Chapter 21 Zhang Yuanji: "Continue Writing" for Chinese Civilization

Zhang Yuanji (1867-1959), named Jusheng, was born in Haiyan, Zhejiang.Born in a famous family, a scholarly family, a Jinshi in the late Qing Dynasty, entered the Imperial Academy as a scholar, and later served as Zhang Jing in the Prime Minister's Office. In 1902, Zhang Yuanji entered the Commercial Press and successively served as the director, manager, supervisor, and chairman of the compilation office.After liberation, he served as the curator of the Shanghai Museum of Culture and History, and succeeded the chairman of the Commercial Press. The Reform Movement of 1898 was the last effort of the late Qing Dynasty to save itself, and it was also the last chance for innovation.However, it fails.Those who participated in, supported, and sympathized with the Reform Movement of 1898 were killed, and those who were dismissed were dismissed.In the Hanlin Academy at that time, Zhang Jian went to start a business, and Cai Yuanpei returned to his hometown to teach. Zhang Yuanji, who was originally waiting to be imprisoned and beheaded, was spared because of Li Hongzhang's help.Li Hongzhang recommended him to Sheng Xuanhuai, so he came to Nanyang Public School founded by Sheng Xuanhuai as the dean of the translation academy, and later became the principal of Nanyang Public School.

At the end of the 19th century, Shanghai was the hub of new studies in China, where new schools, societies, newspapers, and publishing and printing institutions continued to radiate across the country from here.This is undoubtedly a huge attraction to the Hanlin Zhang Yuanji, who advocated opening the hearts of the people with Western learning.Nanyang Public School was one of the few institutions of higher learning in China at that time with the most complete equipment and the most prosperous talents.Working in Nanyang Public School can be said to be the continuation of Zhang Yuanji's ideal.

Under the auspices of Zhang Yuanji, Yishuyuan published "Yuanfu" translated by Yan Fu.This is the work of the British scholar Adam Smith.Today, 100 years later, the book remains a classic in economics. At that time, what Zhang Yuanji valued was the cultivation of talents.Like Cai Yuanpei and many other sages, he put the cultivation of talents as the first priority, and they felt that the failure of reform and reform was based on the absence of talents.Therefore, during Zhang Yuanji’s time at Nanyang Public School, he founded the special class of Nanyang Public School. According to Sheng Xuanhuai, this “special class” is to cultivate “big talents” for the future of China.There is only one class of students in the special class, but there are Shao Lizi, Li Shutong, Xie Wuliang and others.

However, after three years, Zhang Yuanji made a surprising decision: he resigned from all positions in Nanyang Public School and joined the Commercial Press. The Commercial Press at that time was just a manual workshop-style printing workshop, founded by typesetting worker Xia Ruifang.Zhang Yuanji gave up his prominent position in Nanyang Public School and went to work with a small owner in a small factory in an alley. When he turned around like this, there were many speculations and puzzles. Until half a century later, Zhang Yuanji, who had been bedridden for several years due to stroke, wrote a poem with trembling hands to bid farewell to his colleagues in the Commercial Press: "Changming education is my life wish, so I work hard to Shulin. Harvesting in the autumn harvests the talents.” From the poem, people read his ideals in life, and also read the fact that he consciously connected the Commercial Press with the modernization of Chinese education.

In the year when Zhang Yuanji entered the Commercial Press, the Qing government promulgated the "School Regulations" advocating the establishment of schools. Later, the imperial examinations were also abolished. This was a major change unprecedented in China for thousands of years.Thousands of new schools that are different from traditional private schools and academies have been established all over the country. It was not that there were no textbooks in China at that time, but they were all poorly edited. One category was the textbooks of the church, imported from the West, which were not suitable for China’s national conditions; Nor does it conform to the laws of pedagogy.Zhang Yuanji believes that the influence of textbooks is related to the changes in the knowledge structure and way of thinking of one generation or even several generations of Chinese people. He decided to compile a set of Chinese textbooks by himself.

Zhang Yuanji's method of compiling textbooks is very unique. Instead of fighting alone, everyone sits together, just like today's planning meeting. Everyone can express their ideas and opinions. If it is recognized by everyone as valuable, are discussed in detail.The discussants start from the characteristics of children's enlightenment, from simple to complex, step by step.Often because of one word, everyone will argue with red faces.Each point is discussed until all participants have no objections.Every time a text is completed, everyone "reads it in turn, or polishes it, or actually rewrites it, and does it for each other without prejudice."

In 1904, the commercial version of "The Latest Chinese Textbook for Elementary Primary Schools" was published, which was widely adopted by schools all over the country.The distribution office of the Commercial Press was crowded with people eager to buy.The total circulation of textbooks in the late Qing Dynasty accounted for 4/5 of the country's total. For example, the latest Chinese textbooks were reprinted more than 30 times, and the total number of printed books reached 100 million copies, which became a model for textbooks in that era.Other publishers are scrambling to follow suit, and they can no longer make crude and profitable.The ethos of bookstores has changed.

Under the planning of Zhang Yuanji, the Commercial Press compiled a complete set of textbooks from primary school, middle school to university, and organized the translation and publication of a large number of foreign academic and literary masterpieces. Among them, Yan Fu’s translation of Western classics and Lin Shu’s translation of European and American novels were particularly influential.Edited and published China's first new-style dictionary "Ciyuan", creating a precedent for the publication of modern reference books in China.At the same time, he published "Oriental Magazine", "Fiction Monthly", "Education Magazine" and other publications.

At that time, there were many intellectuals who embarked on the road of "saving the country through culture", but Zhang Yuanji chose to publish. He stood behind the scenes and wrote his cultural ideals in the commercial press, a modern commercial enterprise.During the great cultural changes in the early 20th century, the Commercial Press completed its transformation from a printing factory to a publishing giant, and became an important cultural center for popularizing and disseminating new knowledge since the late Qing Dynasty.By 1910, Commerce was one of only 15 enterprises in the late Qing Dynasty with assets exceeding one million yuan.In the hands of Zhang Yuanji, business has really promoted the progress of Chinese civilization.

The publication of "New Youth" marked the beginning of the New Culture Movement. However, in this era of vigorous New Culture Movement, the Commercial Press seemed outdated.New culture leaders such as Chen Duxiu and Luo Jialun criticized the conservatism of business by name in newspapers and magazines, and business performance declined day by day. In 1919, there were as many as 600,000 books and periodicals that were backlogged and unsalable.For Zhang Yuanji, what he considers more is whether the once proud business can still take on the responsibility of disseminating new knowledge?

At that time, there were many old people in the Commercial Press, and they all used classical Chinese, so Zhang Yuanji presided over the "big change of blood" plan, advocating the use of new people to do new things, starting with the publications that were severely criticized by the new cultural circle. In 1920, Mao Dun entered the famous "Fiction Monthly".He drafted the "Reform Manifesto", clarifying that he should not only translate and interpret the novels of famous Western writers, introduce the trend of world literature, but also create a new Chinese literature and art. The reformed "Fiction Monthly" changed its previous style of publishing men's and women's love and leisure life, and advocated "literature for life", and quickly became one of the most influential publications in the New Culture Movement.The famous Lao She, Ba Jin, and Ding Ling all entered the literary world through "Novel Monthly". Zhang Yuanji gathers talents with an open, inclusive, inclusive mind and academic interest.According to the "Chronicle of Events of the Commercial Press": From 1920 to 1922, Chen Bulei, Xie Liuyi, Zheng Zhenduo, Zhou Yutong, Li Shicen, Wang Yunwu, Zhu Kezhen, Ren Hongjun, Tao Menghe, Gu Jiegang, etc. entered the library one after another. Many of them later became masters in the field of Chinese culture and science.Therefore, the Commercial Press, like Peking University under the auspices of Cai Yuanpei during the May 4th Movement, became a "center where intellectuals from all walks of life gather." By 1926, the Commercial Press was already the largest publisher in the Far East.Branches not only spread all over China, but also opened to Nanyang, Hong Kong.On Baoshan Road in Shanghai, a large-scale commercial printing general library was built, and the Hanfen Building was also expanded into the Oriental Library, which is open to the public. As the head of the Commercial Press, Zhang Yuanji was both a cultural person and a businessman.The so-called "business is about business", he always keeps pace with the times for the cause of the Commercial Press. This kind of advancement is not blindly aggressive, but keeps pace with it no matter whether current affairs and politics are advancing or regressing. The Revolution of 1911 was successful, and the Commercial Press also made a lot of enthusiastic advertisements for it. Not only the "Oriental Magazine" published the memorabilia of the Wuchang Uprising, but also published 13 volumes of photos and pictures, and issued more than 300 postcards. On the set of textbooks released by the Commercial Press in 1912, "Republic Textbook" was inscribed accordingly, and it was solemnly declared in the "Oriental Magazine": "The Republic of China was established as a political republic, and the educational policy changed accordingly... The seventh chapter of the Ministry of Education The general order first revises all kinds of textbooks for primary schools, and the knowledge and skills that citizens of the republic should possess, and the reasons for this revolution are all described in detail, so as to cultivate complete citizens of the republic." However, the revolution overthrew the Qing autocratic dynasty, and the democratic republic system was like a moon in a mirror.At this time, the business has just released the autumn textbooks, and is planning to use the textbooks in the spring.Zhang Yuanji spent a lot of time on this, because at that time the commercial version of the textbook was called "Republic Textbook", once the Hongxian Monarchy succeeded, it would not be in line with the national system; if he continued to wait and see, there would be no textbooks available in the spring.After several balances, Zhang Yuanji decided to delete words such as equality and freedom that were contrary to the imperial system in the textbook, and changed the title of the book to "Ordinary Textbook" to print and sell.You must know that this move by the Commercial Press was 20 days earlier than Yuan Shikai's order to "accept support". Zhang Yuanji's "catering" to the monarchy in his textbooks does not mean that he truly supports Yuan Shikai in his heart, but is an expedient measure for the survival of the Commercial Press.On March 22, 1916, Yuan Shikai resigned amidst the unanimous crusade across the country, Zhang Yuanji immediately instructed all branch libraries to withdraw the "General Textbook", and should quickly promote the "Republic Textbook". It doesn’t matter if you say that he plays the rudder according to the wind, or that he has no position, but this trick is indeed the survival wisdom of “talking about business in business”. Zhang Yuanji's works on people with sensitive identities will not be published or sold on behalf of others.For example, although Zhang himself and Kang Youwei have a good personal relationship and fought side by side in the Reform Movement of 1898, when Kang proposed to sell his "Unbearable" magazine and publish the "Republic Peace Proposal" attacking the Republic of China on behalf of Kang, Zhang Shi refused politely without mercy, and reluctantly agreed after a delay of two years.Knowing that Kang was still stubborn in his thinking after entering the Republic of China, Zhang Yuanji certainly didn't want to make people feel that the Commercial Press was also pulling history back. Zhang Yuanji even rejected Sun Yat-sen's manuscript "Sun Wenshuo". In 1918, Sun Yat-sen was squeezed out in the reorganization of the Nationalist Military Government in Guangzhou, and angrily announced his resignation as Generalissimo.He reflected on the continuous failure of the revolution since the Republic of China, which was caused by ideological errors, and put forward the theory that "knowing is not difficult, but doing is difficult".So he personally worked on it, and it was not until the beginning of April 1919 that the "Sun Wenshuo" was finished. When Sun Yat-sen entrusted someone to send the manuscript to the Commercial Press, he was unexpectedly rejected by Zhang Yuanji.Because Zhang Yuanji weighed repeatedly, he felt that at this time of stalemate in the North-South peace talks, Sun Yat-sen was still a sensitive person, and this book was almost equivalent to a hot potato. As the dignified father of the Republic, Sun Yat-sen wanted to publish an article to tell the world in a fit of anger, to show that the Commercial Press was a conservative and reactionary institution.This kept Sun Yat-sen in his heart, until early 1920, in his "Letter to Overseas Kuomintang Comrades", Sun Yat-sen still criticized the head of the Commercial Press as a "royalist remnant" in extremely severe terms. Even Sun Yat-sen dared to reject the manuscript, let alone other unknown people?Among the manuscripts rejected by Zhang Yuanji were those of Chen Duxiu. In 1928, Chen Duxiu, who was in the Kuomintang prison, sent the "Chinese Pinyin Draft". Zhang Yuanji would rather give him a few thousand yuan for the manuscript than bring any risk to the Commercial Press. Youdao was once bitten by a snake and afraid of well ropes for ten years. Zhang Yuanji suffered from politics.Liang Qichao, Xiong Xiling and others who participated in the reform with him back then made a comeback in the Republic of China, but he saw through the dangers of the ups and downs of the officialdom. In 1913, Xiong Xiling, who was the prime minister of the Beiyang cabinet, invited Zhang Yuanji to be the head of education. Zhang said to himself, "I am inferior to myself, and I dare not mistake my good friend, my country, and my fearsome future generations."Politely declined to become an official. During the Anti-Japanese War, the Commercial Press moved inland, while Zhang Yuanji stayed on an isolated island in Shanghai, refusing to cooperate with the Japanese and the Wang puppet government.When life is difficult, he would rather sell calligraphy for a living.Once, a senior official of Wang Jingwei's government sent a picture scroll and asked him to inscribe it, along with a check.He returned the check and wrote a letter saying: "It is the king who is the governor of Zhejiang, and the disaster is very serious...so he dare not follow his orders." National integrity and political vigilance prevented Zhang Yuanji from entering the water. Zhang Yuanji, who claims to be a "relic of the Reform Movement of 1898", has seen almost all reforms and setbacks, reforms and restorations, joys and sorrows since the late Qing Dynasty.Therefore, he was able to distance the business of the Commercial Press from real political activities, maintaining a relatively independent cultural institution.Of course, he did not completely detach himself from reality to carry out his own business, nor did he show a conservative or resisting attitude towards change, but kept pace with the times and innovated in his choices. On March 17, 1910, Zhang Yuanji, the pioneer of modern Chinese publishing industry and the head of the Commercial Press, boarded a ship bound for Europe from Shanghai, and began his half-year round-the-world investigation.During this trip, he will visit Europe and the United States. The time of his arrival in Belgium is specially arranged in July 1910, because the Brussels World Expo in Belgium will be held at this time. In the summer of 1910, although Belgium was cool and comfortable with a pleasant climate at this time, Zhang Yuanji, who was in a foreign country, felt extremely depressed, and his unhappiness was like a dark cloud of stagnation. Pictures of his hometown emerged in Zhang Yuanji's mind: prisoners wearing shackles and shackles were bloody and bloody; men with big braids lying crookedly holding bongs in their hands;However, what made Zhang Yuanji even more distressed was that the instruments of torture, smoking guns, foot-binding shoes... these things went to the World Expo in a grandiose manner. "There are no mortals who do not show off their strengths and want others to praise them, nor do they expose their shortcomings and want others to ridicule them. But our country is unique, how can we see it, see it in the overseas competitions." After witnessing the World Expo, Zhang Yuanji angrily wrote this passage. At that World Expo, Zhang Yuanji witnessed the vastness of the pavilions of France, Germany and other countries and the variety of exhibits, and he also saw clearly the eclipse of the Qing Dynasty.The exhibition venue is so small that even "Monaco, the world's smallest", is far behind; the exhibition venue is remote, and although the exhibits include porcelain, silk, satin, fans, paintings, embroidery, and lacquerware, they are all crude and inferior, messy and trivial, and even inferior to Grocery stores in Suzhou, Hangzhou and Guangzhou.China's participation in the exhibition only costs 20,000 taels of silver, which is less than the daily expenses of the Empress Dowager Cixi. At the same time, he also learned many events related to the World Expo from overseas students: At the World Expo in Liege, Belgium, in 1905, Chinese exhibits included instruments of torture, opium, and foot-binding shoes. Only then was it withdrawn. Zhang Yuanji went to this World Expo no less than six or seven times. In the Chinese exhibition area, he saw that there were very few Westerners who came to visit. Many Westerners frowned and shook their heads frequently in front of the Chinese exhibits. Leaving quickly, his contempt and disdain was like a sharp sword, stabbing Zhang Yuanji's heart.Are we spending money to participate in the exhibition in exchange for the idea that Europeans and Americans despise China?Looking at the east, Zhang Yuanji felt particularly heavy. He was afraid that Western countries would specifically exploit the shortcomings of the Chinese people and the weakness of China's national power, using this as an excuse to flaunt their arrogance of colonizing the east. Only one year after Zhang Yuanji's visit to Western countries, China underwent a tremendous change: the Revolution of 1911 broke out, and the feudal monarchy of more than 2,000 years disintegrated. Consistent with the views of many people at the time, Zhang Yuanji also believed that "opening up the wisdom of the people" was the only way for China to modernize. The concept of "opening people's wisdom" led Zhang Yuanji and the Commercial Press to enter the World Expo, and the World Expo further strengthened Zhang Yuanji's belief in cultivating talents, popularizing national education, and "supporting education as his own responsibility". Zhang Yuanji was greatly touched by his trip to the World Expo in Belgium in 1910. For this reason, he specially wrote an article "Preparation Laws for China's Overseas Games" and sent it back to China, which was published in the most influential newspapers at that time, Shen Bao and Oriental Magazine. On the above, he put forward the viewpoint that "If China wants to take on the world, we must take the competition as the guide". In the article, Zhang Yuanji expounded a series of concepts such as how China should participate in the World Expo.For example, he believes that the World Expo is not only a platform to revitalize business, but also has an inseparable relationship with military affairs and education.On the one hand, we can show ourselves in the World Expo and change the western impression that China is backward. At the same time, we can also see how others develop and learn from it.In addition, Zhang Yuanji also proposed to carefully select exhibits and cultivate talents for participating in the World Expo. We should not use vulgar and vulgar things to make up for the number, nor should people who are uneducated and incompetent do it. After Zhang Yuanji returned to China, he personally led the Commercial Press to participate in the World Expo as much as possible.It is confirmed from the currently available information that after 1910 the Commercial Press participated in at least three World Expos in Turin in 1911, San Francisco in 1915, and Philadelphia in 1926.The exhibits include books and textbooks published by the Commercial Press itself, teaching aid models, physical and chemical instruments, etc., and have won many awards. In 1926, at the Philadelphia World Expo in the United States, the Commercial Press exhibited the only Chinese typewriter in the world at that time, which was well received. It is worth mentioning that the exhibits of the Commercial Press were also rare exhibits with modern colors that were sent to the World Expo in China at that time.In addition to the World Expo, the Commercial Press also participated in almost all domestic expositions held in China at that time, and published a large number of books about the World Expo.It can be said that Zhang Yuanji was one of the first modern Chinese literati to recognize the importance of the World Expo, and the Commercial Press is also the most enthusiastic participant in the World Expo among modern Chinese enterprises. On the evening of October 17, 1927, a car drove to Ji Sifeier Road. Five people got out of the car and went to Zhang's house to call the door.As soon as the servant opened the door, the group rushed in, first took the opener to the door room with a pistol at his head, then walked quickly through the garden, and rushed up the stairs with guns.At this time, Zhang Yuanji was having dinner with his family on the second floor. Seeing so many people coming upstairs, he just wanted to get up and ask questions. A kidnapper had already pointed a pistol at Zhang Shuyuan, Zhang Yuanji's nephew, who was at the dining table. They probably saw that there was only Shuyuan, a young man. Afraid that he would resist.A man who looked like a leader pointed to Zhang Yuanji and said, "It's not that one, it's this one!" So the kidnappers couldn't help saying that they picked up Zhang Yuanji and left.Mrs. Zhang, Shuyuan and everyone in the family were stunned by this sudden incident. Zhang Shuyuan first called the police to the patrol room in the concession, and then told several colleagues in the Commercial Press.Everyone knows that the kidnappers are not asking for people, but money for "redemption". There is always news.The family waited with trepidation for the news. On October 19, Gao Mengdan rushed to Zhang's house and told Mrs. Zhang that he had received a letter written by Zhang Yuanji yesterday. The kidnappers offered 200,000 yuan, and asked everyone to find a way.In the letter, Zhang Yuanji took care to "keep the secrets strictly" and hoped to "negotiate and settle the matter by himself", but 200,000 yuan is not a small number.Where did it come from?Gao Mengdan is not a rich man, so he can't help much.After receiving the letter, everyone was still helpless and didn't know what to do. Before and after receiving Zhang Yuanji's letter, the family also received two phone calls from the kidnappers asking for money, but they did not mention the location, which made the family restless.In fact, the kidnappers have been waiting for news for the past two days.After investigation, they found that the target was indeed not the "big boss", and said to Zhang Yuanji: "There is a misunderstanding, but the matter is what it is, and we always try to subsidize it according to our discretion..." Of course, they will not easily let go of their prey. The news of Zhang Yuanji's kidnapping was first published by some tabloids, and then major newspapers, even Japanese newspapers, also published related reports.Letters and calls from relatives and friends inquiring about Zhang Yuanji's whereabouts came in an endless stream, and Shuyuan was too busy.Mrs. Zhang took out stocks and jewelry, and managed to scrape together 5,000 yuan.Colleagues of the Commercial Press also tried their best to rescue them.There is such a small episode: Zhang Shiliu (Shu Liang), an editor of the Commercial Press, usually has some contacts with three religions and nine streams. Hearing that Zhang Yuanji was kidnapped, he stepped forward and recklessly tried to break into the bandit's cave alone to rescue Zhang Yuanji. We advise to live. Soon, the kidnappers called again, asking Zhang's family to negotiate at the Juelu Hotel to discuss the price of the "redemption ticket".Negotiations, of course, fall to the source of the tree.To prevent accidents, Zhang Shiliu volunteered to be Shuyuan's bodyguard and went together.Juelu Hotel is at the corner of Tibet Road and Fuzhou Road, and Yipinxiang Hotel is to the north of it.Everyone in Shanghai knows that Juelu is a place occupied by evil forces.It seems reasonable for the kidnappers to choose this place to negotiate with the "meat ticket" family.The two leaders of the kidnappers came forward, one surnamed Ye and the other surnamed Li.They reduced the ransom to 150,000 yuan.But of course the Zhang family couldn't afford the money.Such secret negotiations continued several times. Although the kidnappers reduced the "ticket price" again and again, they couldn't reach an agreement because the demands were too high. In Zhang Yuanji's letter to Gao Mengdan, he asked his family members to go to the police station to "register" the police. In fact, the police station could not deal with such cases at that time.According to several existing tabloid reports that published the news of Zhang Yuanji's kidnapping, on the day Zhang Yuanji was kidnapped, Ni Yuanfu, manager of the Salt Industry Bank, was also kidnapped; the next day, Xue Shunsheng, a wealthy gentry in Ningbo, was kidnapped again; Zhu Yanzhi was not spared either.Terrorist incidents occurred one after another in the concession, and the arresting room was helpless.Zhang Yuanji's willingness to "negotiate the settlement by himself" seems to be a good way to get out of danger. Zhang Yuanji's life in the cottage for six days and nights can be known from his later memories and his "Ten Poems in the Cottage".Zhang Yuanji said that the kidnappers took him out of the gate and pushed him into the car that day.The car drove to the suburbs.The kidnappers covered Zhang Yuanji's eyes with a black cloth and tied his hands.Zhang Yuanji was very calm, only felt that the car turned around and drove for a while.After the car stopped, the kidnappers took him into a room and took off the black cloth.Zhang Yuanji saw that this was a dilapidated farmhouse, with a candle burning on the table, and a broken bed by the wall, the legs of which could be seen tied with ropes.There were three or four men with guns in the room.The bandit leader asked his subordinates to untie the rope from Zhang Yuanji's hand, and left in a hurry, leaving behind three guards.The guards gave Zhang Yuanji "preferential treatment" by bringing a quilt and letting him sleep on that broken bed, while they slept on the ground with their clothes on. Zhang Yuanji wrote ten poems and seven masterpieces in the cottage. After he escaped from danger, he entrusted the Commercial Press to typeset and print the manuscripts of the poems, and distributed the printed copies to relatives and friends to express his gratitude.The poem not only describes the environment and life in the cottage, but also reflects Zhang Yuanji's calm state of mind in the cave. There are two other details that Zhang Yuanji himself told.One is that the sweater Zhang Yuanji was wearing had holes in it, which surprised the guards.They didn't expect that the "God of Wealth" in their minds was also wearing tattered clothes.The second is that one of the guards, who is slightly older, often coughs.Zhang Yuanji persuaded him to see a doctor, and prescribed Zhang's cough medicine for him. The kidnapper was so moved that he shed tears. Negotiations at the Jue Lu Hotel did not go well.The kidnappers had no choice but to give in when they saw that the "oil and water" was insufficient.On the fourth day, on October 21, Zhang Yuanji wrote to Shuyuan that the hijackers had promised to reduce the "ticket price" to 20,000 yuan, so that the family could quickly find a solution. (It's a pity that this letter has not been preserved.) The votes of the kidnappers are considered unlucky. On the same day, the leader surnamed Ye asked Shuyuan to wait for negotiations at the Juelu Hotel, and presented Zhang Yuanji's letter to force Zhang Shuyuan to pay the money.Shuyuan wanted to hand over 5,000 yuan, but he still couldn't get through.On the fifth day, the kidnapper probably felt that the guy in front of him really had nothing to squeeze, so he agreed and released him for 5,000 yuan.So at that time, Shuyuan ran around again, borrowed 5,000 yuan from relatives and friends, and sent it to the kidnappers.Probably they knew that there was really no more "oil and water" to be squeezed out. On the evening of the sixth day (October 23), they sent Zhang Yuanji back by car. 10,000 yuan was redeemed, and Zhang Yuanji finally escaped danger, ending the "adventure" of these six days and nights. Zhang Yuanji treated the kidnapping incident calmly, and was not greatly affected mentally.After escaping from danger, he immediately devoted himself to the collation of "Twenty-Four Histories of Banaiben".Ten days after returning home, he discussed with Qu Qijia about borrowing the books from Yin Tie Qin Tong Jian Lou, and personally drafted the manuscript of the contract, making preparations for the commercial publication of "Si Bu Series·Sequel" in the future. In Zhang Yuanji’s draft to Ding Wenjiangxin on November 14, there were a few short sentences expressing his views on the social phenomenon of kidnapping: “If the generation... If there is a way out, who would do it? Woohoo! Who really caused it to come here! People say this is a green forest guest, I will take it as an example of the hungry people, and I don’t know how my brother will feel when he hears it.” In 1937, Xu Baohua's cousin was tied up on the (South) Beijing-Hangzhou (Zhou) Highway. After escaping, Zhang Yuanji went to Hangzhou to express condolences.For this reason, Zhang Yuanji wrote "Thoughts on Kidnapping", which was published in "Oriental Magazine".This article further clarifies his above point.The article concludes: "The state manages education, why can't they get some knowledge? The state manages industry and commerce, roads, mines, agriculture and forestry, why can't they find some jobs? Ants are greedy for life, and dogs jump over the wall when they are anxious. People are hungry and cold. The law is unforgivable, but the situation is pitiful. China is a poor country with a large population and little production... The government has explicitly advocated frugality several times. Words, it is best to set an example. Not only for private enjoyment, but also for the country's major government, you must estimate your own strength, prioritize and set priorities, and don't use the limited sweat and blood of the people for unlimited squandering, or you can keep a few more Giving money to these poor people in the countryside, eating one or two more meals of rice, and buying some salt to steam some vegetables, this is an immeasurable merit."