Chapter 40: The Public Treasury

Everyone gets food to eat, everyone gets clothes to wear, and everyone even gets meat to eat?

Who wouldn't want something that good!

The crowd stirred at once, and before long someone shouted: "Who among us wouldn't want something that good!"

"I knew you'd want it!"

Zhou Shixiang nodded, then, imitating a certain mustachioed leader of a later age, swept his right hand through the air and called to the crowd: "But do you think such good fortune would ever fall on your heads?"

The crowd fell silent. True enough — how could such good fortune ever fall on their heads? They could only dream of it at night.

"Everyone gets food to eat, everyone gets clothes to wear, everyone gets meat to eat, and no one has to fear being bullied.

It sounds too good to be true, and I know you don't believe it. But I tell you now: as long as you join our ranks, I guarantee that from this moment on you will have food to eat, clothes to wear, and meat to eat!

And when we've driven out the Tartars, the court will give you land and build you houses, and see that you all live good lives!"

"This military—"

A middle-aged man in the crowd didn't know how to address Zhou Shixiang. He wanted to call him "sir soldier," but seeing that he was dressed like a scholar, he changed his words: "This xiucai, we may not know how to read, but we're no fools.

There's no such good thing in this world. Don't try to fool us."

At his words, the crowd burst into an uproar, a low buzz of murmuring and discussion, and most faces showed doubt.

"What, you don't believe what I say?"

Zhou Shixiang was not angry, but smiled.

"Why would I fool you?

If you don't believe me, you can join our ranks first and see whether I'm lying. If you find I've deceived you, you may leave the ranks at once.

I guarantee no one will stop you, still less harm you!"

A white-haired old man, seeing that Zhou Shixiang spoke amiably, plucked up his courage and said: "Even if what you say is true, you'd only want able-bodied young men. You wouldn't want old folks and children like us."

"Old sir, you're wrong there.

I don't want only able-bodied men — I want everyone!" Zhou Shixiang swept his hand before the crowd and said decisively: "Old or young, weak or women and children, as long as they're willing to join our ranks, I'll take them all!

From now on I'll not only see to your food and lodging, I'll see to your whole lives — birth, old age, sickness, and death. In a word, as long as you're one of ours, we'll support you when you're old, treat you when you're sick, and bury you when you die!"

At these words, the common folk all listened dumbstruck: could there truly be such a force in this world?

Zhao Sihai and Peng Dazhu were even more dumbfounded: this scholar was damn well too good at running his mouth! This was recruiting men to be soldiers, not recruiting men to raise as your own fathers!

Bring in a bunch of old, weak, women, and children, and how the hell are we supposed to fight this war — and what are we supposed to feed them with!

Peng Dazhu was hot-tempered and wanted to stop Zhou Shixiang at once.

Zhao Sihai was calmer; though he too was anxious, with so many common folk watching, they could not under any circumstances question Zhou Shixiang at this critical moment, still less undercut his authority — otherwise the people would believe them even less.

But they couldn't let Zhou Shixiang run wild like this either. If they really did as he said, the brothers would have worked for nothing!

After Zhao Sihai and Peng Dazhu conferred in low voices, the latter hurried off to the prefect's yamen to find Boss Hu and Song Xianggong.

Zhou Shixiang knew nothing of Zhao Sihai and Peng Dazhu's movements. He went on rousing the people: "I'll put my word right here: as long as you come with us, if I, Zhou Shixiang, have a single mouthful to eat, you will surely have a mouthful to eat too!"

"Do you truly mean it — you'd really take people like us, and feed us too?" The old man's mouth hung open, dreading that Zhou Shixiang would give the opposite answer.

"Old sir, as I just said — no matter who, no matter man or woman, no matter old or young, as long as they're willing to work with us, we'll take them all!"

Zhou Shixiang affirmed his words once more, and under the old man's agitated gaze, continued: "Of course, we are the army of the Great Ming. The Manchus have seized our land, so we must fight them to the death.

Therefore, after you join our ranks, you too must do whatever work you're capable of. As for the able-bodied young men, they must still go with us onto the battlefield to fight the Qing army."

The old man's face fell with disappointment: "Isn't that just conscripting laborers, sending the young men to work and die for you?"

"No, it is not conscripting laborers, still less sending anyone to die!

I can tell you plainly and without mistake: we absolutely do not conscript laborers. All who join our ranks are treated alike.

In our army there are no regular soldiers and auxiliary soldiers — all are soldiers alike; the only difference is the division of labor."

"What do you mean by division of labor?"

Zhou Shixiang explained: "Old sir, division of labor means, for example, that if you're too old to go into battle and kill the enemy, then you do things like cooking, chopping firewood, and helping carry things.

And women also cannot go into battle to kill the enemy, so they mend and patch, wash clothes, and care for the wounded. In short, those who can wield a blade cannot stay behind like the old, the children, and the women — they must go into battle with us and kill the enemy!"

The old man nodded repeatedly: "That's only right. Old bones like us can't just eat and drink off you for nothing; we ought to put in some effort."

Unknowingly, more and more common folk had gathered behind the old man, all listening with rapt attention. Some able-bodied young men were already quietly discussing with their families.

Not far off, people who had not suffered from the disaster saw the large crowd gathered and came running to watch the excitement.

"Do those who go into battle to kill the enemy eat the same as those who stay behind?" A young man who had once served as a laborer for Kong Guoliang's Qing troops asked a question.

This question was clearly one that many able-bodied young men cared about. It wasn't that they wanted an extra mouthful more than others, but that they figured if they themselves could get a bit more to eat, they could save some to give their wives and children an extra mouthful.

In times like these, nothing put a person's mind at ease like food.

"Those who go into battle to kill the enemy will certainly eat a bit more than those who cannot.

If they don't eat their fill, they won't have the strength to fight the Qing army, nor to protect the old, the weak, the women, and the children. I'm sure everyone understands this reasoning.

But this 'more' absolutely does not mean they eat an extra mouthful while the old and children eat a mouthful less — still less will the old and children be allowed to go hungry."

At this, Zhou Shixiang paused. "But if our grain truly runs short, then if anyone goes hungry, I'll go hungry together with everyone!"

"We have established a public treasury in our army. From now on, all money and grain captured by the army goes into the public treasury, and is then distributed according to each person's division of labor."

"As long as our force still exists, even if I die, our force will not abandon a single one of you — because from the moment you join, you are already a member of our force.

In this force, we are all one family. We live for one common purpose: to drive out the Manchu Tartars, so that everyone has clothes to wear and everyone has meat to eat!"

The concept of the public treasury was something Zhou Shixiang had improvised, borrowed from the "Sacred Treasury" of the later Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

But the words "Sacred Treasury" could not be taken directly — otherwise, in name, all captured supplies would become the property of the Yongli Son of Heaven.

After answering several more questions for the people, Zhou Shixiang found that no one had yet come forward to sign up, and couldn't help saying: "Does everyone still not believe me?"

The words had barely left his mouth when the young man who had once served as a laborer for the Qing troops pulled his newly wedded wife out from the crowd.

"I believe what you say. I'm willing to follow you and fight!"