Zhang Daqian left the Mogao Grottoes on the same day, taking only his son and nephew, escorted to Guazhou by a few soldiers. He planned to send a telegram to his old friend Yu Youren, asking Yu Youren to go to the Ministry of Education to get the approval, and then send someone to Dunhuang, which could save half of the time.

Zhou Hexuan also only took Sun Yongzhen to Guazhou, and he also drove away himself - Zhang Daqian sat in the passenger seat, and Sun Yongzhen and several soldiers sat in the body.

Zhang Daqian was reluctant to speak at first, but then he was really panicked, and took the initiative to speak: "The approval of the Ministry of Education will be sent soon, don't stop me when the time comes." ”

Zhou Hexuan said: "Mr. Zhang, I saw those Ming Dynasty murals in the cave, and the skin of the characters turned black. If you expose the murals of the Jin and Tang dynasties, in a few decades, those brightly colored Tang paintings will also turn black. Guess what future visitors will think? They will definitely think that the Dunhuang murals are that color, and the Chinese murals have no sense of color at all. ”

Zhang Daqian sneered: "In a few decades, who can think of things so far?" You see that the Qing Dynasty has only been 30 years now, and what the Dunhuang murals have been destroyed! If I don't copy it quickly, it will be a question of whether the Dunhuang murals will still exist in a few decades. ”

Zhou Hexuan said: "Archaeological excavations need national support, and now is the time when the nation is in danger, and it is impossible to invest a lot of manpower and material resources to do ......."

Zhang Daqian hurriedly said: "That's why I paid for the excavation and protection myself!" Do you think I spent so much money to buy paints and hire people, because I was full and panicked? ”

Zhou Hexuan sighed: "Mr. Zhang, it is very unfortunate for our generation to live in troubled times. For ancient artifacts and art, it is best to preserve them from destruction, and as for further excavations and research, they should be left to future generations. I like what Mr. Lin Huiyin said to Shen Congwen about archaeology, she said: "We can't talk about anything else in the Taiping era at present, and it is the most appropriate way to maintain it from death under the extremely frugal method and restore it after the war." For the Dunhuang murals, it should also be maintained that it is immortal, rather than being studied by extreme means. ”

"Don't speculate more than half a sentence." Zhang Daqian closed his eyes directly and stopped talking.

The two came to the Guazhou Telegraph Office, and Zhou Hexuan smiled and said, "Mr. Zhang, please!" ”

Zhang Daqian was also not polite, and said to the dispatcher: "Call the Chongqing Supreme National Defense Commission Yu Youren: Weng Taijian, now the mural research is on the right track, because it was blocked by Zhou Mingcheng and the Chinese Academy of Museums, it is necessary to ask the Ministry of Education for approval, and it must be sent to Dunhuang as soon as possible." Brother Daqian respectfully. ”

When the dispatcher heard that he was calling the Supreme National Defense Council, he hurriedly crackled and made a call.

Zhang Daqian gave up his position and sneered: "Mr. Zhou, please." ”

Zhou Hexuan said to the dispatcher: "When you call Chongqing's Ta Kung Pao, you will send a capital English letter A, signed by Zhou Hexuan. ”

……

Yu Youren just turned around in the northwest and returned to Chongqing, when he visited the tomb of Genghis Khan, he also improvised a patriotic song "Tianjing Sha Cheng Mausoleum": "Xinglong Mountain side singing, once saw the invincible Jin Ge. After reading the edict and burning incense, the king asked me: When will the mountains and rivers be recovered? ”

I have to say that Yu Youren's prose song is amazingly written, and it throws Feng Yuxiang's poems out of several galaxies.

Zhang Daqian directly sent the telegram to the Supreme National Defense Commission, and in ancient times, it was 800 miles to expeditious, and the contents of the telegram were sent to Yu Youren's home in less than an hour. But Zhou Hexuan's speed is not slow, because "Ta Kung Pao" has its own telecommunications room, and it sends telegrams from the boss to Zhou's mansion in minutes.

Yu Youren was drinking tea and chatting with an old friend, and he was delayed for several hours before going to find Chen Lifu. He has a big face, so he didn't need to report all the way, and directly found Chen Lifu himself.

Chen Lifu hurriedly got up to greet him, and asked with a warm smile: "What kind of wind blew the bearded man here?" ”

"Northwest wind," Yu Youren said, "Zhang Dabeard inspects the murals in Dunhuang, and he needs to open an archaeological approval document, which troubles the Ministry of Education to be accommodating." ”

The smile on Chen Lifu's face suddenly froze, he took out a letter from the drawer, handed it to Zhang Daqian, and said, "Bearded man, it's not that I don't want to help, you take a look at this first." ”

Before Zhou Hexuan left Chongqing, he wrote three letters, and asked Cui Huifu to hand them over to different people according to different situations, and the worst plan was to sue Lao Jiang directly.

The letter to Chen Lifu was simple, first emphasizing the preciousness of the Dunhuang murals, and then pointing to Zhang Daqian's wanton destruction of cultural relics. At the end of the letter, Zhou Hexuan faintly threatened Chen Lifu, saying that once the Ministry of Education approved Zhang Daqian's excavation of Dunhuang murals, then he would write a book to record the matter, and all the bad consequences would be borne by the Ministry of Education.

Who is Zhou Hexuan?

He is an internationally renowned university scholar, and he is also a serious historian.

If Zhou Hexuan wrote a book to criticize the destruction of Dunhuang cultural relics, the follow-up impact is unimaginable, and maybe someone will poke Chen Lifu's backbone a hundred years later.

Yu Youren finished reading the letter, and said with a gloomy face: "What nonsense! ”

Chen Lifu persuaded: "Bearded man, you'd better not get involved." Otherwise, Zhou Hexuan will be angry and write you into the book, and your reputation in your old life will be ruined. ”

Yu Youren frowned and muttered, "What does Mingcheng want to do?" It's just inexplicable. ”

Needless to say, Yu Youren and Zhang Daqian have exactly the same mode of thinking, they both look at things from the perspective of artists.

Chen Lifu and Xi Ni said: "You are all right, but your positions are different." I think that the Dunhuang murals are too important, so it is better to let the Chinese Academy of Sciences organize a professional delegation to investigate, and then make a conclusion based on the opinions of all parties. ”

Yu Youren couldn't cry or laugh: "You're pulling a bias." The Central Museum Institute is clearly opposed to the excavation of Dunhuang murals, how can they agree? ”

Anyway, Chen Lifu definitely didn't want to take the blame, even if there was no Zhou Hexuan, in history, he also asked the Chinese Academy of Sciences to organize a northwest expedition. It's just that the members of the inspection team of the Zhongbo Academy are not tough, and they dare not use rough ropes like Zhou Hexuan, which leads to the matter not being resolved, and Zhang Daqian is also relying on the Mogao Grottoes to live or die.

Let the Ministry of Education issue a formal approval?

Hehe, Chen Lifu is not so stupid, and he didn't make a fuss about it.

Yu Youren had no choice, and said cheekily: "You can make a note first, and we'll talk about organizing the delegation later." ”

Chen Lifu's posture became lower and lower, and he pulled Yu Youren and said: "Bearded Weng, you are an elder in terms of age, and you are a senior in terms of seniority, so I shouldn't refuse your request." But it's a complicated matter, and I'm representing the Ministry of Education, and I can't make decisions based on personal preference. If you ask me for help privately, then I will definitely not refuse, and please bear with me! ”

A set of Tai Chi boxing hit Yu Youren had nothing to say, he shook his head and said, "That's it, I don't embarrass you." Leave! ”

Seeing Yu Youren leave the door, Chen Lifu muttered and sneered: "What a mess, it's a waste of my time." ”