In the eyes of Chen Chao and others, there was no news from Meng Shanjun as soon as he left.

The remaining troops of the Mengshan Army were still there, but Long Qian was gone, and Chen Chao felt that the Mengshan Army was gone.

At first, Chen Chao was worried that the official army would find trouble with Zhengjiazhuang. Whether Zhou Yi, Feng Guozhu and others can hold this territory, Chen Chao has no bottom in his heart. The situation has been calm, there is no news about the government, except for the Mengshan officers and soldiers who stayed behind, there is no shadow of any officers and soldiers nearby, and Chen Chao's hanging heart is slowly put down.

It's a good year, that's for sure. In the spring, it is rare to see two rains underground, and the completion of the canal and the successful diversion of water have increased the area of irrigated land within the "base area" by 20%. The main beneficiaries are the three villages of Zhengjiazhuang, Chenjiaya and Baiwei, which are also the core areas of the "base area". The role of the canal made the surrounding villages angry, so they proposed to continue digging the canal to divert water, but due to the limited funds and terrain, continuing to expand the irrigation area of the canal has not yet been put on the agenda.

Due to the construction of water conservancy facilities, the redistribution of land (mainly Zhengjiazhuang), and the decline in land rents, the villagers are much more motivated to work for their crops. Rarely, this year, there are many more families growing wheat in the "base area", and the results are really good. In the summer, that is, after the main force of the Mongsan Army marched north to Gyeonggi, a bumper harvest of wheat was obtained. The growth of autumn grain (mainly corn) is even more gratifying, and the grain group under the autonomous committee estimates that the per capita grain in the base area will exceed 400 catties this year! It's never been a better year! The popularization and planting of drought-tolerant and alkali-resistant high-yield crops such as potatoes and sweet potatoes can basically be determined. You don't have to worry about starving this year.

The Autonomous Council was not weakened by the departure of the main force of the Mengshan Army, but on the contrary strengthened its strength. The main symbol is the joining of Song Jinguo, the logistics chief of the Mengshan Army. At the invitation of Chen Chao and Xiao Guanyu, Song Jinguo served as the deputy director of the Autonomous Committee and became Chen Chao's first assistant.

No wonder Long Qian handed over the whole army's eating, drinking, lazing and sleeping to this diligent Shanxi man, this guy does have some Taoism. Not to mention, he is very organized, mainly because he always has some good ideas. For example, the survey of the land in the base area and the analysis of the population structure are very new methods that seem to the local gentry, and they have brought many unexpected results. At the suggestion of Song Jinguo, the Autonomous Committee set up a number of "professional" committees, such as the Household Registration Committee, to accurately grasp the household registration situation of the population in the base areas; Conciliation Commission. It is to solve the conflicts that occur among the villagers; Banks. Specializing in small loans, the interest rate is very low, and the villagers in the base area can obtain a loan of no more than five taels of silver from the money village by virtue of the documents issued by the village; Literacy group. One per village. Responsible for teaching children's literacy free of charge. Farmers who deny their children to literacy groups are financially punished – five buckets of corn are handed over to the self-government committee in the fall. The Farmers' Evening School, a literacy organization for adults, is a voluntary organization. Do not coerce; The rescue group is mainly aimed at military families and martyrs' families, and all military martyrs' families have all kinds of preferential treatment in land rent, labor, and silver loans. Lao Song stressed: We must not allow a family of military martyrs to be cold, starving, and bullied, and this is what the commander particularly stressed, and it involves the stability of the army's morale, and there can be no ambiguity in the slightest.

A large number of Mengshan officers and soldiers were sent to work in the Autonomous Committee. They are generally temporary, such as literacy groups. There are also long-term ones, such as social survey groups, which are engaged in investigation and research work on land, population, economy, etc. The social investigation team has vigorously promoted high-yielding potatoes and sweet potatoes, and they have bought seeds from other places at high prices and sold them to farmers at low prices, thus arousing the enthusiasm of farmers. In view of the difficulty of seeing a doctor in rural areas, Song Jinguo hired doctors from Fei County, Zou County and other places with a high salary, and established the first peasant hospital in Zhengjiazhuang, which was located in the Zheng family's mansion, and the director was Zheng Haoran Zheng, who did not go on an expedition with the main force of the Mengshan Army because of his age. The establishment of the hospital was strongly supported by the medical center of the remaining troops of the Mengshan Army, and in fact the medical center has been merged into the clinic, which is named the peasant hospital. It is different from traditional clinics in that it not only sees a doctor and takes medicine, but also can be "hospitalized" for treatment, that is, the patient is left in the hospital for treatment, and the effect is much better.

The Autonomous Committee has moved some of Meng's practices over, such as paying attention to hygiene, building public baths and toilets in every village, prohibiting open defecation, and regulating dung heaps, which used to be piled up in front of their homes, dirty and messy, and when it rains, sewage flows across the streets. It's much cleaner now. There is also the promotion of bathing and the elimination of lice__

These things, which had been vigorously promoted by Long Qian in the army, caused discussion among the people, but on the whole, they were well received, thinking that the village was much cleaner and the people were more energetic. The villagers understood that it was all for their good, although a little unaccustomed to it.

The Autonomous Council has also made great achievements in changing some of the deep-rooted bad habits. For example, it is forbidden to cultivate opium, to prohibit drug use, and to prohibit landlords from abusing the wives and daughters of tenants. Because of Mengshanjun's gun standing behind, some things that were very difficult to stop in Chen Chao's opinion have made great progress. Opium was completely banned in the base area, and this matter actually achieved results before the main force of the Mengshan Army left. Long Qian ordered a group of opium dealers to be shot, which shocked those involved in the opium trade. Opium-growing farmers were punished with heavy fines, not only for money, but also for hard labor for public welfare work such as digging ditches and cleaning streets. The opium-addicted guys were held in a centralized detention for drug rehabilitation. After the main force of the Mengshan army left, opium cultivation rose again, and Feng Guozhu led his troops to personally destroy the opium seedlings and stop the recurrence. After the capture and public execution of three opium dealers who had entered the base areas from other places, there were basically no more people from other places who dared to peddle opium paste, after all, the head was more important than the silver.

There is also an extremely unpleasant atmosphere in the mountainous areas of southwest Lu. That is, the landlord wantonly abused the wife and daughter of the tenant. There are two situations, one is to bully others and commit violence openly. The other is to use the bodies of his wife and daughter to pay off his debts. Chen Chao also hated this. But the situation is widespread, and the tenants of very low status are basically afraid to speak out. After the Mengshan army was stationed, this trend was somewhat restrained due to their blows to the landlords, especially the number one landlord, Zheng Jing. But with the departure of the main force of the Mengshan Army, it has risen again this year. A tenant came home and found that the landlord had insulted his fifteen-year-old daughter. The garrison of the Mengshan Army brought the situation under control in time, and the commander of the Shengguang Company, who was unable to follow the main force north due to his wounds, dispersed the family members of the landlord's family who had come to seek revenge, and protected the tenant. The case is still handled by the Autonomous Council. Zhou Yi, Song Jinguo, and Feng Guozhu all stood firmly on Sheng Guang's side, believing that the tenants' murderous actions were excusable, and decided to impose penalties on the tenants. But the landlord's family did not do it. The case was stabbed to Fei County. The Zhao County Order of Fei County also sent someone to come once. After investigating the case, I went back, but there is still no result. This incident shook a lot, Xiao Guanyu and Shen Wuxian also asked Chen Chao to talk about this matter, thinking that if they did not take on the murderer. They will have a hard time in the future. And the poor people raised their eyebrows. There are no complaints. Even if it has suffered a loss. I don't want to open the scar and hurt again. Moreover, there is the issue of the reputation of the family.

To this end, the Autonomous Council has promulgated regulations in a targeted manner. All forms of bullying of women are strictly prohibited, and if there is a violation, Mengshan Jun will never sit idly by. But the incident did not subside, and the consequence was the hostility of the tenants against the landlords. Because of the Mengshan army, the contradictions did not intensify to the point of being out of control, but Chen Chao felt that once this army that was obviously towards the poor left, the contradictions would erupt on a large scale.

As a result of the Zhaojialou incident, the power of the patriarch, who had basically dominated rural affairs, was challenged, and the peasants trusted the Mengshan Army and the autonomous committee they supported. And the status of the gentry was further reduced.

In Chen Chao's view, the autonomous committee gradually replaced the patriarchal power in the village. In the core area of the base area, the villagers prefer to go to the self-government committee to solve their problems. Originally, they could only rely on clans.

At present, each village has set up a branch of the autonomous committee, which is subordinate to the leadership of the general association, and the members of the branch must be approved by the general association to participate in various training sessions convened by the general association on a regular basis. Therefore, Chen Chao, the leader of the autonomous committee, has become the most powerful person in the base area.

Although tired, Chen Chao felt happy and fulfilled. He believes that everything that the Autonomous Committee has done is right and for the benefit of the villagers. And that's not just lip service. Based on Chen Chao's insight, if the series of measures introduced by the Autonomous Committee persist, the appearance of his hometown will really change greatly. Chen Chao was amazed by Song Jinguo's wisdom and thought that he really had the ability, and every idea was very good. Once Chen Chao invited Song Jinguo to come to his house for a drink, talked about a series of measures implemented by the Autonomous Committee, and praised Lao Song very much.

Chen Chao is sincere. And Song Jinguo, who was a little drunk after drinking, preached a lot of truths, and he said that if China does not do a good job in the countryside, there is no hope for China. To do a good job in the rural areas, the most important thing is to solve the problem of eating. I can't eat enough to eat, I can't talk about anything.

Chen Chaoshen agreed, saying that this year, I don't think anyone will be hungry. Lao Song said that it is not so simple. There is so much land, it will only decrease, not increase. However, the population is increasing because of social stability and abundant grain harvests, and the solution to the food problem cannot be achieved by introducing a few high-yield crops.

This sentence surprised Chen Chaoda. Lao Song further explained, "You don't believe it? When the days are good, there will be more dolls. The results of our survey show that each couple in the base area has five and a half children, and almost half of the children die young. When the medical conditions are better, especially when the problem of dystocia is resolved, the population of each family will increase by two to three people. Can food production be doubled? Difficult! ”

After pondering this passage, Chen Chao completely admired Lao Song.

"The most important thing to get rid of the problem of eating is to solve the ignorance in the countryside, and the way is to make everyone literate, especially the children. That's why we're so busy running literacy classes. When the next generation grows up, some reform measures can be truly implemented, such as eliminating superstitions, paying attention to hygiene, promoting scientific farming, building water conservancy, and developing the rural economy. The face of the countryside will change dramatically. ”

After saying this, Chen Chao only has to look up.

It was Chen Shu's words that defeated Lao Song. Chen Shu, who had been standing quietly by the door and listening to Old Song's talk, asked, "Brother Song, these things were taught to you by the commander, right?" ”

Song Jinguo immediately lowered his head. Banyu took out a hairy booklet from his arms and handed it to Chen Chao, "It's still a big girl." I saw through it at a glance. These things were indeed taught to me by the commander, and I was afraid that I would not be able to remember them, so they were all written on them. At that time, he was ready to leave, and he stayed up for two or three nights to get out of such a thing. I felt that the commander had already been in my head, but I felt that he was too late to do it, so I left it to help Mr. Chen__"

Chen Shu chuckled and grabbed the pamphlet, "I'll just say, except for him, I'm afraid you don't have this knowledge." ”

Chen Shu is a member of the autonomous committee, and is also the leader of the Chen Jiaya literacy group, organizing the literacy of children in the village, Chen Chao did not prevent her niece from showing up, and her relationship with Long Qian has long been spread throughout the base area. Song Jinguo has a lot of respect for Chen Shu, Chen Shu snatched his booklet, and Lao Song just smiled, "Hey, be careful, don't tear it up." ”

Song Jinguo said to Chen Chao that this book was left by the commander, and it will be given to you now. The commander has always wanted to personally lead the reform of the countryside, yes, reform. It's a pity that he took the troops away. What I'm doing now, I don't know if it's his intention, I'm afraid that he will come back and criticize me for messing around.

Chen Chao carefully studied the pamphlet left to him by Song Jinguo. It was a handwritten manuscript, written with a charcoal pen, and many of the words were typos, and the pen was badly missing. But the general meaning can be guessed, especially when put in the whole sentence. Chen Chao was amazed at Long Qian's thinking on rural issues, and there were some ideas that he had never heard of. Moreover, I have never heard Long Qian speak. The stuff in this booklet is very miscellaneous, and it can be seen that it was written in a hurry. Probably because the troops were about to be pulled out, it was written in a hurry. The booklet deals with the improvement of grain yield per acre, the popularization of culture, the cultivation of healthy and civilized living habits, the adjustment of rural social relations, and the cultivation and revitalization of the rural economy.

Reducing the rural population and realizing the transfer of labor to the cities—how can this be achieved? What did you do when you left the land and entered the city, not to mention that the government allowed it? Be a beggar? Chen Chao was puzzled. Talking to Chen Shu about this - that pamphlet Chen Shu read almost every day, almost memorized, Chen Shu said, you don't know the way to do it, he must know the way, there is nothing he doesn't understand.

Of course, Chen Chao understood his niece's thoughts, "Shu'er, do you know the way?" Almost all of what they did was not tolerated by the imperial court. Although they submitted to the court, they left it on their own. Moreover, the court will not really treat them as its own. ”

"What's that? He said that as long as the Mengshan army is there, the court will have to endure it. Moreover, isn't what the Autonomous Committee did, uncle, what you have always wanted to appear? ”

Yes, it is indeed what Chen Chao wants. Long Qian pointed out that the various measures implemented by Song Jinguo were all good deeds of immeasurable merit in Chen Chao's view. Literacy, building hospitals, promoting hygiene, banning opium, building water conservancy, and increasing grain production, which is not for the benefit of the country and the people?

"However, if the Mengshan army is finished, all this will be over. Moreover, the government will definitely retaliate, such as the matter of Zhaojialou__" Chen Chao said worriedly.

"The Mengshan Army will not be finished. He'll definitely be back. Chen Shu said firmly. (To be continued......)