Civilization is always permeated in the details of everyday life, and the conclusions can only be striking when we compare it with the past after decades of change, or when we compare two countries with different traditions. Compared with the Japanese government's hasty abolition of the old calendar and the change of the Western calendar to the Western calendar in order to save one month's salary (the use of the Jesus calendar can be one month less than the old Japanese calendar every four years, and the year of the change of the calendar is just one month less), the matter of changing the Chinese calendar was not formally established in the constitution until the first year of Ji Shenwu -- many members of the peasant council used an overwhelming majority of votes to block the proposal of the Kuomintang members who supported the Western calendar on the grounds that the Western calendar interfered with livelihoods, violated agricultural time, disrespected ancestors, and abandoned traditions.

The lunar calendar has been used in China for thousands of years, and the Chinese people are accustomed to it in all aspects. After this time, just like the late Qing Dynasty Congress for the virgin non-virgin to make a fuss red ticket party and white stripe party, the Inspectorate was also privately divided into the Lunar Party and the Western Calendar Party by the newspapers, because there are many farmers, so the Lunar Lunar Party is the real first party in the Inspectorate, in some of the motions that are not interfered with by the Revival Association, the country's policies are often determined by them, so angry that many new people scold them for being old stubborn, old antique, old ......

In the winter of December of the fifth year of Shenwu, during the fifth opening of the Inspectorate Academy, in the office of the Education Committee under the Inspectorate Academy, Cai Yuanpei sat at the bottom of the rostrum and listened to the questions of a group of old antiques of the Lunar Party.

"Master Cai, we have all read the report of the school department, very good! It's just that at the beginning of the year, we went to some university halls to audit classes, and the most curious thing for us was, why all the classes at Peking University were Spanish? Teachers teach both Chinese and Westerners, and they all use Spanish. We asked the principal, Mr. Yan Jidao, and he said that this was a requirement of the school. Why is that? Please also ask Lord Cai to solve your doubts. ”

There are dozens of committees under the Inspectorate, which basically cover all aspects of the state's affairs. They are the ultimate and most effective watchdog of government actions. Whether it's an emergency or a national decision-making. As long as it is related to the national economy and people's livelihood, these relevant committees will investigate the incident and explore the truth with full questions, because their grade is the same as that of the prime minister, so there is nothing that cannot be known about major national affairs.

Regardless of party interests, these high-ranking officials could remove any official, including the prime minister, from office after thoroughly investigating the incident and discovering the problem, and even hold them legally responsible for their dereliction of duty. For example, in the case of the Liangguang floods, although there was a suggestion that the Fuxing Society would take the opportunity to eliminate local forces, the Disaster Prevention and Relief Committee of the Inspectorate did find that local officials were paralyzed by the lack of floods in Liangguangsu. Failing to implement the decree of the Ministry of Land, not building dams, not clearing rivers, embezzling special funds for disaster prevention, abandoning their posts and fleeing during disasters, and exterminating after disasters, the officials involved were handed over to the Inspectorate for prosecution for the crimes of dereliction of duty and embezzlement of public funds, and a small half of them were killed and more than half of them were imprisoned.

Compared with the purge of state-owned companies by the state-owned enterprise committee, the Liangguang flood, which has a huge number of murders and sentences and has a wide impact, has finally made the people understand who holds the real power of the state. It was also through this time that the people of the Inspectorate realized that they were the real owners of the entire state power. In the past, the state budget, ministerial reports, and legal bills that were not finished playing, had a headache to watch, and listened to headaches, began to be taken seriously by these illiterate peasant parliamentarians. It can be said that they have been in a state of confusion for several years, and they finally found out at this time that they are really officials, and they are the biggest officials.

Once in power. And he gave the order. Even farmers know this most basic principle, not to mention the fact that this year's Inspectorate coincides with the general election. Don't do some good deeds to win votes. After this year, the special treatment of Qiē will be cancelled. I didn't even have to live in the capital, so I had to go home and farm.

Xu Jingming, the chairman of the Education Committee who didn't want to go home and wanted to give full play to his residual heat, sat on the rostrum at this time and asked questions to Cai Yuanpei, a revolutionary veteran below. Although he was Cai Yuanpei's subordinate in terms of the organizational relationship of the Revival Society, the Fourth Congress of the Revival Society made clear provisions on the contradiction between organizational relations and official subordination, that is, the revival members must obey their positions and ranks in specific affairs, unless otherwise stipulated by the Supreme Council.

Xu Jingming, who regards education as a matter of his own affairs, made a special investigation for eight months, visited all the universities in China in a row, and most of the professors and lecturers had listened to one or two lectures, and finally found that only Peking University was like this -- even the Tongji University Hall, which has the most reputation in China and has the largest number of foreign teachers, only spoke Spanish when foreign teachers were in class, and they all spoke Chinese at other times.Chinese That's why this issue was formally raised.

Cai Yuanpei, who thought that he was a qiēshun lì, didn't want to be asked about this matter, and suddenly looked stunned. Peking University is the university he pays the most attention to, and its president, Yan Fu, was also appointed by him despite Yang Rui's objections. But this Yan Fu was born in the navy, and because the navy learned from the British, in the early years, the Beiyang Fleet only spoke English and Min languages, and did not speak Beijing dialect at all. It is a strict rule with the old habits of the navy, and all the affairs in the school are in English, and teachers who do not know English do not force it. Yan Fu's move Cai Yuanpei was supportive, so Yan Fu, who had no choice after being questioned by Xu Jingming, had no choice but to move out of Cai Yuanpei, saying that it was ordered by the school department.

"Master Xu, the school department has indeed made relevant regulations." Cai Yuanpei replied stubbornly, "Its purpose is ......, and its purpose is to enable students to master foreign languages proficiently, so as to keep up with the progress of science and technology in various countries around the world and build a world-class university." ”

"Lord Cai, as far as I know, Tongji University Hall also has this requirement; Moreover, I have had a detailed discussion on this issue with Mr. Baolong, the president of Tongji University, and he believes that college students should be proficient in a foreign language, but they should not speak a foreign language when they eat and sleep, and the language of their own nationality should be retained. Xu Jingming was not so easy to fool, and immediately debunked Cai Yuanpei's lies.

Hardening his head again, Cai Yuanpei said: "Did Lord Xu say that Peking University speaks English?" ”

"This ......, something has been said." Xu Jingming was asked by him, but hesitated, he said, "Does Lord Cai mean ......?"

"Exactly." Cai Yuanpei finally made the lie come true, and said quickly, "As Lord Xu knows, as long as the British support it." Germany was against it. This was the case before, not to mention the mountains of corpses and blood killed by the two countries now. Peking University is a key liberal arts institution in China. The whole school spoke English, and the Germans, of course, had to find a reason to oppose it. ”

"Let's put it this way. But there is some truth to it. Xu Jingming twisted his beard and began to nod slightly. However, it is not only the support of the president of Tongji University Hall that supports his questioning of Peking University, but also the support of examples of Peiyang University, Nanyang University, Shanxi University, Fudan University, Wuhan University, etc. ”

"Lord Xu, this is just a pilot." At the moment when Xu Jingming was thinking, Cai Yuanpei had already thought of the next excuse. "Among the Beijing University, only Peking University has the most comprehensive regulations, the largest number of students, and is also the closest to the department, so the department wants to use it as a pilot to see what the results will be if English is spoken in all matters on campus. Because this was only a small internal experiment of the Faculty and the amount of money used was small, it was not reported to the Auditor's Office. ”

"Oh......" Xu Jingming let out an insignificant 'oh', just when Cai Yuanpei thought that this level had passed and wanted to wipe his sweat. He said again: "Master Cai, I would like to ask the school department to submit the records of this experiment and the results of the study to the Board of Education. ”

"But this test hasn't come out yet, huh?" Cai Yuanpei didn't want this person to really break the casserole and ask to the end.

"Then there must be a trial plan and a record." Xu Jingming insisted. He knew his rights, and even if it was the Baath Army's next stage of the war plan against Russia, he could go to the General Staff to read it as long as he could state the justification for what he wanted to know and sign the oath to keep it secret. Not to mention this kind of small experiment.

"Good, good. I'll have someone sort it out right away, and I'll have someone deliver it within three days. Xu Jingming forced him step by step. Cai Yuanpei had to agree.

walked out of the Suspect Institute with heavy steps, and sat in the newly issued Yellow Flag official car. Cai Yuanpei took a breath, and he took off his glasses. took out a handkerchief and wiped his sweat, and then said to the secretary Xu Baohuang, "The car will pass by the intersection of the school department later, and you will bring the paperwork back." In the end, it was important to compile a record of the use of English throughout Peking University to promote the development of a world university, and send it to the Education Committee of the Academy of Inspectors three days later. ”

The secretary is his own cronies, and the driver in the front row is his own person, and there are more soundproof partitions, so Cai Yuanpei speaks unscrupulously. In addition, he only used this official car for a few months, and he liked it, and gradually got used to using the car as an office to handle official business here.

"Yes, sir. I'll do it right away. Although Cai Yuanpei's order surprised Xu Baohuang, who graduated from the University of Michigan with a major in journalism, he still obeyed the arrangement.

"Let's drive." After Cai Yuanpei finished giving the order, Xu Baohuang knocked on the partition in the compartment and signaled the driver in the front row to drive.

Because the battery is brought to the motor to start, so it is not too loud after the 'poof' sound, the official car started, with the driver's skillful operation, the yellow flag official car with the Beijing A 1004 license plate drove out of the Suspect Institute, and after putting down Xu Baohuang at the intersection of the school, Cai Yuanpei let the driver drive to Peking University.

"What is the wind that blows the people?" Although Yan Fu was not liked by Yang Rui, there were many people who thought that his Tianyan Theory was beneficial to the country before opening up the domestic atmosphere, and Cai Yuanpei was one of them. Seeing Cai Yuanpei appear at the school, Yan Fu suddenly asked with a smile.

"What else could it be?" Cai Yuanpei will resist the pressure and nominate Yan Fu as the president of Peking University, so he is naturally the most familiar with him. This time, he didn't treat him as an outsider, but complained: "It's not your fellow villager and chairman of the Education Committee, Xu Shisheng." He, a stone is born of a stone, and he is really harder than a stone! ”

"What a fellow countryman!" Yan Fu shook his head, he was a Westerner, and Xu Jingming was born in a serious class; At the same time, Yan Fu is from Fuzhou, but Xu Jingming is from Jinjiang, before he made his career, the two had no friendship at all, but who would have thought that he would be such a poor and sour talent, because he supported the Fuxing Association before Xinhai and agreed with the policy of the Fuxing Society, and now he is climbing higher than the sky. Yan Fu shook his head and said again, "Xiaomin, what's wrong with this Xu Shisheng?" ”

"What's wrong?" Cai Yuanpei finally began to vent his dissatisfaction at this time, "He saw that the newspaper said that Peking University speaks English when eating and, so he spent time investigating all universities across the country and found that this is not the case in other schools, so he questioned me when he was in the Inspectorate just now and asked me why." What a bunch of old men who have nothing to do and invite them! ”

Cai Yuanpei said that Xu Jingming was looking for trouble Yan Fu didn't know what was going on, and he didn't wake up until he said that the whole school spoke English. But he was in a trance by the order of the school, and he didn't want this person to be really persevering.

"Poor people. And now? What do you say? Yan Fu pondered, but felt that it was better to ask about the situation first.

"What else can I say about this old antique?" Cai Yuanpei said unhappily. "All I can say is that this is a pilot of the Division, and what is the impact of speaking English throughout the school on students? Now, I have to hastily write a summary of the pilot plan for them. ”

Hearing that Cai Yuanpei handled it like this, Yan Fu smiled and said: "If there are people, then I will have no worries." ”

Since Yan Fu was not angry about this, Cai Yuanpei was suddenly even more dissatisfied, and said: "Brother Dao, this Peking University is the first in the country's liberal arts, and it is none other than Peking University that opened up the national atmosphere. Why do you depend on me for everything? Peking University should mobilize itself to become an inclusive, free-thinking, and independent university. After all, the school department is a central department, and if it interferes too much in school affairs, it will be a big matter and difficult to handle. ”

Seeing Cai Yuanpei's old story brought up again, Yan Fu shook his head and said: "O people, I am an old bone, and I often have a smoking addiction, so I have to go to the Tianjin Concession to take a few puffs." Then there is still a lot of work to take care of school affairs. If you really want Peking University to become what you say, you have to find someone else who is strong and proficient in Western-style education concepts, and I can't do it. ”

"A few brothers...... Yan Fu has been very reluctant to take up Peking University since the beginning, and it has been postponed in the past few years. But Cai Yuanpei just won't let it. In his view, the new man did not come up before the old people of the revival were not among them. Only Yan Fu can take on this heavy responsibility, and I don't want him to think about leaving office now. Nervously, he lifted his glasses. Cai Yuanpei said: "Are you so worried that things won't be done? ”

"Hey......" Cai Yuanpei opened the skylight and said something bright, and Yan Fu, who was deeply trusted, also told the truth. He said, "O people, the Ministry of Rites is becoming more and more strict, not to mention that he has a few disciples who teach in the liberal arts of the school, just say that his set of teaching plan review system, what do you want to do 'ideological thinking, personality independence' university is impossible." Science and engineering are fine, but social sciences, especially liberal arts, are extremely rigorously vetted, which makes lecturers and professors very dissatisfied. ”

"Are you dissatisfied with the audit process, or are you not satisfied with the audit results?" Cai Yuanpei seemed to have a sneer on his face, he knew who was standing behind Zhang Taiyan.

"This.... I think it's mainly dissatisfied with the review process.,Knowledgeable temper is always not small.。 As for the results of the audit, so far, no one has not made a handout. "Yan Fudao." I don't know if it will be stricter in the future. Son, where did you learn this set of things, can you cancel it? Judging from the IRS's tax collection procedures, things are always very lenient at first, and when everyone gets used to it and does not object, the tax will be raised. In this way, it is always inconvenient for the teacher to say something of his own in the future. ”

"This set of things can't be canceled for the time being." Cai Yuanpei shook his head and said. This is Zhang Taiyan's suggestion, Yang Rui's identity, and it may also be designed by Yang Rui and Zhang Taiyan's appearance. The reason put forward is to protect the quintessence of the country, but what exactly this quintessence is and what it contains, the Ministry of Rites has not clearly determined until now.

"Then if the two people you newly recruited, Hu Shizhi and Chen Zhongfu, really give lectures, can their handouts be reviewed?" Yan Fu asked. These two people are important people who Cai Yuanpei told him to start the atmosphere. He had read the youth magazine, and knew that those things were completely opposite to the lecture notes taught in the mainstream of the school now, and if the two of them came in to teach, it would inevitably cause a dispute between the old and the new.

"Did they come to report?" Cai Yuanpei had already received a reply from these two people, and knew that they would return to China last month, but these two Anhui people had to go home and then go to the capital, so they would not be able to come so soon.

"I've come to report, but there's trouble." Yan Fu didn't mention it, but as soon as he mentioned it, he took out two files from the drawer, shook his head and said: "Although Hu Shizhi graduated from Columbia University with a doctorate, the problem is that he can't get a doctorate certificate, only a certificate from Cornell University in the United States?" And this Chen Zhongfu, it's even more troublesome, he has no academic qualifications at all!

The matter is now stuck in the ministry, and they asked Hu Shizhitong Guò to issue a certificate from Columbia University in the United States to prove that he had graduated with a doctorate before he could be hired with a doctorate degree; Chen Zhongfu, if you want to hire him as the dean of liberal arts, then at least he has a bachelor's degree or above from a regular university, but he ......"

Hu Shi was recommended by Yu Zixun, he only said that this person had graduated from the doctorate, and he didn't want to get his graduation certificate yet; And Chen Zhongfu was recommended by Zhang Shizhao, and Cai Yuanpei has also read the youth magazine he edited, not to mention his knowledge, but the taste is in line with his meaning. I don't want this person to be an uneducated person. And most importantly, teachers are also considered civil servants. His recruitment had to go through the official department first, and the official department was controlled by Yang Rui's diehard Chen Guangshou. Its internal management has a complete set of systems, old-fashioned and harsh, although not very close to people, but after all, it is fair and reasonable, and everyone is used to it and has no complaints. However, this department is also the same as Yang Ruiren, insisting on the principle of three nos, non-critical positions, and generally only using talents.

I thought of the cold office and the strict clerks of the ministry. Cai Yuanpei, who had already ordered the driver to drive to the ministry, had to order the driver to turn around, and first drive to the school department to discuss with Jiang Weiqiao and the others.

As soon as he entered the school, he saw Zhang Shizhao and a Sven international student in a suit, this person was Hu Shi, and he and Zhang Shizhao had just met Chen Zhongfu.

"This, what about Zhongfu?" After greeting Hu Shi cordially, Cai Yuanpei immediately asked Chen Zhongfu.

"O people, your government is stricter than the Tingwei Mansion!" Zhang Shizhao complained as soon as he came. "Although Zhongfu stayed several times, he didn't stay long each time. Although he was studious, he didn't get a diploma. But he didn't want to take the equivalent academic exam of the Ministry of Officials, so he didn't want to come to Beijing anymore and planned to go to Singapore. ”

"How does this work?" The government's management is much more formal than in the original history, and the amount of money for running schools has also increased dozens of times. But it is precisely because of the formal management of the government that Chen Zhongfu, a turtle who does not even have a secondary school degree, cannot be hired by Peking University under the operation of Cai Yuanpei like in the original history. The same. Hu Shi, who only got his doctorate ten years later, can't use the word doctor in his name now.

Hu Shi doesn't say it here. Hearing that Chen Zhongfu was leaving, Cai Yuanpei immediately didn't let go. He stood up and said, "How can Zhongfu's talent be proved by a diploma!" Where he is, I'll go find him. ”

"Poor people, no hurry, no hurry. Zhongfu is still living in my house, and he hasn't left yet. Seeing that Cai Yuanpei was in a hurry, Zhang Shizhao immediately stopped him. He was actually afraid that Cai Yuanpei would agree to recruit Chen Zhongfu in order to deal with himself, so he came over to talk about it first. "However, he doesn't want to take that messy equivalency exam, so you can see what to do?"

"I'll go to Yin'an ......Hall in a while," Cai Yuanpei wanted to go to Yang Rui's back door, but he felt that this matter was too small, and he didn't say that the plea would be successful, in case Yang Rui felt wrong, then the matter would be difficult to handle. Thinking about Chen Zhongfu's academic qualifications, Cai Yuanpei looked at Hu Shi again and said with concern, "Suitable, are you still used to coming to the capital?" ”

"Mr. Xie inquired, ...... come to the capital" Hu Shi said this, holding his glasses and smiling, he said indescribably: "I really don't feel used to it." ”

Since the founding of the country, the capital has been repairing and building new buildings, and the money spent for this has gone to the sea. In the first year of Shenwu, it was the inner and outer city walls and imperial palaces, and in the second year of Shenwu, it was a variety of fortifications, and then there were roads, sewers, street trees, Western-style lawns, street lamps, and bus stops, ......; This year, even the walls of Chengtianmen Tianjie and the Thousand Steps Corridor are being demolished and built, saying that they are for the sake of a big military parade at the beginning of next year -- this is a method that ordinary people in the Ministry of Rites and the General Political Department have racked their brains to come up with. The whole capital Chang'an Street can be paraded, but Chang'an Street has a T-shaped and closed Heavenly Street, which is to be retained, so only the bricks of the Heavenly Street are numbered, dismantled and built on the steel shelf, this kind of shelf is equipped with countless tires and large marine engines, when needed, the engine can be removed, and when not needed, it will be driven back to its original position, so as to form a T-shaped Heavenly Street again. In this way, the entire Heavenly Street has become a movable city wall, and the cost of several kilometers of Heavenly Street Wall is said to have cost millions.

Hu Shi does not know the details like Cai Yuanpei, as soon as he arrived at the Zhengyangmen Railway Station, he felt that the city was very, very clean, although the buildings in the city were old, there were many public facilities in Western-style countries, and the details of many places were very exquisite, especially the toilets in the railway station, which were so beautiful that people did not dare to go in to relieve them. This kind of Chinese-style architectural city, combined with modern facilities, coupled with exquisite and comfortable interior, is much more beautiful than a rugged American city, but these feelings are difficult for him to say.

"Mr. Xiaomin, I have called Mr. Zixun, about the degree, Mr. Zixun said that he will help me find a way." Hu Shi's dissertation is only a major repair, and the lack of a doctorate title is not scary in China, so I can only ask Yu Zixun.

"That's good." Things have finally gone one thing, and Chen Zhongfu's troubles are left, Cai Yuanpei's mood is finally better, and he feels that the beginning of school is one step closer. (To be continued......)