Chapter 2 sunken land

Liu Si, Liu Simaozi, Liu Siye, there is not a single tile, not a single row of land, but he is so tough that he dares to be called a master.Fourth master likes to drink sorghum, eat pork head meat, and even more like to join in the fun.The huge Xihe Village can be without any decent person, but he is the only one.If you do not invite him to your wedding or wedding, he will dare to hang himself from the beam of your bridal chamber or dig a hole in your ancestral grave.He believed confidently that he was born to eat the world.Such a big world, don't let him eat it, and keep it dry? !From the Qing Dynasty to the Republic of China, he punched and kicked, gnawed horizontally and vertically, making his cheeks swell and his brain full of fat.

In the ninth year of the Republic of China, Fourth Master came to this world and spent fifty complacent years.Yesterday, when Mr. Liu Shujie, the squire, and Mr. Liu San hosted a banquet for the representatives of the villagers, he drank a lot of wine and celebrated his fiftieth birthday by the way.At the banquet, I heard that Xinghua Company was coming to inspect the collapsed land around the mining area, so I volunteered to be a guide and a village representative. Right now, the fourth master is representing the villagers of the four villages, accompanying Mr. Liu Shujie, Mr. Liu San and Wang Zifei, the mine manager of Xinghua Company, to inspect the vast wilderness more diligently than other attendants.

The road is difficult to walk, and the yellow mud road is full of sand and floating soil.Since the beginning of winter, there hasn't been a single star of rain or snow, and the air is very dry. If you step on it, the gray dust will boil up.Within five miles, Fourth Master was already out of breath, looking like a gray-faced man.Sweat beads began to drill out from the well-maintained flesh, and flowed down from the forehead, cheeks, and neck; the black and greasy double-breasted jacket that was worn next to the body was already wet with sweat. Fourth master really worked hard. He kept taking off his hat, and fanned his sweat with the floppy felt hat.He felt itchy all over, as if the lice infested on his body had staged a general riot for a while.Fourth Master became a little irritable. The pitiful complacency when he left the village has been replaced by unreasonable hatred: "Grandma is a bear, tired of killing Fourth Master, wanting to sell his meat? Unfilial stuff!"

Dare to think so, but dare not say so.Fourth master is not everyone's master, in front of Mr. San, he dare not call him master.Who is Mr. San?Exceeded in the late Qing Dynasty, celebrities!Call yourself a master in front of celebrities?Phew, what!Fourth master is not the kind of person who doesn't know what's good and what's wrong!Otherwise, why did he enter the Republic of China from Manchuria? !The mine manager, Wang Zifei, is nothing. He is the grandson of the fourth master, so the fourth master is still happy!The fourth master has the superiority of the fourth master. The fourth master is a bachelor and can take care of two generations of companies.Don't look at Wang Zifei's suit and leather shoes, oily hair and flour noodles, who looks like a dog. In the eyes of the fourth master, all of them are three-inch thick fat meat and buns with big white noodles-the stuff to be eaten.

Since the early years of the Republic of China, Fourth Master has been eating industry. Boss Yang of Houshanzhuang drilled a well, and saw coal at seven feet.All of a sudden, this closed land became lively like a big show.First, the local villagers opened small kilns, and then capitalists from the south drilled large wells.Liujiawa, on the north bank of the old course of the Yellow River, used to have only a dozen families of disaster victims from Shandong, but in a blink of an eye it has become a prosperous economic and political center, where two generations of coal mining companies have set up their camps.In order to transport coal more and more quickly, the coal mining company built a small railway more than 20 miles long, connecting Hekou Station on the Jinpu Line.In the past ten years, Liujiawa and the barren land around Liujiawa have attracted thousands of families to settle down and make a living.

There are rich treasures buried under this land. The shallow coal seam is two or three meters thick, and the deep coal seam is five or six meters thick.When foreign capital has almost monopolized China's energy, how many entrepreneurs want to be the masters of this land!This coveted treasure has given many people the dream of getting rich. It's hard to make a fortune here, though.The first-generation company, Liujiawa Coal Mine Company, invested 20,000 taels of silver and built three large wells.Less than two years after the coal was produced, a flood broke out and the big well was submerged. The management was unable to maintain it, so they offered 15,000 taels of silver to sell it.The second-generation company—Zhenya Coal Mine Co., Ltd., has operated mines for five years and drilled five wells. It was on the verge of bankruptcy due to warlord melee, labor disputes, and tax extortion.At the beginning of the eighth year of the Republic of China, 600,000 yuan was sold to the current new capital group, Xinghua Coal Mine Co., Ltd.

Fourth master has a relationship with these three companies. At the beginning of the establishment of Liujiawa Company, he found Mr. San and asked Mr. San to recommend Chi to work in the company.At that time, Mr. San did not have a deep understanding of the dangers of running a mine, and in front of the company's local consultant, he brought up the matter when the company manager came to visit.The manager held Mr. San's face and accepted him while pinching his nose.But the fourth master was too disappointing, eating, drinking, whoring, gambling, stealing and selling equipment, within three months, he was kicked out.

Unable to get the company's salary, the fourth master worked tirelessly for the company.At that time, when the underground kiln wood was tense, he went from house to house and threatened everywhere.Whoever dares to sell kiln wood to the company will set fire to his house.The local villagers were all trembling with fear.Later, the company had no choice but to hire him again. During the Zhenya period, the company said nothing about him.At this time, the company's backstage was very hard. The principal of the company was a relative of President Yuan Shikai. The company transferred more than ten soldiers from Beijing as the backbone and established the mine police team.Ordinary rascals restrained themselves, but fourth master did not.For the future of the coal mine, the company decided to build a small railway directly leading to Hekou Station.After the fourth master heard the news, he bought fifteen acres of thin land along the railway line at double the price, and picked up a few piles of loess overnight to use as a tomb.The company bought the required land, but it couldn't buy the fifteen acres alone, forcing the company to put the project on hold.The fourth master claimed: The ancestral grave is here, and the fifteen acres of land will not be sold for a thousand dollars.In the end, the local gentry came forward to mediate, and the company bought the land at a price twenty times higher than the original price, and made him the nominal deputy chief of the civil engineering department. Has been raising him for five years.

At the beginning of last year, Xinghua New Capital Group took over the company.The general manager, Qin Zhenyu, was domineering and did not take Siye seriously at all. He unceremoniously smashed Siye's job and threatened: Xinghua will never hire such people.This really hurt fourth master's self-esteem. Such a big company doesn't support fourth master.Fourth master got angry, and vowed to give the company a little bit of strength! After looking forward to it for more than a year, the opportunity finally arrived: Xinghua Company mined underground coal, causing the collapse of a large area of ​​unexpropriated land, which aroused the anger of the people in the four townships.Well, it's finally fourth master's turn to show off. ...

Thinking of this, fourth master got a little excited, turned his head to look at the third gentleman who was sitting in the sedan chair like a Maitreya Buddha, his distiller's nose became redder and brighter, and his uneven pockmarked face exuded three points of satisfaction, seven points Flattering smile. The third gentleman is very leisurely, lazily holding a shiny purple clay pot in his white and fat hands, with a foreign cigarette that the prince does not respect in the corner of his mouth, shaking his head up and down in the sedan chair.His benevolent face is facing the car window on the left, his eyes are squinted, his eyelids are like two open doors, and his pupils are scanning the spring wilderness through the crack of the door.

The warm sun was shining overhead. Under the sun, as far as the eye could see, large tracts of land were cracked due to severe drought. The wheat seedlings in the field were yellow and thin, like the beard on the chin of an old man.This withered yellow is covered with a striking white - that is the salt and alkali floating on the soil surface, which reminds people of unwashed diapers.The poverty here is vividly written on the vast and boundless land, which cannot be concealed, and no one wants to conceal it.The highest harvest that the land can enshrine to people is far from meeting the minimum needs of people's stomachs, thus resulting in reasonable poverty, which is the solid foundation for the survival of three generations of coal mining companies.Poverty provides companies with a lot of cheap labor. Gradually approaching the mining area, the collapsed land began to enter the line of sight of the group.The collapse was serious, and the land that lacked green life was distorted by powerful external forces. The group stopped.The third gentleman and Wang Zifei got off the sedan chair, and the two of them stepped into a cemetery under the guidance of the fourth master. The cemetery is located on the slope of the collapsed land, and more than half of the old tombs have been damaged to varying degrees.Some of the graves revealed rotting coffins, and some of the shallower ones revealed bones.The trees on the cemetery did not die because of this, and most of them stood crookedly, as if to prove this evil change with their own existence. Pointing at the exposed bones, Fourth Master finally found a chance to vent his hatred, with veins protruding like earthworms on his neck, his voice was quite loud and full: "You are wicked! Grandma is a bear, throwing the bones of the ancestors into the wilderness, this will kill the children and grandchildren! Earning such money, black heart and rotten dick! If you want to put it on your fourth master, he will have to fight with you! Bah! Grandma is a bear!..." Wang Zifei didn't say a word, he didn't regard fourth master as anything at all.The most important thing is to pay attention to Mr. San's face, so as not to make him unhappy.In the final solution to the problem of this collapsed land, Mr. San is a pivotal figure.Wang Zifei glanced at Fourth Master condescendingly, with a bit of contempt in his eyes. Mr. San waved his hand and interrupted Fourth Master majestically: "Okay! Alright! Don't say it!" He turned around and said to the prince, "The collapse is indeed very serious, very serious!" "Yes! This is caused by our company's mining of the small lake series coal seam. Our company and I have an inescapable responsibility." "Why didn't you negotiate with the local government in advance and buy the mine land?" Wang Zifei pondered for a while: "Our company is in accordance with the Mining Law and provincial regulations: 'The mining land can be used only with the approval of the government. If the land is damaged, it will be responsible for compensation.' , We did not expect such a serious collapse, so we did not requisition the mine.” "Oh!" Mr. San groaned, nodded his head, and asked again: "How many acres of mining land has been expropriated by your company? How many acres of unexpropriated subsidence land?" "Our company has taken over 8,700 mu of mine land from Zhenya, 3,700 mu in Liujiawa, 2,000 mu in the fourth village of Dongda Township, and 3,000 mu in Dongyuan Township. What about the collapsed land that has not been requisitioned? , have not yet done detailed surveys. According to preliminary estimates, there are about 3,000 mu, mainly distributed in the four villages of Dongda Township and the west of Liujiawa.” Wang Zifei was a senior employee of Zhenya Company, and was later retained by Xinghua Company. He had his own account, and his words were always well-founded. Mr. San smiled coldly and shook his head disapprovingly. "Are you afraid that you won't be able to cover three thousand acres? Huh? I have been contacting villagers and squires in the past few months to report that the land that has collapsed is probably more than five thousand acres." "It's more than 5,000 mu!" Fourth Master immediately confirmed with his neck straightened, "Our Dongda Township alone is 4,000 mu. Mr. San's land is half of the subsidence area!" Wang Zifei said: "There is no evidence for what you say, my company has a mining map, and the collapsed area is clearly marked!" "Oh? Have a picture? It's good to have a picture! However, Mr. Wang, I have a word of advice: This place is different from your Shanghai, and the folk customs are very aggressive! In the early years, Emperor Qianlong had a royal criticism of this place: 'Poor mountains and bad waters, shrews make trouble for the people. '. Whenever there is a famine, there will be mob riots. The company should be more flexible about the collapsed land!" Mr. San's polite words already carried a hint of threat.Wang Zifei noticed it immediately, but he didn't expect that the threat became a reality in a blink of an eye. Walking out of the cemetery, the group continued eastward. Five miles away is Dongyuan Town.Dongyuan Town is called a town, but it is actually a large-scale village of mixed surnames, known as Wu Township.In the early years, there was a martial arts exercise in this village.At the village head of Dongyuan Town, a group of people were surrounded by villagers. The leader was a middle-aged man with a square face and big mouth, big black and yellow teeth, and a short beard. He held a hoe handle in his hand like a bear's paw, and he was full of murderous intent.Behind him, a group of men and women gathered.They were dressed in rags, the man was in front, the woman was behind, and the woman was holding the yellow and emaciated child by the hand. Fourth Master walked in front and was the first to meet the man. The man clasped his fists together: "The fourth brother is here?" "I'm coming!" "Where is the company's grandson?" "Here, the one sitting in the front sedan chair!" The man lifted the handle of the hoe and rushed to the front of Wang Zifei's sedan chair. Before the sedan chair came to a complete stop, he opened the curtain of the sedan chair, and pulled Wang Zifei out like an eagle picking out a chicken. The prince was dumbfounded.In an instant, the color of his face changed, and a trace of unconcealable fear appeared on his thin face like lightning, and he didn't know how to react for a while.Two mine police officers with guns rushed over behind the sedan chair, swung the butts of their guns at the man.Unexpectedly, the butt of the gun failed to touch the man, and the man turned around abruptly, dodged, picked up the handle of the hoe, and gave a salute to the mine police on the left, but he also missed. During the short confrontation, Wang Zifei had already recovered his normal state and regained the dignity of a company agent.He sternly stopped the mine policeman.He understands that if he fights here, he will never take advantage of it, and it is even more difficult to end the situation if it gets bigger. Mr. San also stepped out of the sedan chair, and immediately scolded the man: "What are you doing? What do you want to do? Courtesy comes first in everything, and military strategists also pay attention to courtesy first and then soldiers. Under the blue sky and broad daylight, you don't even say hello, how dare you hold your hand?" Melee murder! There are no rules? Oh?! Disgrace to our place!" The man lowered his head obediently: "Yes, sir, the little one is rude!" Then, the man fell to his knees with a plop: "Major Liu, Liu Qingtian, you old man must be the master for the common people in our place!" A group of people knelt down: "Mr. San, you have to decide for us!" Mr. San was greatly moved, bowed his waist, helped everyone up one by one, and said emotionally: "Fathers and folks, Mr. Liu will definitely fight for you! Seeing you suffer so much from the company, I also feel the pain of my heart! I will negotiate with the company together with the representatives of the townships, and come up with a compensation plan worthy of everyone as soon as possible." Wang Zifei was also very upset.Looking at the group of poor villagers who were driven crazy in front of them, a little pain also passed through my heart.They do have problems! , The land that the ancestors lived and multiplied for generations suddenly sank and sunk in one morning, and they did not pay compensation for a long time. I cannot tolerate being in this position.The land is the life of the peasants, isn't it murdering the peasants for their money if they destroy their land? He straightened the collar and skirt that had been messed up by the man, and said cautiously and sincerely: "Folks, the company is sorry to everyone, and I am sorry to you. However, I would like to guarantee my personality here, and the company will start in the shortest possible time. Measure the land and compensate you for your losses. I also hope that you will spread the word widely to appease public grievances." After finishing speaking, Wang Zifei bowed deeply to everyone and got into the sedan chair. An old woman with a dirty face and disheveled hair dragged two skinny cat-like girls to the pole of the sedan chair and cried, "Master of the company, you can count on what you say! Woo-woo-- Our orphans and widows only have 15 acres of poor land! We only need to pay compensation, and we cannot sell the land! Woo-woo-woo-" Mr. San shook his head, and heaved a long sigh: "It's a bad year, and I'm afraid there will be another famine this year!" After comforting the old lady a few words, Mr. San also got into the sedan chair. ... On the way back, fourth master dismissed his position as a guide by himself, and retreated from the head of the team to the middle of the team. Gradually, he fell from the middle of the team to the end of the team. His stomach started to growl, the sweat on his body had been dried by the wind in the wilderness, and he was cold from hunger, Fourth Master couldn't help killing the old blue cloth belt, and shivered twice in a serious manner.He began to swallow his saliva, wishful thinking to design his own dinner, dreaming of half a catty of Laobaigan and a catty of pork head meat.A wave of lethargy ensued, and fourth master yawned loudly.Sleepiness is added to the cold and hungry, grandma is a bear! This is fourth master's hardest day. The establishment of Xinghua Company was largely accidental.Xuantong's movement to take back rights and interests three years ago more or less promoted the vigorous ambition of Chinese entrepreneurs to save the country through industry.The national industry began to set its sights on the development of energy.Because, only in this way can we hope for great development. In the autumn of the seventh year of the Republic of China, Zhenya was in crisis and was on the verge of bankruptcy. British businessman Lester Drocker coveted mining rights.The news spread to Shanghai, arousing the great interest of more than a dozen coal-consuming companies and coal-using factories including Tongda Steamship Company, Watson Power Plant, and Atlantic Company.They approached Qin Zhenyu, who had worked as a comprador in a foreign coal mine, to discuss the operation of the mine.In November, the board of directors was established. In December, Xinghua Company was established in accordance with the organization regulations of the limited company.In January 2008, the company bought all the assets of Zhenya in the Liujiawa coal field, and promoted Qin Zhenyu as the general manager. The British businessmen were very angry and ordered the Kaiping mines controlled by their capital to drastically reduce the supply of coal to Xinghua's shareholders.Various coal companies and factories then invested in the coal mines in the north controlled by Japanese businessmen.Japanese companies took the opportunity to raise coal prices.Investors complained endlessly and put pressure on Qin Zhenyu.