amaotonovel Chapter 1225 Heiwa's Resistance
Chapter 1225 Heiwa's Resistance
Chapter 1225 Heiwa's Resistance
Lu Zilin rushed home and told the situation.
Lu Taiheng held his pipe in his mouth and said, "Have you found out everything? Don't let the Bai family fool you again."
Lu Zilin's face turned red and he stamped his feet: "Da, this is about the baby, why are you bringing up the past?"
"The annual tuition fee for a new-style school must be quite a lot, right?"
"The tuition alone is five taels of silver a year, plus various other fees and food expenses, so it's at least ten taels of silver a year."
Lu Taiheng took a few puffs of his pipe and said, "Ten taels is ten taels. We can't let our kids widen the gap. Otherwise, our Lu family will be suppressed by the Bai family for generations to come."
He finally understood that it was almost impossible to expect his son to defeat the Bai family in this generation, and it would probably be difficult for his grandson Lu Zhaopeng as well. However, as long as the gap between them was not too big, there would always be hope.
……
Under the cover of night, Bai Jiaxuan carried a lantern and drove the carriage back to the Bai family.
Xiancao, with her big belly, brought him some hot water: "Wipe your face. I'll go heat up some food for you."
"No need, just a few steamed buns will do." Bai Jiaxuan wiped his body with a towel while holding the fairy grass.
"Don't worry, she's not that delicate. She's fine."
After saying that, Xiancao went to the kitchen to get busy.
In the main room, Bai Bingde was smoking a pipe with a frown on his face. His son had just told him about the situation in the new-style school. The ten taels of silver were secondary. He had made a lot of money from selling his braids to a foreign company last time. The main thing was that his grandson was only in his teens, and he was a little worried about letting him go to school in the city alone.
"How about I go to Xi'an to take care of Hao Ge'er?"
Xiancao's proposal was immediately rejected by Bai Jiaxuan: "You are pregnant now. When you go to Xi'an, will you take care of Hao Ge'er, or will Hao Ge'er take care of you?"
Bai Zhao said, "Why not go to a new-style school? It would be good to find a teacher to study at home. Our family can afford it."
Bai Bingde frowned when he heard this: "You have long hair but little knowledge. Even my son-in-law said that the new-style school is good. Aren't you delaying the child's study?"
Bai Zhao lowered her head and dared not say another word.
"Master, I can take care of myself. Besides, Xi'an is only about a hundred miles away from home. If I miss home, I can come back anytime. You can also come to Xi'an to see me."
Qin Hao heard it when Bai Jiaxuan entered the courtyard.
The atmosphere in the room was a little heavy for a moment, and Qin Hao comforted her upon seeing this.
"There's still a month and a half left before school starts, and you guys act like you can't wait for me to leave tomorrow."
Bai Zhao patted Qin Hao and said, "What nonsense is this kid talking about."
Bai Bingde and Bai Jiaxuan finally had smiles on their faces.
In the next few days, Qin Hao lived a leisurely life with everything provided for him. Bai Zhaoshi and Xiancao were afraid that Qin Hao would be too tired, so they didn't let him do any work. Even Bai Jiaxuan and Lu San were determined not to let him go to the fields to work, saying that his comfortable days at home would be over and he had to have a good body when he went out. It seemed as if he was not going to school, but to suffer.
……
Bailuyuan also returned to its former tranquility until noon of that day.
Lu San had a scratch on his forehead, and he had pressed the wound with the torn corner of his clothes. The wound had now scabbed over. His body was covered in dust, and there were varying degrees of abrasions on his arms and legs. He looked extremely disheveled.
Hei Wa came back panting, and was shocked and angry when he saw this: "Da, who did this?"
As he said this, he picked up the sickle beside him and was ready to fight the man to death.
Lu San hurriedly grabbed him. At this time, Qin Hao had already invited Mr. Leng over, but Lu San was afraid of spending money and refused to let Mr. Leng check his wound.
"Third brother, you were injured for our Bai family. If we don't treat your injury, who will dare to work for the Bai family in the future?" Bai Jiaxuan frowned.
Qin Hao stepped forward and snatched the sickle from Heiwa's hand: "If you want revenge, you have to know who hit you first. Let Mr. Leng heal your wound first."
Heiwa finally calmed down. Lu San was about to kowtow to Bai Jiaxuan again in gratitude, but Mr. Leng quickly stopped him: "If you don't treat this wound, it will fester and cause trouble in the future."
After Mr. Leng cleaned Lu San's wound and re-bandaged it, Lu San began to tell the story of what happened.
"Early this morning, I went to the county to sell grain, but I was stopped by a group of soldiers at the county gate. They kicked me out of the car without saying a word, saying that there was a war at the front and they wanted to requisition our grain as military rations. They also said that one cart of grain was not enough and they needed three more. I argued with them and they beat me..."
Hei Wa got angrier and angrier as he listened: "I'll chop these bastards into pieces!"
Qin Hao held Heiwa's arm and said, "The soldiers have guns in their hands, but with this sickle, they will be shot into pieces before they even get close."
"Then my beating was in vain?" Heiwa shouted in frustration.
Qin Hao comforted him, "We definitely can't let people beat us up for nothing, but we need to think about this matter carefully."
Bai Bingde nodded and said, "You are right, the people should not fight against the officials. Besides, the soldiers are more ruthless than the officials these days. We should not act on impulse."
Bai Jiaxuan gritted his teeth and said, "We can't just let these soldiers ride on our heads and shit and piss on us. When the Qing Dynasty was here, we only handed over two carts of grain. Now they want us to hand over four carts. Do you think we can live?"
Bai Bingde shook his head helplessly and sighed: "Ring the bell."
The ancestral hall bell rings.
The ancestral hall was already crowded with villagers. Lu San sat on the stone steps and recounted his experience.
This immediately aroused the indignation of the villagers.
"This is outrageous. How can the grain collection be doubled all of a sudden? Even in the Qing Dynasty, there was no such precedent."
"That's right. I won't hand it over to him. Let's see what he can do to me."
"Come on, didn't you hear what Lu San said? They are soldiers who are collecting food directly. With the muzzle of a gun pointed at you, do you dare not hand it over?"
Seeing the villagers were very emotional, Lu Zilin said, "The grain collection has doubled, and people are being beaten. Isn't this the government forcing the people to rebel?"
Just as he finished speaking, a middle-aged fat man in a Zhongshan suit and his men rushed in.
"Zilin, how can you say that the government forced the people to rebel? That's too much."
Tian Fuxian said to the two men with rifles behind him, "Wait outside."
After saying this, he walked through the crowd and came to the high platform in the center of the ancestral hall.
The villagers were all shocked by the two rifles. No one dared to speak. For a moment, the ancestral hall was silent.
Tian Fuxian seemed to enjoy the frightened looks of the villagers around him very much, and he spoke to the villagers with a ruthless step.
"Dear fellow villagers, please listen to what I, Tian Fuxian, have to say. I, Tian Fuxian, also came from Bailuyuan. Although I have found a small official position in the county, my heart is still with you all..."
Bai Jiaxuan turned around and spat, then whispered to Qin Hao, "This damn Tian Fuxian is the worst. He did a lot of thieving in Bailuyuan in the early years. I don't know how he managed to become the head of the village. If all the revolutionaries are like this, they won't last long."
Tian Fuxian was a little embarrassed when he saw that none of the villagers in the audience responded, but he still continued speaking.
"Everyone is here today, so I'll speak frankly. The revolution has not yet succeeded, and it's not time to live in peace. Didn't that old villain Fang Sheng launch a counterattack some time ago..."
Before he could finish his words, Qin Hao interrupted with a sneer.
"General Tian, according to the village agreement, it was my uncle who persuaded Fang Sheng to withdraw the 100,000 Qing soldiers. He is also a member of our Bailu Village. You see, the plaque sent by Governor Zhang is still hanging there. Do you think it is appropriate for you to ask the villagers to pay so much more grain now?"
As soon as the words fell, they resonated with all the villagers.
"That's right. Fang Sheng also deserves credit for driving the troops away from Bailu Village. Why is he asking us to pay more food?"
"Humph, I don't care anyway. My family has no food left, and I won't pay even if you kill me."
Tian Fuxian's face turned dark and his eyes were fixed on Qin Hao.
"Whose child is this? Take him out immediately. Children should stop interrupting when adults are talking."
Bai Jiaxuan was unhappy: "This is my child. What's the matter? He has also been to the Qing army camp, and he is not allowed to speak?"
Tian Fuxian felt a pain in his chest and could only say angrily, "Jiaxuan, that's not what I meant. This is Hao'er, he has grown up so big in the blink of an eye..."
Qin Hao avoided the other party's dirty hands: "Mr. Tian, since you said you are of the same mind as us, why don't you talk to the county and ask them to reduce the public grain tax and hand over the soldiers who injured people..."
Heiwa was the first to stand up and agree: "That's right, hand over the person who beat him."
When the villagers heard this, they immediately followed suit and shouted, "Hand over the man who beat him."
Tian Fuxian's face turned green. He was sent down by his superiors to collect taxes. If he failed to collect taxes when he returned, his job as the chief village chief would be over. He also had to hand over the soldiers who beat people. Now these soldiers were all ferocious and vicious. Not to mention him, even the officers in the army would not dare to do this. Otherwise, who would dare to work for the officials in the future?
He tried to change the subject with sweet talk, but the villagers didn't buy it at all. They looked like they would not give up until they achieved their goal, so he had no choice but to flee the ancestral hall in a panic. The threshold of the ancestral hall was too high, and he almost fell flat on his face. The villagers behind him burst into laughter, and Tian Fuxian could only swallow his anger.
"Bai family, we have made a feud!"
In the ancestral hall, after Tian Fuxian left, the villagers gradually quieted down. They all knew that Tian Fuxian would not stand on their side, and they all looked at Bai Bingde eagerly, waiting for him to make a decision.
Bai Bingde subconsciously looked at Qin Hao.
Qin Hao walked up to Bai Bingde and whispered in his ear.
"No, no, this is a matter of life and death." Bai Bingde shook his head when he heard it.
Lu Zilin came over curiously: "What's the matter with losing heads? Is it so serious?"
"Nothing, let's stop here for today and go home." Bai Bingde cautiously pulled Qin Hao out of the ancestral hall first.
Bai Jiaxuan, Lu San and Heiwa also hurriedly chased after him.
When they arrived at the Bai family, Bai Bingde shook off Qin Hao's arm and said, "You are so brave. If you start a rebellion, you will lose your head."
When Bai Jiaxuan heard about the "Jiao Nong uprising", he was immediately moved: "Da, I think Hao'er's idea is good. We must let those lords in the county see that we farmers are not to be bullied."
"What are you yelling about? The first bird to stick its head out gets shot. In every peasant uprising in history, the government would always hold those who started it accountable!" Bai Bingde stamped his feet. He had seen a lot of such things, without exception.
"But isn't the Qing Dynasty over? The revolutionaries are in power now, so maybe they are different?"
Bai Bingde was so anxious that he slapped his thigh and said, "You know nothing. How much tax did the Qing Dynasty collect? How much tax did the Revolutionary Party collect? Don't look at what they say, look at what they did!"
Qin Hao secretly admired that this old man had a clear understanding of the problem.
"Then Third Brother got beaten in vain? And what about that bastard Tian Fuxian who asked us to pay more grain? Are we just going to swallow our anger and let others ride on our necks and pee and shit on us?" Bai Jiaxuan said unconvinced.
Heiwa's face was also full of indignation.
Bai Bingde took a long drag on his pipe and said, "We can participate, but we must not take the lead. Our family doesn't lack that little food. If it doesn't work, we can just give it to them. There's no need to take such a risk."
Bai Jiaxuan wanted to say something, but Lu San pulled at his shirt and said, "Jiaxuan, I know you're doing this for my own good, but you don't have to sacrifice the Bai family for me."
Heiwa looked at his father in disbelief, his eyes full of aggrieved and disappointed, and then left angrily.
Seeing this, Lu San did not chase after him, but lowered his head. The man who was usually as strong as an iron tower when doing farm work, now was as humble as a earthworm in the field, as if someone had pulled out his spine.
Qin Hao knew that Bai Bingde was right. The consequence of starting a trouble would be retribution later. Although he had the trump card of his uncle Mr. Zhu, it was not worthwhile to use this trump card because of this matter.
On the stage at the entrance of the village, Heiwa was poking the ground with a branch, making his already dark face look even more hideous.
"Don't blame you. Everyone grows up in a different environment. He has done his best to survive and raise you." Qin Hao patted his shoulder and sat down.
Hei Wa paused and said, "But if a person doesn't even have dignity in life, what's the difference between him and those animals?"
Qin Hao looked at Heiwa with some surprise, and then he was relieved. Heiwa followed Lu Zhaopeng wholeheartedly to make revolution, not because Lu Zhaopeng was good at speaking, but because Heiwa had long been dissatisfied with this unequal society. He had a rebellious force in him since he was a child, and Lu Zhaopeng was just guiding him to release it.
"In this world, if you want to live with dignity, you can't just rely on brute force."
Hei Wa smiled bitterly and shook his head: "You are different from me, you have never lacked anything since you were a child..."
"Don't be silly. The Bai family may be good in Bailuyuan, but they are nothing in Xi'an City."
Heiwa scratched his head: "Hao'er, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it to be against you..."
Qin Hao put his arm around Heiwa's shoulders and said, "Alright, we grew up together, don't I know you?"
Seeing that Qin Hao was not angry, Heiwa's dark face revealed two rows of half-white and half-yellow front teeth. Unknowingly, the sun had set.
……
At the same time, Lu Zilin and his family were having dinner when suddenly someone knocked on the door. When they opened it, it was Tian Fuxian who had left in a panic during the day.
"Mr. Tian, you came at the right time. We haven't seen each other for a while. We should have a few drinks."
After Tian Fuxian sat down, he didn't waste any words and directly extended an olive branch to Lu Zilin.
"As long as you collect the grain for me, I will recommend you to be the chief of Bailu Village!"