The Rise of the Writers of the Republic of China

At the end of February 1936, Zhou Hexuan's injury had completely recovered and he officially set off for Berlin, Germany.

The only ones accompanying them were Zhang Leyi, Yu Peichen and Sun Yongzhen, while Meng Xiaodong and Liao Yaquan returned to China with their children. Vivien Leigh also went back. She had not seen her daughter for a whole year and planned to live in China for a few months before going to Hollywood.

What is very surprising is that Wanrong stayed in London and officially entered the Courtauld Institute of Art to study oil painting. In later generations, the college was affiliated with the University of London, but at this time it was still an independent college of art.

By the way, Sun Yongzhen, who has been single for more than 30 years, finally found his wife, and she is a blonde exotic girl.

Because he used his body to block Zhou Hexuan's gun, Sun Yongzhen got a slap on his butt and actually made eye contact with the female nurse in the hospital. There was a language barrier between the two and they could only rely on gestures to communicate, but it turned out to be a good thing.

Just in January, Sun Yongzhen got married, and Zhou Hexuan received a big red envelope of 1,888 pounds. The two held their wedding in a church in London. The female nurse named Ellen followed Meng Xiaodong to China, planning to have another Chinese-style wedding banquet in Tianjin.

On March 8, 1936, Zhou Hexuan and others took a boat from London to Hamburg, and then transferred to Berlin by train.

On the train, the front page headline of a German newspaper was clearly printed with the words "Warmly celebrating the entry of the national army into the Rhine". Zhou Hexuan shook his head and said to Toynbee next to him: "The pace of war is coming."

"Zhou, you are thinking too much. This is just a sign of Germany returning to a normal country." Toynbee said with a smile.

Zhou Hexuan shook his head and said: "No, this heralds war. The German army's entry into the Rhine Demilitarized Zone is an act of openly tearing up the Versailles Contract."

"The Treaty of Versailles was inherently unfair to Germany." Toynbee argued.

This argument is a common view in Europe. Even the British and French people who advocated sanctions against Germany felt that the Treaty of Versailles was too harsh on Germany. Hitler and Germany's behavior of tearing up the "Contract of Versailles" was widely sympathized and recognized by European countries.

"Unfair? Haha," Zhou Hexuan's laughter was filled with ridicule, "The most unfair thing about the Treaty of Versailles is that China, as a victorious country, had its interests divided among the great powers."

Toynbee shrugged and said, "I'm sorry, but times are like this and weak countries can only tolerate bullying."

Zhou Hexuan said helplessly: "I'm just talking."

"To be honest, I don't agree with your prediction of Germany's future," Toynbee said. "Germany will definitely expand to its surrounding areas, but at most it can swallow up Poland and then march towards the Soviet Union. It is impossible to create a problem for Britain and France. threaten."

"Let's wait and see." Zhou Hexuan stopped talking nonsense. This kind of thing can't be explained clearly.

The first two volumes of "Historical Research" were "co-authored" by Zhou Hexuan and Toynbee, but now they have diverged.

When Toynbee wrote the third volume of "Historical Research", he obviously received financial support from the British government, and many of the contents served British foreign policy in the 1930s. Therefore, there are many problems in the third volume of "Historical Research". Some words are said crookedly, and some words are not said clearly, which is similar to the Spring and Autumn writing style of Confucius and Sima Qian when they wrote history.

Take the "grand unified country" as an example. In order to prevent Hitler from forming a unified Europe, Toynbee wildly denied the positive impact of the "grand unified country". This was purely academic intimidation. They also go so far as to vilify China and believe that China's decline is due to the early formation of a "unified country."

Between the lines, Toynbee also discussed India, implying that only Britain was qualified to "unify the country" and believed that the formation of India's unification was due to the gift of Britain. In fact, in order to rule India for a long time, the British spared no effort to "fragment" India. This resulted in India's economy, culture, religion, and politics being completely fragmented after independence.

Of course Zhou Hexuan was not happy. He no longer wanted to "collaborate" with Toynbee. Now their historical academic articles are published under separate signatures. Toynbee has become the royal scholar of the British government. Some of the views in the third volume of "Historical Research" are against his will. However, Toynbee still retains the scholar's bottom line and hides the truth behind lies. This needs serious thinking. To discover.

However, Toynbee was already an international academic authority and the views of his work were unquestionable. Including many historians in China at this time, they often read Toynbee's works without thinking. The expansion of British cultural scholarship became popular all over the world with the third volume of "Historical Research".

Until the end of World War II and the subsequent publication of "Historical Research", Toynbee continued to influence the world with his academic articles. The content of this book is closely related to British foreign policy. For example, after the war, cultural "praising" was used to lead the United States and the Soviet Union into confrontation, and by the way, China was also involved.

The cultural and academic tone of the "Cold War" can be found in "Historical Research".

Precisely because Toynbee used academic theories to provoke polar opposition, around 1950, his academic thoughts were criticized by many historians.

No one is a saint. Toynbee has his own motherland, and his academic work is to serve the United Kingdom.

As a result, two versions of "Historical Research" appeared in the historical circles of this time and space. The first two volumes were co-authored by Zhou Hexuan and Toynbee. Starting from the third volume, although they still maintained communication, their academic thoughts have gone their separate ways.

In the 21st century, later historians generally believed that Zhou Hexuan's version of "Historical Research" was purer, while Toynbee's version was adulterated with too much private information.

In the afternoon, everyone arrived at the Berlin train station.

Although no one paid for the organization this time, there were still many people greeting Zhou Hexuan, and all of them were Chinese.

There was no literature in Nazi Germany. The government had clearly stipulated that "politics" equals "literature" and "literature" equals "politics." The two terms have become one. Therefore, Zhou Hexuan has no real book fans in Germany. Even local German writers have emigrated and fled on a large scale.

But there are many Chinese in Berlin, because this is the honeymoon period between China and Germany, and the headquarters of the European branch of the Blue Shirt Society is located in Berlin.

"Mr. Zhou, welcome!"

"Hello, Mrs. Zhou!"

Chinese Ambassador Plenipotentiary to Germany Cheng Tianfang, along with the embassy staff and members of the Blue Clothes Society, came forward with a smile on his face to shake hands.

Cheng Tianfang, the great-grandson of Cheng Zicai, the governor of Huguang during the late Qing Dynasty, was a Shanghai student leader during the May 4th Movement, a key member of the CC Department of the Kuomintang, and served successively as president of Anhui University, president of Zhejiang University, president, and academic director of the Central Institute of Political Science. .

"Brother Cheng, I have to bother you a lot when I come to Germany this time." Zhou Hexuan said with a smile.

"Wherever, Mr. Zhou won the Nobel Prize, which is the pride of the Chinese people. If you need help, I will do my best." Cheng Tianfang said.

In fact, Cheng Tianfang has just taken office. He took a boat to Berlin at the end of January to serve as ambassador. He still doesn't fully understand the situation. By the way, the diplomatic relations between China and Germany have been upgraded to the ambassadorial level, and Cheng Tianfang is the first Chinese ambassador to Germany.

This guy is also a fan of Hitler. He highly admires the German fascist's high organizational ability and uniform spirit, and believes that this spirit is very valuable to China's disorganized country.

As a result, as soon as Cheng Tianfang took office in Germany, he actively made friends with the Nazi Party, and was later invited to attend the Nazi Party's annual meeting twice. Germany's Presidential Palace, Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Propaganda... Cheng Tianfang was able to get around very quickly. He had Nazi friends everywhere. If he wanted to see Hitler, he only needed to make an appointment.

It was precisely because of Cheng Tianfang's alliance with the Nazi Party that during his term of office he resolved many diplomatic issues left over from the history of China and Germany. He also helped Chinese immigrants who illegally entered Germany resolve practical issues such as residence and business rights. After a full-scale war broke out between China and Japan, Cheng Tianfang successfully won Germany's neutrality and made frantic contacts to purchase German arms during his term.

Overall, this man was very capable and was probably the most prosperous Chinese diplomat in the 1930s. It was difficult for the Chinese ambassador to the United States to meet Roosevelt, but for Cheng Tianfang to meet Hitler, it was as easy as visiting an old friend.

After walking out of the train station, Zhou Hexuan and Toynbee separated, each heading to their country's embassy.

On the way, Zhou Hexuan said to Cheng Tianfang: "Brother Cheng, the Chinese Olympic delegation will go to Berlin next week. Can you help them find accommodation and training venues? I will take care of the funding."

"So soon?" Cheng Tianfang said in surprise, "The Olympics will not be held in half a year."

Zhou Hexuan explained: "Traveling has a great impact on athletes. At the last San Francisco Olympics in the United States, Liu Changchun took a three-week boat ride to arrive. He was about to start the competition. How could he perform well? Moreover, Chinese athletes are not used to it either. It’s best to allow them to adapt to the German climate and food for a period of time.”

"Okay, I'll have someone handle this matter right away." Cheng Tianfang said solemnly.

Historically, China sent a total of 69 athletes to participate in the Berlin Olympics, but their situation was very miserable. In order to raise travel expenses, the Chinese martial arts performance team members went to Nanjing Daguangming Theater to perform, and the football team members went to Southeast Asia to play exhibition games to raise funds.

Cheng Tianfang also made a contribution. He successfully persuaded the German government to provide the Chinese delegation with free league emblems and opening ceremony clothing. It is said that Hitler personally borne all the expenses.

In this regard, the head of state is still an old friend of the Chinese people.

It's a pity that Cheng Tianfang knows nothing about sports. He thought that he could compete as soon as he arrived, and he didn't do any pre-match preparations at all.

Zhou Hexuan naturally wanted to make up for this regret. His main purpose of coming to Germany this time was not to see Hitler receive his medal, but to make arrangements for the Chinese Olympic delegation in six months. Not to mention winning a few awards, even if a Chinese athlete can enter the finals, it can boost the spirit of the Chinese people.