The Rise of the Writers of the Republic of China

What was Zhang Xueliang busy with throughout 1935?

Busy "suppressing bandits".

In the first half of the year, Zhang Xueliang was transferred to Wuchang to "suppress bandits", with the goal of wiping out the remaining forces of the Red Army in the south; in the second half of the year, Zhang Xueliang was transferred to the northwest to "suppress bandits", with the goal of encircling and suppressing the Red Army in northern Shaanxi.

Since the change of flag in Northeast China, Zhang Xueliang has generally listened to Chang Kaishen, and the two have not had any major disagreements.

But in 1935, Chang Kaishen went too far. He constantly dispatched the Northeast Army to fight in the north and south, with extremely sinister intentions: first, to make both the Northeast Army and the Red Army suffer; second, through constant dispatch of troops, , trying to slowly disintegrate and control the Northeast Army; third, eroding Zhang Xueliang's ruling power in North China.

Zhang Xueliang was very unhappy. In addition, his confidential secretary was shot by Chiang Kai-shek. He could no longer hold back and wanted to rebel. The "Xi'an Incident" had already laid the groundwork at this time.

At this time, Zhang Xueliang was still "suppressing bandits" in Wuchang. Zhou Hexuan wanted to ask him to help recruit pilot students, so he had to go to Wuchang in person.

In mid-April, Zhou Hexuan arrived in Shanghai by boat from the United States.

Wu Tiecheng, the mayor of Shanghai, personally greeted him, shook hands warmly and said: "Mr. Zhou has made great contributions to the country during his westward journey. The Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China has specially ordered me to come and cleanse the dust for you."

"Mayor Wu personally picked up the boat, which really scares me." Zhou Hexuan said with a smile.

Wu Tiecheng laughed loudly: "Brother Zhou, don't be humble. Who doesn't know your power in the United States? Come on, let's go to the restaurant first and chat while eating."

Zhou Hexuan was not very clear about the recent domestic situation and was too lazy to ask any more questions at the moment, so he took Meng Xiaodong to the hotel.

There were seven or eight people sitting at the dinner table. Except for Shanghai Mayor Wu Tiecheng, Zhou Hexuan didn't even know anyone else.

Wu Tiecheng smiled and introduced: "Mr. Zhou, this is Mr. Yu Guoliang, the general manager of "Sweat and Blood" magazine!"

"Hello, Mr. Yu."

"Mr. Zhou, I have admired you for a long time!"

"This is Mr. Yang Kangjun, the editor-in-chief of "Sweat and Blood Monthly"."

"This is Mr. Chen Minshu, the editor-in-chief of "Sweat and Blood Weekly"."

"Hello Mr. Yang!"

"Mr. Zhou, nice to meet you!"

"..."

Everyone exchanged pleasantries, and Zhou Hexuan became even more confused as to what Wu Tiecheng wanted to do.

The first official publication of the Shanghai Party Headquarters of the Kuomintang was the Republic of China Daily (Shanghai), whose founder was Chen Qimei. During the first cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, the "Republic of China Daily" (Shanghai) was the most revolutionary newspaper in China, and even openly promoted socialism and communism. For example, the famous martyr Fang Zhimin often published articles in this newspaper.

Until Chang Kaishen launched the "purge of the party", the "Republic of China Daily" (Shanghai) completely became reactionary and completely became the political mouthpiece of Chiang Kai-shek. Zhou Hexuan was also scolded several times by the Republic of China Daily (Shanghai), whose editor-in-chief at the time was Chen Dezheng, a big troll from the Kuomintang.

What’s funny is that this official publication of the Shanghai Party Headquarters of the Kuomintang was forced to cease publication three years ago because it “offended the Emperor of Japan.”

At that time, the Japanese Emperor was on his way back to the palace after inspecting the military academy when he was bombed by North Koreans. "Republic of China Daily" (Shanghai) reported: "The Japanese emperor returned to Beijing after a military parade and was suddenly attacked by a sniper. Unfortunately, the person who bombed the passenger car was arrested immediately. The entire Inukai Takeshi cabinet took the blame and resigned."

Just because of the words "Unfortunately, only the auxiliary car was blown up", the Japanese side believed that the Republic of China Daily (Shanghai) was cursing the emperor's death, and forced the Shanghai Public Concession Industry Bureau to seal down the Republic of China Daily.

As a result, the official newspaper of the Shanghai Party Headquarters of the Kuomintang was finished. Although Minbao inherited its system, it seriously lacked social influence.

The most popular right-wing publication in Shanghai in the past two years is the "Sweat and Blood" series of magazines. It not only holds high the banner of "cultural suppression of banditry", but also openly promotes fascism. It is the most important public opinion mouthpiece of the Shanghai Party Headquarters of the Kuomintang.

To be honest, Zhou Hexuan didn't want to get involved with the royal literati of "Sweat and Blood" magazine.

But now he couldn't help it. Chen Minshu, the editor-in-chief of "Sweat and Blood Weekly" took the initiative to stir up the topic: "Mr. Zhou, what do you think of Wang Anshi's reform?"

Zhou Hexuan smiled: "The starting point of the reform was very good, but it was a pity that it was carried out too hastily and something went wrong during the implementation."

Yang Kangjun over there asked again: "In your opinion, Mr. Zhou, how can Wang Anshi's reforms be implemented in the current Republic of China?"

"Wang Anshi's reforms failed in the Northern Song Dynasty, how could they be realized in the Republic of China?" Zhou Hexuan felt that these guys were talking nonsense.

"No, no," Chen Minshu said. "Wang Anshi was a great statesman in China. He used both kindness and power to fight against the barbarians. He can be called a saint in the Northern Song Dynasty. Today, China is poor and weak, which is very similar to the Northern Song Dynasty. China must now carry out a change. Only through thorough reform can we move towards prosperity!"

Zhou Hexuan drank in silence and was too lazy to talk. He had nothing in common with this group of imperial literati of the Kuomintang.

Chen Minshu continued to talk eloquently: "The root cause of the failure of Wang Anshi's reform was party strife. Party strife led to the emergence of factions in the Northern Song Dynasty, which damaged the administration of officials. Once the administration of officials was broken, it would be difficult to implement the reform, and the hard work of Mr. Linchuan (Wang Anshi) was in vain." From my point of view, in order to implement reforms in the Republic of China, we must rectify the administration of officials, eradicate factionalism, and concentrate administrative power on the leader. Government orders are issued from the central government and spread to the government and the public. If the government is unified and people are harmonious, the country can prosper!"

"Brother Chen, great talk!" Yang Kangjun clapped his hands and praised.

Yu Guoliang, the general manager of "Sweat and Blood" magazine, asked very cooperatively: "Brother Chen, in your opinion, how should power be concentrated in leaders?"

Chen Minshu said categorically: "We should follow the example of Germany and implement highly centralized fascist rule!"

Yu Guoliang sang from the side: "Alas, it's a pity that all sectors of society are calling for democratic constitutionalism. They are really short-sighted."

"Let me tell you," Yang Kangjun continued, "those who call for democratic constitutionalism are similar to the Donglin Party in the late Ming Dynasty. They harmed the country and the people, and they thought they were so noble."

Zhou Hexuan finally understood that these guys were advocating fascism, and they also used Wang Anshi as a lead.

By the way, the statement that "the Donglin Party harmed the country" was the first to be widely publicized by the "Sweat and Blood" series of magazines, with the purpose of counterattacking and slandering the progressive people of the Republic of China. A lot of black materials about the Donglin Party were created by these imperial literati, and were widely circulated on the Internet in later generations.

Lu Xun was also slandered by the imperial literati as the "Donglin Party of the Republic of China". He complained in a letter to a friend: "Today's Gonggun princes and their trumpets are also well aware that China has been sold out, so in Try your best not to seek traitors so that you can be blamed. For example, the "Sweat and Blood Monthly" said that 'the death of the Ming Dynasty was blamed on Donglin', which is a subtle meaning."

This is a bit of a mouthful to say, but a simple summary is: senior government officials and their mouthpieces also know that China’s sovereignty is about to be sold out, so they look for scapegoats and give these scapegoats the traitorous label of the Donglin Party.

Wu Tiecheng suddenly said: "Mr. Zhou, in the last part of "The Rise of Great Powers", you also said that China should be centralized to rule in order to truly become prosperous and powerful. Now that the Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China is calling for learning from Wang Anshi's reform, why don't Mr. Zhou write a few articles to suit the occasion? "

Chiang Kai-shek called for learning from Wang Anshi’s reform?

Damn, what kind of evil is that bald guy doing?

Zhou Hexuan was dumbfounded and soon understood Chang Kaishen's true intentions. This man was eager to build momentum for dictatorship. Wang Zhaoming is the number one target, and the power of the Executive Yuan is expected to be completely taken back by Chiang Kai-shek.