The fourth uncle said that our ancestors were secret agents of the Qing Dynasty imperial palace, who were in charge of the secrets of the imperial court.As for what secret is in charge, the fourth uncle has no way of knowing.I also asked my grandfather, and my grandfather told me that my ancestors were special agents who were responsible for investigating the location of large tombs across the country, and established new tombs by studying the geomantic omen of the tombs, so as to stabilize the country and benefit future generations.But the fourth uncle didn't think so. He felt that the Qing government didn't study Feng Shui, but wanted to dig other people's ancestral graves to pay off their foreign debts.

At that time, the Qing government had twelve secret agents. These twelve secret agents were numbered according to the twelve zodiac signs, and they were not connected with each other, and they were only responsible to the emperor.In the late Qing Dynasty, these people were always under the control of Cixi, and when the Qing Dynasty perished, all the secret agents disappeared. Li Chengfeng, the ancestor of our family, was one of the twelve secret agents of the Qing Dynasty.According to family stories, when the Qing Dynasty fell, some of these spies returned to their hometowns, some became attached to warlords, some changed their careers, and some went abroad to study abroad.After Cixi's death, the imperial court and these spies suddenly lost contact, and they left Beijing with their gold medal tokens.

The ancestor knew very well that his identity was special, and that once he left Beijing, he would be hunted down, so he quietly returned to his hometown of Xuzhou, hoping to enjoy a peaceful old age.But the secret was still spread out, Yuan Shikai sent people to find the ancestors, and announced the twelve secret agents at that time.The ancestors had no choice but to go to Beijing secretly again.Fortunately, Yuan Shikai died of illness not long after, and his ancestors returned to his hometown again. This time my ancestors did not go to Xuzhou again, but went to a county in Anhui Province not far from Xuzhou.This county is not far from Xuzhou. Since they belong to different provinces, the warlords will not easily find out the identity of their ancestors.My ancestors went to a village with many people surnamed Li, continued their generations, bought a house, and lived a peaceful life after that.

However, the Republic of China was a turbulent era. Everyone lacked clothing and food. In order to make a living, the ancestors bought hundreds of acres of land. At that time, they were considered large households.During the Anti-Japanese War, the family business was passed down to the generation of the great-grandfather.Grandpa was a relatively patriotic young man. He formed a self-defense force and participated in the Xuzhou Battle organized by the Kuomintang at that time.After the Anti-Japanese War ended, my great-grandfather was dissatisfied with the corrupt rule of the Kuomintang, rejected the position offered by the Kuomintang at that time, and resolutely returned home.

After the Battle of Huaihai, Xuzhou was liberated. My grandfather knew the government's land policy well, so he handed over the family's 300 mu of land to the government.Because it was delivered voluntarily, the government did not embarrass us.After the founding of New China, there were no traces of landlords in the family.According to my grandfather, when it comes to family background, no one would think that our family is a landlord, but like a proletariat with "good roots and red roots". However, it is also because our ancestors had the identity of the secret agent of the big house, that our family has the later stories.