British writer

New Haven, Connecticut, United States,

Yale University.

In the auditorium, a play called "Upside Down" was being performed, and warm applause burst out from time to time.

There was a white man sitting in the middle of the last row of seats.

He is about forty years old, with distinct features and clear outlines. He wears a clean white shirt and black trousers. His ordinary appearance has a calm power.

This man's name is Arthur Hadley, the president of Yale University.

It just so happens that "Upside Down" reaches its climax,

"good!"

Hadley did not forget to applaud.

At this moment, a clerk ran in quickly, handed a telegram to Hadley, and whispered something in a low voice.

Hadley frowned;

“Are we not ranked as good as Harvard?”

The clerk lowered his head and did not dare to answer.

"Tsk..."

Hadley clicked his tongue in dissatisfaction and muttered hesitantly: "This Lu Shi is indeed a nepotist. Because he has a good relationship with Harvard, he ranked him in front of us. Hum... hum hum hum hum..."

As he spoke, he let out a series of sneers,

Even the wonderful "Upside Down" on stage seems to have become boring.

The clerk didn't dare to speak anymore.

But he thought,

Lu Shi was still a trustee of Columbia University, so why didn’t he see Columbia ranked among the top 20?

Of course, it would be better for the principal to keep his mouth shut when he is angry.

Hadley asked again: "Do the professors from each school know?"

Unexpectedly, before the clerk could answer, he smiled, shook his head, and whispered, "I'm just asking too much."

The most important management feature of Yale is that professors govern the school.

In the early days of the school's founding, through the efforts of three generations of presidents, Yale gradually formed a rule that the board of directors would not be specifically involved in school management and that the professors would govern the school.

There is a saying circulating in the United States:

"

Princeton directors take charge,

The president of Harvard,

Yale professors call the shots.

"

Professors from other schools who run schools all studied at Yale.

Therefore, Hadley should know the news later than the professors.

"Huh~"

He took a deep breath and looked towards the stage.

"Upside Down" has reached its final scene, but for some unknown reason, the one who left a deep impression on him was not the two protagonists, but a rather smart Chinese girl.

I always feel that this girl will develop in the future.

About another fifteen minutes passed,

The show is over.

Thunderous applause broke out among the students.

This is actually the third performance of "Upside Down" at Yale. It is still a full house and has received massive praise, which is indeed a bit unexpected.

Even the most picky of drama critics have to admit that Lu is one of the best screenwriters working today, if not one.

Hadley stuffed the telegram into his inner pocket and walked out of the auditorium.

New Haven’s weather in October is full of “surprises”;

In the morning, there were still sparse clouds in the sky, and the sun was warm and blazing.

As a result, at noon, cold air suddenly hit from the north, and the temperature dropped suddenly, making Hadley, who was wearing only a single coat, shivering.

He hummed and walked quickly to the conference room in the administrative building.

As expected, a large number of professors' association members have gathered here, discussing the global university rankings.

"It's okay if we are not as good as Niu and Jian. Why do you say we are not as good as Harvard?"

"Ah... this is called historical heritage! Where was Harvard founded? Cambridge, Massachusetts! It was formerly called 'New Citizen College'. This is a gift from Great Britain, and it is the supreme historical accumulation and glory!" "

"Are you being sarcastic?"

"Of course it's sarcasm! What I want to say is Lu Shi, this Chinese is very bad~"

…

It was almost a big noisy.

Apparently, the professors don't agree that Harvard ranks ahead of Yale.

This kind of thing is normal,

Harvard was originally run on the British model, and the Puritan philosophical ideas were retained. For a long time, the leaders of the college were clergy. It was not until 1708 that the first non-Puritan president took office. became independent from the control of Puritan thought.

As "America's own university," Yale has always been in fierce competition with Harvard.

Hadley clapped his hands,

"Everyone, please be patient."

The professors noticed the principal and fell silent.

Hadley said: "The question now is, how should we respond to this global university ranking? It is true that we are ranked behind Harvard, but we are still in the top ten. Do you recognize this honor or not?"

The professors looked at each other,

Can it be dialectically recognized?

Among the top ten, Yale has that strength;

After Harvard, Yale refused to accept.

For a while, everyone started communicating again.

Hadley listened to their chirping, and suddenly one of them was older than the other, and he said, "I know you all have your own ideas, but the problem now is that we have to unify our opinions. The Academic Affairs Office has to respond!"

The professors discussed again,

Finally, someone said: "Now, we only know the criteria for global university rankings, but we don't know the specific weight of each indicator. This is very troublesome."

Others echoed: "Yes, the most important thing is to know how the score is calculated!"

Hadley read the telegram again.

Cambridge, 10 points;

Oxford, 9.92 points;

University of Paris, 9.89 points;

…

This is accurate to two decimal places!

At this moment, someone spoke up: "You who study law and linguistics are nothing if not you. A simple weighted average, a problem that can be solved by a system of multivariate linear equations, is still here. So long. My Chinese students can handle it."

The speaker was a woman named Shyamala Rosseau.

Others laughed and said, "Is your student called Zang Tianyou? He is better than you. He is now in charge of building railways in China."

Rosso blushed instantly,

"You! His name is Zhan Tianyou!"

Hadley quickly smoothed things over and said, "Don't be angry, Mrs. Rosseau. You said you can figure it out?"

Rosso nodded,

"Well, it's not that difficult."

She pulled a pen and paper from the side, looked at the others with disdain, and muttered: "It's because we don't pay attention to science and engineering that we are no match for Harvard. What's wrong? We only pay attention to liberal arts, but we still want to train presidents?"

After saying that, he started to immerse himself in calculations.

Not long after,

"nailed it."

She wrote the final result on the blackboard,

——

Academic reputation: 41%;

Employer reputation: 16%;

Citations from unit faculty papers: 22%;

Teacher-student ratio: 10%;

Ratio of international teachers: 6%;

International student ratio: 2%;

Revolutionary: 3%.

——

After reading it, everyone was stunned.

Someone murmured: "What's going on here? Why is it like this?"

Rosso shrugged masculinely.

"The reason is unclear. All I can say is that this weight ratio is obviously made up."

Made up?

Everyone was lost in thought.

Suddenly, a professor spoke: "Professor Lu is indeed a fair scholar. I support the last result of the global university rankings. It's great to be in the top ten."

Attitudes change too quickly! ?

Rosso was confused.

Unexpectedly, someone actually echoed: "So what if we are ranked lower than Harvard now? We feel inferior to others and must work harder to surpass them as soon as possible."

Someone else followed up and said: "Besides, many things cannot be measured by data. For example, how many colleges and universities has the concept of 'professors run the school' proposed by Yale so far affected? Falling behind in one ranking will not determine anything. We must set our sights. long."

Rosso:? ? ?

Bewildered by the sudden change in wind direction.

The rest of the people were rejoicing,

While they were chatting, they said goodbye to Hadley and left the conference room.

Seeing their backs, Luo Suo felt like he was falling into the clouds and mist,

She turned to Hadley;

"Mr. Principal, what on earth is going on?"

Hadley looked at her helplessly and said, "Why didn't you expect this? Since I just said that this data was deliberately 'made' by Lu Ji, then, in which area of ​​colleges and universities do you think he raised the bar? And lowered it?" Which areas?"

"Ah this..."

Rosso finally understood.

For a moment, she actually felt that those liberal arts professors were not useless.

At least on these twists and turns, they react faster than engineering professors.

Hadley took a deep breath;

"Professor Lu, you are so worried about the United States~"

As he said this, he showed an expression like "He is really, I will cry to death\

,"Needless to say,

Just be full of gratitude and that’s it.

…

London, England,

Breya Road.

Lu Shi was sitting at his desk, watching me playing with the turtle.

The turtle came from Wodehouse,

The cat and the turtle seemed to have become good friends. As soon as the turtle saw me, it voluntarily shrank its shell and allowed me to treat itself as a ball of yarn, rolling from left paw to right paw, and then from right paw to left paw. It was a lot of fun. Very happy.

After several back and forth,

"Meow~"

We made a sound of satisfaction.

Lu Shi just wanted to laugh.

Fortunately, turtles have a long lifespan, otherwise they would definitely be played to death.

Natsume Soseki on the side complained: "Lu, you just let me be lazy?"

This "little lazy" is the name of the turtle, given by Wodehouse——

Lazy.

Lu Shi spread his hands,

"It's quite fun for us to play football. How about we raise a few more cats and let them use the little ones as balls to play a five-person...five-cat football match?"

What kind of hellish joke is this?

Natsume Soseki was completely speechless.

After a while, we seemed to be tired of playing, so we picked up the little lazi with two paws and carefully put it back into the fish tank.

Xiaolan has long been accustomed to this kind of "ravage".

After returning to the fish tank, it stretched out its limbs and head, crawled on the bottom of the fish tank, walked back and forth, and hit the walls everywhere.

Me: "Meow meow meow~"

It seems to be complaining about Xiao Laoshi.

Seeing that the pair of friends stopped playing, Lu Shi stretched and said, "Natsume, have you bought today's newspaper?"

Natsume Soseki spread his hands,

"What you want to see may have to be telegraphed."

On the table, there are newspapers from London, Edinburgh, Manchester and other places,

A little further away,

Paris, Munich, Berlin...

In addition to these newspapers, there are a large number of telegrams, all taken from the United States on the other side of the Atlantic.

Lu Shi picked up a copy casually,

The content of the telegram is an excerpt from the New York Times,

——

Recently, Columbia University ranked 26th in the global university rankings.

This honor not only demonstrates Columbia’s excellence in academic research and teaching quality, but also once again proves its outstanding reputation and influence around the world.

There is no doubt that Columbia deserves this ranking.

For students who want to further their studies, Columbia University is undoubtedly a choice worth considering.

Columbia University thanks the global university ranking organization for its impartiality and its leader, Professor Lu Shilu, for his hard work.

Professor Lu will be Columbia’s forever partner.

Columbia will continue to be committed to promoting the development of academic research, innovation and entrepreneurship on a global scale and making greater contributions to human progress.

——

During this period, Lu Shi received a large number of titles,

Columbia’s eternal partner,

Friends of Harvard,

An old friend from Yale,

…

In short, American universities have basically become pro-Mainland schools.

Not to mention the UK side.

Because behind the global university rankings are kings and prime ministers, which university dares to criticize the results of the rankings?

That is the old birthday girl hanging himself - he no longer wants to live.

Lu Shi is now collectively known as "the impartial conscience" by all universities in the UK.

They are even more mainland-style.

Now, only a few universities in Europe are dissatisfied with this ranking.

As the mainland-defying faction, their voices are pitifully small.

Only Theodor Mommsen, the author of "History of Rome", attracted some opponents because of his status in the historians, saying that he would no longer provide relevant data from the University of Berlin in the second year.

To this end, he also announced the weight of each indicator, saying that it was calculated by Planck, but there were even zeros and rounded parts, thereby implying that the ranking was unfair.

Natsume Soseki said: "Riku, you are really powerful."

Lu Shi was surprised,

"What? Why did you suddenly say that to me?"

Natsume Soseki explained with a smile: "You can balance the interests of multiple parties and make so many universities obey. Isn't it amazing?"

Lu Shi waved his hand,

"It's just a cake for everyone to share. It's no big deal. As for those who oppose it, let them go. They will participate in the ranking again in a few years. Because they need the ranking, not..."

Before he finished speaking, there was a sudden knock on the door from outside.

Then a low voice sounded: "Professor Lu, please stay at home."

It seems to be Frederick von Stephenson, commander of the Coldstream Guards,

His arrival proves that the king is also there.

Lu Shi hurried over and opened the door.

Sure enough, Edward VII was at the door,

He is as high-profile as ever, wearing a gold and red coat. From the front, he looks like Santa Claus.

Lu Shi said: "Your Majesty, why do you...um...ha..."

King Edward VII suddenly gave Lu Shi a bear hug, which made Lu Shi breathless.

Such disregard for royal etiquette made Stephenson want to die.

"His Majesty!"

When Edward VII released the mainland,

"Well done! Nowadays, the world's higher education is dominated by Britain. When it comes to universities, the first thing that everyone thinks of is Britain. Lu, this is all due to you!"

After that, there was another bear hug.

Lu Shi quickly broke away,

I finally understand why Cecil and Balfour think His Majesty the King is frivolous.

King Edward VII walked into the room without bothering others. He moved a chair and sat down. He said: "Lu, thanks to you for this incident. Your contribution to Great Britain can no longer be measured by quantifiable indicators." .”

With that said, His Majesty the King nodded to Stephenson.

The latter understood, took out a piece of paper,

"Please look."

The paper unfolded,

Above is a design draft for a series of badges, with five styles in total.

Knight/Dame Grand Cross, abbreviated as "GBE" for both men and women;

Knight/Dame Commander, the male abbreviation is "KBE" and the female abbreviation is "DBE";

Commander Medal, Commander, referred to as "CBE";

Officer, Officer, referred to as "OBE";

Member, Member, referred to as "MBE".

Edward VII smiled,

"Lu, after New Year's Day next year, you can be called 'Sir Lu Shi'."

Lu Shi was a little surprised,

In theory, only citizens of the United Kingdom or the Commonwealth of Nations can obtain knighthoods and add titles to their names.

Foreign citizens can only receive honorary honors and cannot be crowned with titles.

Perhaps sensing Lu Shi's surprise, King Edward VII smiled and said: "Lu, it's okay. We British are more flexible than the Germans and Swiss and are not as rigid."

Lu Shi: "..."

I always feel that the other party must have bad intentions when making such a promise.

There is probably a hole in the back.

As expected, King Edward VII talked about global university rankings again.

"Lu, I heard that some schools seem to be dissatisfied with the global university rankings? For example, at the University of Berlin, the archeology professor actually..."

Lu Shi corrected: "It's not archeology, it's history professor, Mengsen."

Edward was so thick-skinned that he was not embarrassed at all. He continued: "Didn't I just talk about the history professor? In short, it was that Monson who compared the global university rankings to 'indulgence'."

indulgences,

This is a very European metaphor,

Especially coming from Monson's mouth, it has a full historical charm.

Monson calls the Global University Ranking Project a "indulgence racket."

The United States engages in rankings, and universities around the world hand over private data and money, and then let ranking agencies dictate their rankings.

This is the humiliation of Chi Guoguo!

It must be admitted that this statement is not entirely wrong;

In modern times, many Asian universities, especially East Asian universities, from the University of Tokyo in Japan, to Seoul University in South Korea, to Qing and Northern China, participating in similar rankings is indeed like buying a indulgence.

Moreover, given the relationship between Britain and Germany at the beginning of the 20th century, it is not surprising that the Germans felt that Britain was causing trouble.

After the rise of Germany, it will be fine if it cannot expand its colonies and overseas markets.

Even higher education must be manipulated?

What is it but an indulgence?

Monson also made good use of this German psychology.

Of course, the most important thing is personal grudges, because countries now don’t pay much attention to cultural soft power, and they don’t know how much voice university rankings can bring.

Lu Shi spread his hands,

"You don't want me to take over the University of Berlin, do you? It's better for Great Britain to come forward and take over Germany."

Edward VII smiled,

“If you can’t figure out the problem itself, can’t you figure out the person who asked the question?”

Lu Shi: "..."

Hearing a British king say this made him feel that the world was too magical.

He said helplessly: "How do you want me to deal with Monson?"

Edward VII smiled even more evilly,

"Have you forgotten about the Nobel Prize in Literature? How did you unseat Mommsen at that time? How can you do it this time~"

Lu Shi:￣□￣｜｜

Petrified on the spot.

Edward VII said nothing when he saw Lu, and continued: "Lu, you can rest assured that Daying will always be your solid backing. Of course, there will also be me, and I will always be your solid backing."

It turns out that Brother Wang is the leader of the pro-mainland faction.

However, seeing how unreliable he is in blaming the blame when something happens, will his "backing" be shattered at the first touch?

Lu Shi shook his head firmly,

"No, no, no, I'm not going to Berlin."

Edward VII said "Huh?" and said, "There's no need to go to Berlin, right? The Nobel Prize will be announced in the first week of next month, and you and Monson will definitely be invited to attend. By then, even if you don't take the initiative to look for trouble , people will also look for you."

grass!

Ten thousand grass and mud horses galloped past Lu Shi's heart.