Chapter 350: Minister of Rites (VIII)
Luo Yiren explained the relationship between capital and power in a simple and easy-to-understand way, especially to a group of students who were originally tenants and self-employed farmers, and explained the relationship between the gentry class who owned land as capital and the exploited class in a very thorough manner. All the cases were from reality, and the students felt enlightened after listening to them.
Later, when the classic drama "White-Haired Girl" was performed again, the students who were immersed in the drama were so angry that they wanted to drag down the actor who played Huang Shiren and beat him up.
Fortunately, no unfortunate extreme incidents occurred. In the second day's class, we analyzed the play and used capital and class analysis to strengthen our understanding of society.
However, Luo Yiren was no longer so excited. After all, the righteous anger was one of the reasons why Luo Yiren decided to join Huo Chong. Another almost equally important reason was that Luo Yiren wanted to see whether Huo Chong, who was waving the banner of justice, could really carry out the justice he said to the end.
"Teacher Luo, do you feel happy if you have capital?" a student asked.
Although the student's voice was not loud and he was even a little timid, Luo Yiren was still excited. At this point, Luo Yiren felt that his course was finally valuable.
But this straightforward and brave student was immediately met with cold stares from the other students, and some even couldn't help but scold him, "Do you really want to hurt others?"
"No, you are not allowed to say that to your classmates." Luo Yiren immediately stopped the students from attacking the honest student.
When the students saw Luo Yiren taking over the firepower, they all turned to him. Luo Yiren was not overwhelmed by the momentum of so many people, but became more energetic.
"Students, when you feel hardship, you want to avoid it. That's right. This is human nature, and it's a form of self-protection. Some of us have served in the military. If you overexert yourself and injure your body, it will take a long time to recover. When you farm in the countryside, look at those old masters. Which one of them doesn't protect his body carefully while working to avoid getting hurt? Seeking profit and avoiding harm is human nature. If there is no such nature, mankind would have perished long ago. We are not against seeking profit and avoiding harm. Let me ask you a question. Everyone's family has been allocated land. When the land was allocated, did anyone in your family cry because of the sadness of being allocated the land?"
The students' enthusiasm for justice was somewhat tempered by the peaceful reality. Although many of them were not present when their families received the land, they did feel the joy of their families when they returned home.
"I know that everyone is against exploitation, and that's true. But what we are against is exploitation, not against everyone using production to live a good life. We are all here to make everyone in the world live a good life. If you want to produce, you must have the means of production. You can't let people produce with nothing."
As long as the reasoning was correct, even the students who were a little angry at the beginning calmed down a lot. After a while of communication, Luo Yiren explained the matter in detail, making the young people understand that the enemy is the exploiter, not the producer.
"Of course, people are happy to have land as a means of production. Of course, people are also happy to have capital. Again, we are not against everyone owning the means of production, nor are we against everyone having control over capital. What we are against is using this ownership to exploit others."
In the last class, Luo Yiren repeated the content that he had repeated many times and announced the end of the get out of class. At this time, Luo Yiren felt relieved. At this stage, the rest was up to the students to make their own choices.
Moreover, Luo Yiren himself had some things to deal with. According to Huo Chong's plan, Luo Yiren would soon go to Lianghuai to participate in the land reform. After all, it was Luo Yiren who proposed to recruit "guard soldiers" in Lianghuai. It was impossible that Luo Yiren proposed the plan himself and hid aside when it was implemented.
"Yabing" has nothing to do with the soldiers' teeth. Yabing, that is, personal soldiers or guards, is derived from the word "Yaqi". It is a special military name in the late Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties. It is the private soldiers of the Jiedushi after the middle Tang Dynasty and the product of the Jiedushi's special soldiers. Yatong Ya, in ancient times, when a general went out of the town, it was customary to set up a Yaqi and march with a staff. Their official office was called Ya, and later it was called Ya. The city where they lived was called Yacheng, the house where they lived was called Yazhai, the audience with the commander-in-chief was called Yacan, the general close to him was called Yajiang, the guard was called Yadui, and the personal soldiers were called Yabing.
These guards are all strong men, especially those who are not afraid of death, and can often turn the tide of the battle.
In the late Tang Dynasty, the Jiedushi Li Cunxu "obtained nearly 8,000 men from Weizhou who were loyal to him. They were all brave and invincible. In the Battle of Jiahe, he relied on them and made many outstanding contributions."
During the Battle of Huliu, He Huan of the Liang army came in formation, and the Jin army was shocked and fled. Zhou Dewei was unable to stop him, and both father and son died in the battle. Li Cunxu had no choice but to occupy a high hill to gather the scattered soldiers. There was a dirt hill in the pond that was occupied by He Huan's army. Li Cunxu said to his soldiers: "Whoever takes this hill today will win. I will take it with you." He led the cavalry to climb first, and Li Congke and the Silver Spear General Li Jianji led the Silver Spear Army to advance, and then controlled the commanding heights. At night, Li Sizhao and Li Jianji led the Silver Spear Army to shout and break through the battle array, and the Liang army was defeated. The Jin army finally turned defeat into victory with the help of the Silver Spears, and then forced a crossing of the Yellow River, and finally destroyed the Liang Dynasty.
Luo Yiren's idea of recruiting troops in Lianghuai to form a guard was formed a year before Huo Chong's rebellion. At that time, Luo Yiren felt that the people in Lianghuai had a hard life. If he could give them enough money and food, he could certainly raise a group of people who were not afraid of life and death.
However, when he thought about it again, he felt a little unconfident. The reputation of the guards was not good. Luo Yiren was also a crazy student back then, so he didn't care about these things. Now Luo Yiren didn't dare to do things according to his previous ideas.
The most famous Yabing were during the chaotic Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. Although they were brave and good at fighting, they were arrogant and unruly. Since the warlords of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms relied on the Yabing, they could make things happen at will and became the source of chaos.
During the entire 53 years of the Five Dynasties, "five surnames changed and thirteen rulers were replaced, and eight of them lost their country and were assassinated." The guards were involved in all of them.
Zhu Wen was killed by his son Zhu Yougui, who conspired with Zuo Longhu, the commander of the army, and led 500 guards to break into the bedroom in the middle of the night and stab him to death. Li Cunxu of the Later Tang Dynasty relied on the power of the guards in front of the tent to destroy Liang and proclaimed himself emperor. Because Empress Liu was stingy and could not satisfy the insatiable desires of the guards in Weizhou, Huangfu Hui and Zhang Pobai led the guards to riot, and Guo Congqian, the commander of the Ma Zhi, led the guards to shoot Li Cunxu to death. "Zhuangzong's initial conquest of Liang was due to the power of the guards in Weizhou, and his demise was also due to the rebellion of Huangfu Hui and Zhang Pobai."
It was really the rise and fall of the country due to the Yabing. As for the Yabing deposing and appointing Jiedushi and prefectural governors, it was even more common, and there were countless records in history.
Luo Yiren knew very well that Huo Chong had no interest in building a fierce and brutal army from the beginning. Although the Huaxia Army now has many unprogressive tendencies, it is an army composed of good family members. Such an army relies on the system and on benevolence and righteousness. Huo Chong is trying to create the righteous military spirit of this army.
After thinking it over, Luo Yiren found Huo Chong again, "Your Majesty, I am going to Lianghuai. Before I go, I want to let your Majesty know that I no longer want to recruit guards, but will recruit people according to the model of the Ministry of Rites."
"Very good." Huo Chong was very satisfied with Luo Yiren's statement. The recent training courses of the Ministry of Rites have made great progress, which has given Huo Chong a deeper understanding of the ancient teachings of recruiting outstanding talents. At the same time, his understanding of justice has also deepened.
In the past, Huo Chong did not particularly believe in pure ideals, and did not particularly believe in origin and class division. However, reality taught Huo Chong a good lesson: as long as justice can meet the needs of the people at this time, the people will accept justice.
In the past, Huo Chong's malice towards the Qing Dynasty stemmed from the fact that the Qing Dynasty had lost power and humiliated the country. However, there is a problem with this logic. If the Qing Dynasty was evil because of its defeat in war, then if the Qing Dynasty had won every battle, would it have been a good dynasty?
Huo Chong was troubled by this cognition for a time. If acknowledging victory is justice, then oppressing foreign invaders who bully China should be justice.
If we deny the justice of both at the same time, then logically speaking, Huo Chong is not against the Qing Dynasty, but against defeat. This attitude is no different from those right-wingers in Japan who are against defeat.
Huo Chong was relieved to see Luo Yiren give up his position of forming a guard. Watching the young man grow up, Huo Chong felt that the anger in his heart also dissipated a lot.
Luo Yiren was relieved to see that Huo Chong did not blame him. The team was ready to go, and Luo Yiren was going to set off without even waiting for the last graduation.
The luggage was ready, and the work team assembled and prepared before departure. However, the team leader did not stand at the front, but stood in the same row with the team members.
Not long after, Huo Chong and his men walked in. Standing in front of everyone, Huo Chong ordered, "Luo Yiren, Xiao Nantian, Zheng Shuang, step out."
The three of them took a step forward and walked out under the gaze of everyone.
Huo Chong looked at the three young people who performed well. Looking at their black hair and bright eyes, Huo Chong felt that he was really not young anymore. The future world will definitely belong to these young people. Feeling emotional, Huo Chong did not say anything about it, but continued according to the set process, "The above three comrades, after the assessment of the Ministry of Rites, agreed that the three of them will become official members of the Ministry of Rites. I am the Ministry of Rites introducer for the three of you. Everyone will set off soon, and the three comrades will follow me to take the oath."
Although Luo Yiren was a lecturer at the Ministry of Rites, he still lacked the last step to join the Ministry of Rites. Hearing that he would soon become a formal member of the Ministry of Rites, he was so excited that he could not describe it. He also felt that Huo Chong came here specially to take care of Luo Yiren, and completed the ceremony for Luo Yiren and the other three to join the Ministry of Rites before they set off.
No matter how emotional, the joining ceremony was as simple and clear as all the ceremonies of the Huaxia Dynasty. The red flag of the Ministry of Rites was hung, and the yellow symbol on it was a sickle and hammer symbol. It represented one of the basic concepts of the Ministry of Rites, that all the staff of the Ministry of Rites were workers.
Huo Chong raised the flag in front of him and led three new members to take an oath, "I, voluntarily join the Chinese Ministry of Rites."
The three immediately followed suit: "I, Luo Yiren, voluntarily join the Chinese Ministry of Rites." "I, Xiao Nantian, voluntarily..." "I, Zheng Shuang, voluntarily..."
"Support the Ministry of Rites' guidelines."
"Support the Ministry of Rites' guidelines."
"Observe the discipline of the Ministry of Rites."
"Observe the discipline of the Ministry of Rites."
…
"The deponent."
"The person who made the oath is Luo Yiren."
"The person who took the oath is Xiao Nantian."
"The person who made the oath is Zheng Shuang."
In just over a hundred words, the oath was over. Huo Chong turned around and shook hands with the three people one by one. The secretary took the three certificates from the Ministry of Rites and Huo Chong presented them to the three people.
Without waiting for the three to thank him, Huo Chong said, "Three comrades, open your certificates."
The three of them opened the book quickly upon hearing this, and saw that the first page of the book clearly stated the information of the three members of the Ministry of Rites. Just as they were excited , they heard Huo Chong continue to order, "Turn to the back."
The three of them continued to flip through the pages and saw words printed on the back of the small book. The first page was the oath, and the rest was the rules of the Ministry of Rites. The first rule was that wherever there were three members of the Ministry of Rites, a Ministry of Rites group would be formed.
"Three comrades, our Ministry of Rites is not an organization that you can join and then you're done. The Ministry of Rites is different because its members must act in accordance with its charter. Comrades must not only form a Ministry of Rites group, but also study its documents and write monthly reports. They must also fulfill their obligations as members of the Ministry of Rites, which is to develop new members. Members of the Ministry of Rites are seeds. Once they are planted on the vast land of China, they must take root and sprout, allowing more people who are willing to become vanguards to become our comrades. This is your obligation and your right as a member of the Ministry of Rites. I hope you can do a good job."
The working group was originally composed of advanced elements. When Huo Chong said publicly that Luo Yiren and other three formal members did have the right to introduce people to join the Ministry of Rites, the eyes of the other working group members lit up.
Luo Yiren and three others quickly told Huo Chong that they would definitely study the charter carefully and fulfill their obligations as members of the Ministry of Rites.
Huo Chong did not stay for long, and left after completing the ceremony. Luo Yiren and the others were immediately surrounded by the crowd, and everyone asked the three of them when they would introduce someone to join the Ministry of Rites.
Luo Yiren said quickly: "When to introduce people, this needs to be decided after the Ministry of Rites discusses. If everyone really wants to join, they should complete the work first. You see, it is clearly written in the oath that you must be loyal to the Ministry of Rites, work actively, and fight for the liberation of the Chinese people for your whole life. This is a lifelong matter, there is no need to rush today or tomorrow."
Hearing Luo Yiren's words, everyone was a little disappointed. But the captain interrupted and said, "Don't delay any longer, let's go."
With the work team of three members of the Ministry of Rites heading to Lianghuai, Huo Chong had no worries and decided to let the young people go on their own. At this time, there was more important work to do, and things in the military academy went more smoothly than Huo Chong had expected. What Huo Chong did not expect was that a quarter of the regiment leaders chose to recover.
Huo Chong did plan to lay off some officers, but he felt that he could not give the order personally as that would be too hurtful.
Everyone followed Huo Chong from the beginning to conquer the world, and many people would not accept leaving the army after working for a few years. Therefore, Huo Chong was very concerned about the changes in things.
When he returned to the military academy, he called Qian Qing to ask, "Are those people you didn't scold going to leave?"
"Those people want to leave on their own. What does it have to do with me?" Qian Qing said, rolling his eyes.
Seeing his disciple's denial mode, Huo Chong knew that Qian Qing didn't want to make him angry, so he smiled and said, "Haha, I'm not blaming you. I just don't want to make those people feel bad."
Qian Qing shook his head. "How can I not feel bad to leave the army? The master dotes on us too much."
Huo Chong didn't respond to this question, but just asked: "How did you convince them?"
"They are not in good health. I only asked one thing. If they lead the troops to charge, are they confident that they can survive? If they don't have confidence, do they feel sorry for the gentleman?"
Huo Chong listened and waited for a while. Seeing that Qian Qing had no intention of continuing, he asked in surprise, "That's it?"
Qian Qing was a little surprised. "What else can I do? Sir, you don't think that we are ungrateful, do you?"
This is true. Huo Chong does not think that Shandong people are ungrateful, although Shandong people sometimes seem to be serious. At least Huo Chong thinks that this is a situation caused by internal competition.
Recently, Shandong's population statistics have come out, and the numbers really shocked Huo Chong. Shandong's population is actually over 40 million. You know, according to historical records, it was not until the Qianlong period that China's population reached 400 million. In other words, one in nine Chinese people are in Shandong.
Although in the 21st century, a province with only 40 million people is not a populous province in any case. But this was 1733 after all, not 2013. Industrialized countries can feed more people and provide them with adequate education. In an agricultural country, there is no such good thing.
With too many people crowded in a place like Shandong and the level of productivity being low, what else can we do except internal circulation?
Oh, yes, you can also immigrate.
Fujian has a large population and little land, so it has become the main force of overseas immigration. The same is true for Shandong. The most famous one is "Chuang Guandong". In the late Qing Dynasty, a large number of Shandong people crossed the strait at the entrance of Bohai Sea and entered the Northeast to make a living. Many sad and tragic stories emerged...
Thinking of this, Huo Chong suddenly remembered that the land outside the Great Wall was not open to Han people, so the population outside the Great Wall was sparse.
Just as Huo Chong was habitually thinking about things, Qian Qing, who had no other thoughts, continued, "Sir, everyone knows that you care about everyone and don't want them to die. Many people are weak, and they can't handle so much close combat training."
"Yeah." Huo Chong could only respond. Although Qian Qing said that she did not threaten or intimidate him, Qian Qing's usual temperament and style made Huo Chong unable to simply believe Qian Qing's gentle and reasonable presentation of facts.
"Sir, this is really a volunteer effort. We are not stupid. Sir, these trainings are to prepare for close combat. After so many years of fighting, everyone can see this. When commanding a volley of gunfire, the commander is always in the front row. In close combat, the commander naturally has to charge in the front. I am not trying to make things difficult for anyone. Don't take on a job that you don't have the skills to do. You will lose your life in vain, and the lives of many soldiers. Everyone knows that you can't do this!"
Huo Chong felt that he had already figured out how Qian Qing would persuade these people. For those who were not convinced, Qian Qing might personally come out and fight with them.
