Chapter 842 841 [Empty Shell Head of State]

Lin Sen, the chairman of the Republic of China, also lived in Liziba at this time, about two miles away from Zhou's residence.

Different from the luxurious and high-end Zhou Mansion, Lin Sen lives in an ordinary house with not many servants and guards. If there is someone with bad intentions, Lin Sen can be dealt with by sending a few gunmen, which is much easier than assassinating today's ministerial officials.

In the entire officialdom of the Republic of China, Lin Sen was considered a maverick. This old gentleman has no wife or children, and lives alone. He does not smoke, drink, or play cards. He usually only takes a driver without a bodyguard when he goes out. His only hobby is collecting antiques, and he also believes in Buddhism.

At first, Chang Kaishen, Wang Zhaoming and Hu Hanmin fought fiercely, and Wang and Hu teamed up to force Chang Kaishen to step down.

Before Chang Kaishen left office, he wanted to arrange a reliable head of state. At that time, there were two backup candidates, namely Cai Yuanpei and Yu Youren.

Chiang Kai-shek was quite satisfied with his rightful appointment. Unfortunately, Hu Hanmin firmly disagreed, and there were many opponents of Cai Yuanpei becoming chairman. In the end, Chen Mingshu recommended Lin Sen because Lin Sen did not belong to any faction in the Kuomintang and was highly qualified. He liked leisure and did not like to take power.

Such a character is naturally the best candidate for a puppet, and Chang Kaishen, Wang Zhaoming and Hu Hanmin all approve of it.

As a result, Lin Sen became the head of state of China until he died in a car accident.

Mr. Chairman's breakfast today is a bowl of millet porridge and a plate of pickles. He had no special requirements for food, drink and clothing. When he first came to Chongqing, he was allowed to buy one pound of meat every day. Later, prices skyrocketed, and he could only buy meat for two cents a day. The chef was very distressed about this, because the two cents in the middle of the Anti-Japanese War could only buy a little bit about the width of two fingers. There was too little meat and he didn’t know how to cook. .

Many documents say that Lin Sen does not eat meat, which is probably wrong. He just doesn't eat much.

A few days ago, I received a telegram from Chiang Kai-shek asking Lin Sen to appoint Zhou Hexuan as the special envoy to visit Britain. Chairman Lin knew that Zhou Hexuan was not easy to recruit, so he did not appoint him directly. Instead, he wrote a calligraphy saying "We will win the war of resistance" in his own hand and prepared to give him as a gift.

Lin Sen now only has this role left, shouting slogans about victory in the War of Resistance everywhere to encourage the people. His New Year's Day speech half a month ago was like this: "What we demand is final victory, and we must fight for a long time." …We must prolong the enemy’s war, consume the enemy’s military and financial resources, and cause the enemy’s economic institutions and military situation to collapse. This move of the national capital to Chongqing is our determination to fight the war for a long time...to achieve the goal of final victory in the war of resistance. !”

After packaging the calligraphy treasures that had just been mounted yesterday, Lin Sen did not go out immediately. Instead, he placed a stick of incense on the Buddhist altar at home, and then walked into his private antique collection room.

Among all kinds of antiques, real and fake, there is a skeleton on display, which can frighten the uninitiated.

Lin Sen picked up a silk handkerchief, walked to the skeleton, and carefully wiped every bone. His wrinkled old face was full of tenderness.

The owner of this skeleton is Lin Sen's childhood sweetheart's cousin.

Because of an arranged marriage, Lin Sen married a woman he had never met before when he was young. After the marriage, the relationship between the couple was relatively dull. He and his cousin were in love, but they had no choice but to lament that they were destined to be together but not destined to be together.

Unexpectedly, Lin Sen's wife died of illness, and their love finally saw the light of day. At this time, the cousin was arranged by her family to marry the son of a wealthy overseas Chinese businessman. The cousin begged Lin Sen to take her to elope.

At that time, Lin Sen was about to follow Sun Yat-sen to make a revolution. It was very dangerous and it would be even more inconvenient to bring a woman with him, so he refused. Tragedy struck, and the cousin chose to hang himself from a beam. Lin Sen felt so remorseful that he never married, and even keeps his cousin's body in his collection to this day.

Perhaps due to the deep emotional pain, Lin Sen lost his desire for life and became a rare upright official in the political arena of the Republic of China. He was so clean that he didn't even fight for official positions and never formed cliques. In the end, he became the head of state because of this.

After wiping his cousin's bones, Lin Sen walked toward Zhou's mansion with a cane in one hand and a calligraphy treasure in the other.

When he was in Nanjing, Lin Sen only took a driver with him when he went out. Now he even skips the driver because Liziba is really not suitable for driving. If he had always lived in Liziba, he might have lived longer because he would not have been in a car accident. Unfortunately, he moved later - Chiang Kai-shek thought Lin Sen's Liziba residence was too shabby.

The spring rain is like silk, and the clothes don't get wet.

Lin Sen walked on the mountain road with a cane, listening to the sound of the wind shaking the leaves, and looking at the misty rain-shrouded Yangtze River in the distance. He couldn't help but feel emotional about the scene, and recited aloud: "Don't listen to the sound of beating leaves in the forest, why not scream? Let's move slowly. The bamboo stick and mango shoes are lighter than the horse, who is afraid? A raincoat raincoat and a lifetime..."

Lin Sen walked slowly for half the morning on the two or three miles of mountain road, and was almost ready for lunch when he arrived at Zhou's residence.

Well, just in time to eat.

The concierge of Zhou's residence didn't know Lin Sen, but seeing his extraordinary bearing, he respectfully asked, "What can I do for you, sir?"

Lin Sen put the calligraphy treasure under his arm, leaned on his crutch and replied with a smile: "I'd like to inform you that Lin Sen is here to visit."

"Please wait a moment." The concierge hurriedly ran to report the message.

Not long after, Zhou Hexuan personally came out to welcome him, holding Lin Sen's hand and walking in: "Chairman Lin, please come quickly. I should have gone to your house to pay my respects. Why did you come in person?"

Lin Sen took out the calligraphy book "The Anti-Japanese War Must Win" written by himself, handed it to Zhou Hexuan and said: "Mingcheng's recent articles are well written. I have to take them out and read them over and over again every day. You and I have the same opinion." , that is, the war of resistance will be won, and the invaders will inevitably end miserably!"

"Chairman Lin has a burning gaze. China will definitely win," Zhou Hexuan carefully accepted the framed calligraphy treasure and said, "Has Chairman Lin had lunch? Please sit down and have two drinks."

"I don't drink, just add a pair of bowls and chopsticks." Lin Sen was not polite and followed Zhou Hexuan into the dining room.

Zhang Leyi, Meng Xiaodong, Wanrong, Vivien Leigh, Liao Yaquan, Cui Huifu, and Yu Peichen all stood up to greet each other, and the children also obediently called out "Grandpa Lin."

Zhou Hexuan quickly introduced Lin Sen to his wife, children, housekeeper, and secretary. Lin Sen couldn't help but glance at Wanrong and Vivien Li. Apart from him, he was very interested in the identities of the two women, a former Qing empress and a foreign movie star. They were really rare. He smiled and said: "Mingcheng, your big family is quite lively."

"Everything prospers when the family is harmonious, and so does the country." Zhou Hexuan said with a pun.

Lin Sen was very hostile to the Communist Party in the past. He was expelled from the Kuomintang Party because he opposed the first cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party. He nodded and said: "Yes, everything will be prosperous when the family is harmonious. No matter how fierce the struggle between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party is, it is just a feud between brothers. Today, the bandits are ferocious, and brothers should work together to deal with it. Mingcheng, the central government has just come to Chongqing, and is not very familiar with the place. You He is highly respected in Chongqing and he is also the chairman of the Senate. Do you have any suggestions you can make?"

Lin Sen was just talking, but Zhou Hexuan took the opportunity to say: "Chongqing's air defense force is very weak. Now that the central government has moved here, Chongqing will inevitably become a target for Japanese bombing. Chairman Lin, I hope the central government will organize the construction of air defense tunnels as soon as possible to strengthen the people's Air defense drills.”

Because Sichuan is located in the southwest, there was no public air defense training at all during Liu Xiang's rule. So much so that when Chongqing was bombed for the first time, many people rushed out to watch and comment on the aircraft that could lay eggs.

Lin Sen, the head of state, is just an empty air, and he is a little embarrassed: "It is the work of the Military Commission to organize air defense drills and build air defense tunnels. However, the Military Commission is personally directed by Chairman Chiang Kai-shek, and it has not yet moved to Chongqing."

Zhou Hexuan said: "China is so big. If the chairman has to bother him with everything, how can he be busy? Chairman Lin please don't refuse and slack off. This is related to the lives of thousands of people!"

"Then...I'll hold a meeting for everyone to discuss." Lin Sen didn't dare to say anything because he couldn't make the decision.

Zhou Hexuan struck while the railway was hot: "Last September, the Central Military Commission went to Chongqing and appointed Li Gengu as the commander of Chongqing air defense. However, Li Gengu had financial difficulties and was unable to build air defense tunnels. He also asked Chairman Lin to allocate corresponding air defense funds. As for air defense In terms of publicity, I am already helping with it, and the national government can come forward to organize large-scale air defense exercises."

Whether it is organizing air defense exercises or building air defense tunnels, it costs a lot of money, and Lin Sen has no financial power at all.

Lin Sen said awkwardly: "The national government is also in a difficult situation. To be honest, the real purpose of my trip is to ask Mingcheng to go to the UK to help the country get some international loans for the war of resistance. According to Minister Kong, Mingcheng Cheng has a close relationship with King George VI of England and has an old relationship with the Governor of the Bank of England, so I believe this trip will be fruitful."

Zhou Hexuan laughed angrily: "The Bank of England is not run by my family, so how can we just borrow money? Minister Kong issued tens of millions of pounds of bonds in London last year, using several Chinese railways as collateral. Now there is one Less than half of the railway has been taken over by Japan, and the British still want to go back on their word, so how can they borrow money again?"

"Well," Lin Sen was speechless and said with a wry smile, "It's really difficult. Since Mingcheng doesn't want to go to England, then forget it, and I won't force it."

Zhou Hexuan rolled his eyes and suddenly said: "I won't go to the UK, but I can go to the United States."

Lin Sen said happily: "Then I will appoint you as the special envoy to the United States!"

Of course Zhou Hexuan went to the United States not to borrow money, but to borrow American military aircraft. Feng Yong had sent many telegrams and hoped to return home with the club's plane to join the war. Zhou Hexuan had to go there in person to solve the problem.