Zhou Dezhang's words were met with silence in the room.
Le Jing sighed slightly in his heart.
Although Zhou Dezhang had a long-term vision, he was only concerned that opium would occupy fertile farmland, lead to food shortages, and undermine the foundation of the country. He did not fundamentally understand the health hazards brought by opium.
This also represents the understanding of opium by intellectuals at that time. Many people regarded opium as medicine and even believed that it could strengthen the body.
At first, British merchants used opium to open the door to China to make huge profits, so a large amount of silver flowed out. But what China lacked the most was "smart people".
Many "smart people" told the emperor that we should vigorously develop the localization of opium, let the people grow opium, break the monopoly of British merchants on opium, let the people smoke low-priced opium, and create a lot of tax revenue for the country to fill the treasury. And these "smart people" also said that in the future, they could impose heavy taxes on opium to make the poor quit smoking and the rich smoke less, thus achieving the goal of banning without banning.
So the Qing Dynasty had two kinds of tobacco, foreign medicine and local medicine. In order to "measure the material resources of China and win the favor of friendly countries", and also to kill the mud legs of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and maintain the rule of Aixinjueluo for thousands of years, the emperor began to call on his subjects to smoke the local medicine grown by himself. This is a manifestation of patriotism!
So what Lin Gong destroyed in Humen was foreign smuggled opium. Lin Gong himself was not against smoking. What he opposed was smoking foreign opium, which would cause silver to flow out and make the country poor. For Lin Gong, smoking was an economic issue. So he supported the people to smoke local opium, because "the opium circulates in the interior, just like the blood in a person's body, so what's the problem?" This was also the view of many intellectuals on opium at that time. They believed that the people smoking local opium would neutralize the toxicity of opium and would not harm the human body.
Later generations do not need to blame Mr. Lin too much. We can only say that this is the limitation of the times. When anything becomes someone's money bag, the nature of the thing defined by society will become ambiguous and distorted, and even the law will make concessions for it. In the final analysis, it is just that the economic base determines the superstructure.
Even in the Republic of China, opium was a political, economic and livelihood issue that would shake the foundation of the country. For example, Yunnan’s annual income is now about 11 million silver dollars, of which 8.04 million silver dollars comes from opium.
Opium was considered a money bag by warlords in various provinces. The warlords who now ruled Sichuan stipulated that if farmers only planted grain and not opium, they would pay taxes for three years for every year they planted grain, but if they planted tobacco, they would pay taxes for one year... If the farmers still only planted grain and not tobacco in the third year, they would have to pay taxes for seven years.
The Sichuan Army also had a resounding nickname for this reason - the "Double Gun Army", which means holding a musket in one hand and a smoking gun in the other. If the Sichuan Army had not later proved their bravery and bravery by "brave men leaving Sichuan" in the war of resistance, the Sichuan Army would have been nailed to the pillar of shame in history and could not raise its head.
It was precisely because the people abandoned their land and turned to growing opium that the tragedy of "starvation and cannibalism" occurred every few years during the Republic of China.
It was not until several decades later that the red tide swept across China. The peasants who had created the unprecedented changes in China for 3,000 years resisted the temptation of money and cut off the two cancers of opium and prostitution, allowing Chinese democracy to truly stand up.
Le Jing understood better than anyone else present that the opium problem was a problem of the times and could not be solved by human power alone.
So in this situation, even though he was unwilling, all he could do was remain silent.
In the quiet room, Zheng Yiliang's sigh was particularly clear: "Jun Yu, don't think about it. This matter is not something we can solve, not even the president can solve it." He smiled bitterly, "If there really comes such a day... All we can do is sacrifice our lives for our country and make amends."
Zhou Dezhang was silent for a few seconds, then he raised his head with great effort and showed an ugly smile: "Look at me, why do I say these things? It makes everyone unhappy. It's my fault. I hope you two can forgive me."
Le Jing shook his head and smiled, "There's nothing wrong with Duke Zhou worrying about the country and the people. We are just scholars, powerless, and the only thing we can do is to convey our thoughts as much as possible through writing."
Zheng Yiliang nodded and agreed: "That's right, that's right, I won't say anything more, Junyu, you are also a great writer, your articles always have a lot of responses, you can use your articles to call for a ban on smoking!"
Zhou Dezhang sighed in his heart, he knew that this was just his friend comforting him. The opium problem could not be solved by him writing a few articles - he had written many articles in the past to express his anti-smoking ideas, and indeed sparked a lot of discussion in newspapers, but it was limited to "discussion".
With Zheng Yiliang and Le Jing's simultaneous efforts to change the topic and liven up the atmosphere, the atmosphere among the few people finally got rid of the depression and became harmonious again. However, only the parties involved knew the undercurrents within.
…
The sun was hanging brightly in the west, the ground was steaming with hot air, and there were only a few pedestrians on the street. Even though Zheng Yiliang had already sat on the rickshaw to go home, he couldn't stop sweating all over. He was sweating profusely and fanning himself with his hands, secretly cursing this damn weather.
Zhou Dezhang, who was sitting nearby, couldn't help but mention Li Jingran to Zheng Yiliang: "I think this boy is not an ordinary person."
Zheng Yiliang rolled his eyes at him, "Do you even need to tell me that?" He recalled the young man standing tall in the front hall, talking calmly and eloquently, and said sincerely, "I don't know which family raised this monster. If I were his father, I would wake up laughing in my dreams."
Zhou Dezhang fell into deep thought, "Li is a common surname, it's hard to say." Li Jingran just said that he left home to study and see the world, and he kept silent about his specific family background, and they didn't want to ask. But judging from his words and demeanor, it was clear that his family was either rich or noble. Only such a family could raise a child with both vision and talent like Li Jingran.
Zheng Yiliang replied nonchalantly: "No matter what his family background is, the one we are dealing with is Li Jingran, not his family. Why should we think so much?"
Zhou Dezhang was stunned for a moment, and then he thought about it and realized that this was the truth. He was obsessed with appearance. Regardless of Li Jingran's family background, his temperament and talent were to their liking. Although Li Jingran was much younger than them, he and Zheng Yiliang were not pedantic people. They both felt that Li Jingran was a good candidate for a friend, and deep down they were inclined to have a good relationship with him.
…
Le Jing had no idea of the comments the two men made about him on the way back. After they left, he stood in the corridor, staring at the vast clear sky, and fell into a long period of contemplation.
From the moment he woke up in this era, he had a great affinity with opium, and opium also caused irreversible damage to his body. Until now, his hands and feet are still cold at night, and he breathes heavily after a little exercise. No one knows better than him the harm that opium can cause to health.
But knowing is one thing, and doing it is another.
Although he had told Zhou Dezhang that he could write to convey his ideas, he knew how little that would do. The opium problem faced greater resistance than the prostitute problem.
To solve the stubborn problem of opium, the right time, right place and right people are all essential.
However, even so, some things still need to be done.
Just like what the great writer said: There are no roads in the world, but when more people walk on it, it becomes a road.
When he came to this era, he was naturally exposed to nearly a hundred years of civilization more than the people here, so he was a natural pioneer.
As a pioneer, he has the responsibility to pave a path for future generations.
If there is no light in this era, then let him become the light, and let readers feel the light of civilization that has traveled through hundreds of years through his words.
Ever since he woke up from this time and space, the ambition that had been quietly buried in his heart finally broke out.
This time he no longer used the name of patriotism and justice, he just wanted to do it.
This is his ambition and also his justice.
He wants to use his writing to awaken the brilliance of humanity in more and more people, and he wants to use his pen to guide readers towards the free and beautiful new China.
If one day he really gave his life to build that brave new world...
Li Shuran saw her eldest brother, who had been standing silently in the corridor, looking up at the sky in a trance, suddenly covered his eyes and laughed softly.
Li Shuran couldn't help but get goosebumps all over her body, and then she felt a chill down her spine.
She swallowed and asked softly, "Brother...what are you thinking about?"
The boy put down his hand, his eyes were so hot that they almost burned her. The corners of his lips curled up, and his voice was filled with a happy smile: "I suddenly thought of a very beautiful thing."
Le Jing glanced at Li Shuran, who was as intuitive as a little animal and sensed danger, then suppressed the joy that was about to overflow from his heart and showed the same gentle smile as usual: "Be good, go study. Brother has gone to the study to write an essay."
Li Shuran stared at her elder brother's back as he left. After a long while, she realized that she couldn't help shaking. She looked at Li Jingran as if she was looking at something covered in human skin.
In the blur, she had a premonition that what happened just now was the real... Li Jingran.
…
Le Jing felt that he had never seen the world so clearly. He stood in front of the desk, looking at the snow-white manuscript paper, and felt that he was in a very good state, as if infinite energy was oozing out of every pore of his body.
He thought, after recuperating for so long, it was time to do something big.
Let him imitate Sun Wukong and use the pen in his hand as a golden cudgel to smash all the dark and rotten things to pieces!
He wrote quickly, leaving a line of flamboyant cursive characters on the manuscript paper - "The Last Person Who Doesn't Take Drugs".
This was the title of his next novel.
A normal person who does not take drugs lives in a country where drug use is legal and everyone takes drugs. He witnesses all the incredible chaos. As the last illegal person who does not take drugs, he has suffered countless persecutions and attacks, which also reveals the ugly and hideous appearance of this drug country.
Perhaps his novel will fall into oblivion and fail to fulfill the mission he assigned to it.
Let him answer with the inscription on the centenary of the Literary Newspaper.
How can you say it is silent? History is the proof! How can you say it is silent? The mountains and rivers have their names!
History will record his unyielding words.
The author has something to say:
This is why I set Lejing up as such a family environment.
He actually inherited his policeman father's morbid obsession with justice and his antisocial mother's innate indifference and cruelty very well.
Le Jing has his own justice. In a broad sense, freedom and beauty (that is, all the glory of human nature) are his justice; in a narrow sense, fun and excitement are his justice.
He lived and died for his justice. For his justice, he could be covered in blood and use any means.
He himself is the most terrible idealist.
You should have seen his arrogance from this chapter, right? Psychologically, he is like many villains in movies and TV shows, with a narcissistic personality and a sense of mission.
Well, he is just a psychopath anyway (simple and crude)
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