Chapter 930 929 [Catch the Young Man]

Photo studio.

Zhou Hexuan took out the film and asked his boss: "When will the photos be developed?"

The boss smiled and said: "Others take at least a week to develop film. Zhou Shenxian develops film and you can get the photos by tomorrow afternoon at the latest."

Li Zongwu teased: "It seems that gods have to do things quickly."

"Dong-dong-dong-dong!"

At this moment, the sound of gongs and drums suddenly came from the street.

When everyone went out to take a look, they saw some people in uniform carrying big red flowers along the street to promote the war, shouting: "It is your responsibility to fight the war, and it is an honor to serve as a soldier! Old woman Chen from Chengguan Town sent all four sons to the battlefield. The county magistrate personally ordered the award! It is your duty to resist the war and it is an honor to serve as a soldier! Old lady Chen from Chengguan Town..."

Nan Huaijin praised: "That old lady Chen is really a heroic mother."

The photo studio owner sneered: "Everyone in Fushun County is a hero."

"How do you say this?" Zhou Hexuan asked.

The boss said: "There is a recruitment process every spring and autumn, and we go door to door to catch young men. My eldest son is only 14 years old, and he is also on the draft list this year. I spent ten yuan to get through the relationship."

Qian Ji said dumbly: "It seems that minors, only children and students are not required to undergo compulsory military service, right?"

"Haha." The boss laughed dryly.

Zhou Hexuan was silent, his expression a little ugly.

Sichuan had the largest number of soldiers participating in the Anti-Japanese War. Although Sichuan people are proud of this statement, behind it lies the blood and tears of countless families.

Take Fushun County, for example, with a population of less than 400,000. In the eight years of the Anti-Japanese War, 35,000 people joined the army, which is equivalent to one-tenth of the county's civilians going to the battlefield. Counting the tens of thousands of young men who have served in construction projects in the past, it is estimated that more than 80% of young and middle-aged men, excluding the old, weak, sick, disabled and women, have served the country.

Are there really so many people who leave their homes to serve their country?

Definitely not possible.

To put it bluntly, it only takes three words: catch the young man!

This situation is extremely common in Sichuan. From the county magistrate and mayor to the township chief and the security chief, everyone is an executioner. County magistrates and mayors gain political achievements by seizing young men, while township heads and security chiefs gain money by seizing young men. They take the opportunity to blackmail the people and make money from the unscrupulous national crisis.

Although wealthy households can spend money to buy young men to replace them, they become the focus of bureaucratic extortion. For example, there was a rich farmer in Leshan County. Because he spent money to buy a young man, the township head repeatedly blackmailed him six times on the pretext of reporting him. He also had to give gifts during holidays.

The officers in charge of recruiting soldiers had another way of making money. They deducted the settling-in and room and board expenses from the soldiers, and the money allocated was not enough for the young men to enter the new barracks. As a result, some young men who were about to join the army died of illness and starvation along the way.

According to Li Shaoliang, who was the commander of a certain regiment of the National Army at the time, he deducted 1.2 yuan from each soldier recruited, leaving 0.8 yuan as basic expenses. He had an income of at least 3,000 yuan per month, but this money needed to be paid by the officer who received the soldiers. divided into. He claimed that this method of deduction was very conscientious, as he didn't get much, and he didn't even have to pay for his family expenses.

The Henan side is even more shameless——

Mercury is in short supply in Japan for arms manufacturing, so the Chinese government has banned the export of mercury. In order to obtain mercury, officers in Henan took advantage of the opportunity of sending young men to join the army and asked the young men to carry supplies to Chongqing in exchange for mercury. Then the sending cadres took the mercury back to Henan. They often sold 50% of the recruits' mortality rate in exchange for a little mercury. To the Japanese.

In 1943, the government promulgated the "New Military Service Law" and included students in compulsory military service.

Minister of Military Affairs He Yingqin and Minister of Finance Kong Xiangxi came up with a good idea. Young people of appropriate age can pay 3,500 yuan to the government to defer military service for one year. At that time, there were about 40 million young people of school age in the country, and they felt that at least 30 million people were willing to pay. In this way, Kong Xiangxi would have a budget of several billion yuan every year, and He Yingqin would also have 10 million soldiers with unique characteristics to enlist in the army.

At that time, the legal currency had not completely become waste paper. 3,500 yuan could be converted into 250 US dollars according to the market price. Who could afford it except those from wealthy families?

This is the true background of "one inch of rivers and mountains, one inch of blood, one hundred thousand young people and one hundred thousand troops."

On the way home, Li Zongwu said: "Not far from where I live in seclusion, there was a family that had a severe drought a few years ago. Only two of the seven members of the family died. At the end of last year, one of them was taken away as a young man. , there is only a blind old woman left in the family, and she has done a lot of evil!"

Nan Huaijin asked: "How is the old woman doing?"

Li Zongwu said: "She's dead. The folks in the neighborhood are not rich, so each family gave her some food to live on. During the Chinese New Year, she couldn't figure it out and hanged herself."

Qian Ji said angrily: "How can this be? According to the military service law, an only son does not have to perform military service!"

Li Zongwu sneered and said: "Officials are very active in order to achieve meritorious service. If the soldiers are dissatisfied, they will arrest strong men. First, they will arrest beggars and homeless men, and then they will arrest such independent bachelors. Anyway, no matter how many people are arrested, they will not cause trouble."

Zhou Hexuan did not participate in the discussion. The information he saw was even worse than this. Because things were pretty good in 1940, but after 1942, the Kuomintang was absolutely lawless when it came to seizing young men. The young men died all the way, and the vacancies could only be filled halfway. Along the way, we saw farmers, traders, fishermen, trackers... in remote areas. Everyone was arrested, including the elderly and children. They even went to teahouses and restaurants to arrest chefs and tea waiters (outsiders).

In order to avoid military service, ordinary people pretended to be crazy and even self-harmed, cutting off their fingers and poking their eyes.

It's not that the people are unpatriotic, but that the mortality rate of recruits is too high. Several percent of them may die before they even go to the battlefield.

Zhou Hexuan was too lazy to give Chang Kai advice or reflect on these bad situations. Because Chang Kaishen knows the truth, but the government is rotten to the core. The central government has been unable to do anything about it despite repeated orders. The administrative system at the middle and lower levels has long been out of control, or it has never been effectively controlled.

Only when there was a civil uprising somewhere, or if the appearance was really too ugly, would Lao Chiang be caught as a model and severely punished. For those who caught young men like this in Fushun County, Chiang Kai-shek would not punish them. Instead, he would issue a commendation order to the county magistrate.

Until he returned home, Li Zongwu was still complaining: "Not only are the young men heavily arrested, but the taxes are also very high. The common people cannot fill their bellies, and the government also calls for tightening belts for the country, and calls on civil servants to work with the common people. Eat two meals a day, saying that this food can be saved to fight the Japanese. Fight the Japanese! If the Anti-Japanese War can be won, the Communist Party will definitely dominate the world in the future. If you don’t believe it, we will wait and see.”

Zhou Hexuan smiled and said: "Brother Li, don't talk about state affairs, be careful that the walls have ears."

Li Zongwu didn't care: "He's coming to arrest me. I'm the same age as Einstein. Einstein is famous all over the world, and I'm famous in Sichuan. If Chiang Kai-shek comes to arrest me, then I will be famous again, and I will definitely be famous all over the country." !”

Nan Huaijin said: "Mr. Zhou, you have the opportunity to meet President Jiang. You can reflect it when you see him next time."

"Well, I will reflect it." Zhou Hexuan didn't want to say more.