The Rise of the Writers of the Republic of China - Chapter 1029

   1943 finally came.

   On February 2, the Battle of Stalingrad ended, and 90,000 German troops, including Marshal Paulus, were captured.

   On February 11, Eisenhower was named Supreme Allied Commander in Europe.

  February 18, Soong Meiling gave a speech at the US Congress.

   This year’s Spring Festival just passed, on the first day of the new year, a solar eclipse suddenly appeared. Partial solar eclipses can be seen across the country, and even total solar eclipses can be seen in the Northeast, which inevitably gives birth to all kinds of bizarre rumors.

   One of the most popular sayings among Chinese people is that Japan is about to collapse – the sun represents Japan.

   Zhou Hexuan has now turned a deaf ear to the outside world and devoted himself to the study of Ming history. His desire to survive was still very strong, and Lao Jiang was obviously really angry this time. If he ran around, the soldiers at the gate of Zhou Mansion would definitely dare to shoot him.

   But Zhou Hexuan doesn’t regret it, all the plots in “Renshi” are not made up at will, but based on the facts that have already happened. “Ta Kung Pao” sent a total of four reporters in Henan, and Zhou Hexuan read the news sent back.

   In mid-January, Ta Kung Pao republished news about the disaster in Henan as soon as it resumed publication.

  The article was written by war reporter Zhang Gaofeng. He described in detail how the victims in Henan ate poisonous weeds, dry wood, and white mud, and disclosed Tang Enbo’s ugly behavior in Henan. At the end of the article, Zhang Gaofeng also quoted the content of the Central News Agency’s telegram: “The 31st annual expedition in Henan Province went well despite the severe disaster.” He also commented: “According to the provincial land management office responsible People talk: ‘The requisition situation is very good, and the people everywhere have exhausted their possessions and contributed to the country.’ This exhaustion of all four words is a blood and tear.”

Wang Yunsheng, the editor-in-chief of Ta Kung Pao, is also not afraid of things. He wrote an editorial at the back of the article: “The victims of the disaster in Henan sell their fields and people and even starve to death, and they still pay the national class. Why can’t the government expropriate wealthy businessmen Assets, and limit the purchasing power of ordinary wealthy people who don’t care? Looking at Chongqing and reading the Central Plains, it is really emotional!”

   As a result, Ta Kung Pao was suspended for three more days, and reporter Zhang Gaofeng was arrested by Tang Enbo on the charge of “Communist leader”.

   Zhou Hexuan called Lao Jiang several times to ask for his release, but to no avail.

   It wasn’t until a few months later that the Japanese attacked the Central Plains aggressively, and Tang Enbo’s troops collapsed, and Zhang Gaofeng regained his freedom in the chaos.

   Duanmu Hongliang came to Chongqing, temporarily lived in Zhou Mansion, and became Zhou Hexuan’s full-time library borrower.

  Since Zhou Hexuan wants to study the history of Ming Dynasty, his own collection of books is definitely not enough, and he must search for historical materials in many ways. Copying books is easy to copy, but when Zhou Hexuan is in his position, the more careful he is to copy books.

   “Those Things in the Ming Dynasty” is impossible to copy, the tone is too frivolous, and the subjective color is too strong. This book is only suitable for historical popular science, and it would be a joke to treat it as a historical monograph. During the period of the Republic of China, some people already engaged in historical popularization, and it was extremely successful. That is Cai Dongfan’s popular Romance of the past dynasties. Even Taizu read it and praised it.

   Then there is only “Fifteen Years of Wanli” left.

   Once this book came out, it was adopted as a textbook by many universities in the United States. In China, it has become a must-have book for countless scholars, writers, officials, and entrepreneurs. In the TV series “In the Name of the People”, there is a copy of “The Fifteen Years of Wanli” on the shelf in Gao Yuliang’s office. Gao Xiaofeng is also loved by Gao Yuliang because he has read “The Fifteen Years of Wanli”.

   However, although “The Fifteen Years of Wanli” belongs to the classics of historical works, it still has its shortcomings that cannot be concealed.

  The original author Huang Renyu was very serious when he wrote the book, citing various historical materials. It is a pity that the citation of these historical materials is not serious. He only uses historical materials that conform to his own views, and discards all historical materials that do not conform to his own views.

   For example, regarding Li Zhi’s statement, Mr. Huang Renyu interpreted Li Zhi’s comments on Hai Rui in reverse, deliberately distorted Li Zhi’s praise for widows’ observance of festivals, and took Li Zhi’s comments on Cai Wenji and Li Zhi’s philosophical thoughts out of context.

   The average reader may not care, but professionals will definitely find fault. Even if no one said anything, as long as Zhou Hexuan copied it out intact, it would inevitably mislead readers’ understanding of history.

   Fortunately, there are many libraries in Chongqing. The National Central Library, the National Beiping Library, the National Compilation and Translation Library, the Central University Library, and the Fudan University Library have all moved in. Zhou Hexuan asked Duanmu Hongliang to borrow some materials for him every week, and then he stayed in Zhou Mansion to study slowly, and thought about the revision of “The Fifteen Years of Wanli”.

   There were two books on Zhou Hexuan’s desk at this time, namely “The Examination of the Party and Socialist Movement in the Ming and Qing Dynasties” by Xie Guozhen and “The History of Thought in the Ming Dynasty” by Rong Zhaozu. He hadn’t calmed down to study for a long time, and thanks to Lao Jiang’s disguised house arrest, Zhou Hexuan’s impetuousness was completely eliminated.

  The research on Ming history during the Republic of China was still in the stage of confusion and exploration before the 1930s, but it has already begun to study the urban life, party and society movement, academic thought and foreign policy of the Ming Dynasty. After the 1930s, the study of Ming history began to combine with Marxism and Western new historiography theories, and deeply explored the political structure, class changes, taxation system, worker and peasant economy of the Ming Dynasty.

   To put it shamelessly, at least one-third of today’s Ming history research experts belong to Zhou’s disciples, and these people’s methods of governing history are all learned from Zhou Hexuan.

   During the Spring Festival, when they saw Zhou Hexuan’s paper discussing Shen Wansan, countless Ming historians rejoiced, because Mr. Zhou finally began to study Ming history.

  Also thanks to the research of these Ming history experts, Zhou Hexuan is now very easy to find materials, and constantly adjusts and revises “The Fifteenth Year of Wanli”, but the thematic framework and the big historical ideas in it have not changed.

   “Dad, is it useful for the country to write this?” Zhou Weilie asked, lying at the table, he went back to Chongqing for the Spring Festival, and will go to Kunming after the Lantern Festival.

   Zhou Hexuan asked: “Why do you think these things are useless?”

   Zhou Weilie said: “Even if you write history out, you can’t let the country collect an extra grain of grain, and you can’t build an extra cannonball for the country. What’s the use?”

   “Looking at history as a mirror, you can know the rise and fall. Haven’t you heard of this sentence?” Zhou Hexuan said.

   Zhou Weilie said: “That is for individuals.”

Zhou Hexuan said: “The country is the same. Do you think the Anti-Japanese War was like this because China’s science and technology were backward? No, it was because of a problem with the government. The political structure was unstable and the policy was not enforced lawfully. The internal friction caused by these reasons was even greater than that of the government. The damage to China by the Japanese invaders is even more serious. When we study history, we are summarizing the advantages and disadvantages of ancient regimes. If the current government can make use of its strengths and avoid weaknesses, and choose the best, it will be far more useful than building a few cannonballs and planting a few catties of grain.”

   Zhou Weilie seemed to understand, but he didn’t seem to understand. He held his father’s manuscript and read it for a while, but he had no interest in it. Except for Hai Rui and Zhang Juzheng, he had never heard of other historical figures.

   “I’d better go to learn mathematics.” Zhou Weilie then walked away.