British writer

That evening.

Liang Qichao returned to his mansion in Tokyo carrying a small suitcase.

He looked around,

The surrounding low buildings were covered with a layer of golden glow.

Several old people were sitting around inside the alley.

Listening carefully to their conversation, they seemed to be discussing the plot of "Lord of the Flies".

The corners of Liang Qichao's mouth curled up,

Professor Lu is really popular.

He opened the door and entered the house.

Compared to when I left home, the messy room has been tidied up, and the manuscripts, newspapers and magazines that need to be collected are all neatly piled in the corner and divided into categories.

In the room, I could vaguely hear the babbling of a child.

Liang Qichao opened the sliding door.

Liang Sishun was seen kneeling on his knees with his hands on the crib, teaching his brother how to speak according to a form.

Liang Sishun: "ā——"

Liang Sicheng: "nāng——"

Liang Sishun: "ā——"

Liang Sicheng: "niāo——"

The little girl was crushed by her brother.

Forget it if it’s wrong,

Why are the mistakes different twice?

She pinched her brother's little face,

As a result, Liang Sicheng's mouth was forced to grin: "ā..."

Liang Sishun was happy,

"Yes, yes, you read it correctly this time."

Liang Qichao looked at it and couldn't help laughing, and then said: "What are you doing, Sishun? Teaching your brother to recite?"

Liang Sishun turned around,

"Father!"

She ignored her brother, stood up, wiped the dust off her knees, and ran over.

"Look at this!"

With that said, he handed over the "Pinyin Alphabet" like a treasure.

Liang Qichao didn't take it seriously and just read it briefly.

But soon, he realized something was wrong.

"this is……"

Liang Sishun smiled proudly,

"Sir gave it to me."

Liang Qichao didn't react at first, but it took him a while to realize that his daughter was talking about Lu Shi.

He looked at the form again,

In my heart, turbulent waves surged.

At this moment, Li Huixian entered the room while wiping his hands and said to Liang Sishun: "Go and clear the table and serve the dishes."

Liang Sishun jumped out of the room.

Li Huixian shook his head,

"Looks like she's happy. Maybe it's because of the freshness of being a teacher."

Liang Qichao said: "Professor Lu has agreed?"

Li Huixian glanced at the "Pinyin Alphabet" and whispered: "I sent a telegram urgently to call you back, just to let you see that thing. I have studied it carefully and it is easy to understand. If it can be promoted, it will have a great impact on literacy and literacy. It’s helpful.”

After the two got married, Li Huixian continued to learn new things.

Of course, Liang Qichao was well aware of her academic level.

He pondered,

"That's what you think."

Li Huixian hesitated.

"It's just that Professor Lu's method seems to be based on the pronunciation of Zhili people."

Liang Qichao smiled and said,

Pronunciation is not really the point.

Just like when he and Guangxu met for the first time, the southern accent matched the Zhili accent. Although they were both in Chinese, they sounded like two languages.

But this did not affect the communication between the two.

Because you can rely on Chinese characters.

Even though dialects are common in various places, Chinese characters can maintain consistency.

Liang Qichao asked: "What was the situation when Professor Lu took out this set of forms?"

Li Huixian started from the beginning, not even mentioning the details of Zhang Taiyan teasing Liang Sishun.

Finally, when it came to Lu Shi, he took out a pen and paper to write the "Pinyin Alphabet".

Liang Qichao was stunned.

"You said, Professor Lu wrote this on the spot?"

Li Huixian nodded,

"right."

Liang Qichao:? ? ?

It was really like seeing a living god!

He whispered: "The West has linguistics and phonetics, and there are even specialized academic academies in Paris and London. So, when I first saw this form, I thought Professor Lu had already prepared it. "

Li Huixian said "Ah..." and then realized that this matter was indeed somewhat unreasonable.

She asked: "Could it be that Professor Lu has already done research?"

The implication is,

Lu Shi already had a draft, but he just wrote it out silently.

Liang Qichao shook his head,

"Won't."

He pointed out the frustrations in several strokes in the "Pinyin Alphabet".

"Although Professor Lu uses lead (pencil) instead of pen and ink to write, it can be seen that he is thinking while writing, otherwise, the writing would not be so intermittent. What's more, there are more than ten erasures in it, It’s even more proof.”

Li Huixian was shocked,

Therefore, Lu Shi really made an impromptu decision.

She asked in a low voice: "Husband, do you think those linguists and phoneticians in the West are as good as Professor Lu?"

Liang Qichao smiled bitterly and said: "That must be impossible. He is a normal person."

These words made Li Huixian laugh out loud.

Indeed, Professor Lu is not normal.

Liang Qichao put on a serious expression again, shook the form in his hand,

"I'm somewhat worried..."

Li Huixian was puzzled at first, and then showed an expression of sudden realization.

"My husband is worried that Professor Lu is a group that abolishes Chinese characters? Don't worry. I just told you that when Sishun became a disciple, there was also a Mr. Zhang present, and he and Professor Lu had a heated discussion about the matter."

Liang Qichao was curious,

"Please tell me in detail."

Li Huixian started talking again.

Liang Qichao sometimes nodded in agreement and sometimes frowned slightly.

After a long while, he said: "I'm still not worried."

After saying that, he put on his hat again and walked towards the door.

Liang Sishun's voice sounded from behind: "Father, don't you need dinner?"

Liang Qichao waved his hand and went out.

…

Buchanan Mansion,

Dining room.

The British Ambassador to Japan Buchanan was drinking Earl Gray tea and looking at Zhang Taiyan who was eating bread over there. He was completely confused.

Isn't this guy too familiar?

If you say you'll stay for dinner, you'll stay for dinner!

Zhang Taiyan is worthy of being a lunatic. He doesn't regard himself as an outsider at all. He even said to the maid in half-baked English: "Bread! It's very delicious! Have another one!"

Buchanan: "..."

He didn't know what to do,

Because Sir Lu and Mr. Zhang have academic matters to discuss.

Buchanan followed gentlemanly etiquette and stayed until dinner was over, then went directly to the second floor and entered the study to handle official business.

Lu Shi and Zhang Taiyan returned to the living room.

Zhang Taiyan said: "Master Lu..."

Lu Shi quickly interrupted,

"Mr. Taiyan, I have told you many times, don't call me that."

Zhang Taiyan imitated Lu's tone and said, "Master Lu, I've said it many times, you deserve to be called that."

Lu Shi: "..."

What more can be said?

You can only let the other party call you that.

Zhang Taiyan looked at Lu Shi and stopped refuting, showed a happy smile, and continued: "Master Lu, it's the same question I just mentioned. I can't understand it just by talking, so I'll give you an example."

He took out a pen and paper and wrote down two pronunciations:

bō、

buō.

Then he wrote another Chinese character:

Wave.

Lu Shi understood instantly.

From the perspective of phonetic pronunciation, the word "wave" should be pronounced buō, not bō.

But the "Chinese Pinyin Plan" chose the latter.

Lu Shi thought of his kindergarten days, when he made similar mistakes when he first came into contact with Pinyin.

He spelled "fierce" as xüōng, not xiōng.

Zhang Taiyan is a scholar and is very rigorous.

"Master Lu, you just said that pinyin is pinyin and phonetic symbols are phonetic symbols. Since it is clear that pinyin does not bear the function of Latinizing Chinese characters, why bother with abbreviations? Of course, changing the letters can prevent confusion, but I always feel that there is something wrong The food is tasteless.”

Lu Shi nodded,

"I understand you want to..."

Before he finished speaking, Zhang Taiyan spoke again,

"Master Lu, our discussion is only from the perspective of Pinyin. If it is from the perspective of Pinyin text, it will be endless."

"Pfft! Ahem..."

Lu Shi was so beaten that he coughed.

Unexpectedly, the other party patched it up before he could refute.

Zhang Taiyan continued to express his point of view: "Your pinyin is indeed good, but there are too many exceptions. ao should actually be au, ong should actually be ung, and iu should actually be iou..."

It makes sense.

Just then, the maid came over,

"Sir, there is a Mr. Liang outside who wants to see you."

As soon as he heard this surname, Zhang Taiyan knew who it was, shook his head and said: "Unlucky."

Lu Shi glanced at him,

"We look at each other with disgust. Maybe others will feel unlucky when they see you~"

Zhang Taiyan laughed,

"Master Lu is so right!"

Lu Shi asked the maid to welcome him in.

Liang Qichao entered the living room with a dusty appearance.

He saw the paper on the table at a glance,

"Professor Lu, Mr. Zhang, you are indeed still studying the "Pinyin Alphabet". It seems that I arrived at the right time."

Lu Shi was a little surprised,

The other party did not even exchange greetings at all and went straight to the point.

Zhang Taiyan also noticed it,

"Mr. Liang, you seem to have something urgent?"

Liang Qichao said "hmm", looked directly at Lu, and asked, "Professor Lu, have you ever heard of Lin Lezhi?"

Lu Shi was stunned and immediately understood the other party's intention of coming here.

He cupped his fists at the opponent,

"Ren Gong's heart to protect Chinese culture with his fists is touching."

Liang Qichao pursed his lips and did not answer.

Zhang Taiyan, who was standing next to him, said, "Who is this Lin Lezhi?"

Lu Shi replied: "Foreigners."

Zhang Taiyan was startled and whispered: "This foreigner would give himself a name. He is optimistic about fate and has a certain charm. He should be willing to integrate into China and understand China. Such people are usually missionaries, right?"

Lu Shi snorted coldly,

"Integration? On the contrary, he doesn't want to integrate into Chinese culture, and he is a firm Eurocentric... To put it simply, he has no tolerance for cultural exchanges."

With that said, Lu Shi turned to Liang Qichao,

"Charlie Xia should be cited as an example. He was one of the first foreigners to advocate the abolition of Chinese characters."

From the name, he must be a missionary.

At this point, Zhang Taiyan finally figured out what was going on.

He chuckled,

"Mr. Liang, Master Lu is not the kind of person you think. He compiled the "Pinyin Alphabet" to promote Chinese characters, not to ban them."

Liang Qichao pointed to the paper on the table,

"Then how to explain this?"

"Ah this..."

Zhang Taiyan couldn't refute.

As Liang Qichao said, if you only consider pinyin and not spelling, those omissions and variations of pinyin are completely meaningless.

He looked at Lu Shi,

His eyes flickered, making a silent inquiry.

Unexpectedly, Lu Shi spread his hands,

"After all, I have been developing in the UK, so I will more or less bring out some English writing habits. Mr. Ren and Mr. Taiyan, if you feel that the plan I gave is inappropriate, you might as well think about it yourself, or even I have no objection to making changes based on my plan.”

Liang Qichao:? ? ?

Zhang Taiyan:? ? ?

Both of them were stunned by Lu Shi.

Zhang Taiyan said: "Master Lu, you can't give up!"

Lu Shi was also helpless,

Because from a historical perspective, Hanyu Pinyin did appear to outlaw Chinese characters, so there is a problem of inconsistency between spelling and pronunciation.

Liang Qichao said: "So, Professor Lu supports Chinese characters."

Lu Shi nodded,

"Of course. After two thousand years, you can still understand the inscriptions left by your ancestor Yan Ranle. This is something that is worthy of praise for any nation. Who would want to destroy it and then quickly?"

This is interesting to say,

Zhang Taiyan laughed loudly,

"What a 'blow to the sky'!"

Liang Qichao couldn't help but smile and said: "It seems that I wrongly blamed Professor Lu. Yes, abolishing Chinese characters will really ruin Chinese civilization and break up the culture. Moreover, Chinese vocabulary expressions are accurate. Looking around the world, what else What can language do?”

Lu Shi smiled,

"That's not necessarily true."

He turned over the paper on the table and wrote a paragraph in the blank space,

——

A: "What do you mean?"

B: "It doesn't mean anything, it just means something."

A: "You are not interesting enough."

B: “It’s a small matter, it’s a small matter.”

A: "Hmph... you are really interesting."

B: “Actually, it doesn’t mean anything else.”

A: "Then I'm sorry."

B: "Where? It's obviously my fault."

——

Liang Qichao and Zhang Taiyan looked dizzy.

The two people's first reaction was that what Lu Shi wrote was a cross talk joke or a jingle.

But after careful consideration, I gradually came to appreciate the taste.

This conversation is clearly a process in which B gives A money and gifts, and asks A for help with things. The performance is vivid.

Lu Shi said, "Mr. Ren, do you still hold your previous views?"

Liang Qichao couldn't help but smile bitterly,

"Professor Lu, you are so awesome! I can't compare to you!"

Lu Shi added: "And, to be honest, I am in the newspaper industry and I am familiar with the latest typewriters and printing presses. From a communication perspective, after the Latinization of Chinese characters, printing efficiency will be improved by several levels."

Of course, after digitization, that advantage no longer exists;

Even become a disadvantage.

Liang Qichao and Zhang Taiyan both fainted.

They couldn't figure out where Lu Shi was from.

Why do you feel that he is repeatedly jumping between abolition and not abolition?

Liang Qichao said in confusion: "Professor Lu, can you tell me what you really think?"

Lu Shi smiled,

"I can make it clear right now that I do not support the abolition of Chinese characters. But it is undeniable that it is not surprising that there is a trend of abolition of Chinese characters. Although those people have different views from ours, they also have the innocent desire to seek a way out for a strong country. My heart. What I said just now is to tell Mr. Ren that this is a matter where the father-in-law is right and the mother-in-law is right."

Obviously, the "those people" he was referring to were definitely not foreigners with ulterior motives like Lin Zhile and Charlie Xia, but Chinese people who were truly anxious about the inheritance of Chinese culture.

But even so, Liang Qichao still found it difficult to agree with the abolition of Chinese characters, and there were countless rebuttals in his mind.

But considering Lu Shi's extremely high level, even if he didn't bring it up, the other party must have already thought of it. I don't know how much more truth can be said later.

If the conversation continues, it will become endless.

What's more, both sides have the same views, so why argue?

This is also something Liang Qichao doesn’t understand.

Since they have the same point of view, why does Lu Shi still talk nonsense?

Lu Shi noticed the other party's confusion,

He smiled and said: "There is a saying, 'It takes three years for a scholar to rebel.' I think Mr. Ren has heard of it."

Liang Qichao was surprised,

"What does rebellion have to do with Chinese characters?"

Zhang Taiyan next to him snorted,

"Stupid!"

Liang Qichao suddenly became unhappy and responded: "Discourteous!"

It turned out to be the same thing his daughter scolded.

Thinking of that girl Liang Sishun, Zhang Taiyan's anger disappeared.

"Mr. Liang, don't you understand what Professor Lu means? Don't think we belong to this master or that master. To put it bluntly, we are just a few poor literati who only use their brains and words. Why should we discuss literacy? "

Liang Qichao knew that the other party was going to advocate your revolutionary theory again.

But at this moment he couldn't refute.

Regardless of whether Chinese characters are banned or not, and whether they are Latinized or not, it is far from enough for a group of literati to advocate, advocate, and debate.

China, with such a high illiteracy rate, needs at least a complete compulsory education system to effectively teach everyone in the country the new script.

The compulsory education system requires a strong government.

Qing court?

It's better to wash up and sleep.

Professor Lu gave examples and counterexamples in order to explain this truth clearly.

Liang Qichao sighed,

Suddenly, he wavered a little in his persistence.

But he soon cheered up,

"Mr. Zhang, I'm afraid you are being alarmist."

Zhang Taiyan sighed,

"Okay! I'm the alarmist!"

Both parties know that they cannot convince the other party, so they simply stop saying things that will cause conflict.

Saying so will only increase worries.

Moreover, this is the residence of the British Ambassador to Japan. Even if the two sides wanted to stage a full-scale martial arts show, they would not be able to roll up their sleeves and have fun.

Lu Shi said: "My views on the "Pinyin Alphabet" remain unchanged. If you feel that the plan I gave is inappropriate, you might as well think about it yourself. Even if you make modifications based on my plan, I will not opinion.”

Liang Qichao sighed,

"Professor Lu, are you disappointed?"

Lu Shi smiled,

"No, I'm glad."

Liang Qichao asked in confusion: "What are you thankful for?"

Lu Shi replied: "We are fortunate that our ancestors created the treasure of Chinese characters. I believe that she will withstand the test and be passed down intact."

Liang Qichao: "..."

Zhang Taiyan: "..."

The two fell silent.

Unexpectedly, Professor Lu used the simplest words to make the most contagious declaration.

Zhang Taiyan joked: "This is as real as someone's saying 'The red sun rises, its path is bright; the river rises and flows, and the ocean flows'."

Liang Qichao rolled his eyes at this guy and didn't even bother to complain.

When he looked at the landing,

"Professor Lu, can the "Pinyin Alphabet" be used as a research topic in the university? Or, simply use it as a teaching material!"

Lu Shi said, "Mr. Ren, do you still have this influence?"

Liang Qichao couldn't help but feel embarrassed.

Lu Shi thought for a moment,

"Do your best, but please have a clear conscience."

Hearing this, Liang Qichao stood up and said,

"Okay! Professor Lu, then I will ask the university to accept your commission and revise the "Pinyin Alphabet"."

Zhang Taiyan said: "I will help too."

Lu Shi looked at them,

Somehow, Picasso's "Girls Working Together" came to mind.

He sneered,

"I'm going back to London soon, so I won't get involved."

Zhang Taiyan complained: "I can see it, Professor Lu, you just want to give up!"

Lu Shi laughed,

"Okay, I'm just giving up."

But you can't blame him for this.

After all, he is not a genuine linguist or phonetician, and revising the "Pinyin Alphabet" and "Chinese Pinyin Plan" are extremely professional tasks, and he is really not qualified for it.

He said: "Please, you two."

Liang Qichao nodded,

"I will remember Professor Lu's words. Do your best, but please have a clear conscience."