One is Yang Zhenning, the first Chinese winner of the Nobel Prize, and the other is Du Yuming, a senior General of the Kuomintang.
These two people seem to be unable to fight with eight rods, but history will always give the answer in the darkness.
After the loosening of Sino-US relations, Yang Zhenning was the first Chinese scientist to return to China to visit, and he made great contributions to cultural exchanges and mutual understanding between the two countries.
In fact, before this, Yang Zhenning's father hoped that his son would return to China as soon as possible, perhaps feeling that his influence was not enough, and he also went to find Mr. Du Yuming.
However, now that Du Yuming's name is mentioned, most people will think that he was a Kuomintang lieutenant general who was captured alive in the Battle of Huaihai, a typical Kuomintang "war criminal", how could Yang Zhenning's father, Yang Wuzhi, choose such a person who was still serving a sentence in prison and borrow his "hand"?
This is not because of how good the personal relationship between two people is, but because there is a special relationship between these two people.
Yang Wuzhi
The belated "friendship" has created a good story
A historical figure cannot be evaluated solely on the basis of his camp, but on how much he has contributed to a people.
Du Yuming was a Lieutenant General of the Kuomintang Army who was shouted at by everyone in the Battle of Huaihai, but in the process of resisting Japan, he led his troops to achieve the famous Kunlun Pass Victory and was an anti-Japanese hero.
Therefore, before the founding of New China, Du Yuming spent most of his time fighting in the army and had no time to take care of his children.
After becoming a prisoner of war, he spent every day in the bars and did not know the specific situation of his children.
At the other end of the window, his daughter Du Zhili was already married to Yang Zhenning, a teacher at Southwest United University, who was already a famous figure in the field of theoretical physics.
Yang Zhenning is now more famous, few people know, his father Yang Wuzhi is also a famous mathematician, his achievements are also quite high, even Hua Luogeng praised: "Mr. Yang Wuzhi is the person who led me to the path of mathematics." ”
These two families, one engaged in "literature" and the other engaged in "martial arts", became relatives in such a vague way.
Hua Luogeng
When Yang Zhenning was still shining in the physics community, Du Yuming was reformed in prison, and the policy given by the People's Liberation Army was also quite generous, as long as it was a person who could reform and change his mind, the state would give it a chance.
Fortunately, Du Yuming is not a hard-line die-hard loyalist, and his performance in prison is not bad.
Everything that happens in the outside world, Du Yuming has no way to sway anymore, what he can do is to transform himself well, as for his daughter's affairs, he also went with her.
But at the other end, Yang Zhenning's father, Yang Wuzhi, was full of sorrow.
Especially when Yang Zhenning and Li Zhengdao won the Nobel Prize for proposing the theory of non-conservation, Yang's father was half happy and half worried, although his son had a chance, but it was definitely not a matter of people floating abroad, and now that the country is in ruins, he hopes that his son can return to China after learning and return to China to add a force to his country.
In order to make this goal achieve as soon as possible, Yang Lao decided to leave to look for Yang Zhenning.
Father and son gathered together, but the atmosphere is not as harmonious as imagined, Yang Zhenning is a person who focuses on scientific research, he feels that the conditions in the United States are better than in China, and now China does not even have a lot of infrastructure, if you return to China, your scientific research projects will fall into a stagnant state, even if you are full of talents, there is no way to release.
When Yang Wuzhi heard this, he sighed deeply.
The old man also understands that physics and mathematics still have many essential differences, physics requires a lot of equipment, if everything has to start from scratch, it is a challenge for his son.
In addition, his daughter-in-law's father was previously a lieutenant general of the Kuomintang, and now he is still serving a prison sentence, and if the scenery returns, it is bound to cause a lot of negative evaluations, which are definitely within the scope of his son's consideration.
Therefore, the old man thought about it and first postponed the idea of persuading his son to return to China.
Suddenly, he thought of another person, du Yuming.
The two had never met, but there were still many rumors about him at that time, after all, he was a Kuomintang lieutenant general, and he did not know what kind of personality and temper he had, nor did he know what he really thought in his heart, in case things could not be done, he was also poured with a basin of cold water, which was not good for the feelings of his son and daughter-in-law.
When Du Yuming was originally imprisoned in the Gongdelin Forest, which was originally a Buddhist temple, it was directly requisitioned by Chiang Kai-shek and converted into a prison, where many patriots were imprisoned.
With a nervous mood, Yang Wuzhi still came.
People who study mathematics also do not like to go around the bend, and in the face of this Kuomintang lieutenant general who is going to the trough of his life, he has no other meaning to look down on, and he treats him as an ordinary family.
Yang Wu came up and explained his origins, and Du Yuming was very touched by Yang Wuzhi's national righteousness.
Yang Wuzhi said to Du Yuming very seriously: "Dear family, I only have one reluctant request, hoping to borrow your hand to write a letter to persuade my daughter and son-in-law to return to China." ”
However, this matter was eventually rejected by Du Yuming, and Yang Wuzhi left sadly.
Word spread that Du's son-in-law was a great physicist quickly spread in prison, and fellow inmates congratulated him.
Liao Yaoxiang was Du Yuming's old comrade-in-arms, and Mingming's relatives had come to see him, but Du Yuming's mood had obviously fallen into a low ebb, and he was also very puzzled, so he specifically asked the reason.
Du Yuming wanted to say something several times and stopped, but still told the truth to this old comrade-in-arms.
It turned out that the visit of the relatives this time was not a trivial matter for the children's children's affection, this was a major matter related to the great righteousness of the nation, Yang Wuzhi wanted to borrow his "hand" to persuade his daughter and son-in-law to return to China, he himself very much wanted to make some contributions to the country, but his status as a war criminal, and he had not cared about his daughter for many years, and now he is directly involved in his daughter's private affairs, I am afraid that there is something wrong.
Liao Yaoxiang
In addition, coupled with the fact that there are many members of the Du family, if the daughter rushes back from overseas, it will breed other problems, after all, the son-in-law is no longer an ordinary person at this time, but a scientist with a global reputation, and every move will inevitably attract the attention of the people of the whole country.
Speaking of this, Du Yuming's cheeks had already slid down with tears.
When Liao Yaoxiang saw such a scene, he was suddenly a little overwhelmed, so he had to comfort Du Yuming and persuade him to take a slow look.
Du Yuming continued: "Everyone knows that my son-in-law has a career, and everyone is happy for me, in fact, the pain in my heart is only known to me." ”
This hand, or wrote the letter
In the days that followed, Du Yuming was depressed, and he didn't know how to deal with this matter.
The prisoners gradually learned about it and began to comfort Du Yuming continuously, and many people in the outside world hoped that Du Yuming could come forward to persuade his daughter and son-in-law to return to China, which was a great thing for the country.
Du Yuming thought about it again and again, but decided to write this letter.
The content of the letter is very short: I congratulate you on winning the Nobel Prize, which is the glory of the Chinese nation.
A few words, seemingly nothing, but everything has been said.
The phrase "This is the glory of the Chinese nation" has expressed his hopes, and he hopes that his son-in-law can return to China to contribute to the country and start his life again here.
Yang Zhenning's reply was also very brief: I thank you very much for your concern for me.
Along with the letter came a brand new atomic table.
Replying to the letter, Du Yuming seemed to have felt the meaning of his son-in-law, coupled with Professor Yang Wuzhi's own face-to-face request, if the son-in-law was still unwilling to return to China, there would be no way.
From the perspective of a scientific researcher, it will be that Yang Zhenning wants to continue his own project, and the United States has more perfect conditions; starting from his wife, the old man is a "war criminal" and is so famous that he takes his wife back and worries about being implicated.
Neither Yang Wuzhi nor Du Yuming's attitudes have changed, but they have given up persuasion.
Things took a turn for the better.
In 1971, the relations between China and the United States had already shown signs of loosening, Yang Zhenning quickly took this opportunity to return to China to visit, at this time Du Yuming was also pardoned and released from prison for his good performance, and the family was finally able to gather, and what is even more valuable is that Premier Zhou personally received the physicist in the Great Hall of the People and affirmed his scientific research achievements.
In the years that followed, Yang Zhenning spent most of his time in the United States, but he still maintained a grateful heart.
In the United States, Yang Zhenning often holds some speeches to report to people there about China's development, and he has also used practical actions to make many Americans begin to maintain a friendly attitude toward China and no longer easily believe the content reported by some media.
In 1978, Yang Zhenning, Li Zhengdao and others jointly advocated the creation of the first junior class at the University of Science and Technology of China to continue to cultivate talents for China's scientific and technological undertakings, and they also set up various bonuses to reward some young people for invention and provide innovation incentives for China's young people.
Yang Zhenning once wrote about this period in his memoirs: my father had been a professor in Beijing and Shanghai until his death in 1973, and he had also received a doctorate from the University of Chicago in the United States, but I also knew that he always wanted me to return to China as soon as possible, so he never forgave me in his heart.
At the beginning, the atomic bomb explosion was successful, and the impact on Yang Zhenning was also very large.
Mr. Deng Jiaxian once sent him a letter in which he mentioned that the American rumors were that foreigners had provided help, but in fact, no one had participated in it except for the very few help given by the Soviet Union in the early days.
Deng Jiaxian
Seeing this, Yang Zhenning was already in tears.
Coupled with the persuasion of his father and father-in-law, as well as his nostalgia for the motherland, in the end, China entered the new century, and Mr. Yang Zhenning chose to return to China to settle down.
However, it is regrettable that at this time, Mr. Du Yuming and Mr. Yang Wuzhi have long passed away.
In particular, Yang Wuzhi, when he was seriously ill, Yang Zhenning also came back to visit him, but his body was already very tired, and he talked with Yang Zhenning for a long time, and he repeatedly instructed his son: "We must look at the long term, scientists can not only study science, but also see the evolution of history and trends." ”
Many people criticize Yang Zhenning, saying that he was in the United States when he was young and did not come back until he was old, but in fact, this is not very objective.
Yang Zhenning's main contribution is still in the basic physics, which can be understood in any country, and after he returned to China, he also greatly promoted the advancement of Chinese physics theory, and his various financial aid funds and scholarships are already a large number, and he is also a contributor.
If the second elder is still there, they will also be relieved to see that Yang Zhenning finally chose to return to China.