Chapter 22 22. The Debut History of Young Talent Gu Weijun

Mr. He Bingdi, an overseas Chinese historian, said in his memoir "Sixty Years of Reading History and Reading the World" that when he was studying in the United States at the end of 1945, he was very excited when he moved into the well-known graduate building of Columbia University. (as a dormitory building, this was relatively rare at the time), but as soon as you enter the door, you can see a commemorative silver shield of alumnus Dr. Gu Weijun displayed in the window at the bottom of the building, which shows that it was the debate between Columbia University and Yale University in 1910 In the competition, Columbia University won, and the leader of its debate team was Gu Weijun.After seeing it, Mr. He was very excited, and immediately decided to have lunch here, and ordered the most expensive dish to pay tribute to his senior brother many years ago.

Gu Weijun is a great talent. Zhang Xueliang once commented on him: "Gu Weijun, I admire him very much. He is really capable." However, Zhang Shaoshuai added: "He just doesn't work hard. If he really works hard, he can do it. ! But he doesn't work hard." How did Shaoshuai Zhang understand that most of the real talents don't need to work hard, and those who work hard are not geniuses but talents.Gu Weijun should be regarded as a rare talent at that time, so he didn't work hard. Gu Weijun, whose name is Shaochuan, was born in Jiading, Shanghai. His father, Gu Qingchuan, was in the shogunate of Yuan Guanlan, the governor of Shanghai. Because he was good at business and foreign affairs, he later became the first president of the Bank of Communications.Gu Weijun was born in such a half-traditional and half-modern family that combined Chinese and Western cultures. He first studied in an old private school, then entered the missionary school Yinghua College after he was ten years old, and soon entered St. John's University (then named "St. John's College"); in 1904 , 15-year-old Gu Weijun, accompanied by Shi Zhaoji, went to study in the United States with a group of seven Jiangsu Guanfei students (Gu stayed in the United States at his own expense). He first adapted to Cooke College for a year, and then was admitted to Columbia University majoring in politics and international affairs. diplomatic. At the end of 1905, when the constitutional government delegation sent by the Qing government visited New York (Shi Zhaoji was also a member), Gu Weijun went to welcome him as a representative of Chinese students.

Gu Weijun was an active student when he was a student. Reading seemed to be never a problem for him, because he believed that learning was "both learning and entertainment" since he was a child, so he had a lot of time and energy to participate in school activities, such as speeches, debates and even Drama; Later, Gu Weijun also served as the editor of the school publications "The Spectator" and "The Columbian" and the business manager of the "Columbia Monthly".What is even more amazing is that in his junior year, he also participated in the election of the student union and became a member of it, which should be said to be extremely difficult for a foreign student.

However, at this time, Gu Weijun encountered a little trouble with personal problems. The reason was that his parents arranged a marriage for him when he was 12 years old. After he was 18 years old, his parents kept writing letters. To urge him to return to China to get married, because according to the customs at that time, it was obviously inappropriate for a girl to remain unmarried beyond the age of eighteen.Gu Weijun did not want to accept this marriage, but his eldest brother also wrote a letter to persuade him to return to China, because his father and the other party have been friends for many years, and it is obviously unrealistic to want to annul this marriage contract, and his parents are already anxious and sad about it , he persuaded Gu Weijun to obey his parents' wishes, at least he should come back in person and discuss it carefully.

People at that time were uncivilized, with heavy traditional concepts, and the matter of retiring marriage was no small matter. In addition, they had many misunderstandings about studying abroad, and they often could not understand these young people who had received modern education. Once someone opposed this "blind marriage", The villagers often rumored that they had been cut off their testicles by witch doctors in foreign countries, so that they lost their sexual function and were forced to withdraw their marriage.It can be inferred from this that Gu Jun will inevitably have "the ridicule of cutting the pill".

After Gu Weijun received the letter from his eldest brother, he also realized that the matter was serious, so he had no choice but to agree to return to China to discuss the matter, but as soon as he arrived home, his parents immediately hinted that they would marry the two. In a rage, he declared a hunger strike unless his son agreed to the marriage.Under the hard persuasion of his eldest brother, Gu Weijun was forced to give in and had to agree to get married.When my father heard this, he stopped his hunger strike immediately and ordered the wedding to be held immediately. Gu Weijun reluctantly walked into the palace of marriage, but on the night of the bridal chamber, he refused to share the same room with the bride, and it lasted for several nights, which made everyone very disturbed.Under the pressure of his parents, Gu Weijun finally returned to his room, but he would rather sleep on the couch than share the bed with the bride.After all, the fire cannot be contained in the paper. When Gu Weijun proposed to return to the United States to continue his studies, his father said yes, but only if he brought his new wife.

Gu Weijun brought the bride back to the United States, but he always regarded her as his sister or friend. After he returned to New York, the bride was sent to Philadelphia to receive education.Three years later, Gu Weijun signed a divorce agreement with this woman, ending this inexplicable and factually non-existent marriage. In November 1908, shortly after Gu Weijun returned to the United States, Tang Shaoyi, one of the main cadres of the Yuan Shikai Group, visited the United States as a special envoy. Gu Weijun received the Tang delegation as a representative of Chinese students, which left a deep impression on Tang Shaoyi.However, Tang Shaoyi’s visit to the United States did not make substantial progress, because not long after he arrived in the United States, Emperor Guangxu and Empress Dowager Cixi passed away successively. After losing his asylum, the Yuan Shikai Group, the most powerful group in the late Qing Dynasty, also fell into crisis.

In 1911, when Gu Weijun and his first "nominal" wife dissolved their marriage, the Qing court also began the countdown to its downfall.This year is also the busiest year for Gu Weijun, because he has to prepare for his doctoral exam defense.Gu Weijun's mentor was Professor Moore, who was proficient in international law and diplomacy. Professor Goodnow, who was later hired by Yuan Shikai as a consultant to the presidential palace, was also one of Gu Weijun's teachers.Gudenow published an article "Republican Monarchy" when Yuan Shikai proclaimed the emperor and caused a great uproar. His relationship with China may be caused by Gu Weijun's matchmaking.

When Gu Weijun was preparing for his doctoral defense, the Chinese Embassy in Washington suddenly sent him a telegram. In the telegram, the interim president Yuan Shikai personally invited him to serve as his English secretary.Gu Weijun was surprised and delighted after reading the telegram, but after thinking for a few minutes, he said that he is busy with his thesis defense now, and he hopes to return to China to serve after obtaining a Ph.D.The ambassador was very surprised by Gu Weijun's refusal, because for a 23-year-old young man, there should be no better opportunity than this, not to mention the tone of the telegram is very affirmative, and he will definitely be hired after returning to China.

Gu Weijun found his mentor, Moore. Moore was very angry when he learned that his favorite student had rejected such an excellent opportunity. How can you refuse such an excellent opportunity to enter the government and participate in the construction and development of a new country?He warned Gu Weijun that if there is such an opportunity again, he must not give up easily, and he must talk to him first. A week later, the embassy found Gu Weijun again and forwarded the call from the Presidential Palace to him. In the telegram, Gu Weijun was asked not to refuse the invitation, because it was personally recommended by the first Prime Minister Tang Shaoyi.Gu Weijun went to see Professor Moore with the telegram. Moore was very happy and agreed to submit the first four chapters of Gu Weijun's unfinished doctoral dissertation as a formal thesis and arrange for his defense in advance.

The professors of Columbia University Law School were very happy when they learned that their students were about to serve as the English secretary of the interim president of the Republic of China, and they gave the green light to Gu Weijun's defense, keeping everything simple.In their eyes, the fact that their students can enter the new government of the Republic of China is not only the glory of Gu Weijun alone, but also the pride of Columbia University, and will definitely strengthen the relationship between Columbia University and China, and even between the United States and China.In fact, in Gu Weijun’s later period, there were many famous Chinese alumni of Columbia University, including Jiang Tingfu, Hu Shizhi, Feng Youlan, Jin Yuelin, Zhang Boling, Jiang Menglin, Hou Debang, Ma Yinchu, Zhang Xiruo and other well-known figures. Obviously, it is a manifestation of Columbia's influence on China. Two months later, Gu Weijun received a doctorate in law from Columbia University and returned to China.After arriving in Beijing, Prime Minister Tang Shaoyi sent someone to take him to the Liuguo Hotel and told him that the next day the Premier would personally take him to meet President Yuan Shikai.The next day, Tang Shaoyi took him into Yuan Shikai's office. After Tang Shaoyi introduced Gu Weijun to Yuan Shikai, the two began to talk about business affairs, and Gu Weijun listened to him.When Tang Shaoyi got up to leave, he said that Gu Weijun "in addition to serving in the presidential palace, he must also be his secretary." Tang Shaoyi's words made Yuan Shikai's boss unhappy. It was recommended! You should be my secretary here and help me'".Tang Shaoyi said, "You don't have much to do here, I think he can run on both sides." During the "little, harmless dispute" between the president and the prime minister for him, Gu Weijun remained respectfully silent.Soon, he was appointed as the Prime Minister's secretary. He was the youngest of Tang Shaoyi's eight secretaries, and most of the others were in their forties or fifties.Gu Weijun's main job is to handle all the correspondence between the prime minister and foreign countries. His job is relatively easy, but he ranks fourth among the eight secretaries. Unfortunately, Tang Shaoyi soon had a deadlock with his old boss Yuan Shikai due to various problems. In a fit of anger, he resigned from the post of prime minister and fled to Tianjin.According to the usual practice, Gu Weijun and seven other secretaries also resigned, and Gu Weijun followed Tang Shaoyi to Tianjin himself.However, this trip was also quite fruitful, because during this period, Gu Weijun and Tang Shaoyi's daughter Tang Mei had a good impression of each other (in fact, Tang Shaoyi fell in love with this good son-in-law and introduced it intentionally), and a marriage began (Tang Mei unfortunately contracted the Spanish flu in Gu Weijun's European office in 1918 and died, leaving behind a son and a daughter). Yuan Shikai did not want to lose the talent of Gu Weijun, so he sent someone to send a message to Gu Weijun, asking him to return to the presidential palace, and Tang Shaoyi also believed that the cabinet appointment did not conflict with the presidential palace, and suggested that he go back and resume his post.Gu Weijun said that Deputy Foreign Minister Yan Huiqing also invited him to work in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Tang Shaoyi said that both of them agreed. Where he made full use of his strengths and applied what he learned, which also pointed out the direction of Gu Weijun's career development. At that time, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Lu Zhengxiang was an experienced professional diplomat who could speak French fluently, but could not speak English, and his Mandarin was a little bad because he was stationed abroad all the year round. However, he and Gu Weijun were both from Shanghai, so he will This little fellow countryman arranged for him to be his secretary, and Gu Weijun had to act as an interpreter every time he had to meet envoys from English-speaking countries. During this period, what made Gu Weijun most dissatisfied was that when the foreign minister answered the questions raised by foreign envoys, instead of calling him to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he sent his secretary to the embassy to answer, and this kind of task often fell on Gu Weijun.Gu Weijun studied diplomacy, and he knew very well that this was not in line with the usual diplomatic practice, but this kind of practice was common in Asian countries, especially after the Gengzi year. In addition to serving in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Gu Weijun also served as the English secretary of President Yuan Shikai, so he went to the presidential palace almost every day. However, Gu Weijun did not see Yuan Shikai every day, but only when Yuan Shikai met with foreign envoys or prominent figures. Only then will he be arranged to be an interpreter, and the rest of the time is usually to deal with the English letters and announcements of the President.After many contacts with Yuan Shikai, Gu Weijun believed that Yuan Shikai was a person who was very good at dealing with foreigners, although he had never stayed abroad and did not know a single foreign word.In addition, Gu Weijun also believes that although Yuan Shikai was the president of the Republic of China, he did not know what the Republic was like. This may be one of the reasons why he turned to the imperial system for help after all kinds of chaos. During Yuan Shikai's administration, the most difficult diplomatic problem he encountered was Japan's pretext of declaring war on Germany and occupying Qingdao and proposing "21".As experts in diplomacy and international law, Gu Weijun, Wu Chaoshu (son of diplomat Wu Tingfang), and Jin Bangping were invited to participate in the cabinet meeting chaired by Yuan Shikai. the whole process of the problem. Doing diplomacy when the national power is far inferior to others is extremely difficult and easily criticized. Lu Zhengxiang, Wu Tingfang, Shi Zhaoji, Gu Weijun, Cao Rulin, Zhang Zongxiang and others unfortunately lived in this era.However, Gu Weijun was a special case. His promotion was also extremely fast, and it can even be said to be unique in the history of Chinese diplomacy: he was promoted to counselor one year after entering the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and was appointed Minister to Mexico in July 1915. A few months later, he was promoted to minister to the United States, which was no less important diplomatic position than the minister to the United Kingdom at that time. Gu Weijun was less than 27 years old when he became the ambassador to the United States, and this was personally arranged by Yuan Shikai.In fact, Gu Weijun's appointment as Minister to Mexico is just to pave the way for his appointment as Minister to the United States, so as not to give people the feeling of being inexperienced.But unfortunately, six months later, Yuan Shikai died. Since then, Gu Weijun, who had achieved success as a young man, fell into the political turmoil of the Republic of China. Even though he had all his abilities, he couldn't use them. The reason for "refusing to contribute".In the political quagmire of the Republic of China, even if Gu Weijun wanted to contribute, he might not be able to find a place to focus! With Gu Weijun's talent and status, his achievements in history are so disproportionate, the only bright spot is the Paris Peace Conference.Although China's diplomacy failed, Gu Weijun's struggle at the peace conference was remarkable, although the defeat was glorious. The Paris Peace Conference once brought great expectations and fantasies to the Chinese people, so that it hurt the Chinese people equally deeply.Before the opening of the peace conference, the Chinese diplomatic delegation sent a luxurious lineup (almost all the envoys stationed in Europe), but the conference only arranged two official seats for China, which gave the head of the delegation Lu Zhengxiang a It was a huge problem, because he had at least five outstanding diplomats under his command: Shi Zhaoji, Wang Zhengting, Gu Weijun, Wei Chenzu, and Hu Weide. Fortunately, the seats were not limited to representatives, so these diplomats were able to rotate. The "Shandong issue" that could not be bypassed at the peace meeting, the Chinese delegation was invited to present their opinions, and this important task fell on Gu Weijun. On January 28, 1919, Gu Weijun was ordered to deliver the Chinese government's statement on the "Shandong issue" at the "Ten-member Meeting" of the presidium of the peace conference. This speech lasted for more than half an hour. It confirmed China's position and won unanimous praise from the heads of state.President Wilson of the United States, Prime Minister Lloyd George of the United Kingdom and others came over to congratulate him, and praised the speech as an "excellent exposition", which was in stark contrast to the desolation after the Japanese representative's speech the day before. But diplomacy and national interests cannot be won by wonderful speeches after all. Although Gu Weijun performed well, the Chinese delegation still suffered a disastrous defeat at the Paris peace conference. failed to materialize.As the peace conference was coming to an end, the Chinese delegation was faced with the dilemma of "to sign or not to sign": to sign would "legalize" Japan's occupation of Qingdao and the inheritance of the former German rights; Possibility of rights... Under such circumstances, the "May 4th Movement" broke out, and the voice of visa refusal became the mainstream.After failing to strive for "retaining the agreement" the delegation telegraphed the Beijing government the day before the signing (June 28) to explain the reasons for the refusal, but paradoxically, Beijing replied that it had instructions on the matter , why the delegation failed to receive it?The telegram from Beijing actually arrived after the time stipulated by the peace conference (that is, 3:00 p.m. on June 28). It takes a lot of thinking whether there are outsiders playing tricks. Without clear instructions from the Beijing government, the delegation resolutely decided to refuse the visa.Gu Weijun described the last day of the peace conference in his memoirs: "I drove away from the hospital by myself, driving slowly in the dawn light, I felt that everything was so bleak, the sky, the tree shadows, the silent street I think that this day will be regarded as a tragic day and will be preserved in Chinese history. At the same time, I secretly imagined the grand occasion of the closing ceremony of the peace conference, and imagined that when the delegates attending the peace conference saw the memory of the Chinese Plenipotentiary How amazed and excited will I be when the two seats I am sitting on have been empty. This will be an unforgettable day for me, the entire delegation, and China. The absence of China will certainly make the peace conference and the French diplomacy, and even the whole world, were astonished, if not shaken." Gu Weijun's words are correct. China can miss the signing ceremony of the Paris Peace Treaty, but can China never be absent from the world stage?