The Rise of the Writers of the Republic of China

This is Zhang Leyi's real reaction, appearing in the public eye as a fiancée, no woman can compete with her in the future.

With Zhou Hexuan's current reputation, marrying his concubine would be regarded as a romantic affair, which would not affect his image as a "friend of women" at all, but if he abandoned his fiancée, he would definitely bear a heavy reputation.

Therefore, the thinking of the Republic of China is very strange, allowing men to have three wives and four concubines, but the bottom line is that they cannot let down their regular wives (including fiancees). This so-called "failure" is not about cheating on the mistress, but announcing divorce or regretting the marriage.

Three wives and four concubines are a tradition, and it is also a tradition not to abandon a bad wife. Everything is caused by traditional moral concepts.

Therefore, Xu Zhimo would be reviled if he divorced and remarried, so Lu Xun only dared to live with female students, but he did not dare to break his arranged marriage.

"Wow, Mister Zhou, when did you get engaged?" Roger asked pretending to be surprised.

Zhou Hexuan didn't want to refute Zhang Leyi's face, so he could only follow her and say, "Just a while ago."

Herway smiled and said, "When you get married, you must send me an invitation."

Zhou Hexuan said: "I hope that by then, the two consuls will have the honor to attend the wedding."

When the men were talking, Zhang Leyi smiled and remained silent. Wanrong was also smiling, but it was forced. She knew that it was impossible for her to have a relationship with Zhou Hexuan, but she still felt very disappointed.

Roger took out the cigar box, handed one to Zhou Hexuan, and said, "Mister Zhou, I already know about clearing the waterway. It's a very clever method. Do you have any suggestions for this?"

Zhou Hexuan didn't answer, but said to Zhang Leyi: "Leyi, you can play with Wanrong first, and I will discuss something with Mr. Consul."

"You are busy." Zhang Leyi smiled and nodded to the two consuls.

After they left, Zhou Hexuan, Roger and Herway went to the bench next to them and sat down to talk in detail.

Zhou Hexuan said bluntly: "Actually, I don't care about clearing the waterway. I just hope that I can start work quickly and help the victims of disasters in Tianjin with work."

"Zhou, your kindness is admirable," Roger said, "but this is a big project. Even if the money is sufficient, it still needs the cooperation of the Tianjin local government. From the formulation of the plan, the issuance of public bonds to the official start of construction, it is impossible within half a year .”

"It can be carried out at the same time," Zhou Hexuan suggested, "It's not that the Tianjin local government doesn't want to take care of it, but that it has no money. As long as there is a concession board and the customs to raise funds, they will be willing to cooperate. And the governance of the Haihe River has been carried out since the late Qing Dynasty until now. Having worked on five major projects, I have a lot of experience. Looking for those old river workers as guides and consultants, and then asking capable water conservancy experts to make plans, I can quickly come up with a set of plans. As long as the plan is confirmed, there is no need to wait for the meeting to pass it. Let’s do some corner projects first. I think customs, ports and traders can’t wait. For them, the sooner they manage, the better.”

Roger shook his head and smiled, "Young people are always so impatient."

Herway suddenly said: "The Japanese side seems to disagree with the issuance of public bonds with the customs duties after three years."

"This is normal, because they have never thought of returning China's customs autonomy," Zhou Hexuan said disdainfully, "but the management of Tianjin waterway is related to the commercial interests of more than ten countries, and they must agree! No matter how strong Japan is, it will never Perhaps the whole world is singled out, right? Moreover, the project cost is at most 1 million yuan, and it is even less when it is shared among countries. The Japanese spent several million yen to support Zhang Zuolin free of charge at the beginning of the year, and they will definitely pay for this amount."

Luo Jie chatted with Zhou Hexuan, obviously not for the waterway improvement project, because it was just a trivial matter in his eyes. After Herway's communication, Roger found that Zhou Hexuan knew the situation in the world and China very well, so he wanted to hear his opinion, so he changed the subject and asked, "Zhou, do you think the southern government will win?"

"I'm sure that within one or two years at the most, China will achieve nominal reunification." Zhou Hexuan said without hesitation.

Luo Jie said: "But the Feng army is still very strong. Although they have lost one after another on the battlefield, the main force of the Feng army has never been dispatched. It is difficult to see the outcome in the final fight."

"The main force of the Feng army has not moved because Zhang Zuolin is playing the strategy of driving away wolf and tiger," Zhou Hexuan said with a smile, "you know about driving wolf and tiger? The revolutionary army was fighting to the death, while he himself preserved his strength and wanted to wait until the end to clean up the mess. But the situation was beyond Zhang Zuolin's expectations, the Northern Expedition fought too smoothly, and what awaited him was not the mess, but an army of tigers and wolves."

"And then?" Hervé asked.

Zhou Hexuan analyzed: "Zhang Zuolin belongs to the old fox, and his follow-up actions are nothing more than three: first, if the wars of the Beiyang departments go well, he will immediately dispatch the main force of the Feng army to go to the front to grab the results of the battle; second, the Beiyang departments and the Northern Expedition Both sides will suffer, this is the best situation for him, directly send a large army to the south to pacify the whole country; third, is the current situation, the Northern Expeditionary Army has reached Henan, and the army is getting stronger and stronger. In this case, Zhang Zuolin will not The most likely thing he can do is to lead his army back to the Northeast. If he has no chance, he will be the emperor of the Northeast, and if he has the chance, he will enter the customs again and fight for the world."

Roger and Hervé nodded again and again, and the great powers also had various analyzes of the situation in China, but they were all in a strategic sense. Zhou Hexuan started from Zhang Zuolin's character, and thought of Zhang Zuolin's consistent practice over the years, so Zhou Hexuan was obviously likely to be right.

Roger has even decided to report Zhou Hexuan's views to Congress when he returns home, which can be regarded as a reference.

"What about the chaos in the South?" asked Herway.

Zhou Hexuan said with a smile: "The situation in the south has been settled, otherwise how could Nanjing send troops? And the strategic cooperation with Wuhan is so good. If you don't believe me, just watch it. Within half a month at most, Yan Xishan from Shanxi will Change the banner and flag, and declare that you believe in the Three People's Principles."

Roger was surprised: "Are you so sure?"

"If you don't surrender Fuyi, Feng Yuxiang will take over Shanxi's territory. Yan Xishan is not that stupid." Zhou Hexuan joked.

"Sure enough, the Chinese understand the Chinese." Herway said with emotion. These foreign consuls also often predict the current situation in China, but they are all guessing when Yan Xishan will be defeated, but they don't think about when Yan Xishan will surrender and change the banner.

Of course, it was just talk at the moment, and they didn't fully believe Zhou Hexuan's words.

It was not until a few days later that Yan Xishan telegraphed the whole country to support the revolution, and turned around to help Feng Yuxiang attack the Feng army. Only then did Roger and Hervey be shocked—it was unexpectedly caught by Zhou Hexuan!

Herve wrote in his memoirs in his later years: "China is a magical country, as Napoleon said, it is a sleeping lion, which will wake up one day... I have seen many wealthy people in China. The legendary figure, Mr. Zhou Hexuan is undoubtedly the most special one. He is not keen on politics, but he has a keen insight into the situation and can always predict the future without any errors. When I was in Tianjin, whenever I had doubts, I I would invite Mr. Zhou to drink. Strictly speaking, he is my free consultant in China. Of course, I also paid a lot of money for the drinks.”