Late Ming Dynasty: Special Forces in 1645

Liu Dazhu is the son of a tenant farmer in Fenglingtou Town.

When Liu Dazhu was a child, his family owned land. Later, his mother became seriously ill, and in order to raise money for her treatment, Liu Dazhu's father sold all the family's land.

In the end, Liu Dazhu's mother couldn't be saved; she fell seriously ill and passed away. All the family's land was sold, leaving only a few dilapidated thatched houses on the land.

Liu Dazhu's father, Liu Dazhu, and his two younger sisters all became tenant farmers.

The fields they cultivate are still the same fields as before, but the fields are no longer theirs.

In the past, when my family owned land, although we paid a lot of taxes, it was at most 20%, and sometimes as little as 17% or 18%. Life was tough, but at least there was hope.

Previously, Liu Dazhu's family did not owe anyone money. They planned to use the dowry from his two younger sisters' marriages to help Liu Dazhu get married.

Now that the land is gone, Liu Yuanwai took advantage of Liu Dazhu's family's urgent need for money and relentlessly drove down the price. In the end, Liu Dazhu's family had no choice but to sell the land to Liu Yuanwai at a low price.

Although they all shared the surname Liu, Master Liu showed no mercy to Liu Dazhu just because they were from the same clan. After the land sale, Liu Dazhu's family could still cultivate the original land, but they had to pay 60% of the rent.

In the following years, Liu Dazhu's family found that no matter how hard they farmed all year round, most of the harvest went to Liu Yuanwai's family. Liu Yuanwai's family had so much grain that they sold it out by the cartload, while Liu Dazhu's family never had enough grain to eat and even had to borrow grain from Liu Yuanwai.

Liu Dazhu's two younger sisters were so hungry that they were skin and bones. Liu Dazhu's father also died two years later because he missed his deceased wife too much and was also too hungry and malnourished.

After his parents passed away, Liu Dazhu knew that grief was useless and life had to go on. With no other options, Liu Dazhu could only send his younger sister to work as a maid in the Liu family, just so that she could have enough to eat.

My younger sister is too young; even if I wanted to give her away as a maid, no one would want her.

Later, when Liu Dazhu learned that his eldest sister was not getting enough to eat and was often bullied while working as a maid in Liu Yuanwai's house, he couldn't help but go to Liu Yuanwai to demand an explanation and wanted to take his eldest sister home so she wouldn't have to work as a maid anymore.

Master Liu replied, "You can take your elder sister back, but you need to think carefully. You can no longer cultivate the land under my name. If I give the word, you won't be able to cultivate any land in Fenglingtou Town!"

Seeing Liu Dazhu hesitate, Master Liu said, "I am kind-hearted and cannot bear to see you suffer. Go back now, and I will forgive all the grain you owe. You don't need to pay it back."

The courage that Liu Dazhu had finally mustered was thus extinguished.

What can he do if he has no land to cultivate?

Are you taking your little sister away from Fenglingtou Town to beg for food?

Many people have left Fenglingtou Town, but so far no one has returned. Liu Dazhu doesn't know what the outside world is like, nor does he know if those who left have died outside. In short, Liu Dazhu doesn't have the courage to leave.

Liu Dazhu felt very useless. He worked all day long and couldn't even get enough to eat. He couldn't stand up for his sister when she was bullied.

In Fenglingtou Town, there are at least eighty or a hundred families like Liu Dazhu's, suffering such a tragic fate.

No one can help Liu Dazhu's family. Liu Dazhu needs land to farm and needs to eat, and so do others, so no one can help him.

To alleviate his guilt, Liu Dazhu could only stop thinking about his older sister and treat his younger sister even better from then on. He would save every bite of food for her. However, Liu Dazhu himself became thinner and thinner, and he fainted from hunger several times. If his younger sister hadn't found him, he might never have woken up again!

Liu Dazhu knew that he probably wouldn't live much longer, and the only thing he couldn't let go of was his two younger sisters.

Until one day, the Restoration Army arrived at Fenglingtou Town.

Liu Dazhu kept it in his mind: that day when he was weeding in the field, two tall, handsome young men rode by on tall horses and asked him for directions.

At that moment, Liu Dazhu thought of the storytelling he used to hear at the village entrance. The young generals described in the storytelling must be just like this.

Brother Liu immediately connected the two men with the "General".

Later he learned that the young man in front was Li Chengming, the commander-in-chief of the Restoration Army, and the man behind him was Liang Zicheng, the famous Commander Liang.

Liu Dazhu was unaware that the arrival of these two people would bring about earth-shattering changes to Fenglingtou Town.

After Commander-in-Chief Li and Commander Liang visited Fenglingtou Town, a large contingent of the Restoration Army moved in a few days later. Then Yang Xuedong led a work team in and announced the implementation of the "New Policy".

At first, although Liu Dazhu was curious about the large number of Restoration Army troops stationed there, he didn't pay much attention to it, let alone the so-called "new policy".

Liu Dazhu felt that none of this concerned him, and the Restoration Army couldn't feed him and his sister.

It turns out that Liu Dazhu was wrong. The idea that scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants should all pay taxes together may have nothing to do with Liu Dazhu, because Liu Dazhu didn't own any land!

However, the subsequent restrictions on land rent rates were closely related to him. The Restoration Army stipulated that the rent of tenants could not exceed 30%, and if the landlord wanted to take back the land, he not only had to get the tenant's consent, but also had to sign a document with the Restoration Army!

If land rent could really be reduced to 30%, tenant farmers like Liu Dazhu would be able to fill their stomachs and wouldn't need to borrow grain anymore.

The key point is that if you want to continue farming, you don't have to be beholden to Master Liu anymore.

Liu Dazhu didn't believe it at first, because it's not that easy for something to fall from the sky.

It wasn't until Magistrate Yang and his work team came to survey the land and register it one by one that Liu Dazhu began to believe it.

What happened next left Liu Dazhu utterly astonished.

Liu, along with three other wealthy men, were brought to trial by the Restoration Army for secretly resisting the new policies and attempting to hire someone to commit murder. They were tried in front of the entire town.

The Restoration Army made those who had been humiliated by the four wealthy landowners come on stage to expose their crimes.

Liu Dazhu watched the whole thing. Compared to the blood debts of others, Liu Dazhu's experience was fortunate. At least Master Liu did not directly kill his family.

Finally, Liu Dazhu went on stage and calmly recounted his family's ordeal without embellishment. Compared to the tragic experiences of others, Liu Dazhu's story was remarkably understated.

But Liu Dazhu himself had to go on stage and tell his story in order to release the pent-up anger in his heart!

Later, Liu Dazhu witnessed Liu Yuanwai and about ten of his family members being beheaded in public, and Liu Yuanwai's house was also ransacked by the Restoration Army.

The land cultivated by Liu Dazhu originally belonged to his family, but was later sold to Liu Yuanwai, and now it has fallen into the hands of the Xingfu Army.

The Restoration Army directly reduced the land rent to 10%.

Upon learning that the land rent had been reduced to 10%, Liu Dazhu was so excited that he couldn't sleep all night.

Liu Dazhu dreamed of getting his land back; the 60% rent was really pushing him to the brink of ruin.

Although we haven't gotten our land back yet, at least the land rent has been reduced to 10%, and the land tax is 1/20. All of this adds up to a much lower amount than the taxes we used to pay!

More importantly, no one can easily take away his right to cultivate the land, which is why Liu Dazhu was so excited.

The younger sister also returned home. Although she had many bruises on her body, the young lady who often beat her up didn't get away with it either.

The main figures in Miss Liu's family were all beheaded, and the Liu family was scattered. Their property was confiscated by the Restoration Army. Miss Liu was disliked everywhere. The Restoration Army took pity on her and rented her a piece of land to cultivate. Poor Miss Liu had never done heavy work before and did not know how to farm. So she actually asked Liu Dazhu's older sister for help.

The eldest sister is a kind person. Although Miss Liu used to bully her every day, she still had food to eat. Miss Liu couldn't bear to watch her starve to death.

When Miss Liu came to their door seeking help, the younger sister begged her brother to take her in.

Although the eldest sister was kind, she wasn't stupid. She took in Miss Liu on conditions: she demanded that the land rented to her by the Xingfu Army be transferred to Liu Dazhu's name.

Miss Liu had no better choice but to agree.

Having witnessed the destruction of Miss Liu's family, Liu Dazhu had already vented his anger. When he saw Miss Liu again, he had less of a desire for revenge. At his younger sister's pleading, he took Miss Liu in.

Liu Dazhu also accepted the land lease under Miss Liu's name, registered it with the Xingfu Army, and transferred the lease to Liu Dazhu's name.

And so, Liu Dazhu acquired another piece of land.