Kong Zheng didn't quite understand what Shi Yongyuan meant.
In his opinion, this is a normal thing.
"What does Mr. Shi mean by this? When they rebelled, of course they had to distribute land to their subordinates. And in order to restore the era of great rule after the great chaos, it is natural for them to distribute land with light corvee and low taxes. Is there anything to be surprised about?"
Kong Zheng stared at Shi Yongyuan, waiting for his wise words.
Of course Shi Yongyuan was not messing around, he also had a purpose.
"I remember that the Zhao family used to make a lot of money from land, and everyone was rich. You must not have forgotten how the Zhao family made money, right? We have all suffered."
Many people nodded, obviously still remembering the dark time when the Zhao family let themselves go under the leadership of Zhao Xiang after the death of Zhao Kaishan.
Their memories are fresh.
"so what?"
Kong Zheng still didn't understand.
Shi Yongyuan simply said it.
"After Su Yonglin came to power, not only did he not make money or seize land to add private property, but he divided all the land that originally belonged to the Zhao family and gave it all to the farmers. He kept nothing and wanted nothing. It was not just him. , it is said that the same is true for his generals, who have no private property.
Everyone, since ancient times, rebellions have been just for money, land and women, but Su Yonglin and the senior leaders of the Liberation Army don't want these three things. They don't seem to care about these. Is this normal? Is it normal that the rebellion is not about money, land and women? "
This is indeed abnormal.
This brilliant point observed by Shi Yongyuan has indeed opened up the horizons of many people. If you think about it further, there are really many things that you can't understand.
Kong Zheng searched for a moment and said with some uncertainty: "It can only be said that General Su has great ambitions. He doesn't care about money, land or women. What he cares more about is world dominance."
"The rebellion started for the sake of world hegemony and power, but everyone, isn't power just money, land, and women? Without these three things, what's the point of power? If you can't dominate and bring blessings, what's the point of being in power? ?The world is unified?"
Shi Yongyuan spread his hands, his face full of matter-of-factness.
The education he received told him that when in power, he must uphold his conscience and fight for the ultimate idea of world harmony. He must not hold power for personal selfishness.
But all the real life he has experienced tells him that most people hold power for the tacky purpose of dominating others.
Everyone thinks so.
Having power means you can enjoy more resources, get more money, get more land and beautiful women...and beautiful men.
What’s the point of power without these embellishments?
Even Kong Zheng, a descendant of Master Kong, didn't know how to explain this kind of thing. His understanding of Su Yonglin was still too limited.
However, following Shi Yongyuan's train of thought, many people present at the meeting told about the "weird things" they noticed and shared them with the attendees.
For example, the Liu family came from a wealthy family in Wenyang County, Dongping Prefecture.
"I have also heard that every time the Liberation Army expelled Jurchens from a place, they took over the land owned by the Jurchens, classified the Jurchens' tenant serfs as farmers, and distributed the land without retaining any land for themselves.
Not only that, they also set up something called a peasant association in the countryside. It is said to be used to manage the agricultural production of the entire village. They arranged a group of farmers to be the president of the peasant association, the accountant of the peasant association, etc. Something I've never heard of. "
"Are those farmers looking after themselves?"
Some people who had never heard of this were shocked: "Is this going to cause trouble? What can those farmers who don't even know their words do? What did Su Yonglin think? Are you crazy?"
"That's not necessarily the case. He seems to have also sent people to these farmers' associations. They are called instructors. I don't know if that's what they call them."
Liu Cheng, the head of the Liu family, said: "Don't say they can't read yet, but they may not be illiterate now. Do you know that the people sent by Su Yonglin will teach these farmers how to read?"
These words made everyone lose their composure, even Kong Zheng frowned slightly.
"Recognize the words?"
"Well, I'm learning how to read!"
Liu Cheng sighed and said slowly: "I also feel puzzled. What can they do if they can learn to read? What do they want to do? How much food will it cost? If they can learn to read, won't it delay the farming time? Those stupid men and women can learn to read, and what will they do? What can it do? What does Su Yonglin want to do?"
This is indeed unusual. As we all know, it is easier for a fool to rule blindly than to be fooled. It is not so easy to rule if you know how to read and have knowledge. The strategy of dumbing down the people and weakening them is clearly written in the textbooks of rulers. Content.
And now, Su Yonglin is teaching these people how to read?
What is he going to do?
Regardless of this issue for the moment, Jiang Xingsi, the patriarch of the Jiang family who was born in Pingyin County, Dongping Prefecture, said another thing.
"A servant in my family has relatives in a rural area in the northeastern part of the county. One time when he went back to visit relatives, he came back and told me that the village was completely different from the past."
As soon as this was said, someone immediately asked.
"What's the difference?"
"He said that after returning to the village, every household had enough food to fill their stomachs, and there were few dishes on the table for the villagers. He also said that the agricultural taxes of the Liberation Army were very low, and there were no other exorbitant taxes. Farmers paid less than 30% of the original taxes. Every household They are all praising Su Yonglin and the Guangfu Army for their benevolent government."
When Jiang Xingsi said this, many people jumped up like a rabbit whose tail had been stepped on.
"It turned out to be less than 30%? What does Su Yonglin want to do? Be a good person? Be famous forever?"
"Less than 20%? He...what on earth does he want to do?"
"Could he not agree to our request just to force us to lower the agricultural tax to this level in the future? This...I don't want to do this!"
"If he wants to eat the glutinous rice bran, he can eat it himself! I won't eat it!"
A group of "rabbits" whose tails were stepped on scolded Su Yonglin on the spot and had many opinions about Su Yonglin.
Jiang Xingsi shook his head repeatedly.
"No, no, that's the requirement of the rural areas he leads. He doesn't have the same requirements for other lands controlled by us. And it's not really important. Everyone has done this kind of thing. , not surprising.
But my servant also said that when he went back to his hometown to visit relatives, he always felt that many places were different. The farmers kept talking about upper class people and cattle and horses, and how many words they recognized today and how many more they would recognize tomorrow. Character.
Moreover, there are some villagers' self-defense forces in the village. They have armed forces and often assist the Liberation Army in fighting, transporting grain and so on. Some people even advised my servant not to continue to be my servant. That is not what people should do and return home. Farming is also a good way to start a new life or something..."
When Jiang Xingsi said this, many people stopped cursing and frowned, realizing that things were getting more and more wrong.
It’s a bit interesting.
In essence, we are all landlords and wealthy people, relatively high-level landlords and wealthy people. There have been officials in our families for several generations. We are not the same as the ordinary nouveau riche.
Therefore, we all understand to some extent the advantages of landlords and wealthy farmers over homesteaders.
But now things seem to be different.
In rural areas, there are farmers' associations, organizations, literacy, and knowledge. They are no longer as easy to fool as before, and they can even say things like "Don't be their servants."
This obviously treats them as villains, with a vague sense of hostility.
This...maybe not good.
"I have heard that there are some fallacies spread in the surrounding countryside, saying that people who own a lot of land are superior people, and those with their backs to the sky and their faces to the loess are cattle and horses, which are not even human beings. If cattle and horses want to live a better life than humans, Every day, you have to resist the superior people.
I didn’t pay much attention to it at the time. I thought it was nonsense and just some people’s imagination. There was no need to worry about it. But now that I think about it, this matter is not simple. I am afraid that there are people behind this who are adding fuel to the flames and using us as our enemies. . "
Zheng Chengze searched for a while, then looked at Kong Zheng and said, "Mr. Kong, what do you think of this matter? Whether it's the Liberation Army or Su Yonglin, what do they want? What do they want to do?"
Zhou Guangyu also felt inexplicably unhappy about this and looked at Kong Zheng.
"Kong Gong, we originally thought that the Liberation Army is an army led by a group of warriors. It is true that it can conquer and fight well, but it cannot govern the country. It will be able to conquer the world immediately, but it will not be able to govern the world immediately. He, Su Yonglin, can't do without us after all. What do you think? Is that so?"
