wind in the dark night

Chapter 246 Liujiabao Village
Within a radius of 100 miles, Liujiabao is considered a relatively prosperous village, and there is only one reason for this: it has plenty of land.

There are more than 90 households in the village, and each person has one acre of land.

Of course, most ordinary villagers are tenants who rent land to grow crops, or work as long-term laborers for landlords. For example, Liu Wanchun's family has more than 30 long-term laborers, and he also has to hire short-term laborers during the busy farming season.

……

Once you enter Liujiabao, you can see obvious differences in the appearance of the village.

While other villages have bumpy dirt roads, Liujiabao has wide and smooth gravel roads. Smoke is coming out of the chimneys on the roofs of every household, indicating that they are making fires to keep warm. This kind of scene is rarely seen in poor areas. People will only burn a handful or two of straw in the stove when the cold is unbearable.

Liu Wanchun's house is located at the northernmost part of the village, close to the bare mountain. It has two entrances, a courtyard wall made of stone slabs, and artillery positions built at the four corners. There are special people on duty day and night.

The weapons of the guards were varied, including old-style muskets, muskets with raised barrels, and Russian-made Mosin cavalry rifles that had run out of ammunition. Even with such simple weapons, small groups of bandits did not dare to attack easily. As long as the guards could hold out for an hour or two, the militia insurance teams from nearby towns would come to reinforce them.

Qi Yue and Wang Baochang arrived at the gate of the courtyard. The guards patrolling the fort were very alert. When they saw a stranger approaching, they immediately took off their rifles and shouted, "What are you doing?"

Wang Baochang clasped his hands and said, "Please inform them that the owner of the Xida Temple Oil Mill, Zhao, has sent us to pay our respects to Master Liu."

"Wait!"

The guard went down the stairs and reported inside.

After a while, the gate opened and a middle-aged man who claimed to be the housekeeper came out to greet them. He exchanged pleasantries first, then said politely, "Our master wants to see you. Please follow me."

Qi Yue was carrying a half-new rattan box, which contained a tape recorder. This brick-sized miniature tape recorder was developed by the German company AEG and was specially provided to the intelligence agencies of his own country and friendly countries for use in espionage activities.

After all, Liu Wanchun's lawyer son Liu Xiaochen is not someone to be trifled with; he is someone who can talk to the Prime Minister. If one wants to prove Liu Wanchun's guilt, one must get evidence.

It is still snowing lightly.

Floating and flying all over the sky.

There were two courtyards. Liu Wanchun and his family lived in the back yard, while the servants, guards and farmhands lived in the front yard. On the east and west sides were warehouses for storing grain, with bags of rice, soybeans and sorghum piled up like mountains.

The dietary habits in the Northeast region have always been based on sorghum and corn as the staple food. After the Japanese pioneer group immigrants arrived, they began to plant rice on a large scale, and all the rice produced was supplied to the Kwantung Army.

For quite a long time, anyone found selling rice would be arrested immediately. The reason was simple: rice was the military ration of the Kwantung Army and could not be sold privately. Most of the rice on the market was of unknown origin.

Compared to the coarseness of sorghum, rice is soft, sticky and sweet. In years with good weather and good harvests, the yield is very high. In the past one or two years, local people have also started to grow rice. Except for a small amount left for food, most of the rice is bought by the Kwantung Army at a low price.

It is difficult to change a tradition of thousands of years in a short period of time. The Northeast is dry and rainy in spring and summer. In the absence of water conservancy facilities, only a few people grow rice. Drought-resistant, high-yield sorghum and corn are still the choices of the vast majority of farmers.

For ordinary people, as long as they can eat enough, the taste is not that important.

……

Led by the housekeeper, Qi Yue and Wang Baochang came to the main hall in the backyard.

Liu Wanchun, who had a trimmed moustache, wore a royal blue brocade jacket with a front opening, an otter fur hat, and cotton gloves, and looked like a mediocre person, had been waiting for a long time.

The butler came closer and said respectfully, "Master, they are here."

Liu Wanchun sat there without moving, taking two puffs from his hookah, and looked Qi Yue up and down for a while, then turned to Wang Baochang and said, "If I remember correctly, you are Xiao Wang, right?"

"Hey, it's me."

Wang Baochang smiled.

Liu Wanchun blew out a row of smoke rings, and then blew out a "smoke arrow" through them, with dissatisfaction in his tone: "On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, your storekeeper Zhao personally led people to take away 2,000 kilograms of grain. It's not even a year yet, why are you doing it again?"

Qi Yue said: "There are more and more new people, so there is more food. Please bear with me." "I haven't seen you before."

"I haven't been here."

"What's your last name?"

"No need to mention your surname Qi."

"Brother Xiao Qi, what's the main thing? I have difficulties too. The harvest this year is not good. In previous years, one acre of land produced 700 kilograms of grain, but this year it's less than 600 kilograms. After deducting the grain distributed to tenants and farmhands, I don't have much left for myself. Alas..."

Liu Wanchun sighed and smoked for a while: "How much do you want to borrow this time?"

Qi Yue said: "It's still two thousand kilograms."

Liu Wanchun pondered for a while, then slapped his thigh and said, "Okay, for the sake of Manager Zhao, I'll lend you another two thousand pounds! Steward, call a few farmhands to help them load the truck."

Qi Yue said, "Don't worry about the food yet. Shopkeeper Zhao has something to say to you, so I'll bring it to you."

Liu Wanchun asked: "What?"

"Baochang, you and the housekeeper go out first."

Qi Yue said to Wang Baochang.

Wang Baochang stepped back.

Liu Wanchun signaled the housekeeper to go out as well.

Qi Yue put down the rattan box, sat on the chair, looked at Liu Wanchun for a while, and then said: "Actually, I am not fighting against bandits."

Liu Wanchun was stunned: "What did you say?"

Qi Yue took out his ID and put it on the table: "I'm sorry, I just lied to you."

Liu Wanchun stood up, picked up the certificate and unfolded it, and was stunned.

The inside page of the certificate clearly states: Qi Yue, Special Agent Section, Binjiang Police Department, Position: Deputy Captain of the Action Team, Police Rank: Second Class Sergeant.

Qi Yue took back the ID: "Mr. Liu, don't be afraid, I have no ill intentions. I came here today to discuss a business deal with you."

"…What business?"

Liu Wanchun asked.

Qi Yue said, "Of course it's about the gold mine business. I won't beat around the bush. Chief Gao means that the gold mine will be split 50-50, half for each of us. As long as you agree, I can pretend that I know nothing about your secret collusion with the anti-bandit movement."

Liu Wanchun was stunned for a while, then slowly sat down: "Deputy Captain Qi, I didn't understand a word you said. What gold mine? How did I collude with the anti-bandit movement?"

Qi Yue said: "What you just said..."

"What did I say?"

Liu Wanchun spread his hands with an innocent expression: "You can't frame me without any evidence. You may not know that Liu's eldest son Xiaochen is a lawyer in Xinjing..."

"Listen to this first."

Qi Yue opened the rattan box, took out the tape recorder and placed it on the table, then pressed the play button. The tape recorder started recording as soon as he entered the door.

(End of this chapter)