Chapter 263: Marriage (Part 4)
"I have never been against individuals owning cultivated land. What do I disagree with? Fellow villagers, what do you think I disagree with? What I disagree with is taking the crops grown by farmers into their pockets by occupying the land! What do you call this? It's called killing the poor before getting rich! I will never let this go on..."
Huo Chong had not originally considered making such an impassioned speech, but when it came to presenting facts and reasoning to this point, Huo Chong naturally spoke to this level.
The emotions of the farmers were obviously aroused, but the farmers did not dare to shout that sentence. In the end, Huo Chong could only raise his arms and shout: "Down with the landlords!"
A group of people from the Han regime followed suit and shouted, "Down with the landlords and rich people!"
"Down with the Manchu gentry!" Huo Chong had no choice but to shout out the slogan of a thorough revolution.
In the end, the mood improved, but not to the level Huo Chong expected.
When the farmers' meeting was over, Mr. Ding immediately stood up and approached Huo Chong. The guards immediately stopped him. Mr. Ding's face turned pale, but he said firmly, "Brother Huo, let me talk to you."
"Okay." Huo Chong really wanted to see what Mr. Ding, the representative of the landlords and gentry, wanted to say, so he agreed.
Along with Mr. Ding came three pale-faced, trembling landlords. The four sat down opposite Huo Chong, and Mr. Ding spoke first, "Brother Huo, I admire you. I just didn't expect that Brother Huo didn't want to be a landlord."
Huo Chong nodded, "That's right."
"Brother Huo, I have seen these days that the Han government is indeed powerful. But I can't figure it out. Your people are just so-so. Apart from being able to fight, they are not very smart. Most of the time they are stupid. Why are your people so capable? Brother Huo, please give me some advice ."
Mr. Ding's words made the guards frown. Huo Chong knew that people could not accept the evaluation of "stupid". But Huo Chong was not angry. After all, Mr. Ding was really willing to say such words. Since he was so sincere, there was nothing to say. Huo Chong explained: "Because my people are involved in the management. If you don't manage it, it will not work..."
Mr. Ding had been an official, and when he heard Huo Chong's words were sincere, he immediately asked, "What is management?"
"For example, the water pumps you see, we can build water pumps and use them where people need them, so that they can pump water for people when they need it for farming. The same land, the same farmers, the same farm tools and livestock. With the same farming effort, I can grow more food than before. This is called management."
After saying that, Huo Chong observed Mr. Ding. It was obvious that Mr. Ding was initially trying to argue with Huo Chong. When Huo Chong briefly explained what management was, Mr. Ding was already thinking about it with a confused look on his face, and he didn't say a word.
Huo Chong did not expect that Mr. Ding was actually able to think about this question, and he found it interesting. However, Huo Chong was ready to quickly revise his speech and handouts. He had many insights from the Farmers' Association meeting this time, and he had to write them down immediately. Otherwise, he would forget them.
In the end, Huo Chong still did not drive away the gentry in front of him, but lowered his head and began to write. The biggest feeling of this meeting was that Huo Chong still did not raise a clear banner. The reason for not making such an idea at first was that he was worried that the banner of anti-exploitation would be used by others.
But now there is no room for hiding. Even if the peasants understand that they have been cruelly exploited, they just burst into tears instead of jumping up and attacking the enemy. From a psychological point of view, the peasants either don't know who the enemy is, or even if they know, they still have a sense of awe towards the enemy.
To break out of this cage of self, you need to knock down all enemies with a fearless spirit, and then step on them ten thousand times, so that the exploitation system will be completely destroyed. This requires great wisdom and courage. Ordinary people probably won't be able to achieve such ability and realm in their lifetime.
Therefore, there must be a core concept, and this concept must be presented in the most vivid terms and in a description that will never be misunderstood. Huo Chong really couldn't find such a description before.
However, after attending this meeting, Huo Chong felt that he had found the problem. The current problem boiled down to "overthrowing the three mountains."
Huo Chong wrote down the contents of overthrowing the three mountains on the paper : opposing feudalism, opposing oppression, and opposing bureaucratic capitalism.
Then he began to revise the speech and handouts based on this core point. He was writing with great enthusiasm when he heard Mr. Ding cough and asked tentatively, "Brother Huo, may I bother you for a moment?"
Huo Chong finished writing the sentence and put down his pen. He looked up and saw that Mr. Ding's face was full of hesitation and vague pain, which was the reaction of thinking with his brain. How pitiful.
Mr. Ding asked in despair: "Brother Huo, I wonder how despicable the gentry are in your eyes that makes you look down on them so much."
"I think the gentry are loyal to the Qing Dynasty. Or maybe Brother Ding thinks the gentry are not loyal to the Qing Dynasty? Could you please give me an explanation, Brother Ding?"
Mr. Ding's face was full of embarrassment. After a while of painful consideration, he sighed and said, "Forget it. If you say you are not loyal to the court, then that is disloyalty and unfilial. Let's just be loyal to the Qing court."
Huo Chong gave Ding Juren a higher evaluation. "Since they were loyal to the Qing Dynasty, the gentry did not help the Qing Dynasty at all. The Qing Dynasty annihilated more than 100,000 troops, and Emperor Yongzheng was killed. There were also many gentry who secretly colluded with the Qing Dynasty, but after the Qing Dynasty was defeated, they fled and were robbed and killed by the Qing Dynasty. With such a good example in front of me, how dare I rely on the gentry?"
Mr. Ding looked bleak, but he responded, "He is indeed disloyal and unfilial. But Brother Huo, the gentry can at least stabilize the local area. Could it be that Huo Chong is preparing to conquer the world and rule the world right away?"
"Good question!" Huo Chong praised sincerely. Mr. Ding had really been an official, and the questions he asked were much better than those who only knew how to read.
"I have also been a wealthy man, and I know very well the current taxation. If the gentry do not resist taxes and do not coerce the people to evade taxes, they will go bankrupt in a few years. Let's assume that the gentry collect 50% of the land rent. No gentry will pay 20% to the government. Let's assume that the gentry pays 20%. But I collect taxes directly through the village farmers' association, which is 30%. Not to mention that we will work hard to make the farmers produce twice as much grain. Three times two is six. One side is two, and the other side is six. Which one do you think should be chosen, Brother Ding!"
Mr. Ding did some calculations and immediately understood what the so-called "six" meant. He replied, "This is still the way to rule the world immediately."
"Maybe a little bit. But Brother Ding, have you ever thought about this? Even if I take out 30% to support the officials, I will have to have as many people working for me. As long as I have the ability to run a business, using gentry to govern the country will only lead to big losses. What do you think, Brother Ding?"
Mr. Ding fell into painful thinking again. Huo Chong looked at the three gentry behind Mr. Ding and found that their expressions did not change much. He didn't know whether they didn't hear him or simply didn't understand.
Although somewhat disappointed, Huo Chong still picked up his pen and continued to revise his text. This conversation was also a boost for Huo Chong. Since the logic was correct, all that was left was to do it to the end. As for whether he could live to see the success of this revolution, Huo Chong didn't care. This matter really depended on luck.
After revising a few paragraphs, Mr. Ding said, "I am very dissatisfied with what Brother Huo said."
"Yeah. I understand." Huo Chong raised his head to show his agreement.
"I didn't come here to seek advice from Brother Huo. I came here to propose a marriage." Mr. Ding said dejectedly.
After saying that, he turned around and pointed at the person behind him, "This is Brother Luo. His daughter is still unmarried. I wanted to propose a marriage to Brother Huo. But after hearing what you said, I no longer have the heart to do it."
"It's okay. Would you like to meet?" Huo Chong asked.
"Well... since Brother Huo said so, I will go with you. I wonder when you are free?"
Seeing that Mr. Ding was still stubborn, Huo Chong said with a smile, "It's better to do it today than to choose a day. Since it's mentioned today, let's go today. Let's meet and have a meal. If you think it's okay, then it's okay. If not, forget it."
After hearing what Huo Chong said, the forty-something-year-old Brother Luo's eyes lit up immediately and he became more energetic.
Huo Chong finally understood why Brother Luo and the others, who were also gentry here, seemed to be indifferent to such a fierce and profound debate. It turned out that what they were seeking was not the future of the gentry, but their own personal interests.
The good mood brought by the argument with Mr. Ding disappeared without a trace, and Huo Chong almost didn't want to go. However, thinking again, Mr. Ding had been an official and had seen the world. Since he dared to talk about the girl's appearance, he must be able to show it off.
Feng Yukuan's words from a few days ago were recalled, "Brother Huo, you have never been married, so you always think about how it will be after you get married. Once you are really married, you will know that it is completely different from what you thought. Stop imagining and get one back quickly. You think about it for half a month or a month. If you think about it again, it will be half a year or a year. Don't think about it. At this age, you really can't delay it any longer."
Huo Chong stood up and said to Mr. Ding, "Why don't you introduce these three to me?"
That night, Huo Chong met Brother Luo's daughter at his home, who was half a year younger than him. At first sight, Huo Chong felt that his trip was not in vain. Although the girls were all beauties under the lights, with the blessing of the lights, Huo Chong was really moved by the girls' beauty.
I even recalled the joke in my mind. A buddy accompanied someone else to a blind date. After seeing the girl, he couldn't help but walk up to her and said, "When I see your eyes, I feel like I want to melt in your gaze. When I see your smile, I even think of a name for our child."
Even though it was such a bad joke, Huo Chong actually felt that it was somewhat in line with the current situation. If he only looked at her appearance, Huo Chong thought that the girl was probably acceptable. He just said a few words to the girl and heard her speaking authentic Shandong dialect. Before he could be moved, a guard ran in from outside and whispered in Huo Chong's ear: "Governor, there is news from Jinan that the Qing army who wanted to dig the river have been caught."
Huo Chong suddenly felt relieved for some reason. He stood up, apologized to everyone, and left. Mr. Ding came out, and Huo Chong said to him, "The girl is good. If there is nothing else, we can go through the process of getting married."
"Process?" Mr. Ding was very confused by this new word.
Huo Chong was too lazy to explain, "I will send someone to take care of the wedding." After that, he followed the guards to the government office. It was really unexpected that the Qing army would dig a river to flood the city.
