dmims Chapter 2025 Baojiacheng
Chapter 2025 Baojiacheng
Chapter 2025 Baojiacheng
"We have to take turns to call the roll every day at twilight hour. This is too troublesome. If someone is out of the house or someone is visiting, we have to explain clearly. If we don't explain clearly, we will be reported to the police. This is too inhumane."
"Oh my God, this is collective punishment. My neighbor committed a crime, so why should I be punished as well? This is so unfair."
"It's not that you will be punished just because your neighbor commits a crime. If you inform on them, you won't be punished. If you don't inform on them, you will be punished as well."
"Isn't this forcing people to inform on others? Then won't they have to keep a close eye on their neighbors? If there's any disturbance in their homes, they have to go and inform on them. Otherwise, if something goes wrong in the future, they'll be implicated. What's this about?!"
"Just wait and see, the relationship between neighbors will be bad in the future."
After hearing what the old scholar said, all the villagers couldn't help but groan and complain one after another.
"Stop making a fuss. This matter was decided by our governor. He said it will be implemented immediately after it is posted. There is no point in complaining." The village chief knocked the pipe in his hand hard and spoke loudly to the villagers.
"Alas, we are just ordinary people. We can only do what the higher-ups say. We can't do anything about it. If we were officials, the bullshit Ten-Household Baojia System wouldn't matter to us at all."
"You are right. The officials don't care about the lives of ordinary people like us. The Ten-Household Baojia Law makes it difficult for ordinary people like us, not the officials. They just suppress us and don't care about our lives."
A group of ordinary people could not help but complain again, saying that the ten-household baojia system was too complicated and too harsh.
"Bullshit, what do you mean by arbitrarily setting fires but not letting the people light lamps? Let me tell you, our governor has taken the lead in implementing the ten-household baojia system. The gate of the governor's office is hung with the houseplates of the governor's family, including the maids and guards. Even our governor's father-in-law and two brothers-in-law who came to visit the prefect's wife were registered on the houseplates. Our governor and the ten people in the governor's office formed a baojia, and the clerk Wang Zuo was the head of the baojia."
"Not only our governor, but all officials, all gentry, and all merchants, no matter how powerful you are or how much money you have, will all form a baojia of ten households, and everyone will be equal, without exception."
"The governor has said that anyone who dares not to join the militia will be treated as collaborating with the Japanese and will be severely punished!"
The village chief knocked the pot in his hand against the partition of the ancestral hall and shouted at the villagers.
"Ah?! The governor has taken the lead in forming a militia, and the doorplates have already been hung!!!"
"What? No way! All the rich and powerful officials must implement the Ten Household Number Baojia Law!!!"
The common people were all stunned when they heard this.
"What's wrong with that? My nephew is in Shaoxing City. He just came back from Shaoxing to visit his relatives and said it himself. Anyone can go to the governor's office and take a look. The sign is hanging at the gate of the governor's office."
The village chief patted his chest and spat out in great sorrow, his saliva spraying all over the faces of the villagers who were nearby.
"I am convinced by our governor. He is the local emperor of Zhejiang. He has taken the lead in implementing the ten-household baojia system. How dare we complain? Can we be more valuable than the governor?"
"That's right. The governor is very busy, but he doesn't mind the trouble. Why should we be afraid?"
"Well, this is also for the good of us ordinary people. The Japanese pirates are such bad people, worse than animals. How many villages have been harmed by them, killing men and women, no matter whether you are old or young, all have been harmed by them. They have robbed every home and robbed the rich. That's not all, they even burned down the houses that were robbed of everything before leaving."
"If we want to live a good life, we have to wipe out the Japanese pirates. Don't be greedy for the small gains in front of you. If you have secret dealings with the Japanese pirates, you will be beheaded. I'm telling you the truth. If you form a baojia with me, you should clean up the mess in your family and cut off all ties with the Japanese pirates, otherwise I will report you to death."
When the common people learned that the governor Zhu Ping'an had taken the lead in implementing the ten-household baojia system, they changed from their original resistance to support and endorsement, at least they no longer opposed it openly.
Soon, under the organization and allocation of the village chief and village elders, all the families in the village were grouped into groups of ten.
"Village chief, there are only six families left in our village, not even ten. How can we form a baojia?"
"We don't have enough people to form a baojia. The notice just now said that anyone who dares not form a baojia will be treated as collaborating with the Japanese. My dear mother, you can't treat us as collaborators with the Japanese pirates, right?!"
The last six households left in the village were anxious. They were at the back of the village and there were only six of them around. All the other households in the village formed baojia groups of ten, and in the end, only these six households were left.
Seeing that they could not form a militia, the six families became anxious and panicked, their faces turning pale with worry.
"Why are you in such a hurry? The governor has anticipated this situation. When each village is formed into baojia groups of ten households, if there are less than ten households left, five or more households will form a baojia group. If there are less than five households, they will be merged into the neighboring baojia group. You have six households, so you can form a baojia group. Just the six of you."
The village chief glared at them and said loudly.
"It's great that the six families can form a group." The six families couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief after hearing this.
"Let me emphasize again, our baojia is not just for show. Anyone who has this idea will be thrown into jail in the future. Don't say I didn't remind you! If you find suspicious people or things, you must report them to the authorities immediately. Don't hide them. Otherwise, if they are exposed, you will also be punished. I tell you, colluding with the Japanese pirates is punishable by death!"
"Even if you don't think about yourselves, you should also think about your family. Think about your parents, think about your spouse, think about your children. No one can escape. They will all be implicated and beheaded!"
"Also, there are rewards for reporting. If you report wrongly, you won't be punished. If you report correctly, because your report really discovered the Japanese pirates and those who were secretly colluding with them, there will be a huge reward. If you report one person accurately, you will be rewarded with five taels of silver, and there is no upper limit. If you report one hundred people accurately, that's five hundred taels of silver, and from then on your family will have a good life and no worries about food and clothing."
"Reporting will be rewarded, and not reporting will implicate the whole family, so if you find any suspicious people or things, you must report them to the authorities! If no one is secretly communicating with the Japanese pirates, our governor will be able to wipe out the Japanese pirates sooner, and we can live a peaceful life sooner."
In the end, the village chief patiently emphasized to the villagers again the consequences of not reporting and the rewards for reporting, and asked all villagers to report to the police if they found any suspicious people or things, and not to let their entire family be implicated.
"Then we must report it. From now on, we must be good. Whoever dares to communicate with the Japanese will be my enemy!"
"Hurry up and find someone to write the house number. We have to take roll call in the evening."
A crowd of ordinary people responded.