1932: Playing with the Japanese Communist Party with a doll

In fact, as a representative of what was already considered "right-wing opportunism" and even slandered as "right-wing capitulationism" at this time, Chen Duxiu was actually a rather "tough guy".

As early as the early days of the founding of the Party, he was very wary of the assistance and "guidance" of the Communist International, believing that "one should be soft-hearted when receiving someone else's help" and insisted on independence.

That’s right, the term “independence and self-reliance” was not first coined by Li Desheng, but by Chen Duxiu when he slammed the table and cursed at the Communist International representative Maring:

"Every revolution has its own national conditions. China is a country with backward production. We must retain the right to independence and act independently. We must do things within our capabilities and must not let anyone lead us by the nose."

Therefore, he would rather spend almost all of his 300 yuan monthly salary as party activity funds than let the Communist International invest too much.

But this way of doing things was fine in the early stages, but as the party organization grew a little bigger, the money donated by him and some party members was completely insufficient.

The CCP, lacking the ability to generate income, had no choice but to accept the assistance of the Communist International. At the Second National Congress of the Party, a resolution to join the Communist International was passed, namely:

From now on, as a branch of the Communist International, the Communist Party of China will and must completely and unconditionally obey any decision made by the Communist International.

At that time, many people in the party believed that "Soviet Russia ≠ Communist International" and that even if they accepted assistance and guidance, it was just obeying the overall situation of the world communist revolution and it was no big deal.

Of course, later facts proved that this was not the case at all.

Chen Duxiu was always upset about this and publicly protested at the West Lake Special Conference on KMT-CPC cooperation in August 1922 when the Communist International demanded that the CCP directly join the KMT:

"The Communist Party and the Kuomintang had different revolutionary aims. The Kuomintang's policies of alliance with the United States and with warlords were incompatible with communism. The Kuomintang had never published a party platform, and people in provinces other than Guangdong still viewed it as a political party vying for power and profit."

"If the Communist Party joins the party, it will lose all faith in society, especially among the youth, and will never have the opportunity to develop. Therefore, even if we want to cooperate, we should at least be on equal footing."

But the Communist International (Soviet Union) did not see it that way.

Maozi felt that the Chinese Communist Party was too weak and too slow in supporting you, so he thought that if he could directly transform the Kuomintang and turn it into a proletarian party, it would be considered a success of the revolution.

Ha ha.

There was no way. The Kuomintang was the Soviet Union’s “own son” in China at that time, and the protests of Chen Duxiu and others were useless.

Then, Sun Yat-sen died soon after, and reactionaries such as Chiang Kai-shek began to stir up trouble, the first of which was the famous "Zhongshan Ship Incident."

This self-staged act, similar to Hitler's Reichstag fire, made Chen Duxiu extremely wary and indignant. He protested repeatedly, demanding that the CCP increase its autonomy, develop its own armed forces, and cooperate with Wang Jingwei to eliminate Chiang Kai-shek.

At that time, there was no saying "Political power comes from the barrel of a gun", which condensed the blood and tears of many revolutionary predecessors' arduous exploration. Chen Duxiu's opinion was far-sighted.

However, the Soviet Union didn't care about the CCP and Chen Duxiu's whining. In order to reassure the KMT and Chiang Kai-shek and to continue cooperating with the Soviet Union, it slapped them in the face:

"The excessive number of Chinese Communists occupying important positions and their often inappropriate 'comradely' rude behavior towards Chinese generals, including Chiang Kai-shek himself, all of this accelerated the arrival of the March 20 action and intensified it."

Then, the Communist International asked the CCP members: "Our comrades need to be particularly prudent and never allow the Communists to be prominent, occupy too important positions, or try to replace the highest command personnel and political workers."

Then, the Communist International strongly supported Chiang Kai-shek and suppressed Wang Jingwei, causing Wang Jingwei to seek refuge abroad and later to turn right and launch a counter-revolutionary coup (one of the triggering factors);

Didn’t the Soviet Union know the principle that “one cannot speak without a gun”? Of course it did.

But the interests of the Soviet Union were paramount.

The resistance of Chen Duxiu and others was ignored and suppressed. Finally, the "412" incident broke out, and the cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party completely failed.

In this situation, Chen Duxiu, who was alone in the struggle, did some "weak" things. For example, he hoped to maintain the cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, took the initiative to cancel the plan of the armed uprising in Hunan, and ordered the disarmament of the Wuhan workers' pickets.

But the situation was already so devastated, people's morale had collapsed beyond repair, and even Chen Duxiu himself felt helpless and didn't know what to do. Could throwing all the blame on him solve the problem?

Obviously not.

However, by shifting the blame to him, the Soviet Union, the Communist International, and Stalin could be cleansed. Therefore, Chen Duxiu took the blame for the failure of the revolution due to right-wing opportunism.

There are actually idiots in later generations who understand neither history nor politics and clamor, "It was Chen Duxiu's weakness and compromise that led to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Communist Party members. His mistakes were more serious than those of Bo Gu and Wang Ming, so he was expelled from the party."

But the mental pressure of carrying the blood of tens of thousands of comrades is simply beyond the imagination of ordinary people. Even Soviet adviser Vilynsky later admitted painfully when talking about this period of history:

"...I bear a great deal of responsibility for the mistakes made by the Chinese Communist Party, a responsibility far greater than that of the leaders of the Chinese Communist Party."

Therefore, Chen Duxiu said that he regretted not finding a way to resist the Communist International’s wrong instructions (although it would have been useless at the time).

As for Chen Duxiu's statement that he "regretted not inheriting his second uncle's inheritance", it actually refers to his own character problem.

Chen Duxiu was born into the Chen family of Anqing, Anhui. His family was already well-off, and his second uncle was even more wealthy. As he had no children and doted on Chen Duxiu, he planned to leave all his property to him and sent two of his servants to Beijing to explain the matter.

But Chen Duxiu, who was bent on revolution, coldly refused, stating that the family property had nothing to do with him. When his clerk advised him to go and see how rich his second uncle's shop in Peking was before making a decision, he flew into a rage:

"Get back here! I want to abolish private property!"

This was his lifelong ideal and backbone - to pursue the truth without hesitation.

If he had inherited this family property at that time, given Chen Duxiu's character, he would definitely have sold it all to support the revolution, and the Communist Party of China might not have been in such a passive position later.

Unfortunately, there is no if in history.

With Chen Duxiu's personality, he didn't understand the truth that "the operation of the party organization requires money and the party's confidence comes from independence and self-reliance." How could he accept "handouts" and return home to inherit the family business and become a rich young master?

Chen Duxiu's words about the Trotskyists clearly explain this: he did not approve of the Comintern's attempts to shift the blame onto him and the CCP's mindless support for the Soviet Union, which is why he felt resentment and confusion.

Therefore, when Trotsky jumped out and accused Stalin of being the sole cause of the failure of the Chinese Revolution, he was overjoyed, made Stalin his confidant, and then formed the Trotskyist movement with a group of people.

However, when he discovered that the "Trotskyist comrades" were basically a group of people who only knew how to fight for power and profit, and would betray their comrades because they could not get status, and that Trotsky's purpose was not so simple, he decisively made a cut.

In his own words:

"I don't know whether others are Trotskyists or not, but I, Chen Duxiu, am not a Trotskyist." Chiang Kai-shek then arrested Chen Duxiu and sent people to persuade him to surrender, but he angrily rebuked him. The left-wing Kuomintang offered him food, drink, and money, but he politely declined.

His old friend Zhang Shizhao defended him, but because his defense included the statement that "Chen Duxiu formed the Trotskyist faction in order to oppose the CCP and make contributions to the Kuomintang," it was clearly an attempt to exonerate him. He even rebuked Zhang Shizhao:

"This is entirely his personal opinion, and I have not sought your consent! As for my political views, I cannot base them on Attorney Zhang's defense!"

This stubborn character who only cares about truth and not people seems to be very fence-sitter on the surface, and the result is naturally very similar to the fate of fence-sitters:

The Communist International (Soviet Union) disliked him, the Chinese Communist Party disliked him, Stalin and Trotsky disliked him, the left and right wings of the Kuomintang disliked him, and his group of "Left Opposition comrades" disliked him too!

But this is Chen Duxiu, a tough guy who dared to slap the police chief back in the face after being slapped by him for distributing leaflets during the New Culture Movement.

(After being slapped in public by the police chief, Chen Duxiu slapped him back, saying, "Let me give you a taste of the new youth." The police chief slapped him again and locked him up, saying, "It seems you don't even remember the taste of the old youth.")

(A bit fun to be honest)

Therefore, when Chen Duxiu said he "regretted," he was not giving in. Instead, he regretted not having supported the truth more firmly and not having used better means to safeguard the truth!

After hearing Chen Duxiu's "repentance", Chuntian nodded calmly:

"I see. I understand your position very well. In fact, I know you very well..."

As she spoke, she "recounted" the past grievances that Chen Duxiu recalled in brief and precise words.

Chen Duxiu had not expected that the other party would investigate him and the party's affairs so thoroughly, and his "respect" for Chuntian turned into "vigilance":

"So you..."

"Well, sir, I'd like to invite you to join my team as a White House policy and theoretical advisor... Of course, if you don't want to, that's fine. I just want to rescue you, and you don't have to pay any price."

Chen Duxiu's brain crashed.

The president of a capitalist country sincerely invites me, a communist, to join her team and serve the country's theoretical policies?

Even without conditions?

ha????

No, I was just locked up for a month. How come the world has become so crazy that I don't recognize it?

Could this Ms. Field be a communist?

If someone from the Kuomintang invited Chen Duxiu to join him, he would have seen through the other party's political motives at a glance - they wanted to use Chen Duxiu as a "signboard" to attack the CCP and communism.

But Haruta's eyes were serious!

Of course Chuntian is serious, because the person behind her is serious.

There is no doubt that Chen Duxiu was not a CCP leader good enough to overthrow the reactionaries—his judgment was not that strong, his acumen was not sharp enough, and his character was even worse.

Teachers in history suffered many grievances from the Soviet Union, and were even almost taken hostage at one point, but they endured it all. However, Chen Duxiu could not endure it at all, so he could not become a teacher.

However, this does not mean that Chen Duxiu is the "right-wing opportunist and liquidationist leader" in history books. On the contrary, the role he can play in theory is quite enormous.

Therefore, Mark behind Springfield was unwilling to see this influential and talented old man imprisoned for five or six years and finally die of poverty and illness in a small house in Jiangjin, Sichuan.

He should come out and play a greater role in the Chinese revolution and the world communist revolution!

Chen Duxiu didn't know what Chuntian was thinking. After a moment of silence, he decided to decline:

"Ms. Field, thank you..."

"Please don't rush to reject me, Mr. Chen. What if I tell you that Mr. Trotsky is currently in the United States, has joined my team, and has even made a career?"

"What!! !"

Chen Duxiu stood up, his eyes wide open!

Although he explicitly stated that he was not a "Trotskyist", Chen Duxiu still had great respect for Trotsky.

Regardless of his purpose, during those difficult years when all voices were silent, only Trotsky, a prominent Soviet figure, stood up and spoke a few fair words for the CCP and him.

Moreover, after being expelled from the party, Chen Duxiu also studied Trotsky's theories seriously in recent years and agreed with many of the views in them, or partially agreed with them.

Such a pioneer of communism and one of the top leaders of the Soviet Union actually went to the United States and joined the American president's team?

If it were someone else, Chen Duxiu would definitely suspect that they were lying, but Chuntian was different!

There was absolutely no need for her to tell him such a lie that could be verified by a trip to the United States! For the first time, Chen Duxiu's resolute heart was shaken.

It was naturally Mark's idea to send Chen Duxiu to the United States.

There's no way. According to the Springfield report, Trotsky is too active, too attractive and too damn stubborn.

In just a few months, he made KFC...no, Tod's Chicken bigger and stronger, and developed hundreds of loyal followers.

This even included Liu Changchun, a long-distance runner who had never cared about politics.

However, this guy was also very frowning, sticking to his own way without wavering, and he had been "bickering" with Chuntian more than once.

How could the President of Springfield have the time to debate with this guy every day?

It would be better to bring in Chen Duxiu, a "former believer," to compete with Trotsky. This man only believed in the truth, but the truth was indisputable.

If political factors were not involved, I believe that the ideas of these two people would definitely produce very interesting sparks.

Even if we can't, preserving two seeds of future communism isn't a bad thing!

The teachers led the Communist Party of China onto the right path, not because the teachers were truly incomparably smart, but because there were too many comrades like Chen Duxiu who had walked on those wrong paths.

After learning that he could go to the United States to talk directly with Trotsky, Chen Duxiu's face showed obvious struggle, and Chuntian added fuel to the fire:

"Mr. Chen, someone asked me to bring you a message." "Wha...what?"

"He said, 'You seem upright and steadfast in your fight against the Kuomintang reactionaries, but if you insist on refusing to rescue someone when you clearly could have been saved, it's actually an act of extreme irresponsibility towards the revolution.'"

"You are dead, but what about your theories? What about the workers and peasants you cared about? What about the great world liberation you hoped for?"

"Or are you willing to be imprisoned like this, wasting your time, and watching helplessly as the 21-year-old Fujiwara-dono from the Northeast swallows up the entire China bit by bit?"

"In addition, rescuing you is also the expectation of your Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. It is one of the conditions for me to assist them on behalf of the United States without any political strings attached."

This time, Chen Duxiu's silence was exceptionally long, so long that Pan Hannian, who was standing outside, began to feel a little impatient. Then he slowly spoke:

"Ms. Field, I have two conditions." "Please state."

"First, I can go to the United States, but not for long. I will eventually return to China, and I will never give up communism."

"Of course, you can travel freely between China and the United States. Besides..." Haruta rolled her eyes coquettishly.

"You don't think I can make Mr. Trotsky give up communism, do you?"

"Well.."

Chen Duxiu was speechless and proposed a second condition:

"Second, you must tell me your true identity. You are definitely not an ordinary American president. Who are you?"

"...Um...I can't tell you my true identity for now, but I can tell you the organization I belong to."

"What is...?"

"World Integration Movement Party."

497 Mr. Zhongfu's Trip to the United States

"...Therefore, the final verdict is that Chen Duxiu is acquitted!"

As Hu Shancheng, president of the Second Criminal Tribunal of the Jiangning District Court of Nanjing, struck the gavel, this "crime against democracy" that was incredibly fast, lasting less than a month and a half from arrest to sentencing, came to an end.

There were waves of cheers from the scene, and hundreds of celebrities attending the trial expressed their congratulations to the interrogated Chen Duxiu and defense lawyer Zhang Shizhao and others.

But unexpectedly, although it was a great victory, the brows of several parties involved were furrowed, as if they had a lot on their minds.

Needless to say, Chen Duxiu and Zhang Shizhao were wondering what went wrong that caused the National Government's behavior to be so strange this time.