Chen Jiageng was born in 1874 in Quanzhou, Fujian Province, and was a patriotic overseas Chinese leader, entrepreneur, educator, philanthropist, and social activist. However, as a patriotic leader of overseas Chinese, his initial "patriotism" was only reflected in the National Government in Nanjing. He has also claimed on many occasions: "The Chinese National Government is the only government that 47 million compatriots in China and abroad trust, and the proposition of the National Government is the proposition of the people of China!" At that time, as a staunch "pro-Chiang Kai-shek faction", Chen Jiageng even donated more than 1.3 million national yuan to Chiang Kai-shek's 50th birthday party in 1936 to wish him a happy birthday. The reason why so much money was donated was because before Chiang Kai-shek's birthday, the Nanjing government had been persuading Chen Jiageng to donate a plane to celebrate Chiang Kai-shek's birthday. In the end, Chen Jiageng unexpectedly donated more than 1.3 million yuan with a big hand, and this money could buy 10 planes at that time, which shows how deep Chen Jiageng's "patriotic" feelings were at that time.
Chen Jiageng welcome ceremony
However, an incident occurred in 1940, which made him completely change his view of Chiang Kai-shek, and even affected his original "patriotic" direction. On March 25 of that year, Mr. Chen Jiageng, in his capacity as chairman of the Association of Overseas Chinese in Nanyang, led the representatives of the Nanyang Overseas Chinese Repatriation Delegation back to China, but when he saw what Chiang Kai-shek had done, he found that things were not as simple as he thought. When Mr. Chen Jiageng and the representatives of the consolation group opened the aircraft hatch and went down, there were thousands of people in the entire Kuomintang welcome team. Looking at such a grand welcome procession and ceremony, Mr. Chen Jiageng was still quite surprised. Because he has been living abroad for many years, all he hears is "The motherland is very difficult!" Compatriots are fighting a tough battle against the Japanese! Such news.
Chen Jiageng
But when he saw thousands of Kuomintang officers standing on the tarmac wearing woolen coats and high-end leather shoes, he was a little unresponsive. He was also very puzzled: "I raise materials and money every day in Singapore and other places, can the Kuomintang really use these things?" With such a question, Chen Jiageng walked out of the airport in such a grand welcome ceremony. The reason why so many officers were used to attend the welcoming ceremony was not that Chiang Kai-shek attached great importance to Chen Jiageng, but that he was quite interested in the materials and "huge sums" in his hands. In order to successfully obtain this "funding", Chiang Kai-shek formulated a very perfect "flattering plan": the first step was to specially approve 80,000 yuan of banquet funds, yes, this 80,000 yuan was only used for dinner. This money is a large sum of money even if it is used today for meals. You must know that the salary of the division commander in Yan'an at that time was only 5 yuan per month.
In the second step, in order to "accompany" Chen Jiageng and the representatives of the consolation group, Chiang Kai-shek mobilized a large number of "three escorts" staff responsible for "accompanying food, drinking, and visiting." This is evident from the pick-up ceremony. The final step was to arrange a series of welcome and dust washing ceremonies, and to bring all the delicious foods that could be found on the chongqing border to the table for Chen Jiageng and the delegates to enjoy. The reason why Chiang Kai-shek spent so much money on these things was simply for one purpose, that is, to get more money from Chen Jiageng and overseas Chinese.
Chairman Mao
Among the funds donated to the motherland each time are donated by Chen Jiageng himself and the wishes of other patriotic overseas Chinese, and the combination of these funds is a considerable amount. Mr. Chen Jiageng returned to China this time, also in order to be responsible for these donations, he wanted to see where these funds would eventually be used, and besides, there would be a large number of materials sent to China in the future, and he still had to observe and consider whether these materials and funds were handed over to the Kuomintang or the Communist Party. However, Chiang Kai-shek's approach has shaken Chen Jiageng, who should have been a "pro-Chiang kai-shek faction." Because the ultimate purpose of his return to China this time is to "save the country and save the people", not to eat, drink and have fun. Chen Jiageng was very disappointed in Chiang Kai-shek's generous arrangements, and he did not expect that Chiang Kai-shek and the top echelons of the Kuomintang would have a tendency to eat and drink at such a time when the country was in such a crisis.
Chiang Kai-shek
On the one hand, after the condolence group arrived in Chongqing, another thing that the Kuomintang top brass did also made Mr. Chen Jiageng feel greatly disgusted. During their period of accompanying the condolence group, these Kuomintang members would consciously or unconsciously demean the Communist Party, presumably these were also specifically ordered by Chiang Kai-shek. Although Mr. Chen Jiageng did not know the Communists very well at that time, he knew that they were also the anti-Japanese armed forces of the Chinese nation and his own compatriots. Moreover, at that time, it was still in the period of cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, and the two sides should respect and help each other. Such an act of slandering friendly forces behind the backs of a Kuomintang officer is by no means the work of a gentleman.
In order to make the Kuomintang stop the "excessive hospitality" of the condolence group, Chen Jiageng directly published a report in the newspaper, which said: "All the expenses of the condolence group have been fully brought in, and we do not want to consume the government or the people's entertainment expenses!" In this difficult and difficult period of the War of Resistance, especially when trying to save pointless entertainment! This report not only punched Chiang Kai-shek in the face, but also deprived the Kuomintang of the opportunity to obtain donations and materials. Since it is no longer given to the Kuomintang, who should give this money and materials to? This question also made Chen Jiageng fall into contemplation, but soon he had a plan in his mind, that is, to go to Yan'an to have a look. In fact, long before Chen Jiageng decided to go to Yan'an, he had also received Ye Jianying, Deng Yingchao and others from the CPC office in Chongqing, and he had a good impression of several people, and Ye Jianying had also invited him to Take a look around Yan'an. It was only because the Kuomintang officers came to visit every day at that time that the trip to Yan'an was delayed.
When he learned that Chen Jiageng was going to Go around Yan'an, although Chiang Kai-shek was extremely reluctant in his heart, he was not easy to stop on the surface, and finally he only said, "You can go, but don't be deceived!" Chen Jiageng, who heard these words, directly lowered his view of Chiang Kai-shek a lot. When Chen Jiageng left, Chiang Kai-shek did not forget to "install surveillance" around him, and this monitoring was a section chief of the Kuomintang named Shou Jiajun. On the surface, Shou Jiajun said that it was to protect the safety of Old Master Chen Jiageng, but in fact, every move of old man was watched by him. On the way to Yan'an, Shou Jiajun did not forget the "old tradition" of the Kuomintang reactionaries, that is, to say bad things about the Communist Party from time to time in front of Chen Jiageng.
In this way, Mr. Chen Jiageng arrived in Yan'an on May 31, 1940 under the cover of our army. However, Chen Jiageng, who had just arrived in Yan'an, was startled by the battle of the welcome ceremony, because at that time, in order to greet the old man, more than 5,000 people from all walks of life in Yan'an were dispatched, and seeing such a scene, Chen Jiageng remembered the Kuomintang's airport reception, which made him very unhappy. But when he stopped to take a closer look at the welcoming party, he noticed the difference. On the Communist side of the Communist Party, although the number of people attending the welcoming ceremony was large, everyone was dressed very simply, and there were ordinary people wearing coarse cloth and straw shoes in the crowd, as well as peasants wearing straw hats and soldiers in military uniforms.
Chen Jiageng's welcome ceremony to Yan'an
After the welcome ceremony, Mr. Chen Jiageng did not rest, but began to walk around. I saw that I got along very well with the people, and there was not a great gap between the soldiers and the commanders like the Kuomintang. After some observation, he had an idea: he wanted to see Mao Zedong right away, wanted to ask him in person how he was in such a difficult place, so that the officers with a few dollars of salary were willing to follow him into death, and how did he let the people eat in this barren land?
At 4 p.m., when he learned that Mr. Chen Jiageng wanted to see him, Mao Zedong immediately sent a military vehicle to pick up Old Master Chen to his place of residence. After getting out of the car, Chen Jiageng looked at the cave in front of him for a while without reacting, and he couldn't believe that Mao Zedong, as the leader of the Communist Party, could live in such a simple and broken cave. Mao Zedong, who had long been preparing to greet him at the door of the cave, recognized Mr. Chen at a glance, and as soon as he went up and grabbed the old man's hand, he took them into the cave. After taking their seats in the cave, the two began to talk. At first, the two did not talk about the international situation and the way to save the country, Chen Jiageng first asked Mao Zedong about his living habits, and Chairman Mao did not flaunt what he said about working day and night, he honestly replied: "The office is mostly at night, and the chickens start to sleep after the chickens sing, so it is necessary to get up in the afternoon when you see it!" After learning that Chairman Mao had such a habit of life, Old Master Chen specifically told him to pay attention to his physical health and try not to stay up late.
Receiving the concern of Old Master Chen, Chairman Mao said humorously: "It has become a habit for more than 10 years!" After a period of greeting, Mr. Chen began to turn the topic to the relationship between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, and told a lot of the friction that had occurred between the two parties. According to common sense, when we encounter this situation, we will certainly say in reverse that the Kuomintang is not, and Chiang Kai-shek has done a relatively good job in this regard. However, Chairman Mao gave this answer on the question of cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, saying: "If either side is lost, the united front cannot be imagined!" ”。 Chen Jiageng, who received such an answer, was obviously quite satisfied, and later he chatted freely with Chairman Mao for a long time. Soon it was time for dinner, and Chairman Mao also made a little time to accompany Mr. Chen to dinner.
Chen Jiageng and Chairman Mao
They had eaten in the evening that day, and since it was late in the summer, it was late, so a few people used the meal in the open space in front of the cave. The table is an ordinary farmhouse bamboo table with two dishes and a soup, the main dish is a plate of cabbage, and the side dish is a bowl of dried salted radish, and these dishes were planted by Mao Zedong himself in front of the cave, although the dishes are simple, but enough to show sincerity. The most advanced dish on the whole table was the bowl of steaming chicken soup, looking at Mr. Chen Lao staring curiously at the bowl of chicken soup, Chairman Mao smiled and said: "I don't have money to buy chickens, this chicken is the neighbor's old lady knows that I have a distant guest, specially sent over, the hen is laying eggs, his son is sick and reluctant to kill!" Looking at the two dishes and one soup in front of him and listening to Chairman Mao's explanation, Old Mr. Chen Jiageng instantly wet his eyes, because he could be most infected by that homesickness. He has a real sense of his hometown, and he has no interest in what kind of mountain treasures and seafood tastes, and what makes him miss most is the familiar hometown meal.
Later, some people also specially calculated the value of the meal of four dishes and one soup for Chairman Mao and Mr. Chen Jiageng, which was almost worth 1.5 yuan. And a big part of the value is on top of chicken soup. Compared with the 80,000 yuan banquet fee spent by Chiang Kai-shek of the Kuomintang, it seems that Chairman Mao's arrangement of two dishes and one soup is more meaningful. Soon it was time for Chen Jiageng to leave Yan'an, but he observed a detail before leaving. It was the afternoon of June 4, and Mao Zedong had just finished talking with Mr. Chen when he walked into the room next door to Shou Jiajun, and everyone could see that this Shou Jiajun was the eyeliner of the Kuomintang and was only a small section chief. However, Chairman Mao was able to talk with him for a long time about the cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communists, and Chairman Mao's move was enough to show the sincerity of the Communists in matters of cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communists. Obviously, this long talk was also more effective, and Shou Jiajun never said anything bad about the Communist Party on the way back to Chongqing, and even had some respect for the Communist Party.
After returning to Chongqing, it was not long before Chen Jiageng set off for Nanyang. He also truthfully told the overseas Chinese what he had seen and heard, who he had seen, what he had said, and what he had eaten. Finally, he also told everyone: "When I was not in Yan'an, I was very pessimistic about China's future, a Chinese savior had not yet been born, or was still studying in school, in fact, this person was already forty or fifty years old, and he had done a lot of great things!" This person is now in Yan'an! ”。 It is clear that the "savior" that Mr. Chen Jiageng called is Mao Zedong. Of course, Mr. Chen Jiageng's inspection also yielded results, and he knew that the chinese communists he and the overseas Chinese should most support were the Chinese communists.
After a period of time, a large amount of materials and money came directly from Nanyang to Yan'an. Among them were medicines, military supplies, grain, and two American cars specially given to Chairman Mao. However, Chairman Mao did not turn these two cars into his own special cars, but left them to Comrades Zhu De, who fought everywhere, and Dong Biwu, who worked in Yan'an. In 1949, with the continuous advancement of national liberation and the imminent founding of the People's Republic of China, Chairman Mao also wrote a "good news" for Mr. Chen Jiageng, and invited him to return to China to participate in the founding ceremony. Later, Mr. Chen Jiageng also became a standing committee member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, and in the last period of his life, he even spent his family wealth to establish two colleges and universities in his hometown, Jimei and Xiamen University. With the support of such patriots, how can the revolution not succeed?!
I would like to use this document to the great leader Chairman Mao and the patriotic overseas Chinese Mr. Chen Jiageng, this prosperous world, as you wish!