After Luo Ronghuan led the Shandong Bureau and the military region organs to advance into the hinterland of Yimeng Mountain, Liu Yimin and Cai Zhong led the first battalion of guards to move to Culai Village.

Although the village is located in the mountains, it is very famous.

Two kilometers southeast of the village, is the Song Dynasty scholar Shi Jie, Sun Fu founded the library as a study, the Jin Dynasty literary leader Dang Huaiying wrote "Zhuxi Collection" here. However, although Dang Huaiying has a very high calligraphy achievement and a good official reputation, he has achieved the promise of the Jin Dynasty Hanlin Bachelor, but because he and Xin Qiji are classmates, Xin Qiji launched an uprising to resist the invaders, and returned to the Song Dynasty after the uprising, but he succumbed to the enemy, and the road chosen by the two people was not passable, and the realm in the work was naturally different. Xin Qiji became a representative of the Southern Song Dynasty and occupied a lofty position in Chinese history, while few people know about Dang Huaiying, whose artistic accomplishment is on a par with Xin Qiji, whose calligraphy works are better and whose official work is even greater.

At this time, most of the study buildings have collapsed, leaving only the Jade Emperor Pavilion and the thatched roof of the partial house.

On the Linglong Mountain in the south of the study, there is a cave of wandering gods, also called the cave of savages. The entrance to this cave is on a cliff and is very hidden. There are two roads in the cave. The upper road passes through the mountain, and the lower road bottoms out in the depths, and no one has ever reached the end. Legend has it that this is the place where Taishang Laojun cultivated, and it was also the place where King Xiyi of the Tang Dynasty lived in seclusion. The deeds of Taishang Laojun are myths and cannot be examined, but Wang Xiyi was received by Tang Xuanzong at the age of 90 and was named a doctor.

Historically, Tai'an County's anti-Ming boiled political axe was once stationed in the cave, and Yu Xiuquan, director of the women's committee in the village, moved a pair of small feet to stand guard for the Eighth Route Army, transmit intelligence, raise military rations, wash military clothes, and feed soup and medicine to the wounded, which became a microcosm of the Yimeng people's support for the soldiers and the anti-Japanese regime.

Although this village is famous, its fame cannot be eaten. The small village is surrounded by mountains on three sides and faces the river on the other, and the scenery is very beautiful. But at this time, the Chinese can't fill their stomachs by eating bran vegetables, where will there be people to enjoy the scenery. I also want to carry firewood to the big households at the foot of the mountain or Dawenkou to exchange for some rations, because there is no shortage of scenery in the mountain village, lack of land and lack of food, and the villagers rely on the wild vegetables and wild fruits in the mountains for three seasons a year.

In Culai Village, Liu Yimin calmed down and wrote "The Problem of Economic Construction in the Anti-Japanese Base Area in Shandong." The article is divided into several parts, the first of which provides a general analysis of the banking, industry, handicrafts, mining resources, agriculture, water conservancy, and transportation in Shandong Province on the basis of the seized materials and the materials consulted by his later generations. The second part is devoted to the significance of establishing a fiscal and taxation system in the base areas and grasping economic construction in order to persist in the protracted War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression. The third part is how to covertly exploit mineral resources, with a focus on the mining of coal, steel, and gold. The fourth part is how to establish a fiscal and taxation system, proposing the establishment of Bohai Bank and the establishment of tax institutions at all levels. The fourth part is devoted to the development of agricultural production, and discusses in detail the construction of water conservancy, the cultivation of improved seeds, the implementation of double cropping in one year, fattening and fertilization, the improvement of agricultural tools, afforestation, and the expansion of vegetable production. The fifth part deals with how to open trade routes.

Liu Yimin was very attentive to this article, and he wrote it for three days before it was out of draft. After Cai Zhong saw it, he took Liu Yimin's hand and touched it directly, saying that he didn't see calluses on his hands, how could he still understand agriculture and forestry production?

After writing "The Problem of Economic Construction in the Shandong Anti-Japanese Base Areas," Liu Yimin went all out and wrote five articles, "Outline of the Construction of Grass-roots Political Power in the Shandong Anti-Japanese Base Areas," "How to Carry Out Literacy Education," "Methods for the Construction of Various Schools in the Base Areas," "Guiding Opinions on the Armed Construction of Counties and Districts in the Shandong Anti-Japanese Base Areas," and "The Militia is the Foundation of Victory." He asked Cai Zhong to send the manuscripts to Luo Ronghuan and Li Yu, asking them to seriously study and revise them and organize their implementation one by one.

These six articles became the guiding articles for the construction of the base areas, and they were also the main teaching materials for the training of cadres in the base areas of Shandong. Of course, that's an afterthought.

That night, Li Xiaoshuai and Huang Wenhu reported to Liu Yimin with a little twist, saying that the first company of guards was going to organize the villagers of Culai Village to elect the village head, militia captain, and director of the women's committee tonight, and asked him to give guidance.

The Guard Regiment had frequent troop movements during this period, and it was first when Zhang Haitao formed the Eastward Advance Detachment that the Second Battalion and the Supplementary Battalion were withdrawn, and some soldiers were added from the Formation and Training Headquarters to ensure the formation of the three battalions of the Guard Regiment. Then Wang Nanhu formed the Ludongnan Detachment and took away the three battalions of guards, and the cadres took even more. Now there are only two battalions in the guard regiment, and Li Xiaoshuai and Huang Wenhu have been promoted to company commanders and instructors of the first guard company.

Liu Yimin looked at the two people and knew that although they were both old Red Army soldiers, they worked beside him and were promoted a little slowly, and he also had the heart to see the progress of the two people, so he readily agreed.

The moonlight is melting, and the spring breeze is blowing.

Under the organization of the cadres and soldiers of the Eighth Route Army, the villagers of Culai Village gathered for the first time for a meeting, and many villagers felt very fresh. The children were even more happy, playing hide-and-seek like crazy, and they were happier than the New Year.

Li Xiaoshuai and Huang Wenhu learned a lot from Liu Yimin, and the meeting was organized in a clear way.

Huang Wenhu's surname is witty, and he came up and said: "Fellow villagers, we are the Eighth Route Army led by [***], that is, the Red Army that was originally popular, and it is our poor team. We went to the Culai Mountains to fight devils, and some time ago we beat up the little devils in Dawenkou so that we couldn't find our parents. We have to organize the villagers, lead everyone to fight devils together, and drive the little devil back to the East to his mother's arms to nurse. ”

When they said this, the men laughed, but the women lowered their heads and muttered in a whisper.

Huang Wenhu only heard the laughter of the men, not the muttering of the women, and continued: "If you want to drive the devils out of China, it is not enough to rely on our team alone, we must unite the big guys, have the money to contribute, and have the strength to fight the devils together." ”

In fact, Huang Wenhu doesn't need to talk about these big truths at all, after the uprising in Culai Mountain, the four detachments were stationed in this Culai Mountain area, and there were still descendants in the village who joined the army, and the villagers already knew the truth of resisting and saving the country. In addition, in the past few days, Liu Yimin has been immersed in writing articles, and Cai Zhong has seized the opportunity to organize the soldiers to mobilize the masses from house to house in several surrounding villages.

Sure enough, a guy stood up and shouted: "Director Huang, don't be reasonable, we all understand this." Hurry up and choose the village chief, elect the village chief to lead us to fight devils! ”

The villagers who sat down immediately began to talk about it.

When Huang Wenhu saw it, he felt that he was verbose, and directly called out to the soldiers to put three bowls on the table, and under each bowl was a note pressed with the names of the three candidates. And on one side of the ground placed a half-bucket with beans in it. Then the villagers lined up, and each person took a bean from half a bucket and threw it into the bowl of the candidate he had chosen.

Although the Republic of China has been established for 27 years, and the national political axe has always promoted civil rights, the district head, township head, and security chief in the village are all powerful people, and when will it be the turn of the people to choose the people they trust.

Seeing that the Eighth Route Army really let itself elect the village head, the villagers present were all serious, and no one spoke, so they quietly stepped forward in line, took beans from half a bucket, and then threw them into the bowl of the candidate they were willing to choose. Then he retired and sat quietly on the ground, waiting for the cadres of the Eighth Route Army to announce the election results.

Liu Yimin watched from the side, and sighed in his heart, many of these ordinary people in front of him were illiterate, but when they really wanted to let them exercise their rights, they were so serious. For these fellow villagers who live in the mountains all year round, this simple and effective election is probably the most sacred thing in life!

The election results came out, and the elected village chief stood at the table and was speechless for a long time, and finally shouted with a red face and a thick neck: "Beat the dog!" ”

After the village chief was elected, followed by the elective militia captain and the women's director, as a result, Yu Xiuquan was really elected as the women's master.

Seeing this, Liu Yimin stopped looking at it and quietly walked out of the venue.

Standing at the entrance of the village, Liu Yimin took a few breaths of fresh air, looked up and looked around, only to see the dark and indescribable mystery and coldness of Culai Mountain in the night. Looking at the night sky again, the sky is so high, and the moon is like a jade plate, sprinkling a piece of silver light on the Culai Mountains.

Liu Yimin suddenly remembered the watercolor comic strip he saw when he was a child, which had such a picture: the moon shining from the mountain pass, a forest by the river, and a young sentry of the Eighth Route Army standing guard under the tree with a gun.

Liu Yimin had a sense of time and space confusion, feeling that he had entered the picture and had become the soldier of the Eighth Route Army who could only see the outline clearly, ready to destroy the devil at any time.

The footsteps woke Liu Yimin up, and he turned his head to see that it was Cai Zhong. Neither of them spoke, but stood quietly at the entrance of the village.

After a long time, the villagers dispersed, Li Xiaoshuai and Huang Wenhu came over to ask the two to go back to rest, and Liu Yimin said to Cai Zhong: "You send a telegram to the political commissar and ask him to concentrate on the construction of political power, especially the election of the village head, militia captain, and women's director, which is the foundation." As long as this work is done well, the ideological consciousness of our Chinese people can be truly emancipated. Whether it's a devil or a Han annihilation, we're not afraid of anyone coming! ”

Cai Zhong nodded, said, "I also think about it a lot", and went back to his residence with Liu Yimin.

The next day, Luo Ronghuan sent a telegram, saying that he had sent a telegram to all brigades to make special arrangements for the election work in the building of grassroots political power, and asked the soon-to-be-founded "Dazhong Yuebao" to publish a special issue of propaganda and guidance, so that the art troupe could organize forces to create programs with such themes, prepare to perform in the Yimeng Mountains, and then tour the base areas.

After reading the telegram, Liu Yimin personally sent a telegram to Luo Ronghuan, demanding that it be made clear to the troops and party members and cadres that doing a good job in the election of village-level political power is the foundation for us to establish a base area. Every village has a village chief, militia captain, and women's director who leads the masses to persist in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and develop production. All units must make great efforts to do a good job in this work and must not delay it under any pretext.

After sending the telegram, Liu Yimin wrote a special letter to Jingjing, comparing the village-level elections in the construction of political power in the base areas to the spring tide surging in the land of Qilu, and asked the "Dazhong Yuebao" to set up a special page in the inaugural issue to focus on propaganda and reporting.

In the evening, the villagers were gathered by the Eighth Route Army again, and the literacy class in Culai Village began.

This time, there is no need for Li Xiaoshuai and Huang Wenhu to talk about it, Liu Yimin, secretary of the Shandong Bureau, commander of the Shandong Military Region, and instructor and division commander, personally came to teach the villagers.

Liu Yimin first asked the villagers to report their names one by one, wrote them out one by one on the wooden board with chalk, and asked these illiterate farmers to walk to the wooden board and teach them to read their names one by one. Then he told a very famous story in this area, about a man surnamed Du a few years ago, his wife was sick and needed money urgently, so he went to the old rich house to borrow money. Lao Cai deceived him for not being able to read, and borrowed two pieces from Guangyang and wrote them into two hundred. When it was time to repay the debt, the man surnamed Du was paralyzed with fright when he heard that the old rich man's account office said that he had borrowed 200 yuan and that he should repay 500 yuan. After the villagers found out, they found a teacher, but when the teacher saw it, the IOU was indeed 200 yuan, and he still pressed his fingerprints, knowing that it was a man surnamed Du from the old fortune pit, and he couldn't help him. It was because of this IOU that Lao Cai sent the man surnamed Du to prison and seized his wife and daughter.

The story told by Liu Yimin happened in a village not far from here, and the villagers knew that this old fortune had been suppressed by the Eighth Route Army a few days ago because he became a Han anniversary, and the land, grain, and money were also distributed to the poor. Therefore, it immediately resonated, and several soft-hearted women even cried.

Liu Yimin took advantage of the situation to guide the villagers, so that the villagers understood that learning culture is the need to grow good crops and defeat the invaders, and further stimulated the villagers' positive surnames for literacy.

After class, back at his residence, Liu Yimin received a telegram from the chairman.

In the telegram, the chairman said that after investigation, 1,600 guerrillas of the Red Army in western Guizhou had indeed been incorporated into the Gui Army, and this was the result of the influence of some comrades who had passed through the united front, relied on the united front in everything, and obeyed the united front in everything. Liu Yimin was asked to think of bringing back this part of the Red Army no matter what, so that it could be incorporated into the instructor's army and could also enrich the strength of the New Fourth Army.

At the same time, the chairman pointed out that going to Xuzhou to meet Li Zongren and Bai Chongxi was a good opportunity for the united front, because in Xuzhou they could not only meet Li and Bai, but also various Kuomintang generals. It is necessary to give them more propaganda about our party's policy and the proposition of uniting to resist the Japanese language. If we can meet Chiang Kai-shek, we must explain to him in person the views of Liu himself and our party on the later operations of the Battle of Xuzhou, so as to avoid the tragedy of the main force being surrounded by the army.

As for the entourage, the chairman's telegram stressed that in view of the complexity of the enemy situation and the great danger, Comrade Tang Xingying did not need to take them with him, and only brought the guard troops and Chen Yaoguang with him to deal with Chiang.

At the end of the telegram, the chairman emphasized that the battle on the battlefield in Xuzhou is imminent, go quickly and return quickly, and safety first.

(To be continued)