On September 18, 1931, the rampant and invincible Japanese army launched an all-out attack on China. Wherever the Japanese army went, they burned, killed, looted, and did all kinds of evil.
However, when the Japanese army invaded Qiaojiabao Village in Jinzhong, Shanxi, they spared the Qiao family on the rich side here.
Why didn't the Japanese army dare to loot the property of Qiao's family, just look at what hung in Qiao's house at that time.
There is a way to do business, and the family property is tens of millions
Since the Sui and Tang dynasties, a group of Shanxi merchants have emerged in China, and the history books refer to this group as "Jin merchants".
From the Sui and Tang dynasties to the Qing dynasty, the Jin merchants became the merchants who accumulated the most wealth in China. Among these Jin merchants, the Qiao family is even more of a leader.
According to historical records, the Qiao family's family assets reached 30 million taels of silver in their heyday. You must know that in the Kangqian era, the last prosperous era in China, the Qing Dynasty's treasury revenue during Qianlong's reign was only 70 million taels.
Since the Qiao family was so wealthy, why did the Japanese army not take action against the Qiao family in the later stage of Japan's invasion of China? Could it be that the Qiao family had already declined at this time? The answer was definitely not decline.
And to uncover the answer to the question, we have to start with Qiao Zhiyong, the head of the family who led the Qiao family to prominence.
In the twenty-third year of Jiaqing, that is, in 1818 AD, Qiao Zhiyong's eldest brother died of illness early, and the family business of Nuoda was handed over to Qiao Zhiyong overnight.
At that time, Qiao Zhiyong was still a student who only wanted to study for further studies, but he was also difficult to defeat the family mission, so he could only take over the burden left to him by his eldest brother.
When Qiao Zhiyong was doing business, he adhered to the principle of "one faith, two righteousness, and three benefits". In his opinion, even if this business will lose money, it still needs to be done for the sake of faith, and only in this way can we obtain long-term benefits.
It is true that as Qiao Zhiyong expected, the family business grew by leaps and bounds under his care, and the family assets soon reached 10 million.
Sympathize and save lives
It can also be seen from Qiao Zhiyong's way of doing business that he does not value profit, but attaches more importance to "faith" and "righteousness", which is actually related to the fact that he has been immersed in Confucian culture in the past. And Qiao Zhiyong's benevolent and benevolent heart will keep the Qiao family in the later Japanese invasion of China.
The story also begins with the Boxer Rebellion.
Due to the inaction of the Qing government, it only knew how to blindly oppress the domestic people to curry favor with foreign invaders, which aroused the anger of the people.
Thus, in 1899, a peasant uprising under the slogan "Fu Qing and Destroy the Foreigners" ignited China. From the name of the uprising, it can be seen that the spearhead of the peasants was not the dying Qing government, but the foreigners who wantonly trampled and humiliated in China.
Therefore, as long as the Boxers visited, the foreigners here would be brutally killed. Soon, the artillery fire of the uprising also spread to Qiaojiabao Village in Jinzhong, Shanxi.
Because there was a church built by Italians on the border, the Boxers stormed the church and killed the priest as soon as they arrived.
Then, the Boxers set the church on fire.
But what they didn't expect was that several nuns in the church secretly escaped after hearing the news that the Boxers had arrived in Qiaojiabao Village.
And these nuns took advantage of the chaos to escape to the vicinity of the Qiao family's compound.
When Qiao Zhiyong heard the news, he ordered the nuns to be welcomed in, and promised to protect their safety.
Qiao Zhiyong believes that it is not the nuns and priests who have turned China upside down and turmoil, but the Western colonizers with long guns and short cannons. Nuns and priests have not harmed others.
Therefore, Qiao Zhiyong moved his compassion and saved this group of Italian nuns.
Seeing the flag, do not dare to invade
After the Boxer army withdrew from Jinzhong, Qiao Zhiyong secretly sent these nuns back to Italy. After receiving Qiao Zhiyong's help, the nun was very grateful.
In order to repay Qiao Zhiyong's kindness, the nuns published their personal experiences in the Italian press. The Italian government also took note of the incident under the high-profile media publicity.
So, the government presented Qiao Zhiyong with an Italian flag to show the "friendship" between Italy and the Qiao family. After Qiao Zhiyong received this gift, he also treasured it.
Later, during the Anti-Japanese War, the Qiao family planted this flag at the door to block the Japanese army's attempt to invade the Qiao family's compound.
Why, then, are the Japanese intimidated by a flag?
This is because Italy is an ally of Japan.
Although Japan invaded only China, in fact, countries around the world were in the midst of war during this period. At that time, Japan united the kingdoms of Germany and Italy, and declared war on the whole world.
Therefore, for the Japanese army, although they did not know what kind of relationship existed between the Qiao family and Italy. But the fact that this flag can be planted at the door of Qiao's house shows that Qiao's status in the Italian government is not ordinary.
Therefore, after seeing the national flag, the Japanese army did not dare to invade at will.
Did a good deed and escaped everything
Moreover, if the Japanese army really wants to capture the Qiao family compound, it will not be easy.
According to historical records, Qiao's compound was built in the 21st year of Qianlong, that is, in 1756, and by the time of Qiao Zhiyong's generation, the compound had been repaired to be "impregnable".
Qiaojia Compound is a large building complex, which contains 18 large mansions and 41 small mansions. In order to prevent unscrupulous people from coveting the Qiao family's property, the Qiao family built an outer wall about 10 meters high and 3 meters wide on the perimeter.
You must know that the city gate in the Qin and Han dynasties was only within 10 meters and 3.5 meters wide.
In addition, the doors of the Qiao family's internal houses were all opened inside, which was also to defend against the invasion of foreign enemies.
Moreover, there are also muskets and bows and arrows on top of the high walls of Qiao's house. If the Japanese were indifferent after seeing the Italian flag and still wanted to attack the door, then the Qiao family's nursing home would have been waiting here to fight to the death with the Japanese army.
In addition, the Qiao family has also accumulated a large amount of materials at home, and it is not a problem to only feed and drink the clansmen for a year.
It can be seen that the Qiao family compound itself is a "fortress" that is easy to defend and difficult to attack.
Of course, the Qiao family can develop to a state of being rich and rivaling the country, and they have dealings with the government, the court, and the people in the rivers and lakes. When they are in distress, they will always send a distress signal. Therefore, by this time, the Japanese army may have to worry about their own safety first.
After seeing the national flag, the Japanese army did not choose to attack the Qiao family compound, but I don't know which side was lucky. But all in all, the war will definitely cause casualties, and the Qiao family should be very glad that they were able to escape this disaster with an Italian flag obtained by "doing good deeds".
#近代史#