In 2001, a bad news spread from the United States to China: Zhang Xueliang died of illness at the age of 101.
As a result, Zhang Xueliang's legacy was made public. People were surprised to find that the young marshal's legacy was as high as 600 million US dollars...
As we all know, since the Xi'an Incident, Zhang Xueliang has been imprisoned for half a century.
Why does a person who has been imprisoned for 54 years have such a huge inheritance?
All of this starts with his father Zhang Zuolin .
Since birth, Zhang Xueliang's starting point has been much higher than that of ordinary children.
Father Zhang Zuolin was the "Northeast King ". He was the leader of the warlord . He had an army of 400,000 during his heyday and his financial resources were second to none during the Beiyang period.
How strong is his family background?
According to the 1926 "Minshi Daily", the total assets of 71 warlords and bureaucrats reached 630 million, of which Zhang Zuolin dominated with 50 million - this was just his public property.
The private residence of the Zhang family at that time " Dashuai Mansion ", covering a total area of 36,000 square meters. In Zhang Xueliang's words, "there are at least hundreds of people in the kitchen" and is equipped with a refrigerator and tap water that was very rare at that time.
In addition to real estate in various parts of the Northeast, Zhang Zuolin also bought a lot of villas and mansions in Beijing and Tianjin. Among them, there are the famous Shuncheng County Prince's Mansion .
It originally belonged to the last prince of the Qing Dynasty . In 1924, Zhang Zuolin spent 75,000 ocean to buy it. This can definitely be called a huge sum of money. You should know that the price of buying a cow in North China in the same year was 5 yuan.
At that time, the monthly salary of ordinary people was around 15 to 20 oceans, and Mr. Lu Xun's monthly income was about 400 oceans, which was already the top level in the country, but compared with Zhang Zuolin, it was just a drop in the bucket.
In a conversation with an American professor, Zhang Zuolin revealed that his monthly salary was 3,400 yuan, and he "had saved more than 5 million yuan in a few years, but the penny was not moved."
In addition, Zhang Zuolin is also the largest landlord in the Northeast region, with a large number of land in Tongliao , Heilongjiang and other places, with a total value of more than 10 million. It is said that Zhang Xueliang, who is still young, relies on the help of the housekeeper to rent out the land, and he has several thousand pocket money every month.
As long as you can remember, Zhang Xueliang has never had any worries about food, clothing and consumption, and he had already had many industries under his name when he was young. Banks, textiles, ships, coal mines... Zhang Zuolin has countless companies, many of which are directly under Zhang Xueliang's name.
"My father really likes me very much. Except for public property, almost 80% of them are in my hands, and my younger brothers and others do not."
Among the many children, Zhang Zuolin does have a special preference for his eldest son Zhang Xueliang and attaches great importance to his education. He not only hires great scholars from the academic community to teach him traditional culture, but also specially asks the English chief of the Provincial Foreign Affairs Office to teach him English.
15, Zhang Xueliang was arranged by his father to learn business and start dealing with people from all walks of life. At the age of 16, he entered the Army Military Academy and started to go deeper into military life step by step as an ordinary soldier.
Zhang Zuolin scolded his son at that time: "If you really want to be a soldier, you have to take your head off and tie it to your belt." After years of training, Zhang Xueliang's wings are getting bigger and bigger, showing his outstanding military leadership skills.
1922 The first Zhifeng War , 21-year-old Zhang Xueliang led his troops to fight.
This day, someone suddenly passed on a message from Zhang Zuolin, saying that Zhang Xueliang fell down immediately, and his life and death were unknown.
Zhang Zuolin's eyes turned black after hearing this. He rushed to a fortune-telling staff officer in a hurry. He knelt down with a "thump" sound, and then kowtowed several times: "Please calculate quickly, how is my son!"
Lieutenant Colonel had never seen this scene. He was so scared that he immediately fell to the ground and kowtowed back at the commander.
Later I found out that this incident was a mistake. Although Fengjun was defeated, only three brigades commanded by Zhang Xueliang and Guo Songling escaped unscathed and beat Wu Peifu back.
This is his first time participating in a major battle. Since then, the name of "Young Marshal" Zhang Xueliang has been launched.
tw Two Zhifeng War , Zhang Xueliang made repeated military achievements, and Guo Songling's assistance is indispensable.
Who is Guo Songling? He was once the instructor of Zhang Xueliang, and later became a general under the young marshal, which had a profound impact on his ideological concepts and military literacy.
Although Guo Songling is a soldier, he has always loved antique calligraphy and painting. Under his influence, Zhang Xueliang gradually became obsessed with the collection of cultural relics.
One day, he was wandering in an old bookstore in Tianjin, and there was a roll of ancient paintings among the messy piles of paper in the store. The painting was old and stained with stains on it, without a signature, and it was very inconspicuous.
Zhang Xueliang picked it up and checked it carefully. He found that the painting was exquisitely written and ink, so he decided that the work must have been made by the master, so he spent a lot of money to buy it.
Facts prove that he didn't misunderstand it. After professional appraisal, this painting is actually the original work of ", one of the four masters of Southern Song ", which is priceless and can be called a national treasure.
Since then, Zhang Xueliang's interest in collecting has become uncontrollable, and he has even forgotten to eat and sleep.
His collection ranges from the Jin, Tang and Southern Song dynasties to the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, and there are more than 600 antique calligraphy and paintings alone. Among the calligraphy and paintings, "She Neita" is the most difficult thing for Zhang Xueliang to calm down.
He spent 30,000 yuan to buy this famous calligraphy and painting book from a calligraphy and painting merchant. This is the most expensive of all Zhang Xueliang's collections. This post alone is enough to make him one of the top collectors during the Republic of China.
Unfortunately, after the September 18th Incident, "She Neipiao" and many collections of calligraphy and paintings were stolen by the Japanese, and it is still lying in the Yokohama Museum in Japan.
On June 3, 1928, Zhang Zuolin was bombed to death by the Japanese.
Half a month later, 27-year-old Zhang Xueliang took on the heavy responsibility and became the supreme commander of the Northeast, while also inheriting his father's huge inheritance.
And over the years, the taxes in the Northeast provinces have been controlled by Zhang Xueliang himself.
learned that Zhang Xueliang had a preference for collecting calligraphy and paintings, and his good friends often collected the collections scattered among the people and gave them to Zhang Xueliang, and sometimes they would send 100 taels of gold.
1931, Japan launched the September 18th Incident, and , the three northeastern provinces, fell. Seeing that Northeast officials defected to the Japanese, Zhang Xueliang, who was in , Peking , angrily criticized those people for being spineless.
Honjo, who was the commander of the Japanese Kanto Army at that time, had a very good personal relationship with Zhang Xueliang. He loaded two trains with the treasures and property in the Marshal's Mansion to Peiping, hoping to return them to Zhang Xueliang, but Zhang Xueliang refused.
He angrily accused Benfanzhuang of humiliating him and said that he wanted a fire to burn the train: "If you want to return it, you will return it to me in the three northeastern provinces!"
No one is perfect, no gold is barefoot. Faced with the invasion of Japanese imperialism, " non-resistance policy " made Zhang Xueliang bear the reputation of his lifetime; launching the "Xi'an Incident" with Yang Hucheng made Zhang Xueliang a national hero.
But he didn't expect that this action would bring about a half-century life of imprisonment.
After the Xi'an Incident, Zhang Xueliang decided to release Chiang Kai-shek and personally sent him to Nanjing.
At that time, many people advised him not to go, so as not to be retaliated. But Zhang Xueliang had a deep relationship with the brother and sister of Soong Mei-ling. This time he was dissatisfied, so he wanted to make up for the relationship by using this move.
On December 26, 1936, Chiang Kai-shek escaped from Xi'an. Ning Chengen, who came to pick him up, was riding in the same car with Zhang Xueliang. Zhang Xueliang asked, "How about Nanjing?" Ning Chengen thought for a while and said, "Nanjing is not our territory." It means that Zhang Xueliang entered the tiger's den.
As expected, Zhang Xueliang was sentenced to 10 years in prison at the Military Law Trial not long after. He was immediately pardoned again, but he was still handed over to the Military Commission for strict supervision, and since then he was imprisoned by Chiang Kai-shek.
The earliest, Zhang Xueliang was placed in Fenghua, Zhejiang. Later, because the Japanese invaders approached, he was moved to Anhui, Jiangxi, Hunan, Guizhou, Chongqing and other places one after another.
Although he has been wandering for many years, Zhang Xueliang spent most of his time on food and clothing, and he can even be called a luxury.
Chiang Kai-shek would give him a large amount of money every month as living expenses. At the same time, Chiang Kai-shek did not deduct his property and interest in banks in various parts of the country and could allocate it at will.
At that time, Zhang Xueliang had more than 20 guards, and more than 20 staff including chefs and sedan chairmen. A gendarmerie company was stationed nearby.
At the beginning, he was in a bad mood and was silent all day long. It was not until his wife, Yu Fengzhi, that Zhang Xueliang's frown frown finally relaxed. Afterwards, under his repeated requests, Chiang Kai-shek allowed Zhao Yidi and Yu Fengzhi to take turns to accompany Zhang Xueliang.
Zhao Yidi is Miss Zhao Si , and he met Zhang Xueliang after he got married. At first, Yu Fengzhi refused to accept her husband's concubine. Just when the couple was arguing, Zhao Yidi knelt down to Yu Fengzhi, saying that she didn't have a title, just to help her stay by Zhang Xueliang's side.
Yu Fengzhi compromised, but she made three rules: Zhao Yidi had no name to the outside world; he was called a secretary to foreigners; he was called a servant to Chinese people.
These two women were originally rivals in love, but after a long time of getting along, they gradually disappeared, and their relationship was so good that they were called sisters.
In October 1946, Zhang Xueliang was transferred to Taiwan.
At the beginning, Jiang Ching-kuo The guesthouse arranged for him was close to the First Cemetery of Yangmingshan. When Soong Mei-ling learned about it, she scolded Jiang Ching-kuo and said, "How could you let him live in such a dilapidated house?"
Not long after, Zhang Xueliang was imprisoned in a new house in Beitou Mountain.
There, Zhang Xueliang has a special chef to prepare for three meals a day. Eight or nine dishes are needed for dinner alone, and must-have fruit after the meal. When the subordinates go to purchase, they usually buy a truckload of vegetables, a basket of chickens, a box of fish, and dozens of canned food.
On weekdays, he likes to play chess, fish, golf, etc. with the military police. His favorite sport is swimming, and for this reason his subordinates have dug a small pond for him.
But Zhang Xueliang also lacks money.
Most of his money was frozen in the United States, and the previous cash had already been used up, so he wrote a letter to Song Ziwen , saying that now the prices are rising, and he and Zhao Yidi smoke a thousand cigarettes a month, which costs nearly 10,000 yuan.
The change for two servants, plus magazines, clothing, shoes and socks, costs several thousand a month. The four of them just brushed their teeth and disappeared after 500 yuan. It will cost at least 20,000 pocket money per month.
"Money is not considered money now." Zhang Xueliang sighed that 10,000 yuan is only a few hundred yuan before the war. He had no choice but to write a letter to borrow hundreds of thousands from the bank or Song Ziwen.
But after many twists and turns, it has been more than half a year since this letter came to Song Ziwen. The content of the letter made him sigh, thinking about how glorious Zhang Xueliang was in the Marshal's Mansion back then, but now he "can't bear to throw away cigarette butts, and he has to walk softly, afraid of losing shoes."
1940, Yu Fengzhi had to leave Zhang Xueliang because of breast cancer and went to the United States to treat his illness alone.
After the operation, Yu Fengzhi saved his life. Seeing the decreasing savings, thinking of her imprisoned husband Zhang Xueliang, who is quite business-friendly, she began to invest in the United States.
Once, a friend told Yu Fengzhi that the money he put in the stock market tripled. After she went back, she began to study stocks and took some tricks a few months later.
Later, she chose a ticket with a sluggish trend and bought 500 shares. My friend was not optimistic about that stock, but Yu Fengzhi had a good attitude: "It's okay, if you lose, just treat it as paying tuition." Within two days, the stock grew well and she also made her first pot of gold. After
, her stock trading skills became better and better. Many people followed her to buy stocks and became the famous Wall Street "Oriental Female Stock God".
Just when the stock market was at its lowest point, Yu Fengzhi turned to invest in real estate.
Once she went to Los Angeles for a trip and found a wasteland of 5,000 square meters, so she insisted on buying it. My friends thought she was crazy, and even the real estate tycoon at that time said that the land there was worthless.
Unexpectedly, three years later, the land was attracted by a businessman who developed the golf course , and finally bought it from Yu Fengzhi with a difference of 5 or 6 times.
But Yu Fengzhi did not want to be a rich woman, money was nothing more than an outsider to her.
In order to restore freedom, Zhang Xueliang, she ran around the United States and put pressure on the Taiwan authorities. But when she found that all efforts would put her husband in danger of his life, she resolutely chose to divorce.
The former residence of Taylor has always been empty, and many people don’t sell it for a high price. She asked someone to raise orchid in the room, which was Zhang Xueliang's favorite flower.
She even thought that one day, Zhang Xueliang and Zhao Yidi came to the United States and could spend their old age there.
After Jiang Jingguo's death, Zhang Xueliang finally gained freedom, but Yu Fengzhi's life came to an end.
She left behind a huge amount of property, including bank deposits, stocks, real estate, etc. Except for a few left for her children, the rest belonged to Zhang Xueliang.
1990, it was not until after Jiang Ching-kuo's death that Zhang Xueliang was finally lifted. After
, he and Zhao Yidi left Taiwan and went to Hawaii, USA to settle down.
After that, he sold his mansion in Taipei and took out some of the treasured cultural relics for auction. This considerable income was enough for him to enjoy his old age.
Zhang Xueliang's collection is very precious, and coupled with his personal historical color, the auction house gives a very high reserve price. Among them, a copy of "Peach Blossoms" by the painter Xie Yuan of the Northern Song Dynasty was priced at 3 million yuan, and was put at a high price of 15 million yuan. In the end, more than 200 collections were sold for about 132.9 million yuan.
In 2001, Zhang Xueliang died in the United States.
The rich family fortune left by his father, the large number of industries earned by his ex-wife, and the funding from his friends left Zhang Xueliang with a legacy of up to $600 million. What is even more unexpected is the whereabouts of this $600 million inheritance.
Before his death, Zhang Xueliang instructed his son that all the assets under his name would be donated to Columbia University in the United States, including many valuable collections and many precious historical materials.
's decision caused a stir at that time. Why didn't such a huge inheritance be left to your descendants?
Zhang Xueliang said that the children grew up abroad and did not understand Chinese culture at all. They left these things to them, and they did not know how to cherish them, and they were also ruined.
Zhang Xueliang once said "patriotic", why didn't he donate these to China?
Later, according to Zhao Yidi, because of the "non-resistance policy" that year, he had no face to see his hometown elders again, so they finally chose to donate to Columbia University in the United States.
The director of the Chinese library of this university is the Tang Degang , which compiled and published " Zhang Xueliang Oral History ". There is a special history research institute in the school, which has collected a lot of modern Chinese history documents and has been preserved very well to this day.
After receiving the cultural relics, Colombian also set up a study in the library to exhibit it. Zhang Xueliang wrote the name of the library "Yidi Study".
In his later years, Zhang Xueliang had always been eager to return to the mainland and return to his roots. He said, "I want to admit my mistakes to the fellow villagers in Northeast China."
But because Zhang Xueliang was old and his physical condition did not allow him to go so far, he never had the idea of returning home again.
His life in his 100s was imprisoned for 54 years, and he was able to "see the light of day again" at the age of 89.
is just that although I have freedom for the rest of my life, I am destined to be ineffective.
Zhang Xueliang once sighed: "From the age of 21 to 36, this is my life."
As for the right and wrong of his life, he can only leave it to future generations to comment on it.
-END-
Author: Luye
Editor: Liu Ye Taotao
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