The winter of 1946 was very cold, and it can be regarded as a "cold winter" on a global scale.

Britain has experienced one of the worst snowfalls of the 20th century, turning the whole of Britain into a snow country, and even the British railways have been massively disrupted.

The situation in France is better, but snowfall is rare in many places, which makes it difficult for French people who are used to the comfortable climate to adapt. The situation is worse in Germany and Poland, which were already badly damaged by the war, and now the "cold winter" has made them even worse.

North America was also hit by severe cold, with the whole of Canada covered in snow, and the lowest temperature ever recorded in North America was minus 63 degrees Celsius.

Cold winters are the natural enemy of many sports, and sub-zero degrees Celsius temperatures and snow-covered fields are all telling athletes to stay indoors.

Due to the weather, the football and baseball leagues had to postpone some games, and some of the fields were covered with knee-thick snow, and the players simply couldn't run smoothly.

In the future of the United States, there are many indoor football and baseball fields, and the new home games of the NFL are all indoor, but in the forties, the United States did not have such conditions, and in the event of extremely bad weather, outdoor games had to be suspended.

Basketball games are played indoors and the situation is better, but the blizzard has affected traffic in the United States, and many fans have given up on the plan to attend the game.

The biggest beneficiary should be the sport of ice hockey, but unfortunately the hockey league NHL doesn't plan to expand their league.

During World War II, the NHL league was relatively miserable, with only six teams left struggling to support, two Canadian teams, and four American teams, which is the so-called Original Six, and for more than two decades, these six teams were the only teams in the NHL. It wasn't until 1967 that the NHL league ushered in a major expansion.

The slow expansion was also the main reason why the NHL was eventually defeated by the NBA, which was founded in 1917 and had a good hand no less than the NFL in football, but eventually became the bottom of the four major leagues in North America.

Television sets have gradually entered thousands of households, TV programs are no longer only one channel, many small broadcasters are also trying to set up television stations, such as the national broadcasting company, such behemoths are not satisfied with staying in New York, and have begun to set up television stations in other big cities.

In the 40s, there was no satellite transmission of television signals, and the best way for TV stations to broadcast TV programs in different places was to set up a TV station in another city, build a TV signal tower, produce TV programs, and then broadcast them on different channels. This is like a broadcasting company, there are many local stations, and the local stations operate independently without interfering with each other.

This is obviously good news for the broadcast of basketball games, as local television stations can broadcast basketball games in their own cities, so that teams such as the Boston Celtics and the Washington Congress have also been put on TV screens.

Not long after Christmas, Chen Qiang received another invitation from the White House to attend the inauguration ceremony and celebration dinner of the new US secretary of state.

The new Secretary of State of the United States is none other than George Cartlett Marshall, and it is precisely because Marshall came to power that he became Secretary of State of the United States that there was the Marshall Plan that revived Europe.

The U.S. Secretary of State is in charge of the U.S. Department of State, and the U.S. Department of State is the largest foreign affairs of the U.S. government, but the U.S. State Department doesn't care about the livelihood of the U.S. people, they are mainly responsible for foreign affairs, so the U.S. Secretary of State is equivalent to the U.S. Foreign Minister. Nine times out of ten, the person who often makes irresponsible remarks about other countries in the news is the US Secretary of State.

……

At the inauguration dinner of the Secretary of State, Chen Qiang came early, and as soon as he walked into the banquet hall, he saw the future President of the United States, John F. Kennedy.

"John, oh no, it should be called Congressman Kennedy by now!" Chen Qiang greeted Kennedy with a smile.

In last year's midterm elections, Kennedy successfully ran for the House of Representatives, knowing that Kennedy was only 29 years old, and he started his political career as a congressman at such a young age. It's just that compared with Marshall, the US secretary of state, Kennedy's House of Representatives is much less weighty, and there is no special inauguration ceremony and no large-scale inauguration dinner.

Kennedy, who had just become a member of the House of Representatives, had a smug expression on his face and began to talk to Chen Qiang.

"By the way, Chen, you are Chinese, so I have to remind you that if you have the opportunity to talk to Secretary Marshall, don't talk about your country, this is a topic that Marshall does not want to hear." Kennedy spoke.

"Why?" Chen Qiang asked puzzled. This secretary of state is in charge of foreign affairs, so isn't the matter related to your country exactly the scope of Marshall's business?

Kennedy lowered his voice and continued: "Secretary of State Marshall has just experienced a defeat in your country, some time ago, he has been 'mediating' in your country, hoping to avoid the outbreak of war, but failed, although the White House and congressmen know that the responsibility for the failure of mediation does not lie with Marshall, mainly because the contradictions within your country can no longer be reconciled, but Marshall still feels that this is a stain on his political career!" Now that Marshall has taken office as secretary of state with a stain, he naturally does not want anyone to bring up this matter. ”

"I see, thank you for the reminder." Chen Qiang nodded in realization.

The United States had just signed a trade agreement with China and was planning to dump a large number of goods into China, and of course the United States needed a peaceful and stable China at this time, so that American goods could be sold, so President Truman sent Marshall to China as a special envoy to China.

At the end of World War II, Marshall submitted his resignation to Truman and resigned from the post of chief of staff of the US General Staff, and Truman also held a farewell ceremony for him at the White House. ”

Ten days later, Truman reneged on his promise. Truman also paid some price in order to invite Marshall out of the mountain, such as the position of US Secretary of State, and the position of future US Secretary of Defense, which is Truman's promise to Marshall.

Eisenhower will succeed Marshall as chief of the US General Staff, MacArthur's arrogant personality is not suitable to be a "peacemaker," Truman's first term was not vice president, and the weight of others was slightly insufficient, so Marshall became the best candidate. Marshall once served as a military commander in the American concession in Tianjin, and he can be regarded as having some understanding of China, and coupled with his status as a five-star general in the United States, it is most suitable for him to do "mediation" with China.

Unfortunately, the "mediation" failed, and Marshall had no choice but to return to the United States, and then sat in the position of secretary of state. If it is a victory and then an official is added, it is equivalent to returning to the hometown, of course, people are in good spirits at happy events. But Marshall returned from failure, and when he was added to the rank of knight, he naturally felt a little uncomfortable in his heart, maybe others looked at him a few more times, and he felt that it was a mockery. If anyone talks about China in front of Marshall, it is more like revealing Marshall's scars!

A moment later, Ambassador Gu in the United States also appeared in the banquet hall, and after seeing Chen Qiang, Ambassador Gu immediately pulled Chen Qiang to his side.

"Chen Qiang, are you familiar with Marshall?" Ambassador Gu asked.

Chen Qiang shook his head: "I'm not familiar with it at all, I haven't said a few words at all." ”

Ambassador Gu nodded with some disappointment: "That's a pity, I originally hoped that you could help me say a few kind words in front of Marshall!" ”

"Do you have something to ask Marshall?" Chen Qiang asked.

An order was sent from China asking me to get as much military aid as I could from the Americans, if it was a loan. Ambassador Gu spoke.

"Military aid is probably unlikely, the Americans have just experienced a big war, they have sacrificed millions of people, and now they don't want to get involved in the war again, there were several anti-war activities in New York a few days ago, and the Americans really don't want to go to war now. From US President Harry S. Truman to members of Congress, there should be no one who supports the United States getting involved in the war again. Chen Qiang said.

"I also know what you said, it is unlikely that the Americans will send troops! So my main thing is that I hope that the Americans can provide some more weapons, ammunition and military training, and if they are willing to provide loans, let us buy weapons. Ambassador Gu spoke.

"How much loan are you going to take?" Chen Qiang asked.

"Billion!" Ambassador Gu replied.

"Billion? Dollars? Chen Qiang's mouth opened wide in surprise.

"To borrow money from Americans, of course, you have to borrow US dollars, and it is difficult to borrow fiat currency!" Ambassador Gu spoke.

"I said, Ambassador Gu, do you really think that the money of the Americans fell from the sky. Back then, I accompanied Mr. Hu Shi to Roosevelt to borrow money, and I had to wear out my mouth to borrow 20 million US dollars, but you are good, a mouth is a billion US dollars! Are you wronged to be an American? Chen Qiang said.

"I also know that this is a lion's big mouth, and it is impossible for Americans to really lend us a billion dollars, but there is a saying that the price is sky-high, and the money is repaid on the ground, let's shout out the price first, and the Americans can give as much as they want. And all this money is used to buy weapons with the Americans, and the Americans do not suffer losses. Ambassador Gu spoke.

"Ambassador Gu, you really shocked me, your lion's mouth is too open! I really can't help you with this. Chen Qiang sighed lightly, and then said: "But I also suggest that you don't talk about this matter with Marshall, at least not today." ”

"Why?" Ambassador Gu asked.

"It's not that Nanjing offended Marshall, people went all the way to 'mediate', but they returned in vain, you are the ambassador to the United States, on behalf of the official, and now he definitely doesn't want to deal with you, I think you better don't touch this mold." Chen Qiang opened his mouth to persuade.

Ambassador Gu is an old diplomat after all, and he didn't need Chen Qiang to elaborate on it, he understood the reason for it at the first time, and knew that he could uncover Marshall's scars at this time.

"Thank you for reminding me, if I have the opportunity to talk to Marshall in a while, I will only talk about Fengyue, not about state affairs." Ambassador Gu opened his mouth and thanked him.

Looking at the back of Ambassador Gu's departure, Chen Qiang sighed helplessly.

During Ambassador Gu's tenure as ambassador to the United States, his main job was to ask the Americans for assistance in a different way, and Ambassador Gu asked for a lot of money each time, all of which were in the unit of "100 million", which also made him a very annoying figure in Washington. It's normal to think about it, someone is dangling in front of your house twice a day to ask for money, even the brothers will feel annoyed.

As for the formulation of China's diplomatic strategy towards the United States, there is basically nothing to do with Ambassador Gu, first, because Ambassador Gu has a background in Beiyang after all, which makes it impossible for him to enter the core of foreign policymaking; Second, because of the existence of the US ambassador to China, Situ Leiden, he directly went to Situ Leiden for anything in China, and there was no need for Ambassador Gu to exert his efforts on the US side.

……

In 1947, the racial segregation policy of African-American residents in the United States was somewhat relaxed.

In February, an African-American journalist named Percival Pradis was allowed to enter the press section of the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate, becoming the first black journalist ever to visit the U.S. Congress.

This issue has caused a lot of controversy in the United States, and some Americans have affirmed the role of African Americans in World War II, arguing that African Americans should be given more power, including the policy of dismantling; There are also those who argue that African-Americans should not be given more power, especially in the southern part of the country, where the reaction has been the most violent.

And in April, MLB welcomed its first African-American player, Jackie Robinson, to the Brooklyn Dodgers. He was also the first African-American to enter the four major North American sports leagues.

Chen Qiang saw the news and the introduction of Jackie Robinson on the sports news, and recalled that during the Berlin Olympics that year, he once faced an opponent named Mike Robinson, and that person was Jackie Robinson's brother.

"We've got black players in the MLB big leagues, and we seem to be a step late in basketball. Basketball is a great sport for black athletes! ”

Thinking of this, Chen Qiang picked up the phone and dialed the phone number of Edward Ireland.

"Were there any African-American players in last year's NBA draft?" Chen Qiang asked.

"Nope." Edward Ireland affirmed.

"Do you think there will be African-American players coming to our draft this year?" Chen Qiang then asked.

Edward Ireland thought for a moment and said, "I don't think it will be, basketball is a very mental and skill-testing sport, and African-Americans are only physically stronger, but as for their brains and skills, I'm afraid they are not so good." Even if a player of African descent does run, he will not be selected. ”

What Edward Ireland said, and it is also the common perception of white Americans about blacks in this era, that is, in addition to being physically strong, everything else is iron.

Chen Qiang said straight to the point: "You help me investigate whether there are any outstanding African American players in the university." ”

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