Chapter 962 961 [The Show Begins]
New York City Hall.
One-third of the 7,000 seats at the venue are Chinese. This is the largest performance held by the Chinese American Association. In previous singing and drama performances, the audience was only a few hundred, and it was impossible to invite any celebrities to participate.
After Yu Peichen joined the Chinese American Association, he has been doing things under Zhou Hexuan's signature, and he can invite some academic celebrities every now and then. Because of this, Hu Shi valued her very much and even decided to make Yu Peichen the permanent secretary-general.
This performance not only invited the black singer Paul through Liu Liangmo, but Yu Peichen also invited Chaplin and Pickford through Vivien Leigh's relationship. When he learned that Vivien Leigh was going to attend, Clark Gable also volunteered to come.
In addition, two Broadway superstars, Andrew Bock and Linda Moorman, who became famous through the stage play "Titanic", also came to the performance. Especially Linda Moorman, this woman was unknown in the original time and space, but now she has become almost the number one actress on Broadway. She simply regards Zhou Hexuan as her lucky god.
"Oh, Mr. Zhou, I finally see you again!" Linda Moorman opened her arms and gave Zhou Hexuan a hug.
"Nice to meet you, Ms. Moorman." Zhou Hexuan smiled.
After the two separated, Linda Moorman introduced: "Mr. Zhou, this is my husband Fraser Miller."
Fraser Miller is a gray-haired old man. He can marry the number one actress on Broadway, so he is naturally very rich. He smiled and said: "Mr. Zhou, it's an honor to meet you. This is my business card."
Zhou Hexuan glanced at him, but he was engaged in machinery manufacturing. He would be richer when the war started.
The greetings had just ended when Vivien Leigh, Chaplin, Pickford and Gable entered the venue together. Everyone in the room they passed cheered, completely stealing the limelight from the others.
Not long after, the black singer Paul Robeson entered the stage, accompanied by a black buddy - the jazz king Louis Armstrong. This person's status in jazz is equivalent to Bach in classical music and Elvis Presley in rock music. He toured the world for 18 months last year and brought 100,000 viewers into a carnival state when he performed in the capital of Ghana.
Hu Shi, Chang Pengchun and others also came, along with Secretary of War Stimson and President Roosevelt's son James.
James just divorced a few months ago due to extramarital affairs. Like his father, this guy likes to eat grass from the side of the house, and his lover is his personal female nurse.
Why do you say he is the same as his father?
Because Roosevelt’s three lovers were all close people, the first was his wife’s secretary, the second was his own secretary, and the third was a Norwegian princess who was exiled in the United States. The princess admired Roosevelt very much and often visited the White House. Song was developed into Roosevelt's lover.
Everyone was reminiscing about old times, and Zhou Hexuan asked Stimson in a low voice: "Mr. Minister, can you help us get some advanced aircraft? Not the old Hawker aircraft, but the latest type."
"I'm afraid it's going to be difficult, but I can convey my opinion to the president," Stimson said.
The reason why Zhou Hexuan focused on buying airplanes was because they yielded quick results. Not only to protect civilians from bombing, but also to protect production in the rear. Since the Zero fighter planes appeared in China, the Japanese invaders have become more unscrupulous in their air raids. Not only Chongqing was bombed by various factories, the mint in Kunming was also bombed.
Although the legal currency at this time was devaluing crazily, nickel coins, copper coins and other auxiliary coins were still relatively strong. Many people used these metal currencies to preserve their value, which stabilized the collapsed financial market to a certain extent.
The Kunming Mint is the largest minting institution in Yunnan and Guizhou. The factory was bombed into ruins. The losses were enough to buy dozens or hundreds of airplanes, which made the economy and people's livelihood of Yunnan and Guizhou even worse.
Air defense power is too important to China.
Zhou Hexuan asked again: "I heard that the U.S. Congress is discussing the Lend-Lease Act?"
Stimson smiled and said: "You are so well-informed that you can even find out this."
The direct reason for the introduction of the Lend-Lease Act was that Britain was financially bankrupt and could not afford real money to purchase arms, so Roosevelt planned to sell arms to the British in the form of lease, exchange, credit, etc.
Zhou Hexuan asked: "If the Lend-Lease Act is passed, will it be possible to lease arms supplies to China?"
Stimson said: "Of course it is possible, but Chinese ships must be used for transportation, and corresponding resources must be used as collateral."
"I will contact the country." Zhou Hexuan said with a smile.
The president's son James suddenly interjected: "I can help contact you regarding the purchase of aircraft."
Zhou Hexuan said quickly: "Thank you very much."
James’ confidence comes from the expansion of U.S. military aircraft production——
Before Roosevelt decided to run for re-election, he suddenly proposed that the United States produce 50,000 military aircraft. Several major aircraft manufacturers thought the total volume would be 50,000 aircraft. Unexpectedly, Roosevelt's request was to produce 50,000 aircraft per year. At that time, everyone was confused.
You know, before Roosevelt proposed this plan, the annual output of U.S. military aircraft was less than 1,000.
The most terrifying thing about the United States is its war industrial potential. With Roosevelt's order, the United States produced 6,000 military aircraft within half a year. The annual output next year soared to 20,000. By the eve of the victory of World War II, the annual output had soared to 66,000. Thousands of military aircraft.
In comparison, during the entire World War II, the number of military aircraft produced by the UK was less than a fraction of that of the United States...
Now there are thousands of newly produced aircraft in the United States, some of which have been sold to the United Kingdom, and we don’t know what to do with the rest, because the United States’ own air combat forces simply cannot use them up. Aircraft manufacturers are also anxious. The government only talks about expanding production but does not actually pay for orders. They are worried that they will rot in the warehouse and become scrap metal.
James said: "As long as China can afford the price, I will convince the aircraft manufacturer and even help solve the transportation problem."
Zhou Hexuan said: "I will contact the Chinese government when I get back."
Zhou Hexuan didn't want to be taken advantage of. This thing had to be paid for by the government. How could it be possible for private individuals to pay for the plane? Two months ago, overseas Chinese donated 217 aircraft (based on the price of an old Hawker aircraft), but now there is not even a trace of them.
Historically, at this time, China only had more than 60 aircraft capable of taking off. I really don’t know what Soong Meiling, who was responsible for buying the aircraft, was doing. She claimed that she was negotiating to buy an advanced aircraft. There may be transportation reasons that could not arrive, but there was still a big problem with the specific destination of the donation.
It is also possible that the money donated to buy the aircraft was used to subsidize government finances and war funds - who knows for sure?
While Zhou Hexuan was chatting with Stimson and James, the performance had officially begun.
A choir composed of more than 30 Chinese young people sang a Chinese song on a foreign land: "A big river has wide waves, and the wind blows the rice flowers on both sides. My family lives on the bank..."