Chen Zikun is not a profit-seeking person, nor is he an outsider who regards money as dirt.
He only knows that he has thousands of mouths waiting for food under his hands, and they are all brave and fierce bandits.
If he does not give them military pay , it is the common people who are unlucky.
Since some people resisted the cultivation of opium, let's make a democratic decision.
Chen Zikun ordered a meeting of the gentry in the county to be called.
Throughout the dynasties, the rule of the imperial court only reached the county level, and further down it had to rely on the power of the clan gentry.
Without their approval, even a powerful warlord like Chen Zikun would be helpless.
Fortunately, Chen Zikun's image in the eyes of the gentry Not bad.
As soon as he said hello, all the prominent people in the county came immediately.
In order to reduce the official tone of this meeting, the venue was held in a private room in Shanghai at night.
Chen Zikun did not wear a military uniform.
He only wore a short-sleeved shirt, linen pants, and sandals.
He looked no different from a college student in a provincial capital.
The gentry all wore meticulous robes and mandarin jackets, gently waving folding fans in their hands, looking contented.
Chen Zikun said: "Today we have summoned all the elders here just for one thing, poppy cultivation.
Who is in favor of it and who is against it?"
There was silence.
The gentry all lowered their heads to drink tea and avoided Chen Zikun's gaze.
Nantai is a conservative place.
Most of the gentry had been educated in the teachings of Confucius and Mencius.
Opium was not a good thing.
The Qing Dynasty was defeated by it.
Everyone understood this. , but the temptation of free money is also very great.
Besides, there is also the official pressure of the military guard.
Li Juren was the first to stand up.
The little old man has been in the limelight recently and is now the best gentleman in the county.
"Envoy of the Army Guard, everyone, Li is not talented and has a few words to say."
Li Juren clasped his hands around, his eyes bright.
"Please speak."
Chen Zikun said.
"The land in Nantai is barren, and the harvest of sorghum, corn, and wheat is poor, and it is difficult to feed people.
The money earned from growing one acre of opium can buy wheat from ten acres of land, and paying rent and taxes is enough to support the tenants and their families." , so Li is in favor of growing poppies.”
After speaking, he looked around again, cupped his hands, and sat down triumphantly.
In fact, everyone had already made up their minds.
Since Li Juren was taking the lead, the last trace of reserve was ignored.
The gentry pretended to whisper among themselves, and one after another others stood up to express their agreement.
Gong Jiaxuan also stood up and said: "I just want to ask, if the land is planted with opium, what can we eat?"
Li Juren held the tea cup and chuckled contemptuously: "What are you going to eat?
I don't know how much rice and flour are transported by overseas ships to Shanghai.
The price is cheaper than what we grow ourselves.
If you have money, why don't you worry about not being able to buy food?"
Everyone chuckled and felt that what Li Juren said was reasonable.
"What Gong Shanren means is that he doesn't want to grow poppies?"
Chen Zikun asked lightly.
Beads of sweat broke out on Gong Jiaxuan's forehead.
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Chen Zikun was a general who killed without blinking an eye.
Although he had been close to him in the past and helped him a lot, he greatly disobeyed him when it came to poppy cultivation.
His younger brother also I wrote a letter and scolded him, and my son resigned from his job.
What would he do if he got angry with me?
"Actually, it's not impossible to plant, as long as the adults say something."
Gong Jiaxiang still gave in.
Chen Zikun waved his hand and said, "I never force people.
Let's do it this way.
Those who are willing to grow poppies will be provided with seeds and the harvest will be guaranteed.
Those who are unwilling to grow poppies will not be forced.
Li Juren has a saying that is right.
The land in our county is barren.
We can’t feed people just by growing crops.
I’m going to import a batch of breeding sheep and cattle from foreign countries to give the people more ways to live.
I’d like to ask for your help when the time comes.”
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
This young general was a reasonable man and did not use the barrel of a gun to suppress people.
It was a blessing to have such a master at a stall in Nantai County.
Chen Zikun kept his word and did not give any landowner who was unwilling to grow poppies any shoes to fill.
Those who were willing to grow poppies could get cheap poppy seeds from him at a preferential price, and they could also receive the careful teachings of Master Long.
This crop of sorghum After the corn harvest, half of the hillside land and dry land in Nantai County were planted with poppies.
The Chinese people's doctrine of moderation and physiocratic thinking were perfectly reflected in this matter.
Even activists like Li Juren did not plant all the land with poppies.
The best irrigated land was still planted with wheat.
The crop fields in the corners are used for "not doing business properly."
Chen Zikun did another feat.
He ordered the first and second regiments to go to the Jiangwan area eighty miles away from the county seat.
This was the bank of the Huaijiang River where the last military exercise and the provincial army fought fiercely.
The soldiers of the two regiments put down their rifles, picked up hoes, and began their farming career.
The army's efficiency in reclaiming wasteland was countless times faster than that of the common people.
Chen Zikun bought ten American-made tractors from Shanghai and a hundred cattle from Xuzhou.
One hundred mules, all harnesses, plows, and hoes are newly made by the blacksmith shop, so they can work with twice the result with half the effort.
Most of the soldiers were farmers, and they were all single men without children.
They worked quickly and quickly.
Although plowing the land was hard, it was easier than fighting.
Chen Zikun was also good at mobilizing enthusiasm and setting up a mobile red flag. , do it between each company There was a competition to see who could open up more wasteland and hold the red flag.
The soldiers were all honest men.
They worked happily for the sake of collective honor.
In just one month, they opened up tens of thousands of acres of wasteland and built a barracks.
A ditch was also dug to introduce water from the Huai River to irrigate crops.
Chen Zikun's Jiangbei military envoy has already lived up to his name.
He has soldiers and guns under his command, and he is like an overlord.
At this time, good news comes from the back house, Yao Yilei is pregnant.
Pregnant women need to strengthen their nutrition.
In the remote and remote areas of Nantai, there is no milk powder and condensed milk from abroad.
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There are also few ginseng and bird's nests in China.
Only home-raised old hens are the best.
Originally, this kind of thing could be done by servants, but Chen Zikun insisted on going to collect it in person.
Buy chicken online.
The Lord Protector dressed in casual clothes and took two orderlies to the street to buy chickens.
Today happened to be the day of the Nantai County Fair.
The busiest street in the county was crowded with people going to the market.
The people under the arbor were overcrowded, and the cries of hawkers kept coming.
Frying and cooking in Zuixianju kitchen The aroma of fried food spread to the street.
On the second-floor balcony in Shanghai at night, a few people wearing high-cut cheongsam were lying on the railing and cracking melon seeds.
From time to time, they would wink at the seduced people and bump into the stalls or When I step on someone's shoes, I immediately burst into laughter.
The streets were lively, and Chen Zikun felt comfortable.
Although Nantai was not as prosperous as Beijing or Shanghai, it was still his own territory.
While walking, I suddenly saw someone arguing in front of me.
I walked over and saw that it was a man grabbing a woman and telling her fiercely that she had stolen his chickens to sell.
The woman was dressed shabbily and cried, saying that the hens were her own hens that laid eggs and were selling them to treat her mother-in-law, and that they were not stolen goods.
The man refused to give up and swore to the onlookers that this was his own chicken and that he had just fed the barnyard grass in the morning, so it would definitely be correct.
Chen Zikun stood up and asked the woman: "Sister-in-law, this is your chicken."
The woman cried and cried: "It belongs to my family."
"What did you feed the chickens in the morning?"
"Wheat chaff."
"Double happiness."
Chen Zikun greeted.
"Yes" an orderly carrying a box gun jumped out, shocking the people watching.
"Kill the chicken and see what's in the crop."
Shuangxi took out his dagger and killed the chicken.
When he peeled off the crop, he saw that it was indeed wheat chaff.
The man was so frightened that he knelt on the ground and begged for mercy.
Chen Zikun said: "You dare to blackmail people in broad daylight.
It is an unforgivable crime to corrupt the people's morals.
You stripped naked and covered it with chicken feathers to show to the public at the city gate."
Shuangxi escorted the man away, and Chen Zikun asked the woman how much the chicken would cost.
"Fifty cents."
The woman said timidly.
She was from the countryside and didn't know Chen Zikun.
Nantai is too poor.
People rarely use silver dollars in their daily economic life, and even copper coins are rarely used.
Basically, the money is still made in the old Qing Dynasty.
A chicken is fifty cents, which is extremely cheap.
Chen Zikun took out a silver dollar and handed it over: "Sister-in-law, I bought this chicken."
The woman accepted the silver dollar in a daze, but did not recognize the money.
Others cheered: "Er Niu's family, you have made a fortune.
This is Yuan Datou, a white dollar.
One coin can be exchanged for one and a half cents." ” The price of one and a half thousand copper coins was thirty times the asking price.
The woman was shocked.
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"It's not worth that much, brother."
The countryman was kind after all and wanted to return the silver dollar to Chen Zikun.
Chen Zikun said: "I say it's worth it, take it."
After that, he walked away.
The woman was confused and asked, "Who is that?"
Others said with disdain: "You don't even know him, he is Marshal Chen, our Jiangbei military envoy."
The woman hurriedly knelt down and shouted in the direction of Chen Zikun: "Qingtian, what a good man."
The people in the county had nothing to do, and they were the best at making up jokes and telling stories.
In addition, with the liar covered in chicken feathers at the city gate as a living advertisement, Chen Zikun's reputation spread all over the county in an instant.
At this time, Chen Zikun had returned to the back house and showed Yao Yilei the fat chicken he bought.
Yao Yilei made a vomiting gesture and said, "How can anyone buy a chicken like this?
The head of the chicken was chopped off.
How much did it cost?"
Chen Zikun said: "One dollar."
The servants next to him were secretly stunned.
One dollar could buy a nest of chickens.
The handsome man was really a waste of money.
Yao Yilei, however, was used to being a spendthrift, so she nodded and said, "It's not bad, it's not too expensive."
Just as he was about to take the chicken to the kitchen, suddenly the grievance drum sounded outside.
Qing Feng ran in and reported that a woman claimed to have been raped by her brother-in-law and came to beat the drum to complain.
Yao Yilei was furious when she heard this and said: "Go and do it quickly, I hate bad guys who bully women the most."
Chen Zikun said: "This case should not be under my control.
Where is County Magistrate Liu?"
Qingfeng said: "County Magistrate Liu is digging a hole in the countryside."
It turned out that Liu Youjin dug all over the back house of the county government and couldn't find the treasure left by Magistrate Zeng, so he had to go to Magistrate Zeng's house in the countryside to dig out.
I'm not in the county seat right now.
"This guy is a county magistrate who can't do anything anymore.
He's just a guy who occupies the toilet and doesn't give up."
Chen Zikun complained a lot, but went to court for questioning
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