Chapter 2 Countercurrent (Three Downs)

"Everyone will take out the original characters first and review the Chinese characters I taught yesterday. I will come back in five minutes." Zhang Songling looked nice and found the red beard standing at the window. He quickly arranged for the recruits to study for the time being and walked out of the door. "Captain Wang, you have something to ask me for.."

"Oh, there's something small." Redbeard quickly wiped his face, and when he raised his head again, he became the old man who always smiled, "I didn't disturb you in class, right?"

"No, this cultural class has just begun. The first five minutes are routine singing to liven up the atmosphere, and then you will enter the formal course." Zhang Songling shook his head and explained with a smile.

"That's good, that's good." Red Beard's face was filled with smiles, but his voice revealed that he had just experienced a huge fluctuation in his emotions. "I'm afraid, I'm afraid of disturbing you to teach students, so I didn't dare to call you out. Oh, let's go away and say it. Just a few words will not delay you for too long."

He didn't want the recruits to see that they were out of control. He smiled and invited Zhang Songling. Zhang Songling understood the old man's thoughts, nodded and agreed, and followed. The two walked side by side slowly for five or ten meters. When their breathing became even, they slowly stopped under a jujube tree full of flowers.

The jujube tree in early summer is full of white flowers the size of soybeans. It tastes fragrant and sweet, and is fascinating. Red Beard first took a deep breath of the fragrance of flowers, and then asked with a bit of appreciation: "I have taught a few songs, and it seems that the effect is pretty good."

"I have taught three songs in total. Everyone is very enthusiastic about learning. They have a deeper understanding of why they fight." Zhang Songling smiled, with a slightly ashamed expression on his face. When Red Beard suggested teaching the recruits to sing half a month ago, he did not expect that he would see the results so soon. He thought that the recruits who were so tired that they could not even have the strength to climb into bed every day could not be interested in singing. Unexpectedly, after more than half a month, singing became the recruits' favorite homework, no less than holding a rifle and using a rechargeable bullet to shoot live ammunition.

"No, not bad. I saw that everyone's spirit was obviously different from when they first joined the army. If this continues, it will probably take less than two months to officially enter the battlefield. This is all your credit, but it is much better than I was doing it alone," Red Beard nodded with satisfaction and praised with a smile.

"It's Team Wang who has good guidance, Captain Zhao, Captain Zheng and Team Wu, who have helped me a lot." Zhang Songling did not dare to be greedy for me and waved his hand to respond.

"Whose grades should be, whoever they have done, I can't figure out how much work they have done." Red Beard glanced at him and smiled and scolded, "You kid, don't learn so many problems, for fear that you will make the rafter that you have made, and on the guerrillas' three-point land, someone will find fault and attack you. Not to mention that I won't agree, the brothers can't rub the sand in their eyes."

"I, I don't mean that. Captain Zhao and the others have really helped a lot. At least, he has always been the one who teaches riding step by step." Zhang Songling's face became more rosy and waved his hand and explained embarrassedly.

"Okay, you don't have to be humble. Anyway, even if you are commended, you can only be verbal. I can't get any bonus here." Red Beard added with a smile, and then quickly turned the topic to the construction of the guerrilla area. "Where has the work of opening a workshop? I haven't been going down the mountain to see these days. You can report the progress to me."

Even if he didn't come here to ask, Zhang Songling would take the initiative to come to him to report. After thinking about it, he responded very neatly, "The first felt workshop has been put into production. It is in Xiaoliu Village at the foot of the mountain. I recorded the entire construction process and handed it to Zheng Xiaobao and the others with the tool drawings, so that they could also draw pictures in the other three nearby villages and each opened a felt workshop. They were holding the drawings and discussing with the people of the village committee. They just organized people to work manually after the conditions were agreed."

"Will there be four felt workshops all at once? Will there be more and more? Can it be sold?" Hongbei knew that Zhang Songling was a practical worker, but she didn't expect that his movements would be so close. She was stunned and asked in confusion.

"Not too much, not too much." Zhang Songling smiled and shook his head, "Without the help of machines, making felts has become a pure physical job. Four workshops start production at the same time, and the output of about 300 felts per month. That thing can be used by the Mongolian renovated felt bags. As long as the price is right, there is no need to worry about no sales."

"Don't the Mongolians roll the felt themselves? They still bought them cheaper than they did it themselves." Hongbei knew that he was an amateur in industrial and commercial production. After thinking about it, she asked Zhang Songling for advice very seriously.

"The Mongolians also rolled the felt themselves, but there are only two products, white and brown, and the size is very casual. Unlike what we produce in the workshop, we can mix brown wool in stages according to the prior design to create very beautiful patterns. Moreover, our workshop uses a unified measuring tool and mold. Each piece of felt made is the same size, which is much neatly arranged by the herdsmen themselves."

Fearing that Red Beard couldn't understand, Zhang Songling paused, and continued to add, "In this way, when they renovate the felt bag next time, they don't have to worry about cutting it. They can just peel off the rotten piece and replace it with a new one. So even if our goods are more expensive than they make, they will buy it with us. Besides, summer is coming soon, and the price of wool is falling all the way. Except for our workshop, no one has the ability to spend money to cover all the wool in the hands of the herdsmen."

According to the seasonal changes, at the lowest price of the year, eating raw materials in large quantities and selling finished products evenly at a relatively stable price. The reason is very simple, but except for the guerrillas, no one could think of this idea within a radius of hundreds of miles, and they did not have the strength or organizational ability to start felt workshops in batches. Although Red Beard does not know how to do business, after Zhang Songling gave a little advice, he understood the truth, nodded with a smile, and said happily: "That's good, that's good. If you can sell the goods, you can do it with confidence and boldness. If the boss asks, I will naturally be there to deal with them."

"Why, the superior department has different opinions." Zhang Songling was very sensitive and immediately frowned and asked.

"It must be. After all, the attempts you have made are something that our Chabei Military Sub-district has never done before. Not only Chabei Military Sub-district, but also Chanan, and several military sub-districts in Hebei are included. We are also scorpion cakes, the only one." Red Beard didn't want to hide it, so he said whatever he had. "But we have to develop, and we can't exploit the people like warlords. If we don't find a way to make money by ourselves, are we still waiting for the central government to pay military pay? Not to mention that the central government can't pay military pay, even if there is, how many cents can fall on us!"

"That's right." Zhang Songling was amused by the red beard's statement and still felt uncomfortable in his heart. There were different voices on the military sub-district so quickly. It must be someone in the guerrillas who took the initiative to report the situation to the superior department. Otherwise, with the distance between the two sides, what happened within the guerrillas would spread to the military sub-district, which would take at least two or three months or even longer. By that time, his felt business had already been done, and it was impossible to stop easily.

"We are not afraid of opposing voices. We can use facts to convince them. What we are afraid of is that there is no opposing voice, but they quietly tripped." Guessing that Zhang Songling would feel a bump in his heart, Red Beard patted his shoulder and smiled and enlightened, "Our Eighth Route Army cadres all grew up eating rice. It is impossible for everyone to have the same idea. In that case, everyone will become a shadow puppet tied with a thread. It is impossible for them to be a living thing. Just do it with confidence and boldness. I am responsible for following the head and whispering. As long as we stand by, even if the head has different opinions, I am sure that they cannot interfere with the normal production of the workshop."

"Yes." Zhang Songling nodded and let out a long breath. For some reason, he remembered the incident in his heart that the 26th Route Special Forces fought against the Japanese in Walnut Garden, and a group of people led by Deputy Commander Huang made a knife to the secret service behind his back. That experience made him completely realize the despicable human nature, and from then on, he would never dare to trust others easily.

Hongbei didn't have that many twists and turns in her heart. After introducing her attention to the workshop, she continued to ask: "How are the people in the village reacting? Are you willing to work in the workshop? How do you plan to settle the settlement for them?"

"It's okay." Speaking of industrial matters, Zhang Songling quickly got better. "According to the prior discussion, we will pay the funds and technology. The village will take the site. The products will be purchased by us. After making money, the cost of advance payment will be deducted. 30% of the profit will be subject to the village committee, and 70% will be paid to the guerrillas. The workers in the village will calculate the money by day. They will work for five hours every morning and afternoon, and go home for two hours at noon to have a meal and rest. The workers will pay 30 cents for one day and a small worker will pay 10 cents for five cents. If you work overtime, the wages will be converted by hour. You can work up to twenty-four days a month and rest for six days. The wages will be paid by our guerrillas first."

"That month can only earn seven or eight yuan at most." Hongbei quickly calculated in her heart and said uneasy, "Will there be a little less? Rolling the felt is a physical job."

"It must be less than the factories there." Zhang Songling smiled and shook his head slightly, "But it is still much better than farming. Don't be sure that every family here has their own wasteland, but after a whole year of busy work, each strong laborer can earn seven or eight yuan in a large amount of money after deducting rations. If you work for our factory, you can get almost one year in a month, so we don't have to worry about not being able to recruit workers. Now I am recruiting workers, so I give priority to taking care of someone from my family who has joined our guerrillas. Only the remaining quotas will be handed over to the village committee."

"This" Red Beard still felt that Zhang Songling's salary was a bit unscrupulous, but the situation of the guerrillas was there, and it was impossible for them to lose money to make a lot of money. Thinking of this period, he made a lot of heart and said: "Just follow your method. When you make money in the future, you will find a way to compensate the workers."

"It's good to wait until the bone glue workshop and the cooked leather workshop are opened. These two things are more profitable and easier to ship to merchants. My current idea is to first roll out the felt to let the villagers accept the existence of the workshop, and then use the felt workshop to train qualified workers, and then build a new workshop. From easy to difficult, we can proceed step by step. In the future, even the reload of bullets can be handed over to the special workshops in the village. We provide technology and used bullet shells, and then purchase finished products, which can save the soldiers a lot of time." Zhang Songling thought for a long time and patiently introduced to Hongbei.

The Red Beard had an impression of the previous arrangements. He nodded repeatedly. When he heard the last sentence, he was startled by Zhang Songling's boldness. "Why, even the bullets are reloaded, you are going to leave them to the villagers. What can they do?"

"There is no problem at all." Zhang Songling nodded proudly, "It's nothing more than melting the bullet shell into copper water, pouring it into the mold made in advance to cast the bullet, and then polishing the bullet with sand and gravel and reinstalling it back. If it is divided into several processes and handed over to the villagers, each group will be responsible for one process, the speed will be much faster than now, and the yield rate will be more guaranteed. Of course, in the near future, it will still be done by the workshops in our own camp. First, the raw materials for the bullet cannot be supplied. Second, handing it over to the village now will also cause a lot of unnecessary trouble."

Hearing him say he didn't do it immediately, Red Beard's heart finally fell back into his stomach, he breathed a sigh of relief, and whispered: "Well, I'll just talk to the brick kiln and lime kiln you mentioned last time. You have to consider it when the conditions are ripe. By the way, should you hurry up and arrange it at the villagers' night school? If I need my cooperation, please tell me as soon as possible and don't stretch it."

"I have been unable to arrange my time recently." Zhang Songling finally showed a hint of embarrassment on his face and hesitated. "However, Team Leader Wu seemed to have told me that he didn't mind providing me with some help. Otherwise, ask him if he would be willing to take on this matter alone."

"You mean Xiao Wu," Red Beard frowned and looked at Zhang Songling in confusion. From the latter's face, he could not see any hypocritical expression. He nodded his head a few times and continued, "Okay, I'll go and ask him, that's right. I should really put some burden on him, otherwise it would be a problem to rely on you in everything and exhaust you if you are exhausted."

Zhang Songling's original intention was to bring the telecommunications team in and part his credit, so as not to stare at him like a cockfight all day, which made both parties unhappy. Seeing that Hongbei agreed to his suggestion, he smiled and said, "Team Leader Wu has a higher education than me, and has learned how to mobilize the masses. He is definitely more suitable for him to be the head of this night school than me. You should rest assured. It will not take long for the night school to leave the recruits far behind."

"You kid, you will make excuses to be lazy." Red Beard reached out and rubbed Zhang Songling's head, and scolded him helplessly. It was someone who reported to the superior department that the guerrillas were opening workshops. No need to guess, his heart was like a mirror. With Zhang Songling's intelligence and elegance, he would definitely think that the reason why the superior department could grasp the guerrillas' movements so quickly. It would be inevitable to take some precautions next.

But what made him feel relieved was that Zhang Songling did not want to cause trouble for Xiao Wu, but instead took the initiative to transfer a relatively simple and fast-acting thing to the latter, which showed the gap in the realm between the two young people, and it also proved that his red beard had no mistake at all. His career could definitely be handed over to this little fat man in the future. Even if his ideological awareness improves a little slower, he can rest assured, at least, there is no need to worry that he will lead the team into the gutter.

He looked at Zhang Songling's unreasonable face again, and the red beard smiled and pushed him away, "Okay, I have nothing else to do here. You should go back and teach the recruits. I guess they have been impatient for a long time."

"Then I'll go back. If you have something to do, come to me directly." Zhang Songling said politely again, turned around and walked towards a classroom specially opened for new recruits to learn. His steps became a little relaxed without realizing it.

"This little fat man is so sensible." Looking at his back as he quickly moved away, Red Beard smiled and said to himself, "Fortunately, there is no bad intention, otherwise, no one can cure him."

After laughing, he rubbed his old waist standing sore, and walked slowly towards the command center, and then walked out 30 to 50 meters. After a house, the gentle and gentle face of the telecommunications team leader Xiao Wu suddenly flashed, "Captain Wang, can you delay your time for a few minutes? I want to tell you something."

"So, what can't you do?" Hongbei looked at the old watch on her wrist and nodded with a smile, "What's wrong? The battery of the radio station is not enough, then you can save as much as possible. There is no place to sell this thing nearby. The current inventory of the guerrillas is still based on the face of Captain Xiao Zhang, and they have been asked for from the Jinsui Army Independence Battalion."

"Well, I know, I have tried my best to save it." Xiao Wu, the leader of the telecommunications team, blushed and explained embarrassedly, "It is because the terrain here is too low and it is not easy to receive radio waves, so he has to turn the power higher."

"Just be clear in your heart, I don't understand these." Hongbei nodded and added with a smile. Although she felt that Xiao Wu was a good person in her work, she was unwilling to hurt the other party's self-esteem too much. After all, this child was directly supplemented from the military sub-district, so she had to give some face to the leaders.

"I'll find a way to drill a few holes in the battery and add some fine salt to make it more durable." Hearing that Red Beard didn't plan to delve into it, Xiao Wu quickly found a way to make up for his mistakes.

"Well, you can find a way to solve it yourself." Red Beard nodded in praise, "What's the matter with me? The superior leader has new instructions."

"No." Telecommunications team leader Xiao Wu shook his head with a smile, "I'm looking for you to talk about the felt workshop. I don't know if you have seen the management system established by Captain Zhang."

"I have already handed it over to me, and I haven't had time to see it yet." Red Beard's brow frowned again, and responded softly with a little dissatisfaction, "Why, what problem did you find inside, will it affect your childbirth?"

"This cannot be said to be a problem." Xiao Wu looked up at the red-bearded face, and his voice became a little lack of confidence. "Simple, from the perspective of workshop management, it is not a problem. Captain Zhang runs a shop at home. He knows how to make his apprentice work and how to get the maximum profit."

"Yes." Red Beard just pondered gently, not complaining about Xiao Wu's evaluation.

"But from other perspectives, this demonstration workshop is a bit cruel to the workers." Xiao Wu carefully considered the words and tried not to use the word "exploitation". "I mean, he almost copied the shop's way of treating apprentices and long-term workers into the workshop. The work hours are fixed every day. In the middle, he had to ask for leave from the foreman to drink water. When the work hours were fixed, he had to ask for leave from the foreman to drink water. When the get off work hours were fixed, he had to be fixed. He was late and leave early, and he had to deduct wages. Regardless of whether the workers were sick or not, whether there were other reasons, the wages were originally paid very low, and he would deduct seven or eight deducted every month. I was afraid that it would be comparable to those of sweatshops in the city."

"Oh,." The red beard's face quickly surged with anger. It was not because Zhang Songling was harsh on the workers, but because Xiao Wu deliberately found fault and created conflicts. "You have already gone to the workshop to see it, have you talked to the workers? Is this their opinion?"

"Not yet." Xiao Wu, the telecommunications team leader, turned red again when asked, and explained with a wry smile, "Captain Zhang brought the management regulations and asked me to give him advice. I was afraid that I would like to talk to you in advance if I rashly said my thoughts and make him unhappy, so I wanted to communicate with you in advance."

"Then you go to the workshop to do a few days of work and ask the workers' opinions." Hongbei looked up and down at Xiao Wu and whispered, "The work at hand is for your team members for the time being. You can go to the factory to take a look. Just in time, I am going to open a night school for the people in the village to teach them the principles of studying, literacy and the war of resistance and saving the country. You will also take the responsibility of the principal."

"I, I" When the principal teaches the people to read and read, and promotes the principles of fighting against Japan and saving the country, Xiao Wu doesn't care, but when he goes to the workshop to roll the felt with the workers covered in sweat, he can get goose bumps when he thinks about it. It's pure physical labor and shouldn't be done by him, a pride in the world who graduated from university. Although just a minute ago, he still protests on behalf of the workers on behalf of the workers to protest Zhang Songling's exploitation.

"Why, you're scared." Red Beard could think of Xiao Wu's thoughts without guessing, and looked at the other party with a smile, whispering in a low voice.

"No, it's not that I'm afraid, I, my family is from the south and I have never done the work of rolling felts." Xiao Wu of course was unwilling to admit his condemnation and immediately defended himself loudly.

"Then try it. You can't learn it. I believe that with your Xiao Wu's intelligence, you can learn it in half a day." Hongbei smiled and patted his shoulder, and made the final decision. "You don't have to keep working. Just roll out the felt in the workshop for two weeks. Isn't it more convincing to wait until you get familiar with the workers and learn about their true thoughts and difficulties, and come back to give suggestions, isn't it more convincing?"

Note: In the previous section, Han Fuqu mentioned it. Here are a few more sentences. Although the Han family had many bad records back then, when they were in charge of Shandong, they did regard Shandong Province as their long-term foundation construction. They invited many great people at that time to make suggestions and try to solve rural problems from the root. They also vigorously established industries and education. Therefore, the author believes that when talking about Han in later generations, they should not hide their achievements because of their mistakes.
Chapter completed!