Since the Qin Dynasty, China has maintained a feudal imperial system, with the emperor and his filial sons and grandsons holding supreme power, cooperating with countless bureaucrats to use cruel means to extort the wealth of the people to satisfy their own pleasures. Ming Confucian Huang Zongxi concluded that this kind of authoritarian regime of "enjoying one surname and stripping the people away" is the fundamental reason why China's national strength has become weaker and weaker over the past thousand years.
200 years after Huang Zongxi's death, China's last autocratic dynasty, the Qing Dynasty, collapsed, and 40,000 Chinese people entered the Republic of China era.
The Republic of China, which has long been ruled by the Kuomintang, advocates the Three People's Principles and places "civil rights" on the heads of those in power for the first time. However, it is a pity that the Republic of China has not implemented the Three People's Principles, and from the leaders to the folk elites, they have not departed from the trap of traditional Chinese politics, and they are still an authoritarian government, and corruption is rampant.
In this case, the Republic of China gave birth to the "four major families" that influenced Chinese history.
The four major families, namely the "Jiang Song Kong Chen" family with Chiang Kai-shek as the core during the Republic of China period, were backed by the Kuomintang and in fact ruled the politics, military and economy of China during the Republic of China period.
The most famous bad deed of the four major families in the Republic of China period was to accumulate wealth, and the Kong and Song families were originally rich people on one side, and later they were involved in finance and finance, and they made a lot of money during the period of helping Chiang Kai-shek collect taxes and raise military expenses. As for the Chiang family, the Chen Guofu and Chen Lifu families, they also have their own industries in China, with assets of up to several million US dollars, and once China changes, they are ready to flee to the West to enjoy their happiness.
Who are the four major families, and what are they? How did the four families come together? After the liberation of the mainland, what is the fate of these former families?
1. Jiang Jiajun, Chen Jiadang, and Song family sister Kong Jiacai
The four major families, after the founding of the country, were summed up as "an alliance of warlords, compradors, speculators and spies", which is really apt.
"Jiang Song Kong Chen" four surnames, "Jiang" refers to the Kuomintang president Jiang Shi, who holds the army in his hands and is high up in the sky; "Song" refers to Chiang's in-laws, the Song family, represented by Song Ziwen and Song Meiling, who only cover the sky in the financial industry of the Republic of China; "Kong" refers to the Kong Xiangxi family, who is Chiang's brother-in-law, and he himself has long been in charge of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce and the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of China, and is a major embezzler; and the last Chen refers to Chen Lifu and Chen Guofu brothers, who are the nephews of Chen Qimei, the "first hero of the Republic of China," and are Chiang's helpers in managing the Kuomintang and leading secret service agencies." Zhongtong".
The four families came together because of Chiang's sudden rise in the 1920s.
The relationship between the Chiang family and the Chen family has the earliest history, he and Chen Qimei are both military cadets studying in Japan, jiang admired Chen Qimei, and worshiped him as a brother, and later entered the Kuomintang under the introduction of Chen Qimei.
In the "Yongfeng Ship Incident" in 1922, Chiang Kai-shek braved himself to protect Sun Yat-sen and boarded the Yongfeng ship to confront Chen Jiongming's rebels, gaining the trust of Dr. Sun Yat-sen and being regarded as the first person to inherit the revolutionary flame.
Chiang Kai-shek soared, and Dr. Sun Yat-sen entrusted his military affairs to Chiang Kai-shek, asking him to quell the rebellion of Chen Jiongming in Guangdong and open the Whampoa Military Academy to train a new army. Since then, Jiang Shi has held a gun in his hand and carried his Huangpu department in the Republic of China for 20 years.
It was also during this period that Chen Qimei's nephew Chen Guofu found Jiang and helped Jiang run a military academy, gaining Chiang's trust. After the death of Dr. Sun Yat-sen, Chen Guofu was appointed as the head of the Kuomintang organization and took control of the Kuomintang party affairs, and later Chen Guofu's younger brother Chen Lifu returned from the United States, and the two managed the party affairs together, and established the "Central Unification", gradually forming the "Chen Family Party".
On the way to the Northern Expedition in 1926, Chiang Kai-shek fought in the Kuomintang infighting in Jiangnan, and after the "Ninghan diversion", he went down to the wilderness, and then pursued Song Qingling's sister Song Meiling. Later, under the mediation of Kong Xiangxi, Jiang Song married him in 1927.
There are many historical theories about why Jiang married Song Meiling, but it is always impossible to avoid the connection between the Song family and the United States. The man of the Song family, Chiang Kai-shek's father-in-law, Song Jiashu, was a Chinese-American missionary with a complicated background, inextricably linked to the political and business circles in the United States, and he himself was even more wealthy, and he threw hundreds of thousands of taels of silver to support Sun Yat-sen's revolutionary cause.
Married to Song Meiling, Chiang found the most reliable "golden aid" in China at that time, and then established a relationship with the United States, adding the last brick to his political career. In addition, the eldest son of the Song family, Song Ziwen, was the governor of the central bank at the time, and Chiang became relatives with him, and the "Song Ziwen" was behind him.
Jiangsu and Zhejiang comprador consortium
"Formally form an alliance with him.
As for Kong Xiangxi, he was previously a senior official of the Republic of China, and later, because of his successful efforts to match Song Meiling and Chiang Kai-shek, he also entered the core of central power and controlled the finances of the Republic of China.
Second, the Kuomintang defeated and retreated to Taiwan, and the four major families went east and west
During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the Japanese investigated the overseas assets of the four major families for political propaganda. As far as the information that Japanese agents can find, Jiang and his wife Song Meiling have assets of more than 10 million US dollars, Song Ziwen's personal property is more than 6 million US dollars, kong Xiangxi's personal property is also more than 6 million US dollars, only the Chen brothers' wealth collection behavior has not been directly verified.
During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the four major families relied on the four major banks of China, the central government, transportation, and peasants to lend money and squeeze out peasant property. In addition, they also resell war materials aided by international assistance, illegally occupying food, medicine, machinery and other materials, and then selling them at high prices. Around 1944, this kind of behavior caused indignation throughout China, and many anti-corruption demonstrations broke out throughout the country, and even the US government joined the ranks of condemnation.
At the end of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression in 1945, the private property of the four major families was equal to more than one-third of China's state revenue, which was a spectacle of corruption that was extremely rare in the world.
In 1948, Chiang himself could not bear the corruption of the three major families, and asked his son Chiang Ching-kuo to go to Shanghai to "fight the tiger", and the result was that the fights were all his own family, and finally it was not resolved. In 1949, when the Nationalist government in Nanjing fell, the Kuomintang left Chinese mainland and came to Taiwan, a small island of projectiles. After the defeat of Taiwan, the first to fall were the Chen Guofu and Chen Lifu brothers.
Chiang kai-shek defeated Taiwan and began to reorganize the Kuomintang the following year. Chiang Kai-shek believed that the "Central Club" party organized by the Chen brothers was the same and excluded party members, resulting in a miasma of black smoke in the Kuomintang, no way for loyal and upright people to be promoted, and a popular trend of flattery. The peasant bank managed by the Chen brothers, the central cooperative treasury was closed by Chiang Kai-shek, and Chen Guofu was dismissed from his post as director of the finance committee, completely losing power in the party.
After losing power, Chen Guofu was poor and sick, and died of illness in 1951, while Chen Lifu left for the United States.
As for the Kong family represented by Kong Xiangxi, during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, they were denounced by the country for corruption, and finally lost the trust of the Chiang family. In 1944, Kong resigned from all his positions in the government and began to take care of his wife at home. In 1947, seeing that the war was getting worse and worse, Kong Xiangxi immigrated to the United States with his family, and later lived in New York until his death.
The representative figures of the Song family, Song Qingling, Song Meiling, and Song Ziwen, chose differently, and Song Qingling stayed on the mainland and was the leader of the country when New China was founded. Song Meiling remained with Chiang, accompanying her husband until his death. After Chiang's death, Song Meiling returned to the United States despite Chiang Ching-kuo's retention and has lived in New York ever since.
As for Song Ziwen, he showed the true color of a "speculator" before the fall of the Kuomintang, and in 1949 he left France and did not come back no matter how Chiang Called. Song Ziwen's escape behavior could not even be seen by Song Meiling, and in 1953, Jiang directly expelled Song Ziwen from the party. Song Ziwen later settled in the United States, and only went to the island of Taiwan for a few meals in the 1960s, helping Chiang analyze the impact of U.S. policy on Taiwan.
It can be said that after fleeing to Taiwan, only the Jiang family remained in the four major families, and the Chiang clan was bent on letting his son Chiang Ching-kuo succeed him, so he suppressed various factions in the party for a long time and supported his cronies. After Chiang's death, Chiang Ching-kuo became the second generation leader of the Kuomintang after its defeat in Taiwan.
Where are the descendants of the three or four major families now?
The history of the four major families basically ended after the defeat of Taiwan, the Chiang clan alone defended Taiwan, and other families withdrew from politics. In addition to the 100-year-old birthday stars such as Song Meiling and Chen Lifu, the representatives of the four major families basically died before the 1970s.
After the death of the fathers who called for the wind and rain, the four major families all went downhill, and only the second generation of the Jiang family was still in politics, and the others faded out of the political arena and became "rich men".
Many people do not know that the richest of the four major families is the Kong family, after Kong Xiangxi's death, the descendants of the Kong family have been living in the United States, how much wealth their family has, no one can say clearly. Kong Lingjie, the second generation of the Kong family, is an oil tycoon in Texas, USA, who lives in a mansion, drives a plane, marries a Hollywood actress, and even repairs a "doomsday mansion" that prevents nuclear bombs.
The second generation of the Kong family, Kong Lingkan and Kong Lingjie, only Kong Lingjie had a queen, named Kong Deji. Kong Deji managed the assets of the Kong family, rarely appeared in public, and became an invisible rich man.
Chen Lifu and Chen Guofu brothers faded out of politics after losing power, Chen Guofu was so poor that he did not even have money to treat his illness, and finally relied on friends to help him treat his illness, and died in 1951. Chen Lifu left the United States in order to protect himself, and borrowed 2,000 yuan from a friend to open a chicken farm.
Among the Chen brothers, Chen Lifu has four children, only the youngest son, Chen Zepet, settled in Taiwan, and the rest live in the United States. Chen Guofu had no queen, and had a step-daughter who had followed her husband to settle in the United States early.
The three sisters of the Song family only have the eldest sister Song Xialing, who is the Kong brothers of the Kong family, and Song Meiling and Song Qingling have no queen. Among the three brothers of the Song family, Song Ziwen has three daughters, Song Ziliang has one daughter, and Song Zi'an has two sons.
The descendants of the Song family all settled in the United States after their father broke up with the Chiang family, and rarely interacted with other families, and have always been very low-key.
Finally, there was the Chiang family, which had two sons, Chiang Ching-kuo and Chiang Wai-kuo, who later succeeded him and became the second-generation leader of the Kuomintang in Taiwan. The third generation of the Chiang family has Xiao Yan, Xiao Wen, Xiao Wu, Xiao Yong, Xiao Ci, Xiao Zhang, Xiao Gang a total of 6 men and 1 woman, Jiang Xiao Zhang,Jiang's granddaughter Jiang Xiao Zhang went to the United States after marriage, most of the sons of the Chiang family did nothing, only Xiao Wu and Xiao Yong were once the mainstay of the family, and were once regarded as the third generation of leadership candidates.
However, because jiang Xiaowu had too much influence on the "Jiangnan case", he was abandoned by his father Jiang Chingguo and failed to enter the core of power. Jiang Xiaoyong was expelled from Taiwan by Lee Teng-hui after Chiang Ching-kuo's death in the late 1980s and died in Canada in 1997.
Today, the fourth generation of the active Chiang family is almost all doing business or engaging in art, and only Jiang Wan'an is a petty official in the Kuomintang, which has completely moved away from the core of power.
Text/Shogakuno
Resources:
1. "From the Temple to the Jianghu The Long Curtain of the Four Great Families - 1949, Leading Each Flying", Liu Yongfeng
2. "Whether the Song Ziwen of the Four Great Families is really rich and invincible", Tengyun