Training the Heavens

Chapter 349 Heading South to Guangdong
Zhang Xingjiu did not put on airs, but seriously discussed his expectations for Xiamen University with the school directors, and then began to formulate a school construction plan based on their needs and Hu Jian's local specific conditions.

Every time he encountered a problem, he would patiently discuss it with Deng Cuiying, the assistant assigned to him by the school board, until both parties reached an agreement, and then he would start implementing the plan.

Deng Cuiying, whose courtesy name is Zhiyuan, is from Minhou, Hu Jian. She is 37 years old this year. She comes from a farming family and received mainly traditional education in her early years. After she became an adult, she entered the Quanmin Normal School to study new knowledge. After graduation, she worked as a primary school teacher for a year and then passed the exam to study as a government-funded student in Japan.

After arriving in Japan, he first studied in the preparatory class of Hongwen Academy's Higher Normal School, and later was admitted to Tokyo Higher Normal School. During this period, he came into contact with many revolutionary patriots and was influenced by them to join the revolutionary ranks.

After the success of the Xinhai Revolution, he was called back and served as the inspector and section chief of FJ Province, principal of Fuzhou Normal School, and academic director of Beijing Normal University. While in Beijing, he was sent to the United States to study and entered Teachers College of Columbia University.

After returning from his studies, he served as a consultant to the Ministry of Education and acting president of Beijing Normal University. Now he has been invited back by Hu Jian to participate in the preparatory work for the establishment of Xiamen University. He also has rich experience in the field of education. If Chen Jiageng had not invited Zhang Xingjiu, he would have been the only choice for the first president of Xiamen University.

During her time in Beijing, Deng Cuiying was favored by the Minister of Education, Fan Yuanlian. Fan Yuanlian's younger brother, Fan Yuanrang, was a student of Zhang Xingjiu. The two had this relationship, and Zhang Xingjiu had a unique reputation in the field of education and academia. Deng Cuiying respected him very much, so the cooperation between the two sides was quite pleasant.

According to Chen Jiageng's original plan, Xiamen University should include 5 departments in five colleges, namely liberal arts, science, law, business, and education. Zhang Xingjiu made fine adjustments on this basis. Considering that Xiamen is close to the sea, he added majors such as navigation, fisheries, and ships.

Physics, chemistry, and mathematics are Zhang Xingjiu's strong subjects. With the support of teachers from Aurora University, Zhang Xingjiu is confident that he can build Xiamen University into the third science center in China, second only to Aurora University and Peking University.

As for departments such as liberal arts, business, and education, they were handed over to Deng Cuiying for management. He was a graduate of Columbia University and had served as president of many universities, so managing these colleges was not a problem for him.

Ma Zongwen became the head of the Foreign Languages ​​Department. Originally, the domestic education community had some concerns about women serving as school leaders, but since Madame Curie came to China for her lecture tour, these concerns no longer existed.

Ma Zongwen has been engaged in education at Aurora University for many years, has excellent teaching quality, and has a French diploma. Even if we don't mention her relationship with Zhang Xingjiu, no one can say anything about her holding this position.

Originally, Zhang Xingjiu wanted to invite A Zhang to teach at Xiamen University, but then he thought, he was currently teaching in Beijing, and Xu Guangping would be admitted to the Chinese Department of Beijing Women's Normal University where he was a teacher next year. It would be difficult to ruin this marriage, so he put it aside for the time being and planned to invite A Zhang to Xiamen when their relationship was more or less the same.

Tan Kah Kee chose the drill ground south of Xiamen as the school site, and ambitiously bought more than 2,000 acres of land around it so that the school could be expanded in the future. At the groundbreaking ceremony, he gave an impassioned speech.

"Today, our nation is in a precarious position. Our survival depends on our burgeoning education and the surviving hearts of our people. To lose both is to disregard the nation and to bring about our own destruction. Every citizen has the responsibility to save the nation."

"The people's will is not dead, the nation's lifeline is still there. With 400 million people, we will never be content to be inferior to others! If we fail today, there will be tomorrow. If we fail in our lifetime, there will be our descendants." His patriotic fervor moved everyone who heard it. He announced his plan to establish Xiamen University on the spot, explaining issues such as the site selection. He stated, "The money I earned through hard work should also be donated generously." He pledged one million yuan for start-up costs and three million yuan for operating expenses, to be divided into twelve years of 250,000 yuan per year. He also called on people to "work together, and we will rise above the difficulties. This is what I deeply hope for our compatriots at home and abroad."

He also planned to raise funds from wealthy overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia after Xiamen University had grown to a certain size. Hearing this, Zhang Xingjiu couldn't help but think of the one in Guangdong. But in terms of fundraising, Tan Kah Kee was much more reliable than him and acted in an organized manner. Waiting until the school was built before raising funds would undoubtedly attract more people to donate.

As a result, just after the ceremony, Wu Lien-teh, who had accompanied Zhang Xingjiu to Xiamen to help set up the Xiamen University School of Medicine, found Chen Jiageng and made a generous donation. He was also a Chinese overseas in Southeast Asia and naturally had a good impression of Xiamen University's willingness to recruit students from Southeast Asia. At that time, he donated half of his Nobel Prize money to Xiamen University.

Inspired by this, many guests attending the ceremony donated generously, which greatly alleviated Xiamen University’s funding needs.

Xiamen University completed the construction of the first batch of school buildings at the fastest speed. During the summer vacation, the joint entrance examination of eight schools officially began. Although Xiamen University had just been established, because Zhang Xingjiu was the president, the number of applicants jumped to the forefront, surpassing many schools that had been established for a long time.

When the school season started, students from all over the country gathered at Xiamen University, looking at Zhang Xingjiu on the stage with their eyes full of admiration and expectation.

Zhang Xingjiu did not disappoint their expectations. In just a few years, he put Xiamen University on the right track. Both its teaching quality and scientific research results ranked among the top domestic universities, and it has initially acquired the foundation of a first-class domestic university.

At this time, Guangdong was also ready, so Mr. Yixian sent a telegram to Zhang Xingjiu, inviting him to go south to serve as the president of National Guangdong University and preside over the school's preparations.

This was agreed upon several years ago, and Zhang Xingjiu readily agreed and found Chen Jiageng for a deep talk. Chen Jiageng was of course reluctant to let him go, but he also knew that Xiamen University was still too small to accommodate a big Buddha like Zhang Xingjiu. Moreover, now that the school was on the right track, there was not much point in keeping Zhang Xingjiu here, so he reluctantly approved his resignation.

Before leaving, Zhang Xingjiu solemnly reminded Chen Jiageng to pay attention to changes in the international economy to avoid losses in his investments. He later suffered huge losses in the economic crisis and had to sell the villa he bought for his son in Singapore, leaving behind the story of "selling the building to maintain Xiamen University."

Although it is a good story, it also limits the development of Xiamen University. It would be great if this problem could be avoided. Zhang Xingjiu plans to pay more attention to the economic situation in the future so as to remind Chen Jiageng in time.

Leaving the position of principal to Deng Cuiying, Zhang Xingjiu went south with his wife and children and a group of outstanding teachers newly recruited from Aurora University.

(End of this chapter)