If the image of landlords in literary works before the New Era was too simple, then the image of landlords since the New Era has been too "humanized", with false meanings that transcend history and are misleading. reaching a broad audience of readers who “don’t know the truth”.

At first, I didn’t know much about Liu Wencai beyond the depiction in the clay sculpture "Rent Collection Courtyard". A few years ago, a "serious historian" who "had no intention of writing an article to redress Liu Wencai's verdict" came to him. When people started talking about the "real Liu Wencai", "What kind of person is Liu Wencai" was brought up as a topic, and heated discussions started.

At the beginning, some articles focused on the evil things he had done, such as growing opium, selling opium, using his family connections to smuggle, and setting up checkpoints to force him to pay for passage.

As soon as the topic changed, he became a "defense lawyer": Although he cooperated with his brother Liu Wenhui, a warlord, and successfully controlled nearly half of Sichuan Province at that time, he was not as full of evil as the rumors said; He had five wives and concubines, and his private life was criticized, but living in that era, it didn't seem that excessive.

After Liu Wencai died of terminal illness, although he escaped the judgment of the country and the people, the originally flourishing family gradually withered away, and most of his descendants lived ordinary lives, either doing business or When it comes to learning, few people take the initiative to mention their relationship with him, and some people are ostracized because of their relationship.

Of course, there are many people in the family who have argued against it. One of them is the scholar Liu Xiaofei, the grandson of Liu Wencai. During his academic career, he visited the older generation's old friends many times to understand his grandfather's true image. He came to the conclusion: "It's not all good or bad. He was a warlord, but he was definitely not a bully."

His aunt talked about him, saying that he had a tender side and was a kind person. It is understandable that the evaluations of predecessors will have obvious emotional tendencies at a certain historical stage. However, to judge the quality of a person, we should look at the historical truth from multiple dimensions. Is Liu Wencai a good person? This deserves our further study. Can the rumors come true?

Some of the most widely circulated stories about Liu Wencai's evil deeds include "drinking human milk", "his fifth concubine lived a luxurious life and only ate duck paws", "the house had a water cell and an execution chamber" "Stories like that. In fact, these rumors have long been proven to be false. Liu Xiaofei found the family of Luo Erniang who "fed human milk" to Liu Wencai and confirmed that Luo Erniang had never been to Liu Wencai's house, so how could she feed him human milk.

The fifth aunt, Wang Yuqing, also said, "It is true to eat duck feet, but it was also because she saw that the children at home did not like to eat duck feet and always had leftovers, so she ate them because they were afraid of waste. Who would only love to eat duck feet? "The legend about the water prison has been confirmed by authorities. It was a warehouse where tobacco was kept, and the execution chamber was just a storage room. It was created according to needs in a certain historical period. What is fabricated and portrayed does not exist in reality.

It turns out that many of our horrific memories and associations about Liu Wencai were deliberately exaggerated and fabricated based on certain political needs at the time. However, as an integral part of the exploiting class in Chinese history, landlords are inherently corrupt.

Xiao Shu, the author of "The Truth About Liu Wencai", also believes: "Although displays such as the water prison have been proven to be fabricated out of thin air, it is not enough to reshape his personal image." Because Liu Wencai's life is undoubtedly "A life of exhaustive plunder", he harmed the people to a degree far beyond what was described in works such as "Rent Collection Courtyard" and "One Hundred Sins". Are there no good landlords?

Liu Wencai can be called a good person in some aspects. He once warned others: "What are the Three People's Principles? It's better to learn three more trades." In Anren Town, he spent his own money to build streets and shops, collected meager rents, and rented out the houses to the villagers who had no livelihood. This kind deed was indirectly active. the local business economy.

He invested US$2 million to build Wencai Middle School. When it was first built, the school had infrastructure such as a library, music room, laboratory, and auditorium. The playground was a standard 400-meter track. It is also one of the best in the province, with dozens of houses showing the architectural style of Western aesthetics.

He pays attention to the quality of construction and personally supervises construction almost every day. He also reduces tuition fees for poor students, hires high-quality teachers, and never interferes with school teaching activities like a warlord. Although the exact motive of such a charitable act is unknown, it has actually benefited education.

Things always have two sides and must be viewed from multiple angles. The reason why Liu Wencai has the ability to donate money is precisely based on his daily search for the working people. Speaking of the history of his fortune, we have to mention selling tobacco soil. He forced farmers to grow raw materials, and then he could collect tobacco seedling taxes, brokerage taxes, and red light donations. If you see a carrying pole, you will be asked to "donate the pole"; if you see straw sandals, you will be asked to "donate the straw sandals". Such behavior has caused great harm to the people in southern Sichuan.

If history becomes a piece of plasticine labeled "actually", Liu Wencai becomes a sage who does not exploit but specializes in "dedication". If his life is really as the "apologist" said , has only eaten three dishes for many years, the first is twice-cooked pork, the second is twice-cooked pork soup with vegetables, and the third is vegetables. He lives a simple life and does not like waste, but there has never been a beggar in his hometown. Then, as long as the landlord class exists, the majority of farmers will live in a state of care.

The history of farmers being exploited and oppressed for thousands of years, and the history of liberation under the leadership of our party, has naturally become a "lie." Such a defense makes no sense in the face of historical process. Warlords also have a tender side in the eyes of their families

Liu Wencai’s fifth concubine, Wang Yuqing, lived to be 92 years old and did not die until the 21st century. Before her death, she was interviewed and said that she was not robbed and taken back as rumored, but was actually married to a clear matchmaker. Liu Wencai was 52 years old when the two got married. The marriage, which was 27 years apart, was the order of their parents and the advice of a matchmaker.

Wang Yuqing’s family once ran a small candy shop and lived a moderately wealthy life. After marrying Liu Wencai, their family became a wealthy local landlord. Liu Wencai also loved her very much, and he would honor her requests one by one. Wang Yuqing suffered from motion sickness in the market. At that time when few cars were seen in the city, Liu Wencai bought an American car for her.

In Wang Yuqing's eyes, he was tall, wearing a silk gown and a melon-pipe hat, looking like a gentleman. Wang Yuqing accompanied him through the last moments of his life. Even after Liu Wencai passed away, she always missed her husband. When talking about the 12 years they lived together, she said it was the happiest time in her life. Besides her parents, he was the one who loved me the most.

Italian historian Croce has a famous saying: "All history is contemporary history." Historical materials themselves do not have the ability to explain history completely and objectively. What really makes historical materials play their role is It is a test of the ideological concepts and knowledge level of historians.

History is not a simple accumulation of fragments, but requires us to be in the flow of this process, full of concern for our once-troubled motherland, and with a sense of respect for the generations who have been on the line of life and death. Only with the passion of the struggling working people, and with respect for our predecessors who once struggled in the darkness to pursue hope, can we be qualified to talk about history, and only then can we truly hear the sound of the flowing blood of history.

Historical nihilism can use harvest to deny the existence of cultivation, and pragmatism can use leaves to deny the existence of forest. "Instrumentalists" who use history to reflect on revolution can use shadows to deny the existence of sunlight, and naturally they can also use fireflies to deny the existence of night.

However, if someone is always obsessed with marketing true and false historical materials as "revealing secrets", then he is just stating his own intention.

Without the reality of historical essence and the understanding of the normal thinking ability of most people, the basic logic has been lost. Do you think he is a good person or a bad person?