Chapter 673: Landlords are shocked when the Peasants Association first emerges
It is the tenth day of the seventh lunar month in Chuiliu Village, Qingshan Township, Ninghai Prefecture, at dusk.
Because the first meeting of the Village Peasants' Association will be held tonight, many families have eaten dinner early. The air filled with smoke is filled with a fresh atmosphere that is different from the past, and there is also a hint of tension. After eating early
The people who were eating had nothing to do. When they met each other when they went out, they all said hello with a smile: "Have you eaten? There is a farmers' meeting today after dark!"
Everyone walked to the threshing floor at the entrance of the village. It was empty and there was no one around. At this time, two people who were working together came and carried a dilapidated Eight Immortals table and placed it on the empty floor. Someone asked:
"When will the meeting be held?"
The two people put down the table and said with a smile: "Don't worry, it's not dark yet. Look, some people have just come back from the fields. They have to wait for them to eat, right?"
People really had nowhere to go, so they gathered on the threshing floor in groups of three or five, smoking and chatting. Children from various families were making noise around them. Some children were so naughty that they were caught and copied by adults.
Hit him with a big slap on his butt.
After having dinner, Zhang Shirong came out of the house and happened to meet his former part-time worker Gu Laowu. He seemed to be looking for him specially. When he saw him coming out, he immediately came over and asked: "Shirong, do you have our share in the black head meeting today?"
?”
"Fifth uncle, you really want to make me happy, but I don't know if you have a share in it? Isn't it true that the ten acres of land in the Ke family are cultivated by themselves? Everyone who directly cultivates the land has a share!"
People passing by laughed when they heard this. They couldn't tell whether this Gu Laowu was meeting or not. He was so breathtaking.
It was approaching dark, and the threshing floor that had been requisitioned by the work team for the meeting was already full of people inside and outside. Because of the hot weather, many people sat directly on the ground without anything under their buttocks. Although the previous notice from the North Navy stated that they were direct agricultural operators
Only then could we join, but in fact many long-term workers came, and several gentry landowners also sent housekeepers.
A blackboard was hung on a wooden frame at one end of the threshing floor. On the ground around it, villagers sat in groups, and only a humming sound could be heard. The moon hung like half an egg shell in the western sky, and the stars also
It was very bright, and the thick smoke blown by the breeze curled up from the mugwort leaves burned to drive away mosquitoes. Many people were choked and coughed.
Except for those who presided over the meeting and tinkered with the emergency lights, the members of the task force stood guard outside. However, these people did not wear camouflage green military uniforms, but wore the same coarse cotton jackets and trousers as ordinary people.
They are not old, but are still patched in many places. If I really want to say there are any differences between them and the villagers in Chuiliu Village, firstly, there are no pigtails on their heads, they all have short hair; and there are shoes on their feet.
With a "swish" sound, the two emergency lights located in the corner of the threshing floor turned on. The noise was even louder now, and many people came over to take a look. Although some people had seen this thing several times,
But every time I use it, it always causes a fuss, just like stars falling from the sky to the earth.
"It's so bright, just like broad daylight!"
"Lao Liu, do you think this cover is made of crystal glass? Why is it so translucent?"
"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 the time came for the meeting, a muscular man in his twenties climbed up on the shabby Eight Immortals table, put his hands together into a mouthpiece, and loudly announced that the meeting was about to begin.
"Dear fellow villagers! The mobilization meeting of the Chuiliu Village Peasants' Association will begin now. Captain Li is invited to speak."
As soon as he finished speaking, he jumped off the table. Then, a short, square-faced man in his thirties stood up from the crowd and walked over. He was wearing a faded homespun short coat, and underneath
He was wearing a white short-sleeved gown, wearing a pair of cloth shoes with thousand-layer soles on his feet, and in his hand was a short cigarette pot with a copper tip.
"Today, today's meeting is just to talk about the farmers' association. Some people may ask, what is a farmers' association? Do you understand?"
A person below said loudly: "What don't you understand? Isn't it just to take out the land from the rich man's family and distribute it to the farmers, so that the farmers can have land to grow, and the poor can have enough to eat."
"Meng Kanzi, don't talk nonsense!"
"I'm not talking nonsense. Isn't that what the notice said before?"
"That's nonsense! Do you know how to 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 had hope in their eyes, and some had timid eyes.
At the edge of the crowd farthest away from him, Widow Dong from the village stood alone in the half-darkness with two naked children. She was holding one by one hand. The child's face was covered with eye mucus and snot, and there were also a lot of them.
fly.
"We are holding a farmers' association this time. Why should we hold a farmers' meeting? In a word, there is land for the tiller! It means that those who want to farm will have land and it will not be a problem to feed their families. If they are lazy and lazy, they will starve to death.
Japanese."
"What are the benefits of joining? I asked you! There are many benefits. Let me tell you. So Suan..."
"Someone asked the farmers' association who has the final say? Of course everyone has the final say! The work team is the one who supports Xie and makes the decision!"
"What should the landlord do if he doesn't sell his land? That's a good question! Haha, I've been here in Chuiliu Village for more than a day or two. Take the Bai family as an example. The work team knows exactly how much land their family has. They clearly remember it on the land account.
in vain!"
Although Li Erkui may be the work captain of Chuiliu Village, he was still an illiterate poor farmer eight years ago. A severe drought in Henan Province plunged his family of four into despair, and they had no choice but to leave their hometown to beg for food. Later, they were captured by Xu outside Kaifeng City.
Dayong spent twelve ounces of money to buy it. He originally thought that his family would work as slaves, but when he arrived in Beihai Town, he actually changed his way of life.
Although he had been a soldier in the Bei Navy for several years and became a platoon leader, there were no refined words in his words, and it was really hard for him to say it. In order to hold this mobilization meeting, Li Erkui spent two days.
During the time, I collected the questions that the villagers were most concerned about, and racked their brains to condense the answers into a short sentence or two, which made everyone present listen with gusto, and bursts of laughter broke out from time to time. They liked this kind of absence the most.
It’s just nonsense.
Although these farmers are illiterate, they like to be recognized. They have their own accounts of land, harvests, burdens, rations, etc., they are very good at calculating, and they know everything about how to do things appropriately.
When the villagers present learned that as long as they became members of the farmers' association and went to the credit department in the village to borrow money with their membership cards, they would only be charged 2% interest for three months, they all opened their mouths in surprise, as if they had heard a strange story.
After they closed their mouths, they started talking in various directions...
While the meeting on the threshing floor was going on, 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. Sitting beside him, the principal Bai Yushi sobbed in a low voice.
Wiping tears with a handkerchief.
"Cry, cry, you are trying to die! I am not dead yet. Wait until you die before you cry!"
"The land is all gone! There is still the thirty acres of land I brought as dowry! How will we live in the future?"
Bai Guangde slapped the table and cursed: "How are you going to live? I'm so hungry that I won't die!"
The woman's cry was quieter, but she was still sobbing. Bai Yingzhong, the eldest son standing nearby, said angrily: "It took three generations of our family to work hard to earn 500 acres of land. If we don't steal or rob, he Zhao
Why should the prince take half of it? And the Laoshizi Farmers' Association, because our family has leased all the land, they won't let us join! Why?! And why should the tenant rent be reduced? I'm looking for someone to do it.
After asking, even if it is clear that when the Zhu family is emperor, 50% of the rent is the minimum!"
"The world is broken and people's hearts are broken! It's so bad!" Bai Guangde looked heartbroken, turned around and cupped his hands toward the north and said, "Your Majesty! Take a look at the world!"
After sighing, he knocked a little red fire from the cigarette pot on the edge of the kang, and then put another bag of cigarettes under Bai Yingzhong's service. When it was lit, he smoked vigorously for a long time, and then said:
"No, I have to go to Liu Xiucai's place tomorrow to ask. What they did is too bullying!"
"Dad, Mr. Liu went to Beihai Town to take the imperial examination and he hasn't come back yet."
"Ouch! Why did I forget about this! Then... you go ask Zhongquan to hitch the mule cart when the rooster crows tomorrow morning. We will go to the village and ask your uncle for an idea."
After Bai Guangde gave his instructions, he seemed to have remembered something and asked, "Zhongquan didn't go to the Laoshizi meeting, did he?"
"I didn't go. He's still cutting fodder in the yard." After Bai Yingzhong finished speaking, he added: "Dad, don't worry. He, Zhang Zhongquan, is a guy who can't be kicked. Besides, our family didn't treat him badly."
"Alas! There are not many honest people left! Don't let Zhongquan follow the bad example of those people."
The Bai family and his son didn't know that Zhang Zhongquan actually wanted to go to the meeting at first, but after chatting with his brother Zhang Zhongshou in the afternoon, he gave up the idea. At this time, while feeding the animals, he was thinking about what his elder brother said in the afternoon.
Those words.
"I told Xie that it is always better to be less prominent. You have to leave a way out for everything. Being poor is destined to be poorer in the previous life. If Xie joins the society, if the court fights back, it will be chaos.
Everyone in the party must be executed! When there was religious chaos in Linqing, I saw it with my own eyes. I dragged it directly outside the city gate and stabbed it with a click. The master is right, the real dragon emperor is in Beijing, as long as the emperor does not fall, we will
Don’t cause trouble.”
The mobilization meeting in Chuiliu Village lasted for more than an hour. At the last count, more than 70% of the farmers were willing to join the farmers' association, and 30% were in a wait-and-see state. This result already made Li Erkui very satisfied.
After the meeting, he convened a meeting with members of the work team and decided to strike while the iron was hot. Tomorrow he would go to the 30% of households to find out what their confusion was, and try to get all the poor and middle peasants in Chuiliu Village to join the farmers' association. As for himself, he would go to the farmers' association tomorrow.
Go to "visit" Bai Guangde, the largest landowner in the village, and talk about paid land resumption.
Unexpectedly, he went to Bai's house the next morning and asked, only to find out that Bai Guangde and his son had gone out early in the morning, and the housekeeper couldn't tell when he would come back. Although the start was not good, Li Erkui did not feel discouraged. He thought he could run away.
The monks cannot run away from the temple. As long as the farmers' association is established, the land will have to be sold even if it is 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. It has been the largest village in Ninghai Prefecture since the Ming Dynasty. More than 80% of its families have the surname Yu. In the Ming and Qing dynasties, the Yu family in Shangzhuang had hundreds of people who passed the imperial examinations, promoted people, and gave birth to members, making it a well-established family.
Prominent families; the most famous among them is Yu Qishan's family, who has 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 east and west spans. It is all built with large and thick blue bricks. Although it has been exposed to wind, rain and sun for hundreds of years, it has been carefully constructed
Although the bricks and stones are not well maintained, they are still strong. The courtyard is covered with green bricks, and there are tile-roofed houses, halls, and wooden buildings. The walls are very thick, and patches of green moldy moss grow on them. An old vine clings to the quince tree.
The leaves on the trees were dense and lush, covering half of the yard in shade and coolness. On the contrary, the quince tree was half-dead from being entangled.
Even though the Bai family was a big landowner in Chuiliu Village, they were completely incomparable to the Yu family. The father and son waited for a while before hearing a cough from behind the screen, knowing that Mr. Yu had come out.
Yu Qishan is in his fifties this year, with half-white hair and beard. Although he is very thin, his eyes are full of energy. After he was elected fifteen years ago, he worked as an aide to Yu Yijian, the governor of Shandong Province. Who knew
In the forty-seventh year of Qianlong's reign, the "Cathay Corruption Case" occurred, and Yu Yijian was also killed. It took a lot of effort for him to escape, and from then on he gave up on officialdom.
When he learned about the purpose of Bai Guangde and his son's visit, Yu Qishan, who was also angry at the work team, complained non-stop and even asked the housekeeper to show them a couplet he wrote yesterday.
The Yu clan in Shangzhuang Village has a huge power. Due to the mountains and the lack of land, and land annexation, almost 60% of the villagers are tenants and live in very poverty. The problem is that Yu Qishan is the clan leader and can use clan laws to punish the clan members.
Therefore, although they are full of hope for the Farmers' Association, no one dares to be the first to take the lead.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! The village working team 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 Control Commission, and then set up in the village
Two loudspeakers were set up, divided into three periods in the morning, afternoon and evening, either to publicize the benefits of farmers' associations or to publicize policies and punishment regulations on rent and interest reductions, which made everyone angry.
After four or five days of continuous broadcasting, the poor households finally understood that everything was backed by the Military Control Commission and Prince Zhao, and they gradually became more courageous. So when the mobilization meeting was held, half of the households in Shangzhuang Village joined the farmers' association.
This made Yu Juren crazy. You must know that his family has more than 2,000 acres of land. If this is taken away and divided, no one in the village will listen to him anymore.
The housekeeper came back soon. Bai Yingzhong took it and opened it. The first couplet read, "The agricultural movement is booming, rice, rice, millet, millet, wheat, millet, and hybrids all over the ground." The second couplet said, "The venue is vast, with horses, cattle, and sheep.
Roosters, dogs and pigs, the whole place is full of beasts when you look up"; the horizontal comment is "Binjian stuck puppet".
Bai Guangde only attended a private school for a few years and had little knowledge. However, his son Bai Yingzhong was a student member. Although he was donated, he still had some ink. After seeing the couplet, he exclaimed repeatedly and admired Juren's literary talent.
Bai Guangde pointed at Hengpi in confusion and said, "Brother, please forgive me for my lack of talent and lack of knowledge. What does this mean?"
You have the nerve to say that you are "scarce in talent and learning," and you are just like a idiot. If your father hadn't been a scholar, he would never have given you his concubine's daughter. He then looked at his nephew and said with a smile, "Ying Zhong
, can you explain it to your father?"
Bai Yingzhong knew that his uncle was testing him, so he said to his father with a happy face: "Father, please see, the first two characters of my uncle's couplet together are the word 'peasant association'. The upper and lower couplets mean that the peasant association is a bastard."
,brute."
Bai Guangde suddenly understood, stretched out his thumb and said: "Good scolding!"
"As for the horizontal batch, it is even more wonderful. You see, the four characters of 'Bin Jian Ka Puppet' can be broken down into 'civil and military, small and large, upper and lower, human and ghost'. My uncle is reprimanding the peasant association for being neither civil nor martial.
Neither small nor big, neither up nor down, neither human nor ghost."
"Okay, okay!" Bai Guangde thought to himself that this couplet is really good. Scholars even hide their curses, and they are full of knowledge. But after getting excited, he still asked the most concerned question: "Brother, what do you think we should do next?
what to do?"
"Humph, they are destroying their own foundation. The tail has been hidden for half a year, and it is finally exposed!" Yu Juren said angrily: "It has been said since ancient times that officials do not compete with the people for benefits, and those who receive the greater cannot take the lesser. This is
The principles of heaven are also the ancient ways!"
Bai Guangde was confused when he heard this. He was about to turn to his son to listen to the explanation when he heard his uncle continue: "You and your son, please relax. To tell you the truth, let alone Ninghai Prefecture, Wendeng, Rongcheng, Haizhou, etc."
The gentry in Yang and other places are filled with righteous indignation. If they do this, the gentry from all over the country will attack in groups!"
"what do you mean?"
"Hmph, let them be arrogant for a few days, and we will see the result in ten days!"