The Heroic Age of the Late Qing Dynasty

At first light the next day, the villagers had already gathered, and every family was ready to divide the land. Bao Shilin, the presiding officer, said, "Everyone who should be here has arrived, and today we will begin dividing the land. However, it rained yesterday, and when it rained, many people said it was a blessing from heaven, and it was indeed a blessing from heaven. The rain has come so that you can have a good year. We plan to plant potatoes on all the land—note, all of it.

We'll figure out how to plant the potatoes and divide the land so everyone can wait for the harvest. All the cattle and horses are used to plow the land, but this time, Captain Zhang taught us new farming methods. We're all working together, with the security team taking the lead, and men, women, and children all joining in. We'll try to plant the potatoes as quickly as possible so we can divide the land among everyone and plant paddy fields next year. This is Captain Zhang's order. The food and accommodation will remain the same as when we built the reservoir, but this season, 50% of the potato harvest must be handed over. Of course, since we're working for ourselves now, we won't get any food, but those who come to the village to work will still get food to take home. Okay, line up by class, and let's divide the work into sections and get to work."

After assigning the teams, Zhang Yinghao led the nine men to a plot of land. Pointing at it, he said, "Everyone, get ready. I'm going to divide this plot of land into ten parts. Each of us will choose one part to compete. Whoever completes the task first today will receive an egg. Let me first tell you about the technique for digging. Focus on the task without distractions. Don't worry about how fast others are digging. Just keep digging at your own pace. Then your speed won't slow down, and you'll definitely be able to complete today's task. As long as you can endure the loneliness, the egg will be yours today."

With that, Zhang Yinghao used his hoe to divide the field into ten sections. Each person picked one section, and Zhang Yinghao himself stood at the last section. Without a word, he picked up the hoe and began to work. Zhang Yinghao didn't know how much farm work he had done, but he knew that as long as he focused, didn't let his mind wander, and didn't look at others, he would definitely complete the task today. As long as he didn't let his rhythm get disrupted, even if he finished digging the ground, he wouldn't feel tired today.

Zhang Yinghao knew that not dividing the land today was a breach of his promise. This would negatively impact his credibility and deal a heavy blow to the villagers' morale. However, time was of the essence and the potatoes needed to be planted quickly. So on the first day, Zhang Yinghao personally took the hoe and went to work, setting an example.

In this way, under the leadership of Zhang Yinghao, a vigorous rush to plant potatoes began. After the operation began, Zhang Yinghao realized that he had accidentally planted potatoes at the right time and would not waste the season. He immediately sent people to the Yangtze River to buy potatoes and then brought them back for large-scale rush planting.

Zhang Yinghao invented a new potato planting method: he first divided the field into half rows, planted the potatoes, and then turned the soil over the other half to cover the potatoes. This method saved at least one-third of the time compared to the previous method. He stopped planting potatoes in the second half of November, planting all the land in the surrounding villages with potatoes. He stopped not because he had no land, but because he couldn't find potatoes.

Within a month, Zhang Yinghao and his team finally completed the simplified Chinese dictionary, and the formatting was ready for immediate mass printing. Zhang Yinghao considered this his greatest achievement. He had produced the Chinese Pinyin alphabet. Even if he suddenly vanished from this world, with this dictionary, future revolutionaries would have a much lower cost for promoting education, freeing up a great deal of time for other tasks. Furthermore, with Pinyin and a dictionary, as long as they were taught how to use this reference book, self-study would be a breeze for motivated comrades.

There might still be some errors in the dictionary, or there might be many missing characters, or even that it's too simplified, but these aren't problems; they can be expanded over time. Zhang Yinghao has also decided that when he prints his articles, he must include pinyin in the font. This will allow more people to understand his writing and sow more seeds of revolution.

He wasn't Superman; he could die from illness or being shot. Furthermore, Zhang Yinghao was concerned about conspiracy theories that might be exploited to monopolize his writings. Therefore, the more people understood his books and the more debates there were, the less he feared reactionaries would emerge within his ranks. Zhang Yinghao also believed that the people had discerning eyes.

The potatoes were planted, and now it was finally time to divide the land. Zhang Yinghao had no plans to participate in the division himself. He was a bit prestigious in the village. It wasn't really his prestige, but rather that he could influence the fate of many people and bring them benefits. So, they were willing to listen to him as long as it didn't affect their own interests.

Zhang Yinghao didn't intend to get involved, simply wanting to see how these inexperienced people would divide the situation. He was filled with curiosity. Of course, Zhang Yinghao wouldn't sit idly by. He dispatched several waves of troops to observe outside the state capital and the homes of some more distant landlords. The troops were ready to attack at any time. Danger was everywhere, so they had to be extra cautious.

On the Jiachen day of the Dinghai month of the Gengzi year, it was appropriate to break ground, offer sacrifices, open a pond and thank the land. That was November 27, 1900. This day is destined to be remembered clearly in history because Zhangjiagou began to divide the land on this day.

Zhang Tielin was originally from Zhangjiagou, a place his family had lived in for generations. However, after the rise of landlord Zhang, his family's situation deteriorated year by year. Leveraging their wealth, the Zhang family recruited local thugs as thugs, seizing farmland in and around Zhangjiagou through both legal and illegal means. After seizing the farmland near his own home, they expanded it, and a large area near Zhang's home also belonged to the Zhang family. Zhang Tielin's brother, Zhang Tiesheng, was injured and died during a dispute with the Zhang family over paddy fields. His sister-in-law also died of grief shortly thereafter. Zhang Tielin hated the Zhang family but could not express it.

Zhang Tielin always felt hatred for his brother. However, after his brother and his wife passed away, the unmarried Zhang Tielin took his two nephews in and raised them as his own sons. He usually took good care of them. However, due to the disaster this year, he really couldn't afford to support his two nephews. If anything happened to his nephews, how could he face his brother and his wife in the afterlife?

He had sworn in front of his dying brother that he would take good care of his two nephews. If he had been like that before, he would have fought for Landlord Zhang's life, even at the cost of his own life. But if he died, his nephews would have no one to take care of them. And Landlord Zhang always used him and his two nephews as a threat, forcing him to submit to his threats.

When Zhang Tielin learned that Zhang Gou Wa was going to take his children to Chongqing, he sent his two children there. The family was running out of food, and survival was the key. However, Zhang Tielin had his own plan: after his two nephews left, he would go after the landlord Zhang.

But before he could take any action, on the third day, the landlord Zhang's family was wiped out. He learned from his nephew that the landlord Zhang's family was Zhang Gou Wa, oh no, it was Captain Zhang who shot them down at night. After hearing the news, Zhang Tielin went to his brother's grave to burn incense. The revenge was finally avenged.

Later, Zhang Tielin was building a reservoir and giving lectures. Zhang Tielin finally understood that these landlords were cannibals and that if they were not overthrown, a peasant like him would never have a chance to rise. Zhang Tielin became very active in both work and class. As the land was about to be divided, Zhang Tielin became a little worried, wondering if he could get back the land that had been taken away from him by the landlords.

Chapter 29: Dividing the Land Requires Discussion

3824 words

History is created by the people, so we must trust the people within the principles. — Quotations from Zhang Yinghao

Zhang Tielin came to the Zhang family compound with such a nervous mood. When he arrived, he saw that the yard was full of people. After a quick look, Zhang Tielin felt that almost everyone had arrived, but he did not see Captain Zhang.

After Zhang Tielin finished registering at the check-in counter, he asked, "Where's Captain Zhang? Why can't I see him?"

Zhang Tielin also knew the kid on the registration list. He was from the same village. He felt envious, thinking that these kids had lucked out at this good time.

"The group leader won't be coming to participate in the land distribution. He has his own work to do."

Hearing this, Zhang Tielin felt even more uncertain. He had originally wanted to talk to Zhang Yinghao to see if the previous land could be redistributed to him. Would the land he was given now be the same as what the team leader said?

After waiting for a while, seeing that no one was there, the person who registered counted the number of people on the list and found that everyone was there. He took the list and went out to find Bao Shilin. After a while, Bao Shilin appeared in front of everyone and heard him say: "Captain Zhang said that we will divide the land among everyone. Everyone knows it, right? This is the first time we divide the land and we have no experience, so everyone, please tell us how to divide the land. When your name is called, please stand up and say how you think it should be divided. Everyone should give their opinion."

Then he gave the man holding the list a look, and the young man read out: "Zhang Chunsheng is the first to speak."

Zhang Chunsheng stood up immediately when he heard his name. It was a conditioned reflex. After all, he had learned this skill after a while. However, since he was the first to speak, he was not only nervous but also didn't dare to say much. He just said, "I'll listen to Captain Zhang."

Hearing this, the meeting room burst into laughter. Bao Shilin said unhappily, "Captain Zhang is not here, so tell me what you think."

After such a long period of publicity, everyone had a concept of land division in their minds and had their own ideas. Furthermore, Zhang Yinghao had previously stated a few principles, and no one objected.

He expressed his previous thoughts: "My opinion is that the original land should be distributed to whoever owned it, and then the land of the landlord should be used to compensate those who have more and compensate those who have less. Those who have less land will get more, and those who have more land will get less." After saying that, he sat down.

Bao Shilin didn't say anything, just looked at him, which made Zhang Chunsheng confused. It was the person next to him who reminded him: "You have to finish what you are saying."

Zhang Chunsheng then stood up as if his butt was on fire and said, "I'm done." Then he sat down, and everyone laughed again.

With someone starting the conversation, the hall became lively, the sound of discussion was almost inaudible. When the noise gradually died down, Bao Shilin said, "Next."

At this time, the young man picked up the list and read Zhang Tielin's name. Zhang Tielin stood up and said, "Captain Zhang said earlier that everyone's land will be redistributed. I think it's okay to divide it according to Chunsheng's suggestion, but I wonder if we can divide it this way. Each family has two and a half acres of land. Can't everyone's land be divided into one piece? This will make farming more convenient and the land will be distributed faster. That's all I have to say."

The crowd became even more lively now, with some expressing approval and others opposing.

As the villagers spoke one by one, Bao Shilin wrote down all the opinions as Zhang Yinghao had said. Actually, it was not a big deal. But someone suggested that everyone farm and eat together, which made Bao Shilin's eyes light up. After all, he knew that this was how they had been doing during this period of time. Everyone was very enthusiastic and could work quickly when they concentrated.

Some people felt that the division method Zhang Chunsheng proposed was indeed difficult to farm. Those who generally agreed with this view were those who previously had better land and didn't want to share it with others. Those who agreed with Zhang Tiesheng's idea were generally those who already had little or no land and wanted a piece to make farming easier. Everyone was unwilling to suffer a loss and wanted the land closest to the reservoir. Bao Shilin finally considered the situation and concluded that if they couldn't get the land near the water head, they could divide it according to Zhang Chunsheng's method, or they could just leave it alone and let everyone share the same crops and harvest.

Bao Shilin waited until everyone had finished speaking before saying, "Now that everyone has expressed their opinions on land division, let's vote. I've noted down three possible ways to divide the land. The first is Zhang Chunsheng's, the second is Zhang Tielin's, and the third is what everyone has proposed: everyone farming together. There are both advantages and disadvantages. If you can't decide, then let's vote."

Then he pulled out a blackboard, a design he'd developed over time, and instructed someone to write the three options on it with chalk, numbering them one, two, and three. He then said, "Each person only needs to write one number: one, two, or three. Then we'll count the votes. We'll use the method chosen by the most people. Don't object, everyone. The majority will prevail. After the count, we'll have dinner, and then we'll start dividing the land that afternoon."

Everyone started talking among themselves again, though there were no arguments. After all, no matter how the land was divided, everyone would have their own share. They were simply discussing the pros and cons, trying to find allies, and then writing down their choices on paper.

Bao Shilin picked two villagers with the loudest voices from the crowd to read out the numbers. Three young men marked the correct characters on the blackboard. In the end, Liu Chunsheng's method won by a landslide.

"After voting, we'll divide the land according to the method Zhang Chunsheng mentioned earlier. Okay, let's all go eat together. After dinner, we'll have the energy to work in the afternoon."

During the short break before lunch, Bao Shilin reported to Zhang Yinghao the results of the morning's vote and the main points of contention. He then said, "Captain, I think it's a good idea not to divide the land. More people will gather, and there's strength in numbers. This way, we'll have enough manpower to do anything. It'll be difficult to find people after the land is divided."

Zhang Yinghao knew what was going on when he saw the record, but he didn't criticize Bao Shilin's idea of ​​absolute fairness based on his small-peasant mentality. So Zhang Yinghao said to Bao Shilin: "Write down what I'm going to say next. You'll need it in class later."

Zhang Yinghao saw that Bao Shilin was ready, so he said, "I understand what you said. This time we called everyone together to build the reservoir and plant potatoes, and we concentrated all our manpower and material resources. The efficiency is indeed very high, and there is strength in numbers. But everyone is different. Some are more hardworking, some are more lazy, some eat more, and some eat less. It is not a big problem to work together for a short period of time. The reason we can gather them together now is because of a special situation - a natural disaster. After the disaster or over a long period of time, big problems will arise, and everyone will feel unfair.

You have to understand that when it comes to work, more people mean more power. But what about distributing the fruits of labor? Fewer people means more food, especially given today's low productivity. With so much produced, distribution becomes an intractable problem: those who work harder feel uncomfortable, those with less physical strength feel they need to be taken care of, and those who eat less want a bigger share. Even the best ideals can't withstand the zero-sum game of distribution. Over time, good work and bad work will be treated equally, as will more work and less work, and finally, work and no work. Our policy of shared living and eating from the same pot will breed a lot of lazy people.

"So this collective policy can't possibly succeed?"

Zhang Yinghao thought for a moment and replied, "That's not the case. If we want to implement the big pot system now, we need a material foundation and high-quality talent. The material foundation means that the improvement of labor productivity can also support those who gain something for nothing. High-quality talent means that if we support those who gain something for nothing, we will not care about the material loss because we can get more than expected returns. Or, if everyone has a relatively high quality, they will actively participate in labor."

Zhang Yinghao thought for a moment before saying, "Of course, if it's used as a transitional policy for a period of time, like we did before, it would be a very good policy, as it would help minimize starvation and other such phenomena. However, I'm opposed to this kind of high welfare. We Chinese should all understand the principle of 'no work, no food'. We should all establish the concept that gaining something without working is shameful. Do you really expect something good to fall from the sky without working?"

Bao Shilin said worriedly, "But now that the land is being divided up like this, some families with little or no labor force simply can't afford to farm. We can't let the land go to waste, can we?"

Zhang Yinghao was very happy to hear this question, because it got to the heart of the matter, so he said: "So we must vigorously develop and improve productivity. Next, we will establish supply and marketing cooperatives and rural cooperatives. We will produce a large number of iron farm tools and sell them cheaply to these villagers. Look at these villagers now. Some of them still use wooden farm tools at home. It's not that people think wooden farm tools are easier to use, but they don't have the money to buy iron farm tools.

Think about Landlord Zhang's family. They have so many fields but only a few iron tools. The main reason is that there's too little iron produced, making them too expensive. It's not that they don't know how useful iron tools are, but they rust and are difficult to maintain, making them uneconomical. If we could mass-produce cheap iron tools, women could work in the fields, and during busy farming season, students could return home to work during school holidays. This would greatly free up labor and improve production efficiency. Just imagine what that would mean.

Bao Shilin was silent for a while before saying, "This is indeed very good."

Zhang Yinghao smiled and said, "We control most of the transactions in the countryside through the supply and marketing cooperatives, and unite the majority of farmers through the rural cooperatives. That's about it. If these farmers want a better life, they must trade with us, so that we have money to buy more machinery and equipment. The money we get from fighting the local tyrants alone is not enough for us. Besides, dividing the land will not increase the food supply much. Dividing the land does not actually produce much benefit. It just ensures that everyone has enough to eat."

"But some families still can't afford to buy farm tools. What should we do?"

"To solve this problem, we can only set up rural credit cooperatives to provide farmers with low-interest or even interest-free loans. Farmers can repay the loans through the crops they grow."

"Captain, are you planning to set up a bank?"

"Establishing a bank is inevitable. I won't discuss this for now. I'll explain it in detail later. How long will it take you to divide the land now?"

Bao Shilin thought for a moment and replied, "We are very well prepared this time. It won't take long. Does the leader have any good suggestions?"

Zhang Yinghao was at a loss for words. "You're being cunning," he said. "I'm just making a suggestion. I don't know how it would work. Maybe after we've divided the land a few times, we can come up with a better solution. We all have no experience. But wisdom lies in the people. If we can't find a solution, those who divided the land might have already figured it out. My idea is this: make some wooden signs stuck in the ground with the villagers' names written on them. Then, we'll stick them up in one direction and register the land as we go. The size and shape of the land must be clearly recorded. It's all meticulous work. We only need to have a general land distribution book, and they can keep their own books. The signs are easy to make, and if they're put up and left for a few days, it's best if there are no doubts. If there are, we can make adjustments immediately. What do you think?"

Bao Shilin thought for a while and said, "Maybe it will take a long time. This method is good, but we need to send more people."

Zhang Yinghao said, "Why did we call back all our key personnel? Actually, we all had to go and see how the land was divided. After our village, we'd divide Liujiazhai. Then, we'd summarize the lessons learned, and then we'd split up into different groups and continue dividing the land until all of China's land was divided."

Bao Shilin was stunned after hearing this. What was going on? Now he was thinking about dividing up all the land in China. Bao Shilin had known that Zhang Yinghao was going to rebel, but he hadn't expected it to start with dividing up the land. Bao Shilin asked in a trembling voice, "Captain, are you planning a rebellion?"

Chapter 30: Landlord’s Complaint Resolves the Problem

3828 words

If money can solve a problem, there are other ways to solve it. — Quotes from Zhang Yinghao

Zhang Yinghao laughed heartily at this expression, then said, "I've already said I won't rebel. What kind of rebellion is that? We just want everyone in the world to have land to farm. Isn't that too much to ask?"

Bao Shilin said hurriedly: "But, this..."

Zhang Yinghao didn't want to hear anything more from Bao Shilin, so he waved his hand and said, "Okay, I know what you're going to say, but it's not what you think. You should take charge of the land division first. You'll be busy later. Go downstairs, have a meal, take a rest, and then start the land division."

Thus, the vigorous land revolution began shortly after Bao Shilin left.

Seeing Bao Shilin's anxious expression, Zhang Yinghao sighed inwardly. It seemed that political education was urgent, but where could one find China's Marx? The thought was painful, so Zhang Yinghao gave up thinking about it. When you reach the mountain, there will always be a way out. When you reach the bridge, you will find your way out.

Zhang Yinghao did not intend to directly participate in the work of dividing the land, so he ran to the iron smelting site to communicate and discuss with the technical staff. Zhang Yinghao hoped to use his limited knowledge to help these people who had little experience in industrial production solve the problem.

It's true, this time I really helped this group of people. These technicians were researching iron farm tools. Zhang Yinghao came in and saw them discussing it. After listening for a while, he knew what they were talking about. Zhang Yinghao had been using iron farm tools for a long time since he came to this era. He also found that the iron was too soft to use directly as farm tools. The edges would curl after a while, and after a while, they would lose their sharpness and were not wear-resistant.

Steel doesn't have the problem of curling, but it's too brittle and easily breaks or chips when it hits rocks. Furthermore, steel production is currently too low. As for alloys, we can't produce much. It's not enough to make guns and ammunition, and certainly not enough to make iron tools.

Zhang Yinghao was thinking about how to combine the two. He looked around at the materials and tools available. Suddenly, he saw the iron farm tools he had just made and the molten steel. An idea struck him, and he said, "Can we coat the surface of these iron farm tools with a layer of steel? This way, we can avoid the weaknesses of both steel and iron. The combination will be both wear-resistant and not prone to breakage."

The technicians were stunned by what they heard, and looked at Zhang Yinghao with eyes that were filled with amazement. Without further ado, they immediately went to test it. Zhang Yinghao saw that everyone was busy, and he was very happy that he had solved another problem for them. He hummed a little tune and went back.

Of course, Zhang Yinghao had no idea how many problems his sudden inspiration solved. It also, to a certain extent, freed the minds of the technicians, allowing them to understand how to solve problems. Thus, the future hot-selling sandwich steel was born. Zhang Yinghao didn't know yet that this would be the solution to this problem in later generations.

While Zhang Yinghao was discussing with the technicians, the fields erupted in excitement. When Bao Shilin explained the method for inserting the signs, there was a surge of activity. When the departure announcement was made, there was a surge of activity. When the first sign was driven into the ground, there were shouts. When the text of the first land contract certificate was read out, there was applause.

Amidst the climax, Bao Shilin seemed a bit absent-minded. Seeing the complex, envious faces of the other villagers who had come to watch the excitement, he immediately understood why the land distribution couldn't be stopped once it began. Unless every last one of his people was killed, those who had seen hope would never want to return to the dark, hopeless days of the past. They would rise up in protest without hesitation. Seeing the joy on the faces of those who had received land, Bao Shilin's admiration for his leader deepened to the depths of Peach Blossom Pond.

Bao Shilin believed that if he said just one word, the people in the other villages would immediately start dividing the land. Bao Shilin later heard that the landlords in those villages had been eliminated by his own regiment commander, and if they hadn't been building water conservancy facilities, they would have started dividing the land long ago. Bao Shilin then felt that he had been separated from the masses, unable to keep up with everyone's pace, and was out of touch with the world. He thought of his life before he met Zhang Yinghao, and in the surprised eyes of the people, Bao Shilin unconsciously slapped himself.

Now, inside Guang'an Prefecture, the old lobby was still there, except that there were countless more people inside, all kneeling on the ground. Then, a middle-aged man with a round head and a plump face, tremblingly shouted, "Your Excellency, Zhangjiagou has rebelled. Today, my men heard the news and reported that Zhangjiagou has been dividing up the land. This is something only the Hong Xiuquan and Yang Xiuquan traitors would do. They are the remnants of the Hong Xiuquan and Yang Xiuquan traitors. Your Excellency, Zhang Xianglong of Zhangjiagou and the gentry nearby were killed by people from Zhangjiagou! Please investigate."

After saying this, he immediately kowtowed to the officials above him.

The other landlords immediately followed suit and shouted, "Please, sir, please investigate."

When the prefect of Guang'an Prefecture, Zeng Chuanxi, saw these people, he couldn't help but think about it. Of course, he is not a fool to have reached his level, but he knows that he has no knowledge of military affairs and has to rely on the local soldiers. However, he at least knows that he can't rely on the Eight Banners, otherwise Beijing would not be occupied by foreign devils. If you want to send troops, you must have money, but now there are rats running out of the treasury, where can you get the money? This group of people in front of him is fat, but asking these landlords to pay is easier for the prefect Zeng Chuanxi to think about. If he really asks them to pay, it will be harder than cutting meat. However, this matter cannot be refused and it really needs to be resolved. Thinking of this, he heard him say: "Everyone, please stand up quickly. This government has learned about your request. This government will definitely support the suppression of the rebellion, but in terms of food and fodder, please help."

At this time, a small landowner was immediately unhappy. He was asking for money without doing any work. So he said without thinking: "Please understand, Your Excellency the prefect, the disaster this year is serious and there is no harvest. I... I..."

The landlord immediately realized that it was not the time for him to speak, and he was unable to say the following words.

Once someone spoke up, the other landlords naturally lost all their scruples and kowtowed, saying, "Please, sir, the prefect, take a closer look."

The prefect, Zeng Chuanxi, was immediately displeased and said with a dark face, "Well, I understand. I will send troops to deal with it as soon as possible. Everyone, just wait and see. Go down."

After everyone had left, he called out, "Come on, please invite the captain to come over to discuss matters."

The captain came over to greet him and asked, "What is the order that the prefect has sent for me?"

The prefect, Zeng Chuanqi, asked, "What do you think of the Zhangjiagou incident?"

This lieutenant commander already knew the current power of Zhangjiagou, and also knew what kind of people were under his command. He could only live one day at a time. He also knew that the governor of the prefecture had already been looking for a way out. If he could climb up, he would climb up. If not, he would be transferred to other places. It was just that the Empress Dowager Cixi was not in Beijing now, so even if he had connections, he couldn't use them. There was nothing he could do for the time being. Rolling his eyes in disdain, the lieutenant commander immediately said: "Sir, Zhangjiagou is just making trouble. I heard that the leader is only eighteen or nineteen years old. Those peasants will be obedient after the land is divided. I haven't heard of any news of rebellion. Please rest assured, sir, I am keeping an eye on it."

"What about the gentry who were killed?"

"Sir, it's the gentry who are anxious. Why should we be anxious? Our city is high and the walls are thick. I will definitely keep you safe."

The prefect, once hearing this, thought, "That's right! These peasants only do bad things in the countryside; how dare they come to the provincial capital?" He pretended to think for a moment, then said with a look of conviction, "That's good. Go down and report back to me when you have news." In reality, he was saying, "It seems I can't stay here any longer."

These landlords were indeed not so simple-minded. They came to the government to file a complaint, not really expecting the government to do anything. Furthermore, they were afraid of the government. They believed that the government's doors were open, but those without money should not enter. They naturally knew what kind of people were inside. They were merely there to give a warning; the government was trustworthy, like a sow climbing a tree. Soon, these landlords gathered at the home of the previously wealthy landlord to discuss matters.

Zhang Yinghao, of course, had no idea what the conversation was about. He wasn't even aware that a group had filed a complaint against him. Of course, even if he knew about the landlords' actions, he wouldn't have considered stopping them. As the saying goes, "Let it rain, let it rain, let the mother marry." Zhang Yinghao might have been able to assassinate the landlords, but he had no intention of overthrowing the landlord class through illicit means.

Many later revolutionaries assassinated high-ranking Qing officials. But where did they learn these methods? From Japan. In Japan, there was a tribe called the samurai, who had a tradition of assassination. Emperors, prime ministers, and high-ranking officials were assassinated. Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and Li Hongzhang were both assassinated in Japan. The Japanese, knowing the dangers of assassination, encouraged revolutionaries studying in Japan to carry out these attacks, and the harmful effects of assassinations persisted for years.

Now Zhang Yinghao had no time to deal with those landlords who had filed complaints, because he was entertaining a very famous landlord in Guang'an - Zhou Weiren.

"Oh? May I know your name, sir? What can I do for you?"

"This is my business card. I apologize for the intrusion."

As he spoke, he handed over a business card. Zhang Yinghao took it and looked at it. The font on it was simply printed, and it was vigorous and powerful at first glance. The three words "Zhou Weiren" were immediately imprinted in Zhang Yinghao's eyes.

Seeing this name, Zhang Yinghao's mind instantly recalled the information he had read about this person. Zhou Weiren was not only a landlord, but also a scholar with a thorough understanding of the principles of classics and history. Many wealthy families who hoped their children would enter officialdom would use their connections to seek Zhou Weiren's advice.

Zhou Weiren's family was powerful, but they also had a strong tradition. Their land rent was the lowest in the area, and their reputation was excellent. This was the norm in those days: some held official positions, others engaged in business, and some managed households, working together for common prosperity. Zhang Yinghao's influence hadn't yet reached the level of the Zhou family, so he hadn't expected such a landlord to approach him.

In fact, Zhang Yinghao didn't know that Zhou Weiren had already known about the uniqueness of Zhangjiagou when Zhangjiagou began to accept refugees. At that time, he only had a vague understanding of it. It was not until Zhang Yinghao recruited a group of scholars from Guang'an Prefecture to compile a dictionary that Zhang Yinghao's name completely caught Zhou Weiren's attention. However, this time Zhou Weiren came to Zhang Yinghao not to seek refuge with him, but because he had heard about Zhang Yinghao's recent actions and wanted to dissuade him.

"Oh, it's Mr. Zhou. Isn't it a pleasure to have friends coming from afar? Please come in, let's go in and sit down and talk. Guard, bring some tea, and an extra cup of warm water for you to moisten his throat."

"You're welcome. Have you read the Four Books and Five Classics?"

"Haha, I've read it. My father was a teacher in the village. But I don't read very deeply. I only have a superficial understanding of everything."

"I hope you will accept my condolences."

"It's all in the past, let's not talk about it..."

Just as he was about to ask the old man why he came to see him, he saw the guard coming in with tea. He placed a cup of warm water and a teacup in front of each person, poured tea in them, and stood aside.