Reborn Bao Guowei, I really didn’t want to be a great writer!

Chapter 376: Dispute over "The Chrysanthemum and the Sword"? A masterpiece of the Annals School!
Jinling City, on Xiaohong Mountain in the eastern suburbs.

The Meiling Palace is located here.

At this point in time, although the Meiling Palace had not been completed as a whole, the main building had been completed, so Chiang Kai-shek moved in with his family early.

In order to facilitate their work, Kong Xiangxi and Song Ailing often lived here.

Late at night, the reception room on the second floor was still brightly lit.

The design of this room is extremely exquisite. As soon as you enter the door, you can see the huge floor-to-ceiling steel windows. From afar, you can overlook a corner of Jinling City. The stars in the sky make this scene even more luxurious.

The interior furnishings were exquisite, with a purple-red carpet on the floor and famous calligraphy and paintings all around. In the center of the reception room, next to the large coffee table, a wisp of incense was lit, with green smoke rising.

Such a building shows Chiang Kai-shek's care for Soong May-ling, but it's a pity that his care was placed in the wrong place.

Tonight, the reception room was bustling with activity, but also filled with tension.

Sitting next to Chiang Kai-shek was Soong May-ling, and opposite him were Kong Xiangxi and Soong Ailing. The four of them sat facing each other on the sofa, and on the coffee table were exquisite fruits.

Song Ailing spoke first, looking at Chiang Kai-shek and saying, "In my opinion, this book "The Chrysanthemum and the Sword" must be banned, and Bao Guowei should be punished. He has done evil things over and over again. What does he want to do? Does he want to deceive God?"

Her words were sharp and her look was aggressive, but she seemed like an "empress".

The man wearing a pair of small glasses and looking a little uneasy is naturally our current richest man in the Republic of China, Mr. Kong Xiangxi.

He showed a gentle smile on his face, patted Song Ailing's hand and spoke comfortingly.

"Ailing, you don't have to be so excited. This matter is not unsolvable. Let's wait and see what my younger sister and Kaishen have to say, and then we can make a decision."

"Don't worry. Kong Lingkan is about to make a scene. It's all because of your father's failure to discipline him well. If anything happens to him, I will hold you accountable!" Song Ailing's fierce temper did not show any sign of restraint in front of Chiang Kai-shek.

Song Meiling smiled awkwardly and asked, "How is Ling Kan doing now?"

It turned out that after returning from Shanghai, Kong Lingkan had been undisciplined and was placed under strict supervision by Song Ailing and Kong Xiangxi.

In particular, he was restricted from going out and from accessing any written materials related to Bao Guowei.

Song Ailing believed that Bao Guowei must have brainwashed Kong Lingkan, otherwise how could her eldest son, who was once so "well-behaved", become like this?
One day, Song Ailing happened to read in Kong Lingkan’s diary that this guy actually wanted to go deep into the mountains of Fujian and Jiangxi to become a loyal Marxist.

Are you kidding me?
The Song family and the Kong family are now the largest comprador groups in the Republic of China!

Kong Lingkan actually wanted to rebel against his own family!
It is simply contrary to Tiangang!
Neither Song Ailing nor Chiang Kai-shek could accept such a transformation of Kong Lingkan.

In comparison, they might hope that Kong Lingkan could return to being the playboy he once was.

Even if I hook up with a few more married women, it would be better than this!
But Kong Lingkan followed a philosophy, which was "the more they oppose something, the more we should support it."

In addition, at the age of sixteen, he was fearless and young, so the more Song Ailing and Kong Xiangxi opposed him, the more excited Kong Lingkan became.

In particular, he often thought of the uncontrollable excitement in his head when Bao Guowei "fooled" him in the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

Even though he was severely pursued and blocked, it could not stop Kong Lingkan from becoming a great warrior who abandoned vulgar interests and achieved the great unity of all mankind!
At least that's what he thought!
Song Ailing and Kong Xiangxi originally thought that they could slowly turn Kong Lingkan around by relying on simple confinement and the supervision of some housekeepers.

But they overestimated their control over Kong Lingkan and underestimated Kong Lingkan's determination to break through.

They couldn't control Kong Lingkan when he got into trouble in the past. Now that he has ideals and beliefs, it is even more difficult to discipline him.

Therefore, in private, Kong Lingkan read countless related books according to the works mentioned by Bao Guowei. He felt that his head was like a piece of soil, being nourished day by day until the time was right for it to break out of the ground!

The opportunity for all this started when Kong Lingkan accidentally read the book "The Chrysanthemum and the Sword".

After hearing Soong Mei-ling's question, Soong Ailing said with gritted teeth.

“That bastard, after reading the book ‘The Chrysanthemum and the Sword’, became like a madman, talking all day about achieving great unity among the people of the world and overthrowing all capitalist tycoons.

Last time, he colluded with outsiders and tried to escape from home. Fortunately, I reacted in time, otherwise this kid would probably appear in the Fujian-Jiangxi area and become the vanguard of opposition to us!"

Soong Mei-ling fell silent immediately. She knew that Kong Lingkan would never be able to achieve this level just by reading "The Chrysanthemum and the Sword".

I'm afraid this kid has read a lot of other books in private.

Just to avoid worrying her elder sister, she did not raise this point immediately, but frowned and said, "Don't worry, elder sister. I think Ling Kan is just young and ignorant. He will correct himself in the future."

Kong Xiangxi added: "This is not groundless. The Chrysanthemum and the Sword has reached the point where it has to be banned. It not only affects Ling Kan, but I think the content is also very detrimental to our policies.

Bao Bingwen is a scoundrel with evil intentions, and he really deserves to be punished."

Soong Mei-ling originally followed her elder sister's wishes, but she knew some secrets.

She understood that Song Ailing and Kong Xiangxi did not want to ban the book simply because "The Chrysanthemum and the Sword" had influenced Kong Lingkan.

How could Soong Mei-ling not understand the conflict of interests behind it?

But after all, she has the title of "Mother of the Nation" and cannot always favor her family.

Especially now, the two of them seem to have gone a little too far. Although Chiang Kai-shek does not want to go against the Japanese, he still regards the Japanese as a certain imaginary enemy.

Moreover, Soong Mei-ling thought of another person.

That is the second sister's protection of Bao Bingwen. It was because of her mediation and the protection of many scholars in the academic community that Bao Guowei was able to escape disaster last time.

Therefore, it is not an easy task to deal with Bao Guowei.

No wonder these two extremely powerful men had to complain to Chiang Kai-shek.

The three of them talked one after another, but they couldn't make the problem clear.

After a long time, Chiang Kai-shek, who had been silent, finally spoke.

"All right."

He spoke in a low voice, which was still somewhat oppressive, and the reception room suddenly became quiet.

As the actual person in power of the National Government, Chiang Kai-shek still has some dignity.

He exhaled and said, "We will discuss Ling Kan's education later."

"Kai Shen." Song Ailing wanted to explain something, perhaps about Bao Guowei's political inclinations or something like that.

But he was interrupted by Chiang Kai-shek.

The latter waved her hand and said, "I sent someone to investigate. Bao Bingwen is a very honest person, with the same character as his master Zhang Taiyan. Although he has made some extraordinary remarks, no specific political inclinations have been found so far. We can put this matter aside." After Chiang Kai-shek made his judgment, Song Ailing naturally had nothing to say.

Although she is powerful, she is not like Empress Dowager Cixi, who can undermine the "little emperor" in front of her from behind.

"What about the ban on this book? I've asked someone to check it out. Bao Bingwen's book is full of evil intentions. On the surface, it looks like an academic work, but in fact it is a kind of political literature. Its tendency is self-evident. It wants to incite the people to deal with the Japanese. For the sake of the overall situation, we should maintain stability now. The harm caused by The Chrysanthemum and the Sword is too great."

On the side, Kong Xiangxi thought for a while and spoke out.

If you can't handle Bao Guowei, handling "The Chrysanthemum and the Sword" shouldn't be a problem.

Recently, this work has seriously affected some of the Kong family's businesses. So much so that, even though Kong Xiangxi knew that dealing with "The Chrysanthemum and the Sword" would cause extremely bad social impact, he still had to get rid of it.

Chiang Kai-shek understood the other party's little thoughts, but he would not punish Kong Xiangxi for this reason.

On the one hand, Kong Xiangxi was Soong Mei-ling's brother-in-law; on the other hand, Kong Xiangxi was also Chiang Kai-shek's god of wealth.

Otherwise, how did you raise the tens of millions of dollars that you gave to Zhang Xueliang?
Is it dependent on Chiang Kai-shek’s micro-management?

Moreover, the influence of "The Chrysanthemum and the Sword" is real.

But even so, Chiang Kai-shek still had to be cautious.

Because he was surprised to find that with the passage of time, this originally immature boy in Hangzhou has now grown to an incredible level.

If Chiang Kai-shek wanted to touch him, he would have to think carefully.

So he said it simply and clearly.

"The Chrysanthemum and the Sword needs to be rectified, but it cannot be dealt with lightly. After listening to Chen Xunen's report this afternoon, I also thought of a point. Bao Guowei's works cannot be hastily banned. His influence is extraordinary now. When dealing with him, many factors must be considered to avoid causing trouble."

"Is there no one who can cure this kid?"

Song Ailing stood up suddenly, with a vicious look in her eyes. She seemed to attribute all the changes in Kong Lingkan and his business failures to Bao Guowei.

"Calm down, calm down."

Kong Xiangxi wiped the sweat from his head and said to his wife to comfort her.

Chiang Kai-shek was used to Song Ailing's temper, he said helplessly.

"The most important thing now is to look at the impact abroad. If this book, The Chrysanthemum and the Sword, can become as famous internationally as Guns, Germs, and Steel, wouldn't it be a slap in our face if we ban this book?"

Chiang Kai-shek still remembers vividly the scene of banning the book "To Live".

As an excellent master of "micro-management", how could he allow himself to fail twice on the same problem?
Even if Bao Guowei is a bad person now, he has to consider his influence abroad.

Especially since the other party was extremely popular in the United States, Chiang Kai-shek was still thinking that he could rely on the other party to gain support in the United States, so how could he rashly touch him?
Even though it was not in line with the wishes of Song Ailing and Kong Xiangxi, Chang Kai-shen still considered the overall situation.
It’s just that he is not a person who is good at making decisions. Whether or not to really deal with it seems that it will take some time for “micro-manipulation” and “variables”.

While the discussion here was in full swing, on the other hand, the English, Spanish, German and even French versions of "The Chrysanthemum and the Sword" had quietly come out a few days ago.

What is the response to "The Chrysanthemum and the Sword" abroad?
Alsace, France.

At the University of Strasbourg, in an office on the campus, two middle-aged French gentlemen were sitting opposite each other in silence.

One of them was holding a cup of coffee in his hand, and the other was smoking a pipe. The one thing they had in common was that the books they held had the same name written on them.

That's The Chrysanthemum and the Sword in French.

And right above the office, there is a simple and clear sign.

"Editorial Office of the Annals of Economic and Social History"

The middle-aged man drinking coffee, wearing a striped suit and with deep eye sockets, is called Lucien Febvre, and he is one of the founders of this publication.

This name may not sound familiar to you.

But if I say that he and the man opposite named Marc Bloch founded the Annales School, you will definitely have some impression.

Lucien and Marc, both of them can be regarded as recognized masters of history in the 20th century!
The journal "Annals of Economic and Social History" they founded is one of the representatives of the Annales School and an important stronghold of the new history school of this era.

The Annales School, in essence, is based on positivism and critical empiricism to expand the research scope of historiography.

The main starting point is the study of all phenomena of human life.

Special requirements are placed on studying all aspects and links of society.

This research method is fully reflected in the book "Guns, Germs, and Steel"!
It is incredible that such a book, which can be said to be a representative work of the Annales School, was actually written by a 17-year-old boy from the East.

No one could know how shocked Lucien and Marc were when they first learned about this.

At that time, there were no well-known history-related awards in Europe. In order to highlight the importance of the book "Guns, Germs, and Steel", Lucien and Marc even wrote a letter to the Pulitzer History Prize Organizing Committee, asking Americans to give the award to Bao Guowei.

As for whether the Pulitzer Prize Committee took the advice of these two French historians into consideration when making its final decision, it remains unknown.

Ever since the book "Guns" came out, the two of them have developed a lot of interest in the young man from a foreign country.

I originally wanted to recommend to the University of Strasbourg and provide Bao Guowei with an all-inclusive, free study abroad opportunity, but I gave up because I couldn't get the other party's contact information.

These days, seeing the publication of "The Chrysanthemum and the Sword", Lucien and Marc could not hold back and immediately bought two copies to study carefully.

From early morning till late evening, the sunlight outside the window kept changing, and the breeze blew through the grass from time to time, but the posture of the two people sitting on the chairs did not seem to change at all.

Until it got dark and I couldn't see the contents on the pages anymore.

Lucien had no idea how many cups of coffee he had drunk, and his stomach was feeling a little uncomfortable. He stretched his legs, stood up, and turned on the lights in the editorial office.

With a "click", the editorial office immediately brightened up.

But this change seemed to disrupt Mark's thoughts.

Marc Bloch was a middle-aged man with a small mustache and black-framed round glasses. He stood up suddenly.

He said with a look of joy on his face.

"Mr. Febvre, I think we can draw a conclusion. Although this work has flaws, it will definitely become the next masterpiece of our new history school!"

(End of this chapter)