Chapter 872 871 [PTT Member]
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 for a while, 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 Executive President, he was criticized by National Defense Senator Fu Sinian, and a bunch of officials and politicians stood up to oppose him. Kong Xiangxi could only retreat in order to advance, and applied to Chang Kai for resignation, but 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, and asked Chang Kaishen to remove Kong Xiangxi. Then Guangzhou and Wuhan fell. Fu Sinian united 52 people to write a letter to Chang Kaishen, including Zhang Lan, Liang Suming, Ma Junwu, Liang Shiqiu and other celebrities, insisting on pulling Kong Xiangxi from the position of executive director.
From the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War to the present, every decree issued by the Ministry of Finance chaired by Kong Xiangxi will inevitably lead to a plummeting currency value, soaring prices, and boiling public resentment. Coupled with a series of scandals such as corruption and fraud, his reputation in 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. 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 Party who have the qualifications to be the Executive President, including Kong Xiangxi, Wang Zhaoming, and Sun Ke. 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 dean, he might be more than capable, but he would definitely be in trouble, and factional fighting would cause chaos.
Take Song Ziwen as an example. This man has qualifications and abilities, but he has no prestige and connections. He has offended too many political opponents, and Lao Jiang did not dare to let Song Ziwen become the executive president.
I won’t mention the rest, Wang Zhaoming, who has already defected to Japan to become a traitor. As for Sun Ke, haha, if Sun Ke becomes the executive dean, brothers Chen Guofu and Chen Lifu will probably explode. They will not even be able to start their work under the circumstances of making things difficult for them.
Only Kong Xiangxi, although he was also a peace advocate, his interests were tied to Chiang Kai-shek, and he had to cooperate with Chiang Kai-shek's anti-war policy. If it were Sun Ke and Wang Zhaoming, even if the CC department didn't cause trouble for them, they would still stand up and cause trouble for Chiang Kai-shek.
Chiang Kai-shek was really pitiful. The Kuomintang was in such disarray that it could not find a qualified candidate for the Executive Yuan. No matter how dissatisfied he was with Kong Xiangxi, he could only admit it through gritted teeth, ignore the opposition from the government and the public, and ensure that Kong Xiangxi could continue to do what he did.
In a few months, Kong Xiangxi would no longer be able to secure his position. There was unanimous opposition from the CC faction to the Sun Ke faction. At that time, Chiang Kai-shek could only serve as the executive president himself and let Kong Xiangxi be the vice president to continue to preside over the work.
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 Shih 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 applied accordingly."
You see, at first Confucius was the origin 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 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 her 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 and 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, rigid and rigid old education was prevalent in the United States. After Dewey, the United States began to implement new educational concepts, giving 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 of Dewey's wide network and reputation, he helped Hu Shi introduce many celebrities in political, business and academic circles, allowing Hu Shi to quickly open up the diplomatic situation in the United States.
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. 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 he couldn't stand it anymore. Because Roderick Lovitz actually acted for real, forced marriage 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 to marry her boyfriend.
How dare Hu Shi? There is also a tigress at home.
When he was young, Hu Shi originally liked his cousin, but he married 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 "PTT (Pride of Mrs.) club member."
Perhaps this is 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 has an ambiguous relationship with his mentor's female secretary, but also has a female student in China who keeps correspondence with him. From the perspective of future generations, this guy is a scumbag who often puts up his pants and doesn't recognize anyone. Take that female student for example. Hu Shi is treating her coldly so that the other party can consciously cut off contact.
Roderick Lovitz is a Jewish girl who is very beautiful and not inferior to Hollywood female stars. She was elegant in manners and well-spoken, and she was very considerate to Hu Shi. She did not cry, make trouble, or hang herself in front of Zhou Hexuan. Instead, she chatted with Zhou Hexuan about the recent affirmative action and the trend of anti-Japanese aid to 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, and 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 insignificant. When are you going to return home?"
Zhou Hexuan said: "I cooperate with the Jews. Since they help with publicity, I have to come up with something. I will go back immediately after I give the Jews an explanation."