In 1947, Kong Xiangxi, a well-known representative of the Confucius family in the "Four Great Families", invited many prominent Figures of the Kuomintang to his home to make a final farewell after planning to travel to the United States.
At this farewell banquet, Kong Xiangxi blew himself up, which stunned everyone. He said that when he was the minister of finance, he had saved a huge fortune of 900 million US dollars and 60 million taels of gold for the treasury of the Republic of China during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, but at this time, he was afraid that he had been squandered.
As soon as the news came out, there was an uproar, and the first to be suspected was undoubtedly Song Ziwen, who succeeded Kong Xiangxi as minister of finance and was also one of the representative figures of the "four major families". At this time, Song Ziwen suffered a setback in fiscal policy, and Kong Xiangxi's words undoubtedly put Song Ziwen in a more embarrassing situation.
Sure enough, after the news reached Chiang Kai-shek's ears, Chiang Kai-shek immediately sent someone to investigate it, but only less than 25 million taels of gold were found in the treasury, which was very different from the figure Kong Xiangxi said. However, as for who lied, it is difficult to draw a reliable conclusion. So far, the matter has become an unsolved case, and its whereabouts are also disputed.
Kong and Song have a grudge
As the representative figures of the Kong family and the Song family in the "four major families", the relationship between Kong Xiangxi and Song Ziwen is by no means as simple as that of the former and subsequent finance ministers. In addition to their faces in the official arena, the two actually have an in-law relationship. Kong Xiangxi's wife, Song Xialing, is Song Ziwen's sister.
There was no deep contradiction between the two in the early years, but when Song Ziwen was the minister of finance under Sun Yat-sen, he also gave up the concurrent finance minister to Kong Xiangxi out of goodwill to cultivate his ability to engage in politics.
The outbreak of contradictions between the two stemmed from Chiang Kai-shek's plan to "suppress the Communists." Song Ziwen graduated from a prestigious american university, has a double degree from Harvard University and Columbia University, plus has a good friendship with US President Roosevelt, so his professional ability is outstanding and he is also appreciated by Chiang Kai-shek.
But Song Ziwen, who had received strict professional training, had his own plans in the fiscal plan and did not like to be disrupted; while Chiang Kai-shek never cared about economic theory, but only asked Song Ziwen for money. In the end, Song Ziwen chose to resign because he refused to provide Chiang Kai-shek with money to "suppress the Communists."
At this time, Kong Xiangxi saw the opportunity to ascend to the throne and succeeded Song Ziwen as finance minister, taking charge of financial power. This practice of taking advantage of the danger of others to seek the upper position naturally caused a gap in the relationship between the two people. In terms of attitudes towards finances, the two are even more different.
When Soong Ziwen was finance minister, he strictly followed the knowledge he had learned to carry out systematic planning, and even defied Chiang Kai-shek in order to ensure the implementation of the plan.
However, Kong Xiangxi did his best to curry favor with Chiang Kai-shek, but whenever Chiang Kai-shek asked for money, Kong Xiangxi always tried his best to do so, thus inevitably making the financial foundation laid by Soong Ziwen chaotic. This very different fiscal policy has further intensified the contradiction between the two.
Song Ziwen's financial plan
Although he was not as good in knowledge and ability as Song Ziwen, who came from a professional field, because he could meet Chiang Kai-shek's demands for money at any time, Kong Xiangxi's position as minister of finance could be said to be impregnable, and even some obvious acts of corruption, Chiang Kai-shek maintained great tolerance for Kong Xiangxi.
Things changed in 1944. Fu Sinian, known as "Fu Cannon," publicly exposed Kong Xiangxi's corrupt behavior at the Kuomintang congress and listed a series of evidence. The evidence was overwhelming, Kong Xiangxi had to resign, and the position of finance minister was once again vacant.
At this time, the government of the Republic of China, which had experienced a series of wars, was not optimistic; coupled with Kong Xiangxi's blind flattery of Chiang Kai-shek, the overall financial situation was even worse.
In desperation, Chiang Kai-shek had no choice but to ask Soong Ziwen to take over the Ministry of Finance, but the corrupt Kuomintang was already in chaos, and although Song Ziwen, who had a wealth of theoretical knowledge, could not handle the complicated situation in reality.
Therefore, Song Ziwen pinned his hopes on the outside and proposed a "financial opening plan" to join the US system to save the Republic of China's finances. However, at this time, the Kuomintang was constantly losing in the civil war, and there were many selfish and self-interested people who did not have real talent and practical learning, and it was difficult for Song Ziwen's plan to be implemented.
What's more, the ECONOMIC PLAN OF the United States is only for the benefit of its own country, and Song Ziwen wants to rely on the United States, obviously putting the eggs in the wrong basket. This defeat naturally gave Kong Xiangxi the opportunity to throw a fatal blow.
Where does the huge amount of money go
The financial plan was blocked, and Song Ziwen was already overwhelmed, but Kong Xiangxi suddenly and publicly declared that he had left a huge amount of 900 million US dollars and 60 million taels of gold in the national treasury on the eve of his departure to the United States, and Song Ziwen immediately became suspicious.
After Chiang Kai-shek heard about it, he directly sent people to inspect the national treasury, and found less than 25 million taels of gold, which was a huge difference from the figure claimed by Kong Xiangxi. Whether Kong Xiangxi lied and deliberately framed Song Ziwen, or whether Song Ziwen was indeed corrupt, it became a suspense case for a while. Kong Xiangxi himself, as early as shortly after the release of the news, came to the United States.
Chiang Kai-shek asked Kong Xiangxi to return to China to explain the situation, and Song Ziwen even sent a telegram asking him to cross-examine Kong Xiangxi in person, but Kong Xiangxi, who was already in the United States, naturally ignored this set and only refused to return to China under the pretext of having a long distance and suffering from illness.
From a logical point of view, Kong Xiangxi's refusal to return to China is inevitably suspected of being weak-minded, but Song Ziwen also has no treasury accounts, and has once used gold to balance prices, which is inevitably suspicious.
Therefore, Kong and Song had their own opinions, and Chiang Kai-shek could not verify it, and since then this money has become an unsolved case, and its whereabouts are unknown.
brief summary:
Whether Kong Xiangxi left 900 million US dollars and 60 million taels of gold is unknown, and whether Song Ziwen swept away this money has also become a suspense case with the wheel of history. However, what is certain is that within the government of the Republic of China, there are many factions and intrigues, and the financial situation of a country is related to the fate of the country, and it has become a confused account like a child's play.
The time when Kong Xiangxi exploded the huge amount of money was during the Liberation War, and the Kuomintang was already in a passive state at this time. In the face of such a situation, the kmt's high-ranking officials and masters, the "four major families" that control the country's political and economic lifeline, are still entangled in internal affairs, which shows that the defeat of the KMT has long been revealed.
Only when a government of a big country restrains its selfish desires, dedicates itself to serving the people, and implements its ability to govern can it shoulder its responsibilities.