Chapter 164: Public Opinion Preparation

Back in Lingao, preparations for the “First Lingao Political Consultative Conference,” scheduled to be held after the Spring Festival, were in full swing. Through the vigorous promotion of the transmigrators’ local collaborators, Lingao’s negotiation expert Zhang Youfu and the transmigrators’ subsidiary food supplier Lin Quan’an, in an effort to gain favor with the Executive Committee, engaged in a competition to encourage the locals to attend this conference. Zhang Youfu sent out all his long-term laborers, servants, and tenants, telling them to go back to their respective homes to spread the word.

Ma Qianzhu had Wu De select some articulate individuals from the workforce to form work teams to go down to the countryside and mobilize the masses. For this matter, he recalled Du Wen from Yanchang Village.

On a winter morning in Lingao, the sun rose from behind the mountains, dispelling the night’s fog. The wind was slightly chilly but refreshingly pleasant. The water of the Wenlan River had become very shallow, exposing the rocks at the bottom in many places, allowing people to wade across.

On the recently renovated Wenlan River-Bopu highway, groups of three to five local farmers, carrying shoulder poles, ropes, and winnowing baskets, greeted each other as they walked towards the various construction sites along the Wenlan River. It was the slack season for farming, and the transmigrators were engaged in large-scale construction everywhere, in need of laborers. As long as one was willing to work, even women and children could earn some wages every day.

The small bands of local bandits that used to harass the area had disappeared from both sides of the great river. The transmigrators’ advantages in mobility, communication, and firepower made any such activities unprofitable and dangerous. Anyone who challenged the transmigrators’ authority was either killed or sent to the labor reform team. Safe and convenient transportation slowly changed people’s living habits. Many people, who had previously never left their villages, were now willing to venture far from home to seek opportunities and new experiences.

Among these pedestrians, Du Wen, walking on the highway, was particularly conspicuous. She wore a blue cotton work uniform made from locally dyed and woven cloth, a blue worker’s cap, a nylon scarf around her neck, and a yellow satchel filled with documents and pamphlets slung over her shoulder, with a towel tied to it. She stood out in the crowd on the highway. The locals were no longer surprised by these “short-hair people,” but seeing such a female “short-hair” still made them take a second look.

Du Wen was in a very cheerful mood. Firstly, she saw the rapid development of the construction. When she went to Yanchang Village last year, the roads were still dirt roads. Although some were paved with stone slabs, they were long since dilapidated. Now, not only were there simple highways, but they had also been upgraded from simple rammed earth roads to roads paved with gravel and coal cinder, which were not only flat but also raised much less dust when carts and horses passed. Secondly, during her time in Yanchang Village, she had had the opportunity to fully utilize her talents, applying many past theories to reality. Some had met with setbacks, while others had been successful. Now, summing it up, her achievements were not bad:

The Maniao workshop had already held three formal classes, training more than twenty rural cadres. These people had not only become literate and learned basic cultural knowledge but had also preliminarily studied political theory and basic administrative methods. Even the main cadres of the Bairen People’s Commune had participated in training at this workshop. In addition, through “part-time classes” and “night schools,” she had also done basic literacy work for the entire village. The illiteracy rate among school-aged children under thirteen had now dropped to zero. This gave Du Wen a great sense of accomplishment.

Not only had Yanchang Village established a village committee and organized a militia, but she had also spent a great deal of effort to set up a women’s group. Although for now it only organized women to do some logistical work, she believed that this women’s group would play a greater role in the future. A slight regret was that Tan Xiaoqin, her key trainee, had made limited progress in her political consciousness. On many important matters, she still preferred to let the men make the decisions, lacking any sense of “holding up half the sky.”

As she approached the outskirts of Bairen City, she saw Ma Qianzhu standing by the river with a few people and quickened her pace.

Ma Qianzhu was still wearing his unchanging Type 87 training uniform, although the clothes were recently worn out. Three red diagonal bars were inlaid on the chest pocket of the training uniform—this was a new gimmick created by the New Army. Wei Aiwen had proposed using colors as markers for positions and ranks in the army in the absence of a formal rank system and military insignia. These three red diagonal bars represented Ma Qianzhu’s military status: Chief of the General Staff of the New Army. The original plan was to imitate the style of the German General Staff and have them on the trousers, but it was later deemed unsightly, and there wasn’t enough red cloth to be found, so it was changed to the chest pocket.

He held a pair of binoculars in one hand and a notebook in the other, standing on a large rock by the river, looking at the construction site on the opposite bank. Next to him were Mei Wan, the head of the engineering department, and that female planner she didn’t recognize. Both of them were carrying briefcases with drawings and materials, discussing something.

“…Commissioner Ma, the stadium itself is not an urgent matter. Besides, aren’t there already facilities like basketball courts and badminton courts in the city for everyone to exercise? To suddenly build such a large stadium with a 400-meter track, not only are the materials difficult to obtain, but the labor force is also insufficient.”

Ma Qianzhu said with a straight face, “This is not just for sports, but for future celebrations and mass rallies.” He sighed. “All these things need a venue. Not to mention anything else, the rostrum and the viewing stands must be completed on time.”

As he was speaking, he saw Du Wen arrive and quickly greeted her and came over to talk.

“You’re back?” Ma Qianzhu glanced at her. “Why didn’t you call Xiao Zishan and ask him to send a car to pick you up? Where’s your luggage?”

“There was a car,” Du Wen took off her hat and untied a towel from her satchel to wipe her sweat. “I took the salt delivery truck to Bopu, but they said there wouldn’t be a car to Bairen until noon, so I came on my own. My luggage will be delivered with the car later.”

“Well, it’s good that you’re back early. Let’s talk about work while we have the chance.”

Recalling Du Wen from Yanchang Village was not just for the work team; [Ma Qianzhu][y0y005] had other considerations. Although Yanchang Village was the first local village to pledge allegiance to the transmigrators and had the highest degree of loyalty, the Tan clan’s power was still a bit too strong. Most of the participants in the peasant workshop were from this clan. Continuing to place the workshop there would sooner or later lead to a situation where the Tan clan dominated the rural cadre system. A cadre training institution like the workshop was also not suitable to be isolated from the main base for a long time.

Ma Qianzhu got straight to the point: “We are now going to organize some work teams to go down to the countryside to publicize and mobilize for the upcoming county-wide conference. Wu De has already selected some people. You have more experience in mass work, and the grassroots cadres of the Bairen Commune were all trained by you, so you know them well. You will take the lead in this matter.”

Du Wen nodded. “I’ll discuss it with Commune Chief Wu.”

“There’s another thing. The Maniao peasant workshop, the Executive Committee is considering abolishing it after the conference. The Maniao workshop has been run very well and has achieved remarkable results. But it has too much local color. So this time, after you come back, you will start anew and set up a new school. The one in Yanchang Village will be converted into a regular school.”

“I have no objection.” Although Du Wen didn’t quite understand why such an adjustment was being made, returning to Bairen was a good thing in any case. At least she could take a comfortable hot bath every day, and the food and accommodation were much better than in Yanchang Village.

“After the school is established, you will still be in charge of its daily work,” Ma Qianzhu said.

“Good! When we get to Bairen Village, the conditions will be even better. With a theoretical base, we can train more cadres!” Du Wen was very happy. She had recently become more and more enthusiastic about theoretical work. In the past, Xi Yazhou had written the most theoretical articles in the Lingao Times, but Du Wen had since surpassed him.

“The task of training rural cadres will become increasingly heavy in the future. You need to put more effort into this aspect, especially in the cultivation of cadres’ qualities.”

Once the villages accepted the joint defense plan, the transmigrators would use the opportunity of militia training to gradually cultivate the young people from each village as grassroots cadres for when they formally took power in the future.

“There’s one thing I must remind you of,” Ma Qianzhu remembered something. “When you teach the students, don’t get the direction wrong. In the current historical period, landlords and merchants are our allies—you must remember this. There will be many children of such people among the students.”

Du Wen nodded solemnly. “I understand this principle. The slogan at this stage is ‘eradicate the strong and support the weak, protect the territory and pacify the people.’ It doesn’t involve political issues—”

“As long as you understand. Right now, we must unite all who can be united,” Ma Qianzhu sighed.

“Then should I continue to write my theoretical articles?”

“Write them, why not?” Ma Qianzhu smiled. In his heart, he didn’t think much of Du Wen’s theoretical articles—besides a large amount of data, their theoretical value was not high. But it was better to have something than nothing. It could be used to occupy the front of public opinion.

“Theory is theory. Don’t the rightists clamor for freedom of speech all day long? You can have your freedom of speech. It doesn’t matter if your views are a bit radical, as long as you don’t advocate violent revolution.”

“Alright! I understand!”

Du Wen looked at Ma Qianzhu’s dark circles under his eyes. “Director-General—you should also take care of your health.”

Ma Qianzhu froze for a moment, then smiled defensively. “It’s nothing. We’re doing some institutional adjustments recently, so there are many meetings. It gets late before I know it.” He deliberately stretched his back. “Since I came here, I feel my life is more regular and fulfilling. It’s much better than before.”

“Director-General, you shouldn’t hold the position of Chief of the General Staff. You’re not from a military background, it’s tiring and hard work, and you still have the work of the Planning Committee to do—”

“It’s fine. It’s good to be busy, it’s good to be busy. It’s good for the body and mind,” Ma Qianzhu said, a little flustered.

Du Wen bid farewell to Ma Qianzhu and walked towards the Bairen Commune headquarters. On the way, she met several cadres she had taught, and they all greeted her. When she arrived at the headquarters, she saw Wu De staring at a large-scale map of Lingao on a table. This map was from the 21st century but had been modified by the surveying and mapping department according to the current situation. The remote sensing survey team had basically traveled all over the mountains and rivers of Lingao in the past few months, marking all the villages and settlements clearly.

Wu De had already received a notice from Ma Qianzhu that Du Wen would be in charge of mobilizing the masses.

“All the settlements in Lingao are basically on here,” Wu De said, pointing to the various colored pins on the map. “Red ones are confirmed to participate, green ones are ambiguous, and yellow ones are evasive. This is the result of the preliminary propaganda by our local collaborators.”

At a glance, most of them were red, especially in the area north of the county town, along both banks of the Wenlan River, which was a sea of red.

“The difficult part now is south of the county town, and the areas near Danzhou and Chengmai. Fewer villages there are willing to come. But there isn’t a single one that has openly refused to come.”

Du Wen and Wu De discussed that since there were not many ambiguous villages, the size of the propaganda teams going to the countryside could not be too small. They were unfamiliar with these areas, and if the teams were too small, they would not only lack authority but also be unable to guarantee the safety of the personnel. If they encountered a fearless fool, a small propaganda team would easily suffer.

It was decided that each team would be escorted by a platoon. The power of thirty Minié rifles was enough to deter the local ruffians. Besides the New Army, the transmigrators leading the teams were not required to be eloquent but were chosen for their strong wilderness survival skills and good physical strength—after all, this was also a physically demanding job. The teams needed guides who were familiar with the local environment, preferably locals who had connections with the destination. They also needed to find people who were familiar with the local dialect and eloquent to do the propaganda. The focus of the propaganda was naturally what the Executive Committee had repeatedly emphasized: to maintain local security—”protect the territory and pacify the people.” For this, Wu De had already had Zhang Xingjiao write several drafts of propaganda leaflets explaining the transmigrators’ policies. After having them reviewed by a few people who knew Chinese to ensure the meaning was correct, he had Zhou Dongtian print a batch of notices and leaflets.

“Are the notices and leaflets useful? When I was in Yanchang Village, I found the illiteracy rate there was very high,” Du Wen said with some doubt.

“It doesn’t matter if they understand it or not. The key is to get our message out. Once the notices are posted, the villagers who were previously burying their heads in the sand will have to face reality. It doesn’t matter if they can’t read; they will naturally find someone to ask about the content.”

“We should also bring Gou Buli,” Du Wen suddenly remembered the cook from the Gou family estate who had a talent for performing. “But he’s only one person, so he can only be assigned to one group.”

“Indeed.” Wu De felt a little regretful. Although this Gou Buli was not very upright, he was a very useful propaganda tool. Unfortunately, most of the people who had joined them were so simple that they could barely speak properly. “Oh, we can also have Lin Quan’an and Zhang Youfu come forward. Those two are also very good at persuasion. And they have some capable subordinates they can use.”

“Are these people reliable?”

“Haha, very enthusiastic!”

Besides these people, the intelligence and health departments both requested to have some of their own people in the teams to collect local information. In the past, they could only analyze these villages outside their sphere of influence through the reports and photos of the reconnaissance and survey teams. Now that there was an opportunity to conduct on-site investigations in person, they naturally couldn’t miss it.