Chapter 58 third quarter

At the same time that Einstein was contacted and invited to give lectures at Peking University, there was a famous "lecture craze" at Peking University.What Cai Yuanpei did to a disadvantaged student in this incident may not be a plus factor in his life. The so-called "teaching trend" is a storm in which Peking University decided to charge students for lectures, which caused students to protest. At that time, the tuition of Peking University was quite low, only 10 yuan per student per semester, less than one-fifth of that of private universities, and students also enjoyed subsidies. Therefore, the school’s running expenses basically depended on financial appropriation, totaling 750,000 yuan per year.At that time, the warlords were fighting and the source of finance and taxation was not guaranteed. By September 1922, the school’s running funds had been owed for five months. Cai Yuanpei, together with other university presidents, repeatedly negotiated with the government and threatened to resign. funding.

At this time, in order to save money, members of the school’s council (an authority that runs side by side with the professor’s association) jointly proposed to the principal Cai Yuanpei that the school spends more than 10,000 yuan on printing handouts every year, while the expenditure on purchasing books is stretched. ; If the money spent on handouts is collected from students and the cost of handouts is saved to supplement books, it will be good for both the school and the students. Cai Yuanpei felt the same way about this. He also considered that because the school prints the handouts and distributes them to the students, the students don’t have to work hard in class, and it becomes a big disadvantage to “make up” the handouts during the exams.So he immediately decided: in the future, he will collect the lecture fee as a book fund; it is up to the students to decide whether to buy the lecture.

This decision should be said to be very kind, but the news that "the handouts will be charged" came out, and the things that have always been enjoyed for free will now be paid for, which immediately aroused strong repercussions among the students. This is a university with a tradition of "rebellion". Not to mention major events such as the May 4th Movement three years ago, just five months ago, the school stipulated that no examinations were allowed without payment of fees, and some students besieged Shen Shiyuan, the acting chief of affairs. The walls of the school building were covered with notes abusing Shen Shiyuan, and some even shouted: "Beat Shen Shiyuan!" Fortunately, Hu Shi, who had just served as the dean of Peking University for 15 days, came forward and said that those who had not paid the fee were allowed to take the exam first, but they still had to pay the fee at the end of the month. If the result is invalid, the situation will calm down.

On the afternoon of October 17, 1922, in order to protest the fees charged for handouts, dozens of students broke into the accounting office, abusing and intimidating the staff; on the morning of October 18th, dozens of students flocked to the principal’s office, demanding that Cai Yuanpei abolish the handouts fee.Cai Yuanpei explained the fee decision in detail, and said that no fee would be charged within three days; but the students refused to give an inch, and the negotiations between the two sides became more and more deadlocked. Moreover, hundreds of students quickly gathered in the principal's outdoor corridor, shouting and booing, and the situation was chaotic.

Cai Yuanpei was anxious and angry, stood up at once, rolled up his cuffs, and shouted at the students: "I will fight with you!" Then he stepped forward with veins all over his face.The students surrounding him were terrified, retreated step by step, and gradually dispersed. Cai Yuanpei was deeply annoyed and saddened by this trend. He wrote his resignation letter and left Peking University on the same day. The article said: "...this student waits for threats and shouts, and the order is in turmoil. It's a pity. Abandoning handouts is a trivial matter, but the fact of breaking school discipline is great. A trickle of water will turn into a river, and the trend will cause schools all over the country to suffer from it..."

After Cai Yuanpei's resignation, Jiang Menglin, Chief of General Affairs of Peking University, Shen Shiyuan, Director of General Affairs Department, Li Dazhao, Director of Library, Li Xinbai, Director of Publishing Department, and Feng Zuxun, Director of Mathematics Department respectively published notices announcing that they would "resign with President Cai and leave the school today"; The staff also issued the "Declaration on Temporary Suspension of Duty", and "Peking University Journal" also announced on the same day that it would "stop publishing from tomorrow."Everyone advances and retreats with Principal Cai.

In order to keep Cai Yuanpei, Peking University held an emergency meeting of the academic affairs conference and the council, and Ma Xulun, the deputy minister of the Ministry of Education, also persuaded Cai Yuanpei face to face.In the end, Cai Yuanpei withdrew his resignation, and the lecture fee was suspended. This unrest was not calmed down by Cai Yuanpei's complete concession. He insisted on punishing the students who took the lead in making trouble. The scene was chaotic at the time of the incident, and the students who came to make noise were actually spontaneous and there were no leading figures.When Cai Yuanpei was retained, the school council held a meeting and threw out a scapegoat—a Shandong student named Feng Shengsan.The council said it was the head of Feng Sheng's three belts, and decided to expel him!

Teachers and students who know Feng Shengsan all know that he has a simple and straightforward personality, and he studies hard, but he is outspoken and often speaks without thinking.The reason why Feng Shengsan was called the "boss" was because he shouted "Everyone go to the accounting class and burn the lecture notes" when the students besieged the accounting office, and said outside the principal's room when Cai Yuanpei was negotiating with the students, "We will fight Get in there, round them up, and get this thing over!" These few words were reported when the school investigated and punished the culprit in order to retain Cai Yuanpei, which became the "ironclad proof" that he "takes the lead".In fact, even the students negotiating with Cai Yuanpei played a greater role in the trend than him, and he was purely a spectator.

However, as soon as Cai Yuanpei withdrew his resignation and returned to school, Feng Shengsan was expelled according to the decision of the council. This unexpected disaster made Feng Shengsan dumbfounded.He didn't organize this riot at all, but was first betrayed by his classmates, and then severely punished by the school. Now he had to go to the dean of the school, Hu Shi, who he knew well, to plead for mercy. Hu Shi knew best about Feng Shengsan's injustice, because the student cadres who reported that Feng Shengsan was "in the lead" didn't know Feng Shengsan at all when they saw Feng Shengsan himself in Hu's house!The purpose of firing him is to find someone responsible for this trend, so as to save face for Cai Yuanpei whose dignity has been violated.To put it bluntly, Feng Shengsan was used as a scapegoat.

Now that Feng Shengsan came to sue for grievances, Hu Shi yelled at him: "Since you have become a hero, you will be a hero to the end!" He refused to speak for him. So, did Cai Yuanpei himself seriously investigate the leaders?nor.After he fired Feng Shengsan, he also heard the words "actually Feng Shengsan did not take the lead", but he didn't mean to find out the truth at all.As mentioned above, he wanted to severely punish a student who was involved in the handout craze, firstly for strict discipline, to make an example to others; secondly, to save face when he was besieged by students.

Feng Shengsan, who should not be responsible for the handout trend, must be fired. Cai Yuanpei's next sentence is almost naked-"How can a paper tiger poke a hole!" He admitted that he, the principal, could only be regarded as a "paper tiger" in front of the young students who were full of vigor and fighting spirit at that time. If you want to manage this group of people well, you must not be offended. Nothing will work in the future. In order to maintain authority, a disadvantaged student was sacrificed.Expulsion from school is tantamount to a death sentence for students.Compared with his respect, understanding and tolerance for Einstein, who is famous all over the world, Cai Yuanpei's kind and gentleman style in handling the handout trend has disappeared.