Section 103 Task Force and Priests (2)

But Fr. Lu was apparently an experienced missionary, shaved off his strange beard, which often aroused onlookers, dressed in Chinese clothes, and worked tirelessly from village to village, preaching doctrines, while Bai Duolu had to follow him every day in the increasingly hot sun.

His preaching was unsuccessful in the eyes of Du Wen, Dong Weiwei, Bai Duolu, and everyone else. The common people are not interested in this brand-new Western immortal, and they are even more inexplicable that this red-haired person wants them to "repent" all day long--is there a crime that the government has said? When will he be able to condemn everyone with a red-haired man?

Although there were few listeners, and even fewer showed interest in being baptized, Lu Ruohua still unswervingly carried out his missionary work, tirelessly going in and out of various homes every day, and still persuading people in the fields. The villagers were sometimes very unkind to him - once Dong Weiwei saw him being chased by a pack of vicious dogs.

In contrast, Du Wen and the investigation team did not come out of the ancestral hall. The villagers only saw the soldiers of the guards lining up at the entrance of the ancestral hall every day, shouting, and running. Sometimes you put your arms on the ground and lift your body up and down.

At first, no one dared to come near here, but gradually, the children who were lively and bold gradually gathered together, imitating the appearance of the soldiers. The soldiers used the usual means to hand out candy bars to win over the children - there were no more candy in the 21st century with this colorful candy wrapper, and now they were newly delivered rock candy from Leizhou.

Gradually, the villagers of Daolu Village also saw their presence as part of normalization, and through the liaison of the village, the team was able to easily obtain basic food supplies without having to transport them from Bairencheng. The disturbance of the bandits' families, which the team feared most, did not happen - the head at the entrance of the ancestral hall gave a very stern warning.

After the investigation team was stationed in the ancestral hall, the two squads in charge of security were stationed in the first courtyard, and the investigation team lived in the second courtyard. After the renovation of the west wing of the hall, it became the office and dormitory of Du Wen and Dong Weiwei, and the east wing was the radio room. The investigation team brought a 2-watt radio station, and Dong Weiwei also served as a radio operator. The hall was used as a canteen, a conference room, a command center, and so on.

At this time, Du Wen was sitting in the hall, recalling a work guidance conversation before departure.

"You are the first social investigation team sent out by the crossing group," Ma Qianzhu said to Du Wen and Dong Weiwei in a serious tone: "The responsibility is very heavy - Mao - Chairman - taught us: to be a person with a heart for the society." When you go to the grassroots level, don't rush to change, but sink down honestly and thoroughly understand all aspects of the situation in this society. ”

"Don't worry, Duke, I will definitely live up to the expectations of the organization and complete the task well." Du Wen expressed her determination.

Wu coughed: "Attention, you are going to investigate, it is a social investigation." There is no question of social reform or the agrarian system. ”

Du Wen glanced at this People's Commissar of Civil Affairs with disdain, this former PLA soldier, and now he is actually in tune with the rightists.

"At present, the Executive Committee's general policy for the rural areas is to 'maintain social stability and promote agricultural production,' so we should not show any talk about land reform in our work." Ma Qianzhuo emphatically reminded, "We must unswervingly implement the guidelines and lines of the Executive Committee. ”

"I know."

Ma Qianzhu continued: "The primary task of the investigation team in the countryside is to help the villagers establish a self-defense organization, the militia, and to help the villagers have the ability to protect themselves and prevent the return of banditry activities. Each village should become a fortress. These villages, which have no village courage and weak strength, will not once again become a place for bandits to supply and hide.

"The second task is to collect information about bandits in the local area and report it to the General Staff Headquarters through radio in a timely manner.

"These two tasks are the most important at this stage. In a sense," Ma Qianzhu said, "the relationship between bandits and ordinary people is also a kind of fish and water." The fish of bandits must survive in the water of the common people and grow. We want to turn the common people into our water, not the bandits. ”

"The third is to do extensive social surveys: listen more, watch more, and collect as much as possible the local social conditions, economic conditions, customs and habits. Take the Manchurian Railway Investigation Office as an example-"

The Manchuria Railway Survey Office mentioned by Ma Qianzhuo is a social investigation agency under the Manchuria Railway Co., Ltd., which was established in Tohoku by Japan before World War II. In the 20~40s, he conducted extensive social surveys in northern China. The content of the survey is varied and touches on all aspects of social life. The Manchurian Railway Investigation Report is known for its accurate data and extensive and in-depth investigation. What Ma Qianzhu wants the team to learn from is such an example.

"This is a booklet on the Methods of Social Inquiry compiled by the Intelligence Committee." Ma Qianzhuo gave her a mimeographed book like this, "When the ships heading around the island come back, we will further strengthen the professional social investigators to the task force." For the time being, you can learn and practice at the same time. ”

Du Wen wrote down everything bit by bit in her notebook. Ma Qianzhu was more satisfied, zuihou said:

"In addition to these tasks, we might as well do some simple and feasible social reform and propaganda work that the local people do not resist, as an auxiliary to the work, but for some deep-rooted bad habits, we can only propagate them, and we cannot carry out hard-working--change by ourselves -- the mass work is complicated, and the complexity of it is beyond your imagination, and everything must be discussed with Dong Weiwei, who has engaged in specific township work and has a better understanding of the rural grassroots."

Du Wen recalled what Ma Qianzhu said. Obviously, they are not here to mobilize the masses to make a revolution, but more to play the role of intelligence gathering. She thought and thought behind the two large square tables that served as conference tables - usually both theory and data came with her mouth open, but now when it came to practical things, she found that she seemed to lack experience.

"Where to start?" She couldn't help but mumble to herself.

"Let's start with the establishment of a self-defense organization." Dong Weiwei said, "This is what Committee Ma has specially taken care of us." ”

"Oh yes, a mass meeting!" Du Wen suddenly came to her senses.

"Mass meeting?" Dong Weiwei frowned and said, "The people here are not familiar with us, is it meaningful to hold a conference?" ”

"If we don't have a meeting first, the people don't know what we're here for, what can we know? Besides, if we don't mobilize the masses, establish self-defense organizations, and conduct social investigations, aren't they all empty words? As she spoke, she took off her glasses and wiped the dust from the lenses with a snow-white handkerchief.

Dong Weiwei said: "As soon as we came, we held a conference, and we didn't know what the real situation was. Give them a meeting: you are a cadre, you are an official, you say, they listen, you put forward your opinion to the group, they will say in unison: 'yes'. If you want to say that there is something specific to do, you will have diarrhea right away. The people's suspicions are great. Chinese society is very complex. Peasants generally believe you, reveal their hearts, and say heartfelt words only after you have mixed with them, when you have feelings for you, and when you have casual chat. ”

"Don't worry." Du Wen disagreed, "I ...... when I mobilized the masses in Yanchang Village."

Then she talked about how she mobilized the masses in Yanchang Village, how she carried out women's and women's work, and how she trained peasant cadres. Dong Weiwei listened patiently, until she finished speaking, and then said:

"The so-called one time, that time. The situation in Yanchang Village and Daolu Village is different, and mobilizing the masses cannot be generalized. Besides, if you didn't go from house to house first and win the trust of the Tan family, I'm afraid it wasn't a conference that could change everything. ”

The two women argued about whether Zuihou or Du Wen had the upper hand: they decided to hold a conference first. Du Wen happily asked someone to find Lao Sun, the liaison officer of the village, and asked him to convene a meeting. Lao Sun Ti struck a gong from the south end of the village to the north end, and the east end to the west end, and shouted at the same time: "Go to the party's ancestral hall for a meeting, every family has to go, one by one." ”

When it was dark at night, some people came from all corners of the village, and they cowered to the open space at the door of the party's ancestral hall. Curiously, he looked at the two white wooden signs and a row of empty bamboo poles that were still stained with black and blood, and the heads had been taken to the county.

Two bright gas lamps have been hung on the door, which clearly illuminate the "deputies" who have come to the meeting, and the number of people who have come far exceeds the requirements of one person in each household, men, women, and children, all of them. Many people came to see the diorama - the people sent two young women to "be officials", and everyone couldn't help but be curious.

Du Wen saw that there were a lot of people coming, and they seemed to be enthusiastic, and she was also infected, so she stood on the steps of the ancestral hall illuminated by the gas lights, and said loudly in an inaccurate Linggao dialect:

"Fellow villagers, this time we have eliminated the bandits of the Dang Namen in the area that plagued the Thirteen Villages. However, banditry in the county has not been completely eliminated. Bandits may come back at any time, and in order to make our people live a stable life, we have to organize, take up knives, form a village to defend ourselves, and organize a militia. She also said many, many things about this, and Zuihou asked:

"Do you approve of forming a village for self-defense and organizing a militia?"

"Yes!" The voice below roared in agreement.

"Good!" Du Wen's face turned red with excitement, "Let's talk—"

"This, the female official's family ......" Some old men stood up and said tremblingly: "What is the militia? ”

Du Wen was almost so angry with him that she didn't know what to do!

"It's Xiang Yong! Uncle Fu! Someone said in the back.

"Yes, it's Xiang Yong." Du Wen didn't like this word, which was often associated with "landlord armament", "Do you approve of it?" ”

"Yes!" Below was another sound of promise.

"Good! Early tomorrow morning, all Ding Zhuang will come to the team headquarters to register and form our own militia team in Daolu Village! Du Wen was in high spirits and announced in a low voice, "Who originally wanted to join the militia?" ”

However, for a long time, no one squeaked.

"Why don't you speak?" Du Wen asked, her eyes falling on the old man who asked "what is a militia" just now: "You say, old man." ”

"The little ones are almost sixty, and when Xiang Yong is a little old, it doesn't matter, if there is a lack of people, it will be considered a small one."

In ancient times, working people were generally malnourished and overworked all year round, and people in their fifties were about the same as those in their seventies in modern times.

Someone else interjected: "Uncle Fu, if you are a villager, you eat for nothing, not badly!" ”

"Who said that?" This Uncle Fu didn't accept the old man's appearance, "I still have a night vigil." ”

"Okay, Uncle Fu should be strong. Let's count you in first. Du Wen was very dissatisfied with this volunteer, but everything had to have a good start. It's good to take it as a model.

But no one below volunteered to sign up, and the wind was strong at night, and some of the women with children had slipped back. Some people started yawning.

Du Wen began to lose her breath: "No one wants to be a militiaman?" ”

"Female official, I have a sentence that I don't know if I will be heard or not?" Uncle Fu said: "Since ancient times, people have followed the king's law and grass, and the official family has the final say. In our county, the emperor is far away, the official family has the final say, and the party also has the final say. Now that you are here, it is naturally up to you to have the final say. The task force said that it would build a village and defend against bandits, who of you is not happy? Are you happy or not? ”

"Willingly!" From all sides, from all corners, the old man, the woman, and the child answered in unison. Uncle Fu said again:

"Listen to the female official, everyone is happy to do this. It's not too early now, so it's time to disperse, right? Please forgive the female official's family, the small one has to go first, Ming'er has to get up early to raise seedlings, there is little rain in the spring, and the little one has to borrow Chinatown water - this party is so bad, the cattle are tossed away, and the harm is not shallow......"

He bent over and chattered and walked slowly, and then someone came out and said, "Female official, the little one is also guilty, go first." Ming'er has to go to see my daughter early in the morning, I haven't seen her for a long time. "I'm leaving. Later, some said that they were going to plant seedlings, some said they were going to harvest radishes, and some said they were going to cut pigweed. One by one, in twos and threes, they all talked and walked back. Some simply didn't bother to talk perfunctory, and sneaked away.

Du Wen returned to the hall, sat on a chair, held her lowered head with both hands, and rested her elbows on the table, before she said: "The consciousness of the people in this place is really low! ”

"How can the common people be so conscious!" Dong Weiwei is also angry-what's the difference between this kind of meeting and can't be opened. Isn't this the same as the past when leaders held villagers' meetings in the countryside? The empty talk above, the echo and applause below, and the can't be done after the meeting is dismissed.