In 1945, the year of victory in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Zhang Xueliang, who forced Chiang Kai-shek to resist Japan, was placed under house arrest for the tenth year. At this time, Zhang Xue's conscience was burning, and he felt that since the War of Resistance had ended, his "discipline" caused by the War of Resistance should also end.
But to Zhang Xueliang's surprise, Chiang Kai-shek had no intention of releasing him. Impatient, Zhang Xueliang sent someone to take out a Swiss watch of his own and send it to Chiang Kai-shek.
Sending a "clock" at such a time, the wise man Chiang Kai-shek knew at a glance that this was Zhang Xueliang's "gift" to imply to himself, the time was up, it was time to be free.
After receiving this special "gift," Chiang Kai-shek "returned the gift" for the first time.
When Zhang Xueliang received Chiang Kai-shek's "return gift", he was completely confused: a 1936 annual calendar, and a pair of embroidered slippers. After receiving these two gifts, Zhang Xueliang's heart was instantly cold, and he knew that this was Chiang Kai-shek telling him: He had always remembered the enmity he had with Zhang Xueliang when he was "a soldier" in 1936; therefore, the release was a word - "drag" (slippers).
Soon after Zhang Xueliang's desire for freedom was shattered, he wrote a letter to Song Ziwen, Song Meiling's brother, who was in Nanjing at the time. The letter is sprinkled with hundreds of words, but there is no mention of politics, etc., but all about private matters.
In this letter, Zhang Xueliang inadvertently revealed the whole picture of his "house arrest" career at this time to Song Ziwen. The reason for this is that he regards Song Ziwen as a friend and brother, and second, it is because he wants to borrow money from Song Ziwen in this way.
Zhang Xueliang in the letter was so naïve that people could not refuse, and after talking about the economic situation, he wrote:
"My brother (I) have never been poor, and sometimes my brother and my fourth sister (Miss Zhao Si) laugh and think that I don't have a penny in my hand, which is really fun."
Usually, people are discouraged when they encounter economic difficulties, but in the past, Zhang Xueliang and Zhao Si, a rich young lady, "looked at each other and laughed" in front of this dilemma and felt that it was "very fun".
So the question is, what is the state of "no money" in Zhang Xueliang's eyes, and the answer is hidden in the "crying poor" part of his letter to Song Ziwen. What is certain is that Zhang Xueliang's "no money" and ordinary people's "no money" standards are by no means the same. Ordinary people will only feel that they have "no money" when they "have no food", cannot live, and are in a hurry to use money and cannot get it.
But Zhang Xueliang's concept of "no money" is completely different, in the distress letter to Song Ziwen, he described his "no money life" in this way:
Now the price of goods is soaring, the brother and the fourth sister smoke almost a thousand cigarettes a month, that is, the crappy goods "big and small" brand cigarettes, but also nearly 10,000 yuan. I still want Chesterfield cards..."
This passage reveals a lot of information, one of which is that prices rose at that time. To what extent, Zhang Xueliang also explained that ten thousand yuan could not be used for hundreds of yuan before the war (there was a suspicion of exaggeration), and smoking crappy cigarettes would cost tens of thousands of yuan a month.
In fact, the cigarettes of the "crappy goods" and "big and small Ying" brands in Zhang Xueliang's mouth are just "crappy goods" in his mouth. The contemporary Lao She once clearly pointed out when mentioning "Big and Small Britain" in "Mr. He Rong's Smoking Cessation": This kind of smoke produced in the United Kingdom is extremely well-known, and it is on a par with brands such as Daqianmen, Three Fortresses, and Hademen, and is the "first-line product" of the tobacco industry at that time.
That is to say, even during the period of house arrest, Zhang Xueliang, who has "no money", still smokes imported first-line brand cigarettes. But he did not think it was good, but he was very disgusted, and wanted to seek help from Song Ziwen so that he would no longer be aggrieved and could re-smoke the cigarette brand he usually smoked: Chesterfield.
Zhang Xueliang's Chesterfield brand cigarettes are a cigarette brand with a high reputation, popularity and a long history in the world, and a pack of such cigarettes is probably enough for ordinary people to live for a month.
After calculating the cost of cigarettes, Zhang Xueliang began to calculate other living expenses, and he continued to write bitterly:
"Every month to read magazines, buy books, and the cost of two servants, the four of us wear shoes and socks, quilts, etc., a total of a few thousand a month, change a pair of cloth shoes, always more than a hundred yuan, a sheet, always more than two thousand yuan, if you make a set of cloth cotton clothes, a total of three thousand." 」
It can be seen from here that although Zhang Xueliang's life at this time was not as "good" as when he was initially under house arrest, his life was by no means the "no money" day in the concept of ordinary people.
From the above text, it can be seen that zhang Xueliang at this time can read magazines and books every day, and there are two servants in life, who will buy new clothes and shoes every month, and even the sheets and quilt covers are changed every month. From the price, we can see that these objects are not cheap.
In this intimate letter, Zhang Xueliang even "shook" his usual cost of brushing his teeth and showed it to Song Ziwen, who said:
"The four of us just brush our teeth and we get five hundred yuan a month."
At this time, it is not known how Song Ziwen felt, but ordinary people can't help but laugh when they see this. After all, it is wide and small, brushing teeth, but also five hundred pieces, needless to say, this toothpaste is definitely a brand of Chesterfield.
After stating this, Zhang Xueliang did not forget to say semi-self-deprecatingly:
"Brother is about to become a miserly ghost at the moment, smoking cigarettes to the end, reluctant to lose cigarette butts." Walk to pick soft, afraid of costing shoes. You'll laugh when you hear it. ”
Zhang Xueliang's words should be heard in reverse, which is actually saying: In the past, he never smoked to the end, smoked two mouthfuls and threw it away, and never considered whether it cost or not to spend shoes when walking, even if this cigarette and shoes were very expensive.
It is said that thanks to this letter, it was written to Song Ziwen, and if this letter was written to ordinary people, they would probably be inexplicable. You know, in the eyes of ordinary people: smoking is not finished, walking without considering shoes, then there is a problem!
Song Ziwen
After laying the groundwork, Zhang Xueliang began to cut into the theme of borrowing money. He said bluntly to Song Ziwen:
"Now we cannot but ask my brother for help, and I plan to borrow hundreds of thousands of yuan from the Bank of China or my brother in the name of the fourth sister, or I will be repaid by my brother in the future, or I will be immediately repaid by my brother in the United States."
To put it bluntly, this is: I, brother, you borrow hundreds of thousands of yuan, and then I will still be or my American wife Yu Fengzhi.
As for why it is hundreds of thousands of people to open their mouths, Zhang Xueliang himself said:
"My brother always gets twenty thousand pocket money every month, and it is frightening to hear this amount, but it is actually only one or two hundred yuan of that year." Please brother figure it out for me. Otherwise, tens of thousands of numbers will be gone, so what will happen next month?"
In addition to adding to why he borrowed such a large amount, he also told Song Ziwen: If it is tens of thousands of pieces, you will not send it to me, and it will be gone.
It is worth noting that earlier, Zhang Xueliang also said that "ten thousand yuan is equivalent to several hundred pieces" when mentioning the soaring price, but here, twenty thousand yuan is only equivalent to one or two hundred. The speed at which prices are soaring is really frightening.
At the end of this letter, it is estimated that he was afraid that Song Ziwen would not borrow it, so Zhang Xueliang came again with a "god to mend the sword", he wrote:
"Now that I have become a real countryman, a cloth of great cloth, a crown of white, some people may misunderstand that I am a disciple of Mr. Feng Huanzhang (Feng Yuxiang)."
This sounds humorous, but it actually makes people laugh and angry. Not to mention whether the countrymen wear cloth clothes and white hats, how many countrymen do not have to do anything and servants to serve?
However, after this angry and funny "distress letter" was delivered to Song Ziwen's hands, it received unexpected results. About the brother Zhang Xueliang "feel poor and fun" is very touching, and about the brother into a countryman pitiful, in short, Song Ziwen is not only the realization of all Zhang Xueliang's wishes, but also a lot of high-end goods.
Song Ziwen not only instructed the Bank of Taiwan to send Zhang Xueliang 200,000 Taiwan dollars, but also entrusted Mo Dehui, the elder of the Northeast Army, to send him a large number of high-grade items. Among them, in addition to Zhang Xueliang's ten Chesterfield brand cigarettes, there are also fine wine, coffee, EDIFH silk scarf, fat red and so on. By the way, even the fishing rod Song Ziwen sent, and it is still the kind of "can stretch and shrink".
Song Ziwen's work was really watertight, and when he purchased these objects, he also deliberately let Dai Kasa, who was in charge of Zhang Xueliang, know about it. The reason for this is because Song Ziwen wants to tell Dai Kasa in this way: You see how miserable your brother is, and you have to take care of his life in the future.
After receiving the reply from Qianwu and Song Ziwen, Zhang Xueliang gratefully wrote back to the letter:
"Brother's house is too distracted. The brother handed over legal tender, cigarettes, and so on, so that the brother could no longer say thank you. And sending charcoal in the snow is deeply loved, only the heart is hidden. ”
After receiving the reply, Song Ziwen replied again:
"Brotherhood is brotherhood, and it must be dealt with in a down-to-earth manner."
After that, Zhang Xueliang's life in captivity took it to a higher level. According to Zhang Xueliang's relevant letter, after adding the objects sent by Song Ziwen, his life is like this:
In the morning, after Zhang Xueliang and Zhao Si brushed their teeth, the maid served exquisite meals, and after the meal, Zhang Xueliang began to sit on the sofa and read books and newspapers, while Zhao Si fiddled with her rouge in front of the dressing mirror. After the sun came out, Zhang Xueliang sat in the sun and leisurely smoked his Chestnutfield brand cigarette, and on the small round table next to him, there was freshly brewed tea or brewed coffee...
It can be said that although Zhang Xueliang's life after being placed under house arrest was not as good as people thought, the 52 years without freedom did indeed devastate him too much. Perhaps, if freedom is exchanged for the peace of the chaotic world, gaoshou and his love with Zhao Si, Zhang Xueliang may not hesitate to choose the former.
After all, nothing is more important than freedom.