"The people's support for the army is heavier than Mount Tai's, and the army's love for the people is like the depth of the East China Sea."
A special IOU was kept in the home of a farmer in Xiaochang County, Hubei Province, which was a 400 silver IOU borrowed from Yang Changyin by the Red Army that year, and was not published until 85 years later.
It clearly stated the date and amount of the loan, as well as the reason for the Red Army Tu Xing's loan "In order to expand the scale of the armed forces, he specially borrowed 400 silver dollars from Yang Changyin" for borrowing. What really happened back then? How much is the previous 400 silver dollars worth now?
Serve
To talk about this matter, we have to mention China's revolutionary war, and from 1927 to 1937, the state sent one armed force after another of workers and peasants to the people to help suppress military bandits and feudal landlordism. Unlike the Kuomintang troops, the Red Army stood on the same line with the people, so wherever the Red Army went, it was warmly welcomed by the people.
But at that time, the Red Army had just been established, many systems were not yet fully mature, not only lacked ammunition, the Red Army in the troops rarely had enough to eat, in addition to the constant infestation of bandits and the Kuomintang. In many base areas established in the countryside, sometimes the people will send some materials very intimately.
But most of these were rejected by the Red Army, because there were rules in the army that it was absolutely impossible to take a needle and a thread from the people, and if there was a real need, it was necessary to write down an IOU before accepting it. At this time, a Red Army came to Xiaogan County, and at first the people were still very wary of them, but when they saw these Red Army, they would only rest nearby and did not disturb them.
Already feeling that these Red Army did not come to loot materials, and they were strictly disciplined and enthusiastically helping the local people, and gradually more and more people began to contact them, and the village chief Yang Changyin had the courage to come forward to inquire and learned that they were good people who had come to help our people fight the landlords.
The people gave generously
As a result, the Red Army gradually integrated into these people, and the people usually sent them some food, so the Red Army helped them cut firewood and carry water, but tu Xingxing, the leader of the Red Army Brigade, always frowned, and seemed to have some troubles in his heart.
Originally, Tu Xing felt that winter was coming, that many comrades in the army had not yet had large cotton jackets for the winter, that there was not enough food to eat, and that if they wanted to further expand the armed forces, they would need a greater sum of money. Thinking about it, Tu Xing hesitated to come to the door of the village chief, and stood for half a day or knocked on the door of Yang Changyin's house.
Yang Changyin saw the captain tu xing with a difficult face and said to himself, can you borrow a sum of money to expand the materials of the troops. Yang Changyin did not hesitate to turn his head back to the room and took out 300 silver round plugs from the box to tu xingxing.
This was Yang Changyin's savings that he had saved for a long time, and he was worried that the money was not enough, so he hurriedly let his son shout in the village and asked everyone to raise money for the Red Army. Together with Yang Changyin's 300 silver dollars and the 100 silver yuan that the people had piecemeal together, they were all handed over to Tu Xingxing.
Although everyone did not need any remuneration and said that they did not have to pay it back, they still wrote down an IOU at the strong request of Tu Xingxing, and they were not at ease and personally stamped it. Tu Xing shed tears of excitement and said to Yang Changyin,
"As long as the Chinese Red Army is still there, this money will definitely be returned to everyone." We, the Red Army, resolutely do not take a needle and a thread from the masses! ”
Deliver on your promises
Later, Yang Changyin did not see Tu Xingxing again until he left the human world, and this IOU was also left to future generations along with other legacies. Yang Changyin's grandson Yang Mingrong, while dealing with his grandfather's affairs, inadvertently discovered the IOU that his grandfather had carefully kept.
Seeing the drop on it, I couldn't help but be surprised. He rushed to the local government to verify the authenticity of this IOU, and after repeated inspection by the staff, he found that this IOU was indeed the IOU of the Red Army that year, and promised that New China would fulfill its promises.
According to the purchasing power of the year, it is converted into RMB and returned. At that time, the silver dollar was still very valuable, also known as "Yuan Xiaotou", its denomination was second only to "Yuan Datou", and the value of a silver dollar could be equivalent to 400 yuan now.
But after this, the silver dollar continued to depreciate, a silver dollar is equivalent to the current 100 yuan, and the 400 silver dollars lent by this IOU are equivalent to the current 40,000 yuan, which can be seen that even now, 400 silver yuan is still a considerable amount.
epilogue
The IOUs that Yang Changyin has preserved to this day embody the feelings of the military and the people before the revolution, and we have to respect the spirit of the Red Army, their perseverance and the spirit of serving the people will always be remembered, which is also one of the indispensable virtues in our modern society.
In your opinion, is this 400 silver dollar worth this money?