History has its own life, it is like a person, both easy-going and self-respecting. ——Yu Qiuyu
Everyone knows that no matter what era of war, as long as there is a war, the people will be affected. During the War of Resistance Against Japan, not only did the people live in poverty, but the soldiers often could not eat, and the army at that time did not have the government to distribute food to them, and everything had to rely on themselves. But even so, the warriors' determination to kill the enemy and defend the country has never changed. As for eating, they have almost no requirements, as long as they can eat and can fill their stomachs, they will not refuse.
Because the life of the common people is not good, the Red Army has always had a clear disciplinary principle: we must not take a needle and a thread from the common people. It is precisely because of the strict style of the Red Army that no matter where they go, they are deeply loved by the local people. The common people will also spontaneously raise money and food, hoping to share the responsibilities and burdens of the Red Army. But the Red Army never accepted it, because not taking the people's goods was their most basic principle and bottom line, and it must not be violated.
But the hardships in the process of resisting Japan were unimaginable to those born in the peaceful era. Materials were already very scarce, and the war was consumed very quickly, and in the case of running out of ammunition, the Red Army could only helplessly ask the people for help, but they would buy the materials they received from the people at a high price. Even if there is no money, they will be stamped with an IOU, telling the people that they will pay it back in the future. After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, the Red Army began to take IOUs and look for repayment one by one, so that the people were more convinced of the Red Army and were proud of the Red Army from the bottom of their hearts.
However, the number of IOUs was quite large, and many people were displaced during the war, and some IOUs were lost due to improper preservation, so a very small number of IOUs could not be cashed because they were lost or could not be found. The next thing I want to tell you is a story related to IOUs. An old farmer in Hubei took out an IOU that the Red Army had originally made, and their family lent the Red Army 400 oceans 85 years ago, at that time, four hundred oceans was not a small amount, and after so many years, how much money can it be exchanged for now? What's going on in between?
The old farmer who took out the IOU was named Yang Mingrong, and this IOU belonged to his grandfather Yang Changyin. This story takes place in the early 1930s, when a farmer in Jinbin Village, Xiaogan County, Hubei Province, that is, Yang Changyin, after learning that the Red Army stationed in the local area was in difficulty, resolutely decided to lend all his belongings to the Red Army three hundred oceans, and also borrowed one hundred oceans from relatives and friends in nearby townships, and lent a total of four hundred oceans to the Red Army. The old man really wanted to help the Red Army, so he never mentioned it again afterwards.
According to Yang Mingrong's recollection, his grandfather Yang Changyin never took the initiative to mention this IOU in the following eighty years, and rarely answered the story about this IOU. It was not until after the old man's death that Yang Mingrong, out of curiosity about the IOU and wanted to know how much the four hundred oceans of 85 years ago were worth now, did he take out the IOU. After the local government knew about it, it tested the authenticity of the IOU at the first time, and after expert inspection, the IOU was indeed true. But why didn't the Red Army commander pay back this IOU? After some investigation, it was learned that the money borrowed from the IOU was the Seventh Brigade of the First Division of the Red Army, which was responsible for guerrilla warfare, and when it was time to find the old man to pay back, the old man's family had left the place, and they looked around, but they suffered from no news, and finally they could only give up. So how much are these oceans worth now?
According to the economic changes in the past eighty years, experts infer that a piece of ocean in the Republic of China period was equivalent to 350 yuan now, but later due to inflation, the purchasing power of an ocean in 1930 was only equivalent to the current one hundred yuan, and finally gave the conclusion that four hundred oceans could be exchanged for forty thousand yuan. But forty thousand yuan is only the principal, delayed for 85 years, and the interest in these 85 years can be more than the principal. In the end, the local government decided to repay the repayment of 400,000 yuan to the old man's grandson, which was also to thank the old man for his generosity at that time. After 85 years, the repayment was finally repaid to the family. And this borrowing also continues the friendship between the military and the people. The reason why the War of Resistance Against Japan was so smooth was irreplaceable for the support of these people behind it.