Volume 2: The crown and the hat are all over the capital, and the spirit is full of energy and enter the foggy city Chapter 20 Crowdfunding
Subtitle of this chapter: I really want to write a time-travel novel that starts in Paris, France in 1920! How about a crowdfunding campaign?
“We demand the right to study!”
…
“We want the right to work!”
…
“We want the right to survive!”
…
Ten hours later, in front of the Republic of China's embassy in Paris, a dozen well-dressed girls stood at the front of a team of three or four hundred people, leading the way in shouting slogans. These pleasing-looking young girls not only boosted the morale of the male students, but also amazed the French police who were maintaining order nearby and the reporters who came to inquire.
Among them were two female heroes who left their names in history. They were also sisters-in-law, Xiang Jingyu and Cai Chang. Their husband and brother was one of the organizers of the demonstration, Cai Hesen.
After the end of World War I, the "Work-Study in France" movement flourished in various parts of China under the encouragement of the Sino-French Education Association founded by Cai Yuanpei and Wu Zhihui. More than 1,600 students came to France from the Sino-French Education Association alone. However, a large number of young students who came to France with hope soon fell into a situation where they could not get admission, find it difficult to find a job, and even have difficulty in living.
The Sino-French Educational Association issued a notice in January 1921, declaring that it would sever economic ties with the students who came to France, which put the Chinese students in an extremely difficult situation. Thus, there was the "February 28" student movement.
At this time, he was standing in the back row of the team, discussing the reception list with the core members of the "Mondani faction" in Mandarin with a Hunan accent.
The Mondani Group refers to the group of Chinese students who often hold open-air seminars in the Mondani Park in Paris. They are all extraordinary people...
"I will definitely go. Li Weihan will go, Wang Zekai will go... let's just have eleven representatives."
Li and Wang were fellow Hunanese of Cai Hesen and were also members of the New Citizen Society.
However, Li Weihan would later become the head of the United Front Work Department of the Communist Party of China. Wang Zekai, who had followed Chen Duxiu, was a Trotskyist, and became Chen Mingren's staff member during the Anti-Japanese War, was sentenced to five years in prison in 1958 for "historical fan of the revolution" and eventually died in a labor camp.
Fate plays tricks on me, but it never deceives me.
After appointing the student representatives, Cai Hesen said to the two young men beside him, "Ren Zhi, Zhong Hong, you guys stay outside to maintain order."
"Okay." Li Renzhi spoke in Changsha-accented Mandarin. Later, he became Cai Hesen's brother-in-law. By the way, his original name was Li Fuchun.
"That's right." This Sichuan man is only 19 years old, but he is experienced in his work and speaks clearly, so he was also appointed by Cai Hesen as the temporary commander-in-chief.
In fact, his last name was Chen... Yes, he was the Marshal Chen who would later say "I will go to Quan Tai to recruit my old subordinates, and with a hundred thousand flags I will kill Yama Luo."
Oops, our Master Yuan may have gone to the wrong place. Given his trouble-making personality, it would be better for him to go to Paris in 1920 than to New York in 1920.
Anyway, a time traveler like him would never become an unlucky guy like Wang Zekai. He is definitely a proletarian revolutionary.
After Cai Hesen arranged these matters, he took ten other representatives to the Chinese Embassy in France to negotiate with Minister Chen Lu...
Chen Lu (1877-1939), courtesy name Renxian and pseudonym Zhishi, was a native of Fuzhou, Fujian. He was the first Chinese student to obtain a bachelor's degree in law in France. Unfortunately, he lost his integrity in his later years. In 1938, he defected to Japan, became a traitor, and served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the pseudo-Reform Government. In 1939, he was assassinated by a military agent.
After several rounds of negotiations between the representatives of the Chinese students studying in France and the embassy, the embassy received a reply from the Beijing government stating that the national treasury was currently extremely tight and that students in France who had no money or jobs would have to be sent back to their country one by one, and the government had instructed the embassy to handle the matter.
This infuriated the students, and the group outside shouted slogans and attacked the embassy. Chen Lu had to invite French police to maintain order. Fortunately, Xiang Jingyu, Cai Chang, Chen Yi and Li Fuchun were clear-headed and "dispersed as soon as they were driven away", so there was no bloodshed. However, their four leaders were arrested by the police.
In the end, Chen Lu was forced to extend the living expenses for students for three months, and the Sino-French Education Association also agreed to continue finding jobs for unemployed students. The French government promised to establish a "Juvenile Guardianship Committee" to be responsible for contacting and arranging students' labor and living assistance, and released the four people on the spot.
The "February 28" Movement ended successfully..
However, the living conditions of Chinese students studying in France were still very difficult after this. Fortunately, we have Master Yuan on this timeline, so a generous "Brother Zhuang" immediately appeared.
These students studying in France were hungry and cold, and they had to protest in the streets for their studies and work. However, there was a student studying in the United States who had a luxurious house and even had two beautiful ladies to warm his bed at night.
This is why there are so many proletarian revolutionaries among the former, while the latter stride forward along the golden road of the masters of neoclassical liberalism.
Tuesday, March 1, 1921.
Yuan Yan suddenly got up from his peaceful life before eight o'clock. After having breakfast and tidying up, he asked Zhuang Kunlun to drive him to the World building next to Hyde Park.
Instead of going to the NYPR floor, he went into the offices of Le Monde.
"Neo, good morning."
"Good morning, Emma. By the way, my guest commentator article is due."
Miss Pulitzer took it and saw that the title was "On Wilson's False Pacifism and Its Lessons for World History."
She said with a smile: "Neo, you should know that he almost fainted after reading your last article "The Mission of the Bourgeoisie and Wilson's Fake Pacifism", and you are still writing?!"
Yuan Yan shrugged and said, "Emma, we Seres people always pay attention to starting and ending things. I will definitely not be able to finish this series of political commentaries if I don't write the ninth one. Anyway, President Wilson will become former President Wilson in a few days, and this is the last one."
Emma said worriedly, "Neo, many people have written to us and used very harsh words against you as an author. You should be careful about your own safety."
"Yes." Master Yuan nodded and said, "Thank you for your concern. I came here for this purpose and I also made an appointment with your father."
"Oh, do you have any new ideas?" Miss Pulitzer asked with interest, her beautiful eyes lit up when she heard this.
Master Yuan did not hide anything and said directly: "Let me reveal an exclusive news to you first. Mr. David Pulitzer is about to start shooting a sound film, and the script is written by me."
Emma suddenly realized and said, "I see, you want to advertise here. This will indeed divert public attention."
"It's definitely to divert public attention." Yuan Yan explained patiently, "But I approached you, Le Monde, and NYPR to organize a crowd funding..."
"Ah, Neo. What are you crowdfunding for?"
"Of course it's for this movie 'Orphan of Famine'!"
