Chapter 38 oriental fortitude

Mr. Wang became Boss Wang and started to set up a factory and start a business.He is very business-minded, the factory is booming, and a branch factory has been opened.However, unlike the common use of troops to make profits at that time, all factories and business organizations belonged to Wang Yaowu's private enterprises, and he did not personally participate in it, but arranged for friends to handle it on behalf of others.After earning money, most of the money was used for military subsidies to improve and improve the living conditions of officers and soldiers. Before and after the Northern Expedition, if we compare domestic living standards, the treatment of Chinese soldiers is still acceptable. If they can be paid normally without owed wages, they can even be called generous.Take the Cantonese army as an example. Soldiers have three yuan (silver dollars) in military pay and six yuan in food expenses every month. As long as they don't get any bad habits, they will send home the surplus money every month.Starting from a warrant officer, an officer is paid 32 yuan a month, and when he becomes a major general, he gets 320 yuan. If his ancestral grave smokes and he can be promoted to a general, he gets 800 yuan a month!

Officials with real power also have greater sources of income. For example, as long as they deposit military funds in private banks, they can earn high interest.Among the generals of the Kuomintang, Fang Jing is relatively clean and honest, but according to his self-report, he spent 4,000 yuan to buy an old house in Shanghai for his first term as regimental commander, and spent another 12,000 yuan after he was promoted to brigade commander. He renovated the old house into a building, and also sponsored his brother to open a printing factory in Nanyang. Later, with the reform of the currency system, the military pay was changed from silver dollars to banknotes, that is, the legal currency issued by the national government.Before the Anti-Japanese War, the prices were relatively stable. After the Anti-Japanese War, the prices rose by somersaults, and the French currency depreciated rapidly. However, the salaries and food expenses of the soldiers still did not increase. This amount of money could not buy any vegetable cooking oil at all. In the words of the soldiers, "(The banknotes issued) are too slippery to wipe your butt!"

If there is another problem with the supply of military rations, it will be difficult for soldiers to even drink porridge. Therefore, many troops deserted at that time. One was because they were hungry on the front line; After being arrested, I was very worried that my family members would not be able to make a living. An officer's life is no better than a soldier's. After the "September 18th Incident" broke out, the Ministry of Military and Political Affairs stipulated that the "National Disaster Salary" be issued. The military pay from generals to colonels was halved, 40% off for majors, and 30% off for lieutenants.In contrast, high-level military officers have been less affected, and even those chief officials with real power can still make profits for themselves through various income-generating channels. It is the grass-roots military officers and those staff who have positions but no power, who are no more than soldiers. , Most of them drag their families and children, and the burden is very heavy, which cannot be maintained by "national disaster salary" alone.As a result, those who can lead soldiers will be short of soldiers, or let soldiers help them to work and run business, and those who cannot lead soldiers even secretly use the troops' mules and horses to carry salt in exchange for local specialties in order to maintain a basic life and dignity.

Wang Yaowu is very aware of this, and he also knows that these problems cannot be solved above, and can only be "self-relief".He bought fields in Jiangxi, Guangxi and other places, and let old and disabled officers and soldiers reclaim farms. When the troops reorganized and trained, they also reclaimed farms and livestock farms to grow vegetables, fruits, chickens, ducks, pigs, and fish. Farmers and Soldiers Unite", and the results obtained are used to improve the non-staple food of officers and soldiers.Feng Yuxiang, who is good at military training, once inspected the 74th Army, and after the inspection, he also expressed his satisfaction with the living conditions of the officers and soldiers of the 74th Army.

Naturally, the identity of the "Boss Wang" cannot be given up. During the Anti-Japanese War, Wang Yaowu not only ran the business as usual, but also sent people to sell daily necessities in various places. These daily necessities were also sold to officers and soldiers of the 74th Army, but the price was higher than the market price. 10% lower. With money in hand, you can do things without haste.In the Seventy-Fourth Army, officers and soldiers at all levels had any public or private financial difficulties, which could be resolved immediately.When the subordinates go home with private matters, as long as they go to see Wang Yaowu, Wang Yaowu will give him travel expenses as a gift, so the officers and soldiers under him are all grateful to him and strive to serve him.

Wang Yaowu is not the kind of person who puts on airs. The salary of an officer is shy, which will not only embarrass and embarrass him, but also not conducive to boosting morale and attracting talents. After all, people cannot always live by slogans that are full of enthusiasm.Knowing this, Wang Yaowu allowed the junior officers of the Seventy-Fourth Army to take up vacancies—not for soldiers, but for long-term husbands, that is, the vacancies when recruiting civilians. According to the regulations, the head of the regiment can get 20, which means that he can get an additional subsidy of 300 yuan, and the company commander can get half of it, and even the platoon leader can get at least 15 yuan.If the army needs to recruit civilians temporarily, the remuneration will still be paid, but it is strictly forbidden to arrest civilians. Similarly, the Seventy-Fourth Army is also strictly prohibited from eating the vacancies of soldiers, which allows the troops to always maintain a complete and sufficient number of soldiers.

All Western journalists who have been to China were deeply shocked by the difficult conditions and heroic spirit of Chinese soldiers.These soldiers are always in danger of being destroyed by the weapons of the 20th century, but most of the social organizations and medical care behind them still belong to ancient China. British reporter Atri has seen many Chinese soldiers on the front line, and witnessed how thin the soldiers' bodies and how weak their limbs are, but under such conditions, the survivors on the battlefield will still continue to fight the next day . In the eyes of foreigners, this oriental perseverance is really a mysterious miracle.Some people even invented a theory about it, saying that the nervous system of Chinese people must be different from that of Westerners, so they don't feel the same as Westerners.

Of course not.It is still the courageous American Carlson who said well: "As long as the Chinese soldiers are given spiritual encouragement and enough food, there is no difficulty that they cannot overcome safely. Their perseverance is unsurpassed. They His patience is unparalleled in the world!" Ateli also firmly believes that no matter how backward the weapons and equipment are and how poor the logistical conditions are, China will surely win because this country has the greatest soldiers in the world. Carlson and Atri are right.Wang Yaowu's leadership made the Seventy-Fourth Army more well-equipped and well-equipped, and this powerful army gradually entered its heyday in history.