The Rise of the Writers of the Republic of China

Zhou Hexuan's trip to the United States was a big one, with more than 30 people accompanying him, who were announced as a "China-U.S. Folk Culture Friendship Exchange Group." Zhou Hexuan was not only accompanied by Vivien Leigh, but also Meng Xiaodong. By the way, he also invited Mr. Mei Lanfang and his troupe under the banner of artistic exchange.

They first took a train to Shanghai and met up with Song Ziwen and Fan Heyan's team, and then boarded a ship to go to sea together.

"Mr. Song, long time no see!" Zhou Hexuan shook hands with a smile.

Song Ziwen responded in a cold tone: "Hello, Mr. Zhou."

The entire financial system of the Nanjing National Government was founded by Song Ziwen, who was also the founder of the Central Bank. However, Song Ziwen's visit to the United States this time was as an ordinary Chinese, and he resigned from all his government positions.

This is the fourth time that Song Ziwen has resigned since 1928.

When Chang Kaishen raised his troops for the Northern Expedition, Song Ziwen persuaded Chang Kaishen to recognize various bonds in different periods. These bonds are issued by various "central governments" and are worth the same as waste paper. They are too embarrassing to be used to wipe people's butts.

Song Ziwen suddenly announced loudly that as long as Chang Kaishen could succeed in the Northern Expedition, all these bonds would be recognized and the government would pay them in installments, with some discounts or deferred repayments. Businessmen everywhere were overjoyed—waste paper could still be redeemed! So they all supported Chang Kaishen, which made Chang Kaishen's military expenditures available.

It can be said that Chang Kaishen was able to succeed in the Northern Expedition, and Song Ziwen made great achievements.

However, Chang Kaishen was very troublesome and provoked civil wars year after year, which caused the government's fiscal deficit to rise steadily and made Song Ziwen very anxious. Not only that, Chang Kaishen often fell out with the business groups and chaebols, causing Song Ziwen to be scolded by the businessmen.

Every time Chang Kaishen messed up something and caused the Nanjing government's finances to collapse, Song Ziwen would make a fuss and quit. Then Chang Kaishen asked his wife to take action again, persuaded his brother-in-law to come back, and continued to wipe his butt.

Early last year, Song Ziwen went abroad for a visit. Before leaving, he agreed with Chang Kaishen not to issue new bonds this year because he still didn't know how to fill the previous big hole. When Song Ziwen returned to China, he suddenly discovered that his mother was selling batches and I had only been abroad for a few months. Why was the central bank saddled with bad debts again?

Song Ziwen was driven crazy and couldn't bear it anymore. He finally broke the table with Chang Kaishen and resigned from most government positions in one fell swoop, retaining only a few idle positions.

Although he resigned, he was a relative after all, and it was impossible for Song Ziwen to really let go.

After the silver craze broke out, Song Ziwen took action again and actively sought financial support from the United States. It's a pity that the United States doesn't care about him at all, and is not even willing to invite him to visit the United States. It is clear that it does not want to talk about this matter. Even if Soong Ziwen went to the United States voluntarily, he would probably not be able to see Roosevelt. At most, there would be an official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to receive him.

Now it was Zhou Hexuan who took action. His main responsibility was to visit Roosevelt in a civilian capacity and to stir up trouble in the United States. Song Ziwen also resigned from his few idle positions and went to the United States to be responsible for negotiations in the professional field.

The two of them have a clear division of labor. Zhou Hexuan builds momentum and talks, and Song Ziwen talks about cooperation.

Song Ziwen introduced casually: "This is Fan Heyan, deputy secretary-general of the Central Bank."

Zhou Hexuan smiled and shook hands: "Hello, Secretary-General Fan!"

"Oh, Mr. Zhou, I have admired you for a long time. I am so lucky to meet you today!" Fan Heyan laughed loudly, and his flattering words did not appear to be flattering, but rather the demeanor of a literary celebrity.

Fan Heyan was not from Song Ziwen, but from Kong Xiangxi's confidant.

Since Song Ziwen resigned as finance minister and central bank governor, Kong Xiangxi took over these two official positions. Now that Zhou Hexuan and Song Ziwen were going to the United States to cause trouble, Kong Xiangxi had to get involved, so he sent his confidant Fan Heyan.

To put it bluntly, Fan Heyan was here to beat the drum and gain political achievements for Kong Xiangxi.

But Fan Heyan is indeed not annoying. He is tall and thin, and he carries himself with the demeanor of a celebrity. He is not only an economist, but also a calligrapher, poet, and sponsor of a newspaper. His words are refreshing.

By the way, the car used by Chang Kaishen and Soong Meiling to get married was borrowed by Fan Heyan from his uncle Zhu Fukian.

Song Ziwen and Fan Heyan chatted with Zhou Hexuan for a few words, and shook hands with Mei Lanfang, Meng Xiaodong, Vivien Leigh and others. After some pleasantries, everyone began to board the ship one after another.

In the evening, on the deck of the ship.

Fan Heyan probed: "Mr. Zhou, I heard that you have a comprehensive plan. I wonder how we can cooperate?"

Zhou Hexuan did not answer, but asked Song Ziwen with a smile: "What arrangements does Mr. Song have?"

"It's just a matter of playing it by ear, what other arrangements can be made?" Song Ziwen has no hope for this trip, and does not believe that the British will come in to help, because he is a professional and has a deep understanding of the inside story of the silver trend.

The more you know, the more pessimistic you become.

In Song Ziwen's view, Zhou Hexuan's daring to take over this mess was purely a layman's ignorance and fearlessness, thinking that with a little fame he could make the British and American powers bow their heads.

Historically, when dealing with the silver crisis, including Chang Kaishen, Song Ziwen and Kong Xiangxi, they just walked around like headless flies and did not come up with a feasible overall strategy. In particular, Kong Xiangxi, as the Minister of Finance, almost used a pleading attitude to seek communication with the United States again and again, and actually caused a bizarre incident of selling silver to the United States to ease relations while buying silver from the United Kingdom to stabilize finance.

Haha, China has already had silver outflows and tight money supply, yet it still dares to export large amounts of silver to the United States. After selling the silver to the Americans, Kong Xiangxi was worried about China's financial collapse, so he immediately asked the British to buy silver to make up for the leak. What the hell is this operation called?

Perhaps Kong Xiangxi can make a fortune in a three-party transaction, but he is China's finance minister, how can he play like this?

At least Song Ziwen as Finance Minister would never be able to do such nonsense.

By the way, some officials in the US government hope to invite Song Ziwen to the United States for negotiations. But this proposal was ultimately rejected. The Americans' reason for rejecting Song Ziwen's visit to the United States was simple: Song Ziwen belonged to the anti-Japanese faction and they were afraid that Song Ziwen's visit to the United States would damage Japan-U.S. relations.

Zhou Hexuan smiled and said: "Roosevelt has been politically kidnapped by the Silver Group. After we arrive in the United States, we should not rush to get in touch with Roosevelt. Instead, we must first build momentum among the people, let the American people pay attention to China, and let the American people think that Sino-US cooperation is beneficial to them. .”

"It's not as simple as you think." Song Ziwen couldn't help but want to roll his eyes.

Zhou Hexuan said with a smile: "Sometimes, the simpler things are, the better."

"That's up to you." Song Ziwen was too lazy to talk nonsense.