As mentioned above, as far as the various strata of the entire society are concerned, the Republic of China has the good of the Republic of China, and the new China has the good of the new China, and it depends on the social status and personal income of each person, and it cannot be generalized.

So, who are the people who are nostalgic for the "incomparably beautiful" era of the Republic of China?

Please take a look at the two payslips here:

In 1918~1919, Chairman Mao worked as a clerk in the library of Peking University in his youth, while Hu Shi, a famous returnee scholar, was a professor at Peking University.

-- Librarian Mao's monthly salary is only 8 yuan, but Professor Hu's monthly salary is as high as 240 yuan, a difference of 30 times!

In fact, although Hu Shi returned from overseas with a layer of gold plating at that time, he had not worked in Peking University for a long time, and his reputation was far inferior to that of later generations, and his monthly salary was not the highest. During the same period, Chen Duxiu, head of Peking University's Chinese department, earned a monthly salary of 400 yuan, equivalent to 50 times that of Mao's administrator—in a few years, the monthly salary of Peking University professors would double again, reaching an average of 500 yuan, while the monthly salary of a librarian did not rise much.

What's even worse is that Professor Hu Shi's 240 oceans can generally be distributed on time every month. However, Administrator Mao's 8 oceans of monthly salary was always in arrears, and he didn't get all of them until he left. It is said that he worked for half a year, but Zuihou only received three months' salary, which was equivalent to half of the salary cut -- I suddenly understood the reason for the rumored hatred of intellectuals by Chairman Mao......

Well, in addition, Chairman Chen Duxiu will surrender to the right in the future, and Hu Shi and Weishenme insist on the first position, you can also see a little bit of a clue from this payroll - they are all vested interests in that era!

In fact, the real problem doesn't stop there. In all fairness, if our wage earners can get a salary of 2000~3000 yuan, basically satisfying food and clothing, and approaching a well-off, then even if they see that a senior white-collar worker can get a monthly salary of more than 100,000 yuan, which is dozens of times that of themselves, everyone will envy them in private at most, as long as their lives are still passable, they will not develop to the level of class hatred.

But the question is, what was the actual purchasing power of Mao's 8 yuan monthly salary at that time?

Due to the frequent wars and turmoil in the Republic of China era, the price of rice fluctuated greatly in various places, and the price of rice alone often fluctuated several times. Basically, the later the years, the more inflation will be.

Moreover, there is a large difference in the price level between urban and rural areas, between the south and the north. If, consciously or unconsciously, we compare the prices of Shanxi with the income of Shanghai, the income of the 20s with the income of the 40s, and the purchase price of grain and rice in the harvest season in the countryside with the income of workers in big cities (see "Collecting Three or Five Buckets Overcharge"), we are likely to come up with a bunch of very absurd results -- and this is also a technique commonly used by contemporary "historical inventors".

For example, a few years ago, the purchase price of cabbage in the countryside of Henan once fell to a dime a catty, making farmers lose money and cry without tears. But who of us has ever bought a dime and a pound of cabbage in the city? The shipping cost alone is several times the purchase cost!

In the same way, if people were allowed to live in Xining, Qinghai with their income from Shanghai, they would definitely be very wealthy, but the problem is that it is simply not possible.

Back to the topic, when Chairman Mao entered Peking University as a librarian, the Republic of China had only been established for six or seven years, and it had not yet entered the darkest era, and the currency value of the ocean was still quite strong. According to the data provided by the "Economic History of the Republic of China", in the Beijing consumer market in 1919, a piece of ocean should be able to buy 20 catties of rice and 8 catties of pork, and the purchasing power is equivalent to 40 yuan at most.

The monthly salary of Mao Librarian 8 yuan can only be equivalent to 320 yuan today, which is not enough for the subsistence standard of many contemporary cities. …,

What's even worse is that the capital Beijing is also the second most expensive place in the country after Shanghai, and Administrator Mao's monthly salary of eight silver dollars is already considered a high salary in his hometown in Hunan, but in Beijing it is really not spent - although these eight silver dollars can buy 160 catties of rice, in addition to eating, he also has to eat vegetables, buy clothes, pay utility bills, buy briquettes for cooking, buy newspapers, matches, cigarettes, and especially pay rent......

Today's "Beipiao family" must have a deep understanding of the high rent in Beijing. And Chairman Mao's rent level in Beijing back then, although it was not as exaggerated as it is now, it was also not cheap.

-- At 320 yuan now, you should be able to buy 160 catties of rice in many places, but who can live with an income of 320 yuan? If you don't believe me, let you go to Beijing and take 320 yuan to recruit a librarian to try? I'm afraid I won't be able to hire even part-time people!

However, Professor Hu's monthly salary of 240 yuan can be converted to 9,600 yuan today, which is fully enough for the standard of a modern university. If you put it in the era of the Republic of China, which was full of flames and starvation, it would already be classified as a rich man!

Obviously, letting the working people take a salary of 3,000 yuan to see the professors' monthly income of 96,000 yuan, and to take a salary of 300 yuan to see the professors' monthly income of 9,600 yuan, will definitely lead to two completely different moods -- the former is just ordinary envy, while the latter is so hateful that his eyes are red.

-- The rich have a lot of land, which is never a reason for revolution; The poor have no place to stand, which is the cause of rebellion!

In short, during the Republican period, university professors were a very decent profession. And the twenties and thirties of the last century were also the golden age of intellectuals, and the salaries of university professors were much higher than the average salary of society, and they lived a very superior material life. With such a high salary, university professors and lecturers in Beijing naturally have a lot of money to visit the glaze factory, buy books and newspapers, buy antiques, calligraphy and paintings, and their lives are full of petty bourgeoisie.

The warlords of the Beiyang government, although they looked quite rude and reckless on the outside, always fought and killed each other, but they were very polite to the intellectuals. Even if they are financially stretched, they have never owed these experts and scholars their salaries. Even if Lu Xun is a thorn like Lu Xun, who always likes to quarrel with the ruling authorities, the education department has never deducted his high salary of 300 silver yuan per month.

And these professors usually have very secure positions, neither like businessmen who can go bankrupt because of failed investments, nor like officials who can be dismissed without cause at any time because of regime change, and they also live in big cities with relatively good security, unlike rural landlords who have to worry about peasant rent resistance, bandit robbery, and warlord extortion. Therefore, their happy life often makes future generations sigh.

Looking back at contemporary times, in today's first-tier coastal cities in China, the monthly salary of university lecturers is usually around 6,000 yuan, associate professors 8,000 yuan, and professors 10,000 yuan. The salary of the doorman and handyman is at least about 2,000 yuan. The difference between the two is only 3~5 times.

The vast number of working people take it for granted that the income gap has been greatly narrowed in this way, and even think that the income of these professors is high enough, not to mention that in the establishment of educational institutions, it is very likely that there are generous benefits that ordinary people cannot enjoy, such as sharing houses.

If the income of university janitors and handymen is compressed to the standard of the Republic of China, that is, the original 10%, the monthly salary is only about 200 yuan, and the price index remains unchanged, there is no welfare at all, and in addition, salaries are often in arrears...... I think they should be able to fully understand the mood of Chairman Mao when he was working in the library of Peking University-"...... My interest in politics continued to grow, and my ideas became more and more radical...... When I was working as a library assistant at National Peking University under Li Dazhao, I quickly developed in the direction of Marxism. (Excerpt from Snow's "A Journey to the West") ...,

Therefore, even if the toiling masses are a little dissatisfied with today's society, they will never miss the Republic of China era with a monthly salary of 320 yuan.

However, many of today's "brick family beasts" look back on history, but they feel that their hearts are very unbalanced - in their opinion, the times are advancing, knowledge should be more respected, and the salaries of intellectuals should also keep pace with the times, and the gap with the foolish people is right!

Even according to the "backward standards" of the Republic of China era, they should at least take 30 to 50 times of 2,000 yuan, that is, a monthly salary of 60,000 to 100,000 yuan to be reasonable! But now the government is willing to give 1/10 of the standard of the Republic of China!! What a disrespect for intellectuals!!

-- A university professor during the Republic of China could easily buy a courtyard house in Beijing. And modern university professors, if they want to get a 100-square-meter three-bedroom apartment in Beijing, they have to buy almost the boundary of Tongzhou!

For these people, the treatment provided to them by contemporary society is far less than the high standard during the Republic of China, so they naturally have to complain and miss that "beautiful haode era" infinitely. And they are all high-level intellectuals, and they are also the kind of people who are best at playing with the pen, so they naturally have the ability to "invent" countless "new thinking" and "new discoveries" that describe the beauty of the Republic of China era.

-- As we learn in political textbooks, all problems are fundamentally economic!