Chapter 46 Section 1 Hu Shi returns to China

On July 4, 1946, Hu Shi's cruise ship finally approached Shanghai Port after 50 days of wind and waves at sea.In the mist and mist, the homeland of Shenzhou, which I think about day and night, is right in front of me.Standing on the deck, Hu Shi built a pergola with his hands, looking at the city in front of him that was almost razed to the ground by the flames of war and was waiting to be rebuilt, he was full of emotion.He wrote in his diary that day: At three o'clock in the afternoon, the ship dropped anchor far outside Wusongkou.heavy rain. After the sky cleared, at a quarter past eight, the sunset glow over the sea was wonderful, which was rarely seen in my life.

I haven't seen the sunset and bright glow of the motherland for nine years! The short description contains strong poetic and picturesque flavors, revealing Hu's nostalgia for his homeland and the hearty and joyful excitement of returning to his hometown. At the same time, it also vaguely reflects the bitterness and sadness of living in a foreign country for many years. When he stepped on the deck of the ship with a thin body and was about to set off to leave the motherland amidst the raging flames of war, he did not expect to set foot on the land of the motherland again at such a moment of sunset today.

In the afternoon of the next day, Hu Shi left the cruise ship and boarded a boat led by his son Hu Zuwang. Surrounded by a group of newspaper reporters, he came down to the hall of the Shanghai Municipal Government to attend a welcome banquet hosted by Shanghai Mayor Wu Guozhen.During the meeting, Hu Shi gave a short talk. When the reporter asked about his situation and feelings in the United States for nearly 9 years, Hu Shi, who was always smiling, was at a loss for words and didn't know where to start.Eight years and eight months of hardships, bitterness, favors, disgraces, sorrows and honors have been condensed into a hard and bitter green olive deep in his heart. In the land of the motherland, it is even more difficult to export the exciting historical moments.This matter can be described as a child without a mother-it is a long story, and it is by no means summed up by Hu Shi's self-mockery and self-complaint "I will trust the bright moon with my heart, who knows that the bright moon will shine in the ditch".

In the six years before the Anti-Japanese War, everyone in the country knew that Hu Shi was a member of the peaceful political group. He tried his best to make peace with Japan through negotiations and international mediation, and tried his best to avoid war with Japan. It was not until he was sent to the United States that he changed this stubborn position.Many years later, the world only got a glimpse through secret letters or internal archives disclosed one after another. Before the War of Resistance, Hu Shi was not so stupid as to bet his country's destiny on the game of "peace" with Japan. At the same time, they are also clearly aware that sooner or later the Sino-Japanese War will inevitably break out, that is, the legacy of Lien Heng, the grandfather of Lien Chan, the former chairman of the Kuomintang in Taiwan, in Shanghai in the spring of 1936. There must be a war" famous prophecy.Even the veterans of the Manchu Qing Dynasty and even the old man can see the interests of China and Japan, let alone Hu Shi, the leader of the new school of scholars who concentrated on the great achievements of Western learning?In Hu's ideology, in addition to the word "harmony" in which the landlord is responsible for the best interests of the country, there is another thought and plan to actively meet the war.

As early as the night of June 27, 1935, in a long letter to Wang Shijie, Hu Shi expressed his understanding of the current situation and his strategic vision, and brilliantly predicted that China would need a long-term war of resistance in order to promote the success of the British and American wars. The possibility of war with Japan in the Pacific Ocean, the letter said: "In the recent period, Japan dominated East Asia and did whatever it wanted, China was powerless to resist, and the world was powerless to sanction. This is an undoubted situation at hand." If China's situation reverses, we can only send Hope in "a very distant future".The reason is that Japan has fostered an arrogant and dangerous ambition to dominate the world, which will eventually anger Britain and the United States. At that time, "there will be the most tragic war in the Pacific Ocean, which can be our chance to turn around."He also said: "We must prepare for three or four years of hard fighting. We must bite the bullet and decide that during these three years we cannot expect other countries to join the war. We can only hope that when we are battered and the enemy is exhausted. , Only then can there be international participation and assistance. This is the old wisdom of breaking the boat, and there is no other way to promote the World War II, which is not easy to start.”

This letter revealed to the world a secret that had been buried for a long time, and also dissolved some misunderstandings about Hu Shi by people at that time or later generations.It can be said that at least when writing this letter, Hu Shi was aware of the general trend of world development in which the situation is stronger than human beings, and began to revise his previous view of blindly advocating "harmony", and geniusly predicted the future occurrence of World War II. Country, place, time.Just because Chiang Kai-shek’s calculation of “fighting when I’m ready” has not yet been dispelled, and there is still a long distance between the prediction of the “World War II” and the reality, or it is still at the stage of seeing flowers in the fog, Hu Shi It is inconvenient to express my views publicly.But this extraordinary strategic concept has undoubtedly taken root in his heart and has become the hope for the future.

On October 5, 1938, Hu Shi returned to Washington from Europe to take up his post as a minister, and lived in the official residence of the "Shuangyu Garden" embassy.The next day, he paid homage to the U.S. Secretary of State and presented his credentials to President Roosevelt on the 27th. Since then, he has officially started his diplomatic career as the ambassador of the Republic of China to the United States. Hu Shi made beauty, and the Chinese people placed high hopes on it. On October 8, "Ta Kung Pao" published an editorial "Ambassador Hu Arrives in the United States" written by Zhang Jiluan, saying: "Mr. Hu Shizhi's appointment as ambassador and his willingness to serve as ambassadors are things that cannot be imagined in ordinary times. This The question itself symbolizes what kind of extraordinary period China is in. At the same time, it can be seen how important the task the government expects from him and himself.” At the same time, he said: Americans should believe that Hu Shi is the calmest and most Fair scholar and diplomat.He knows the United States best, and he also knows the motherland best. Our government and people are very much looking forward to the success of his mission to further enhance the friendship between China and the United States.Kong Xiangxi, who was not on good terms with Hu Shi at the time, also sent a telegram, expressing his attitude hypocritically: "I am very pleased to be here. This mission to the United States will greatly benefit the future of the country. The great powers look forward to the United States, and it is of great importance. The overall situation is closely related to me. My elder brother is talented and can handle Yuru himself."

At this time, although Roosevelt had the heart of aiding China and containing Japan out of the consideration of the overall situation of the world, there are still some arrogant "granite-headed" members of the U.S. Congress and some bastards who do not advocate for Hu Shi's speech. Moved, the severe isolationism remains in the hard head as always, and the profiteering giants are also trying to maintain economic and trade relations with Japan, unwilling to offend Japan so that they can make a fortune in war.In order to avoid unnecessary entanglements, Roosevelt instructed Treasury Secretary Henry Morgenthau to secretly study possible aid programs to China.

In September 1938, Morgenthau told the Chinese ambassador to France, Gu Weijun, in Paris: If the Nationalist government sent Chen Guangfu, a financier who had had a pleasant cooperation with the U.S. government when they signed the "Silver Agreement" two years ago, to the U.S., it would be possible to find credit. avenues for loans.Gu Weijun quickly conveyed the news to Chongqing, and the national government decided to send two financial giants, Chen Guangfu and Xu Xinliu, to the United States.Because Xu Xinliu's plane was shot down by a Japanese plane while flying from Hong Kong to Chongqing, Chen Guangfu had to go to the United States alone.At that time, Kong Xiangxi, the head of the Executive Yuan of the National Government, was only thinking about how to make money and make peace with the Japanese all day long. He didn't formulate a specific plan for asking for help, and he didn't even have a more accurate estimate of the number of help. It was just a fantasy. The government told Chen that after going to the United States, he would strive for a loan of 300 million to 400 million US dollars.Chen Guangfu immediately thought that Kong Xiangxi was an ignorant idiot, and it was not enough to conspire with him, let alone admonish him.In the short time before going to the United States, Chen Guangfu conducted detailed research on various domestic products that could be used as collateral for loans, and at the suggestion of Nicholson, Counselor of the Embassy of the U.S. Treasury Department in China, he selected tung oil as collateral.Tung oil is a military supply that is in short supply in the United States. If it can be exported, those isolationists who oppose aid to China and resist Japan will lose their support, and it will be difficult to open their mouths of opposition.More importantly, tung oil was China's largest export commodity at that time, and it may have won the trust of the United States and won more loans.After Chen Guangfu arrived in the United States, with the close cooperation of the new ambassador Hu Shi, he quickly reached a secret agreement with the U.S. Treasury Department on the loan of tung oil. On October 24, according to the request of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, Bank of America finally officially agreed to issue loans to China.

Just the day before the United States agreed to the loan, that is, on October 23, the Battle of Wuhan came to an end, and the million-strong national army was about to be completely defeated.When the news reached the United States, Hu Shi summoned the staff of the embassy and said solemnly and firmly: "We came here knowing that the country was in crisis. The more unlucky the country is, the more we can be needed. We can only stop when the country is at peace." On October 25, Wuhan, a major city in China, fell. The national government almost ran out of ammunition and food, and the army suffered heavy losses. There was no complete regular division to fight, and the situation was extremely critical.That night, U.S. Treasury Secretary Morgenthau specially invited Hu Shi and Chen Guangfu to his home to announce the approval of the loan. The two were quite moved.Hu Shi later wrote to Morgenthau, repeatedly emphasizing that this was a night worth remembering, saying, "Just when the situation in China is in critical condition, this sum of money really has the effect of saving lives and maintaining physical strength, and it is also a shot in the arm when the heart is weak. The "tung oil plan" was established, and the UK's material purchase loans and currency loans have also succeeded one after another. China's international credit has been greatly improved. The relationship is so important that it is self-evident."

On October 31, Hu Shi sent a photo to Chen Guangfu, a financier who cooperated with him sincerely, with his own poem beside the photo.The poem says: Occasionally there are a few white hairs, and the mood is slightly middle-aged. As a pawn crossing the river, I can only move forward desperately. It was this "pawn" who crossed the river at the critical moment of the motherland's life and death, who won a loan with sincere emotion and superb diplomacy, and sent life-sustaining blood to China's war of resistance.Not long after, Jones, chairman of the American Renaissance Financial Corporation, officially announced to the outside world that the Export-Import Bank would grant a loan of 25 million US dollars to the New York World Trade Corporation. On February 8, 1939, Chen Guangfu signed a loan contract with the Export-Import Bank as the chairman of the World Trade Corporation. The Chinese government finally got the first US dollar loan. . While Hu Shi was busy with American politicians about the imminent loan issue, on November 8 and 12, 1938, he received two sealed telegrams from Weng Wenhao, Minister of Economy of the Nationalist Government, saying that some people in the country could not For a long time, I would like to take this opportunity to negotiate peace with Japan. However, Wang Jingwei, Kong Xiangxi and other rats have lost confidence in the war and advocated peace talks, but Jiegong "hasn't been moved" and so on.It was at this time that Wuchang fell, all the national troops withdrew from the Wuhan battlefield, Yuezhou in Hunan fell, and the most prosperous southeast half of China's Shenzhou was lost.Hu Shi was very worried when he received the call, and immediately planned to send a long call to return it urgently. Based on his original intention and the recent observation of the international situation, he pointed out firmly: "In the past six years, there has always been peace, but today it is no longer possible to make peace. In the past six years, the main war has harmed the country, and the refusal to take responsibility for the main peace has harmed the country, but surrendering today is even more harmful to the country.” Such a clear-cut and strongly worded telegram shocked the staff of the embassy, ​​fearing that Hu Shi was "too responsible" and dared not issue it.At a critical moment concerning the life and death of the nation, Hu Shi changed his usual gentle smile and solemnly warned: "This is my private telegram to Weng Yongni, not the official telegram from the embassy." If you can't afford it, I will carry it around alone, and it won't get on you.At Hu Shi's insistence, the telegram was finally sent out. According to the historian Yu Yingshi, Hu Shi was resolutely ordered to go to the United States at a time of crisis, entirely to realize a prescient conception of the Sino-Japanese War in his letter to Wang Shijie as early as 1935-China is dying. , After three or four years of fighting alone, it will finally lead to an international war in the Pacific.In this strategic conception, Hu Shi’s first hypothetical country to participate in the war was of course the United States, so how to get the United States involved in the war in the Far East was his primary wish and goal.When he set foot on the land of the United States of America at the end of September 1937 as a private envoy, when anti-Chinese forces and isolationists still had the upper hand among politicians and financial groups, Hu Shi was the same as President Wilson after the failure of the Fourteen Articles. In the case of Washington's "impossibility", it directly appealed to the American people.In order to achieve this goal, Hu Shi went shirtless and launched a propaganda and agitation offensive to the American people through radio speeches. In his rare thirteen minutes, which he was first invited to broadcast to the nation on CBS San Francisco on October 1, he articulated his ideological approach deftly and emphatically.In this famous English radio speech titled "What China Expects of America in the Present Crisis" ("What China Expects of America in the Present Crisis"), Hu Shi said: "Although the people of your country want to be in the I completely sympathize with the wishes of foreign officials, but I can't help but have this thought: that is, passive appeasement alone without the backing of a constructive peace policy is absolutely not enough to guarantee the peace you deeply hope for. China's respect for the United States What is desired - is an international peace and justice, practical and positive leadership, a plan to prevent war, deter aggression, cooperate with the democracies of the world, promote collective security, and make the world at least safe for human habitation leader……" In this speech, although Hu Shi began to repeatedly state that China had no intention of involving the peace-loving United States in a cruel war, he also implicitly cited examples from the First World War, pointing out that the United States "maintained neutrality only by loving peace." ", is not sufficient to guarantee that war will be avoided.In the past, the barbaric actions of the aggressors made the United States involved in world wars, but the same barbaric actions are still being performed by the aggressors, and the United States will inevitably be forced to go back to the old path of ending wars with war.In other words, the so-called "neutrality" currently adopted by the United States is against historical experience and the general trend of the world.Hu Shi's speech was so sharp that even the staff of the radio station felt that it was "too powerful", and repeatedly asked for revisions to the speech before the broadcast.Hu Shi expressed a tough stance in his "big anger", "I would rather cancel the broadcast than modify it."In the end, the radio crew gritted their teeth and decided to take a risk. The speech was broadcast in full without moving a single word.The effect produced was predictable, and the entire east and west coasts of the United States were shaken. Many Americans who regarded Japan's aggressive war in the Far East as "no business of their own" listened to the voice of this Chinese scholar, and began to reflect on their views on The recognition of the Sino-Japanese War and feel ashamed of it.According to Yu Yingshi, this first radio speech set the tone of Hu Shi’s hundreds of speeches since then, “This is the main feature of his role as ambassador to the United States, and his greatest contribution to China’s War of Resistance Against Japan is also here. It is impossible to estimate with any certainty how much practical effect his lecturing has had year after year." Hu Shi, who has already understood the general trend of the world, knows that if the Chinese government and the army and the people cannot save themselves, no one else in the world will save you. This is what the Bible says: "God saves those who save themselves." Hu Shi followed In the past, he taught the people the spirit of "Yugong Yishan" to "do it bit by bit". After going to the United States, he made speeches and lobbying efforts without interruption. By July of the following year, he had traveled all over the United States and Canada by virtue of his international reputation. Waiting for major cities in North America, meeting with celebrities from all walks of life, exposing Japan's atrocities of aggression against China, and demonstrating China's strong belief in the War of Resistance.His gentle and sincere attitude, eloquent and eloquent speeches have shocked the hearts of all kinds of American politicians, plutocrats and citizens, and made them constantly correct their inherent arrogance and prejudice against China through invisible influence.As the "New York Times" said: "Any American who knows Hu Shi will cheer for Hu Shi's new mission. ... Few of Hu Shi's compatriots are more suitable than Hu Shi to represent the essence of both old and new Chinese culture. Few Chinese Human beings are so suitable to communicate the situation between China and the United States, and to promote the friendly relationship between the people of China and the United States." On December 4, 1938, Hu Shi gave a speech entitled "Japanese War of Invasion of China" at the Chinese Cultural Society in New York. The technique is amazing: If you want me to summarize the current situation in China in one sentence, I will say without hesitation: "China is bleeding to death." The audience has not yet recovered from this shocking news. Hu Shi went on to say: In the past more than sixteen months, we have fought against the aggressors. The aggressors are currently one of the three major navies in the world and one of the four or five most powerful military forces.China has already suffered millions of casualties and lost large tracts of land.All the important towns along the coast and along the Yangtze River have fallen: Peiping, Tianjin, Qingdao, Jinan, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Wuhu, Jiujiang, Amoy, Canton, and Wuhan have all fallen to the enemy.Almost all important cities generally known to the outside world, including centers of commerce, industry, education, modern culture, transportation and communication, were either seriously damaged or occupied by invaders. Among the 111 colleges and universities in [the country], more than two-thirds have been destroyed, occupied, or paralyzed. Only a very small number of [universities] in the interior have neither equipment nor risk being bombed. The danger is still in operation.In addition to the heavy casualties of the fighting troops, 60 million ordinary people were forced to leave their destroyed homes and were displaced without houses, medicines, and most of them did not even have the most basic resources to survive.Hundreds of innocent people were killed by Japanese Imperial Army bombers every day. The most serious thing is that since the fall of Guangzhou in October, China has completely cut off maritime traffic, which also cut off the supply of weapons and ammunition from overseas... This also means that it is facing great difficulties in exporting and obtaining foreign exchange. This is the current situation in China.Am I exaggerating when I say China is dying in a haemorrhage? Next, Hu Shi explained in a slightly more relaxed tone that after the fall of Guangzhou and Wuhan, a large part of the national government’s military and political officials and ordinary people fought against each other, causing a period of doubt, hesitation, and even despair.And Hu Shi himself has repeatedly pointed out to American friends that there is a limit to using flesh and blood to fight against high-tech weapons; after exhaustion, there is a danger of collapse.Therefore, it is very natural for some people to have doubts and hesitation. As the news reports say, there was once peace talks—that is, they seriously considered abandoning the defense and surrender—communication, and the enemy also clearly expressed their willingness to negotiate peace. After stating the current situation and the truth of China’s aggression, Hu Shi changed the subject and began to cite the history of the American Revolutionary War led by the founding president of the United States, Washington, to explain China’s situation and hope of existence, so as to arouse the maximum understanding and understanding of the Americans. Moral sympathy.Finally, Hu Shi firmly pointed out: China's war of resistance against Japan will eventually win the final victory.This victory depends on the Chinese making greater sacrifices and carrying out a protracted war of resistance; secondly, it calls on democratic countries to impose an embargo on Japan.This well-intentioned speech, while arousing sympathy and understanding from some people in the United States, also caused misunderstandings and distortions taken out of context by some media, and some unceremoniously poured a few cans of shrimp paste-like medicine on Hu Shi's face. sewage.According to the US "Life" magazine, this speech is a tentative prelude to China's intention to seek peace with Japan.When the news spread to China, some politicians in Chongqing, such as Kong Xiangxi, made use of the issue to criticize Hu Shi's words and deeds.For this reason, Chiang Kai-shek was also very unhappy, and almost called Hu Shi back to the country to "report on his work."Starting from this, Hu Shi's future "propaganda" in the United States became more and more out of sync with those in power in Chongqing, until the contradictions between the two sides deepened and became an unmanageable situation. In addition to misunderstandings and misinterpretations by well-meaning or ulterior media, Hu Shi's speech was slandered by some domestic "incumbents", but it also aroused panic and resentment among the Japanese.Sensitive Japanese senior officials realized that China had the upper hand in diplomacy with the United States, and sending only one ambassador to the United States could not compete with it.Japan's official "Nippon Review" even took the opportunity to fan the flames and stir up trouble, and published a special comment, claiming that Japan needs to immediately send three more ambassadors to counter Hu Shi. These three people are the writer Tsurumi Yusuke and the economist Ishii Kikujiro , eloquent expert Matsuoka Hiroshi, etc.Thanks to Hu Shi's activities and the active efforts of the Chinese government, public opinion in the United States gradually shifted from "non-intervention" to sympathy with China and condemned Japan, and the situation moved in a direction favorable to China.Hu Shi, who has always paid attention to collecting information, kept a report in the "New York Times" on October 31, 1940 in his diary, which reproduced the comments of the English-language "Japan Times" in Tokyo.This comment is extremely angry at the U.S. State Department supporting Hu Shih’s speech tour in North America behind the scenes, accusing Hu Shih of giving speeches as an ambassador, deliberately arousing people’s hatred of Japan, and possibly leading the U.S. into a terrible war with Japan . Regarding this hateful article, historian Yu Yingshi commented: "This at least shows that in the eyes of the Japanese government, Hu Shi's speech activities have constituted a major threat to the relationship between the United States and Japan. Talks among leading figures must also emphasize that negotiations with Japan are not reliable, because Japan is never trustworthy. Hu Shi's last-minute quarrel has something to do with it." The "final negotiation" that Yu mentioned refers to the most important diplomatic strategic confrontation between the United States and Japan before the outbreak of the famous Pearl Harbor incident.What was Hu Shi arguing at the last minute, and why did the two powerful empires in the world break down the negotiations because of Hu Shi's quarrel until the war broke out?Due to the lack of information, the world knows little about it.According to the newly declassified information from the United States, the specific situation at that time was roughly as follows: In September 1941, the governments of the United States and Japan began secret negotiations on the situation between China and the Southwest Pacific, and the Japanese side sent ambassadors Nomura and Kusu to carry out the negotiation mission in Washington.When Hu Shi heard the news, he immediately launched an offensive between the two decision makers, President Roosevelt and Secretary of State Hull, to prevent them from making actions that would harm China's interests at a critical moment.However, for its own benefit, the United States still decided to compromise with Japan, and ruthlessly threw China out as a broken sack filled with countless corrupt officials and idiots.At this time, the bloody war between China and Japan had lasted for four years, and "waiting for change" had almost reached the limit mentioned by Hu Shi. If no external force intervened, the consequences would be unpredictable, and it was very likely that they would really die in a bloodshed.At this time, the compromise between the United States and Japan will undoubtedly push China to the brink of collapse. On September 24, due to Hu Shi's firm request, Hull met with Hu Shi and other Chinese and British ambassadors, and reluctantly showed the US finalized draft of the interim compromise.Hu Shi was furious after seeing it, and lodged a solemn protest to US Secretary of State Hull on the spot, and immediately asked President Roosevelt to come forward to stop this plan that was harmful to China's interests, and at the same time asked the British side to jointly protest this decision.After repeated weighing, British Prime Minister Churchill finally adopted Hu Shi's suggestion and called President Roosevelt to clearly oppose the United States' compromise with Japan at a critical juncture in history, which was self-interested and harmful to China.Churchill pointed out with great political foresight: "If China collapses, it will greatly increase the crisis of Britain and the United States." Due to the strong opposition from the British side and Ambassador Hu Shi, the top American officials decided to withdraw the compromise plan with Japan on November 26, which led to Japan In a state of unprecedented isolation, the situation in the Pacific Ocean full of risks has completely turned around. ——This is the origin of Hu Shi's "strong quarrel at the last minute". On December 7, 1941, the day of the Pearl Harbor incident, Hu Shih was giving an impassioned speech in New York. Roosevelt called and asked him to meet him at the White House as soon as possible.When Hu hurried to the White House, Roosevelt said straight to the point: "Hu Shi, those two guys (according to the South: referring to the Japanese special envoys Nomura and Laiqi) have just left here. I have firmly told them that they cannot compromise. You can call Commissar Chiang immediately. However, from now on, wars may break out in the Pacific Ocean at any time, possibly in the Philippines and Guam.” At this time, President Luo was only half right. The war is about to break out, but it is not the Philippines and Guam thousands of miles away, but the mainland of the United States.As soon as Hu Shi left the White House and arrived at the embassy, ​​he received a call from Roosevelt.The other party said in a voice trembling with anger: "Hu Shi, just received a report that the Japanese navy and air force have violently attacked Pearl Harbor."——The Pacific War broke out. A few years later, Charlie Beale, a famous American historian and professor of Columbia University, regarded Hu Shi as the chief culprit in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in his famous book "President Roosevelt and the Prelude to the Great War".What Bill said in the book is to the effect that the war between the United States and Japan could have been avoided, but in order to protect the interests of American capitalists in Asia, President Roosevelt unfortunately fell into the trap of the very capable Chinese ambassador Hu Shi. The Japanese army came to attack Pearl Harbor and finally dragged the United States into the terrible world war. Although what Charlie Beale said is too exaggerated, it also reveals an inherent fact that Hu Shi's acceptance of the post of envoy to the United States was due to this "major event".Hu Shi "during his tenure as ambassador, it is well known that he used all means and power to push the U.S. and Japan into hostilities. He wholeheartedly wanted to bring the U.S. into the Pacific War, so that China could have a chance to 'stand up'."What the world saw was that following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States, Britain and other countries formally declared war on Japan, and the Second World War broke out, Hu Shi's "major event" came to an end, and what awaited him would be a gray ending.