Chapter 103: The Work Team and the Priest (Part 2)

But Father de la Roche was clearly a very experienced missionary. He shaved off his large, peculiar beard that often attracted onlookers, wore Chinese clothes, and tirelessly traveled through the villages, preaching the doctrine. And Bai Duolu had no choice but to follow him every day, running around under the increasingly scorching sun.

His preaching, in the eyes of Du Wen, Dong Weiwei, Bai Duolu, and everyone else, was very unsuccessful. The common people were not interested in this new Western deity, and they were even more puzzled by this red-haired man who kept telling them to “repent” all day long. Wasn’t it up to the government to decide who was guilty? Since when could a red-haired man judge everyone’s sins?

Although there were few listeners and no one showed any interest in being baptized, Jean-Dominique de la Roche continued his missionary work with unwavering determination, tirelessly visiting households every day and even preaching earnestly in the fields. The villagers were sometimes very rude to him. Once, Dong Weiwei saw him being chased by a pack of vicious dogs.

In contrast, Du Wen and the investigation team stayed behind closed doors in the ancestral hall. The villagers only saw the guard soldiers lining up at the entrance of the ancestral hall every day, shouting and running. Sometimes they would prop their arms on the ground and do push-ups.

At first, no one dared to approach, but gradually, the lively and bold children gathered around, imitating the soldiers’ movements. The soldiers used their usual method of distributing candy to win over the children. The 21st-century candies with colorful wrappers were gone, and now they were distributing rock sugar recently transported from Leizhou.

Gradually, the villagers of Daolu Village began to see their presence as a normal part of life. Through the village liaison, the work team could easily obtain basic food supplies without having to transport them from Bairen City. The situation that the work team was most worried about—the families of the bandits causing trouble—did not happen. The heads at the entrance of the ancestral hall served as a very stern warning.

After the investigation team moved into the ancestral hall, the two squads of guards were stationed in the first courtyard, while the investigation team lived in the second. The west wing of the main hall was renovated to become Du Wen and Dong Weiwei’s office and dormitory, while the east wing was the radio room. The investigation team brought a 2-watt radio, and Dong Weiwei also served as the radio operator. The main hall was used as a cafeteria, meeting room, command center, and so on.

At this moment, Du Wen was sitting in the main hall, recalling a work guidance talk before she set out.

“You are the first social investigation work team sent out by the transmigrator group,” Ma Qianzhu had said to Du Wen and Dong Weiwei with great earnestness. “You have a heavy responsibility. Chairman Mao taught us: be a person with a heart for society. When you get to the grassroots, don’t be in a hurry to change things. Instead, honestly immerse yourselves and thoroughly understand all aspects of this society.”

“Don’t worry, Dugong, I will not fail the organization’s expectations and will complete the mission well,” Du Wen expressed her determination.

Wu De coughed. “Note, you are there to investigate, a social investigation. It does not involve social reform or land system issues.”

Du Wen glanced at this People’s Commissar for Civil Affairs with disdain. This former PLA soldier was now singing the same tune as the right-wing elements.

“The Executive Committee’s current general policy for the countryside is to ‘maintain social stability and promote agricultural production,’ so do not express any intention of land reform in your work,” Ma Qianzhu emphasized. “You must unswervingly implement the Executive Committee’s policy line.”

“I know.”

Ma Qianzhu continued, “The primary task of the investigation team in the countryside is to help the villagers establish self-defense organizations—militias, to help the villagers have the ability to protect themselves and prevent the resurgence of bandit activities. Each village must become a fortress. Only then can these villages, which have no local braves and are weak, avoid becoming places for bandits to get supplies and hide again.”

“The second task is to collect intelligence on the bandit situation in the local area and report it to the General Staff in a timely manner via radio.”

“These two tasks are the most important at this stage. In a sense,” Ma Qianzhu said, “the relationship between the bandits and the common people is also like that of fish and water. The fish, the bandits, can only survive and grow in the water of the common people. We must turn the common people into our water, not the bandits’.”

“The third is to conduct extensive social investigation work: listen more, observe more, and collect as much information as possible about the local social conditions, economic situation, customs, and habits. Take the Mantetsu Research Department as a model—”

The Mantetsu Research Department mentioned by Ma Qianzhu was a social investigation agency established under the South Manchuria Railway Co., Ltd. in Northeast China before World War II. It conducted extensive social investigations in northern China from the 1920s to the 1940s. The content of the investigations was varied, covering all aspects of social life. The Mantetsu investigation reports were known for their accurate data and extensive and in-depth investigations. This was the model Ma Qianzhu wanted the work team to learn from.

“This is a booklet on ‘Social Investigation Methods’ compiled by the Intelligence Committee,” Ma Qianzhu gave her a few mimeographed books. “When the ships from the circumnavigation voyage return, we will further strengthen the work team with professional social investigators. For now, you can learn and practice at the same time.”

Du Wen noted down each point in her notebook. Ma Qianzhu was quite satisfied. Finally, he said:

“In addition to these tasks, you can also do some simple and feasible social improvement and propaganda work that the local people do not resist, as a supplement to your work. But for some deep-rooted bad habits, you can only do propaganda and cannot force changes yourself. Mass work is complicated, and its complexity is beyond your imagination. Discuss everything with Dong Weiwei. She has done specific township work and has a better understanding of the rural grassroots.”

Du Wen recalled these words from Ma Qianzhu. Obviously, they were not here to mobilize the masses for revolution, but more to act as intelligence collectors. How should this intelligence collection begin? She thought and thought behind the two large square tables that served as a conference table. Usually, she could talk about theories and data with ease, but now that she had to do practical work, she found that she seemed to lack experience.

“Where do we start?” she muttered to herself.

“Let’s start with establishing the self-defense organization,” Dong Weiwei said. “Commissar Ma specifically instructed us on this.”

“Oh, right, hold a mass meeting!” Du Wen’s spirits were instantly lifted.

“A mass meeting?” Dong Weiwei frowned. “The people here are not familiar with us. Is there any point in holding a mass meeting?”

“If we don’t hold a meeting first, the people won’t know what we’re here for. What can we find out? Besides, without mobilizing the masses, establishing a self-defense organization and conducting social investigation are all empty talk, aren’t they?” she said, taking off her glasses and wiping the dust off the lenses with a snow-white handkerchief.

Dong Weiwei said, “If we hold a mass meeting as soon as we arrive, we won’t get any real information. When you hold a meeting for them, you are the cadre, an official. You speak, they listen. You present your opinions to the crowd, and they will say in unison, ‘Agreed.’ If you say there is something specific to be done, they will immediately back down. The common people are very suspicious. Chinese society is very complex. Farmers will only trust you and reveal their innermost thoughts and speak from their hearts after you have become familiar with them and have developed a relationship with them, in casual conversation.”

“Don’t worry,” Du Wen said dismissively. “When I mobilized the masses in the salt farm village…”

She then went on at length about how she had mobilized the masses, promoted women’s work, and cultivated peasant cadres in the salt farm village. Dong Weiwei listened patiently until she finished, then said:

“Times have changed. The situation in the salt farm village and Daolu Village is different. Mobilizing the masses cannot be generalized. Besides, back then, didn’t you first go from house to house and win the trust of the Tan family? I’m afraid a mass meeting alone couldn’t have changed everything.”

The two women argued, and in the end, Du Wen prevailed. It was decided to hold a mass meeting first. Du Wen joyfully sent someone to find the village liaison, Old Sun, and told him to gather people for a meeting. Old Sun took a copper gong and went from the south end of the village to the north, from the east end to the west, shouting, “Go to the Dang family ancestral hall for a meeting! Every household must send one person.”

When it got dark in the evening, a scattered group of people came from all corners of the village, timidly arriving at the open ground in front of the Dang family ancestral hall. They looked curiously at the two white wooden signs and the row of empty bamboo poles, still stained with black blood—the heads had already been taken to the county.

Two bright gas lamps had been hung on the gate, illuminating the “representatives” who had come to the meeting clearly. The number of people who came far exceeded the requirement of one per household. There were men and women, old and young, all sorts of people. Many had come to see the spectacle—the “short-hairs” had sent two young women to be “officials,” which naturally aroused everyone’s curiosity.

Du Wen, seeing that many people had come and seemed enthusiastic, was also infected. She stood on the steps of the ancestral hall, brightly lit by the gas lamps, and said loudly in her not-so-accurate Lingao dialect:

“Fellow villagers, this time we have eliminated the Dang Na Men bandits who have plagued the Thirteen Villages area. But the bandit problem in the county has not been completely eliminated. The bandits may return at any time. To let our people live a stable life, we must organize, take up arms, build fortifications for self-defense, and organize a militia.” She said a lot more on this topic and finally asked:

“Do you agree to build fortifications for self-defense and organize a militia?”

“Agreed!” the voices below answered in a roar.

“Good!” Du Wen’s face flushed with excitement. “Now let’s talk about—”

“Excuse me, female official…” an old man stood up and said tremblingly, “What is a militia?”

Du Wen was almost angered to death—You don’t even know what you’re cheering for!

“It’s the local braves! Uncle Fu!” someone said from behind.

“Yes, it’s the local braves,” Du Wen disliked this term, which was often associated with “landlord militias.” “Do you all agree?”

“Agreed!” came another chorus of agreement from below.

“Good! Tomorrow morning, all the able-bodied men will come to the team headquarters to register and form our own Daolu Village militia!” Du Wen announced with high spirits and a fluctuating tone. “Who wants to join the militia?”

But for a long time, no one spoke up.

“Why is no one talking?” Du Wen asked, her eyes falling on the old man who had asked “what is a militia.” “You speak, old man.”

“I’m almost sixty. I’m a bit old to be a local brave. But well, if you’re short of people, you can count me in.”

The working people in ancient times were generally malnourished and had been overworked for years. A man in his fifties was like someone in his late sixties in modern times.

Someone else interjected, “Uncle Fu, if you become a local brave, you’ll just be eating for free and not doing any work!”

“Who says?” This Uncle Fu didn’t seem to want to admit his age. “I can still stand guard at night.”

“Good, Uncle Fu is old but vigorous. We’ll count you in first,” Du Wen was not very satisfied with this volunteer, but everything had to have a good start. It was good to have him as an example.

But no one else volunteered to sign up. The wind at night grew stronger, and some women holding children had already slipped back home. Some people started to yawn.

Du Wen began to lose her patience. “Is no one willing to be a militiaman?”

“Female official, I have something to say, I don’t know if you’ll listen,” Uncle Fu said. “Since ancient times, people have followed the king’s law as the grass follows the wind. The officials have the final say. In this county, the sky is high and the emperor is far away. The officials have the final say, and Dang Na Men also had the final say back then. Now that you’ve come, you naturally have the final say. The work team says we need to build a local militia to defend against bandits. Who wouldn’t be happy about that? Everyone, are you happy or not?”

“Happy!” came the unanimous reply from all directions, from old men, women, and children. Uncle Fu continued:

“Female official, you see, everyone is happy about this. It’s getting late now, shouldn’t the meeting be dismissed? Please forgive me, female official, I have to leave first. I have to get up early tomorrow to raise seedlings. There’s been little rain this spring, and I have to borrow an ox-cart to fetch water tomorrow. This Dang Na Men was too evil, he worked all the oxen to death, causing great harm…”

He bent over, muttering, and slowly walked away. Then someone else came out and said, “Female official, I also beg your leave. I have to go first. I have to go and see my daughter early tomorrow morning. I haven’t seen her in a long time.” With that, he also left. After that, some said they had to plant seedlings tomorrow, some said they had to harvest radishes, and some said they had to hurry to cut pigweed. One by one, in twos and threes, they all said their piece and went back. Some didn’t even bother to make an excuse and just slipped away secretly.

Du Wen returned to the main hall, slumped into a chair, held her bowed head in her hands, her elbows on the table. After a long time, she said, “The consciousness of the people in this place is really low!”

“When have the common people ever had high consciousness!” Dong Weiwei was also full of anger. What was the difference between holding this meeting and not holding it? Wasn’t this just like the village meetings held by the leaders when they went down to the countryside in the past? The leaders would talk empty words, the people below would echo their agreement and applaud, and after the meeting, nothing would get done.