Training the Heavens

Chapter 381 Southwest Associated University
Calling representatives from each school into the conference room, Zhang Xingjiu got straight to the point. "We're in an unfamiliar southwest area, and classrooms, dormitories, and laboratories are limited. If each school continues to operate independently, it will likely hinder teaching. Therefore, I propose that we all unite and establish a temporary joint university. This will not only bring together the strengths of each school, but also address the lack of school buildings. What do you think?"

"Aurora University is number one in China in science and engineering. We at Tsinghua University have also received a lot of help from Aurora University. It would be a great blessing for students if they could continue to study under Mr. Zhou Ping." Mei Yiqi was the first to agree.

"Our Peking University Department of Science and Engineering can achieve today's results thanks to the help of Mr. Zhou Ping, so my attitude is the same as President Mei's." Jiang Menglin felt a little regretful. How could Tsinghua University get there first?

"It's the same at Nankai!" Zhang Boling said concisely.

"When our Jiaotong University was founded, it was also thanks to the help of Mr. Zhou Ping. Now we can continue to receive Mr. Zhou Ping's support, and we are definitely very happy!" Li Zhaohuan, president of Shanghai Jiaotong University, also expressed his support.

He was a student who went to the United States to study in 1907. He received a Bachelor of Science from Harvard University, a Bachelor of Commerce from New York University, a Master of Economics from Columbia University, and a Master of Political Science from the University of Pennsylvania. After returning to China, he served as the Deputy Minister of Railways and concurrently as the President of Jiaotong University.

In the original history, he stayed in Shanghai and Jiaotong University also moved to Chongqing. This time, Zhang Xingjiu divided the school in Shanghai into three parts. One part moved with him to Kunming, one part moved to Chongqing, and the other part went to Xi'an. This was the case for both Aurora University and Jiaotong University.

This will not only relieve the pressure on Kunming, but also help improve the level of higher education in inland areas. These schools will stay in Kunming, Chongqing, Xi'an and other places for a few years and will naturally recruit local students. In the future, when they return to Shanghai after the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, a group of teachers and students will stay. The local area can use these resources to develop local education.

Several prestigious universities expressed their agreement, not to mention the representatives from other ordinary schools. Being able to progress together with the teachers and students of Aurora University, Tsinghua University, and Peking University is a great thing that they could never ask for in the past, so naturally there is no reason to object.

The joint school establishment was thus approved. The next step was to choose a name for the school. Zhang Xingjiu brought up a name from the original history and said, "Since this school is jointly established by multiple universities, how about calling it Southwest United University?"

The name was simple and clear, and everyone agreed.

Next, the school's organizational structure was discussed. Ma Xiangbo was elected as the honorary president of Southwest Associated University, Zhang Xingjiu was elected as the president, Mei Yiqi, Zhang Boling, Jiang Menglin, and Li Zhaohuan served as vice presidents, and the heads of other ordinary universities also joined the school committee and served as school committee members. The school's daily affairs were discussed and decided by the school committee meetings.

In the establishment of departments and faculties, the school with the strongest strength will be the main focus, and teachers and students from other universities will be added to assist. For example, physics is naturally the strongest at Aurora University, so Ye Qisun, the dean of the Department of Physics at Aurora University, will serve as the director of the School of Physics at Southwest Associated University, and Wu Dayou and Rao Yutai from Peking University, and Zhao Zhongyao from Tsinghua University will serve as deputy directors.

The literature departments of Tsinghua University and Peking University are relatively strong, so Zhu Ziqing was appointed as the department head, and Wen Yiduo, Wang Li and others assisted him in his work. A Zhang's wife also entered the literature department and continued to organize A Zhang's manuscripts.

The medical school was headed by Wu Lien-teh, with Tang Feifan from Aurora University and Lin Qiaozhi from Union Medical College serving as vice presidents.

A teachers' college was also established. Southwest Associated University, after all, was located in Kunming. To maintain relations with local residents and to promote higher education, it was necessary to recruit some local students. Therefore, establishing a teachers' college was the best option. The goal was to train a group of qualified local teachers, who would later spread throughout Yunnan and the entire southwest region, spreading scientific knowledge to even more people.

Normal colleges are the foundation, and cutting-edge research cannot be missed either, so a research institute must be established to continue research work. However, the direction of research needs to be adjusted. Projects closely related to war, such as agronomy, pharmacy, machinery, radio, and aviation, whose results can improve the country's overall combat capabilities, should be given priority, while theoretical research that is still far from application can only be postponed slightly.

This is unfortunate news for many scholars because they have invested a lot of effort in these projects, and now they are asked to stop their research and turn to other projects, which they will definitely feel regretful.

However, no professor protested or opposed it, because they all knew that the war of resistance was the most important thing now. Compared with the interests of the country, personal gain was nothing.

From Shanghai to Haiphong Port in Vietnam, Zhang Xingjiu and his colleagues held meetings until late at night almost every day. Before getting off the ship, they finally sorted out the establishment affairs of Southwest Associated University and sent the information to the Nationalist Government via radio telegram.

When Zheng Sanfazi received the news, he was quite dissatisfied with Zhang Xingjiu and others for acting on their own. However, considering the reputation of Zhang Xingjiu and others, and that what they were doing was indeed needed by the Republic of China, he just accepted it and approved the construction plan of Southwest Associated University and allocated a sum of funds to the school. As for whether this funding could be obtained, it was hard to say.

However, he did not want to see people in the education sector so united, so he issued another order, asking Chiang Menglin, Zhang Boling and others to go to Chongqing to take up positions, under the pretext of improving the level of higher education in Chongqing. They had no choice but to agree.

He didn't dare let Zhang Xingjiu move, because apart from Zhang Xingjiu, no one in the education field could take on the responsibility of bringing so many schools together. Moreover, if Zhang Xingjiu didn't agree, he would lose face. He had no way to deal with Zhang Xingjiu, so he simply didn't mention it.

Today, Vietnam is a French colony, and Zhang Xingjiu has always had a good relationship with France, so he had already coordinated the train. Everyone got off the ship to rest for a day, and the next day they took a train along the Yunnan-Vietnam Railway to Kunming.

The railway is 859 kilometers long (465 kilometers in Yunnan and 394 kilometers in Vietnam). The train was traveling very slowly, and it took the teachers and students several days of rattling around before they arrived in Kunming.

The first group of teachers and students who arrived collected trucks and horse-drawn carriages from all over Kunming, and also hired a horse caravan for help. After several trips back and forth, they finally transported all the teaching and research supplies to the new campus on the shore of Dianchi Lake.

At this point, the first step of the university's relocation has been completed.

(End of this chapter)