Jagged Warlord

Landlords have existed for thousands of years. As far as the source of land is concerned, the original accumulation of landlord assets also has a process, and there are also different types. It cannot be said that it is all ill-gotten gains, and it cannot be said that the "landlord"'s assets are all robbery and the product of crime.

There are three sources of land and wealth for Chinese landlords: one is ancestral family business.In some families, the ancestors owned the land and wealth several generations ago.Generally, wealthy families always send their children to study, and the scholarly family keeps the family business and passes it on from generation to generation.Unfortunately, many wealthy families have a lazy offspring who enjoys gambling and whoring, and sells all the wealth of Wanguan's family, and becomes a beggar begging on the street.

The second is to become an official in other places, make a fortune in business, and return to the hometown to start a family and buy a lot of land. For thousands of years, China has always been a small-scale peasant economy society that emphasizes agriculture and despise business.At that time, there were no banks, and the money was kept at home. I was afraid of being stolen or robbed, and there was a great risk of private bank accounts.At that time, industry and commerce were not well developed, and people looked down on businessmen at all, and were unwilling to invest in the establishment of industries. "If you want to stabilize your family business, farming is fundamental." When you have money, your first thought is to buy a farm.Fields are real estate, which cannot be stolen or taken away. It increases in value every year and is passed on to the descendants after death, so that the family members will not starve to death.

The third is industrious and frugal, smart, eager to learn, and good at management. They are called "Tian Xiucai" in the local area.They represented the advanced productive forces in the countryside at that time.They have relatively complete agricultural tools, relatively sufficient funds, and a certain scale of production; they have rich experience, are quick to accept new things, and have the ability to select and improve crop varieties; their agricultural and sideline production always reach the highest level in the local area; their advanced farming The method has played an exemplary and leading role for poor farmers.If they continue to be rich, it is very likely that their children will start modern farms after returning from studying abroad. China's agriculture may change its appearance and keep up with the pace of the world.

In other words, under the background of the current era, the landlord is not a force that completely hinders social development. He has many positive factors in himself.The vast majority of landlords received strict education in their youth, and they are a group with high cultural quality in the countryside—also called rural elites.Most of those who entered the upper class of society such as officialdom, literary circles, educational circles, shopping malls, and factories after a good education were the sons of landlords.

Since the eastward expansion of Western culture, the gap between urban and rural areas has become wider and wider.Farm children accept new education and try to stay in the city rather than return to the countryside.Those who graduated from college concentrated in the metropolis, and those who graduated from high school also tried their best to stay in the provincial and county towns.The city became the living place and work activity center of the new intellectuals.

About 90% of the gentry in traditional Chinese society lived in the countryside.Most of the scholars who left their hometowns for political or study tours regarded their residence in Tongdu as a station in their lives, and they all returned to their hometowns in the end.The intellectuals who stayed in the countryside also set up libraries to teach apprentices, cultivated and educated the village, and kept the center of gravity of the rural society.The abolition of the imperial examination interrupted the conventional succession of the traditional gentry class for thousands of years, and blocked the convenient bridge from gentry to official.Rural elites are constantly exodus in search of a new way out, "Under the trend of elite urbanization, rural society has become a corner abandoned by the elite.

Rural education is degrading, rural self-government is declining, and rural clan organizations are gradually shrinking. When urban elites and local elites abandon the grassroots villages one after another, it becomes a hotbed for various problems.All hidden heroes, outlaw merchants, banditry, and the like emerged from the ground to fill the vacuum created by the downfall of the present rulers. At the same time, the rural fringes of the local tyrants and evil gentry took the opportunity to rise.

And these local tyrants and evil gentry often have a certain amount of armed force, and rely on their financial resources to become a group leader.It relies mainly on force, and its power resources are regiment training and gang associations (Hanliu).They hold their own guns and dominate one side. In fact, they are the "Emperors of the Earth" of a certain place. People at that time called them "Tuan Clans".

Before the end of the Qing Dynasty, more than 60% of the leaders of the militia were gentry with a good reputation.During this period, with the process of militarization of local society, the "regimental lords" reshaped the relationship between the state and society by virtue of their powerful force resources, and formed the separatist regimes of provincial-level warlords and county-level "regimental lords" in the early Republic of China. pattern.

There is no qualitative distinction between "tuan lords" and warlords, and they all depend on their military strength.As long as you control part of the military resources, you can dominate a township, a district, and a county, and become a powerful figure on one side.This almost became a shortcut for members of the marginalized society to accumulate financial resources and power and seek promotion.As far as the influence is concerned, social customs and coordinate concepts have also changed drastically.During the period of the Republic of China, there was a common saying in all parts of Henan that "If you want to be an official, go pull the pole". "The strange phenomenon.

In fact, during the period of the Republic of China, defensive militias and predatory bandit gangs had infiltrated each other. Local authorities failed to suppress bandits, and instead adopted the method of "using bandits to control bandits" to appease some bandits with strong force. According to the policy, the bandit leader is given an official position in the name of the local security team.The social composition of vigilante leaders also changed as a result.

It was these local tyrants and evil gentry who colluded with one group of lords, worked hand in hand, and resisted the land reform by force.Judging from this situation, bloodless land reform is impossible.

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Zhangwangji is a town at the junction of Henan and Jiangsu. It got its name because two families surnamed Zhang and Wang first settled here in the late Ming Dynasty. Today, the town is still named after people surnamed Zhang and Wang. Ding is the most, but the surname Zhang is the most powerful.

The patriarch of the Zhang family is Zhang Guangde, who is 58 years old this year. Since he was 23 years old and followed Li Hongzhang's Huai army to conquer everywhere, he has killed more than a hundred Changmao and Nianzi alone.Now that he is over half a century old, he is still as angry and hostile as before.And like Zhang Xun, he still wears braids.

Renting land requires paying rent on time. This is not only a matter of course, but also a document written in black and white.What kind of stock is too hard for me to take out the land?Do you want me to reduce the rent?Then let Lao Tzu and dozens of people under his command drink the northwest wind?

"I only obey Li Zhongtang in this life. If you want me to be obedient, you can go to Li Zhongtang and talk to me." Zhang Guangde is not a member of the land reform working group because he has dozens of guns for everyone.Under Zhang Guangde's despotic power, the people in Zhangwangji did not dare to cooperate with the working group.

Most of the working groups were civilian staff, and there was only one squad of SS soldiers. Seeing that the other side was crowded and the masses couldn't mobilize, they could only leave in despair.

In order to prevent the working group from making trouble again, Zhang Guangde built a soil polder outside Zhang Wangji, and each household had to send out a person.

Immediately after the catastrophe, the common people were busy rushing to plant, and they didn't want to spend this manpower.Zhang Guangde was annoyed, and took his servants, guns and knives to arrest people from house to house.

Wang Dayou is a small family in Zhangwangji. The family has some land, but there is no spare land to exchange for stocks.On this day, Wang Dayou and several long-term workers were busy working in the field, when they saw Zhang Guangde coming over aggressively with a group of servants from afar.

"Wang Dayou~" Zhang Guangde's son-in-law Su Laosi yelled at Wang Dayou: "Wang Dayou~~"

Although Wang's surname is Zhang Wangji's common surname, most of them are well-behaved farmers or small businessmen, unlike the Zhang family who had several officials, so Wang Dayou can only bow his head to Zhang Guangde.

"Master Zhang~" Wang Dayou hurried over to salute Zhang Guangde, "What are your orders?"

Zhang Guangde sat on the sliding pole carried by his servant, looking down at Wang Dayou, "Wang Dayou, where are your family members?"

Wang Dayou crossed his hands, lowered his head, and said cautiously: "If you go back to Mr. Zhang, there will be only one of us and one male in our family. If we go to repair the earth dike, there will be no one to take care of the land at home."

Zhang Guangde snorted coldly and said, "Don't you still have a long-term worker?"

"But someone has to take care of the house~ otherwise~" Wang Dayou accompanied him with a smile on his face.

Zhang Guangde waved his hand, and several servants brought a bag of flour.Mr. Su said with a smile on his face: "This is white flour found from your house. It is the responsibility of everyone in Zhangwangji to build a polder and protect the villagers. If you don't want to contribute, then you can contribute food." .”

When Wang Dayou saw the bag of white noodles, his expression changed immediately, and he begged, "Master Zhang, this is~ this is the disaster relief food distributed by the government. The four of us all point to it to celebrate the New Year."

"Relief food?" Zhang Guangde's face sank, and he shouted: "The people from the county are using these white noodles to buy people's hearts, and want you troublemakers to rebel against me and divide my land. Let me tell you, unless I die, otherwise No one wants to touch my Zhang family's land. Take it away."

"Master Zhang, I can't~" Wang Dayou stepped forward to stop him, but a servant threw the butt of his gun at him, hitting Wang Dayou with gold stars in his eyes and blood on his face.

Several long-term workers hurried over to help Wang Dayou

"There is no one who bullies people like this~" Wang Dayou went back to the ancestral hall with injuries to ask the patriarch of the Wang family to stand up for him

The head of the Wang family is Wang Deying, who is over 70 this year. After hearing Wang Dayou's cry, he stroked his white beard that was approaching his chest, and said, "Dayou, our Wang family is not as good as the Zhang family. Official. Although his Zhang family is domineering in this matter, our Wang surname is really alone.

"Then~ Then let Zhang Guangde run amok?" Wang Dayou wept bitterly.

"Don't worry, people are doing it, the sky is watching, and the wicked will reap the rewards." Wang Deying said: "I still have some surplus food here, you can use it for emergencies first."