In 1927, after the Nanjing government came to power, a 10-year national economic construction plan was implemented, which was the "golden decade" of the historical period of the Republic of China (from 1927 to 1937 before the outbreak of the all-out war of resistance against Japan).
So, during the golden decade of Nanjing's rule, how was China's economic construction? How much has the people's lives improved?
A textile mill during the Republic of China
With these questions in mind, let's move on!
If you want to get rich, you must first build roads, and first look at transportation construction.
From 1929 to 1937, the national government built more railways than in the previous 20 years combined, and the length of railways in the Kannai increased by 590.5 kilometers every year, and the country had 21,761 kilometers of new railways.
According to relevant statistics, from 1927 to 1935, the total transportation output of railways increased from 532372 thousand tons of kilometers to 1083765 tons of kilometers. The increase in transportation production has directly accelerated the flow of goods and economic development in the country.
In terms of shipping, in the 30s, there were nearly 1 million large and small wooden sailing ships in the country, with a total profit of 488 million yuan.
Construction of railways
At the same time, by the end of 1935, the number of registered steamships in the country exceeded 3,985, which was also the fastest development period in China's steamship shipping construction since 1927, before and after the government came to power.
Let's take a look at highway construction, from 1927 to 1937, the country's highway mileage increased from the initial 29,170 kilometers to 110952 kilometers, and the whole country is covered by the road network, and the road network in East China ranks first in the country, with 25,334 kilometers.
By July 1937, the Nanjing government had built a highway transportation network across most of China, with 21 trunk lines and 15 branch lines such as Beijing, Sichuan, Tibet, Beijing, Guizhou and Yunnan, which also laid the foundation for the victory of the Anti-Japanese War.
Yunnan-Burma Highway
In terms of national education, the government's funding for higher education has increased year after year, from more than 10.24 million yuan in 1928 to more than 22.95 million yuan in 1936.
In 1937, the Nanjing government allocated more than 1.7 million yuan for the annual activities of Sun Yat-sen University and Central University (of which Sun Yat-sen University allocated more than 1.93 million yuan).
In terms of higher education, the policy and financial support have optimized and improved the education system during the Republic of China, and also cultivated a large number of modern and modern industrialized talents and military generals, as well as the improvement of the national education level.
Cadet of the Republic of China
Of course, for most of the people at that time, they did not intuitively feel the "golden decade" and brought them opportunities for employment, entrepreneurship and development, but fled and died in the catastrophe.
From 1928 to 1930, drought struck many provinces in the country, engulfing more than a dozen provinces, and the number of refugees killed and injured was incalculable.
In the movie "1942", there is a description of the real scene of ordinary people fleeing the famine during the Republic of China.
From 1927 to 1937, the economy of the countryside was almost bankrupt, but it was a golden decade in which the big compradors and the bourgeoisie developed rapidly and made a lot of money.
During the golden decade, although the results of agricultural production were indeed unsatisfactory, the government did not do nothing for agricultural construction.
You must know that in the early program of the League, Mr. Sun Yat-sen clearly put forward the "equal land rights", and land reform naturally became the basis of the position of the Republic of China government.
In May 1927, the Nanjing Nationalist Government promulgated the Law on the Protection of Tenant Farmers. The law clearly stipulates that tenant farmers may not pay more than 40 percent of the harvest of the leased land", "tenant farmers shall abolish all additional harsh rules on landlords except for the payment of rent", and "tenant farmers have the right of permanent tenant rights over the land they cultivate".
It can be said that this law was very good for the ordinary tenant farmers at that time.
Unfortunately, the only place where this law is actually implemented is Zhejiang Province, and most provinces do not even have a decent rent reduction provision. This is because according to the relevant rent reduction policy, the actual income of the tenant farmers is much greater than that of the landlords, and the vested interests of the landlords are not guaranteed.
Therefore, soon after the implementation of the "Tenant Farmers Protection Law", it was opposed by landlords at all levels in urban and rural areas, so much so that the local government was forced to cancel this rent reduction policy that benefited the people.
Indeed, the Nationalist Government at that time also wanted to do a good job in rural construction and reduce the burden on the peasants, but in the face of the intricate threats from landlords and other forces, it could only choose to give up.
In essence, the Nanjing Nationalist Government represented the interests of the big bourgeoisie and the big landlord class, and its formation itself was a deformed product of the times, and many seemingly grand economic blueprints were ultimately mere flash in the pan, and all the interests were appropriated by the comprador bourgeoisie.
In terms of industrial construction, the value of the golden decade increased significantly, and from 1930 to 1936, the growth rate of the entire industrial economy reached 9%, concentrated in the power and coal industries.
Although the government did want to vigorously develop heavy industry at that time, it suffered from serious corruption, coupled with a shortage of funds, as well as internal warlord warfare and external invasion, which made it difficult to implement many heavy industry bases.
Central Hangzhou Jianqiao Aircraft Factory
As for the government at that time, how serious was the corruption?
In the early 30s, the Nanjing government launched several encirclements and suppressions of the central Soviet base areas, and the Kuomintang's military spending was to connive at Du Yuesheng's opium trafficking.
During the Anti-Japanese War, Du Yuesheng conspired with Chiang Kai-shek and Song Ziwen to purchase airplanes in the name of supporting the Anti-Japanese War, issued "aviation coupons" to the people, and then used the patriotic enthusiasm of the people to raise a large amount of funds, and this money was not used to develop national defense heavy industry, but fed the high-ranking officials and magnates and local ruffians in the national government.
At the same time, on the eve of the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, the Americans also lent a huge amount of money to Song Meiling to buy aircraft to develop the Chinese Air Force.
However, Song Meiling actually deposited the money to buy the plane directly into a foreign bank to collect interest. So much so that after the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, the Chinese Air Force had no more than 100 old aircraft capable of fighting.
There is also Kong Xiangxi, the premier of the Executive Yuan, who controls the financial and economic system of the later period of the national government, and the country's foreign exchange reserves are all in his hands, covering the sky with one hand.
In fact, the four major families of the state government are themselves a group of "big compradors", regardless of the lives of the people at the bottom, they only care about collecting gold banknotes into their own hands, and live a life of drunken gold fans.
The so-called "golden decade" of the Republic of China is actually just a tragic microcosm of the economic era, and the independent industrial system of the state government has never been implemented, and it can only develop national defense through purchases, and then take kickbacks from it, which has become a means for compradors to make a fortune and make a fortune.
In the golden decade, some people really want to do things for the people and the country in a down-to-earth manner, but high-ranking officials and magnates want to be "misers" for a lifetime, and in the end they have to be abandoned by the people!