More than a month after the Chinese New Year, the spring sweeps with the Imperial Association Army as the main force has basically ended.
At the critical moment when a comprehensive cleanup operation was about to be carried out in the area north of the Yellow River in North China, such a serious "security" incident occurred in the completely public security zone.
Various demons and monsters who took refuge in the Japanese began to move around the plains, trying to collect more information about the guerrillas in order to obtain rewards from the Japanese.
It's a pity that the plains are sparsely populated, so the Eighth Route Army kills traitors at every turn.
As time went by, the demons and monsters realized that there was not much money to be made by inquiring about information, and their lives were in danger, so they gradually lost much interest in collecting information about the guerrillas.
It would be difficult to feed a family just by relying on the food distributed by the imperial army. Those with connections would naturally find other ways to survive.
The fastest way to make money... growing tobacco!
If you want to survive in troubled times, who will care about moral ethics?
Tang County.
Late at night.
More than a dozen people in fairly decent clothes gathered around a long strip made of two tables, filled with smoke.
The middle-aged man sitting on the table with a pipe in his hand looked around and said, "Almost everyone is here. We are gathering today mainly to discuss the matter of growing tobacco this spring."
A young man looked around and said: "Growing cigarettes is a matter of annihilating our descendants. Our Taoist sect has decided not to grow cigarettes from this year on. Yang Daoshou has openly voted for the Eighth Route Army. In my opinion, it is better for everyone to join the Eighth Route Army..." .”
The middle-aged man sneered: "Haha, brother Wang Chunrong, it hasn't rained so far. If you openly raise a flag and become an enemy of the imperial army, I don't guarantee that you will still be able to hang out in the county in the future!"
Wang Chunrong slapped his hand on the table: "Don't pretend to be a good person. If you collude with the Rangers to lure people named Lu into smoking, you will be punished sooner or later!"
The middle-aged man blew out a smoke ring: "Haha, you are connected with the Eighth Route Army. I turned a blind eye out of loyalty and did not expose you to the imperial army. You'd better think about it, when did the Eighth Route Army and the Eighth Route Army ever care about the lives of ordinary people? Even if I give you some money and food from time to time, will it be enough to fill everyone's bellies? Do you want everyone to starve to death with you?"
"You can't say that, as long as we drive away the little devils..."
"Haha, let's follow the Rangers. If we drive away the imperial army and the county is liberated, we will be the heroes. There is absolutely no problem in being the mayor or director of the county. If we can't liberate it, we can maintain the current situation and everyone will not starve to death. But, if If you follow the Eighth Route, it will be a dead end now, and it will be a dead end in the future as well."
A young man opposite Wang Chunrong whispered: "Then you have to live until the day of liberation."
The middle-aged man banged his cigarette on the young man's forehead: "Who do you think you are? Do you dare to make irresponsible remarks about me?"
Wang Chunrong got angry, stood up and pointed at the middle-aged man: "Don't do anything, don't think you have Lu Chaoyuan behind you, so you dare to point fingers at my sect!"
The middle-aged man was stunned for a moment: "Yes, if you look down on me, everyone will fall apart. Boy, please remember this for me. If you want to survive in this troubled world, hehe, you can only rely on me! As long as I say a word , no one dares to harvest the tobacco you grow in this county, I will starve you bastards to death!"
Wang Chunrong grabbed the teapot in front of him and threw it directly: "Are you blind? The Eighth Route Army is dedicated to resisting Japan and resisting the invaders, and you are taking the opportunity to enrich the country while it is in trouble..."
The middle-aged man conveniently took the common pot in his hand, not even a drop of water came out... uh... it was empty: "Haha, you grow tobacco, how can you be any better than me?"
Wang Chunrong gritted his teeth: "Let's say goodbye and go..."
The middle-aged man's voice was gloomy: "Go slowly, I won't send you away!"
Several young people came out.
A young man was worried: "Brother Wang, in my opinion, our best choice now is not to offend any party and preserve our strength..."
"Your remarks are dangerous."
"But that bitch traitor has a point. If we raise the flag of the Eighth Route Army now, everyone will die at the hands of the Japanese within three days. Even if the Eighth Route Army can dominate the world, what will happen to us?"
"Don't forget, since our Tianmen Society dares to resist the little devil, are we still afraid of death?"
"Brother Wang, your three brothers shot the fake county magistrate and were wanted by the provincial government. You can run away as soon as you run away, but the brothers and the whole family can't run away. Besides, the Eighth Route Army can protect you for a while, but cannot protect you for the rest of your life. Right now , we are begging for life on the little devil’s territory, if everyone is gone, how can we drive them away? Right now... it’s best to keep your tail between your legs!”
"You mean, everyone will continue to grow tobacco?"
"If you don't do it, you might as well let everyone hang themselves..."
The young man named Wang was speechless.
Another young man next to me said bitterly: "Whether it's the Eighth Route Army, Wang's government or the Nationalist government, I will listen to whoever gives me food!"
Wang Chunrong slapped the man on the back: "If the little devil gives you food, will you also listen to him?"
"Can you please stop talking nonsense? We are incompatible with that little devil, how can we listen to them?"
"Then you must remember clearly that Wang's government was also supported by devils..."
"Then you can find a way for everyone to survive? Anyway, let's agree first that I won't do it!"
Faced with such a scene, Wang Chunrong had no idea: "Let's not talk about these things for now. If we can wipe out the bandit Hu Quanlu, we should be able to get a lot of food."
The young man next to him immediately interjected: "That son of a bitch followed Wang Sanzhu some time ago and was ambushed by the national army guerrillas. We just happened to kill him while he was injured.
Wang Chunrong was stunned for a moment: "Don't talk nonsense, it was the Eighth Route Army that beat them!"
"Isn't it possible? The newspaper said it was the national guerrillas who attacked them." The young man took out a newspaper and swayed it in the moonlit night.
"I asked, when did you learn to read?"
"What's the matter if I don't know the words? I specially asked the storyteller in the city to read it!" The young man smiled proudly.
Wang Chunrong shook his head and was speechless again.
The young man continued: "You lead the brothers to do things, and we brothers didn't say anything. We transported supplies to the Eighth Route Army and escorted their personnel across the border. We also didn't say anything. We were extremely kind to the Eighth Route Army, but they didn't give money. Without food, we have to think about surviving, don’t you think?”
Suddenly, a dark shadow emerged from the roadside.
Seeing that everyone was paying attention to him nervously, he immediately said jokingly: "I'm in an emergency, I'm a step late, and you didn't wait for me..."
Wang Chunrong was not angry: "Every time you have something to do, tell me quickly, how is your inquiry going?"
"Wang Jingchang sent people to buy a large amount of tobacco from Wu Jinshan. We will definitely rob his son of a bitch this time."
"Have you found out the delivery time and route?"
"Not yet. Things are a bit troublesome. Wang Jinshan and the Eighth Route Army are fighting again. Their delivery time may be delayed."
The young man next to him yelled: "Are they fighting again? Are things going to change in this area? The Eighth Route Army just beat Wang Sanzhu and his son. How dare you fight Wu Jinshan?"
"Hey, hey, the ones who attacked Wang Sanzhu were the National Army guerrillas, don't put gold on your dirty face..." the man holding the newspaper yelled.
"Shut up, if you don't speak, no one will think you are dumb!" Wang Chunrong's thoughts began to come alive: "The Japs in the city suffered a defeat a few days ago, and another group of Japs came. Is there any news about them?"
"I heard that the imperial army is going to carry out some secret mission."
"Where did you find out?"
"Commander Lu is treating us tonight. I'm going to have dinner with my cousin. During the dinner, I heard what his adjutant said personally."
"From now on, don't hang out with those people named Lu, he is not a good person."
"Yes, every time this guy holds a temple fair, he arranges for professional gamblers to join the fair and open a gambling shack to deceive the villagers." The newspaper man agreed again.
"That's right, many villagers lost their money because of gambling, sold their sons and daughters, and wandered around. Later, many of them hanged themselves..."
"The club he opened in Tangxian Hotel... also brought in a professional gambling team from Tianjin to come up with many new tricks to defraud gambling gangs out of their money..."
"The Takei & Yoko Co., the Dashan Pharmacy, and the watch repair shop opened by the Koreans that he and the kid opened were actually engaged in the purchase of opium..."
"Dashan Pharmacy also has a hidden opium shop..."
A voice sang the opposite: "However, everyone has to think about it. If Lu Chaoyuan hadn't led the villagers to grow tobacco for food, the nearby villagers would have starved to death."
"Do you think he is so kind? He collects a tax of 150 yuan per acre, and together with Yu Jingsan, he set up a pharmaceutical manufacturing company in Xilonghua Village, specializing in heroin, and sold it to Peking, Tianjin, Zhangjiakou area..."
"That thing is a pest. If anyone gets infected by that thing, ten out of ten people will become beggars, and it will also bring disaster to their parents, wives, and children..."
Wang Chunrong waved his hand: "Let's talk, everyone! Should this bastard die?"
"Damn it, this bastard should be fed to the dogs."
"That's right, he must be cut into pieces."
"How about... let's all fuck him together?"
Everyone was discussing Lu Chaoyuan's crimes with angry eyes and excited expressions.
"Lu Chaoyuan and Wu Jinshan are in the same group. As long as we keep an eye on Lu Chaoyuan, sooner or later we will find an opportunity to strike!"
"Hey, do we still want to plant tobacco?"
"Grow! If you don't plant, will everyone starve to death..."
－－－－－－Digression－－－－－
The base area is far from as simple as we know...
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