The Rise of the Writers of the Republic of China

Shanghai.

Li Shi crossed his legs, smoked a cigarette, and urged: "What do you think about this matter? Give me an accurate answer!"

"How else can we see it? It's a good thing." Cai Yuanpei said with a smile.

They all received a telegram from Zhou Hexuan, which mentioned two things: first, they hoped that they could formally send an invitation letter for academic exchange to the Curies in the name of the Institute of Physics of the Central Academy of Sciences and Peking Academy; second, , hoping that through their influence in the education, research and cultural sectors, they would urge the Nanjing government to request Chinese cultural relics from the Swedish Far Eastern Museum.

"Of course I know it's a good thing," Li Shizeng said frankly, exhaling smoke. "I hope to leave the work of welcoming back prehistoric cultural relics to Yi Peiji."

Li Shizeng had been extremely unlucky in the past two years. Because he was implicated in the "Forbidden City Treasure Stealing Case", he voluntarily resigned from his position as president of the Peking Research Institute and went to Europe to hide for a while. The two main persons involved in the "Forbidden City Treasure Stolen Case" were one of his students and the other was his nephew. It was almost impossible to explain why.

The incident was initiated by Zhang Ji and his wife, but the subsequent consequences were unexpected by Zhang Ji and were completely out of control.

There was no way, Li Shi had offended too many people, and there were countless people who had added insult to injury. Among them, Hu Shi yelled the most fiercely.

The conflict between Li Shizeng and Hu Shi has been going on for a long time, and the most well-known one is the "Forbidden City Business Card" incident——

As early as 1922, Puyi summoned Hu Shi into the palace to chat, talking about some vernacular poetry and studying abroad. Just 20 minutes after Hu Shi left the palace, Puyi sent someone to invite him again. Since Hu Shi had no time, he sent back his business card.

Later, due to educational reforms, Hu Shi once again had conflicts with Li Shizeng, who was already in charge of the Forbidden City. He searched out Hu Shi's business card from the Forbidden City and wrote on it "I have something to do today, so I cannot send you my regards", etc. He also specially put a frame on the business card and hung it in the Forbidden City as an exhibit.

He was clearly insulting Hu Shi, saying that Hu Shi was a slave of the Manchu Emperor.

It can be seen from this that Li Shizeng was really narrow-minded and had no tolerance at all. He would offend people to death when he seized the opportunity.

Hu Shi, on the other hand, was more generous. When he saw that his business card had become an exhibit in the Forbidden City, instead of getting angry, he asked to take a photo with the business card. As a result, all requests for group photos were rejected by the staff, making Hu Shi completely unable to get off the stage.

The current situation is that Li Shizeng's students and nephew are involved in lawsuits. He must restore Yi Peiji's reputation in order to retain his own face. The recovery of Chinese cultural relics from Sweden is a great opportunity, and Yi Peiji is the most suitable candidate.

But the premise is that Cai Yuanpei must cooperate, and the relationship between the two is very subtle. They are friends and political enemies, they often collaborate and compete.

Cai Yuanpei smiled and said: "It is okay to let Yi Peiji bring back the cultural relics, but these cultural relics need to be transported to the Institute of History, Academia Sinica for preservation."

This is the deal. Li Shizeng's people show their faces and get the limelight, while Cai Yuanpei's people get actual benefits.

"Then it's settled!" Li Shi agreed.

Even though Li Shizeng and Cai Yuanpei were far away from politics, more than half of the ministers and deputy ministers in the nine ministries of the Nanjing National Government were their friends or students.

In their opinion, requesting cultural relics from the Swedish Far Eastern Museum in the name of the Chinese government is a trivial matter.

Sure enough, as soon as Li Shizeng and Cai Yuanpei spoke, the Nanjing government immediately appointed Foreign Affairs Counselor Tan Boyu (son of Tan Yankai) as China's minister to Sweden, fully responsible for requesting cultural relics, and appointed Yi Peiji to Sweden to handle the handover and transportation of cultural relics.

At the same time, the Institute of Physics of the Academia Sinica and the Peking Academy sent academic exchange invitation letters to the Curies respectively. The Curies responded three months later to express their acceptance of the invitation.

At this point, Zhou Hexuan's trip to Sweden was complete. Not only did he win the Nobel Prize for Literature, but he also helped make connections, requested cultural relics and invited academic talents.

Whether it is the more than 10,000 prehistoric cultural relics or the academic giants Curie and his wife, they are all of great significance to China.

…

Sweden.

Stockholm pier.

Wang Nianzu wore a fur coat presented by Zhou Hexuan, shook hands and said goodbye: "Mr. Zhou, go slowly!"

"Everyone, take care." Zhou Hexuan nodded.

Lu Zhaoxin and Sun Fang also stepped forward to shake hands one by one. The three of them sent Zhou Hexuan onto the deck, then waved their arms and watched the ship leave.

Before leaving, Zhou Hexuan also donated US$5,000 to fund the Chinese Embassy in Sweden. There is no way, the Nanjing government does not pay salaries to the diplomats, so Zhou Hexuan can only pay from his own pocket. He can't watch the diplomats starve and freeze, can he?

I heard that the embassies in Norway and Finland were in even worse condition, but it’s hard to tell the truth.

But it will soon be Tan Boyu's turn to have a headache. This son of a veteran of the Kuomintang Party was not only appointed as China's minister to Sweden, but also to Norway and Finland. One person is in charge of diplomatic work for three countries, and these are places that are not valued by the Nanjing government. It is estimated that Tan Boyu will have to figure out the salary of the embassy staff himself.

The diplomacy of the Nanjing National Government is really criticized. Take the Minister in France for example. At this time, Gu Weijun had returned to China to report on his duties for half a year. The new minister to France had not been finalized yet, and the diplomatic work between China and France was completely at a standstill.

Fortunately, with Zhou Hexuan's involvement, China's currency reform went more smoothly than in history. After the United Kingdom provided enough foreign exchange in pounds, the United States finally became anxious. Roosevelt called the Silver Group for an emergency talk, and then sent a negotiation team to China quickly.

Over in Hankou, the Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge invested and built by Zhou Hexuan has begun to build the bridge foundation. In winter, the river is stable and the water level is low, which is a good time to repair the bridge.

Inside the cabin.

Zhou Hexuan sat on the bed and raised his hands. Zhang Leyi lifted up his clothes and asked the nurse to remove the bandage and replace the wound medicine.

"The wound is recovering very well, and I estimate that I will be able to move freely next month." said the nurse.

Zhang Leyi smiled and said repeatedly: "That's good, that's good."

Yu Peichen came in with lunch, put it on the bedside and said, "Sir, your lunch."

Zhou Hexuan glanced at it, rolled his eyes and said, "It's steak and kidney pie again. I'm going to throw up."

Yu Peichen smiled and said: "There are also smoked roast beef, fried fish and chips, which one do you choose?"

"Then let's choose steak." Zhou Hexuan hated British food, but this was another British ship.

After the wound medicine was replaced, Zhang Leyi carefully chopped up the steak and fed it to Zhou Hexuan's mouth, as if coaxing a child: "When we get to London, I will cook you a Chinese meal."

"Forget it, there are no condiments for Chinese food in London." Zhou Hexuan said while chewing the steak.

"You should be able to find it in Chinatown," Zhang Leyi said.

Zhou Hexuan smiled and said: "I don't have any hope anyway."

Yu Peichen stood by and waited for Zhou Hexuan to finish his lunch before she returned to the restaurant with the plate. This was more like a servant's job than a secretary's job, but she never tired of it.

From the first sight of the mansion and his wives, he felt faintly dissatisfied with Zhou Hexuan. Then when Zhou Hexuan worked hard for the people of the country, donated money and materials, and worked tirelessly, Yu Peichen's impression of him changed greatly, and he even admired him. Until he was hospitalized after being assassinated in London and won the Nobel Prize, Yu Peichen was completely convinced.

She feels that Zhou Hexuan is a hero, and heroes can be forgiven for their shortcomings. No one is perfect.

Yu Peichen even felt that he was lucky to be able to stay and work next to the great patriotic writer. She likes this kind of life, which is not only beautiful and decent, but also can contribute to the country and the nation.

If the organization makes a request, Yu Peichen can devote himself to Zhou Hexuan without hesitation. She doesn't hate this man, she has full admiration and faint admiration for him, and she won't feel aggrieved by it.