(The first two chapters were written incorrectly, so let's explain.) Zhou Hexuan, the www.biquge.info of Pen, left Shanghai at the end of July, a few days after writing a letter to Zhang Xueliang, and arrived in San Francisco in mid-September. As for why it was mistaken? It's not a clerical error, it's a pure calculation error, and Lao Wang's math teacher should take the blame. ）

September 20th.

The Chinese Embassy in the United States held a banquet in Washington, D.C., and specially hired Chinese chefs to warmly welcome Zhou Hexuan, Mei Lanfang and others.

"Hello Mr. Zhou!"

"Boss Mei has worked hard!"

A bald young man about 30 years old shook hands with Zhou Hexuan and them with a smile on his face, and this person was Wu Chaoshu, the minister to the United States. He is the son of the well-known diplomat Wu Tingfang, who grew up with his father in the United States, graduated from the University of London, and won the first place in the London Bar Examination.

During the first phase of World War, Wu Chaoshu, who was not yet 20 years old, strongly advocated that China declare war on Germany, and at the age of 21, he was eligible to participate in the Paris Peace Conference.

In recent years, Wu Chaoshu also actively promoted the United States to return China's tariff autonomy, and successfully persuaded the foreign powers to recognize the legitimacy of China's abrogation of unequal treaties at the League of Nations Conference.

Wu Chaoshu's deputy envoy to the United States is called Rong Kuo, who is Rong Hong's younger brother, who is relatively old, 68 years old. He was the first to cut off the whip in the late Qing Dynasty, and he also wrote to his family saying that he wanted to convert to Christianity, and later married an American wife, and was a famous "rebel" in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China.

The officials of the embassy, Mei Lanfang and the members of the Mei Opera Troupe, as well as Zhou Hexuan, Zhang Mouzhi and others, all sat down for three tables.

After the wine and food were served, Wu Chaoshu raised his glass and said: "On behalf of the Chinese Embassy in the United States, I would like to warmly welcome Mr. Mei Lanfang, Mr. Zhou Hexuan, Mr. Zhang Mouzhi, and all the members of the Mei Opera Troupe. I wish you all a smooth journey and a happy mood! ”

Mei Lanfang is very good at things and said: "On behalf of the Mei Opera Troupe, I would like to thank the ambassadors for their warm hospitality. Cheers! ”

Zhou Hexuan only raised his glass and smiled, and Zhang Mouzhi spoke on his behalf: "It is an honor to meet compatriots in other places, and I am grateful to Minister Wu and Deputy Envoy Rong for their hospitality, and also thank all the members of the embassy for their reception. I wish you all to win glory for the country, rise step by step, and work first for respect! ”

"Cheers!"

Everyone laughed and shouted, and the atmosphere of the banquet was quite warm.

Wu Chaoshu personally helped Zhou Hexuan fill the wine glass, and then said: "I won't persuade Boss Mei's wine, he will sing a song after the dinner." ”

Rong Kuo said with a smile: "Boss Mei's performance can be described as a big event. After decades of living in the United States, I was finally able to feast my ears. ”

"Thanks to the two ministers who helped to make contact," Mei Lanfang raised the wine glass full of clear water and said, "I will replace the wine with water, and I will toast the two of you with a glass!" ”

In the early years of the Republic of China, although there were many foreigners in China, they thought that entering the opera garden was a loss of identity and an undignified thing.

It wasn't until 14 years ago that the then U.S. Minister to China, Reinsch, was shocked after watching Mei Lanfang's performance by chance. Later, when he left office, he said at a banquet: "If you want to deepen mutual understanding and friendship between China and the United States, it is best to invite Mei Lanfang to the United States and present his art to the American people." ”

Now the United States wants to expand its influence in the Far East and actively establish good relations with the Chinese government, so it officially extended an invitation to Mei Lanfang through diplomats.

After today's welcome dinner, Mei Lanfang will perform at Ford's Theatre. The audience included officials of the US State Department, well-known figures from all walks of life in the United States, envoys from various countries, and well-known Chinese in the United States.

After a full meal, the group moved to Ford's Theatre.

This theater is still very famous, and the abolitionist president Lincoln, who was assassinated while watching a play here.

When they arrived at the theater, Mei Lanfang and his Mei Opera Troupe went directly to the backstage to prepare, while Wu Chaoshu and Rong Yu took Zhou Hexuan to meet the big-name audience.

The first to introduce the US Secretary of State, Wu Chaoshu said with a smile: "Mr. Zhou, this is Mr. Henry Lewis Stimson, Secretary of State of the United States. Your Excellency Stimson, this is Mr. Zhou Hexuan, a famous Chinese scholar. ”

"Hello, Mr. Secretary!" Zhou Hexuan looked at the other party curiously.

This Stimson was very active during World War II. As the U.S. Secretary of the Army at the time, he advocated support for anti-fascist countries, oversaw the development of the atomic bomb, and proposed a nuclear strike on Japan.

For the Japanese in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Stimson must have been a demonic existence.

Stimson was also observing Zhou Hexuan, and then smiled: "Mr. Zhou, I am very interested in your prophecy in "The Rise of a Great Power", if you have the opportunity, you can talk about it. ”

"It's an honor." Zhou Hexuan said.

In fact, the U.S. stock market has developed into such a frenzied situation that anyone with a little brain knows that something is going to happen. It's just that everyone is lucky, thinking that at least this year will not collapse, so hurry up and make another profit before the stock market crashes.

In particular, those big conglomerates and big securities companies, who know that the stock market is going to collapse, are still fueling the flames for their own interests.

It has become a consensus in the industry that the U.S. stock market is about to crash, but no one takes it seriously, anyway, it is not that it has not collapsed before, and it would be good to delay it for a few years.

As for the worldwide economic crisis, no one agrees.

As the U.S. Secretary of State, Stimson still wanted to get down to business and ordered a number of bills to cool the stock market. But it has no effect, it is like pouring cold water on a fire, not only does it not extinguish the fire, but it fuels the fire.

After chatting with Stimson for a few words, Wu Chaoshu took Zhou Hexuan to meet the other guests. Ambassadors to the United States, as well as some well-known figures in the United States, have shown great enthusiasm for Zhou Hexuan, which belongs to the treatment of top international scholars.

The strongest reaction was still Chinese, who warmly shook hands around Zhou Hexuan one by one.

Until......

Wu Chaoshu pointed to a young man wearing glasses and introduced: "Mr. Zhou, this is the supervisor of Wuzhou Hongmen Zhigong Hall and the manager of the "Gong Lun Morning Post", Mr. Situ Juncong!" ”

"Hello Mr. Situ!" Zhou Hexuan wanted to ask the other party what the relationship was with Situ Meitang, the boss of the Hongmen in the United States.

Situ Junxuan looked at Zhou Hexuan playfully, and suddenly smiled: "Mr. Zhou, I heard that you are also from the Hongmen in the United States?" ”

Zhou Hexuan was sweating wildly, this Nima Li ghost met Li Kui, and said wittily: "The Chinese in the Americas are all out of Hongmen, what does Mr. Situ think?" ”

"Interesting," Situ Juncong said with a smile, "I don't know where Mr. Zhou is staying now, I'll make a special trip to visit another day." ”

Zhou Hexuan said: "The hotel arranged by the embassy in the United States seems to be called Foster Apartment. ”

"I made a note of it." Situ Juncong nodded and said.

The performance officially started soon, and Zhou Hexuan finally breathed a sigh of relief.

The entrance of the Hongmen General Hall in the United States is located in San Francisco, so maybe it is time to visit the pier and confirm the identity of his casual fabrication.