Mr. Alley recounted what he saw and heard in a very sad and low voice. He has a sincere and generous character. Perhaps his two years of traveling around China have made him accustomed to thinking about others, and he is deeply afraid of An Yi.
She didn't understand what he was saying, so she spoke very slowly, but she was very emotional and spoke faster and faster. If it weren't for Zhang Zhizhai, who was very good at English, supplementing explanations in a low voice from time to time, An Yi might not have been able to understand.
.
The disaster in northern Shaanxi is far more serious than An Yi estimated. The horrific plague has spread in Xunyi, Gansu, Ningxian, Pengyang and other places at the junction of northern Shaanxi and Ningxia. According to Alley's rough statistics, the number of deaths
There were no less than 50,000 people. Wherever he went, new tombs had just been erected, and corpses that had no time to bury and were unable to bury were scattered among them. People did not know how to prevent and cure it, let alone how to deal with it. In northern Shaanxi,
Many villages along the way were desolate and desolate. Tens of thousands of infected people were sitting or lying in their yards or in front of their homes, helplessly waiting to die. Anyone who had any chance of surviving a glimmer of hope fled their homes. Therefore,
, people who fled the epidemic area with their families out of fear went south in droves, and there were so many people that there was no end in sight. Wherever the crowd passed, more and more bodies were thrown on both sides of the road, most of them old people and children.
…
Alley swallowed hard, waved his arms, his face flushed, and he was very excited: "The most sad thing is that the vast majority of people do not have any money in their hands, nor any valuable items to exchange for medicine and food.
They hold vouchers issued by the Northwestern Military Government themselves, and the military vouchers have become worthless.
In the past two years, various military departments have used these crudely printed bills with huge denominations, and these self-printed banknotes, which have no guarantee and cannot be redeemed for gold and silver, to buy grain, cattle, sheep, and even seeds from the people. They have also formulated strict regulations.
Harsh laws punish those who refuse to accept and use these banknotes. Punishment methods range from detention, to long-term imprisonment, to confiscation of property and even beheading. There are more and more banknotes in denominations of fifty to hundreds of yuan on the market, and their purchasing power
It gets weaker and weaker, and finally becomes useless paper.
General, think about it, these banknotes were issued as fifty or one hundred ocean coins. In China, which is currently poor and backward, it is simply unbelievable that such a large amount of banknotes are circulating in the market.
The thing is, the average family of five people in the northwest does not have five silver dollars a month in income. This is completely naked plunder!
Beginning in March this year, this hateful military behavior further intensified, causing a large number of people to lose the minimum guarantee of reproduction. As a result, tragic things happened one after another, including selling their fields, children, and even wives in exchange for food to ensure their survival.
, and the reason for the army seems to be very good, saying that it wants to protect the country and the people, and unify the northwest, so that thousands of people can live a happy and comfortable new life.
Mr. Edgar Snow and I have been covering the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia region for two months. Last week, we were forcibly expelled by the army on the grounds of blocking the epidemic area, and had to return south to Xi'an. What we saw and heard on the way back made us
I was stunned. The original green was almost invisible. Wherever the refugees passed by, it was like locusts passing by. A large number of trees were stripped by hungry people.
The bark was removed to satisfy hunger and withered, and all the edible tree roots, weeds and young leaves were gone. Coupled with the drought for months, everything was a lifeless yellow color, full of rot or about to rot, and no one wanted to add more.
Taking a look at the corpse, the cries heard at the beginning have become less and less, and there are more numbness, despair and resignation...
General, currently tens of millions of people in the northwest are walking on the verge of death. They are so pitiful and helpless. If they don't get basic rescue, there will be a hell on earth! Three months at most.
Maybe in less than three months, the plague will spread everywhere with infected people fleeing their homes, and more and more hungry people will die in batches. What a huge disaster it will be..."
An Yi couldn't sit still anymore, stood up and walked around anxiously, but in the end he could only sit down in pain and expressed his gratitude to Alley: "Thank you, Mr. Alley, thank you...Brother Zhizhai, I suggest you give He Jing a visit."
A telegram suggested that he go to Nanchang immediately or invite Mr. Zhou Chongan to Shanghai to discuss what to do.
At this time, we can only rely on the influence of your news agency to awaken the people. We can only rely on conscientious people across the country to work together to tide over the difficulties. If we let it continue to develop, we will be embarrassed to face our colleagues.
, I can’t even mention any more ideals and beliefs!”
Zhang Zhizhai knew the relationship between An Yi and He Jing, and saw An Yi's attitude from the deep sorrow in An Yi's eyes and clenched cheeks. Zhang Zhizhai nodded lightly, then shook his head and said helplessly:
"General, I'm afraid I can't inform President He. The Henan-Shaanxi-Gansu region where the Northwest Army is now under military control is under military control. The entire Shaanxi telegraph office is not allowed to send news about the disaster area to the outside world, especially for journalists like us.
strict
, many colleagues’ manuscripts and interview records were confiscated at the telegraph office. I have been here for more than a month and visited eight counties in northern and southern Shaanxi. I still have more than 200,000 words of interview records and communication comments with me. I just met the general and planned to
I’m asking the general for help.”
An Yi was stunned, thought for a while and said: "Then let me do it. I will inform He Jing that our delegation will also bring a radio station this time. I will go and do it myself in the evening."
"Great! When does the general plan to return to Nanjing?" Zhang Zhizhai asked.
"We'll leave the day after tomorrow at the latest. If you plan to go back, let's go together." An Yi looked at Zhang Zhizhai.
"No! I want to stay. I'll stay for now. Please help me, General, to send back these two hundred thousand words of interview materials and publish them as soon as possible. There are several comments from Mr. Alley and Mr. Snow. Please bring them with me, General."
, Let more people across the country understand the truth about this disaster that happened in North and Northwest China, and understand that besides natural disasters, there are more man-made disasters here." Zhang Zhizhai was also quite excited.
An Yi sighed, nodded and said: "Okay, leave it to me now, I will deliver it to He Jing in time."
"Not yet. Tomorrow, I still need to sort it out and ask Mr. Alley for his opinion to send his documentary report back for publication. It must be published not only in Chinese newspapers but also nationwide.
Published in newspapers and magazines around the world, only in this way can the people of the country be awakened to supervise the government and the army and fight for their basic rights to survive." Zhang Zhizhai explained.
Alley understood the Mandarin conversation between the two, stood up and suggested politely: "I agree, and I am willing to do my best for this. Let's go back to the hotel and sort it out immediately. We will prepare it for the press conference held by the Northwest Army in Huayin tomorrow afternoon.
You can hand it over to the general before and after."
An Yi was very surprised and asked: "How do you know so clearly, sir?"
"General, I can actually know many things in advance. General Feng Yuxiang is a very... very interesting person. He has an extraordinary understanding of public opinion propaganda. He notified me and two British reporters this morning, telling us that he is about to
The news released is about how to resolve the crisis of distrust between the northwest and the central government. It is estimated that the general will also participate by then, right?" Alley looked at An Yi with a smile.
An Yi nodded in relief: "So that's it... Yes, as the deputy envoy of the central delegation, I will naturally attend this press conference with General Feng. Tomorrow morning we will visit General Feng Yuxiang's temporary camp in Huayin.
Determine the extent of the disaster and express condolences to the local people.
In today's talks, the main generals of the Northwest Army introduced the disaster situation in far less detail than Mr. Alley, and concealed many issues. They only mentioned the need for assistance. I myself have promised to send 150 boxes of medicine as soon as possible, and at the same time, I have also tried to
Obtaining the support of the central government and the railway department, we transported 3,000 tons of rice, biscuits and cooking oil to the disaster area within half a month. At the same time, we returned to Nanjing as soon as possible and asked the central government to convene an emergency disaster relief meeting to do something for the people of the northwest. If
If necessary, I am willing to do my best.”
Alley stepped forward and held An Yi's hand, and said movedly: "General, please accept my high respect. You are the most kind and loving soldier I have seen in China in the past two years. You have shown me the hope of China's development."
!”
An Yi smiled bitterly and shook his head: "Your praise makes me feel guilty. If an army and a government do not treat its own citizens and comrades well, this government will have no hope, and this army is not worthy of being called a country and people."
The army. Although I, An Yi, am a soldier, first of all I am a Chinese. All my compatriots are my food, clothing, parents, and my relatives! Thank you, Mr. Alley, thank you!"
"General, let's meet tomorrow!"
Ai Li caught a glimpse of Sun Liangcheng and others walking over and knew it was time to leave, so he politely said goodbye.
"See you tomorrow, general!" Zhang Zhizhai smartly did not show any more affection, and together with Alley, thanked Sun Liangcheng and others.
After seeing off the two reporters, An Yi was filled with melancholy, but he pretended to be fine and went to the restaurant accompanied by Sun Liangcheng and others. Most of the members of the central delegation arrived to attend the simple yet grand reception held by General Feng Yuxiang.
Dinner.
Throughout the dinner, An Yi, who was full of worries, could hardly eat anything except clinking glasses with several Northwest Army generals. He mostly met and chatted politely with the Northwest Army generals who came here because of their reputation, and drank at random from the bowl.
With rice porridge, he suppressed his full stomach of wine, tried his best to force out a false smile, and endured the whole process with difficulty.
Late at night, everything was silent, and only he and An Yi were in He Yaozu's spacious room. After listening to An Yi's report, He Yaozu sat on the sofa and refused to move for a long time. It took a long time to take the teacup offered by An Yi and sighed deeply.
One sound:
"Xiao Yi, I'm afraid there is nothing we can do! Every natural and man-made disaster since the Republic of China, I have either experienced it personally or I know something about it. Judging from the current situation in the northwest, you can't do it even if you try your best. Just like the people who were detained before
The two trains of food that get off are the same, no matter how much relief material is sent
Resources will eventually be forcibly occupied by the army. The Northwest Army is absolutely unwilling to allow our officials and necessary military police to participate in the distribution of disaster relief materials. Therefore, in today's negotiations, I did not let the angry Commissioner Zhao speak more, so as not to make things worse.
It's so rigid that it affects the main purpose of our coming here.
I know how you feel, as well as your strength and good deeds, but if all the large amounts of food and medicine you donated end up going into the pockets of the Northwest Army, strengthening its strength and ambitions and instead confronting the central government, what will you do? Those helpless people
What should the victims do?"
An Yi felt unspeakably uncomfortable in his heart. Suddenly he saw something subtle on He Yaozu's face. He was frightened and asked in a low voice: "Uncle He, what do you mean - our trip here was in vain.
?”
He Yaozu nodded helplessly: "That's probably the case. Don't think that it will be fine if an understanding is reached and the misunderstanding is clarified. Look at the recent situation. Li Delin was defeated quickly, and then his lair was surrounded on three sides. Tang Mengxiao responded to the central government's call and led his troops along
As the Jinpu Line moves south to Shandong, General Yan Baichuan remains silent on all rumors but secretly gathers troops
, everything was extremely unfavorable to the Northwest Army, especially this time in the western expedition to Hubei. General Huanzhang's two military temptations were skillfully resolved by the Commander-in-Chief. The Northwest Army had to withdraw from Hubei without gaining anything. It originally wanted to take the opportunity to occupy Wuhan.
The attempt was thwarted, and due to internal and external troubles, it was hit by natural disasters one after another. The years of military violence have turned into a rage!
Tell me, what should the Northwest Army do to resolve its crisis in this embarrassing situation? General Huanzhang seems to have already thought of this day, so he issued a large number of his own banknotes after the Spring Festival to raise funds for the war.
For expenses and food, this battle is probably about to begin. The Commander-in-Chief will take this opportunity to capture Henan and then occupy Xi'an. General Huanzhang is also on the verge of diverting the conflict and getting out of the predicament. You can't see this, right?
This battle is imminent, how can you help the millions of victims in Henan and Northwest China? What's more, even if you have money, you can't withstand this trouble! How many can you save? Ten thousand, twenty thousand?
Even if you pawned your pants and saved 100,000 people, right? But these 100,000 people are nothing compared to the tens of millions of victims in the entire disaster area."
An Yi looked at He Yaozu in astonishment. His handsome face turned red and green, changing constantly. After a while, An Yi let out a long breath, turned to He Yaozu, and said firmly:
"Uncle He, my nephew knows that his abilities are limited, but as long as there is a glimmer of hope, my nephew will not give up! Uncle He, my nephew is willing to devote everything to this, provided that, Uncle He, you want to help me."
He Yaozu looked at An Yi in surprise, nodded for a long time and asked in a low voice: "Say it, as long as I can do it."
"My nephew just wants to get a piece of land temporarily, and then ask Uncle He to send all the transportation force of the Training Directorate to support my nephew." An Yi said.
"Which territory?" He Yaozu asked.
"Jing Xiang!"
"Hmm...what a great idea! I've decided to help with this. You can implement a plan as soon as possible and leave it to me."