Chapter 314 Customs (V)
In the third year of Emperor Qianlong's reign, August 1732, Song Chenglian welcomed the latest fleet to arrive, which was loaded with goods, from food to daily necessities, so that the waterline of the ship was deep below the sea surface.
The cadres on the ship sent Song Chenglian a transfer order, asking him to return to Shandong to take the exam. Song Chenglian was both happy and uneasy. Huo Chong said that he wanted to improve the civil service system, and to improve the system, of course, he had to take exams. If he passed the exam, he could get the corresponding position. This was a good thing.
However, exams are always unsettling. I feel uncomfortable as soon as I see those questions.
The cadre who came to replace Song Chenglian was also from the Department of Commerce. He revealed some information, "Old Song, this exam mainly relies on the land nationalization policy. There are not so many knowledge points."
Song Chenglian felt relieved after hearing this. If it was just a test of basic political concepts, it would be just that. Means of production, surplus value. If you understand the class division, the questions would revolve around the means of exploitation.
Born as a small landlord, Song Chenglian was very familiar with these routines. When he was at home, he had to work every year, especially collecting rent. After joining Huo Chong, he participated in school, and political science was a very easy subject for Song Chenglian.
Feeling relieved, Song Chenglian couldn't help but complain, "Are we going back for just such a small matter?"
"Haha. Let's talk about it when we get back." The person who came to take over answered perfunctorily.
Seeing that this guy refused to communicate, Song Chenglian was very unhappy. But he frowned and came up with a plan, "Since I'm here, I might as well go and see the characteristics of Japan."
However, Song Chenglian tried many methods, from sashimi to geisha performances, but in the end he failed to get anything out.
Song Chenglian was a little annoyed, so he asked directly: "What's going on ? Are you unwilling to explain it to me? Have I committed a crime?"
Seeing Song Chenglian so unhappy, the one who came to take over sighed: "It's really not you who did anything wrong. The governor just wants to strengthen political education, that's it. If you have to say something, I really don't know what to say."
A dozen days later, Song Chenglian rushed back to Linzi. Along the way, many people were gathering in Linzi, and everyone was talking about the land reform. Everyone looked a little uneasy.
During the break, we asked what happened, but no one could explain it clearly. Or maybe they refused to say. Later, we heard that Song Chenglian had returned from Japan, and everyone was surprised to say a few words. It turned out that a lot of things happened during the land reform, especially bloody conflicts, which broke out between members of the original military families and the land reform work team.
There was bloodshed in previous land reforms, but it was the enemy's blood. I have never heard of such a conflict breaking out among my own people.
Song Chenglian had trouble sleeping. His family was originally a small landlord. The Chinese court first annihilated the Qing officials, and then began to punish the gentry.
Although these gentry were still resisting stubbornly, there were only so many of them, and the imperial court was determined to carry out the land reform to the end. The gentry could not hold out for long. Song Chenglian believed that after the gentry were finished, it would be the turn of the small and medium-sized landlords.
The reason for joining Huo Chong was, of course, because Song Chenglian hated the endless exploitation of the poor, including the clansmen in the same village, by his family. However, after joining Huo Chong and making some name for himself, Song Chenglian began to think about how to bring his family out of the countryside and into the city. He never wanted to stay in the countryside again!
When Song Chenglian heard that the family members of the imperial court personnel had a conflict with the working group, he thought of his father. Based on Song Chenglian's understanding of his father, his father dared to use Song Chenglian's status to fight against the people of the working group.
After thinking it over, Song Chenglian was still worried. He saw that he had two days left before the agreed time, so he simply did not go back directly. He told the people who came back with him, hired a mule and a horse, and went straight home.
I didn't take any breaks along the way, not even when it got dark. I gave people money to walk at night, and I walked until late at night, and finally I got home.
After knocking on the door for a long time, many dogs in the village started barking. This was considered a call to open the door. In the firelight, he saw that the person who opened the door was Song Chenglian's cousin. Song Chenglian's heart skipped a beat and he quickly asked, "Brother, where are my parents?"
"They have all gone into town," the cousin replied, yawning.
"Going into town to buy something?"
"No, the government sent someone to tell them that you want them all to move to the city. The house is ready. Your parents and your brothers have all gone to the city."
Hearing this, Song Chenglian felt his whole body go limp and he almost fell to the ground. There was nothing to do on the way, so he naturally started to think about things. The more he thought about it, the more he felt that his father was unreliable. With his usual methods, he wanted to skin the tenants and squeeze out every last bit of money. Moreover, when his father talked about those gentry, he was so envious that his saliva almost flowed out. Now that his father has become an official's family member, God knows how he will use this identity.
Now it's confirmed that Dad has gone to the city, that's great.
The cousin ushered Song Chenglian into the house and arranged for him to sleep. When he was sleeping soundly, someone shook him. Song Chenglian felt very unhappy and shouted in a bad mood: "Don't touch me."
I heard my cousin's voice next to my ear, "You asked me to call you."
Song Chenglian then remembered that he had said that. He got up despite his bad temper and went to wash his face with cold water. After washing his face, he was still unhappy and smoked another cigarette. But it still didn't work. In the end, Song Chenglian had to twist his thigh hard, and suddenly he felt energetic under the severe pain.
At this time, Song Chenglian remembered that he was too stupid. He had some medicine to clear his brain in his pocket. He took it out and applied a little . A refreshing and stimulating feeling went straight from his nose to his forehead. The cooling oil with mint and camphor instantly drove away the sleepiness and restored his spirit.
After using this excellent cooling oil sold in Japan to restore his spirit, Song Chenglian's mind became clearer. He first pulled his cousin aside to apologize, "Brother, don't be angry with me. I'm just irritated when I wake up, but I'm not angry with you."
"You've only slept for two hours and you've run such a long way. You must have worked hard." The cousin was very generous and said he didn't care.
Song Chenglian had been in Japan for some time and had a deeper understanding of human nature. His cousin said he was not angry, but Song Chenglian could not assume that his cousin was not angry. He quickly gave his cousin two packs of cigarettes and some money. Only then did his cousin show a sincere smile and call his wife to cook for Song Chenglian.
During this time, Song Chenglian hurriedly asked around and found out that his "immediate relatives" had been taken to the city, and that his family's land, house, and other belongings had to be taken away.
Land is state-owned, and houses are personal property and cannot be divided. At this point, my cousin asked tentatively, "The work team said that you signed a document?"
"Yes. Property resettlement documents." Song Chenglian replied.
"The work team said that the house couldn't be left empty. Someone had to live in it. So I moved in."
After hearing what his cousin said, Song Chenglian was completely relieved. Although he felt bad about the house, he knew before going to Japan that Huo Chong had ordered "urbanization and industrialization", at least he would be given a house in the city. Song Chenglian didn't like his family in the first place, so he just accepted it.
The cousin probably saw that Song Chenglian was not bothered about the house, so he asked about other things, "Brother, the government gave us the land certificate, but I still feel uneasy. Is it really not allowed to buy and sell this land?"
"Definitely not. Land is for farming. It's not suitable for growing crops, but trees and grass can be grown. The village working group should have talked about land protection."
"Yes. They said they were going to build a reservoir. They also said that when it rains, mud will wash into the reservoir, so they need to plant a lot of trees and grass around the reservoir to hold the soil. What's that called..."
"Slow down the siltation rate of the reservoir. After all, clean water is still needed for irrigation." Song Chenglian recited what was said during the training.
"Yes, yes, that's it." My cousin answered repeatedly. It seems that the working group has given a lecture.
However, after agreeing, my cousin sighed and said that if the land could not be bought and sold, there would be no benefit from dividing the land.
Song Chenglian felt unhappy after hearing this. Although he was very unhappy during the political class, he felt that he had understood a lot of things. If the land was bought and sold, what was the difference between him and the landlord?
Just when he was about to say something, he suddenly realized that he understood his cousin's thoughts. Song Chenglian said, "Brother, the court has its own rules. The working groups have their own bosses. I can't manage them. If I manage the working group, my boss will blame me. I will be in big trouble. I might even lose my job. I really can't help you."
The cousin immediately continued to test, "Brother, can't you just tell me in secret?"
Seeing that he had grasped the key, Song Chenglian immediately replied: "Brother, the people in charge of these working groups listen directly to the governor. Who do you think is more senior, me or the governor?"
When the cousin heard this, he couldn't help but grumble. But it was obvious that he could understand who was more reasonable. After grumbling for a while, the cousin mustered up the courage to ask, "Brother, is the governor you are talking about the emperor Huo Chong?"
Song Chenglian quickly emphasized, "Yes. It is the emperor who is in charge of the working group. I don't care about these things. I dare not care about them. If I do, I will die..."
After making sure that everything was alright at home, Song Chenglian waited for the groom to wake up, and then headed back after dinner. It was a hard journey, and he was half asleep and half awake on the horse, but he finally got back to Linzi on time.
There is nothing to worry about this time. I will have a good sleep first and then report.
The person in charge had a serious expression on his face. He found Song Chenglian's name on the list, and after he signed, he said, "Go to Conference Room No. 5."
Several military men with serious faces stood at the door of meeting room No. 5. The people who entered were somewhat familiar with each other. After Song Chenglian sat down, the person in charge said, "Let's talk in batches. You can talk first if you arrive first. We all come from landlord families, so we need to make it especially clear this time. Land reform has encountered some problems, and the landlords are one of them."
Song Chenglian glanced at the others and saw that everyone had a stern face and no smile on their face. He knew that things would never go in a happy direction. Sure enough, the official above continued to narrate, "We have all seen the White-Haired Girl, right? The play is about overthrowing the local tyrants and evil gentry. Why do the local tyrants and evil gentry do evil in the countryside and bully men and women? It's because they have connections. Those officials who are also landlords and gentry support them. If Yang Bailao doesn't pay back the money, his whole family will be arrested by the government. This is played in the play "Little Red Apricot", where the father is tortured to death and the daughter is sold. Either sold to the landlord as a maid, or sold to a brothel..."
Song Chenglian felt cold after hearing these words. Thinking back to the guy who went to Japan to replace him, he was very tight-lipped and actually had such a background.
But thinking back, I have never condoned my family members to do this. So who are these people so bold that they can be compared with "local tyrants and evil gentry" by the higher-ups?
After talking about these dangerous topics, the person in charge asked, "We don't have to hide it. We all come from landlord families. That's why we specially called you together for a meeting. I asked you questions, and you all answered. Why did we call you together for a meeting?"
After a long silence, someone finally timidly answered, "Because we are the landlords?"
The person in charge had a stern face and looked not just unhappy but very unhappy.
Song Chenglian's mind moved, and he said, "Because we are one of us."
The person sent by the higher-ups slammed the table and said, "Yes! Because we are one family, that's why we are called together for a meeting. If you didn't consider us one family, you wouldn't have made it so clear!"
All the cadres who came from landlord families breathed a sigh of relief. After a moment, someone asked, "What do you want us to do? Just tell us and we'll do it!"
The others immediately understood the point and followed suit, saying, "We will do whatever the court asks us to do."
Everyone expressed their opinions, and the man in charge at least regained his serious expression instead of his previous stern expression. He told the group of cadres from landlord families in the room what had happened.
It turned out that a group of early military dependents colluded with the early working group because of their relationship, and caused a lot of trouble when the land was divided in the village. They also used their "power" to bully the countryside and became the new local tyrants and evil gentry, like bullies.
After the new batch of work teams arrived at the local area, they directly clashed with the work teams. The young people in the work teams did not believe in evil, followed the rules, and exposed the evil deeds of these people. This directly led to the local people attacking the work teams, and in addition to bloody clashes, people were killed.
It's not even in one place. It is known that more than a dozen members of the working group died in several places.
Huo Chong found out about this and started to investigate. If some things hadn't been exposed, it would have been fine. But once they were exposed, they caused a stir.
Song Chenglian was a little trembling when he heard this. To kill the members of the working group, these people must be very brave to do such a thing.
It was horrifying just to hear it, and when he thought about it, Song Chenglian felt sweat on his back.
After so many years of fighting, not many Chinese soldiers died in battle. It is generally believed that the status of the working group members is higher than that of ordinary soldiers. Killing working group members is something that only enemies who are openly hostile to the Chinese court will do.
The Chinese imperial court will never show mercy to its enemies and will annihilate them without hesitation!
"...The governor said that this time, no one will be implicated. But this time, we can't just kill those bad guys and leave it at that. This time, we have to make it clear whether political work should be put first! Those who dare to do this have people behind them. These people have fought in wars and made contributions. Why did this happen? It shouldn't be that they deliberately wanted to kill the comrades of the working group. It's that everyone doesn't think that politics should be put first. As long as politics is not put first, when there is a conflict between the fundamental policy of land reform and their relatives and friends, as long as they feel that their face is lost, they think that the basic policy of land reform can be changed, and they themselves cannot bear the humiliation! What do you think?"
Song Chenglian nodded after listening to this, thinking back to what his cousin had said just two days ago, it was indeed true.
But my cousin is a farmer and he wants to get more land and make some money by buying and selling land. That’s his idea.
Song Chenglian is the person in charge. If Song Chenglian does not support the nationalization of land and does something behind the scenes, then that is "not talking about politics".
After thinking this through, Song Chenglian became even more afraid. Song Chenglian had listened to Huo Chong's lectures and knew that Huo Chong would never compromise on land policy. Moreover, Huo Chong's personality was also not one that would compromise on major issues, so things would never be so easy to get over.
Thinking of Huo Chong's possible anger at this moment, Song Chenglian felt a little nervous. He felt that the words of the people sent by the higher-ups were too polite, so polite that it was hard to believe. Could the so-called "no collective punishment" be true?
Huo Chong was in a meeting with the committee at this time. Qian Qing's face was usually pink, but although it did not turn as blue as steel, it was bloodless and a little frighteningly pale. She asked coldly, "Sir, are these people really not implicated?"
When the others heard this, most of them held their breath and listened attentively. Everyone knew that Qian Qing was not called "Big Sister" for nothing. She had been Huo Chong's assistant for so many years. Those who followed Huo Chong from the early days had all heard Qian Qing's orders and listened to Qian Qing's lessons.
Qian Qing will show no mercy when it comes to dealing with his enemies.
Huo Chong was not in such a solemn mood. "The purpose of collective punishment is to scare people. If scare people works, why would we be together? Scare people is not effective, and as the saying goes, give a slap in the face and give a sweet date. Scare must be paired with bribery to be effective. I won't do that."
After saying this, Huo Chong explained class relations to everyone...
In terms of the possession of means of production, people can be divided into owners and non-owners; in terms of their role in the production process, people can be divided into commanders (managers) and the commanded; in terms of the distribution results, people can be divided into exploiters and the exploited.
Generally speaking, under conditions of private ownership, the owner is always (directly or indirectly) the director of production and the exploiter; while the non-owner is always the directed and exploited.
However, these three are not always completely consistent in all cases: the owner may not be an exploiter because he does not hire workers, or the degree of exploitation is negligible (such as a small private owner), and the non-owner may also have a certain degree of management and command rights over production (such as managers). In this case, how to determine a person's class affiliation? Obviously, the ownership of the means of production is the only correct criterion for our class division. Huo Chong finished explaining the principle and continued the current situation, "So, everyone. It is not wrong to want to control the means of production. It is really a recognition of this fact. However, if we want to nationalize land, we must target the ownership of the means of production."
