After the outbreak of the Pacific War in 1941, the United States intended to provide a loan of 500 million US dollars to support China's war of resistance, and the government of the Republic of China issued public bonds, and after the end of the war, these public bonds could be exchanged for US dollars, according to the official regulations of the national government, the exchange ratio of US dollar public bonds and legal tender was 1 to 20, in other words, 1 US dollar can be exchanged for 20 legal currency, and 500 million US dollars is equivalent to 10 billion legal currency.
Such a huge amount of money was undoubtedly a relief for Chiang Kai-shek, who was in financial difficulties during the Anti-Japanese War, so Chiang Kai-shek arranged for his brother-in-law Kong Xiangxi to be responsible for the issuance of US dollar bonds.
Kong Xiangxi, Soong Ailing and Chiang Kai-shek
Perhaps he was not optimistic about the situation of the Nationalist government, nor did he trust Chiang Kai-shek, whose reputation was discredited, and the fiat currency had been depreciating during the war, and by 1943, the $500 million public bond had only been sold for about $43 million, which did not meet the expected sales target, and even the original 1:20 exchange ratio once rose to 1:200.
The sharp depreciation of the fiat currency made Kong Xiangxi's wife Soong Ailing see that it was profitable, and she instructed Kong Xiangxi to stop selling US dollar bonds, and in order to gain Chiang Kai-shek's trust, Kong Xiangxi stopped selling the fiat currency on the grounds of stabilizing it.
The black market immediately reported that the exchange ratio of 1:20 had risen to 1:250, but although Kong Xiangxi stopped the official sale, he secretly sold it to the black market at the usual price, and then handed it over to the state treasury at the original price of 1:20, and all the excess money was pocketed, making a profit of 11.5 million US dollars.
Kong Xiangxi
According to Truman, during the Anti-Japanese War, 750 million US dollars of the $3.8 billion that the United States donated to China were taken away by Kong Xiangxi, and even 300 million US dollars of the $500 million donated were the property of the Kong family.
Of course, Song Ailing, who has always been shrewd, had long anticipated the future situation of the Kong family, and began to transfer assets before the scandal broke out, so that most of the Kong family's property was preserved.
In May 1945, on the eve of the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, Kong Xiangxi was forced to resign from the post of vice president of the Executive Yuan, and later resigned from the post of president of the central bank, completely losing the trust of Chiang Kai-shek.
In 1946, Kong Xiangxi began to seriously clean up the existing property, and transferred everything he could to Hong Kong and foreign countries as much as possible, and then returned to his hometown of Taigu, Shanxi, where he gave a grand banquet to his relatives as his farewell banquet, and planned to never return in the future.
At this time, the war of liberation was still going on, and if he wanted to leave, he would inevitably be hindered by Chiang Kai-shek, but Kong Xiangxi had his own way.
Kong Xiangxi and Song Ailing
In 1947, on the pretext of assisting Song Meiling in Chu Guo's treatment, Song Ailing was asked to settle in a colorless place overseas, and finally chose to settle in Riverdale, USA.
After everything was fully prepared, Kong Xiangxi sent a telegram to Chiang Kai-shek, saying that Soong Ailing was seriously ill and that he had hurried to the United States without Chiang Kai-shek's approval, and in addition to settling in a luxury villa in Verdale, he also bought a high-end house in the suburbs of New York for more than $1.6 million, and rented a room in a star-rated hotel on Broadway for a long time at a rent of $150 a day.
Kong Xiangxi's mansion in Shanghai
Kong Xiangxi wanted to spend his old age in the United States, but Truman did not intend to let him go, in view of the fact that the Kuomintang politicians had long been rich in US aid, Truman directly ordered the FBI to investigate the property of the Kong family and the Song family in the United States, and carried out secret surveillance of Kong Xiangxi, which also made Kong Xiangxi panic all day.
Fortunately, there is always a common topic among the rich, and at the suggestion of a friend in the United States, he carried out a variety of behind-the-scenes activities, not only opening up the joints, but even getting the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the US Treasury Department to prove for themselves that all deposits did not exceed $50 million.
In addition, Kong Xiangxi will also meet with reporters, claiming that he did have money before, but it was all run by his ancestors, but with decades of war, most of his property has been lost, and with the outbreak of the civil war, the Kong family has suffered heavy losses, and now he only has a little savings to survive.
Kong Xiangxi with Morgenthau, then US Secretary of the Treasury
In this way, relying on his own lies, Kong Xiangxi successfully got out of the crisis, and the FBI surveillance and investigation could not be stopped.
In the United States, Kong Xiangxi lived as usual, still maintaining the Xi of sleeping late and getting up late, with a lot of wealth, naturally eating and drinking is also very particular, every morning must be a bowl of bird's nest, as well as a variety of high-end snacks, etc., lunch is six dishes and two soups, maintaining a high standard, and a bowl of ginseng chicken soup in the evening.
Of course, in foreign countries, Kong Xiangxi can't eat Wuxi rice in China, let alone Shanxi ramen and Shanxi pancakes that he likes to eat.
In 1954, Kong Xiangxi, who had lived in seclusion in the United States for several years, had a whim and wanted to run back to Taiwan, this time he not only wanted to relive his old dream, but also to run for vice president, but at this time Chiang Kai-shek was no longer interested in him, and everything he did in Taiwan was to pave the way for Chiang Ching-kuo, and it was absolutely impossible for Kong Xiangxi to intervene.
In this way, Kong Xiangxi's hope of continuing to engage in politics was completely shattered, and it was also from this time that Kong Xiangxi completely ignored politics, and usually only participated in some public welfare activities in the United States, such as donating money to charities, setting up scholarships at universities, etc., to create an image of a philanthropist for himself and save his lost reputation.
Kong Xiangxi tried his best to save his reputation
But as he grew older, Kong Xiangxi became more and more nostalgic, and there were old reporters asking about his property, after thinking for a long time, he still decided to return to Taiwan at the age of 82, he wanted to spend his old age here, whether Chiang Kai-shek welcomed it or not, he wanted to go back, and he thought that if he went back and did not mix politics, Chiang Kai-shek should not treat him well.
In October 1962, Kong Xiangxi returned to Taiwan and met Chiang Kai-shek, who had not met for 15 years.
Therefore, Chiang Kai-shek only paid a courtesy visit and conversation with Kong Xiangxi, and then lost the vacant post of a member of the council and ignored him.
Chiang Kai-shek's lukewarm attitude disappointed Kong Xiangxi, but he had already come to Taiwan, so he could only swallow his anger and live first, just like that, after barely staying in Taiwan for more than three years, Kong Xiangxi could not stay any longer, in February 1966, Kong Xiangxi flew back to the United States again under the pretext of going to the United States for medical treatment, this time leaving, he was full of loneliness, and decided not to come back.
Kong Xiangxi, Soong Ailing and Chiang Kai-shek
After returning to the United States, Kong Xiangxi and Song Ailing moved into a new place, which is a new villa located in Fix Lane, Locaster Valley, Long Island.
But Kong Xiangxi has a heart disease, that is, there are not many heirs, although he has two sons and two daughters, but Kong Lingyi, Kong Lingkan, and Kong Lingwei have not left heirs, which once made Kong Xiangxi sigh that the incense of the Kong family is about to be broken, but fortunately, it is the youngest son Kong Lingjie who gave birth to the only grandson Kong Deji, who is also the only third generation of the Kong family, so that Kong Xiangxi can get a little comfort.
Kong Lingwei
It's just that what Kong Xiangxi didn't expect was that the only grandson would not get married in the future, and the incense of the Kong family seemed to be completely broken.
Kong Xiangxi's children
In July 1967, Kong Xiangxi got up and read the newspaper as usual in a soft chair, but he felt unwell soon after, and although he was sent to the hospital in time to stabilize his condition, his condition began to deteriorate, and he died in a New York hospital on August 16 at the age of 88.