In 1985, an old farmer came from outside the Shanxi government.
He wandered in the doorway, looking inside for a moment, as if struggling internally; and a moment as if he wanted to leave, ready to give up something.
The staff in the government had already seen the old farmer through the glass door, and after waiting for a while, they took the initiative to open the door, walked over to the old farmer and shook his hand, and asked kindly:
"Uncle, how did you get here?" Are there any difficulties encountered? ”
After being held by people, the old farmer stopped walking around, as if he had found the main bone. He looked at the sincere eyes of the staff, and finally made up his mind to hand the staff the paper that he had saved in his hand for half a day:
"This, it's not a big deal, I just want to ask, does this piece of paper still count?"
The old farmer trembled and opened the paper. The staff looked at it and was stunned! Although it is an IOU, the borrower is the Chinese Communist Party, and the amount is as high as 11 million Legal Tender!
The staff immediately invited the old farmer into the office and inquired carefully... How did this IOU come about? Who is the old farmer?
1) In the life of Guo Jianying, Grandpa Guo was once a landlord
The old farmer's name is Guo Jianying, and this IOU to the staff has actually been handed down from his grandfather. It is understood that Grandpa Guo was a coal boss in China before, and due to his solid family foundation, coupled with Grandpa Guo's business acumen, he has accumulated a lot of family wealth.
Grandpa Guo became a large local landlord, but unlike other landlords, Grandpa Guo never oppressed the people, but often took out his own money to help the poor people around him.
When it comes to why the Eighth Route Army borrowed money, the story has to be pushed back.
After the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japan, people's lives became more and more difficult, and corpses were strewn everywhere and there were flames in the sky. With the continuous advancement of the war, people's lives are difficult, and the soldiers on the front line are not happy.
Armies often had to travel long distances to fight, constantly shifting courses depending on the conditions of the battle, but there was often a shortage of food on the way due to food supply problems.
Although the soldiers were frugal and strict in their work style, and never wasted a grain of rice, the grain was still far from enough. The common people often took out their remaining rice to help the soldiers. Our army is strictly disciplined, and it would rather be hungry than take a needle and a thread from the masses.
Therefore, in order to make the soldiers full of food, many ordinary people did good deeds without leaving a name, holding grain and sending it to the base area of the Eighth Route Army, leaving the grain behind and leaving.
In desperation, the Eighth Route Army proposed to "borrow grain," and they formally promised that after victory, all the borrowed grain would be returned. Therefore, many ordinary people have IOUs in their hands, but no one wants to redeem them, but only keep them as a souvenir.
2) Grandpa Guo prepared grain, and our army opened an IOU
On one march, our army came to Shanxi, a long journey, and there was not much food in the army, and most of the soldiers were basically hungry and full. This situation continues, what do we have to fight with the enemy?
"Leader, there is no more food in the army!" Think of a way, if it continues like this, before there is a war, we will already lose..."
"Yes, leader, let's borrow some grain from the masses, and if we continue like this, we really can't hold on!"
"Many of the soldiers who have led the army have not eaten for several days, so we will borrow a little from the masses and we will definitely return it in the future..."
"Lead, lead..."
In the end, the leaders of our army decided to borrow grain from the common people, but where did the people have a lot of grain? They gave the Eighth Route Army all the grain they could take out, but it was far from enough...
The troops fell into a dilemma again, "It is not okay to go on like this, it is okay to borrow grain, but the people themselves do not have much, which is far from being able to support the operation of the troops, what can be done..."
Just when the troops were frowning, Guo Jianying's grandfather knew about this matter, and he immediately gave full play to his advantage of "rich and powerful" to prepare grain. In order to raise grain, Guo Jianying's grandfather sold many of his family's family properties, and finally raised 11 million French dollars, and then used this more than 10 million yuan to send ten truckloads of grain to the Eighth Route Army.
It was also these ten truckloads of grain that solved the plight of the Eighth Route Army.
When Guo Jianying's grandfather led the people to pull ten truckloads of grain to the eighth route army's garrison, the sentries were all excited, directly forgot the discipline of the troops, and shouted happily, "This, this, is this really for us?" ”
Guo Jianying's grandfather said, "Nature is for you, this is for the heroes of our country, everyone has worked hard, my ability is limited, I hope you don't give up..."
The sentry soldiers and horses informed the leader to come and check it out, and the leader shed two lines of clear tears:
"Comrade, I am so grateful that when we were in the most difficult time, the people rushed to help us get through..."
After saying that, he dragged Guo Jianying's grandfather into the house to drink tea, and said that he wanted to open an IOU for Guo Jianying's grandfather, but When Guo Jianying's grandfather heard it, he immediately refused, "You are for the sake of the country, for us, regardless of your lives to kill the enemy, we ordinary people can only do this, and also take the IOU, this is completely unnecessary ..."
However, the people in the army also insisted, "If you don't accept the IOU, we can't collect this grain..." After several delays, Guo Jianying's grandfather still accepted the IOU.
Guo Jianying's grandfather was holding an IOU at the time, and he did not go to the Communist Party to exchange it, just a thought. Shortly after the end of the war, Guo Jianying's grandfather also died of illness.
Before dying, he called his descendants to the bedside and told them that there was an IOU from the Communist Party for them to keep well, "I am not asking you to collect debts, but I just want you to remember that this is a hero who has left blood for our country and killed the enemy..."
In this way, this IOU became an heirloom of Guo Jianying's family. Guo Jianying's grandfather repeatedly said that this IOU could not be used unless it was a last resort...
3) Redeem the IOUs in the family and verify that the IOUs are returned in full
If life has been plain, there is nothing to say, but there are unexpected storms in the sky, and this IOU still comes in handy.
After Guo Jianying's father got the IOU, he moved with his children. Before finally dying, he gave the IOU to Guo Jianying, or all kinds of advice, do not use it until the last resort. Guo Jianying took the IOU, and also carefully stored it, and then gave it to his children later...
However, in the 1980s, Guo Jianying's wife fell ill, and the already poor family was undoubtedly not worse. In order to treat his wife's illness, all the savings in the family were exhausted, but the wife did not get better, and the funds were very tight.
Finally, he remembered his own heirloom. He carefully took out the heirloom and kept the IOU in his hand for a long time, in order to save his wife's life, he finally came to the government gate with the IOU.
For Guo Jianying, at first his heart was nervous, after all, after many years, and the borrower has long died, this death has no proof of something, will others admit it? Moreover, taking the IOU to use, he felt ashamed of the country, ashamed of his grandfather, so there was the opening scene, Guo Jianying took the IOU and wandered at the door for a long time...
The staff invited experts to conduct an appraisal, and finally proved that this IOU was genuine, the seal on it was also legally valid, and there was also the signature of the original leader; and the relevant insiders were found, and finally proved that Guo Jianying did not say a single false word.
The IOU is real, but how to solve this matter? After all, the people of that period were not easy, not to mention the number of so many, the amount of IOUs is a lot, but it is a legal tender, with the continuous development and improvement of the national economy, in fact, the value of this IOU has not been much.
In order to give Guo Jianying the greatest help, government officials said that they would convert the legal tender into renminbi to Guo Jianying. Guo Jianying did not have the slightest opinion on this decision, he said, "I am really embarrassed, if it were not for my wife's illness, I would not have come to trouble the government, and this IOU would not have been used..."
The government arranged the best hospital for Guo Jianying's wife. After that, Guo Jianying often thought about this matter, "I am so grateful to the government, I still remember the things that have passed for so long, but I always feel sorry for my grandfather..."
I had promised my grandfather that this IOU must be passed down as a family heirloom, telling future generations how much sacrifice the soldiers made for the good life we have now. However, I didn't expect it, but I was exchanged in my own hands...
Guo Jianying's exchange of IOUs quickly attracted the attention of the media, and after the media learned about the matter, no one did not sigh that "the military and the people are close to each other." Many people support Guo Jianying's approach, after all, human life is always the most important.
This matter has been debated until now, and many people have said that no matter how difficult it is, do not take it out, because its value is immeasurable.
Now that this one enters the museum, more people will see this priceless treasure, and Guo Jianying's descendants can also go to the museum to see how good their ancestors have done. Isn't that more meaningful?
In fact, after the founding of New China, the government began to collect major IOUs throughout the country, hoping to redeem their promises, as long as the people took the IOUs, the government will return them in full, many people came out of the policy to exchange, the government also fulfilled its commitments, as long as the IOU is true, it will not be in arrears.
However, there are still many people who do not choose to redeem, because when they help the soldiers, they have not thought of returning, accepting IOUs, just to reassure the soldiers, and they have not thought of exchanging.
In fact, no matter what kind of behavior, we can understand.
In times of war, people are willing to cut back on food and clothing, send supplies to the front line, and let the soldiers fight with peace of mind. For them, we are always grateful, because their good deeds have not only helped the soldiers, but also created our beautiful present.
——End——
Author: Mu Xi
Edited by: Yayu
Typography: Mu Xi