Immediately after the liberation of Hainan Island, it entered the vigorous land reform movement, and Wang Hongju was sent from the army to the local area to support the land reform work. The place where he took part in the land reform was Nantian Village, a barren rural village in the western coastal area of Hainan Island, and the total number of people in this village was more than 300 people, and the whole village had 7 or 800 acres of hillside land, and the largest amount of land in the village was a family named Chen Jiulai, covering an area of more than 300 mu, accounting for almost half of the land in the whole village.

Chen Jiulai and his wife often put some usury in the village, relying on their family's money, and they were rather mean to the villagers, and some people were angry. The peasants organized themselves under the leadership of the land reform working group to divide Chen Jiulai's land and property, confiscate his home, and hold several meetings in the village to fight against the landlords, at which the poor peasants angrily accused the landlord Chen Jiulai of exploiting and persecuting him. Chen Jiulai and his wife were criticized and fought during the day, and at night they would be stripped naked by the militiamen and hung on the beams of the house to torture, forcing them to ask if they still had any private property in the house.

Wang Hongju believed that it was right to fight the landlords in the process of land reform, but he was always dissatisfied with the violence that occurred in the course of land reform, but he was just an ordinary cadre and could not convince the comrades in the working group and the militia. On the same day, he found his old leader, Li Qiming, who was also in charge of the land reform work in several villages, and told him his dissatisfaction and concern about the excessive violence that had occurred in the process of land reform, and suggested that the land reform working group should adopt humane methods as much as possible in the future struggle against the landlords and rich peasants. Li Qiming was very dissatisfied when he heard Wang Hongju say this: "Wang Hongju, why do you dare to say that you want to be humane to the landlords and rich peasants? I don't think anyone in our army can say such a thing except you! You have been training in the army for several years, and I really doubt that you are a qualified revolutionary fighter! Do you know what a revolution is? Revolution is riot! It is the violent action of the proletariat to overthrow the exploiting class by violent means! At present, although the Kuomintang has been beaten to Taiwan, we must resolutely smash all the political and economic foundations of the old society and sweep away all the remnants of feudalism, and we must not have the slightest pity and sympathy for the class enemy! They must never be given any more chance to turn around! Kindness to the enemy is cruelty to the people, and you will be condemned by your conscience if you die as a landlord's wife? She deserved to commit suicide! I remind you that you must not lose your revolutionary stance in the vigorous land reform movement! ”

Wang Hongju could not accept Li Qiming's words, and he refuted Li Qiming, saying: "As long as these landlords and rich peasants do not have blood debts, we will give them the opportunity to live on an equal footing with us again after we divide their fields and property." Isn't it humanitarianism that we have to talk about giving preferential treatment to prisoners when facing an enemy with a gun on the battlefield? ”

"Okay, don't play tricks with me, I don't think you're suitable for land reform here, I'm going to make a report to your superiors about your situation and ask you to be transferred."

Wang Hongju did not convince Li Qiming, he felt very helpless, and he also had the idea of leaving the land reform working group. After Wang Hongju returned to Nantian Village, he found a few people to bury the body of the landlord's wife who was at the head of the village, and then returned to the house to write a report to the superior leaders asking him to return to the army. After writing the report, he was still in a bad mood, so he walked around the village alone. Wang Hongju came to a small river next to the village, only to see a few plantain trees growing on the riverside, behind the plantain tree is a thatched house, he knew that this was the place where the landlord Chen Jiulai was imprisoned, he heard shouts from the house, so he walked towards the house curiously.

The landlord, Chen Jiulai, was kept alone in a small thatched hut, and today a militiaman named Chen Hanhe was in charge of guarding the prisoners. When it was nearly evening, he broke into the house with a few people, they tied Chen Jiulai's feet to a rope and then wrapped the rope around the beam, and a few people pulled the rope hard to hang him up. Chen Hanhe interrogated Chen Jiulai if there was any hidden property at home, Chen Jiulai, who was facing down, blushed and said no, Chen Hanhe pushed the upside-down hanging Chen Jiulai like playing a swing, Chen Jiulai couldn't stand it and talked nonsense, he said that he had an ancestral treasure hidden in the chicken coop, Chen Hanhe immediately called someone to look for it, and when he came back, people said that they didn't find it. Chen Hanhe swayed Chen Jiulai again, Chen Jiulai, who was hanging upside down, was swollen with bloodshot eyes and swollen head, he was extremely uncomfortable, and he was talking nonsense in order to be put down as soon as possible. He would say that there was gold hidden on the beams of the house, and then he would say that the silver ingots were buried in the ground, and then he would say that there was nothing at all, Chen Hanhe and the others were so angry that they beat Chen Jiulai with whips fiercely, and Chen Jiulai screamed miserably. During the interrogation, Wang Hongju walked in from outside, and when he saw this scene, he was furious and asked, "Who told you to lynch him?" Did you interrogate him with the permission of the Order? ”

Wang Hongju saw that those people were silent, so he ordered Chen Hanhe to put down Chen Jiulai, who was hanging upside down. Chen Hanhe and others were reluctant to do anything, so Wang Hongju stepped forward and put the person down with his own hands. Chen Jiulai was untied, and he collapsed to the ground moaning uncontrollably. Wang Hongju said to Chen Han and several others: "If this person is a villain who has committed a heinous crime, we can use revolutionary laws to try them, but we cannot punish them, and this is not in line with our party's policy." Only this once, not for example! ”

In fact, this Chen Hanhe is not a real poor peasant, he has been idle since he was a child, he is lazy to eat, he smokes a lot of cigarettes and smokes a few acres of land and a few houses in his family, and his parents are angry to death, and later he becomes a bastard begging for food next to the village. Chen Hanhe felt that Chen Jiulai still had some property that had not been explained, and this time he interrogated Chen Fanglai behind the back of the working group in order to secretly make some oil and water. The appearance of Wang Hongju made Chen Han and several people leave in vain.

Chen Jiulai had only one son, Chen Wande, who was a teacher at a school in Haikou, and when he heard that his parents were being treated as landlords, he hurriedly asked for leave to return to his home in Nantian Village. As soon as he returned home, he was dumbfounded, his family lived in another family, the land was divided, the property was gone, his father was imprisoned, and his mother committed suicide. He was so angry that he set a fire in his yard, which was extinguished before it was completely burned, and Chen Wande was arrested by the militia. After Li Qiming learned about this incident, he regarded the arson of Chen Wande as a negative example of the landlord class's resistance to land reform and resolute hostility against the people. Li Qiming personally presided over the Nantian Village struggle meeting against the class enemy counter-revolutionary Chen Wande, and Li Qiming stood on a temporary high platform in full armor and majesty, and he loudly announced: "Bring up the landlord's son Chen Jiulai and the landlord's son counterrevolutionary Chen Wande!" ”

Several militiamen brought Chen Jiulai and Chen Wandra to the stage, with large signs of landlords and counter-revolutionaries hanging around their necks. The poor peasants in the audience were in high spirits, waving their fists, and shouting slogans to defeat the landlord Chen Jiulai and the counter-revolutionary Chen Wande. Chen Hanhe was the first to jump on the stage to accuse the landlord Chen Jiulai of cruel exploitation and persecution of himself, he pointed at Chen Jiulai's nose and scolded: "Dog landlord! I didn't expect you to have today! I am the poorest person in the whole village, there is no house and no ridge, and the poor people in their thirties can't find a wife, so I have to go to your house to carry long-term workers to eat. I do cow and horse work every day, eat pig and dog food, I have been a long-term worker in your family for several years, I have never eaten a piece of meat, I have never worn a good clothes, but your family eats and drinks spicy food every day. I think about it so sad and hateful now! As he spoke, he rushed to Chen Jiulai's front and slapped Chen Jiulai's mouth fiercely. The young and stubborn Chen Wande was anxious when he saw his father being beaten, and he scolded Chen Hanhe and said: "You are a poor smoker, what does it have to do with our family?" If you don't work long hours in our house, who will feed you? ”

Li Qiming, who was sitting on the side, was furious, he slapped the table and stood up, pointed at Chen Wande and reprimanded: "Shut up!" If you don't honestly accept the criticism of the masses of the people, and dare to defend your reactionary Lao Tzu, if you do so, it will be a dead end! ”

As soon as Li Qiming finished speaking, a militiaman on the stage smashed Chen Wande's back with the butt of his gun, Chen Wande was knocked to the ground, Chen Hanhe kicked him a few more times, Chen Wande's mouth was bleeding, and he struggled to stand up.

"Kill him! Kill this landlord's dog! The crowd shouted in chaos. Several militiamen came up and gave Chen Wande a few more rifle butts, and Chen Wande rolled on the ground in pain and couldn't get up again. Chen Hanhe, who was standing on the stage and had not yet gone down, raised his arms and shouted: "Resolutely defeat the landlord Chen Jiulai!" The lowly person also shouted loudly, and he slapped Chen Jiulai a few times before stepping off the stage. Chen Jiulai saw that his son was beaten to the ground and couldn't get up, and the person who beat him didn't stop, he was afraid that his son would really be killed, so he trembled with fright. A militiaman came up and kicked him to the ground, smashing the butt of a gun on his buttocks. Chen Jiulai also lay on the ground, and then he was hit with a few more butts on his buttocks, and he screamed like a pig about to be slaughtered.

"Kill him! Shoot him! The crowd was so excited that they raised their fists and shouted. Wang Hongju had a premonition that if he continued like this, he might die, and when he saw that Li Qiming was indifferent to the beating behavior, he hurriedly walked to the middle of the stage and stopped the militia who beat people.

Li Qiming asked puzzledly: "Wang Hongju, what are you going to do?" ”

Wang Hongju ignored Li Qiming, he stretched out his hand to tell the people in the audience to calm down, and he said loudly: "Fellow villagers, we only need to criticize and write at today's struggle meeting, and do not beat people, the crimes of landlord elements should be punished by the government according to the degree of their crimes, and we must ensure their personal safety." ”

The people in the audience did not understand Wang Hongju's words, and they shouted dissatisfiedly: "The landlord should die!" Why can't you fight? ”

"The counter-revolution kills one less one!"

Wang Hongju wanted to explain something, but people didn't listen. The scene was chaotic, and Wang Hongju looked very embarrassed.

Li Qiming was very angry with Wang Hongju's actions, and he felt that Wang Hongju had been disturbed by a passionate struggle meeting. After Li Qiming, who was furious, asked someone to pull Wang Hongju back to the stage, he himself walked to the center of the stage and personally led the masses to shout the slogan of struggle. After the people's mood stabilized, the poor peasants came to the stage one by one to complain about the evil of the landlords.

After the meeting, at the internal meeting of the land reform working group, Wang Hongju was severely criticized by Li Qiming and the vast majority of comrades. At the meeting, Li Qiming pointed at Wang Hongju's merciless accusation and said: "You feel distressed and sad when you see the landlords and counter-revolutionaries being beaten, and you never know how they treated us poor people in the past!" I am from a poor background, and I know best, and I have a strong hatred! You are a landlord and bourgeoisie, and this whip hits the landlord and hurts in your heart! Don't look at you wearing a PLA uniform, in fact, you and we are not on the same road! ”

Li Qiming's words hurt Wang Hongju's heart very much. He felt that he and Li Qiming were indeed not people on the same road, there was an insurmountable gap between the two of them, he didn't want to explain anything, and it was useless to explain, so he could only bear the criticism silently. He knew that he could not be serious on some issues, follow the crowd, and be a good gentleman, but his upright personality made him unable to do this. Wang Hongju remembered that Cui Fengming once jokingly criticized himself, saying that he was too simple and straightforward, never concealed his thoughts, and would definitely say what he felt was wrong, and if he suffered a loss in the future, he would definitely suffer in this regard. Wang Hongju actually wanted to make himself more sleek and not have too many edges and corners, but he never could do it.

In order to cooperate with the anti-rebellion movement, several villages under the jurisdiction of Li Qiming's land reform working group also had to arrest and kill a number of counter-revolutionaries, and Chen Jiulai's father and son were all people who were to be killed. Wang Hongju felt that the Chen father and son and several other people should not be punished even if they were guilty, and that human life must not be killed by mistake. Wang Hongju felt that Li Qiming was suspected of making up the number of killings and comparing the results of the rebellion in other areas, so he hurriedly left Nantian Village without asking for leave and went directly to the superior leaders to report the situation.

In a mud house in Nantian Village, more than 20 landlords, rich peasants, and counter-revolutionaries, including Chen Jiulai's father and son, were imprisoned, and new people were arrested every day. Li Qiming decided to try and execute these people at a large-scale struggle meeting held by several villages three days later, in order to show the victorious results of the reform and suppression of the counter-revolutionary movement! On the first night of the public trial meeting, there was a sudden thunderstorm, and the rain was pouring down for several days, and the public trial meeting could only be postponed. Just as the heavy rain was about to stop, the higher-level leaders urgently issued a circular to kill fewer people and be cautious in the suppression of the counter-rebellion movement, and all the prisoners detained in Nantian Village were released, except for a few counter-revolutionaries who were not enough to be angry with the people.

Because Wang Hongju and Li Qiming always have differences in their work, there are deep prejudices between the two. According to the instructions of the leadership, Wang Hongju returned to the army from the land reform working group. More than a month after Wang Hongju returned to the army, the higher-level leaders talked to him and told him that according to the needs of the situation, some cadres in the army should be delegated to support the work in Hainan. This was like a bolt from the blue for Wang Hongju, he was anxious when he heard it, and he resolutely disagreed with the arrangement of his superiors. From the day he joined the army, Wang Hongju has tied his life closely with the people's army, except for dying in battle, he never thought of leaving his beloved troops and close comrades-in-arms, leaving the army he is like an orphan without a family and losing his parents, he is extremely reluctant to take off the proud grass green military uniform!

In the face of the decision of the superior leaders, Wang Hongju was angry, dissatisfied, disappointed and aggrieved, and even a little sad. But the military order is like a mountain, as a soldier, a ** member, he must obey the organization's arrangement, and there is no room for bargaining about this. A few days later, the unit held a brief farewell party for these demobilized and demobilized cadres and soldiers, and Wang Hongju and his comrades-in-arms in the company said goodbye to each other and took up their new posts.