Chapter 28 The third series of my main experience

The third series of my main experience Chapter 53 Before and after the founding of "Guangming Daily" (1) In 1946, he took a group photo with Zhang Biaofang (Lan), chairman of the Democratic League. Before and after I went to Hong Kong to establish the NLD’s speech organization "Guangming Daily" On December 24, 1940, Huang Yanpei, Zhang Junmai, Zuo Shunsheng and I initiated the formation of the "China Democratic Political Group League" (the predecessor of the China Democratic League). At that time, the domestic political situation was very bad.The conflict between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party intensified, and the atmosphere of national unity and resistance against Japan in the early days of the Anti-Japanese War has disappeared.The Kuomintang's control and suppression are also becoming more and more serious, and the people's democratic rights have existed in name only.The KMT's "public opinion organization" - the "National Political Council" - also lacks the color of "public opinion", because the KMT proposed candidates for the second session of political senators to strongly exclude people from outside the party or those who dare to speak; remember Tao Xingzhi , Hu Jingyi, etc. were disqualified from participating in politics this time, and more Kuomintang members who were free to eat were stuffed in. In January 1941, the "Southern Anhui Incident" occurred again, and the domestic situation deteriorated even more sharply.It was under such circumstances that while we were actively running between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party in order to fight for the unity and anti-Japanese situation, we accelerated the construction of the Democratic League organization. We hope that the Democratic League can be established as soon as possible so that it can Play a role in promoting domestic unity as soon as possible.The NLD's political platform, organizational rules, and candidates for the standing committee and chairman were all discussed and determined at this time.The establishment of the NLD newspaper was also agreed upon at this time.I remember that one day we met at the residence of Zhang Junmai (Zhang was staying at the home of his younger brother Zhang Jiali, Minister of Communications of the Kuomintang).Zhang Junmai first said that only when we are not under Chiang Kai-shek's control can we speak what we want to say.Of course, everyone felt the same about this, so they decided to go overseas to establish their own speech organization of the Democratic League, and put me in charge.

1. From Chongqing to Guilin I left Chongqing at the end of March 1941 to prepare the NLD newspaper.Not long before I left, Zou Tao was overwhelmed by the long-term surveillance of the Kuomintang spies, so he skillfully escaped from the spies and fled Chongqing.In this case, I couldn't get a ticket to Hong Kong at all, so I had to take a long-distance bus to Guilin first, and then make plans.The first stop of the car is Qijiang, 90 kilometers away from Chongqing.The car had just stopped, and the passengers were about to get out of the car for a short rest. A man opened the door and got on the car and asked, "Is Consul Liang Shuming in the car?" I replied, "I am." , come to our place for tea." I replied, "Time is limited, so I can't go down." Unexpectedly, this person insisted on "please" me to "drink tea", and then I understood.For their inspection station, they asked the higher-level secret service in Chongqing for instructions, so the whole car was detained in Qijiang for the night.When I was looking for a hotel near the bus station with my small suitcase, I saw a notice on the wall. The sign at the end of the notice was "Zhang Zhen", and the title was "Sector Commander of the Security Command, Director of the Supplementary Training Division".Zhang Zhen is from Henan. He had been introduced by a friend in Henan, so he was considered an acquaintance.Under the guidance of a child, I found this training center and met Zhang Zhen.As soon as I saw Zhang, I asked, "Can you command the inspection station?" Zhang replied, "You can't." I stayed in his office that night.Chatting at night, talking about conscription, because the so-called "Supplementary Office" is in charge of this matter.Zhang said: "It's very miserable! The strong man wanted to run away, and if he ran, he would be caught and shot. To prevent him from escaping, he tied the hands of the strong man together with a rope when he was sleeping." As Zhang said, he wept.I asked him why he didn't report it upwards.Zhang said: "Of course I told He Yingqin. After hearing this, he waved his hands or shook his head, but nothing happened."

The car was released the next day, and I finally arrived in Guilin via Guiyang.At that time, Lei Peihong, the president of Guangxi University, was a friend who had known him for a long time.At that time, Guangxi University was in Liangfeng, about 60 miles outside of Guilin, where the scenery was pleasant, like a big garden. I lived there and gave lectures for about two months at the invitation of Lei. Part of the book "Cultural Essentials".My final destination is Hong Kong, and I have to leave after staying in Guilin for a while, but I can't buy a ticket.I approached Li Renchao (Li Jishen), then director of the Guilin General Office of the Kuomintang Military Commission, and Li Minren, Li's secretary (also Li's cousin), called the airline to guarantee the purchase of a plane ticket for me. The company said it would ask relevant authorities in Chongqing for instructions. After procrastinating for a while, I finally got a ticket to Hong Kong.

2. Fly to Hong Kong alone On May 20, 1941, I flew to Hong Kong alone and started the work of organizing the NLD newspaper.When I arrived in Hong Kong, Li Peiwen (the eldest son of Mr. Li Jishen, who was the dean of South China Agricultural College after liberation) drove to the airport to pick me up, and I stayed at Li's house temporarily.Later, it moved to the apartment of Mr. Xu Dishan (writer, pen name Luo Huasheng, who was teaching at the University of Hong Kong at that time).While I was staying at Xu's house, Mr. Xu died of an emergency overnight, and I had to find another place to live.After three or four transfers, the newspaper office finally rented a ground floor in a building for the office, and I had a permanent place to live.In order to reduce expenses, the newspaper office strives to save on housing.Remember my living room can only fit a desk and a rollaway bed.

3. Negotiate with people inside and outside the alliance for preparations When Chongqing publicly recommended me to go to Hong Kong to run a newspaper on behalf of the Democratic League, it was agreed that Zhang Junmai and Luo Longji would also come to Hong Kong to assist, but they never came.Huang Yanpei (the then Secretary-General of the Anti-Japanese War Public Loan Fundraising Committee) originally said that he would meet me when he was passing through Hong Kong after going to Nanyang to raise funds. Unexpectedly, he left Hong Kong and flew back to Chongqing on the day I arrived in Hong Kong.Therefore, regarding the preparation of the newspaper, I had to discuss it with people from various parties who had joined the Democratic League in Hong Kong at that time, such as Zeng Muhan (that is, Zeng Qi, the Youth Party), Xu Mengyan (National Socialist Party), Wu Xianzi (Constitutional Party), Zhou Jingwen (Northeast Hometown Association), Zhang Yunchuan (the third party, today's Peasants and Workers Democratic Party), Gan Jiehou (Guangxi Clan) and others.During the preparation process, I also got in touch with many left-wing people in Hong Kong at that time, such as He Xiangning, Liao Mengxing, Liao Chengzhi, Liu Yazi, Chen Hansheng, Peng Zemin, etc. Naturally, they all expressed their support for the work of the NLD.Among them, Zhou Enlai told me to contact Liao Chengzhi, because before leaving Chongqing, I went to Zengjiayan to tell him about going to Hong Kong to run a newspaper, and asked him about the CCP’s representative in Hong Kong.When I was about to launch the publication, someone persuaded me to invite some famous people to a banquet in order to gain more support; I remember that among the invited people were Mao Dun, Xia Yan, Jin Zhonghua and others.

4. Preparing to organize the newspaper team I did not bring anyone with me to Hong Kong, and the newspaper team was formed after arriving in Hong Kong. In August, I received a letter from my colleagues in the Democratic League in Chongqing, deciding that I would be the president of the newspaper, and I would recommend Sa Kongleo as the manager.The rest of the editors, etc., mostly rely on the introduction of Jin Zhonghua and others.I remember that the person in charge of the news page had the pseudonym Yangzao (it is said that he was later killed for the Kuomintang in Fuzhou).The editor-in-chief is Yu Songhua, who used to work for Shanghai Shenbao and is a veteran newspaperman.After about three months of intense preparations, on September 18, 1941, the NLD's own newspaper "Guangming Daily" finally met with readers.As for the name of the newspaper, I can add a few words here.One day I met Fan Changjiang. He mentioned to me the newspaper published by Zhang Junmai’s National Socialist Party (later renamed the Democratic Socialist Party) in Hong Kong. This name is not catchy, and it is not loud.Later, as a result of the discussion between the two of us, we named it "Guangming Daily".

The third series of my main experience Chapter 54 Before and after the founding of "Guangming Daily" (2) 5. Working hard for the lack of funds for the newspaper office If the Democratic League wants to start its own newspaper, it will be difficult financially.At the beginning of the preparations, only Huang Yanpei, Zhang Junmai, Zuo Shunsheng, and Zhang Bojun each contributed 10,000 yuan in national currency, and I had no savings other than the allowance for the political councilors, so I only contributed 6,000 yuan.At that time, the currency of the Kuomintang government was worthless, about 4 yuan was exchanged for a Hong Kong paper (Hong Kong dollar).Later, Liu Wenhui from Sichuan, who opposed Chiang, and Long Yun from Yunnan (through Mr. Miao Yuntai) supported the Democratic League and donated tens of thousands of yuan.But at the beginning of the establishment, there were many places to spend money: a deposit was required for registration, money was required to hire a lawyer, and paper printing was also required, so I still felt that I could not make ends meet and was very nervous.At that time, Fan Changjiang was in charge of the CCP’s newspaper in Hong Kong, Huashang Bao. When he saw me, he asked, “Why hasn’t it been published?” I replied, “You still can’t see it!” Soon, he came to me and said, “Yes "A certain overseas Chinese leader in Nanyang" would like to sponsor you to run a newspaper, as long as you write a receipt." I said, "Writing a receipt is not easy." Then he sent 4,000 Hong Kong dollars.

After the "Guangming Daily" was launched, funds were still tight, so I decided to go to Singapore to raise funds from overseas Chinese in person.For this trip, I added a white suit that I would wear in that hot climate.Unexpectedly, as soon as I boarded the boat, I ran into Xu Fulin from the National Socialist Party.Seeing that I was also on the boat, Xu first asked me: What are you doing in Nanyang?After I explained the purpose of this trip, Xu said: The Democratic League is composed of many political parties, including his National Socialist Party. If the Democratic League goes to raise donations, the National Socialist Party will not be able to raise any more.The two of us go together, and the donor will only give you, not me; if you go, I will return empty-handed.Therefore, if you go, I will not go; if I go, you cannot go!Xu's tough attitude was beyond my expectation.Xu was an old congressman in the early years of the Republic of China, and he was much older than me (I was forty-eight at the time, and he was in his sixties and seventies), so I had no choice but to let him.One piece of money was not raised, and a first-class ticket bought for hundreds of Hong Kong dollars was scrapped.Unexpectedly, within a few days, Japan launched the Pacific War, and Singapore soon fell into the hands of the Japanese army.A good fortune is a blessing in disguise.Fortunately, I didn't go, otherwise I would be stranded in Southeast Asia, and it would be difficult to return to the motherland.

The newspaper's economy is so difficult, but Zeng Muhan (Qi) of the Youth Party wants to put idlers in the newspaper, which is really infuriating.Originally, the newspaper office had appointed Sa Kongleo as the manager. Sa was very capable. Under his control, the work of the newspaper was already on the right track, but Zeng Muhan suddenly "recommended" Lu Guangrong from the Youth Party as the deputy manager.Because Sa is fully qualified and there is already a deputy manager Li Binghai, there is no need to add more people, not to mention adding more people will cost more, so I naturally rejected this unreasonable request.So Zeng and Lu invited me to the teahouse for negotiations, and threatened me repeatedly.In the end, Zeng said: "If you insist on your own opinion and refuse to accept it, we will no longer be allies, and I will treat you as an enemy!" Zeng, who seems to be gentle on weekdays, is so vicious and unreasonable, it is really lamentable!

6. The KMT's obstruction and sabotage Of course the Kuomintang is not happy about the Democratic League running a newspaper in Hong Kong, and will do everything possible to obstruct and destroy it.As early as the preparation of the newspaper, the Kuomintang sent Liu Weizhi, the vice president of the Legislative Yuan, from Chongqing to Hong Kong to contact the Hong Kong authorities in an attempt to prevent us from starting the newspaper.It's a pity that he was one step too late, because when he arrived, we had completed the registration procedures, paid the deposit of 4,000 Hong Kong dollars, and hired a legal adviser. It is considered a legal newspaper and cannot be banned arbitrarily. up.However, due to Liu's running activities, the news censorship agency of the Hong Kong authorities still made things difficult for us.In order to avoid or reduce troubles, everyone advised me to visit the person in charge of the news inspection agency before the newspaper was published, and reminded me to buy some gifts to send, expressing hope that he would take care of me.I have never done such a thing close to bribery!But in order to publish the newspaper, I reluctantly brought a gift to meet the person in charge.This man's surname is Liu, and he wears a long robe and mandarin jacket.This is rare in Hong Kong where suits and leather shoes are popular.The things were delivered, and I said please take care of me, but he opened the "skylight" in the first day of the "Guangming Daily".So I went to him again and negotiated.His answer was straightforward: this is "following orders" because there are instructions from above.He also said: "If the articles in your newspaper are published in other newspapers, such as "Ta Kung Pao", you don't have to delete them, but if they are published in your "Guangming Daily", you must delete them." It has become commonplace to open the "skylight" every day.Many of the articles were so abridged that the sentences did not make sense and could not be read.The long article I wrote and serialized in the newspaper, "What I'm Striving For", was also abridged and riddled with holes.

7. Publicly announce the establishment of the Democratic League at home and abroad From the end of 1940 to January 1941, the Democratic League was established, but it has never been made public. After "Guangming Daily" was founded in Hong Kong, its first task was to publicly announce the establishment of the China League of Democratic Political Groups, the largest political organization other than the KMT and the Communist Party, at home and abroad, and to announce the political platform of the Democratic League.However, if the founding declaration and political platform of the NLD are submitted for inspection before they are published in the newspapers, they will definitely not pass. Therefore, how to get these two important documents of the NLD to be published in the newspapers has become a major problem.Everyone discussed it again and again, but couldn't think of any way.Fortunately, Sakong came up with a good idea: to publish the manifesto and political program in the advertisement column with a masthead, because according to the regulations of the Hong Kong news censorship agency, the large advertisement column does not need to be submitted for inspection, so it can be easily published. He managed to avoid being sent for inspection and was detained for one pass.This opinion was subsequently followed.At the same time, the printing factory was notified to increase the number of prints, and the newspaper fee was specially reduced when it was sold, so as to expand the circulation of this issue as much as possible. On October 10, 1941, the "Guangming Daily", which published the founding declaration and political platform of the Democratic League, was finally put on sale in various places in Hong Kong, and met with a large number of readers; The establishment of the alliance.Seeing this situation, the Hong Kong authorities were of course taken aback, and immediately sent police officers led by British police officers to the newspaper office to inquire what happened.We will present it with the advertising account book, which contains the name and address of the advertiser, and the amount of advertising fees collected, to show that we publish according to the advertisement, and the procedures are complete.The people who came to check couldn't grasp any clues of the newspaper office, so they searched for the person who asked to publish the advertisement according to the name and address written in the account book, and the name, address, etc. were all fabricated by us in advance, so they naturally searched for anything. less than. The third series of my main experience Chapter 55 Before and after the founding of "Guangming Daily" (3) 8. Du Yuesheng, the leader of the Green Gang, was ordered to go out The "Guangming Daily" published the founding declaration and political platform of the Democratic League, publicly declaring the establishment of the Democratic League, which of course was not tolerated by Chiang Kai-shek.First of all, Wang Yunwu and Cheng Shewo, political councilors in Hong Kong, followed the will of the Kuomintang and asked me to leave Hong Kong and return to Chongqing, which was under the strict control and surveillance of Chiang Kai-shek, under the pretext of inviting me to Chongqing to participate in the political meeting. rejected by me.Later, Li Shizeng, a veteran of the Kuomintang (Li and Wu Zhihui, Cai Yuanpei, and Zhang Jingjiang, known as the Four Great Veterans of the Kuomintang, who were all friends of Mr. Zhongshan), who was staying at the Peninsula Hotel in Kowloon at the time, also wrote to persuade me to return to Chongqing. It is not malicious to the husband, just like the husband is to Jiegong." He also informed me that the ticket has been prepared by Wu Tiecheng's younger brother.I say "thank you" again.In the end, the Kuomintang moved out Du Yuesheng, the leader of the Youth Gang, and asked him to come out and "mobilize" me to leave Hong Kong.One day, Du Yuesheng came forward and invited me to "eat tea" alone in the private seat of "Gloro Setar Hotel".As soon as Du met, he first said a lot of compliments, saying how good the article I published in "Guangming Daily" was, how everyone paid attention to it, and many people agreed with it, etc.Then he changed the subject and said: "The Chongqing side very much hopes that Mr. Liang will go back. If you have any suggestions, you can talk to Mr. Jiang. Isn't it better to exchange opinions face to face?" I would like to go and return with Mr. Liang.” I replied, “No need, because I have no other propositions other than what has been published in the newspaper. What’s more, the headquarters of the Democratic League is in Chongqing. Zhang Junmai, Zuo Shunsheng and others are here, and they can represent the Democratic League if they need to be interviewed.” After being rejected, Du did not give up, and later invited me to have tea, but of course he was stymied. 9. Internal differences and interference The Kuomintang's interference and sabotage activities certainly created many difficulties for us, but what is even more heart-wrenching is the internal differences and interference.It was one of the most distressing experiences of my life and I will never forget it.The political platform of the Democratic League was written by me as early as in Chongqing, and it was revised and approved by everyone.However, more than a month before the publication of the newspaper, Huang Yanpei entrusted someone to bring a confidential letter from Chongqing and copied it. The opinion in it was that in order to avoid irritating the Kuomintang, four of the twelve-point program proposed were not published for the time being.These four articles include opposition to the national treasury bearing the expenses of the Kuomintang, opposition to the establishment of secret agencies, and so on.In fact, this idea of ​​dividing the program into two parts to be published successively was raised by Huang as early as when I was still in Chongqing. Later, everyone got an understanding that they would not publish it until the right time, and this disagreement was temporarily shelved. Now it is just an old matter. Just mention it.In order to eliminate differences, the NLD political program can be published on the original date (October 10, 1941). After many discussions with the NLD members in Hong Kong and many letters to and from the NLD members in Chongqing, it was finally decided that I should follow the A ten-point program was drafted out of the original twelve.This rewritten program was approved by the members of the Democratic League in Chongqing and remained unchanged; while Xu Mengyan and Zhou Jingwen in Hong Kong insisted on deleting the fourth article "supporting the Kuomintang in power and implementing the program of the War of Resistance and National Construction", and After the second article "end the party rule", add the words "still entrust the Kuomintang to govern".As a result, everyone had different opinions and couldn't settle down for a long time. Finally, it was revised to "supervise and assist the Kuomintang to implement the program of nation-building".The political program that was later published in the newspaper was produced through these many twists and turns. As for the method of publishing the founding declaration of the NLD, the differences arose long before the drafting of the declaration.Zeng Muhan of the Youth Party first proposed not to be named when publishing, and then Huang Yanpei, who was promoted as the chairman of the Democratic League, proposed to keep his personal participation in the Democratic League a secret; and the name can only be kept anonymous.I think that the publication of these two important documents of the NLD should be jointly signed by the person in charge of the NLD, without concealing that these political opinions are ours; only in this way can we show our solemn and responsible attitude and win the trust of the country. outside.Someone proposed to change the names of the parties that participated in the Democratic League, but the Vocational Education Association objected. The reason is self-evident: because Huang Yanpei is the head of the organization, having the name of the Vocational Education Association is equivalent to having his name .So I also suggested to publish it in the name of "Liang Shuming, the representative of the Democratic League in Hong Kong", or to release my position as the editor of the newspaper.The Youth Party, Zeng Muhan, used the excuse that the opinions expressed anonymously had not been negotiated, and could not reject the declaration that the grassland should be written by him.In order to publish the declaration and the political platform on the original date at the same time, I had to rush to write the declaration overnight, and it was discussed and approved by everyone.In the end, in desperation, he had no choice but to obey the opinions expressed anonymously, and published the two important documents of the NLD in the "Guangming Daily". Since he was not named at the time of publication, Sun Ke seized this point and made a big fuss. He made a public statement in Hong Kong, attacking the NLD, saying that the NLD is a hidden "fifth column" that undermines the anti-Japanese war and so on.The biggest disadvantage of publishing anonymously is that you cannot win the trust of foreign countries and gain international sympathy and support.As a remedy, Chen Youren (former secretary of Mr. Sun Yat-sen and foreign minister of the Nationalist Government) and Chen Hansheng explained and assured foreign journalists, and they translated the two documents into English on their behalf, so that the declaration and political program could be passed by these journalists Forward abroad. 10. Forced to suspend publication At the end of 1941, Japan launched the Pacific War. On December 8, the Japanese army attacked Hong Kong from Kowloon, and shelled and bombed Hong Kong at the same time. "Guangming Daily" was launched on September 18 of the same year, and was forced to suspend publication on December 13, only three months before and after.The newspaper could not go on, and the staff had to be dismissed.In order to avoid accidents, I also moved my residence many times with the help of colleagues. On December 25, the Japanese army finally occupied all of Hong Kong, and the Hong Kong authorities surrendered.In the early days when Hong Kong fell into the hands of the enemy, bandits abounded, and the Japanese army also took the opportunity to do evil, and social order could not be maintained.At this time, for the sake of safety, I hid with Sa Kongle, Zhang Yunchuan, and Huang Zan in an elementary school in Xihuan, and lived in an empty room on the third floor.During the day, they read independently, and at night they couldn't read without electricity. Several people chatted together and introduced various past events of their personal experiences. One day when I was out on business, I was walking on Central Road not far from the University of Hong Kong. I met Lu Guangrong. While the two were walking and talking, a man suddenly rushed out from between the two floors. The knife was on me, asking me to hand over my belongings.When I took the wallet out of my pocket, Lu took the opportunity to escape and ran uphill, and at this moment a police car happened to be coming from above and below.Lu then ran and shouted: "robber! Robber!" (Robber!) The gangster saw the police car coming towards us and ran away in a hurry, before he could take the wallet I handed him. 11. Leaving Hong Kong and returning to mainland China Soon thereafter, Fan Changjiang and Sa Kong asked me if I planned to leave Hong Kong at this time. I said of course I wanted to go, and agreed to go with Chen Jinsheng, Fan Changjiang and his wife. On January 10, 1942, two weeks after the Japanese army completely occupied Hong Kong, I changed into Chinese trousers and jacket, and left the elementary school where I lived before dawn. Taking advantage of the darkness before dawn, he boarded a small fishing boat chartered in advance, escaped the check and blockade of the Japanese army, quietly left Hong Kong, and embarked on the journey back to the mainland of the motherland.After returning to Guilin, I wrote a long article titled "Hong Kong escaped danger and sent forgiveness to my two sons", which described in detail the various hardships and dangers I experienced when I returned to the mainland from Hong Kong, so I won't repeat it here.