As Song Ziwen and others expected, Sun Zhongshan had just passed away, and many newspapers began to criticize him.

Shanghai's "Shishi Xinbao" published the following spicy comment: "Sun Wen died today, but in fact, the deceased is just his body, and as for his spirit, I think he has been dead for a long time." ”

The newspapers in Peking were more direct and sharp, and in the midst of grief and remembrance, there were many unfavorable comments against Sun Zhongshan.

These newspapers did not negate Sun Zhongshan's achievements in overthrowing the Qing government, nor did they erase his contributions to the country, and they attacked Sun Zhongshan for his cooperation with the Soviet Union.

Beginning in 1923, Sun Zhongshan thought about it and formulated a line for uniting the Soviet Union.

This policy he pursued in his later years has been criticized and questioned by many people, and even there are different voices within the Guangzhou Nationalist Government, but this voice has been strongly suppressed by Sun Zhongshan.

With his passing, these voices inevitably reappeared.

The newspapers criticized Sun Zhongshan for wanting to bring down imperialism and not to give in to foreign powers, but for cooperating with the Soviet Union.

They believed that Sun Zhongshan had placed China's hopes on the Soviet Union and that it was not feasible to pursue Soviet policies.

Most of these newspapers were bourgeois in nature, supported by warlords and politicians, and represented a side of power, and at this time, it was natural to spare no effort to destroy Sun Zhongshan's reputation.

The so-called conclusion of the coffin refers to the fact that a person's merits and merits can not be concluded until after death.

Before Sun Zhongshan was buried, these people jumped out impatiently to criticize Sun Zhongshan, with their own interests.

First of all, the Beiyang government was worried about Sun Zhongshan's prestige among the people, and the confrontation between the Beiyang government and the Guangzhou Nationalist government was still in the stage of confrontation. The Beiyang government will never give up the power in its hands.

The second is the wariness of many Chinese politicians against the Soviet Union, especially the forces supported by Western countries.

Lin Zixuan didn't want to get involved in the whirlpool of politics. But I had to do something.

He felt that there was no need to rush to judge Sun Zhongshan's merits, and there would be time in the future. This practice violates Chinese etiquette and is extremely disrespectful to the dead.

He left the front pages of the Evening World and the World Journal blank and wrote only two lines in bold letters.

"Mr. Sun Zhongshan, immortal."

This was the case for seven consecutive days, until Sun Zhongshan's coffin was transferred to Central Park on the 19th.

Sun Zhongshan overthrew more than 2,000 years of feudal rule in China and established the earliest republic in Asia, which deserves this comment.

He also expressed his opinion within the Crescent Society and the Modern Critics.

"I think the evaluation of Sun Zhongshan can be put aside for a while. His contribution to this country is obvious to all and deserves respect, there is no need to close the coffin so quickly, right and wrong will naturally be commented on by future generations. ”

The Crescent Society and the Modern Critics were looser organizations, leaning towards bourgeois liberals.

Many people did not agree with Sun Zhongshan's proposition, and Lin Zixuan did not want to force them to listen to their opinions, but just asked them to wait and say, in this period, mourning is the mainstay.

Although his opinion was not accepted by everyone, it also affected some.

In this wave of criticism of Sun Zhongshan. The Crescent Society and the Modern Critics were not very involved.

Lin Zixuan published a long article in the newspaper, mainly talking about Sun Zhongshan's contribution to China, and at the end of the article, he quoted a sentence from Sima Qian's "Report to Ren Shaoqing".

"Man is born dead. Either heavier than Mount Tai, or lighter than Hongmao, Mr. died for the country and the people. It's heavier than Tarzan. ”

On March 19, Sun Zhongshan's coffin was transferred to Central Park. For condolences.

There is no point in Lin Zixuan continuing to stay, everything that needs to be done has been done. I thought about returning to Shanghai.

Song Ziwen expressed his gratitude to Lin Zixuan on behalf of the Guangzhou National Government and put Lin Zixuan on the train.

He knew that Lin Zixuan was not interested in politics, and this time he was able to use his influence to defend Sun Zhongshan, which was beyond personal friendship.

Lin Zixuan got on the train and looked at the city in grief.

He had a hunch that the criticism of Sun Zhongshan was just an introduction, and that this turmoil would not be so easy to calm down, and that it might become more and more intense, and whether or not to unite with the Soviet Union was related to the path China would take in the future.

Lin Zixuan returned to Shanghai, and various condolence activities were also held in Shanghai.

These include the construction of Shanghai's Zhongshan Park, the casting of bronze statues, and preparations for a large-scale memorial meeting in April.

He reiterated his views and asked the newspapers and magazines under the Vientiane Book Company to open a commemorative special issue, which did not talk about tendencies, but only about Sun Zhongshan's life.

In the Shanghai Concession, there was more freedom of speech, and reports criticizing Sun Zhongshan were frequently reported.

It's just that Shanghai is not Beiping, the political atmosphere is not strong, and most readers are not interested in political commentary, so it has little impact.

Shanghai's literary scene is relatively calm, most of them post some nostalgic articles, and then continue to write their own novels and live their own lives, the city has its own pace.

The clouds of war gradually dissipated, the Feng army withdrew from Shanghai, and all walks of life in Shanghai began to prepare for the establishment of the Songhu Special City, demanding local autonomy.

On March 21, Zhang Junmai and others drafted the Songhu Special City Convention.

The convention stipulates that the special city shall be an autonomous body, and shall administer all affairs of Shanghai in accordance with the convention, and its main functions include the protection of local security, the development of urban and rural transportation, the improvement of municipal and rural autonomy, the promotion of public health, the development of citizens' intelligence, and the establishment of model cities and villages.

It's an interesting thing.

Because of Shanghai's special geographical location, the concession and the Chinese border are connected, and the Chinese and foreign borders are mixed, there have always been calls for autonomy.

The so-called autonomy, as the name suggests, means that Shanghainese people build Shanghai, and Shanghainese people manage Shanghai.

That is, under the condition of not violating the major policies of the state, they are relatively independent administratively and have the right to handle their own affairs.

This call existed in the last years of the Qing Dynasty.

Shanghai is a city of immigrants that has become an international metropolis after decades of opening.

People from various provinces in China have gradually formed the main consciousness of Shanghai people and their belonging to Shanghai society.

The unique economic and political structure of Shanghai society has created a group of local elites with strong economic power and great social influence, and the influence and control of these elites in Shanghai have exceeded the influence of the government to a certain extent.

This is the basis of Shanghai's autonomy.

In the last years of the Qing Dynasty, with the increasing stimulation of the concession municipal government to the Chinese community and the formation of the trend of local autonomy, the Shanghai gentry and merchants initiated local autonomy and established institutions to promote the cause of self-government.

In 1911, elites from all walks of life in Shanghai successively established the Shanghai Chengxiang Autonomous Office and the Shanghai Municipal Hall.

After the Xinhai Revolution, the Shanghai Military Governor's Office became the main military and political institution controlling the Shanghai area, and the administrative power of the Shanghai area was actually in the hands of the warlords.

In 1924, the two Jiangsu-Zhejiang wars devastated Shanghai, and in order to prevent a recurrence of the wars, the calls for local autonomy from all walks of life in Shanghai became louder and louder.

They demanded that Shanghai remain neutral, not participate in warlord warfare, and create an environment for peaceful development in Shanghai. (To be continued.) )