After initially stirring up public opinion, the entire visiting regiment was divided into three routes

Zhou Hexuan walked north, all the way to accept the invitation of major universities in the United States, and while giving academic lectures, he united with American cultural circles to call on the US government to cancel the silver bill;

Mei Lanfang, Meng Xiaodong, and Vivien Leigh traveled south, touring along the way, while stating the suffering caused by the Silver Act to China, and asking the American art world to help build momentum;

Song Ziwen and Fan Heyan went directly to Washington, D.C., to get in touch with Shi Zhaoji, the Chinese minister to the United States, and sent a telegram to the consulates around the country to cooperate with the action, secretly contacting those outside the court groups that opposed the silver bill. Updates are fast and ad-free.

With the cooperation of these three parties, coupled with the help of the right-wing and left-wingers in the United States who brought their own dry food, and the incitement of firewood by some non-hospital groups, the matter finally ...... It's a big deal!

In the face of public opinion attacks from all sides, the silver group certainly could not be idle, lobbying for the stability of the White House, and at the same time spending money to buy newspapers to help itself defend itself, and repeatedly saying that the silver bill would help the United States get out of the Great Depression and improve the lives of the American people.

Many economists who took the money have come forward to express their opinions and use their professional knowledge to clear the grievances of the silver group.

However, American economists have long had a bad reputation, and when the stock market crashed, they still said that it was only a technical adjustment, and I don't know how many Americans went bankrupt. It's good that economists don't speak, but as soon as they do, public opinion becomes even more violent.

In particular, the left-wing writer we mentioned in the previous chapter, Comrade Raff, can be called the "American Lu Xun". He scolds everything, the government, the capitalists, the federal government, and sprays it whenever it doesn't please the eye. He himself is a left-wing writer, but he still wants to scold the old left in the United States in the 20s, thinking that the old left is formulaic, mechanical, authoritarian, and so on. He was keen on the theory of communism and longed for the Soviet political model, but he often caught Stalin and called him a traitor to communism.

Even Raff's friends commented: "His essay is not literary criticism, but literary murder!" ”

No, as soon as those economists spoke with money, Raff was firing on fire. One of them, Irving, was even caught by Raff by the pigtails, and he recounted all the ugly deeds of his past, calling him "the lackey of the capitalists" and "the economic vulture of scavenging".

The entire American public opinion exploded, and the discussion around the Silver Act even overshadowed Roosevelt's New Deal for a short time.

At this time, Song Ziwen suddenly accepted an interview and publicly declared: China is about to launch a currency reform plan, intends to abandon the silver standard within half a year, issue paper fiat currency, and hopes that the United States can provide assistance. If the U.S. doesn't help, China will consider asking Japan for help.

As far away as Asia, the Japanese foreign minister began to preach "Sino-Japanese friendship," and the Japanese minister to China made contact with Wang Zhaoming in Nanjing. Chang Kaishen and Wang Zhaoming jointly issued an "order banning the anti-Japanese movement," and for a while, it seemed that China and Japan were going to reach a comprehensive economic cooperation.

The Yankees suddenly could not sit still, and US Consul General in Shanghai Knin-han sent a telegram to US President Roosevelt, pointing out: Japanese representatives are actively in contact with China, and the two countries may reach unpredictable economic cooperation...... At the same time, I would like to stress that the British are also taking action, and the British Minister to China met yesterday with Chinese leader Chang Kaishen.

White House.

US President Franklin D. Roosevelt, smoking a cigar in a wheelchair, was a big smoker, like Churchill.

Also sitting in the room was Morgenthau, the self-proclaimed "apple farmer" of the U.S. Treasury Secretary. The guy looked at the telegram and said, "Don't bother, I've consulted with experts on the Far East, and it is impossible for China to turn to Japan, unless the rulers of China are crazy." ”

Roosevelt worried: "It is undeniable that there have been many madmen among the rulers of China. ”

"Perhaps." Morgenthau shrugged.

Roosevelt asked, "Is the Silver Act really that big of an impact on China?" ”

Morgenthau said helplessly: "It should be like this." ”

Neither US President Franklin D. Roosevelt nor Treasury Secretary Morgenthau had any idea before the Silver Act was enacted that such a move would cause huge problems for China. Unexpectedly, the Silver Act would affect the situation in the Far East, involving Great Powers such as Britain, France, and Japan.

If it weren't for Zhou Hexuan making a big move in the United States, the United States at this time would not care whether China lives or dies. Historically, it was not until next year that China began to fall into the arms of Japan that Roosevelt finally came to his senses.

It is undeniable that the development of events has completely exceeded Roosevelt's expectations. He didn't have too complicated ideas to enact the Silver Act, it was just to win over the Silver Group, which was a one-seventh senator vote, which could make his new policy more smoothly implemented.

Roosevelt asked, "What do the other groups think?" ”

"The Farmers Union wants to end the Silver Act." Morgenthau smiled wryly. In fact, he himself belonged to the "American Farmers Alliance", and before he met Roosevelt, Morgenthau was not a businessman, not a politician, but a real farmer.

Roosevelt asked, "What do you suggest?" ”

"As a farmer, I want to end the Silver Act," Morgenthau said. But as your political partner, I would advise you to ignore outside public opinion. The voting rights of the Silver Group are so important that many of our New Policies will not pass once those guys are. ”

The value of silver production in the United States is far less than that of agriculture, and even less than that of potatoes.

From this point of view, it seems that the "American Farmers Alliance" is far more powerful than the "Silver Group".

But it's not that simple, farmers are everywhere, scattered all over the United States, and they seem to be powerful, but in fact they have scattered political power and have few Senate seats. As for the silver group, it is concentrated in the seven states that produce silver, and has 14 seats in the Senate.

So Roosevelt hated the silver group very much, these guys brought very few benefits, but they possessed too many political resources, and they had to be defeated in the future!

Roosevelt thought for a moment: "What about the British side?" The telegram said that British diplomats were in contact with the government in Nanjing. ”

Morgan said: "This is a problem that must be discussed by experts on the Far East. As for domestic public opinion, we don't need to ignore it, let the silver group solve it by itself. If they can fix it, then it's business as usual; If they can't fix it, we can also take advantage of the situation to cancel the Silver Act. In any case, the White House cannot take the initiative to cancel the silver bill, otherwise the silver group will make even more greedy demands. ”

"Thank you, old fellow, for your advice to open my mind." Roosevelt laughed.

"Then I'll take my leave." Morgenthau left on his own initiative, knowing that Roosevelt would have to meet with other officials and advisers.

Roosevelt sat in a wheelchair, smoking a cigar alone and smiling bitterly. He has done too much as a presidency, and there is a lot of resistance to the New Deal, which has almost caused a lot of opposition from the business community. The biggest purpose of enacting the Silver Act was actually to win over the silver group so as to confront the "American Chamber of Commerce" and maintain a delicate political balance.

The biggest enemy of Roosevelt's New Deal was not the Silver Group, but the American Chamber of Commerce.

Once the Silver Act is repealed, it will inevitably cause a backlash from the Silver Group, the political balance he has painstakingly maintained will be upset, and Roosevelt's New Deal may also face failure.

Zhou Hexuan set off public opinion in the United States this time, which caused Roosevelt a big problem. As long as the Silver Group does not take the initiative to cancel the Silver Act, Roosevelt can only grit his teeth and continue, even if he is burdened with national infamy.

Zhou Hexuan's task is very difficult! ... Friends who read books, you can search for "blue book bar", and you can find this site as soon as possible.