Chapter 2238 - Rallying the Troops

Her words were both sincere and humble. Her attitude—facing reality squarely while refusing to give up—lifted the spirits of cadres who had been skeptical of her and pessimistic about the future. The stifling gloom in the room vanished.

After Bi Da finished, she asked everyone to share ideas about the current situation and their views. This approach she had seen others use many times in work teams—and had used herself. It not only yielded good ideas but also boosted everyone's sense of participation and cohesion.

The meeting's atmosphere came alive. People spoke in turn about their views—especially how to break the deadlock in Yangshan. Some proposed expanding local recruitment to build up the National Army. Others thought they should arm more Yonghua Yao forces. Still others felt the county lacked the strength for battle and should start by winning over the wavering villages around the county seat.

Bi Da found merit in all of them and recorded each suggestion. Her literacy was poor; taking notes was laborious. She often had to ask speakers to "slow down" or "say that again." In the end, Luo Yiming volunteered to keep the minutes.

Finally she said, "You've all made good points. In the cadre training course I attended, an Elder taught us: how do you get work done? Make sure we have lots of friends and our enemies have few. Right now, we're weak; we need to make more friends. We must fully utilize local manpower and resources."

"This was something County Magistrate Wang also talked about, but it's not easy." Luo Yiming said. "The county has only four kinds of powerful local forces: Yao villages, gentry, clans, and bandits. Most of the gentry and clans keep us at arm's length—some won't even pay reasonable contributions. They stall and stall. And if we rely too heavily on local powers, they'll only grow stronger..."

"We're certainly going to reform these local powers eventually—but right now, our main priority is bandit suppression." Bi Da said. "The gentry and magnates' attitude is crucial. If they support us, we can at least check the bandits' expansion—maybe even use their strength to eliminate them. After all, bandits are a great disaster for the locality."

"But this was exactly County Magistrate Wang's concern..."

Gentry and clan power had always been viewed internally as the Council's number-one enemy. On Hainan, after years of relentless blows and divide-and-conquer—military, political, and economic—these two forces had been virtually eliminated at the grassroots. Of course, Hainan's backward economy and sparse population had helped.

When the mainland campaign began, local governance immediately ran into the question of how to deal with local gentry and clans.

Given the Council's military and political strength in Guangdong, they obviously couldn't replicate the Hainan approach. With only a handful of county cadres and one or two National Army squadrons to govern an entire county, they couldn't smash the old order and build new grassroots governance from scratch. So they had to continue the old loose-rein model. Except for counties in the Pearl River Delta, most were run much as under the Ming—just with somewhat cleaner administration and lighter taxes.

And this loose-rein rule required cooperation from local gentry and clan magnates. Naturally, county magistrates—naturalized or Elder—would not move against them until they received adequate administrative and military support. This was simple "maintaining governance."

This posture had drawn criticism from some Elders within the Council, who called it "collusion" and a serious betrayal of the Council's "grassroots governance" philosophy. Because resource shortages were real, some Elders had raised the banner of "land reform" again—arguing for mass mobilization to smash the old ruling foundation and build a new order.

This, of course, sparked fierce internal debate—debates that convinced no one but whose fallout left naturalized county magistrates keeping both gentry and clans at arm's length. They couldn't offend them—but they dared not get too close either.

Bi Da knew about the Council's internal debate. She knew this move carried serious political risk. But she didn't care: she was only an Acting County Magistrate and had no interest in being confirmed. She had no interest at all in the Council's rank tables.

"I know there's risk. I'll take full responsibility." Bi Da said.

Luo Yiming stared in surprise at the thin, dark young woman unhesitatingly shouldering the burden. He was rather moved. "Since you've given the word, County Magistrate, we'll carry it out! But the gentry and magnates aren't easy to deal with. The situation here is especially complicated."

Because of geography and the Yao region, Yangshan's gentry and clans had strong independence and internal cohesion. Yangshan was a poor place—Han Yu had written: "Yangshan is the most impoverished place under heaven." Thin soil, poor people; historically a land of fierce folk. The county yamen had always had little influence over local powers—each village was something of a petty kingdom. Even when Wang Chuyi first arrived and "the situation looked excellent," many local magnates had been cold to the county. Fewer than half the villages in the county had paid reasonable contributions.

"If we want to win them over now, we'll have to offer them a good price." Luo Yiming was worried.

"True. When we go to collect reasonable contributions, the polite ones haggle; the rude ones slam the door in our faces. The worst fire a blank cannon shot to scare us off." Naturalized cadres immediately began venting.

"Many of these magnates are no different from bandits themselves. With the county in chaos, they're muddying the waters! The Hakka and locals have already started killing each other!"

"I've said it before: these gentry and magnates—execute them all and there'll be innocents; skip every other one and there'll still be escapees!"

"County Magistrate Wang was tricked by that Peng fellow!"

Bi Da didn't stop them. She let them vent their frustrations—and meanwhile memorized the details they were spilling. When the hubbub subsided, she said, "Everything you've said is true. But what is our top priority right now? To wipe out the bandits and pacify all of Yangshan! Every means serves that end." She looked around. "So we can't worry about what they've done in the past—only what they can do for us now. As for the debts they owe the people of Yangshan—someone will settle those accounts in the future."

You Ciren spoke up. "The problem is, they simply ignore us. In the past, we couldn't always get a meeting even when we visited. Now, with things like this, they'll only look down on us more."

"We'll start with a show of force—let them see what the Fubo Army is made of. Then they won't look down on us." Bi Da said. "Don't the Elders always say? Dealing with fence-sitters: 'Speak softly and carry a big stick.'"

By the end of the meeting, the naturalized cadres broadly agreed with Bi Da's approach. After adjournment, they dispersed to their assignments. Bi Da stopped Luo Yiming as he was leaving. "Where is Peng Shou'an now?"

"In the jail." Luo Yiming said. After the Dalang Market disaster, the cadres had been furious—demanding that the "bastard who gave that rotten idea" be dragged out and "cut to pieces." Afraid they would actually kill him, Luo Yiming had locked Peng Shou'an in the county jail.

"Not in a cell—just in the guards' quarters. Effectively house arrest. If he weren't a consultant personally appointed by Director Huang, I'd have sliced him myself!" Luo Yiming smiled bitterly. "He's been off his food, nearly tried to kill himself—though I suspect that was all for show."

"I want to talk to him. Bring him to my office."

"County Magistrate! County Magistrate Wang's misfortune was entirely due to that old wretch! Please don't listen to his nonsense..."

"Maybe his plan for County Magistrate Wang didn't work, but at least he served as county magistrate here for several years. He knows the local situation inside out. We still need him to show us the way." Bi Da said.

"Then I'll have him brought out right away."

Since the Dalang Market debacle, Peng Shou'an had been like a stray dog. Every naturalized cadre who saw him glared; some cursed to his face. Luo Yiming hadn't exaggerated—if he hadn't intervened, Peng Shou'an would have been beaten to death. Even so, he had spent several days in bed recovering before he could stand.

Peng Shou'an was crushed with shame. Wang Chuyi's campaign had been entirely his suggestion. Now this disaster: soldiers dead—bad enough—but the County Magistrate had lost a leg too. The guilt was enormous.

He felt he had let down Wang Chuyi—and even more, Huang Chao. In Yangshan, he was now the "villain" everyone spat on. After much agonizing, he concluded the only way out was death.

But dying was easier said than done. He stood on the stool with the belt looped around the rafter—and thought of his elderly wife and his son. "Of all hardships, dying is the hardest." He stood there, neck in the noose, for a long time—and couldn't bring himself to kick the stool. In the end, he climbed down and went on "clinging ignominiously to life."

At least Luo Yiming had locked him in the jail, where he saw no one all day and was spared the daily curses and occasional fists. He settled into "cultivating his mind"—reading and practicing calligraphy every day.

"Peng Shou'an! Come out!"

The door opened. The jailer shouted from the threshold.

(End of Chapter)