In the winter of 1919, Zhang Zuolin held a feast in Fengtian, and he did not invite dignitaries and dignitaries, nor celebrities and gentry, but invited representatives of the elderly in the four townships and eight villages of Fengtian Province, which really touched these old people.
As early as before the banquet was organized, Zhang Zuolin stressed to the Fengtian Provincial Bureau: "For this banquet, all counties must elect representatives of ordinary elderly people who are over the age of 60 and have no connection with the official field and are highly respected. After the deputies from all over the country have arrived, they must send special personnel to make unified arrangements for food and lodging. Passing on the order, neither officials nor businessmen should neglect these big brothers! ”
At Zhang Zuolin's order, various localities quickly began the work of selecting deputies. At that time, the quota allocation of various places was: 8 people in large counties, 6 people in middle counties, 4 people in small counties, and a total of 56 counties in Fengtian, with a total of 330 representatives elected.
November 24 is the time for the elderly representatives to report. On this day, the lights in Fengtian City were colorful, draped in red and green, laughter was flying, and the songs were endless. The next day, the Fengtian Provincial Office was crowded with people inside and outside, and drums were playing in unison. There were only ten people in one seat, and there were more than thirty tables. The overseers and governors of Fengtian, Jilin, and Heilongjiang provinces, as well as the civil and military officials of the provincial councils, sat smiling in the middle of the lobby, and the rest of the seats were arranged in turn. The delegates of each place took their places, and only the miscellaneous servants who were on duty shuttled back and forth in the courtyard, busy bringing tea and pouring water, and handing out cigarettes and fires.
Before the banquet began, Zhang Zuolin cleared his throat and began his impromptu speech: "Dear fathers and fellow countrymen, this time I invited the big guys here to say a few heartfelt words to you. I used to be a farmer, and I know that you have worked hard all year round, and it is not easy! I am now your parent official, and your affairs are my business. Whatever you have, I will give you the lordship. Since ancient times, ordinary people have been afraid of becoming officials. However, I hope that you will not be nervous and afraid when you see the officials. You know, I'm heart-to-heart with the big guys. Your joy is my joy, and your sorrow is my sorrow. Today, I am here with you to have fun with you. You are all people of high moral standing, and I invite you to come, on the one hand, to understand the people's feelings, and I hope that you can tell me all the things in the countryside truthfully, so that we can eliminate the shortcomings according to the actual situation and implement policies that are beneficial to you; on the other hand, I also want to show the people of the world that we must respect and love the elderly. After a while, everyone will let go of eating and drinking as much as they want, as if they were in their own home, ah! As soon as Zhang Zuolin's voice fell, there was a warm applause and cheers in the Fengtian Provincial Office.
In the sound of the band's performance, all kinds of mountain treasures and seafood were served like water. The noodles are very rich, with four kinds of dried fruits: strange walnuts, spiced cashews, peanut sticks, hazelnut kernels; four fresh fruits: bananas, citrus, longan, apples; four cold dishes: ham pine blossoms, Sichuan sauce duck palms, sauce stewed quail, halal deer tails; twelve hot dishes: roasted sea cucumber, tianxiang abalone, strange chicken strips, jade carp carp, tangerine rabbit meat, shrimp roe winter shoots, pepper oil russet white, oyster sauce beef fillet, red braised prawns, three loofah rolls, a pint of tofu, festive family portrait. Staple foods include mille-feuille steamed cake, anchovy roasted wheat, sixi dumplings, and golden silk flower rolls. The old people of the four townships have seen this! One by one, their eyes widened and their mouths half open, looking at the delicacies in front of them as if in a dream. Usually, only when they meet someone who does a happy event, they can eat a four-bowl and eight-plate country banquet. But how can those meals compare to such a banquet? These dishes in front of you, not to mention these rural old people have not seen, not even heard of. They were dumbfounded, and they didn't know which dish to start with.
Zhang Zuolin saw the situation, stood up and let the group vigorously: "Eat, eat! Only when the big guys eat happily and drink happily, I will be happy! Zhang Zuolin's previous kind words had already brought the villagers closer to him. Now hearing him say this, the crowd relaxed their original restrained posture even more, and the table immediately became lively.
Seeing that the atmosphere was harmonious, Zhang Zuolin proposed to the peasant deputies: "I would like to hear what the villagers think of me and what they think of my army. ”
Hearing Zhang Zuolin's question, the crowd began to praise with all their tongues. Just when everyone was trying to compliment Zhang Zuolin, suddenly, an old man with a straight personality stood up and said: "Fengjun is good at anything, there is one thing that is not good, that is, 'beating japonica rice, scolding white noodles, not fighting and not scolding, sorghum rice'. ”
After the banquet, Zhang Zuolin remembered what the old man said during the banquet, so he turned to the adjutant and asked, "What does the old man mean?" The adjutant told him that the army that sent the bandits would not eat sorghum rice as soon as they arrived in the countryside, and that they could eat japonica rice and white noodles after a dozen scoldings.
When Zhang Zuolin heard this, he immediately became angry. He immediately summoned the officers above the regimental commander to a meeting, slapped the table and scolded: "Fuck! You pat your conscience, and I have treated you badly. Other people's armies have withheld military salaries, have I deducted them? Not only is it not deductible, but I always reward you continuously, and every month I even send you money for horse chewing. Why do you still go to the countryside to beat japonica rice and curse white noodles? You are eating the common people! Remember, you can't hit the people again in the future, and if something like this happens again, be careful that I shoot you! After that, the discipline of the Feng army was indeed much better, especially in the Feng army in Guannei, there was basically no such thing happening.
The day after the banquet, Zhang Zuolin summoned some representatives of the elderly at the Shuai Mansion. These people never dreamed that Zhang Dashuai would invite them to their homes as guests. Zhang Zuolin's "close to the people" move made the entire Fengtian people talk about it. After these "favored" elderly representatives returned to the inn, they also gathered together and praised Zhang Zuolin.
Some representatives of the elderly also sincerely suggested to the government that Zhang Dashuai's act of inviting 56 counties and township elders to a banquet was rare in ancient and modern times, and this historical record should be recorded and preserved for future generations.
Under the unanimous pleading of the officials and the people, Zhang Zuolin felt that it was also a very interesting thing to record this feat, and why should he care about what others said!
This article is selected from the book "The Story and Legend of Zhang Zuolin" by Qu Xiangkun, Zhao Jumei and Cheng Yajuan published by Liaoning Education Publishing House
Editor/Shenyang Pocket Museum Author authorized Shenyang Pocket Museum to publish exclusively