Zhang Zhenfang, the governor of Henan, had been waiting anxiously since he sent a telegram to Yuan Shikai.

After listening to what Zhou Zhentao said, Zhang Zhenfang admitted that Henan's taxes are indeed relatively heavy. If it weren't for Zhang Zhenfang's strict family education and his own emphasis on cultivation, he would have sneered at each other a long time ago, "If there is no People's Party watching from the side, if there is no repeated plundering by foreigners in China, why would Henan have such a fierce tax?" ”

Before saying this, he had already understood that he should not bring humiliation on himself, the four provinces under the rule of the People's Party were not considered to be rich, and the Yangtze River valley was even more controlled by the British, so the People's Party could only collect 30% of the tax, and the people of Henan would have to bear nearly 80% of the tax, which could not be explained by a few complaints.

Zhou Zhentao was always reluctant to defect to the Beiyang Group, and Zhang Zhenfang persuaded him for a while to see that it had no effect, so he could only send Zhou Zhentao away. After sending the telegram, Zhang Zhenfang waited for Yuan Shikai's reply, and once Yuan Shikai inquired about the matter, Zhang Zhenfang decided to find a way to get Yuan Shikai to reduce Henan's taxes no matter what.

After waiting for a few days, Yuan Shikai's letter came. In the letter, Yuan Shikai did not mention a word about Zhou Zhentao, the former division commander of the People's Party, but only told Zhang Zhenfang that the current state affairs are difficult, Henan has a large population and vast fields, and as Yuan Shikai's cousin, Zhang Zhenfang wants to manage Henan well and fight for Yuan Shikai.

Putting down the letter and opening the official document, Zhang Zhenfang's eyebrows wrinkled more and more he read it. It can be seen from the official document that Yuan Shikai is in a hurry. According to the population of each province, Yuan Shikai set a tax target. All local tax standards are no longer managed by the central government. In the new tax standard, all localities only need to complete their own tax collection tasks and provide a certain amount of tax and grain to the central government. As for who and how to collect taxes from various localities, Yuan Shikai's central government does not care at all, and the provincial governments themselves are responsible. In order to enable the provincial governors to have a certain degree of deterrence, the Beiyang government allowed the governors to set up a "tax police" force.

Zhang Zhenfang put down the official document and sat there silent for a long time. Yuan Shikai's determination was fully reflected in this official document, which determined the amount of taxes, handed over the right to collect taxes to the governors of Beiyang provinces, and allowed the governors of Beiyang provinces to establish tax police forces. A series of measures are taken to ensure the stability of Beiyang's tax revenue. The official document also emphasized one thing, "Taxation is the foundation of the country's operation, and the central government will firmly support the provincial governors in implementing taxation." ”

If you want to secure taxes, you can collect taxes from the common people, and of course you can collect taxes from the gentry, or increase the taxes of merchants. Judging by the meaning of the official document, the central government will definitely support the governors of all provinces, and no one can go to the central government to complain. The implicit meaning is that there is even a sense of increasing taxes to the gentry and large families in various places. In line with the policy of allowing provincial governors to establish "tax police" troops, it seems that Yuan Shikai has really made great determination.

Whether it is a private letter or an official document, Yuan Shikai asked Zhang Zhenfang to bring up Henan's taxes no matter what. Originally, Zhang Zhenfang didn't dare to directly persuade Yuan Shikai to reduce Henan's taxes, but now it seems that even if Zhang Zhenfang has the courage to ask for tax reduction, he will only be reprimanded by Yuan Shikai.

With a long sigh, Zhang Zhenfang set his eyes on the map inside the room. According to the spies, maps were available at the main offices of the BJP. The general explanation is that the People's Party wants every party member and cadre to have the world in mind. Beiyang naturally refused to show weakness, and also printed a large number of maps and distributed them to the provincial governments of Beiyang, asking them to hang them as well. Zhang Zhenfang slowly developed a habit of standing in front of the map and looking at things related to the People's Party.

In the areas bordering the BJP, there has been a large-scale BJP infiltration. Based on the information Zhang Zhenfang himself collected and the information he received from Zhou Zhentao, some impoverished areas bordering the People's Party could not even support themselves by farming, and after accepting the land reform, the cheap commodities obtained from the rural cooperatives and even the various factories and mines run by the People's Party could effectively improve their lives. In the southern part of Henan, the impoverished Dabie Mountains have all been thrown into the arms of the People's Party. The People's Party has infiltrated Xinyang and other places with particular ferocity.

In the eastern plains, four consecutive years of heavy taxation have caused villages to "fall" one by one. After the implementation of land reform and the payment of taxes to the People's Party, the tax collectors entered these villages and were expelled by the local village government. Most tax collectors would be stripped of their trousers and paraded through the streets with ropes. As long as they were treated like this, the tax collectors no longer dared to enter those villages to collect taxes.

This leads to another incident: many villages that have not defected to the BJP at all claim to pay taxes to the BJP when they encounter tax collection. As a result, the tax revenue in the areas bordering the People's Party in eastern Henan has been greatly reduced. Looking at the map of that area, Zhang Zhenfang's face became more and more ugly.

Retracting his gaze, Zhang Zhenfang's gaze fell on the official document again. "Those who disobey the yang and the yin, who do not appreciate the difficulties of the country, and who refuse to pay taxes, whether they are officials, soldiers, gentry, or ordinary people, will be severely punished."

This was not for the gentry who might "not pay taxes", but for the governors of the provinces. The gentry and the common people did not pay taxes, and without Yuan Shikai's order, the local governments had already "severely punished" these people. This is to tell the provincial officials that if they fail to pay enough tax targets, Yuan Shikai will severely punish these people.

It is not impossible to refuse this kind of order, and now that he has resigned from the post of governor of Henan, Zhang Zhenfang can get rid of the current troubles. Zhang Zhenfang sat back in his chair, he was 49 years old and was already the governor of Henan. If we continue to do so, it will not be an unattainable dream to enter the central government in the future. If you don't resign at this time, you will first greatly offend Yuan Shikai. Zhang Zhenfang can be reused by Yuan Shikai, not because Zhang Zhenfang is a hardcore in Beiyang, but because Zhang Zhenfang is Yuan Shikai's cousin.

Thinking of this, Zhang Zhenfang finally made a decision. He was ready to obey Yuan Shikai's orders, that is, to continue the work of collecting taxes. Raising his hand and calling his relatives, Zhang Zhenfang ordered: "Please invite the commander of the Beiyang Army, as well as the political envoy and the academic envoy to come to the Governor's Mansion to discuss matters." ”

It is a busy scene in the village of Lankao County. Although it did not join the base area of the People's Party, Zhuangzhai also received a lot of benefits because of its close proximity to the base area. First of all, the local people of Zhuangzhai bought the winter wheat seeds promoted by the People's Party through their relatives in the local government villages who joined the People's Party. This kind of seed has been wild in Lankao for a long time. It is said that the wheat fields with this kind of seed have an excellent harvest. At that time, Zhuangzhai also thought that it could be stolen, and when these wheat fields were ripe, some people in Zhuangzhai personally went to the fields under the rule of the People's Party to buy a large amount of harvested wheat and came back.

However, at that time, there was a rumor that the wheat of the People's Party was used by magic, and as long as the red flag of the People's Party was not planted at the entrance of the village, and the god position of Chen Ke, chairman of the People's Party, was not "invited" to be "consecrated" in person, the wheat would grow very poorly, and even no wheat seedlings could grow at all. This kind of gods, ghosts, and ghosts, the local people of Zhuangzhai also seem to believe in it. But when the wheat sprouts sprouted, the Zhuangzhai people had to believe it.

When making wheat seeds, the Zhuangzhai people were afraid of being deceived by people from other villages, and more than 20 villagers ran hundreds of miles to the wheat field that was about to be harvested and cut a batch of wheat with their own hands. Everyone hurried overnight, and when they came back, the local people saw these stout wheat stalks, and the huge ears of wheat on the wheat stalks.

Facts speak louder than words, and the villagers of Zhuangzhai have seen the color of the wheat stalks and ears with their own eyes. They are all people who grow crops, and how can they not know that this is excellent wheat. After threshing, the wheat seeds are properly preserved, and when these wheat seeds are put into the ground, the people still feel that "there is no need to believe that the Shandong people brag about it", whether Chen Ke exists or not is a matter of two things, and the rumors say that Chen Ke is the same as a god, even if it is a god, it is impossible to know which wheat seed is planted in the ground hundreds of miles away.

It wasn't until the wilted wheat seedlings grew that the people began to panic, and in some fields there were a lot of wheat seeds, and even a few wheat seedlings did not grow at all. After turning over the soil, the people of Zhuangzhai found that many wheat seeds were even planted in the soil, as if they had been cursed, and they did not grow much at all.

The original mood of ridiculing Shandong people for bragging immediately turned into a great fear of Chen Ke. Chen Ke really has a "way", otherwise, the same piece of land, half of the local wheat seeds are planted, and half of the stolen wheat seeds are planted, why can the local wheat seeds grow normally, and the stolen wheat seeds are all finished?

In order to drive away evil spirits and avoid disasters, a red flag was planted at the entrance of the village, and the land planted with stolen wheat seeds was re-cultivated, and the local clan elders invited the gods and Han to do it. The ash of the incense ash burned the old thick.

How could the villagers of Zhuangzhai see Chen Ke, the chairman of the People's Party with great powers, and personally "invited" the portrait of Chen Ke that Chen Ke personally opened to him. Everyone had no choice, for fear of angering this living immortal, they made a heavenly curse, entrusted relatives, invited the local Chen Ke god, and came back to do the ritual. The people felt a lot more at ease.

And Chen Ke's various rumors also spread in Zhuangzhai, and it is said that Chen Ke himself is a native of Zheng County, Henan. Since childhood, he worshipped the Taoist priest who lived in seclusion in Songshan as a teacher, learned the yin and yang spells that penetrated the heavens and the earth, knew the creation of heaven and earth, and knew the law of all things. This Taoist priest has exhausted the number of Qing Qi, so he let Chen Ke go to Shanghai to worship under a court official called Yan Fu as an apprentice, this Yan Fu is the current prime minister of the imperial court, that is, the former prime minister of the military aircraft department, and the current president Yuan Shikai is a friend of eight worships, the friendship of Jinlan.

Then Chen Ke raised troops in Anhui, which was a big flood in Anhui at that time, and Chen Ke drove away the flood and ordered the people to cultivate in Anhui. Chen Ke cast another spell, and as a result, the wheat seedlings in Anhui were swishing wildly, and the harvest was even better than before the disaster. Then Chen Ke drove the talisman as a general, and sprinkled beans into soldiers. Defeated the officers and troops. Then it occupied Anhui.

At that time, the Empress Dowager Cixi was in power, and she still relied on the dragon qi of the Manchu Qing Dynasty for 200 years to try to kill Chen Ke, and then sent the current president, the then governor of Beiyang and the governor of Jiumen, Yuan Shikai, to come to conquest. As a result, Chen Ke did it, cast the spell of Jiang Ziya to kill Zhao Gongming in the Romance of the Gods, and wrote a spell of "Cixi's Life", which predicted when the Empress Dowager Cixi and Emperor Guangxu would die, and then sent this spell to Cixi. Cixi opened it and immediately fell under the spell, and sure enough, as "predicted" in "Cixi's Life", she died with Emperor Guangxu in less than three days. Chen Ke took the opportunity to fight in all directions and seized a lot of territory.

This rumor frightened everyone, but they didn't expect to steal some wheat seeds and steal them to this living immortal, isn't it a curse. Since then, the people of Zhuangzhai have put out the idea of stealing wheat seeds.

Another year passed, and the village next to the village surrendered to the People's Party. The People's Party sent "agricultural cadres" to the countryside, and the spell on wheat seeds was revealed. Originally, this wheat seed was sold only to the People's Party, and after planting it, it was harvested in the first year and lost in the second year. The people suddenly realized, no wonder the wheat seeds are taken care of very closely, and the Zhuangzhai people went more than 100 miles away to buy wheat seeds, and the locals actually sold them to the Zhuangzhai people. This is clearly a trick for everyone.

However, for this kind of "cursed" wheat seed, everyone no longer dares to think about it. Only one family named Li Sangou was really poor and couldn't get by, so he went to relatives in various villages and secretly asked for some wheat to plant, and the harvest was excellent that year. The wheat grows differently, and everyone asked repeatedly, Li Sangou couldn't carry it, so he told the truth. It turned out that he had stolen the "stubble of wheat" from the People's Party.

Seeing that Li Sangou was not cursed and died, some people among the people of Zhuangzhai successively "stolen" the wheat seeds of the People's Party on a large scale, and they also reaped a bumper harvest. Last year, except for a few timid families, the people of Zhuangzhai planted the wheat seeds of the People's Party, looking at the wheat seedlings that are growing gratifyingly, although there are still some muttering in their hearts, but no one does not have great confidence in this year's harvest.

In the third month of the lunar calendar, a large group of officials suddenly came from outside the village. Seeing the red flag of the People's Party planted at the entrance of the village to "ward off evil spirits and promote wheat," these officers and soldiers unexpectedly formed a formation and surrounded the village.

The big change happened suddenly, but the people of Zhuangzhai were frightened.