To be precise, it should be called the "town" of Noyelle. The entire town has less than 600 residents.
However, it is indeed a "city" and has its own mayor.
Just after New Year's Day in 1930, Zhou Hexuan came to this small town in northern France with the embassy staff, the architectural designer Le Corbusier, and several representatives of Chinese workers in Paris.
In the Chinese settlement on the left bank of the Seine in Paris, there are nearly 2,000 Chinese who were Chinese workers who aided France. When they heard that Zhou Hexuan was going to build a cemetery for the sacrificed Chinese workers, they spontaneously signed up to be their guides.
Everyone first took a train to Amiens, and then transferred to a car to Noyelles.
Halfway through, Chen Ying pointed to an abandoned railway in the distance and said: "That railway was built by Chinese workers, leading to the front line of the European War. I built the railway for about a month, but German planes bombed it every few days.
Many Chinese labor brothers died along the railway, and they were basically buried on the spot. If possible, their bones can be collected along the railway."
The accompanying embassy staff shook their heads and said: "The amount of work is too large, and even if the corpses are exhumed, there is no guarantee that they are Chinese workers. They may also be British and French soldiers who died in the battle."
"Then... forget it." Chen Ying said regretfully.
Zhou Hexuan did not know much about the history of Chinese workers who aided France. He only knew that a Chinese worker named Zhang Changsong stayed in France. During World War II, Zhang Changsong and several sons (13 children in total) joined the army at the same time, and father and son fought together to resist the German invasion. His second son
After his son retired from the army, he became a football star in France, joined the French national team and participated in two Olympic Games.
When later generations of French people mentioned the aid of Chinese workers in France, they would inevitably use Zhang Changsong and his son as propaganda, so their story was widely circulated. As of this time, Zhang Changsong was still working as a blaster in a coal mine in France, and his football star son was not yet 10 years old.
age.
At three o'clock in the afternoon, everyone arrived in Noyelle.
Mayor Henri de Vallicour led more than 500 residents of the city to line up at the entrance of the town to greet him. They even held banners: Welcome Chinese friends!
Mayor Henry warmly greeted everyone after they got off the bus, shook hands with Zhou Hexuan and said, "You must be Mr. Zhou. I am Henry de Vallicour, the mayor of Noyelles. I welcome you all very much."
"Hello, Mr. Mayor!" Zhou Hexuan nodded and smiled.
Zhang Dahua, a Chinese worker who came with him as a guide, suddenly shouted: "Mr. Heng, do you still remember me?"
"You are..." Mayor Henry slapped his head, "I remembered, you are Zhang who is responsible for sweeping the streets!"
Although most of the Chinese workers at that time were locked up in camps, some still had frequent contact with the residents of the town. For example, there were two street sweepers. In addition, there were some who burned boilers for the British and French agencies stationed in the town and delivered food for cooking.
, all have lived in small towns for a long time.
Zhang Dahua smiled and said: "Mr. Heng, I have learned to speak French now."
"I really miss hearing someone call me Mr. Heng," Mayor Henry said with emotion. "I still remember that since you came, the town has been much cleaner. You are always so hardworking. By the way, I will prepare this time
Got a gift!”
The residents of the town pushed over a small cart of apples. Mayor Henry smiled and said: "I remember that you like to eat apples the most. At that time, you sold out all the apples in the town. One apple sold for 3 francs."
That was 3 francs before World War I, equivalent to a day's wage of an ordinary Chinese worker (the daily wage of a Chinese worker was 1.5 to 4.5 francs).
Although the people at the bottom of China are industrious and frugal, they will inevitably become lavish when they cannot see tomorrow. Shandong is an apple producing area, and many Chinese workers have only seen but never eaten apples before going abroad.
After arriving in France, the situation was precarious, so the Chinese workers fell madly in love with apples. Firstly, they wanted to experience the delicious taste of apples, and secondly, they missed their hometown.
In the end, all the apples in the town were bought up. Many Chinese workers would rather use their wages earned from working more than ten hours a day to buy apples at high prices to try them out. There was an apple dealer in the town who got rich from this and has now moved to a big city to settle down.
Mayor Henry personally put apples into the hands of Zhou Hexuan and others.
Several Chinese workers eagerly gnawed on the apples, as if recalling their experiences back then, tears streaming down their cheeks.
Mayor Henry said to Zhou Hexuan again: "Mr. Zhou, on behalf of this city, I present you with the Honorary Citizen Medal. Please accept it."
"My pleasure." Zhou Hexuan said with a smile.
Under the witness of the accompanying reporters, Mayor Henry pinned the Honorary Citizen Medal on Zhou Hexuan's chest. Although this "city" only has more than 500 residents, it is still a city after all.
In the afternoon of that day, under the guidance of the Chinese labor guide, Zhou Hexuan visited the Chinese labor hospital and lunatic asylum.
Both buildings have been abandoned for a long time, the steps are covered with moss, and all the suffering is sealed in history.
Zhou Hexuan picked up a pole in the grass. The pole was made of wood and was rotten and weathered into black rotten wood. It seemed to be silently telling the story of that year.
Chen Ying pointed to the woods far away from the wheat field and said: "Mr. Zhou, there are more than 200 Chinese labor brothers buried in the woods. Everyone who built wooden monuments back then has a name."
Zhou Hexuan nodded and said: "All of them were moved here and buried together with other Chinese workers in the cemetery."
Designer Le Corbusier also got to work and began to check the situation on the spot. He walked around twice and came back and said to Zhou Hexuan: "Mr. Zhou, I suggest that the lunatic asylum be demolished. Although the Chinese Labor Hospital is abandoned, the theme building is still relatively stable and can be repaired."
It can be used as a Chinese labor museum in the future.”
"Huagong Museum? This is a good idea." Zhou Hexuan said.
Corbusier was not only an architectural designer, but also an architectural planner. He said: "My initial idea is to open up the wasteland in the south as a cemetery, which may occupy some farmland, and build monuments in museums and cemeteries.
South of the center. According to your requirements, the gate should be built facing the east. A statue of a Chinese laborer can be set up at the entrance, and one on each side of the road. If the cemetery is built according to this idea, including the museum, the total cost may be 5 million.
Francs and above.”
Five million gold francs, according to the current exchange rate, is about 200,000 oceans, which Zhou Hexuan can still afford.
Of course, there is also the cost of searching and burying the remains of the Chinese workers, which is also a huge expense.
However, the economic crisis in the United States will spread to France in a few months. By then, construction of the cemetery will begin. It will be a good time to save some budget and cheap workers can be hired at will.
In the next half month, Zhou Hexuan began to give lectures in France. If he wanted the French to value the Chinese workers and the French to respect the Chinese in France, he had to give face and accept invitations from French universities. After each lecture, he would mention the Chinese workers.
Thanks to his contribution, the deeds of Chinese workers are more deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.
The effect of this approach is very good. At least many students and teachers in colleges and universities have greatly changed their impression of Chinese people.
From the university in Paris, Zhou Hexuan lectured all the way to Strasbourg, which was close to the German border.
At the University of Strasbourg II, Zhou Hexuan met with two historians of the Annales School, Feifer and Bloch, and the three had in-depth academic exchanges. At the same time, Feifer and Bloch also accepted the invitation.
Agree to serve as an honorary member of the Peking Research Institute and go to China for academic exchanges this summer.
Although Favre and his Annales School are very popular, to be honest, they still belong to the non-mainstream faction in the field of history. Today, the mainstream of European history is positivist historiography represented by Comté, and Ranke's history represented by Ranke.
Gram school.
The Ranke School, in particular, had a great influence in China. China's historical research in the 1930s followed the line of the Ranke School. All the historians in the mid-Republic of China can be called Ranke's disciples.
Zhou Hexuan stayed in Strasbourg for three days and was about to leave when the Chinese Minister in Germany and the University of Berlin suddenly sent an invitation, hoping that he could go to Germany and take a tour.
This was the case during the Republic of China. Due to inconvenient transportation, it was very difficult to travel far away.
Therefore, scholars from any country must travel as much as possible when traveling across continents. Last year, Zhang Boling went to Europe to give lectures and visited several countries in one go. It seemed that not traveling more would be a loss and a waste of expensive money.
Ferry tickets.
Zhou Hexuan happily went to Berlin and unexpectedly met a big shot, Einstein.
