Chapter 7 6.family background

In the 1920s and 1930s, the "standards" for measuring a well-off home in Beiping were: ceiling, fish tank, pomegranate tree, sir, fat dog, and fat girl. Sai Jinhua's evening scene was bleak, she almost became a beggar from a famous prostitute, and lived on charity.In the mid-1930s, Ruifu Xiangxizhan set up bureaus every night, expelling wine and meat, a scene of gambling, whoring and smoking. The powerful figures of the 29th Army, from Song Zheyuan to Zhang Zizhong, Feng Zhian, Liu Ruming, Xiao Zhenying and Shi Yousan, are all regular visitors here.Sai Jinhua also often came to "sit on the stage", and the guests felt sorry for her downfall. After a big gamble, two or three hundred yuan were drawn and given to the famous "Second Master Sai".Sai Ze was very grateful if he received a gift.

Meng Lianghou, the owner of Ruifuxiang, who was born as an apprentice, later became rich as a country, and it is impossible to count how much wealth he has.The Meng family had a residence in the alley opposite No. 12 Hubei Road in the British Concession of Tianjin. A cement cellar was specially built in the courtyard for gold storage.On the eve of liberation, the Meng family moved out of the former Qijiao to dig gold. There were 8,000 pieces of gold in it, reaching 80,000 taels.This is only part of the Meng family's countless properties.Compared with this, the twenty or so gold bars hidden in the chicken coop of another concession residence in Tianjin—Yu Ze’s family—shown in the TV series pale in comparison.

Zhao Jianchen, the "God of Wealth" in Chongqing, said: "The money in my life is worth about 800,000 taels of silver." In the 1920s, Duan Qirui owed Li Yuanhong 70,000 yuan, and was later brought to court by Li because he was unable to repay. After the fall of Shanghai, there was a shortage of supplies. The Japanese army and the Wang puppet regime rationed some daily necessities.Cao Wenjin, the later Hong Kong shipping tycoon, was only sixteen or seventeen years old at the time. His father, Cao Yinyun, had close personal relationships with some "key officials" of the Wang puppet regime, such as Chen Gongbo, Qian Dakui, and Tang Shengming. use.Tang Shengming was sent by Chiang Kai-shek to the Wang puppet regime to "curve to save the country". He often visited Cao's house, and his eldest wife even lived in Cao's house for several months, which shows that the friendship between the two families is extraordinary.The daily necessities that the Japanese rationed Tang Shengming every month were quite sufficient. Apart from his own enjoyment, he also distributed some to the Cao family.Cao Wenjin later recalled: "The most uncomfortable thing I remember is that there is no coal for heating in winter, and there is no coal to boil water for bathing. After Tang Shengming came to Shanghai, our family often went to the Tang mansion on Jinfu Road in the French Concession to take a hot bath." Cao said that " "The most uncomfortable", in the eyes of the poor people in the Jiangnan area at that time, it was tantamount to "being full and full".

After Puyi was expelled from the palace in 1924, he lived in Tianjin for many years.In his book, there is such a description: "The expenditure on purchasing supplies in Tianjin was much larger than that in Beijing, and it increased every month, such as pianos, clocks, radios, suits, leather shoes, glasses, and I bought and bought them tirelessly. Many. Wanrong is originally a young lady in Tianjin, and she has more ways to spend money to buy trash than I do. Whatever she buys, Wenxiu must also want it. I bought it for Wenxiu, and Wanrong will definitely buy it again, and the money spent is even higher Many, it seems that it is not enough to show the status of the queen. Wenxiu saw that she bought it, so she asked for it. This kind of competition purchase made me have to set their monthly fee quota. Naturally, it was set for Wanrong. The number is larger than that of Wenxiu, I remember that at first it was 1,000 for Wanrong and 800 for Wenxiu, but later there were difficulties and it was reduced to 300 and 200."

When Hu Die became famous, she didn't talk about her salary. Her monthly salary in Star Film Company was 2,000 yuan.Among them, 1,000 yuan will be issued, and the other 1,000 yuan will be credited first.In addition, the company provided her with a special car.Even the 1,000 yuan was not a small number. The price of rice at that time was only 10 yuan per stone. After the star film company made its fortune, top management personnel such as general managers, managers, and assistants also became "richer": access to cars, cooks, servants, nurses, gardeners, etc. are all available at home.He Xiuyun, the wife of the boss Zhang Shichuan, claimed to have used seven servants at the same time.

When Cao Kun bribed the election, Xiong Bingqi was the governor of Shandong Province.It is said that Xiong's "service" is the most capital of Cao's bribery, amounting to more than one million yuan. In 1924, Xiong Bingqi resigned. Before resigning, he bought a large amount of gold in Jinan and Qingdao, which caused the price of gold to soar and public opinion to boil.Because he wantonly searched for the people's fat and anointment, he was afraid that something would happen and cause trouble, so he was suspicious all day long after returning to Beijing.One night, there was a cat walking on the house, and Xiong suspected it was an assassin. He ordered someone to wrap several hundred yuan in banknotes and put them on the roof, with the purpose of "bribing" the assassin to pay for his life.A few days later, the wallet was still there.Xiong still didn't give up, and sent someone to put 500 yuan in a remote place, and deliberately let people pick it up, so as to "resolve the grievance".But because the place is too remote, no one goes to "scavenge".In the end, he had to put the money on the conspicuous side of the road, and his "wish" was over.

When Zhang Henshui was 24 years old, he worked as an editor for Wuhu "Wanjiang News" with a monthly salary of 8 yuan.The newspaper office is in charge of food and housing, the food is good, and I have a room by myself.After he wrote two short reviews at night, he often went shopping with his colleagues, eating bowls of noodles and a few coins of cooked beef. Writer Xiao Qian, Mongolian, Beijinger, posthumous child, bitter child.He lived in the home of his third uncle since he was a child.When he was very young, his third uncle passed away suddenly.He still remembered that the third uncle had just shaved his head and died sitting on a chair.The third aunt fiddled with the third uncle's bald head back and forth, and asked sharply: "Why, you just leave our mothers behind!" Then she burst into tears.

Actor Chen Qiang was born in a low-level citizen family in Taiyuan in 1918.When he was less than 5 years old, he had to do three kinds of jobs every day: one was to go to the street to pick coal cores with a kerosene lamp with his grandma at night.The coal cores he picked can not only be used by his family for a day, but also sell a barrel.Once he couldn't resist the temptation of the opposite pancake shop, and sold coal cores to buy deep-fried dough sticks to satisfy his hunger, but was severely beaten by his father; the second was to follow his father to sell vegetables.Seeing this, some women who bought vegetables couldn't help sighing pitifully: This child must have no mother.Invisibly, it plays a promotional role to some extent-his dishes are indeed selling faster than others; the third is to get porridge.Porridge donation was a very common "charity project" back then.Chen Qiang specializes in this job at home.The porridge was brought back and the family drank it.Chen Qiang said: "I grew up drinking porridge since I was a child."

Some people say that Li Shutong is a model of going from the rich to the Buddhist.When he became a monk, he scattered all his possessions except for a few daily necessities and a suit of common clothes.Xia Mianzun said: "What I get are the characters he wrote over the years, all his folding fans and gold watches." From 1946 to 1947, Yan Xiaoxian, director of Shanxi Provincial Bank in Tianjin, bought a large amount of US dollars for Yan Xishan, and stored them in the vault of Tianjin Continental Bank.Later, Yan Xishan instructed to send a sum of money to the United States, about 2 million U.S. dollars, which he said was used to pay for his son Yan Zhimin's study abroad in the United States.

In the early years of the Republic of China, Zhu Qiqian served as the Chief Communications Minister of Lu Zhengxiang's cabinet.At that time, Beijing had not yet opened up, and the Zhu family's food was completely Europeanized.The family banquets are all Western food, and the servants all wear white coats and purple vests.All the decorations in the house are also in Western style.Perhaps only Zhu's wife still maintains the same "Chinese" hobby-rubbing hemp. After the outbreak of the First World War, because the United States was a neutral country, Citibank in Hankou became a place where rich people rushed to patronize.From old and new warlords, dignitaries, wealthy businessmen to procuresses in brothels, monks and nuns in temples, they poured in like a tide, almost bursting the bank.Later, Citibank had to set a threshold of 1,000 yuan for opening an account, and the bank's income was only based on Yuan Tou Xianyang and Ku Ping's cash, and all other money was rejected.The deposit period is at least half a year, and the weekly interest is 1%.In this way, boxes of cash filled the warehouse in the blink of an eye.When the foreigner from the bank passed by, he deliberately kicked and scolded in an arrogant tone: "Such a heavy thing is really causing us trouble!"

During the Beiyang period, the Chinese employees of Sino-French Industrial Bank were equal to the employees of foreign companies today.Their salary depends on their qualifications and ability, ranging from tens of yuan to more than one hundred yuan.Wages will not be deducted if the leave is less than three months.At the end of the year, an extra month's salary will be paid as a bonus.In addition to wages, sometimes an additional 10% living allowance is added. In the 1920s and 1930s, Sun Bingheng worked as a salesman in the Fengtian branch of Siemens.In his memory, the monthly salary of foreign executives in the branch was 600 to 700 yuan, and the lowest-level secretary was also more than 300 yuan, of which US dollars and French currency accounted for half; Only 20 yuan.Sun's monthly salary is 95 yuan. The Dutchman Sibimen was originally a gangster and a scoundrel, but later became a French citizen, became the chairman of the Shanghai International Savings Association, and married a Shanghai singer.Mrs. Sibimen, who was born as a singing girl, later became the number one wealthy wife in Shanghai.The wig used for decoration on her head is refurbished every day; the shoes can fill two rooms, and the toes of each pair of shoes can be inlaid with diamonds. There are thousands of clothes stored in a house, and thousands of clothes are sewn according to the most fashionable styles in Paris. Each piece is only worn once for a banquet or other occasion, and it will be discarded; .Mrs. Spilman bathed with milk mixed with perfume every day, and each meal cost tens of hundreds of yuan (in the 1920s). An abbreviation for Sibimons.Every time Sibimen and his wife hold a banquet, the value of the flowers used for decoration in the dining room alone is said to be equivalent to the food expenses of ordinary people for one or two years. In the early years of the Republic of China, the princes in the late Qing Dynasty could still afford land rent. The land rent collected by Prince Gong’s Mansion reached as much as 120,000 yuan per year. It can be said that "a thin camel is bigger than a horse".Prince Gong Puwei moved to Qingdao in 1914. There were two or three shift changes every month. All food, drinks and other items were purchased from Beijing. The chicken, duck, fish and pickles had to be time-honored, such as Tianfu Sauce Meat, Tianyuan Pickles, Zhimei Fast food and so on.The monthly expenditure is about three to five thousand yuan, and if it is not enough, I will send a telegram and then remit the money from Beijing. Before Yuan Shikai proclaimed himself emperor, Feng Guozhang went to Beijing to meet Yuan upon hearing the news, and said: "It is rumored that the president wants to change the imperial system, please give a secret notice in advance so that we can start to arrange it locally." Yuan Shikai said: "I absolutely have no emperor's thoughts. The Yuan family has no People who are over 60 years old, I am fifty-eight years old, how many years can I be emperor? Besides, the emperor's son, my eldest son Keding is disabled, my second son Kewen is a fake celebrity, and my third son Keliang is a bandit. Which one can inherit the great cause? ?” When Yuan Shikai was critically ill, he gave 150,000 yuan to each of his sons except Yuan Keding.At that time, Yuan's fifth concubine Yang, sixth concubine Ye, eighth concubine and ninth concubine Liu were all pregnant. Because they didn't know whether they would have a boy or a girl, they reserved 600,000 yuan for safekeeping. shall be retained for public expense.Later, two of the four concubines gave birth to posthumous sons for Yuan, and two of them gave birth to daughters. Yuan Keding, the eldest son of Yuan Shikai, lost his wife and children in his later years, rented a hut in Haidian, a suburb of Beijing, and eventually died of poverty.Yuan's other son, Ke Duan, was also a prodigal son. The couple smoked opium, enjoyed themselves all day long, and spent money.Later, they could only get one yuan a day for living expenses. Although they were dilapidated, when Mei Lanfang came to Tianjin to perform in a play, Yuan Keduan and his wife still wore leather robes and reserved a private room to go to the play together. Li Chun was a countryman in Tianjin. He had an average family background when he was young. He later entered the Tianjin Armed Forces Academy founded by Li Hongzhang and joined the army after graduation.After the Republic of China, he served as the governor of Jiangsu. He made a windfall when he was in office, and his family had nothing to count. Li Chun has been buying real estate since 1914.First bought a house in Tieshi Hutong in Beijing for 40,000 yuan, and then bought land and built a house on Huangwei Road in Tianjin for 20,000 yuan.Since then, he has successively purchased large tracts of real estate from Dongxing Market in the south to Rongji Street in the north in Nanshi, Tianjin, covering an area of ​​about 140 mu.After expansion, there are about 4,500 buildings, bungalows, markets, theaters, and bathhouses.Li also bought and built 1,404 houses in Dongxingli, Wuma Road, and Beima Road, Sanma Road, Hebei; demolished and expanded 500 houses in Dongxingli, Hedong; purchased eight foreign-style buildings on No. 20 Road in the British Concession; There are also four residences along the No. 11 Road in the British Concession.From this point of view, it is not an exaggeration to say that a few percent of the Tianjin territory belongs to the Li family.Li Chun later bought more than 700 real estate properties in Zhushikou and other areas in Beijing, but there is no real estate around Tianjin. In addition to the real estate listed above, Li Chun also has a secret property account, which was written by Rui Guyi, Secretary Director of the Confidential Office of the Jiangsu Supervisory Office.After Li died, it was handed over to his wife Wang Shi and his younger brother Li Xin.The property recorded in this bill is roughly as follows: 〖2,400 taels of gold were deposited in Wang’s hands, all in 20 taels of gold nuggets; 1940 taels of gold were deposited in Sun’s (Li’s second wife), all in 20 taels of gold nuggets; more than 3 million yuan in cash; Maoye Bank 500,000 yuan in stock; 200,000 yuan in Continental Bank; 150,000 yuan in Beiyang Baoshang Bank; 40,000 yuan in Shandong Industrial and Commercial Bank; 80,000 yuan in shares in a large spinning mill; 20,000 yuan in shares in Longyan Coal Mine; 5,000 yuan in shares in Zhonghua Book Company; 120,000 yuan in shares in a major leather company in Tianjin. 〗 After Li Chun's death, a total of more than 100,000 yuan was spent on the funeral in Tianjin and hanging in Nanjing. This is not unique in Tianjin, and it is extremely rare. Li Chun's nephew, Li Zhen'ou, was afraid of being kidnapped because he inherited a large amount of family property. He never went out of the house or studied since he was a child. In 1935, when he was only sixteen or seventeen years old, he traveled south to Shanghai and Hangzhou with his chef and entourage, traversed Mount Tai and Qingdao, traveled north to Datong, and climbed Taihang Mountain. Wherever he went, he spent money like dirt.After returning, he opened the toilet in the garage downstairs of his residence and turned it into a tropical fish room. He hired a man named Fatty Zhang to take charge of it. He bought rare fish at a price, which cost more than 20,000 yuan.After getting tired of playing, he expanded the fish room into a small zoo, complete with monkeys, seals, crocodiles, etc., and bought a large python, which was wrapped around his body in hot weather, and deliberately stood at the door, causing passersby to look sideways and walk around. Sheng Xuanhuai's son, Sheng Lao, was a traitor during the three-day puppet period, and his family was already rich. At this time, he was selling opium, and the adverse production was beyond calculation.He has more than a dozen residences in Shanghai.The spittoons used are all made of pure gold, and others such as smoking sets, ashtrays, high foot basins and even birdcages hanging in the corridor are also made of gold.Some people think that the luxury enjoyed by Sheng Laosan is beyond the reach of those puppet traitors.After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, the Sheng family was confiscated, with 128 pages of anti-production inventory.Among them is a nine-pointed large diamond brooch inlaid in platinum, with a 28-carat large diamond set in the middle and 160 small diamonds weighing about 15 carats around it. He Yingqin and his wife have no children.He has mansions in Nanjing, Shanghai, Wuxi, Guiyang, Chongqing and other places.The number of his savings is naturally unknown to outsiders, but after the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, a newspaper in Nanjing published a "comparison table of the assets of important people in the state", listing He as the second only to Song Ziwen. At least not off the charts. Liu Zhi searched for many years, although there is no specific amount, but he bought two big alleys in Hankou and an alley in Nanjing.There are nearly a thousand houses in total, and their property can be roughly estimated. Hu Zongnan once said: "What do you want money for? I don't love money in my life, I never carry money with me, and I never put money in a box." Tang Enbo's family does not own property, does not buy foreign-style houses in major cities, and does not have his enterprises in major commercial ports at home and abroad.After he served two division commanders and one army commander, he had 800,000 yuan in bank deposits.At that time, the legal currency was still in a stable period, and some subordinates suggested that he take it out for activities. Tang said that the money should be deposited in the national bank for circulation, and withdrawals were not allowed.He often said: "Sun Yat-sen died, and did not ask his family to take money to bury him." In his later years, Kang Youwei lived a life of "bells ringing and dining food".The Kang mansion eats an average of one stone (176 catties) every four days just for rice alone.The servants of the Kang family purchase daily necessities and non-staple food every day and use cars to transport them. The monthly food expenses alone cost more than 400 silver dollars.Kang Youwei kept in touch with the outside world, and he often "wired" to express his views on state affairs. It is said that the telegraph fee can reach thousands of silver dollars every year.Coupled with expenses for weddings, funerals, festive entertainments, etc., the total expenditure averages about 2,000 silver dollars per month.Kang Youwei lived in Shanghai and Jiangnan for 14 years after the age of 55, spending no less than 20,000 silver dollars a year. In the early years of the Republic of China, Chiang Kai-shek wandered around Shanghai, married Yao Yicheng as his concubine, and spent all his time outside.The Jiang family hired a cook, a servant, and a maid, but their wages were often not paid, and their daily life was often maintained by rewards from visitors.Every time Xu Chongzhi went to Jiang's house, he would be rewarded with 50 yuan of tea bags.In addition, some friends were invited to play cards, and Yao Yicheng would draw the lottery and distribute it equally to the three of them.Among Jiang's friends at the time, Zhang Jingjiang was the wealthiest, one of the four wealthy families in Nanxun, Huzhou.The funds and living expenses of Jiang's activities in Shanghai are all provided by Zhang Jingjiang.It is said that more than 100,000 yuan of money was successively disbursed by Jiang to Zhang. Zheng Bozhao is a big comprador in Shanghai, but he is stingy by nature and likes to use abacus to settle accounts. He is a typical penny-pinching.But he also has another side.Zheng has six boys and four girls. He sent two of his sons to study at Cambridge University. When he returned to China, he shipped all kinds of cars from Europe. The place where the Zheng family kept their cars was once said to be a car showroom.Zheng himself was also sitting in the most expensive Rolls Royce (Rolls Royce) car at that time.The Zheng family has a private swimming pool.When the British American Tobacco Company held a grand banquet, Zheng's wife sometimes attended. The cap was inlaid with two diamonds the size of broad beans.Zheng's sons also raised dozens of wolfdogs, hired someone to make dog buns, and ate dozens of catties of beef every day. On the eve of liberation, these dogs were chartered by their owners and shipped to Hong Kong. Between the summer and autumn of 1948, Chiang Ching-kuo supervised the economy in Shanghai. On September 11, Jiang summoned Zhou Zuomin, asking him to account for the amount of foreign exchange he had hidden.Zhou replied: "I personally have no foreign exchange. I have worked in Jincheng Bank for decades. Except for three real estate properties in Shanghai and Beiping and some bank stocks, I have never done foreign exchange transactions or accumulated foreign exchange. I only have three to five thousand US dollars. Yuan." After Zhang Boju's father died, he left 500,000 yuan in Salt Bank shares.Zhang gave 300,000 yuan to his family in Tianjin and the other 200,000 yuan to his family in Peiping. He used the money to buy calligraphy and paintings of the Song and Yuan Dynasties.After the war, inflation and currency depreciation, Zhang Boju quickly repaid the debt. On January 11, 1934, Wen Yiduo described his life in a letter to his friend Rao Zili: "Family with four children is enough for me, plus sending four children to my family every month. Ten yuan, send 30 yuan to the Yue family, and the situation of the Yue family is even more difficult to describe. If I don’t send money, the family will be hungry—really hungry... Anyway, although I am in trouble, I keep the three hundred and forty yuan It’s finally a way out.” Chen Xuezhao entered Shanghai Patriotic Women's School in 1922. Among his classmates were the daughters of wealthy families, such as the two younger sisters of a famous Peking opera actor and the daughter of the big capitalist Yu Qiaqing. After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, the writer Huang Guliu went to Hong Kong to make a living. The family of six rented a hut of less than 4 square meters on Junction Road, Kowloon, with only a bed and no tables and chairs.The youngest daughter who was born just now cried from time to time, and Huang couldn't write at all.At one end of the aisle outside the house is a "divine table" placed by the landlord, just enough to put down a small bench. Huang Guliu's wife exchanged a bundle of firewood with a neighbor for a soap box. Huang wrote the famous "Shrimp Ball" on the soap box. pass". After the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, the flames of war spread to Feng Zikai's hometown, and he was forced to flee from the newly completed "Yuan Yuan Tang".Later, there was a letter that Yuanyuan Hall had been burned down in the flames of war.More than a dozen members of Feng Zikai's family complained to each other about their lost property while fleeing.Some people regret the many clothes in the closet, while others regret the new furniture in the house.One of his daughters said: the big organ and typewriter are the most reluctant; another boy said: the swing frame and the newly bought bicycle are the most painful.Feng's wife misses a box of domed pewter and a box of domed china in her room. After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, Li Zongren became the director of Beipingyuan.One day, Qi Baishi came to visit, saying that there was no rice for the pot, no coal for the fire, and asked for relief.Li Zongren also had no good strategy, so he could only allocate part of the quota of camp personnel to Qi Baishi at his discretion.Therefore, Qi admired Li very much, thinking that Li Zongren could be a corporal.He specially drew a birthday peach and gave it to Li Zongren and his wife.Later, Lee settled in the United States, and this painting has been hanging in his living room. In the early years of the Republic of China, Bi Yihong was the only one in Shanghai who could afford a car by selling literature.In the 1920s and 1930s, Shao Xunmei and Xu Zhimo were the rich men in the literary world.Shao is the heir to a wealthy family and inherited a large fortune; Xu is the only university professor who owns a private car. During the Beiping period, the monthly salary of a university professor was roughly 360 yuan, and the so-called Geng style professor was as much as 450 yuan.In addition to his daily income, Professor Chen Yuan also works part-time everywhere, earning thousands of dollars a month. In the early years of the Republic of China, a gas water heater was installed in the bathroom of Zhang Yuanji's house, which would heat up within 20 minutes after being lit.In addition, a gas stove similar to hydroting (heating) is installed in the room, which is convenient for bathing in winter.Zhang Yuanji stipulated that the whole family take a bath once a week. In 1934, Zhang Yuanji's daughter got married.The dowry she proposed to the family only required four sets of furniture, including bedrooms, living rooms, dining rooms and study rooms.In addition, two major items, a refrigerator and a car, were proposed.This was a considerable expense back then.However, Zhang Yuanji had already retired at that time, and the Commercial Press suffered huge losses due to the war two years ago, and Zhang's family was far worse off than before.In order to satisfy their daughter's wish, the parents can only piece together things.Zhang's mother was too busy worrying and tired. Afterwards, she fell ill and passed away soon. When one of Yuan Shikai's sons was studying at Yenching University, he lived in a dormitory, and his residence was located in Haidian.He chartered a car to go to school every day, and the servant followed him, waiting outside the classroom. During recess, the servant handed him face towels, fragrant tea, and Sanpaotai cigarettes. After returning from studying in France, Bao Wenwei, the translator of "The Biography of Romain Rolland", worked as a professor at the Sino-French University in Peking, and also took part-time classes at the Kongde School, with a monthly income of about 300 yuan.The Bao family lived in two small courtyards, with a total of eight north rooms, two east rooms, and two west rooms.The family has a living room, a study room, a bathroom, a bathtub, a cook, a maid, and her own chartered car.The bookshelves on the four walls of the study display thousands of exquisite books he brought back from France. When Lao She was a child, his family was poor. When he graduated from primary school, each person had to hand in two photos. His family couldn’t afford the money for the photos. Later, he sold a broken box, and Lao She was considered to have graduated. In the 1930s, Xiong Shili was a famous professor at Peking University who lived near the beach and lived alone.It is clear at a glance in the room that a wooden bed, bedding, etc. are not only old, but also dirty and broken.There are no bookcases, the books are piled on a worn shelf.There were two boxes in the room, one was made of wicker and was almost rotten, the other was made of iron, and the bottom and the lid were not the same thing. When Yang Bingchen was teaching in the Department of Western Languages ​​at Peking University, he would sit at the desk in the faculty lounge when he received his salary every month, writing numbers on a piece of paper while dividing the money into several shares.Someone asked him why he did this, and he replied: I am afraid that reporting false accounts will reveal my flaws, so I must first calculate it clearly.I asked him why he had to report false accounts, and he replied: I need to give a little money to poor friends every month. I am afraid that the wife at home will be unhappy if he finds out, so he will find a reason to hide it. Shao Piaoping, the owner of the "Beijing News", lives a luxurious life.He was the first Chinese journalist to go out for interviews in a private car. At that time, many chief executives of the Beiyang government only had horse-drawn carriages.The cigarettes he smoked were specially made by the tobacco company, and the words "made by Zhenqing" were printed on the pack. During the Anti-Japanese War, the life of the professor's family of Southwest Associated University was very different from that of Tsinghua University and Peking University.In addition to being a housewife, the professor's wife has to play some roles to make ends meet.Han Yonghua, the wife of Mei Yiqi, the main person in charge of the United Nations General Assembly, steamed "Dingsheng Cake" and sold it. She later recalled: "Someone suggested that we set up the stove at the gate of 'Guanshengyuan' to cook and sell it now. I was hindered by Yuehan (Mei) Yiqi’s name is Yuehan)’s face, I refused to do this. When I was selling cakes, I wore a blue cloth gown, and I called my surname Han instead of Mei. Even so, everyone knew that Principal Mei’s wife sold ‘Dingsheng’ with a basket. Cake' thing." Wu Han once recalled Wen Yiduo at Southwest Associated University: "When he lived in Shijiaying in the countryside, a family of eight (including the old maid) had to pay twice the entire monthly salary for just meals. A big pot of clear water with cabbage and rice. After the enemy planes disappeared, he moved to the city and worked as a Chinese teacher at Kunhua Middle School. There was a load of rice every month, a little money, and the engraved seal, which was barely enough for him.” At the end of 1942, Mao Dun passed by Guiyang to visit the editor-in-chief Xie Liuyi at Wentong Publishing Company, but Xie Liuyi was not there.Mao Dun learned from his colleagues that Xie Liuyi had as many as five or six part-time jobs outside the home, and he would spend two or three hours on the road every day.With Xie Liuyi's personality, he didn't like to solicit more things, so Mao Dun judged that his financial situation must be poor because he had many children, so he had to work part-time to support his large family.The next day Xie visited Mao Dun at the hostel and sighed: "I have lived in Guiyang for five years, and it is really lonely." In the 1930s, Luo Ergang came to Peiping with Hu Shi and worked at the Institute of Liberal Arts of Peking University with a monthly salary of 60 yuan.After picking up his wife and children from Guangxi, he rented a small room, and had to rent a rickshaw to take his children to school. As a result, the minimum living expenses for a family of four were around 90 yuan.Luo Bian sold papers to make up for his family.He said: "At that time, my work was divided into three aspects: during the office hours of the archaeological office, I did the work of sorting out the rubbings of the Yifeng Hall; on Sundays and holidays, I went to the library to continue collecting historical materials of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom; Articles on the history of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom are often written until midnight." In 1917, Xu Beihong and his wife went abroad in Peking for a period of time. Jiang Biwei later recalled: "Since we arrived in Peiping, we have been very poor. Mr. Xu usually eats at Peking University or participates in social gatherings. He probably didn't care too much. One time I only had two copper dollars left on me, which was less than a penny when I was converted. I was worrying. Mama Cheng said that my husband is not at home for dinner. Let's just buy half a catty of noodles and eat it. I asked her how much half a catty of noodles cost. She said four coppers. I couldn't get it out for a while, so I had to ask her to pay in advance. The next day I was forced to take a gold bracelet that my mother gave me. It was pawned, but Mr. Xu refused to go to the pawn shop. His reason was that a man took a woman’s jewelry to pawn it. What would people think? I had to bite the bullet and go by myself. As soon as I went out, there was the back door street, and there was a pawn shop on the street. There is a thick cotton curtain hanging at the door. I walked around the door for a long time. On the one hand, I lacked courage and on the other hand, I was afraid of encountering people I know. Finally, I remembered that I couldn’t go in. Then when I was looking around, I got into the cotton curtain Looking up, the counter of the pawn shop was taller than mine. I raised my hand and handed the gold bracelet to Chaofeng. Pawn the ticket and go home." Later, the gold bracelet was redeemed by Xu Beihong. Jiang Biwei said: "Mr. Xu and I have been married for 20 years, and our life has been very hard. Apart from the embarrassment in Japan, Peiping and Paris, after returning to China, although Mr. Xu's reputation has grown, he has never sold a piece of paper. However, his expenditure on buying gold, stone, calligraphy and painting is gradually increasing. He gives me his salary every month, but I have to allocate a large part of it to pay for his purchase of artwork or painting, so I return to China In those years, not only did we have no savings, we were often stretched thin.” Ding Wenjiang had a great reputation during his lifetime and was the proposed ambassador to the Soviet Union and the Minister of Railways.After Ding Bao died of illness, the money left was only 2,000 pounds for insurance premiums.The money was managed by Zhu Yaosheng to support his widow. Peng Sumin is a veteran of the Kuomintang. He once held important positions such as the Minister of General Affairs and the Minister of Farmers of the Kuomintang.Although Peng held a high position, he "has never tried to plan for the family". After his death in 1924, "the family was poor, the mother was old, the six children were all young and weak, and there was no money for education."After the efforts of Liao Zhongkai and others, the Central Committee of the Kuomintang decided to give the survivors a one-time pension of 1,000 yuan and a monthly subsidy of 100 yuan until their children are able to afford the family's livelihood. Gu Weijun's Xuxian wife, surnamed Huang, is the daughter of the Nanyang Sugar King, and Gu inherited the huge legacy of his father-in-law.When he was the acting prime minister in Beijing, the mansion spent as much as 40,000 yuan a month, all paid by himself, never using public funds, let alone corruption. Lin Baishui's success or failure is due to the newspaper.When he was at his best, there were ten servants and five tutors in his family, who lived in four or five courtyards and thirty or forty houses.The extravagance of his usual hands is often breathtaking. When Mao Zedong was an administrator in the newspaper reading room of Peking University Library, his monthly salary was 8 yuan.At that time, Cai Yuanpei, the president of Peking University, earned 600 yuan a month, Chen Duxiu, the dean of liberal arts, probably earned 400 yuan, and Hu Shi, Li Dazhao, Zhou Zuoren, Qian Xuantong, Liu Bannong and other Peking University professors all earned between 200 and 300 yuan. At the end of the 1920s, Rou Shi was a typical freelance writer who went to Shanghai to earn a living by selling articles.He said in a letter from home: "The cash income is about 40 yuan a month. A newspaper office orders 10,000 words a month and gives me 20 yuan. Another magazine, about 20 to 30 yuan. , it costs 25 yuan a month, and books cost 10 yuan a month. Therefore, the income from these two sums is not much." After living together, Ding Ling and Hu Yepin lived in financial difficulties.Once, when the two of them had one yuan left, a guest came, so they had to use this one yuan to have a sumptuous dinner.At that time, they lived in Biyun Temple in the suburbs of Beiping. When they got up early the next morning, they walked into the city empty-handed for dozens of miles to find acquaintances to borrow money. Deng Yunxiang said in "Old Stories of an Ancient Cultural City": "In the mid-1930s, famous middle school teachers in Beiping generally earned between 150 and 200 yuan, and most of them had a chartered car. After dinner or dinner in summer, the most common It’s parks and Beihai teahouses that sit until eleven or twelve o’clock in the middle of the night and go home to sleep. How about the best of Bamboo City? Set up a table under the tree in a small courtyard, hang up electric lights, eight and twelve rounds of eight yuan and ten yuan , taking turns to be the host, is even more commonplace. It is common for me to come down from the poker table all night, wipe my face, have something to eat, and come to school to correct papers.” The lives of "Left League" writers are not directly proportional to their fame.Even Zhou Yang, the leader of the Left League, often lives on debt.Hu Feng recalled that one morning, as soon as the couple got up, Zhou Yang knocked on the door and said in an urgent tone: "There is no food money at home, please borrow three or five yuan! If you don't have it, use Lu Xun's subsidy." Money is fine.” Zhou Yang’s wife Su Lingyang recalled: “Aside from work, Zhou Yang spends a considerable part of his time looking for money. We have borrowed money from many comrades, such as Zhang Hanfu, Xia Yan, Yangzao, Tan Lintong, Meiyu, Linlin, etc., like Sha Ting and Zhou Libo 'borrowed' more often." On New Year's Day in 1936, Su Lingyang went into labor, but the family had no money to send the mother to the hospital.Zhou Yang ran away for a day, and finally borrowed 20 yuan from Zheng Zhenduo, which relieved his urgent need.This situation did not improve until Zhou Yang received about 800 yuan in manuscript fees after the publication of Zhou Yang's translation. After Lu Xun settled in Shanghai, he has been a freelance writer without a fixed job.Someone calculated an account for Lu Xun. In the last nine years in Shanghai, his total income was more than 70,000 yuan.The average monthly income is more than 700 yuan, which is roughly the income of a famous university professor at that time, which is equivalent to more than 20,000 yuan at the end of the last century.Lu Xun had lived in three places in Shanghai. Naturally, the more he moved, the better the conditions. Before his death, he wanted to move to a more secluded area again. He once wrote to a friend: "I plan to move to the French Concession and choose a secluded place to recuperate. Find it.” He also calculated an account in "Miscellaneous Talk after the Illness": "However, if you want to rent a house with some bamboo fences in the yard where you can grow chrysanthemums, the rent will be a total of one hundred taels per month, water and electricity are not included. The patrol donation is 14% of the rent, 14 taels per month. These two items alone are 114 taels per month, and each tael is calculated as one yuan and four jiao (silver dollars), which is equal to 159.6 yuan .” When painter Huang Binhong lived in Shanghai, his life was quite difficult.He rented a shabby room without any equipment, but the rent kept rising until he finally couldn't afford it. "Because I can't find a house, I feel anxious about it." Sometimes because I can't afford vegetables, I can only eat rice for several days; naturally I can't afford a car, and I have to walk no matter how far. After Li Dazhao was killed, his family went from bad to worse, and later he had to sell Li Dazhao's collection of books to maintain his life. On August 26, 1932, Zhou Zuoren wrote to Hu Shi: "Shouchang's eldest daughter, Li Xinghua (who is now studying at Kongde College), said that Shouchang's suicide note was sold out. I have talked about this matter with my brother and the principal Menglin (Jiang Menglin), but recently deposited The relatives of the book are about to move out, and the Li family is in a very difficult situation, and they want to sell it as soon as possible. Menglin once suggested that everyone collect money to buy it and send it to the library as a souvenir, or it would be easier than buying it from the school. I don't know, I hope brother can think of a way to solve this matter earlier in order to help and tell Meng Linyi." Shao Xunmei was born in a wealthy family and married the daughter of a wealthy family (Sheng Xuanhuai's granddaughter and Shao's cousin).It is said that when Sheng passed away, his family had thirty million taels of silver in cash alone.The Shao family has five members and more than thirty servants.When he was young, Yipinxiang was the largest western restaurant in Shanghai, where he celebrated his birthday every year.Tiger Shao, every birthday, must order a cream tiger the same size as a real tiger at Yipinxiang as a birthday cake.