Yang Daniu, holding the identity certificate that he considered incredibly precious, examined it again and again.
It might seem amusing, but as a legitimate second-generation poor, Yang Daniu was holding a piece of paper that belonged to him for the first time. Yang Daniu had never imagined that such a light piece of paper could feel as heavy as a thousand pounds in his hand.
For later generations only knew of notebooks for writing, tissues for use on the go, wet wipes for face cleaning, and toilet paper and special wet wipes for wiping their bottoms. No one had ever heard of treating an ordinary piece of paper as a treasure.
But during the era of my Great Qing, commoners could not afford paper. Those who could afford to use coarse grass paper to wipe their bottoms were usually from well-off families of local gentry and scholars. A peasant family like yours, Yang Daniu, would mostly use peeled corn cobs or simply squat in the dirt.
The saying goes that a full granary leads to knowledge of rites, and sufficient food and clothing leads to knowledge of honor and disgrace. In years when granaries were not full and food and clothing were insufficient, being able to eat was the greatest desire of the common people. No one would care about what they used to wipe their bottoms, a matter almost too trivial and nonsensical to contemplate.
Paper, for the impoverished masses, had always been a luxury rather than a daily necessity.
After examining it repeatedly, Yang Daniu, finally regaining his senses, stammered to the scribe, "Officer, sir, this... does it cost money? I..."
As the first person from Xiaoyang Village to handle this identity certificate, Yang Daniu felt he should ask if this identity certificate required payment, or rather, how much it would cost.
Yang Daniu had also prepared himself to be reprimanded.
However, to Yang Daniu's surprise, the scribe was very patient. Hearing his question, he simply chuckled and said, "This doesn't cost money. Our great leader has already paid for you."
Just as Yang Daniu was feeling surprised and wondering if the leader of Menglianggu had some sort of mental issue, the scribe changed the topic and said, "However, if you lose this certificate, you will have to pay ten wen to get a replacement."
Yang Daniu immediately clutched the paper even tighter.
Ten wen, it sounded like a small amount. After all, the eggs that Old Dog Qian ate cost ten taels of silver each. A mere ten wen probably wouldn't even buy the shell of an egg.
But for impoverished commoners like Yang Daniu, ten wen was enough to buy over thirty eggs or some meat, enough for his family's expenses for several days.
The scribe smiled at Yang Daniu's demeanor and said to him, "You stand aside. After everyone from your Xiaoyang Village has finished, someone will take you to bathe and change clothes."
"By the way, the clothes prepared for you are also free, and even the food you will eat later is free. They are all paid for by the Le Ling County yamen, so you don't need to ask repeatedly."
Yang Daniu thought that the great leader might be suffering from a brain disease.
It wasn't until dozens of families from Xiaoyang Village had completed their certificates, and the women of Xiaoyang Village were led towards bathing tents by some rough-handed women, while Yang Daniu and the men of Xiaoyang Village were led to another tent by some soldiers.
Inside the tent, dozens of wooden tubs filled with hot water were lined up. The entire tent was enveloped in steam, making it look like a fairyland.
The soldier leading Yang Daniu and the others shouted, "Villagers, come and line up. We'll start by getting haircuts."
Upon hearing the word "haircut," Yang Daniu unconsciously touched the top of his head and a strange feeling suddenly arose in his heart.
Yang Daniu couldn't quite articulate what this feeling was, but he felt a deep aversion to the word from the bottom of his heart.
Even in the past, every time he got a haircut, Yang Daniu wished he could kill the barber.
On an impulse, Yang Daniu suddenly blurted out, "I don't want a haircut! I want to keep my hair, and let it grow out!"
Yang Daniu's father was by his side. Hearing Yang Daniu say he didn't want a haircut, Old Man Yang was instantly terrified. He pulled Yang Daniu behind him and apologized to the soldiers with a smile, "Sirs, please excuse him. This child has a problem with his brain. What he says cannot be taken seriously. We will get haircuts, we will get haircuts."
The soldiers had seen many people like Old Man Yang before.
They were humble, they were timid, they... they were afraid of those in military uniforms!
The soldiers exchanged glances, and one of them shouted, "Third squad, take off your hats! Let everyone see our hair!"
After the soldiers took off their helmets, the soldier walked up to Old Man Yang, smiled, took Old Man Yang's hand, and placed it on his own head: "Old sir, feel my head, feel my hair."
Old Man Yang wanted to quickly withdraw his hand, but his hand simply wouldn't obey him.
His palm was filled with stiff stubble that pricked his fingers.
Old Man Yang's eyes immediately turned red.
Yang Daniu had not experienced the era of "keep your hair, lose your head," nor had he heard of it. Old Man Yang had not personally witnessed what "keep your hair, lose your head" truly meant, but Old Man Yang had heard it from the older generation.
It was truly "keep your hair, lose your head." Anyone who refused to shave their hair into a queue like a rat's tail was basically beheaded.
A hundred ghosts crying in the night!
Old Man Yang mumbled, "I can keep my hair? I... I don't have to drag a rat's tail anymore?"
The soldier grunted and said with a smile, "Yes, you can keep your hair. You can keep it as long as you want, or keep it short like us, it's all up to you, elder."
Old Man Yang felt very strange.
The soldier was clearly comforting him with a smile, but Old Man Yang's eyes were filled with an unbearable soreness.
The soldier then looked at Yang Daniu and said, "We're asking everyone to get haircuts, which means shaving the queue. In the future, we, and our descendants, will no longer have to drag a rat's tail."
Yang Daniu stammered, "I... I heard people say that the body and skin are gifts from our parents. Why do you keep so little hair?"
The soldier chuckled and said, "We keep our hair short because we have to fight. When we're wielding knives to kill people on the battlefield, long hair is inconvenient. It's also difficult to treat injuries."
"Our great leader said that by keeping our hair short, we allow our elders and fellow villagers behind us to keep their hair as long as they wish. We wield knives to kill people so that our elders and fellow villagers are not killed."
"Our great leader also said that the body and skin are gifts from our parents, and the latter part means not to destroy them lightly, not that you cannot groom your hair and must always keep it long. Our great leader said that in the past, even our Han emperors had many who cut their hair like monks. They did whatever was comfortable."
"Only the Tartars, in their attempt to enslave us Han people, not only forced us to keep queues like rat tails, but they even wanted to leave queues in our hearts, making our descendants their slaves."
Yang Daniu was in a state of semi-understanding regarding the soldier's words. He could understand some of it but not thoroughly. However, Yang Daniu suddenly fully understood what the two yamen runners had said earlier: that "the officials here treat their common people very well" in Shandong.
Whether it was registering identity certificates earlier or asking everyone to shave off the rat tails from the back of their heads now, these officials and soldiers only asked for compliance with order. Not only did they not beat the slow-moving or slow-witted commoners, but they didn't even utter a single harsh word.
Yang Daniu and the other people from Xiaoyang Village around him began to line up for haircuts.
After Yang Daniu finished his haircut, the soldier who had Old Man Yang touch his hair shouted again, "Those who have finished their haircuts should start bathing. Before entering the tubs, everyone should undress completely, not a single piece of cloth left on. Wash thoroughly. There are soaps on the racks next to the tubs. Scrub yourselves clean and then rinse with fresh water. Once you are clean, everyone can receive new clothes."
Yang Daniu felt even more convinced that the great leader, whom he had only heard of but never seen, had a brain disease.
It was just a bath, yet they provided soap? And fresh water? And new clothes? What was that great leader trying to achieve?
How much money would this cost?
Even if it was only ten wen per person, two people would be twenty wen, three people would be thirty wen. So many people in Xiaoyang Village...
Yang Daniu couldn't calculate the exact amount, but the number would definitely exceed one hundred, far beyond Yang Daniu's calculation ability.
However, after bathing and putting on the new clothes that had been prepared, Yang Daniu felt as if he had become a different person.
Yang Daniu couldn't explain why. It was just a haircut, just a bath with soap, and the new clothes he was wearing were just ordinary coarse cloth.
Yang Daniu couldn't figure it out, nor did he have time to. For not long after bathing, the people of Xiaoyang Village were led to an open space in the military camp.
When the womenfolk of Xiaoyang Village also arrived at the open space in the military camp, and were reunited with their families, the "commander" named Li Ergou walked to the command platform and announced loudly, "Now, I am informing you in the name of the great leader Zhu Jinsong, that you have obtained the status of citizens under the governance of Menglianggu. You will, according to the law, receive the rights to land allocation, employment, education, and free residence!"
The people of Xiaoyang Village were somewhat bewildered.
Land allocation? Employment? Education? Free residence?
Could a peasant have so many rights?
And just as the people of Xiaoyang Village were confused, Li Ergou shouted again, "But! Our ancestors said that there is no free lunch in this world, and no free meals!"
Below the command platform, all the people of Xiaoyang Village tensed up, knowing that the main point was coming.
The great leader of Menglianggu had given them a bath and new clothes, so the great leader must have some ulterior motive and couldn't have been acting out of pure benevolence for no reason.
Li Ergou continued to shout, "You will not be allocated land for now, because there are too many people coming from Zhili, and even if all the arable land in Shandong were to be allocated, it might not be enough."
"Our great leader said that when our Menglianggu army recaptures Zhili in the future, we will reallocate land to you all!"
Below the command platform, the people of Xiaoyang Village exchanged glances.
No land allocation?
Without land, what would they eat? What would they drink? Where would they live?
Without land, why did they flee to Shandong? Did they have to reclaim wasteland?
However, just thinking of the word "reclaim wasteland" made the faces of the people below turn grim.
The phrase "reclaim wasteland" sounded simple, as if one could just grab a hoe and reclaim a patch of barren land. But what was the reality?
In reality, apart from large-scale land reclamation organized by the government, reclaiming wasteland for ordinary people was a super project that required the mobilization of the entire family, took years to complete, and could even cost their lives.
Otherwise, why do you think the tenant farmers don't reclaim wasteland themselves?
While the people below were thinking about these miscellaneous matters, Li Ergou on the command platform continued to shout, "You may ask, without land, what will you eat? What will you drink? And where will you live?"
"Then I shall tell you."
"In order to allow everyone to settle down quickly and have a livelihood to support their families, our Menglianggu great leader has decided to build many community schools in Shandong. Whether you are a carpenter or have no skills at all, or can only exert great strength, everyone can find a job."
"If you want to eat well and live well, if you want your adults and children to have a stable life, you cannot wait for pies to fall from the sky, nor can you rely solely on the great leader to arrange things for you! We cannot be idle!"