Literary Heroes of the Republic of China

In addition to teaching students Pinyin, Mu Qiong also assists Cai Zhaoyan in revising the dictionary and noting the words in it.

At this time, there were dictionaries, and most of the phonetics used the method of "Cai, Yin'cai'". Now, they plan to add pinyin and phonetic symbols to these words on the basis of the original, so that students can learn Chinese more conveniently .

This is a very huge project, mainly due to the lack of manpower and it is difficult to set standards. After all, at this time, everyone is accustomed to speaking dialects, and even some literary masters cannot speak Chinese well.

But again it makes perfect sense.

Mu Qiong knew about this era in modern times.

For Chinese literature, this period is a golden age. At this time, the central government is on the verge of collapse, and everyone can speak freely, and literature can even be rearranged.

For example, a literati can create words at this time, and subjects such as prose and poetry also appear and be divided at this time.

People born in this era, as long as they have enough talent, can become one of the pioneers of modern Chinese literature.

Don't say anything else, let's just talk about studying pinyin and revising the dictionary...

In modern times, it is a joke that a group of people get together to revise the dictionary, and it is impossible for schools to teach people random pinyin, but at this time, such a thing can really be done.

It's just... During the revision of the dictionary, Mu Qiong found that his knowledge was really poor - he didn't know many words.

Because of this, he stopped writing, and read and memorized dictionaries every day. He also found "Andersen's Fairy Tales" translated by Fu Huai'an, and then slowly annotated them.

Now that there is pinyin, there must be reading materials with phonetic notation.

And the book "Andersen's Fairy Tales" is very suitable as a phonetic reading material-these stories are easy to understand and the words are not difficult.

This job is not easy to do, but fortunately, Mu Qiong soon had a helper.

In modern times, students in the first grade of elementary school only learn pinyin for a month or two. Now Mu Qiong teaches people pinyin, and the youngest people who learn from him are more than ten years old, and they only learn pinyin during this time...

In less than half a month, a group of people have left the teacher to share Mu Qiong's work and continue to consolidate the pinyin they have learned in the work.

With more staff, in addition to phoneticizing "Andersen's Fairy Tales", they also selected the best articles published in the Educational Monthly, and then phoneticized them one by one—these articles are very suitable for people with little literacy .

In this kind of busyness, time flies quickly, and in the blink of an eye, it is the spring when the grass grows and the warblers fly. The peach blossoms on the trees are full, and they will soon wither.

It is not uncommon to go outing and fly kites in the suburbs of Shanghai. Many people meet to go to the countryside. Unfortunately, Mu Qiong has never been free. Even Fu Yun'an, who is free, has not much time to learn pinyin.

Fu Yun'an entrusted many things to his subordinates, but there are always some things that he needs to do by himself, such as things in the hospital, or when his subordinates are in trouble.

For example, recently, his fleet encountered pirates, which annoyed him.

There have always been pirates on the sea. Even the ships of Britain and France are hijacked and robbed every year, let alone the ships of their countries.

However, Fu Yun'an's fleet had never encountered such a thing before.

His ships are all big ships, and they are a fleet of several ships. If you are picky about the persimmons on those islands, you will not do anything to his fleet.

But recently, several groups of pirates united together and detained one of his fleets.

Fu Yun'an thought that there might be someone supporting these pirates, and of course, he would not sit still.

Fu Yun'an was busy contacting people he knew to fish out his fleet.

At this time, Yue Chaoying and his party finally arrived in Europe after a long journey.

Life at sea is painful. For a few months, they can hardly eat fresh vegetables and meat, and eat various pickled products every day.

When Yue Chaoying was in Shanghai, he had to eat green vegetables, especially small green vegetables, but on the boat, these were basically invisible.

Fortunately, he has been used to it for a long time, and he is not picky about the food at all. At most, he eats more food when there are bean sprouts. Before boarding the ship, the experienced sailor sent by Huo Ying brought a lot of mung beans Soybeans on board, from time to time, give out some bean sprouts for everyone to eat.

This journey will take several months. These days, Yue Chaoying is translating and revising the book about labor written by Mu Qiong almost every day. The next is more and more perfect.

Even Yue Chaoying decided on the title of this book, and finally named it "Edward's Travels".

Finally seeing the destination, Han Zhen who followed Yue Chaoying to Europe was full of excitement.

Han Zhen has stayed in Russia for a long time, but he has never been to Europe. The life on the ship for the past few months has almost cost him half his life—at the beginning, he vomited almost every day, and he lost weight Ten catties.

In the past, he liked pickled products, and he thought it was a good meal, but he didn't like the stir-fried vegetables that his teacher loved, but now... Han Zhen dreams of eating vegetables every night.

"It's finally here! Teacher, it's finally here!" Han Zhen said excitedly.

Yue Chaoying nodded, with a complicated expression.

The crew fixed the ship on the pier with thick ropes, and built a deck on the ship and the pier, and they followed the deck to the pier.

The whole person seemed to be still swaying, unable to step on the ground at all, but this feeling was unexpectedly good... Han Zhen took a deep breath, followed Yue Chaoying, and went to London.

The war is still going on, China is too weak, they are not here on behalf of the government... Yue Chaoying and Han Zhen didn't receive any hospitality, but Yue Chaoying didn't care.

This is not the first time he has received such a cold reception.

Yue Chaoying's health was very poor, and the rainy weather in London often made his knees ache, but he kept silent and tried his best to visit one British person after another.

The other party treated him well, so he tried his best to maintain the relationship, and the other party treated him badly, and he also visited the other party repeatedly—even if he couldn’t find help, this would allow him to understand the upper class in Britain. Let him figure out the thoughts of these people.

Yue Chaoying wrote down everything he learned about the UK in his notebook—these are all very valuable information.

Of course, he did not forget to try to publish "Edward's Travels".

However, he did not do this in person, but through Huo Ying's relationship, he found an Englishman and asked him to take the book to the publishing house.

The writing of this "Edward's Travels" is very interesting. The beginning is about China, the middle is about voyages, and the back is about war. There are touching stories interspersed in it.

Mu Qiong is best at writing little stories about little people, so some of these little stories make people cry, and some make people laugh.

In the tragic war, the little girl hiding in the basement gave her bread to the wounded soldier, the loyal hound protected the master, and the toddling old lady protected her little grandson, using her body to shield the little grandson from bombs... …

The stories are about ordinary people who do extraordinary things.

Of course, there are also many stories related to Chinese laborers. For example, a British man once gave canned food to Chinese laborers. Later, when he was in danger on the battlefield, Chinese laborers rescued him desperately.

There are many similar stories, and Mu Qiong has written a lot.

Each of his stories is written in an easy-to-understand and sensational way, a book combined like this...

The person recommended by Huo Ying took it to the publishing house, and the people in the publishing house were immediately moved after reading it.

The war is so cruel, and ordinary people will feel hopeless and numb when they look at the death toll in the newspaper every day.

Today, the government has been trying to appease the people, even asking newspaper publishing houses to promote some heroes.

It's just that the perfect, invincible hero created in this way is actually quite fake, but the book in front of me...

"This Mr. Edward is really admirable. He must have been on the front line to write such a story!"

"This story reminds me of my fiancé who died on the battlefield. Like George in the story, he left me a sentence before he died in battle, saying that he loved me forever."

"I really hope that my son can also meet people full of kindness on the battlefield."

"Why can't this damn war end sooner?"

……

People in the publishing house agreed that "Edward's Travels" is a good book.

They didn't meet the author Edward, but they firmly believed that there really was such an American. This person was in China before, and then returned to Europe, and then stayed on the battlefield.

This is a very noble man!

"This book, we will publish it immediately."

"It is necessary for the common people to take a look at this book."

"Everyone who goes to the battlefield is a hero!"

……

The people at the publishing house spoke highly of the book, and soon finalized the publication, and even started preparing for publication soon.

Before Yue Chaoying knew many people, "Edward's Travels" was published.

The publishing house even advertised on the radio, touting the book as a heartfelt documentary about war.

At this time in Britain, men fought in the front, while women, children, and the elderly worked in the rear.

Most of their lives are not good, but they still miss their relatives, and they are extremely concerned about the war.

Unfortunately, the flow of information is not smooth at this time. There are only cold numbers and some insecure slogans in the newspapers... Although these people want to learn about war, they can't find a suitable opportunity.

Now that there is such a book...many people have bought it and read it.

When they first opened it, they found that it was about China. They felt cheated, but the China in this book was very interesting, so they continued to read.

Seeing this, they couldn't let go.

"It turns out that there were actually Chinese laborers helping in this war."

"I spent the whole night reading this book and cried all night."

"It turns out that our soldiers are like this on the front line."

"I'm a worker in a factory that produces canned meat. Seeing the soldiers inside use cans to boil water after eating them, and seeing them use cans to set traps, I feel very kind and I will definitely work hard."

……

People discussed and recommended each other, and the sales of this book suddenly increased.

At this time, the British government also noticed this book.

At first, they were a little worried, fearing that this book might contain things they didn't want the common people to know, but after reading it, they realized that they were worrying too much.

Except for the point of Chinese labor, the other contents of this book are not problematic.

The problem of Chinese labor is not a big problem either.

They did bring these workers to Europe secretly, but when so many people arrived in their country, they couldn't hide them at all.Many people in their country have already known the existence of these Chinese laborers, and there is no need for them to continue to hide.

What's more, this Edward said in the novel that these Chinese laborers came to help voluntarily... It's good for ordinary people to think so, isn't it?

As for other things, for example, this Edward seems to hate the Japanese... The British government didn't take it seriously.

It's not a matter of personal preference. They actually don't like Japanese very much.

If the Japanese hadn't intervened, they might have already obtained Xilin's mass production method!

Coincidentally, the British wanted to lower the popularity of the book "Contagion"... They simply signaled the radio station to promote the book.

Soon, some excerpts from "Edward's Travels" appeared in the newspapers.

The newspaper selected the essence of this book to publish. People who read the newspaper naturally thought that this story was very good... This book sold even better!

Ordinary people frugal to buy this book, looking for some spiritual comfort in this desolate period, even the nobles began to buy this book.

I don't know how many rich ladies and ladies broke down in tears after reading this book, and then donated a lot of money.

The previous book "Contagion" has already made the situation of Chinese laborers much better. Now that "Edward's Travels" is published, the treatment of Chinese laborers is even better.

Some even specifically went to these Chinese workers to thank them: "Thank you for your help to this country."

"Thank you for coming."

"God bless you who are good."

……

These foreigners still don't think highly of the Chinese, but their gratitude is also sincere.

In the end, there are only those Chinese workers who are confused - what is going on?How did these foreigners treat them so well all of a sudden?Not to mention the softness of the bread they ate recently, there is still broth to drink!

Nowadays, there are also many Chinese studying or traveling in Europe. Most of the workers are illiterate and do not read newspapers. They don't know what's going on, but those overseas students do know.

After they read "Edward's Travels", they couldn't help but complain a little bit, thinking that Edward was a liar—not to mention, those laborers definitely didn't come here voluntarily.

But they are also keenly aware that this is beneficial to their country.

One of them, who had been trying to lobby Britain and France to help China get back Qingdao from Japan, talked about "Edward's Travels" when he came to visit Yue Chaoying.

"Mr. Yue, have you read "Edward's Travels"? Although this book beautifies the despicable behavior of Britain and France, it can make the people of Britain and France feel good about our country, and it has indirectly helped us." The man Some excitement.

This person is an old acquaintance with Yue Chaoying. Yue Chaoying believes in his character and needs his help. published in England and France."

"Mr. Yue?" The man was surprised.

"We want to have the right to speak in the world, and if we want others to help us, we must first let others understand us." Yue Chaoying said.

"Sir, you are so kind!" the man said in admiration.Yue Chaoying is really too smart!To think of such a method and write such a book!

Yue Chaoying said: "You don't need to praise me, I didn't come up with this idea, and I didn't write this book either."

"Who wrote this book?" the man asked.

Yue Chaoying said: "Fortunately."

"It turned out to be Mr. Tianxing's masterpiece!" The man's face showed reverence: "It would be great if I could meet Mr. Tianxing!"

"I also want to see him. If I can go back and meet him, I will die without regret." Yue Chaoying said.

"Teacher!" Han Zhen was taken aback when he heard Yue Chaoying's words. Yue Chaoying was fine, why did he die? !

"Okay, let's not talk about this... Regarding the origin of this book, after you leave my door, you must not tell others." Yue Chaoying said.Even if this matter is spread, others may not believe it, but it is best not to spread it.

The person who came to visit Yue Chaoying, as well as Han Zhen who stayed by Yue Chaoying's side, should be one after another.

At this time, Yue Chaoying took out the book he brought from China and started to translate.

What he translated were "Silk Town" and "Metamorphosis" by Mu Qiong.

Many books by foreigners were brought to their countries for publication, and even affected the thinking of people in their countries... Even so, can the books of their countries be published abroad, thereby affecting people abroad?

The stories written by Mu Qiong in these two books can also be understood by foreign people. After all, they have experienced the industrial revolution, and their women are working hard to fight for their own rights.

Yue Chaoying thought so, and translated more seriously, and even recruited the people Huo Ying sent to follow him. Some of the people Huo Ying sent to follow him were very good at Chinese literature, but they were very good at English. It is absolutely possible to help him translate. After the translation, they can proofread each other and learn from each other's strengths.

Yue Chaoying believed that these two books would be published in a short time.

It's just...he can't give Mu Qiong the royalties.

Prices in Europe are expensive, and there are many places where money is needed. The money he brought from selling the house and his previous private house were almost spent after giving a few gifts. Now he is even spending the royalties from "Edward's Travels", waiting for the future , I'm afraid it will cost the royalties of Mu Qiong's two books.

Yue Chaoying was thinking about the royalties of Mu Qiong's book, when he was told that someone had sent money again.

Edward in "Edward's Travels" is an American according to Mu Qiong's setting, but now, an American businessman with good vision has taken a fancy to this book and plans to buy the copyright of this book and send it to the United States for publication.

At the same time, in France, a publishing house also contacted Yue Chaoying's agent, hoping to publish this book.

In order for these companies to help him publicize, Yue Chaoying asked for low royalties, but made a lot of demands in terms of publicity, asking these publishing houses to do their best to help him publicize.

In this regard, all publishers are not surprised.

This "Edward" must be able to go to China to buy Xilin, he must have a lot of money, and naturally he doesn't care about royalties. As for why they are required to promote it, it must be for the sake of fame!

Who doesn't want a good name?With a good reputation, you can benefit from doing business, politics or business in the future.

Of course, this guy is really nice, and they are happy to help him promote it!

These publishers are happy to help "Edward" publish his books, and the governments of Britain and France are already thinking about giving "Edward" a medal and giving some rewards later.

They love this venerable American businessman.