Author: Wen Boling Source: Fireworks World of Wen Boling (ID: wenboling2020)
01
After a painful lesson, Pockmarked Zhang changed from a bandit to the head of Echeng County.
When he followed General Songpo in his early years, Pockmarked Zhang was full of blood and wanted to do something for the country. However, General Songpo died in Japan. Pockmarked Zhang, who returned home alone, did not go along with the ruling warlords and bureaucrats, so he became an outlaw.
It was an unintentional act of Pockmarked Zhang to rob Mr. Tang’s train. He did not know that the train was to escort the county magistrate to take office, nor did he expect that he would replace Mr. Tang as the county magistrate.
Taking office in the Goose City was completely an accident of fate. Master Tang, his wife, Pockmarked Zhang and his brothers were unprepared. Standing at the gate of the Goose City, looking at Huang Silang’s politeness, pockmarked Zhang may also wonder:
“Why did you say that a bandit in the mountains entered the Goose City and became the county magistrate?”
In the following period of time, Pockmarked Zhang made great efforts to be a county magistrate, but he did not master the skills to be a county magistrate. He mostly used the survival skills developed in the mountains to survive by instinct.
In his heart of hearts, Pockmarked Zhang also wanted to make a profit before he left, which was nothing more than how to maximize the benefits.
Until Liuzi was cheated to death in the tea hall, pockmarked Zhang realized that the enemy had the belief and ability to kill him, and that the enemy was still a representative of warlord bureaucrats whom he could not look up to when he was young.
Under the stimulation of Liuzi’s blood, Pockmarked Zhang felt Huang Silang’s malice, and his real destiny and ideal belief made Pockmarked Zhang
Make up your mind,
Stay in the Goose City, when will Huang Silang be uprooted and when will he leave again.
So there is a clear turning point in the way of Pockmarked Zhang’s county head, that is, the death of the six sons.
02
But is it so easy for the county magistrate to do so?
In the first half of the film, although Pockmarked Zhang has repeatedly prevailed in the game with Huang Silang, it is all a small victory, just to maintain a draw. In the overall card face, Pockmarked Zhang does not have an overwhelming advantage.
Why?
Disunity.
After Liuzi died, the third brother said in front of Liuzi’s tombstone: “The elder brother shouldn’t listen to him. The man surnamed Tang is not funny.” What Master Tang said was: “You can’t work hard. How can you earn money if you work hard?”
Before the final battle with Huang Silang, the Ma bandit brothers started fighting among themselves, some because of personnel disputes, some because of wealth disputes, but in the final analysis, it was a struggle for interests.
They all regard the death of the sixth son as the capital to gain profits.
In fact, before the death of Liuzi, the disunited bandits broke out in a battle for a route.
Master Tang told Pockmarked Zhang the truth about being a county head: “The county head has come to his post with ingenuity, and he has persuaded the gentry to pay taxes and donations. Only when they pay can the people pay the money. After getting the money, the gentry will give back all the money, and the people’s money will be divided into 37%.”
Mr. Tang’s expected goal is 30%, while Pockmarked Zhang wants 70%.
Mr. Tang, who wanted 30%, positioned Ma bandits as serving the gentry and then squeezing the poor together with the gentry, so that they could go on with the flow and lay the foundation for their next purchase of officials as the county magistrate.
Mr. Tang’s line is essentially the bureaucratic line since the Qin and Han Dynasties.
But if you want to have 70% of the pockmarked Zhang, with a gun in one hand and a seal in the other, you need to use the army and regime to squeeze the gentry, and the pockmarked brothers share profits with the poor.
I made a deal by myself, but it was fair to return to the Goose City.
Where the money comes from, how much profit to share, and what to leave for Goose City are the focus of the first route dispute.
After Liuzi died, the Ma bandit brothers kidnapped the patriarchs of the two families to get a large amount of silver ransom, causing the second route dispute in the film.
The focus of this line dispute is to go or stay.
Seven, who was younger than the sixth son, could not bear the temptation. He asked his brothers “Why are we here?” Others said money in unison. Now that we have the money, we can leave the Goose City.
It is good to leave the Goose City now.
First, the money is available, and the goal of coming to the Goose City has been achieved. Master Tang and his brothers have grasped the main contradiction. Although they seem to have no ideal, they are in line with the principle of pursuing profits by human nature.
Second, take the money of the two families with you. There is no risk. You can avoid a conflict with the largest Huang Silang. Hello, everyone. See you in the Jianghu later.
But Pockmarked Zhang said, “Don’t go, give money to the poor.” The dispute over the route ended with Pockmarked Zhang.
The brothers did not understand the meaning of pockmarked Zhang, but pockmarked Zhang had accumulated power for a long time. They had no room to resist, so they went to the street to pay.
The property of disunity was vividly reflected in the money issue. The second and third brother threw money into Sister Hua’s window in waves. In order to find a dignified reason, they comforted each other that Sister Hua was a daughter sold by the poor.
Pockmarked Zhang asked for money to be given to the poor, and they gave it to the endless elder sister Hua. This is a step up
The betrayal of the second and third brother to Pockmarked Zhang is also to satisfy their own selfish desires under the banner of Pockmarked Zhang.
03
It is precisely because of the internal problems of Ma bandits that Huang Silang has the opportunity to fight back against Ma Zi Zhang.
The tea hall event that led to the death of Liu Zi was originated from Ma Zi Zhang’s spanking of Wu Zhichong, a martial arts examiner. Huang Silang said, “The county magistrate likes to judge cases, so he should arrange some cases for him.”
This is Huang Silang who led the civil forces to make trouble, blocked up Pockmarked Zhang, and created the public opinion of Liuzi that “two bowls of powder only give one bowl of money”, and attacked Pockmarked Zhang’s slogan of “fairness, fairness, or his mother fairness”.
In a word, if Pockmarked Zhang wanted to make money from Huang Silang, Huang Silang would guide the public opinion and transform the struggle of the upper echelons of Eecheng into a struggle between the county magistrate and the people.
If pockmarked Zhang is confused by the death of six sons, he will be trapped by Huang Silang, and his previous preparations and subsequent plans will fall short.
Later, Pockmarked Zhang received money from the two families and asked the bandits to give money to the poor. Although the second and third brothers made mistakes, the overall goal was achieved. A large number of poor people received money from Pockmarked Zhang.
Huang Silang’s counterattack was to let the henchmen of Huang’s residence pretend to be Ma bandits, collect money from the poor people’s homes, and rape the women of the poor people in front of their husbands.
In this way, the poor will not appreciate pockmarked Zhang——
First we pay, then we collect, and then we rape women and commit crimes. Is Chief Zhang kidding us?
By pretending to be a Ma bandit, Huang Silang messed up the deployment of Ma Zi Zhang, alienated Ma Zi Zhang’s brother, and discredited Ma Zi Zhang. He made the poor people think that the county head Zhang was a fake Ma Zi who robbed his family, and Huang Silang was the real Ma Zi who served the poor.
04
Huang Silang is Liu Dutong’s dog leg. He is engaged in trafficking in human beings and selling tobacco. According to the film, most of the tobacco in the Republic of China was made by Huang Silang.
When Huang Silang and Pockmarked Zhang met in the dim light when they were young, and when they talked about the Revolution of 1911, Huang Silang even knew the type of mines at his fingertips.
This character’s resume shows that Huang Silang has three identities – he is the agent of external forces in the Goose City, the local villain who has occupied the Goose City for hundreds of generations, and the vested interests who have degenerated in the revolutionary ranks.
In short, Huang Silang is a projection of compradors, bureaucrats, warlords and heroes.
It is very difficult for Pockmarked Zhang to make money from Huang Silang, or even overthrow him completely. But after a long game, Pockmarked Zhang found a way to defeat Huang Silang.
This method is public opinion, or the anger of the poor.
In the second half of the film, Pockmarked Zhang completely won the heart of Master Tang by “translating”. By absorbing Sister Hua to join the Ma bandits, he united the second and third brothers, temporarily stabilizing the hearts of the Ma bandits, so that they can fight a big war together.
Later, Pockmarked Zhang, in the name of going out to fight bandits, earned money from Huang Silang and the two big families. After a circle outside the city, he returned to the Goose City and put the money on the street to give it to the poor.
The money was taken home by the poor, but pockmarked Zhang said the odds were only 30%.
The satisfaction of the poor needs to be compared.
If only pockmarked Zhang’s money was collected, the poor people would take it for granted and would not appreciate pockmarked Zhang.
The poor will have a sense of gap only when they get back and lose. In this way, they will be grateful to pockmarked Zhang who made the money, and resent Huang Silang who released the car and collected the money to exploit the poor.
So after Huang Silang released the car and collected the money, the fifth man anxiously said that the odds of winning were only 10%, while pockmarked Zhang confidently gestured that there was a 60% chance of winning.
The anger of the poor was drawn out because the money they got was lost again.
Then Pockmarked Zhang fired bullets, cut a double and robbed a blockhouse in one fell swoop. He took advantage of the anger of the poor to overthrow Huang Silang, which not only brought Huang Silang’s five generation family business, but also won the support of the poor.
This is the power of the people, this is the power of public opinion.
05
Therefore, contradictions can be guided, public opinion can be changed, and public anger can be used. This may be immoral, but it is a fact.
The grievance drum at the gate of the county government should not be concealed under Fujiman, but let it out to expose the grievance in the sun.
With unjust cases, the county government can recover the right to judge cases from the tea hall, and pockmarked Zhang can reach a united front with the poor.
The double, instead of keeping it to protect Huang Silang from the wind and rain, might as well pull up the guillotine and cut it. Without a substitute, Huang Silang became a substitute and lost the right to be a bully.
This is a necessary and sufficient condition for changing public opinion and taking advantage of public anger. After all, sometimes the dead are more useful than the living.
Once used effectively, people’s indignation is a force that can overwhelm the sea.
At that time, the martial arts examiners and Hu Qian will also join the ranks of the poor. As Huang Silang’s confidants, they have at least nine ways to kill Huang Silang.
This can do many things that could not be done before.
However, Pockmarked Zhang mobilized the poor to fight in blockhouses, which impressed the youngest Seven. At the end of the film, Pockmarked Zhang reported his intention to Pockmarked Zhang, but he did not go to Pudong with Pockmarked Zhang, so he became the seed left by Pockmarked Zhang.
Maybe many years later, Lao Qi will recall the glorious years when he fought in the blockhouse and go back to the road that Pockmarked Zhang once walked.