In the early morning of May 25, 1949, a three-story bungalow on Gao'en Road in Shanghai pulled out of a Mercedes-Benz 300, which was very rare at that time.
Inside the car sat a man in a suit, who looked around and looked at the rows of soldiers lying on the sidewalk—some of them still sleeping, some of them nibbling on cold steamed buns over pickles...
As the vehicle approached the concession, it was stopped by a soldier who said, "There is still fighting ahead, please take a detour." ”
It was the first day the PLA had entered Shanghai, and the men in the car had been so shocked by the PLA's military discipline that they could hardly speak. Having lived for more than thirty years, he had never seen any army sleeping on the road in order not to disturb the people, nor had he ever seen an army very politely remind the unrelated to take a detour and not to get close to the battle.
In order not to disturb the people, when the People's Liberation Army entered Shanghai, it always slept on the street
This incident left a deep impression on his heart, changed his thinking about the People's Liberation Army and the Chinese Communist Party, and thus closely linked the fate of his family, the Rong family, with new China.
The man in the car is rong yiren, the famous rong yiren in Shanghai beach, the second room and four sons of Rong's family, the largest household in Shanghai's industrial and commercial circles. The people of rongshi were originally afraid and uneasy in the face of the People's Liberation Army entering the city, especially at that time, they belonged to the bourgeoisie, and in the face of proletarian revolutionaries, they deeply felt that their fate was uncertain.
At the same time that the People's Liberation Army entered Shanghai, Rong Yiren's father, Rong Yiren, who was the head of the Rong clan in Wuxi, was also faced with a difficult choice: Should the Rong clan leave or stay?
Rong
In fact, this was beyond his control, and many of Rong's sons had fled abroad with large amounts of gold and US dollar bills, and only Rong Yiren remained with him. Rong Desheng, who had a sense of falling down and scattered, chose to retreat into the background, and Rong Yiren became the head of the Rong family in a time of crisis.
Rong's is the king of Cotton Yarn and Flour in China. Previously, the Kuomintang took advantage of the war to strictly control all walks of life, and cotton yarn and flour real estate, supply and sales channels were subject to the Kuomintang government, and could only serve military supplies.
After the Chinese Communist Party established a new government in Shanghai, it attached great importance to uniting industry and commerce and protecting its private property. In the early days of the founding of New China, the Shanghai Municipal People's Government took a series of measures to help private enterprises develop, including the cotton textile industry, which vigorously supported national capital.
For example, after Rong's business funds were stored in the People's Bank of China, the People's Bank of China allocated special loans to help restore production.
Rong Desheng
These well-intentioned policies have been reciprocated. Rong Yiren, who originally had a good impression of the People's Liberation Army and the Chinese Communist Party, has since embarked on a path of "red capitalists."
Years later, Rong Yiren once said: "I am not afraid to speak because I am a bourgeoisie. ”
This is due to his trust in the Chinese Communist Party, and it is also an important reason why he can become a key figure in promoting the development of new China's industry and commerce.
Rong Yiren is indeed a very dare to speak, and some people comment that his personality is "sometimes like a blade".
In 1954, after he was elected as a deputy to the First National People's Congress and studied Chairman Mao's series of speeches on how industrialists and businessmen should understand the laws of social development and control their own destiny, Rong Yiren had his own ideas on the contradictions between the working class and the bourgeoisie.
In 1956, at a small meeting of the National People's Congress, he asked Chairman Mao in person: "After the socialist transformation movement and the adjustment of class relations, can the antagonistic contradictions between the working class and the bourgeoisie be transformed into non-antagonistic contradictions?" ”
Chairman Mao naturally did not get angry, and he responded: "You are a man who can use his brain to ask questions." ”
Sure enough, half a year later, Chairman Mao delivered a speech on correctly handling contradictions among the people, which can be regarded as a positive response to the question raised by Rong Yiren.
Chairman Mao and Rong Yiren
His ability to cultivate such a character was related to the social environment at that time and the rise and fall of the Rong family. Rong Yiren was born in 1916 during World War I.
The First World War is undoubtedly a tragedy in human history, but to some extent it also brought a glimmer of opportunity for the development of Chinese national industry and commerce.
It was at this time that Rong Yiren's father seized the opportunity to establish nine factories in one go in a few years, becoming a well-known "flour king" in the country.
The development of China's national enterprises has ushered in an era of take-off, but unfortunately this era is too short. When Rong Yiren was in elementary school, the Kuomintang ended the internal warlord melee, which seemed to be a concentration of power, and in fact had more time to exploit the people's fat.
They introduced a "controlled economy" and called for the concentration of national forces to give priority to the development of military and heavy industry. Entrepreneurs have been greatly impacted and oppressed.
In 1927, when Rong Yiren was eleven years old, the Kuomintang seized Rong's property for somewhat absurd reasons— the Rong did not buy the assigned military bonds in full.
This matter was later put to rest after being dredged by fellow villager Wu Zhihui. It is precisely because of this "military incident" that the people of the Rong family have a strong sense of vigilance. They have a keen eye for the situation in order to survive, while at the same time strictly demanding themselves to be self-motivated.
This may be an important reason why Rong's survival after the end of the War of Resistance Against Japan: most of the enterprises were swallowed up by Kuomintang bureaucratic capital during the War of Resistance, and Rong's, although it also shrank by 35%, still held the ownership of its own enterprises.
Rong Yiren, a member of the Rong family and the son of China's richest man at the time, was also strictly required. During his studies at St. John's University, he went home from winter and summer vacations to the flour mill for an internship.
Father Rong Desheng was very strict with several children, and he was never allowed to put up the young master's shelf. After graduation, Rong Yiren worked as an assistant at a Rong's factory, and he also had ambitions to revitalize the family business, but was unfortunately interrupted by the sudden "Lugou Bridge Incident".
After the founding of New China, Rong Yiren's grand ambitions took on a new direction. He took the initiative to study Marxist thought, generously donated money to support the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, took the initiative to subscribe for 6.5 million victory discounted public bonds, and donated seven planes and a large amount of clothing.
In the parade of "Resisting US Aggression and Aiding Korea and Defending the Motherland" in Shanghai's industrial and commercial circles, Rong Yiren, as a figure with a head and a face in Shanghai's industry and commerce, walked in the forefront with a big banner.
Korean
This is actually a return to the Chinese government. In February 1950, Kuomintang planes bombed Shanghai again, causing major damage to many factories, and the collapse of Shanghai's industry and commerce, and Rong's salary could not even be paid.
At this time, it was the Shanghai municipal government that helped Rong's family - when some workers came to the Rong family and posed as if they could not get their wages and did not go out, Chen Yi, then the mayor of Shanghai, immediately sent people to do the dredging work, and helped the Rong family apply for loans and let them temporarily tide over the difficulties.
It was also during this time that the United States and Chiang Kai-shek jointly imposed an armed blockade on Shanghai, and the supply of cotton was very tight. Rong Yiren simply suggested to the Municipal Textile Bureau that the government should supply cotton, the factory should be responsible for processing, the communists would earn fees, and the processing order would be implemented. This practice was quickly extended to all of Shanghai and all of China.
Marshal Chen Yi was mayor of Shanghai
This made Rong Yiren very excited, but he did not expect that the next thing would become so fast: in the second half of 1950, after the Shanghai light industry daily necessities market was active, there were many shoddy businessmen, which made Chen Yi angry.
At the end of 1951, Shanghai began the "three antis" movement, followed by the "five antis". Although it was later eased up slightly at the suggestion of Chen Yi, it gave a heavy hammer to the Shanghai capitalists who had never experienced the mass struggle.
During this movement, Rong was designated as a "complete law-abiding household" and was personally demarcated by Chairman Mao, so it was not too much affected by the turmoil.
But this campaign made Rong Yiren realize a problem: public-private partnerships are bound to be the trend of the times.
Chairman Mao
In 1954, after careful consideration, Rong Yiren decided to respond to the party's call and take the lead in making its Shenxin system Rongshi enterprises accept the socialist transformation of public-private partnership.
Rong Yiren became the initiator of the public-private partnership in Shanghai's industrial and commercial circles, and played an important role in the subordination of Shanghai industrial and commercial people to the public-private partnership.
For this reason, he was personally named "Red Capitalist" by Premier Zhou and Chen Yi. At the end of the next year, Shanghai's industrial and commercial enterprises that accepted the government's processing orders and centralized purchase and underwriting accounted for 92% of the total output value of private industry. There is also the credit of Rong Yiren.
An even bigger shift occurred in October 1955. In his article "A Debate on Agricultural Co-operatives and the Current Class Struggle," Chairman Mao explicitly proposed that capitalism should be "extinct."
When the Shanghai industrial and commercial circles were shaken, Chen Yi found Rong Yiren and said that he was not trying to embezzle private property, saying: "The Communist Party sees that a group of you are still useful, and you are very welcome to participate..."
When Chairman Mao went south to inspect the Shenxin Cotton Textile Printing and Dyeing Factory, he also asked him: "How about production after the public-private partnership?" ”
Rong Yiren replied, "Better than before." Shortly after this inspection, Rong Yiren also figured it out. On behalf of the Shanghai industrial and commercial community, he wrote to Chairman Mao, saying that they accepted the realization of a public-private partnership for the whole industry in Shanghai within six days.
"Conform to the development of the times and grasp your own destiny, this is a sentence sent by Chairman Mao to Rong Yiren, and it is also a sentence that he persuaded the capitalists in Shanghai's industrial and commercial circles.
Whenever someone came to ask for his opinion on the public-private partnership, he would always follow this sentence to persuade everyone, so that all the industrial and commercial friends could accept the transformation of the public-private partnership relatively calmly.
On January 20, 1956, Shanghai announced that more than 100,000 private industrial and commercial households in the city would be public-private partnerships. This is an extraordinary achievement in the history of socialist transformation, and people beat gongs and drums to celebrate its completion.
What many people did not expect was that Rong Yiren was also in the procession of celebration, saying: "Socialist transformation of me has lost some of the income of exploitation that belongs to me personally, but what I have gained is a socialist country where everyone is rich and strong." ”
Rong Yiren obviously fulfilled the words given to him by Chairman Mao, and he was worthy of his status as a member of the Rong family, and he was very aware of the development of the situation, and his fate took a turn: as an entrepreneur who actively cooperated with the policies of the Communist Party, Rong Yiren was elected vice mayor of Shanghai.
This is the first Rong's son to hold a government office since Rong's business start-up. By 1959, Rong Yiren had served as vice minister of the Textile Department in Beijing.
Fast forward to 1979, and people are thinking about where New China should go. At the Great Hall of the People on January 17, Comrade Xiaoping hosted a banquet for five famous old industrialists and businessmen, including four "first-generation" national entrepreneurs and Rong Yiren, the "second-generation" national entrepreneur.
The banquet was known as the "Five Old HotPot Feast" and was also a sign that the Chinese Communist Party had invited entrepreneurs back. This year, Rong Yiren was 63 years old and was the only "second generation", so he was pinned high hopes on him. From this moment on, Rong Yiren ushered in another turning point in his life.
In a later interview, Rong Yiren himself publicly admitted that before the liberation, Rongshi was only a big national capitalist; but since he became the chairman of CITIC Group in 1979, he has engaged in 209 enterprises through investment and joint ventures in only 9 years, which is more than ten times that of before liberation.
Five old hot pot feast
"CITIC Group" is the turning point in the second half of Rong Yiren's life, and it is also his greatest glory and achievement.
Deng Xiaoping said: "In conducting the economy, we must emphasize inviting experts to do the work, and Rong Yiren is an expert."
At the "Five Old Hot Pot Banquet", the expert once again pointed out the problem bluntly: "At present, foreign exchange is very limited, and the introduction of foreign capital should be based on making it take effect soon, the purpose should be clear, and the utilitarian nature should be greater..."
After the "hot pot feast", Rong Yiren took over the heavy responsibility of CITIC. From the influence of the Rong family to his own experience and study of socialism, this position was the most suitable for him.
Comrade Xiaoping and Rong Yiren
On October 4, 1979, China International Trust and Investment Corporation was formally established, Rong Yiren served as the chairman and general manager, and his former friends in the business community began to start a business, and Rong Yiren was also called "Rong Boss".
In this position, he has thoughtfully considered how to develop China's economy and summed up two things: one is to improve the market mechanism, and the other is to strengthen the state apparatus. These two articles are not obsolete to this day.
Under the leadership of Rong Yiren, CITIC has achieved brilliant results despite being a "pathfinder" on the road of investment in Chinese: in the 1980s, CITIC created many national firsts, and became a world-renowned company in less than a decade.
Rong Yiren can be called a bloody heart for this. The first thing he does when he enters the office every day is to open the information display system terminal and stare at the flashing market data on the phosphor screen to capture business opportunities. His driver remembered that most of the time Rong Yiren did not leave work until twelve o'clock or one o'clock in the evening.
In his first year in office, Rong Yiren received more than 4,000 guests from more than 40 countries and regions, and more than 3,000 people from China came to negotiate business.
In addition, he has spared no effort to recruit talents: former US Secretary of State Kissinger, who once contributed to the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the United States, was hired as a consultant for CITIC to help CITIC break a path in the introduction of foreign capital, technology, equipment and other aspects.
Kissinger
In the early 1980s, a large project in China's 22 key projects - Jiangsu Yizheng Chemical Fiber Project was ready to be launched due to insufficient investment, which was not good news for China, which was in urgent need of chemical fiber products at that time, if this project really "went off the horse", the loss will be difficult to predict.
To this end, the Textile Department approached CITIC for help. After careful research, CITIC corporation launched China's first overseas bond, a 10 billion yen bond issued in Japan in February 1981. Since then, the issuance of bonds overseas has been emulated by various companies.
Comrade Xiaoping has always attached great importance to CITIC, and he personally wrote eight big characters for CITIC Company: "Courage to innovate and make more contributions". On June 18, 1986, Comrade Xiaoping personally met with some members of the Rong family who had returned to China for sightseeing in the Great Hall of the People.
This reunion of the Rong clan is also a signal sent by Comrade Xiaoping to the outside world: New China is willing to unite with overseas patriotic compatriots to jointly build the motherland!
Meanwhile, CITIC began a "battle" to buy Hong Kong in 1987. On 16 January 1987, CITIC Acquired a 12.5% stake in Cathay Pacific, followed by a 38.3% stake in Dragonair and a 20% stake in Hong Kong Telecom.
This series of acquisitions has caused the Hong Kong media to exclaim that Rong Yiren wants to "acquire Hong Kong". In fact, at that time, there were more than 1,000 mainland capital system enterprises investing in Hong Kong, with a total investment of more than US$25 billion, far above the US$12 billion of Japan, the second place. Most of them are under the control of CITIC Corporations.
At that time, the "Chocolate Building" with a height of more than 20 floors outside the Jianguo Gate in Beijing, the CITIC Group Base Camp International Building, also became one of the important landscapes.
Rong Yiren himself was listed in the "World's 50 Well-known Entrepreneurs" by the American economic magazine "Happiness" in 1986, and from this point of view alone, he became the first domestic entrepreneur.
Coincidentally, the ranking of Forbes magazine in the United States also proves this: in 2000, the Rong family was selected by the magazine as the first of the fifty richest people in China.
In addition to being busy, Rong Yiren's life has another thing: curing diseases. The route that Rongjia's driver, Zhang Jihai, is most familiar with is the route that departs from Shijia Hutong at 7:30 every morning, first to Beijing Hospital, and then to the International Building.
Because every day before going to work, Rong Yiren had to go to Beijing Hospital and do a half-hour "nebulized inhalation" to treat his emphysema.
The driver is also the one who knows best how busy he really is: "It's only ten minutes from the International Building, and he sometimes snores as soon as he gets in the car." ”
Despite his busyness, Rong Yiren was never a person who would be angry with the staff around him, nor was he a moody person. He rarely speaks, smiles slightly when he is happy, and does not say a word when he is unhappy, and at most shakes his head.
Rong Yiren, who studied abroad in his early years and later survived for many years in Shanghai, China's most open city, had many "Westernized" hobbies: he liked photography, football, symphony, sprayed perfume every day, and ate bread, beef and coffee for breakfast.
The guard remembered going to buy him film twice a week and to develop photographs every ten days. Rong Yiren also served as the honorary president of the Football Association and would play the sandbox of the stadium with his little grandson at home.
In March 1993, at the age of 77, Rong Yiren once again became a hot spot in the international community: he was elected as China's vice president, a move that caused heated discussion in the international community.
This move has sent a signal of support to Chinese entrepreneurs and great confidence for foreign entrepreneurs to invest in China.
In the period of China's rapid market-oriented reform, Rong Yiren played an important role. His experience has guided the growth of many large enterprises and gained the attention of those in power. The Central Leading Group for Finance and Economic Affairs once reported to him on the economic situation every quarter and listened to his opinions.
Five years later, Rong Yiren retired from his position as a state leader and lived in a courtyard house in a hutong in Beijing's Dongcheng District, where he and his wife began to enjoy their old age together.
At this time, Rong Yiren was 82 years old, already had a heavy grandson, and became a grandfather-in-law. This courtyard was specially arranged for Rong Yiren after the founding of New China, and was once the residence of Fu Zuoyi. In this kind of Rong Yiren and his wife spent the golden marriage, diamond marriage, and lived a life of teasing the grandson.
This courtyard is a very warm place. Of Rong Yiren's four daughters, two live in Shanghai, one married in Macau, and the fourth daughter fell ill with dementia due to misdiagnosis of encephalitis, dying of lung cancer in 1993, and the only son had worked at the grassroots level for a long time.
The courtyard provided a place for everyone, and when children and relatives returned to Beijing, they were often willing to live at home with their parents. Even Rong Yiren's niece, Zhimei, known as the "strong woman of German business", will live here when she returns home and enjoy a warm time.
The children are willing to enjoy the warmth of the family here, and the neighbors around them also enjoy the warmth sent by Rong Yiren. The old people in Shijia Hutong often commented that Rong Yiren was "particularly kind".
Every time he came back, if he saw a neighbor, he would come forward to say hello. In 2003, there was a fire in a courtyard here, and it was also the officers and men of the Armed Police officers and men of the Rong House who controlled the fire with fire extinguishers. Every year during Beijing's fundraising month in October, the guards at the Rongjia compound send a lot of money to the neighbors around them.
In the living room of the Rong Mansion hangs a special plaque "Room for Abstaining from Deception", these two words are the creed that Rong Yiren has adhered to all his life, and he specially asked Comrade Xiaoping to write it in 1988.
Throughout his life, he insisted on honesty, even if he was a businessman, he was also a Confucian businessman, and he never did anything to deceive and apologize to the people.
This may also be why Rong Yiren was able to stand alone in the many waves at the beginning of the founding of New China and has the name of "red capitalist".
At 20:31 on October 26, 2005, Rong Yiren passed away in Beijing at the age of 89. Hearing this news, some people commented sadly: "This is the end of an era. ”
Indeed, from the beginning of Rong Yiren's father and uncle who founded a flour mill and cotton yarn factory a hundred years ago, writing a family legend in the Republic of China period, to the founding of New China, rong's fate was placed on Rong Yiren, and he associated his fate with new China.
Rong Yiren's life is a microcosm of the ups and downs of China's national capital in the past hundred years, and his death can indeed announce the end of an era.
In the Wuxi Plum Garden, there is such a couplet: "Make a wish of superiority, make a medium-sized relationship, and enjoy the blessings of inferiority; choose a high place to stand, sit flat, and walk towards a wide place." ”
This couplet is a good summary of the Rong family's creed: they are not arrogant, not decadent, conform to the trend of society, and insist on moving with their hearts. Rong Yiren practiced this creed all his life, and thus had an extraordinary life of being responsible for the country and society.