Chapter 563 562 [A Farce]

Chang Kaishen's New Life Movement was so vigorous that his speech was even made into a record, requiring broadcasters across the country to assist in publicity.

No, not long after the Lantern Festival, Zhou Hexuan's China Radio Station began to broadcast Chang Kaishen's new life speech every day: "We want to reform society, revive a country and a nation, and we cannot succeed by force. How can it be successful? To put it simply, the first is to equip ordinary citizens with national morality, and the second is to equip ordinary citizens with national knowledge... Germany has been able to recover in less than fifteen years. It has just been defeated. In a few years, we will not be able to pay the indemnity, and if we want to renege on our debts, we will be negligent. And our indemnity for decades or more than a hundred years is still paid every year. In short, Germany is also a country, and China is also a country. To be equal to other countries, even though China has force, it still cannot seek equality. What is the reason? Nothing else, it is entirely because the knowledge and morals of our ordinary citizens are not as good as others..."

Well, the general meaning of these remarks is that the citizens of this session are not good enough, rather than the central government’s weak governance.

Ever since, the great Generalissimo Jiang set off a vigorous New Life Movement. First of all, let’s start with the people’s basic necessities of life. You must sit on the table to eat in a proper manner, and you can’t just find a place to squat to eat; Rotten chicken coop...

Chairman Jiang also said, "The spirit, thought, knowledge, and morality of a person or a country's citizens can all be manifested in the basic way of life." He compared the way Chinese and Japanese eat and wash their faces, and came to a very wise conclusion, that is, the Japanese are more disciplined and nationally qualified than the Chinese. He said: "We and the Japanese don't need to rush forward under the hail of bullets. We can only compare our daily life to know whether we are strong or weak."

Soon, major newspapers across the country were reporting on the "New Life Movement," and the central government also issued an order to designate the first week of April as "New Life Movement Publicity Week."

The whole country was in a state of chaos, and the action teams of the Nationalist Party wore red cuffs, went around the streets and alleys to arrest those who were disheveled, strangely dressed, and messy hairstyles, and they were fined or detained in severe cases. The streets and alleys are also divided into areas. Anyone who finds that the sanitation situation is not up to standard will be fined for all businesses and residents in the area.

The rickshaw drivers were very depressed. They were sweating profusely while driving the passengers, and they didn't dare to unbutton their clothes to cool off. Because once caught not buckling up, he will be fined immediately, and the income from working for half a day will be lost.

Citizens of Tianjin used to like to sit in an alley and have dinner while listening to radio programs. Now I don’t dare at all, because I have to sit around a table to eat, and eating on the side of the road is not in line with the instructions of the New Life Movement.

Fortunately, there was just such a gust of wind. After the "New Life Movement Propaganda Week" passed, the Kuomintang Action Team would not be so strict in the investigation. Everyone should do what they want. Only the kind of unlucky guy who happens to meet the inspectors will be fined miserably. Anyway, he thinks he is unlucky.

The "New Life Movement" of the Republic of China was a long-term activity that lasted for more than ten years.

Anyway, we have to create new content every now and then, such as prohibiting the waste of weddings, funerals, weddings and birthday banquets, prohibiting wearing exotic clothes, prohibiting men and women from sitting together in the bathroom, prohibiting primary and middle school students from growing long hair, prohibiting women from perming their hair and bare legs, and prohibiting children in cars and theaters. , Smoking in venues, forests, advocating punctual exercise, persuading the separation of people and animals, advocating relief and condolences to wounded soldiers, promoting anti-drugs and gambling, etc.

Most of the content is good and helpful to improve the social atmosphere. But some content is too broad. For example, some places prohibit perms and bare legs, so that women dare not even wear skirts.

The most frightening thing is that it wastes people and money. By the time the New Life Movement reached its peak in 1935, there were more than 60,000 labor service groups across the country. The main job of these tens of thousands of people is to promote the New Life Movement, which wastes a lot of state financial expenditure.

Not only that, due to the central government's ineffective control over the localities, many local officials use chicken feathers as arrows. They use the name of the "New Life Movement" to randomly arrest people and fine them. Sometimes you are walking on the street in good condition, and you will be arrested and fined for not buttoning a shirt.

"Lao Jiang took the wrong medicine, right? He didn't dare to do business all day long, and devoted himself to these vain sports." Hu Zhengzhi said speechlessly.

Zhou Hexuan said with a smile: "Lao Jiang is building up his prestige."

In Zhou Hexuan's view, Chang Kaishen's original intention of launching the New Life Movement was to create a sense of presence, and to promote his Confucian ideas in the process of implementation. This is an ideological and ideological dictatorial movement, opposing all kinds of chaotic doctrines, advocating four dimensions (propriety, righteousness, integrity and shame) and eight virtues (loyalty, filial piety, benevolence, love, faith, justice and peace), so as to unify the ideological and morality of the people.

Of course, another point is to militarize the whole people, so as to facilitate the conscription during the full-scale war of resistance in the future.

Lao Jiang also knew that there would be a war between China and Japan, but he did not dare to shout anti-Japanese slogans directly, so he quietly mixed preparations for anti-Japanese into the New Life Movement. In Lao Jiang's original words: "The ultimate goal of the New Life Movement is to make people's lives uniform. What is the content of the four words uniform? It is what most people call militarization... …The New Life Movement is a militarized movement.”

However, there is no use for farts, the common people are strictly controlled, and the officials still eat, drink, prostitute, gamble and smoke.

That's why Feng Yuxiang said: "New life is a lie."

Song Meiling's best friend Xiang Meili commented: "The New Life Movement is a nationwide joke."

A foreign friend was more direct, evaluating the New Life Movement as "a national revival movement based on toothbrushes, mousetrap and fly swatters."

Anyway, Zhou Hexuan was too lazy to cater to the spiritual instructions of the great leader. He didn't like to button up his suits, and he always left his coat open every time he went out. I didn't see any blind guy who dared to run over and twist him to ask for a fine.

"Leave him alone for the New Life Movement," Hu Zhengzhi said in a low voice, "You have to take care of the editorial department of Fei Gong. There was something wrong with the content of the last issue of the magazine. A friend who was engaged in news censorship reminded me, The higher-ups are very dissatisfied with some of the comments made by the magazine."

"It's okay, those reports were approved by me." Zhou Hexuan laughed.

"Anyway, don't go too far, or even "Ta Kung Pao" will be implicated." Hu Zhengzhi reminded.

"Fei Gong" magazine is still attached to "Ta Kung Pao" for the time being, and the staff of "Ta Kung Pao" are in charge of finance, printing, proofreading and distribution.

As for what Hu Zhengzhi said was "excessive", the new issue of "Fei Gong" reported on the establishment of the Northeast Anti-Japanese Alliance and Yang Jingyu led the Northeast Anti-Japanese Alliance to its first victory. The Northeast Anti-Japanese Alliance was established under the leadership of the Communist Party, and both the Nanjing government and the Kwantung Army hated it.

Zhou Hexuan even received a telegram from Chang Kaishen's secretary, asking him not to mention the Northeast Anti-Japanese Alliance in the future, otherwise he would directly block the "Fei Gong" magazine.

"Sigh, running a magazine is a lot of trouble these days." Zhou Hexuan must intervene, and can no longer let the Communists in the editorial department mess around.