Laohe Village is more than 20 miles away from Nianping Village. It is not far or close. Villagers in the villages usually have little communication. After all, the villages are exploited by the landlords, so there is naturally no trade between the villages.
There are only trade transactions between landlords, and the things traded are exploited from the farmers in the village.
The landlord of Laohe Village is named Zhang Wangcai. In his fifties, he took over his father's business and became the landlord of Laohe Village, and continued to exploit the villagers of Laohe Village.
This time he received the transaction from the landowner of Nianping Village, and he also attached great importance to it. The price of a group of lambs and calves was not cheap. One hundred oceans was a small amount. When the landowner of Nianping Village came over earlier, the other party also proposed to buy the old sheep.
The scalper, the old scalper is his tool for making money, so naturally he won't sell it, but he can sell calves and lambs.
The number of lambs and calves that the landowner of Nianping Village needs is not a small amount. In fact, he does not have so many lambs and calves on hand, but the villagers of Laohe Village do. The previous land tax has tripled, and many villagers of Laohe Village
He hadn't paid enough yet, so he was asked to give it a few days, and he agreed. If he didn't pay enough when the time was up, he would just clean the house.
Unexpectedly, the deal in Nianping Village came. Zhang Wangcai agreed, and he led his people to rob lambs and calves from farmers in Laohe Village. Several lambs and calves that had just been bought were robbed by Zhang Wangcai and his people.
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Today is the day of the transaction. There is still one lamb left. I saw Zhou Jiwang’s ewe had a big belly earlier. She must have been pregnant for a long time. Now I see that the day of the transaction is in the afternoon. In order to complete the transaction, Zhang Wangcai
Led a group of gun-wielding gangsters and stormed into Zhou Jiwang's home.
The door was knocked open, and the old farmer Wang Mingming, who was feeding the ewes, was startled. His son Zhou Jiwang ran out of the room and saw it was Zhang Wangcai. He quickly said: "Mr. Zhang, why are you here today? Our family
The food has been paid."
Zhang Wangcai strode in and pointed his finger: "Of course today is not about food, I am about it!"
Zhou Jiwang hurriedly said: "Mr. Zhang, it is only three months pregnant and has not yet given birth to lambs. You can't take it away."
Zhang Wangcai was too lazy to talk nonsense to them, and said coldly: "My land has supported your family, what's the matter with a sheep? Take it away for me!"
Zhou Jiwang suddenly panicked and quickly blocked the ewe, but Zhang Wangcai's men knocked him to the ground with a rifle butt. Two local gangsters punched and kicked Zhou Jiwang and hit his head hard with the rifle butt.
After two or three blows, blood came out of Zhou Jiwang's mouth and nose, and he begged bitterly:
"Mr. Zhang, you can't take it away. It is our family's last hope. You can't take it away."
Zhou Jiwang's old father also went to stop him, but was dragged aside by a local gangster who grabbed his clothes and beat him severely with the butt of a gun. Screams and cries came from Zhou Jiwang's yard. In the room, Zhou Jiwang's old father was
Mother ran out with a dustpan and saw the scene in the yard. The dustpan in her hand fell to the ground. She ran out of the house in a hurry, tripped over the wooden board in front of the hall, and knocked her head heavily on the ground.
The red blood soaked the sand on the ground.
"Take the sheep away!"
Zhang Wangcai ignored such a scene and ordered his men to turn around and leave while screaming "咩咩". He stopped the gangster who was punching and kicking Zhou Jiwang and his old father, and hit them hard with the butt of his rifle.
Zhou Jiwang said coldly:
"It's a blessing for your family that the master likes your sheep. Maybe he will be happy in the coming year. I'll reduce some taxes for your family. Don't be ungrateful. The land you use belongs to the master. Without the master, do you think you are like this?"
Can the family survive?"
The screams of the ewe gradually faded away. In his blurry vision, he saw the door being closed heavily and seemed to be pushed open again. It was the neighbor next door who ran in. Zhou Jiwang closed his eyes and his consciousness became blurred. He waited until he woke up again.
Later, the old father was injured by the landlord's men and lay on the bed. The old mother fell to the ground and broke her head. The only ewe in the family, a Bo lamb, was snatched away by the landlord.
Zhou Jiwang braced himself angrily: "I'm going to find the landlord!"
The old mother burst into tears, her voice shrill and desperate: "What are you going to take? Several families in the village are in the same situation as us. They just had their lambs taken away. Our family even had their ewes taken away, and your father was also taken away."
Broken hand."
The neighbor peasant woman hugged Zhou Jiwang's old mother, feeling sympathetic but unable to do anything about it. The landlord had power, money, land, people, and guns. Going against the landlord would not end well.
Zhou Jiwang lay on the bed in despair, looking at the dilapidated house with dull eyes. The ewe, the only source of income this year, was taken away, and all the food in the family had to pay local taxes. For their family, the sky is undoubtedly falling.
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The old mother cried in despair: "How can I live like this?"
Zhang Wangcai led his men, led the ewe home, and brought the lambs and calves he had brought earlier. Before leaving, he told the housekeeper: "Bring a gun and ammunition to ensure that this transaction is foolproof!"
The housekeeper understood the situation and asked a group of people to go back to the room to prepare weapons and ammunition. Zhang Wangcai got on the sedan and walked out of the village with a few farmers herding sheep.
On the other side, Li Qingming led a squad of soldiers and carried a huge sum of money. After a long journey, he finally saw Laohe Village, which is located among the mountains and forests. Laohe Village was named after a river flowing from the mountains passing through the village. This river is called
Laohe.
"There is also a lot less water in the old river." Li Qingming walked across a wooden bridge across the old river, looked down at the trickling water in the old river, and couldn't help but say.
"Deputy company commander, I heard that the weather this year has been changeable. The drought in some places has been severe, and the crop harvest has been reduced a lot. Although our area has not been affected, the rainy season has been significantly less."
The Red Army soldiers were basically farmers, and they were very concerned about the harvest of crops. In addition, they could hear some news about other areas when they went to the county town on weekdays, so they naturally had a lot of knowledge about other areas.
This chapter is not over, please click on the next page to continue reading! "Drought is a big problem." Li Qingming's current identity is no longer just the eldest son of the Li family, his identity is a Red Army cadre. He not only has to consider the people, but also
He also had to consider the Red Army soldiers. Seeing the water volume of the Laohe River decreasing, Li Qingmin was worried about whether the drought would affect Nianping Village.
"Deputy company commander, are you wondering whether the drought will affect our village? No, it is to the east of us. Even if there is a drought, it will not affect our village. And although there is less rain this year, it will not affect our village.
No."
"No, as long as we continue to maintain this amount of rainfall, it won't be too much or too little. What's more, there is a river at the entrance of our village. Even if there is a drought, we can still go there to get water."
Several soldiers were panting and chatting. One soldier looked up and saw the low houses and tiles in Laohe Village appearing in front of him and said: "Deputy company commander, we are here."
Li Qingming raised his head, looked at Laohe Village, and said: "Be careful, the local owners are not bad, this transaction must be foolproof!"
"yes!"
Several soldiers stopped chatting and their eyes became wary.
At the entrance of the village, Zhang Wangcai and a group of his men are waiting. The villagers here have been driven away by them. No one will come here again, and the transaction can proceed smoothly.
One of his subordinates ran over and said, "Master, they are here."
After the words fell, more than a dozen people appeared at the entrance of the village. Zhang Wangcai squinted his eyes and smiled on his face: "If you miss me from afar, what do you call me sir?"
"Li Qingming."
"Mr. Li, are you ready with the money?" Zhang Wangcai adhered to the principle of trading first, eating later, and his eyes swept around the people behind Li Qingming.
"Of course it's ready. I wonder if Mr. Zhang's goods are ready." Li Qingming asked.
"When it comes to business, you have to be honest. We, Zhang Wangcai, have always been the most honest when doing business." He asked his men to open the wooden cage next to him, and the lambs and calves were locked inside, and they were alive and well. Another cage
There was a ewe inside, and when the sun shone in, the originally peaceful ewe began to bleat.
Hearing the cry of the ewe, the lambs in other cages also began to cry.
Li Qingming asked the soldiers to count the number of lambs and calves. He asked Zhang Wangcai: "What's going on with this ewe?"
Zhang Wangcai smiled and said: "The number of lambs is not very large, but this ewe is pregnant with a calf. We asked someone to see it. There are four in the litter. I don't know if Mr. Li wants to take this ewe."
meaning."
Li Qingming thought for a moment and said, "If that's the case, it doesn't matter."
He waved his hand and asked the soldiers around him to open a carry-on box. Under the sunlight, silver coins appeared in front of everyone. Zhang Wangcai's eyes widened and he couldn't help but smile and said: "Okay, okay, Mr. Li, what are we doing for you?"
Everyone has prepared a sumptuous lunch, and we must be hungry after traveling all morning."
Li Qingming wanted to investigate the situation in the village, including asking about the old scalper, so he agreed.
The sumptuous lunch was indeed sumptuous, with a table full of various meats and vegetables, all of which Li Qingming had never eaten in his life. He was surprised and extremely angry inside. How many farmers had to be exploited for their food.
can be exchanged for it.
"Brother, I am older than you, so I will call you brother. Sit down. If there is such a deal in the future, keep in touch at any time. We have everything here in Laohe Village. Whatever you want, I can give it to you.
"After seeing the money, Zhang Wangcai was in a good mood and warmly invited Li Qingming to sit down.
He has no intention of being a gangster. After all, fighting a gangster still depends on his own strength. The other party has many people and dozens of guns. If it really comes to a fight, he may not be able to get an advantage.
So I gave up the idea of taking advantage of others.
It is better to build a good relationship and have a network of contacts, which will make it easier to trade in the future.
Li Qingming took a deep breath and suppressed the anger in his heart. Knowing that he had to do business, he asked: "Brother, in addition to calves and lambs, I also want an old scalper. The old scalper is good and can cultivate the land at home.
It's not possible to hire those farmers. As you know, they don't have enough to eat or wear, they are as thin as sticks, and they don't have the strength to plow the land. Hiring one person will take several days to plow, which is a waste of time. Hire more people.
Another waste of money.”
Zhang Wangcai had a troubled expression on his face: "Brother, it's not that I won't help you, the old scalper is really difficult to deal with. We only have one in our village, and there are none in other villages. We have to go to the county town."
He rolled his eyes and said, "How about this, I know a few big farmers in the county and ask someone to ask them for you?"
Li Qingming's eyes moved slightly, pretending to be happy, and said: "Brother, it would be great if you said so. Please help me ask."
"This is a small matter, just..." Zhang Wangcai had a troubled look on his face again.
"Brother, if you have any difficult questions, just ask them directly."
"It's just that the trustee needs intermediary fees. You know, it's hard to find connections nowadays, especially when it comes to helping."
"It doesn't matter how much money you have, bro, as long as you can buy old scalpers, it's no problem."
"Okay, bro, let's be clear, what time will we go on today?"
"Here, brother, besides buying old scalpers, I have other things to do, so I can't drink here."
Li Qingming added: "But it's okay to drink less."
In addition to covering the mission of the first squad, the soldiers of the second squad also have their own mission, which is to carry out the research mission in Laohe Village. It takes time, and you have to buy enough time for them.
This banquet made Li Qingming extremely tormented. Thinking that his soldiers were still standing guard outside, he was feasting on fish and meat inside. This torment was so delicious that even the rare meat he had eaten could not dispel it. He also
The pain of pretending to be a wealthy landlord and practicing with Zhang Wangcai in front of me is unbearable.
Knowing that he had a mission, Li Qingming had no choice but to endure this torture and play tricks with Zhang Wangcai to buy time for the comrades operating outside to complete the mission.
Faced with the wine offered by Zhang Wangcai, Li Qingming made excuses to refuse it. He did not drink too much and ate only a small amount of dishes.
"Brother, how is the situation in your village? Is it relatively stable?" Zhang Wangcai asked when he saw that the food was almost there. Both of them were landlords, so they must have many things in common. He felt bitter in his heart, but he didn't know.
Who do you want to talk to? Li Qingming's arrival today is a good opportunity. Anyway, he has given up taking advantage of others.
In this era, the only people he could rely on were his brothers from the same class. Zhang Wangcai also saw that Li Qingming was still young, but his father died early and his own father died late. It took him a long time to become a landlord. In the past few years, he had carried out revolution everywhere.
His father was almost killed. If the officers from the county had not come down and refused to move, his father would have died long ago.
Later, the White Army arrested people and killed them everywhere. Many people in their village were killed, and the peasants became a mess again. Their family became landlords by virtue of their connections. Not only did they get their fields back, but they also robbed a lot of them.
grain.
But not long after these good days, he heard that there seemed to be trouble again recently.