On February 10, 1952, a gunshot rang out, ending the brilliant and absurd lives of Liu Qingshan and Zhang Zishan.
They could have achieved fame, but after the dust settled in the early days of New China, they became typical examples of corrupt officials.
So, how much is the 17.1 billion old coins they embezzled worth now?
At that time, their actions applauded the people and made some old revolutionaries feel sad.
The newly-born China staggered forward in hardships and hardships, but they forgot their purpose, and finally ended up in such a miserable end.
Nowadays, with the passage of time, we should not bear in mind hatred, but should learn from the lessons of history, keep in mind ideals, and always maintain our true character of integrity.
Liu Qingshan and Zhang Zishan, a Hebei farmer and a scholarly family, both joined the revolution around 1931, when they were only teenagers, and wanted to contribute to the birth of New China.
Liu Qingshan was born in 1916 in a poor peasant family in Hebei Province.
In 1931, at the age of 15, he left home to join the underground revolutionary organization, and after receiving the baptism of Marxist theory, he became a member of the Communist Party. He always led the way, charged into battle without hesitation, and soon gained the appreciation of his leadership for his combat experience.
In 1937, Liu Qingshan was selected for cadre training and sent to Yan'an to study.
Zhang Zishan was born in 1914, his family was much better than Liu Qingshan, and with the support of his elder brother, he was able to receive an education in the school.
After graduating from high school in 1933, Zhang Zishan accepted communist ideas on campus and joined the Communist Party of China without hesitation, becoming an underground party member full of ideals and ambitions.
Later, he was betrayed by a traitor on a secret mission, imprisoned and tortured by the Kuomintang, but he endured torture and always kept the party's secrets.
It was not until 1937 that he successfully escaped from prison after the July Seven Incident and resumed contact with the organization.
In 1942, the two began to cooperate in the central Hebei region, with Liu Qingshan as the deputy secretary of the prefectural party committee and Zhang Zishan as the head of the organization.
They hit it off and were a pleasure to work with. On the eve of the victory of the Liberation War, the two were transferred to Tianjin, a municipality directly under the central government, to continue to be responsible for important work, Liu Qingshan served as secretary of the prefectural party committee, and Zhang Zishan served as a special commissioner. Tianjin was the second largest city in the country at that time and one of the most economically developed regions.
They are talented and hold important positions, and they have a bright future, but they also face greater temptations and tests.
In 1950, in support of the Korean War, the state launched the "Three Branches and Two Armies" campaign, requiring government departments to carry out production to solve financial shortfalls. This was originally a patriotic movement for the benefit of the country and the people, but it became a tool for Liu Qingshan and Zhang Zishan to accumulate wealth.
They started by taking bribes and giving bribes, and gradually their greed swelled, and in order to obtain more ill-gotten gains, they boldly withheld military rations and sold them for profit, and even pretended to be military officers and resold steel and timber.
Later, he was even more unscrupulous, embezzling funds that were originally used to support the front line and disaster relief, and putting all of them in his own pocket.
In just three years, they amassed a fortune of 17.16 billion old dollars, which was equivalent to the military expenditure of 10 Spitfire fighters at that time.
After acquiring a huge amount of wealth, Liu Qingshan changed his simple and low-key style in the past and began to live a flamboyant and extravagant life.
He often makes unreasonable noises and asks the chef to make him a bowl of leek dumplings without leeks, just to satisfy his appetite. He also wore extravagant fur coats to keep warm during the hard years of the early years of the founding of the country.
Because he no longer satisfied with the work cars allocated by the state, Liu Qingshan took the greedy money to Hong Kong to buy a number of imported famous cars.
What's even more shocking is that Liu Qingshan also bought a mansion in Tianjin to use as his private club. In this clubhouse, he learned to smoke opium and indulge in the delusion of drugs.
Liu Qingshan originally still cherished the ideal of serving the people in his heart, but under the double corrosion of money and drugs, his revolutionary will faded, and his expression was sluggish and his mental condition was worrisome.
This aroused the vigilance of Li Kecai, deputy commissioner of the Tianjin Special Administration.
Li Kecai is honest and honest, and he is deeply saddened by the deterioration of the two. He talked to the two many times and persuaded them to stop, but they were all ridiculed and ignored by Liu Qingshan, and then even tried to bribe Li Kecai.
Li Kecai was not discouraged, secretly collected evidence, and finally found the opportunity to expose the crimes of Liu Qingshan and Zhang Zishan in front of everyone in the Hebei "Three Antis" Movement in 1952.
This explosive report immediately reached the central government. Chairman Mao was resolute and resolute when he learned about it, and immediately ordered a strict and thorough investigation.
After collecting ironclad evidence, Liu and Zhang had no choice but to confess their guilt. However, Liu Qingshan still thinks highly of himself, believing that he has contributed to the revolution and should not be severely punished.
How to punish crime has become a difficult problem. The new Chinese legal system is not yet complete and cannot cope with their cases. And they do have the credit for the founding of the country, and it is too simple and crude to shoot them all.
After repeated discussions and requests for instructions, Chairman Mao finally personally ordered the two to be sentenced to death and immediately executed.
Chairman Mao believed that it was necessary to severely punish the precedents in order to set an example, and this decision also calmed down the controversy on all sides.
On February 9, 1952, Liu Qingshan and Zhang Zishan had their last dinner in prison, and they both behaved unusually calmly. Liu Qingshan was only worried about his family's life, and after learning that the party organization would take care of his family, he accepted his fate.
In the early hours of 10 February, they were escorted to the execution ground, where their lives ended after two gunshots.
This earth-shattering corruption case shocked the whole country. On the one hand, the people are pleased that corrupt officials have been severely punished; On the other hand, there are also some old revolutionaries who are worried that this practice is too harsh and will shake the morale of the military.
But in any case, it has become a typical case of intra-party supervision, warning every revolutionary to always be vigilant and not to fade and degenerate under the red sun of rebirth.
So, how much is the 17.1 billion old coins they embezzled worth today?
In 1952, 10,000 old coins were worth about 1 yuan. At this rate, 17.1 billion old currency is equivalent to about 1.71 million yuan.
This money caused extremely bad damage to the country's economy back then. And today, it is also the wealth accumulated by a very ordinary family through a lifetime of hard work.
With the passage of time and changes in the environment, we should draw lessons from this period of history, keep in mind the original aspiration of the revolutionary martyrs, strengthen our ideals and beliefs, and always maintain the true qualities of communists.
The cases of Liu Qingshan and Zhang Zishan are a reminder of our need to be honest and represent the severe punishment for corruption in that era.
At the beginning of the founding of the People's Republic of China, it was in an extremely difficult economic environment, which made people even more intolerant of the existence of corruption.
Today, the people's life is becoming more and more comfortable, but we must not forget the expectations of our revolutionary forefathers and must not let anyone fade. Only by establishing correct values in life can we seek happiness for the people and progress for the country.