Literary Master 1983

Chapter 396 Lisbon Maru

Yu Qie and Denise's conversation took place in an office at Cambridge University.

With Denise's consent, the office was filled with British media, members of the mainland delegation, and a small number of Cambridge University faculty and students.

“Please speak, I am all ears,” Yu said.

Denise began to reminisce: "My father, Denise Morley, was a private in the Royal Scottish Regiment. More than forty years ago, Malaysia was occupied by the Japanese army, and Southeast Asia was full of Japanese troops. They were insanely cruel and brutal. My father's unit was quickly defeated, and he and his comrades were taken prisoner and taken to a cargo ship called the 'Lisbon Maru'..."

"Lisbon Maru?"

Yu Qie suddenly spoke.

Everyone was surprised and turned to look at Yu Qie. Even Denise, standing in front of him, was stunned. She asked, "You know about this cargo ship?"

“No!” Yu Qie shook his head. “I don’t know. I’ve never known about this before.”

However, Yu Qie clenched his fists, a fact that few noticed.

“That’s normal!” Denise said. “Because as far as I know, this has never appeared in any major newspapers. My father just kept talking about it at home for forty years, so I believe what he said is true!”

“Before God, I promise you, this is absolutely true,” Denise said.

Everyone present wore serious expressions; what Denise had said was utterly shocking.

—This is a very long story.

Denise's father, Morley, was being held on the cargo-passenger ship "Lisbon Maru," which was sailing from Hong Kong to Japan carrying approximately one thousand prisoners of war. The ship was traveling upstream along the Chinese coastline when, in the Zhoushan area of ​​Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, it unexpectedly encountered an American submarine.

Due to the war between the United States and Japan at the time, the two sides were engaged in unrestricted submarine warfare in the vast Pacific Ocean. The American submarine was unaware that Allied soldiers were being held there, and decisively launched torpedoes that hit the Lisbon Maru, causing the large ship to sink.

The Japanese, of course, had no time to consider the safety of the British prisoners of war. They sealed them in the hold and sank the ship with them. The British soldiers fought desperately and escaped from the hold to jump into the water to survive, only to be shot and killed by the Japanese.

Just when all hope seemed lost, nearby Chinese fishermen discovered that people had been shipwrecked and risked their lives to set out to sea in dozens of small sampans to rescue them. Seeing this, the Japanese, fearing that their operation would be exposed, had no choice but to begin the search as well, but in the end, most of the people still sank to the bottom of the sea.

Denise's father, Morley, was one of the very few lucky ones. After returning home, Morley couldn't stop thinking about it, but he was surprised to find that:

It was as if this matter had vanished from the world.

Neither the British nor the American media mentioned this incident. Old Morley, who had participated in the Tokyo Trials as a witness, thought this matter would be widely reported, but that was the last time he appeared in the public eye.

In the decades that followed, the sinking of the Lisbon Maru mysteriously disappeared, as if it had never happened.

When Yu Chee visited and the British national television broadcast related advertisements, the 67-year-old Morley was so excited that he shouted in a small village in Charford: "Yu from the East is coming to investigate this matter! We should tell him everything we know!"

So old Morley’s daughter in London came to deliver the message on her father’s behalf.

“He was deeply hurt; he couldn’t understand why no one cared about it. One by one, the veterans died, and one day, no one in the world would know what was happening on the other side of the world.”

Why has no one mentioned this?

Old Morley didn't know, and neither did his daughter Denise.

But as soon as she finished speaking, everyone present could roughly guess what she meant.

The sinking of the Lisbon Maru is precisely an event that no one wants to talk about. For Britain and the United States, friendly fire was an embarrassing situation. For Japan, it naturally hoped that the world would never mention the mess it created.

Chinese fishermen are eyewitnesses, but they are reluctant to talk about it. Having experienced the Korean War and a series of upheavals, mentioning that they once saved hundreds of British people is not necessarily a good thing.

If all the parties involved in an event want to forget it, then it will naturally be forgotten.

Yu Qie himself doesn't know much about it either.

In fact, he had only heard of a documentary with the same title in his previous life. Almost all the eyewitnesses had passed away by then; of the hundreds of prisoners of war, only two were still alive, and the interviewer could only lament.

After Denise finished telling the story, she was sobbing uncontrollably. Then she said, "With someone as important as you knowing, I think my father would feel it was all worth it. He doesn't really want to think about it anymore."

Yu Qie immediately asked everyone present, "Should we tell others about this? Is this the end of the matter?"

His gaze swept over everyone, finally settling on the BBC documentary director: "What do you think?"

The British director said, "I would bet my entire career on this! It would be an immense honor to work with you."

"Very good, what's your name?"

“Marcon Clark. I have a Chinese name, which comes from my grandmother. My name is Covins.”

He explained how to spell "Covens".

"Covens doesn't sound good, it's neither Chinese nor Western. I'll give you a different name, how about Covens?"

"My pleasure."

Yu Qie addressed everyone present, saying, "Ke Wensi has agreed. Are you all willing to speak out on this matter?"

All the Cambridge teachers and students present were excited, and they shouted like knights answering their officers, "I do, sir!"
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Old Morley lived in Charford, a remote and desolate place in England. Above Charford was Gloucestershire, located in southwest England, with a total population of only about 13.

To be honest, it's not even a fraction as good as Wanxian.

Yu Qie arrived in Charford in just one day and met old Morley in an old country house. Old Morley confessed, "I don't want to recall it too much. I always thought it never happened, but when I sit quietly and think, my comrade's face appears in front of me."

"After I returned to China, my mother died, my father disappeared, and my home was bombed to the ground by the Germans. Neither my daughter nor my great-granddaughter know what I went through!"

Old Morley pulled out a photograph, a group photo from his enlistment during his service, featuring many British soldiers.

Yu asked urgently, "Are these people still alive?"

Old Morley shook his head: "They're all dead."

Director Kevin was surprised and swallowed hard. "Everyone? All of them?"

"Yes!"

"Don't you organize regular gatherings to publicize the suffering you've endured?"

Old Morley said, “Young man, you’ve never fought in a war. You don’t know, I’m reluctant to recall the past. If it weren’t for him coming… I wouldn’t want to talk about it again.” This “him” refers to Yuqie.

Yu Che's affair in Colombia was so famous that Old Moli believed Yu Che was a man of principle who would miraculously expose the matter and bring justice to Old Moli and the Chinese fishermen.

On behalf of the national television station, Cowen immediately apologized to old Morley, and then personally acted as the cameraman, following in Yu Che's footsteps.

British television stations have also stepped up their advertising efforts: China is searching for the families of British veterans!

Shifting public attention to a World War II secret during a stock market crash might alleviate the government's embarrassment.

After that, descendants of prisoners of war came one after another, some of them were fake, and some were real.

Yu Qie personally spoke with these people, and whenever he realized "this time it's for real," he would take out his notebook to take notes. Ke Wensi noticed Yu Qie's habit, and at this time he would also take out his camera without disturbing Yu Qie's conversation.

What does he resemble?

Like a confidential secretary.

Yu Qie joked, "Ke Wensi, no wonder you have a Chinese name, you sound like a Chinese person."

Cowens revealed: "Actually, I lived in China for nine months. I lived in a hutong in Nanluoguxiang. Every day I would ride my bicycle around. China is very beautiful."

The word "hutong" was used by Ke Wensi in Mandarin.

Yu Qie didn't find it strange at all.

Those who produced China-related programs during this period were often people interested in China. He exclaimed, "You're absolutely right! Nanluoguxiang and Gulou Street are very close; you might even be my neighbor. Come visit me sometime!"

“I will!” Cowens said.

Qian Zhongshu also participated in the search for the truth as one of the interviewers. He was from Jiangsu and Zhejiang. In the 1940s, Qian Zhongshu traveled between Shanghai and Nanjing. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Qian Zhongshu would regularly return to his hometown every year, but he had never heard of this matter.

Even none of his friends had ever heard of it.

But these were over a thousand British prisoners, and hundreds of them survived. Countless Chinese fishermen went out to sea to rescue them!
This is a bizarre unsolved case.

Qian Zhongshu worried that there weren't enough witnesses, or that the story was exaggerated—a common concern among disillusioned veterans. Domestically, since the reform and opening up, there have been many cases of people "pretending to have foreign relatives"! Not to mention those who faked rescuing foreigners!

Moreover, the price he would pay for continuing the investigation would be very high.

Currently, royalties from Japanese publications constitute a significant portion of Yu Qie's income. A thorough investigation into this matter would clearly damage his royalties in Japan, as well as his reputation there.

After winning the Formentor Prize and being described as a "prophet" in the Asahi Shimbun by Matsunaga Jihei, Yu Qie was already a well-known Chinese writer, almost another "great Lu Xun".

Many Japanese writers have praised Yokichi's achievements.

Kenzaburo Oe said, "Yukichi is the first person in Asia to write in the field of Western-language literature, and not only that."

Those who had long maintained friendly relations with him, such as Inoue Yasushi, described Yu Qie's achievements as "a giant of this generation, an unparalleled genius." This is because the more developed a country is, the more clearly it understands the magnitude and difficulty of Yu Qie's accomplishments in the Western world.

These accolades may vanish as Yu Qie's investigation deepens.

Just then, several Japanese bookstores inquired about Yu Qie's residence in London and took the initiative to visit him.

They hope to publish several of Yukichi's books and are certain they can offer a higher price than Iwanami Shoten.

Carmen called to ask for Yu Che's opinion and whether she could act as Yu Che's agent in the negotiations.
Yu Qie agreed.

Later, out of respect, Carmen faxed over another document listing the initial negotiation partners, including several publishing house executives who would be coming to London:
They are Kodansha and Kadokawa Shoten, as well as Iwanami Shoten, with whom they have a long-standing partnership.

Kodansha is one of Japan's top comprehensive publishing houses, while Kadokawa Shoten focuses on novel publishing. A series of mystery novels well-known to Chinese readers are published by Kadokawa Shoten, and they also have their own physical bookstores.

Iwanami Shoten is indeed the most high-end, but its strength is significantly inferior to the former two.

Carmen wrote the following in the document: You are no longer a distant "foreign writer" in the traditional sense; you are a truly well-known figure, and Iwanami Shoten may not be the best choice for you.

Qian Zhongshu saw this document.

He knew very well how developed Japan's economy was at that time. Frankly speaking, Japan at this period was more developed than any of the major European countries they were currently visiting.

There is a group of left-wing writers in Japan who are friendly to China, and Japan has long engaged in exchanges and sponsorships with mainland writers. The two countries have many cultural similarities. In the view of many mainland writers, it would be unwise to completely offend Japan because of an old news story that no one is investigating.

One day, Qian Zhongshu suddenly said, "The Japanese like Lu Xun because Lu Xun is dead. If Lu Xun were alive, the Japanese would soon be unable to tolerate his criticism."

Yu Qie said, "But we still have to speak out. If we don't speak out, then we're not Lu Xun."

"You don't really understand Lu Xun, nor do you understand the Japanese... Lu Xun wasn't as great as you think. In his later years, he also worried about insufficient royalties and faced bloody threats from powerful figures. Lu Xun also knew to hide in the foreign concessions for refuge! Especially after he had children, he wasn't as outspoken as before!"

"You have to understand, no matter how strong you are, you still need money. No money can bring down even a hero! And even the strongest person can't withstand a bullet!"

Yu Qie knew that Qian Zhongshu was advising him, and these were his heartfelt words.

Because Qian Zhongshu rarely talked about Lu Xun throughout his life, he felt that Lu Xun had been mythologized too much in mainland China due to many historical factors, while the literary achievements of overseas writers had been downplayed too much.

Last year, Qian Zhongshu chaired an academic symposium on "Lu Xun and Chinese and Foreign Culture." He said, "Lu Xun was a great man, and the greater his figure, the more aspects there are to observe; 'Chinese and foreign culture' is a broad topic, and the broader the topic, the wider the range of issues that can arise!"

"When Chinese and foreigners gather together, opinions from all angles and perspectives can be expressed freely without any need to compromise for common ground."

Does this mean I agree with Lu Xun?
This is clearly a common literary style, subtly implying "there's no need to compromise one's principles," meaning criticism is acceptable.

At this moment, Qian Zhongshu felt that Yu Qie was even more like Lu Xun than Lu Xun himself—and the Lu Xun who was mythologized by later generations.

Yu Qie said, "A person should live a life of clarity. I'm only in my early twenties; there's no need for me to take such drastic measures to seek refuge."

"Aren't you worried about financial losses? Aren't you worried about being assassinated?"

"How can I not be worried? If I'm worried, I won't do it?" Yu Qie also felt that this matter was troublesome.

But soon, he became dismissive, “I don’t need to hide in the concessions. At worst, I can go back to China and write novels. I don’t need to rely on any concessions. We have Dongfeng missiles. As long as I don’t betray my compatriots, what does it matter if the whole world opposes me?”

"They cannot change the will of these one billion people."

(End of this chapter)