Reborn Bao Guowei, I really didn’t want to be a great writer!

Chapter 288: Seventeen-year-old professor? Shocking!

As soon as Liu Bannong proposed that Bao Guowei be appointed as a professor at Peking University, the scene was in an uproar.

Many gentlemen simply couldn't believe their ears.

A gentleman immediately slammed the table and stood up. He looked like a faculty member of Peking University.

"Let Bao Guowei be a professor of literature? This is simply nonsense. How can a 17-year-old be a professor? This has never been heard of before!"

"Yes! A seventeen-year-old professor is still too exaggerated. I think it would be safer to let Bao Bingwen study at Peking University first, or go abroad for further studies before taking up a teaching position."

Qian Xuantong was also at the table.

He is now a professor of Chinese literature at Peking University. He also participated in the formulation of the romanization scheme for the National Language and is one of the advocates of the vernacular movement.

The most important thing is that he was also a student of Zhang Taiyan, and could be considered Bao Guowei's senior.

Even he felt that it was inappropriate and shook his head.

"Professor Liu may be too frivolous. Although Bao Bingwen is talented, he is only seventeen years old and has become a professor. This is not helping him but hurting him. He still needs to calm down for a while."

After hearing Qian Xuantong's speech, the other gentlemen also felt confident and nodded in agreement.

"Yes! Professor Qian is right. Although Peking University has always recruited professors and students in an unconventional way, a 17-year-old literature professor is still somewhat shocking. Even if he is Bao Bingwen, he is not immune to this."

"Yes! Yes!"

"Professor Liu, you are fainting again. This kind of thing is no joke."

Seeing that everyone was against him, Liu Bannong was not annoyed. After all, this was not the first time he had made some advanced suggestions.

Everyone in the circle knows that Liu Bannong is a man who dares to speak and act, and is straightforward and never hides anything.

Liu Bannong's proposal was not groundless. He explained that it was a temporary interest he had after reading "The Old Man and the Sea".

"Although Bao Bingwen is only 17 years old, he has already written excellent works such as "Answer", "To Live", "Guns, Germs, and Steel", and now "The Old Man and the Sea". With all these works, who can teach him and who is qualified to teach him?"

Liu Bannong looked around at everyone and spoke in a loud and clear voice.

For a moment, the venue fell into silence.

Yes, what Liu Bannong said was not wrong. With Bao Guowei's talent and knowledge, who would dare to be his teacher?
Even Bao Guowei's current teacher, Zhang Taiyan, is still the teacher of everyone in the venue!
For a man of such a generation and such talent, if someone suggested that Bao Guowei, now 30 years old, should become a professor at Peking University, there would certainly be no objection.

The bad thing is that he is only seventeen years old this year.

As the host of this salon, Zhu Guangqian couldn't help but cough and made his comments.

"Brother Bannong, let's take a long-term view on this matter."

But Liu Bannong remained unmoved and spoke with great certainty.

"You are all blinded by traditional ideas. Deep down, you still follow the ancient rules of seniority. In my opinion, as long as you have the ability and talent, even children can be professors. What's wrong with that?"

He predicted without exaggeration.

"I even dare to assert that this book, The Old Man and the Sea, will definitely win the Nobel Prize in Literature! By then, Bao Bingwen will surely become a guest of honor at many foreign universities, and it will be easy for him to get a degree."

At this moment, someone had already been persuaded by him.

The person who made the evaluation was Chen Yinke, who spoke based on the facts.

"Hu Shizhi became a professor at the age of 26, right? If Bao Bingwen is capable, this matter can indeed be discussed."

Someone else jumped out and said.

"Not right, not right. This is unheard of for a 17-year-old professor!"

For a moment, everyone in the room was arguing and split into two groups. When the noise died down, Zhu Guangqian stopped everyone from arguing and said with a wave of his hand.

"It's useless for you to argue here. We should ask Vice President Li Shuhua, Dean Li Shizeng and other gentlemen for their opinions on this matter. It's not something we can decide."

Peking University was still in turmoil during this period.

A few years ago, under Zhang Zuolin's reign of terror, Peking University was almost dismantled and integrated. It was only after the National Government took over Peking two years ago that things got much better.

But the Nationalist government did not have good intentions. Jinling wanted to reorganize Peking University into China University, and later changed it to Peking University. This was strongly opposed by Peking University teachers and students, and they even set up a restoration committee to prevent the Nationalist government from taking over Peking University by force.

It was not until August last year that Peking University finally restored its original name and the struggle to reopen the university was won.

From Zhang Zuolin to the National Government, why did they want to reorganize Peking University? Did they regard it as a thorn in their side?

A speech by Peking University professor Ma Yinchu after the Northern Expedition gives us some glimpse into the reasons behind this incident.

"After the movement, the name Peking University became well-known both at home and abroad. Therefore, the spirit of the movement must not be lost in the school. Even in social service, it must be preserved and used at any time. The spirit at that time was to sacrifice for the country, and it was the spirit of sacrifice."

At that time, the word "Peking University" had become the spiritual totem of many progressive people, especially the word "democracy", which was even more of a tradition of Peking University.

From Zhang Zuolin to the National Government, neither could tolerate the existence of a "scholar clique" that could challenge their regime.

At this time, a professor from Peking University stood up and commented.

"Now that President Cai Yuanpei has already left, Peking University has just recovered from the turmoil. If we want to make a decision, we have to look at the opinions of the two Mr. Li. At this critical moment, it is better not to do such a thing."

But Liu Bannong was very strong and he said it without any doubt.

"Extraordinary things require extraordinary measures. Without bold innovation, how can Peking University restore its former glory? Don't worry about them. If they don't agree, I will demolish the president's office."

Madness!

The venue fell into silence again.

The turmoil a few years ago pushed Peking University into decline. Coupled with a series of major changes such as the Northern Expedition and the relocation of the capital, Peking University's status has now suffered huge challenges, and the older generation of Peking University students are scattered all over the world.

In addition, there are problems such as shortage of funds and talent.

Today's Peking University really needs change.

Hu Shizhi's return marked the beginning of this change.

Perhaps, Bao Bingwen can be recruited?
The gentlemen in the room began to waver in their thinking, but the seventeen-year-old professor still found it difficult to convince them.

At this time, Zhu Guangqian stood up again, looked at Liu Bannong and said.

"Gentlemen, there is no point in talking any more. I think we can still discuss this matter in the long run. Now we have more urgent things to do."

"Yes, yes, yes! In the long run, Bao Bingwen will have to wait until the start of next year's school if he wants to come."

A professor immediately echoed this.

Liu Bannong didn't say anything else.

Zhu Guangqian nodded and raised the concerns he had long held.

"Let's go back to this incident. Bao Bingwen wrote The Old Man and the Sea. It seems that there is nothing wrong with it, but in a sense it incited the emotions of the people. For those in power, this is like touching the reverse scale."

He sighed, thinking of the 17-year-old boy far away in the south who had to face all this alone, and said with concern.

"From the Jinling government to the remnants of the Qing dynasty and foreign forces, who wouldn't want to get rid of him as soon as possible? What we are going to discuss next is how to do our best to preserve this spark of Chinese literature in the future!"

The professors in the audience suddenly showed serious expressions.

(End of this chapter)