Before reading this article, I sincerely invite you to click the "Follow" button, so that you can continue to push such articles in the future, and it is also convenient for you to discuss and share, your support is the driving force for us to insist on creating~
Text | Edit: Shi Zai has no money
Preface
On an ordinary day in 1971, Dai Yihong, an ordinary person who worked hard in the third branch of Zongyang Purong in Anhui Province, was suddenly taken away by the police. On this day, Dai Li's grandson's identity was revealed, revealing a piece of family history that he himself had never really understood. As the core figure of the military commander, Dai Li once left many memories of controversy and fear. Dai Yihong's words in the court actually made him move from the brink of death to freedom. What did he say? Why was he able to escape the punishment of the law? Let me take you to find out.
Dai Li, the most famous intelligence leader in the Republic of China era, came from a wealthy family. His childhood began in material abundance, but this comfortable life did not last long. When Dai Lia was a child, his father died, leaving him and his strong mother to live together. Dai Li's mother was a very hardworking and resilient woman, and she worked hard to ensure that she had access to an education despite the devastation her family had suffered.
Despite being sent to study, Dai did not develop much interest in his studies. His early experiences made him aspire to be able to make a difference in society. When he decided to go to Shanghai in search of a bigger opportunity, Dai Li's mother was initially against it. After his mother lost her husband, she has been taking on the responsibility of raising Dai Li, and she has great expectations for his future, so she naturally does not want Dai Li's adventure to that complex and changing metropolis.
When Dai Li arrived in Shanghai, he quickly became the political and business heart of the city with his astuteness and keen insight into the situation. He not only got acquainted with Du Yuesheng, the boss of Shanghai at that time, but also got acquainted with the future governor - Chiang Kai-shek through Du Yuesheng's recommendation. From then on, Dai began his career within the Kuomintang, serving Chiang Kai-shek and becoming his indispensable assistant.
Towards the end of the war in 1945, Dai Yihong was born in Nanjing, a city devastated by the war. He is the second grandson of the Dai family, and his parents did not pay much attention to his birth, because there is already the existence of the eldest grandson Dai Yikuan in the family. Dai Li, who was too busy with official business to attend Dai Yihong's full moon celebration in person, only sent his secretary to deliver a symbolic gift.
With the successive births of Dai Yichang and Dai Meiman, Dai Yihong's position gradually became embarrassing. An excellent older brother and a favored younger brother and sister make him a lesser-watched member of the family. In the context of that turbulent era, being a member of a prominent family did not bring him the comfortable life he expected, but on the contrary, it caused countless troubles.
As an important cadre of the Kuomintang, Dai Li, promoted by Chiang Kai-shek himself, controlled the huge military command organ, enjoyed Chiang Kai-shek's deep trust, and occupied almost the core of the Kuomintang's power. As Dai Yihong's father, Dai Zangyi joined the military command from 1940, and by 1944, he had been promoted to major general and commissioner of the Military Control Bureau, becoming a figure of the times.
With the end of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the dawn of peace, the agreement signed by Chiang Kai-shek and Mao Zedong in the Chongqing negotiations in 1945 called for the abolition of the Kuomintang secret service. This decision directly pointed to the military command organization controlled by the Dai family, which brought an unprecedented crisis to the Dai family.
Calls for "Down with the spies" were rising across the country, and Dai felt a strong sense of unease for the first time. This fear came not only from popular opposition and political rivalry within the Kuomintang, but also from the possible betrayal of Chiang Kai-shek. After all, under Dai Li's control, the military commanders not only carried out a large number of smuggling activities, but also maintained complex ties with the United States, and even touched Chiang Kai-shek's interests.
Although Chiang Kai-shek had a deep historical trust in Dai Li, Chiang Kai-shek's attitude began to change after learning that the United States supported Dai Li's appointment as commander-in-chief of the navy. He felt that Dai Li's threat was gradually increasing, and he felt threatened by the Dai family's control.
From the early spring of 1946, Dai Li embarked on a series of intense inspection itineraries, starting from Chongqing and visiting Shanghai, Suzhou, Nanjing, Beiping, Jinan and other cities. On the surface, these actions are aimed at eliminating "traitors" in the military and political circles, but the actual purpose is to unite the military towns such as He Yingqin and prepare for the upcoming political showdown.
On March 17, Dai Li boarded a flight from Peking to Shanghai. Shortly after takeoff, Shanghai Airport had to close its runway due to bad weather. Faced with the dilemma of not being able to land as planned, Dai Li decided to temporarily change his plan and fly to Nanjing. Unfortunately, this decision led to tragedy.
The thunderstorm had just passed, and dark clouds still loomed over the lush hills. Shortly after noon, the villagers of Daishan Village suddenly heard the unusually low sound of an airplane engine resounding through the sky, only to see a plane hovering at a low altitude, and finally unfortunately crashed into the treetops. Due to the high-speed momentum, the plane taxied for about 200 meters after hitting a large tree, and finally exploded on the top of the mountain.
On March 21, 1946, General Dai Li, on his way from Peking to Shanghai via Qingdao, suffered an unfortunate plane failure and crashed into Ma'anshan near the Southern Martyrs Cemetery in southwest Beijing, causing the fuselage to disintegrate and burn. Dai Li's body was identified and sealed the next day.
The incident shook both home and abroad, and the Nationalist Government issued a commendation order shortly after in recognition of Dai Li's contributions, posthumously conferring him the rank of lieutenant general. Dai Li's sudden death not only had a huge impact on the military command and within the Kuomintang, but also marked the end of an era.
In January 1949, Dai Li's mother, Lan, died of illness, and until the last moment of her life, she did not know that her son had been killed in a plane accident three years earlier. When Dai's mother's funeral was completed, spring was getting stronger, and the political situation in China at this time also underwent earth-shaking changes.
The People's Liberation Army had successfully crossed the Yangtze River and moved rapidly southward, and the rule of the Kuomintang was in jeopardy. Dai Zangyi realized that his past repression of the Communist Party as a member of the military command would put him in great danger. In the increasingly unfavorable situation, he hurriedly fled south with his family, hoping to escape to Taiwan for refuge.
After they arrived in Pucheng, Fujian, Dai Zangyi hoped to use his past connections in the "Southeast Office" of the military command to seek help in fleeing to Taiwan. He planned to go to Fuzhou first, and then set off from Mawei and cross the strait to Taiwan, and when Dai Zangyi's family first arrived in Shuibei Township, Pucheng, they were robbed by local armed bandits. Their dollars, gold bars, and American pistols were looted by the robbers.
When the PLA Pucheng County Military Management Committee learned of this, it quickly sent troops to defeat the robbers and capture Dai Zangyi. But during the escort, Dai Zangyi took advantage of the lax guards, left his wife and children, escaped at night, and returned to Jiangshan alone. After arriving in Jiangshan, Dai Zangyi found that it had been occupied by the People's Liberation Army. He had no choice but to hide deep in the mountains and build a rudimentary thatched hut as a temporary shelter.
In the chaos of 1953, Mao Renfeng planned a covert operation in which the spy Huang Duo disguised himself as a fisherman and went deep into the hinterland of Shanghai, with the mission of getting in touch with Lu Bingzhang, a spy who was already hiding there, and helping the descendants of the Dai Li's family to escape to Taiwan. Their plan was carefully planned to secretly transfer Dai Li's descendants to Taiwan via Hong Kong.
In 1971, when Dai Yihong's household registration investigation was completely broken, the authorities discovered that his family background was linked to Dai Li, a famous spy leader in Chinese history, and this discovery suddenly embroiled him in a political storm. The news shocked the entire community, and Dai Yihong suddenly went from being an ordinary farm worker to a political suspect in the eyes of the people.
Dai Yihong's family background is complicated, his mother Zheng Xiying enjoyed Chiang Kai-shek's preferential treatment in Taiwan and lived in relatively favorable conditions, while his brothers achieved good educational and professional achievements in Taiwan and the United States. In stark contrast, Dai Yihong's growth in the mainland was full of hardships and challenges.
Since he was sent to Lu Bingzhang's house at the age of six, Dai Yihong has experienced a series of setbacks. After Lu Bingzhang's arrest, his life became even more difficult, and he was eventually sent to an orphanage funded by Soong Ching Ling. Although living conditions have improved in the orphanage, Dai Yihong still feels the cold of isolation.
During his seven years in the orphanage, Dai Yihong received some education and care, which had a positive impact on his personality formation. After leaving the orphanage at the age of 16, he was assigned to work in a cotton mill in Hefei City, and entered the society and began an ordinary but stable life. In the 60s, as part of the government's movement to go to the countryside, he was sent to work on a farm in Zongyang County, Anhui Province, where he learned to drive a tractor and repair machinery, becoming a skilled farm worker.
It wasn't until the strict political censorship of the 70s that Dai Yihong's past and the history of his grandfather Dai Lia were rediscovered. Faced with the fate of imminent death sentence, Dai Yihong's frank statement in court changed his fate. He claims to have lived in an orphanage since he was nine years old, raised by the government, and had nothing to do with outside political strife. He stressed that he had always been a hardworking and upright citizen and had never committed any crimes.
In the end, the court accepted Dai Yihong's defense, arguing that he was not responsible for his grandfather's history. His performance and his records on the farm show that he was an exemplary citizen and laborer. Dai Yihong was acquitted, regained his freedom, continued to work on the farm, and later even married and started a family of his own.
At the end of the 1980s, with the gradual relaxation of cross-strait relations and the implementation of the "three links" policy, Dai Yihong's longing for his mother Zheng Xiying in Taiwan deepened. Finally, in May 1991, he had the opportunity to travel to Taiwan. When he and his sister set foot on this long-lost land, they were accepted by their mother, Jung Seok-young, with a warm and guilty hug. Zheng Xiying's heart was full of mixed emotions, and she deeply regretted her decision not to bring all her children to Taiwan in 1953.
The arrival of Dai Yihong and her sister brought great comfort to Zheng Xiying, and although she was unable to return to the mainland due to her old age and health problems, her inner emotions were turbulent and tears could not stop flowing. Dai Yihong's visit was not only a family reunion, but also a cultural and emotional exchange, and they shared memories of the past, mixed with joys and sorrows.
Dai Li's legacy is complex, and although his death discredited him, his grandson, Dai Yihong, received a red education under the influence of New China and firmly supported the leadership of the Communist Party. Although Dai Yihong's life is not as magnificent as his grandfather's, his loyalty and perseverance in the ordinary show the complex interweaving of personal destiny and historical choices.
When everyone finally reunites at Jung Seok-young's residence, the moment is filled with an outburst of emotion. Zheng Xiying was in tears, and when she saw the children she hadn't seen for many years, she felt both excited and guilty. Dai Yikuan, Dai Yihong and Dai Meiman sat around their mothers, sharing their life experiences and thoughts over the years.
This reunion is not only a family reunion, but also a meeting point of history and emotion. Dai Yikuan talked about his life and achievements in the United States, while Dai Yihong and Dai Meiman recounted the hardships and growth in the mainland. Despite their different backgrounds and experiences, they are bound together by a sense of family affection and belonging.