In China, there is a saying that goes like this: Borrowing money and not repaying it is intolerable. Honesty, from ancient times to the present, has been Chinese the criterion for the people to behave and do things, for those who are people, to win the trust of neighbors; for the country, to win the trust of the people.
Whether it is an individual or a country, integrity is an important condition for the two parties to make good friends, and the next thing to say is the story of integrity. An old farmer named Guo Jianmin in Shanxi wandered at the government gate for half a day, and after being discovered by the staff, he took out the IOU in his pocket and asked for eleven million legal tenders. Where did the old farmer's IOU come from? Why is there a "lion opening its mouth"?
Materials are scarce, and they borrow food from the people
As we all know, the Qing government was weak and incompetent, and in the face of the Western powers, it did not dare to breathe, and would only wag its tail and beg for mercy, which was the darkest era that China had experienced in the modern century
。 After the outbreak of the September 18 Incident, the Japanese army officially stepped into Chinese territory and oppressed the people and robbed women.
Wars were commonplace at the time, with some battles lasting three or four months at a time, and if there was a tug-of-war, the war was more likely to last for several years.
At that time, China had just emerged from the weak Qing government, and the national treasury was empty, and it could not withstand the attrition of war.
The most important factor in winning the war was the abundance of money and food.
Therefore, in order to ensure the smooth progress of the war, the phenomenon of conscription and grain has emerged. The troops would requisition the rich merchants and people in the vicinity, exchange them for "IOUs", promising that they would return them after the war.
At the end of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, our army and the Japanese army entered the stage of the final desperate struggle, and the situation on the front line was critical and urgently needed to organize rescue.
The central authorities arranged for the troops stationed in Shanxi to arrive at the battlefield first, the mountains are high and the road is far away, in addition to weapons, materials are also very important, and the rush along this road must certainly have sufficient grain resources to supplement.
However, at that time, the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression had lasted for more than ten years, and all the army in the central government had little food left, although most of the soldiers on the front line were from peasant backgrounds, but there were old and young people in the family, and the materials that could support the troops had already contributed, and they were simply unable to maintain the normal operation of the army.
In such a situation, the warriors not only have to expend a lot of physical strength to deal with the enemy, but also have to be hungry during the period.
In the summer, they can still survive on the wild fruits and vegetables on the side of the road, but in the winter, the soldiers are hungry for several days, and the life of the troops is extremely difficult.
After the end of the War of Resistance Against Japan, I thought that my life would gradually improve. Not long after the Japanese army retreated, the Kuomintang once again set off a civil war, and other countries also looked at China with a tiger's eye.
The country was in trouble both inside and outside the country, the war was constantly overdrawing the national treasury, and the human and financial resources were rapidly declining.
At first, the governments of various regions adhered to the principle of "not taking a needle and a thread from the people", barely supported the army under their jurisdiction, and did not requisition food from the people, but as the war became longer and longer, the situation of the country became more and more difficult.
Under such circumstances, the commanders of Shanxi had also thought of borrowing grain from nearby villagers, but the people had little income from crops in recent years due to the impact of the War of Resistance, and the chances of borrowing grain were minimal.
As the war became white-hot, the commanders in Shanxi were impatient, and in order to ensure the normal operation of the army, they had no choice but to look for local rich merchants and try to borrow grain. The old farmer who appeared at the beginning was named Guo Jianmin. His grandfather was a wealthy merchant with a head and a face in Shanxi at that time.
The Guo family ancestors were engaged in the coal industry business, and although the family was strong, no one in the Guo family relied on the strong family property to bully the people.
On the contrary, the Guo family often received some poor people.
If any family in the village is in trouble, the Guo family will always try their best to help at the first time after learning about it.
During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the Guo family also strongly supported the decisions made by the central authorities, and often donated materials to the Eighth Route Army to help the troops improve their lives.
The helmsman of the Guo family at that time was Guo Jianmin's grandfather Guo Jianying. Guo Jianying has been weak since childhood, but he has a patriotic heart. Although he can't personally go to the battlefield to kill the enemy, he will do his best for the country.
When he learned that the army was in short supply of food, he immediately informed his men to raise food.
In less than two days, he took the initiative to send ten truckloads of grain to the troops, solving the soldiers' most headache problems.
Seeing that Guo Jianying had sent so many supplies, he must have wasted a lot of effort, and the soldiers were particularly moved.
However, there are clear regulations on organizational discipline, and no unit can take the things of the common people in vain, but the commanders of Shanxi have not given them as gifts.
Therefore, they came up with a way, as long as they had donated materials to the army, the donors would leave an IOU as a certificate and return it to the people after the victory of the War of Resistance.
According to the price at that time, the commander summed up the grain and money donated by Guo Jianmin's grandfather to calculate a total of eleven million legal tender, and then took a pen and paper and wrote an IOU.
After handing it over to his grandfather, he instructed him to keep it properly and take the IOU to the government for money when the war was over.
Most of the people are willing to contribute to the country, and Guo Jianmin's grandfather is also within the scope of his ability, and after all kinds of resignation, he was finally forced to accept the IOU.
However, in the eyes of the Guo family, the IOU is only used as a memorial, and donating materials to the soldiers is within their ability, and if the family conditions permit, they will not really go to the government for exchange in the future.
It was suppressed by peers, and business plummeted
The village where the Guo family was located was not large, and soon, the news of sending supplies to the soldiers spread to the streets and alleys, and the people were very touched by the generosity of the Guo family, and the Guo family's reputation in the local area soared, and the family's business became more prosperous.
However, the good times were not long, and with the passage of time, the Guo family's business became more and more sluggish.
Part of the reason is that the family has lent out most of the property; the other part of the reason is because the family in the business field cannot see guo Lao's fame so much.
Seeing that his business was not as good as the Guo family, he privately stirred up other bosses of his peers to lower the market price.
Not only that, they also began to sell defective products and inferior products, and the people saw that the price was low, and they simply ignored the quality and rushed to buy them.
The Guo family pays attention to integrity and quality in doing business, and is unwilling to go with them, so the Guo family's coal is gradually unpopular, the income is not as good as before, and the threshold for the family is almost broken by the people.
Their means Guo Lao knows well, and many people have also persuaded Guo Lao not to care too much about the quality of the product, as long as they can make money. But Elder Guo can't agree, insist on doing business in good faith, and would rather the factory close than deceive the hard-earned money of the people.
As a result, after this "price blockade war", the Guo family's coal business plummeted, and they still owed a lot of debts.
At this time, Elder Guo was also old, and he did not have the energy to fight against his family, and the Guo family's business was not as good as a day. Even so, Elder Guo has always taught his children and grandchildren to adhere to integrity, whether they are doing business or being people.
After Guo Lao's death, the coal factory came down from generation to generation, and by the time Guo Jianmin's father took over, the family's property had run out, and even the field property had been sold a lot.
Despite his efforts, he was unable to return his family's business to its former glory, and the merchants with unlimited scenery became the authentic farmers they are today.
Just when Guo Jianmin's father was depressed, Guo Jianmin's birth brought a little joy to the family, although life was no longer as superior as before, but the whole family was barely able to survive.
But in life, it is inevitable that there will be life, old age, illness and death, and the joy of heaven did not last for a few days, and Guo Jianmin's father fell seriously ill.
Even if Guo Jianmin spent all the family's money to treat his father's illness, he was ultimately unable to save his father's life.
Before his death, Guo Jianmin's father called him to the bedside, and Qian Dingwan instructed him to keep the coal plant, and at the same time handed the government's IOU of eleven million French dollars to Guo Jianmin, telling him that he must keep it well, and if the family really encountered difficulties in the future, he would go to the government with the IOU.
Families are poor and ask the government for help
After his father left, Guo Jianmin took an IOU to support the coal factory that was going to close at any time, life was cruel, Guo Jianmin did not keep the factory in the end, and Guo Jianmin was full of guilt on the day the factory was closed. But soon, this guilt was forgotten by Guo Jianmin.
The factory closed down, the family broke the wealth, Guo Jianmin's biggest problem in front of him was how to survive, he began to learn to farm, plant land, do farm work to solve the family's food and clothing.
At first, Guo Jianmin did not think about the IOU, but the years were not spared, Guo Jianmin's wife was seriously ill in her old age, and he did not know how to be good when he looked at the high medical expenses.
Like a blind fly, Guo Jianmin thought of the IOU left for himself before his father died, and perhaps he could find help from the government.
But after many years, the person who wrote the IOU has long passed away, and no one can confirm the authenticity of the IOU.
After much thought, he finally decided to go to the government to try his luck.
For several days in a row, Guo Jianmin went to the government, but he did not dare to go in, only dared to watch silently at the door, he was afraid that he would be regarded as a blackmailer.
The town is so small, once the government does not recognize the IOU, then the matter will soon be known to the whole village, and then they will not even be able to lift their heads. Various reasons caused Guo Jianmin not to dare to go in.
Guo Jianmin wandered at the government gate for nearly half a month, and finally was found by the staff inside, and only then did he enter the office half-pushed and half-pushed.
When the staff asked Guo Jianmin about his intentions, Guo Jianmin pulled out the IOU left by his father.
Although the IOU has been yellowed for too long, the red stamp and handwriting on the top can still be clearly distinguished, guo Jianmin told the staff, if it is not really difficult at home, he will not take out the IOU to exchange.
After understanding the course of events, the staff quickly reported the situation to the superior leaders, because it involved the war period, the leaders attached great importance to this matter, and immediately set up a special group.
The news of the sky-high price IOU triggered a fierce discussion among the local people, and the vast majority of people felt that it was a bit outrageous, and everyone said that Guo Jianmin was a liar, and even the government dared to tease the government by any means for money.
Just when everyone agreed that Guo Jianmin was catching lice on the tiger's head, the government's special team determined that the IOU guo was holding was real after a large number of visits and evidence investigations.
Everyone rejoices, the final result
But after the authenticity of the IOU was confirmed, another conundrum came. On November 3, 1935, the National Government issued a new document "Decree of the Ministry of Finance on reforming the currency system", and Minister of Finance Kong Xiangxi announced the formal implementation of the legal tender policy, and stipulated that all the banknotes of the central government, China, transportation and other major banks throughout the country should be unified as legal tender.
Faced with this provision of the State, the creditor must accept it, not refuse it.
Therefore, the amount written on the IOU is in the legal tender as the unit of calculation. After the end of the war, the Nationalist government implemented an inflationary policy, and the legal tender began to depreciate significantly.
On the day before the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression in 1937, the total amount of legal tender issued did not exceed 1.4 billion yuan, but by the day before Japan's surrender, the legal tender was issued at 500 billion yuan.
In April 1947, the circulation increased to 16 trillion yuan, and a year later, it reached 660 trillion yuan, equivalent to forty-seven times that of before the War of Resistance.
In simple terms, the purchasing power of fiat money began to decline from 1938. If in 1937 a hundred dollars of fiat could buy two cows, then in 1938 only one could be bought, and then only two sheep could be bought, and until 1948, a hundred dollars of fiat could only buy three thousandths of a grain of rice.
At that time, when the people went to receive their wages, they were all holding sacks, and on the surface they looked like billionaires, but in fact they could not even afford to eat. Some even took legal tender to light cigarettes, for people at that time, a legal tender did not have a match worth, and if you want to buy matches, you have to take at least a sack to buy it.
Therefore, according to the current exchange rate, the amount of eleven million legal tender on the IOU is not large, and the amount converted to the current amount cannot even reach the fraction on the IOU.
However, the grain during the war was very precious, and it was a life-saving straw for the soldiers at that time, and the people's donation of grain was equivalent to saving the lives of soldiers, coupled with the excessive amount of IOUs, so the local government attached great importance to the IOUs in Guo Jianmin's hands.
In order not to disappoint Guo Jianmin with the government and not to let the people chill the central government, the government still hopes to maximize the value of the IOU.
Finally, under the consultation of leaders at all levels, it was unanimously decided to convert the amount on the IOU with the exchange rate of the 1980s, and Guo Jianmin had no opinion on such a foreign exchange method, and finally got 80,000 yuan.
Before coming, Guo Jianmin only had the idea of trying it out, and he didn't think that the government would really give money to himself, and it was still 80,000 yuan. For this result, Guo Jianmin was excited, and his mouth kept praising the government's office attitude, not cheating and ignoring the promise to the people. After receiving the money, the government also provided him with other subsidies for living. Compared with Guo Jianmin's grandfather's family property, 80,000 yuan may not be a lot, but the government's handling methods and efficiency make Guo Jianmin deeply understand that the more efficient the government's ability to do things, the more prosperous and powerful China can be.
Guo Jianmin's grandfather insisted on contributing to the troops under such difficult conditions, and even sent out more than half of the factory. This fearless deed and spirit deserves to be praised and admired by people, and Guo's grandfather will never be forgotten by the country.
This tree was used for a cause, and the consequences were repaid! The Shanxi government explains to us with its actions: integrity is one of the noblest virtues of the Chinese nation, no matter how many years, decades or hundreds of years have passed, as long as it proves that it really exists, the country will certainly not fail the people. This is the responsibility and deed of a great power.