As times change, so does the way we live. It is not known since when the status of the borrowers seems to have reversed, and they are now treated as such"Uncle"。
While"Lai"Those who do not pay their debts have become the most troublesome problem in our lives.
Everyone has some old debts in their lives that cannot be recovered, and the Chen Shuntong family is no exception. The object of their arrears is even more tricky, a claim against Japan, the Chen family has gone through 75 years of ups and downs.
However, fortunately, with the intervention of the state, the Chen Shuntong family finally recovered the 2 billion that was owed. So, how did this old account come about? It all stems from Chen Shuntong's 1897 birth in Ningbo, Zhejiang, where he cultivated a lifelong spirit of hardship and hard work due to his poor living environment.
One day in 1920, he met a noble man who changed his life.
In an accident, Chen Shuntong met Zhang Jingjiang in distress, and the latter also took a fancy to Chen Shuntong's talent. At the invitation of Zhang Jingjiang, Chen Shuntong joined the National Shipping Company, responsible for passenger and freight business.
He did not disappoint Zhang Jingjiang, and managed the department he was responsible for in an orderly manner in a short period of time. For some people in the team who have corrupt behavior, he is resolute and unrelenting.
His decisive style won the admiration of many at the time. However, unfortunately, due to some reasons, the company carried out reforms, and in order to avoid the limelight, Chen Shuntong had to leave his job and go home.
He used up all his savings and founded the Zhongwei Steamship Company.
In 1930, Chen Shuntong bought his first steamer, the Taiping Steamer, which not only meant that he had started a new business journey, but also heralded a unique story to unfold.
Due to the social conditions at the time, Chen Shuntong had to buy a new ship almost every year to meet the growing demand for passenger transport. His business gradually expanded, and his reputation gradually became louder in the local business community, becoming the unshakable king of Chinese ships at that time.
Although China was in the midst of the Sino-Japanese War, Chen Shuntong, as a businessman, inevitably had some economic contacts with Japan. In 1936, Japan's Daido Shipping Co., Ltd. put forward a request to lease the "New Taiping Vessel" and "SF Express".
Although it was only a one-year charter, Chen Shuntong took out insurance for the two ships at the company out of concern that Japan might default. Chen Shuntong poured all his money into the safe operation of his ship.
However, plans don't always keep up with changes. By the following year, the Sino-Japanese war had reached a fever pitch, and coastal cities were lost one after another. At this critical moment, Ningbo Zhenhaikou has become an important checkpoint to defend the country's last line of defense.
In order to prevent the Japanese army from landing at the port, the only way was to sink ships to block the entrance to the sea, and Chen Shuntong's "Taiping Steamer" was the executor of this task. For Chen Shuntong, the "Taiping Steamer" is not only a steamer that solicits passengers, but also a symbol of Zhongwei Steamship Company.
However, in the face of the devastated motherland, Chen Shuntong had to reluctantly cut his love and sink his "Taiping Wheel" into the sea. But this is not the most painful thing for him, what makes him most heart-wrenching is that the "New Taiping Steamer" and "SF Express" that were originally lent to Japan have reached the deadline for return, but the Japanese side shirks it for various reasons and is unwilling to return it.
Chen Shuntong couldn't swallow this breath because he only had four steamers left, two of which were destroyed by the Japanese and two were occupied by the Japanese. In order to keep these ships, he began the long "Ship Journey".
You must know that at that time, each ship could bring tens of thousands of yuan of revenue to Zhongwei Company in a month, which was already a considerable income for the environment at that time.
During the war, the Japanese used two ships as bargaining chips to ask Chen Shuntong for covert help. However, Chen Shuntong was unmoved, he knew that these ** habitual offenders had no credibility at all.
When Japan was defeated in 1945, he looked forward to recovering the two ships. However, the two steamers were requisitioned by the Japanese during the battle and changed hands everywhere, and he searched for a long time, but did not find any clues.
In the end, he found that the "Taiping Ship" he had been looking for for a long time was actually the same Datong Shipping Co., Ltd. that had been insured. Although he regretted the long road to claim, he persevered until he finally found the answer.
Chen Shuntong's previous insurance compensation was embezzled by Datong, and his other steamer, the SF Express, sank to the bottom of the sea during the war in 1944. When the bad news came, Chen Shuntong immediately fell ill and died in November 1949.
On his deathbed, he firmly handed over the responsibility for compensation against Japan to his son, Chen Qiaqun. Since then, Chen Qiaqun has been fighting for compensation from Japan until 1961, when he personally went to Japan and decided to fight it with legal means.
In 1970, when the case began, Chen Qiaqun encountered a thorny problem - identity proof. At that time, he had already re-registered the Zhongwei Steamship Company in Hong Kong.
At that time, the relationship between Hong Kong and China was delicate, and the Japanese side decided that China would not help issue certificates, so it used this as an excuse to exert pressure.
Japan underestimates China's keen insight into things, no matter how it is a family, how can it tolerate bullying by others? Despite the support of various domestic departments, Japan refused compensation in 1974 on the grounds that it was overdue.
In 1985, when Chen Qiaqun suffered a stroke and lost his ability to claim compensation, his grandsons Chen Zhen and Chen Chun took over and organized a team of 60 lawyers to file a lawsuit with the Shanghai Maritime Court in 1988.
After a lengthy trial, it finally won in 2007 and succeeded in claiming 2.9 billion yen, equivalent to 1., from Japan900 million RMB. Even in the face of such an outcome, Japan still refuses to pay.
After 75 years of perseverance and hard work, the Chen brothers finally ushered in a righteous return. All this is not accidental, but the result of the strong support of all parties, and it is also a reflection of the growing strength of the country.
It wasn't until 2014 that a court in Shanghai took tough measures to detain the Japanese merchant ship, finally making Japan admit its past mistakes and pay 2.9 billion yen in compensation.
Despite the many difficulties encountered in the process, the Chen brothers never gave up, and their determination and courage are worth learning from each and every one of us.