Chapter 2 I also talk about myself

Audience: Professor Lang, your parents don't seem to be natives of Taiwan. How did they come to Taiwan? Lang Xianping: My father and mother studied at Northeastern University founded by Mr. Zhang Xueliang. My father studied economics and my mother studied chemical engineering.It was already 1949 when they graduated.My father immediately joined the 26th Army of General Liu Anqi of the Kuomintang, and he was awarded the rank of captain as soon as he joined the army.After the Kuomintang was over, the 26th Army withdrew from Qingdao, and about 200,000 to 300,000 Shandong people retreated to Taiwan, so there are particularly many Shandong people there.When retreating, every officer usually brought a box of gold and silver, but my father was very interesting. He took a box of Tsingtao beer, three oceans, and my mother on the road.At that time, my mother was still pregnant with my brother, and my father spent two oceans to buy a bed for my mother to sleep in.In Keelung, Taiwan, they disembarked. Because they saw bananas for the first time, my father spent another ocean and bought a bunch of bananas.From then on, he was penniless, so he went to report to the army.Since then, my father has been in Taiwan and never left the army.

Audience: Professor Lang, can you talk about your childhood and your family? Lang Xianping: My mother has been teaching in schools since she came to Taiwan. In 1950, she gave birth to my brother in Tainan; in 1952, my sister was born in Taichung, and then the family moved to Taoyuan, where she gave birth to me in 1956.When my mother was pregnant with me, she had a fortune-telling. The fortune-teller said, "Your child will not grow up. You will die at the age of 12. There is no way you can pass this test." My mother didn't believe this, so she insisted on not having an abortion, and finally gave birth to me.I have been weak and sick since I was a child, and my parents loved me very much, fearing that I would die.They were all in good health, but my health was not good. I was sick almost every day at that time.When I was a child, my tonsils were most prone to inflammation. My parents took me to the hospital three times a week for antibiotics and medicine. It was very laborious to raise me.I also wet the bed when I was a child, and I continued to wet the bed until I was 12 years old. Anyway, everything was not normal. After the age of 12, my body became more normal, and I no longer wet the bed.

When I was in elementary school, my father earned about 3,000 Taiwan dollars, which is about 70 U.S. dollars, and my mother earned about the same level.After my father arrived in Taiwan, he entered the first postgraduate class of the Political Warfare School (that is, the Political Cadre School) founded by Chiang Ching-kuo.He has been working as a political worker (counselor) in the army since then.In Taiwan, political workers are one level below commanders.My father has always been a political worker in the Air Force.He garrisoned everywhere with the troops. In 1958, my father was transferred to Mazu with the army, and I was only 2 years old at that time.According to my father, the KMT received intelligence that the People's Liberation Army's primary attack target was Mazu rather than Jinmen.Chiang Kai-shek was so nervous that he kept going to Mazu to recruit officers to give lectures.At that time, my father was the director of the political warfare department of the lieutenant colonel of the anti-aircraft artillery regiment, which means political commissar.When Chiang Kai-shek arrived in their army, he told these officers that the "communist bandits" were coming. This was a good opportunity for everyone to make contributions.So, my father and the others geared up for a big fight, but the battle didn't start, and the People's Liberation Army turned to Jinmen.

Because my mother studied chemical engineering, she taught chemistry at school.In Taiwan, chemistry exams are required for entry into junior high schools, high schools, and colleges, so there is a strong demand for teachers in remedial classes, and there are not many good teachers.My mother is a famous teacher in the chemistry field in Taiwan, so she is busy giving lectures in various cram schools all day long.She taught up to 76 hours of classes a week. In order to support the family, her mother worked very hard.My mother supported the family, and my brothers and sisters in our family are very grateful to her.But my father had no choice, because he was a soldier, so he earned very little money.My father saw that our family's financial situation was not very good, and my mother was also working hard, so he hoped to retire and become a military training instructor in high school, because in this way, life would be stable and he would earn more money.But at that time, my mother strongly opposed it, saying that this was not good, and that a man would have no chance of being promoted as an instructor, so she still encouraged my father to stay in the army.But fortunately, my father was very appreciated by the officers in the army, so the early stage has been very smooth. At the age of 42, he was promoted to major general of the Air Force, which was considered quite fast in Taiwan at that time.At that time, he was high-spirited and arrogant, so he also offended many leaders, which planted the main reason for his early retirement in the future.I still remember when he was in junior high school, he said to me proudly: "People asked me what I am most proud of in my life? That is, I have never brought your mother to other people's homes to kowtow or give gifts... "At that time, we all felt that our father was great, but this arrogant attitude seemed to deepen the hostility of others towards him.

After his father was promoted to major general, he took over the position of political commissar of the Air Force Air Defense Artillery, then transferred to the Air Force Supply Command as political commissar, and finally transferred to the "Air Force Headquarters" as the second political commissar. He worked in this position for 10 years. It can be regarded as done.Because the first political commissar of the Air Force must be done by pilots, this is the tradition of the Air Force in Taiwan.Generally, those who are engaged in political work will not be able to sit in this position when they come out.Because he was not favored by the first political commissar of the Air Force in the later period, his father retired at the age of 52.At that time, he was still very young after all, so he retired and started a business, but he didn't expect to make any money.My mother doesn't support my father's business, but there is no way, what is such a young man doing at home at the age of 52?Moreover, when my father was a general of the Kuomintang, he always supported him.I still remember that after my father became a major general, the refrigerator and the cupboard in the living room were filled with his favorite XO wine, 555 cigarettes, yellow croaker, shad, etc., and we followed suit. This seems to be similar to the situation in mainland China. Kind of similar.I still remember that my father liked to eat shad, and some of his subordinates even sent people to the fishing boat to find shad for my father. This can also be said to be relatively corrupt.But at the age of 52, he suddenly withdrew, and no one paid attention to him anymore. His father must have felt uncomfortable.

My father stayed in the army for a long time and had a very bad temper. It was difficult for me to get along with him.My mother loves me very much, but she teaches in a cram school and has no time to accompany me.At that time, my sister lived in school, and my brother was also studying in college. They were much older than me, and they were rarely at home. When I came back, it was eleven or twelve o'clock in the evening, and I was already asleep by then.I stayed at home alone after school in the afternoon, and I stayed at home alone on Saturdays and Sundays. I still didn’t understand why I didn’t go out to play with others and why I stayed at home alone.My sister and I get along very badly. I watch TV at home alone at night. As soon as my sister comes back, she will definitely snatch the TV to watch her favorite programs. As long as I have an opinion, she will definitely fight with me. shelf.My brother has a good relationship with me, he often helps me, but he is very busy and rarely comes back.My brother said that I was weird when I was a child, and I think loneliness should be the main reason.

My mother loved me very much, she was a very strong woman, I never saw her cry.My father said that my mother's hair is particularly hard, and people with hard hair have strong personalities.My father also said that my mother's tears were golden beans, and they never fell in front of him.My mother is more frugal, and she will eat leftovers and leftovers from our family.My mother's cooking skills were poor, and my father complained all his life.And my mother is not a considerate and feminine person. She is three years older than my father and taller than my father. Moreover, my mother is highly educated and the career-oriented woman who makes the most money in our family.The bad-tempered father and mother often quarreled, but mother's love for father was unswerving.My eldest son never understood the charm of grandpa so attractive to grandma. In 1999, my son saw a photo of my father in his 20s and said, "Oh! How handsome!" He finally understood why grandma loved grandpa so much.A fortune teller once told me that my mother and my father had a bad relationship in the previous life, and she owed it to my father in the previous life, so she has to pay it back in this life.Sometimes, when they quarreled, the father would say angrily: "You owed me in the last life, so I don't need you to pay it back, okay?"

Audience: Professor Lang, you must have been a top student in school, can you recall your time in elementary and middle school? Lang Xianping: When I was in elementary school, my grades were always poor.At that time, when I was in the first to fourth grades of elementary school, I couldn't even read books, and I seemed to be inferior to others in everything, including sports and art.I didn't approve of myself at all. Because I was a bad student at the time, my heart was full of inferiority complex, and I didn't dare to have any thoughts about the future.In the fifth grade of elementary school, I was assigned to a special class, and the teacher gave special guidance to those of us who could not keep up with the progress.I remember that when my father was in the fifth grade of elementary school, he gave me an arithmetic mock test paper to practice. The full score was 100 points. After I worked hard, I only got 5 points. I have no concept at all.Fortunately, when I was in the sixth grade, elementary school students did not have to take the junior high school entrance examination, so I became the first student in Taiwan to go directly from elementary school to junior high school.

I entered Datong Middle School.There were 26 classes in our first grade, and I was assigned to 15 classes.Our class teacher Huang Shenghuan is extremely fierce. He is the kind of Japanese-style big man who grew up under the education of Japanese imperialism.With round glasses, he likes to play with Japanese samurai swords the most, and often shows us his samurai swords, which we envy to death.In order to effectively control the students in the class, Mr. Huang learned from the Japanese tradition of appointing secret agents to write down the names of the students who like to speak or make small movements in get out of class, and repair them one by one after class.The spies are all done by the top 10 good students in the class. They don't register good students, they only register poor students.There are more than 50 students in the class, but there are probably more than 20 poor students who are often beaten in the class.My academic performance is not good, and I belong to the kind of student who is often beaten.And good students sit in good positions, poor students sit around or at the back of the classroom, and I sat at the back at that time.Teacher Huang used many tricks to beat people. Sometimes he told us to crawl forward and crawl on the ground. The slower we crawled, the harder the beating. When we got up, we sat on the table and beat our thighs.In the middle of the first year of junior high school, we moved, far away from the school, so I had to ride a bike to school.My father said that Datong Middle School was good and he didn't want me to transfer.Therefore, I had to ride a bicycle for an hour to school every morning. The road was long and there were many cars, and it was very dangerous to ride a bicycle. In addition, the teacher often beat me at that time, so I felt that going to school was extremely painful.

In the second year of junior high school, because my academic performance was too poor, my mother found a tutor for me to study English. It seems that my grades have improved a little since then.One day, Teacher Huang asked me suddenly: "Is there any tutoring at home this semester?" I said, "Yes." He seemed very upset because I didn't ask him for tutoring. When I was in the third grade of junior high school, I was assigned to the "Cow Herding Class". "Cow herding class".At that time, I was still a little bit aggrieved, so I asked my mother to find a relationship to help me get into the preparatory class. My mother said that it didn't matter what class I got, as long as I worked hard, she didn't have time to take care of my affairs, she wanted to teach to make money.My father didn't even know about it in the army.I have no choice but to stay in the "cow herding class" obediently. The "Cow Herding Class" is terrible, there are many hooligans and Taibao.Therefore, I have been very familiar with the hooligans and Taibao underworld in Taiwan since I was a child.I fought almost every day at school (basically got beaten).In the third year of junior high school, I felt very unhappy and hated going to school.

Audience: Professor Lang, what plans did you have for your future? Lang Xianping: I was beaten almost every day after I was assigned to the "cow herding class". At that time, I really didn't want to study, I wanted to go to the Army Military Academy.After graduating from junior high school, I also went to the preparatory class of the Army Officer Academy (Army Junior School), and wanted to become a soldier in the future, but because of myopia, I failed the physical examination, otherwise I would have passed the exam at that time, and I may be an officer now.In the third year of junior high school, after I was assigned to the "cow herding class", I realized that the students I was in contact with were basically people from the bottom of society, and many of them were from poor families. When I was in the "cattle herding class", I learned carpentry and prepared to be employed. Up to now, my carpentry is still very good, but it's just useless.At that time, I studied carpentry first, and then I was going to study electrician.But my electrician is not very good. It seems that I am not very good at electronic circuits. After studying for a semester, I found that I can't do it, so I put all my energy into learning carpentry.At that time, our school also had an internship factory. There were lathes, planers, sawing machines, etc. in the factory, with a full range of tools.I am very good at carpentry, and I am going to be an apprentice carpenter first, and then open a carpentry factory.I can turn a tree into a beautiful furniture set.At that time, we wore thick white gloves, and a dozen people moved a tree. We had a big machine, I don’t know its name. After adjusting the position, put the tree in, and it came out as a rectangular plank. , The rectangular wooden board is then placed in another machine tool for cutting. It is very convenient to cut as many boards as you want.There is a sawing machine in the factory, and the saw rotates rapidly in the middle of the sawing machine. If you are not careful, you can cut off the whole finger; we are very careful when using this machine.Our team can cut the boards into any desired shape, and at the end they are finely ground with fine knives, sanded, and polished beautifully, making any kind of furniture without a problem.Many students from our "cattle herding class" became carpenters and cement workers, some even worked as contractors and contracted construction projects, and some students became bosses.The students who came out of the "cattle herding class" basically had to go to vocational schools. As far as I know, there were only two students who went to college, and one of them was me. At that time, when I saw my classmates with good academic performance, I was very envious, and I felt a strong sense of inferiority in my heart.Up to now, I still remember the names of the first few classmates in the school. The number one in Class 15 is Chen Shaohua, and the number one student in Class 3 is Ma Xueyong. I really admire them.Once, Chen Shaohua borrowed watercolors from me. I felt so honored. He even shook my hand to express his gratitude. I felt very excited at that time. Ma Xueyong from class 3 can be said to be the smartest student in my grade. He often takes the first place in the school, but it is impossible for him to borrow watercolor from me.Ma Xueyong was admitted to the best high school - Taiwan "Jianguo" Middle School, and then he was admitted to the Department of Electrical Engineering of National Taiwan University. Audience: Professor Lang, under such circumstances, how did you get into high school? Lang Xianping: Before I entered high school, I didn't study hard. I was working hard on carpentry.When the mock exam was held three months before the exam, out of more than 1,000 candidates, I took the exam with more than 800. At that time, it seemed that there was no hope for my future.Ma Xueyong and Chen Shaohua are the top three. Every day I dream of lending my watercolors to them.Thinking about the results of more than 800 students, I am afraid that even if they are admitted to the military academy, they will not be able to do so.At that time, I still didn't really want to do carpentry, and I still wanted to go to higher education subconsciously.In this way, three months before the exam, I felt pressured and wanted to study hard.However, it must be too late to read the textbook, so I had to read "30 points before the exam".You may ask me what is "30 points before the exam"?For example, the entire 6-volume history textbook can be condensed into such a small book "30 Minutes Before the Exam", about 50 pages (1/3 the size of A4 paper), which is for candidates to review 30 minutes before the exam.Others have to read 6 big books for the history test, but I only read 1 small book.Anyway, for the exam of 6 subjects, I just bought 6 small books and read them. Two months before the exam, I took more than 500 exams in the second mock exam. One month before the exam, when the third mock exam I got more than 300 exams.Then when I took the college entrance examination, I unexpectedly got into the third choice.My first choice was "Jianguo" Middle School, my second choice was the High School Affiliated to Normal University, and my third choice was Chenggong Middle School. At that time, considering my level, being admitted to the third choice was very remarkable.There are less than 300 people in our whole school admitted to high school, and it is not easy for me to be admitted to this school among more than 1,000 people.At that time, among the many versions of "30 Marks Before the Exam", only the one I bought was the most accurate in catching the questions.I don't know why I chose that kind of "30 points before the exam", this is really a trick of good fortune.I thought that if I bought another version of "30 Marks Before the Exam", it would be over, and I would really only be a carpenter. Audience: Professor Lang, have you ever resisted the treatment you received before? Lang Xianping: I felt very helpless at the time. In the first and second grades of junior high school, my grades were actually not too bad, between the 30th and 40th, which belonged to the lower middle class.There are still many students in our class who are after 40, but in the end I found out that they did not go to the "cow herding class".So, I kept thinking why I went to the "cow herding class" and they didn't have to go?I have always wondered about this question.I think the only possible explanation is that I didn't have tutoring, and most of the students after 40 went to the teacher's house for tutoring.At that time, I was very sad, because the whole incident was unchangeable, and I was powerless, let alone resist. What qualifications do poor students have to resist? Audience: Professor Lang, can you talk about your experience after high school? Lang Xianping: After graduating from middle school that year, I was admitted to Chenggong Middle School.Since my mother was teaching at "Jianguo" Middle School, according to school regulations, I could borrow from "Jianguo" Middle School, so I jumped from my third choice to my first choice.In the first monthly exam of the first year of high school, I took the penultimate place in the exam.In chemistry class, the teacher asked me to go to the podium to balance chemical equations, but I couldn't do it. Teacher Yang Yixian said, "Look at you, an unworthy son, your mother teaches chemistry, and you can't even do it." From high school to high school in Taiwan, there are two groups: society and nature.The natural group is mainly for studying science, engineering, medicine and agriculture, and the social group is for studying grammar and quotient. Usually, the relatively poor students study the social group.At that time, I failed English and Mathematics in the first year of high school, and I was very worried about being repeated.Since teachers usually don't embarrass students who transfer to the social group, at the end of the first year, I decided to transfer to the social group.At that time, there were 26 classes, and 2 classes belonged to the social group, which basically accepted all the remnants who were eliminated in the first year of high school.When it comes to high school, the score is more detailed-four groups of A (science and engineering), B (literature), C (medicine and agriculture), and D (French and business). I am studying the D group. High school is completely different from junior high school, without the depression and unhappiness before junior high school.Although I went to this relatively good school, I still entered a social group similar to the "cow herding class".A considerable proportion of the students in the social group are gangsters from underworld gangs, but based on my experience in junior high school, I get along pretty well with these students. I didn't study hard when I was in the first and second grades of high school, mainly because I had other distractions.Because of his small stature in junior high school, he was often repaired by his classmates, so he quickly learned boxing—mantis boxing—to prepare for fighting with his classmates as soon as he entered high school.Teacher Wei Xiaotang is a direct disciple of Shandong Eight-Step Mantis Boxing, and also an old boxer with extremely high kung fu.Although I didn't study hard, I did a lot of hard work in boxing.I was very good at that time, there were gangsters in my class, and few people dared to provoke me unless he wanted to be beaten.At that time, I was simply extremely proud.During the summer vacation of the first and second year of senior high school, another brother from the same school, Wang Guoguang, and I went shopping in Ximending, a downtown area in Taipei.A few local local snakes didn't like us and came up to make trouble, so we fought with them, and a group of their brothers came out all of a sudden.It was really a bloody battle.At this time, my Mantis Fist played its power and beat them to pieces.At that time, there were hundreds of people watching, and I felt very uncomfortable.But my left wrist was also seriously injured, and it took me two months to recover.The gangsters in our class also got the news from different sources, and finally everyone simply called me "Tiger of Ximending" jokingly. At that time, the level of most of our students in the social group was still very poor, but I was still the last few in the social group, and I just couldn’t get the hang of it.In the third year of high school, I began to study hard for the college entrance examination, but after studying hard for a year, I still didn't feel enlightened.In the end, I reluctantly hung up the rear end of the car and was admitted to the Economics Department of Tunghai University in Taichung City, which is a very poor school. At that time, what impressed me the most was an article Lin Juemin wrote the night before he participated in the Huanghuagang Uprising that we studied in our second year of high school. This article has been lingering in my heart.Is it necessary to have such boldness when China is carrying out reform and opening up? I remember that Zhu Rongji said something similar when he became Premier. He was going to prepare a coffin for himself and so on.It is a very difficult task to implement supervision and the rule of law in China. Without a sense and determination, it is absolutely difficult to make such a sacrifice.Just like when Zhang Tingbin and Liu Jianneng of "21st Century Business Herald" asked me which historical figure I admire the most, I replied: "I admire Lin Juemin the most." They were shocked and asked me why I thought of this character?I said I don't know, anyway, he has always had a great influence on me since I was a child.When I read that article, I thought how could this person be willing to sacrifice his life, abandon his wife and son for an unknown future and ideal?He died, what about his wife?What about children?This is not something ordinary people can do.However, he is very persistent, why is he?Just for this country.At that time, when I read this article, I was not very moved. I thought he was stupid because my level was not high.But this "fool" has lived in my mind for nearly 30 years. Whenever I think of China's supervision and rule of law, I will definitely think of Lin Juemin.Without such martyrs, the march of reform cannot be pushed forward.I also firmly believe that the rule of law is indispensable for a country to maintain long-term peace and prosperity, but the power to promote the rule of law lies in the sacrifice of Lin Juemin.Before Lin Juemin sacrificed, he still couldn't forget his posthumous son. If he gave birth to a boy in the future, he hoped that the boy would become a scholar.I thank God for his great love for him. God finally fulfilled his last wish—his posthumous son Lin Xiafan became a professor at Taiwan Cultural University. Why do I study knowledge all my life, I think it has something to do with my freshman situation.Our economics department has a course called calculus, which is taken together with the chemical engineering department, so the requirements are very strict.The course has a total of 8 credits, and it takes two semesters to study, and one semester has to take 4 monthly exams.I got 60 points in the test for the first time, but I still played.As a result, in the second monthly exam, I wanted to take a shortcut and cheated by copying the test paper of the classmate next door. I was unlucky and was caught by the teacher Wang Wenqing who taught the course, and finally got a 0.60 points for the first time, 0 points for the second time, 30 points on average.In the third and fourth monthly exams, I probably had to score 100 points in order not to be eliminated. I wanted to give up at that time, because as far as my level is concerned, it is impossible to get 100 points.But this time was a major turning point in my life. I don't know why, but I suddenly decided to read it carefully.I worked very hard every day and read until two or three o'clock in the middle of the night. At that time, I had such a muscle problem, and I didn't believe that I would fail the exam.As a result, after studying for a month, I suddenly developed a strong interest in learning. I also suddenly found that calculus is also a lot of fun, and I found that many unsolvable problems will give me a sense of accomplishment when I solve them.After the third and fourth monthly exams, my average score was as high as 99 points.I suddenly felt as if I wasn't so stupid. For the first time in my life, I had this wonderful feeling.As a result, he mastered everything, and other subjects such as economics were also tested very well, all of which were above 90 points.From then on, I was the star student of the whole class, and of course I myself considered myself a big-name student.From then on, I slowly began to have a strong interest in learning.Since then, I have read extensively and dabbled in a wide range of knowledge, especially the four major subjects of history, politics, military affairs and philosophy are the main body of my systematic study.I seem to have found my soul from the sea of ​​books.As long as I go back to Taichung every time, I will visit Teacher Wang Wenqing and thank him for catching cheating well that time. He changed my life. Since I am a big-name student, I have a good relationship with the teacher, because teachers prefer good students.When I was in my sophomore year, Mr. Shi Qiping chatted with me (he is currently a commentator on Phoenix Satellite TV's financial program), and he pointed out that it is very difficult for Chinese people to study mainstream economics, because Chinese people are no match for foreigners, and they only study two kinds of economics The first is Chinese economic history, and the second is mathematical economics.My other teacher, Professor Luo Taixiong, is more interesting. He doesn't think that we Chinese have any possibility of confronting foreigners in any field of economics.His famous saying is: 95% of the articles in the world are written by 5% of the people, and the Chinese are just embellishments.Academic articles written by Chinese people are absolutely not cited in undergraduate textbooks commonly used overseas. At that time, after listening to Teacher Shi's words, I didn't dare to study mainstream economics wishful thinking. I wanted to delve into mathematical economics, so I took a lot of mathematics minors when I was in college.But I always feel that my mathematics level is not very high, mainly because Tunghai University does not have teachers in this area.In addition, I still have a strong interest in studying Chinese economic history, but to study Chinese economic history, I must read Japanese first, because Japanese scholars collect more comprehensive materials on Chinese economic history than us Chinese.But in college, the school did not offer Japanese courses at all, so this formed another obstacle.My mathematics has not reached the ideal level, and I have no chance to learn Japanese well. I really don't know what to do next. Teacher Luo Taixiong's pessimistic view seems to be more in line with the actual situation.At that time, the head of the Department of Economics was Professor Ma Kai, who was probably one of the very few confident people in Taiwan.I don't know why, he never doubted my future academic achievements. When I was in college, I was fascinated by economics. I wrote several times to express my admiration to some well-known masters of economics, and occasionally I received letters back.At that time, I thought that if students wrote to me after I became a master, I would definitely reply.Now, many students write to me, and I will try my best to reply to them in order to satisfy my long-cherished wish. In the second half of 2002, when I gave a speech at Southwest Jiaotong University in Chengdu, many students surrounded me and asked relatively shallow questions. I didn't mind it at all, and I encouraged students to ask more questions.Some well-meaning teachers were afraid of my embarrassment, so they quickly stopped the students from asking questions. I said it didn't matter, and I thought their questions were much more advanced than those I asked when I was young.When I left, the students around me were very reluctant to leave. I shook everyone's hand and patted their shoulders for encouragement. The students were very happy and inspired.The colleagues there asked me why I was so kind to the students. I said that when I was a student, I was greatly moved by the little care of the professors, and I even wanted to pursue economics all my life.I remember that William Baumol, an economics professor at Princeton University and New York University at that time, wrote me back a letter, in which there was a sentence I will never forget, "A person you're your eagerness can produce the new idea we need for the "future" means "a passionate person like you will definitely research new concepts needed by economics".I have kept this sentence in my heart for the rest of my life, and I am deeply moved. William Baumol later became my colleague at NYU. After graduating from university, I successfully entered the "National" National Taiwan University Institute of Economics, which should be the best in Taiwan and the cradle of economists.Almost all political figures in Taiwan were born in the law department of the "National" National Taiwan University, while most of the financial figures were born in the "National" National Taiwan University Department of Economics.What's more interesting is that my "Jianguo" middle school social group can be said to dominate the gold list of economists, and several students are currently well-known economists in Taiwan.For example, Zhu Jingyi, vice president of the "Central" Research Institute; Lin Xiangkai, director of the Finance and Taxation Bureau of Kaohsiung City, professor of the Department of Economics at National Taiwan University; academician of the "Central" Research Institute, professor of the Department of Economics of "National" National Taiwan University, and econometric master Guan Zhongmin, etc.My father was deeply proud of me and boasted about my academic qualifications everywhere. Until then, he didn't know that I was from the "cow herding class".The father's reaction was also a little too slow, and it took 10 years to figure out what his son was doing in junior high school. My advisor at "National" National Taiwan University, Professor Chen Chao-nan, can be said to be the leading figure in economics in Taiwan.He studied under the international financial guru Mundell (Mundell, Nobel laureate in economics) at the University of Chicago.Because his spoken English was not very good, he did not stay in the United States to teach. In the mid-1970s, he returned to Taiwan for development.I have personally seen his pioneering economics research in Taiwan.At that time, he was working as a researcher at the Economic Research Institute of the "Central" Research Institute.Because he wanted to publish an article in an American academic journal, he asked the institute to buy printing paper, but the institute flatly refused, saying that it was not necessary, because no one could publish papers overseas, so there was no need to bother.The forced teacher Chen had to buy printing paper by himself, and then print it by himself.A few weeks after the submission of the manuscript, Mr. Chen would sit on the stairs and wait for the postman every day when it was time to deliver the letter.However, most of the replies are rejection letters, and it is too difficult to submit overseas.What Mr. Chen most admired by his students is that he is never discouraged. He constantly revises his articles and strives for perfection.After about 20 years of painstaking efforts, he finally opened up a new world for himself and for the economics circle in Taiwan.Mr. Chen has published many papers in mainstream economics journals, making himself an advocate of "two currencies are not completely substitutable" in monetary studies.Under his influence, the Department of Economics of "National" National Taiwan University also gradually formed a trend of pursuing academic papers, and eventually became the most proud department of "National" National Taiwan University.I think the academic level of the Department of Economics of "National" National Taiwan University can also be the best in Asia. Mr. Chen himself is not good at socializing with people, and he also likes to drink, so the greater his achievements, the easier it is for him to be attacked by his colleagues.This is also the main reason why he has been unable to dominate the economics circle in Taiwan.My high school classmate, Zhu Jingyi, vice president of the "Central" Research Institute, is quite successful in Taiwan's economic and academic circles.He has published several papers on demography in mainstream overseas journals - such as "The Problem of Primogeniture" - he believes that primogeniture can maintain the integrity of the land, and will not cause a decline in productivity because the land is too subdivided , this achievement is quite remarkable.But I think it is also because of Mr. Chen's past management that the economics circle in Taiwan can accept the leadership of an academic leader. Otherwise, Zhu Jingyi will have to work hard to open up a new situation by himself.I think the achievements from Chen Zhaonan to Zhu Jingyi have brought a good model to the Chinese academic circle, and it is worth learning from and encouraging us all. Several of my doctoral students later returned to the "National" National Taiwan University Business School to teach, but none of them had a master figure like Chen Zhaonan, so it was difficult to establish an academic status, and it was impossible to form like the economics department. It is quite a pity to pursue the ethos of publishing academic papers.Professors don't care much about publishing papers. Instead, they are often busy making money outside and crowding out colleagues.Many university professors here are particularly good at using fake "democracy" to exclude good colleagues from being hired.Universities in Taiwan are probably the most democratic universities in the world. No matter what, each person has one vote, so that colleagues who do not do research can unite and vote against hiring potential colleagues.Therefore, the academic level of most universities in Taiwan is relatively disappointing. In the second year of the graduate school, there happened to be an opportunity for me to practice myself in the society. My classmate Zheng Jiazhong worked as a reporter for the "Business Times". He is currently the president of the largest Times newspaper group in Taiwan.At that time, he introduced me to the newspaper as a financial reporter.Being a reporter is also a good exercise for me. Such a young reporter, only 23 years old, comes into contact with people above the ministerial level.I am a financial reporter, and I have seen the right and wrong in officialdom very early.At that time, I met a highly admirable and high-level financial talent——Zhou Qiyu.他曾在美国银行做外汇，后来被调到中国台湾地区“交通银行”担任业务部经理，最后被调到“中央”银行担任外汇局局长。由于台湾地区当时已是浮动汇率制度，因此外资银行炒作得非常厉害。类似的事情在中国香港特别行政区也常常碰到，例如第一波士頓银行和瑞银华宝操控中国移动事件。当他出掌“中央”银行外汇局时，即雷厉风行地打击外商的外汇炒作而使外商银行遭受了巨大的损失。外商银行为了清除周启騋，因此联络了当时台湾“中国”国际商业银行董事长金克和以莫须有的罪名罗致罪行将他撤换下来。我为何要花此篇幅谈这个问题呢？因为最近在香港特别行政区有相当多的外资银行联合要求港币和美元拖勾。我认为香港特别行政区目前还没有如同周启騋这类的人才，因此根本没有拖勾的条件，否则如何应付外商的炒作。而且我们一定要小心外商银行图谋我海外汇市场的种种不法企图，应以周启騄事件为例，千万不要掉以轻心。 研究生毕业之后，我就结婚了，而后按规定服义务兵役。当时，由于我是硕士，所以无条件当两年少尉财务官（部队叫我们预备军官）。但我得先在步兵学校接受基本训练。在步兵学校受训时，大伙的士气极为低落，因为几乎没有人想浪费两年的时间去当兵。大部分军官在受训时都在“摸鱼”——“摸鱼”是台湾地区部队的专有名词，表示混的意思。而且步校的卫生条件极差，大部分的人们都传染上了皮肤病。我当时得了三种皮肤病——湿疹、芥疮和痤疮，该病一直拖倒退伍之后才完全康复。 步兵学校三个月的受训结束之后，我转到陆军财务学校接受专业训练。一般拿到硕士学位的军官可以在训练结束后，参加考试留在陆军财务学校当教官，教金融课。我们当时有7个人参加考试，我的学历是最高的——“国立”台湾大学的经济学硕士。当时；所有的人都认为我的学历高，口齿伶例，条理清晰。但到最后他们却录用了第二名和第三名，就是不录用我。部队首长告诉我，是因为我说话的声音太小了，所以不能要我。没办法，我就只有随着大伙用抽签的方式决定去哪个部队了（台湾地区军官分发部队用的是抽签的办法）。当时，部队有两个签王——妈祖岛，也就是最差的签，大伙有1%的机会可以抽到这个签王。等我下手一抓就抓到了第一个签王，真是倒霉。全体军官此时一致鼓掌，因为我帮他们解决了第一个签王。 当时的妈祖岛很危险，当我坐着运输舰从基隆港出发到妈祖岛时，有四只驱逐舰护航，看起来挺威风。但过了台湾海峡中线，这四只驱逐舰就走了。我们所有的军官都大吃一惊，忙问怎么回事。海军的回答令我们全体愕然——这是囯民党军和解放军的默契，双方军舰不过海峡中线。当运输舰到达妈祖岛时，解放军的机帆船就在200公尺以外，监视着我们的行动。这是我第一次清楚地看到解放军海军的模样。我在1980年11月抵达妈祖岛。妈祖岛比金门岛还差，没水没电，我们住在寒冷潮湿的山洞里。当时的心情糟透了，我实在不明白为何自己会这么倒霉。甚至到了现在，我还经常做噩梦又回到了妈祖岛。 当时，我在妈祖担任财务官，所以需要和各部队接触，以发放大伙的薪水，因此，我看到和听到的可靠消息特别多。国民党部队与解放军时有交锋，我本人就亲眼见到了几次。当时，国民党防空雷达很落后，锁不住飞机，防空火炮没有什么大用处，所以我们就看到了一个奇观——所有的高射炮全部放在海边打解放军的鱼雷快艇。每当开炮轰击解放军快艇时，对岸每一次都有不同形式的信号弹打向天空以指挥调度快艇，甚是壮观。 我记得在1981年年初，解放军机帆船和一些民间渔船在妈祖岛外海不知道要干什么。我们的炮兵开火警告，但几只船却越靠越近。我们的士兵紧张坏了，不小心扣下了机关枪扳机，一颗子弹射死了一个人，但不知道这人是解放军还是渔民。第二天不得了，上千只机帆船和渔船将妈祖岛团团围住，时间长达三天，把我们大家都吓坏了。在我的记忆中，类似被围的事件起码不下10次。当时，我身边随时佩带着手枪，以保护自己，晚上睡觉时也是枪不离身。 当时，妈祖的军医院是三级野战医院，因此不能动大手术，而且也不能输血，因为那里没有冷藏设备。到了必须输血的时候，就叫一个连的士兵排队献血，甚是恐怖。我们前一期的一位预备军官打球摔伤而导致脾脏破裂，由于得不到及时救助而死在妈祖。 我们在妈祖可以进行体育运动，但是却不能打篮球，除非指挥官特批。因为前一年，有一个陆军上尉连长——林正义（后来改名林毅夫）——抱着篮球由小金门游泳到对岸投奔大陆。从此以后，前线各部队对于官兵的思想工作抓得特别严，以防止类似事件再次发生。每个星期四早上，都要上政治课，以强化官兵的思想。记得有一次上政治课时，我在背英文单字，被指挥官抓了个正着，我还被罚写悔过书——也就是进行所谓的自我检讨。 林毅夫在囯内曾经担任中央政协委员和北京大学经济研究中心主任，目前，担任世界银行副总裁和首席经济学家，我个人认为这是他人生中最重要的转折点，因为这个位子从来没有亚洲人担任过。但是，他之所以能够得到这个位子还不全是他个人的因素，更重要的是由于中国的崛起。但我认为政府选择了他，而不是其他经济学家，还是因为林毅夫确实是国际顶尖级的学者，他在美国芝加哥大学经济学期刊发表的论文我还读过，水平确实是一流的。 我和他曾谈及此事。根据他的说法，他计算的海洋潮流非常准确。当退潮时，他就下海游到小金门和对岸之间的一个小沙丘上休息，等涨潮时，他再利用潮流游到对岸。而且他怕牵连到他的直属长官，因此选择了前后任长官交接时才开始行动，因此按照“连坐法”的规定，前后任长官均不用对此事负责任。我当时很好奇地问他到底是何原因让他冒着如此大的风险投奔大陆。他的回答是他本人是在一份对祖国统一的强烈感情的驱使下，才决定如此做的，他愿意冒险去追求这个理想。这种两岸统一的想法对于在台湾地区的外省人而言是比较普遍的，但对于像林毅夫这样的本省人而言却是极为少见的。我们姑且不要对林毅夫这个行为做道德或政治上的批判，他的勇气就实在让人佩服。因为如果当时被抓到的话，按照我在前线的经验，那就毫无疑问一定会被判处死刑。因为当时两岸的军事关系还是比较紧张的，面对大陆的海岸线哨兵，如果站岗士兵睡觉的话都可能会被判处死缓，何况是“投敌分子”。 如果林毅夫不投奔大陆，那他肯定会在国民党部队中担任要职，因为他当时是从台湾的第一名校——“国立”台湾大学农业化学系毕业后参军的。当时报章杂志把他捧为“弃笔，从戎的反共样板”而做了大幅的报道，我们这一代的人对他都会感到非常地佩服和尊敬。很多读者可能还不知道林毅夫在投奔大陆之前，担任过小金门陆军马山连连长。在前线待过的军人，可能都知道马山连就是所谓的尖刀连，也就是国民党40万大军第一个接敌的连队。因此，该连军官的选拔尤其重要。“不红不专”的军官绝不可能担任该连的任何职务。因此，我们常开玩笑地说，他投奔大陆对于囯民党“反共决心”打击之大是不可想象的。 林毅夫本人也真可谓是一个传奇了，他到了大陆以后，不留在部队里反而去了北大，进而赴芝加哥大学经济系深造之后返国成了国内外著名的农业经济学家。现在，林毅夫的北京大学经济研究中心更是两岸来往的中介站，台湾地区来的（包括民进党）客人可以说是络绎不绝。 今天的金马前线已经几乎完全撤军了，已经没有了20世纪80年代的紧张气氛了。而且大陆和台湾的交往密度更是与日俱增。因此，想到林毅夫的决定，我不禁会想是不是他比我们都更有前瞻性呢？ 当时，妈祖地区的前敌指挥官是陆军中将赵万富将军。我们这一期预备军官退伍时，赵司令还来训话。我觉得当时的对话非常有趣，特写下以娱读者。赵司令是个比较土的光头胖老粗。我们都不太理解这样的粗人怎能做前敌指挥官。最后，连江县主任秘书私下告诉我（妈祖属于福建省连江县，因此国民党特地在妈祖设立连江县县政府。国民党当时还设立了福建省主席的编制以代表国民党的正统性），只有这样子的人才有可能死守妈祖，像我们这种头脑灵活的预备军官是没有死守的可能的。我们预备军官几乎一半担任连指导员而另一半担任排长职务，其他空海军及后勤只是极少数。因此，预备军官才是真正与士兵同甘共苦的军官。赵司令很想了解底层官兵政治思想工作成效如何，因此，要求我们用坦率而不怕秋后算账的心态回答他的问题。 他的第一个问题是——各位军官，你们连队的全体官兵对于解放军来犯而有我军必胜信念的请举手。结果没有一个军官举手。 他的第二个问题是——各位军官，你们连队的全体官兵对于解放军来犯而有我军可能可以打胜信念的请举手。结果那些政治敏感度较高的连队指导员基本上都缓缓地举起了手。 他的第三个问题是——各位军官，你们连队的全体官兵对于解放军来犯而有我军绝无可能打胜信念的请举手。结果那些真正带兵的排长都举起了手。 当时，并不是国民党的军队训练得不好。我参观过很多次我们步兵连的刺枪和徒手搏击的演练，我觉得水平相当高，不但动作整齐划一，而且精神旺盛，非常具有震撼力。只是私下里大伙对当兵一事都非常地反感。因为是义务兵役，我们都是被强迫而来前线，没有人真的愿意来当兵。所以我们这些预备军官和所有的士兵都没有为国民党成仁的勇气与决心。我们只想平安退伍，回家和老婆孩子过小日子，而绝对不想和解放军对着干。 我必须承认，赵万富将军本人是一贯秉持着“反攻必胜，建国必成”信念的军人，因此，他对于“反共”的政治思想比任何人的都要强烈。而且以他的水平而言，能坐到如此高的职位已经是相当不容易的了，他对于“皇恩浩荡”而急求回报的心态是可以理解的。当时，他在妈祖前敌指挥官任内与解放军经常对抗还是比较符合当时环境的。但赵将军几年以后升任金门防卫司令部上将指挥官却仍沿用这种心态就显得有些不合时宜了。最后，他在金门指挥官任内因炮击大陆商船而被撤职。 观众：郎教授，那你是不是退伍以后就直接离开台湾去海外了呢？ 郎咸平：当兵退伍以后并不想去海外的，我只想待在台湾和太太儿子过小日子。退伍以后，我在向陈昭南老师主持的“中央”研究院“三民主义”研究所申请工作的同时，也向我的另外一位老师于宗先教授主持的“中华”经济研究院申请工作。但两位老师都认为我不是做学问的料，所以都拒绝了我。最后，是因为我和于宗先老师的一番对话让我决定待在台湾的。于老师认为我的学术水平有限，特别劝告我，学术研究是一条很辛苦的道路，他认为我最好考虑去公营银行或外资银行做事比较适合。他告诉我当学者就要像他以前的一个学生李志文一样，执著、聪明、努力、有悟性才行。像我这样浮浮躁躁的就不行。李志文日后在沃顿商学院会计系访问过三年，我和他有过一些接触，他也算和我有点师生关系。李教授后来转赴杜兰大学（Tulane University）任教。他也经常到大陆，主要在北京清华大学义务任教。 不知是可喜还是可惜，我的银行求职意向均以失败告终，没有一家银行愿意要我。如果真找到银行的工作，我肯定就得在台湾待下去了。 因为找不到其他工作的缘故，于是我又回去当记者了，整天跑新闻。在台湾和大陆类似，记者不被年轻人当成一项终生的职业，通常做个两三年就会彻底转行。我前前后后做了两年的记者，也是考虑该转行的时候了。但因为我到处找不到其他的工作，所以只有考虑到海外留学了。 跑新闻实在太忙，我也没时间念托福和GRE。最后，就只有随便考了。托福我考了550分，在台湾地区算很差的啦。GRE考了1640分，总分是2400分，也是相当差的了。我当时向好几所学校要申请表，芝加哥大学寄来了一页黄色的表格要求我填写从幼儿园开始一直到研究所的所有的成绩，而后他们再考虑要不要寄申请表给我。哥伦比亚大学也是要求我先证明我有实力申请该校，否则他们不想浪费申请表。最后，我只申请了7所美国大学。但我的运气不好——只有一所学校有回应——宾夕法尼亚大学沃顿商学院，而且没有奖学金。年轻的我当时也慌了神：看来老师说的没错，我是没有什么前途了。唯一一家愿意接受我的学校，竟然是从来都没有听说过的、不知道有多烂的学校！真的，不是说笑，我到了沃顿才知道这所学校原来是大名鼎鼎。现在，大家对沃顿是妇孺皆知，沃顿的名声如日中天，令人仰止。不过20世纪80年代初的台湾消息闭塞，很少有人知道沃顿。 沃顿——烂学校——去还是不去？还有20000美金的学费，我依稀仍然能感受到当年的犹豫和彷徨。可是，我的母亲对她儿子的能力有着“莫名其妙的信心”。1983年台湾和现在大陆的经济水平相仿，当时我们家有两幢房子，其中一幢我母亲把它卖了20000美金，准备给我留学交学费用的。可是，我的父亲还想拿去做生意，他跟我母亲讲：“你放心，我下个月就还你，我发誓还你。”还好。母亲长了心眼没有借给他。如果借给他的话，到现在我还再等着那笔钱留学呢。 观众：郎教授，我和我的同事以及学生们都实在不能想象你以那么差的托福和GRE成绩竟然也可以进沃顿，那么你在沃顿是否一帆风顺呢？ 郎咸平：我想当时为何沃顿会收我，应该主要是因为我当时申请了商业经济系。当时，真正想读经济学的学生就直接申请经济系，而想读金融学的学生就直接申请金融系，商业经济系似乎是一个很冷门的系，没有多少人申请，所以机会自然比较多。而且当时沃顿的政策是国际化，所以也希望多收外国学生，这可能也是一个原因。至于我为何会转读金融系，那又是一个巧合了。当时商业经济系的系主任要求每一个学生都要考微积分资格考试，我立刻就慌了手脚，因为我早就忘记了微积分。万般无奈之下，我只有到各系打听，看看哪一个系不考微积分。最后，终于找到了金融系。该系要求太严格，有一半的学生在第一个星期就自动退学了，所以有很多的空缺，于是就收了我。如果我当时直接申请金融系的话，那么我被录取的可能性不是接近于零而是等于零，因为每一个申请人除了我以外都是各囯的天之骄子。 当时，在东海和台大总觉得自己的水平不错，但到了真正的学术殿堂才发现这里的课程太难了，根本听不懂。而且，我们还是跟经济系博士生一起修微观经济学、宏观经济学两门课。那就别提有多难了。宏观经济学的老师是国标上极负盛名的日裔美籍Ando教授，他和Modigliani教授共同创造了现代消费理论（Modigliani教授后来还因为该消费理论和金融学理论而获得了诺贝尔经济学奖）。该理论认为我们的消费不取决于我们今天的所得而是取决于我们未来的永久所得。因此，你虽然今天收入少，可是你还是会向银行借钱买房子或买车子，你的消费肯定超出了你的收入。这个借贷的行为就是该学说的有力证据。但这位老师教书的能力奇差无比，我们根本听不懂他讲的日本式的英文，而且他的指定读物竟然超过了400篇论文，大家根本没有可能在一个学期内读完。该学期过了以后，我们大家问他为何教得这样差时，他的回答令我们惊愕——他说博士教育就是为了培养那些能在困境中生存的学生，他是故意让大家听不懂的。他的这种逻辑实在是匪夷所思。 另外一门微观经济学，一开始就搞博弈论。我不知道读者是否看过《美丽心灵》（The Beautiful Mind）这部电影？就是里面那个有神经病的纳什（Nash）扬弃了博奕论。他的理论几乎完全打破了我们的传统观念。美国学术界以前总认为当每个人都追求自己的利益极大化时，那么整个社会的利益就是每个人的利益的加总，因此也将会实现利益极大化。因此，政府不需要干涉，只要让人民自由发展即可创造出繁荣的经济。奉行这个理论的当以两位诺贝尔奖得主——弗里德曼（Friedman）和海耶克（Hayek）为代表。弗里德曼最脍炙人口的理论即是香港特别行政区的繁荣完全得力于政府的不干涉政策。海耶克最为人所称道的理论即是他的名著——《到奴役之路》（A Road to Serfdom）。海耶克认为政府的干涉只会将人民带入到一条悲惨的道路上，只有自由经济才能替人民创造财富。他们两位的理论为何那么受重视，我认为和美国政府在20世纪70年代反对共产主义有关。美国政府希望能透过学术的力量推动这个社会反对共产主义。 我在上大学的时候，还和这两位大教授通过信，他们两位都给我回了信。弗里德曼告诉我要成为成功的经济学家就一定先要把数学学好。而海耶克当时已退休住在奥地利萨尔斯堡，他是唯一一位以手写信回复我的教授，而且回复了我两次，我当时好感动。他也鼓励我要多学数学。他说他的年纪太大了，无法帮助我了，他还推荐了一位在艾奥瓦大学的教授帮助我理解他的理论。很可惜，这些信我当时都没有保留，所以只能凭记忆摘录下来。 但是纳什的博奕论却提出相反的观点。他举出了一个小例子——如果有五位男人想同时追求五位女人中最漂亮的那一位，那么自由竞争的结果只会告诉剩下的四位女人，她们不是这些男人的首选。如果只有一位男人胜出，那么当那四位失败的男人再去追求那四位女人的时候，这四位女人肯定不会理会这四位男人的。因为这四位女人肯定因为自己不是首选而生气。因此，自由竞争的结果只会造成一位男人的成功与四位男人的失败。但由于这五位男人，人人都没有把握成为最终的胜利者，所以这五位男人绝对不敢追求这个漂亮女人，而会去追求另外四位女人。到最后，反而是最漂亮的女人没有人要。这就是自由竞争的下场——最好的会先被淘汰。 但当时是第一次接触博奕论，之前，我简直连一点概念都没有，而且我对宏观经济学也是消化不良，两门课考下来，成绩都是C。到最后，我这个人品行不错，操行很好，上课从来不迟到、不早退。助教帮了我一个大忙，帮我改了个B-，让我留了下来，因为在那里，C是生存不下去的。那时，我不敢交学费，学费一直拖到最后才交。我想如果实在不行的话，干脆拿钱回台湾算了，也不用浪费学费了。所以学费一直从9月份拖到了12月份。 我总觉得沃顿的老师个个都喜欢打击我们的信心。当时，金融系录取我的系主任Santomero是一个著名的货币学家。我们上他的货币学时他叫我们读一篇芝加哥大学Metzler教授的成名论文。那篇论文指出如果物价上升，则资产价值就会下降，结果就是消费减少。Metzler教授就因为这一篇文章而在他27岁时拿到了芝加哥大学终身制教授的荣誉。Santomero说：“27岁就是你们班现在的平均年龄。”接着Santomero很郑重地告诉我们，“有一天Metzler发现自己长了脑瘤而必须开刀动手术，但是手术动得不好，伤到了他的脑神经，结果手术后，他的天才就消失了，他的智商就变得像你们班的同学一样了。” 我还记得我们上了一门很难的课——股票期权。当上这门课的时候，我们发现全班年纪最轻的就是老师——Andy Lo，他20岁出头就拿了博士学位。由于这门课的数学推导相当艰难，不是普通的微积分，而是不确定微积分（Stochastic calculus）。因此，全班同学天天开夜车解数学题以对付该课的数学推导。Lo看我们的水平不行，特别讲了一个故事以鼓励我们。 斯坦福大学里有一个博士生，成绩相当差。他修课的平均成绩未达标准并且已经准备走人了，除非现在修的这门课可以拿A才能弥补一切。到了期末考试时，这位老兄连开了几天夜车看书到半夜，希望可以拿个A。但由于读书读得太晚了，早上起来时已经10点了，而考试早在9点就已经开始了。，他骑着单车赶到教室已是10点30分。任课老师说：“我也不想为难你了，还是给你两个小时的时间，你自己到图书馆里去答题吧。考卷上有两题，黑板上也有两题，你把这些题目抄下来就赶快去图书馆。”两个小时以后，这个可怜的学生将考卷交给老师，然后大醉一场。因为他只答出了黑板上的一题和考卷上的半道题。他心里想，就算他答的全对也不过是40分而已，离A远着呢。晚上，他匆匆地收拾行囊，准备第二天赶早上的火车回家去。 第二天早上不到8点，他就接到系主任的电话，叫他立刻赶到系主任办公室。他吓坏了，不知道自己闯了什么祸。赶到学校，他忐忑不安地进了办公室，那里有系主任、任课老师和一位大师级的讲座教授并坐着等着他。这位学生坐下后，系主任开口问他：“黑板上的这个题目是你自己做的吗？”他很害怕地点了点头，他担心会不会因为答得太差，学校要他赔偿学费。三个教授轮番问他问题以确定到底是不是他本人所答。到最后，终于确认了。系主任说：“斯坦福大学决定立刻授予你博士学位，并聘请你为终身制教授。”这位同学吓坏了，在5分钟后，他怯生生地问了一句话：“为什么？”系主任告诉他，黑板上的那道题他答出