After leaving the White House, Zhou Hexuan and Hu Shi took a car to the embassy.
Zhou Hexuan took out a cigarette and was about to light it. After thinking about it, he put it back and asked, "Is Brother Shi's condition okay?"
"It's nothing, I've recovered." Hu Shi held out his hand, "Give me one quickly. I haven't smoked since I was hospitalized. I'm almost suffocated."
Hu Shi suffered a heart attack at the end of last year and was not discharged from the hospital until late February. He was dragged to see Roosevelt by Zhou Hexuan before he could continue to recuperate.
Taking a Camel cigarette from Zhou Hexuan, Hu Shi took a full mouthful of it intoxicatedly, exhaled the smoke and said, "Mingcheng, do you think the Chinese Exclusion Act can be cancelled?"
"It is possible to cancel it in name, but in reality it will take at least 20 to 30 years to cancel it," Zhou Hexuan said.
Hu Shi said with emotion: "It is very rare to be able to cancel the Chinese Exclusion Act on the surface. I don't expect that much. I just hope that during my tenure as ambassador to the United States, I can actually do more things for the country."
"It's good if you have this intention." Zhou Hexuan said.
Hu Shi suddenly remembered something and said, "By the way, how does Mingcheng feel about Kong Yongzhi?"
Kong Yongzhi is Kong Xiangxi. Zhou Hexuan smiled and said: "Why do you think of mentioning him?"
Hu Shi explained: "Fu Mengzhen (Fu Sinian) recently sent a letter saying that he wanted to 'build a hole-in-the-wall store' again, and asked me to co-sign to build momentum."
Kong Xiangxi's life was very difficult. When he was just promoted to the position of President of the Executive Council, he was criticized by National Defense Senator Fu Sinian, and a bunch of officials and politicians came out to oppose him. Kong Xiangxi could only retreat in order to advance, and applied for resignation from Chang Kai.
Chang Kaishen repeatedly comforted and persuaded him to stay.
Four months later, news of Kong Xiangxi's misappropriation of donations came to light. Fu Sinian once again made an effort, accusing Kong Xiangxi of lacking the ability to govern and allowing his family to amass money. He asked Chang Kaishen to remove Kong Xiangxi. Then Guangzhou and Wuhan fell, and Fu Sinian joined forces again.
52 wrote to Chang Kaishen, including Zhang Lan, Liang Suming, Ma Junwu, Liang Shiqiu and other celebrities, who insisted on pulling Kong Xiangxi from the position of executive president.
From the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War to the present, every decree issued by the Ministry of Finance presided over by Kong Xiangxi will inevitably lead to a sharp decline in currency value, skyrocketing prices, and boiling public resentment. Coupled with a series of scandals such as corruption and fraud, his reputation in both the government and the opposition has been completely ruined.
Zhou Hexuan did not answer directly, but asked: "What do you think of this matter?"
Hu Shi said: "I think Kong Yongzhi's executive president cannot be easily replaced. Looking at the whole of China, he is the most suitable to be the executive president."
Zhou Hexuan thought for a while and said with a wry smile: "He is really the most suitable person. Brother Shi, it seems that your role as ambassador to the United States was not in vain. You have finally matured politically."
In fact, when Fu Sinian attacked Kong Xiangxi a few months ago, Hu Shi stood up and praised him, but now he really understood the situation.
There are only a few people in the Kuomintang who have the qualifications to be the executive president, including Kong Xiangxi, Wang Zhaoming, Sun Ke and others. They may have various shortcomings, but their prestige, qualifications and connections are enough to stabilize the situation of the National Government.
If someone else were to be the executive president, his abilities might be more than adequate, but he would definitely be in trouble, and factional fighting would cause chaos.
Take Song Ziwen as an example. He has qualifications and abilities, but he lacks prestige and connections. He has offended too many political opponents, and Lao Chiang Kai-shek did not dare to let Song Ziwen become the executive president.
The remaining Wang Zhaoming will not be mentioned, he has already defected to Japan and became a traitor. As for Sun Ke, haha, if Sun Ke becomes the executive director, brothers Chen Guofu and Chen Lifu will probably explode, and they will never even think about starting their work under the circumstances of making things difficult for them.
Only Kong Xiangxi, although he is also a peace advocate, his interests are tied to Chiang Kai-shek, and he must cooperate with Chiang Kai-shek's anti-war policy. If it were Sun Ke and Wang Zhaoming, even if the CC faction did not create obstacles for them, they would stand up and help Chiang Kai-shek.
Add to the blockage.
Chiang Kai-shek was really pitiful. The Kuomintang was in such a mess that he could not find a qualified candidate for the Executive President. Even if he was dissatisfied with Kong Xiangxi, he could only admit it through gritted teeth and ignore the opposition from the government and the opposition to ensure that Kong Xiangxi could continue to work.
Keep doing it.
In a few months, Kong Xiangxi would no longer be able to secure his position. There was unanimous opposition from the CC department to the Sun Ke faction. At that time, Chiang Kai-shek could only serve as the executive dean himself and let Kong Xiangxi continue to preside over the work as the deputy dean.
Therefore, the naive Hu Shi finally matured. He used to write articles and curse people very coolly, but now that he has become an official, he realizes that it is difficult to do things.
The butt determines the head. During the May 4th Movement, Hu Shi called for the Confucian family to be beaten. He said: "Since the feudal autocracy for thousands of years has been based on Confucius' thought as its orthodoxy, Confucius' thought will naturally be responsible for the autocracy."
Two months later, Hu Shi was invited to preside over the opening ceremony of the Confucius Memorial Hall at the University of Pittsburgh. His speech was: "China is influenced by Confucius' democratic thoughts and educational methods, so it is rich in democratic thoughts. The reason why China can become a liberal country
As for democratic countries, the teachings of Confucius can be used to guide them."
You see, at first Confucius was the source of autocracy, but now Confucius has become the teacher of democracy.
In order to win over the Americans, Hu Shi also worked hard, giving speeches all day long and telling nonsense that he did not believe.
The car quickly returned to the embassy. As soon as the two of them entered, the embassy staff whispered: "Ambassador Hu, Miss Lovitz is here again."
Hu Shi's expression suddenly changed, and he subconsciously turned around and ran away.
A tall and beautiful woman suddenly came over with a smile and shouted: "Shi, why didn't you tell me when you were discharged from the hospital?"
Hu Shi's face returned to normal instantly, and he smiled and said: "I'm leaving in a hurry. I just met Mr. President." He immediately changed the subject and introduced, "This is my friend, Charles Zhou."
The beautiful woman greeted quickly: "Hello, Mr. Zhou. My name is Roderick Lovitz. I am a good friend of Mr. Hu Shi. I am very happy to meet you."
"Hello, Miss Lovitz." Zhou Hexuan shook hands.
Hu Shi then introduced: "Mingcheng, Miss Lovitz is Mr. Dewey's personal secretary."
The "Dewey" here is John Dewey, a famous American philosopher, educator, one of the founders of pragmatism philosophy, a pioneer of functional psychology, and a representative figure of the American Progressive Education Movement.
Before Dewey, the rigid and rigid old education was popular in the United States. After Dewey, the United States began to implement new educational concepts, giving the American education a completely new look. Therefore, some people call Dewey the "American Confucius" and "the second Confucius."
Hu Shi happened to be Dewey's favorite disciple. When he came to the United States as a special envoy, the first thing he did was to visit Dewey. Because Dewey had a wide network of contacts and a big name, he helped Hu Shi introduce many celebrities in politics, business and academia, allowing Hu Shi to quickly establish himself in the United States.
Open up the diplomatic situation.
Incidentally, Hu Shi also hooked up with Dewey's female secretary, Roderick Lovitz.
Roderick Lovitz was quickly impressed by Hu Shi's knowledge and demeanor, and she fell in love with him so much that she didn't even care about her boyfriend in Africa.
Hu Shi was cool and cheerful at first, but soon she couldn't stand it anymore. Roderick Lovitz actually tried to force her to get married in various ways, and even set a date, requiring Hu Shi to make a decision as soon as possible, otherwise she would go to Africa.
Marry your boyfriend.
How could Hu Shi dare? He also had a tigress at home.
When he was young, Hu Shi originally liked his cousin, but was forced to marry Jiang Dongxiu under the orders of his parents. After accepting new ideas, he felt that he could break out of the cage of arranged marriage, so he filed for divorce from Jiang Dongxiu.
After hearing this, Jiang Dongxiu's face turned upside down and she ran to the kitchen and took out a kitchen knife. Hu Shi was so frightened that his face turned pale, and from then on he mocked himself as a "member of the PTT (Afraid of Mrs.) Club".
Perhaps this is the reason why Hu Shi likes to be a matchmaker and witness marriages for others. He is just as happy to see others get what he cannot get.
Hu Shi had many lovers in his life. Now he not only had an ambiguous relationship with his mentor's female secretary, but also had a female student in China who kept correspondence with him. From the perspective of later generations, this guy was a scumbag, who often put up his pants and refused to acknowledge him.
People. For example, that female student, Hu Shi is treating her coldly so that the other party can consciously cut off contact.
Roderick Lovitz was a Jewish girl who was very beautiful, not inferior to Hollywood female stars at all. She was elegant in manners and well-spoken. She was very considerate to Hu Shi. She did not cry, make trouble, or hang herself in front of Zhou Hexuan.
I chatted with Zhou Hexuan about the recent affirmative action and the trend of resisting Japan and aiding China.
It wasn't until it was almost dark that Roderick Lovitz said to Hu Shi: "Shi, I plan to go to Africa in the summer. You still have four months to give me an answer." After saying that, she stood up with a smile and saluted, "
Mr. Zhou, it was a pleasure chatting with you. I hope we have the opportunity to meet again."
"I'll see you off." Hu Shi followed him out.
After a while, Hu Shi sent someone back, and Zhou Hexuan smiled and said, "She is a good girl."
Hu Shi cried sadly: "I know she is a good girl, but... Well, I really admire Mingcheng. You are responsible for your feelings, but I am a coward in love. That's all, that's all, the national crisis is at the forefront, and everything else is not worth mentioning.
When are you going to return to China?"
Zhou Hexuan said: "I have cooperation with the Jews. Since they are helping with publicity, I have to come up with something. I will go back immediately after I give the Jews an explanation."
