Video loading...
October 1, 1936, the ancient city of Xi'an. The morning fog has not yet dissipated, and Lianhu Park is already bustling. On this day, the Lianhu Canteen, which specializes in Western food, was officially opened, and well-known people from all walks of life in Xi'an came to congratulate it. For a time, the scenery of Lianhu Canteen was unique, and the restaurant owner "Jiang Big Nose" was even more promising.
Jiang Ziming, born in 1896 in Tongshan County, Jiangsu Province, is affectionately known as "Jiang Ziming" because of his large nose. Jiang Ziming, who came from a poor family, traveled to seek a living in the early years, and in 1917, he traveled to France to work as a Chinese worker, and learned a good cooking skill in 3 years. After returning to China, he opened a "Xuzhou Food Store", which specializes in various Western foods.
At this time, it was the first period of cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, and many CCP members traveled to and from Xuzhou, often settling in Jiang Ziming's shop. As his contact with the Communists grew closer, he began to study progressive books such as the Communist Manifesto and gradually embarked on the revolutionary road.
In 1927, the storm suddenly changed, and white terror enveloped the land of China, but the flame of revolution was never extinguished. Jiang Ziming's food store became a secret liaison station for the CCP's underground activities in Xuzhou.
One day in 1934, a mysterious Xi'an visitor came to the food store. This person was None other than Song Qiyun, an underground member of the Communist Party of China who was lurking in Yang Hucheng's military headquarters. As the work unfolded, the CCP underground prepared to open a restaurant in Xi'an as a secret point of contact. Loyal and reliable, Jiang Ziming is undoubtedly the best candidate for managers.
Without saying a word, Jiang Ziming immediately accepted the task, left his hometown, and ran to Xi'an, where the clouds of war were thick.
After more than a year of meticulous preparation, in October 1936, the Lianhu Canteen was grandly opened. The canteen was funded and organized by Song Qiyun and others, and Jiang Ziming also took the trouble to choose the address next to the crowded Lianhu Park, which was only one alley away from the Yang Hucheng Mansion. In the large room on the south wall of the Western restaurant, there is also a small side door adjacent to the back door of the Yang Mansion.
Occasionally, in his spare time, Yang Hucheng would also come to the canteen to eat and chat, and Jiang Ziming would often personally entertain and accompany him, and over time he would become a trusted friend. They discussed military and politics and talked freely about the CCP's united front policy. With the fame of Yang Hucheng, the Lianhu canteen is booming, and the party's underground work has also ushered in a vigorous new opportunity. The bustling restaurants became the liaison station, guest house, military station and intelligence station of the Northwest Branch of the Communist Party of China.
After the Xi'an Incident, Chiang Kai-shek forced Yang Hucheng to "go abroad for investigation," and the Northeast Army and the Northwest Army were transferred out of Shaanxi. Xi'an, under the kuomintang's strict guard, was full of eyes and ears of military command agents. In order to provide a good cover for the party's work on the hidden front in Xi'an, Jiang Ziming personally did everything himself and was cautious and meticulous everywhere, but even so, it still aroused the suspicion of the Kuomintang secret service organs, and danger swept in.
Chiang Kai-shek's attendants sent a telegram ordering that the situation of "Boss Chiang" be immediately investigated and reported. The secret agents followed and monitored day and night, and Jiang Ziming was highly vigilant and did not leave any handle; at the same time, he repeatedly did not avoid hardships and dangers and skillfully obtained intelligence.
In the spring of 1939, Kuomintang military and political leaders held a feast in the Lianhu canteen, and Boss Jiang personally cooked and entertained, and also put the accompanying lieutenants and drivers in place.
In the midst of the song, Jiang Ziming learned that the Kuomintang was trying to launch anti-communist friction. While the officials were drunk, he pulled out secret documents such as the Kuomintang's "Measures for Restricting The Activities of Other Parties" from their briefcases. Subsequently, the information was promptly delivered to the Eighth Route Army's office in Xi'an.
In the past few years, using similar methods, Jiang Ziming also obtained a series of valuable information, such as Hu Zong's preparations for attacking the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region from Suide and the compilation of two major volumes of all Kuomintang troops, which provided a valuable reference for the Party Central Committee to understand the enemy situation in the northwest region. Jiang Ziming repeatedly proposed that he hope to join the Communist Party of China. However, organizationally, taking into account the dangerous environment at that time, out of protection for him, it was recommended that he stay outside the party.
In 1941, the Lianhu Canteen was relocated several times and renamed "Baile Hotel", and every move was still under close surveillance. Agents also forced the hotel to move under the pretext of government publicity. In 1945, the hotel was occupied.
While running the hotel business, Jiang Ziming always fought with the enemy with wit and skillful maneuvering. Throughout his life, he destroyed his family and alleviated difficulties, had no house, no land, and no property, and spent all the income from the hotel to finance revolutionary activities, often with only money in his pocket to buy a box of matches. He died of illness in October 1945 at the age of 49.
In the unknown special battlefield, Jiang Ziming was extremely loyal to the party and had no reservations, and fought to the last moment of his life, and was praised by Lin Boqu and other CCP leaders as a "Bolshevik outside the party."