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"On May 1, 1918, I arrived in Xuzhou with His Excellency Hangel, the representative of Citibank in China. He is a former Washington diplomat with a very wide network in China and has been friends with the young Vice President for many years. He told me that what I was about to experience was driven entirely by His Excellency the Vice President, whom he has not yet met, because he began to pay attention to the imbalance in the distribution of population and land in the world's largest farming country many years ago. He has adopted a more radical method of equalization, as well as the methods of state farms, and more recently introduced a Chinese version of the Homestead Law to immigrate to remote areas, diluting the most complex areas of Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Anhui, but from today's point of view, these are only preludes and experiments

I can't describe the scene of that day, when the shops of the entire city of Xuzhou were closed, and all the peasants and landlords spontaneously poured into the city. They were divided into two factions and confronted each other coldly, and the government had to send in the military and police to separate them, and the atmosphere was so solemn that the birds did not dare to gain a foothold. They were looking forward to it, and their respective interests and dreams were frozen in the sky over Xuzhou City at this moment. Later I learned that most of China was waiting that day, the farmers working in the fields were careless, the workers were chatting about Xuzhou when they started the machines, the landlords were getting together to talk about the future, and even the servants who served them tea and poured water were waiting for the verdict

On that day, this country that had not yet washed away feudalism and moved towards a real republic was anxious and restless, but it was also full of hope! Because the young vice president was determined to challenge humanity's ugliest covenant that restricts human rights, to preserve the dignity and prestige of the Constitution, and to break with the old land policy. It's funny how in a country where there is little sense of law, and the defendants don't even know what kind of lawsuit they're facing before the trial. The vast majority of those present were unaware that they were being recorded in history, and the whole of China thought that it was just a civil dispute, the world's first peasant mutual aid organization, and the Northern Jiangsu Peasant Association sued the landlords and gentry for unfairness. Much of its attention was drawn to sympathy for the weak, and to the peasant slaves' cries for the right to justice. There is also the long list of 7,331 defendants recorded in the first constitutional lawsuit of the Republic of China. ”――

Time Magazine reporter, Tiger Carris.

"Give me your clothes."

"It's good that the store is not open, so let's join in the fun."

"What do you know, I'm going to support Teacher Cheng! He didn't want to sue one or two masters this time. It is the landlord of the whole northern Jiangsu! ”

"The whole of northern Jiangsu?!"

"yes, hey, what are you doing with this well. Forget it, we don't understand these big truths, since Mr. Cheng wants to do it, he must think about us ordinary people, even if it is in front of our son, I have to support him. ”

In the small shop of the four treasures of the study room on the corner of the street, Boss Yang urged his wife to take the clothes. After getting dressed, I immediately ran to the makeshift court set up at the airport. Due to the large number of spectators, the trial was specially set up at the military airfield, and the soldiers also borrowed several thousand long benches for the observers to rest, but everyone obviously underestimated the people's attention to the trial. With the efforts of Cheng Cheng and other members of the National Socialist Party for half a month, the lawsuit of the newly established Northern Jiangsu Peasant Association against the landlords of northern Jiangsu Province obviously attracted too many people, and those tenant farmers and long-term workers who were forced to be unable to emigrate or who lived a hard life all came! So when Boss Yang arrived at the venue, the bench had already been snatched up, so he had to stand outside and look forward like everyone else. Thankfully, the purpose-built high makeshift courtroom does not interfere with the view.

Thousands of military and police divided the venue into two areas, the largest of which was naturally peasants flocking from all directions, and the smaller area was represented by thousands of large landowners in northern Jiangsu. There are even landlords in Anhui and Zhejiang provinces who come to see the situation. Careful people found that none of the military and police brought guns this time, and each of them was holding a shield and a two-meter-long wooden stick to separate the two sides from the explosion-proof conflict, so many knowledgeable people were relieved.

"Look." There was a sudden commotion in the crowd, Boss Yang and everyone turned their heads to look, only to see more than a dozen men in robes walking on the road separated by the military and police. ”

"See. They are all old people from Beiyang. Li Chun, Mr. Duan's braids, that is Zhang Xun Zhang! Hey? What about Old Man Feng. Didn't he take refuge in Commander Yang, why did he still talk and laugh with the old man in Beiyang? By the way, who is that blackface? It was Commander An, and when he saw that the soldiers who didn't come today were all his subordinates, I heard that he was the protector King Kong beside Commander Yang. Commander An, haven't you heard of it? Isn't it just Commander Cai and Commander Yue? You. Read more newspapers! Now in France, Commander Yue and Commander Cai are in charge of foreign soldiers, specializing in fighting Russian Mao Zi soldiers and Japanese soldiers, and Commander An's soldiers are in charge of bandits and domestic soldiers. Oh, you say, will Commander An arrest all those landlords? Lao Tzu has long been unpleasant to see them. ”

"Behold, foreigners! Obediently, so many foreigners are here! There's also a little Japan. Under the eyes of Boss Yang and others, Hanger and Time Magazine reporter Tiger Carris, who had just arrived in Shanghai, walked into the venue, surrounded by hundreds of observers and reporters from all over the world. Apparently, these far-nosed political activists in Europe and the United States are also aware of what the trial means.

Tiger Caris carried the camera on his back, pointed to Wang Shizhen and the others who were seated next to him, and asked, "Your Excellency Hangel, do you have any views on the presence of those former Beiyang officials?" ”

Although Hangel had resigned from his job as U.S. Commercial Counselor, he soon became the Bank of America's representative in Shanghai. Although he no longer serves politics, he has built up a deep vision over the years as a diplomat in the Far East. He smiled and patted the Tiger reporter who had just arrived: "Mr. Tiger, you don't know this country yet. Although Beiyang has disappeared from the political circle, the conservatism they represent has not disappeared! ”

Tiger continued: "Do you think the landlord class will really make a compromise after this trial?" Also, do you think the existence of this new peasant association violates the law? ”

Hangel said: "Your Excellency Tiger, the law is the foundation, the basis for the implementation of the state!" No factory owner would like a trade union, and no landlord would like a peasant union, so they were considered illegal organizations from the very beginning. But don't you think that their existence is actually to help the government break the monopoly and power and help the disadvantaged? Nasty though. But so far no democratic government has really outlawed them, because politicians understand that many social problems cannot be solved by executive orders and violent means, and that the real way is to check and balance each other. ”

"So what do you think of His Excellency Yang Qiu's sudden desire to solve the problem of unbalanced distribution of land and population? The army is moving here. The reserve of grain has also increased, and the grain merchants in the market have been restricted from raising prices, does this mean that His Excellency Yang Qiu supports the peasant association? ”

"Hehe, Mr. Tiger, you should interview him about these things." Hanger smiled wisely and replied, "From my point of view, although the three provinces of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui are close to the coast, there are also big cities such as Shanghai, Yangzhou, Nanjing and Hangzhou. However, it is the region with the most serious population and land problems. Fertile land was wanted by everyone, and the embezzlement of officials in the former Qing Dynasty, the spending of salt merchants in Jiangsu, and the tycoons who returned to their hometowns after making money in the big cities were all factors that led to the increasing concentration of land, so His Excellency Yang Qiu was eager to reform the distribution of land. Of course, I personally think that there is also a Russian element in his eagerness to solve the problem, and Lenin's men are inciting landless people to revolt against insurrections, as has been the case in France, Italy, Poland and Ukraine. If China, a country with a serious imbalance in land distribution, does not solve this problem as soon as possible, then no one can guarantee whether red ideas will infiltrate China. ”

"According to you, we should support his reforms?"

"Yes." Hangel, who was talking eloquently, suddenly stopped talking in the face of this question. Supporting Yang Qiu's reforms means that China will gradually move away from an agrarian society. If the millions of relatively wealthy landlords were to turn to industry and commerce, the energy that would burst out would be terrifying. Is it in the interests of the United States for a strong industrial East? But if it is not supported, the invasion of the poor party ideology will lead to a huge gap in the encirclement of Russia. What's more, now the international community also needs China's help to crack down on the poor party, and it needs to take care of Yang Qiu's face on some issues. So thinking of this, he didn't know how to choose, so he smiled: "Mr. Tiger, I no longer serve Washington." ”

Tiger moved his mouth and just wanted to continue asking, when there was a sudden burst of agitation in the crowd, and when he turned his head to see the person who was coming, he immediately realized something. Liang Qichao, a veteran of the Chinese Republican Party, and Wang Zhaoming, the new general secretary of the Kuomintang. The appearance of the two obviously caused a sensation in the audience, and no one expected that the Republican Party and the Democratic Party would arrive at the venue together and suddenly push this lawsuit to a new height. Tiger Carris, who was still a stranger to China, stood up excitedly. But a cold sentence next to him made him stop suddenly. Hanger looked at the two of them who were talking and laughing with everyone, and the corner of his mouth sneered: "It's stupid to come here for a doomed failure!" ”

Oh, yes! This sentence made Tiger Carris realize the problem as well. Regardless of whether they came here to observe or for other purposes, it was obviously a huge mistake to come here as figures with great influence in their respective parties who did not have any official positions, because whether they stood on the side of the landlord or the peasant, they would leave the impression of provocation on Yang Qiu! Hey, compared to the National Socialist Party. These two Chinese parties have too little understanding of partisan politics, and they are more like associations than parties. And their legal awareness is also very weak, and perhaps even if they do, they don't know the true meaning of this lawsuit.

The temporary courtroom that has not yet started is very lively, and when all kinds of characters appear one after another, Cheng Cheng, the initiator, is seriously revising the court statement repeatedly, but his heart is completely hot, and his body is beginning to burn! And Hao Chongwen, who was temporarily rushed to serve as the chairman of the Xuzhou Peasant Association, was already sweating profusely and pale. So many big shots, huh? This, can this still be won? The people don't fight with the officials, they don't fight with the officials, he chewed these words repeatedly, and the blood and courage that were aroused were extinguished in an instant, and he turned his head: "Mr. Cheng, or." ”

"Brother, you can't forget it!"

Suddenly, a voice sounded from behind, and more than a dozen soldiers of the Xuzhou Expeditionary Force walked in with a corporal, and when they saw him, Hao Chongwen's eyes lit up: "Third brother!" How did you. ”

"It was the commander-in-chief who sent a plane to pick us up." The passionate words characteristic of the soldier echoed in the small room: "Brother, we all support you!" The Commander-in-Chief also supports you! He asked me to tell you that this lawsuit is not only for Xuzhou, but for farmers like us all over the world! More for the future of our China! ”

"Peasants all day?"

"Yes, all under heaven!" …… (。 If you like this work, () vote for recommendation, monthly pass, your support is my biggest motivation. )