Chapter 28 Imperial Examination - Examination Selection

At 8 a.m. on February 28, 1932, these people gathered outside the gate of Lizhi Society.Kang Ze, He Zhonghan and a dozen others were not present.Like the previous one, there were no guards at this meeting, and only Dai Li was in charge of security.After meeting them at the door, Dai Li led them into a rectangular classroom on the east side of the building.On the wall facing them hung a portrait of Sun Yat-sen, with a pair of couplets hanging on both sides, which read "The revolution has not yet succeeded, comrades still have to work hard."Below is a blackboard, with a writing desk in front of the blackboard and a wicker chair behind it.A row of small double-drawer desks with wooden chairs are arranged in a horseshoe shape around the desk directly in front.These Whampoa alumni are seated in order of age just like students in a classroom.At this time, Chiang Kai-shek, who was wearing a blue robe, came in accompanied by Deng Wenyi to greet everyone.

At this meeting, Teng Jie was especially like a monitor: when Jiang entered, he shouted "stand up," and he reported to Jiang the number of people present before Jiang asked them to sit down.Jiang glanced at the list, then wrote in white chalk on the blackboard, "Knowledge is difficult, practice is easy, practice philosophy."Then he started talking.From time to time, he mentioned "Sun Wen's Theory" and some other works on the table.The speech lasted for more than an hour, and the topic was Sun Yat-sen's development of Wang Yangming's theory of "the unity of knowledge and action".

After the speech, Teng Jie distributed a piece of paper to each of them, and asked these former military students to write down their choices for the leadership of the new organization.The ballots were collected by Teng Jie, put into an envelope, sealed, and handed over to Chiang Kai-shek.Then the "leader" issued two exam questions: "On Bismarck's Iron-Blood Policy" and "Explain the Significance of Cooperatives".He stipulated that everyone choose a topic among them and write a paper in classical Chinese or vernacular, regardless of length.Papers are due at 8 a.m. the next day.

On the morning of February 29, 1932, these people returned to that classroom and handed over the paper to Teng Jie.Chiang Kai-shek, who was still wearing a blue robe, came in on time accompanied by Deng Wenyi, and Teng Jie handed over 20 papers to Chiang who was sitting in front of the desk.Jiang put on his glasses and started looking at the papers, writing and grading comments on them.Except for Yi Deming's thesis that Jiang thought was unqualified, he handed over the rest to Teng Jie to send back to the author, and let these former students consider his comments and scores.On this basis, adding their speech, appearance, Whampoa shift, experience, and the number of votes they had received in the elections at the previous night's meeting, Chiang awarded each in turn a position in the new organization.Then, the "leader" and his disciples walked to the great hall of the Lizhi Society, where a huge portrait of Sun Yat-sen hung.They and the "leader" joined hands in a circle.Jiang announced: "This organization will be named the Three People's Principles Practice Society." Then everyone took out a written oath they had prepared in advance, and stood up solemnly towards the prime minister's portrait.They raised their right hands and swore:

Yu vowed to practice the Three Principles of the People with sincerity, restore the revolutionary spirit, rejuvenate the Chinese nation, sacrifice all personal interests, obey orders, strictly keep secrets, and complete the task of revolution and nation building.If you break your oath, you will be punished severely.I swear. Then, everyone pressed their handprints with their right thumbs on the oath with Chiang Kai-shek's seal.The papers were then collected by Teng Jie and solemnly burned, just like burning paper money to worship the gods.They held hands again, and finally listened to Chiang Kai-shek's speech.He said: "Everyone must be more sincere and united from now on, and we will never stop until we achieve our goals. I now wish everyone success." Therefore, the "Three People's Principles Practice Society" performed a comprehensive ceremony that reflected the brotherhood ceremony of gangsters and the literati imperial examination system. was born.