The Rise of the Writers of the Republic of China

Chapter 892 891 [Leave]

It is often said that Kunming is like spring all year round, but it also has a disadvantage, that is, it rains too much in summer. Sometimes it rains for half a month.

Zhou Hexuan seemed to be trapped in Kunming. It rained heavily for three consecutive days and he couldn't leave at all. I was even more busy every night because the student dormitory was leaky and I often got up in the middle of the night to catch the rainwater in a washbasin, otherwise the bed would be flooded.

Zhou Hexuan also attended a few classes on rainy days, which was very uncomfortable. Because the roof was made of iron, the raindrops made a tinkling sound, and the teachers could only yell in class.

Jin Yuelin always spoke in a low voice, but once in class he really couldn't shout, and the lecture content was completely drowned out by the sound of rain hitting iron sheets, so he simply announced the suspension of classes and took the students to the roof to enjoy the rain.

The bombing losses that day were also calculated. A school building of the Normal College was bombed, but fortunately there were no casualties. The administrative office building at the school headquarters was also destroyed by the bombing. It was said to be an office building, but in fact it was just a bungalow with earthen walls. We had to wait until the weather cleared before we could start organizing repairs.

Two teachers and students at the school headquarters were injured. One student was hit on the forehead by a blasted stone and fell into coma on the spot. He was fine when he woke up. Another lecturer was buried under the earth wall, suffered a broken leg and almost died. He is still alive today. Lying in the hospital to recuperate slowly.

This situation was already settled, as the Southwest Associated University was bombed shortly after its establishment. It was the first time Japanese planes bombed Kunming. Due to the imperfect air defense alarm system in the city, two students, three school workers and three family members of faculty and staff were killed.

Now, both the sirens who sound the air defense siren and the families of teachers and students at the school are accustomed to air raids, and casualties have been greatly reduced.

Such precarious days not only did not scare away the teachers and students, but instead aroused their patriotic enthusiasm. During the All-out Anti-Japanese War, more than 30% of Lianda students enlisted in the army, and many faculty and staff also enlisted as soldiers.

For example, the great poet Mu Dan was studying in the Foreign Languages ​​Department of Southwest Associated University at this time, and stayed at the school to teach after graduation. At the age of 24, Mu Dan signed up to join the expeditionary force as a university assistant, and survived almost nine deaths.

Zhou Hexuan was a little ashamed of this, because he copied Mu Dan's "Praise", and all he could do was try to help financially.

On the fifth day after arriving in Kunming, the rain stopped, and Zhou Hexuan invited Mei Yiqi to meet at a teahouse.

"Buying in the teahouse" and "running the alarm" are the collective memories of the teachers and students of the United Union. They did not entertain themselves in the teahouse, but went to the teahouse to learn and conduct research.

Only the library of Southwest Associated University is a tile-roofed building and is not affected by rain. However, the library space is limited and can only accommodate a few people. The rest can only go to the nearby teahouse. There are electric lights in the teahouse, and you can sit there for most of the day just making a cup of tea. It is a good place to study, study and do research.

As time went by, the teahouse owner felt that he couldn't bear it, and some of them deliberately dimmed the light, clearly not wanting teachers and students to come and use their seats.

Mei Yiqi held the lid of the tea bowl to skim the foam and asked, "Is Mr. Zhou leaving?"

"Leave tomorrow," Zhou Hexuan took out a check and said, "You can withdraw 1 million French currency from the Kunming Bank, which will be used to build the library and school building for the school. The library is too small and should be expanded. The iron room of the school building It’s time to replace the roof, all with tiles, so at least classes can go on as usual on rainy days. Use the money as soon as possible, and it’s best to find someone to buy building materials immediately, otherwise prices will rise again if it continues.”

Capitalists are having a hard time these days. Even though Zhou Hexuan is making a lot of money by opening factories in Sichuan and engaging in real estate, prices may rise faster than he makes money. Making tens of millions feels a lot better now, but in a few years it will all be useless. In 1943, Southwest Associated University could spend 150,000 yuan on an electric meter.

Rather than leaving the money in the bank to depreciate, it would be better to put the money to practical use. At least Zhou Hexuan would feel better.

Of course, there is a more reliable way to preserve value, which is to exchange money for gold or foreign exchange. The four major families took the lead in storing foreign exchange in various ways, while the private sector worked hard to reserve gold, and only fools kept the depreciating legal currency in their hands.

Mei Yiqi held the check, feeling warm and sour in his heart. He choked with sobs and said, "Mr. Zhou, thank you for everything you have done for the General Assembly. I will have people buy bricks and tiles immediately."

Zhou Hexuan took out another telegram and said with a smile: "Teachers and students from the Agricultural College of Central University and Jinling University have sent a reply. They set off from Chengdu yesterday and brought with them high-breed chickens imported from the United States. I am only responsible for exporting Money, you can handle the rest on your own, and I will gradually remit the funds to start a chicken farm."

"The teachers and students of the United Federation must raise the chickens well," Mei Yiqi said.

During the Republic of China, the Agricultural Colleges of Central University and Jinling University were the most powerful. The former started from Zhang Zhidong in the late Qing Dynasty and has a strong technical foundation; the latter is even more powerful, with various well-known foreign agriculturists coming to teach, and some international friends did not leave China during the Anti-Japanese War.

Let’s put it this way, except for part of the support from the Soviet Union, the development of agricultural technology in New China relied on these two universities to lay the foundation—this was even when a large number of top agriculturists chose to go to Taiwan.

In addition, Peking Agricultural University is also relatively powerful, but it is still inferior to the Agricultural Colleges of Central University and Jinling University. The main reason is that there has been no stable source of funding for a long time, resulting in the deterioration of teachers and students.

On June 23, Zhou Hexuan left Kunming.

Before leaving, Zhou Hexuan visited Long Yun's third son, thanked him for providing cigarettes and other supplies, and also wrote a subtitle to Long Yun as a souvenir.

On July 1, "Today's Review" published Zhou Hexuan's article titled: "The Tasks and Expectations of Today's Students."

Although Southwest Associated University was known as the poorest school in the Republic of China, they published a comprehensive publication with the greatest influence during the Anti-Japanese War, which was "Today" founded by Mr. Qian Duansheng even though they did not have enough to eat. Comment".

The founding goal of "Today's Review" is very clear, that is, to provide services for the Anti-Japanese War. The contributors are mainly professors from Southwest Associated University, and some authors of articles are from other schools. The contributors are all famous, including: Zhu Ziqing, Luo Wengan, Yang Duanliu, Pan Guangdan, Feng Youlan, Qian Zhongshu, Chen Daisun, Shi Guogang, Ye Gongchao, Lu Kanru, Zhang Daoxing, Lin Huiyin, Wang Yuanzhao... and so on.

The contents of the articles are also varied, some discuss the war situation, some discuss politics, some discuss economics, some discuss education, and some discuss social order. Some people even openly promoted the Communist Party's anti-Japanese base areas behind enemy lines, which made the central government headed by Chiang Kai-shek very unhappy.

Because of this, Chang Kaishen often ignored the Southwest Associated University, and even the Ministry of Education deliberately suppressed funding. After the Japanese invaders occupied Vietnam, the central government asked the Southwest Associated University to move, but the Southwest Associated University firmly refused because it was afraid that it would lose the freedom to run schools after moving to Chongqing. As a result, school breakfasts were cancelled, and students sometimes could only eat one meal a day. Their physical fitness was extremely poor, and they often fainted in class.

After Zhou Hexuan's article was published in "Today's Commentary", it immediately aroused widespread discussion in the academic circle, because there is only one core point: it is best for college students not to join the army.

Zhou Hexuan hoped that students would learn as much knowledge as possible, do more scientific research on the home front during wartime, and provide the country with advanced technology. Moreover, the students will have an even more arduous task after the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, when China will inevitably be devastated, and China's recovery and development after the war will depend on these students.

Some people agreed with Zhou Hexuan's point of view, while others expressed strong opposition. It was just that everyone was responsible for the rise and fall of the country. Although most people shouted that the War of Resistance would be won, they actually had no confidence in their hearts. They wished that everyone would join the army and fight. Joining the army was regarded as a typical example of patriotism.

Therefore, some scholars harshly criticized Zhou Hexuan, believing that he was discouraging students from joining the army. This approach was extremely inappropriate.

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The Rise of the Writers of the Republic of ChinaCh.892/1066 [83.68%]