Training the Heavens

Chapter 350 Huangpu
They set off from Xiamen Port by boat and sailed south along the coastline. Four days later, they arrived in Guangzhou and were warmly welcomed by Mr. Yat-sen.

After a day of rest, Zhang Xingjiu listened to Mr. Yixian's plan for the university the next day. "I have already discussed with several schools. We plan to establish National Guangdong University based on Guangdong Normal University, merging Guangdong Agricultural College and Guangdong Law University with these three schools."

Zou Lu, who was assisting him with the preliminary work, added, "The Teachers College and the Law School have a good liberal arts foundation, and the Agricultural College also has a certain foundation in agriculture. Now, with the addition of Mr. Zhang and other wise men, the school's science foundation has also been strengthened. In this way, it can become a comprehensive university."

Zou Lu played a role similar to that of Deng Cuiying in this matter. He served as Zhang Xingjiu's assistant during the school's preparatory stage. After Zhang Xingjiu left, he took over the position of president and continued to lead the development of National Guangdong University.

He was an early member of the Tongmenghui and is now the principal of Guangdong Normal University. He also founded schools such as Lequn Middle School and Chaojia Normal School. He has rich experience in education and is just the right person for this position.

"With Mr. Zou's help, running this school will definitely go smoothly." Zhang Xingjiu said politely, and then talked to them about the various preparations for running the school. Mr. Yixian was busy with his work, so he listened for a while and then left.

Zhang Xingjiu and Zou Lu simply went directly to Guangdong Normal University. Both sides took their assistants to walk through the school carefully, and also visited Guangdong Agricultural College and Guangdong Law University. Only then did they return to the conference room for a serious discussion.

Wherever he went, the teachers and students of the three schools were very excited. They had heard of Zhang Xingjiu's name a long time ago and knew well his ability in running schools. The fact that Aurora University has become a top university in Asia and that Peking University and Xiamen University have developed rapidly in recent years are all good proof of this. Now that Mr. Zhang has come to Guangdong, doesn't it mean that his own school will also usher in excellent development opportunities?
Soon, this news reached the ears of other schools in Guangzhou, and many schools were interested. They thought very directly: since Guangdong Normal University could merge with Guangdong Agricultural College and Guangdong Law University, why not merge with a few more schools?

If he could merge his own school into the company, although he would lose a certain degree of autonomy, he would be able to take advantage of this favorable situation, get strong support from Zhang Xingjiu, obtain government funding, and quickly achieve leapfrog development.

Many Guangdong gentry also thought this was a good opportunity. Guangdong had longed to have a high-quality university. On a smaller scale, having such a school would make it much more convenient for their children to study in the future. On a larger scale, this would also be a great thing for the benefit of their hometown, and they would be able to have a separate page in the family tree when they passed away.

As a result, Zhang Xingjiu's office at Guangdong Normal University was immediately crowded with people. Some came to ask Zhang Xingjiu to merge their school, and some came to donate funds for the school. The office was soon crowded with people.

Fortunately, Zhang Xingjiu had experienced a similar situation once in Xiamen, and this time he brought with him a capable assistant who had experienced the whole process. He quickly settled the guests. Those who needed to go to the next office to discuss donations went to the next office, and those who wanted to discuss mergers first understood the specific situation of the school.

Guangdong was the first province to be opened as a port, so although it does not have very good universities, it has a large number of ordinary new-style schools, such as Guanghua Medical School. This school was founded by Zheng Hao and others more than ten years ago. It is now renamed the Private Guangdong Guanghua Medical College and has certain teaching capabilities.

It just so happened that according to Zhang Xingjiu's plan, the future National Guangdong University should also have a medical school. By merging this school and adding the teachers trained by Wu Lien-teh, it would become the best medical school in Lingnan.

There was also Lingnan University, originally a private university founded by Americans in Guangdong. It was struggling, so it could be merged with the university, filling in the gaps in foreign language and science subjects while also providing an additional channel for studying in the United States. Several engineering colleges also had some foundations, and while they were slightly lacking, they were still far better than starting from scratch. Zhang Xingjiu merged these schools as well, and thus, National Guangdong University took shape.

After working for more than a month, Zhang Xingjiu put together a preparatory plan and submitted it to Mr. Yixian. He immediately organized the first preparatory meeting, focusing on discussing and passing the organizational outline of the Preparatory Office of National Guangdong University to ensure the smooth implementation of preparatory work and the opening of National Guangdong University. He was personally responsible for raising funds, meeting with local wise men in succession, calling on everyone to donate, and allocating funds from government funds specifically for school use.

After the first batch of funds was in place, the assistants Zhang Xingjiu brought from Xiamen started to work. Some communicated with the architects about the school's design, while others went to the construction site to supervise the workers in carrying out the construction according to the design requirements.

Some have detailed discussions with teachers from different schools in turn to determine their future jobs.

Some are responsible for teaching these teachers, striving to improve their teaching abilities as quickly as possible so as to better serve the students.

Others order various experimental teaching equipment from home and abroad so that teachers and students can use them when school officially starts.

Everything was progressing in an orderly manner. Mr. Yixian could not help but feel gratified when he saw this. “When it comes to running a school, Zhou Ping is truly one of the best talents in the country.”

"Yes, I originally thought I had some experience in running a school, but now after seeing this, I realized that I still have a lot to learn. I have learned a lot these days following Mr. Zhou Ping." Zou Lu echoed from the side.

"I think it would be better if we invite all the wise men here to take a look at our preparations. Perhaps more people will donate generously," Zhang Xingjiu suggested.

Before, there was nothing, so the local gentry would definitely hesitate when it came to paying. But now it’s like the model room of a real estate project has been built, so it’s relatively easier to get everyone to pay.

Mr. Yixian also had extensive experience in fundraising. He immediately understood Zhang Xingjiu's intention and quickly sent out invitations to invite local gentry to come and take a look. They were indeed full of praise and pledged a considerable amount of money that day.

Looking at the total amount of donations, Mr. Yixian became even more convinced of Zhang Xingjiu's ability. He quickly made another request to Zhang Xingjiu, "The preparations for National Guangdong University are on track, but the other university is still a mess. Zhou Ping, you must help me!"

(End of this chapter)