Chapter 94 of 100

Chapter 94

13 min read3,133 words

What is called righteousness? There are many explanations, but if someone displays a spirit while working for the welfare of the people, it can be called "righteousness." From this perspective, Hua Xiongmao should be exuding righteousness at this moment. However, it was clear that the people at the Yuezhang Wharf did not think so. In their view, an outsider who had come from who knows where, on his first visit to the prominent figure of Yuezhang, Zhang Youliang, had the audacity to openly demand that Zhang's land be given to the people to farm, and even demanded that no rent be charged. This was not "righteousness," but genuine "foolishness."

Therefore, when Hua Xiongmao requested to see Zhang Taoye, the people on the two boats that intercepted him had no intention of reporting it. Given the other party's attitude, the meeting between this person and Zhang Taoye would surely end in a quarrel. Zhang Taoye had already declared that he would obtain grain from the "Insurance Corps" in the county. Although the Insurance Corps was known to be numerous and powerful, Zhang Taoye might not do much to this person. However, if Zhang Taoye got angry, the person who reported it would likely suffer afterward.

Hua Xiongmao could see through these people's thoughts. He simply ignored them and shouted to the people on the wharf, "Fellow villagers! With the flood causing such destruction, if we don't quickly plant and harvest, what will we eat to survive? The Insurance Corps has grain, that's true. But even if we give all our grain to everyone, it won't last through this winter. Are you going to hesitate to plant crops and instead prepare to flee for a thousand miles? You all know how difficult the journey of fleeing can be. When you return, will your land still be yours? Haven't you seen this before?"

Hearing Hua Xiongmao's words, the people on the two boats immediately changed their expressions. These words were harsh. Zhang Youliang had become the largest landowner in the area largely due to natural disasters. After each disaster, his land would expand significantly. One of the main reasons many people, despite having no food at home, still refused to leave Anhui, was their fear that if they left, they would lose their land upon return. Therefore, they tried every means to stay at home. Many of them worked for the Zhang family on the wharf. Hearing Hua Xiongmao's words, the people on the wharf began to have other thoughts. They first looked at Hua Xiongmao in shock, then started to murmur.

"What are you saying?"

"You're talking nonsense!"

"How dare you speak ill of Zhang Taoye? Do you want to die?"

Hua Xiongmao laughed loudly, his clear voice instantly drowning out the others, "Whether what I said is true, the villagers know in their hearts. If you refuse to report it today, I will come back to visit the day after tomorrow." After saying this, Hua Xiongmao turned and gave a signal. The members of the Insurance Corps on the boat shouted in unison, rowed the oars, and the boat sailed away. The two boats of lackeys, at a loss, watched as Hua Xiongmao and his group left calmly.

The members of the Insurance Corps were well-trained and had been practicing on the water for days. The boat moved swiftly, and soon the wharf was far behind. Yuchi Bada praised, "Zhenglan, you were really impressive just now."

Hua Xiongmao did not respond to such praise. He actually wanted to enter the earth fort today. According to the People's Party's information, Zhang Youliang was nearly seventy years old. It was quite surprising to Hua Xiongmao that such an old man would dare to challenge the Insurance Corps. Generally, people of his age were conservative. Hua Xiongmao knew the strength of the Insurance Corps. They had traveled from Shanghai to Fengtai County in Anhui, then from Fengtai to Anqing, where they received a month and a half of military training, and finally walked back to Fengtai. In the disaster relief efforts, the Insurance Corps performed exceptionally well. Chen Ke had detailed the theory of military construction, and Hua Xiongmao, being a martial arts scholar, had also seen the level of the new army in Anqing. In Hua Xiongmao's view, apart from weapons, the new army and the Insurance Corps were about the same. A rural landlord, at most a bandit leader, dared to challenge the Insurance Corps. Was he out of his mind?

Thinking about this, Hua Xiongmao turned to look at the earth fort again. It was far away, and from a distance, the fort did not seem impressive. Compared to the buildings in Shanghai, the fort looked shabby and old. The houses outside the fort had been completely destroyed by the flood. When Hua Xiongmao rescued people, the area was already a vast expanse of water. Now, some people had started to rebuild their homes. In contrast to the shabby and old fort, the few extremely simple houses outside the fort seemed insignificant.

"If only we had a telescope," Hua Xiongmao suddenly sighed.

"What?" Yuchi Bada didn't understand. He hadn't participated in the Anqing military training and had never seen a telescope. He couldn't empathize with Hua Xiongmao's feelings at that moment.

"Wenqing said we can make glass in the future, and we will try to make telescopes. You'll see then," Hua Xiongmao replied ambiguously.

This clearly piqued Yuchi Bada's curiosity. Just as he was about to ask what a telescope was, he heard Hua Xiongmao say, "Yuchi, what do you think Zhang Youliang is thinking right now?"

At this moment, Zhang Youliang, whom Hua Xiongmao called "old man," was not thinking about anything. He was listening angrily to the report of Hua Xiongmao's visit.

In fact, there was a misunderstanding between Hua Xiongmao and Zhang Youliang. Hua Xiongmao, who had been preparing for the revolution with Chen Ke for over a year, never considered the Insurance Corps a "half-bandit" force. In his view, the Insurance Corps was a regular army, and with Chen Ke's military model and the large number of university-educated officers, Hua Xiongmao never felt that this armed force had any connection with bandits.

In Zhang Youliang's eyes, however, the "Insurance Corps" that had appeared from nowhere was a thorough bandit force. The only difference was that the leader of this bandit force seemed to have some connection with the government. The flood not only destroyed the rural areas of Yuezhang in Anhui but also completely cut off Zhang Youliang's information channels. Therefore, his understanding of the Insurance Corps was still based on the time before the flood, when the Insurance Corps had just arrived. Not only Zhang Youliang, but others also viewed the Insurance Corps the same way. Zhang Youliang also had an armed force similar to the Insurance Corps. The two forces were in direct competition, even hostility. If it weren't for the sudden heavy rain and the subsequent flood, Zhang Youliang would have already sent his people to investigate the Insurance Corps.

During the flood, the Insurance Corps' rescue efforts made Zhang Youliang even more suspicious. When the Insurance Corps wanted to bring the rescued people into the fort, Zhang Youliang's first reaction was that this bandit force was trying to take over the fort. So he immediately refused to let the Insurance Corps and the rescued people in. Of course, Zhang Youliang also had his selfish reasons. His first thought was that the more people died, the more land the Zhang family could acquire. If he let these people in, they would be neighbors, and dealing with them would be more complicated. Moreover, if they refused to sell their land, it would be difficult to handle. For both public and private reasons, refusing the Insurance Corps and the villagers was a good choice.

Now, the Insurance Corps had come to the door and made such outrageous demands. After hearing the slightly trembling report from his subordinates, Zhang Youliang felt a surge of long-forgotten passion. "To give out your land for the people to farm and not charge rent to help them through the disaster year." What did these Insurance Corps people think he was? A group of bandits proposing such a heretical demand! Even the county magistrate wouldn't dare to make such an outrageous suggestion.

Zhang Youliang was sixty-eight years old. Since he joined Li Hongzhang's Huai Army at eighteen, he had only heard similar heretical words from the Taiping rebels. Farming and paying rent was a natural order. Giving out land to the disaster-stricken people meant he would have nothing to eat.

The more Zhang Youliang thought about it, the angrier he became. He slammed his hand on the table in front of him, making the servant flinch. Zhang Taoye had been in the army for nearly twenty years, had killed countless people, and had a fiery temper. Especially when faced with such "unruly" matters, he would curse and hit without hesitation. Seeing Zhang Taoye so angry, the servant feared he would be the target of his anger.

"Call someone to go to the county office and file a complaint. I've heard the Insurance Corps has some connection with the county magistrate. I want to see how the county magistrate will deal with these people," Zhang Youliang shouted.

"Zhang Taoye, I think we shouldn't do this yet. If the Insurance Corps dares to say this, they might already know we want their grain. This is just to scare us. If we file a complaint, we'll show our weakness," a middle-aged man beside him quickly said.

"Wu Shiyi, what do you think?" Zhang Youliang looked at Wu Shiyi with a sidelong glance.

"My suggestion is to send someone to confront them first, and then report to the authorities. Think about it, Taoye. If they dare to act so recklessly, it must be because they have the support of the county magistrate. During the flood, the county magistrate might need them to guard against bandits, so he won't offend them. Filing a complaint won't help now. Besides, we have no evidence. What can we say?" Wu Shiyi explained his thoughts.

"Hmph, that's a scholar's way of thinking. The bandits think we won't report them, so they act so arrogantly. We're not really going to ask the authorities to punish them. We want to make this a big issue. If we spread the word that they want to give out land for people to farm, what will the gentry think? In such a disaster year, many people are desperate and have ulterior motives. Normally, it wouldn't matter, but today, can we tolerate such reckless behavior? If the gentry unite, the county magistrate won't dare to protect them. Then we can act more easily."

Wu Shiyi didn't quite understand Zhang Youliang's thinking. If Zhang Youliang knew that the people were restless during the disaster, wouldn't this make him seem unrighteous? Thinking about this, Wu Shiyi looked uneasy.

Seeing that Wu Shiyi didn't understand him, Zhang Youliang just grunted and said nothing. After joining the Huai Army, Zhang Youliang had survived many battles. After experiencing life and death, he was actually very meticulous. In such a disaster year, there would definitely be unrest. A small concession from the landlords wouldn't prevent it. The Insurance Corps, rescuing people during the flood and now proposing a redistribution of wealth, must be acting on someone's orders. Directly moving against the Insurance Corps would not only lack moral high ground but also give the starving poor a target to rely on. Therefore, the first step was to unite the gentry in the county to force the county magistrate to take a stance, and then force the county magistrate to get the grain from the Insurance Corps.

As long as this goal was achieved, the poor people would see the Insurance Corps as vulnerable. Then they could be incited to raid the Insurance Corps. In the eyes of the people, if the Insurance Corps could yield once, they could yield again. What could the Insurance Corps do then? If they acted against the people, he could unite the gentry and demand that the county magistrate severely punish the Insurance Corps.

Of course, this plan couldn't be explained in detail to Wu Shiyi. Although Zhang Youliang was dissatisfied, he only asked Wu Shiyi to write a complaint and shouted at the servant, "Watch the water closely. No one is allowed to land these days." The servant, relieved, responded and ran off.

At this moment, Zhang Youliang didn't know that, besides Hua Xiongmao, who had come by water, He Zudao's reconnaissance team was struggling to find a land route to Yuezhang. Another small fleet of two boats had taken a larger detour, landing west of Yuezhang, and a few people had moved north to approach the almost ruined Yuezhang, preparing to infiltrate the fort. This small team was sent by Chen Ke to understand and mobilize the people of Yuezhang.

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