The recruitment process was subject to many layers of deductions, and Chang Kaishen knew he could not solve it.
It can be said that in the entire national army, from top to bottom, as long as there is an opportunity to make money, there are almost no officers who will not take the credit card. There may be such honest officers, but they are definitely in the minority, and life must be very difficult because the salary is not enough.
use.
Before the September 18th Incident, the monthly salary of a general in the National Army was 800 yuan, but it was suddenly reduced to 240 yuan in early 1932; the monthly salary of a second lieutenant in the national army was reduced from 42 yuan to 30 yuan; and the monthly salary of a first-class soldier was reduced from 12 yuan to 8.5 yuan. (All of the above.
It is the basic salary, the specific salary depends on the position)
Why is this so?
Because of the national crisis, soldiers must be considerate of the country's difficulties, so the Nationalist Government promulgated the "National Disaster Salary Regulations". Salaries were reduced across the board from generals to ordinary soldiers.
Even though military pay was reduced, it was still normal in the early 1930s. A private's monthly salary of 7 yuan was enough to live a comfortable life, provided that the superior officer did not deduct the salary and the government paid the salary on time.
But in the early days of the outbreak of the all-out Anti-Japanese War, military pay was still at the same level as ten years ago, but prices were rising steadily, making it difficult for officers at the second lieutenant level to eat.
Under this situation, the national government first separated food and salary, that is, the soldiers' food was allocated by the government and they no longer needed to pay for it themselves. However, it still could not meet the expenses, firstly because the food in the army was too rubbish, and secondly because it was still needed
other expenses.
Therefore, military pay was increased several times during the Anti-Japanese War, but the small wage increase was a joke compared with the price.
Let us give an example. From 1940 to 1942, the salary of a major in the National Army was only enough to buy the soap and straw sandals he needed. By 1945, the salary of ordinary soldiers had increased to 900 yuan, but it was not enough to buy straw sandals.
The situation is not far different.
Even so, many troops are often in arrears with wages. A team that can pay on time must have a backer.
In this case, do you want the officers to abide by morality and avoid corruption?
Dreaming!
Most of those officers who are not greedy have no chance to be greedy and can only live a miserable life eating the army's pig food.
As for corruption, once it happens for the first time, it will inevitably happen a second time, and a third time...and the more you become greedy, the more you become more courageous, and your tricks become more and more abundant, and there will never be an end to it.
The corruption of military officers has led to insufficient recruitment fees, and the able-bodied men have to suffer from hunger and die in large numbers. If you want to prevent military officers from being corrupt, among other things, please raise military pay to normal levels, but the government has no money! So there is nothing we can do about it.
Solved, unless Chiang Kai-shek can conjure money out of thin air.
No matter how much national wealth the four major families have made, even if we let them spit out all the money, it will still not be enough. The country has become so poor that ordinary people can't help it. Zhou Hexuan understands Chiang Kai-shek's difficulties very well.
Considering that Japan is so developed and has robbed so many supplies from China and Southeast Asia, the people will not have enough to eat in the middle of the war. If we look back and compare it with China, it will be easier to understand.
The Kuomintang cannot do it, and the Communist Party cannot do it either. The all-out war of resistance is a special period, and it is impossible to attack landlords and capitalists on a large scale before victory.
That’s why we call for peace. It’s the common people who suffer when war breaks out.
All Chang Kaishen could do was to crack down on smuggling, especially the smuggling of prohibited items to Japan. As for using young men to smuggle opium, Chiang Kai-shek chose to turn a blind eye. He knew that it was completely impossible to ban this matter.
But you still have to save face.
In early July, He Yingqin held a meeting at the Chongqing Central Training Corps and called nearly 200 officers responsible for recruiting troops from various places. Within 20 minutes of the meeting, there was one deputy commander of the military area, three chief and deputy commanders of the division area, and 19 regiments.
The commander and deputy commander of the district were dragged away on the spot and handed over to a military court for severe punishment according to law.
This trick of killing chickens and warning monkeys calmed the remaining recruiting officers. He Yingqin took advantage of the situation and emphasized that in the future, if more than 20% of the young men died on the way, everyone from the commander to the specific personnel would be dealt with accordingly. At the same time, young men were not allowed to be arrested in areas other than their own jurisdiction. Once verified, they would be dealt with accordingly.
!
Moreover, Chang Kaishen personally ordered that the Central Bureau of Statistics send people to inspect various places every month. Whenever a strong man is found to be abused, the superior officer will be suspended without pay and demoted, and the specific personnel will be punished on the spot.
After the meeting, the frightened recruiting commanders gathered together to eat and vomited their bitterness to each other.
"Oh, I can't survive this day."
"Yes, what can we do if the strong man wants to escape? If too many escapes along the way, they will be treated as dead, and our wealth and lives will not be saved."
"Just take it one step at a time. Be careful and you won't make a big mistake."
"Brother Zhu, how much are you going to cut back on?"
"Be conservative, 30%."
"Thirty percent? That's crazy. I think it should be at least 50%. Fifty percent is enough to allow a strong man to go to the recruit camp smoothly."
"I'm afraid that if people below me continue to deduct money, it will be difficult to handle if something big happens."
"You are still too cowardly. I don't believe that people from Zhongtong will really come to investigate. Even if they come, if you give me some benefits, people from Zhongtong are also human beings. I don't believe that they won't accept money when they see it."
"I think it's still wrong. I heard that President Jiang slapped the table and cursed his mother. It just so happened that everyone was here today. How about we come up with a charter and set the rule of cutting expenditures at 40%? When something happens, we will all work together.
Don’t worry, we can’t all be punished, then who will recruit troops to fight?”
"Forty percent is a bit low. If I were alone, I wouldn't have to pay a penny and I would sacrifice my family for the sake of the country. But my subordinates are still waiting for food, and I need to take care of everything. If I save too little money, I can't start work at all."
"Old Zhang is right. The Ministry of Military and Political Affairs does not have enough food and salary, so we can only find a way on our own. Let's do this, it will be 60%!"
"Where is 60% enough? At least 70% is required."
"Seventy percent? You really want to drive all the strong men to death! No matter how much you detain, I will go back to at most 35%. Saving my life is the most important thing."
"It's about 40%, it's enough, it's enough."
"Forty and a half percent, absolutely no less."
"I agree with 45%, let's just say it."
"..."
More than 100 recruiting officers reached a secret agreement that day and would only deduct 45% of their salary from now on, but there were also a few greedy recruiters who deducted more than 50%.
This approach had some effect before 1942, but after that there was really nothing else to do. Especially in 1943, prices soared to the sky. Even if the officers did not deduct a penny, it was difficult to ensure that strong men could enter the recruit camp safely.
.
The inspectors from the Central Bureau of Statistics dispatched by Chang Kaishen are basically of no use. Most of them regard inspection work as a means of making money, and work with the recruitment agency to eat the blood of soldiers. The few inspectors who do their duty faithfully can only expose some particularly bad ones.
Under normal circumstances, He Yingqin would be too embarrassed to arrest people.
Even He Yingqin did not dare to investigate too harshly, because once the mortality rate was emphasized, in order to save his own life, the soldiers who sent the soldiers would inevitably become more ruthless and capture strong men on the road to make up for the loss.
The shortcomings of catching young men actually boil down to one word: money!
