To be precise, this family does not have any courtyard gate. From the fence made of bamboo poles, you can see two earthen houses made of rammed loess at a glance.
Poverty is normal, not only in the Central Plains, but across the country.
"When prosperity comes, the people suffer; when it dies, the people suffer!" This poem by Zhang Yanghao, a Sanqu writer from the Yuan Dynasty, is not just an essay. It is a true portrayal of China's thousands of years of feudal dynasty rule.
The so-called prosperity and prosperity actually have little to do with the people at the bottom.
In such war-torn times, it is good to have a place to shelter from the wind and rain.
Sitting under the eaves was a seven or eight-year-old girl in ragged clothes and a coarse cotton coat. She looked at the group of people who walked into the courtyard uninvited, her eyes filled with horror.
"Nier, my dear father and my mother, why are you the only one sitting here on New Year's Eve?" the village chief stepped forward and asked.
"My sister is sick. My parents wanted to get her something to eat. They left early in the morning and asked me to watch my sister at home." The girl looked at the village chief, who was still familiar to her, and her fear did not diminish.
, replied tremblingly.
Tang Dao couldn't help but frown.
It's snowing lightly now. Although Henan Province is in the Central Plains, its actual geographical location is still a little closer to the north. The temperature has already been below zero. What can we find to eat when we go out at this time? The most important thing is, didn't this food just be purchased?
Even if you really have no money, you can still get dozens of kilograms for free!
It’s New Year’s Eve and there are patients, so it’s okay to make some noodle soup!
"Mom and dad, you are too ridiculous. Didn't your family just get 100 kilograms of noodles back the day before yesterday? You can't steam buns for the baby to eat? In this cold weather, the bark of the trees has long been peeled away. Can you find one when you go out?
What the hell!" The village chief's expression changed slightly, but he immediately yelled at the girl loudly.
The girl's eyes were filled with tears, but she never opened her mouth to speak again.
"Sir, their adults are not at home, why don't we go to another house and have a look?" the village chief could only turn around and suggest.
"Let's wait for them here!" Tang Dao's face was already as gloomy as the sky.
Instinctively, he felt that there was something fishy here.
Even if the village chief in front of him was not the instigator, he probably knew something about the situation. Just now, his heartbeat was a third faster than before.
Someone was thinking about the food. If it weren't for the fact that the little girl was there, Tang Dao would have been filled with murderous intent and was ready to burst out uncontrollably.
However, from an angle that no one else could see, Tang Dao's hand behind his back had already made a gesture.
Xia Dayu, who was standing outside the door, understood and turned around to leave.
When Tang Dao came, he not only brought the security battalion assigned to him by General Jiang and his reinforced security class, but also a reconnaissance company that Lei Xiong had urgently transferred to him a week ago.
Tang Dao knows very well that in this era, whoever's fist is strong enough will speak with weight. Otherwise, how could the military commander's "Ming-chasing Tai Sui" dare to throw a provincial administrative inspector who is also a major general into the Yellow River?
?
Of course, such a small Zhuangzi would not let Tang Tuanzuo raise troops to surround the village to get the truth. Tang Dao asked his guards to go to the village to find out the truth, and the more peripheral scouts needed to be ready for battle.
.
Extraordinary times require extraordinary measures. No matter who is involved, Tang Dao must use thunderous means to cut off the black hands reaching for food, so as to prevent more people from trying to provide food relief after a greater disaster in the summer.
The number of people affected by the disaster is still relatively small now, but by then it will be a major famine involving 30 million people, and 3 million people will starve to death.
The life and death of a few people or even hundreds of people, in the face of millions of levels, even a fool knows how to choose.
Tang Dao stood motionless in the small courtyard, his face gloomy and he didn't say a word, but the village chief who was accompanying him was sitting on pins and needles.
The village chief is an old man in his 50s, and he should have some prestige in the village. This is a major feature of China's rural areas today.
The so-called village chief is actually not an administrative position, and no one pays him a salary. He is elected by the villagers themselves. He mainly helps the village and the township to dialogue.
Such a small role is naturally not qualified to participate in the distribution of this kind of profit chain, but it does not prevent him from knowing some rumors and warnings from people above.
The village chief didn't know what kind of big shot Tang Dao was. He only knew that this young man in military uniform was sitting in a car, with a blond foreign woman standing next to him, followed by more than a dozen trucks of fully armed soldiers, and the soldiers
They all treated him with respect, and the scene was better than the county magistrate he had ever seen.
The girl got a few milk candies from Laura. With Laura's patient help, she carefully peeled off the candy wrapper and put the candy into her mouth. An indescribable sweetness poured into her tongue. The girl hurriedly spit it out with her hands.
hold.
"It's delicious, you eat it!" Laura was a little surprised.
"I want to give it to Xiao Ni'er, she is sick." The girl explained awkwardly while holding on to the milk candy that brought her unprecedented sweetness.
"This is for you, for your sister, I still have it here." Laura felt sad for a while, took out a few more pills from her pocket and stuffed them into the girl's pocket.
The girl happily walked into the house and put the dirty toffee in her hand into the mouth of the four-year-old girl whose face was red due to a high fever.
"It's really hard for you Chinese people." Laura looked at this scene with pity in her eyes.
"The flames of war did not destroy our will, but greed did!" Tang Dao took a deep breath, closed his eyes and looked up to the sky.
Little bits of cold snowflakes sprinkled on his face, but they couldn't extinguish the growing anger in his chest.
Forty minutes later, a couple wearing tattered cotton-padded jackets, their feet and legs covered in mud, returned home carrying tools.
The woman is supporting the man. One of the man's trouser legs is still empty, swaying lightly in the cold wind. The woman's thin body looks as thin as a piece of paper, as if a gust of wind can blow it away.
His face was even more charred, which showed that he was extremely malnourished.
The two of them were obviously not mentally prepared for the few people standing in the courtyard, and they looked at the village chief aside with fear in their eyes.
"What are you two doing? Where did the old man go when he wasn't staying at home during the Chinese New Year? Let the gentleman from the province wait for a long time." The village chief scolded the thin couple as soon as they met.
"Xiao Ni'er is sick, and my mother and I are thinking of going to the river to get some fish and shrimps to replenish her body and celebrate the New Year." The man replied with a bitter look on his face.
"That river to the west, do you think there is water there? Can it be up to your ankles? There are still fish and shrimps! People from all over the country have fished for it countless times, and even a grasshopper has been thrown into the water.
We boiled it in the pot and ate it. Where are the 100 kilograms of white flour you got from the county the day before yesterday? I don’t believe you can eat it all in these two days." The village chief continued to scold.
The couple both have disabilities. The man dug trenches for the army two years ago. A cannonball exploded and lost one of his legs. The army simply bandaged him and threw a piece of silver into him and left him to fend for himself.
self-destruct.
As a result, the man was desperate and returned to the village with the help of his fellow villagers, miraculously surviving.
He was probably thinking that his deaf and mute wife and two young children had no one to take care of them!
But after losing a leg, the situation of the family without its main labor force can be imagined. By this year, due to the drought, the food production was almost extinct. The family even had to eat one meal for three days. The four of them were in this famine year.
Not starving to death is simply a miracle among miracles.
It was not easy to survive until the provincial government offered to buy grain at half price. Many families sold off the silver bracelets given by their mother-in-law and daughter-in-law or the ancestral items at the bottom of the box to buy grain. However, this family had only two mud houses and a bed.
If you break the quilt, you won't be able to get anything valuable out of it.
Fortunately, the county also issued a notice. It is really impossible to get money for something like this. As long as the village or township acts as a guarantor and a chief official comes to the house to review and approve it, the grain can be distributed free of charge.
There are five families like these two in the whole village. The village chief reported them early. After people from the county came to check, they all passed. They were notified the day before yesterday to collect food and go home.
I just heard that there seemed to be some discrepancies between the weight and the notice, but the village chief warned them, the village chiefs, not to ask what you shouldn’t ask, and don’t say what you shouldn’t say. Those who stutter are fine. The county and provincial officials are busy.
After such a long time, why don't we let them get some benefits?
This is a perfectly normal truth, and the village chief who has grown old and refined will not understand it.
"Brother, don't be afraid. I came from the province to see how everyone is doing this year after receiving the disaster relief food. If you have food, you can eat sparingly. If you hold on until April and May, there should be a batch of disaster relief.
The grain has arrived. Now the country is at war with the Japanese, and the economy is also in difficulty. I won’t say that we will be well fed, but we will still have a way to survive." Tang Dao took the initiative to talk.
"Sir, it's not that I don't want to give food to my baby, it's really..." After hearing what Tang Dao said, the man felt a lump in his throat, but it was difficult to continue speaking.
"Brother, tell me what you want to say. Don't hide it from me. I am the deputy commander of disaster relief appointed by the Executive Yuan. I am responsible for assisting the Commander of the First War Zone in all disaster relief matters in this province. As long as relief food is involved, it falls under my jurisdiction.
." Tang Dao said seriously.
The man and the village chief were stunned. They couldn't figure out what kind of official the deputy commander was, but they knew how big the commander of the theater was. He was the king of a province.
Such a young man is actually the deputy of the king of a province?
"For example, your village chief said that you received 100 kilograms of noodles. Let alone one or two kilograms less, even one or two kilograms less. I can get justice for you. Don't worry that they will trouble you in the future. I am a soldier.
In one sentence, it will make people die! People are starving to death now, and they still think so much? Think about your two daughters, can you bear to watch them starve to death?" Tang Dao encouraged.
Tang Dao knew the thoughts of these low-level people. No matter how big Tang Dao's officials were, they would not be of much use.
What does it mean that a county magistrate is not as good as a county administrator? Tang Dao is here, and it seems that he can find justice for them and punish some people, but he cannot be here forever. Once he leaves, those people can round them up and flatten them at will.
Tang Dao could only use the lowest level of life and death logic to encourage him. He said that he might be killed, but if he didn't tell him, the whole family would starve to death. They were all going to die anyway, so it was better to drag those corrupt officials into the water first.
Tang Dao couldn't tell them now that those people would not be able to persecute them, because when Tang Tuan was angry, the heads of those who dared to cause trouble would be lost.
Tang Dao's words certainly aroused the father's passion. With the support of his wife, the man took out a bag of grain from the shallow cellar at home and placed it in front of several people. His face was full of sadness: "This is where I will go."
I received it from the county, and the county officials said that it can be used as seeds for our spring plowing, and the grain we grow can be used to grind far more than 100 kilograms of flour."
Not to mention that the village chief was shocked, even Tang Dao, who had been mentally prepared, couldn't help but open his eyes and looked carefully.
First of all, the bag of grain was only 20 kilograms at most, four-fifths of the 100 kilogram quota was deducted. Moreover, it was not flour, but wheat, which was at least two years old.
It's nonsense to use it as seeds during spring plowing. Even this thing has to be grown to produce wheat.
If one pound of wheat is ground into a ratio of 0.8 pounds of flour, this is converted into 16 pounds of flour.
The deduction rate of 84% also gave Tang Dao some insights.
"Sir, the drought has not eased at all now, and it may get worse next year, so we dare not touch this food. Otherwise, it doesn't matter if our husband and wife starve to death. I am afraid that my eldest and little Nier will be like those in the neighboring counties."
As the man spoke, he burst into tears.
Changing children to eat! The most terrifying phenomenon of famine in ancient China actually happened in two counties last year.
What can you do when the trees in plain counties are far less lush than in mountainous counties, and you can’t even eat the bark and leaves?
The man is at least an extremely qualified father! He is doing his best to protect his wife and children in this disaster year.
"I promise, I will seek justice for you and all the people here, and you no longer have to worry about anyone looking for you, I promise." Tang Dao waved his hand and asked Xia Dayu, who was trotting over, to take 50 kilograms of white flour first.
Come here, turn around and leave.
Even two ordinary farmers could feel the murderous aura all over their bodies and the cold wind suddenly became more biting.
"It is common for families in the village to be short of food when they buy it, and it is not all white flour. It is basically half white flour and half wheat. Most of the people who receive free food are wheat, and the portion is seriously insufficient." Xia Dayu followed Tang Dao and reported in a low voice.
"Let the news spread. Deputy Commander Tang made secret visits to each village. With a gloomy expression, he continuously sent encrypted messages to the theater headquarters." Tang Dao ordered as he walked.
"Don, I remember you said that you sent an inspection team and issued an order to enforce wartime military laws if there is corruption. Why would anyone do this? Is money more precious than life?" Laura was angry and confused as she walked towards the car.
asked.
Poverty and suffering have had a great impact on this kind and straightforward Western woman. Unexpectedly, there is also a heartbreaking greed hidden behind it.
"Laura, Marx said in "Das Kapital": When the profit reaches 10%, they will be ready to take action; when the profit reaches 50%, they will take desperate risks; when the profit reaches 100%, they dare to trample on the world.
All laws; when the profit reaches 300%, they dare to risk hanging." Tang Dao stopped.
"And this kind of profit is as high as 500%. Do you think anyone will extend their hand?"
"I am now! I don't worry about anything else, just a little bit." Tang Dao sighed before sitting in the car.
"What are you worried about? Are those people's backgrounds too deep?" Laura couldn't help but feel worried in her blue eyes.
She knew Tang Dao's personality, and he was unyielding on the battlefield, just like he once said: Even if there are thousands of people, I will go!
That kind of heroic spirit is exactly the perfect model of a man in her mind.
She didn't believe that he would stop because of darkness.
"Haha! I'm just worried! The person behind this matter doesn't have a big background. If he doesn't have a big background, his head doesn't have enough weight." Tang Daolang laughed.
The convoy set off in the sky full of snowflakes. Instead of going to the county seat that had been prepared for it, it went straight to another county.
Tang Dao knew that as he traveled to more places, some people were destined to have insomnia on this New Year's Eve!
And those who are hiding behind the scenes are bound to surface.
