The common people on this part of the road, because they have been subjected to the negative propaganda and deception of the reactionary warlords for a long time, do not trust, do not understand, do not cooperate, and are even hostile to the army. If two or three of our army rashly walk into the people's homes, the women will rush over with long knives in their hands when they see them, and the men will pick up guns and face us when they see them. The troops at the front reminded us not to enter the homes of ordinary people easily, because if the soldiers do not enter the houses easily, they will be assassinated. Therefore, along the way, the troops emphasized: "Take collective action, do not enter people's houses, strictly observe discipline, do more propaganda, and do not infringe on any interests of the masses."

On January 27, the Lunguan Mountain arrived at Batang, beside the road of the Lunguan Mountain, there stood a merit tablet of Marshal Di Qing, the stele body was about five feet high even the pedestal, although the inscription had gone through hundreds of years, the inscription was still clear and legible. Due to the rush of the march, there was no time to take a closer look.

On January 28, he arrived at Yong [yō].

g] county of Wutang. The road is winding and potholed, and there are low, dilapidated houses scattered along the way. There are few trees, rocks, barren land, and very little arable land, only a little terraced fields, some like a belt tied to the mountainside, and some are only the size of a palm, dotted among the rocks. The harsh natural environment has shattered the dreams of local residents who have been longing for a better life for generations.

Ningshi is abbreviated as Yong (pronounced yō

g), named because the city is located on the north bank of the Yongjiang River, where the Yongjiang River bends a few times before turning its head and flowing eastward. The urban area is not large, although it is the provincial capital, it is inferior to Wu County. There are no high-rise buildings in the city, office buildings are in tatters, garbage is everywhere, flies are flying, the roads are flooded, the street lights are as dark as fireflies at night, and the social order is relatively chaotic. However, the sidewalks are lined with green leaves, and there are several large banyan trees along the river, which shade the sky and the sun, making it a good place to cool off in summer. There is a huge cannon on the hill to the north, and the muzzle of the cannon is pointed directly at the river, and I don't know when it was placed.

We live near a park, and due to the disorder, it is common for more than three or five people to go out. Sentries were sent out on the streets to prevent mayflies from shaking the trees. The early warlords ruled here for decades, and they were not willing to accept defeat, so they naturally had to fight to the death. On the eve of their escape, they left behind many spy organizations and spies, and distributed many guns to the masses, so that almost every household of the common people had guns. In a place called Taiping Village, the landlord's family built an earthen enclosure, surrounded by pillboxes, and machine guns were set on the roof, but they had already been eliminated by the advance troops, but the bunkers were retained. Although they had a day off, they all went out to the streets for a day of hygiene, giving the citizens a clean environment and leaving a good image for the people.

The city of Idenin is a hundred cities to the northwest. The green trees on both sides of the highway have been cut down, the brown land is all along the way, with the extension of the highway, the terrain is gradually raised, on the hills, the local people have built layers of terraces, go up the mountain, look down from the top of the mountain, the hills are like a circle of green belts, it is really a beautiful cultural wonder, this is the masterpiece of the working people to transform nature for thousands of years.

Due to the poor fertility of the brown soil, it is difficult to transport fertilizer up the mountain, the grain production is very low, and the heavy taxes make the peasants extremely poor. Along the way, we saw low straw huts, unclothed children, and yellow-skinned, slightly edematous, tattered people, who looked at us with puzzled and dull eyes, as if we were just passers-by and had nothing to do with them, and as if they were expecting us to bring them the gospel of heaven and save them from the endless sea of suffering.

Yes, under the brutal oppression of warlords, landlords, and bureaucrats, they have all become numb, and their many generations of struggle, how many generations of silent resistance have been shattered, leaving behind endless suffering. How do they know that the eternal way of the world is changing, and the god of happiness has arrived!

On January 31st, we arrived at a place called Tengxiang, and we encountered such an incident:

The local villagers were quite poor, had no food to eat, and ......lived by digging wild vegetables, peeling bark, catching mice, and catching snakes. "In the face of reality, our empty propaganda has pale in the face of power, and donating food to help the hungry masses is the best propaganda. We took immediate action and donated most of our food to them, and they were as happy as the Chinese New Year.

Arrived in Ming County on February 1. The streets of Ming County are wider, and there are many villas and houses of old bureaucrats, which are very incommensurate with the small county seat. From Ming to Tianxian, hundreds of kilometers, I saw patches of green plants in the fields. The leaves are like spinach and lettuce, we all think they are vegetables, and the chief of affairs has refused to buy them from the villagers. I haven't eaten vegetables for a long time, I eat salty tofu every day, some comrades have ulcers in their mouths and urgently need to replenish vegetables, we buy them with silver dollars and don't sell them, it's incredible!

Along the way, near both sides of the road and further away, the fields are full of green "spinach" like vegetables, no matter what we ask, the people just don't sell a stick to you.

One day, when we came to Lingma in Guoxian County, we lived upstairs in a big house, and we smelled a unique smell of smoke before we fell asleep, we came downstairs, only to see the landlord reclining on a chair, holding a silver smoking gun in his hand, facing a small glass lamp, squeaking and smoking, slowly spitting out wisps of green smoke in his mouth, which seemed very leisurely and comfortable.

Smoke filled the air, and we felt that the smell of smoke was quite good. Later, I found out that the landlord was smoking a big cigarette, and this guy was really bold enough to smoke a big cigarette openly. At that time, Gui Province had just been liberated, and the people and the army did not have the time and energy to manage the smokers who smoked big cigarettes.

Later, you can see smokers smoking big cigarettes along the way, and some people, adults and women love it. We observed that the first thing they did when they got up was to smoke a big cigarette, and after they smoked, they were refreshed, and they went to work without eating, and they had enough strength, like a stimulant. One day, we saw the old landlord smoking a big cigarette leisurely, so we leaned over to chat with him, and we asked why so many vegetables were grown in the field and not sold.

He told us: "The fields are full of tobacco, not vegetables, so the people refuse to sell, which is the lifeblood of the people." ”

"Oh, why don't you grow food?" We asked curiously.

"Originally, they planted grain, and the officials had to collect the tax per acre, but the common people could not afford to pay it, so they had to be forced to plant a lot of tobacco, and then use the tobacco soil (tobacco paste) to exchange for grain, and then pay the tax per acre."

"Is the price of tobacco good?"

"The price of tobacco soil depends on the color of the goods, the quality is good, one or two tobacco soil can be exchanged for more than a dozen loads of millet, and one acre of large tobacco field can be processed into three or four taels ......of tobacco soil," the landlord said, saliva flowed out, revealing a mouthful of big yellow teeth.

"Do you think it's a good deal?" The landlord took a deep breath of smoke, then slowly exhaled the smoke, and said, "You can only harvest a few loads of grain a year when you grow grain, and you can harvest three or four taels of tobacco a year when you plant a lot of tobacco, which is thirty or forty loads of grain." The landlord took another deep puff of his cigarette, his eyes flashing with hope for the future.