Chapter 392: Huguang Chishui (I)
Luo Yiren's plan to invite Huo Chong to his home for dinner failed, and he told his wife about it when he got home. Mrs. Luo just sighed slightly , looking like she wanted to say something, but she didn't say it.
After all, the upbringing of a lady from a rich family is still there. If she came from a poor family, she would of course complain because the important goal at the moment was not achieved.
Luo Yiren is certainly not the type of man who beats his wife. Seeing his wife unhappy, he laughed and said, "Haha, your majesty said that the life of the Ministry of Rites cannot always be a group of gentlemen sitting in the room and bragging to each other. Comrades, bring your wives to have a meal together. This is also a form of organizational life."
Mrs. Luo pursed her lips gently. It was obvious that she wanted to be calm, but she couldn't help it. Since she couldn't help it, Mrs. Luo gave up her reserve after a moment, stepped forward and took Luo Yiren's arm, "My husband, you are so good to me."
Luo Yiren was happy but a little bit empty when his wife said that. After all, it was a very honorable thing to have dinner with the emperor, but Luo Yiren's own efforts were actually a failure. However, Huo Chong thought about it and proposed to organize a team building and gathering in the form of a life meeting organized by the Ministry of Rites.
At this time, Luo Yiren thought that team building was better than eating alone, and it would allow more people to see that Mrs. Luo was recognized. It was more effective than having a private meal and then relying on Luo Yiren to promote it privately.
The team-building meeting was held on Sunday. Everyone had to bring their wives, but not their children. Early in the morning, carriages and horses arrived at the gate of a garden that Huo Chong had rented. Couples came in one after another.
Huo Chong's two wives were there. Qian Qing was wearing something very loose, so there was no problem. Miss Luo was wearing a very simple long skirt, which did not make her look rich.
The men who came were either wearing military uniforms or civilian uniforms. Gentlemen were not really interested in clothes, especially since uniforms were an institutional requirement, which made the choice easier.
As for the ladies... Huo Chong looked around and couldn't help but turn his face away. He whispered to Qian Qing: "I want to say, damn. This aesthetic... Isn't she tired?"
Qian Qing looked calm, with an expression on her face that Huo Chong had never seen before, which could probably be described as "female hypocrisy." It was as if she had not heard Huo Chong's words at all.
Just by looking at this expression, Huo Chong could probably understand that Qian Qing would never criticize the way these women dress.
It's not that there's anything wrong with the way these people dress, at least in Huo Chong's opinion, it can be described as "mismatched". The uniforms may not look good, but they maintain a consistent style from head to toe. Those ladies may not have tried their best to dress up, but the more elaborate the parts, the more inconsistent they are with the overall tone. This is probably why Huo Chong can't accept it.
But now that everyone is here, Huo Chong feels that his wife's reaction is actually correct. Moreover, there are three people here who are obviously from Jiangsu and Zhejiang. Their skin is better than that of Shandong people. Their clothes are consistent. Although they are not particularly gorgeous, at least they maintain the overall style.
Huo Chong asked everyone to introduce themselves. Sure enough, when everyone introduced themselves, three people were from Jiangsu and Zhejiang. One of them, wearing a dark-patterned silk coat, was Luo Yiren's wife. Needless to say, this rich family was indeed willing to give the girl a dowry.
Of course, this life meeting would not discuss the Zhang family's family affairs. Huo Chong asked everyone to sit down and began to talk about the troubles encountered by the Western Expedition Army. This is the key point of all, and it is also the problem that the Western Expedition Army has to face. How to reach a consensus in the Ministry of Rites.
After the speech, during the individual speech session, someone immediately said, "Those landlords and gentry are rushing here to die!"
As soon as such a powerful speech came out, Huo Chong saw that the faces of several wives became a little ugly. Luo Yiren's wife bit her lip lightly, obviously not supporting such a speech.
The hardliners had many supporters, but also some opposed. Sima Rong replied: "Will this method of killing make the local people hate us too much?"
"What's there to be afraid of?" The hardliners probably saw that there were women around, so they swallowed the word "diao" and replaced it with a more elegant word.
"They came to fight us, not us. If you hold a grudge against them for this, haha, I would like them to bring all nine clans with them, and we can kill them all on the battlefield. Wouldn't that save trouble?"
Although the words were rough, the logic was sound. Huo Chong liked it in his heart. However, looking at the audience, perhaps it was because the proportion of men had dropped from nearly 100% to just under 50%, and among the crowd, the majority of them did not support it.
Just seeing this scene, Huo Chong felt a little disappointed. But this was inevitable. If women also shouted and advocated massacre, it would not be a good thing.
However, the dominant position here is still held by the men and Qian Qing. Although not all of them support mass killing, at least no one opposes annihilating the enemy on the battlefield. Listening to the speeches of the opponents, it is likely that they will be affected when they enter the countryside to carry out work. At least on the issue of right and wrong, no one opposes the troops killing the enemy.
However, at this time, the hardliners appear to be a bit stubborn. They support the use of force and will carry it through to the end.
"Why should we be polite to the enemy? His Majesty said that these people will jump out sooner or later. Even if they don't dare to jump out openly, they will jump out secretly. We will slap them to death and they will not jump again."
Some of the hardliners were more humorous in their response to these murderous words. "Well, before they die, they probably think that even if they didn't succeed in jumping when they were alive, they have to continue jumping after they die."
There was a burst of laughter, and this clear distinction between friends and enemies was appreciated by the hardliners.
The faces of the moderates were relatively good, at least much better than those of the ladies. Mrs. Luo had a look of pain on her face, while those from ordinary families in Shandong, especially those who had served in the army, at most had a look of pity caused by their feminine tenderness.
"Your Majesty, do we still have to confiscate your property and exterminate your clan?" The moderate Sima Rong said angrily with a stern face.
"Let me tell you about the many relationships. The first one is the enemy relationship. These landlords are using force to fight, so they are enemies to us. I don't care who goes to the battlefield, old or young, male or female. Everyone on the battlefield is an enemy. Before they are eliminated, before they raise their hands in surrender, the battle must be carried out to the end. I believe Comrade Sima would not think that before doing anything on the battlefield, we should first identify who the enemy is and then decide to go to war with the chosen ones."
Sima Rong quickly expressed his opinion upon hearing this, "Your Majesty is right. I would never say that fighting should not be done on the battlefield."
Seeing Sima Rong quickly backing off the horse, Huo Chong waved his hand, asking Sima Rong to stop talking, and then continued: "On the battlefield, it is a life-and-death concern. In non-battlefield relationships, the most important and dominant one is the class relationship. The butt determines the head, and where our butt sits is where we stand. We in the Ministry of Rites have a class stand, and this stand is the stand of the workers, peasants and soldiers, and is definitely not the stand of the landlords and gentry who exploit the working people by controlling the means of production. This point is clearly written in the regulations of the Ministry of Rites."
The men listened to Huo Chong's analysis, no matter they were hardliners or moderates, they all nodded slightly. Huo Chong was also very satisfied. If someone expressed objections at this time, Huo Chong felt that he had to seriously investigate such guys to decide whether their status as members of the Ministry of Rites should be retained.
But of course this cannot be said, and this is not the time to say it. "Such a stance may lead to fierce armed conflict, that's true. Likewise, it may not lead to fierce armed conflict. This is not a question of stance, but a question of strength, one of the strengths, the question of working methods. Can we use the strength in our hands more effectively to reduce panic-type armed conflicts caused by fear? This is worth discussing and studying. It is worth learning and mastering the methods through practice. This is a learning process, a process of learning and skills. I think this is where many comrades disagree. However, this is also an interesting point. We must not think that we have mastered such capabilities. Shandong Land Reform has the historical background of Shandong Land Reform. Do you still remember this process?"
Many people were confused. Although they had experienced the land reform process in Shandong, they were often unaware of it.
Huo Chong briefly reviewed the experience of land reform in Shandong. First, Huo Chong carried out land reform based on the land he controlled and the land of the loyal officials of the Qing Dynasty who were killed.
After that, the Qing Dynasty launched several cleanups, which made the Qing Dynasty supporters come out and let the Huaxia Army clean up again.
The most critical impetus was that the Qing Dynasty used the means of killing the people to make the Chinese court send a large number of personnel to the grassroots. There were militia teams in the villages, armed work teams in the towns, and regular troops in the counties, which quickly established a grassroots military system.
In the past, the great Qing general Basai was captured, tried and executed. He led the Qing army in a massacre, and the defense system of the Chinese court was put into operation to protect the working people. The last landlords and gentry who were waiting for the king's army were basically wiped out by the defeated Qing army like locusts. This allowed the Chinese regime to establish a social system and management organization that could effectively reach the village on such a ruin.
When the old forces were wiped out, the Chinese court established a more effective and tighter organization, making Shandong, a populous province, a solid and effective foundation for the Chinese court, and the foundation for the army, cadres, food, and trade.
"From Shandong's experience, we can summarize what we did. Because it was the Qing Dynasty itself that destroyed the Qing Dynasty's rule in Shandong. We didn't ask Bassey to kill people and cut human flesh for military rations in Shandong. I'm afraid other Qing troops would not do it. It was Bassey who dug out the deepest and most stubborn roots of the Qing Dynasty in Shandong in order to survive. This is not something we can decide. Since the complete liberation of Shandong is not something we can decide, we can only learn from the Shandong experience and cannot copy it. Since we can't copy it, it proves that we don't know how to do the complete liberation in other provinces. We can only learn while doing, summarize while working, and solve problems while working."
Many people were not happy to hear that they could not just copy their experience. Huo Chong could only use logic to make a deduction and derive the logical form.
As for logic, even the upper echelons of the Ministry of Rites felt very painful. However, the upper echelons are the upper echelons after all. Although they felt pain, or precisely because they felt pain, they all admitted that "in fact, they still wanted the Shandong liberation model to be repeated in other places."
Luo Yiren couldn't help but sigh when he heard this. He suddenly realized that many of the old brothers' seemingly stubborn insistence was not without reason. When the old brothers in the Ministry of Rites frankly admitted their starting point, although Luo Yiren was a little disdainful, he no longer felt that the old brothers were a little unreasonable.
If Huo Chong had not described it so clearly, Luo Yiren would not have known the important role played by the Qing Dynasty in the complete liberation of Shandong. In order to solve the problem of hunger during the escape, the last most determined and hidden dog was eaten up... This really has the style of the Qing Dynasty leading beasts to eat people!
Just as Luo Yiren was sighing in his heart, he heard his wife beside him sighing softly, "Alas, when luck comes, heaven and earth are on your side, but when luck is gone, heroes are helpless."
This poem touched Luo Yiren's heart. He couldn't help but gently hold his wife's hand, feeling that he had really picked up a treasure.
At this point, the main point of the conflict between the hardliners and the moderates seemed to be clear. Huo Chong made a brief analysis and made demands on both sides. Although the hardliners were a bit like looking for a sword on a boat, they insisted on their position. Although the moderates tried to find a more realistic approach to specific analysis of specific issues, they seemed a bit wavering.
Of course, the hardliners' persistence in their stance can easily lead to laziness, while the moderates' flexibility can easily lead to a confusion of priorities, or even a deviation from the Ministry of Rites' stance.
Each has its own advantages, and each has its own narrowness. In the final analysis, it is still due to lack of strength, experience, and knowledge.
"If you want to grow, you have to learn and practice. Learning and practice will bring pain, and this pain is not a word called pain. It is our body that will give us signals, so we will be frustrated, confused, unwilling to move, and anxious. First acknowledge these, and then learn to know your body. Learning to learn is important, and learning to rest and living are equally important. Let's talk about work here for today, life will be, work is part of life, eating and cooking are also part of life. Next, let's cook a meal together and relax."
This arrangement was a bit unexpected, but no one objected. So the ingredients were brought up, the cooking utensils and stoves were brought up, and the Ministry of Rites' Life Meeting really became a life meeting.
Huo Chong also joined in the work with everyone and found that those who were wearing military uniforms or had worn military uniforms before were obviously better at cooking than those who were not wearing military uniforms.
This is something that cannot be compared. The Chinese Army is a descendant of the People's Liberation Army, so the last test for promotion from non-commissioned officer to officer is to be the chief cook. You have to organize and arrange meals for the troops.
Huo Chong had studied tissue engineering and was extremely impressed by this arrangement. The army certainly couldn't provide any delicacies, but eating was an extremely important part of the army's operations. If you couldn't even arrange how to eat, you certainly weren't qualified to be an officer.
However, these soldiers in uniform had another problem. The military food requirement was "not outrageous", which was far from delicious. In the buffet situation, the dishes in the big pot were a little bit unpalatable. The soldiers in uniform frowned slightly.
So some people volunteered to make a few stir-fried dishes, which became much more popular. Huo Chong's scrambled eggs also received considerable recognition. Naturally, some people asked how it was made, and Huo Chong told everyone the trick of scrambled eggs.
The key is not to burn the protein, so the temperature is very important.
Of course, there is no pot that does not touch the ladle. There are conflicts, and even quarrels between husband and wife because of complaints.
It's just that everyone thought they were respectable people, so after the quarrel broke out, they at least held back. But from the looks of it, they were going to settle the score after returning home.
After the meal, everyone was no longer hungry and felt a little more relaxed. Huo Chong started talking about the establishment of the Women's Federation.
"The Chinese court has its own politics. Marriage is also a part of state management. With the development of productivity, management will become more and more detailed. Women hold up half the sky, and we ourselves are the vanguard of women's liberation. We cannot bully women. So, ladies, you must form a women's federation. Run it under the leadership of the Ministry of Rites. Fight for women's rights."
"Still fighting! Your Majesty, if the fight continues, I won't be able to live at home!" Sima Rong, a moderate, immediately complained angrily.
Many people laughed out loud. It was a different feeling whether it was because they were proud of their own strength or because they felt the same way because their status was not strong enough.
"I'm not a marriage guru. I'll just say a few words. There are several aspects to marriage. First, people get married to live as a team. Some people start out as soldiers. This kind of marriage is actually quite stable, because everyone is working their way up. When something goes wrong, you call me stupid and I call you a loser. No matter how we fight or how we curse, we're still teammates. In fact, everyone understands this in their hearts, so this kind of relationship is very stable."
The people below didn't say much. It wasn't that these married guys didn't dare to speak, but they really listened.
"The other type is that both parties are at the top of their game right after debuting, and both learned martial arts and went down the mountain to make a living. This type of husband-wife relationship is not so tolerant. The requirements are higher. Because both parties did not start from scratch and worked hard together. It is a strong combination. You say I am bad, that's because different trades are like different mountains. I call you stupid, that's because I don't understand the hard work involved. Comrades should have seen different families like this."
Luo Yiren was a little bit dumbfounded. He suddenly realized that his relationship with his wife was actually the second one. And Luo Yiren had never realized it before.
He turned his head to look at his wife. He saw that she was frowning and thinking. This intellectual scene made Luo Yiren sigh in his heart. If this is true, it would be great.
