Training the Heavens

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 easily.

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 trustee 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 navigation school of the Beiyang Naval Academy, the co-director of the Beiyang Naval Academy, and the general manager of the Beiyang Naval Academy. Many Beiyang generals had been his students. Perhaps Yuan Shikai 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 thought he could gain a lot of support to help Peking University recover as soon as possible.

He accepted Yuan Shikai'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 the "economics" into the "liberal arts", change the "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 at the school as teachers, and their own qualities are indeed qualified 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 gave a reminder, "Peking University is not a direct descendant of the Beiyang government after all, and it's hard to say how much funding the Ministry of Education can allocate to support Peking University. So I think it's better to have a smaller number of teachers in the first batch. If the Ministry of Education allocates more funds, it won't 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 Inability to Close Peking University" 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 and promoting 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, all this was later. Zhang Xingjiu had barely seen Yan Fu off when he welcomed a distinguished guest. Tan Kah Kee, returning from Southeast Asia, had come to Shanghai specifically to visit Zhang Xingjiu. Zhang Xingjiu invited Wu Lien-teh, also from Southeast Asia, to join him, and they found an authentic Fujian restaurant to entertain Tan Kah Kee. After three rounds of wine and five dishes, Tan Kah Kee explained his purpose. He had always been passionate about education. Two years prior, he had raised over 50,000 yuan from Fujianese immigrants to build a school. This year, he returned to China to prepare a school in his hometown of Jimei. This school was 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 principal of the Daonan School, and the chairman of the Fujian Security Donation Committee. He had no shortage of fundraising channels, 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 teachers determines the teaching level of a school.

There are some schools in Fujian, but the comprehensive quality of these schools is far from comparable to that of Aurora University. Therefore, Chen Jiageng and Yan Fu both 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.

Tan Kah Kee 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 use Aurora University as a model to run Jimei School well.

In response to Tan Kah Kee's needs, Zhang Xingjiu offered practical advice. "Mr. Chen's desire to establish a school in his hometown to educate students is truly a great achievement. However, there is a shortage of teachers everywhere these days. Even if Aurora University can send some teachers to Jimei, it would only be a drop in the bucket. Therefore, it would be best to first open a normal school in the local area. This would greatly alleviate the teacher shortage."

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

Tan Kah Kee strongly supported Zhang Xingjiu's proposal. "Sir, your words have enlightened me. This is the long-term solution. Would you be willing to recommend some capable people to this normal school?"

"Aurora University also has an Education Department. Many teachers in the department have experience in 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.

He also presented a generous gift to Tan Kah Kee: "Once the school building is completed, Aurora University may set up an enrollment center in Jimei. As long as local students can pass the exam, they can come to Aurora University to study."

In the past, students who wanted to apply to Aurora University had to come to Shanghai to take the exam. Many students who lacked the travel expenses could not come to study. Now Zhang Xingjiu is preparing to set up examination centers 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)