Chapter 194 Primary Liberation (I)
Dong Yang arrived at the tall gate again. There was a plaque hanging in front of the gate with four large characters on it: "Disaster Relief" and a signature below: Kangxi's 41st year.
Just seeing this gate made Dong Yang feel uneasy. Behind this gate was the most powerful gentry in the village, Master Gao, whose family had a county magistrate. It was also here that Dong Yang was beaten to the ground by Master Gao's lackeys.
Turning back, I saw comrades carrying rifles looking at the plaque, and some were even whispering the words and signature on it.
Without waiting for Dong Yang to speak, the platoon leader asked, "Is this the one?"
"Yes!" Dong Yang replied, and then felt a little uneasy.
"Knock on the door!" the platoon leader ordered.
Immediately, a soldier came forward and knocked on the door. Although it was broad daylight, the Gao family had kept the door closed. After knocking for a long time, no one answered. However, the villagers had seen quite a few people coming and came over to watch.
After knocking again, no one opened the door. Platoon leader Ding Yu knew that the people in the house must be afraid to come out, so he wanted to kick the door. However, the army had discipline after all, so he turned to the company instructor Xu Ling who followed him.
Xu Ling also wanted to kick the door, but as an instructor, he was responsible for ideological work. The Han regime had set up a political department to guide ideology and work style. The political department had conducted special training this time, hoping to help the soldiers solve problems without making the people feel that the Han regime was bullying them.
"Where is the Gao family's ancestral hall?" Xu Ling asked.
"Behind the house." Dong Yang replied immediately.
"Let's go to the Gao family's ancestral hall first." Xu Ling ordered loudly.
The Gao Family Ancestral Hall looked quite respectable from the outside , but it was actually made of brick walls. The door was half open, and Xu Ling made a gesture, and a soldier immediately rushed in, blocking the half-open door before the people inside could close it. The other soldiers pushed aside the people who were blocking them and entered the ancestral hall.
There was a middle-aged man and two young men inside. The middle-aged man asked angrily, "What are you doing?"
"Please bring a message for us and ask the man surnamed Gao to come and see us." Xu Ling replied.
Being able to build a decent ancestral hall means the strength of a family. Similarly, if the ancestral hall is destroyed, the family will immediately lose face in the local area. After Xu Ling finished speaking, the middle-aged man could only send the young people to the Gao family's house.
Not long after, the Gao family mansion, which had been dead silent, finally opened its door, and several people followed the young man who reported the news and rushed straight to the ancestral hall.
When the two sides met, Xu Ling stepped forward and said, "Hello."
The other party did not expect Xu Ling to be so polite. Perhaps Xu Ling's words were taught in the army. Although they were polite, they were not popular. The other party was stunned for a moment before answering, "Hello, brother. I don't know what to call you."
Both parties introduced themselves to each other and it turned out that the person who came from the Gao family was a member of their family, but not the head of the family.
Xu Ling called Dong Yang over, put his hand on Dong Yang's shoulder, and said to the Gao family members in front of him: "I'm here for his matter! Dong Yang, get it done."
Seeing the uneasy look on the face of the person he once couldn't afford to offend, Dong Yang stepped forward and shouted: "You took my sister away, let her go!"
After saying this, Dong Yang felt that his high spirits had dissipated a lot. He didn't dare to speak like this to the Gao family before. The reason why he joined Huo Chong was that he wanted to do more for the benevolent Mr. Huo in exchange for his help.
Now the help has indeed arrived, but Dong Yang finds that he still feels scared.
The Gao family members did not speak, but just looked at Dong Yang in silence. In their expressions, Dong Yang saw the familiar disdain. Then the Gao family members stopped looking at Dong Yang and said to Xu Ling: "Brother, go to the side and talk."
"No, no. We are here for Dong Yang, so let's just say it here."
It seems that the Gao family members often deal with the government. Their expressions are the same as when they are talking to the government, just like the attitude of a fox spirit facing a fox spirit. "I know you are Mr. Huo's people. I have heard that Mr. Huo is righteous. Even if our own people say something wrong, it will be true."
"I'm not a bandit. I'm here for my people."
"Hey, brother, why don't we say a few words ourselves?" The people from the Gao family completely wanted to throw Dong Yang aside.
Instructor Xu Ling was furious and shouted, "What do you mean? Do you think my people are bad? Do you think my people have become bad people after following me? I'll explain it to you clearly. Tell my people, don't tell me! Do you hear me?"
Seeing Xu Ling's anger, the Gao family had no choice but to face Dong Yang. Seeing Xu Ling completely on his side, Dong Yang immediately felt like he had a backer and gained courage. He shouted, "I want to take my sister away. Hand her over!"
Perhaps because they had never been told this in person by a poor country boy, the Gao family members looked humiliated. However, Dong Yang, an ordinary soldier, came with a platoon of soldiers. The Gao family members turned their heads away and glanced at the muskets carried by the soldiers.
Finally, he had to turn back and look at Dong Yang, "Is he giving her to you?"
"I'll take my sister away and I don't want to see you anymore." Dong Yang answered loudly.
The Gao family showed some surprise on their faces and asked again, "That's it?"
"What else do you want?" Dong Yang asked.
"If that's all, then that's fine. But what about the money your family owes me?"
Dong Yang was furious when he heard this! The Dong family owed the Gao family money and couldn't pay it back. The Gao family took Dong Yang's sister away. Dong Yang tried to stop them and was beaten. Later, he knelt at the door of the Gao family and begged them to release her, but was beaten again.
All the new and old hatreds were stirred up by the word "owe money". Dong Yang reached out to grab the gun and shoot the Gao family members in front of him. However, as soon as his hand touched the gun, a strong hand grabbed his arm and he was unable to make the next move to grab the gun.
Turning around, I saw instructor Xu Ling trying to stop them. Then I heard Xu Ling say, "There are so many of us at the door. Let's go to your doorstep and explain this matter. Don't make it seem like we're coming to your house to rob you. Let's go!"
After saying that, Xu Ling directed his men to rush to the entrance of Gao's house, completely ignoring the Gao family members who had already come out.
Arriving at the gate of Gao's house, Xu Ling immediately shouted to the people who had gathered around him, "We are Mr. Huo's men. We are here because of Dong Yang from our team!"
Although he knew that the people probably knew about Dong Yang's family, Xu Ling still told them about the Gao family's kidnapping. Hearing the sighs from the people, Xu Ling continued, "You owe money, but you don't owe people. The Gao family took someone from another family, they must have had this idea a long time ago! They have long wanted to kidnap someone from another family! I have also seen this happen, once they say it's all my family's, the woman is my family's. Everyone, we are not here to kidnap a man or a woman. If this family is married in a formal way, then it is their business! Now it's not like that, they are kidnapping people, it's wrong! Since this is wrong, Dong Yang has found us, we have to take care of it!"
The words were spoken frankly and the causes and consequences were explained clearly, so the people were obviously not as scared as before.
As a trained person, Xu Ling took the opportunity to tell the people the basic attitude of the Han government and what it would do at this stage.
If he suddenly rushed into the village and forced the people to come out to listen to the lecture with a gun, it would only scare the people. Now that he had a breakthrough point, Xu Ling took the opportunity to start propaganda.
I heard that in addition to short-term things like chivalry, the Han government also provided relatively long-term opportunities. You can rent land and farm it in the territory controlled by the Han government, and you can also work in workshops. The people in Qingzhou, which had not yet been brought under the jurisdiction of the Han government, were very surprised.
It was obvious that this was the first time they had heard of such a thing.
After Xu Ling finished talking about the preparations, no one from the Gao family came out. Xu Ling said loudly: "Everyone, we are not relying on numbers to rob. We are here to take people. Since everyone is here, we can take a look. This way, the Gao family will not say that we robbed them."
After that, Xu Ling ordered someone to knock on the door again. This time, the door opened soon, and the Gao family politely invited Xu Ling to come in and sit down. Xu Ling looked at Dong Yang and said, "Let's go together."
Dong Yang had been beaten by the Gao family several times, so he was still afraid, so he whispered, "Instructor, let them come out and talk. What if they want to harm you after they go in?"
"I'm not afraid, how about you?" Xu Ling asked.
Dong Yang was indeed a little scared, but seeing Xu Ling being so brave for Dong Yang's own business, Dong Yang felt that he couldn't be disloyal. He made up his mind and said loudly: "I'm not afraid either! I'll go with you."
Finally, Xu Ling, Dong Yang, and four other soldiers entered Gao's house. With the sound of the bolt, the door was closed.
The people outside had similar ideas to Dong Yang. The Gao family was a village gentry, and had been powerful figures for many years. In times of disaster, they even opened a porridge stall to provide relief. There were dozens of people in the family, and when six people went in, the people thought something was going to happen. Given the Gao family's usual viciousness, they would not suffer any loss.
Everyone was waiting for a fight to break out. After waiting for a long time, the door finally opened and Dong Yang was seen helping a ragged woman out of Gao's house. A moment later, Xu Ling and others followed.
Now the people were alarmed. Over the years, the Gao family did whatever they wanted, but they didn't expect that Dong Yang, a little brat, would come out when he went to ask for someone! It seems that Mr. Huo is much more powerful than the master of the Gao family!
There was admiration in everyone's eyes. These people wearing neat clothes and strange wide-brimmed hats were really amazing!
Dong Yang didn't notice the people outside at all. He helped his sister out and heard his sister ask, "Brother, I can't face anyone! I don't want to go home!"
Dong Yang felt distressed by his sister's reaction. He quickly said, "Sister, don't be afraid. Come with me. Mr. Huo has plenty of places for us to stay! We won't come back! No one will say anything to you!"
Dong Yang's sister felt relieved after hearing Dong Yang's confident words. She understood that she was finally freed from her captivity.
When he was supported by his brother, he touched the wounds on his body that had not yet healed. He was suddenly overwhelmed with grief and turned around to point at the tall gate of the Gao family and cried and cursed: "You all, the Gaos, are not human! You will all die a miserable death!"
