"Mr. Zhou, please come with me." The secretary of the embassy said to Zhou Hexuan with a smile, with a bit of admiration and respect in his tone.
Zhou Hexuan came to the office of the Minister to France and saw Gao Lu chatting with a French man. After he appeared, the two people inside stood up immediately.
Gao Lu introduced: "Mr. Zhou, this is Mr. Joseph Charente, deputy director of the French National Archives."
"Hello." Zhou Hexuan shook hands and greeted.
Joseph Charente looked at Zhou Hexuan curiously and said with a smile: "I heard that when Mr. Zhou traveled around the world, he visited libraries and archives in various countries, so he wrote the astonishing masterpiece "The Rise of the Great Powers". I must have said
, have you also entered the French National Archives?"
Zhou Hexuan said: "Thanks to the French government's tolerance, ordinary people can also access archives materials."
"Mr. Zhou, I think you missed something. Ordinary people can only check and visit the reading room and exhibition hall. Really important archives are kept secret from the outside world," Joseph Charente said playfully, "and I am in the National Archives."
I have been working in the museum for 20 years, and only three Asians have visited before and after. One of them is Mr. Gu Hongming from your country. As for Mr. Zhou, maybe I can’t remember clearly, and it doesn’t seem to have appeared in my memory.”
Zhou Hexuan shrugged: "I sneaked in quietly, do you believe it? The French National Archives is not tightly guarded."
"Maybe," Joseph Charente was not sure. He pointed to a pile of information on the table and said, "I have brought what Mr. Zhou needs."
Gao Lu explained: "These are the files of the Chinese workers aiding France, but only part of them are incomplete."
Zhou Hexuan sat down and looked through it in detail. He felt quite surprised, because the files of the Chinese workers were very detailed. Each person's name, age, place of origin, and time of symptoms were recorded in detail, and even numbered. Unfortunately, the final whereabouts were not specified.
For example, the page Zhou Hexuan is currently reading records information on 20 Chinese workers in total. Only 5 of them are marked as "returned to China", another 6 are marked as "dead", and the remaining 9 are all "missing".
The "missing person" may be dead, may be crazy, may have returned to China, or may have become a French citizen like the restaurant owner Chen Ying. The specific situation is too complicated, and with current information and intelligence methods, it is impossible to
Maybe it can be found out.
All Zhou Hexuan could do was to build a cemetery for those "dead".
Joseph Charente opened a wooden box, took out a copper ring and said: "I found this from the military. It took a lot of effort. Each copper ring represents a dead Chinese worker. There are about 2,000 of them."
There are many, I only brought some of them."
Zhou Hexuan took out a copper ring and observed it. The copper ring was very rough in workmanship, but it was engraved with a separate number. This is equivalent to the identity certificate of the Chinese workers aiding France. It was issued when they were recruited. When worn on the wrist, it is equivalent to a special "military badge."
.
By comparing the copper ring with the number on the file, the identity of the owner of the copper ring can be determined.
Gao Lu said: "Mr. Zhou, if we really want to build a cemetery, I think we can set up a tomb for the Chinese workers. Bury these copper rings, and then set up steles and inscriptions for them. As for the scattered bones, we can only collect them and bury them together.
Because the specific identity is difficult to confirm.”
"This method is very good," Zhou Hexuan agreed. He asked Joseph Charente, "I want to build the Chinese Workers' Cemetery outside the small town of Noyelle, is that okay?"
Most of the 140,000 Chinese workers who aided France were gathered in Noyelles and then distributed to various parts of France. If a cemetery is to be built for the Chinese workers, the town of Noyelles is the best place and the most commemorative.
Joseph Charente has obviously done some research. He said: "Outside the small town of Noyelle, there are wheat fields, so it may be difficult to convince the local residents. However, there is one place that is more suitable, and that is near the Chinese Labor Hospital and the Lunatic Asylum.
Every building has been abandoned and could be opened up as a cemetery."
"That's fine." Zhou Hexuan nodded and said.
Joseph Charente stood up and said: "I'll take my leave first!"
Gao Lu personally sent the other party out of the embassy, came back and smiled at Zhou Hexuan: "Mingcheng, you did a great job this time. Now the whole of France is discussing Chinese workers, which has greatly improved the image of the Chinese in France. Not only did you help the miserable
The Chinese workers have done good things and also contributed to the Chinese living in France."
"I feel very honored." Zhou Hexuan smiled.
The deputy director of the French National Archives personally came to the embassy to deliver materials, which shows that the French government attaches great importance to this matter. Whether the other party is trying to please the French people or wooing the Chinese government, the result is very satisfying.
Gao Lu said: "Let's have lunch at the embassy. I will take you to meet the designer in the afternoon."
The designer Gao Lu is talking about is called Le Corbusier. He is a top French designer and a leading figure in the field of modern architectural design. In addition to architectural design, he is also a writer, sculptor, planner, and furniture designer.
He is a modernist painter and can be said to be versatile. He won the first prize in the League of Nations Design Competition two years ago, and last year he founded the International Association of Modern Architecture with his friends.
Le Corbusier was tall and thin, with a slightly bald forehead, and wore black-rimmed glasses. Even when he was sitting in the office, he wore a neat suit and a black tie, as if he was ready to attend an important dinner at any time.
Well, a gentlemanly look.
"Hello, Mr. Corbusier!" Zhou Hexuan said with a smile.
Corbusier happily received Zhou Hexuan and Gao Lu. He said: "Mr. Minister has already explained the situation to me. I am personally happy to design a resting place for those 'sons of heaven'. I don't know what specific requirements Mr. Zhou has."
?”
Zhou Hexuan said: "The gate of the cemetery and the front of the tombstone must face the east."
"Understood," Corbusier wrote down in a small notebook, "You continue."
Zhou Hexuan added: "There needs to be a monument in the cemetery, which can be used to engrave the achievements of Chinese workers. In addition, I hope to design two more sculptures of Chinese workers, one is the image of a Chinese worker carrying a pole, and the other is the image of a Chinese worker pushing a wheelbarrow. These
The sculpture image should not be designed to be too majestic and glorious. The expression should be confused and helpless, and at the same time full of expectations for the unknown life."
Corbusier thought for a while and said: "Regarding the design of the cemetery, I need to go to the site to observe. As for the sculpture you mentioned, I'm sorry, although I have traveled to Asia, I have never been to China. I don't know the pole you are talking about.
What does it look like with a wheelbarrow? So, I hope to go to China and observe the people at the bottom of China and the tools they use."
"Yes, I will help you arrange assistants in China." Zhou Hexuan suddenly thought of his uncle Zhang Yuandong.
Although Zhang Yuandong majored in bridge design at Cambridge University, if he could work as an assistant to Le Corbusier, both his professional abilities and his name in the design circle would be greatly improved.
