Shang Yisheng absolutely could not have any good impression of the People's Party, but he deeply understood that he must not show such a hostile consciousness at the current juncture. Shang Yuan is in a high position in the People's Party, and he can't save the Shang family's land. Chai Qingguo's smiling tiger style can only prove that Chai Qingguo will not be soft on killing the Shang family.

Therefore, the Shang family did not dare to say a word about the fact that the Shang family lived in a concentration camp. Shang Yisheng repeatedly emphasized to the clansmen, "Now that the People's Party is holding the handle of the knife, whoever wants to find death will find a rope to hang himself, and don't involve hundreds of people in the Shang family." ”

When the comrades of the People's Internal Affairs Committee came to inquire about the grain issue of taxation, Shang Yisheng also cooperated vigorously. However, he was curious about the People's Party's intentions in pursuing the matter.

"For areas that have already started land reform, we need to implement tax refunds. We only collect 30 percent of the tax, and the Henan government collects 50 percent of the tax, and all villages that implement land reform have to refund the middle 20 percent of the tax to everyone. The comrade of the Internal Affairs Committee replied.

Shang Yisheng looked at the comrades of the Internal Affairs Committee like a rare animal, "This comrade, you're not joking, are you?" ”

"What are we kidding about this?" The young comrades were somewhat puzzled.

"Let me dare to say a few words, and I don't have to go so far as to buy people's hearts. As long as you explain now that the tax will be collected according to 30% next year, the people will be very happy. Doing so is a bit of a drain. Shang Yisheng explained. He would not normally be so radical, but at this time he had to show obedience to the People's Party no matter what, and Shang Yisheng had to show something.

"There is not much difference between a 30% tax and a 50% tax for us. If we want to increase the total amount of tax revenue, we have to let the masses get more food. Grain output can be doubled, and the total amount of tax collected by 30 percent will be more than the original harvest of 50 percent. Moreover, in the process of helping the masses to increase output, we have done a lot of practical things for the masses, and the masses naturally believe in us. Isn't that better than raising taxes? ”

Shang Yisheng had managed so many fields, of course he completely understood what he said, but listening to the understatement of what the young man said, Shang Yisheng couldn't help but show a hint of ridicule.

"Mr. Shang, you must think that we are blowing the conch, it is so easy to double the production, it is very easy to just say this, and it is naturally very difficult to do it." The young cadre laughed.

"Oh, if you don't delay everyone's efforts, can you tell me more about it?" Shang Yisheng is really interested.

After all, the Shang family is Shang Yuan's relatives and a local clan, and even the comrades of the People's Party's Internal Affairs Committee hope to convince Shang Yisheng by reasoning. If there is such a local snake to cooperate, many problems will be easier to solve.

"Land reform has never been able to produce wealth, and the land has given the masses a sense of belonging. Confidence in our administrative execution capabilities. ”

Hearing this, Shang Yisheng nodded again and again, and he praised: "It is indeed to the point." ”

"If you want to increase the total production of the entire agricultural area, you have to improve the efficiency of agriculture." The People's Party's internal affairs committee is not just about arresting people, every member has to go to the front line to work. Many comrades have been forced to stay on the front line because of their outstanding performance.

It tells how to collect agricultural taxes to feed industrial workers who have left agriculture, and then feed agriculture through industry to continuously improve agricultural efficiency. This includes the large-scale construction of basic water conservancy projects, which not only ensures the stability of agricultural production to the greatest extent, but also provides a large number of employment opportunities and solves the problem of invisible unemployment in rural areas. It includes the general cycle of industrial agriculture of the whole country, and constantly promotes the progress of the whole country.

Shang Yisheng nodded again and again in a daze, he fully understood the meaning of "labor", if it were not for the hard work of so many working people on the land of the Shang family, the Shang family would never have accumulated a huge family business. He also completely saw through the core of the People's Party's policies, and the grain and money originally owned by the landlords and the government were used by the huge organization of the People's Party to build China.

"May I ask this comrade, what is your position in the BJP?" Shang Yisheng couldn't help but ask.

"I can't say the specific position, but I'm just an ordinary staff member of the People's Party." The comrades of the People's Internal Affairs Committee replied proudly.

Of course Shang Yisheng didn't believe it, he said solemnly: "But what you said is methodical, not just on paper. How can a figure like you be an ordinary member of the BJP. Don't make this joke. ”

"What I said is a strategy formulated by Chairman Chen Ke of our People's Party. All of us in the party must study and learn. I'm really talking on paper, on implementation, on solving problems, Secretary Shang Yuan is even more amazing. The staff laughed.

"That's what everyone in your BJP has to learn?" Shang Yisheng asked in disbelief.

"Exactly, we all have to learn this. This is one of the most basic forms of political education. Not only do we have to study, but these are also written into the People's Party's junior high school textbooks, which are required for the exam. Even in the primary school curriculum, we have relevant education. ”

Shang Yisheng felt dizzy for a while, and he hurriedly asked, "I heard that under the rule of your party, efforts are made to make all children go to school, that is, as long as they go to junior high school, they must receive these educations?" Do you have to take an exam? ”

"One of the political programs of our People's Party is that the broad masses of working people are the ruling class of the country. Therefore, it is their obligation for every child to receive such an education. Everyone has an obligation to be a qualified member of the ruling class. When the young comrades of the People's Party's Internal Affairs Committee said this, they couldn't help but look solemn and speak in a solemn tone.

"What kind of country are you going to build?" Shang Yisheng already felt that his brain was confused.

"The state is an instrument of class control, and the institutions and laws of the state are all designed to realize the interests of the ruling class. The country we want to build is one in which the broad masses of workers are the masters of their own affairs......"

Listening to these incisive discussions, Shang Yisheng felt that his eyes lit up. The way of control he knows is nothing more than to make the people obedient, and in order to make the people obedient, whether it is the government or the gentry, they must maintain a system. And what the BJP tells is a secret that has been passed down by word of mouth within the ruling class. Now the BJP has completely exposed these secrets to the world, and has actually made everyone understand and accept them in a semi-forced way.

Half sincere, half false, Shang Yisheng stood up respectfully, "Comrades, I didn't know that the People's Party had such a mind and such a bearing. I'm convinced! ”

Shang Yisheng thought that the young people in front of him would be moved by such a move, but he didn't expect that several young people just smiled slightly, and asked Shang Yisheng to sit down first, and then the comrades led by him said: "You are not convinced, it is useless to say with your mouth." In our base area, if you want to be recognized, you must first be a laborer. If you can do a good job, you will naturally be recognized by everyone, and if you can lead everyone to do a good job, everyone will choose you to hold public office. In the final analysis, whether or not you think that you are a worker like others is the condition for whether you can be accepted. Whether we praise our People's Party or scold our People's Party, we don't care about it. ”

Shang Yisheng felt a pang in his heart, the maturity of these young people was far beyond his imagination. He finally understood a little now why Shang Yuan was able to hand over the Shang family's land with a clear conscience, and if the People's Party was just a handful of outstanding people leading a group of accomplices, it would not be a big deal. But the grassroots members of the People's Party have such knowledge, and it is really difficult to be hostile.

Shang Yisheng hurriedly bowed his hand, "Taught, taught." It's really better to listen to your words than to read a book for ten years. Comrades, you have delayed a lot of time in order to enlighten me as a fool. Ask me anything you want, and I will say what I know. ”

Since Shang Yisheng has shown such intelligence, the comrades of the People's Party have no longer delayed their work, "We want to ask first, how much grain did Mr. Shang pay?" You can rest assured, how much grain you have paid is a matter with the Beiyang government, and we will never hold Mr. Shang accountable in this matter. ”

Faced with this question, Shang Yisheng felt quite embarrassed, hesitated for a moment, and then said: "I paid a little less, about ninety percent of it." ”

The comrades of the People's Internal Affairs Committee couldn't help but glance at each other, and then continued to ask: "Is it your family that did this, or did everyone else do it?" How did you negotiate this with the tax police? ”

"At that time, my family was still working in the People's Party and didn't want to get into trouble, so they paid more. The others only paid eighty-five percent. At that time, I told the tax police that there was so much food piled up, and we might as well count the less as a loss. And we also bought back a batch of grain, which cost two and a half oceans for one stone. As for where this money went, we don't know. ”

"Two and a half stones?" The young comrade was really a little surprised. At present, the price of grain is stable, and the price of one stone of wheat fluctuates between 3.8 and 5.2 silver dollars.

Noting this, the comrades of the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs began to ask Shang Yisheng questions on other issues.

After nearly 10 days of investigation, a report on the initial shortage of grain was handed over to Chai Qingguo. Shangqiu's tax revenue exceeded 70 million catties of grain, and 20 million catties were transported to Kaifeng or sold to other places under the orders of Zhang Zhenfang, the governor of Henan. Tax evasion by local large landlords, coupled with their bribery of tax police and magistrates, consumed nearly 10 million catties of grain in total. As for the private theft and sale by the magistrates and the guys in charge of the grain depot, they lost another two million catties of stone. More than 30 million catties of grain fell into the hands of the People's Party, and the whereabouts of 5 to 6 million catties of grain are unknown. Are these lost in the various transportation and storage links? Or when it comes to taxes, every household pays less grain, which adds up to the current situation. Comrades could not judge based on the clues already in their possession.

The People's Party does not have the energy to investigate too carefully at the moment, Chai Qingguo instructed, "I think it's good to be able to investigate to this extent." Comrades will write a report on this, and we will stop here. The comrades turned their attention to the work of land reform. This is the most important issue we face today. ”

After temporarily interrupting the investigation, Chai Qingguo convened a party committee to discuss how to take advantage of the current situation, especially the matter of taxation in Henan.

"I think the food we have at the moment is enough for tax rebates. At present, we can use this issue to challenge Zhang Zhenfang, firstly, to occupy the room for criticism, and secondly, to create contradictions in the Zhang Zhenfang group. ”

"Arrest and kill these corrupt officials and corrupt officials to deter internal and external enemies."

These were very orthodox solutions, which were quickly recognized by the comrades.

Gu Lu put forward an idea, "We might as well use the grain to build water conservancy projects." The Air Force took a lot of aerial photographs, and based on the topography of the area around Guidephu that were spelled out by these photos, we simply carried out an overall water conservancy plan and carried out construction in some areas that could be implemented. ”

"It's not going to work!" Immediately, there was opposition to it.

"This area of Henan is different from other base areas in that there is a lack of water. Every year, there are many local group fights for water, and people die every year. Not to mention this area, there are many such things in Huaihai Province. Chairman Chen said this earlier, and it was only in Huaihai Province that we noticed this. It would be more radical to do this directly in Henan. ”

Some people were the first to express their opposition, and almost all comrades followed suit to express their opposition. Floods in Anhui and Hubei are more prominent, while there are many mountainous areas in Jiangxi, where water shortage and flooding coexist, and although Huaihai Province is adjacent to Hongze Lake and has a number of water systems, the problem of water shortage is still a key problem. Chen Ke, as before, was able to point out the problem early. When the comrades were mentally prepared, they were still in a mess in the rural areas of Huaihai Province at the beginning. Many villages have a long history of old grievances over water disputes. There were also local landlords and gentry who added fuel to the fire. It has caused great trouble to the work of the People's Party in Huaihai Province.

"If these problems are not solved, they will have to be solved in the future, and since we have to use the strength of the army no matter what, we might as well make full use of it." Gu Lu has her own view of this, "What do we lack now?" Shortage of manpower. Now that you have the benefits of this tax refund, why not take advantage of it? ”

Lu Dali, the division commander of the railway corps, said: "There are two ways to do things, first difficult and then easy, or first easy and then difficult. In terms of land reform in Guide Province, I think it should be easy first and then difficult. Director Chai, what do you think? ”

Chai Qingguo knew Gu Lu's plan, and in order to win Chai Qingguo's support, Gu Lu had already explained the entire plan to Chai Qingguo. Hearing Lu Dali say this, Chai Qingguo said noncommittally, "You might as well listen to Comrade Gu Lu." ”

Gu Lu's plan was to form a local engineering unit in Henan, but this army was not a standing army, but a temporarily organized army, which must be described as a "mercenary" or "short-term labor group". This unit took advantage of the current agricultural slack to do some water conservancy work first.

After hearing this, Lu Dali smiled and said, "This idea is very good, we have discussed it many times when we followed Chairman Chen before. There is only one problem with this plan, there are no cadres. ”

Even the comrades who originally wanted to refute Gu Lu stopped saying nothing after listening to Lu Dali's words, but looked at Gu Lu with a sympathetic gaze. Since its founding, the People's Party has trained a considerable number of cadres. It's just that compared to the size of the BJP, cadres have always been in a state of scarcity. In terms of the experience and system that the BJP has accumulated so far, it is quite easy to simply plan something without mentioning the issue of cadres.

Gu Lu also figured out his question, and he hurriedly said, "I know." I abandon this suggestion. ”

After the rejection of this proposal, the plan reverted to its original routine considerations. After voting, "openly killing corrupt officials" and "using this issue to put pressure on Zhang Zhenfang" have become the two plans to crack down on the reactionary forces in Henan in the near future.

No one thought that Zhang Zhenfang would really solve the problem of corrupt officials, and with the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army arresting hundreds of spies in Beiyang, the two sides were in a quasi-war state. Fearing that the few people sent would be privately attacked by the Beiyang Army, the party committee agreed to send two cavalry companies to Kaifeng, and also sent four planes as air cover. First, it can be used as a warning, and secondly, if there is a fight, it can also be used as a means to intimidate the enemy. The comrades of the cavalry company knew that the chief had specially arranged the air force as a cover, and the comrades did not look down on the Beiyang Army very much, but now they were even more courageous.

The air force was indeed on time, and when the cavalry units of the two companies were about to arrive at Kaifeng City, they heard a familiar buzzing sound, and soon the light figure of the plane appeared in the field of vision. The comrades of the cavalry units could not help but take off their military caps and wave vigorously at the plane. The plane also shook its wings from side to side a few times as a gesture of goodwill.

The cavalry troops continued to move forward, and when they arrived at Kaifeng City, they saw that the gate of Kaifeng City was closed, and the city wall was already full of soldiers of the Beiyang Army. One by one, they were loaded with guns and ammunition, facing two companies of more than 200 cavalry, but they were like facing a great enemy.

This time the leader was Li Zhengdao, the commander of the cavalry battalion, who ordered the large troops to stop outside the range of the Beiyang Army, called the messenger himself, picked up the loudspeaker and urged him to rush forward and shout to Kaifeng City, "We are the troops of the People's Party, and we have a letter to Zhang Zhenfang, the governor of Henan, and I would like you to go and tell you." ”

After waiting for a long time, Li Zhengdao did not see anyone respond. He shouted again, but the Beiyang Army still didn't hear it.

"Did you hear that?" Lee Jeong-do's roar became louder through the loudspeaker.

"We will not meet with any people from the People's Party until all of you have withdrawn from Henan." This time there was finally a response on the walls.

"Henan Governor Zhang Zhenfang is scared like this! Don't even dare to answer a letter? Li Zhengdao was almost angry. Anger is anger, and fun is funny, but this mission was not carried out, and Li Zhengdao felt unwilling.

"Get out of here. Lao Tzu doesn't want to kill you, but it doesn't mean that Lao Tzu is afraid of you. There was a scolding from the city, "If you don't get out of here, Lao Tzu will let go of the gun." ”

As he spoke, a buzzing sound was heard, and a moment later, four Air Force planes had already flown over the BJP cavalry. Li Zhengdao heard an exclamation from the city. was laughing at the Beiyang Army in his heart for not being knowledgeable, but he heard someone shouting at the head of the city: "What are you afraid of, shoot it and shoot it down for me!" ”

Li Zhengdao was shocked, but he had already heard the Beiyang Army shooting.

"Kill me the one at the bottom of the city." The commander of the Beiyang Army howled.

The heroes did not suffer the immediate losses, and Li Zhengdao could no longer control the comrades of the air force, so he hurriedly turned his horse and ran towards a safe area. Bullets whizzed from behind Li Zhengdao, and a few of them even flew past Li Zhengdao's body. Suppressing his fear, Li Zhengdao stepped up his urging to gallop. When he and the large army converged in a safe area, he turned his head and asked his comrades, "Where are the planes of the Air Force?" ”

"Where!" Several comrades pointed out several directions, and Li Zhengdao looked hard in those directions, but he couldn't see where the plane was.

As the buzzing sound got closer and closer, Li Zhengdao found that the Air Force plane had already flown back in a circle at some point. This time the plane did not fly so low, and in Li Zhengdao's eyes, the plane was just a few small dots. And a few small black dots appeared under these dots at some point. With a sharp whistling sound, small black dots fell directly on the city wall, and the violent explosion, the sudden rising fire and white smoke were almost the same as the effect of the shelling. Li Zhengdao could even see the soldiers of the Beiyang Army being blown up directly from the city wall to the outside of the city wall.

"Withdraw, withdraw beyond the range of enemy artillery!" Unable to admire this frightening effect, Li Zhengdao immediately thought that it was very likely that he would be fired upon by the artillery of the Beiyang Army, and hurriedly retreated to the east with his comrades.

After retreating behind a forest, Li Zhengdao jumped off his horse and galloped all the way to the edge of the woods near Kaifeng City, raised his binoculars and began to observe. At this time, Kaifeng City was already in chaos. The comrades of the Air Force have no intention of forgiving and forgiving others. The planes dropped a bomb every once in a while. Although he did not know how many bombs could be loaded on an airplane, Li Zhengdao was full of hope that the bombs would blow up the city wall. Being chased away from the edge of the city like a rabbit by the enemy, this is a shame that Li Zhengdao has never had.

The buzzing and shrill chirping of bombs falling from the sky did not last long, and the plane soon reformed and flew over the woods where Lee Jeong-do was, and the tri-color signal lights under the gray wings flashed, which was a signal that the plane was now going back. Amid the almost wild cheers of the comrades, the four planes disappeared into the eastern sky.

When the letter failed, Li Zhengdao ordered the troops to return to Shangqiu. Along the way, the troops were immersed in the terrifying power of the aircraft.

"I didn't know I could drop a bomb on a plane!"

"It must have been an aircraft designed by Chairman Chen."

"There are enough planes and too many bombs, wouldn't it kill the Beiyang Army directly!"

Listening to the comrades enthusiastically discussing the tremendous power of the plane, Li Zhengdao slowly put away the smile on his face.

"Battalion commander, what's wrong?" The battalion staff officer immediately asked.

"It's nothing, I'm just thinking, our cavalry unit can't just let the air force show its face." Li Zhengdao replied.

The staff officer originally wanted to talk to Li Zhengdao about the Air Force together, but there was a completely uncontrollable excitement that made the staff officer just want to talk about the plane. Hearing Li Zhengdao say this, thinking that the cavalry unit was facing a formidable competitor, a strong sense of crisis suddenly arose in the staff officer's heart.