latelenovela Chapter 51 Manpower Sources
Chapter 51 Manpower Sources
??
Villagers who had received the news were already arriving at the ancestral hall, asking similar questions all at once.
"Why should this perfectly good land be confiscated and turned into government land?"
"On what grounds can the government take back this land? Doesn't the landlord have land deeds?"
Following the plan, Li Ergou spread the pre-prepared message from village to village. He didn't answer the villagers' questions individually, but patiently waited until most of the villagers who were working in the fields had arrived before he spoke up to announce the message.
"Fellow villagers, I've come today to tell you some bad news." He cleared his throat and scanned the villagers who were listening intently.
"My master only collects rent from everyone; all taxes and grain are collected on his behalf. Originally, he thought this would both benefit the villagers and serve the court, lightening everyone's burden and ensuring the court collects its taxes on time. However, this has cut off the source of income for certain officials. These people take advantage of the court's tax collection to embezzle funds, adding extra charges to your taxes while concealing them from the court. Out of ten percent of the tax, they take fifteen percent from you, only handing over fifty percent to the court..."
The villagers were furious when they heard this. It turned out that the taxes they received every year didn't go into the government's coffers, but instead ended up in the pockets of corrupt officials!
“Now that my master is paying taxes on behalf of the government, not a single penny of the regular taxes stipulated by the court has been paid. Those people no longer have the opportunity to embezzle, so they want to take revenge on my master. They abuse their power and use the name of the government to frame my master and confiscate all the land under his name, turning it into government land. If that happens, it will be just a matter of a word for them to crush you.”
Silence fell over the ancestral hall. The prospect described by Li Ergou was too terrible. If it became government land, it wouldn't be any better than falling into the hands of people like Gou Dafu; in fact, it would probably be worse. They never imagined that their good days would be shattered before they could even enjoy them, ultimately ending in nothing but empty joy.
Su Tui asked loudly, "If the master doesn't comply, and we don't comply either, what will the government do?"
Li Ergou gave him an approving look. This young man was good at playing the straight man, preventing him from talking to himself. "It's very simple, the government will arrest people."
Su Tui Da recalled the group of young men who had driven away Zhang Mazi last time, and continued to ask, "Doesn't the boss have people under his command? Are you afraid of them?"
Li Ergou replied, "What if we anger the government and they send troops to attack us?"
When Li Ergou mentioned the officers and soldiers, everyone shut their mouths tightly, not daring to speak. Confronting the officers and soldiers was beyond their psychological limits.
Unwilling to regress to his previous dark days, Su asked with a glimmer of hope, "Master, is there any way? We can't just sit here and wait to die, can we?"
Li Ergou glanced at the expressions of the other villagers; Su Tui Da's words seemed to represent their sentiments.
He replied, “My master does not want to go against the court, but he will not surrender so easily and let villains plot against him and arbitrarily fabricate charges. No matter what methods those people use, we will meet them head-on. Even if government troops come to attack, my master will fight to the death and get through this ordeal. Afterwards, the government will clear my master’s name.”
When he said these words, his facial expression was very convincing. These words were all pre-planned. He went from village to village and said them so many times that he almost believed them to be true.
Su Da Tui felt a surge of satisfaction, a sense of vindication and justice, and thought, "That's how a real man should be!" He raised his fist and shouted, "That's exactly right! If the boss needs someone, count me, Su Da Tui, in!"
Old Su followed behind him and was startled when he suddenly heard him shout like that. He grabbed his arm and scolded, "Are you crazy? You're going even if the soldiers come? Even if you come back alive, you'll still be charged with treason and die!"
Old Su was deeply ingrained with the idea that one should keep a low profile and not fight against officials. In his eyes, his son's attitude was suicidal. No matter how his employer fought against the government, it was not something a peasant like him should meddle in.
Su Da Tui shook off his father's hand, jumped onto a table, and shouted, "Fellow villagers, under Gou Dafu's rule, we work hard in the fields but still go hungry and cold, we can't pay our rent and we get beaten. I became an apprentice at a blacksmith's shop when I was little because I had no food to eat, to save food for my family. I had to swing a sledgehammer when I was fourteen, and I almost got smashed to death by the hammer in my first year. I have three younger brothers, two of whom didn't survive past one year old because they had no food. My sister is almost sixteen and still unmarried because there is a shortage of labor in the family, so they treat her like a man. My father and mother are not even fifty years old, but they work day and night and look like they are seventy or eighty years old..."
His words resonated with the villagers, and many people's eyes reddened. Under Gou Dafu's rule, which family didn't suffer?
Old Man Su lowered his hand, no longer trying to grab his son's arm, and instead wiped away his tears. He thought of his two sons who had died young, both starving to death because there was no food and his wife had no milk. He could only hold his son's shriveled body, watching his life slowly fade away helplessly. He choked back sobs and whispered, "My poor son..."
Old Man Su's emotions affected the surrounding villagers. Everyone knew about the deaths of his two sons, and it stirred up memories in the villagers as well. They all thought of their own painful experiences, and some of them, with their tearful eyelids, had already started to cry. Lin the Cripple sobbed, "My second son was beaten because of the rent payment. He also had a fever at the time, and we didn't have money for medicine. He didn't even last three days before he passed away..."
Su Da Tui continued, "The new boss has given us a way to survive, and everyone has something to look forward to. If all this land is confiscated and turned into government land, what do you think things will be like? The government might be even more ruthless than Gou Dafu. Rather than that, we might as well follow the boss and fight our way out!"
When Li Ergou was clearing land and producing salt in Lijia Village, the village was in even worse shape than Hefeng Village. It wasn't until Liu Ye appeared out of nowhere that their lives were completely changed. He deeply sympathized with the suffering of the villagers of Hefeng Village, and his belief became even stronger: he had to bring them into the Lord's camp so that they could live a better life.
He continued Su's words, saying, "What this young man said makes a lot of sense. Neither the landlords nor the government are easy to deal with. If the villagers trust my master, they should work for him. He won't let anyone suffer losses."
One villager hesitated and asked, "Fighting with the government troops, not to mention whether we can win, isn't that rebellion? It will implicate nine generations of your family!" This was exactly Su Laoguan's concern, and it was also the concern of most villagers.
“My master is not rebelling, but has no other choice. As long as we can withstand the government’s initial blows, things will calm down and there will naturally be a way to resolve the situation. My master not only owns land, but also runs a large business. He is not afraid to spend money. Money makes the world go round, so don’t worry about being held accountable later.”
Li Ergou's words shook many people's resolve. Su Tui Da patted his chest and shouted, "I'll say it again: if the boss needs people, count me, Su Tui Da, in."
Seeing that the time was right, Li Ergou threw out his final trump card: "This young man is truly righteous. My master said that there might be a battle with the government troops, and every family with male members participating will receive one tael of silver per month, and next year, 30% of the rent for their rented land will be waived..." The villagers were all in an uproar upon hearing these conditions.
Li Ergou continued to add to the pressure: "...Next year, all the land will be redistributed. Families with male members participating in the war will have priority in choosing land to cultivate, with no limit on the number of acres. Families without male members participating in the war, regardless of the number of people in their family, cannot cultivate more than five acres of land."
The villagers were thoroughly spurred on. To the left lay sweet promises, to the right a heavy hand; even a fool would know which side to choose. If the landlord successfully retained the land from the government, the tenants who got priority would have a huge advantage. Those who chose later would not only be unable to get fertile land, but would also only be limited to a maximum of five mu (approximately 0.33 acres). The difference between the two was enormous.
The young villagers all joined Su Tui in shouting, "Count me in! Count me in!"
Old Su hesitated, but did not continue to stop his eldest son. After all, compared with the government, whether they could rent good land and have enough to eat seemed to be the more pressing issues.
Through a series of deceptive maneuvers, Liu Ye successfully lured the tenant farmers of Lingao County onto his cause. Within just half a month, six or seven hundred men wanted to join his guard. After screening, two hundred were selected—all honest, law-abiding, and physically strong; the older or weaker were eliminated. Although the number was small, it planted the seeds of resistance against the government within Lingao County. With proper management, even a small spark could ignite a prairie fire.
In preparation for a potential battle, everything was set aside to make way for the guard. The Bairentan Steel Plant and the arsenal were working at full capacity to manufacture weapons and equipment, while Li Ergou led the newly formed construction team to speed up the expansion of the barracks. Shi Ying stayed at the training ground day and night to train new recruits.