After inspecting the Huayuan Gun Factory on the afternoon of the 6th of the first month, Long Qian began a high-intensity inspection work, successively inspecting the Huayuan Civil Branch, the Shandong Automobile Company, the Shandong University of Technology, the Jinan Petroleum College, the Jinan Machinery College, and the Jinan Military Academy, which has been the highest institution of national defense along the way. Leaving Zhou Xuexi, Lian Shupeng, and Zhang Lianfen, who Lian Hu could not bear it, continued to investigate Jinan's industry and commerce, Long Qian took Song Jiaoren and Yu Youren accompanied by Wu Yong to inspect Qihe County near Jinan by car, focusing on the implementation of the "Land Law".

Of the laws that have been enacted, the Land Law has been the most difficult, with controversy from the drafters to the deliberators. The lack of scientific and detailed research on the land situation in the country is one thing (the number is basically from Shandong and Zhili provinces), and the complexity of land ownership and rural social relations is an important factor on the other hand, so many people vehemently oppose the hasty introduction of this law.

For a while, even Long Qian was a little hesitant. But he knew that without the introduction of this law, which was destined to cause a huge turmoil, the blueprint for industrialization that had been drawn would be a waste of paper! Therefore, Long Qian took advantage of the unconditional support of the majority of the deputies in the National Assembly to forcibly pass Guò and promulgate the Land Law on a trial basis in carefully selected provinces. The core of the law is orderly, one of which is to remove the slavery of the landlords to the peasants, and explicitly grant the peasants complete citizenship rights, so as to realize the free movement of labor; The second is to make it clear that the upper limit of land rent shall not exceed 25% of land revenue, and that each province has the right to adjust the rent according to its own circumstances, but not the upper limit prescribed by law. to limit the exploitation of hired peasants by landlords; The third is to establish a hierarchical land tax system, in which land per capita occupancy of less than 10 mu (including 10 mu) is not subject to land tax, and more than 10 mu is taxed progressively, so as to reverse the private occupation of land; Fourth, it regulates many matters related to the sale and transfer of land, and clarifies the process and price of the government's acquisition of private land. Due to the imbalance in population and economic development in various provinces and localities, the transfer and purchase prices shall be clarified by the detailed rules issued by the provinces. The fifth is the disposition of "parcels". There is a large amount of land belonging to clans, temples, etc., in the countryside, which is in the nature of semi-public land, and the abolition of "parcels" is used to combat patriarchal forces. Sixth, landlords are encouraged to invest in industry and commerce, supplemented by policies such as tax reduction and exemption, so as to realize the investment of private funds into industry and commerce.

The reason why the Land Law has not been fully rolled out. It is to take into account the following factors: the strength of the ruling power of the Mengshan army. The quality of the industrial base, the dense and loose population, and the ethnic problem. The first batch of provinces included in the pilot project are Shandong, Zhili, Jiangsu, Guangdong, Shanxi, and Hubei.

This was at the beginning of October last year. In the fourth quarter of last year, preparations for propaganda were carried out, especially the work of popularizing legal education. Sure enough, since January 1 this year, the six provinces have been officially trial. It's only been a month. There are countless contradictions and conflicts that have erupted in various provinces and localities over the implementation of the Land Law. In particular, the two provinces of Zhili and Jiangsu are the strictest. A number of clashes broke out between officials and civilians in Zhili, killing and injuring nearly 100 people, and the county government was burned down in Jiangsu. In the case of the beating of the county magistrate, Long Qian bypassed the Government Council and directly issued a presidential decree to take the implementation of the "Land Law" as the main indicator for evaluating the performance of the governors of the pilot provinces, and forcibly implemented the law. In provinces where the implementation of the Land Law is inadequate, the principal heads of the government are given financial penalties, demotion, or even dismissal.

Long Qian decided to go on patrol mainly to see the implementation of the "Land Law" in various places in order to obtain first-hand information.

Shandong promulgated relevant supporting policies at the same time on 1 January, the day when the "Land Law" came into effect, which shows that the province has grasped this work relatively tightly and has also done serious research. Relying on the implementation of rural autonomy for several years, the powerful landlords and patriarchal forces were dismantled and suppressed for most of the time, and the industry that arose in Jinan Province attracted the transfer of rural labor and capital, and some shrewd landlords began to abandon agricultural labor after calculating the huge income difference between agriculture and industry, especially the development and construction of the Jiyang oil field, which led to economic changes in northern Shandong, so the implementation of the "Land Law" in the two places did not receive particularly great resistance. According to Wu Yong's briefing, Qihe is a county that is better at enforcing the "Land Law," so Long Qian went to Qihe to conduct on-the-spot investigations, and according to the statistics provided by the county magistrate of Qihe, who accompanied the inspection, in the past month, the county government has recovered 23,000 mu of cultivated land at the price stipulated by the province, leased 14,000 mu to landless peasant households, and occupied 2,100 mu for setting up industries. The main problem is that it has brought about a shortage of funds in the county, and second, the problem of "parcels" is difficult to solve, and farmers are very resistant to the government to repossess the parcels, including hired farmers, who are generally considered to have violated their interests.

The land owned by the landless peasants was leased by the government, and the land in the hands of the government was transferred by the big landlords, but this seemingly reasonable circle exacerbated the shortage of government funds, because the desperate poor households could not afford to buy land from the government, so they could only rent crops and use grain to repay the land money. Many destitute households seem reluctant to farm anymore because they find it more lucrative to find a job in Jinan or Jiyang.

According to Lu Nan's statistics, "parcels" account for more than 20% of all cultivated land in rural areas. Ostensibly co-owned by the collective (family), it was actually controlled by Haoqiang (patriarch), which further strengthened the power of the clan in the countryside. Due to the implementation of the Mengshan Army's rural autonomy movement, the implementation of this system is generally retired or disabled soldiers, and they are more likely to come from poor families, so the contradictions in the rural areas of Shandong are mainly concentrated between the patriarchal and the autonomous committees. In recent years, with the victory of the Mengshan army in the whole country, the autonomous committees supported by the army gradually gained the upper hand, and as a result, there was a phenomenon of killing powerful landlords. At a forum of landlords and patriarchs convened by Long Qian in Qihe, two bold landlords cried and complained about the oppression of them by the autonomous committee and asked the president to make decisions for them.

Long Qian didn't come to judge the case. He gave a detailed account of the implementation of the Land Law, asked the landowners what they really thought of the Land Law, and explained in detail the purpose of the Land Law. For some individual cases of infringement on landowners, Long Qian entrusted Cao Minzhong's Supervision Department to investigate and verify.

Long Qian told the delegates that the government of the republic is the government of all people, and it is not the backer of the landlord class. Nor is it biased towards hired peasants or the poor. The agrarian revolution was carried out for the purpose of developing the economy and achieving common prosperity. The Government cannot tolerate brutal exploitation under its rule, nor can it tolerate the encroachment on legitimate property. The Land Law was introduced with the aim of transferring a part of the funds and population that had been idle in the countryside to the cities. Everyone has seen and felt the rise of Shandong's industry, and it is obviously better to rely on traditional land rent than to invest in industry. Moreover, it is a shame for the Government to perpetuate a large number of people living in extreme poverty who can barely feed or even live on a minimum basis. The Republic of China is not a Manchu and cannot turn a blind eye to this. The phenomenon of "Zhumen's wine and meat stinks, and there are frozen bones on the road" can no longer continue! Everyone should take a long-term view, don't focus on their own land, there are many ways to make money, and change their concepts. Long Qian pointed out. There is something ugly in the patriarchal forces. It hinders the development of the economy and civilization and is one of the causes of the country's poverty and weakness, and it must be eradicated. Whoever dares to block it, the government will take it! You're welcome! I hope you will recognize the shape shì. Keep up with the shape shì.

In addition to holding a symposium of landlords and patriarchs, Long Qian held a symposium of landlords. He also inspected a small village in Qihe called Shatuji, which he had randomly selected based on a map. I visited three poor farming households, learned about the family population, land and income, and donated 20 yuan in cash to each household. Long Qian also inspected a village-run primary school during the holiday and donated 100 yuan to the primary school. Yu Youren, Song Jiaoren, Cao Minzhong and Wu Yong each donated 50 yuan.

Long Qian is famous in Shandong. The villagers are not accustomed to calling the president but are used to calling the commander or the commander, the villagers of Shatuji did not expect Long Qian to appear in the village during the Chinese New Year, the initial nervousness was followed by excitement, some bold villagers rushed to the school gate, intercepted Long Qian, and talked to the emperor in their minds about the situation they thought should be reported, so that Long Qian's trip was delayed for half a day. Wu Yong was very nervous, for fear that Long Qian would be angry because of this, but fortunately, the villagers did not speak ill of the government, but only talked about some trivial things that were not worth mentioning in his opinion. And Long Qian listened patiently to the villagers' confessions, without a look of impatience.

There was a woman who followed Long Qian to inspect the countryside. Her name is Lu Bicheng, she is 28 years old this year, and she is still unmarried. She was the editor of "Ta Kung Pao" and the first female editor of the newspaper, because she published a series of articles advocating women's emancipation, "To Chinese Female Compatriots" and "Xing Women Powerful Have Tenacious Aspirations" two articles attracted Qiu Jin's attention, after the founding of the Mengshan Army, Qiu Jin specially visited Lu Bicheng and recruited him to the General Administration of Press and Publication under his own command, on the eve of New Year's Day, I happened to hear that Ouyang Zhong was looking for a secretary for Long Qian, and Qiu Jin recommended Lu Bicheng "enduringly". originally thought that Lu Bicheng might not be willing to work in the presidential palace, but who knew that Lu Bicheng readily agreed and went to Long Qian's side as a trainee secretary.

The reason why Ouyang Zhong was looking for a second secretary for Long Qian was because there was a shortage of people around Long Qian. Wang Zhaowen is mediocre, and the transactional work is already very heavy, and he is unable to help Long Qian deal with the copywriting work. Therefore, Long Qian, who has always emphasized the reduction of personnel, agreed with Ouyang Zhong to select another secretary for him. Originally, Long Qian was a little dissatisfied with Ouyang Zhong finding a single woman, but after reading Lu Bicheng's information, he agreed. After the trial, he thought it was okay, and Lu Bicheng stayed in the presidential office. This time, Long Qian went on patrol, and Lu Bicheng also accompanied her, and her task was to write a "President's Tour", which was Director Ouyang's explanation.

The reason why Lu Bicheng came to work beside Long Qian was not because she admired power, but because she was moved by several poems that Long Qian "created" that circulated abroad. Lu Bicheng is a member of the Southern Society, and her attainments in poetry are extremely high, and she especially admires the Seven Laws (the desert is thousands of miles and white clouds are low) because of the Wehrmacht's dispatch of troops to Mobei, and she wants to see what the supreme ruler who is rumored to have different images looks like.

Of course, this qiē was hidden deep in his heart and was not mentioned to anyone, including his friend Qiu Jin.

Lu Bicheng did not enter the presidential palace as Long Qian's text secretary for a long time, her office was in a bungalow opposite the main building of Haiyan Hall, Long Qian seemed to be used to drafting the telegram report by herself, and personally explained her few tasks, that is, to ask Wang Zhao to find her some information, such as the source of some allusions and words. It was only recently that Long Qian tried to use the female secretary, usually when preparing to publish a commentary on current affairs and politics in a major newspaper such as Zhonghua Bao, and then dictated the main points of the article to Lu Bicheng to write. Long Qian was obviously satisfied with Lu Bicheng's writing, and the manuscript she wrote did not change much, and only a comment on the promulgation of the provisions of the Land Law could not be used at all. That time, Long Qian asked her to go to his study and said that this article was not good! The position is wrong! You have to tear it down and start over. Then I asked her about her family and smiled, no wonder, because you don't understand the suffering of the peasants at all. The "Land Law" was a revolution that revolutionized the feudal land system, with two main purposes, one was to liberate the rural productive forces, and the other was to lay the foundation for the country's industrialization. Therefore, the interests of a part of the population must be sacrificed. I admit that many landlords have their property accumulated through hard work. But what's the solution? The British engage in enclosures, as you should know. Actually, I have reservations about the Land Law, and it should be more radical...... In the end, the fiercely worded article was drafted by the president himself.

Despite working in a yard. Lu Bicheng rarely saw Long Qian. She had the impression that the president was basically a military man. The image and style are all military styles. And Long Qian always looked preoccupied. There was no joy and majesty of the founding president she imagined.

This time I went on patrol with Long Qian, and I saw another side of Long Qian that was unknown to others, and I also came into contact with another side of society that she didn't know. It is hard to imagine that the founding president of the republic would walk into the peasant households and ask about their lives. Her background made it difficult for her to accept this. She doesn't think that's the time for a president to be in charge. But the poverty of the countryside shocked her again. She had never seen such a poor family, with few decent furniture, not even a mattress. Therefore, she also quietly left the money on her body to the peasant woman, who thanked her for her kindness and made her feel a heavy responsibility. I have a little more understanding of the worries shown by Long Qian.

Leaving Shatuji, return to Qihe County that night. After a simple light meal, Long Qian called a meeting with the county magistrate and other officials to listen to their reports on the implementation of the Land Law. Because of the trip to the sand and soil, the county magistrate's report was full of words, for fear that the president would be dissatisfied and lose his black hat. Long Qian did not criticize, but comforted several grassroots officials very much, and said something that made Lu Bicheng sigh.

Long Qian said: The implementation of the "Land Law" is a matter of a long time. You've done a good job, at least you have a general understanding of the country's policies, and the county has taken action, which is good. It's normal to have problems at work, don't have baggage, and don't hold back because there are problems.

You must understand that the government of the Republic is different from the government of the Manchus. This difference is multifaceted, first of all, in terms of work style, officials are no longer the lords of the people, but serve the people, because they come from the people, so they can't always sit in the county government, and they must go deep into the grassroots to understand and solve the problems of the people. Second, it is necessary to abide by discipline and law, act according to the rules, and let the people abide by the law. The county magistrate is the biggest official in this land, so he can do whatever he wants, but that doesn't work. Meet Minister Cao, right? He is the Inspector General of the Republic, and his task is to supervise and inspect the observance of the law by your officials. By the way, for the implementation of the "Land Law", the Ministry of Supervision will conduct a special supervision to ensure that the policy does not deviate. That's not all, the main task is to get your economy up! The first is agriculture, and it is necessary to really solve the problem of eating. The natural situation of the Qihe River is good, and the per capita cultivated land is not small, so there is no reason not to do a good job in agriculture. Therefore, it is necessary to devote great efforts to studying agricultural issues, vigorously build water conservancy projects, cultivate and popularize improved seeds, thoroughly put an end to wasteland, and do everything possible to increase grain output. I heard you say that the average yield per mu of Qihe is less than 300 catties, and it is basically corn sorghum, which is not good. Do you have the confidence to increase the yield per mu by 100 catties in three years? If I do, I'll come and present you with the award myself.

The county magistrate is a retired officer of the Shandong Army, and the commander of the Shandong Army was originally engaged in logistics, but he immediately stood up and said that he would definitely complete the tasks assigned by the commander. Long Qian said with a smile, it is not easy to increase the yield per mu, you should not express your position first, you must study carefully and work hard. Even if it is an increase of 50 pounds, it is a great thing. Long Qian said to Wu Yong that the province should formulate assessment indicators for each county that are in line with their characteristics, and the first is the agricultural index! If you can't eat enough, you can't provide surplus food for the city, and no matter how good the rest is, you can't do anything else. The second is compulsory education, which must be done well to the letter, and the school in Shatuji is good, and I am happy to see it. You, the county magistrate, are not too big, but the burden is very heavy. Do a good job, next time I come to Jinan, I will definitely come over to see the changes in Qihe.

Because I was scheduled to go to Lunan tomorrow, I returned overnight that night. On the way back to Jinan, Lu Bicheng shared a car with Long Qian, and she said, "President, I didn't expect the situation in the countryside to be so complicated, and besides, it's really too poor. ”

"Who are you particulate? Landlord or farmer? ”

"I think it all makes sense...... It's true. ”

In the darkness, Long Qian smiled silently.

"When will you get rich in the countryside? I think it's too hard. ”

"Don't be discouraged. As long as we have the right policy and work hard for ten years, it is basically achievable to let the Chinese people have enough to eat. Eradication of illiteracy can also be done. As for enriching the rural areas, it depends on the process of industrialization. ”

"I don't think it's hard to industrialize. I didn't expect the factory in Jinan to be of such a scale. ”

"You don't understand, it's much more difficult than this......" Long Qian was deeply worried. (To be continued......)