this, I still have some money left from my Nobel Prize, so I'll give Yu Cang 50,000 dollars to take back. It can be seen as my gift to the students in Southwest China. Yu Cang can use the money to build school buildings and recruit students." Donating school buildings to Yunnan is not only for Yunnan, but will also benefit Guizhou, Sichuan and other places. The entire Southwest will benefit from it.
Dong Ze was so moved that he almost cried. He and his many good friends had gone through so much hardship and effort to set up the school, and had even been looked down upon for fundraising. He didn't expect that when he met Zhang Xingjiu for the first time, he would give him 50,000 oceans. How many school buildings could that amount be used to build?
"Mr. Zhang is so righteous. I am grateful to him. I would like to thank Mr. Zhang on behalf of tens of millions of people in the southwest!" After saying that, Dong Ze bowed deeply. If he was not worried that Zhang Xingjiu did not like the old etiquette, he would even be willing to kneel down to Zhang Xingjiu.
"As for the teachers, I will also try to help you solve the problem. Tomorrow I will call together teachers and students from the southwest and other places that are interested in developing education in the southwest to hold a meeting. Yu Cang, you should first talk about the current situation in Yunnan, and focus on the difficulties that students in the southwest face in their studies and their desire for university. I will also help you drum up support and try to persuade more teachers and students to go to Kunming to help you run a school!"
"I have discussed with the school directors and decided to donate a batch of teaching materials and experimental equipment to this unestablished university as a token of my appreciation for the development of education in the southwest."
"Then I will send invitations to the gentry in Shanghai, as well as businessmen and employees who were born in the southwest and live in Shanghai. I will hold a fundraising meeting. Yu Cang will talk to them again, and maybe they will get something out of it."
Hearing this, Dong Ze was so excited that he didn't know what to say. The man in his thirties burst into tears and couldn't speak clearly. He just bowed to Zhang Xingjiu repeatedly, "Mr. Zhang has helped me so much, I really don't know what to say. I don't need to thank you for your kindness. If you can be of any use to me in the future, even if you want my life, I won't frown at all."
"I only hope that all students in China can have the opportunity to study. The southwestern provinces are also part of China, and they should also have a university." At this point, Zhang Xingjiu couldn't help but sigh secretly. It is not easy to let all students in China have the opportunity to study. He doesn't know if he will have the chance to see it in his lifetime.
Dong Ze also fell into fantasy when he heard this, "It would be great if there really was such a day!"
He stayed in Shanghai for half a month. Zhang Xingjiu took him to meet the teachers, students and directors of Aurora University, and also visited gentry from all sides and fellow villagers from various hometown associations in the southwest.
When Dong Ze came to Shanghai, he had only some loose change on him, but when he left, he took away more than 100,000 yuan, a carload of teaching materials, a carload of experimental equipment, and dozens of outstanding teachers and students from Aurora University and other institutions.
With these resources, Yunnan is not far from having its first university.
When the news spread, educators from all over the country, especially those in remote provinces, immediately regarded Zhang Xingjiu as a timely helper for the education sector and were eager to go to Shanghai to ask Zhang Xingjiu for help.
Unfortunately, Zhang Xingjiu immediately published a statement in the newspaper, saying that he had spent all his Nobel Prize money and that he would go to Xiamen to preside over the establishment of Xiamen University, and was really unable to provide any other help.
Many people beat their chests and stamped their feet after seeing this, deeply regretting why they did not act earlier. If they had arrived in Shanghai before Dong Ze, perhaps they would have been the ones to return to their hometown with a large amount of money, materials and personnel to establish a university.
At the same time, more people began to send their blessings, hoping that Zhang Xingjiu could win another Nobel Prize as soon as possible. In this way, they would have another chance to ask Zhang Xingjiu for help.
Thanks to this series of events, Zhang Xingjiu also gained great reputation in the country, especially in the hearts of young students, who regarded him as one of the most respectable people in China.
This also provided him with many conveniences in running the school. When he arrived in Xiamen and was ready to discuss school matters with other school directors, all the directors expressed their willingness to follow Mr. Zhang's arrangements.
(End of this chapter)
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