The Rise of the Writers of the Republic of China

Zhang Leyi's arrival was very unfortunate. When she arrived in Tianjin, it happened to catch up with a heavy rainstorm.

The long drought has finally eased, but it has been followed by floods. Since the Haihe River was dredged in 1924, it has not been treated for three years, and the silt in many places is higher than the zero point of the Dagu level.

The sudden torrential rain brought more silt, and the river spread everywhere, even flooding the city of Tianjin. The port was severely silted up, and Tianjin Port was almost a waste port, and ships with a slightly larger displacement could not enter at all.

"Woo~~~~~~"

The siren blew, and the crew knocked on the doors of each room, shouting: "Disembark, disembark! Everyone put on life jackets."

Zhang Leyi didn't have much luggage, and even bought a change of clothes halfway, so she went out with a small bag. When she got on the deck, she realized that the ship hadn't entered the port at all, and it was surrounded by sea water.

"Why don't you drive into the dock?" Zhang Leyi asked the crew member.

The crew explained: "I can't get in, the port is silted up. But don't worry, Miss, the pier has sent a boat over, you put on your life jacket first."

Sure enough, in less than a moment, hundreds of sampans approached the passenger ship in an orderly manner.

Zhang Leyi put on a lifejacket (only available in first-class and second-class cabins), was tied around the waist with a rope by the crew, and slowly descended to the sampan, and just like that slowly entered the port in a small boat.

Dredgers can be seen everywhere in the port, dredging the river and port day and night, but it is of no avail. Passenger ships are okay, they can use small boats to carry passengers in, but merchant ships are a tragedy, the cargo cannot be unloaded at all, and the losses are extremely heavy.

Zhang Leyi boarded the pier and found that the situation here is also very bad. There are traces of mud everywhere, and the cleaners hired by the dock are working hard, and it is estimated that they will be cleaned up tomorrow.

Zhang Leyi moved forward cautiously holding the hem of the skirt, but the shoes were still soiled and soaked. I finally came to the concession by car, but the concession near the river was flooded to the ankles, and I could go boating on the street while sitting in the tub.

The rickshaw driver stepped on the muddy water and walked forward with great difficulty. Zhang Leyi couldn't help but ask, "Is there a flood in Tianjin?"

"Actually, there was not much flooding, mainly because there was too much silt in the river." The coachman replied.

Zhang Leyi asked again: "Won't the government send people to clean up the river?"

The coachman sneered: "Tianjin is now in charge of Marshal Chu. His old man is busy fighting wars and collecting taxes, so he can't care about things like cleaning up the river."

Zhang Leyi said: "Then run slowly, don't fall."

The driver smiled and said, "Are you Mr. Zhou's friend?"

"How do you know?" Zhang Leyi was quite surprised.

The driver said as he walked, "The address you gave me just now is Mr. Zhou's home. He is a good man, who doesn't know the rickshaw pullers in Tianjin?"

Zhang Leyi asked: "Because he runs Hope Primary School?"

"It's not just Yixue. The disaster victims in Tianjin these days are thanks to Mr. Zhou for raising donations." The coachman turned his head and gave a thumbs up. "This is Mr. Zhou. If it weren't for him, I don't know how many people would starve to death. Everyone said Mr. Zhou is the reincarnation of a Bodhisattva, and there are literate victims, and he also set up a longevity tablet for Mr. Zhou at the porridge shed, and worships him every morning and evening."

Zhang Leyi was surprised: "How could he raise so much money?"

The coachman said, "You guys from the Green Gang, please help. We have set up some sort of Jimin Association. But we all know that Mr. Zhou has made great efforts in it. In the past, when Mr. Zhou was away, why didn't those guys from the Green Gang come out to help the disaster?"

Sure enough, I was right!

Zhang Leyi felt as if she had eaten honey, and a sweet smile appeared on her face. She asked about things related to Zhou Hexuan all the way, but she didn't go far, and suddenly saw three rickshaws coming in front of her, they were Zhou Hexuan and the Sun brothers.

"Brother Zhou!" Zhang Leyi waved happily.

"Le Yi, why did you come to Tianjin?" Zhou Hexuan asked in surprise.

Zhang Leyi said: "It's not going well at home, so come out and take a walk. Where are you going?"

"The home of the French Consul General," Zhou Hexuan said without asking too many questions, "Let's go together and explain slowly on the way."

Zhang Leyi asked curiously: "Can I also go to see the French consul?"

"No problem, just say it's my secretary." Zhou Hexuan said.

The two walked together, and Zhang Leyi quickly asked about the situation. It turned out that Zhou Hexuan was going to contact the consulates of various countries, and took advantage of the blocked port to provide relief with work.

Historically, the silting of the Haihe River did not start until Chu Yupu died.

At the end of next year, the Tianjin local government formally established the Haihe River Management Committee. It was not until October of the following year that the Haihe River Treatment Project was approved. It was not until 1931 that the construction finally started. It took five years.

During these five years, the silting problem in Tianjin port could only be solved by dredgers. Whenever the summer flood season comes, everything from the wharf to the shipping company is in dire straits.

The French Consul General in Tianjin, Hervé Jacques, was having a headache at the moment. From morning to noon, he received more than a dozen calls in half a day, all from French businessmen in Tianjin.

The businessmen urged the consulate to solve the problem, but the consulate could only approach the Tianjin local government. But the officials of the local government are all on the job, so they can't manage things at all, and Chu Yupu, who can call the shots, is now fighting again.

"Honey, Mr. Zhou is here." His wife Marion smiled.

"See you, let him come back another day." Herway said unhappily, he only regarded Zhou Hexuan as a scholar, he can play to relieve boredom at ordinary times, but he is not in the mood to pay attention to it at critical times.

Marion said: "He said that the problem of silting up in the port can be solved."

"Only by him?" Herway obviously didn't believe it.

"I think you can talk to him later," Marion suggested.

Herway frowned, treating the dead horse as a living horse doctor, and said dejectedly: "Please come in."

The door opened again soon, Zhou Hexuan brought Zhang Leyi in, while the Sun brothers stayed outside to rest.

When Herway met, he asked, "You said it could solve the congestion problem?"

"Of course." Zhou Hexuan smiled confidently.

"Are you an expert in water conservancy?" Hervé asked again.

"I'm not, I don't know anything about water conservancy." Zhou Hexuan said.

Herway said speechlessly, "Then what are you doing here?"

Zhou Hexuan said with a smile: "Water conservancy experts are everywhere, and there is not a shortage of them. Now to clean up the port silt, we can temporarily use dredgers, but if we want to completely solve the problem, the local government of Tianjin and the concessions of various countries must unite."

"What do you need to say?" Herway shrugged.

Zhou Hexuan swaggered and sat on the sofa, crossed his legs and said, "I can communicate through it."

Herway said: "Communication is not a problem, the difficulty is who will pay for it. It stands to reason that this is what the Tianjin government should do, but your Marshal Chu doesn't care about it at all. I called On the front line, he just talks nonsense to me."

"The money matter is easy to handle." Zhou Hexuan tilted his head and smiled.

"It's easy to handle? You're telling a joke." Herway seemed to be listening to the Arabian Nights.