The Rise of the Writers of the Republic of China

The female student named Yang Shufen was sent home by Zhou Hexuan the next day. Before she left, the girl was a little bit reluctant, probably because she had admiration for Zhou Hexuan.

Fan Ha'er had just left for Shanghai by boat, when Zhou Hexuan met the big capitalist in Sichuan——Lu Zuofu.

When mentioning Lu Zuofu, most people will think of Minsheng Shipping Company. This shipping company, when Japan invaded China, transferred countless countries, national assets and people, and also carried countless soldiers out of Sichuan to fight against Japan.

But Lu Zuofu is not only engaged in shipping. He built the first railway in Sichuan (Beichuan Railway) (under construction), the largest coal mine in Sichuan (Tianfu Coal Mine) (under construction), and the largest railway in Southwest China. The textile dyeing factory (Three Gorges Weaving Factory) is about to start construction.

In a few years, Lu Zuofu will also establish the Western Academy of Sciences, the largest private scientific research institution during the Republic of China, set up a rural telephone network in Sichuan, open a hot spring park in Chongqing, and so on. Build roads, build canals, set up farms, build factories, open parks, set up hospitals, build libraries, build museums, build schools, build stadiums, renovate old cities... This Mr. Lu has come to do everything, and he can do it all Very well, rejuvenating the country through industry is not just talk.

At the beginning of the founding of New China, Taizu once said: "In the modern history of China, there are four people we must never forget. They are: Zhang Zhidong who engaged in heavy industry, Zhang Jian who engaged in textile industry, and transportation industry. Lu Zuofu, Fan Xudong in the chemical industry."

Needless to say, everyone knows Zhang Zhidong and Zhang Jian well.

Fan Xudong is the chairman of Tianjin Jiuda Refined Salt Company, and he explored and developed chemical products such as domestic soda ash and ammonium sulfate by himself. The enamel factory that Zhou Hexuan is about to establish needs to purchase many chemical raw materials from Fan Xudong's Jiuda Group.

Lu Zuofu is as famous as Zhang Zhidong, Zhang Jian and Fan Xudong, so one can imagine his contribution to China's national industry.

"Oh, Mr. Zhou, I have admired your name for a long time!" Lu Zuofu shook hands with Zhou Hexuan happily.

Zhou Hexuan said with a smile: "Brother Zuofu, let's talk about each other."

Lu Zuofu laughed and said, "I can't compare with Mr. Zhou. Mr. Zhou's complete set of academic monographs are still in my study."

Lu Zuofu was not a businessman at first, he was engaged in education. He once served as the chief of the education section of the local government office, advocating "education to save the country". Lu Zuofu has his own educational philosophy and advocates "popular education". He once created many exhibition halls, museums and libraries in Chengdu (Harmony).

It is a pity that Lu Zuofu's education career died twice because of the warlord's melee, and he went to do business only in frustration.

Therefore, Lu Zuofu's enthusiasm when facing Zhou Hexuan was not a false politeness. He said with a serious face: "Mr. Zhou, I have read the "Chrysanthemum and the Sword" you wrote more than ten times, and every sentence is really like gold! I visited the Northeast last spring and witnessed the Kwantung Army. All kinds of behaviors, the little Japanese wolf is ambitious, and sooner or later he will invade China by force!"

Lu Zuofu obviously also anticipated the crisis in the Northeast. He returned from an inspection tour in the Northeast last year and immediately gave a patriotic speech to the company's employees and school teachers and students, exposing the wolfish ambitions of the Japanese. He also wrote a book "Journey to the Northeast" and printed it in a volume, which was given to warlords, politicians, celebrities, relatives and friends in Sichuan, and was serialized in Chongqing's "Xingcuo" weekly magazine and "Youth World" magazine.

It's a pity that few people are willing to believe it, and even if some people believe it, they don't care about the future.

Lu Zuofu repeatedly read Zhou Hexuan's "The Chrysanthemum and the Sword". The book analyzed the reasons for Japan's invasion of China thoroughly and even predicted China's anti-Japanese situation. Lu Zuofu was deeply impressed by this. Although he had never met Zhou Hexuan, he had already become a confidant.

The two did not talk about business cooperation, but chatted about the Northeast issue.

Zhou Hexuan said: "Japan's invasion of Northeast China may be this year."

"So fast?" Lu Zuofu asked in shock.

Zhou Hexuan nodded and said: "Now is the best time for Japan to invade Northeast China. First, Japan's domestic economic crisis is serious, and militarists took the opportunity to clamor for foreign expansion. Japanese public opinion is already inclined to attack China. These public opinions have an impact on the Japanese government and military. Second, Japan’s leased land in the Northeast is about to expire, and they must rush to send troops before the lease expires, otherwise they will lose the excuse to send troops; third, the elite of the Northeast Army is now in North China, and the defense forces in the Northeast are empty; Fourth, the Central Plains War has just been fought in China, and both the central and local warlords are heavily in debt and do not have the financial resources to send troops to fight against Japan. Combining these four points, as long as Japan is not a fool, it will inevitably choose to invade as soon as possible.”

Lu Zuofu's belief that Japan would invade the Northeast was just a prediction out of thin air after witnessing the actions of the Kwantung Army. Now that he heard Zhou Hexuan's methodical analysis, he was even more sure of this prediction, and worried: "What should I do? I heard that Mr. Zhou and Deputy Commander Zhang have a deep personal relationship. Have you reminded him?"

"Reminder," Zhou Hexuan said helplessly, "but it's useless. The elite of the Northeast Army are deployed in North China to deter those warlords who have dissenting intentions. For the time being, they can't mobilize troops to defend against the Japanese."

Lu Zuofu said: "The Japanese are foreign enemies, and the local warlords are just internal bandits. How can we focus on the inside and let go of the outside?"

Zhou Hexuan smiled wryly: "But to Deputy Commander Zhang, the Japanese are just imaginary enemies for the time being, while the local warlords are the enemies right in front of us."

"The warlords are harming the country!" Lu Zuofu said angrily.

There is no reason for Lu Zuofu not to be angry. When he was young, he pursued education to save the country, but the two educational undertakings he started were aborted because of warlord melee.

Now that Lu Zuofu has compromised, he can only choose to cooperate with the warlord he hates the most. After gaining the support of Liu Xiang, the business is booming-this is a kind of sadness.

Zhou Hexuan said in a low voice: "Once Japan begins to invade China in an all-round way, I am afraid that Northeast, North, Central, East, and South China will not be able to stop it. Sichuan is the last hope of the nation."

"Is it really that bad?" Lu Zuofu couldn't help becoming pessimistic.

"China will definitely win the final victory, but it may lose a large area of ​​land, and the central government will have to move its capital to Chongqing." Zhou Hexuan said.

"The central government moved the capital to Chongqing?" Lu Zuofu couldn't imagine how dangerous China would be for Chongqing to become the capital.

Zhou Hexuan nodded and said: "Yes, I moved the capital to Chongqing. That's why I chose to build a factory in Chongqing in advance. The enamel factory is just the beginning, and more factories and mines will be built in the future. I hope Brother Zuofu can help. Let's do business together and serve the country. , for the nation, for the people.”

Although Lu Zuofu didn't believe that Chongqing would become an accompanying capital, he still nodded solemnly and said, "Don't worry, if that day comes, I, Lu, will definitely do my best. As for Mr. Zhou's enamel factory, I will contact Mayor Pan, you It's better to give Commander Liu some more shares."

"It's natural." Zhou Hexuan said.