The Victoria is a new-style clipper ship. The mission departed from Shanghai and passed through Hong Kong, Manila, Singapore, Colombo, Mumbai, Port Sète, and finally arrived in Italy via the Mediterranean Sea - which took about sixteen days and was extremely fast.
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Then Zhou Hexuan met Mussolini...
In fact, Kong Xiangxi was very resentful towards Mussolini because he was deceived by the Italian.
After Chang Kaishen came back in 1932, due to the government's financial difficulties, Kong Xiangxi was responsible for going abroad to borrow money and purchase military equipment. His first stop was the United States. As a result, "Times" published an article about the marriage of the three families of Chiang Kai-shek, Song Dynasty, and Kong Xiang, which had a negative impact on China.
The article about implementing family rule spread quickly in the United States. With such a scandal, Kong Xiangxi was in an embarrassing situation in the United States and ran to Europe in despair.
When they arrived in Italy, Minister Kong seemed to be in good health. Mussolini received Kong Xiangxi with the courtesy of a head of state and sold him a batch of bombers and some military supplies at a low price.
After returning to China, Kong Xiangxi felt that he had made a great contribution and tried his best to persuade Chiang Kai-shek to launch the "Grand Air Force Plan." When the Italian bombers were shipped to China, Kong Xiangxi no longer mentioned the Grand Air Force strategy because the goods received were a pile of scrap metal.
Those planes were so old that they could not be repaired. They could fly, but the rifle wires in the gun barrels had been worn away.
This deception caused Kong Xiangxi to lose face. Elders of the Kuomintang Party demanded that he be held accountable. As a result, Kong Xiangxi found it difficult to be promoted in the next two years. It was not until Song Ziwen resigned from the post of Minister of Finance that Minister Kong came to the fore.
Of course, Kong Xiangxi did not lose money. The price of those antique bombers was very cheap, which was enough for him to make a fortune from it. Moreover, a loss was a blessing. Kong Xiangxi used this to establish friendship with Mussolini, and China and Italy entered a diplomatic honeymoon period.
On the contrary, Hitler was very unlucky. When Kong Xiangxi visited Germany, Hitler sold 25 million US dollars of military supplies to China. Although the quality of German goods was excellent, the Germans were also very clever and refused to lower the price, leaving Kong Xiangxi without money.
What rebates do you get?
Before leaving Germany, Hitler showed his greatest kindness - giving his signed photo as a gift to Kong Xiangxi and giving it to Chang Kaishen.
In Hitler's view, he was the greatest person on earth. Being able to get his signed photo would make anyone in the world dizzy with happiness. This was a precious and glorious gift. But the blind man saw the führer's flirtatious look.
, Kong Xiangxi got the photo and muttered angrily when he went out: Is this thing considered a gift?
On the second night after arriving in Italy, Mussolini personally met with Kong Xiangxi, Chen Shaokuan and Zhou Hexuan, and prepared a dinner at his official residence.
Don’t believe the lie that Mussolini and Hitler were both vegetarians——
Hitler's favorite food was roasted squab, and he also asked the chef to put tongue and liver into the pigeon's belly. Even in his later years, Hitler suffered from severe stomach problems and still liked to drink stew soup, and animal liver made him particularly fond of it.
Hard to let go.
As for Mussolini, he especially liked chicken and rabbits. In his later years, he became a person with high blood pressure, high blood fat, and high blood sugar. Even his intestines were deformed, and he had to imitate Hitler's vegetarian diet and maintain health.
"Hello, Mr. Prime Minister!"
"Hello Dr. Kong!"
Kong Xiangxi and Mussolini shook hands warmly, seeming to have forgotten their experience of being deceived when they bought a junk airplane.
Kong Xiangxi introduced Zhou Hexuan and Chen Shaokuan again. Mussolini shook hands with Chen Shaokuan first. When he faced Zhou Hexuan, he suddenly opened his arms and hugged him with laughter: "Haha, Mr. Zhou, I like your works. After dinner,
Please come and visit my study!”
"It's a great honor, Your Excellency Prime Minister." Zhou Hexuan said with a smile.
In people's consistent impression, Mussolini was rude and irritable, like the kind of reckless man who rose to high positions by luck.
Obviously, this is impossible!
Among all the heads of state in the world in the 1930s, Mussolini was the reporter's favorite interview subject because he respected knowledge, culture, and people with knowledge and culture. As long as you really have something in your mind, you will definitely do it.
You were regarded as a distinguished guest by Mussolini, and when you impressed him with your knowledge, he would treat you as a teacher and not be ashamed to ask questions.
In fact, if you carefully study Mussolini's life experience, you will know that this guy was a very knowledgeable person. Between the ages of 19 and 21, Mussolini lived a wandering life, often without enough to eat, but insisted on reading every night.
Theoretical books, including works by Marx, Hegel, Lassalle, Nietzsche and Maldo.
In order to study Marx's original works, Mussolini once taught himself German - he was a fan of Marx when he was young, and always kept a portrait of Marx in his pocket; in order to read the original version of "The Times", Mussolini began to learn English at the age of 42
, has developed an authentic London accent. He loves literature very much, especially poetry. If he meets a knowledgeable visitor, he will fill the table with poems by famous people to show his accomplishment in the field of poetry.
This guy was a journalist when he was young and made a living by writing. He also wrote biographies of celebrities, novels and scripts. His later two autobiographies were also written by himself and he never hired a ghostwriter.
Now you know why Mussolini failed?
It's very simple, this guy is a young man (squinting and smiling).
Of course, no matter how young he was, he could not hide Mussolini's taste, which can be seen from the food he entertained his guests.
At this moment, Mussolini pointed to the appetizers on the plate and said: "Italian food is the wealth of the entire Europe. The so-called French food is just a barbarian thing. To enjoy Italian food, you have to say something
Planting appetizers is the kind of food you have in front of you. It stimulates the appetite, clears the mind, and makes people fall asleep easily. The French do not understand this pleasure at all."
Zhou Hexuan looked down at the things on the plate and instantly lost his appetite. He would rather eat the British fried fish and potatoes.
Oh my god, how can there be such dark cuisine that is anti-human in the world?
A plate full of raw garlic, with olive oil and lemon juice added, Zhou Hexuan could not imagine the taste at all.
This is what Mussolini would eat every night. He couldn't sleep without eating it. He also liked to eat cakes and puddings. Well, cakes and puddings with raw garlic instead of cream. Raw garlic cake...
No wonder Mussolini had a bad temper. No wonder his stomach was deformed in his later years and he had to declare himself a vegetarian.
Scientific research shows that eating too much raw garlic can easily cause gastrointestinal discomfort, irritability, and affect vision.
Chen Shaokuan resisted his nausea, took half a spoonful and put it to his mouth, licked it gently, and immediately put back the raw garlic secreted with olive oil and lemon juice with a smile.
Kong Xiangxi has a fearless spirit. He not only ate a big spoonful, but also chewed it deliciously and commented: "The very unique Italian food made me feel the heritage of ancient Rome. China, like Italy, has a long history
The history, culture and food. This is the common ground between the two countries and the cultural cornerstone of our exchanges. I believe that the friendship between the two countries will be as long-lasting as the food. If there is an opportunity, I hope to invite the Prime Minister to taste Chinese food."
Mussolini suddenly became happy, clapped his hands and said with a smile: "Dr. Kong, you are a rare gourmet, we have a common language." After that, he asked Zhou Hexuan, "Mr. Zhou, don't you like it?"
"Of course, it's very interesting food." Zhou Hexuan suppressed his nausea and swallowed it in one gulp. He swallowed it down his throat and almost vomited out his lunch.
After the appetizer of olive oil mixed with lemon juice and secret raw garlic, the food on the table finally became normal, and Mussolini's conversation became more and more enthusiastic. He was very graceful and clear when he spoke, and he always had a sense of humor.
With literary allusions, this image is highly respected by literati.
No wonder that before Italy invaded Ethiopia, Mussolini had a large number of celebrity fans. Eliot, Pound, Yeats, Bernard Shaw, Tagore, Churchill and Gandhi all expressed their admiration for Mussolini.
After meeting Mussolini twice, Tagore praised him thus: "His Excellency Mussolini seems to have been carved by Michelangelo's masterful hands. Every move he makes shines with wisdom and power."
Mussolini talked from sculpture to painting, from politics to literature, and there seemed to be no field that he was not good at. He fooled Kong Xiangxi and Chen Shaokuan into a daze. Suddenly, he talked about poetry again and asked Zhou Hexuan:
"Does Mr. Zhou know Pound?"
"Ezra Pound?" Zhou Hexuan confirmed.
"Of course, that's him," Mussolini smiled. "He lives in Italy and has been exchanging letters with me. Every year we get together to talk about poetry and literature. Mr. Pound is very interested in your poems. He
This is the evaluation: In the modern Far East, there were two real poets, one was Rabindranath Tagore and the other was Zhou Hexuan."
Zhou Hexuan smiled and said: "That's really my honor."
Ezra Pound, a poet who was second only to Eliot in popularity in the 1930s, was a super funny guy who loved Eastern culture, and a talent who inspired many writers.
He encouraged penniless young writers to keep creating, helping them find publications, write book reviews, and even help pay rent. Two of the young people he supported later became Nobel Prize winners in literature - Eliot
and Hemingway.
Eliot's "The Waste Land" is hailed as a milestone in modern British and American poetry and the most representative work of symbolist literature. The original manuscript of "The Waste Land" was sent to Ezra Pound, who was
I deleted a third of it before publishing it.
In addition, Pound was also particularly fond of Eastern culture, and studied and translated ancient Chinese poetry and Japanese haiku. In his later years, he lived in a mental hospital for 13 years. While suffering from mental illness, he wrote 25 long poems, and compiled the "Book of Songs" and "The University".
", "The Doctrine of the Mean", "The Analects of Confucius" and "Mencius" were translated into Italian. By the way, he also won the Bollingen Poetry Prize and made a huge contribution to the development of modern poetry.
This guy is a die-hard fan of Mussolini and often makes bizarre political remarks, hoping to solve various problems for all mankind.
In the face of traffic congestion, Pound suggested building roundabout streets; in the face of food shortages in Italy, Pound suggested Mussolini grow a variety of peanuts; and on the geopolitical issues in Asia, Pound believed that the Chinese and Japanese should join forces to conquer Australia.
People are driven out of Australia...
Mussolini laughed and chatted about interesting things about Pound, and then invited: "Mr. Pound will come to Rome on the fourth week of every month. I can introduce you to meet. Two great literary figures from the East and the West.
Home, I think we should have a great time chatting."