Chapter 132: Mobilization

Before enlisting as soldiers, they were all farmers; before starting families, they simply wanted to work hard and save enough money to marry a wife, and after starting families, to save a bride price for their sons so they could marry and continue the family line.

Each of these three steps was incredibly difficult; many in the village could not afford a wife and could only rent someone else's wife, returning her after she had borne them a child.

As for those who could not afford to rent a wife, they were left without heirs; quite a few in the village had no heirs because they could not even feed themselves, let alone save money.

This way of life came to an abrupt end after the Revolutionary Army arrived; the Revolutionary Army overthrew the masters who had tyrannized them and returned to them the things they had been cunningly taken and forcibly stripped from the poor.

I remember the first time land was distributed; many were moved to tears, holding the soil before their faces and gently sniffing its fragrance.

After receiving land, they ate their fill for the first time, the kind where the whole family could eat until their bellies were full; those who gave it to them did not pose as gods like other rebels, but called themselves the servants of the people.

They spoke kindly without arrogance; they would check what each household lacked and what difficulties they faced; lacking doctors, they trained barefoot doctors in every village; they taught the poor to read and wrote so their own children could study and become cultured people.

They provided high-yield crops, potatoes and sweet potatoes; since they arrived, their families' lives had grown better and better, and their days had become full of hope.

Such a group, yet the court called them thieves, while calling those bastards who tyrannized them and treated them like dirt loyal and virtuous.

They realized they were too naive, too foolish; they had previously believed the Emperor stood on their side, that their lives were bad only because there were petty people and corrupt officials around the Emperor who tyrannized, that the Emperor did not know, and that once the Emperor knew, he would severely punish the corrupt officials and give them justice.

Two years ago, when the officials they elected took office, they thought life would get better and better; now they finally understood that the greatest petty person was precisely the Emperor seated on the Dragon Throne, and the greatest corrupt official was also him.

He was the leader of those dog officials, leading them to drink their blood from upon their backs.

Military horns sounded one after another; the soldiers, who had been resting, quickly assembled and reached their designated positions; a young officer stepped onto the podium; perhaps because the Revolutionary Army had been established for a very short time and grown too fast, this led to high-ranking officers like the Army Commander being so young.

Yet although the officer was young, his status in their hearts was very high; in fact, the cadres of the Revolutionary Army were considered both approachable and trustworthy in their hearts.

Because unlike past commanders who would beat and scold them at the slightest provocation, deduct their military pay, and lead charges when battles arose, they protected their own like a mother hen.

After stepping onto the podium, the Army Commander said: "I believe every soldier present has received the edict issued nationwide by the Emperor of the Jin Kingdom; the edict is simple: they say the two Standing Committee members Zhang are treacherous traitors committing great rebellion; by the way, they also say that if we hand over the land and do not obstruct them when they pursue the two Standing Committee members Zhang, they will forgive our past offenses."

The moment the words fell, a soldier could not hold back and shouted loudly: "Impossible! Whoever dares to take back our family's land and go arrest the two Standing Committee members Zhang, I will fight him to the death."

These words instantly ignited the anger of everyone below the stage.

Seeing the burning anger in the eyes of the soldiers below, the Army Commander nodded and said: "I will say nothing superfluous; I will simply tell my story to everyone. I was originally a genuine Shandong farmer; since childhood, my father, unable to pay rent to the landlord, was sold by the landlord to the Jurchens as a slave; I was eight years old that year, and from then on I never saw my father again."

"But this dog court and that dog-born landlord still did not let our orphan and widow go; they said the price for selling my father was not enough, and that we mother and son still had to repay them; we mother and son scrimped and saved all year, working ourselves to death for them, yet at year's end we still owed them two taels of silver; how could we possibly repay that?"

"Later, the two Standing Committee members Zhang arrived; they led us to overthrow the landlord who had tyrannized us, and distributed land to our family; this was the first time in several generations that our family had land; just as I vowed to repay the two Standing Committee members with my life, they corrected my mistake."

"They did not come to conquer the world and become Emperor; they came to let countless poor people live good lives and not suffer under dog officials; if one has the determination to sacrifice one's life, then one must vow to dedicate one's limited life to the boundless service of the people; comrades, tell me, is such a person a thief?"

"No!"

The roar of tens of thousands gathered and resounded through heaven and earth at that moment; even the local mountain spirits and wild beasts would have trembled three times.

"Comrades, we are different from past armies; we are not fighting for some Emperor; we are fighting for ourselves, for the good lives of our families; before the People's Government came, what kind of lives did we live? After it came, what kind of lives did we live? Now they want us to return to the days when we were worse than pigs and dogs; tell me, can we agree?"

"No!"

The soldiers below the stage had various expressions; some had red eyes, some looked angry; they did not want to return to the past, did not want those masters to come back, and did not want their descendants to continue as cattle and horses.

They, the lowest of the low, feared death; they would rarely sacrifice their lives for some grand righteousness; they admired loyal ministers but asked themselves if they could do the same.

Because this grand righteousness had always only demanded their sacrifice and never considered what they would gain; all they gained was the chance to serve as cattle and horses in a prosperous age.

But they did not want to be cattle and horses; they wanted to be human; they wanted their descendants to stand up and be human; yet no one was willing to let them stand up; they only wanted them to be cattle and horses.

To give their descendants a possible chance to kneel and serve as cattle and horses in a prosperous age, they cherished their lives; but if sacrificing their lives would allow their descendants to stand up proudly as human beings, then they would be ready at any moment to die generously.

The landlords training the militia did not know what a terrifying enemy they were about to face, and the Revolutionary Army would next use its actions to deliver a resounding slap to the face of Wanyan Honglie, who had just ascended the throne.