Chapter 615 - Propaganda Preparations
"Directly conscript militia from the various communes. We not only need to reinforce troops, but once the main army leaves, Lingao will be in a vacuum. The common people will think we've run off with our forces, causing public unrest. Besides, we also need to guard against other forces seizing the opportunity—like Liu Xiang or foreigners," Dongmen Chuiyu said.
"In addition to commune militia, we need to arm workers at all factories to form guard units," He Ming said. "Once operations begin, apart from a small naval force, both army and navy must fully deploy. Lingao's main base must have a certain number of troops for defense. This portion will have to be mainly militia."
"All transmigrators must also be mobilized. When the common people see that the transmigrators are still in Lingao and personally taking up arms, their morale will stabilize considerably. They can also serve as a final reserve," said Pan Da, the engineering corps chief who had returned from Sanya to transport explosives. "Additionally, we need to fortify Lingao's important facilities. Especially Bopu and Maniao—these two are critical points. We must prevent the enemy from infiltrating with small units and landing."
Wei Aiwen said dismissively, "You're overestimating them—"
"Strategically despise, tactically respect. If the enemy employs tactics like disguised raids, killing even a few transmigrators would count as a severe loss," Pan Da replied.
He Ming nodded: "If the enemy has sufficient determination and a few bold, aggressive commanders, they might well employ infiltration and surprise attack tactics—history has no shortage of precedents."
Soon, the battle plan and mobilization proposal were submitted to the Executive Committee. After supplementing and revising certain content, implementation officially began.
The Level Two mobilization order was subsequently issued. The orange alert was transmitted to all units. The entire transmigrator collective's mobilization machinery began to turn.
Liu Youren returned from his family's fields—summer planting was approaching, and he had personally gone to check the soil condition and the newly built irrigation canal. After Xun Suji had earned the Liu family's full trust in the first year, he began suggesting some larger-scale agricultural projects in the second.
These projects mainly involved farmland water systems. The Liu family's land was relatively concentrated, making large-scale water system construction feasible. The Tiandihui and Delong Bank together had launched a special water system loan for this purpose. Starting in winter, Liu Youren had mobilized his clansmen, tenants, and hired laborers to build the first irrigation canal under Tiandihui guidance.
After construction through winter and spring, this canal was finally completed. Built to modern agricultural standards, along with matching sluice gates, reservoirs, and branch channels, though it couldn't compare with the Meitai Plain management project or the school field renovation, it was still first-class among Tiandihui's major clients.
Liu Youren examined place after place and felt quite satisfied. According to Xun Suji, with this canal built, the soil moisture level could be maintained at a constant level—excess water would drain away, insufficient water could be irrigated. As long as there wasn't a major flood or drought disaster, harvests would be guaranteed.
This was certainly no exaggeration. Liu Youren had visited other counties, and some county seats had government-built channels that indeed benefited countless people. Now his own land had the same, which left Liu Youren not only excited but amazed at his own boldness.
This project had cost a fortune. Apart from labor, which he mostly provided himself, all materials were ordered from the Australians, and nothing was cheap. Just that gray powder that became mud in water and hard as stone when dry cost fifty circulation vouchers per bag. Even the sand, gravel, and bamboo used in the project were processed by the Australians and sold by the kilogram. Technical guidance was free, though—because he was a Tiandihui priority client and had already paid service fees.
There was no way he could have afforded this construction expense himself—even his entire clan together couldn't have managed it. Most of the project cost came from Delong Bank loans, with his land as collateral.
If this year's harvest was poor and he couldn't repay the first loan installment in autumn, he would lose everything.
In the past, he never would have dared make such a large gamble. But now he had developed a kind of blind faith in everything the Australians did. He felt the Australians were right about everything and never failed at anything. In short, following them would definitely never lead to loss.
Now he was even more eager to arrange Liu Meilan's marriage to Xun Suji. He had developed a vague notion: if he didn't marry into their circle now, he might not have the chance later.
He changed clothes and returned to his workspace. Liu Guangbiao had already arrived, holding the newspaper just purchased from Dongmen Market.
Liu Youren had developed the habit of reading the Lingao Times daily. He knew that though this Australian thing wasn't the same as the Ming Dynasty's official gazette, it had similarities—namely, it revealed the Australians' recent political trends and governing policies. One could even discern shifts in power dynamics within the Australian group.
For example, recently the newspaper mentioned the Transmigrator Parliament much more often than the Executive Committee. Though Liu Youren didn't know what the Transmigrator Parliament or Executive Committee were, he knew these were the two main governing offices of the Australians. More mention of Parliament meant Parliament was starting to take charge.
If only he knew the Australians' political system and official structure—then he might be able to maneuver within it...
Liu Youren took the newspaper and casually flipped it open. The newspaper was four pages in broadsheet format. "Lingao Times" was written in bold, vigorous regular script. Below was a line of small characters whose meaning he didn't quite understand: "Public Distribution Edition."
The front-page headline was about the Parliament Standing Committee's fourteenth meeting. He skimmed through it, and when he reached the end of the report: "...strongly protest the unjust treatment of our overseas trade personnel..." his eyelid twitched.
Then he flipped further and found an article about the Ming government's harsh policies toward overseas merchants. Such articles had been rare in the past but appeared frequently since the land survey. The content attacked the Ming's contemporary problems and chronic ailments. And they were generally timely. For example, around the time of the land survey, the newspaper had published many articles about the flaws of Ming taxation systems, explaining in detail the changes, evolution, and problems of Ming taxation through the dynasties. It had also published numerous "confessions" from tax collectors—essentially detailing how they had cheated and enriched themselves through the tax system.
What did today's article mean? He read it carefully. When he put down the newspaper, he felt somewhat puzzled. The Ming had always treated merchants who traded overseas or even settled abroad as "abandoned subjects"—this he knew. But he didn't understand why the Australians suddenly took interest in this. They weren't Ming subjects.
But one thing he knew clearly: such articles in the Lingao Times were always some kind of signal, hinting at what the Australians were preparing to do.
However, he couldn't discern any clues from these articles. Liu Youren decided to set this aside for now and deal with more pressing matters first.
"How are the wedding preparations for Meilan and Xun Shouzhang going?"
"In response to Third Uncle: Meilan's horoscope card was sent over a few days ago." Liu Guangbiao had originally suggested marrying Liu Meilan to the Australians out of private revenge. Seeing the Australians becoming ever more powerful, his attitude had changed considerably, becoming very enthusiastic. He had started showing special warmth toward Liu Meilan's family.
"Mm, good. Has Xun Shouzhang's horoscope been sent back?"
"Not yet." Liu Guangbiao said, "For Australians' marriages, they require approval from the Chief of Staff's Office. Xun Shouzhang says the officials there haven't approved the application yet—also, according to Xun Shouzhang, Australians don't have birth horoscopes."
"Nonsense, how can anyone not have a birth horoscope?" Liu Youren scolded. "Don't they claim to be descendants of the Great Song? How can they not even have birth horoscopes!"
"According to Master Zhang, they really don't practice this. They neither need parents' consent nor matchmakers' words..."
Master Zhang was Zhang Youfu, the county's foremost expert on "Australian affairs." Whenever anyone had trouble understanding things when dealing with the Australians, they consulted him.
"This is too frivolous! Can they really not even have a birth horoscope?" Even though it was just a clan granddaughter being married off, she was still a Liu family girl. It couldn't be handled so casually.
"Go tell Xun Shouzhang that we still need a horoscope card. Even if there isn't one, they need to make one as a gesture."
"Yes, I understand." Liu Guangbiao hesitated. "About this—should we still have someone match the horoscopes?"
"Of course. Matters of propriety cannot be skipped." Liu Youren set the tone. "This must be done quickly. Summer will be here in the blink of an eye—surely we won't hold the wedding in the height of summer? Go on now."
"Yes." Liu Guangbiao acknowledged but didn't leave. Instead, he stepped forward and said in a low voice: "I have some news—I don't know if I should mention it—"
"What nonsense! Between an uncle and nephew descended from the same ancestors, what's there to not mention? Out with it!"
"I heard from a former laborer from our estate—he now works at the Australians' factory—the Guangdong government will be sending troops soon!"
"Is this true?!" Liu Youren couldn't help but lower his voice.
"True!" Liu Guangbiao nodded. "The Australians are conducting 'mobilization' at every factory, training militia, preparing to defend the city. He says their factory has recently started producing firearms."
"So the imperial army is really coming!" Liu Youren nodded.
"Third Uncle, what should we do?" Liu Guangbiao asked quietly.
Liu Youren thought: the court using military force against Lingao really didn't make sense. The Australians were doing fine in Lingao, the county magistrate was doing fine as an official, the common people had good livelihoods, things were getting better every day—why wouldn't the court let everyone have a good life? Thinking of this, he couldn't help feeling resentful.
"These officials are planning to use common people's heads as stepping stones for promotion again," he said.
Liu Guangbiao looked at his uncle with some fear. Such treasonous words, and his uncle said them aloud?
"Third Uncle, now's not the time to say such things. Once the imperial heavenly troops arrive, won't the Australians immediately crumble? At worst, they can escape by ship. What about us? Are we supposed to flee with them..."
"In your view, can the imperial troops defeat the Australians?" he asked in return.
"Well—" Even Liu Guangbiao, just a small rural landlord who had only ever been to Qiongzhou Prefecture city, could see the disparity.
"In your nephew's view: the Australians have swift and fierce firearms, strictly disciplined ranks. The imperial forces are absolutely no match," Liu Guangbiao said. "But the imperial forces have overwhelming numbers. Coming at ten to one like Mount Tai pressing down—the Australians might not be able to resist."
"Your concerns have merit." Though Liu Youren said this, he actually strongly disagreed. He had seen the power of Australian cannons. Even if the imperial army brought tens of thousands, they would only add to the casualties before Australian cannons.
The outcome would depend on whether the militia the Australians had trained dared to fight the imperial army to the end.
He considered for a moment: "Summon all the elders of the various branches of our clan. I want to discuss things with them. Also, first take all the grain from the storehouse except for one-third and hide it securely!"
Whether Australians or imperial army, war meant requisitioning grain from the people. This was what worried Liu Youren. For the Australians—since Tiandihui had helped him grow grain and build the canal, contributing some grain was only right. Besides, they knew his situation exactly. Fortunately, the Australians did things reasonably—they wouldn't requisition arbitrarily, and there would be no underlings inventing pretexts to line their pockets. The burden wouldn't be too heavy. As for the imperial army, if they happened to attack Lingao, some tribute would be unavoidable. Otherwise, if the imperial troops attacked the stockade, his village alone couldn't hold.
"Also, have people repair the stockade wall quickly. Stock up on lime jars, rolling logs, bricks, and stones. Bows, arrows, and firearms should be inspected too. Damaged ones should be repaired quickly..."
"Third Uncle, our stockade walls can't stop Australian cannons..."
"You're really confused!" Liu Youren glared at him. Liu Guangbiao immediately understood—these military preparations weren't to defend against Australians, but to deal with the imperial forces.
Once the imperial army arrived, whether they could defeat the Australians was one thing. But one thing was certain: there would inevitably be many small groups scattering everywhere to "forage for grain." This "foraging" had evolved from simply collecting grain to soldiers taking the opportunity to plunder everywhere. Unlucky villages and households even faced the danger of massacre—after all, when the time came, slapping a "rebel collaborator" label on them meant no honest official would bother seeking justice. The heads might even be passed off as enemy chieftains for rewards.
A well-fortified stockade meant at worst being shaken down for some grain, meat, and wine—not being looted clean and losing their lives.
"Yes, I understand!" Liu Guangbiao quickly acknowledged. Then he asked:
"What about Meilan's wedding?"
Liu Youren closed his eyes and pondered for a moment, then suddenly opened them as if he had made a decision:
"Proceed!"
The news that the imperial army would soon attack Lingao spread like the wind throughout the entire county. The atmosphere in Lingao immediately grew tense. The Executive Committee had never intended to keep this secret anyway—such secrets couldn't be kept. Rather than frantically covering up and letting everyone speculate wildly, it was better to gradually let everyone know. Ding Ding's Propaganda Department was the first to mobilize. He had already prepared a complete series of articles, planning to release them from small to large, building momentum and shaping public opinion. What Liu Youren had seen was just the beginning. More articles were prepared:
Australian Overseas Chinese in Guangdong Suffer Unjust Treatment; Ming Government Groundlessly Confiscates, Expels, and Kills Our Overseas Chinese and Their Property; Special Feature: Overseas Wanderers Return Sincerely to the Homeland, Find No Path to Serve, Instead Meet Persecution; Special Feature: Crying to Heaven Without Response—The Tragic Plight of Expelled Australian Overseas Chinese; Court Incompetence Leads to Death of Millions—Commentary on the Liaodong Debacle; Useless in External War, Expert at Internal Strife—Commentary on Ming Government's Groundless Expulsion of Our Ao-Song Citizens; How Zheng Zhilong Used the Blood of Ming Citizens to Exchange for Ming Official Caps—Commentary on Zheng Zhilong's Submission... The later commentaries were later compiled into pamphlets and widely distributed throughout the Ming.
Of course, there were even more potent pieces—specifically, several "Special Correspondent Commentaries" personally written by Ding Ding: Advising the Guangdong Authorities to Pull Back from the Brink; What Can Be Borne, What Cannot; Do Not Say You Were Not Warned.
Besides writings, Ding Ding intensified propaganda activities. Puppet shows like The Test and Paradise began large-scale touring performances throughout the county. The Propaganda Department's puppet troupe expanded to two sub-troupes—one performing, one rehearsing—ensuring a troupe was always touring. Fragrant Grass Garden's student drama club also began rehearsing stage versions of these two scripts. Ding Ding also organized some living newspaper performances for students to perform on street corners.
Wei Aiwen ordered the entire army to conduct "Yesterday, Today" themed squad meetings, having soldiers trained by the Political Propaganda Department speak from experience, openly discussing the differences between the new army and the Ming army, letting soldiers fully appreciate the differences between old and new armies.
The Political Security General Administration and Police Headquarters strengthened internal control of streets and alleys to prevent spies from infiltrating Lingao to gather intelligence or spread rumors. Of course, if any internal malcontents attempted to speak or act out of line, the Political Security General Administration wouldn't mind gaining more free labor.
Parliament urgently passed supplementary budgets for military industry. The Planning Institute announced the startup of a hand grenade workshop to replace the previous miscellaneous hand grenades.
"If our grenadiers still go into battle wrapped in fuse cord, it'll look pretty pathetic," Lin Shenhe said. "Now that our chemistry capabilities are up to standard, this should be solved."
Despite the limited killing power of hand grenades, they played a decisive role in enhancing infantry firepower. Technical personnel from the First and Second Weapons Design Institutes and Mechanical Department believed that current industrial and chemical levels were sufficient for manufacturing hand grenades.
After discussion, Lin Shenhe, Li Yunxing, Bai Yu, and others decided to copy a mature product that was safe to carry and use even under crude production conditions—the Type 67 wooden-handle hand grenade. More precisely, the simplified wooden-handle hand grenade prepared for militia during the Cultural Revolution's "prepare for war, prepare for famine" era.
This type of hand grenade had simplified production processes and used materials that could be sourced locally wherever possible. As for production equipment, it was simplified to the point where only seven people were needed to relocate and produce. With raw materials, hand grenades and land mines could be manufactured at any location. It was a typical product of the "whole people as soldiers" mentality.
(End of Chapter)