Liu Jisheng ran back home in a panic, and immediately rushed into the main house after closing the door carefully, and shouted in a low voice as soon as he entered the door: "The official army is here, hurry up and hide the grain." While alerting his family, Liu Jisheng had already dug out an old pocket and went straight to the noodle tank.

This remark caused a violent panic in Liu Jisheng's house, and Liu Jisheng's wife had already run to the wheat wing with her fourteen or fifteen-year-old son. When Liu Jisheng came out with most of the bags of noodles, he saw that his wife and son had already dragged the two sacks of wheat to the yard.

"Stay loyal, don't take it all. You put that half-sack of wheat back. Liu Jisheng said.

Hearing this suggestion, Liu Jisheng's wife said anxiously: "You are stupid! Staying here for people to see, doesn't it have to be taken away? ”

Liu Jisheng said angrily: "You are stupid, if you can't get anything after the official army comes, will they obediently let us go?" Leave them something to take their hands on, so they can keep more. ”

After speaking, Liu Jisheng asked his son to put half a bag of wheat back in the wing. He handed the bag to his wife to carry, and said to his daughter who came out timidly: "Cunxiu, you sweep the ground, don't let people see the flour on the ground." ”

"Dad, why?" Liu Cunxiu couldn't help but ask.

Liu Jisheng whispered angrily: "Follow this flour, won't you find a place where we hide things?" ”

Watching his daughter go to get a broom, Liu Jisheng patted off the flour on the outside of the dough, and then took his wife to the cellar where the watermelons were buried dug at the back of the house and hid the wheat and flour. The traces of the ground were tidied up, and a pile of firewood and straw was piled at the mouth of the cellar. Liu Jisheng took his wife back to the yard and carefully cleaned up the traces of flour on his body. He also told his wife and children, "You hide in the house for me, and no one is allowed to come into the courtyard." Take you out, and don't come out. ”

After saying this, Liu Jisheng closed the door of the main house, carefully checked the courtyard door himself, and then walked into the wing room and sat on the stool to catch his breath. It didn't take long for people outside to shout and neigh, and the dogs in the village began to bark. The brigade of the officers and soldiers had already marched into the village. Liu Jisheng recited all kinds of known gods and Buddhas from Taishang Laojun to Sakyamuni in his heart, praying that they could bless their families from this disaster. After reading it again, he felt uneasy, so he read it again.

Although he didn't believe in these things on weekdays, Liu Jisheng still prayed. After praying, Liu Jisheng suddenly remembered the living immortal Chen Ke of the People's Party, who has become more and more famous in Zhuangzhai in recent years. It's just that the immortals who prayed just now are all dead, at most they pay tribute, burn incense and kowtow. But Chen Ke is a living person, and Liu Jisheng is extremely cautious in dealing with living people. A few years ago, he and his fellow villagers went more than 100 miles away to buy the People's Party's "stubble of wheat," and he insisted on bringing it back. And this caution was rewarded, and when they saw the straw and the ears of wheat on it, the villagers really believed that they had indeed brought back good wheat. Even if something happened later, the villagers did not accuse these people who went out to do things deliberately tricked everyone. I just think that outsiders have cheated Zhuangzhai people.

Since it is this kind of personality, Liu Jisheng just didn't dare to pray to Chen Ke. If the prayer is not sincere, Chen Ke does not feel it. If it is the sincerity of the prayer, if Chen Ke knows, then what kind of tribute is Liu Jisheng ready to use to satisfy Chen Ke?

Just thinking about this, I heard the sound of slamming the door and shouting everywhere, and in a moment, someone outside smashed the door of Liu Jisheng's house. Liu Jisheng pressed the fear in his heart and got up and walked out of the wing, and as soon as he opened the door, he saw a few people in gray military uniforms standing outside the door. Because they didn't expect the door to open so quickly, these people were a little surprised. Stunned, the leader of several people pointed at Liu Jisheng and said, "You, follow us to the village." ”

"What are you doing in the village?" Liu Jisheng is naturally 10,000 unwilling to go.

Outside the door, a few people in gray military uniforms stepped forward and grabbed Liu Jisheng's neck and shouted, "If you want to go, you will go." Or are you trying to get a lawsuit? ”

Liu Jisheng didn't struggle, but hurriedly said with a smiling face: "Several, I'll go, I'll go." But can I go with the guys? ”

The few people in military uniforms saw that Liu Jisheng had no intention of resisting, but they didn't urge him too much, "Go early and go late, who knows if you will really go for a while?" Don't look for a fight, now hurry up. ”

As if to prove that this statement was correct, the cries and scolding of women were already heard in a courtyard not far away. When Liu Jisheng looked at it, he saw that there were officers and soldiers at the door of each house, and the officers and soldiers were dragging people outside. It seemed that someone tried to resist, and the officers and soldiers immediately began to beat them.

Liu Jisheng has always thought that he has the ability to fight against others as a small ordinary person. Seeing that someone was beaten, Liu Jisheng didn't dare to say more, he said with a smile: "Several, let me close the door." ”

There are about 200 households in the village, and there must be more than 500 officers and soldiers who came this time, sooner or later, the male owners of each family were taken to the village one by one, and some did not dare to resist fortunately, and those who resisted a little were beaten to the point of blue nose and swollen face, and some were even tied and dragged to the head of the village by ropes.

The big landlord in the village, Liu Cunyong, nicknamed "Three Tile Pots", looked uneasy, and stood silently in the pile of people with his hands crossed. More than 500 officers and soldiers surrounded more than 200 people, some with rifles, and many more with sticks, looking at the group of people in the circle with menacing attitude. Being surrounded by people several times their own size, even those who had just resisted did not dare to speak up anymore.

Just when the people didn't know what would happen next, they saw Zhu Binggui, the tax collector who collected taxes in Pingsuli, wearing a military uniform and walking on the earthen platform at the head of the village, because Pingsu had never seen him wear this dress, and the people almost didn't recognize him. Zhu Binggui shouted on the stage, "Everyone, now please ask Camp Chief Hu of our county trust tax police battalion to speak to everyone." Everyone applauded and welcomed. After shouting, Zhu Binggui took the lead in applauding.

The people did not have the habit of applauding, and they were dragged by force, and no one reacted. On the contrary, more than 500 officers and soldiers applauded together, and the atmosphere was warm and amazing.

In the applause, Humpty Dumpty stepped onto the dirt platform. The style of his military uniform is similar to that of a soldier's gray uniform, but the color is blue-gray, and there are golden knots on his shoulders and chest, which looks unusual.

"Folks, here is Hu Hansan, the head of our county tax police battalion, this is the first time to meet with you, and it is indispensable to deal with the villagers in the future." Hu Hansan looked at the people condescendingly, and said arrogantly: "I want to tell the villagers a good thing, in the past, taxes could be collected several times a year, but only once in the future." ”

The people didn't expect it to be this news at all, in order to force grain in recent years, tax officials like Zhu Binggui have to go to the countryside several times a year. If you only collect taxes once a year, that's really a good thing.

"Isn't this a republic now established, according to Zhang Dudu's order, everyone must first elect the village chief in the village. Rest assured, the village chiefs are all chosen by the villagers themselves, and the government will never interfere. After the village chief is elected, according to the order of Lord Fangzhang, the governor of Henan, our village will implement a fixed tax. The tax of each village is a certain amount every year, no more, no less. No one can collect taxes from the villagers except us tax police. If anyone dares to collect taxes, the townsfolk can bind them and send them to us, and we will cure him. In addition to collecting taxes, our tax police will never withhold anything from the villagers. But if we don't collect enough of this tax, we won't be so easy to talk about. ”

The people of Zhuangzhai didn't seem to understand what they said, and seeing that Zhu Binggui was also wearing a military uniform, everyone probably guessed that the tax police had taken over the tax collection. As for the people who pretend to collect taxes, the villagers don't care at all. There are so many people who collect taxes, and who doesn't know whom. As for what kind of republic and what to elect the village head, it is something that the people do not understand at all.

Hu Hansan, the "head of the tax police battalion", did not embarrass the people of Zhuangzhai too much, and left a few tax police officers in the village to arrange the election of the village head, and posted some notices at the head of the village. Hu Hansan withdrew from the encirclement and led his own people away. The officers and soldiers did not rob or take anything, but this kind of behavior made the people feel unbelievable.

In the next few days, the "tax police" who remained in the village began to tell the people in the village about "electing the village chief". Naturally, the people of the democratic republic do not understand it, and they are not interested in it. Just hearing that as long as you are 18 years old, both men and women can apply to elect the village head, it is incredible to the people. This village chief is equivalent to the chief of the village, and he is the head of the village. The lieutenant chiefs are all from the big families in the village, and I have never heard that the people in the village are elected by themselves. Moreover, according to these "tax police", both men and women can sign up for the village head election by themselves, and the people vote, and whoever gets the highest number of votes will be elected. Listening to the ears of the people, this is a big joke. The older people in the village just shook their heads, and some of the younger ones who were a little flamboyant even joked, "Then let my woman come out and choose this village chief." ”

The "tax police" who stayed in Zhuangzhai were a few middle-aged people in their thirties, and when they heard this, they replied with a smile: "Okay, as long as you are willing, and your woman is willing, you can come out to choose." ”

Hearing these ill-intentioned words, those few people who said strange things did not dare to speak up anymore.

However, the responsibility of electing the village chief is very great, and the tax to be paid in each village is the same every year, and the village chief and the "tax police" meet to set the tax to be paid by each household. If the tax is confiscated, the village chief will have to make up the tax himself. After hearing the news, the people lost interest in electing the village head. No one wants to pay taxes, let alone force others to pay them. The village chief is doing this tax payment, so naturally no one is willing to do it.

Liu Jisheng never likes to cause trouble, and he has no interest in being the village head. It's just that the government has made such a big move, and he feels an indescribable uneasiness in his heart.

After a few more days, the tax police battalion that had left returned to Zhuangzhai under the leadership of the battalion commander Hu Hansan. After returning, Hu Hansan once again brought the people of Zhuangzhai to the village and asked them to elect the village chief within three days. This is a new thing in Zhuangzhai, although the people do not have the courage to run for the village head, but this excitement must be participated in no matter what.

These days, everyone also talks about this when they are free, since the elected village chief is in charge of taxes, everyone wants to find a rich family who is kind and kind to be elected as the village head. Everyone thinks that the big landlord in the village, Liu Cunyong, nicknamed "Three Tile Cylinder", is still more kind, and Liu Cunyong's family has a lot of land and money, according to the government, after becoming the village head, the tax payment in the village is not enough, so the village chief has to make up the tax. With Liu Cunyong's net worth, he will definitely be able to make up for this tax.

But the villagers saw that among the people who signed up to be the village head, there was no Liu Cunyong. In fact, in addition to a few scoundrels in the village, only the former mayor Liu Jishan is the first person who is willing to sign up to be the village head. The people of these villages also felt that this election was wrong. Li Chang Liu Jishan is an official fan and is bent on being an official. is not welcome, and a few scoundrels are even more disdainful. If they become the village chief, how will they live in the future?

Since this is the case, the villagers' votes naturally voted for Liu Jishan. The pimpies voted for themselves, and in addition to the votes of these people, Liu Jishan was elected as the new village chief with an unprecedentedly high percentage.

Not only Zhuangzhai, but by the beginning of May, "elections" were held in all parts of Henan, not only to elect village heads, but also to elect members of parliaments at all levels. After receiving these news, Zhang Zhenfang, the governor of Henan, breathed a sigh of relief. This was the first step in his overall plan. Originally, Zhang Zhenfang didn't expect such a plan to succeed. But that's exactly what happened. Zhang Zhenfang had to admit that Zhou Zhentao, the former division commander of the People's Party, did have an unusual vision.

After determining that he would not take the initiative to resign from the post of governor of Henan, Zhang Zhenfang sent someone to chase Zhou Zhentao. Not long after Zhou Zhentao left, Zhang Zhenfang also sent someone to "escort", and finally caught up with Zhou Zhentao in Shaanxi County. Zhang Zhenfang sincerely asked Zhou Zhentao for advice and promised a reward of 5,000 taels of silver. Zhou Zhentao finally agreed to Zhang Zhenfang's request.

Zhou Zhentao's idea for Zhang Zhenfang was to reorganize the original tax system and replace tax officials with tax police. Once the two are done through the election of junior officials, the new tax system can be combined with the elected junior officials to implement strong taxation.

When commenting on the main points of the new tax collection method, Zhou Zhentao pointed out, "I don't understand the things in the officialdom, but in the final analysis, how many people can be sent out to collect taxes." When collecting taxes, can you find someone in charge of this at the local level? Although there are many more people than tax police. However, the people were scattered in the villages, and each time the tax collection could surround the village with an overwhelming number of people, the people did not dare to make a mistake. Of course, this tax police can't settle personal grievances. If they go to the village like bandits, it will be a personal grudge, and the people will certainly not swallow their anger. If taxes are collected, they are just taxes, and the people can only admit it in the face of the government. ”

When the tax police were established, they included the tax collectors in various localities in the past, and what they wanted was the fact that the tax collectors had grasped the land situation in each locality. In addition, the title deeds in charge of each county, the fish scale book. The approximate tax situation can still be controlled by the government. Moreover, the tax police are independent of other armed forces, and belong to the armed forces directly under the governor of Henan. Zhang Zhenfang had about 30,000 tax police in the fifth month of the lunar calendar in 1912, even if the equipment was not as elite as the Beiyang Army, Zhang Zhenfang finally felt that he finally felt a little bit of the governor of Henan.