Chapter 104: Grassroots Construction

However, the changes in the Li family seemed to have started long ago. Huang Bingkun then remembered that Li Xiaopeng had not been talking to him much about how to deal with the rebels for some time now. And recently, there had been a mysterious atmosphere in the Li family. He now understood that the Li family had been colluding with the rebels.

After a while, Li Xiaopeng came to apologize for his absence. Only then did Huang Bingkun have the opportunity to inquire about the arrival of the rebels.

Li Xiaopeng told him in a low voice that a few days ago, when the news of the government army’s defeat at Chengmai had just arrived, the Li family was in turmoil. Because Li Xiaopeng and Huang Bingkun were colluding, and the family elders were vaguely aware of their secret dealings against the Australians, they had strictly forbidden him from getting involved any further after hearing the news of the government army’s great defeat.

Li Xiaopeng himself was also scared out of his wits. He immediately burned a manuscript of his “Manhuazhai Notes.” “Manhuazhai” was the name of Li Xiaopeng’s study. This book was a collection of notes he had secretly compiled about the rebels’ arrival, administration, establishment, legends, and other miscellaneous information. It also recorded the story of how they had united to resist the rebels’ “land survey.” Li Xiaopeng had originally planned to publish it after the rebels fled, to satisfy his desire to be an author—and to avoid being secretly called “Dung Prince.”

Two days ago, the rebel leader stationed in the county, a man named Xiong Buyou, had suddenly come to visit his family.

“Do you know why he came?” Li Xiaopeng said, somewhat proudly, keeping him in suspense.

“Why did the rebel Xiong come?”

“Brother Huang! You must not use the term ‘rebel Xiong’ anymore!” Li Xiaopeng said sternly. “A slip of the tongue may bring unexpected disaster!”

Huang Bingkun did not bother to pursue his change in attitude and quickly asked what the rebel’s business was at the Li residence.

“You would never guess! The rebels want to set up a ‘County Consultative Bureau’ in the city, and every village in the county must send someone to be a committee member. In the future, the members of the County Consultative Bureau will have the right to intervene in all county affairs. The county town has been allocated four seats, and the Li family has one.”

Not only did they have a seat on the committee, but Xiong Buyou had also clearly told him that the county office planned to have the Li family take on the role of “director” of the “County Consultative Bureau,” in charge of the daily affairs of the entire bureau.

Li Xiaopeng’s grandfather, Li Sunqian, was a “dung tyrant,” and although he was rich, his reputation stank. Now, being able to be the director of the County Consultative Bureau, his status would be much higher than before.

“So that’s how it is!” Huang Bingkun nodded. This move was very sudden and somewhat caught him off guard. What was the use of this “County Consultative Bureau”? While he was at a loss, Li Xiaopeng added, “This is somewhat similar to the Shenming Pavilion established in each county by the founder of our dynasty.”

“So it’s a place where all the elders and gentry of the county can discuss matters together?”

Li Xiaopeng said, “That’s right, that’s what the Australians said. They also said it’s a ‘democratic institution’ or something.”

“Is this ‘County Consultative Bureau’ led by the county yamen?” Huang Bingkun had to point out the key issue. He warned in a low voice, “This is a puppet post!”

“Brother Huang!” Li Xiaopeng said dismissively, “This is just a place for the county people to discuss matters. It’s not an Australian yamen. At most, it’s semi-official, semi-private. How can it be considered a puppet post?”

Huang Bingkun was speechless. For the gentry and large households to be two-faced was not a big deal in the local area. Even if the court’s army really came back one day, it would only be a matter of extorting some money from them. This group of gentry had been excluded from the county’s major affairs for the past two years. Now that the Australians had suddenly opened a small crack, and the government army had suffered an unprecedentedly great defeat, it was no wonder that they were all rushing to get in like flies to blood.

He then thought that the Huangjia Village probably couldn’t escape either. His father could not be a “committee member,” so this task would most likely fall on his own head.

Huang Bingkun’s eyes suddenly lit up. He had originally wanted to infiltrate the rebels’ inner circle to find out their true situation. Wasn’t this a great opportunity? At this thought, he immediately became excited and no longer cared about whether it was a puppet post or not. He immediately pulled Li Xiaopeng to discuss the details.

Li Xiaopeng was very proud that his grandfather was about to become the director. In fact, he had just been fawning over Xiong Buyou in the hall, saying that Chief Xiong had a “heroic and handsome appearance,” praising him as a rare talent on earth, and had completely forgotten all his words and deeds when he and Huang Bingkun were planning to “suppress the rebels” more than half a month ago.

He explained the specific situation to Huang Bingkun, saying that this County Consultative Bureau was based on villages. As long as it was not a village under the direct jurisdiction of the Australians’ communes, any village with more than fifty households had to publicly elect a committee member to participate in the County Consultative Bureau.

“What about those with less than fifty households?” Huang Bingkun found it strange. This condition was a bit harsh. Although the villages in Lin Gao were generally quite large due to the bandit problem, there were also many small villages with only a few or a dozen households.

Li Xiaopeng was not very interested in this question. He said, “I don’t know about that. But I’ve heard that the Australians are carrying out internal migration in the county, consolidating villages and households. Anyone who is willing to move to a designated location and merge into a large village can enjoy many preferential treatments…”

Then Huang Bingkun asked about the matter of the fourth young master of the Li family going to study at Fangcaodi. Li Xiaopeng did not deny that this was a gesture of goodwill from the Li family to the Australians.

“My younger brother is not a scholar. It’s better to send him to learn some practical knowledge, which will also be beneficial to our Li family in the future,” he said righteously. But Huang Bingkun knew that this fourth young master and his mother were insignificant figures in the Li family. The fourth young master’s mother was a former maid who had long since fallen out of favor. Now, even the influential servants in the mansion had more say than them. This child was clearly a sacrifice made by the Li family.

“I wonder what the requirements are for studying Australian knowledge at Fangcaodi?” Huang Bingkun also had a similar idea, but he was not yet married and had no son, let alone a son from a concubine. His eldest brother also had only one son and one daughter, and they were still young and ignorant, so they could not be sent to Fangcaodi to learn any Australian knowledge. He planned to send his study companion, Huang Ping, to study. Huang Ping was barely a distant relative of his family.

“There are no requirements. As long as you are willing to go,” Li Xiaopeng said enthusiastically. “But you have to pay for your own tuition and food, which is not expensive. Also, you have to live in the school, and you can’t go home except on holidays.”

“It’s as strict as some of the famous academies on the mainland.”

“Of course!” Li Xiaopeng said casually. “I’ve heard that they teach a lot of things, but they’re useless.”

In his view, any knowledge that could not be used for the imperial examinations was useless. But Huang Bingkun no longer thought so. He thought that the rebels had defeated the government army and occupied Lin Gao with this “useless” knowledge.

Xiong Buyou and Tang Tang, who had just been assigned to him as a clerk in the county office, walked out of the Li residence. Tang Tang had been subjected to a great deal of scrutiny in the flower hall. Everyone in the Li family, from the old master down to the humblest night watchman, had secretly come to take a look. The screen was even more crowded with female family members—from the old madam and the mistress down to the old maids and servant girls—who had come to see the “female Australian.”

Female Australians were not too rare in Lin Gao, but Tang Tang was the first to actually visit a home and meet people face to face in the county town. No wonder the Li family was so excited. They stared at her so much that she was at a loss.

The people of the Li family commented on her glasses, her self-permed curly hair, and her figure. The consensus of the Li family was that this female Australian was too tall and too strong. Her permed hair was mistaken for naturally curly hair.

“Why are they staring at me like that… it’s creepy,” Tang Tang complained. “I’m getting goosebumps.”

Xiong Buyou answered carelessly, “They’re curious. A woman as a leader is a novelty to everyone. Look at Du Wen when she goes out, all the natives on the street stare at her.”

“How can I compare to Du Wen? She’s now the vanguard of extending political power to the countryside…”

“You can go too if you want,” Xiong Buyou said, not at all impressed with this girl. He felt that she was a bit delicate. For one thing, almost all the female veterans had cut their hair short. Even the most beauty-conscious ones only kept their hair slightly longer. Tang Tang not only had waist-long hair, but she had also permed it with a hot iron. In Bairen City, she never wore a training uniform or a uniform, only her own clothes. And Xiong Buyou had noticed that she was still wearing makeup! Although it was just simple makeup like lipstick and eyebrow pencil.

Tang Tang didn’t mind. “I can’t do it. It’s too hard to go to the countryside. I can’t stand it like she and Dong Weiwei, going down for weeks at a time. For one thing, it’s not convenient to take a bath.”

Xiong Buyou laughed. “Then you still want to do civil affairs work? Civil affairs is all about going to the countryside. No wonder Liu Muzhou could only let you be in charge of the County Consultative Bureau. The county town is at least a city.”

“It’s alright. I’m not that delicate,” Tang Tang said, either ignoring the sarcasm in his words or not noticing it at all. “Director Ma said that civil affairs work is our core work. Only by gaining the support of the people can we gain a foothold in this time and space and build an industrialized society…”

“You really admire the Director.”

“It’s alright,” Tang Tang nodded. “I do admire him very much. His writing is so good, and his thinking is so profound…” A blush appeared on the young girl’s face. “Don’t you admire him?”

Xiong Buyou was at a loss for words. “Why should I admire him? He’s not handsome.”

“But he has a good temperament! A man’s temperament…” Tang Tang said shyly. “Fortunately, he doesn’t have a wife.”

Xiong Buyou couldn’t appreciate where Ma Qianzhu’s good temperament was at all. He deliberately said, “He doesn’t have a wife, but he will soon have a life secretary.”

Tang Tang sighed. “This is a man’s weakness… Forget it, I can tolerate this.”

Xiong Buyou was completely defeated. He simply stopped talking and smoked his cigarette. Lin Gao County was a blue zone, and their guards were only five or six steps behind them. Although it was already dark and there was no one on the street, they were still quite safe.

“The work of the County Consultative Bureau that you will be in charge of is very important, because it is almost entirely composed of large households. There is a lack of grassroots support,” Xiong Buyou said in a low voice. “The gentry and large households are objects of both cooperation and restriction. At this stage, we need to cooperate with them. In the long run, those large households that are unwilling to accept the new system we have arranged for them are all objects to be eliminated…”

Tang Tang asked, “Understand, transform, eliminate, is that what you mean?”

“Basically correct,” Xiong Buyou praised her. This girl was not a bad student. “The problems we face are very complex and cannot be explained in a few words. In short, we need to find collaborators who are in line with our long-term interests and promote their transformation.”

The gentry and large households were a class in the rural grassroots that was both independent and controlled the grassroots administrative and economic power. The transmigrator group wanted to transform the social structure and economic environment of the countryside, and they had to both rely on them and eliminate them. This was the consensus of the Senate.

The so-called elimination was not a simple physical elimination, but the use of social and economic means to promote their transformation from simple rent-collecting landlords to operating landlords, including their transformation into industrialists and businessmen. This class had huge financial resources, and they had accumulated their wealth, so they probably had a certain degree of management ability. With proper guidance, their transformation would be quite fast. The veterans hoped that the local landlords and large households could be transformed into the first generation of private capitalists, turning their wealth buried in the ground into truly circulating funds.

“Yes, the Director gave us a special speech on this at the meeting,” she said, taking out a small notebook.

“…Our task at this stage is to unite all the forces that can be united, to build up political power at the most basic level as quickly as possible, so that every village has cadres, police, and government agencies…”

“That’s right. You take very careful notes at meetings,” Xiong Buyou praised casually, thinking that this girl was really attentive. It seemed she was not just a pretty face. Old Xiong had always believed that whether a person was capable was not a big problem; the key was whether they were willing to put their heart into doing something.

According to the plan of the Civil Affairs Committee, they would take advantage of the change in public opinion after the great victory at Chengmai to infiltrate and take over the county-level political power in the outer counties, while in Lin Gao, they would fully promote the extension of political power to the countryside and villages.

Now that they had established a sound basic political power in all the villages under the commune system, the next step was to build political power in all the other villages in the county. The extension of political power to the countryside carried out by Du Wen and Dong Weiwei in the thirteen villages area had already achieved results, and village-level political power had been fully established.

The issue of how to build village-level political power had been discussed in several special meetings of the Government Council and the Senate. The final design of the village-level political power was a replica of the model from the old time-space, but with some changes to suit the situation of this time-space.

The Government Council had roughly determined that the county would be the basic unit of the future transmigrator state, and below the county, there would be three levels of political power—the county, the commune, and the standard village.

Among them, the standard village was the most basic political institution, and the commune was responsible for directly leading and controlling the villages. Most administrative affairs would be issued and completed through the commune.

In general, each village had a village chief. Under the village chief was a village committee, which was composed of three standing committee members: the production team leader, the women’s group leader, and the militia group leader. These four “village-level cadres” were not salaried but received subsidies. The candidates for these four “village-level cadres” were directly appointed by the higher authorities and could be from the same village or from other villages.

The village cadres were not elected. The veterans believed that it was meaningless to adopt an election system at this stage. The peasants had little understanding of this new thing of elections, did not understand the power in their hands, and did not understand the meaning of public office. It would be easy for village-level power to be usurped.

“…Peasants are generally reluctant to take the lead. This is a characteristic of rural democracy,” Fang Jinghan, who had done a lot of social investigation and fieldwork, expressed his views at the discussion meeting. “This is not only because they are afraid of taking responsibility or worrying about their interests being harmed, but also because of a fear of being ridiculed.”

From historical experience, a completely unguided village election would allow many so-called “capable people” who liked to take the lead to occupy the positions of village cadres. They were either eloquent or village ruffians, who used intimidation or deception to force the villagers to elect them to public office. This was a common grassroots disease in the old time-space.

According to Du Wen’s experience in the thirteen villages area, the most appropriate method was for the work team to take over the village administration, initially establish the basic organizations in the village, and then gradually identify and train cadres from among the activists. This would not only allow for a precise assessment of each person’s situation but also provide a model for establishing grassroots organizations and administration, avoiding the arbitrary implementation of policies by low-level village cadres.

In addition to the village cadres, each village had a resident policeman. The resident policeman was not a local and was uniformly appointed by the county police bureau. Once appointed, the resident policeman would bring his family to settle down in the local area. The resident policeman was not under the command of the village committee; he was directly under the leadership of the higher-level police department. He was a true public official.

Finally, each village also had a “village representative,” officially called a member of the County Consultative Bureau. The committee members were also appointed rather than elected. Their duty was to attend the meetings of the County Consultative Bureau in the county every month and directly reflect the situation of the village and the demands of the villagers. They were also selected by the work team, not elected. The members of the County Consultative Bureau were not public officials and did not receive official stipends.

According to the design of the Civil Affairs People’s Committee, the County Consultative Bureau was not a truly democratic institution in the real sense. It was not a county council, but a platform for the rural elite to express their views and explain the situation in the countryside. Its members only enjoyed a certain social honor and did not have actual political power. They had the right to express their views and opinions, provide various opinions and suggestions, and at the same time provide a channel to supervise the village administration. But that was all.

This formed a vertical management of the three lines of village-level political power, which first of all created a system of mutual checks and balances, avoiding the situation where the village chief alone or in collusion with the village committee monopolized power.

“Can’t they just collude with each other?” someone questioned.

“Of course they can, but under this system, monopolizing village power through collusion will become very costly. So much so that the corrupt gains from controlling a village cannot cover the cost of such collusion,” said Ming Lang, the head of the organization department, who was in charge of institutional organization.