Newborn 1927

Yang Jiefang clapped his hands and praised, "Well said! We are bandits, bad people; you are soldiers, good people. Then let me ask you, when you were stationed in Da Kuangji, the local people provided you with food and lodging, did you ever pay them?" Song Youde was taken aback, and retorted, "We came to suppress bandits to protect them, what's a little food from them?" Yang Jiefang said, "Only bandits and robbers eat and drink for free without paying. You dare call yourselves soldiers, and you have the nerve to say you're here to protect them? Furthermore, you set up checkpoints around the area without authorization, creating various pretexts to extort money from passing people. How is that any different from us bandits who rob people on the road?" Song Youde replied, "That was the detachment leader's order; we were just following orders." This statement lacked conviction. Yang Jiefang seized the opportunity and asked again, "Then let me ask you again, while you were stationed in Da Kuangji, did you harm any of the women there?" Song Youde said, "I didn't..." and then lowered his head.

In Da Kuang Ji, it wasn't just Cao Laoba's wife who was violated; everyone else chose to remain silent, afraid to speak out. In fact, if Yang Jiefang hadn't happened to witness it, Cao Laoba's wife wouldn't have dared to speak up either. With the branch captain leading the way, even if Song Youde knew about it, he couldn't intervene.

Yang Jiefang pressed on, "Then tell me, what heinous things has Tian Yisan of Yang'er Mountain done?" Song Youde shook his head helplessly. To be honest, apart from resisting the government, Tian Yisan hadn't really done anything to harm the common people. Of course, collecting protection money didn't count; while they collected protection money, they were also helping the people resist taxes and levies, which actually reduced the burden on the people.

Yang Jiefang continued, "I deserve to be torn to pieces, but what about you?" Song Youde was speechless. He glanced around at the soldiers he recognized—some had abused women, others had ruthlessly exploited the people. Even if he hadn't personally participated, he was an accomplice, even profiting from it. Who could claim innocence? Finally, Song Youde mustered his courage again, looked at Yang Jiefang, and said, "We truly deserve to die; our current state is well-deserved. You bandits, defying the government, didn't you steal your food and clothing from the people?"

Yang Jiefang replied, "I've been a bandit for less than a month, and I haven't robbed any people. Others around me may have robbed people before, but from now on, they won't do it again." He turned around and shouted, "Wang Xunyong, you come and tell this Captain Song about what happened in your village! Tell him why you became a bandit!"

Wang Xunyong from Doushan Village, assigned to Sun Zhiyong's team, was guarding the soldiers with a gun. He had heard Yang Jiefang's entire speech. Upon hearing Yang Jiefang's instructions, he immediately recounted what had happened since the Laiyang County garrison arrived in their village. The contrast was stark: the garrison was like bandits, yet these bandits not only didn't harm the villagers of Doushan, but actually helped them. How could Song Youde and the others bear this? Finally, Wang Xunyong said, "We followed Brother Yang up the mountain to fight you soldiers and protect our village."

Song Youde didn't doubt Wang Xunyong's words, because he had personally witnessed Yang Jiefang instructing his men to compensate the shop owners at Da Kuang Market for their losses that day. Song Youde, along with the eight soldiers who had stood up, could no longer maintain their composure. The resentment and anger on their faces had vanished, replaced by a sense of shame. Song Youde asked, "After saying all this, what do you intend to do with us?" His tone was completely different now, truly implying that they were at his mercy.

Yang Jiefang said, "It seems you've realized your mistakes, which means you still have some conscience. I'll give you a chance, a chance to reform." The idea of ​​bandits giving their soldiers a chance to reform didn't sound strange to Song Youde. Instead, he asked, "What chance?" Yang Jiefang said, "Starting tomorrow, all of you will participate in labor reform. Recognize your mistakes through labor, reform yourselves through labor, and become useful members of society. Once you've reformed, I'll give you your freedom. If you're stubborn and refuse to reform, then you'll be reformed indefinitely. So, your reform has no time limit; whether you're reformed or not is up to me. I know you're all unable to go home right now. If you reform well, you can choose to stay here and join us. I'll definitely welcome you and treat you as brothers." Song Youde understood. Wasn't this just forced labor? Labor reform, and the option to stay and join them afterward—they were turning their soldiers into bandits! But now they had no choice; whether they liked it or not, they had to accept.

As darkness approached, Yang Jiefang ordered Sun Zhiyong to imprison the soldiers. A bandit's den, after all, would need a place to hold hostages. This was the perfect place to imprison these soldiers.

Yang Jiefang arrived at the kitchen; it was already mealtime. Yan Donglai had eaten dinner early and led his men to relieve Hou Fei's squad from guarding the village gate. Hou Fei, along with Zheng Sandao and others, came to eat. Bai Lang, who was acquainted with Zheng Sandao, drank with them. Yang Jiefang went over and greeted them, saying, "Brother Zheng, I don't drink, so Brother Bai will have a few more drinks with you. If you need anything, just say so; we're all brothers, don't be shy. Brother Bai, please keep Brother Zheng's men company. Hou Fei has to patrol the night and can't drink too much." Hou Fei replied, "Don't worry! I know what I'm doing and won't cause any problems." Zheng Sandao thanked him repeatedly and wanted to invite Yang Jiefang to drink a few more cups, but Yang Jiefang declined, saying he didn't drink, so he had to give up.

At this moment, Lu Ziqi led Wang Xunyong to the mess hall. Their squad had to guard the soldiers, so they couldn't eat in the mess hall; they had to get their own food to take with them. Yang Jiefang followed them to the mess hall and ran into Wu Laokou, so he asked, "Manager Wu, have you prepared food for the soldiers?" Wu Laokou replied, "There are over a hundred people; how can it be ready so quickly? Let them wait! We'll talk about it after our own people on the mountain have eaten." Yang Jiefang glanced around and said, "I see the mess hall has prepared quite a lot of food; let's not prepare anything separately, just share some with them!" Wu Laokou shouted, "Why? Today we have white steamed buns with pork, cabbage, and vermicelli stew! Do those bastards deserve to eat that? Later, I'll steam a red..." "Sweet potatoes, please. They won't go hungry if they eat less tonight." Yang Jiefang shook his head and said, "That won't do. I've said it before, we can't mistreat prisoners. From now on, we'll give them whatever we eat. We're all human, we can't discriminate." Old Wu glared and shouted, "I haven't mistreated them! Didn't we eat this on the mountain before? If we can eat it, why can't they? Don't play the good guy. Since I'm in charge of the meals, they have to eat what I say." Seeing that the old man was very stubborn, Yang Jiefang had no choice but to say, "Can't I cover their food expenses?"

Old Wu was speechless. He stared at Yang Jiefang for a while before sighing and advising, "Young Yang, I know you're a good man. Listen to my advice: our money is earned with our lives, so save it for your future wedding. Those bastards aren't worth it." Old Wu's nickname, "Old Stingy," was truly fitting; he was incredibly reluctant to spend money, even other people's. Yang Jiefang knew he meant well, but he had his own thoughts. He said, "Uncle Wu, I understand your intentions. Not all those people are bad. If we treat them sincerely and reform them, they might even help us in the future." Seeing that he was determined, Old Wu had no choice but to agree. He had a basket of steamed buns and a large bucket of pork, cabbage, and vermicelli stew packed for Lu Ziqi and Wang Xunyong to take away.

Yang Jiefang followed the two men to the place where the soldiers were being held. Built against the mountainside and separated by wooden fences, the place resembled a livestock shed, with almost no tables or chairs, only a thick layer of dry straw on the ground serving as beds. The soldiers were either lying down or sitting side-by-side on it. Yang Jiefang walked over and called out, "Come and eat! Line up, don't push." ​​The soldiers immediately got up and crowded around to the door.

Lu Ziqi picked out the food, while Wang Xunyong picked out the bowls and chopsticks. The two worked together; Wang Xunyong held the bowls, and Lu Ziqi served the food, first distributing it to Sun Zhiyong and the rest of their squad. Then, they distributed it to the officers and soldiers through the wooden screen. Each person received half a bowl of food and two steamed buns. Yang Jiefang, watching from the side, said, "This food is hard-earned. You can eat as much as you want. If you need more, you can ask for more, but don't waste it." Since their capture, the officers and soldiers hadn't had a full meal, let alone seen meat. They immediately began to wolf down their food. When it was Song Youde's turn, he took the bowl, chopsticks, and steamed buns, saying, "Thank you!" Turning around, he shouted, "Brothers, for tonight's meal, we should be grateful. All of you, behave yourselves and don't cause trouble!" Those who hadn't started eating readily agreed, while those already eating nodded and hummed in agreement.

After everyone had started eating, Yang Jiefang picked up a bowl, filled it halfway with vegetables, and grabbed two steamed buns to eat. He was full after eating two buns, but the soldiers clearly weren't full and asked for more. Yang Jiefang agreed to each request, and when one basket of buns wasn't enough, he had more brought over. They continued eating until everyone was full.

After finishing his meal, Yang Jiefang went straight to the storeroom. It was already dark, but the storeroom was lit, and Kong Zongru, the abacus master, was calculating accounts. Seeing Yang Jiefang enter, he merely glanced at him without saying a word and continued calculating. Yang Jiefang walked over and sat down opposite him. His arrival clearly disrupted Kong Zongru's rhythm, so he started calculating from the beginning again.

Yang Jiefang glanced at the ledger and said, "Why are you still using this single-entry bookkeeping method? Nowadays, the accounting offices in the city all use double-entry bookkeeping, the debit and credit bookkeeping method from the West." Although the Kong father and son managed the mountain stronghold's finances, they weren't professional accountants and hadn't systematically studied how to keep accounts, so naturally they were keeping a simple cash flow record. Kong Zongru was very unhappy to be interrupted while doing his accounting and looked up, saying, "I've heard of it, but I don't know how." Not knowing was not knowing; you couldn't fake it. Yang Jiefang said, "I do know. Do you want to learn? I'll teach you." Kong Zongru was always arrogant, especially in front of Yang Jiefang, and unwilling to admit defeat, he angrily retorted, "If you're so capable, you don't need to come here and show off to me!"

Yang Jiefang knew he had misunderstood, so he didn't dwell on the issue and went straight to the point, saying, "I need to get fifty cotton quilts for the soldiers. They can't stand this cold weather without quilts." Given the current scarcity of supplies and limited conditions on the mountain, sharing a quilt between two people wouldn't be unfair to them.

Kong Zongru said, "The brothers on the mountain don't even have enough, where would we get extra quilts for them? They're not invited guests, why are they so delicate? If they can handle it, great; if not, then it's their bad luck." Clearly, he didn't want to give them any. Yang Jiefang said, "Most of the brothers on the mountain aren't here, but we should be able to spare some. New ones aren't necessary; old ones are fine too." Kong Zongru said, "They've gone back now, but they'll be back in a few days, bringing even more people. If we give you the quilts today, what will happen to the brothers on the mountain?" Yang Jiefang said, "Since you knew more people would be joining, you should have prepared these supplies in advance. If you're not prepared enough, that's your problem. If the village doesn't have enough money, that's my incompetence; but if you have enough money and can't guarantee the brothers on the mountain are well-fed and clothed, that's your incompetence." Kong Zongru sneered, "Easy for you to say. Show me how you prepare one in advance! Quilt covers need to be sewn one by one, and cotton quilts need to be fluffed one by one. With such a large shortage, do you think you can prepare them in a few days?" Yang Jiefang realized that this era was different from later times; even with money, you couldn't necessarily buy enough supplies. Kong Zongru wasn't deliberately making things difficult for him; he genuinely had his own difficulties. However, people never know their full potential unless they are pushed. So he said, "Let's take care of the present first! We'll figure out what to do later! It's fine if this person didn't come up the mountain, but since he's come to our Qinglong Village, we can't let him freeze or starve to death. That's the bottom line! If you can't do a good job, don't take this position, and let someone else do it. If you want to continue managing the money and supplies, find a way to solve the problem! Don't give me any excuses."

Kong Zongru glared at Yang Jiefang, his heart pounding, struggling to control himself. After a long silence, he finally said, "Ninety-seven people, forty-nine quilts will be enough." Surprisingly, Yang Jiefang agreed. "Okay," he replied. "It seems there are difficulties, but there are always more solutions than problems." Kong Zongru ignored him, called over warehouse workers, used two flatbed carts, counted the items, had Yang Jiefang sign off, and delivered them to him. After signing, Yang Jiefang said, "If you want to learn double-entry bookkeeping, I really can teach you." Kong Zongru roared, "Get out!"

Yang Jiefang distributed cotton quilts to the officers and soldiers, a move that clearly surprised them greatly. They were all deeply moved and thanked him repeatedly. A few clever ones even vowed to reform themselves and join the Qinglong Village. But these words were just empty promises; these people only knew how to work, and had no idea what reform meant.