The Nationalist Government is facing not only the problem of economic collapse, but also the catastrophe of this year.

In 1942, the Great Famine in Henan came.

It may not be accurate to say that the Great Famine in Henan should be called the Great Famine in the Central Plains, including Henan, Hebei, Shandong, and Shanxi, all of which are in the scope of the disaster. Gansu and other provinces in the northwest have long needed to purchase grain from Henan due to their own insufficient grain production, and there has also been a famine.

The famine was mainly caused by a prolonged drought without rain, with Henan Province being the most severe. In more than 10 counties, from spring plowing to autumn harvest, no rain fell for more than eight months, followed by an overwhelming locust plague.

Lao Jiang also made a great contribution to the famine in Henan, when the bursting of the Huayuankou embankment severely damaged Henan's agricultural areas, and many water conservancy facilities were destroyed as a result, so that farmers were even more unable to cope with the drought. In addition, the central government's expropriation and requisition of Henan's grain has drained people's rations, making the situation worse.

The disaster situation in the occupied areas was also severe, and in order to prevent the stability from being affected, the Japanese army imposed military blockades on various key roads, making it impossible for the victims of the Kuomintang to move to the occupied areas. At the same time, the Japanese army also drove the victims of the occupied areas to the Kuomintang and base areas, and more than 3 million people were driven into the areas controlled by the Kuomintang and the Communist Party.

Mid-October.

Guo Zhongkui, a national political suffragist from Henan, came to the Zhou Mansion and said the first thing he said: "Mr. Zhou, you are a celebrity in front of the president, please be sure to report the disaster situation in Henan this time!" I really can't help it, those central officials don't pay attention to me at all! ”

"Mr. Guo, even if you don't come, I have to go to Yunxiu Tower." Zhou Hexuan said with fire in his heart.

The current general manager of Ta Kung Pao is Hu Zhengzhi, and Wang Yunsheng has officially become the editor-in-chief.

As early as August, Wang Yunsheng wrote an editorial titled "Looking at Chongqing, Remembering the Central Plains," which led to the suspension of Ta Kung Pao for three days because of the government's ineffective response to the disaster.

said that it was three days, but it stopped for half a month, and Zhou Hexuan personally came forward to resume publication. And just yesterday, Ta Kung Pao was forced to suspend publication again, again because of its coverage of the disaster in Henan.

The reasons for the suspension were as follows: fabricating facts, creating panic, disturbing order, and detrimental to unity.

Historically, Ta Kung Pao was suspended for four months because of its coverage of the Henan famine.

Zhou Hexuan took Guo Zhongkui to Yunxiu Tower by boat, and he was allowed by Lao Jiang to enter without notification. This is not an exclusive treatment, there were about twenty or thirty people during the Anti-Japanese War, and there were several in the education and academic circles alone.

But Guo Zhongkui was blocked by the guards, and he handed the collected photos of the famine to Zhou Hexuan and said: "Mr. Zhou, I am waiting outside, please be sure to hand over the photos to President Jiang." ”

"Definitely." Zhou Hexuan nodded.

Zhou Hexuan was directly invited into the reception room, and the attendant adjutant brought tea and said, "Mr. Zhou, the head seat and his wife are receiving the US envoy. Please wait a minute, and I'll report it. ”

In the garden, Song Meiling was making lemon tea to entertain guests.

Today's guests are Wilkie, the leader of the international wing of the Republican Party in the United States, and Mike Cowles, an American publisher and journalist.

Years later, Mike Cowles wrote a book called "Mike Looking Back."

He said in the book that Wilkie was so fascinated by Song Meiling that he asked him to drag Chang Kaishen for an hour during the banquet, but he ran to have a tryst with Song Meiling. As a result, in less than an hour, Lao Jiang took the guards to look for people everywhere, and searched through Yunxiu Tower but did not find any trace of Song Meiling.

Cowles, on the other hand, was sent back to Song Ziwen's residence, where he was so frightened that he couldn't sleep all night. It wasn't until four o'clock in the morning that Wilkie returned, happy as a college student who had just spent the night with his girlfriend. Even Cowles said that Wilkie planned to elope back to the United States with Soong Meiling, but fortunately he sabotaged the matter. But because of this, he was scratched by the angry Song Meiling, and the claw marks were left on his face for a week before they were removed.

Cowles also wrote in the book that Soong advised him to give up journalism and fully assist Wilkie in his 1944 presidential candidacy. He recounted Soong Meiling's exact words: "If Wendell (Wilkie) is elected, he and I will rule the whole world." I rule the East, Wendell rules the West. ”

It's hard to say whether there was a tryst, but elopement must be fake.

Mike Cowles is a publisher who can write anything in order to sell it. He even misremembered the time, the story in the book took place in August, but Wilkie's visit to China was from September to October, and he had not yet arrived in China in August.

Song Meiling was chatting with two Americans in English at this time, and helped Chang Kaishen translate a sentence or two from time to time.

Chang Kaishen listened a lot and talked little, and when he caught a glimpse of the adjutant standing at the garden gate, he asked, "What's the matter?" ”

The adjutant replied, "Mr. Zhou is here." ”

Chang Kaishen suddenly laughed: "It just so happens that there are two American friends at home, so let's call Mingcheng too." ”

Wilkie asked, "Mr. Jiang, do you have any official business to deal with?" ”

Chang Kaishen smiled: "Mr. Zhou Hexuan is here, I'll let him in and talk together." ”

"Is it Zhou?" "He's a legend in American publishing, and his book company has published a series of bestsellers. By the way, his partner's name is Mike, and he has the same name as me. ”

Song Meiling asked curiously: "Is Mr. Zhou's book company in the United States very large?" ”

"Of course," says Mike Cowles, of the publishing industry, "the book company was on the verge of bankruptcy during the economic crisis, but since it was acquired by Zhou, it has quickly turned a profit." "The Rise of a Great Power", "Gone with the Wind", "Titanic", "The Talmud – Why Jews Can Become Monopoly", "The Nalesa", "The Grapes of Wrath", and most recently, "The Little Prince", as well as a series of best-selling pocket books. Zhou's book company is already ranked fourth in the U.S. publishing industry, and I heard that there are plans to go public next year. ”

"It's actually the fourth in the United States, is it so powerful?" Song Meiling was quite surprised by this.

Song Meiling didn't translate these conversations, and Chang Kaishen naturally didn't understand them, but he didn't say anything, just sat on the chair and slowly tasted lemon tea.

A minute passed, and Zhou Hexuan came to the garden.

The two Yankees immediately stood up to greet them, and Song Meiling introduced: "Mingcheng, this is Mr. Wendell Wilkie, the leader of the international wing of the Republican Party in the United States, and this is Mr. Mike Cowles, the founder of the American "Prospect" magazine. ”

"Welcome to China." Zhou Hexuan smiled.

Zhou Hexuan was thunderous about Wilkie's name, and the last time he went to the United States, Wilkie's name was everywhere in the newspapers. This guy was a super dark horse in the 1940 U.S. election, killing a bunch of opponents to become the Republican nominee, and only lost until he bumped into Roosevelt.

Wilkie, a former Democrat who represented the interests of Wall Street, colluded with lawmakers to veto many of Roosevelt's proposals. In order to run for president, he simply jumped ship to the Republican Party, which belongs to the kind of politician who is 100 percent, not a politician.

Chang Kaishen didn't ask Zhou Hexuan what he was doing, and Zhou Hexuan didn't mention the Henan disaster in front of the Yankees.

Everyone drank lemon tea and talked and laughed, as if war and famine did not exist.

PS: I originally wanted to write until 1949, but I couldn't write a lot of things, and the more I wrote, the more I lost my passion. The book may end early, probably until 1945, and the aforementioned Li Xianglan will not appear.