Chapter 17 Chapter 16 February 2nd, the Dragon Raises His Head

Sangzhi lives at the junction of the four provinces of Sichuan, Hubei, Hunan and Guizhou, the upper reaches of the Lishui River in the northwest of Hunan, and the source of the Lishui River comes from the Dongguapeng in the northwest of Sangzhi, and flows through Sangzhi, Dayong, Cili, Shimen, Linli, Lixian, and Jinshi 7 counties into Dongting Lake. Sangzhi covers an area of ​​250,000 square kilometers and has a population of about 120,000 at that time. It is a mixed residence of Miao, Han, Tujia and other ethnic groups.Surrounded by high mountains, the famous mountains include Zhushitou, Moyingjie, Simenyan, etc., which belong to the Wuling Mountains. The folk song says: "There is a Tianmen Mountain in Dayong, which is only three feet and three feet away from the sky. Sangzhi has a pig food mountain. The head stretches out into the sky." It means that the mountains and rivers of Sangzhi and Dayong are dangerous.Sangzhi County is divided into the inner half county and the outer half county according to the custom. The inner half county is mostly high mountains and steep mountains, with few rice fields and no people within tens of miles. A village is tens of miles long. Although the population is not large, the fields are also Insufficient distribution, relying on planting corn and sweet potatoes on the steep slopes of the rocks for a living.There are slightly more fields in Neiban County, but the population is denser, and most of them depend on the weather for food.In addition, Tong, tea, oranges, etc. are also produced.

There are many mountains in Sangzhi, and the area is remote. Only Lishui River can be connected to Chenjiahe by small wooden boats, with a total length of 70 miles.Moreover, there are many beaches and fast water, and it is impossible to sail in autumn and winter. On average, it is open to navigation for 4 months every year. The roads to Longshan and Hubei can only be walked by one person.Whenever it snows and freezes in winter, the traffic is also cut off.Therefore, it is not easy to transport native products, and it is also difficult to transport external materials, which makes it difficult for Sangzhi to develop its economy.

Since the Republic of China, warlords have been fighting for years, causing bandits to spread everywhere, fields to be barren, and the people to live in dire straits.In the 5th year of the Republic of China (1916), Yu Daming, the leader of the bandit in Yongshun, captured Sangtan with about ten thousand people and organized a red gang, which caused the "spiritual bandit" Liu Zhou to lead the crowd to attack the city. A fierce battle caused chaos in Sangzhi and the displacement of the people. .In the seventh year of the Republic of China (1918), Lin Dexuan, the Fifth Army of the Yasukuni Allied Forces, arrived in Sang and advocated large-scale planting of tobacco and soil, which not only reduced food production, but also caused endless troubles.Later, Lin Dexuan was expelled from the country led by He Long.He also killed Chen Baoru and Zhu Yueqing, the leaders of the Red Gang, and wiped out the "spiritual bandit" Liu Zhou's party members, so that the social order of Sangzhi was slightly restored.In the 9th year of the Republic of China (1920), He Long led his troops into Sichuan to hunt for thieves. Yongshun bandit leaders Xiao Shantang, Xiang Bifeng, Tian Shaoqing, Xiang Ziyun, Dayong bandit leader Zhou Tiebian, and Cili bandit leader Zhu Jikai often visited and captured Sangcheng. Gong Shiyu, Fang Yuzhen, Wang Yongzhi, Chen Cihang, Chen Dizhen, Peng Kunlong, etc. who are in power in the county successively mastered the armed forces of the whole county.Xiang Fengxiang, Zhu Zhaohuan, Liao Jingzhi, Liu Ziwei, Li Chunlin, Li Yushu, Li Yisan, Xiang Yingwu, Shang Pingru, Xiang Fuan, and Zhu Huanpu controlled the politics and force of the four inner townships; Zhang Dongxuan, Liu Jinxing, Chen Linglou, Chen Zhennan, Chen Xingnan, Peng Dexuan , Chen Wuheng, Chen Fuhua, Chen Xingru, Liu Xuemin, and Zhong Juewu control the political force of the four townships outside.It is known as the "Eight Great Princes".They dominate power, set up factions, organize factions, control towns, fight for power, and do everything. smell.It has made Sangzhi County full of lonely people, with ten rooms and nine empty houses.

Sangzhi people are mostly engaged in agriculture, but most of the land is occupied by landlords.The largest landowner in the county, Gong Guitang, has a family of more than 20 people, covering an area of ​​more than 3,400 mu. There are thousands of houses and dozens of shops in the county, and there are countless other mountainous areas.Peasants mostly lived by renting and planting land from landlords.The high concentration of land is followed by usury, which often makes the poor bankrupt and homeless. The big local tyrant in Hongjiaguan, Gu Dezhi, has more than 400 acres of land and specializes in usury. Regardless of the first one or two years, after a certain period of time, when the sum of principal and interest is equal to the entire family property of the borrower, the family property will be stripped off at the interest rate of "eight buckets, nine years and thirty stones".Some landlords hoarded their stocks and "released new grains" during the spring famine. They often converted the money into new grains for borrowing money, and counted them as "grain plus five" after autumn.Zhong Liangyu, a big landlord in Hongjiaguan, demanded land from poor households for a straw hat (Baogu land that can feed 50 people for a year).In addition, there are "rolling breath", "following breath" and so on.So at that time, the landlords had the so-called "three years without fishing nets, and the fish will grow in the pond".

In addition to paying the rent and interest of the landlords, the peasants also had to bear the exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes from the government.There are many kinds of exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes.There are more than 20 types of so-called "monthly payment" (12 times a year), seasonal payment (4 times a year), cold clothes payment, quilt payment, temporary loan (actually robbery).There are also the so-called rice tax, soybean and broad bean tax, corn corn tax, sesame tax, sugar tax, alcohol tax, tobacco tax, gross profit tax (that is, slaughter tax), property tax, starch tax, head tax... There are more than a hundred kinds.Especially in the field of catching cadres, it is even more cruel. There is no seasonality in "grabbing cadres".As a result, farmers often pay off old debts and owe new debts.Landlords and tyrants not only exploited farmers economically, but also persecuted them personally.Li Yushu, a bully landlord and bandit leader in Shanghexi, wanted to take the "right of the first night" when he got married when he saw that the peasant women were quite attractive.The farmers were forced to leave their hometowns and become displaced.

Landlords, bureaucrats, and bandits exploited, oppressed, oppressed and devastated the common people, making it impossible for the common people to live on. Even if the grain they get every year is mixed with wild vegetables and weeds, there is no grain for the New Year.At that time, Hu Liande’s family, a poor man in Baizhu District, ate porridge for 8 months of the year and spent 4 months living on fern kudzu. They were not covered in winter, and the whole family slept in corn husks at night, and they wore single clothes in snowy weather. The child turned purple from the cold.His wife and children died of cold and hunger.The folk song of the time said:

Spicy peppers are used as salt, corn leaves are used as cotton, and a bowl of tofu dregs is called Chinese New Year. The poor peasants had no way out, so they secretly organized.In the early years of the Republic of China, the "Bachelors' Club", also known as the "Brothers' Club", was established. This is a feudal mass organization, and most of the participants are poor farmers.Its slogan is "digging the rich and helping the poor".Anyone who has joined the bachelor can be called a brother and can get relief.But later this mass organization was manipulated by landlords and landlords, and its purpose changed.

As the old saying goes, the government forces the people to rebel against the people.In the 5th year of the Republic of China (1916) on February 14th of the lunar calendar, He Long invited more than a dozen like-minded people to take a few kitchen knives and ran to Bamaoxi overnight to hack the salt bureau here.Bamao River is the main road from Sangzhi to Hubei. The Lishui River flows around the town to the north, with mountains and cliffs on both sides.In order to support their families, the people in Sangzhi often go to Kuifu and Badong in Sichuan to sell some salt at home, and they must pass through the Bamao River.Seeing that it was profitable, the county set up a salt bureau here, and a team of tax police stationed here with a dozen muskets.The director, Fatty Li, is a native of Hubei. He used his power to bully others and extort merchants in the past.Every time the common people mentioned Bamao Creek, they all gritted their teeth and hated it abnormally.At that time, He Long lived by driving horses, and he often suffered from it, so he decided to take over the salt bureau. He invited more than a dozen like-minded people and brought several kitchen knives to Bamao River at night. While the police were sleeping, they killed more than ten people including Captain Jiang, captured Fatty Li alive, seized more than ten guns, and distributed more than 90 catties of salt to the poor.From then on, He Long pulled up a team of peasants and played the banner of "Xiangxi Begging Yuan to Save the Nation Army".

After He Long and others hacked the Salt Bureau, there was an uprising by Huang Deqing in Baizhuping.Baizhuping is a remote place in Sangzhi Neiban County, adjacent to Hefeng in Hubei.There is Baizhuzhuangping, Changping Mountain, which is dozens of miles across, and its mountain is in the shape of a fan.There are large and small flats scattered among them, the larger ones are Daping, Xiaoping, Cangping, and Changping. The main vein of the mountain runs through the north and south, and the terrain is complex and dangerous. There is a big landlord in Baizhuping named Yang Xiqing, who has more than a thousand stones of land, and he made his fortune entirely by exploitation.A farmer did a long-term job for him for a year, and promised to pay a hundred dollars a day. When Yang settled the bill at the end of the year, the farmer owed him half a year's work instead.Another farmer lent him three feet of cloth, and after only one year, Yang used the method of rolling interest every month to calculate all the farmer's property.Whenever there is no harvest, he sells grain at a high price. For example, if he sells grain for 600 yuan per stone, he will sell it for 400 yuan per stone for two yuan, and he will also deduct the price.The common people hated him to the bone, but they were too powerful to speak out in fear.In the 6th year of the Republic of China (1917), the masses rose up under the leadership of Huang Deqing, the leader of the brotherhood.Huang Nai was born in a poor family and has a high prestige among the poor.He raised the banner, and within a few days, hundreds of poor peasants gathered.Armed with spears and sabers, he rushed into Yang Xiqing's warehouse, distributed the food to the poor, and rushed to Luerta, ransacked his home, and burned all the deeds.Yang Luo fled, and then colluded with the landlord's armed forces to brutally suppress the peasant uprising. Huang Deqing, the leader of the uprising, was also betrayed by the traitor and was unfortunately captured.

Due to the traffic congestion in western Hunan and the extremely fierce and tenacious feudal ruling forces, before 1925, except for the organization of the Communist Party of China in Changde, there was no trace of the Communist Party in other places. In July 1926, the Northern Expeditionary Army arrived in Changsha, marched on Wuhan, and regained each province in western Hunan.The Hunan Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China sent a group of comrades to work separately.So far, the counties in the interior of Xiangxi began to have party organizations. In the twelfth lunar month of 1926, CCP members Gu Jifeng and Peng Yushan returned to Sangzhi from Changsha and Changde middle schools, and led some local progressive primary school teachers and middle school students, such as Wang Yinlan, Xiong Tingyu, Wang Guxian, He Zihui, etc. to carry out secret organization development work.They secretly explained the revolutionary truth to the poor people, inspired class consciousness, and laid the ideological foundation for Sang Zhi to build the party.

At the beginning of 1927, under the leadership of Gu Jifeng and Peng Yushan, after two or three months of organization and mobilization, the Sangzhi County Farmers Association was established in April.At that time, the scope of the peasant association was as far as Yangqishan in the east, the perimeter in the west, Luomen boundary in the north, and west boundary in the south, covering a total of 40 miles from east to west and 20 miles from north to south.There are five or six thousand members.More than 20,000 people were affected.The County Farmers Association is composed of Wang Yinlan, Xiong Tingyu, He Zihui, Chen Xialan and others.There are two to three hundred members in Shicheng District, and there are thousands of people in each mass meeting.Members must go through strict examination and then be approved by superiors.A women's association was also established in Shi County, composed of Chen Zhuying, Wang Shangzheng, Zhu Fuzhen, Peng Huizhen and other committee members.They gave speeches everywhere, calling on women to join the association and let them go. Zhu Yunong, the big bully landlord at the time of cutting hair, had served as a pseudo-provincial senator, commander, and county magistrate. The common people are fish and meat, and the masses hate it to the bone.And obstruct and destroy the peasant associations in every possible way.The peasant association started a struggle with him. After several fights with weapons, Zhu Yunong was executed by members of the peasant association, and his power was also defeated.Another habitual bandit, Xiong Zhaoqiang, was caught by the masses and dragged to Hezhou outside the city. Angry people raised stones and smashed him to death. After Zhu Yunong and Xiong Zhaoqiang were executed, the poor people all clapped their hands and applauded, while ordinary landlords and gentry fled after hearing the news.The Sangzhi peasant movement has entered a new stage.At this moment, news of the "Ma Ri Incident" reached Sang Zhi.An indigenous warlord, Zhang Yiqing, instigated two or three hundred people under his command to go to Hongjiaguan to massacre Communists and revolutionary masses, and white terror enveloped Sang Zhi.Some Communist Party members in Sangzhi died, and some fled elsewhere.Valleys and peaks have all been transferred underground.Then the "July 15th" incident, Zhou Xieqing led the team to Sangzhi, nicknamed "Zhou Shorty", who was originally a battalion commander under He Long. In 1925, He Long was defeated and moved to Qiandong. Zhou Aizi saw that He Long's situation was over, and took some people away. First, he voted under the name of Chen Quzhen. Many revolutionary masses and Communist Party members.Gu Jifeng is caught by Zhou Aizi.Zhou ordered that the valleys and peaks be dismantled into eighteen pieces. The miserable state was heinous.The vigorous peasant movement was suppressed by the enemy's butcher knife. At this time, on February 29, 1928, He Long, Zhou Yiqun and others arrived at Hongjiaguan. When He Long and others left, Zhong Shenwu immediately sent someone to fly back to Hongjiaguan to report the letter. When He Long and others were 30 miles away from Hongjiaguan, the messenger turned back and reported to He Long: "Mr. Commander, there will be a fight in Hongjiaguan these days." As mentioned above, in the chaotic era, there were many local armed forces in Sangzhi, ranging from a dozen, dozens, to hundreds of people. These armed forces had different targets and the situation was complicated.In this place where the emperor is far away from the mountains, there is nothing the government can do. Therefore, each of them acts independently, fights for territory, and avenges his own interests. It is often that you beat me today, and I will beat you tomorrow.When He Long and others were marching towards Sang Zhi, there were several groups of armed forces, and there was a firefight, and they were all gearing up to fight. He Long said to the people: "Go and tell them not to do anything, just say that I am coming back, and I will talk about everything when I arrive." The man rode back again. He Long, Zhou Yiqun and his party arrived at Hongjiaguan on the second day of the second lunar month when the dragon raised its head.Since the villagers had received the letter in advance, when He Long and others arrived at the village, the villagers had already stood at the entrance of the village, beating gongs and drums, blowing firecrackers and setting off firecrackers to welcome them.There is no way to describe the joy and intimacy of each of them.This one held He Long's hand, and the other touched He Long's shoulder.After asking this and that, He Long returned home surrounded by his fellow villagers. In fact, his house had been burned many times by Kuomintang gangsters, leaving only two dilapidated houses.He Long entered the courtyard, and the courtyard was surrounded by villagers again. At this moment, an old man left the crowd, came to He Long to follow, and said, "Often, I'll come and see you." He Long raised his eyes and saw that it was his uncle, He Xinglou, He Jinzhai's father. He Xinglou was a senior member of the He family, a scholar in the former Qing Dynasty. He had been a county magistrate for a few days. He was nearly eighty years old and full of beards.As soon as He Long saw the old man, he quickly gave up his seat to the old man. After the old man sat down, he looked at He Long up and down, and asked: "Often, you have grown up. Who are you not good at? Why do you want to follow the Communist Party? Now, Your soldiers and horses are gone, so why do you have the face to go back to Jiangdong’s elders?” The old man trembled when he said that, pointing at He Long, he said, “You have been a guard envoy, a division commander, and an army commander, and your future is boundless. Now you are popular, what happened to you?" The old man pointed him with a walking stick and said, "In the 12th year of the Republic of China (1923), you were implanted in Sichuan from Sang, and you brought 3000 soldiers. This year, you have a red head and an empty body. Going back to Hong's House Pass, you...could it be that the He family's ancestral tomb really has broken geomantic omen?" It turned out that when He Long was leaving for Xiangxi, He Jian sent a telegram to order Chen Cexun to break the Feng Shui of He Long's ancestral grave.Some of Shi Sangzhi's opponents from all walks of life believed that He Long was still alive, and that it was the Wawu Bridge in Hongjiaguan that connected the energy to He Long's house, and then there was the Bajiao Pavilion in Nancha and the ginkgo tree in Shuangxi Bridge. The ancestral grave of the He family, these 4 things belong to He Long.So they burned the Wawu bridge, demolished the octagonal pavilion, cut down the ginkgo tree, and dug the ancestral grave of He Long's family—of course, all of these were done secretly.This is what He Xinglou said when he said that the He family broke Feng Shui. What does Old Man He mean when He Long meets Jiang Dong's elders without a face?There are stories in the old man's words.It is said that when Xiang Yu, the overlord of Western Chu, launched an army to challenge Qin, 8,000 children from Jiangdong went out with him. Liu Bang, but Xiang Yu couldn't bear to do it for a long time, causing Liu Bang to escape. Fan Zeng was very indignant, and sighed: "Zhu Zi, it's not enough to be a plan!" Later, Xiang Yu relied on his courage and could not listen to what Fan Zeng and Ying Bu said.Later, Liu Bang used countermeasures to encircle Xiang Yu in the south of Yangxia.That night, Xiang Yu heard the song of being besieged from all directions, and knew that many people from Chu had descended to Han, so he generously sang a tragic song: "Strengthen the mountain and the world is overwhelmed! The time is not good, the time is not dying! The time is not dying, what can be done! Yuxi, Yuxi, what is there! "That night, the beauty Yu Ji killed herself.In one play, this story is written.Afterwards, Overlord led 800 cavalry under his command to break through the encirclement. Guan Ying, a general of the Han Dynasty, chased him with 5,000 iron cavalry. When Overlord was defeated by the Wujiang River, there were only a few people around him. "Although Jiangdong is small, the land is thousands of miles wide, and hundreds of thousands of people are enough to be a king. May the king rush across." After hearing this, the overlord laughed and said: "If the sky kills me, what should I do? Back then, I and the children of Jiangdong 8,000 people crossed the river to the west, and none of them returned. Even if Jiangdong’s father and brother pity me and want me to be king, how can I see them? Even if they don’t tell me, I’m ashamed.” Afterwards, the horses Give it to the head of the pavilion, and kill himself. In front of He Long, the old man of He Xinglou brought up the matter of the overlord of Western Chu's defeat and suicide, mocking He Long.It means that you, He Long, ran around with the Communist Party and lost the troops you brought from Sangzhi, so what face do you have to come back.At that time, the old man was not the only member of the He family who had feelings like He Xinglou.Speaking of it, it is understandable to feel the old man's emotions.At that time, a division commander and an army commander were extremely majestic. Eight people came in and out to carry a big sedan chair, shouting in front and hugging in back.At the same time, if one person attains the Tao, he can also ascend to heaven.The people in the He family all longed to enjoy the glory and wealth with He Long, but now that He Long came back with bare hands, they were naturally very puzzled by the ending he got by relying on the red head. He Long was not annoyed, but smiled and said to He Xinglou: "Old man, you never know that the Communist Party is a good party, and it is dedicated to the poor. I, He Long, spent half my life fighting with bullets and bullets before I found such a good party." A good party." At this point, He Long said loudly to the villagers, "Father and fellow villagers, the KMT and the Communist Party were in the Northern Expedition, and the Communists charged forward, not afraid of bloodshed and sacrificed for the revolution, and made great military exploits. Chiang Kai-shek's reactionary forces, put the butcher knife on the necks of the communists, ruined the vigorous Northern Expedition, and massacred thousands of communists. However, the communists cannot be killed. As long as the poor in the world unite and follow the communists Make a revolution, and the revolution will surely succeed.” He Long raised his voice again and said, “I, He Long, have been looking for the truth for more than ten years, and finally found it. The Communist Party is fighting for the truth! If it is cut off, I will go to the end with the Communist Party. What I want is not my personal future, but the future of the working people. Then Jiang, Wang and his ilk will surely be infamous forever. The Communist Party will surely succeed, and the Kuomintang will surely collapse!" Someone asked: "What does communism look like?" He Long said: "When communism comes, everyone will eat bread, drink milk, have a blanket for each person, electric lights, telephones, a garden within 5 miles, and a tea booth within 10 miles. There will be no landlords, no capitalists, no reactionaries, and no exploitation. Without oppression, that would be a heavenly world." When He Long said this, many people were overjoyed, and someone said, "Aren't you tired of eating only foreign bread?" He Long smiled and said, "Then make dumplings." At this time, someone asked again: "Hu Zi, you said red heads are good, can I also think about it?" He Long said: "It's not so easy to be a popular head. The Communist Party tested me for three years before it wanted me to be a popular head." He Xinglou shook his head and said, "Often times, you say that redheads are good, and that's fine, but redheads are only against Chiang Kai-shek. Someone in Chiang Kai-shek has a gun, and you are empty-handed. Can you bring down Chiang Kai-shek?" He Long said with a smile: "Chiang Kai-shek's son of a bitch, with tofu tied to his horse's tail, is not worth mentioning." At this moment, someone in the crowd said: "The eldest sister is here!" Immediately, people's eyes turned around, and the person who came was He Long's long-missed elder sister, He Ying. Take the musket. Behind her, followed by 4 female soldiers, all carrying box guns, looking very majestic. He Long came to his sister and greeted her. Where did He Ying come from?