Dominate the Country

"Dang, clang, clang, clang..."

Early in the morning, a bright sound of gongs and drums sounded at the north end of Luotian Peach Blossom Collection. The crisp gongs and drums made Taohuaji wake up quickly from his sleep. Zhang Lili, who lives in Beitou, was the first to stick his head out from the courtyard door.

"Who is the head of the house? It's so early in the morning..." Mrs. Zhang and Wang also got up, and the donkeys fed at home began to bray. This is the most precious item in the entire Zhang family. Zhang Li and his wife treated the donkey better than humans.

"It's the group of foreigners who gathered yesterday."

The name of Peach Blossom Collection is very beautiful, but in fact it is very poor. Most of the people who come and go on the market are local people from all over the country. Although it is not that outsiders never come here, this group of outsiders just entered Jiji yesterday and booked all five upper rooms in the Li Family Old Inn, the best inn in Taohuaji. This is amazing.

In a small peach blossom gathering, any news can be spread from south to north and from east to west in just one meal.

Zhang Lili had dinner yesterday and set up a dragon gate formation outside. The hot topic in the town shifted from the military exploits of Fuhan military government soldiers to this group of outsiders. Although this popularity is only for a while, for people in Taohuaji, military fields and tax exemption are the eternal topics of common people.

The first stop of the Fuhan Army's East Road Propaganda Team was Huangzhou. Starting from Huangmei County in the east, Luotian was the second stop.

Reducing or reducing grain taxes, abolishing live tax, wine tax, craftsman's price, date plant tax, wine tax, livestock tax, fish tax, boat tax, etc. will be of great benefit to the local people. And just like the local secret report Chen Ming received before setting up the work team, governments at all levels in Huangzhou have obviously been established for several months, and those rural officials have been in the countryside for several months. However, many of the most basic policies of the government in rural areas But the people had no way of knowing.

If the military achievements of the Fuhan Army had not been too great, and the common people's passion for their fields could not have been interrupted by patriarchal traditions, the Peach Blossom Collection would probably have been the same as it was during the Manchu and Qing Dynasties a few years ago. The only topic of conversation was the countryside. Where can the Fuhan Army and the military merit field be talked about every day, or some dirty rumors and gossip?

"We are recruiting workers, we are recruiting workers, one silver dollar per month, we will take care of food and housing..."

"We are recruiting workers, we are recruiting workers, one silver dollar per month, we will take care of food and housing..."

"Wuchang Yuanxiang Garment Factory, the property of Zhao Wanwan and the Zhao family..."

"Don't be deceived, don't lie, don't make lies. Sign and stamp, in black and white, the government is Paula..."

Zhang Li was not interested in outsiders. He was interested in being a soldier. Of course, it was not him who was a soldier, but his son and his brother. Of the five brothers of the Zhang family, only Zhang Lili and Zhang Youcai are left. His brother is twenty-five years old this year. He married a daughter-in-law in his early years, but she died of an illness and still owed a lot of debt. Zhang Youcai's name is full of joy, but he is extremely poor. He is now a widower without a wife, and his family is extremely poor. Zhang Li's family is not relaxed, and with such a brother here, life is even more difficult. You can't watch your brother starve to death, right?

When the county organized bravery training, Zhang Youcai wanted to go. He only had one tael of silver and three hundred coppers a month. But Zhang Lili stopped him because Zhang Lili felt it was not worth it. A life is only one tael of silver, which is too little. Let Zhang Youcai hide at home and watch the limelight. The result was that he really got it right. Luo Tian's training of bravery was easily defeated in Huangzhou. A total of thirty-seven or eight people were organized in the surrounding villages of Taohuaji, only ten of them ran back home, and the remaining nineteen were arrested. This was a notice specially posted by the government, and a notice specially brought back from the county by the security guard of Taohuaji. A few others were not sure whether they were dead or alive.

But the soldiers of the Fuhan Army were very different from the soldiers of the previous government. The Fuhan Army had twenty acres of land, and each person also had ten silver dollars to settle down. If Zhang had the money to become a soldier, plus Zhang Lili His eldest son, this is twenty silver dollars for forty acres of land. Just the silver dollars can pay off the debt.

And forty acres of land... is enough for the Zhang family to live a pleasant life in the countryside.

After his brother and son joined the army, Zhang Liyou became a member of the army, and the chief security officer always gave him a smile when he saw him. Zhang Li didn't expect his brother and son to make any more meritorious deeds or obtain military fields. The forty acres of land had already captivated his eyes.

He discussed this matter with Zhang Youcai and his eldest son Zhang Dashan, and Zhang Youcai and Zhang Dashan also agreed.

"Twenty acres of land, ten silver dollars, one life is worth it. Third brother, to be honest, if these were exchanged for silver in our land, five lives would be bought."

Every time the work team performed a great show, people from far away came to watch it. The Zhang family also went to see it. Zhang Li specially drove the whole family in a donkey cart to see it. They also listened to the propaganda of the propaganda team several times. They know that the Fuhan Army is also divided into three, six or nine ranks. The soldiers' pay is higher than that of the logistics soldiers. However, the Fuhan Army's military discipline is also absolutely strict. They dare to disobey orders, dare to fight timidly, dare to rape and plunder, Those are all crimes that require beheading, and no amount of credit can replace them. There is no such thing as "making up for one's merits" in the Fuhan Army. And if one surrenders to the enemy, once it is confirmed, all family members will not only be disqualified as military dependents, but also be "reformed through labor."

This news was what Zhang Li always talked about when he staged the Longmen Formation after dinner, because the work team only sent a small team to Peach Blossom Market for publicity, and the stage was set up in Dandian Town, which was the largest town in Luotian. The Zhang family has a donkey cart, which is the best tool. Every time Zhang Lili comes back, he will bring back some fresh news, and every time he tells it, it will attract countless listening ears.

Zhang Li especially enjoyed the feeling of being surrounded by people at that moment.

For him, a poor man with no wealth or power, it was only at this moment that he could enjoy the feeling of being respected and popular. Especially after deciding to let Zhang Youcai and Zhang Dashan serve in the army, whenever he met 'certain people' who expressed disdain for the Fuhan Army, Zhang Youcai would blush and argue with them, and Zhang Wang also advised him .

"Bullshit. Do you think they really support the Qing Dynasty? They don't want to see us poor people stand up!"

Many of what the propaganda team said were remembered by Zhang Li, and he felt that what those people said was really right. Poor people who work on the land will remain poor all their lives, and they will have to work as cattle or horses for the landlords. Just like the Zhang family rented six acres of land from Mr. Li's house in Jishang, the rent was 35%. Every time they saw the Li family, they would always smile with them. When the Li family needed a donkey, they would lead the donkey away without even saying hello.

The Peach Blossom Collection is not big, and there are not many people there, but there are rich people among the poor, and some people like the Zhang family are looking forward to the collapse of the Fuhan Army.

Zhang Li, who had made up his mind, ignored the shouts outside and was busy filling the stone trough with water. But Mrs. Zhang's eyes became brighter and brighter as she listened, "Head of the household, did you hear that? One silver dollar per month to take care of food and housing."

Zhang Li knew very well what his mother-in-law was thinking about. She just couldn't bear to let Dashan serve as a soldier. Zhang Lili's heart is not made of iron, and he is not willing to let his son go out to fight life or death. Zhang Youcai told him at the beginning that he would keep Zhang Dashan and leave an extra root for the old Zhang family. If he is good on the battlefield, it would be better to adopt someone in his name and prevent him from being a lonely ghost in the underground. Zhang Li insisted that his son also join the army. Instead of sending his son away, he sent his brother away with twenty acres of land for nothing. Zhang Lili was not so thick-skinned. Zhang Wangshi had been punished before because of this matter. Now, is Zhang Wangshi confused again?

"Are you looking for a fight again? I told you, for this soldier, if Lao Wu goes, he will go to the mountains; if he doesn't go to the mountains, Lao Wu won't go either. I am poor if I am rich, but I am not selling my brother's life. Brother. Do you want me to go out and be scolded, so that the mountains, seas, and rivers will be called a sinister son?"

Zhang Li was blushing. This was his bottom line. No matter how poor he was, he would never let his younger brother work for himself while his family lived a good life at home. Not only that, if Zhang Youcai and Zhang Dashan both died outside, Zhang Dahai would be Zhang Youcai's son in the future, and Zhang Dajiang's son would also be adopted into Zhang Dashan's name.

…

"Don't you know the Zhao family and the Zhao million family in Wuchang? They are the first-class wealthy people in Hubei, with a family worth several million. Now the son of the Zhao family is the magistrate of Wuchang, and the workshop run by the Zhao family is The Yuanxiang Clothing Factory was responsible for the military tents, uniforms, shoes, tents, etc. of hundreds of thousands of Fuhan troops after being notified by the government..."

"It only costs one silver dollar to get in, and food and accommodation are included. One day off per month, five days off during the New Year, and a New Year gift. Where can you find such treatment..."

The sounds from outside, accompanied by the sound of gongs and drums, kept reaching Zhang Wang's ears. At the same time, there were also recruitment requirements. Young men over fifteen and under twenty years old, with bad eyesight, were not allowed. Of course, if you know how to tailor clothes, then those over twenty years old will also need it. Clothing workshops are all about craftsmanship, and people with good craftsmanship, who are also masters in their forties or fifties, are given high salaries, up to twenty silver dollars a month. Salary will also increase with the increase of service length. As for what is "service seniority", it means the time you have been working, plus one level every year. According to the technical and job standards, the salary and benefits will increase...

Mrs. Zhang Wang returned to the house and felt regretful that the Zhang family now had three boys and two girls. Only the eldest son, Zhang Dahai, was seventeen years old, which met this standard. The oldest of the two boys below was only fourteen.

But in this family, Zhang Li is the king, and whatever he says is what he says. No matter how reluctant Zhang Wang is to let go of her son, she can only endure it.

Three days later, Zhang Youcai and Zhang Dashan, who successfully passed the physical examination and enlisted in the army, returned home. Zhang Wang and Zhang Li looked at their shaved heads and the red military uniforms they were wearing, and tears flowed down uncontrollably.

Two land deeds, military affiliation certificates, and twenty silver dollars were all handed over to Zhang Youcai and Zhang Dashan. Zhang Lili gave half of them to Zhang Wang, "Go, buy some good wine and meat, let Dahai, Dajiang went to invite the elders of the clan to come... Let's hold a banquet to see off Lao Wu and Dashan..." Zhang Li originally thought he wouldn't cry, but now he was crying with runny nose.

He stuffed the remaining ten silver dollars, five dollars each, back into the hands of Zhang Youcai and his son Zhang Dashan, "Take this money. If something happens to the team, it will be easier to have money. Whatever future you can have in the future, it depends on it." You yourselves..." Zhang Li cried so hard that he was speechless.