In January 1928, Chen Bui went to Nanjing and stayed in Chiang Kai-shek's West Flower Hall.
Chen Bui wrote with a little joy in his memoirs: Zeng Wenzhenggong used to live.
Chen Bui is proud to live in the former Liangjiang Governor's Mansion of Zeng Guofan, which means that he is actually a literati of the previous generation in his bones.
What is an old literati? I think it is to find a master, spend my whole life to assist him, and give my own destiny to the master.
1. Mr. Jiang's personal secretary
In February 1927, Chen Bui went to Nanchang and began to follow Chiang Kai-shek's lifelong story, which eventually ended in November 1948, when Chen Bui committed suicide. A total of 22 years before and after.
In the past 22 years, almost all the important telegrams issued by Chiang Kai-shek and the Central Committee of the Kuomintang were written by Chen Bui.
Chen Bui said that my wish has always been to be Mr. Jiang's personal secretary.
This was the case when Mr. Chiang first met me in Shanghai after the Northern Expedition, and I have been like this ever since. When I first said this to Mr. Jiang, Mr. Jiang said: Then how dare I?
I said, "You are the leader of the whole country, and it is a great honor for me to be your personal secretary.
Chen Bui thought about it for a while, and then said: I didn't think of losing my profession at first, so I just went to Nanjing to live for a few days when I had something to do, and often lived in Shanghai to engage in my own journalism. Later, Mr. Jiang asked me to settle in Nanjing, so I couldn't help it, so I stayed.
Later, Chiang Kai-shek asked Chen Bui to be the director of the Zhejiang Provincial Department of Education. When Chiang Kai-shek concurrently served as Minister of Education, he asked Chen Bui to be the Deputy Minister of Education.
Chen Bui said: This is not my intention.
On December 22, 1930, Chen Bui took over as vice minister of education and returned to Zhejiang in December of the following year. During this period, Chen Bui always wanted to resign and return to China.
In May 1931, Chen Bui went to Jiming Temple to ask for a Guanyin sign, and the sign was: Once the Dan seal is removed, the pearl and jade are full of surplus. The signature is: official non-appropriate interpretation of four words.
Chen Bui began to think that it was inappropriate to be an official, that is, it was not appropriate to resign. Later, I listened to the words of the master, and said that the explanation should be explained in three sentences: official, non-official, and appropriate. That is, the official can be dismissed.
This de-signing is really how you want to understand it. But Chen Bui was relieved.
Chen Bui just wanted to simply be Mr. Jiang's secretary and dedicate his life's talent to him.
2. Chen Bui's article
During the Anti-Japanese War, Chiang Kai-shek asked Chen Bui to be a civil official, but Chen Bui kept refusing to resign, and Song Meiling blamed Chen Bui for being stubborn.
Chen Bui explained that a person like me is too unseemly to be placed in the auditorium.
Chen Bui was short and thin, and his body seemed to be unable to stand up when he saw people, and his eyes seemed to be unable to open.
But under the thin body, there is a powerful force.
Chen Bui always speaks softly, but the angry people will also calm down in front of him.
Chen Bui wrote too many articles for Chiang Kai-shek, and he did not feel that writing articles was a happy thing.
Chen Bui said: I wrote the article, which is a painstaking work.
The first article Chen Bui wrote for Chiang Kai-shek was "A Letter to Whampoa's Classmates" published in Nanchang in February 1927.
1929 was the year in which Chen Bui wrote the most articles for Chiang Kai-shek. These include: "Revolution or Non-Revolution," "Thoughts on the Third Congress," "Several Major Issues in the Party Today," "Talks to the Press," "Welcome to the US Press Corps," "The Status of Youth and Its Future," and so on.
In the future, whenever there was a major political event, Chen Bui's articles written for Chiang Kai-shek would be published.
In January 1935, Chen Bui wrote a long article entitled "Enemies and Friends", which was published in the "Foreign Affairs Review" under the name of Xu Daolin. It was written by Chen Bui who lived in Fenghua, Zhejiang for more than ten days, at the behest of Chiang Kai-shek. The intention of this article was that relations between China and Japan were tense at that time, and Chiang Kai-shek wanted to use this article to send a glimpse of autumn waves to Japan.
In December 1936, after the Xi'an Incident, Chiang Kai-shek returned to Nanjing, and as soon as he got off the plane, he asked Chen Bui to draft a precept to Zhang Xueliang and Yang Hucheng. Chiang Kai-shek also asked Chen Bui to go to Hangzhou, live in the Xinxin Hotel, and write a "Xi'an Half Moon Chronicle" for Chiang Kai-shek.
Chen Bui didn't go to Xi'an at all, he didn't experience the Xi'an incident, and now he wants to make up this article, he has bitter words in his heart, and he can't vent his anger, so he takes a pen to vent his anger. He held a wolf's hair in his hand, but he poked a word in the inkpot, and the tip of the pen was poked several times by him in a row.
Chen Bui's wife Wang Yunmo was anxious, so she asked Chen Bui's sister to persuade him not to get angry. Chen Bui waved them all out and said, "You don't understand anything." If you tell me all the lies, how can you not be angry?
Most of Chiang Kai-shek's important personal commemorative writings were captured by Chen Bui.
For example, the article "Serving the Country and Thinking of Relatives" published on Chiang Kai-shek's 50th birthday was drafted by Chen Bui, and then published by Shao Lizi and Ye Chuling.
However, Chen Bui's role within the Kuomintang was not only to write articles for Chiang Kai-shek, but also to gradually become the presiding officer and decision-maker of the Kuomintang propaganda.
Chiang Kai-shek's chamberlain set up a propaganda group, which was headed by Chen Bui. The work guidelines and plans of the Propaganda Department of the Central Committee of the Kuomintang should be reported to Chen Bui for instructions.
Within the Kuomintang, Chen Bui was also one of the people who could exert the most influence on Chiang Kai-shek on major issues.
For example, when the Three Youth League was founded, it was originally intended to call Chiang Kai-shek its leader. A minute before Chiang Kai-shek took the stage to speak, Chen Bui wrote a note to Chiang Kai-shek, writing: It is not appropriate to be a parent at home and a regiment commander at home.
Therefore, when Chiang Kai-shek spoke at the conference, he identified himself as the head of the Three Youth Leagues, and did not address him as the leader.
3. The quality of Chen Bui
Chen Bui was a loner in the Kuomintang. He is neither the CC Department nor the Fuxing Society, nor does he belong to the Department of Political Science and the Kong Song family.
After the end of the Anti-Japanese War, Chen Bui moved back to Nanjing, without housing and furniture. He said with emotion: We are all indifferent, unlike people who can receive houses and machines.
Chen Bui scolded Chen Guofu and Chen Lifu. He said: I used to believe that the Chen brothers could get by financially and would not be corrupt. Today, they are fighting with Kong Xiangxi and Song Ziwen. They have also started some banking and economic undertakings themselves. They scolded Kong Song in the past, but today they are afraid that they will not be able to learn Kong Song. Therefore, when they set up a cooperative treasury, I refused to accept me as a supervisor. They had meetings, and I wasn't there either.
Chen Bui suffered from severe neurasthenia. The place where he lived was like an ancient temple, and the silence was terrible. Chen Bui's health is very bad, and he knows that he is a sick man at a glance.
When he was in Chongqing, others advised him to pay attention to nutrition, and Chen Bui said: My nutrition is already enough, if you use the ration during the Anti-Japanese War, I have surpassed an ordinary person.
Chen Bui said that in addition to the main meal every day, Mrs. Jiang specially gave me a pound of milk.
A colleague advised him to take time to watch a play. Chen Bui said: I can't walk, now I have difficulty with gasoline, I take the car to the theater, people don't speak, and I am embarrassed.
4. How Chen Bui went to the abyss
After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, when the Kuomintang and the Communist Party held peace talks, Chen Bui predicted in advance: He was deeply worried about the eventual rupture.
Chen Bui was deeply aware of Chiang Kai-shek's attitude towards peace talks, so he had no hope for peace talks.
On October 15, 1946, Chiang Kai-shek convened the National Convention. Chen Bui recruited democrats to stand for Chiang Kai-shek on behalf of Chiang Kai-shek, but some people refused.
Chen Bui laughed at himself and said: These people are old virgins, and it will be a little twisty to ask them to marry. Chen Bui believes that now that the Kuomintang is in power, some people are reluctant to join because they are afraid of being slandered as speculation.
In January 1947, the situation was moving towards civil war. Marshall went to Lushan several times to mediate.
Chen Bui said that Marshall did not have a good understanding of the commission, and until the recent conclusion of the National Congress and the success of the constitution, he immediately turned his admiration and said that the commission was strong and great enough.
Chen Bui said: The committee is extremely confident in the military aspect. It is necessary to ensure that the use of force by the Communist Party does not obstruct the construction of the country, and is the fundamental need of the country, so this point must be upheld.
Chen Bui believed that Chiang Kai-shek was extremely sure of military affairs, but it turned out that he had lost his eyes.
On April 18, 1947, Chiang Kai-shek reorganized the Nationalist Government under the direction of the Americans, and brought small parties such as the Department of Political Science, the Youth Party, and the Democratic Socialist Party into his own political power.
Chen Bui believes that the future of the country is very promising from then on: I think that Mr. Chiang's views are very far-sighted and beneficial to the country, so I have served him with all my heart and soul since then. In the past, we did not dare to talk about this issue, but now it has become a fact, and there is no one who dares to doubt it anymore! This is a great step forward for the country.
Chen Bui said that people like me cannot shirk their responsibilities. I dare to say that if there are two more dozen Chen Bui in our party, China will have more options.
On May 31, 1948, the Kuomintang regime was already in turmoil. Chen Bui is still insisting, he said: When the world is decided, personnel can be greatly changed, and when the world is chaotic, personnel should never be changed.
Chen Bui said that when the president system was determined, I did not approve of it, and I felt that it was not needed at that time. However, if we want to abolish the president system now, I think that the president system must be done at this time. Because today's world is in turmoil, it is necessary for the president to concentrate the forces of all aspects.
On October 11, 1948, Chiang Kai-shek delivered a speech in Nanjing: In the 17 years after 918 (1931-1948), China has not died for a single day, and it has not yet died, but it depends on the spirit of the prime minister in heaven.
On November 8, 1948, Chiang Kai-shek convened a joint meeting of members of the Central Committee, legislators, and supervisory committees, and made a speech.
Chen Bui was stunned when he saw this. When sorting out the record of Chiang Kai-shek's speech, Chen Bui wanted to delete this sentence, but Chiang Kai-shek insisted that it should not be kept.
On November 12, 1948, four days later, Chen Bui committed suicide by taking sleeping pills.
People say that this is Chen Bui's death to Chiang Kai-shek, or a death admonition.
Soong Meiling went to the scene to see Chen Bui's body, but Chiang Kai-shek did not go in person.
I don't know if on the last night of Chen Bui's life, when he recalled the situation of the past 22 years, he left behind infinite remorse, disillusionment and sorrow.
Chen Bui was an old man of letters, he did what he could, but he did not have the courage to change his fate, although he knew that he could no longer follow Chiang Kai-shek along this path.
The weakness of the old literati and the fetters of feudal consciousness finally made Chen Bui unable to extricate himself, and he had to die.
Character determines fate, and Chen Bui is a tragedy.
And we modern people should know what we want.