The old man took out the IOU from 85 years ago, and the Red Army borrowed four hundred oceans, and now how much should he pay back
On August 4, 2019, Li Dengke from Hui Nationality Township in Hubeikou shared with the world a leaflet "What is the Red Army" that has been burned through fire, yellowed in color, but clearly written, and told the story of the Long March behind the leaflet in front of the camera. The text recorded in the leaflet is less than 500 words, the content is simple and unpretentious, but it carries the indelible spirit of the Long March.
Leaflets record the selflessness and care of the masses of the Red Army, and every time the Red Army goes to a new place, it will confiscate the grain of unscrupulous local tycoons, provide relief to the poor who cannot afford to eat, and exempt the poor from all taxes, allowing them not to pay rent. The practice of "cracking down on local tycoons and dividing up the land and producing property" has won the recognition and support of the broad masses of peasants, making the civilians deeply feel that the Red Army is a poor contingent and strengthening confidence.
Through further interviews, the reporter learned that many villages at that time were posting slogans that read, "Peasants who have no food to eat, come and join the Red Army," and the response of the masses was surprisingly high. From this we can see that the Red Army is not only a contingent capable of enduring hardships and fighting hard battles, but also a contingent that always thinks of the people and serves the people wholeheartedly.
Help is mutual, and when the Red Army ranks are short of food, clothing, food, and suffering for the common good of the people of the whole country, the people are also doing their best to donate materials and generously. In 2015, Yang Mingrong, a villager in Jinpen Village, Xiaochang County, Hubei Province, suddenly pulled out an IOU from 85 years ago, and the debtor was a huge Red Army team.
Yang Mingrong publicly expressed his hope to cash in the amount in the IOU, what is going on?
The difficult situation of the Red Army
The fundamental reason why the common people have always supported and supported the Red Army is that the Red Army has strict discipline and civilized behavior, cracked down on local tycoons for the people, opened warehouses and released grain, wholeheartedly safeguarded the interests of the people, and will never do anything that harms the interests of the masses. In 1928, the Red Army officially announced the three major disciplines and six major precautions.
Among them, those related to the masses of the people are "not to take anything from the workers and peasants", "to be kind when talking to the peasants", "to return things borrowed in time", "damaged things must be settled", and so on. Then, every member of the Red Army strictly obeyed the rules, leaving a good impression on the people along the road, and the people gradually changed from their initial grievances to their deep belief in the Red Army.
In 1930, the Red First Army greatly increased in strength while facing several encirclements and suppressions, even though they fought heroically, faced difficulties, and smashed the enemy's combat plans one after another, but the objective conditions of lack of materials and harsh environment still made it difficult for the Red Army to move forward. Due to the lack of food, some of the Red Army was starved to death, and some of the physically exhausted Red Army died on the battlefield.
After witnessing the hardships and toils of the Red Army, the people could not bear it, and the masses gave generously. However, the Red Army kept in mind the three major disciplines and the six major precautions, and resolutely did not accept a needle and a thread from the people. However, forced by the limitations of the objective environment, the Red Army could only reluctantly propose to accept donations from the people in the name of "borrowing grain".
All the people who donated and borrowed grain were given a loan voucher from the Red Army, and when the revolution was victorious, they could ask the Red Army to cash it in.
The "huge sum" of 400 oceans
In 1930, the size of the army in Xiaogan County, Hubei Province, expanded to 1,500 people, an instant increase of 300 people, making the life of the Already Difficult Red Army worse, and whether the army's materials could be supplied in time became a huge problem. In desperation, the Red Army had to go door to door to find loans from the people.
Just as the Red Army visited the home of villager Yang Changyin, Yang Changyin, who was extremely conscious, rummaged through boxes and cabinets and took out 300 oceans, which was the savings he had accumulated through his life's hard work. But Yang Changyin still felt that 300 oceans was just a drop in the bucket, and he borrowed 100 oceans from relatives and friends around him, which was exactly 400 yuan, all donated to the Red Army.
The Red Army was deeply touched by Yang Changyin's donation, but was embarrassed to accept the donation in vain, so it specially wrote an IOU and promised that the loan would be returned in the future. On the yellowed IOU, it is clearly marked the reason why the Red Army borrowed from people, and clearly wrote out the borrower and the amount borrowed. Among them, "because our Red Army is now expanding its armed economy ... Specially borrowed four hundred yuan from Mr. Yang Changyin", this sentence directly named the borrowing process.
In addition, the borrower's office was stamped with the captain's stamp tu xingxing. It can be seen from this that the Red Army attaches great importance to the act of borrowing money from the people and has high admiration for the people. Yang Changyin has a strong patriotic heart, and the bondage at home makes it impossible for him to join the ranks of the Red Army, and can only do some modest efforts for the country by borrowing money to help the Red Army.
40,000 yuan cashed
After the founding of New China, he knew that the loan of the IOU could be cashed, but Yang Changyin never thought of exchanging the amount of the arrears, and he even regarded the IOU as a supreme honor and carefully treasured it, as if it were an heirloom in the family. It wasn't until 2015 that Yang Changyin's descendant, Yang Mingrong, discovered this yellowed IOU. Soon, experts and scholars examined the authenticity of this IOU.
Today, 400 yuan is the money for a meal, however, in the 1930s, 400 oceans was not a small amount. Considering inflation and the purchasing power of silver dollars, Yang Changyin's loans must have exceeded 400 oceans long ago. In the end, Yang Mingrong exchanged a tattered IOU for 40,000 yuan in arrears.
In fact, the Red Army issued countless IOUs to the people, and the people's behavior of finding the Red Army to take the initiative to exchange IOUs is also innumerable, if it were not for the fact that life was really hard, Yang Mingrong would not have directly exchanged the IOUs that his father had treasured all his life. Nowadays, many people collect IOUs and collect them.
These IOUs reflect the Determination of the Red Army to face the difficulties and not be afraid of tomorrow, and also record the events of the people reaching out to help the Red Army in the most difficult times, showing the deep bond between the Red Army and the people. The IOUs treasured by Yang Mingrong have a history of 85 years, which is the performance of the people and the Red Army's "military and civilian fish and water family affinity".
epilogue:
In short, no matter when and where, we should remember history and carry forward the spirit of the Red Army that will never die, not only the spirit of the Red Army that is not afraid of sacrifice, dare to fight, and persevere, but also the spirit of mutual care and mutual help with the masses of the people, which is also one of the indispensable virtues and spirits of modern society.