Chapter 277: Happy to Hear About the War! (A big chapter with over words!)
Xue Tian, ​​the commander of the Sichuan Army's guard battalion, can be said to be the most senior person in the entire Sichuan Army.

Because he is the servant of the Cun family, and also the earliest person to follow Cun Yunsheng.

If he is responsible for the landing, no one will have any objection.

Who knows Cun Yunsheng shook his head and said.

"Old Xue's military command ability is average. Putting him in charge of landing operations might harm him. It is enough to let him be in charge of guard work."

"So what do you mean?" Meng Fan asked with a puzzled look on his face.

Although Xue Tian did not command many decent battles, there were also few battles that other people in the Sichuan Army independently commanded.

In other words, everyone is the same.

What's more, there were not many Japanese troops on the island.

As long as the landing is successful, it should only be a matter of time to take over the entire Hainan Island.

"I have a fourth uncle named Cun Xingxing, who wrote me a letter some time ago." Cun Yunsheng did not answer his question immediately, but talked about another thing.

Hearing this, Meng Fan was stunned and didn't know what it meant.

"He followed Du Yuming's expeditionary force to India. He had nothing to do recently, so he wrote me a letter. It was just a chat about family matters." Cun Yunsheng's expression was so indifferent that Meng Fanle had no idea what his superior meant.

"I sent him a telegram, hoping that he would come to me. The newly formed New Second Regiment needs an officer with outstanding command ability. His rank is lieutenant colonel, which makes him very suitable for this position."

"Do you want your fourth uncle to be the commander of the landing operation?" Meng Fanle immediately understood what the other party meant.

The seven sons of the Cun family all served in the military, mainly in the Yunnan Army.

If Cun Yunsheng's fourth uncle was in charge of commanding the landing operation, he would not have any objections.

"Yes, the expeditionary force has nothing to do recently, and the environment over there is really too harsh. It just so happens that we lack excellent military commanders here." Cun Yunsheng said.

"Since you have already made up your mind, why are you still hesitating?" Meng Fan asked puzzledly.

He clearly felt that Cun Yunsheng was a little hesitant. Normally speaking, he was not an indecisive person.

"Because from what I know about my fourth uncle, he will definitely not want to come. After all, my nephew holds a higher position than him, with tens of thousands of men under him, while he is only a lieutenant colonel. With his self-esteem, he will definitely not be able to accept it." Cun Yunsheng said with a wry smile.

Hearing this, Meng Fan opened his mouth, not knowing what to say for a moment.

Are all the men in the Cun family strong-willed?
Bloody?
Or stupid?
"So, you didn't want to join your uncle's army at that time? That's why you ran to the Sichuan Army?" Meng Fanle asked curiously.

"Well, at that time I thought that if I went to the Yunnan Army, those people would definitely know my identity, which would definitely bring me some unnecessary trouble. So I thought about running to the Sichuan Army, where no one would know my identity." These words were not made up by Cun Yunsheng, the original body really thought so.

After all, his surname is Cun and he is from Tengchong. There is no doubt that he is from the Cun family of Tengchong.

Plus the big shot of the Yunnan Army, General Cun Xingqi.

As long as Cun Yunsheng joins the Yunnan Army, he will definitely attract other people's attention.

That's why the original body wanted to join the Sichuan Army.

"Your ideas are really different." Meng Fanle said with a wry smile.

People all wish they could be from a military family, with people always following them wherever they go.

For example, Yu Xiaoqing.

The results of it?
He actually went out to explore the world alone.

Are there such people?

Really!
Aren't those pilots?
Although they came from wealthy families, they still resolutely chose to become pilots, fought with the Japanese army in the blue sky, and finally died heroically for their country.

"So this is what worries me." Cun Yunsheng said with a wry smile.

If his fourth uncle really wanted to rely on the power of the Cun family, he would at least be a colonel by now, not just a lieutenant colonel.

I can only say that Mr. Cun’s education is very good.

"How about you send a telegram to General Du Yuming, asking him to persuade your fourth uncle? After all, there is no war over there right now. Why don't you come over and help us first? And then go back after the war is over?" Meng Fan rolled his eyes and immediately came up with an idea.

Hearing this, Cun Yunsheng's eyes lit up. This was indeed a good idea.

"That's right. I will write a letter to General Du Yuming right now. I believe that with his persuasion, I will succeed." Cun Yunsheng nodded, then immediately took out a pen and started writing.

…………

Letters written by officers and soldiers of the Sichuan Army were sent to the mailing address as quickly as possible.

Along with the letters there were also some valuables such as silver dollars.

"Dad, Song Ergou from the east end of the village sent back a letter asking his family to immigrate to the south." From Elm Village, Shadan ran back breathlessly and said to his old father who was smoking a pipe at the door.

Hearing this, Shadan's father took two deep puffs of his pipe.

Then he looked at his silly son in confusion and asked, "Is it the second son of the Song family?"

"He actually asked someone to send a letter back? I thought he died on the battlefield."

"I didn't expect he's still alive. This kid is really lucky."

Looking at his father talking to himself, Shadan was speechless, and then repeated it again.

"Dad, what I said is that Song Ergou asked his family to go to the south."

"I know. You don't have to repeat it twice. Isn't it just to let all their family members go to the south?" Shadan's father glared at his stupid son unhappily.

"I'm just impressed. This guy is really alive. Didn't he write a letter some time ago saying that he was going to fight in Burma or something? I heard that tens of thousands of people died. I thought he was dead. I didn't expect that he is still alive."

"Dad, what does this have to do with it? Maybe he is lucky. It is said that he is rich now, so he asked his family to move to the south, saying that they were going to divide the land or something." Shadan thought that his father was out of his mind. What the hell was going on?

"Divide the land? What kind of land are you dividing? Don't believe everything you hear. Maybe they are just bragging." Shadan's father felt that his son had no self-judgment at all and just believed whatever others said.

"Dad, this time is different. It is said that Song Ergou performed very well. He made great contributions in the Sichuan Army and was awarded some land."

"And this time the messenger brought back fifty dollars." Shadan said.

"I heard from the Song family that this is only two or three months of military pay. He can now get more than ten dollars a month, which is much higher than the county security team."

"Not only that, family members can also get land for free. As long as they pay 10% tax, the harvested grain is theirs." Shadan told all the information he had found out in one breath.

Fifty dollars, Silly Dad wasn't too excited. That was the money people earned by risking their lives, there was no need to be envious or jealous. As for the high military pay, it could only be said that he met a good commander.

But the free distribution of land and the requirement of only 10% tax made his face change drastically and he didn't care about the tobacco.

He suddenly stood up. This is a policy that has never been seen in any dynasty.

If the tax rate is 10%, you only need to pay 100 kilograms out of a thousand kilograms collected in a year.

This is really too low.

"Really? You only need to pay 10% tax? The rest is yours," Silly Dan's father asked, staring at Silly Dan.

"Really? It is said that one person can get five mu of land, and they are all excellent farmland. With three crops a year, one mu of land can produce four to five hundred kilograms of grain. With three crops a year, that's more than a thousand kilograms. This is not comparable to the barren land here." Shadan was frightened by his father's stare, but he still said it with a stiff upper lip.

You should know that the yield of the best farmland these days is about 600 to 700 kilograms per mu.

After paying the rent, there are still two or three hundred kilograms left, which is barely enough for one person to eat and drink.

This is just the best fertile land, and there is nothing like the poor land.

An acre of land only produces two or three hundred kilograms of rice, and after paying the rent, you are not able to eat enough.

Therefore, people in rural areas basically have two meals a day, and the strong laborers have to eat first.

Women and children can only drink watery liquids to ensure they don’t starve to death.

Want to save some money?

That's basically impossible.

It is really amazing to hear that a fertile land that can produce thousands of kilograms per mu in a year only needs to pay 10% tax.

What’s more important is that each person gets five acres. If there are more people, they can get more. This makes them real small landlords.

People of this era are so easily satisfied. They only care about having enough food, not how good the food is.

"Really?" The silly father looked at his son and asked in disbelief.

"Of course it's true. How could I lie to you? But it seems that only Song Ergou's family can enjoy the 10% tax. I heard that if you join the army, you can also get land, and then you only have to pay half of the tax." Shadan scratched his head and said again.

Hearing this, Silly Dad instantly lost interest.

He knew that there was no such good person who only wanted 10% tax.
Should I let my son join the army as well?
Do not!
I would rather die than join the army.

"What about people like us?" The silly dad, who had lost all interest, asked weakly.

"It seems that only 20% of the tax is required, so only 200 kilograms are required for every 1,000 kilograms." Shadan didn't know why his father had changed so much, but he still answered honestly.

Hearing this, Silly Dad's breathing quickened a lot.

Twenty percent is not much.

After paying taxes, there are still 1,000 kilograms of grain a year, which is enough for a family of three to have porridge.

And each person was given five acres of land.

That's 5,000 kilograms of grain, and after deducting food and drink, there will still be some money left.

By then, maybe I could even find a wife for my silly son.

Thinking of this, the silly dad suddenly became interested, finally made up his mind, and said domineeringly.

"Come on, silly boy, let's follow the Song family to the south, work for a few years, and then we'll find you a wife."

"Ah..." Shadan was confused.

Such scenes were staged in many places. After all, the treatment given by the Sichuan Army was too generous. They also wanted their relatives to come over and live a good life.

After all, the land was distributed for free and the taxes were very low.

When you arrive, you will be given a house and even helped to find a wife.

Isn’t that enough?

If you are willing to join the army, you will get more benefits.

Such generous conditions are indeed very attractive to many people.

Especially those people living in mountainous and hilly areas, they couldn't wait to hear such generous conditions.

After all, many people face compounding taxes and oppressive rents from landlords.

They can't pay it back even if they work like slaves. No, it should be said that no one in their generation can pay it back.

And now, the opportunity to escape this predicament is right in front of us.

They certainly won't give up.

A field that produces one or two hundred kilograms per mu cannot be compared with a fertile field that produces one thousand kilograms per mu.

Unless you are a fool, you can definitely make a decision.

In the entire Yushu Village, 60% of the people finally followed the Song family to Hanoi.

The rest are all wealthy, or can just barely make ends meet.

Part of it is that it is hard to leave one’s hometown.

After all, not everyone can be so cruel.

Those who headed south to Hanoi were also feeling nervous.

Fortunately, the Sichuan Army soldiers who were responsible for the reception did not disappoint them.

"Wow, Dad, this is our new house. It's all made of wood. It's much better than our original thatched house." Looking at the wooden house in front of him, Shadan's face was full of excitement.

You know, in their hometown they built houses with straw mixed with yellow mud and earth bricks.

A house made entirely of wood like this is simply not something that poor people like them can afford to live in.

In fact, there are still some blue brick and tile houses, but these are all arranged for the families of the Sichuan Army.

The treatment of both parties is naturally different.

Even so, Shadan's father was happy. After living for most of his life, he finally got rid of the thatched house.

This is much more comfortable than living in a thatched hut.

"Silly boy, wait for two years and your dad will move into a blue brick and tile house, the kind of house that the landlords in our village live in. Then you can give birth to a few more babies for me." Silly boy's father said proudly.

He believed that with his hard work, he would be able to become rich.

"Dad, these are rice seeds and vegetable seeds. Wow, there are also farm tools. Even beds and tables are ready?" Rushing into the new house, Shadan was shocked by everything in front of him and felt dizzy.

The dad doesn't care much about these idiots. He cares a lot about the quality of the land and whether it is really top-quality land.

Soon, the officer in charge of immigration work led them to distribute land. When seeing the large piece of land in front of him, Silly Dad was dumbfounded.

He grabbed a handful of soil, squeezed it hard, and took a sip. It had a pleasant fragrance. It was indeed top-quality soil. Even the landlords in the village did not have such good land.

More importantly, these are top-quality rice fields.

"There are four people in your family, and one of them is not yet an adult. According to the regulations, you can also enjoy land distribution. The total land is 20 acres. According to the agreement, the annual tax is 20%. Here are your certificates." The officer in charge of immigration work handed over a certificate and continued.

"General, how do you collect this 20% tax?" Silly Dad asked cautiously.

"We will collect taxes based on the average yield per mu. Don't worry, you will never suffer any loss." The officer added.

"There will be some silt in the river, and we can spread it into the farmland as fertilizer. You are all experienced farmers, and I believe you all know this."

Hearing this, Silly Dad nodded quickly and patted his chest to show that he had been farming for decades.

After the other party left, Shadan's father looked at the land in front of him and spoke to Shadan.

"Silly boy, this field is much more fertile than the one we planted before. You must take good care of it. According to my estimation, the harvest can be increased by at least 30%."

"Yeah." Shadan nodded desperately.

…………

"In other words, if we use river silt, the production capacity will increase by at least 30%?" Lin Yi looked at the agronomist in front of him and asked puzzledly.

"About 30%. The silt here is very fertile. I'm very curious why the people here didn't know how to use the silt for irrigation?" The old farmer's name is Wan Dingguo, and he is an agronomist.

Wars are raging these days, and people like them can only rely on subsidies from the mountain city to survive.

But it was just to support himself. After Cun Yunsheng invested in Southwest Associated University, he asked the other party to introduce him to several agricultural scientists with the aim of improving rice varieties and finding ways to increase production.

If you want to increase production these days, you can only rely on chemical fertilizers.

However, at present, Cun Yunsheng’s explosives factory does not produce enough explosives for its own use.

How can we have the spare capacity to produce fertilizers?

So we turned our attention to the silt in the river.
If this thing is used to grow crops, the yield will be very high that year.

"Thirty percent. With so much land, that means hundreds of thousands of kilograms of grain, or even more. Then we can feed more people." Lin Yi showed a hint of excitement on his face.

He didn't expect that the silt would have such a great effect.

"Silt has its limits. It's estimated that in three to five years at most, the nutrients it brings will disappear. It's better to make chemical fertilizers." Wan Guoding shook his head and said.

"Three to five years is enough." Lin Yi didn't think that far at that time. For him, three to five years was more than enough.

"I'll leave the matter of rice seed improvement to you," Lin Yi said respectfully.

"No problem. If we can really improve rice varieties, it will be a blessing for people all over the world." Wan Guoding did not refuse and nodded in agreement.

.........

Newly recruited soldiers are being trained at a military camp outside Hanoi.

They have been training for ten days.

After ten days of rigorous training, the team is much better than before, at least it doesn't look like a mob.

Especially with the supply of meat, the tendons of these people began to show, and they looked much more vibrant than before.

The officers in charge of the drill were very satisfied. Although these honest country boys were a little stupid, they were very obedient and would do whatever they were told to do.

The simplest thing is, if you don’t train well, then don’t eat.

Now everyone trained very hard.

Because the food of the Sichuan Army was very good, there was meat basically at every meal, which made these people who had not seen meat for a long time drool when they saw it.

So in order to eat meat every day, they all trained hard.

"Gouzi, I heard that there will be an assessment in ten days. If you pass it, you can be promoted to a higher rank and get an extra acre of land?" A sturdy young man said enviously to the man next to him.

"Yes, so I plan to practice more at night. If I can be promoted then, I will have one more acre of land and can harvest thousands of kilograms of grain more a year." Gou Zi showed an honest smile.

He was originally from a small mountain village in the north. He was laid off after the Central Plains War and then came to Shanghai, where he worked as a laborer at the dock.

Relying on brute force, he could barely make ends meet, and he originally thought that he would spend his life in a muddle.

Who knew that the Sichuan Army was recruiting immigrants? After getting the news, he gritted his teeth and came with the mentality of giving it a try.

After arriving in this strange land and thinking for a few days, he decided to continue serving in the army.

Fortunately, when he was in Shanghai, he attended a literacy class for a few days and learned a few words.

So when he joined the Sichuan Army, it was natural for him to become the team leader of the recruit squad, also known as the deputy squad leader.

There is no way, because what the Sichuan Army lacks most is literate people.

People like him who can read and write will definitely be promoted first.

"Gouzi, if you are promoted to private first class, wouldn't it be just three acres of land?" other soldiers also asked.

"Yes, but I still want to make a contribution and become an officer. That's ten acres of land." Gou Zi scratched his head. He felt that this was too little.

The emergence of the military merit system has indeed boosted the morale of the troops.

Everyone was eager to rush to the front line and fight the enemy.

Because they know that this is the only way to get promoted quickly.

"Don't worry. It is said that the war will start soon. We will definitely be able to make great contributions then." A well-informed soldier whispered.

"Is it true?" Gou Zi asked hurriedly.

"It must be true. There is an old soldier in the kitchen squad. He has a comrade-in-arms from the guard battalion. He secretly told him that we may be the first troops to go to the front line."

Hearing this, more soldiers gathered around.

Since learning about the Sichuan Army's military merit system, they are now very eager to go to the battlefield and make merit.

Whether it was the distribution of land while they were alive or the generous pensions after their death, they were all happy to hear about the war.

"Why are you all gathered together? Hurry up and train. If you don't pass the assessment and get promoted, forget about getting the land." The scolding from the officer in the distance made them disperse immediately and start training hard.

　I originally planned to finish the whole chapter in one go, but after thinking about it I decided to split it into two chapters, with one more to go!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)