The Heroic Age of the Late Qing Dynasty

Comrade~Comrade, comrade~my dear brother.

The beacon towers, daring to be the first in the world. The years of passion burning, holding up the sky.

The love between brothers is unforgettable. The love is as deep as the sea. Take care of yourself, comrade.

Comrade~Comrade, comrade~my dear brother.

Watching the soldiers depart, Zhang Yinghao's nose stung as he saluted. He could only silently offer his best wishes, hoping they would survive and see each other again someday. This time, he was truly sending them to the gates of hell, completely out of his control.

….“…

Since the laboratory acquired a prism for spectral analysis of various elements, the comrades were forced to accept the fact that each atom emitted a different light. Thus, a large number of experiments began. These experiments required a large amount of ore, so Zhang Yinghao had no choice but to issue an order, with the Mineral Resources Management Committee taking the lead, to collect ore from all over Sichuan and provide it to the laboratory.

Then, good news continued to pour in. First, a large aluminum deposit was discovered in the Longmenshan area of ​​Guangyuan, and bauxite deposits were also discovered in Chongqing and Nanchuan. Zhang Yinghao was very happy. The discovery of these mineral deposits could be said to have perfectly solved countless problems for Zhang Yinghao.

Zhang Yinghao knew of the well-known Panzhihua Iron Mine in Sichuan. However, he knew it was a vanadium-titanium magnetite mine, containing a large number of other metals. Regardless of Sichuan's current ability to produce such steel, Zhang Yinghao knew that even if steel were produced, he wouldn't be able to extract vanadium and titanium. The Panzhihua mine also contained significant amounts of valuable elements like cobalt, nickel, copper, arsenic, and sulfur. Saving them for future, integrated mining and utilization, once the technology matured, would avoid excessive waste. Therefore, Zhang Yinghao didn't want to mine the iron mine at this time.

Sichuan is rich in resources, and there is actually no shortage of iron ore in southern Sichuan. Soon, a large number of iron ore, coal mines, quartz sand mines and more than four dozen metal mineral deposits were discovered in Yanbian, Luzhou and other places. Among them, iron, silver, vanadium, chalcin, manganese, lead, zinc, copper, coal, etc. are all worth industrial mining.

In terms of metal reactivity, gold, silver, copper, iron, and manganese are relatively easy to mine, while sodium, magnesium, and aluminum are more difficult to refine. Zhang Yinghao, for example, is quite familiar with aluminum ore. Aluminum's role will only grow in the future. Zhang Yinghao is also aware of its future applications in aircraft, engine manufacturing, and other applications. He also knows that duralumin is a general term for aluminum-based alloys, with primary alloying elements being copper, silicon, magnesium, zinc, and manganese, and secondary alloying elements being nickel, iron, titanium, chromium, and lithium. With more laboratory experiments, he'll undoubtedly be able to produce qualified aluminum.

Aluminum alloy has low density but relatively high strength, close to or exceeding that of high-quality steel. It has good plasticity and can be processed into various profiles. It has excellent electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity and corrosion resistance. It is widely used in industry and its usage is second only to steel.

Zhang Yinghao could also completely replace copper coins with aluminum. Copper currently has a much greater purpose than aluminum, and Zhang Yinghao simply doesn't want to waste even a single bit of it on subsidiary coins. Coins have a much longer history than paper money, having been the primary medium of exchange in ancient times. Even in modern times, coins are widely circulated, serving as low-denomination currency. They resist wear and tear after repeated use, making them a very economical solution in the long run.

Chapter 260: More updates!

Zhang Yinghao had studied aluminum production in his previous life. Electrolysis of aluminum sounds simple enough, with cryolite as the catalyst. Therefore, industrialized aluminum production immediately became a key project. The generator uses graphite as the anode and an iron tank shell as the cathode. The molten aluminum is electrolyzed to produce aluminum, with chlorine as a byproduct.

After a product is created in the lab, it's time to start experimenting with it and conducting large-scale trials. After all, there's a huge gap between lab production and industrial production. Furthermore, chlorine is toxic, and even small-scale lab production has nearly resulted in safety incidents.

Aluminum laboratories and production plants can only be built in sparsely populated areas. The pollution caused by industrial production of metallic aluminum is so serious that it is impossible to build factories in densely populated areas.

Next, the factory needed to solve the problem of power. Chen Yiwei also participated in the meeting to discuss the establishment of an electrolytic aluminum plant. The final decision was to use hydropower. After all, Sichuan's abundant hydropower resources made it the best choice. Therefore, the factory had to be built in a sparsely populated area with abundant water resources.

Then there's the magnetic problem of hydropower generation, which remains difficult to solve. Conventional magnets, when used for power generation, not only produce inefficient power but also suffer from demagnetization. Zhang Yinghao knew the term "permanent magnet," but where could he find one?

Industrial development was like that: one was one, two was two, no nonsense. If it worked, it worked, and if it didn't, it didn't. Developing electricity also required mass production of copper wire, and Zhang Yinghao himself couldn't quite make sense of it all: which should be developed first and which later?

Finally, everyone began to discuss what to do. Zhang Yinghao had no choice but to have his secretary bring out the tech tree once again for a discussion. It dawned on everyone that the liberated areas had already begun to develop a bit of everything, though they lacked scale and planning. For example, in Jiangbei, Chongqing, two coal mines belonging to British merchant Li Dele were confiscated. Pengzhou, not far north of Chengdu, had a long tradition of copper mining and was the most famous copper mine in Sichuan. After the revolutionary army liberated the area, they began mining copper at Dabaoshan, and now projected annual production of over 500 tons.

Zhang Yinghao himself was actually a bit stunned by the tech tree. His own tech tree was certainly the most complete in the entire liberated area, but he hadn't looked at it in a long time. He was surprised to find that it contained all the oil he had always believed China lacked, and that refining had already begun. However, Zhang Yinghao remained calm and continued the meeting. The final conclusion of the discussion was to utilize whatever existing conditions existed, to get started, and to gradually upgrade the technology.

Zhang Yinghao couldn't build an entire industrial system on his own; all comrades had to work together. So, after the meeting, Zhang Yinghao, reflecting on the chaotic state of Sichuan's construction, immediately assigned the previously established Science and Technology Investigation Committee a new task. Besides researching scientific and technological data from various regions, they were also tasked with integrating resources for industrial development. Their task was to connect various industries based on the technology tree, creating a synergistic effect that would make the sum of these industries greater than their sum.

Zhang Yinghao returned to his office and drank a sip of tea. The comrade in charge of making the technology tree for Zhang Yinghao came to his office. Zhang Yinghao was not polite and asked directly: "Qizhi, do we have oil in Sichuan?"

"Chairman, we have oil. When we first started making cans, we used paraffin wax to seal them."

Hearing what Chen Qizhi said, Zhang Yinghao immediately remembered that when the glass bottles were first made, he specifically asked what kind of seals would be used for cans. The factory director said to use wax to seal them. Zhang Yinghao always thought it was candles instead of paraffin wax. It seems that he took it for granted.

"Comrade Qizhi, you're also a returned American student. You should know what oil means. It's a strategic resource now. Oh, and by the way, how did we find oil in Sichuan?"

"Haha, Mr. Chairman, in fact, our country was one of the first countries in the world to discover and utilize oil. How did we find oil? Naturally, we looked for information from our ancestors. The first person to mention oil was Ban Gu in the 1st century AD. He recorded in his "Book of Han: Geography" that in Shangjun of the Western Han Dynasty, "Gaonu had flammable water." The ancient city of Gaonu County in Shangjun during the Han Dynasty is today's Yanchang County in Shaanxi Province."

"Are you saying that there is oil in Shaanxi that can be mined?"

"Yes, there is oil in Yanbian, Shaanxi now. Although the oil production is not high, it is already under planning and construction."

"So, what about Sichuan? When was the record first made?"

Records of oil in Sichuan are relatively recent. It was during the mid-to-late Ming Dynasty that Zhang Han, a Hangzhou native, traveled west to Sichuan. In his book, "Dreams from a Pine Window," Volume 2, "Journey to the West," he not only describes the artesian salt wells and fire wells in Neijiang and Fushun, but also noted oil wells. He described these places as "oil wells, the water of which is like oil, only good for lighting lamps, not for consumption."

During the Wanli period, He Yudu, the magistrate of Kuizhou Prefecture, wrote in the first volume of Yibu Tanzi: "Oil wells are located in Jiazhou, Meizhou, Qingshen, Jingyan, Hongya, and Qianwei counties."

Chairman, you see, the people of Sichuan have been using well salt since ancient times. While digging wells to extract brine for frying salt, oil and even natural gas have been discovered. Although the original purpose of digging the wells was to find brine for frying salt, the result was the discovery of oil in oil-bearing rock formations. Given the depth of our salt wells in Sichuan, it's not surprising to find oil wells.

As for the use of petroleum, in ancient my country, it was primarily used for lighting. Initially, it was made into candles, and later refined into lamp oil. Later, it was also used in military applications, such as flamethrowers that sprayed kerosene from an iron cylinder to burn enemy ships. People also used petroleum for steelmaking, medicine, and ink making.

Zhang Yinghao listened, nodded, and said, "Do our ancestors still have records of where there is oil?"

"Yes, we even hired someone to review a number of books. According to Zhang Hua's "Records of Natural History," "A spring as large as a palace erupts from the southern mountains of Yanshou County in Jiuquan. It flows into the ground, forming a ditch. The water is rich and juicy, like meat juice. When scooped from a container, it turns yellow at first, then black like cream. However, it's extremely clear, just like cream." "This juicy, juicy water is actually petroleum." Yanshou County in Jiuquan County is located in Yumen County, Gansu Province. Petroleum was discovered in many places in ancient times, not just in one or two locations. For example, during the Ming Dynasty, petroleum was also discovered in the Kuche area of ​​Xinjiang."

When Zhang Yinghao heard the word "Yumen," a single word immediately popped into his mind: the Yumen Oilfield. It seemed he had found another reason to deploy troops to Gansu. Waging war over oil made perfect sense, didn't it? If these known oil wells could be exploited, Zhang Yinghao wouldn't have to worry about the oil problem any longer. In the future, when he became stronger, he could then explore for oil overseas.

"Very good, then we need to expedite the construction of the refinery. Our internal combustion engines require gasoline and diesel."

Zhang Yinghao was well aware that oil, often called the lifeblood of industry, was of undeniable importance. Gasoline and diesel, produced from cracked oil, were essential for industrial development, along with numerous other byproducts.

In his previous life, Zhang Yinghao never took a driving test or learned to drive. He didn't know much about gasoline and diesel; he'd even forgotten what 89, 92, 95, and 98 octane gasoline meant. He only knew they were made by cracking petroleum. However, gasoline and diesel are still very expensive. Diesel is relatively affordable, but no country has truly mastered the industrialized, large-scale process of cracking petroleum. Many areas now use light oil, directly from the source.

It wasn't until the widespread use of internal combustion engines that the demand for gasoline and diesel increased dramatically, and only then did oil cracking technology achieve a real breakthrough. Although Zhang Yinghao wasn't very anxious about this right now, he immediately discussed the matter with Chen Qizhi and asked him to immediately start collecting relevant oil cracking technologies. If possible, buy more machinery and equipment. After all, several oil fields are already in their hands. Once the equipment arrives, they can start mining.

Just as Zhang Yinghao was working tirelessly on industrial construction, Bao Shilin from the Finance Bureau and Qian Daoming from the Industrial and Commercial Taxation Bureau, along with a group of others, came to report to him. With the base area now having more and more talent, the situation of one person juggling multiple departments was becoming less common. Qian Mingdao was one such newly promoted comrade.

"Chairman, our grain tax revenue for the first half of the year has increased."

“How’s it going?”

"This year's grain production is quite good. Our vigorous promotion has encouraged the people to cultivate intensively, establishing a three-season farming system with summer, autumn, and late autumn crops. Since the land was distributed and many exorbitant taxes were waived, the people's enthusiasm for farming has been very high. Furthermore, we have continued to build and improve water conservancy projects, which has significantly increased grain production."

Zhang Yinghao was aware of the significant improvement. Many people say that increasing grain production depends on improved seeds, pesticides, and fertilizers. However, there's another prerequisite: water. As long as there's water, there's always some grain. If there's a drought, no matter how good the seeds, how much fertilizer, or how much pesticide you use, there's still no harvest. So Zhang Yinghao remained silent, quietly waiting for the report.

"Sichuan's traditional perennial crop planting area is between 90 and 120 million mu, of which approximately 60 million mu is dedicated to grain crops, 10 to 15 million mu to cash crops, and 10 to 13 million mu to other crops. Among grain crops, rice, wheat, corn, sweet potatoes, potatoes, and soybeans are clearly dominant, with wheat and corn planting areas around 10 million mu each. We have planted approximately 6 million mu of winter wheat, yielding an average of 100 kilograms per mu, a good yield. In addition, early rice..."

After hearing these figures, Zhang Yinghao felt a little reluctant to continue. Six million mu of winter wheat was planted, which wasn't a small amount. Is 600 million jin of winter wheat a lot? It's certainly a lot, but with so many people in Sichuan, each person only gets a few jins on average. What's enough to eat? Of course, winter wheat can't interfere with the planting of crops like rice, so it can only be considered a bonus, but it's still too little. Although rice yields would be much higher, this number still feels too meager. Compared to the 1,000 jin per mu of yields in later generations, it's completely incomparable.

Zhang Yinghao suddenly felt a craving for high-yield crops like hybrid rice. He had never craved chemical fertilizers and pesticides as much as he did now. Farmyard manure, pollution-free food, that was bullshit. Filling his stomach was the most important thing. In later times, yields of a thousand kilograms per mu would be enough to feed two people annually. That was the difference.

Zhang Yinghao learned in detail that the average rice yield per mu in Sichuan is only about 200 kilograms (500 jin) per acre. This is for fertile paddy fields; mountain fields cannot even reach this yield. A drought would even make a harvest uncertain. Currently, each person has less than three mu (500 jin) of farmland. Based on current yield estimates, this means each person can obtain 200 to 300 kilograms (500 jin) of grain annually, including potatoes, beans, corn, sorghum, and other foods.

If food was distributed properly, people would only be able to get by, with enough to eat. Even a dry meal and two thin meals a day would be difficult. In the past, people were exploited at every level, toiling away all year long. In good years, they could barely fill their stomachs. In bad years, they'd be lucky to have a thin meal every day. In the face of severe droughts and floods, many people were prepared to starve to death or flee.

This is because Sichuan is a major agricultural province, with a relatively good agricultural foundation compared to other provinces nationwide. Other provinces are far behind Sichuan. Why does the land produce so little food? The landlords would say the people are lazy, otherwise why would they starve? This is a classic example of the "why not eat meat porridge?" or perhaps this is the landlords' deception of the people.

The Chinese people are definitely not lazy, at least the people today are definitely not lazier than those in later generations. Many people work in the fields all day long, or what is called meticulous work, but even if they do their best, Zhang Yinghao thinks that their yield per mu can only reach more than 300 kilograms, which is the best, and it is a great blessing. However, such good land belongs to the landlords, and has nothing to do with others. The landlords will do everything possible to seize such good land. How can the untouchables have such good land? Barren land is uncultivated, but once it is cultivated, people will fight for it. That's the reason.

Chapter 261:

The yield of seeds in this era is like this. This is determined by the genes of the organisms and cannot be changed by adding fertilizer.

If there is not enough nutrients, don't expect to have a high yield. Relying on a little farmyard manure is not enough.

How many kilograms of fertilizer are there?

Achieving a good agricultural harvest requires fertilizer input. This is the truth. Although Zhang Yinghao grew up in the countryside, he knew about potash fertilizers, phosphate fertilizers, urea, organic fertilizers, compound fertilizers, and nitrogen fertilizers. However, he didn't know the chemical formulas for their active ingredients.

Thinking of this, Zhang Yinghao immediately called all the leaders to a meeting, including Chen Wei who had temporarily returned to Chengdu, and the heads of the Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Industry and other departments were also called.

After Zhang Yinghao distributed the agricultural tax and related information to the comrades, he waited until everyone had read it before saying: "Comrades, the food problem is a huge problem we are facing now. Almost two million people are no longer farming in the countryside. But they eat more food. I have said it before, people who work can't go hungry, right? You have all followed me for quite some time, and I have also taught you a few lessons. Although I may not have learned everything myself, I still know that China has been alternating between order and chaos since ancient times.

After seeing this data today, I suddenly realized the truth. The root cause is the land problem, or more simply, the food problem. The amount of arable land is always limited, and so is food production. When the growth of these two cannot keep up with the rate of population growth, people will go hungry. Once natural disasters or man-made disasters occur, large-scale migration will occur. At this point, the change of dynasties is inevitable, and then brutal wars will reduce the total population, and then the cycle will start all over again!"

Chen Wei and Bao Shilin were all listening carefully to Zhang Yinghao's words, savoring their meaning. After listening, Bao Shilin clapped his hands and said, "Chairman, you see it clearly. This is the secret of governance, chaos, prosperity and decline. The Chairman has hit it right in one word. It's really enlightening!"

Chen Wei echoed this sentiment: "When I was studying in the United States, I kept thinking about how China seemed to be cursed, unable to break out of this vicious cycle. It even allowed foreigners to take advantage of its weaknesses and bring it to where it is today. It's truly tragic and lamentable."

Everyone started talking about it.

"It seems to be an agricultural issue, a food issue. If we can ensure that food production always exceeds the rate of population growth, we will be able to prosper forever. Everything else will be trivial!"

"I only came to this realization after traveling around Tibet. Agriculture in Tibet is far more backward than ours, and simply can't support such a large population. Those chieftains and living Buddhas don't even treat the people as human beings, which is why serfdom emerged. So, it seems inevitable that slavery would emerge in Tibet. Slavery could decimate the population, because there simply can't be enough to support that many people."

"Yes, many families now have five or six children, and as many as eight or nine. But if half of them survive, they're lucky. In many places, there's even a tradition of drowning infants. It's thought that parents don't love their children, but I don't think so! How can we be so indifferent to the disappearance of each little life? It all comes down to food. Because they don't have enough to eat, children don't even have the right to survive!"

"There's been a saying since ancient times that people would eat their own children. If they weren't starving, how could such a thing happen? But how can Mr. Chairman's land produce more food? This is no simple matter. Countless people of noble character and lofty ideals have tried for thousands of years but have failed to break this curse!"

Bao Shilin also sighed: "I wonder if our generation can find a solution. Otherwise, we will have to go through war and hundreds of millions of our compatriots will die."

Chen Yiwei's expression grew serious. "I think there are only two ways to solve the food problem. One is to continuously expand our territory, that is, to expand continuously. However, the world has been divided up now, and we are still a piece of meat in the eyes of the great powers. How can we expand? The only thing left is to continuously increase the yield per mu and reclaim some wasteland. As long as we can increase production to a certain extent, we can break out of the vicious cycle of rise and fall!"

There was a constant gleam of light in Chen Wei's eyes, but then it dimmed. It is easier said than done.

"What I just said is the law of agricultural society. Under the conditions of agricultural society, no matter how intensively you cultivate, the output is limited. But now that the Western powers have entered the industrial age, their grain production has increased significantly.

The secret lies in the fertilizer. Only when the agricultural products rotate in the five directions each year can we produce enough food. This is the direction of our future efforts.

We should vigorously introduce technology from the West to produce chemical fertilizers. We should also cultivate improved seeds, continue to repair water conservancy projects, and produce sufficient food so that our country can prosper and break out of the vicious cycle of order and chaos!"

Bao Shilin nodded repeatedly after hearing this: "What the Chairman said is correct, but we can't do that right now. Many farmers don't even have oxen to work with, and some are even worse off, lacking even complete iron farm tools. Hoes and shovels are only covered with a layer of iron on the blades, and the rest is made of hardwood. How can we expect such tools to work? We used to have no solution because we didn't have a steel plant, but now that the railway is being built, steel is being used in huge quantities, and the supply is almost at its limit. Fortunately, the new steel plant is now under construction, and I believe that it won't be long before Sichuan's farm tools will see a huge improvement!"

Although Zhang Yinghao no longer expected to quickly change the face of China, the reality was always more cruel than imagined. China was far behind the world, and there was much to be done. The martyrs of later generations built China from an impoverished country into an industrial nation. Although they made many mistakes, as a time traveler, one must be impressed by their courage. Even if Zhang Yinghao had the knowledge of later generations, he would not dare to say that he had enough courage to change the world. However, they dared to change the sun and the moon to a new sky. One has to admire them!

"Comrade Wu Guozhu, you are now our Minister of Agriculture. Your Ministry of Agriculture must formulate a long-term plan for agricultural development, and even outline a path for agricultural development for the next twenty years. Our vision cannot be limited to Sichuan, but must also include Yunnan, Guizhou, and even the entire country. No matter what stage we reach, as long as we have grain in hand, we will not be worried. The more grain production, the better. We must also establish a minimum purchase price to prevent low grain prices from hurting farmers!"

When the comrades heard Zhang Yinghao's words, they all understood. This man really has national ambitions, otherwise how could he ask them to focus on the whole country! But it's good to have such ambitions. Who doesn't have some ambitions in their heart?

After discussing the matter and reaching a consensus, Zhang Yinghao immediately issued orders to the relevant departments to immediately build factories and produce fertilizers in areas with phosphate and other minerals. He also issued a directive to the technical department to begin research on synthetic ammonia technology. Zhang Yinghao even drew process flow charts for synthetic ammonia and the Hou alkali process for his colleagues to study. Only by achieving breakthroughs in synthetic ammonia technology could we have an inexhaustible supply of chemical fertilizers.

Suddenly, Zhang Yinghao remembered that now that he had an oil field and gasoline and diesel engines, he could easily build an iron ox to plow the land. He didn't need a large, tracked plowing machine; a small one would be fine. Iron oxen were far superior to water buffaloes. So Zhang Yinghao drew a blueprint for an iron ox and asked his colleagues to build it.

After finishing these, Zhang Yinghao thought of radio. He had never heard of it before, so it must have not been invented yet. It would be a bit far-fetched to talk about it now. If it was recorded, it would become an unsolved mystery in the future.

Zhang Yinghao was in this state of mind at the time, almost no longer doing any specific work. He was either working on strategic direction, giving lectures to colleagues, or designing something for them to study and discuss and solve problems with them.

While Zhang Yinghao was desperately developing the liberated areas, the comrades who had arrived in various places had already begun to take action. When they set out, the Forward Party would tell them the same thing: surround the cities from the countryside and seize power by force. The previous uprisings by secret societies were ultimately suppressed by the Qing Dynasty and the foreign powers. This taught the comrades that the vast countryside was the place where they could express themselves freely.

In fact, by 1903, telegraphs had been introduced in all provinces except Xizang. With information transmission becoming increasingly rapid, traditional peasant uprisings were no longer successful. Traditional uprisings, based on sudden gatherings of people in a specific location and the subsequent attack on a county seat, were inherently unsuccessful. Even if they achieved short-term success, they would ultimately fail. Therefore, revolutions inevitably began with the control of the old-fashioned armies. In the age of breech-loading rifles, faced with machine guns and cannons, rebellious peasants would be harvested like straw.

Therefore, these comrades are now developing revolutionary forces in their home provinces. Small-scale actions will not provoke a frenzied counterattack from the Qing forces, and naturally the later they are discovered, the better. In the vast rural areas, as long as they adhere to the strategy of retreating when the enemy advances, they will not be afraid of the Qing encirclement and suppression. They will simply engage in close combat with the local landlords, and the struggle will be even more brutal.

Many of the comrades who entered the Northeast are now doing very well. They are distributed among the vast white mountains and black waters, ready to set the prairie on fire at any time.

Team leader Liu Wenxiu and representative Lian Chengjue led the team through Wujiabaozi in Anshan, a remnant of Changbai Mountain in Liaodong.

Two years ago, when the Eight-Nation Alliance invaded Beijing, the Russians, as a member of the Eight-Nation Alliance, directly sent troops to occupy the entire Northeast. Wujiabaozi was in Liaodong and was undoubtedly occupied by the Russians.

At this time, in the vast land of Northeast China, forced to move to the countryside in order to survive, some became bandits, while others became tenant farmers for landlords. Bandits were now everywhere outside the Great Wall, and Northeast China had officially entered an era where anyone with a gun could be a king. The Qing government had no effective way to deal with these bandit dens.

Liu Wenxiu and Lian Chengjue hadn't initially planned to stay in Wujiabaozi, but as they passed by, they heard a commotion. The six of them walked over and saw a familiar scene. After listening to the surrounding onlookers' discussions, they understood what was going on.

It turned out that the landlords of this fort, the Wu family, defected to Tsarist Russia when the Russians invaded. After witnessing the brutality of the Russians, they immediately transformed from landlords and gentry into bullies and evil gentry. They provided the Russians with food and supplies, money and women, and tried their best to curry favor with the Russians. The Russians were so satisfied with their service that they took the opportunity to support a traitor to work for them.

Now the Wu family is still in charge of the fort, and relying on the support of the Russians, they have become even more aggressive, recruiting a group of ruffians to form a militia, which specializes in bullying men and women, threatening and forcing, and extorting money, causing complaints from the entire fort.

Of course, the people were suffering, and the lackeys were naturally happy. At this time, the lackeys were robbing boys and girls under the command of the local steward. The father could only kneel on the ground and beg the steward to spare his family. The girl clung to a pillar tightly and refused to let go, crying heartbreakingly.

The comrades had heard plenty of stories of bullying, but this was their first encounter. What made it all the more familiar was that the girl being robbed was named Xier, the heroine of the White-Haired Girl. So, as they watched this scene, they felt a sudden warmth, a familiarity. It felt like a dream, like watching a play—they stopped in their tracks and watched.

As for why the father and daughter were targeted by the lackeys, the comrades quickly understood from the father's cries and the people's discussions. It was, of course, because Xier was quite pretty and had caught the landlord's eye. The landlord, having taken a fancy to her, naturally wanted to take her as a concubine for his own pleasure. So, he tricked the father and daughter into borrowing a lifeline of one tael of silver, and now, they were expected to pay back ten taels.

For the father and daughter who lived on wild vegetables every day, this was an astronomical figure, and naturally they could not afford to pay it back. Hehe! If you don't have money, you can pay with your body. Using someone to pay off the debt is not a bad option either.

Chapter 262:

If the landlord wasn't already sixty-six, half buried, if he hadn't already married eight concubines, if he hadn't sent his concubines to serve the Russians, then agreeing wouldn't matter. But his daughter was only a dozen or so years old. How could a father have the heart to push his daughter into the fire?

At that moment, the comrades witnessed the tragedy of a father and daughter being separated, the tragedy of a lackey forcibly seizing a woman. Listening to the people's discussions, Lian Chengjue and Liu Wenxiu exchanged a knowing smile, knowing each other's thoughts. Lian Chengjue immediately led the two out of the crowd and went to investigate the Wu family.

Landlords generally wouldn't personally intervene in such cases of abducting women. If something went wrong, they could still mitigate the situation by simply finding a scapegoat. Of course, it was only with the support of the Russians that the landlords dared to act so recklessly.

At this time, the housekeeper saw that more and more people were around and he was getting impatient. The gossip made the lackeys more and more restrained. The housekeeper didn't care about it anymore and shouted directly: "Beat him, beat him hard, you still have the right to not pay back the money you owe."

The housekeeper naturally wouldn't talk about paying with sex. It's unacceptable not to pay back the money owed, and beating someone also requires a reason.

The lackeys received the order and no longer held back, raising their guns to smash down with the butts. If the butts came down, even trained men like them would not be able to withstand it, let alone an honest tenant farmer who lived on borrowed money.

Liu Wenxiu naturally couldn't let the butt of the gun fall, so he heard him shout: "Stop."

When everyone heard those two words, the scene froze as if paused. Xier and the father looked at Liu Wenxiu with hope, hoping this was the beginning of a heroic show of justice.

Liu Wenxiu walked out of the crowd and said loudly: "Miss Xier, I see

You'd better let go and obey. If they beat your father, you will eventually marry Mr. Wu, and your father will suffer the beating in vain.

From now on, you can enjoy the good life and your father will enjoy the good life too. Butler, don’t you think this is the truth?

"Of course, our master in Wujiabao is like this. If you follow the master, it will be a blessing that you have cultivated for eight lifetimes."

He raised a big thumbs up as he spoke. Although he was curious about why this person who suddenly appeared spoke for them, since he was speaking for them, he must be a friend. Moreover, with the chaos in Northeast China, there were many people who wanted to seek refuge in Wujiabaozi.

After Xier heard this, she tilted her head and thought for a while, then slowly loosened her hand, immediately stood up and went to help her father up. This is how Chinese people are. Once the truth is made clear, even if they suffer, they don’t want their family members to suffer with them.

If suffering can bring a good life to their families, they are willing to sacrifice themselves for the sake of their families, especially their parents.

Seeing Xi'er had figured it out, Liu Wenxiu immediately said to the housekeeper, "Housekeeper, look, isn't the matter resolved? It wouldn't be a big deal to just snatch her back. Now that they've figured it out, we can leave someone to watch over her and come pick her up the day after tomorrow for the wedding ceremony. What do you think, housekeeper?"

The housekeeper looked at Xier and the others for a while, nodded, and told the ruffians next to him to keep an eye on Xier and the others.

Seeing the housekeeper's agreement, Liu Wenxiu immediately said, "I am passing through your precious place and since I have encountered such a great event, I would like to go to Mr. Wu's house and ask for some tea."

Seeing Liu Wenxiu helping him and being so polite, the housekeeper immediately felt a surge of favor. Although he had his doubts, he still said, "Haha, you're welcome, you're welcome. Come this way."