The National Government is facing not only the problem of economic collapse, but also this year's catastrophe.
In 1942, the Great Famine came in Henan.
It may not be accurate to call the Great Famine in Henan. It should be called the Great Famine in the Central Plains. Henan, Hebei, Shandong, and Shanxi are all affected by the disaster. Gansu and other provinces in the northwest have long needed to purchase grain from Henan due to insufficient grain production.
A famine occurred.
The main cause of the famine was a prolonged drought without rain, of which Henan Province was the most serious. In more than ten counties, from spring plowing to autumn harvest, no rain fell for more than eight months, followed by an overwhelming locust plague.
Chiang Kai-shek also made a huge contribution to the famine in Henan. The Huayuankou embankment burst seriously damaged the agricultural areas of Henan. Many water conservancy facilities were destroyed as a result, making farmers even more unable to cope with the drought. In addition, the central government expropriated grain in Henan.
and requisitions, which depleted people's rations and made the situation worse.
The disasters in the occupied areas were equally serious. In order to prevent the impact on stability, the Japanese army implemented military blockades on key roads, which prevented the victims from the Kuomintang-controlled areas from flowing to the occupied areas. At the same time, the Japanese army also drove the victims from the occupied areas to the Kuomintang-controlled areas and base areas, and they were driven into
The number of victims in the areas controlled by the Kuomintang and the Communist Party exceeded 3 million.
Mid-October.
Guo Zhongkai, a national political councilor from Henan, came to Zhou's mansion and the first thing he said was: "Mr. Zhou, you are the celebrity in front of the president. Please be sure to report the disaster in Henan this time! I really have no choice.
Those central officials ignored me at all!"
"Mr. Guo, even if you don't come, I still have to go to Yunxiu Tower." Zhou Hexuan said with anger in his heart.
The current general manager of Ta Kung Pao is Hu Zhengzhi, and Wang Yunsheng has officially become the editor-in-chief.
As early as August, Wang Yunsheng wrote an editorial titled "Looking at Chongqing, thinking about the Central Plains." He accused the government of failing to provide disaster relief, causing Ta Kung Pao to be ordered to suspend publication for three days.
It was said that it was three days, but it was suspended for half a month, and Zhou Hexuan personally came forward to resume publication. And just yesterday, "Ta Kung Pao" was forced to suspend publication again, again because of reporting on the disaster in Henan.
The reasons for suspension are as follows: fabricating facts, creating panic, disrupting order, and detrimental to unity.
Historically, "Ta Kung Pao" was suspended for four months because of its reporting on the famine in Henan.
Zhou Hexuan took Guo Zhongkai by boat to Yunxiu Tower. He was allowed to enter without notification by Chiang Kai-shek. This was not a unique treatment. During the Anti-Japanese War, about twenty or thirty people were like this, just in the education and academic circles.
There are several circles.
But Guo Zhongkai was blocked by guards. He handed the collected photos of the famine to Zhou Hexuan and said: "Mr. Zhou, I will be waiting outside. Please be sure to hand the photos to President Jiang."
"Definitely." Zhou Hexuan nodded.
Zhou Hexuan was directly invited into the reception room. The adjutant brought tea and said: "Mr. Zhou, the chief minister and his wife are receiving the American envoy. Please wait a moment, I will go and report it right away."
In the garden, Song Meiling was making lemon tea again to entertain distinguished guests.
Today's guests are Wilkie, leader of the American Republican International Party, and American publisher and journalist Mike Cowles.
Years later, Mike Cowles wrote a book called "Mike Looks Back."
He said in the book that Wilkie was so fascinated by Soong Meiling that he asked him to hold Chang Kaishen for an hour during the banquet, but he went to have a tryst with Soong Meiling. As a result, within an hour, Chiang Kai-shek led guards everywhere
I searched for people and searched all over Yunxiu Tower but could not find any trace of Song Meiling.
Cowles was sent back to Soong Ziwen's residence and was so scared that he couldn't sleep all night. It wasn't until four in the morning that Wilkie came back, as happy as a college student who had just spent the night with his girlfriend. Cowles even said,
Wilkie planned to elope back to the United States with Soong Meiling, but fortunately he ruined the plan. However, because of this, he was scratched on the face by the angry Soong Meiling, and the claw marks remained on his face for a week before they were eliminated.
Cowles also wrote in the book that Soong Meiling persuaded him to give up his journalism career and fully assist Willkie in running for the U.S. President in 1944. He recorded Soong Meiling's original words: "If Wendell (Wilkie) is elected, he will
And I will rule the whole world. I will rule the east, and Wendell will rule the west.”
It’s hard to say whether there was a tryst, but the elopement is definitely a fake.
Mike Cowles is a publisher, and he can write anything for the sake of sales. He even remembered the time wrong. The story in the book took place in August, but Wilkie’s visit to China was from September to October.
I haven’t even arrived in China in August.
Song Meiling was chatting in English with two Americans at this time, and helped Chang Kaishen translate a sentence or two from time to time.
Chang Kaishen listened more and spoke less. He caught a glimpse of the adjutant standing at the garden gate and asked, "What's the matter?"
The adjutant replied: "Chief, Mr. Zhou is here."
Chang Kaishen suddenly laughed: "It just so happens that I have two American friends at home. Let's call Mingcheng here too."
Wilkie asked: "Mr. Jiang, do you have any official business to handle?"
Chang Kaishen smiled and said: "Mr. Zhou Hexuan is here, I asked him to come in and chat together."
"Is it Zhou?" Mike Cowles said. "He is a legend in the American publishing industry. His book company has published a series of best-selling books. By the way, his partner is also named Mike, and he has the same name as me.
."
Song Meiling asked curiously: "Is Mr. Zhou's book company in the United States very large?"
"Of course," Mike Cowles said of the publishing industry. "That book company was on the verge of bankruptcy during the economic crisis, but since it was acquired by Zhou, it has quickly turned a profit. "The Rise of Great Powers", "Gone with the Wind", "
"Titanic", "Why Talmudic Jews Become Monopoly", "The Man of Nazareth", "The Grapes of Wrath", and most recently "The Little Prince", as well as a series of best-selling pocket books. Zhou's
The book company already ranks fourth in the U.S. publishing industry, and I heard that it plans to go public next year."
"It is actually the fourth in the United States. Is it so amazing?" Song Meiling was quite surprised by this.
Soong Meiling didn't translate these lines of dialogue, so Chang Kaishen naturally couldn't understand it, but he didn't say anything. He just sat on a chair and slowly sipped lemon tea.
A minute passed and Zhou Hexuan came to the garden.
The two Americans immediately stood up to greet them. Soong Meiling introduced: "Mingcheng, this is Mr. Wendell Wilkie, the leader of the American Republican International Party, and this is Mr. Mike Cowles, the founder of the American "Prospect" magazine."
"Welcome you two to visit China." Zhou Hexuan said with a smile.
Zhou Hexuan was very familiar with Wilkie's name. The last time he went to the United States, Wilkie's name was everywhere in the newspapers. This guy was a super dark horse in the 1940 U.S. election. He defeated a lot of opponents and became the Republican candidate.
, it was not until he bumped into Roosevelt that he was defeated.
Wilkie used to be a Democrat and represented the interests of Wall Street. He worked with congressmen to reject many of Roosevelt's proposals. In order to run for president, he simply switched to the Republican Party. He was a 100% politician, not a statesman.
Chang Kaishen did not ask Zhou Hexuan what he was doing here, and Zhou Hexuan did not mention the Henan disaster in front of the Americans.
Everyone drank lemon tea and talked and laughed, as if war and famine did not exist.
ps: I originally wanted to write it until 1949, but I couldn’t write many things, and Lao Wang became less and less passionate the more he wrote. This book may have to end early, probably until 1945, and the Li Xianglan mentioned above will no longer appear.
