"What's wrong with China? No one told me the answer, I can only look for it in books."

"After the death of the missionary who took me in, I wandered around the United States. Because of the Chinese Exclusion Act, it was difficult for me to find a serious job. Generally, I lived by thieves and sold old porcelain to Americans as antiques to cheat money. Later, I pretended to be a Japanese to contribute to magazines and newspapers, and barely earned some royalties."

"I have attended history classes at Harvard and also learned politics and economy secretly in Princeton. I often pretend that I am a Japanese or Chinese student. They are more polite to international students and very disgusted with Chinese workers stranded in the United States. By the way, I also wrote a graduation thesis for a master's degree at Harvard, and I made a full $200."

The students looked silently at the men who were chatting and laughing on the stage, which was their new principal, a homeless man, a fraudster and a thief. But they could not feel disgusted with him, but were more sympathetic and pitiful, and even admired him.

Not to mention anything else, Zhou Hexuan was able to write graduation thesis for Harvard master's degree by listening, and he had real talent and knowledge in his heart.

Zhou Hexuan's story continues: "Later I smuggled into Europe and found that it is much easier to get along there than the United States. Although they still discriminate against the Chinese, it is just a narrow prejudice, at least not depriving the Chinese of their work rights. The French are romantic and naive, the British are gentlemanly and arrogant, the Germans are rigorous and rigid, the Russians are straightforward and rude... Every nation has its own characteristics, and you will find many interesting things when you pay attention to it. Of course, what I pay more attention to is libraries of various countries, who try their best to get in and peek at the historical materials that have been forgotten by people. I want to know why these countries can become great powers, and why are we in China weak and incompetent?"

"What is a country? It's nothing more than land, nationality, culture and government."

"Before the late Qing Dynasty, China's territory has been greatly reduced, the Chinese people are generally ignorant, and China's culture is outdated and backward. As for the Chinese government, haha, it cannot be described."

Zhou Hexuan made a big circle and finally got into the topic: "I know, you understand too. The current situation in China is in a hurry, so you are busy with the student movement and the student trend, hoping to contribute to China's revitalization. I understand this very well, but I do not advocate violence. For example, the houses of the Education Chief Executive's family were burned last year and the Morning Post newspaper office were already illegal and criminal. You advocate freedom of speech, but use violence to deprive others of freedom of speech. What is this? Are you slapping yourself in the face?"

The students wanted to speak but stopped and didn't know how to refute it, because the parade last year was indeed a bit too much.

Moreover, many of the most active revolutionaries among the students had already run away at this time, and most of them were relatively calm and would not explode if they were caught in a little spark.

Zhou Hexuan also said: "In the eyes of many people, Peking University is a mess, and I am willing to take over this mess. I hope everyone can study with peace of mind. After all, the school is a place to learn knowledge. If you really want to make a revolution, I support him to go to the south. If the travel fee is not enough, I can provide assistance. During my time as the principal, I must not publicly shout revolutionary slogans, publicly promote revolutionary ideas, and publicly form revolutionary associations. Violators will be fired immediately! If you really don't like me, as the principal, please go to the Ministry of Education to protest. The number of protesters exceeds 100, and I will immediately resign. This is all, please see you again."

After Zhou Hexuan said that, he left, without stopping for a moment, and headed straight to the gate of Peking University.

The teachers and students were confused collectively and didn't know how to evaluate the principal. There were many weird people at Peking University, and everyone had been accustomed to it. Now it seems that their new principal is also a weird person.

He dared to claim to be a reactionary warlord in front of the teachers and students of the most progressive university in the country, but he would have been slandered by others. It is even possible that he was dragged off the stage by an angry student in the middle of his words.

Zhong Guanguang summoned several student representatives and whispered for a while. The students immediately ran to pass the message excitedly.

On the way to the classroom, the students were still discussing Zhou Hexuan’s speech just now.

A student said angrily: "It's really abominable. We don't even let us shout progressive slogans and promote progressive ideas. Is this still a free thought and compatible Peking University? Zhou Hexuan just took office and destroyed the school spirit of Peking University."

"Principal Zhou also has difficulties," another student explained, "in fact, his thoughts are also progressive, but he is subject to warlords and has to do so, otherwise he can only continue to suspend classes."

"If classes are suspended, classes will be suspended. It's better not to attend such a university that is restricted from freedom." The previous student said.

At this moment, the student representative who was responsible for helping Zhong Guansu came and whispered: "Everyone is quiet, please listen to me. Principal Zhou's words just now were a tough plan. He publicly forbidden us to establish progressive clubs, but private discussions are still possible. You only need to change your name. For example, we can promote redism, we can establish agricultural society and industrial society, and everything goes from open to dark. In addition, in order to paralyze the reactionary warlords, we must scold Principal Zhou. The more ruthless the scolding, the safer he will be. It is best to write articles in the school magazine."

The group of students was unbelievable, but they soon came back to their senses.

"I just say that Mr. Zhou is a good person. How could he be willing to be a lackey of the reactionary warlords if he can write works like "The Rise of a Great Power" and "The Goddess"?"

"That's right, there are "A Generation" and "Answer". The night gave me black eyes, but I used it to find light, which taught us to explore the way forward in the dark!"

"Speaking of this, Principal Zhou also has a hard time. He has been wandering abroad since he was a child, and has suffered countless humiliations and sufferings. He even did not hesitate to be a thief or a liar to make a living. In this growth environment, he can also learn by himself and write the thought-provoking "Rise of a Great Power". What a powerful heart he has!"

"I want to write an article to scold Principal Zhou, and scold him fiercely!"

"Go together, let's protect Principal Zhou together, let go of the scolding."

“…”

These are all strategies discussed by Zhou Hexuan and Zhong Guanguang. They first tell their own experiences to win the sympathy and understanding of students, then throw out reactionary remarks to arouse students' rebellious mentality, and then explain that the facts create a glorious image of enduring humiliation.

In this way, the students will truly regard Zhou Hexuan as their own person, accept and support him as the principal from the bottom of their hearts.

As for the leak, Zhou Hexuan is not afraid at all. He can be said that the students are directing and acting themselves, and they are carrying out progressive activities without hiding him. As long as he does not participate in it in person, Zhang Zuolin will not hold up the butcher knife, and he will resign and apologize.

So something strange happened to Peking University. From the end of 1926 to mid-1928, for a whole year and a half, the students enjoyed scolding the principal.

At first, he scolded him in school magazines, but soon developed into scolding him in social newspapers. He was very artistic and did not contain a single dirty word throughout the article, but he portrayed Zhou Hexuan as a bad guy with sores in the soles of his feet and pus on his head.

Even a poetry club on campus held a "Poetry Competition for the Principals". A beautiful new poem about cursing people is full of students' sincere protection for the principal.

In secret, whenever the students mentioned Principal Zhou, they respected him and believed that Zhou Hexuan was protecting Peking University under the stigma.
Chapter completed!