On the dirt road from Yanchang County to the border area, a team moved forward quickly. It was the condolence group, the National Government and the Eighth Route Army escorts, the horse's hooves and footsteps flying freely in the sun.

The members of the southern Jinan guerrillas were also among them. The guerrillas suffered heavy casualties in the previous battle, and more than ten people were sacrificed. They had to go to the border area for rest and recuperation.

Many team members, including Cui Hongyong and the man with national faces, came to the core area of ​​the border area for the first time. Everyone looked around excitedly, wanting to see what the rear looks like.

In the team, Zuo Chong rode a pack horse and looked out at both sides of the road. The hillsides and fields in the distance were filled with mountain people busy with farming, which felt like the richness of the Taiping season, and it almost made people feel that this was wartime.

Compared with the surroundings of the mountain city, although the local people have worn clothes, their faces are rosy, their spirits are high, and their eyes are not numb. Some have hope for the future.

Just from this detail, we can see that the underground party has left the Fructus Party eight streets in internal political affairs. None of the members of the condolence group were well-informed and naturally noticed it.

Mr. Chen, who was also sitting on the horse, saw this in his eyes, pulled the reins and slowed down, suddenly turned his head and asked the deputy minister a more sharp question.

"Mr. Li, how did your party deal with landlords and industrial and commercial masters?

I heard that you confiscated all the land and property of the landlords and merchants and distributed them to landless farmers, tenants and poor people for free. Is this happening?"

The members of the condolence group next to him, Zuo Chong and Xu Enzeng, pricked their ears and wanted to hear how the other party would answer.

Newspapers in the Kuomintang-controlled areas have long reported on this, and there are all kinds of sensational news, such as communist and communist wives, murder and setting fires, and speaking with a nose and eyes, just like witnessing it with your own eyes.

Many "respected" Guo Dianyuan wrote to the Central Committee, strictly demanding that the State Government handle such behavior of the underground party and protect "legal" property from infringement. The standard P shares determine the head.

When the Deputy Minister heard this question, his smile remained unchanged. In fact, before the condolences arrived, his superiors expected the concerns of these overseas Chinese and determined a principle - to tell the truth.

He glanced at Zuo Zhong and the spies and said slowly: "Yes, we have indeed attacked some of the landlords and capitalists who are unkind."

As soon as these words were spoken, the scene was in an uproar, and the faces of the overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia became very ugly. If it weren't for the underground party saving them, they would have wanted to turn around and leave.

This has nothing to do with love or not. It is purely determined by class positions. No one wants to share his property with others, at least most people.

But before everyone could speak, the deputy minister added calmly.

"According to our statistics, before the land reform, 70% of the land in the border area was concentrated in the hands of less than 10% of the rural population, and this number is constantly expanding.

Poor peasants, which account for more than 80% of the rural population, are not only responsible for the heaviest physical labor, but also have to bear all kinds of heavy taxes and live in extreme poverty.

After the land reform, most of the land in the border areas, Yanchuan, Yanchang and other counties were redistributed, and feudal land ownership was basically eliminated.

By the end of 1938, poor and middle peasants, who accounted for 80% to 85% of the total population, had already owned more than 80% of the land, and the lives of the people were greatly improved."

70% and 10%.

Mr. Chen and others were silent. How could overseas Chinese who had received complete modern education not know what these two sets of numbers mean? The late Ming Dynasty was a living example.

The land is high and concentrated, and the vast majority of farmers are deprived of their land, become tenant servants of officials, gentry, landlords, or are forced to go into exile, and social production is shrinking.

To the most serious level, the difficulty of cursing water is not far away. In addition to the Japanese's full invasion of China, the land of China in China may be near, and then they will all be the sinners of the nation.

Therefore, land reform in the border areas is imperative. If you don’t change it, the end will be a slave to the country.

While everyone was thinking, the Deputy Minister continued to explain various policies in the border areas to enhance understanding between the two sides and eliminate barriers between them.

"Before the July 7th Incident broke out in full, in order to unite all anti-Japanese forces, we made timely adjustments to the relevant policies and regarded rent reduction as the basic policy to solve the land problem at this stage.

Specifically, where land reform has been carried out, the vested interests of land-sharing farmers are ensured, landlords and rich peasants are prohibited from counterattacking and reckless efforts, and the results of life-separation are protected.

For areas where land reform has not been carried out, the land of landlords will be confiscated and the land of rich peasants will be distributed to poor and hired peasants, and the conflict between the landlord class and farmers will be resolved by reducing rent and interest.

But we have also restricted land rent, generally based on the principle of 25 rent reduction, and interest must not be reduced or exceeded the level permitted by social and economic lending relationships."

The Deputy Minister told the changes in the policy and reasons of the border areas on the land without any concealment. This open and honest attitude won the favor of the condolence group.

Mr. Chen nodded slightly, looked at his companions a few times, and then asked the border areas what they thought of private business, which was what they cared about the most.

"Western economists say that numbers won't lie, so I'll talk about a few more sets of data. My friends have all drunk foreign ink, so you can think about it yourself."

The Deputy Minister made a joke and explained the history, number, total capital, and even the overall business policies of the private enterprises around the border area before and after the establishment of the border area.

"Before the establishment of the border areas, the local reactionary government not only demanded food and money, sent a delegation to Raff, blackmail and extorted and cracked, and the army also burned and killed and looted, resulting in the loss of nine out of ten households and the people suffered tragic disaster.

The population near the station has decreased significantly, and hundreds of miles have gone down, and sometimes there are only twenty or thirty households. As of 36 years, there are only 168 local private enterprises, with a total capital of 40,000 yuan.

This chapter is not over, please click on the next page to continue reading! With our policy encouragement, in 1937, these two numbers became 204 companies and 70,000 yuan. Last year, that is, at the end of 1939, it became 262 companies and 400,000 yuan, and commercial activities were restored.

Many landlords have also turned to industrial investment. There are 6 private textile factories in the entire border area, no less than 200 apprentices, dozens of large looms, and an annual output of 4,000 local cloth.

There are more than 20 private coal mines in the garrison, Anding, Yanchuan, Yanchang and other places, with a daily output of more than 300,000 kilograms of coal. It can be used for burning by 1/3 of the people in the above areas.

There are as many as five or six private salt ponds in Dingbian, with a high output. In addition to serving the border areas, they are also transported and sold to Shaanxi, Gansu and Ning provinces, solving the crisis of salt in the rear.

There are 39 private paper mills, 98 workers and 38 pools. The paper produced is very popular in the Second War Zone, and even Chief Yan uses our paper.”

After talking about the results, the Deputy Minister bluntly stated that starting last year, the development of the border areas has slowed down, and the economy that has finally recovered has suffered a heavy blow.

In particular, the source of cloth has decreased, prices have soared, farmers have used grain to exchange cloth, and the difference between grain prices and cloth has expanded.

For example, in 1937, each bucket of millet could be replaced with 1 piece of local cloth or 0.28 pieces of foreign cloth. In 1939, each bucket of millet could be replaced with 0.6 pieces of local cloth or 0.08 pieces of foreign cloth.

The Deputy Minister did not say the reason, but everyone present knew that it was nothing else. The economic blockade of the Yama Castle and the Japanese were very tacit in this regard.

The condolence group looked at Zuo Chong unconsciously, but Zuo Chong had been in the national palace for so long, and his skin skills had reached the level of transformation. He pretended that nothing had happened and looked up at the sky.

The deputy minister paused for a moment, and after everyone had digested the words just now, his tone became excited, and he had a momentum of moving forward.

"In order to develop the economy and further improve people's lives, the superiors put forward the slogan of self-reliance, increased investment in handicrafts, and abolished various taxes and miscellaneous taxes, which was very effective.

Taking the station as an example, by the end of last year, there were 16 blacksmiths, including carpenters, nail makers, nail scales, tailors, tin makers, silver wizards, etc., 500 migrant workers, and more than 1,000 rural spinners.

Facts have proved that we underground party members are not afraid of hardship or blockade. As long as we stand with the people and truly consider the people, any difficulties will be temporary!"

The members of the condolence group whispered, although they were all inconspicuous little handicraftsmen, as businessmen, they knew very well that the activity of handicrafts was closely related to the economy.

Mr. Chen inexplicably sighed that compared with the northwest, the mountain city has an advantage in natural environment and population, but what did he see in the mountain city?

Officials are corrupt.

The economy is declining.

The army's morale was depressed.

Rich people live in drunkenness and dream of death.

The people are suffering.

The whole society is like a pool of stagnant water exuding a breath of despair. The upper class has no concern about the fate and future of the country, and is thinking about how to make more money.

But Mr. Chen was not in a hurry to express his opinion. Shancheng and his party made him understand that domestic affairs were very complicated. Sometimes what they saw and heard did not mean the truth. He still had to go to the border area and visit it in person before making the final decision.

The Deputy Minister did not talk about official business anymore and talked cordially with the condolence group. He asked about the political, economic, military situation of the countries in Southeast Asia many times, as well as the survival status of overseas Chinese.

This moved the overseas Chinese. The Chinese in Southeast Asia are indeed rich, but that is only a small part. More Chinese are at the bottom of society and are exploited by natives and foreigners.

When they were in the mountain city, the chairman never asked about this. He only knew that he wanted money. He should know that people's hearts are full of flesh. Faced with the care of the deputy minister, the members of the condolence group couldn't help but feel warm.

Zuo Chong sighed secretly. Someone really beat a good deck of cards. The Military Intelligence Bureau overseas intelligence station has relevant information submitted every month. He doesn't believe that someone doesn't know the sufferings that overseas Chinese have suffered.

Then why didn’t the other party ask? The answer is very simple. Those who exploit overseas Chinese are foreigners.

After asking, what if the condolences group asked Shancheng to fight against the Western colonists? The government still hoped that those countries would help, so it would have to suffer the overseas Chinese.

Thinking of this, Zuo Chong changed his mind and asked the deputy minister a question, why did the reinforcements from the Eighth Route Army come so quickly?

The battle scene is a distance from Yanchang County. It is difficult for people in the city to hear gunfire. Even if they can hear it, it will take time to organize people to come.

The deputy minister looked at him and smiled faintly: "After the convoy was attacked, we sent people to search for your traces in Yanchang County."

After saying that, the conversation between the two came to an abrupt end.

He is both an old opponent and an old intelligence. Some things needless to say are too clear. Obviously, the other party has seen through Zuo Zhong's plan very early.

A few meters away, Xu Enzeng followed him on a small donkey. He secretly looked at Zuo Chong and his "old friend", his eyes dripping, and he didn't know what bad idea he was making.

Wu Chunyang and Gui Youguang, who were further away, did not care about these things, and focused on the Eighth Route Army soldiers accompanying him, analyzing the combat effectiveness of the Eighth Route Army from the perspective of weapons, equipment, water floor maintenance, and morale performance.

This is also another main purpose of the Military Control Commission escorting the condolence group. There is no way. No matter whether the Military Control Commission or the Central Commission, except for the secret agents with public identities, all the intelligence personnel sent to the border areas have disappeared.

Taking advantage of the opportunity of escort, we can collect military and political information from the underground party at close range. Gui Youguang and Wu Chunyang bowed their heads to discuss from time to time, and seemed to gain a lot.

"Look! Pagoda!"

Someone suddenly shouted, and everyone looked at it and saw a pagoda standing on the mountain peak from afar. The golden sunset shone on the ancient tower, and the surging Yan River flowed through the tower.
Chapter completed!