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On February 18, 1943, the 46-year-old Soong Mei-ling delivered a wonderful speech on "War and Peace" in fluent English and passionately at the joint meeting of the Senate and House of Representatives of the US Congress. The speech conquered all the members present and was interrupted by warm applause many times.
This is the most brilliant and glorious moment in Soong Mei-ling's life.
Her reputation and wealth have reached a height that is difficult for mortals to reach.
Time flies, and 60 years pass by.
Early on the morning of October 24, 2003, Soong Mei-ling was crowded with reporters in the door of her 18-room luxury apartment in Manhattan, New York, USA. After a while, everyone caught the most photo of the "first lady of the Republic of China": the body wrapped in a wool blanket .
So, after the Kuomintang retreated, how did Soong Mei-ling live in Taiwan?
Later, why did she settle in the United States?
What was her life in the United States like?
Mrs. Jiang’s hobbies
The Forbidden City had three management offices during the Kuomintang era, one in charge of calligraphy and painting, one in charge of utensils, and one in charge of rituals and sacrificial rituals.
Before liberation, there was an uprising in charge of rituals and sacrificial items, so when Chiang Kai-shek went to Taiwan to be the fake governor , he only took away many national treasures from the other two places of the Palace Museum .
At that time, the Kuomintang's old and young soldiers and the defeated generals rushed in, and Taiwan Island was in chaos. These ancestors' treasures were not taken special care and were placed in a warehouse in Taichung .
However, after Soong Mei-ling came to Taiwan from the United States in 1950, she ran to the warehouse in Taichung every few days. Is
a cultural heritage that Soong Mei-ling cares about the country?
is not.
At that time, she had nothing to do and wanted to learn to draw, so she ran to the warehouse to dig up the national treasure-level ancient paintings.
These rare ancient paintings have at least hundreds of years of history and have been tortured by time and are very delicate. When experts nowadays identify ancient calligraphy and paintings, they have to wear gloves and other professional equipment, looking very cautious.
Soung Mei-ling's conditions at that time might be "hard" or the administrator "caresponsible" her, so after she plunged into the warehouse, she directly used a pair of jade hands to churn the ancient paintings and churned them. Under the influence of the superb skills of ancient masters, Soong Mei-ling's painting skills improved rapidly, and later she simply hung her paintings in Chiang Kai-shek's office.
When she was "apprenticing" at the warehouse, Soong Mei-ling also helped her husband choose "several" antiques that were satisfactory and brought back to the Shilin official residence to display. When people from both the political and business circles saw that the "Governor" and his wife had such a graceful intention, they all agreed with their preferences.
Once, Soong Mei-ling visited the house of the fifth daughter of Sheng Xuanhuai and saw a pair of Ming Dynasty porcelain bottles. She thought it was good, so she looked at it a few more times. The next day, the pair of bottles were sent to Shilin Official Residence.
However, it is not a good effect after all, it is often blatant to deliver things to the pseudo-governor's house. So how can I give it to you reasonably?
October of each year is when Soong Mei-ling is relatively busy. Why?
Because October 31 is her husband's birthday, she has to start arranging the list of guests, how to set the dining table, what to eat, what to drink, what special ceremonies to have, and so on from the beginning of the month.
But on Chiang Kai-shek's birthday, the third bureau of the pseudo-Presidential Palace became the busiest department. Why is this?
because they have to be responsible for receiving and counting birthday gifts.
The Taiwan pseudo-government had a very funny position at that time, which was "Chairman of Taiwan Province". However, this "provincial chairman" gift is best given and it is best to flatter the leader.
Taiwan's tobacco and alcohol bureau is directly under his jurisdiction, so the good wine and good cigarettes to be used at every birthday party are arranged by this "provincial chairman". They are delivered to Shilin's official residence truck by truck, and no one has ever given him more things.
When others see that they cannot win in quantity, they can win by quality.Various rare animal products, such as ivory products, bear's paws, etc., and precious antiques have become the first choice for gift gifts.
However, compared with a gift from a guest, these people gave it to nothing.
This guest is the king of a great country in the desert. As the saying goes, "A piece of cloth wrapped around your head must be a big family." The king gave Chiang Kai-shek a sword inlaid with diamonds, and the one given to Soong Mei-ling was a large necklace with diamonds. The taste was absolutely "very vulgar" and shocking.
Later, a person from the Shilin official residence recalled: "I don't know how much wealth Chiang Kai-shek and his wife have in mainland China, but the gifts they received when they were in Taiwan were not a decimal."
Soong Mei-ling was in Taiwan for so many years, and she couldn't just be busy with painting and celebrating Chiang Kai-shek's birthday. What else would she be busy with?
San Aunt's pursuit
After arriving in Taiwan, Soong Mei-ling not only learned to draw, but also became keen on "doing charity".
Don’t think too much about it. “Public welfare” is not her paying for money, but her “storing the bureau” and asking everyone to raise funds. And the origin of this "charity" is also very strange.
At the beginning, Chiang Kai-shek wanted her to set up a women's organization, saying that he wanted to cooperate with the "counterattack on the mainland." Soong Mei-ling was so idle that she took the matter over, and then organized a group of officials and wives who were also idle, and established the Women's Federation on April 17, 1950.
At the beginning, Soong Mei-ling felt that this was quite fresh and that she could regain the power of the War of Resistance Against Japan, so she worked very hard and took the lead in giving speeches everywhere and condolences to the puppet army. The officials did not dare to relax, and followed her everywhere, and the slogan of "counterattack" was yelling earth-shaking.
But after two years, this former " Chinese Air Force mother" felt that the little fact of laboring the army was to make him use his talents, so he began to slack off. The wives around her stopped watching their leaders no longer play. However, I don’t know which one of the stinky feet came up with a new idea, which immediately raised everyone’s gods again. What's the idea of
?
means that the officials and wives who are leaders of the "Women's Federation" usually play mahjong without any worries. Now, if anyone loses, they have to pay for "charity". In this way, everyone can play mahjong to achieve "social value and significance".
Then, this suggestion was really adopted by everyone.
Then, the two major charity institutions that made Soong Mei-ling very popular on the island, Huaxing Youth Hospital and Zhenxing Rehabilitation Hospital were opened. Although most of the investment comes from social donations, few people know that the start-up funds for these two projects were collected by a group of officials and wives playing cards, and Soong Mei-ling didn't pay a penny.
When the big family was in mainland China, Jiang and Chen were mainly responsible for grasping power, while Kong and Song were responsible for grasping money. After liberation, the people of the Kong and Song families basically moved all their industries to the United States. Soong Mei-ling has never had children, so as the third aunt, she has a very good relationship with her eldest sister Soong Ailing 4 children. These 4 children are 2 men and 2 women. 2 men are -kang and -kang Lingjie , 2 women are -kang Lingyi and -kang Lingwei .
and Soong Mei-ling likes the most are Kong Lingwei and Kong Lingkan.
Kong Lingjie, Kong Lingwei, Soong Mei-ling, Kong Lingkan
Kong Lingwei is the second daughter of Kong Xiangxi and Song Ailing. She once drew a gun and shot at Long Yun's son in a park in Nanjing.
Kong's home has few industries in Taiwan, the largest of which is the Yuanshan Hotel, which is located in the suburbs of Taipei and has a special status in the history of pseudo-government entertaining "foreign guests".
The chairman of this hotel is Kong Lingyi, the eldest lady of the Kong family, and the general manager is Kong Lingwei, the second lady. The 200 million yuan fund for building the hotel was borrowed by the Shilin official residence from the Taipei bank, and the person who came forward was Soong Mei-ling's confidant military officer ~ Huang Renlin , and the loan seemed to have never been paid off. Therefore, the nature of Yuanshan Hotel is not publicly owned or privately owned, and officials in Taipei have always been troubled by this matter.
Soong Mei-ling has always said that it has nothing to do with this hotel, but Kong Lingwei often goes to Shilin's official residence to report to her work. These two were so close that there were rumors outside that Kong Lingwei was Soong Mei-ling's illegitimate daughter.
Kong Lingwei
Kong Lingkan is the "big bad guy" caught by Jiang Ching-kuo in Shanghai before liberation. He was the general manager of the "Yangzi Company" that seriously disrupted the economic order at that time, and was reported by Du Yuesheng . A very magical scene. After Soong Mei-ling found out, she asked Chiang Ching-kuo to let the man go to the United States in the name of her mother.
However, Kong Lingkan is the only one in the second generation of the Kong family who wants to be an official, so as the third aunt, Soong Mei-ling has always wanted to help him. Because she knew that the Kong and Song families were always attached to power, so their wealth was endless.
kong Lingkan
966 is the year of Taiwan's "general election". With the election of the fourth "president" and "vice president", the people of " cabinet " must also be replaced. So, Soong Mei-ling quickly called Kong Lingkan to Taiwan. Then, she and Chiang Kai-shek began to blow the wind beside their pillows, wanting this nephew to be a "minister" or something. Chiang Kai-shek had decided to "pass the throne" to Chiang Ching-kuo at that time, and had a heart-wrenching understanding of the influence of the greed for money between the Confucius and Song families. Therefore, it was impossible for him to give Kong Lingkan any chance to interfere with Chiang Ching-kuo, but considering that someone had to help maintain relations with the United States, he gave Kong Lingkan a false position as a "national policy consultant".
Chiang Kai-shek, Soong Mei-ling, Chiang Ching-kuo
972 was another "year of choice" in Taiwan. Seeing Chiang Kai-shek's health deteriorated, Soong Mei-ling recommended Kong Lingkan to Chiang Kai-shek as the "Director of the Executive Yuan." She knew that if it didn't work this time, and when Chiang Ching-kuo came to power, the Confucius and Song families would be completely "worship" with power. This time, Chiang Kai-shek simply disagreed with it, and refused to talk to Kong Ling for one official or half of his position. This made Soong Mei-ling start a cold war. She felt that Chiang Kai-shek would still surrender like in the past.
result, she was wrong.
This time, Chiang Kai-shek not only refused to give in, but also ran out for "vacation", and in turn threatened Soong Mei-ling with his "not running for president".
Song Mei-ling is not stupid either. She thought to herself: Don’t be the nephew and her husband resigns again, and she should even lose the title of “first lady”. So, she took the initiative to give Chiang Kai-shek a step, and the four-month Cold War finally ended in her failure.
years later, on April 5, 1975, Chiang Kai-shek passed away, and Soong Mei-ling's big tree finally collapsed. Where should she go?
97 big box
After Chiang Kai-shek died, everyone in the pseudo-government knew that Soong Mei-ling had no use value, so they turned against each other and surrendered to Chiang Ching-kuo.
Soong Mei-ling also knew that Chiang Ching-kuo's wings had long been hard. As a stepmother, she could not beat this once "restrained bottle".
However, she still had a little fantasy and wanted to push Kong Lingkan again to see if Chiang Ching-kuo could agree to make him the "Director of the Executive Yuan", but she was disappointed again, and she had already arranged for her own people.
Soong Mei-ling saw that all the younger generation had become "spicious". Taiwan had nothing to do with her own business, so she simply flew to the United States to "retreat" on September 17, 1975. When seeing off, Chiang Ching-kuo personally helped his stepmother into the cabin. Soong Mei-ling, who had no children, felt a little relieved. The next year, Chiang Kai-shek's anniversary celebration, Soong Mei-ling returned to Taiwan once.
Chiang Ching-kuo
Although the "first lady" has now become Madam Chiang, Soong Mei-ling, who is far away in the United States, did not give up on Taiwan's affairs at all. Chiang Ching-kuo still has to rely on this stepmother in his relationship with the United States. So, even though they were separated, the relationship between the mother and the mother was not so tense.
At the end of 1978, when China and the United States determined to establish diplomatic relations, Chiang Ching-kuo was panicked, and Soong Mei-ling became his reassurance. However, since then, she also knew that it would be difficult for her to achieve anything in the United States, so she simply focused on doing business.In 1984, 87-year-old Soong Mei-ling and her nephew Kong Lingjie invested $5 million in Texas Philippe Oil Company in the United States to jointly develop an oil and gas field in , New Mexico, .
Although the business was going smoothly, Soong Mei-ling finally encountered an inconquering enemy: loneliness. Among her peers, she has had a long standby time. Many Chinese and Western friends from the same era have already traveled to the West, and even those who don’t have Journey to the West can basically not walk.
986, Soong Mei-ling, who had lived in the United States for 11 years, finally decided to return to Taiwan. At this time, the Jiang family had four generations living together, and Soong Mei-ling was not as competitive as before. In addition to enjoying the family happiness of children and grandchildren, she also turned to fully support Chiang Ching-kuo in politics. After all, the surname Jiang is better than the surname Jiang. At this time, Jiang Weiguo , Jiang Jingguo's eldest son Jiang Xiaowu and illegitimate son Zhang Xiaoyan were all active in politics, and the Jiang family felt that there was a successor. However, all this was just a rebirth. With Jiang Ching-kuo's sudden vomiting of blood in 1988, the Jiang family was irreversibly declining. Soong Mei-ling made an exception wearing a black cheongsam and a white flower. She wore a step-son who had loved each other for decades and had entrusted her last hope to wear mourning.
989, Jiang Ching-kuo's eldest son Jiang Xiaowen died. Soong Mei-ling believes that Taiwan is no longer a place to stay for a long time, and her fighting spirit has been exhausted with the years. On September 21, 1990, the chairman of "China Airlines" promoted by Soong Mei-ling personally took charge of the command at Songshan Airport and saw her off. Soong Mei-ling's gifts were as high as 97 large boxes. Even the media joked: "There is a limit of 97, and the wife has a large box." These luggage include rare treasures and antique calligraphy and paintings that she once collected with Chiang Kai-shek, traditional furniture, cheongsams that she had worn and unwrapped, unused fabrics, bird's nests and mooncakes that she liked to eat, and things that were not discovered by the outside world.
991, the grandson Jiang Xiaowu died suddenly. In 1992, his nephew Kong Lingkan passed away. The two most hopeful people in the second generation were gone. In 1994, Soong Mei-ling's favorite niece Kong Lingwei died.
996, grandson Jiang Xiaoyong passed away. In 1997, Soong Mei-ling's favorite stepson, Jiang Wei-kuo, passed away.
The white-haired man gave the black-haired man. This time and again, it felt a bit like a little knife slowly cutting the old lady's heart.
ran away to 100 years old, and Soong Mei-ling's health was not as good as before. She could only move to a luxurious villa with 18 rooms in Manhattan before her death. Furniture decorated by ivory and jade can be seen everywhere here. Moreover, this place is closer to the hospital. At this time, only her niece Kong Lingyi, who could still stand by her.
Kong Lingyi
003 Late at night on October 23, 2003, Soong Mei-ling passed away quietly at the age of 106. Her life spanned three centuries. The next morning, the bodyguards hurriedly sent them to the funeral home with a wool blanket wrapped around Soong Mei-ling's body.
Once upon a time, there was a slave captured by Roman Legion . When he was escorted through the Arc de Triomphe of Roman , he looked at the cheering crowd and said, "All glory is nothing more than passing clouds."
