1. Chapter 3 of the Covenant

It's amazing, back to No. 26 Tai Wo Street, it's like returning to your own home.

Friends who got the phone called, and the first thing they said when they met was, almost: Ah, I'm back! It's back! Looking back and seeing Liqun, it is almost the same: live up to the mission and succeed! A big success!

Chen Cheng was in Hankou for a meeting that night, and he also arrived.

I put forward three conditions to him: (1) the work plan was proposed by us, and it should not be restricted under the principle of the first resistance of the war; (2) There should be relative freedom in personnel matters; (3) The operating expenses should be determined, and the budget should be proposed by us.

Chen Cheng replied very simply and complied with each one.

I asked him: How much can I spend on my business? Please indicate a scope so that there is a standard for budgeting.

He hesitated and refused to say a certain amount, but after thinking about it, he replied: "There are two fewer soldiers in the Wehrmacht, you will always be enough, right?"

He seemed generous in his words, indicating that he realized that the power of propaganda was worth at least two Wehrmacht. At that time, the monthly fee of a soldier of the Kuomintang was about 400,000 yuan.

With that, I agreed to start preparing. Please give me a month to start on April 1st.

"It's not going to be a joke about 'Fool's Day', is it?" He humorously said this.

"Heha, April 1st is the Day of Ten Thousand Fools." I laughed too, "But it doesn't matter, I said it today, not on April 1st, and I will never break my word." ”

It just so happened that Zhou Gong also came. They also talked about the issue of the Steering Committee. Chen Cheng said that he was ready to hire Zhu Jiahua, Wang Shijie, Chen Bui, Tan Pingshan, and Chen Lifu; A special explanation is added under Chen Lifu's name: Because Lifu is the director of the Sixth Division, the predecessor of the Political Department.

We recommended Shen Junru to him

, Chen Mingshu, and Kong Geng, who had not yet become a diehard. Later, he only hired Chen Mingshu and avoided Shen Hekong.

Zhou Gong said to him: Didn't you say before that you wanted to hire Mo Ruo as a member of the steering committee?

I preemptively said: I am now your subordinate, and I can no longer guide you.

Chen Cheng also hurriedly said: Then we won't ask you for guidance.

2. Personnel and planning

The organization of the Department of Political Affairs, the following regulations are two for each department and three sections for each department. Therefore, Yang Hansheng, the chief secretary, and I could only arrange personnel and plans according to this kind of establishment at the beginning.

The fifth department (according to the general subdivisions of Departments I, II and III) we decided that it would be in charge of mobilization. The first section was mainly responsible for compilation, the second section was responsible for the popular movement, and the third section was responsible for general affairs and printing.

The third section asked Yin Boxiu to serve as the section chief. In addition, the director and the other two section chiefs, we asked Heng Lao (Shen Junru) to find and weigh the candidates, and the end result was Hu Yuzhi as the director, Xu Shouxuan (on behalf of the Northeast Salvation Association) as the first section chief, and Zhang Zhirang as the second section chief.

The sixth department is in charge of art promotion. The first section is for drama music, the second is for film production, and the third is for painting and woodcut.

The director of this department is Tian Shouchang, who mobilized Hong Shenlai to be the first section chief and Xu Beihong to be the third section chief. Only the Film Production and Distribution Section is due to the inheritance of the former Wuhan Xingying Political Training Office, and Zheng Yongzhi, director of the China Film Studio, is also the head of the second section.

On the way to organize, he suddenly received a "supreme" warrant to set up a new propaganda office against the enemy, which would be under the jurisdiction of the third department, so a seventh department was added to the third department. Director, we originally wanted to ask Yu Dafu to take the position, but at that time he was far away in Fujian, and he couldn't wait for the work, so we had to ask Fan Shoukang to take the post instead.

The seventh section is also divided into three sections, as usual. The first section management design and Japanese translation were performed by Du Shousu. The second section is in charge of international intelligence, which is held by Dong Weijian. The third section is in charge of Japanese production, which is served by Feng Naichao.

This group of section chiefs and section chiefs, as well as many section members, such as Shi Dongshan, Ying Yunwei, Ma Yanxiang, Xian Xinghai, Zhang Shu...... Almost all of them are well-known cultural people, and their status is quite high. Just like Dr. Dong Weijian, ordinary people may not know very well, he once served as the director of the Hunan Provincial Department of Education. As the head of the department, he became the section chief, and it can be said that he was demoted to two levels.

When such a list was drawn up, to be honest, even I was a little unconvinced: would all these gentlemen come to work? However, as a result, except for Xu Beihong, there was no problem without exception. This incident alone was enough to make Chen Cheng satisfied and surprised. But it was not only Chen Cheng who was surprised, but the entire Political Department and the entire Kuomintang party officials who looked at Xiao Shen.

Besides, even Xu Beihong's refusal to participate is also such an interjection.

Xu Beihong, who was living in Chongqing at the time, received a notice from Shouchang and soon rushed to Wuhan. But he went the wrong way, he didn't come to us in the epiphany, but went to the headquarters of the Political Department. I received a call from the headquarters and rushed to see him, and it was just when I was having lunch that I saw him sitting alone in Chen Cheng's office.

We weren't very acquainted, and Shouchang also crossed the river at that time. As soon as we met, I felt that the tone was a little different, and Xu Beihong showed a face that was not very pleasant. I told him about the situation and tactfully asked him for help. Beihong said: I'm not going to be an official, I'm going to Guangxi, and it's okay to hang my name if you want to. He even added this sentence: My name will be used, and it will not be used badly. I was a little surprised. I persuaded him to go and find Shouchang together. He said that he should be in a hurry to get on the train and not go. So we had to break up.

This made me a little confused. But it's not that I can't understand: isn't this the same as my departure from Changsha? I speculated: Beihong may have been insulted. In fact, the anger of the "revolutionary" yamen was even more uncomfortable than that of the feudal yamen. Seeing that Chen Cheng invited him into the minister's room, of course, he also expressed his respect. But this homage is clearly not enough. No matter how busy he is, why not send a car to take him to the Epiphany, but leave him alone? It was not easy to invite someone to invite, but I was swept away by a strange anger.

3. Epiphany forest

Epiphany Forest is in the northwest corner of Wuchang City, opposite Wenhua University. The place is very large, there are many houses, but the buildings are very old, and the red paint is almost blackened. As the name suggests, it was probably a Buddhist building in the past, right? I haven't had the time to test this paragraph. When the Political Department was first established, it was the main department. It can only be reached through a narrow and long back street, which can barely pass by a small car. The adults were disgusted by the inconvenience of transportation, so they soon moved in. So such a large territory was left to us. The scene is really big enough, big enough to run a comprehensive university in it.

Although the place was large, the people of the third hall later filled it with a period of time.

There are more than 300 official quotas in the establishment of various departments, sections and secretarial offices. In addition to the subsidiary teams: the Children's Theater Troupe, the Anti-Japanese War Propaganda Team 4 teams, the Anti-Enemy Drama Team 10 teams, the Comic Propaganda Team 1, as well as the employees, public servants, guards, etc. of various departments and departments, the total number of people is about 2,000. In addition, a few hundred of the studio's crew and five teams of film projection crews were stationed in Janssen Gardens in Hankow, which has not yet been counted.

There is a lot of open space and a lot of trees around. When the affiliated team was receiving short-term training, the open space sometimes became a playground, sometimes a theater, and the sound of string songs was playing loudly almost all day long. Our gate is not strict, and outsiders can come and go at will. Those who don't know may think it's a playground.

But this secluded place soon became the target of enemy bombing. When enemy planes attack, they often drop bombs around, which also causes a lot of casualties.

The opposite side of Wenhua University is a church school. Because they were too close to each other for fear of disaster, they drew a large flower flag on the roof of each house as a protection. At that time, the air raids of the Japanese invaders were not very powerful, and all the air defense equipment was a bit close to child's play. In the epiphany forest, the headquarters of the Political Department also left us some air-raid rooms, which were built of red bricks like tombs in the open space. That would only prevent some fragments from spreading.

Therefore, whenever there is an air raid, many people refuse to enter the air raid room, and take shelter under trees or houses at will. But there are also a very small number of people who run to Wenhua University, and the bold ones are ridiculed as "running the concession".

Unfortunately, one of the "concession runners" suffered. Once, a large classroom at Wenhua University was shot in the head, and many people were killed, including one of our senior staff members close to the Kuomintang.

On another occasion, a willow tree outside a nearby city was shot. Several public servants were hiding under the tree, all of whom were killed. I've been to see it. Two of them had their brains blown away, leaving only an empty shell. The goal of that ** is, of course, the epiphany.

The lives of these people are really a bit similar to "Epiphany", but Epiphany Forest itself is long-lived, and the enemy bomb has not hit once.

Fourth, the children's troupe

The children's troupe belongs to the third hall, which was completed in preparation, and I think it is the most satisfying thing.

This troupe was formed by a group of children in a refugee shelter in Shanghai after the "August 13th". There are people from almost every province, the oldest is only fifteen or sixteen years old, and the youngest is only eight or nine years old, some are male and some are female. Each of them has some twists and turns, and if someone writes them out one by one, it can become a side history of the Anti-Japanese War. It's a pity that people are scattered early now, and the data is also scattered. But some children have become university professors or steel warriors today, and that is a consolation.

When the troupe was in Shanghai, it used to do a lot of work, either on the radio or in various shelters on a rotational basis. Therefore, there was a period when Liqun also had a close relationship with them. It was indeed a collection of gifted children, with strong organizational skills, high efficiency, and resourcefulness, and could adapt to all kinds of harsh environments.

After Shanghai became an isolated island, they broke into pieces and escaped with the children of refugees. After passing through Xuzhou, Kaifeng, Xinzheng and other places, he fled to Wuhan. I was in Changsha when they fled to Wuhan. They first asked the city **, the city party department, and the anti-enemy support committee to be recruited, but those party elders and officials wanted to disband them and distribute them to the refugee shelters in various places. This, they are unwilling to die. Just when my survival was at stake, I came back from Changsha. They came to me for a way. It is incumbent upon us to solve this problem, and it seems to me that it is more urgent than the organization of the Third Hall.

For this matter, I went to Chen Cheng and suggested that the Political Department should take over the organization and use it as a propaganda unit under the Third Department. Chen Cheng agreed. This is the end of the problem. However, there were some minor twists and turns in the future. The decision was presented at a ministerial meeting to report, and some people were in trouble.

Zhang Lisheng said: What will those dolls who play monkey play do! It would be nice to have some subsidies from the ministry to install them in the various elementary schools.

Kang Ze said: To be co-opted, it can only be used as a people's organization, and it should be under the jurisdiction of the Second Department.

But Chen Cheng probably maintained the original proposal in order to maintain his prestige.

In this way, the Children's Theatre Troupe was able to belong to the first section of the sixth department of the third hall and became an excellent propaganda unit for us.

They have always managed themselves, working and learning at the same time, and they are not slacking off at all. They have done a lot of work in Wuhan, Changsha, Hengyang, and Guilin. Walking from Guilin to Chongqing, he worked along the way and left a good impression. After arriving in Chongqing, he also went to many counties in southern and northern Sichuan to play an exemplary role. However, in the course of time, it was gradually restricted, persecuted, isolated, and destroyed, and finally disbanded. That's all for later, and I can only hint at it here.

Fifth, Mr. and Mrs. Lu Digan

When I was in **, once in the elevator of a hotel in Kowloon, Chen Yanqiao handed me a note. It was written by Lu Jiwa, saying that he was persecuted by the enemy in Shanghai, and had fled to ** with his wife Sachiko Ikeda, but there was no life, and he asked me to think of something for them.

I was so sorry that I couldn't think of anything, and I didn't even reply to the letter.

However, during the period of preparation for the third hall, it was necessary to engage in propaganda against the enemy, which made me feel that it was a good job opportunity in Ludi.

Once, at lunch at Chen Cheng's mansion, I told him: In order to do a good job in propaganda against the enemy, it is not enough to rely on a few international students who have returned from Japan, and we must invite some Japanese friends to help. For example, I myself have been in Japan for 20 years and have lived a similar life as a Japanese, but my Japanese has never reached home.

He began to look a little unconvinced, and said, "You're polite, aren't you?" Anyone who knows Japan, who can pass you? ”

"No, that's not the case." I continued, "In my own experience, anyone who learns a foreign Chinese language must have received a foreigner's primary and secondary education from a young age, so that he can reach home, but such a person may not be Chinese." If you go to a foreign country at the age of 20 to start studying, even if you are old, you may not be able to get home. I'm not happy that some people go to England or the United States, and when they come back in three or two years, they pretend to be amazing. Actually, those are liars! ”

Chen Cheng laughed. He asked me, "Where can I find my Japanese friends?"

I recommended Deer Land. I said: Luchi is a Japanese anti-war writer, graduated from Imperial University, and is the same time as Feng Naichao. He is now persecuted and is living a life of fugitive. I am sure that if we invite him, he will come and will be of great help to us.

Chen Cheng immediately agreed. So he and I jointly sent two telegrams to Guangzhou, one to Xia Yan of the "Salvation Daily" and the other to the then director of security, who was a person from Chen Cheng's system. Ask them to try to escort Lu Diqian and his wife to Wuhan.

There was no hindrance, and after only a week, the Ludi couple arrived safely.

All that remains is the question of their treatment. When Chen Cheng met with them, he discussed this issue with me. I propose to hire Ludi as a member of the design committee. At that time, there was a design committee in the Political Department, and many well-known people were installed, and the carriage and horse expenses were 200 yuan per month. According to Ludi's qualifications, he can certainly be a member of the design committee.

Chen Cheng said: They are two foreigners, and they are afraid that 200 yuan a month will not be enough, so they simply ask both of them to be design committee members.

As a result, this issue of treatment was decided.

There are two types of design committees: the Ministry of Residence and the Department of Residence. Mr. and Mrs. Deer were designated as the latter, and they became de facto advisers to the Third Hall and the Seventh Division.

I'd like to talk a little bit about the aftermath here.

They remained in China for eight years, where they helped a lot in the early propaganda work, but were restricted and persecuted in the later period. That's a shame.

Sixth, typical style

The preparatory work took a month. With the efforts and help of many friends, the entire organizational structure and work plan, as well as various important personnel issues, have been largely resolved. We are sure that we will start the gong on April 1st.

But there is one thing that has never been resolved. That is the last of the three chapters of the covenant: the question of business expenses. I really want to grasp the sentence that Chen Cheng gave me: You can always be enough for two less national defense forces, right?

What I caught, however, was the last question mark (?). ）。

On the basis of the funding of the two defence forces, I asked the heads of the sections and services to draw up their own budgets, which were then combined to form the overall budget of the Office.

It took about two weeks to figure out the budget. The total is $720,000 per month. In fact, this did not exceed the funding of the two F-FDTLs.

After the first lunch in Hankow, I got into Chen Cheng's car and crossed the river together. I handed him two thick budget books with my own hands. He asked me: How many are there? I told me the number, and he just smiled and said, "Let's go back and study it slowly."

This "study" is really "slow" and "slow", and it has not been followed for a long time. After many urgings, I indirectly knew that the number was too large. It is a pity that we only prepared one copy of the two thick budget books for the sake of speed, but did not return them.

The number was too large, so it had to be readapted.

How to adapt the law?

At that time, we thought that the publicity effect of the film was very large, and we planned to set up a second studio in **, so that it could be easily sourced overseas and economical. This was the largest cost in the first budget, and the ministry did not consider it necessary, so of course it had to be deleted. Other jobs are more flexible, with more money to do, less money to do, projects to be retained, fewer to do, and that's it.

But to what extent?

There was still no indication of the standard, so everyone had to figure it out again, and simply turned it over a somersault, changing it from 720,000 to 270,000. In such proportions, under various items that must be preserved, it is cut in a big way.

It took another week or so for the second budget to be prepared. On April 1st, when I left the gong period, there were only a few days left, and I wanted to solve it quickly, so I submitted it directly to Chen Cheng.

This time it was more refreshing, the other party looked at the total, and gave me an answer in person: Don't determine the number, and the temporary expenditure will be paid by the ministry, isn't it good?

"Do you mean it's too much? Funding is uncertain and we have no way to carry out the work. I said this a little unhappily.

He hesitated for a moment, and then asked me: Is it possible to cut it again?

"Of course you can, cut to zero, I'm the happiest, then I'll be liberated."

Chen Cheng laughed again, and he said, "Don't be angry, let me discuss it with Enlai and them again." ”

So the second budget was also condemned to the sea.

This incident is not a blow to me, but a revelation: perfunctory in small places, and not relaxed in big places. This is the typical style of reactionaries!

Let me say a little more about it. The budget of the three offices was not established for a long time after the work began. It was not until the retreat from Wuhan, the fire in Changsha, and the relocation of the Political Department to Hengyang that the budget of more than 40,000 yuan had to be approved. Until then, we had been doing odd jobs. Some self-proclaimed literati, such as Shen Congwen and others, once created rumors about the Third Hall, saying that the Third Hall received huge funds and did not do much work. But some friends said that the work of the Third Hall in the Wuhan era can be summed up in eight words: "vigorous, empty." "Vigorous and vigorous is the revolutionary mood of the masses of the people. It is a pity that the authority to organize the people is not in our hands, but everything is eliminated by the reactionary parties, and the result is only an empty hole.