Chapter 29 first quarter

Just when Tsinghua University was flourishing due to the President's problem, the international situation was also changing in a way similar to nuclear fission in physics.Not long after Ye Qisun returned from Europe, the September 18th Incident occurred; in Europe, Germany and Italy were brewing even greater evils, and a miserable storm in the human world was inevitable.Both Ye Qisun and Mei Yiqi seemed to have heard the sound of disaster approaching. They knew that time was waiting for no one. For the safety of the motherland and the nation, the most urgent task is to train more national salvation talents for the country.Mei Yiqi said at the inauguration ceremony: "Finally, I have to talk about state affairs. China is indeed at a critical juncture, and every member of the nation must care about it. But we must know that there are many ways to save the country. It’s not a matter of one day. We only need to look at the situation of Japan’s plot against China to know. You have all seen Japan’s Tanaka’s countermeasures. If you look at their deliberate efforts, you should know the difficulty of our national salvation. We are now As long as we bear in mind the critical situation of the country, never forget the heavy responsibility of saving the country, and each of us do our best in our own position, the goal of saving the country will naturally be achieved after a certain period of time. We are teachers and students, The best and most practical way to save the country is to dedicate ourselves to academics and create useful talents who will serve the country in the future.” (National Tsinghua University Journal No. 341, December 4, 1931)

In Ye Qisun's chronicle, after the September 18th Incident, the descriptions of the anti-Japanese patriotic activities gradually became more frequent. After the Japanese imperialists devoured the three eastern provinces and established the puppet regime of Manchukuo, they sent troops to occupy Rehe in early 1933 and approached Pingjin.The Nanjing government repeatedly compromised and signed the "Tanggu Agreement" with the Japanese army on May 31. In the summer of 1935, the Japanese aggressors brazenly launched the North China Incident.On the pretext of the assassination of two traitorous newspaper directors in Tianjin and the support of the Sun Yongqin Department of the Anti-Japanese Volunteer Army by the county magistrate of Zunhua County, the Japanese side made various unreasonable demands to the North China authorities of the Kuomintang on May 29, and sent a "Letter of Awareness" on June 11. ", listed various requirements in detail, and proposed that He Yingqin, chairman of the Beiping Army Branch, represent Chiang Kai-shek, and Takahashi Tan, the Japanese military attache in Beiping, represent Umezu Yoshijiro, commander of the Japanese Garrison in North China, to sign the "Letter of Judgment" respectively.Under the intimidation of Japanese force, Chiang Kai-shek compromised again. He Yingqin wrote back to Yoshijiro Umezu on July 6, expressing his "commitment" to all the demands made by the Japanese side.This is what historians call the Homey Agreement. In November, the greedy Japanese invaders actively launched the "North China Autonomy" movement in an attempt to make the five provinces of Hebei, Cha, Shanxi, Sui, and Shandong officially separate from China's territory and become the second puppet Manchukuo.

After the news reached Tsinghua University, everyone was shocked at first, and then they all covered their faces and wept.After Ye Qisun heard the news, he was even more worried, and immediately went to Mei Yiqi to discuss countermeasures.He said excitedly: "China has reached a critical moment of life and death, and we cannot remain silent!" Everyone is responsible for the rise and fall of a country, and Mei Yiqi was also excited: "We can't be slaves to the country! As the highest university in China, we have to show our attitude." So Ye Qisun and Mei Yiqi contacted Tao Menghe, Hu Shi, Zhang Xiruo and other professors, and Ye Qisun drafted the telegram. After several revisions, everyone signed their names on the telegram and immediately announced it to the whole country.The full text of the telegram is as follows:

The daily newspapers carried telegrams saying that the current situation in Hebei was urgent and that "self-government" was demanded.There are even those who say that "crisis is everywhere" and propose "self-protection".The same people grew up in Hebei, and know that there is no such situation in the counties.The so-called "self-government" demand is all played by traitors and made by employees. It is definitely not the will of the people. When the national crisis is serious, it is impossible to save it with the unified power of the whole country.Looking deeply at the villagers, don't listen to lies and be fooled by others.Urgent submissions, I hope you will learn from Gongjian!

The serious national crisis made the students at the forefront of national defense feel that "North China is too big to put down a peaceful desk", and a magnificent patriotic movement kicked off. On November 3, 1936, the Japanese invading army held a large-scale military exercise in the suburbs of Beiping in order to deter the Chinese people from the anti-Japanese national salvation movement.After the exercise, they lined up into the city to show off their force and lineup.The citizens of the whole city saw the faces of the Japanese and hated the invaders even more.The students of Tsinghua University were also shrouded in grief and indignation. At noon that day, a school-wide teacher-student meeting was held in the auditorium, and a ceremony of lowering the flag at half-mast was held to express their grief over the fall of the motherland.The conference decided to organize a "disaster area condolence group" to go deep into the exercise area to expose the crimes and criminal intentions of the Japanese aggressors.

In order to combat the arrogance of the Japanese army, from November 7th to 12th, the 29th Army led by General Song Zheyuan also held two military exercises in Hongshankou and Gu'an.Students from Tsinghua University formed a sympathy group of more than 350 people, went to Hongshan Pass and Gu'an to publicize the soldiers, and presented a large number of sympathy items.Many students also personally participated in the military activities of the soldiers' assault drills, and presented a pennant with the words "National Qiancheng" to the 29th Army.Ye Qisun and Wu Youxun were the leaders of this condolence activity. They actively praised the courage and spirit of the soldiers to fight the enemy bravely, and encouraged everyone to unite, build confidence, and defend their homeland.Ye Qisun also said to the soldiers: "Do you know? There is an indomitable hero named Xing Tian. He fought desperately against the mighty Yellow Emperor. The Yellow Emperor cut off his head. He still used his navel as his mouth and his two breasts. For eyes, holding a hatchet in both hands, looking for the Yellow Emperor desperately. As long as the Chinese have the spirit of Xing Tian who would rather die than surrender, China will definitely have hope. I believe that there will be more patriotic generals like Xing Tian who will fight tenaciously with the Japanese!"

Ye Qisun's words gave great encouragement to the frontline soldiers. Soon, the Japanese invaders instigated Meng to launch the "Eastern Suiyuan War". The patriotic soldier Fu Zuoyi led the local soldiers and civilians to fight against the Japanese army and defeated the Japanese army in the Suiyuan area, regaining Bailing Temple and Damiao.The news spread to Beiping, and the crowd in Tsinghua University was excited.Ye Qisun was also very excited and wept with joy.When he knew that the soldiers in front were fighting desperately against the swarming Japanese invaders in order to defend their motherland, and they did not hesitate to throw stones and bite their teeth, he had mixed feelings and burst into tears.He called on teachers and students of Tsinghua University to donate money and materials, and once again condolences to the soldiers in front.More than a dozen students formed the "Suiyuan Frontline Service Group" and went to serve in the field against the wind. Many female students and professors' wives who never do needlework usually participated in sewing to make military uniforms for frontline soldiers.