In 1981, the Shanxi provincial government came to an old man named Guo Jianying, and Guo Jianying came this time with an unusual thing - an IOU.
Yes, Guo Jianying came this time to "collect debts", and the IOU in his hand is an heirloom of their family, which says that the Eighth Route Army borrowed 11 million French dollars from Guo Jianying's grandfather Guo Yangming, and has not yet returned it.
Charcoal in the snow
What's going on? Originally, in 1940, the Japanese army sent a large number of troops to encircle and suppress the Eighth Route Army in the Shanxi area, and in order to protect the safety of the base areas, the Eighth Route Army fought a bloody battle with the Japanese invaders for more than a month, and finally won a stage victory, but after the victory, new problems emerged.
After the defeat of the Japanese army, in order to reverse the situation, it carried out a strict blockade of various towns in Shanxi, and also frequently destroyed the logistics and transportation lines of the Eighth Route Army, resulting in the Eighth Route Army not being able to receive food replenishment. However, the Eighth Route Army and the Japanese Army had fought for such a long time, and they had already fallen into a situation of lack of food, and now the Japanese Army was doing so, which forced the Eighth Route Army to a dead end.
Seeing that it was about to enter winter, the Eighth Route Army would not have enough to eat, wear, and warm, and if it could no longer find food supplies, it was afraid that if it did not need the Japanese to fight, the Eighth Route Army would lose its combat effectiveness. In desperation, the Eighth Route Army had to raise grain in the surrounding villages and towns, but although the people had the heart to help, they suffered from the fact that their own granaries were not rich, and the Eighth Route Army naturally preferred to starve itself rather than let the people go hungry, so as the days passed, the two rooms still did not land.
Until one day, Guo Yangming learned that the Eighth Route Army had no food. This Guo Yangming was a famous large landlord in Shanxi at that time, not only sitting on a hundred acres of good land, but also investing in many factories in the city, which can be said to be very rich. However, although Guo Yangming is a landlord, he has a very good heart, has always been kind and charitable, and has a chivalrous heart. Moreover, he had great admiration for the Eighth Route Army, so when he heard that the Eighth Route Army was in difficulty, Guo Yangming decided to help.
The Eighth Route Army could not buy grain, but it was not difficult for Guo Yangming, the boss, to buy grain. Guo Yangming took out his savings of 11 million French currency and sent his family to the surrounding towns to buy grain, although the blockade of the Japanese Kou was very serious, but the heavy money fell, and many merchants still sold the grain to Guo Yangming. A few days later, Guo Yangming dragged 11 million French dollars worth of grain, enough for ten truckloads, to the eighth route army station.
The Eighth Route Army was worried about not being able to eat, and seeing these ten truckloads of grain pulled by Guo Yangming, the commanders and fighters of the Eighth Route Army were so excited that they didn't know what to say. However, although Guo Yangming's grandfather did not ask for anything in return, the Eighth Route Army could not take the grain of others in vain, and after receiving the grain, the Eighth Route Army opened an IOU to Guo Yangming and stamped the seal of the Eighth Route Army.
Heirloom
Guo Yangming looked at it and refused, saying, "What IOU?" Don't say it all, this is what Guo Yangming sent you! But the Eighth Route Army insisted that the army had military rules, so Guo Yangming must take the IOU, and if Guo Yangming did not take the IOU, they could not take the grain. Listening to the Eighth Route Army's insistence, Guo Yangming had no choice but to accept it. He said with great emotion: "The Eighth Route Army is different from those Japanese and The Kuomintang, and I have not helped the wrong people!" ”
However, Guo Yangming never planned to really ask the Eighth Route Army for an account, and before he died, Guo Yangming often said to his wife: "People beat us devils, and their lives are given up, and we still want this grain account?" In Guo Yangming's view, this IOU is a testimony of the love between himself and the Eighth Route Army, which is not something that money can buy, so Guo Yangming has always regarded the IOU as his family heirloom.
This IOU, Guo Yangming has been very precious in the wooden box, hidden under the bed. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Guo Yangming felt that if this IOU was taken out and the state repaid its own money, it would actually add trouble to the country, so no one except his family did not know about this past.
Many years later, this IOU passed to his grandson Guo Jianying, who has always followed his grandfather's teachings and collected this special IOU well. Originally, Guo Jianying did not plan to take out the IOU to ask for money, but the weather was unpredictable, Guo Jianying's wife had a serious illness, and he stayed in the hospital for two or three years, and the medical expenses were a very alarming number.
Guo Jianying's generation has long been less wealthy than his grandfather, as an ordinary farmer, where can he afford so many medical expenses? The slightly more valuable things in the family were sold, and Guo Jianying also worked everywhere, leaving early and returning late, but he still could not fill the holes in the family.
Don't forget the old
Guo Jianying, who had nothing to do, suddenly thought that if Grandpa's IOU was taken to the government, could he bring the money back to supplement the family? Guo Jianying thought at first that it was impossible, this matter has passed forty years, his grandfather is no longer alive, only afraid that there are not many Eighth Route Army people who remember this matter, he hastily took an IOU to ask for the debt of forty years ago, and the government does not think of itself as a madman.
But Guo Jianying thought again, this universal world, the best for the people is the People's Liberation Army, even if this IOU is forty years ago, will the troops be in debt? No, no, no, this is definitely not the style of the Chinese army.
Therefore, Guo Jianying came to the government with a glimmer of hope, and after taking out this IOU, the government staff were very surprised, if this thing is true, it is a cultural relic. Guo Jianying looked very embarrassed, and he asked nervously: "Is this IOU still counted?" ”
Unexpectedly, the staff replied to him: "You can rest assured, of course you have counted." This sentence made the big stone in Guo Jianying's heart fall to the ground, and soon after, the local government made an appraisal of this IOU and confirmed that it was left by the Eighth Route Army, and the provincial government converted the arrears of that year to Guo Jianying according to the value of today's renminbi, and also specially contacted the hospital and arranged a consultation for Guo Jianying's wife.
Guo Jianying also learned that it turned out that he was not the only case, since the founding of the Country, the state has been returning the money and grain borrowed by the New Fourth Army and the Eighth Route Army to borrow the people, and not taking a needle and a thread from the masses is not an empty word, but a promise that the state has really fulfilled.
All this deeply touched Guo Jianying, and soon after, he donated this precious IOU to the museum, and he hoped that future generations would see this IOU and remember the deep friendship between the common people and the Eighth Route Army. When Guo Yangming was generous in his donations, he did not ask for anything in return, but the Eighth Route Army always remembered his kindness, and it was precisely because the Eighth Route Army talked about credibility and made heavy promises that the people would always believe in them.