sea ​​situation

After breakfast, Lu Ming wanted to go for a stroll to change his mind. As soon as he came out of the Lingering Garden, he saw a guy in a suit and tie waiting outside the gate, and when he came out, he came up to him.

"Is this Mr. Lu Ming?" the man asked politely.

"Well, I am." Lu Ming nodded.

"This is for you." The man said and handed him a note.

This is a note from the Consulate General of the United States of America in Shanghai. There is only one line on the note: Mr. Frank is looking for you.

Not even a signature below.

The guy who left the note must be very lazy, Lu Ming muttered in his heart, of course he knows who Frank is, has Frank arrived in Shanghai?unlikely.If he really arrives in Shanghai, he will definitely come to the door directly. The character of the husband has always been to do things by himself.

"Mr. Consul General wants you to go over now, there is something urgent." The man said without any expression on his face.

"Let's go." Lu Ming looked lazy.

A 1928 eight-cylinder Cadillac produced by General Motors of the United States is waiting at the corner. The black body of the car is carved like a large black crystal. It is an exquisite work of art, not like a large factory assembly line This is a great achievement of mankind in the era of industrial civilization.

This car is also one of the symbols of the US Consulate General in Shanghai, which is actually a symbol of the United States of America.

Seeing this car, Lu Ming seemed to have returned to Detroit, USA, and saw the prosperity of the world's automobile capital again.

As soon as he got into the spacious back seat of the car, the car started immediately. It turned out that this person was the driver for the consul general, and he was Chinese.

Thinking of the message on the note, Lu Ming couldn't help but smile wryly.

Mr. Frank was his mentor when he was studying in the United States. After he arrived in the United States, he first entered the university preparatory class. After studying for a year, he was admitted to the law department of Harvard University. However, when he was in college, he also took international politics at Harvard University. A course on East Asian political culture in the Faculty of Relations.

It is Mr. Frank who teaches East Asian politics, economy and culture.

Mr. Frank has a heartfelt dedication and enthusiasm for East Asia, especially for China. Among the people Lu Ming has met, only Leighton Stuart can match him.

Maybe Lu Ming was the only Chinese student in the class, and he was diligent and studious, so he won the favor of Mr. Frank. Frank often took Lu Ming home to eat and chat, and asked him about the current situation of Chinese society.

It was only then that Lu Ming knew that Mr. Frank's research on Chinese culture was no less than that of ordinary Chinese people. He had even systematically studied the Four Books and Five Classics, and all he read were Chinese books.

It was hard for Lu Ming to imagine how an American could learn classical Chinese and read thick thread-bound books without punctuation.He is also fluent in Cantonese and Shanghai dialect, and is interested in learning Huzhou dialect from Lu Ming.

During the four years, Lu Ming almost became a member of Frank's family. He often came to his house for dinner, and even stayed at his house at night. He got along with his wife and children and became a family member. He joked that he became Mr. Frank's godson.

Before graduation, Frank invited Lu Ming to stay as his teaching assistant many times, but Lu Ming was homesick and refused.

On the night before his return to China, Frank held a family dinner to see him off. After the meal, the two tasted whiskey in the study. Frank revealed to him one thing. It turned out that Frank was not only a tenured professor at Harvard University, but also President Roosevelt. As a private consultant on culture, Mr. Frank's advice has a certain authority in the White House's decision-making in East Asia and even Asia as a whole.

Frank also had extensive contacts with the Nanjing Republic of China government. The Nanjing Republic of China government had a team that contacted Frank and regularly briefed him on the situation, hoping to get the support of the US government on Asian affairs.

Frank made a request, hoping that Lu Ming would become his personal observer after returning to China, because the official information is inevitably flashy, or avoids the truth, and it is still valuable in peacetime, but it is not enough in case of war.Here lies the crux of the problem.

The U.S. economy developed rapidly in the "roaring 20s", and the "false illusion of prosperity" created in the short term seems to be peaking. Recently, the financial market has been bubbling around and problems have arisen. Politicians and businessmen from various countries are very concerned about the trend of the dollar. In Asia, Japan's political, economic, military and other advisory teams came wave after wave.

Mr. Frank smelled a smell from it. The turmoil in the US economy will definitely spread to Asia. In what way, he doesn't want to make the worst guess, but once the incident happens, the result will only be worse than imagined. It is the experience he summed up over the years.

Frank hesitated to speak. He couldn't tell Lu Ming what he saw as a fact. He decided to observe the situation in Asia further, so he proposed to let Lu Ming be his personal observer. He would pay Lu Ming five hundred dollars a month. , stored in Lu Ming's bank account in the United States.

If the information provided by Lu Ming is particularly valuable, then he will be paid extra. This money is not given by Frank personally, but from a special fund of President Roosevelt, which is specially used to pay for some expenses that cannot be recorded on paper. .

Lu Ming refused, and he still remembers his answer at the time: "I will not be a spy, and I will not betray my motherland."

In his view, this kind of behavior is acting as a spy for the US government and selling out his country for money.

Frank seemed to have expected him to answer this way, so he told him that this was just an observer, just like the special observers hired by major news organizations in various countries, except that he was serving not the major news media in the United States, but the U.S. government.

Frank assured him that the observation report he had provided would be sent to President Roosevelt's desk after being properly sorted out and cut down, so that he could provide reference for the president's decision-making on Asian issues.

"You have to believe that the United States loves peace. I am also a frank person, and I will never do anything that is not good for China. Of course, I will not force you, Lu." Frank understood what Lu Ming was thinking, and finally added said a word.

Lu Ming kept silent, but he knew in his heart that Frank didn't want him to be a spy, and he had no access to state secrets.But it's true that Americans are nosy, and they want to meddle in Asian affairs.

It may not be a bad thing if the observation data he provided can influence the US government's policies towards Asia and China, but Lu Ming has no interest in politics and always feels that there is no need to go into this muddy water.

"Lu, you have to know that this matter is not only important to the US government, but also more important to China. China needs the support of the US. China has lost the opportunity for the first industrialization, so how to carry out the second industrialization? It needs the full support of old and powerful industrial countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom. There are also many hidden crises in Asia, such as fighting against the Japanese Empire. Without the support of the US government, China will be very difficult. You understand me mean?"

What Frank said was very straightforward, but it also made Lu Ming realize a fact: it is not the United States that needs China, but China needs the United States more, especially when the shadow of threats from Japan continues to expand.

Even if there is no threat from Japan, if China wants to resume comprehensive industrialization and modernization, it must rely on the support of powerful industrial countries.Since the beginning of the [-]th century, the world has developed so fast that it is no longer possible for China to complete industrialization alone like Britain. The only way for China to accelerate the process of industrialization is to rely on external forces.

In the process of world industrialization, Britain completed the industrialization process first, followed by France, and then Germany succeeded in learning from Britain.The United States learns from Britain and Germany at the same time, and mainly learns from Britain. In this respect, the United States is the most loyal student of Britain, and it is the best.Japan has learned from the powerful industrial countries in the West, and has received strong support from countries such as Britain, the United States and Germany. Without the support of the West, Japan would not have been able to complete industrialization. Of course, it would not dare to have unreasonable thoughts about China, an ancient civilization.

Lu Ming knew Mr. Frank's good intentions. He is a kind scholar with a sense of justice, but he is an American after all.After a period of ideological struggle, Lu Ming finally agreed. The reason why he agreed was because Frank borrowed a famous saying from the Secretary of State of the United States: A gentleman should not spy on what is in other people's pockets.There is no need to explain anymore, Frank's words are equivalent to giving Lu Ming a complete picture.

Lu Ming believed that Mr. Frank was a real gentleman, otherwise he would not have gotten so close to him.

Although Lu Ming agreed to be Frank's private special observer in China, he almost forgot about it after returning to China, mainly because he had a kind of resistance to the term "providing observation information".

However, he adopted Frank's other suggestion: don't give up American citizenship, it is useful at critical times.Therefore, after returning to China, he still holds a US passport and is still a legal US citizen.

The government of the Republic of China did not care about this matter, not to mention dual nationality, even multiple nationality is legal in the Republic of China.

Lu Ming suddenly thought of Sheng Youde's attitude towards him, that he actually wanted to entrust the life and death of the entire Sheng family in his hands, and paid a huge sum of US$[-]. Is it because of his status?

The matter of being Frank's special observer in China is of course a secret, but the government of the Republic of China knew about it somehow, so when he returned to China and just landed, the government of the Republic of China appointed relevant personnel to contact him and offered to provide him with convenience in his work, even Entrusted with important tasks.He understood that, in fact, it was to monitor him.At that time, he rejected the other party's kindness without hesitation.

If he wanted to be an official, he might as well follow Frank. At that time, Frank offered him two choices. One was to stay at Harvard University as his teaching assistant, and the other was to recommend him to join the US East Asia Policy Research Office as a secretary. He refused both.

At the last moment of his departure from the United States, Frank told him that he was always welcome to be a teaching assistant as long as he was still teaching at Harvard.For some reason, Frank has a special affection for this young Asian.

Lu Ming was still thinking about his communication with Frank when the car stopped suddenly.

Lu Ming looked out the window and saw a heavily armed American soldier looking at his strange guest.

"He is Mr. Lu Ming, an American citizen. Mr. Consul General invited him to discuss matters." The driver said in English.

Lu Ming almost laughed out loud when he heard the driver speak Pidgin English, but at least he understood.