The Fourth Outstanding Person of Huangpu Military Academy

"Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, hey!"

……

In the evening, Xiang Qi, Jiang Xianyun, and a dozen members of the Farmers’ Association returned from Baiguo Town.

"The day after tomorrow morning, Hu Yujia and Liu Bichen are going to ship out their grain to sell. Over 1,100 dan of rice will be shipped to Xiaolan Wharf. They plan to load it onto a ship in the early morning and sail it away in the morning."

Hu Yujia and Liu Bichen are two major local landlords.

Chen Tianheng: "There's still a month and a half until this year's summer harvest, and another two and a half months until the new rice is milled. This is when grain prices are at their highest. These two are very good at timing."

Xiang Qi: "This is the time when the famine is at its worst. Many people have eaten all their rice. If these 1,000 dan of grain are shipped away, it will be even harder to buy food in the surrounding area. I wonder how much the price of rice will rise. We must intercept these 1,000 dan of grain and force Hu Yujia and Liu Bichen to sell it locally at a fair price."

Chen Geng: "The Farmers' Association's guard team of more than 80 people can all go out. Go to bed an hour earlier tomorrow night and go out at dawn."

Xiang Qi: "In addition to the Farmers' Association's escort team, farmers from nearby areas also went there to bolster their presence."

The time has come.

The ban on equal grain sales was the first step of the peasant movement. The ban was followed by rent reduction and return of deposits, but there was no difference in essence. Both aimed to sweep away the existing landlord-peasant production relations and exploitation order in the countryside.

Chen Tianheng: "Jiang Xianyun, Secretary Chen Wangdao has ordered a batch of guns in Guangzhou, and they will probably be delivered here in a few days. ... However, we can mobilize the peasants to fight the ban on grain sales. These guns are for dealing with Zhao Xiheng's regular army. However, we need to select the best from the peasant guards to form a musket team."

Chen Geng: "The guns ordered from Guangzhou? Great, standard rifles?"

Chen Tianheng nodded. "Yes, the Lee-Enfield. It's a different model than the ones used by the Hunan Army, but they're basically the same. The number is slightly smaller, though, only 20."

Jiang Xianyun: "Zhao Xiheng has a battalion in Hengyang, with a few hundred men and guns, so the disparity in strength is still huge."

Chen Tianheng: "So even if we can't fight head-on in the future, having a gun will always make Zhao Xiheng a little wary."

Mid-June is about the time when the nights are shortest and the days are longest. At the Liu Jie San Gong Temple, the headquarters of the Yuebei Farmers' and Workers' Association, candles burned throughout the night, and farmers came and went periodically, delivering messages.

"Lights are still on in Hu Yujia's courtyard." "Torches are also lit in Liu Bichen's house!"

"Report! Hu Yujia's yard gate is open, and a porter has entered!"

Outside the Three Lords Temple, more than eighty members of the Farmers' Association's security team gathered and waited for orders. These young guards knew they were about to take on a big task, and they were all excited and nervous.

In fact, Chen Tianheng, Jiang Xianyun, Chen Geng and others were also like this when they rebelled for the first time.

However, as the small commander of the guard team, not only can he not be afraid, but he also has to do some work for them.

"Brothers from the Farmers' Association!"

"Everyone knows what we are going to do tonight. Now that our farmers' association has been established, farmers from all over the surrounding area will listen to us and work together to accomplish great things."

"What we're doing today is unprecedented in China. But Hunan is such a large place, and with so many provinces across China, a revolution certainly wouldn't succeed in a day. We're seizing the Hu and Liu families' grain, and everyone knows that the government wouldn't be happy to see us do this. But we still have to make a living, right?"

Chen Tianheng took out a big bag and opened it to find cloth hoods inside.

"Put on this hood, and when we start working at dawn, they won't know who we are. Also, remember! When we're working at dawn, don't address each other by name in front of others!"

……

Xiang Qi stood up: "It's time to go!"

The two families had about the same amount of grain, over 500 dan each, and they jointly hired a fleet. When the fleet arrived at Xiaolan Port, porters carrying grain came out from the Hu and Liu family courtyards one after another.

Although the Hu and Liu family compounds weren't Huang Silang's watchtowers, their walls and retainers weren't so easy to take down. Even with 20 muskets, the Yuebei Farmers' Association wouldn't be easy to defeat. Xiang Qi and Jiang Xianyun's plan was to lure the snake out of its hole.

It takes more than ten minutes to walk from the two compounds to the dock, and the porters have to make four trips to transport all the grain to be sold to the dock and load it onto the ship.

Meanwhile, Chen Tianheng and a group of 20 or so Farmers' Association guards quietly blocked the downstream fleet's route. Another 60-plus people, led by Chen Geng, joined over 2,000 nearby villagers. When the grain was almost completely loaded, Xiang Qi, Liao Fangbing, Zhou De'er, and Zhao Bingyan, four Farmers' Association representatives, led a massive crowd that gathered from all directions.

"Hu Yujia, Liu Bichen! These two wealthy landlords are so ruthless, they're smuggling grain out of the country! Do you know that many farmers in Yuebei are already starving?"

Xiang Qi shouted at the front of the crowd. The porter on the other side had already taken his wages and left. The servant went back to report in a daze. Soon, Hu Yujia trotted to the dock.

"Aren't these grains mine? Did I steal or rob yours? Is it illegal for me to transport the rice out to sell? If I don't sell rice, where will the money for clothes and other things come from?!" Hu Yujia defended himself.

Xiang Qi: "Can't we sell all this grain in Yuebei? Don't so many workers, their parents, relatives, wives, and children all rely on buying food from you? Our rice production is not much to begin with, and you are raising the price of grain in Yuebei. Once the price of grain goes through the roof, how will they make a living?"

"You are rebelling, rebelling! Manager Sun, sail the boat! The rice is already loaded!"

Hu Yujia greeted loudly, "Manager Sun is the owner and leader of this fleet, and he is on the first ship."

"boom!!!!"

The musket in Chen Geng's hand fired into the air.

The muskets were well-charged with gunpowder, and the roar of the gunshots echoed across the river and the docks, stunning everyone. Hu Yujia was still trying to force his way to the dock with his steward, but a row of soldiers from the Farmers' Association's guards blocked their way. Geng Biao, at the head of the group, stood erect, his spear in hand, pressing Hu Yujia in the face.

Xiangqi turned around and shouted to the fleet:

"Brother boatmen! There's nothing we can do about blocking the grain shipment! We're just trying to give everyone a cheap meal! Life is tough for everyone, so please understand! Just unload the grain, and we won't move your boat!"

The boatmen of the more than 30 boats at the dock were beginning to feel lost. But the leader of the fleet, Manager Sun, had a different opinion.

After all, he is the boss, and this involves the question of whether the freight can be settled.

"Sail!" Shopkeeper Sun shouted to the boatman of his own boat, and then shouted to the other boats while standing at the side of the boat.

The lead ship of the grain transport fleet started moving, slowly sailing downstream. However, although the lead ship moved, most of the other thirty or so ships did not move. Only three or four grain transport ships started moving at the urging of Shopkeeper Sun.

"You will lose all your wages when you go back!" Manager Sun was furious on the boat, cursing at every boat he passed.

"Boss, someone is blocking the boat ahead!"

Chen Tianheng's team was responsible for blocking the downstream and preventing the grain transport fleet from escaping. At this time, he was in a borrowed boat, with two boatmen and two hooded guards paddling under his command.

Sun's boat alone carried several tons of cargo, and combined with its own weight, it was over ten times heavier than Chen Tianheng's rowboat. However, these inland wooden boats, built by Hunan shipbuilders, had always had a serious problem with their center of gravity stability, something Chen Tianheng had discovered after a brief study a few days ago.

As expected, Manager Sun's leading boat wanted to force its way through by relying on its size, but the rowing boat on the opposite side had no intention of backing off. It first turned 90 degrees on the river, with its bow facing the side of the grain ship vertically, then slightly adjusted its direction, and with a duang bang, the two boats collided.

Both boats capsized.

"Ooooh! It's knocked over!"

"Oh my god, it flipped over!"

At the dock, two or three hundred meters away, farmers, members of the farmers' association, and the landlords' families witnessed this scene. The farmers cheered, while the landlords and their servants were shocked.

Chen Tianheng swam out of the overturned boat leisurely, and first looked back to see if the two boatmen and two guards were okay.

The four of them quickly emerged. After all, they were all good swimmers, otherwise Chen Tianheng wouldn't have chosen them for this mission. Then Chen Tianheng opened his arms and swam towards the shore, grabbing the struggling Sun who was hanging by a thread and bringing him to the shore.

"Manager Sun, right? You're in the fleet business, and you can't even sail?"

Chapter 15

On June 28, 1923, more than 6 farmers gathered in front of Liu Jie's ancestral temple in Yuebei Village, Hengshan County. Xiang Qi officially announced the establishment of the Yuebei Farmers' and Workers' Association.

From the farmers' association's quiet and covert activities to semi-public activities, to the successful blockade of the equal sale of grain at Xiaolan Wharf three days ago, the farmers' association quickly gained the support of farmers in Yuebei Village and more than a dozen nearby villages within four months.

Especially today, the Farmers and Workers Association put more than a thousand dan of rice that they intercepted three days ago in front of the Liu Jie Sangong Temple for sale on the spot. More than 2,000 handicraftsmen and miners' families living in Yuebei and half of the nearby Hengshan County, and more than 1,500 poor farmers who were short of food bought food at a fair price. The "Farmers and Workers Association" and the "Liu Jie Sangong Temple" became the rural leaders and order maintainers recognized by the farmers in this area.

The reason these artisans and miners stayed in the countryside rather than following their migrant workers to the mining areas or the city was because fuel and rice were cheaper there, and they could grow their own vegetables. Over the past few years, grain exports have become increasingly excessive, with rural rice prices catching up to those in the city. Now, they can finally breathe a sigh of relief.

"Hu Yujia! We took your and Liu Bichen's rice. Here's the money we earned from selling the rice. Of course! We sold it at a fair price!"

Hu Yujia, whose rice had been stopped, was also at Liu Jie's Three Lords Temple, but he hid until the farmers who had come to buy rice had dispersed and the meeting was over. When Xiang Qi spoke to him and placed a cloth bag filled with silver dollars on the table, Hu Yujia's face was gloomy and unhappy, but he could only nod silently.

Xiang Qi: "We took 1170 dan of rice, and the money here is for 870 dan. There are also 300 dan of rice. You have been taking grain from the community granary last year and the year before, a total of 300 dan, which has not been returned to you. Today we will help you return these 300 dan of grain."

"I didn't take any grain from the community granary! No!" Hu Yujia was now anxious. "I put the grain I took out of the community granary into the Baiguo Charity Granary! It was Zhao Nianci who wanted to take grain from the community granaries of each village!"

"Do you dare to go to the charity granary in Baiguo Town to reconcile the accounts?"

Xiang Qi questioned.

Surprisingly, Hu Yujia raised his head and said confidently, "I dare you! We can reconcile the accounts, why wouldn't you dare?"

During the Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China, rural areas had a three-tiered grain storage and relief system consisting of regular granaries, charity granaries, and community granaries. During the early and mid-Qing Dynasty, prefectures and counties generally established regular granaries, which bought grain in good years and sold it in bad years to regulate grain prices. Townships established charity granaries, providing free relief to victims during disasters. Community granaries were built in rural areas to lend grain during spring and summer famines and high prices, with farmers repaying them with interest in the autumn.

However, over time, these three-tiered warehouses collapsed. For example, the community warehouse in Yuebei Village was completely empty during the lean season of April and May this year, and the rats were starving.

The farmers and workers' union checked the accounts and found that Hu Yujia had taken more than 100 dan of grain from the community granary every year in the past two years. Now Hu Yujia said that he moved it to the charity granary in Baiguo Town?

That's easy. Go to Baiguo Town and get the grain back. The past two years haven't been years of major disasters in Hengshan County and Baiguo Town, just minor harvest failures in some areas. The charity granary has never let go of grain to provide relief to the victims.

Xiang Qi exchanged glances with Jiang Xianyun and Chen Tianheng, then shouted, "Members of the Farmers' Association! Go to Baiguo Town on May 6 (June 30) to check the charity granary and collect grain!"

……

June 30th was two days later. However, the conversation between Liu Jie and the Three Lords Temple reached Baiguo Town that evening.

"Master, the peasants from the farmers' association are coming. Should we settle this matter?"

Zhao Nianci, the richest man in Baiguo Town, could no longer sit still.

Well, he should be the richest man. Zhao Nianci is the largest local landlord. He also has another identity: he is the cousin of Zhao Hengxi, the actual controller of Hunan Province.

Zhao Nianci looked at his housekeeper and said, "Yes, it needs to be settled. Ah Rong, the fewer people involved in this matter, the better."

"I'll go there myself tonight, and bring Zhong Da and Zhong Er with me. Just three of us will be enough. The Zhong family is reliable."

Zhao Nianci waved her hand, and the housekeeper Arong went downstairs to prepare.

What to do? The old way.

The charity granary in Baiguo Town consists of several large tiled houses with wooden beams, doors and floors, which are prone to fire.

On the evening of June 29, after it got completely dark, Zhao Nianci became restless, sipping tea pot after pot in the main room and going to the toilet to urinate every three quarters of an hour.

He just wanted to wait until the charity granary in the south of the town caught fire, and then he could ask his servants to pretend to put out the fire.

Late at night, the charity granary still hadn't caught fire, but there was a commotion at the gate of her own compound. Zhao Nianci asked her servants to go out and see what was going on. The servants' report almost made Zhao Nianci's heart and lungs stop:

"Master, this is bad! Butler Rong from the front door, Zhong Da and Zhong Er are tied up! There are so many more people!"

……

At the main gate of the Zhao family compound, Xiang Qi and Chen Tianheng, who was wearing a hood, blocked the entrance with more than a hundred members of the Farmers' Association. Butler Rong and Zhong Dazhong were lying on the ground with bruised faces and noses, tied up like dumplings.

Xiang Qi said publicly in front of Liu Jie's Sangong Temple that they would go to Baiguo Town to check the accounts on June 30. In fact, on the night of June 28, Chen Tianheng and Chen Geng took seven team members to Baiguo Town quietly, and stayed there for two nights and one day just to hunt down the arsonist.

The fire dragon burns the warehouse, this script is too old.

"Butler Rong, tell me! Was it Zhao Nianci who ordered you to set fire to the charity granary?"

Xiang Qi went up to Zhao Nianci to confront him, but Rong, lying on the ground, remained silent. A member of the farmers' association kicked him in the buttocks, but Rong remained silent.

Chen Tianheng: "You attempted to set fire to the Baiguo Town Charity Granary and were caught red-handed. You and those two men were carrying incendiary materials, and the barrel of kerosene you were carrying was from the Zhao family. Steward Rong, if no one ordered you to do so, then you are the mastermind. Whether you are reported to the authorities or the village community punishes you, you are dead. Do you understand?"

"Nine barrels, nine barrels!"

Chen Tianheng was wearing a nine-tube headgear, and in the distance Jiu Tiao (Chen Geng) was running towards him.

"Jiu Tong, I found the grain income and expenditure account book from the charity granary!"

……

In fact, there is no need to look at the account book. Anyone who goes in and takes a look will know that there must be something wrong with the charity granary in Baiguo Town.

Because it was as empty as the community granary in Yuebei Village, and the rats were so hungry that their eyes were green.

Fortunately, Butler Rong did not succeed in burning the grain, otherwise, according to the official statement, the full warehouse of grain was suddenly burned.

The account books explain the disappearance of the charity granary's grain. For the past two years, the Baiguo Town charity granary had requisitioned grain from various villages, with the local landlords, known as "village sages," transporting it to replenish the granary. Then, each year, Zhao Nianci would remove the collected grain from the villages, leaving only a fraction of it. In those two years, a total of 5000 dan (approximately 5,000 dan) had been removed.

Chen Tianheng: "Zhao Nianci stole these 5,000 dan of grain, probably to provide Zhao Hengxi with military rations. Zhao Hengxi happened to come to power at the end of 1920 and became the largest warlord in Hunan in 1921. From 1921 onwards, Zhao Nianci provided food to his cousin."

Xiang Qi was puzzled. "Zhao Hengxi controls the entire Hunan province's tax revenue, and even the entire Hunan province's opium transit tax. And he can't even afford to support his tens of thousands of soldiers?"

Chen Tianheng spread his hands: "Since he can get free food and use it as military rations, why should he pay? Anyway, he earned it through his own ability, right?"

Xiang Qi: "Comrade Chen, Zhao Nianci is extremely unpopular. We have more people now, and we have both shotguns and rifles. We can capture him. However, he is Zhao Hengxi's cousin. If we capture Zhao Nianci, it will cause a complete commotion. Should we capture him?"

Chen Tianheng thought for a moment and said, "It's June 30th now. The time is almost right. We can take it down. Zhao Hengxi will definitely send troops to suppress it, but we have a backup plan."

……

"Tianheng, what is the backup plan you are talking about?"

On the way back to Yuebei Village, Chen Geng asked Chen Tianheng.

"This was a plan I persuaded Secretary Chen Duxiu to implement when I was in Shanghai: the Tan-Zhao War."

"Who is Tan? Tan Yankai?"

"Yes. Tan Yankai resigned from office at the end of 1920 and became a private official in Shanghai, but he still has influence in Hunan, especially in western Hunan and the border between Hunan and Guangdong, where many of his old troops are stationed. He has now defected to Sun Yat-sen, who earlier this year appointed him Minister of the Interior of the Generalissimo's Office and Commander of the Second Army, though this Second Army is still a paper title. However, he should be ready to take action soon, as Zhao Hengxi is essentially a branch of Wu Peifu's faction. Tan Yankai's attack on Zhao Hengxi has a legitimate reason and can also gain Sun Yat-sen's approval. This is something Secretary Mao Runzhi and I both predicted would happen."

"Cai Juyou, the garrison commander of Yuanling and a member of Tan Yankai's group, will declare Xiangxi independent and call himself the Hunan Anti-Traitor Army to attack Zhao Hengxi. Then Tan Yankai himself will enter Hunan from the south, from Guangdong, to attack Zhao."

Chen Tianheng drew a few rough directions in the air. "Because of the general premise of cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, and the agreement between Secretary Chen Duxiu and Sun Yat-sen, we are allies with the anti-Zhao army. When the anti-Zhao army arrives in Hengyang, the farmers' associations in Hengshan and Changning will help Tan Yankai recruit 5,000 to 6,000 soldiers. His brigade entering Hunan will become a division by the time it reaches Hengyang. Tan Yankai will support us with 1000 guns."

"In this way, our party can establish its first armed force in the rural areas and towns around Hengyang. As to whether this armed force will act independently or be nominally incorporated into Tan Yankai's anti-Zhao army, this will have to wait for the results of detailed discussions between Secretary Chen Duxiu and Sun Yat-sen."