The War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression was a common ordeal experienced by the Chinese nation, and all the Chinese struggled hard, persevered, persevered, and composed with their lives and sweat a long national song of indomitable, unceasing life, and unceasing struggle.
Under the frenzied attack of the Japanese Kou, the places effectively controlled by the Nationalist government were already very small.
In general, there are some of the following areas:
All control areas: Sichuan, Chongqing, Lanzhou, Shaanxi
Most of the areas under control: Yunnan, Guizhou (fall of Dushan), Jiangxi, Fuzhou, Guangxi
Partial control: Zhejiang, Anhui, Guangdong, Hunan, Hubei, Henan, Inner Mongolia, Shanxi
Small control: Hainan Island, Shandong
Let's take a look at the problem of eating in the Nationalist area during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression.
First, Chongqing Central University eat eight treasure rice
In March 1943, a wave of students appeared at the Central University in Chongqing, and the reason was very simple: the food in the canteen was too difficult to eat.
At that time, CUHK's rice was called "Eight Treasure Rice" – mixed with sand, coal shavings, weeds, and rice, and the students were quite dissatisfied. At the critical moment, Chiang Kai-shek, who was also the principal, personally inspected the canteen, disregarded the danger of teeth being gnawed, talked and laughed with the students, ate three bowls in a row, and the students looked at each other, and a storm was invisibly resolved.
Objectively speaking, CUHK college students are indeed squeamish. At this time, at a critical moment of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, materials were scarce, and the front-line Nationalist troops had been eating "Eight Treasure Rice" for a long time, while the Communists could not even eat rice - they laughed at themselves as "millet plus rifles".
Former site of Shapingba, Chuo University
Teachers and students of Chongqing Central University in the 1940s
Of course, these bourgeoisie, the children and daughters of the landlords, cannot eat the Eight Treasures!
Second, the national army also eats eight treasure rice
In 1935, the Ministry of Military Affairs formulated the army's wartime rations: 22 taels of rice per person per day or 26 taels of flour (old system, one pound is equal to sixteen taels), 4 canned meat, 2 taels of dried vegetables, 2 taels of pickles, 3 yuan of salt, 4 dollars of soy sauce, and temporarily added 2 taels of shochu or 1 pair of sugar. The Ministry of Military Affairs only partially solved the problem of transportation: staple food and oil and salt were procured by the military stations, while the non-staple food was purchased by the troops themselves.
After the Battle of Wuhan, Suzhou, Anhui, Zhejiang, and Gansu fell, prices soared, side foods were soon unaffordable, and rice noodles, the staple food, were difficult to supply next. In order to solve the problem of eating, in July 1941, the National Government established the Ministry of Grain, which changed the expropriation of land from cash to in-kind, and raised 24.6 million stones of grain that year, with immediate results.
"Tian Fu Zhengshi" measured everything by quantity, and the quality of grain took a sharp turn for the worse. The rice eaten by the troops included moldy rice, sand, gravel, coarse bran, rice husks, barnyards, rat droppings and small bugs, and the elegant name "Eight Treasure Rice" was produced here. Huang Wei, commander of the 54th Army, was angry because the quality of the grain was too poor, so he sent the whole package of rice to the Ministry of Military Affairs to protest.
Although the Ministry of Military Affairs has formulated food standards, in reality, the implementation is often that the cooking class carries out several large barrels of rice, and soldiers rush to grab food. Veterans have special experience in eating, summed up as "a bowl high, two and a half bowls, three bowls of nose can not see" - the first bowl is slightly higher than the edge of the bowl, first fill the stomach; the second bowl is only half, pour hot water as porridge to drink, but also good for digestion; the third bowl should be held until the nose is not visible, and then hide to the side to eat slowly.
Most of the nationalist army could only barely eat the staple food, but the air force, which was the proud son of heaven, received special preferential treatment, and at the most difficult moment of the War of Resistance, the pilots could still eat meat, eggs and milk at every meal, which made the ground officers and soldiers envious of the ground staff officers and men who had fallen due to the rise in prices. Although the Navy's warships have been lost, the treatment is still higher than that of the Army, and the staple food is also eight treasure rice, but the side food can achieve "both meat and vegetarian, meat and continuous meat".
For ordinary soldiers, the only criterion for eating well is to eat meat, but like the Japanese who go into the village to catch chickens, they are likely to be sued by the villagers and locked up or even shot. As a result, the occasional dog became an important source of food improvement, and Huang Renyu, who was the platoon leader at the time, worried that his subordinates would eat dogs and eat them.
Third, the "hard" life of Professor Zheng Tianting of Southwest United University
1, made 20 dumplings by yourself, when I was a child, there were many servants at home, and I couldn't make them
Calmly making dumplings for the rest of the generation, Yu saw that his hand was injured, bitter and slow, and suddenly helped him. This happened occasionally, and it had not been done for thirty years, and it could not be formed, and it was barely able to help make twenty pieces. (10 March 1941)
Yu yu is unable to eat and drink, northern dumplings are the most common, and Yu is not good at cooking. Thinking about it, Guy didn't try the kitchen when he was a child. Before the age of seven, he was too young to have a large family and could not be interfered with. After the age of eight or nine, he suddenly lost his shame, one sister and one brother were killed one after another, but Yu and the third brother were two, and there were two male and female servants, and they did not need to intervene, so they developed this habit of not being able to operate, which was a pity! (June 11, 1944)
Mr. Zheng Tianting
2, I made my own pie, it took too long to burn, it was pitch black
At twelve o'clock, I went to the division to eat the pie, and everyone took matters into their own hands. Yu and Xueping and Yu Tangsi were even scorched black.
Southwest United University Kitchen
3. Eat in the canteen
Of course, the school has a canteen, and going to the canteen to eat may be the most common way for teachers and students to choose. Mr. Zheng Tianting's diary also wrote about going to the canteen to eat, "to the Pingjin small canteen noodles", "twelve o'clock with spear dust, Huichen to the southwest canteen for lunch", "twelve o'clock in the friendship canteen to eat fried rice a cup", "snow screen, the same to Kunhua canteen to eat fish".
In addition to eating light meals and light meals in the canteen, you can also gather for dinner and banquet guests:
At seven o'clock with the spear dust feast Meng Linshi couple, Yue Han, Duan Sheng, Jin Fu, Kui Yu and his wife, Xueping, Xintian in the Cuihu canteen. (March 7, 1940)
Hu Zi'an came from Chengjiang and feasted with Huichen, Xiaoyu, Spear Dust, and Shaoyu in the Southwest Canteen. (8 June 1940)
4. Rice wrapping
The so-called rice package is to ask the kitchen worker to come to the door to pack food for a period of time. Faculty and staff live together, everyone packs a small kitchen together, settles the bill on a monthly basis, sets a standard of a few meats and a few vegetarian dishes, and ensures basic nutrition. In the case of soaring prices, rice is a way to ensure nutrition and is more affordable than eating outside restaurants.
The quality of the meals is different in different places, and the diary of June 1, 1944 reads:
At twelve o'clock, lunch at the divisional courtyard. This month, I still pack a lunch, pay a fee of 1500 yuan, which is slightly more expensive than the Indigo Lane rice balls for 400 yuan, but the quality is poor.
What do you eat in that bag of rice? Mr. Zheng only mentioned the contents and price of the rice package in his diary on March 22, 1938 (in Mengzi):
Dinner merchants and barber merchants come to negotiate.
(1) Faculty and staff to pack rice, morning: porridge, eggs one; lunch, evening: rice, two hard meat, here the local language means that the whole plate is fish and meat. A fork in the meat, that is, fish meat and vegetables are combined. Ersu is the genus of vegetables and tofu. Two soups, the monthly price of the national dollar twelve yuan.
(2) Students pack rice, morning: porridge; lunch and evening: rice, one hard meat, two fork meat, two vegetarian, two soup, the price is nine yuan, such as the price of hard meat is seven yuan.
When students are in Changsha, the price of rice package is 5 yuan and 5 corners, and the lunch and evening three meat and two vegetarian, compared to the inevitable high. The discussion was not agreed.
During this period, the third-class clerks of the bureaus of the county government were paid 12 yuan a month and 120 yuan. The faculty and staff pack meals for One month, and even with their monthly salaries, there is no way to deal with this person. Have you been deceived by businessmen?
Although this time because the merchant asked for too high a price, it was not ordered, but you can see the level of rice package at that time, and the faculty and staff were the standard of three meats, two vegetarian soups. In 1938, the price had not yet risen to an outrageous rate as later, with three meals a day, a monthly price of twelve yuan, and the monthly salary of the faculty and staff. On May 8, 1940, the diary recorded that the package of rice in January was "not done for fifty yuan", and on September 1, 1944, the diary recorded that the package of rice in January (one meal per day) reached 1700 yuan, which shows the drama of inflation.
5. Rub rice to eat
The professors live very close to each other, and of course they often visit the door. If someone wraps dumplings, makes noodles, or gets good ingredients, they will naturally ask friends to come to the door to share them. Everyone will also find a head meal from time to time, let the proficient chef take the spoon, and make some home-cooked delicacies that cannot be eaten outside.
The diary states:
Yu Tairan made his own dumplings and ate them. (9 February 1940)
Tairan is the noodle, with Shouyu and Xintian. (7 August 1940)
In the evening, I made a few dishes and celebrated the festival. (16 September 1940)
At ten o'clock, he served with porridge. (17 November 1940)
Calmly make a fish meal. (19 January 1942)
Half time for dinner at Calm. (21 March 1942)
Mr. Yu Tairan's cooking skills are probably well-known among the faculty and staff of the United Nations University, and the professors have eaten several times, and they have asked Tairan to take charge:
Xiaoyu's people brought their own food, and the fake Meng Linshi lived in a public banquet. The hosts Li Xiaoyu, Bao Yinfu, Yu Tairan, Liang Guangfu, Zhang Yixing Wujun, all good seasoning people are also good at seasoning. Ke Menglin's two teachers, Kui Yu and his wife, Yang Jinfu, Zhou Meisun, Zha Mianzhong, Luo Xintian, Zhao Liancheng, Zhang Maochen, Chen Xueping, Huang Shaoyu, Shen Suwen, Zhu Huichen. Ten dumplings, food dumplings, all of which are not easy to get in the city, are also the usual flavors of the house. (21 January 1940)
The six people of Wanjinfu, Yin Fu, Xiaoyu, Xueping, Kui Yu and Huichen were the hosts, and Yin Fu and Tai Ran were the main dishes, and they brought the dishes to drink together, which was very exquisite and harmonious. (13 August 1940)
Tairan, Yixing, and Yin Fu self-catering, about Xintian, Congwu, Spear Dust, and Huichen. (7 August 1942)
With Meng Linshi, Shuren, spear dust to Caisheng Lane, the public banquet Meng Linshi. Cooked by Tai Ran and Yin Fu Ren, it is exquisite. (16 March 1943)
At seven o'clock, Peking University had a dinner party, and went to Kui Yu, Mei Sun, Spear Dust, Yixing, Mingxing, Pei Qing, Youying, Jia Jie, Xi Liang, Heng Fu, Yin Fu and Tai Ran, and invited Mrs. Jiang to participate, and also the grand event. (March 19, 1945)
6. Lower restaurant
Professors also have a time to go down to the restaurant to beat their teeth. China's gastronomic culture has developed since ancient times, and even during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Kunming's catering industry has something to say.
Many scholars have written articles recalling the cuisine of Kunming during the United Nations General Assembly period, and Wang Zengqi said that he had eaten "steam pot chicken, cross-bridge rice noodles, oily elbows in Xinya Hotel, pot sticker mullet in Dongyue Lou, oil-dried chicken in Yingshichun, beef from Xiao ximen Majia Beef Restaurant, iron pot eggs from Hou Defu, curd meat from Songhe Tower, and large rib noodles from 'Three Six Nine' (a Shanghai noodle restaurant) all over again" ("Cai Wei"). But at the same time, he wrote about the professors of the United Nations University: "These professors have knowledge in their stomachs, but they have less oil and water." ...... Walking into the local restaurant on Fengyi Street outside the Great West Gate, he sat down and did not hesitate to order a plate of 'money slice legs' first, only the horse pot head for driving horses, and the professor could only look at it. Yes, the salaries of professors were very limited, and during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, they had to support their families, and they even had to take part-time classes and write articles to earn money to barely survive. However, occasionally going to a local restaurant for a small "luxury" was also a way to have fun in those difficult years. So which restaurants do they go to and what do they eat? Mr. Zheng Tianting's diary contains records of him and his friends going to the restaurant.
Noodles
Mr. Zheng loves to eat noodles, and the most he eats is noodles. In addition to going to a friend's house to eat noodles, even the restaurant often eats noodles. In the diary, such as "Eden Noodles", "Shanghai Porridge Shop Lavender Noodles", "Delu Noodles", "Hongxinglou Noodles", "Xinya Noodles", "Xinglongguan Noodles", "Siheyuan Noodles", "West Railway Station Laoxiangguan Noodles", the number can not be counted, almost every restaurant can eat noodles, and I really don't see which one he prefers.
pie
Pancakes
In addition to noodles, Mr. Zheng also loves to eat cakes. He has a preference for eating cakes, probably the most fond of Yi Tilong's pie and Hongxing Lou's pancakes.
dumplings
If you want to eat dumplings on a dragon, it is full. (January 25, 1944) The house has been served, until a dragon is full, to the Xinglong Hall noodles. (January 26, 1944) Jiahua and his wife came to celebrate the New Year, and Mrs. Yuan flew from Chongqing at noon. That is, to eat dumplings on a dragon. (27 January 1944)
Lamb pot
In addition to pasta, Mr. Cheng especially loves lamb. There is a mutton restaurant on Huashan West Road, which Mr. Zheng especially loves to go to:
Bao Lu sent a pillow cushion for 900 yuan, that is, to eat lamb at the west intersection of Huashan Mountain. (October 16, 1944) After eating mutton on Huashan West Road, he gave it up. (November 21, 1944) To the mutton shop on Huashan West Road for dinner. (4 December 1944)
From the end of 1944 to 1945, Mr. Zheng often went out at night to eat mutton, and on several occasions his diary did not indicate where he ate it, but through the tone of his voice, he guessed that it might be the same family on Huashan West Road. The lamb at this house not only tastes good, but the price is also fair, and Mr. Zheng has twice lamented in his diary that it has not increased in price.
Steamed pork with lotus leaves
There is also a restaurant where lamb and lamb tripe are often eaten by Mr. Zheng, that is, the Spring Garden. In the middle of Changchun Road in Kunming, The Spring Garden is a local restaurant in Yunnan. Mutton in clear soup is the signature dish there, and "steamed pork with lotus leaves" is also its original famous dish. Mr. Zheng's diary also records many times that he and his friends went to this restaurant to taste specialties:
Steamed pork ribs
Steamed chicken
At eight o'clock, shaoyu went to the pre-spring garden to eat lamb. (May 12, 1939) At 9 o'clock with spear dust to the pre-spring garden to eat lamb tripe. (December 13, 1939) Accompanied by Xiaoyu and Shaoyu eating lamb tripe in the Spring Garden. (January 26, 1940) Kai Mian Zhong eats steamed meat at the Pre-Spring Garden. (June 30, 1942) At six o'clock, Jiahua went to the Xianchun Garden to eat steamed bones and steamed chicken, and the two of them paid 3,000 yuan. (16 June 1945)
Shabu-shabu lamb
Kunming also has Hou Defu, but "always at a high price" (June 10, 1939 diary), is a relatively high-end restaurant, so some of the more important receptions and more formal banquets are often located in Hou Defu:
Mr. Cheng visits this restaurant, but often for the sake of shabu lamb. Mr. Zheng grew up in Beijing and naturally loves to eat shabu lamb.
Tangyuan
Chew Fenwu is famous for its Lantern Festival and soup dumplings. "Crystal tangyuan, at first chewing Fenwu as the first" (Luo Yangru,"Talking about the enjoyment of the people of Kunming in the past"), Mr. Zheng went to chew Fenwu just to eat a bowl of Lantern and soup dumplings:
7. New regulations on the invitation of the Nationalist government during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression
The provincial government has newly set the regulations for restricting drinking and eating: 1. No alcohol consumption; 2. 1 to 2 people are limited to 2 dishes and 1 soup, 3 to 5 people are limited to 3 dishes and 1 soup, and 6 people are capped at 6 dishes and 1 soup; 3. Each dish is not allowed to exceed 30 yuan.
Kung Pao Chicken Cubes
Chicken shredded peas
Today, all five people of my generation, for example, only three dishes and one soup, deliberate and repeated, Dinggong Bao chicken cubes, braised elbow half, chicken silk beans, assorted soup one each, this can not be more than fifty yuan in the past, today's chicken diced, elbow are thirty yuan, beans twenty yuan, soup six yuan, and even a flower roll a price of one yuan, called to promote frugality, is actually for businessmen to open a price increase door.
Braised elbows
Assorted soups
At that time, due to the lack of materials, there was a so-called "drinking and eating restriction regulations", five people ate, but three dishes and one soup, which can be said to be very frugal. And "in the past can not pass fifty yuan" a meal, at that time has risen to eighty or ninety, it is clear that the businessman to take advantage of the policy loophole, no wonder Mr. Zheng to say "the name of advocating frugality, but actually for the businessman to open a price increase door" .
8. Eat it together
Although you can go to a friend's house to "rub" delicious food, you can also occasionally go to the restaurant to fight tooth sacrifice, but this is not the norm of life after all, many times, because of poverty, because of busyness, they can only make up for themselves. As mentioned earlier, Mr. Zheng Tianting often has a particularly busy time, when he is so busy that he misses the opening time of the canteen and the meal pack, and there is no friend reception, and there is no time and budget to go to the restaurant, he can only make up for it himself. How to make it legal?
Generally, there will be a lot of food stalls and snack shops gathered at the entrance of the school, and the Southwest United University is no exception, and the diary records that When Mr. Zheng is busy, he often goes to "before the school", "in front of the house", "alley" to eat a few bites and chat when he is full:
bun
Pasta
rice noodle
Pancake
For a while in school forward buns. (29 August 1943)
At two o'clock, the alarm was lifted and a plate of noodles was eaten in front of the new house. (7 January 1941)
Two times also. Eat rice noodles and baked cakes in front of the door. (24 November 1943)
"One hour" and "two o'clock" are often busy at noon after dinner, and then hurriedly eat at the school gate or near the dormitory. These are good, and sometimes even worse:
Leftover rice
Bread
preserved egg
Salted duck eggs
Return at twelve o'clock. Lunch has passed, take cold meals. (1 September 1942)
Return to the apartment, the meal has passed, buy bread and food, no soup and no vegetables, talk to fill the hunger. (July 14, 1942)
A momentary return. Eat two pieces of skin eggs with bread, and the cheapest of this price is also seven yuan and five corners. (31 October 1942)
Take the duck egg into the baked cake and chat when it is full. (18 May 1945)
Cold rice, bread, and burnt cakes, these are probably the three protagonists of Mr. Zheng's "make-up eating". The consequence of eating like this for a long time is that even if a healthy body like Mr. Zheng is still healthy, it is inevitable to get sick.
Mr. Zheng is a person with a relatively regular life and a sense of health, the reason why he eats so "ok", busy work is on the one hand, and the other reason is that the price is soaring, the income is not enough, and he really can't afford to eat well.
For a time, Mr. Zheng could not even afford to eat eggs, and his diary on July 26, 1945, wrote:
Since the price of eggs is high, the inedible people have been in it for several months. Recently, a burnt cake has been priced at 100 yuan, and its nourishment is not as far as eggs, and it is repurchased twenty times today for breakfast.
Because the eggs are too expensive, it has been reluctant to buy them for many months, but even the burnt cake has risen to the point where he can't afford to eat, mr. Zheng weighed it up and started to buy eggs with higher nutritional value again. In addition to having to bear the expenses of himself and his eldest daughter in Kunming, Mr. Zheng also has to send living expenses to his family in Beiping every month, and under the background of inflation, his economic pressure can be imagined.
Fourth, in 1942, Henan was the most miserable, starving to death millions, and the people ate tree bark
At first, the agricultural harvest in the Taihang and Taiyue mountains failed, followed by floods in southern Hebei, and Henan was plagued by locusts, which affected the four provinces in the blink of an eye. In addition, nearly a million starving people who escaped from the Kuomintang-ruled Henan region crossed the Yellow River and poured into the border areas.
Ordinary people eat the bark of trees
Half of these starving people starved to death in their hometowns, and survivors reached the Communist-led border areas in search of survival. The government of the Border Region has made great efforts to allocate money, food, and land to relieve these victims, but because the Border Region itself has failed to harvest, its relief capacity is quite limited after all.
The rich who fled
A crowd fleeing Shaanxi by train from Luoyang
On the road from Henan to the Taihang Mountains, starvation is carried. By the spring of 1942, all the young leaves on the trees had been eaten by the hungry, and even the bark had been stripped to reveal a white trunk, as ugly as a naked man. In some places, hungry people use silkworm dung as food, and in other places, people even eat Guanyin soil to fill their hunger, and those who swallow this soil cannot survive for a few days.
Hungry displaced people
Women exchanged their own babies with each other, saying, "You eat mine, I eat yours." "When a person is dying, first dig a pit for himself, then climb into the pit and sit still, and tell his neighbor to add a few cups of yellow soil to him after he breathes, and later, even the person who buried the dead body cannot be found, because the villagers are not hungry, but they are also too hungry to shovel the soil." People first sold their children and daughters, and then even their wives sold. Those who were lucky enough to survive were increasingly weak in physique, and even if they were fortunate enough to rain, they did not have the strength to cultivate and sow seeds. What a series of disasters.
The victims who are starving to death
In the no-man's land bordering the enemy-occupied areas, chickens and dogs were wiped out and livestock became extinct. Suicides of the whole family occur from time to time, often the husband buries his parents and wives alive and then commits suicide. Such tragic scenes cannot be seen in the Liberated Areas or in the rear, but they are not uncommon in the guerrilla areas bordering the enemy-occupied areas or the Kuomintang-ruled areas.
The father carries the child who starves to death
In order to reduce the burden on the hard-hit areas, the government of the Border Region has relocated 100,000 people to the new reclamation areas. A reception station is set up every thirty miles to accommodate hundreds of victims. People carried altar jars and grain and miscellaneous goods on their shoulders, and left their homes, full of grief and misery, and wept all the way. But beyond that, where is there a way to live?
Crowds fleeing in all directions
V. In 1942, local Kuomintang officials entertained foreign journalist Bai Xiude to eat the taste of mountains and seas
In the summer and autumn of 1941, I walked through the provinces of Henan and Hebei, from the Yellow River to the Yangtze River, and witnessed the beginning of the great famine described in an earlier chapter of this book. Every day on the road, but I saw that the wilderness was empty, the land was barren, ten rooms and nine empty, dilapidated, very desolate. The drought in many places was not very severe at that time, so I wondered why the land was so deserted. The peasants told me that they had fled their homeland because the Kuomintang tax collectors and Chiang Kai-shek's grain officials had levied taxes and extorted money, and the land allowance exceeded the actual output. Since all the fruits of labor must be robbed, and if they cannot pay taxes and are still beaten and imprisoned, who will still cultivate the land?
The peasants dug wild vegetable roots and grass roots in the fields outside the official palace, and I could not help but feel very ashamed at the performance feasts of one Kuomintang general after another. However, when I learned that it was these generals and Kuomintang officials who had collected the land of the starving people to be taxed, and that they were waiting for the rainy season to be released, I felt not only ashamed, but also indignant.
When I was on the road, every day peasants came to my carriage and cried to me about their misery, and every night a county magistrate sneaked into my residence and begged me to help when it was still too late, before the people had all starved to death—"Help in the face of God!" "I promised to do my best.
In this famine, which is said to have been fabricated by me, millions of peasants died.
How did so many people die? Some say it was due to drought and poor harvests. But none of Chiang Kai-shek's officials, landlords, or tax collectors starved to death. The climate in the Liberated Areas of North China is equally harsh, and there is also a lack of rain, but not so many people have died. What's the difference? Why are people on this side hungry while people over there have food to eat?
The people of The Jiang prefecture in Henan died not because it didn't rain, but because the rulers who rode on their heads were too greedy. It should be said that they were forced to die by taxes.
In order to invite Chen Jiageng to eat well, Chiang Kai-shek spent a total of 80,000 yuan
In 1940, chen Jiageng, a patriotic overseas Chinese leader, came to the motherland to support the great cause of the War of Resistance.
Chiang Kai-shek attached great importance to his arrival and specially arranged a huge reception team, and every day people from various departments feasted on Chen Jiageng.
At that time, it was a difficult period of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, and the soldiers on the front line often could not even eat, but Chiang Kai-shek, in order to win Chen Jiageng over, did not hesitate to spend huge sums of money and set up banquets every day to entertain.
However, Chen Jiageng was very disgusted by this, and specially published a "statement on the strike banquet" in the newspaper, hoping that everyone would not invite him to dinner again and save money to give to the soldiers on the front line.
According to statistics, Chiang Kai-shek's reception of Chen Jiageng this time cost 80,000 yuan, and he could buy 800 cattle at that time! The reason why Lao Jiang wanted to do this was very simple, that is, he wanted to please Chen Jiageng and others, so as to get the materials and money donated by these overseas Chinese in Nanyang.
7. During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the citizens of Changsha changed from a preference for noodles to a penchant for rice noodles
In 1938, Changsha powder restaurants regardless of the size of the façade, a total of only more than 110; at the same time, there were more than 1,000 noodle restaurants, and the noodle restaurant was luxuriously decorated, and there were young and beautiful waitresses service.
After the "Wenxi Fire", due to traffic barriers, it was not easy to transport flour to Changsha; Changsha's former noodle restaurants burned to the ground, and those who operated noodle restaurants suffered heavy losses.
At this time, the wind direction of Changsha cuisine changed sharply, and the citizens of Changsha were fashionable to eat rice noodles. By 1944, Changsha Powder Restaurant had an absolute advantage. Eating rice noodles has become the mainstream direction of food.
It is not easy to obtain food with the capital Chongqing
During the war, the access to food was also very difficult, and the conditions for eating were limited, Gu Weijun mentioned a banquet in October 1942 at the Jialing Hotel: "At the Jialing Hotel, I attended a banquet hosted by Dr. Kong Xiangxi and the people of the Executive Yuan for the National Suffragettes. We had a meal that was both economical and nutritious. Each person has a plate and holds three things: meat, vegetables and rice. Soy milk is the only drink. There was also a bowl of soup, a plate of sweets, and mostly fruit. ”
In August 1939, someone bought 100 watermelons for Feng Yuxiang from Beibei, "very sweet", and Feng sent someone to send Bai Chongxi and Li Jishen 10 each, Zhang Zhizhong, Liang Hancao, and Wang Kunlun 5 each, "to do their best to friendship." A few days later, he went to see General Zhang Zizhong, who had returned from the front, and gave 20 watermelons.
Feng Yuxiang and Peng Dehuai took a group photo in Chongqing during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression
In the capital, Feng Yuxiang also often invited people to dinner, including those who were invited to eat, including chinese and foreign people, three religions and nine streams, etc. There are such records in the diary every few days, but the ingredients used seem to be more frugal, so he was envious of the sumptuous food of the Soviet ambassador's banquet: At 7:30 p.m., "The Soviet ambassador invited to dinner, it is really enough tobacco and alcohol, and the dishes are rich." We invited him to dinner, but it was only steamed buns, bean buns, and porridge, and there were only a few plates of dishes. Seeing that everything about him is so rich today, I feel a little overwhelmed. But he asked me to be his country's money, and I invited him to dinner as my own money, and I didn't feel sad when I thought about it, and I completely removed the color of my previous shame." Another time at 7 p.m., "The Soviet ambassador invited guests, almost all of them are people in the Cultural Circles of China and the Soviet Union, I went with Dequan and Mr. Zhao Wangyun, there were dozens of guests, Mr. Sun Zhesheng and Mr. Yu Youren all went, and all the food during the meal was Moscow, it was really rich, and I watched movies after dinner." ”
And he himself and Kong Xiangxi's invitation to the guest is not comparable: at 7 o'clock in the evening, "the alarm was lifted, Mr. Yongzhi invited him to dinner to the Executive Yuan, and the dish was also very simple." "Another" dinner after the adjournment of the meeting, each person a bowl of large pot vegetables and steamed buns, nothing else. ”
Nine, accompany the capital Migui
During this period, Feng Yuxiang sometimes funded the poor people in the rural neighborhood, ranging from tens to hundreds of yuan, but some expenses could be saved. By the end of 1940, he also felt that the price of rice was expensive: "Rice is getting more and more expensive every day, now it is more than one dollar and one pound, I don't know what price will rise in the future, when there is really no way, the food also has to change a method, because there is no clue in the kitchen, too chaotic, and the cost is too big in the long run." ”
He Chenglin, a veteran of hubei's military and political circles and the executive director of the military law of the Central Military Commission during the war, recorded that on January 27, 1944, "in recent days, prices have risen again, and the price of rice has exceeded 750 yuan per old bucket, and other things are roughly the same." On January 29, "Li Gengsheng came to the apartment, sat down, and Chen Shucheng followed, saying that the Lunar New Year was closed, the price of hundreds of things increased, and civil servants and school staff were at risk of not being able to live." In this case, I know it beforehand, that is, we all feel the same hardship, and because of the situation, no one can transfer it, but we have to endure it reluctantly, in order to get lucky! Even He Chengli himself had a toothache for a long time and did not dare to easily decide to go to treatment
He Chengli was born in 1882, and he was 60 years old in 1941
On March 11, 1945, "Jane's Su lai ,...... Describing the high price of goods in Chengdu, people can not imagine, the Catholic personnel have a precarious trend, and resign when sitting on the film. In recent days, prices have risen sharply, and this has been the case everywhere, that is, in Chongqing, the government has used all its strength to contain it, but it has not achieved any results, and now the price of goods has increased several times more than at the end of last year. ”
On the 14th, another person told Ho that the price of Kunming was "about 120 kilograms of rice per stone for 34,000 or 5,000 yuan, and pork for more than 800 yuan per kilogram." On April 16, someone asked He Chengmao to go to the German Alumni Association for lunch, "Western food costs 1,500 yuan per serving, and the price is so expensive that it is really unexpected."
As long as they are law-abiding civil servants, no one's life will be better, and some are even forced to commit suicide, on April 18, "Today," the central news agency issued a reference message, there is a Nanzheng District Court chief procurator Yang Pilie threw himself into the well and committed suicide: The Yang family has a wife, a son, and five daughters, who have been serving in the legal circles for many years, and recently the price of goods has soared, so they cannot eat enough, and the homeowner has forced them to move and fall into a desperate situation, but they have died. ...... I mean that Yang must be a clean official, otherwise he will accept bribes in vain and live a life that can be maintained by himself, which is a pity for the country. ”
At the beginning of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the lives of the Public Education personnel of the Nationalist Government were seriously affected, but they were not yet intolerable, because the growth of consumer prices was relatively slow: "The most important thing is that food prices rose and slowed down in the first two years of the war——— and in Chongqing it was only 8.5%. The reason was that in 1938 and 1939 the Kuomintang areas benefited from a bumper harvest——— 8 percent higher than the pre-war average in the 15 provinces that were not occupied at the time. As a result, in the first two years, most people were able to withstand the effects of inflation without undue difficulty. (Fei Zhengqing and Fei Weikai, eds., Cambridge History of the Republic of China, 1912-1949)
However, by the middle and late stages of the War of Resistance, their living conditions were deteriorating day by day.
This obvious change began in 1940, according to the "Chongqing Average Retail Price Table of Various Commodities from 1937 to June 1941" contained in the "Compilation of Price Historical Materials during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression in China", from 1937 to 1939, the prices of food products were basically flat, and since 1940, the prices of various foods have suddenly begun to climb, of which the prices of 1937, 38, 39 and 40 years in each city are: 1.253, 1.203, 1.297, 7.067 yuan, respectively. By June 1941, it had risen to 41.87 yuan per market bucket, and the prices of other major foods were basically similar.
In 1940, Wang Shijie also mentioned the price problem many times in his diary, and very intuitively recorded the amazing speed of rice prices in this year:
August 9: "Recently high prices,...... The price of rice in Chongqing, under the government's best efforts to stabilize, each city stone (more than 120 catties) also reached more than 70 yuan. ”
November 7: "Prices continue to rise. The price of rice in Chongqing rose by 40 yuan per stone in three weeks (the price of stone in each city reached 120 yuan)"
November 16: "In recent days, the price of rice in Chongqing has doubled sharply compared with four weeks ago (that is, from more than 80 yuan per city to more than 160 yuan). General civil servants, faculty members and students are at risk of breaking their cooking. This afternoon, he discussed at Mr. Jiang's house the method of distributing 'affordable rice' to public servants and schools. However, the method is not to be feared by others and it is not easy to have good results. ”
According to Yi Laoyi's research, "food prices began to soar in 1940", "in 1942-1944, prices rose by about 237% per year; from January to August 1945 alone, prices rose by 251%." "In 1940, the purchasing power of official salaries had fallen to about 1/5 of the pre-war level. By 1943, real wages had fallen to 1/10 of 1937. Although their situation was alleviated by monthly allowances for rice and cooking oil, officials often lived in ——— and in Zhang Jiaxuan's words——— extreme poverty. ”
Some of the exiled students are on the verge of becoming beggars
In 1942, the students moved to the Shanghai Jiao Tong University branch in Chongqing, and the students "eat by loans." Eight people at a table, with tables without stools, standing and eating. Rice is 'Eight Treasure Rice': mold rice, rat droppings, sand, and so on. A classmate fished a centipede out of a porridge bucket at breakfast. The dishes are cowhide vegetables, rattan vegetables, lettuce leaves and the like, with a little squeezed vegetables. At the end of the month, if there is a balance, there is a little meat, which is called the 'tooth beating festival'. Meals are managed by students. Once a month, the Catering Committee is re-elected to elect the Chairman, the General Purchaser and the General Custodian. Daily purchasing and storage is rotated by classmates. I wrote a 'submission' for a loan application for a classmate who had just come from the occupied area... The submission is sent up, and there is no non-approval. ”
Some exiled college students, because of their hunger, were reduced to the point of being no different from beggars: "When President Mei of Kunming came to Chongqing, Zeng Yunlian university students actually entered the tavern and scattered the guests, that is, those who gathered to eat the remaining vegetables. ”
Wang Zizhuang, whose family burden is heavier, feels this more deeply: "Yesterday I returned with a salary from the ministry, and I roughly calculated it, but this month I am not very strong. Guy has borrowed three or four hundred yuan in the lunar year, and this month he has to pay tuition for Duo Zhao and the two of them, about two hundred yuan. The salary of more than 800 yuan can be used for this month. If you have to borrow money, you will not repay it, and you will try your best to save your family. If you do not deny yourself, the most difficult day will be heavy, and you will eventually be unable to cross it. "Because of the rising prices of goods, cloth is especially high, ordinary increased by more than ten times, the whole family is very much, the income is not enough." Yu instructed Qingshan to be used for frugality, but he was still mentally depressed and uneasy about sleep. In the past, I suffered from insomnia, but now I am doing it again. The remaining income, due to the small amount of donation deduction last month, amounted to 900 yuan, and among civil servants, the income was also higher, and the people and things were expensive, and the pain was so great. Other ordinary civil servants must feel more seriously threatened in their lives. Students of a number of national secondary schools have eaten three porridges a day".
11. The National Government shall distribute in kind to civil servants and others
In addition to the living allowance for civil servants, the National Government also has in-kind subsidies, such as rice, salt, grain and oil, sugar, cloth, etc. "In the future, the Materials Bureau will distribute a large number of affordable items to civil servants at all levels through cooperative institutions, and the details are being jointly discussed by the Cooperative Administration and the Materials Bureau." The materials currently under management are cotton yarn, cloth, coal, paper and other daily necessities. The purchase of various affordable items by civil servants has been planned: cloth, which is limited to two and four feet per year for men and eight feet for women. Coal is planned to be limited to 50 catties per person per month. Oil is limited to one and a half pounds per month, and salt is limited to eleven and two per month. According to the relationship, after the civil servants get the affordable rice, they can get the affordable daily necessities, and they can temporarily get food and clothing. "However, because such measures of the government can only be a symptom, the situation of serious financial and economic difficulties in the whole wartime cannot be alleviated, and prices have risen too much, and these measures can only be a drop in the bucket and are useless in the end."
In order to alleviate the living pressures of catholics, the National Government also tried to take a number of measures: "The Government does try to alleviate the economic plight of officials and professors teaching at public universities, and to provide them with special allowances, cheap housing and all kinds of artificially low-cost supplies of daily necessities. Rice was once sold to government employees at $0.10 per kilogram, while rice was priced at $5.00 on the open market. "This Monday the National Defense Council decided to subsidize every civil servant with thirty yuan for meals and ten yuan for the room, which can be used as a small supplement for the time being, so as to compare with the soaring prices, which is really beyond the reach of the dust." "Although the livelihood of a civil servant is provided by the public to relief, such as the payment of affordable rice, subsidies and allowances, etc., it is far from the soaring price of goods."
The soldiers on the front line have no food to eat, and eat one meal a day
The Chinese soldiers could not eat at all and could not wear warm clothes: "Today, Commander Yu Hanmou came from Guangdong and told Mr. Jiang that the soldiers on the front line could only eat one porridge and one meal per day. It was shocking to hear. ”
Zhang Gonggan, who returned from the front of Yichang, told Feng Yuxiang that "the soldiers' life is too bitter, the clothing problem, the lack of cotton in winter, the lack of orders in summer, a piece of clothing, often not changed for months, the lice on the clothes are almost covered, and the cover at night is all straw,...... What you eat is rice with bran, salt is not available, and the dish is not enough to talk about. ...... After working hard for half a year, he still did not get a yuan, coupled with the lack of food and clothing, the sick accounted for four-fifths of the people, one subordinate officer did not have a huge amount of money to treat him, and the second soldier lacked money and did not buy medicine, because he was sick and dead, innumerable. ”
In June 1941, on the way from Chongqing to Luzhou by boat, Mei Yiqi was sitting on the ground outside the cabin, with almost no place to go, and was sickly, thin, nineteen scabies, limbs, heads and necks were visible, and when sitting up, they scratched all over the body. In this situation, I feel that the country treats this generation too lightly, so it does not dare to have a heart of hatred and turns to pity. Mei and other guests were in "three meals on board are rice, four plates of vegetarian dishes, slightly garnished with diced meat", but "the soldiers eat a meal of rice at nine o'clock in the morning (self-boiled), and then eat it again in the evening." In the afternoon, two soldiers outside the door poured water on the minced peppers and drank them, and at night they each ate a little bit of golden oil and sent it down with water. Because you are so hungry and panicked, you will mistakenly think that you are sha! ”
In the past, when I read history, I thought that after China's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression entered the most difficult period in the 1940s, it was only the CPC base areas that were extremely arduous, but concentrated on carrying out large-scale production, accompanied by measures such as streamlining the army and streamlining the administration of the army, and I did not expect that the Kuomintang anti-Japanese troops were also facing such unprecedented difficulties, and there was no large-scale production movement similar to that of the CPC; with the above-mentioned living conditions and mental conditions of the Nationalist government army, they were often at a disadvantage in the war against Japan and against the CPC, and even turned the gun in large numbers and even turned the gun in a single education and a complaint. It's easy to understand. At the same time, it also reflects that the poor life of officers and men is by no means a trivial matter, but it is enough to shake the overall situation of the military and government!