Forty-eight years of Qianlong

Chapter 675

On the tenth day of the seventh month of the lunar calendar, Chuiliu Village, Qingshan Township, Ninghai Prefecture, at dusk.

Because the first meeting of the village farmers' association will be held tonight, many families have eaten dinner early.The air filled with smoke from the kitchen was filled with a fresh atmosphere that was different from the past, and there was also a trace of tension.When the people who had eaten early had nothing to do, they greeted each other with a smile when they went out and said, "Are you done? It's getting dark and the farmers' meeting will be held!"

Everyone went to the threshing ground at the entrance of the village, it was empty and there was no one there.At this time, two people with the right job came, carrying a dilapidated Eight Immortals table, and placed it on the empty field.Someone asked, "When is the meeting?"

The two put down the table and said with a smile: "Don't worry, it's not dark yet. Look, someone just came back from the field, and they have to wait for them to eat their food, right?"

People really had nowhere to go, so groups of three or five gathered on the threshing floor to smoke and chat, with children from each family chattering around; He slapped his butt with a big slap.

Zhang Shirong, who had eaten, came out of the house, and happened to run into Gu Laowu, the boss who used to be a part-time worker. The other party seemed to be looking for him specially, and when he saw him coming out, he immediately came over and asked: "Shirong, do you have a share in today's blackhead meeting?" ?”

"Uncle Wu, you will really make me happy, but you don't know if you have a share? Didn't you grow the ten acres of land in your family? Anyone who directly farms the land has a share!"

The passers-by laughed when they heard it, and they couldn't figure out whether this Gu Lao Wu would be around or not.

It was getting dark, and the threshing ground that was requisitioned by the work team for the meeting was already full of people.Because of the hot weather, many people sit on the floor without any pads under their buttocks.Although the Beihai Navy's announcement said that only direct agricultural operators could join, in fact, many long-term workers came, and several gentry and landlords also sent housekeepers.

A blackboard was hung on a wooden shelf at one end of the threshing floor. On the surrounding ground, villagers were sitting in groups, only to hear a buzzing sound.The moon hangs in the western sky like a half egg shell, and the stars are also very bright. The wormwood and mugwort leaves that were burned to drive away mosquitoes are curled up by the thick smoke blown by the breeze, and many people are choking and coughing uncontrollably.

Except for those who presided over the meeting and tinkered with the emergency lights, the members of the work team stood guard on the outside.However, these people did not wear camouflage green military uniforms, but wore the same denim jackets and trousers as ordinary people. They looked old and not old, and many places were still patched.If I really want to say what is the difference between them and the villagers of Chuiliu Village, one is that they all have inch cuts instead of pigtails on their heads; and the other is the shoes on their feet.

With a "swish", the two emergency lights in the corner of the threshing floor turned on, and the noise became louder, and many people leaned over to take a look.Although some people have seen this thing a few times, every time they use it, they will always cause a fuss, just like the stars in the sky falling into the world.

"It's so bright, it's like broad daylight!"

"Liu Liu, you said this cover is made of crystal glass? Why is it so transparent?"

"Oh! Why is this shell yellow? Only the emperor can use this color!"

"His third uncle, there are no such rules in Beihai Town!"

When it was time for the meeting, a strong man in his 20s turned over and climbed onto the dilapidated Eight Immortals table, put his hands together into a mouthpiece, and loudly announced the opening of the meeting.

"Fathers and elders! The mobilization meeting of the Chuiliu Village Farmers' Association is now starting. Captain Li will speak."

As soon as he finished speaking, he jumped off the table.Then, a square-faced man who was not tall and about thirty years old got up from the crowd and walked over.He was wearing a faded homespun short jacket, with a white short-sleeved jacket underneath, mille-soled cloth shoes on his feet, and a short cigarette pot with a copper mouth in his hand.

"Today, today's meeting is to talk about the farmers' association. Some people may ask, what is a farmers' association? Do you understand?"

A person below said loudly: "I don't understand, isn't it just taking out the land of the rich man's family and distributing it to the farmers, so that the farmers can have land to plant and the poor can have enough food."

"Meng Yuzi, don't talk nonsense!"

"I'm not talking nonsense, isn't that what the previous notice said!"

"Crap! Can you read?!"

Captain Li smiled and did not interrupt their words. He looked at the villagers below from near to far; some looked at him with a smile, some looked full of hope, and some looked timidly.On the outskirts of the crowd farthest from him, Widow Dong of this village stood alone in the half-light with two naked children. fly.

"We are holding a farmers' association this time. Why do we want to organize a farmers' association? In a word, let the tillers have their land! That is to say, let those who want to farm have land, and those who don't work don't have land..."

"What's the benefit of joining? You're asking! There are many benefits. Let me tell you, I'll figure it out."

"Someone asked the farmer's association who has the final say? Of course everyone has the final say! The work team is for Yee to support and call the shots!"

"What if the landlord doesn't sell the land? That's a good question! Hehe, I haven't been in Chuiliu Village for a day or two. Take the Bai family as an example. The work team knows exactly how much land his family has, and the land account clearly remembers it. in vain!"

Although Li Erkui may be the work captain of Chuiliu Village, eight years ago he was still a poor farmer who could not read.A severe drought in Henan put his family of four into despair, and they had to leave their hometown to flee famine to beg for food. Later, Xu Dayong bought it outside Kaifeng City for [-] yuan.He originally thought that his family would serve as slaves, but he changed his way of life when he arrived in Beihai Town.

Although he had served as a soldier in the Beihai Navy for a few years and even became a platoon leader, there were no refined words in his words, and he couldn't even utter them.In order to hold this mobilization meeting well, Li Erkui spent two days collecting the questions that the villagers were most concerned about, and racked his brains to condense the answers into a short sentence or two, so that everyone present could listen with gusto. There were bursts of laughter, they liked this kind of nonsensical words the most.

Although these farmers are illiterate, they like to be affirmed. They have their own accounts of farming, harvest, burden, rations, etc., and they are very good at calculating, and they know everything about what is appropriate.

When the villagers at the scene learned that as long as they become members of the peasant association and go to the credit department in the township with their membership card to borrow money, they will only charge [-]% interest for three months.After they closed their mouths, they began to discuss in a hurry.
During the meeting on the threshing floor, in a large courtyard with green bricks and black tiles at the east end of the village, Bai Guangde, the head of the Bai family, sat on the kang and sighed, while the main house, Bai Yushi, who sat beside him, sobbed softly from time to time. Wipe away tears with a handkerchief.

"Cry, cry, you're dying! I'm not dead yet. Cry when I'm dead!"

"The land is almost gone! There is still the dowry of [-] acres of land I brought with me! How will I live in the future!"

Bai Guangde slapped the table and cursed: "What's going on? You're starving to death!"

The woman's cry became softer, but she was still sobbing. The eldest son Bai Yingzhong who was standing beside him said angrily, "Our family has been in the family for three generations, and we finally worked hard to earn five hundred acres of land. He did not steal or rob. Why does the prince want to take half of it? There is also the Laoshizi Peasant Association, because our family has rented out all the land, and we are not allowed to join! Why?! And the rent, why should it be lowered! I have to find someone After asking, even when his Zhu family was the emperor, [-]% of the rent was the minimum!"

"The morals of the world are all broken! It's so bad!" Bai Guangde looked heartbroken, turned to the north direction and cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty! Take a look at this world!"

After sighing, he knocked a little red fire from the smoke pot on the edge of the kang, and then filled another bag of cigarettes under Bai Yingzhong's service, and when the smoke was lit, he puffed vigorously for a while, and then said: "No, I have to go to Liu Xiucai to ask tomorrow, they are too bullying!"

"Father, Mr. Liu went to Beihai Town to take the imperial examination and hasn't come back yet."

"Oh! Why did I forget about this! Then you go and ask Zhongquan to put the mule cart on the rooster crows tomorrow morning, and the two of us will go to Shangzhuang and ask your uncle for advice." Bai Guangde finished his orders, as if As if remembering something, he asked, "Did Zhongquan go to the Rao Shizi meeting?"

"No. He's still chopping hay in the yard." After Bai Yingzhong finished speaking, he added: "Father, don't worry. He Zhang Zhongquan is a guy who can't kick a fart with three feet. Besides, our family didn't treat him badly."

"Hey! There are not many honest people left! Don't let Zhongquan follow those people to learn how to be bad."

The Bai family father and son didn't know that Zhang Zhongquan also wanted to go to the meeting at first, but after chatting with his brother Zhang Zhongshou in the afternoon, he gave up this idea again.At this time, while feeding the animals, he was thinking about what his elder brother said in the afternoon.

"I told you, it's always good to be less prominent, and you have to leave a way out in everything. Being poor is a bit poorer, it's all predestined in your previous life. If you join the club, if the court calls back, it will be chaos The party, everyone has to kill everyone! Back then when there was a religious riot in Linqing, I saw it with my own eyes. I dragged it directly outside the city gate, and it was a knife. The master is right, the real dragon emperor is in Beijing, as long as the emperor does not fall, we Don't make trouble."

The mobilization meeting in Chuiliu Village lasted for more than an hour. According to the last statistics, more than [-]% of the farmers are willing to join the farmers' association, and [-]% of them are on the sidelines. Li Erkui is very satisfied with this result.

After the meeting, he convened a meeting of the work team and decided to strike while the iron was hot. Tomorrow, he would go to the [-]% of the households separately, ask them what they were confused about, and try to get all the poor and middle peasants in Chuiliu Village to join the peasant association.As for himself, tomorrow he is going to "call on" Bai Guangde, the biggest landlord in the village, and talk about land requisition for a fee.

Unexpectedly, he went to Bai's house the next morning and found out that Bai Guangde took his son out early in the morning, and the housekeeper couldn't tell when he would come back.Although the teacher was unfavorable, Li Erkui did not feel discouraged. He said that if he could escape, the monk could not escape the temple. As long as the peasant association was established, the land would have to be sold if not sold!

On the other side, Bai Guangde and his son set off on the road in a mule cart at dawn, and it was already afternoon when they arrived at Shangzhuang Village.

Shangzhuang Village is located in the east of Muping City. Since the Ming Dynasty, it has been the largest village in Ninghai Prefecture, and more than [-]% of its families have the surname Yu.In the Ming and Qing dynasties, the Yu family of Shangzhuang had hundreds of people who passed the examinations as Jinshi, Juren, and Shengyuan. They were well-established and well-known families; the most famous of them was Yu Qishan's family who produced a family of four Jinshi.

The Yu Family Courtyard is an old house with a history of more than 300 years. It has three front and back entrances, and there are east and west cross yards, all of which are built with large and thick green bricks.Although it has been exposed to wind, rain and sun for hundreds of years, the masonry is still strong because of careful maintenance.The courtyard is full of blue bricks, with tile-roofed houses, halls, and wooden buildings.The wall is very thick, with patches of blue moss growing on it.An old vine climbed on the quince tree, its leaves were thick and dense, and it grew very lushly, covering half of the yard in a dark and cool place, but the quince tree was entangled and half dead.

Although the Bai family is a big landlord in Chuiliu Village, they are completely incomparable with the Yu family. The father and son waited for a meal before they heard a cough from behind the screen, knowing that the master Yu had come out.

Yu Qishan is in his fifties this year. His hair and beard are half white. Although he is very thin, his eyes are very energetic.After this person won the Juren 15 years ago, he served as an aide to Yu Yijian, the governor of Shandong Province.Unexpectedly, when the "Cathay Pacific Corruption Case" happened in Qianlong's 47th year, Yu Yijian also ended up with him.

When he learned of the intention of Bai Guangde and his son's visit, Yu Qishan, who was also frustrated by the work team, complained endlessly, and even asked the housekeeper to show them a pair of couplets he wrote yesterday.

The clan of Yu surnamed in Shangzhuang Village is very powerful. Due to the many mountains and little land, coupled with land annexation, almost [-]% of the villagers are tenants, and their lives are very poor.The problem is that Yu Qishan is the head of the clan and can use the patriarchal system to punish the clansmen, so although he is full of hope for the peasant association, no one dares to be the leader.

The working team stationed in the village was well aware of this situation. In order to break the deadlock and put pressure on Yu Qishan, they applied for equipment from the Ninghai Prefecture Military Management Committee, and then set up two high-pitched loudspeakers in the village, three times in the morning, middle and evening. During the time period, either publicize the benefits of the peasant association, or publicize the policy of reducing rent and interest and the punishment regulations, which is very troublesome.

After four or five days of continuous broadcasting, the poor households finally understood that everything was backed by the military control committee and Prince Zhao, and gradually became more courageous. After the mobilization meeting was held, half of the households in Shangzhuang Village joined the peasant association.This drove Yu Juren crazy. You must know that his family has more than 2000 mu of land, and this will be collected. In the future, no one in the village will listen to him.

The butler came back soon, and Bai Yingzhong took it over and opened it to take a look. The first couplet was "The Peasant Movement is in full swing, the rice beams, wheat, and millet, and a bunch of bastards bow their heads"; Chickens, dogs, hogs, eyes full of beasts"; Hengbiao is "bin sharp card puppets".

Bai Guangde has only studied in a private school for a few years, and has little knowledge, but his son Bai Yingzhong is a student, although it is a donation, but he still has some ink.After seeing the couplet, he repeatedly exclaimed, and admired Juren's literary talent.

Bai Guangde pointed at the horizontal critic in a daze: "Brother, forgive me for my lack of knowledge, what do you mean?"

Yu Juxin said that you are ashamed to say that you are "short of talent and learning", and a fool is almost the same.If your father hadn't been a juren, he would never have given you his concubine's daughter.He immediately looked at his nephew, smiled and said, "Ying Zhong, can you explain to your father?"

Bai Yingzhong knew that his uncle was testing him, so he said to his father with joy on his face: "Father, please look, the combination of the first two characters of this couplet by uncle is the word 'peasant association', the upper and lower lines mean that the peasant association is a bastard. ,brute."

Bai Guangde suddenly realized, he stretched out his thumb and said, "Good scolding!"

"As for the horizontal batch, it's even more wonderful. You see, the four characters 'Bin Jian Ka Gui' can be divided into 'civil and military, small and big, upper and lower, and human and ghost'. My uncle reprimanded the peasant association for being uncivilized and unarmed. Neither small nor big, neither high nor low, neither human nor ghost."

"Okay, okay!" Bai Guangde thought to himself, this couplet is really good, scholars even hide their curses, full of knowledge.But after the excitement, he still asked the question he cared about the most: "Brother, what do you think we should do next?"

"Hmph, they are destroying their foundation. The tail has been hidden for half a year, and finally it is exposed!" Yu Juren said angrily: "It has been said since ancient times that officials do not compete with the people for profit, and those who receive the big should not take the small. The principle of heaven, but also the way of the ancient times!"

Bai Guangde was confused when he heard it, and was about to turn his head to look at his son for an explanation, when his uncle continued: "Your father and son, rest assured. To tell you the truth, don't talk about Ninghai Prefecture now, Wendeng, Rongcheng, Haizhou The gentry in Yangyang and other places are filled with righteous indignation. If they do this, the gentry from all over the place will attack!"

"what do you mean?"

"Hmph, let them be arrogant for a few days, and we will see the outcome in ten days!"

(End of this chapter)