Chapter 5 Chapter 18 1944: A China that ebbs and flows

On December 18, 1944, the latest issue of the American "Time" magazine featured Song Ziwen on the cover. The text under his photo read, "China's Song Ziwen: The road to victory is on the cliff." Song Ziwen's personal reputation peaked at this time. Two weeks ago, he had just been appointed by Chiang Kai-shek as the acting president of the Executive Yuan. In addition, he also served as the Minister of Finance and Minister of Foreign Affairs at the same time, and his power was even greater than that of his elder brother-in-law who stepped down.Fu Sinian's comment on this is, "It's not so much the popularity of Song, but the hatred of Confucius."

What Fu Sinian said is not wrong at all, people will soon find out that Kong Song is really a fellow traveler. Since the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, Song Ziwen has been seeking aid from the Americans as Chiang Kai-shek's personal representative. He is working side by side with Hu Shi, the most famous intellectual in China, and Chen Guangfu, the most outstanding banker of the Shanghai Savings Bank. Ambassador to the United States, Chen Ze was appointed as the lieutenant general chairman of the National Trade Committee.They tried their best to mediate and win the most valuable financial aid for the country.Hu Shi compared himself to being a "pawn crossing the river" at that time, and he had to go forward desperately for the country. In October 1938, he gave a photo of himself to Chen Guangfu. On the back was a poem written by himself, which said: "Occasionally there are a few white hairs, and my mood is slightly approaching middle age. I have become a pawn crossing the river, so I can only move forward desperately."

Chen Guangfu was the only big banker left after 1934. The reason why he "survived" was largely due to his close connections in the political and economic circles of the United States.He has a very good personal relationship with US Treasury Secretary Morgenthau, who is considered by the latter to be the only Chinese professional worth negotiating.As early as May 1936, Chen Guangfu was entrusted by the National Government to go to the United States to sign the "Sino-US Silver Agreement", which confirmed the price alliance between China and the United States in terms of international silver prices. played a key role. In September 1938, he went to Washington again to seek support. Half a year later, he traded Chinese tung oil for a loan of 25 million U.S. dollars. All the money was exchanged for military vehicles, gasoline, radio materials and other war preparations.At that time, the United States and Japan had not broken off diplomatic relations, so President Roosevelt was very cautious about China aid. The "Tung Oil Project" was called a commercial loan, but in fact almost all of it was used to resist Japan. Therefore, many diplomats regarded it as "the Roosevelt administration's change of East Asia policy. Begin to implement the first step to contain Japan." Sure enough, the Japanese lodged severe protests to the United States and blocked the main tung oil transportation route, making Chen Guangfu's work even more difficult. On December 6, 1939, he visited Morgenthau again for a long and hard talk, and the latter expressed his embarrassment.At this time, Chen Guangfu told Morgenthau that today is his 59th birthday, and if he could get some promises, it would be the best birthday present. Morgenthau was very moved after hearing this. In April 1940, the United States finally agreed to lend another 20 million U.S. dollars, at the expense of the Yunnan tin mine.In order to ensure that tung oil and Yunnan tin could arrive in the United States on schedule, Chen Guangfu went to the front line to inspect the China-Myanmar Highway in person despite the danger of Japanese bombing.

A weak country has no diplomacy, and Chen Guangfu dealt with the country as a banker. The hardships and bitterness can be imagined. He once recorded his state of mind at that time in his diary: "I am here to contact matters, almost like betting in a gambler's field. Day by day Speculate on the psychology of the other person, wait for their happy, angry and busy situation, watch for a long time, guess that the opportunity has come, and plan to speak quickly on the words that the other party likes, so as to maintain good feelings. Since September 1938, there has been no day If you don’t study how to do what you like, you dare not be negligent. Gai knows that the bet is related to the national destiny.” Hu Shi also commented on his friend in a diary in 1939: “Guangfu runs a bank for three years. For ten years, he was usually only begged by people, and he didn't have to look at other people's faces. This time, for the country's affairs, he got rid of everything and begged for help every day. He always wanted to not offend the U.S. Treasury Department in everything. I admire his loyalty."

Like Hu Shi and Chen Guangfu, Song Ziwen, who rushed to the front, naturally used all his solutions. In June 1940, Song Ziwen went to the United States to discuss aid to China.American historian Barbara Tuchman commented on his lobbying activities in the United States at that time: "Song Ziwen was the most embarrassing and tireless lobbyist of his time. He used all imaginable channels to get close to President Roosevelt, These people were moved by his unforgettable persuasiveness, and promised to forward his letters about various irreparable situations to President Roosevelt." In October 1940, China and the United States signed a "tungsten sand loan" of 25 million US dollars, Another $50 million "Metal Loan" was signed on February 4, 1941.Under the encouragement of Song Ziwen and others, Roosevelt officially issued a statement that the "Lend-Lease Act" of arms was applicable to China, and at the same time declared: "Defending China is the key to defending the United States."Song Ziwen and the United States reached three key points of military aid to China: first, the United States will provide training and technical assistance to help China build a modern air force; second, train and equip 30 divisions of the Chinese Army; third, help China build the Burma Railway and roads, and provide transport vehicles, etc.Song Ziwen's diplomatic efforts also greatly improved China's international status, making the British and American powers regard China as the most important ally and power in Asia. In November 1943, Chiang Kai-shek went to Cairo to attend the summit meeting of the United States, Britain, and China, and met with President Roosevelt and Churchill. The prime minister sits side by side to discuss politics, so he is regarded as a world-class leader by international public opinion.

During the entire eight-year Anti-Japanese War period, China received 8 loans from the United States, totaling 747.8 million US dollars and a large amount of material assistance. U.S. dollars in materials, which played a great role in the resistance against Japan.The lobbying efforts of Song Ziwen, Hu Shi and Chen Guangfu are indispensable.Therefore, "Time" magazine praised in the cover report of that issue, "Asian people talked about Song Ziwen one after another, saying that he is the most promising and capable politician in Asia, and he is also the most irritable politician." A close and influential publication—Time, whose founder Henry Luce was Song Ziwen's best American confidant—even compared him to "China's Alexander Hamilton," describing it, "as fiscal regulation An advocate and staunch opponent of bribery, Song Ziwen was very disgusted with the many richly dressed officials and knocked over countless teacups in annoyance. He scoffed at the practice of intercession and flattery in person. He liked to talk frankly and minimize Red tape. He had the American idea of ​​efficiency."

All of this undoubtedly created a good public opinion environment for Chiang Kai-shek to "replace Confucius with Song". Another detail that needs to be recorded is Song Ziwen's "surrender" to Chiang Kai-shek in terms of personality.Since resigning as vice president of the Executive Yuan in 1932, Jiang Song's personal relationship has been very cold. At the end of 1943, Deng Mianren, Song Ziwen's confidential secretary, was sentenced to death for smuggling.Song interceded with Jiang but was rejected on the spot, and the scene was very embarrassing.Song asked about Wu Guozhen, the vice minister of foreign affairs. Wu recommended the "talented" Chen Zhiding to write a letter of repentance on his behalf. It is said that Chiang Kai-shek was very happy to read the letter so far, and the discord between the two sides disappeared for a while.

Time's admiration, though, is the bright side of what's happening.Song Ziwen is still the big official and businessman we are familiar with in the past ten years. While he is busy with state affairs, he has not delayed his career of raising money at all. In this regard, he is also superhumanly efficient. Those U.S. dollars aiding China have become an important resource for Song Ziwen and others to resell foreign exchange. Sterling Seagrave described the details of reselling in the book "The Song Dynasty": "Foreign exchange entering China is the official exchange of 20 yuan of legal currency for one dollar. The exchange rate is exchanged, and the price and service fee are determined by the black market. One dollar can be exchanged for 3,225 yuan in French currency on the Chongqing black market. According to official gatherings, a pack of American cigarettes is worth 5 dollars in Chongqing, but on the black market, five dollars can be exchanged for 3,225 yuan. Buy 162 packs. Therefore, the tens of millions of donations used to relieve China are almost worthless after being exchanged at the official exchange rate. According to the exchange rate, it will cost US$10,000 to build a public toilet in China. This is a Chongqing-style joke. But it’s not a joke for Chinese officials to resell relief funds on the black market and make a fortune.”

In addition to reselling U.S. dollars on the black market, a considerable part of the U.S. aid to China is carried out in the form of material aid, which has also become a good channel for the Song family to make money.Song Ziwen and his two younger brothers Song Ziliang and Song Zian established the "Global Trading Company" and "China National Defense Material Supply Company" in the United States. They undertook the business of handling the procurement and shipment of goods. , the darkness of the means cannot be increased.After arriving in China, many materials were transferred to the black market by trading companies controlled by them, and many of them were resold without even leaving the United States.Seagrave described, "The Southwest Transportation Company has 600 trucks to load the leased materials. The materials arrive in China, and sometimes they appear on the black market for sale within two hours, and sometimes, the materials simply no longer appear." He also quoted a British The diplomat speculated that "the Soong brothers diverted billions of dollars into their own pockets, much of which never left the United States."

Another important fortune-making business of the Song Brothers is that, together with Kong Xiangxi, they control the only transportation line from the rear to the outside world.Since the outbreak of the war, Hong Kong has become the only remaining shipping port in southern China. The national government has set up two transportation agencies here. One is the Southwest Material Transportation Department under the Military Commission (operating in the name of Southwest Transportation Company externally), the general manager It was Song Ziliang, and the other was the Transportation Department of the Central Trust Bureau. The person in charge was Kong Xiangxi's eldest son, Kong Lingkan, who was then the executive director of the Central Trust Bureau.These two agencies control all transportation operations to the rear from all over the country and abroad.After the Pacific War, Hong Kong fell, and Kong Song turned to open up the Burma highway transportation line.During the eight years of the Anti-Japanese War, these two monopolistic transportation companies undertook all the distribution business, whether it was public-private trade or illegal smuggling, they were plucking wild goose and making money.Kong Song even turned his face and killed people because of the uneven distribution of spoils. In 1942, Song Ziliang and Chiang Kai-shek’s cousin Yu Feipeng joined hands and announced that the Southwest Transportation Company would control all transportation business on the Yunnan-Burma Highway. A batch of smuggled materials worth 30 million yuan arrived in Chongqing.Yu cried to Cousin Jiang that Lin Shiliang, Kong Lingkan's manager, was arrested and sentenced to death.Kong Song tore his face for a moment.

The Song brothers' method of devouring US aid is extremely covert, but it is still detected by the outside world.As early as 1942, the U.S. Treasury Department began to secretly investigate Song’s financial situation in the United States. On February 11 of this year, Song issued a very strange order to Hu Shi in the form of an official document from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs: “Request the U.S. Treasury Department to approve the The State Council does not want to freeze my accounts at the following banks..." The six banks listed were the channels through which he laundered money. Hu Shi was furious about this, but he could do nothing about it. In January 1943, the US observer in China, Jack Schweiss, pointed out in a report to the FBI that the three Soong brothers "have always been fishing fanatics, and all their actions have been driven by their desire to collect money...they are A gigantic scheme to defraud the Chinese people - to defraud the Chinese of the goods they normally receive through the Lend-Lease Act, and transfer a large part of it to the Soong family." After becoming the president of the Executive Yuan, Song Ziwen has never been interested in revitalizing the rear economy. This financier has never paid much attention to the development of industry.Dai Mingli, who once served as the director of the Coin Department of the Ministry of Finance of the Nationalist Government, told such a detail in his oral memoirs: Once, the Ministry of Economic Affairs proposed a project to invest in the construction of an electric furnace. After reporting to Song Ziwen's office, he said, "What does China want? , A telegram can be sent to the United States, and it can be shipped in a month or two, which is more convenient than anything else.” The plan fell through. In the rear of the war, all the entrepreneurs who advocated the spirit of the free market were dying and reduced to "little guys" under the government-business capital group.At this time, there is only one "lone army" that still has a certain power of discourse, and they are wealthy overseas Chinese businessmen who are alone overseas and not yet under the control of the government. On March 26, 1940, a 50-member Nanyang Condolences Mission led by Tan Kah Kee, chairman of the Nanyang Overseas Chinese Association, landed at Chongqing Shanshanba Airport by plane.During the Anti-Japanese War, the selfless donations of overseas Chinese were the most important foreign aid besides American aid.At that time, the national government continued to issue national salvation bonds in order to support its finances. Although the domestic people tried their best, they were unable to save themselves. In 1940, the bond subscription was only 8 million yuan, which was almost a drop in the bucket.Under such circumstances, overseas Chinese became a group with high hopes. From 1937 to 1942, overseas Chinese in Nanyang subscribed for public bonds amounting to 1.1 billion yuan, which can be said to have contributed a lot.And the one who is running around day and night in various countries in Southeast Asia and doing all the work is the 67-year-old Tan Kah Kee.This time, the sympathy group returned home at the risk of being shot down by a Japanese plane. Of course, it greatly boosted the morale of the people. On that day, thousands of people from more than 200 groups came to the airport to welcome them warmly. After the sympathy group arrived in Chongqing, all the party, state and government dignitaries since Chiang Kai-shek hosted banquets one after another.Unexpectedly, it was this enthusiasm that made Tan Kah Kee's worries more and more serious day by day. What he saw here was the peacefulness of singing and dancing, the corruption of officials and the arrogance of the people, and the poverty of the people. The condolence group stayed at Jialing Hotel, the most luxurious hotel in Chongqing at that time. Someone told Chen Jiageng that this was Kong Xiangxi’s private property. He was very surprised and couldn’t believe it. When Kong Xiangxi came to visit, he asked on the spot whether it was true or not. Kong admitted , Tan Kah Kee wrote in his diary that night, "I am so surprised that our country's politics are far from foreign countries. British government civil servants are not only prohibited from setting up private businesses, nor are they allowed to buy and sell company shares, although land properties, banks and government bonds are also the same , The prevention of fraud is very strict, and offenders will be punished immediately..." This passage of Chen's emotion is very thought-provoking. Since Li Hongzhang and Sheng Xuanhuai started the Westernization Affairs, the entanglement of official and business identities, and the indiscrimination of state and private affairs have always been well-known. This is also one of the important reasons why China's reforms often change and regress. Fu Sinian and others "punched holes" mostly on personality and morality, but few people reflected on them at the institutional level and put an end to them.Only people like Tan Kah Kee, who have been influenced by the British and American systems for a long time, can go deep into this.It is a pity that this situation has not been resolutely eliminated for a hundred years. Tan Kah Kee was in Chongqing for more than 60 days, and he was invited to dinner every day. He often had to rush to two banquets a day, so he lamented that "the front is tight, and the rear is tight".Once, when I went to visit Wuhou Temple in Chengdu, I saw a huge tomb being built next to Liu Xiang, the former chairman of Sichuan Province who died.He asked naively, "May I ask where the money for the descendants of Liu Xiang came from? Is it the people's heart?" None of the accompanying people dared to answer.He also heard that Sichuan peasants' money and food taxes had been collected in the 70th year of the Republic of China (1981), and he couldn't help being shocked.At the annual meeting of the National Economic Society, Tan Kah Kee gave a speech and expressed his worries about the domestic political situation, "After the restoration, the warlords and evil gentry, the local tyrants and bandits, bullied and robbed more than the Manchus, and the overseas Chinese almost regarded their hometown as fearful of the road and returned empty The provincial tomb is still not at ease, how dare you talk about investing in the motherland?" After his speech, the economist Ma Yinchu took the stage and continued to complain, "The country is unfortunately invaded by a powerful enemy, and the danger is extremely high. And the person who keeps the foreign exchange is still running away. , regardless of the overall situation, stealing foreign currency, greedy for profit, and increasing profits by 50 to 70 million yuan..." Sitting next to Tan Kah Kee, the general manager of Sichuan Mining Bank Zhou Jimei said quietly to Chen Kah Kee, "No one except Ma Yinchu dares to say such things. Say." After nearly two months of observation in the rear, Tan Kah Kee's smile gradually disappeared, and finally he was full of thoughts. He wrote in his later published "Nanyang Memoirs", "Those members of the Central Committee of the Kuomintang are all in important positions, but they all use public affairs for personal gain. Corruption and fraud, luxurious life. Those people are in their 40s and 50s. They can neither do good deeds nor die early. They will be dead for at least 20 or 30 years. I don’t know where China’s savior is? Even if it is born. Or still I am afraid that it will take thirty or more decades to study in school, and I am afraid that I will be able to take on major national affairs, and the future of the country is deeply worrying." It was under the disappointment that Chen Jiageng turned his attention to the Northwest. At the end of May, he arrived in Yan'an, Shaanxi. He received the same warm welcome as Chongqing, and all the top leaders of the CCP since Mao Zedong received the condolences group.At that time, public opinion at home and abroad was very curious and mysterious about the Chinese Communist Party and its troops, and rumors of the so-called "communists sharing wives" were not uncommon.Chen Jiageng visited Yan'an for seven days, and he saw it very carefully, especially the part about business. One mile outside Yan'an City, there is a small street with a length of 100 meters. The local soldiers and civilians call it "New Market" and it is the only commercial street.Chen Jiageng went to observe specially.There are more than 100 shops and a photo studio here. There are many souvenirs but scarce industrial products.Tan Kah Kee asked a shop owner, "Does the government have stock for public sale?" He replied, "No, we run it all by ourselves." He asked again, "How much capital does the big store have?" Answer, "There are very few big stores. There are 100,000 and 200,000 to 300,000, most of which are for buying local businesses.” After returning to the guest house, Tan Kah Kee met a female student who had returned from Nanyang and defected to Yan’an, and asked quietly, “Is there any state-run shop here?” The female student replied, "There are no state-run shops, all the shops are privately run." It was through such observations that the perception of the Communist Party by the overseas Chinese businessmen in Nanyang changed drastically.What touched Tan Kah Kee the most was the closeness and harmony between the army and the people in Yan'an. He saw with his own eyes that Commander-in-Chief Zhu Deza was sitting in the crowd of orderlies, devouring the same miscellaneous grains.When he was chatting with Mao Zedong about Nanyang anecdotes, many people came to listen, and the seats were filled up immediately. An orderly squeezed onto the bench where Mao Zedong was sitting. Mao looked back at him and moved his body away. Let his ass sit down.These details are impressive, and they are in stark contrast to Chongqing's strict bureaucracy.Objectively speaking, the Chinese Communist Party before the mid-1940s did not form its own economic policy, because it was in the opposition without any burden or vested interests. Therefore, all economic relations were very simple and primitive.It is also this clear and simple state that made many people who have been to Yan'an deeply impressed and favored. After the trip to Yan'an, Tan Kah Kee formed a new view on the Kuomintang and the Communist Party. When he returned to Nanyang, he immediately mobilized to donate a batch of medicines and medical equipment to Yan'an.And the last thing he did on the mainland was to take the lead in driving out the Kuomintang officials in his hometown Fujian Province. The chairman of Fujian Province at that time was Chen Yi, a classmate of Chiang Kai-shek’s when he was studying in Japan’s non-commissioned officer school. He was engaged in “economic control” in Fujian, and established three major state-owned enterprises, namely enterprise companies, trading companies, and transportation companies, monopolizing the lifeline of the province’s economy, and providing He is in charge of the operation is Xu Xueyu, the nephew of Xu Xilin, the martyr of 1911. He holds twelve positions including the chairman of the three major companies and the chairman of the Bank of Fujian Province. He is like the Fujian version of Kong Xiangxi.Under the governance of Chen and Xu, Fujian’s finance and economics were very depressed and disordered. According to Tan Kah Kee’s records, the goods “usually arrive within three to four days by the merchants themselves, but the control agency has not yet delivered the goods within 60 days.” As a result, the freight cost doubled , the goods were severely damaged and rotted, and prices skyrocketed.For example, dried shrimps produced in Hanjiang cost 170 yuan per load, and they can be sold for 400 yuan when transported to Quanzhou. It takes three days for private transportation and two months for state-owned transportation companies. Most of the dried shrimps are rotten.Nanjing is rich in timber. Before free transportation, the freight per hundred catties was 0.25 yuan, and after unified transportation, it rose to 1.05 yuan, and the operation was sluggish. Nanjing timber piled up like a mountain, while the price of firewood in Zhangzhou city dozens of kilometers away was high.The price of rice in Quanzhou rose from one yuan per catty (13 taels) to more than 60 yuan.The government monopolizes transportation along the Minjiang River, and has also set up many inspection stations on land. People who brought 20 catties of rice into the city were immediately banned and confiscated.Twelve inspection stations were set up outside Fuzhou City, and those who brought 10 catties of rice were immediately arrested.When the business line was firmly strangled, the bureaucratic capital suddenly flourished. "Civil servants and profiteers made a lot of money, ranging from more than a million yuan to hundreds of thousands of yuan." The people in Fujian were in dire straits, and Fuzhou There is a Minjiang Bridge leading to Cangqian Mountain. After the transportation was controlled, many people committed suicide by jumping into the river. In less than a year, more than 900 corpses were picked up.Chen, Xu and others also controlled speech and banned any negative reports. Tan Kah Kee was furious when he saw the tragedy. He wrote letters to Chiang Kai-shek and Chen Yi respectively, imploring "to quickly order the abolition of control, so as to save tens of millions of poor people from starvation, disease and death." Chen Yi's reply was, "Transportation in wartime must Control, this is the general practice of all countries, but people who do not understand politics are against it." Jiang Ze replied, "The land tax of Fujian Province is the central government's will. Fujian affairs can be telegraphed to me, so don't make it public." Chen Jiageng was completely desperate, and he traveled to Fujian. All over the country, wherever they went, they shouted loudly, calling on the chambers of commerce and township associations to fight together. Chen Yi secretly ordered the Fujian media to never publish Tan Kah Kee's "reactionary remarks". It was widely distributed in the southwestern provinces. After returning to Nanyang, he bound the guilt papers into a book, printed thousands of copies and delivered them to various dignitaries in domestic political circles, provincial chairmen, commanders-in-chief of various theaters, various newspapers in Nanyang, and Fujian Associations. . In January 1941, at the All-Singapore Hokkien Overseas Chinese Conference organized by the Chinese General Chamber of Commerce, he once again took the stage to accuse Chen Xu Fumin of 12 crimes. It was under this desperate attack that the then chairman of the Republic of China government, Lin Sen, submitted Tan Kah Kee’s complaint to the Executive Yuan for discussion. Members of the National Political Council also signed the proposal, and the Senate formed a five-member committee to investigate in Fujian. In April, the Japanese army attacked Changle, Fujian, and Chen Yi fled without a fight. Fuzhou soon fell, and Chiang Kai-shek had to dismiss Chen Yi as the chairman of the provincial government, and Xu Xueyu was also transferred. The matter of "repelling Chen and saving Fujian" was the most symbolic political action of the entrepreneurial class throughout the 1940s, and it was almost the only one that succeeded.Chen Kah Kee was lucky enough to "win" because of his special status. However, his fate with the Kuomintang was also cut off here. Chiang Kai-shek ignored him and even secretly sent people to prevent him from being re-elected as the chairman of the Nanyang Overseas Chinese Association.Chen wrote sourly in his memoirs, "Because of the matter of saving Fujian, I have a bad feeling, but I hate it so much." When Chen Jiageng drove Chen Yi away in Fujian, a great famine broke out in the Central Plains. Beginning in 1941, Henan Province began to suffer from drought, and the harvest of crops was greatly reduced. In the second year, the drought continued unabated, and the rare "Central Plains Famine" broke out. The grass roots were almost dug up and the bark was eaten up. In the tragic situation of "cannibalism", a total of 5 million people died in Henan and Hebei, which is extremely tragic. Bai Xiude was the China-based reporter of the American "Time" magazine at that time. In his report, he described in detail the various tragedies that occurred in Henan at that time.On the way from Tongguan to Luoyang, he saw a large number of starving people dying, and "saw bloody zombies falling from passing trains from time to time."On his journey from Luoyang to Zhengzhou on horseback, "most of the villages are deserted. Even where there are people, what you hear is the cries of abandoned babies before they die, and what you see is only wild dogs pulled out of the sand. The corpse and bit the flesh on it.” However, after arriving in Zhengzhou, Bai Xiude saw a different scene: the life of the provincial government officials.In the banquet that warmly received him, there were all kinds of high-end dishes.Bai Xiude said in his report: In an era when "people eat people, dogs eat dogs, and mice are hungry enough to gnaw bricks", this is "one of the best banquets he has ever eaten." Therefore, Bai Xiude believes that : Disasters are certainly caused by nature, but it is the corruption and dereliction of duty of the government and its officials that cause a large number of deaths of ordinary people. Another American reporter, Jack Belden, who also visited the disaster area, came to exactly the same conclusion as Bai Xiude.He wrote in the book "China Shakes the World", "Walking on the road every day, I saw open fields, barren land, ten rooms and nine empty rooms, dilapidated, and very desolate. The drought in many places was not very serious at that time, so I It is very strange why the land is so deserted. The peasants told me that they left their hometowns to flee famine because the tax collectors of the Kuomintang and the grain collectors of the Jiang army extorted money, and the land tax exceeded the actual output. If you want to be beaten and imprisoned, who would farm the land? Peasants dig wild vegetables and grass roots in the fields outside the government office, but I was entertained by delicacies from mountains and seas at the banquets of the Kuomintang generals one after another. I couldn’t help but feel very ashamed.” Jack Belden also made a comparison at the same time, "The weather in the North China Communist Party area is also bad, and there is also a lack of rain, but not so many people died. What is the difference? Why do people here starve, while people over there But there is food to eat?” He concluded that “the people in Jiang’s administrative area did not die because God did not rain, they were forced to die by taxation.” He even cited a very extreme example, “In 1942 When the Japanese army reached northern Henan, tens of thousands of peasants cooperated with national enemies to attack Tang Enbo's troops. This is quite understandable. Why did they do this? Could it be that the Japanese army was worse than Jiang's army?" (In the early days of the Anti-Japanese War, General Tang Enbo of the Kuomintang guarded Henan to fight against the Japanese army. He made many military exploits, but he also disturbed the people very seriously. Not only that, "Cambridge History of China" records: "In Hubei in 1943, a Chinese commander complained: 'The villagers... secretly crossed the front line and sent pigs, beef, rice and wine to the enemy. The villagers were willing to let The enemy ruled, but he didn't want to be a free citizen under his own government.'") After Jack returned to Chongqing, he wrote the report according to the facts, but the International Publicity Bureau of the Chongqing government withdrew his report on the grounds that "the news did not match". Manuscript. For more than half a century since then, the reflection on the "Great Central Plains Famine" has been a subject of international economic circles.Amartya Sen, an Indian scholar who won the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1998, cited this case many times in his writings, proving that "poverty is not simply a lack of supply, but more of an uneven distribution of rights, that is, The deprivation of people’s rights.” He used a large amount of data and empirical research to demonstrate that although famines are closely related to natural disasters in modern times, objective factors often only trigger or aggravate them. Inequality of rights, opacity of information, and freedom of speech Lack of food and undemocratic political system are the main reasons for exacerbating poverty and hunger and famines that lead to mass deaths. Behind the food problem are rights relations and institutional arrangements.Because only within the framework of democracy and freedom can information be made public, the public can have open discussions on policy formulation, the public can participate in public policy formulation, the interests of vulnerable groups can be protected, and the government can make wrong decisions. Be corrected quickly rather than intensified.In peaceful times without major disasters, people often do not care about the role and significance of democracy; perhaps only when facing the serious consequences of disasters can people realize the importance of democracy.Amartya Sen's observations are applicable to several major famines in modern China, from the "Central Plains Famine" in 1942 to the "Three-Year Natural Disaster" period (1959-1961) that we will describe later . In stark contrast to the chaos and misery in the Kuomintang-controlled areas, there is a clear and bright scene in the areas ruled by the Communist Party. In 1942, after witnessing the "Great Famine in the Central Plains", Jack Belden traveled to the Northwest ruled by the Communist Party. He saw another China, with a strict military discipline, poor and capable officials, and people living and working in peace and contentment.He interviewed Rong Wusheng (1906-1999, also known as Rong Zihe), a Communist Party cadre who had just been elected vice-chairman of the Shanxi-Hebei-Shandong-Henan Border Region Government and director of the Department of Finance. Before visiting Rong Wusheng, Jack had deep doubts.Compared with Jiangtong District and Wangtong District, Yan'an's industrial situation can only be described as primitive. In Jack's words, "more than 80% of the industries in the border area are run by families, and 90% of Cloth is woven by peasants."There is almost no modern enterprise here. The only decent factory is Ansai County Chafang Machinery Factory, located 90 miles north of Yan'an. Shen was smuggled from Shanghai in 1938, and Shen was praised by Mao Zedong as "the father of Yan'an industry". Jack wrote truthfully, "In this backward area, if you don't rely on printing more money and collecting more taxes, how can you raise funds to support the war. This is a big problem." He saw that Rong Wusheng's Treasury Department had a total of There are only 16 people, but they carry out many tasks such as preparing budgets, collecting taxes, issuing agricultural loans, issuing currency, and directing banking operations, controlling the financial affairs of a population of 30 million.And Rong's financial knowledge was limited to the little economics course he had learned in the school in the provincial capital, which he had almost forgotten. He had never managed a big bank or a big firm.Jack asked, "How do you do this job?" Rong Wusheng—he served as the acting minister of the Ministry of Finance in 1958 after the founding of the People’s Republic of China—answered, “I also want to understand this problem.” According to his introduction, 70% of the border region’s annual income comes from land taxes , 10% comes from industrial and commercial tax, 5% comes from the sale of goods and customs duties, and the rest comes from tobacco and alcohol taxes, public utility revenue and stamp duty.As for the expenditure part, 50% is used for military expenditure, 20% is used for government personnel salaries and administrative expenditure, 10% is used for education, 8% is used for industrial construction, 5% is used for public health care, 4% is used for judicial cases, and the rest Keep it in reserve. Jack asked again, "How can you fight with such a small income? It seems impossible. You must have confiscated the property of the landlords to support this war." Rong Wusheng laughed, "No, that was when the Red Army was in The way the Soviets used it, there are special reasons why we can fight on such a small budget." The reasons for Rong Wusheng are as follows: First, most of the cadres who work here are voluntary, and everyone can work almost without any pay, as long as they have a little food.Second, our government is very streamlined, we do not have bloated bureaucracy, the burden is small, and the expenditure and taxation are naturally smaller.Third, all our personnel, from government cadres to ordinary soldiers, must participate in a certain amount of productive labor in addition to their own jobs.Fourth, unlike the Kuomintang, we do not lose huge sums of money due to corruption, bribery, and malpractice. Corruption is almost impossible.Also, we are fighting for an ideal, and this one is the most important.If we escape from the corrupt and corrupt society ruled by the Kuomintang and come here to do the same thing again, what's the point? Jack then raised his own question. Since there are so few cadres, there must be many difficulties in tax collection.Don't ordinary people cheat the government by lying about their income?Rong Wusheng replied, "Of course, at the beginning we found that many farmers underreported the acres of land, and business owners underreported their profits. Because there are too few tax inspectors, we use simple democratic methods to solve this problem. Every year, every village In one or two democratic council meetings, owner farmers, tenant farmers, and landlords must report their own income at the meeting. During the meeting, the village councilors stand among the crowd and ask each farmer about his output. After the other party answers, he He asked his neighbors if the report was correct. Since everyone in the village knew each other's details, if the report was wrong, he could correct it on the spot. The method for business owners and traders was similar, calling them together and self-reporting Profitable. The approach is largely successful without the government needing a huge tax agency and not losing too much tax money." What Jack saw with his own eyes in the border area was that farmers here generally only pay 8-15% of their harvest to the government, while in the Kuomintang-controlled areas, tenants have to pay 50-90% of the land tax, and they are also forced to pay various miscellaneous goods. donate.Jack wrote, "This was not told to me by any frontier officer, but entirely observed by me. It is somewhat unbelievable to see women and children passing through the winnowing sieve and handing over the most plentiful provisions to the government. Some people invite their neighbors to appraise the grain they want to hand over to the village office. If the neighbors say the quality of the grain is not good enough, they will winnow and sift it again.” Jack also saw, “Farmers were conscripted to build roads. The tractors of the United Nations Rehabilitation and Rehabilitation Administration collectively planted seeds in the land plowed by tractors, used carts and mules to transport public grain, reclaimed wasteland, and contributed to various public projects. I think their work for the Communist Party may be more than that for KMT officials in the Kuomintang-controlled area A little more in total. However, this kind of apportionment is completely different from that practiced in the Kuomintang areas. First, labor labor is always for the common good, not for anyone’s self-interest. Second, no one becomes poor because of labor labor. It is equally apportioned. The third and most important point is that farmers think this apportionment system is fair and reasonable. As for whether farmers have been fooled by propaganda, let moralists study it.” 杰克还饶有兴趣地描述了边区的银行。他说，“我在解放区看到的一种最奇特的事业就是银行。那里的银行是在极原始的条件下营业的，其经营办法之简单，会使西方银行家们为之瞠目。” 共产党部队的银行是从放款的合作社开始的，1938年前后，在一些巩固的根据地创办了银行，一开始，它并没有得到人民的信任。有一家在山西上党地区（今长治、晋城市）创办的上党银行，因为谐音被称为“上当银行”，所以遭到不少人的嘲笑和拒绝，国民党的政府和部队更是把它妖魔化。杰克·贝尔登讲述了一个他听来的故事，国民党部队禁止士兵使用上党票，长官命令士兵用它擦屁股，有一个模范士兵，严格执行了这个命令，当真用一张五元钱的上党票擦了屁股。后来，他到一个小镇的铺子里买香烟，掏出一张十元的法币给老板，使他大为惊讶的是，老板没有法币小票而对他说，“我只能找你上党票。”这位俭省的士兵什么都不想丢，就回去捡起自己那张擦过屁股的五元上党票，细心地洗干净，拿到那个铺子去花了。杰克记录道，后来，那里的人就流传说，上党票擦了屁股还能买东西，那一定真顶用。 1941年，晋冀鲁豫边区政府成立，上党银行等几家地区银行合并为“冀南银行”，它有权发行钞票，因此具有“中央银行”的地位。从流传后世的冀南票可见，它的纸质很劣，印制粗糙，有很多钞票流通不久就磨损严重，连票面数额都无法辨认。当地工农多不识字，常常把半张一元法币与半张两元冀南票黏在一起，银行碰到这样的票子，就按一元五角收兑。因为这种政策，冀南票的信用渐渐提高。 冀南银行为了支持自己的钞票，也需储存相当的黄金白银为储备金。对于时常处在游击状态的边区政府来说，保卫这些金银是一件很冒险的事情，戎伍胜为此伤透了脑筋。他对杰克说，“我本人主张把金银埋到偏僻的山顶上，埋藏金银的行动是秘密的，而且只能在夜间进行，经过驴骡的长途驮运，才到达埋藏点，承担这项任务需要三位可靠的银行经理、出纳和一个党员，他们要把地点牢牢默记在心而不能留下任何字据。”听了戎的这种描述，杰克因此把边区的银行戏称为“月光下的银行”，他问，“只有这三个人知道银行的财宝在何处埋藏，如果他们被杀了怎么办？”戎答，“如果三个人都死了，财宝就等于丢掉了。”一直到1949年内战结束，冀南银行只丢掉过一笔1500两银子，原因是两个人牺牲了，活着的那个把确切的地点忘掉了。 透过陈嘉庚、白修德以及杰克·贝尔登等人的经历以及目击素描，大抵可以看到当时国民党和共产党政权的表现，以及后者得到民众——特别是农民拥护的原因，它与国民党政权形成了鲜明的对比，这也是日后它们各自结局的根源所在。 战争进入到1944年，局势日渐明朗，德意日轴心国败象渐现。 在中国战区，国共军队牵制了100多万的日本军队。地处西北的共产党尽管实力弱小，但是却已经积聚起逐鹿天下的雄心，国民党的腐败成为共产党人崛起的最大的政治资本。 1944年3月19日，著名文学家郭沫若在重庆《新华日报》上发表《甲申三百年祭》，三百年前的这一天，农民武装李自成攻陷北京城，崇祯皇帝自缢煤山，明朝灭亡。郭在文中写道，“其实崇祯这位皇帝倒是很有问题的。他仿佛是很想有为，然而他的办法始终是沿走着错误的路径。他在初即位的时候，曾经发挥了他的”？当机独断“除去了魏忠贤与客氏，是他最有光辉的时期。但一转眼间依赖宦官，对于军国大事的处理，枢要人物的升降，时常是朝四暮三，轻信妄断。”熟悉中国国事的人，都知道他讽指的“今日崇祯”是为何人，国民党的《中央日报》发表社论，对郭文大加抨击。而延安的毛泽东则号召全党学习该文，思考如何避免李自成式的“胜利后的骄败”。两党之明暗，识者一目了然。 4月，日军做困兽挣扎，发动“一号作战计划”，先是进击河南，继而攻陷长沙、围猎衡阳、占领桂林，兵锋直指贵阳和重庆，国军损失惨重，蒋介石召开秘密会议，一度想放弃重庆，把政府迁往甘肃西昌。这几乎是抗战八年最凶险的时刻。然而，天佑中国，到年底，麦克阿瑟率领的美军在太平洋海战中取得决定性胜利，日军被迫停止前进，终于成强弩之末。1945年4月30日，盟军攻陷柏林，希特勒自杀，德国投降。8月6日和9日，美国向日本广岛、长崎投放原子弹。8月8日，苏联对日宣战，150万苏联红军分三路向中国东北的日本关东军发起进攻。 8月15日，就在宋子文当上行政院院长的3个月后，日本在密苏里号战列舰上签定无条件投降，至此历时8年的全面抗战取得了胜利。 第二次世界大战的结束，意味着全球政治和经济秩序的重建。在过去两百年里不可一世的“日不落帝国”英国终于让出了第一强国的地位，新崛起的美国和苏联取代了它的地位，而形同水火的意识形态对立让这两个国家各自为营，世界迅速进入两强对立的冷战年代，这一状态将长达半个世纪之久，直到1990年苏联解体。（战后，很多英属殖民地纷纷谋求独立，1947年6月，英国将印度分为印度和巴基斯坦两个自治领地，同年8月15日，印巴分治，印度独立。） 对全球经济而言，战后最重要的事件有两个。 第一是布雷顿森林货币体系（Bretton Woods system）的确立，早在战争即将结束的1944年，同盟国就开始讨论战后经济重建的命题，7月，44个国家的特使聚集在美国新罕布什尔州的布雷顿森林，通过了《国际货币基金协定》，战后的1945年12月底，22个国家签署《布雷顿森林协定》。这个协定最重要的结论是，确立了美元与黄金的对价关系，美元直接与黄金挂钩，各国货币则与美元挂钩，从此，美元替代英镑成为新的国际储备货币——这也是“美金”这个名词的由来。此外，成立了三个国际性的经济组织，它们就是日后的世界银行、国际货币基金组织和世界关税贸易总协定组织，其中，前两个机构的总部均在美国纽约。战败的德国被分裂成西德、东德，（二战之后，德国首都柏林被一分为二，1961年8月，东德政府在分界线上筑起了一道“柏林墙”，它成为冷战最著名的标志。1990年10月3日，德国重新统一，柏林墙被拆除。至此，美苏对抗的时代结束。）日本则从废墟中重新起步，这两个国家将在30年后重新回到世界经济强国的序列之中。 第二个重大事件是“马歇尔计划”（又称“欧洲复兴计划”European Recovery Program）的提出和实施，这个战后最大的经济重建计划启动于1947年7月，美国以金融、技术、设备等各种形式，向西欧各国提供130亿美元的援助。这个计划既拉动了欧洲的复兴，又让美国在战争时期形成的以武器制造为目标的重工业产业得以向民用领域转型。“马歇尔计划”还消除——或者说减弱了历史上长期存在于西欧各国之间的关税及贸易壁垒，因此也被认为是促成欧洲经济一体化的重要因素之一。 在经济学界，一个人的去世和一个人的“到来”，同样充满了寓意性。 1946年4月，当世最伟大的英国经济学家凯恩斯在落寞中去世，尽管他创立的“凯恩斯主义”统治了世界，但是他的祖国却正在没落。在离世前的一年多里，他一直试图捍卫英国的战后利益，在布雷顿森林会议上，他反对美元与黄金挂钩，因而提出了超主权货币Bancor（世界货币）的主张，这个方案不出意外地遭到了美国人的嘲笑和否决。一个伟大的经济学家终于无法阻挡一个伟大帝国的诞生。 也是在1946年，37岁的美国咨询公司顾问彼得·德鲁克（1909－2005）出版了让他名留青史的著作《公司的概念》，这是他对美国通用汽车公司进行了18个月的调研后写成的，在书中，德鲁克首次提出“组织”的概念，他建议企业应该培养“有管理能力”的、有“责任感”的工人和一个“自我管理的工厂社区”。德鲁克日后被认定为现代管理学的奠基人，是“大师中的大师”，他所代表的美国式管理思想从此将取代亚当·斯密和凯恩斯，成为新的流行风尚。 在过去的八年时间里，中国的经济建设被彻底打断，全国的非正常死亡人口约为1500万到2000万，难民总数超过6500万人，75％的工商业城市陷于战火。据中国社科院近代史研究所卞修跃提供的数据，整个抗日战争期间，中国遭受的直接经济损失高达620亿美元，间接损失5000亿美元，延缓中国现代化进程可能达半个世纪之久。中央党校的周天勇教授则计算道，从1931年“九一八事变”到1945年8月日本投降的14年里，按1937年的币值计算，日本侵略给中国造成的直接经济损失达1000多亿美元，间接经济损失达5000多亿美元，掠夺煤炭5.86亿吨，木材1亿立方米。外资在华损失约为8亿美元。 当昭和天皇宣布无条件投降的声音从电台里传来的时候，所有的中国人都喜极而泣。这是一场猝不及防的胜利，人们在漫长的黑暗绝望中突然看到了和平的刺眼曙光。 然而，接下来发生的现实却比梦想要残酷一万倍。