1. Wei Fu Tang and his own affairs
Aokigawa Township is under the administration of Ningqiang County. It is bordered by Qingchuan County in Sichuan to the west and Wudu County and Kang County in Gansu Province to the north. The Aoki River is known as the land of "three provinces with one foot".
During the Guangxu period of the Qing Dynasty, poppies were brought in by unknown people, and the people of Aokigawa planted them first, then smoked them, and finally began to sell them. At this time, the government was corrupt and the great powers invaded, resulting in the proliferation of bandits and the proliferation of tobacco and gambling. In the early years of the Republic of China, local powerful Xu Hongji and Xu Jiaqing competed for dominance and repeatedly engaged in large-scale group brawls. There were also bandits of all sizes who harassed them from time to time, and the people suffered from chaos. In this case, the government instructed the local government to organize vigilantes to maintain law and order, and the local gentry Wei Zhengxian became the first militia chief of Aokigawa. In the fifteenth year of the Republic of China (1926), Wei Futang became the general of the regiment and held great power, so the legendary Wei Futang appeared on the historical stage of Aokigawa and began his rule in Aokigawa for more than 20 years.
Wei Futang was born in 1902, his real name is Wei Yuangui, and he lives in the local Weijiaba. The ancestors were not powerful and wealthy families, and there were only three tile houses in the family, a small amount of land, and a thin family business. Father Wei Da helped the general peasants, in addition to farming, but also on the street to sell oil to subsidize the family. Her mother, Yang, is from Sichuan. The three brothers were three in line and were called Wei Laosan. Wei Futang went to private school, but he was stubborn by nature, brave and aggressive, and refused to concentrate on studying.
Wei Zheng first set up a militia group, and Wei Futang and his second brother Wei Yuanfu took the lead in joining, one became a platoon leader, the other became a pipe belt, and the brothers held real power inside and outside. Wei Futang had a group of sworn enemies around him and formed his own forces. Later, Wei Zhengxian was killed, and Wei Futang became the commander of the regiment. Soon after taking office, Wei Futang accepted the conscription of the county government, participated in the battle against bandits in Nanshan and other places, and assisted neighbors in resisting bandits and protecting the people. He also received a large amount of gun money from it, which increased his own strength and gained fame and fortune. He administered the jurisdiction strictly and tortured those who stole and extorted money. He befriended green forests, cultivated wings, suppressed those who rebelled against him, and maintained close ties with the government. In addition, he annexed land, expanded more than 200 acres of fertile land and large forests, and had his land and tenants in a radius of nearly 100 miles. On the pretext of supplying the regiment's defense expenses, he occupied Bunkang Palace in Aokigawa, Huilong Temple, and Shibayama in Gwangpyeong to obtain profits. Taking advantage of the special geographical location at the junction of the three provinces of Aokigawa, he planted large areas of poppies on the mountain and down the mountain, and for a time it became the largest tobacco trading center in the three provinces. The official government came here to check the smoke and smoke ban, but due to Wei Futang's strong armed strength and his cunning, several times failed. Wei Futang accumulated rich funds by selling opium, and then went to Sichuan to buy and expand his own armed forces. He had more than 1,000 regimental men and more than 400 guns, including many advanced Western-style firearms. As a result of his painstaking management, the AokiGawa region is peaceful and trade is prosperous. In the Thirty-first Year of the Republic of China (1942), Ning Qiang's "Report on the Economic Survey of the Whole County" recorded: "In the past, when the whole county was plagued by bandits and eroded, this district was saved alone. Towns and villages are called rich weather, idyllic and fertile, and A is located all over the West Road. ”
After becoming strong, Wei Futang began to develop the local commercial economy. He raised funds to set up a Tang Shisheng silk and satin store, selling oil and salt cloth, acquiring mountain goods and earth, and merchants came and went from south to north, on a grand scale. Later, it was also used to receive people from the government. In view of the widespread fur of cattle, sheep, horses, mules and wild animals in the mountains, he also opened a company called Fuyou Society, which produces leather products such as shoes and suitcases, and also operates tea houses and inns. This is still a money house, and the printing and distribution of small silver bills is circulated and used in the three provinces, which is the central point of Wei Futang's foreign economic exchanges. Rongshengkui, a leisure and entertainment place built in order to retain residents for a long time, is the industry of Wei Futang's eldest brother. It resembles a giant ship, and the boxes inside are arranged in the same pattern as ships. While attracting merchants from all over the world, he stressed strict integrity management, not allowing bullying of foreign customers, and punishing locals first if there is a dispute. If he is fraudulently plundered in his jurisdiction, he will investigate to the end and punish him severely. It is said that someone bought a pound of meat and found that there were only 8 taels, and when he reported it to Wei Futang, the meat seller was whipped as a punishment. He also opened a Chinese medicine shop in Tongjitang, with an earthen oil press room and a water mill. There is also a water mill oil room.
Wei Futang was not satisfied with the simple commercial prosperity, and began to build water conservancy, build schools, run drama clubs, and build roads and bridges. He dug 4 weir canals, built 3 stone bridges, and built a road from Aoki river to Guangpinghe, and at his repeated requests, the Ningqiang county government opened a primary school in Wenchang Palace, Zhaojiaba, in 1941. Because children after graduating from primary school can only go to Ningqiang to attend middle school, it is very inconvenient. In 1942, Wei Fu Tang built a private FuRen Middle School. This was the second middle school in Ningqiang County at that time, and the only private middle school. Wei Futang served as principal. He paid a high salary to teach teachers with expertise in foreign studies. Teachers are well paid, with monthly salaries ranging from 7 to 12 oceans. He asked the local tannery to send a pair of labor shoes to each teacher every year, and to send 3 catties of meat to the school for every pig killed in the meat sale to improve the food of teachers and residents. Private school students such as the Original Temple and the Five Grain Temple were recruited, and all school-age children in Aokigawa were required to go to school, and parents were not allowed to let their children help, and those who did not comply not only had to be fined money and food, but also had to be locked up in a confinement room. The school not only has regular cultural classes, but also foreign languages (English, Russian), opera, martial arts and other classes. At the same time, whether they are local or foreign students, studying at Furen Middle School, tuition fees are free. For a time, nearly 100 students in Shaanxi-Gansu-Gansu Studied here.
In order to cultivate local talents, in addition to running schools in the local area, Wei Futang, who had never been out of the mountains in his life, also chose to send poor and intelligent children in the township to study abroad for further study. Three batches were delivered before and after. For example, Xu Zhongde was a student who was sent out in the first period. Xu Zhongde's family was poor, and Wei Futang sponsored him to go to hanzhong to attend middle school, and later to the history department of Sichuan University, when Aoki Chuan counted him as the most educated. In the summer of 1949, Wei Futang expanded the "Ningxi People's Self-Defense Corps", and he returned to his hometown and became the chief of staff of Major Wei Futang. Later, he went to the county with Wei Futang to surrender his gun.
In 1944, in order to show his strength to attract merchants, Wei Futang sent people to Chengdu to buy more than 100 sets of costumes. The actors are teachers, students and social youth, and although their acting skills are not high, they have won applause. Wei Futang loves to watch plays, and he must arrive at every performance, never absent, and always see the closing. Sometimes he also helps out in the backfield. He does not advocate the use of acting to wish others birthdays, new year greetings, congratulations, and mourning, but only encourages students to learn to act and learn to sing. On the eve of liberation, Wei Futang established the "Furen Drama Society" in Aokigawa, acting continuously for more than two months, and many audiences came to admire it.
In 1938, Wei Futang built a simple stone bridge at the mouth of the alley in the middle of the street, which was soon washed away by the flood. So he invited more than 10 technicians from Sichuan to prepare to build a brick arch bridge. Unexpectedly, when the bridge arch was about to be completed, the bridge arch collapsed, and 6 workers under the bridge were smashed to death in the river. He cleaned up the mess, brought in a large number of migrant workers, and decided to build the bridge again. This time, he personally sat in the supervision and sometimes did not go home to eat. In less than a year, a stone arch bridge more than ten meters long was built. This bridge has changed its name several times, called Feifeng Bridge. At the time of the market, it becomes a trading market, and along the bridge are placed agricultural and sideline specialties, daily necessities, and people come and go, and it is very lively.
The Flying Phoenix Bridge spans both banks of the Jinxi River and connects the old and new streets of the Aoki River. Old Street and New Street are separated by the Jinxi River. Laojie is commonly known as Huilongchang, which is built along the meandering Jinxi River, extending for more than 800 meters from bottom to top, resembling a sleeping dragon, so it was formerly called Huilongchang. Most of the stories and architecture of the Aoki River are here. During the Wei Fu Tang Dynasty, Huilongchang was lined with shops and merchants gathered, which was the most prosperous and famous commercial and trade place in the junction of the three provinces of Shaanxi, Gansu and Sichuan, and the well-known commercial and cultural institutions such as Tang Shisheng, Fuyou Society, Furen Drama Society, RongShengkui, RongShengchang and so on were here, and Wei Futang's house was far away from it. Furen Middle School is located on the hill behind Huilong Street. Huilongchang architecture includes the traditional carved sorghum painting building with two entrances and two exits of the courtyard courtyard, dry boat-style houses, and unique atmospheric Western style architecture. The entire street was originally paved with bluestone slabs.
Wei Futang had married 6 women before and after. The original Roche died in childbirth at an early age and had two daughters. The eldest daughter, Wei Shujin, married the son of Du Litang, a powerful household in Yaodu Town, Qingchuan County, Guangyuan City, Sichuan. After getting married, she went to Chengdu Yizhou Girls' High School in Sichuan Province, where she taught for many years after liberation. The second daughter, Wei Shuyu, married the Sichuan Guo surname and had been dead for many years. Wei Futang's second woman was named Tang Mingzhen, who was born in Gansu and had never been born. After Wei Futang's death, Tang Mingzhen was weak and had no one to rely on, and married a local peasant surnamed Wang, who had been dead for many years. The third house, Zhao Baozhen, is the daughter of the local Zhao Jiaba family, known as Da Zhao, and has two daughters. The eldest daughter Wei Shuman married a large merchant surnamed Bikou Guo in Gansu, and the second daughter Wei Shuting married a gansu Bikou Zhang surname. After Wei Futang was shot, Zhao Baozhen married Li Rongchang, a Henan drug merchant, and moved back to his hometown, where he had already died of illness. The fourth fang, the Yang family, after marriage, had a son named Guoqing, who fell ill and died at the age of four or five, and the Yang family died of illness before liberation in the Wei family. The fifth house, Qu Yaozhang, had two sons. After The death of Qu Yaozhang in Wei Futang, there were two orphans under the old mother, one of whom was difficult to support the family, and recruited a Hubei businessman surnamed Le who came to the door to help the laborers support the family. Hou Le died, and Qu remained widowed until his death at the end of 2005. The eldest son, Wei Shuwu, was only four or five years old when he was liberated, and he was an honest farmer who gave the surname deng as his son. The second son, Wei Shukai, now lives in Weijiaba, and he was not yet born when Wei Futang surrendered his gun. Qu Yaozhang lived with him until his death. The sixth room Zhao Jinghao is the sister of Zhao Baozhen in the third room, known as Xiao Zhao. When mentioning relatives, people said that it was inappropriate to marry two sisters, and Wei Futang said, what is the relationship, people do not do strange things and are not famous, in the past history, there were many things to marry two sisters. When Wei Futang died, she was still young, and later married Ye Yuting, the chief worker in the family, and left the Wei family to live another life. Both Zhao and Ye had been dead for many years. Zhao Jinghaosheng had a daughter named Wei Shujing, who married a merchant surnamed Zhao in Pingguan.
The Wei Fu Tang family was originally in Weijiaba, and after marrying Luo Shi, the family moved to Luo's mother's home, Shangba Trough Ditch, where a building connected to the two courtyards was built. With the expansion of his power, coupled with the fact that it was said that the feng shui here was not good, in the eighteenth year of the Republic of China (1929), he began to choose Jidi to build a house in Weijiaba. The location is north facing south, leaning back against the mountains, facing the river, the whole dam and Huilong Street can be seen. The first house built is divided into two front and back plus a hall, with 61 houses, which is a typical Chinese building. The carved beams and paintings of the house, the cornices are curved, the doors and windows are carved and hollowed out, decorated with flower insects, fish and birds, the workmanship is fine, and the layout is perfect. The ground is paved with a mixture of white lime, oil yellow mud, tung oil, glutinous rice porridge, etc., smooth, elastic and strong, and has not been worn so far. The steps of the mansion are paved with six or seven meters long bluestone strips, and I don't know how to take it and how to transport it here. The main hall of the backyard is the Buddhist hall where Wei Fu Tang's mother chanted the sutra and worshiped the Buddha. The old woman died two years after her son was shot in her 80s. The wives had their own portals, and there were maids waiting. Women are not allowed to interfere in local affairs and not to speak for others. Women who have any opinions on whom, must first explain to Wei Futang to listen to the treatment, and private people cannot quarrel and verbally abuse their hands. If such a thing happens, both sides will be beaten and punished for kneeling. The lower dwellers live in the outhouse and upstairs. Qu Yaozhang lived here until his death. Qu Yaozhang died in 2005. In front of the house, there was originally a fish pond with a small bridge flowing water, and now the flowing water of the small bridge can no longer be seen. In the courtyard, there are two bluestone water tanks symmetrically, engraved with "Taiping Pond", which is pleasing to the eye on weekdays for raising fish, and taking water to save fires and protect the house when it is urgent. This mansion is now known as the Old Yard. Here, Wei Futang gave birth to 5 daughters, because the "earth immortals" said that here is leaning on the Phoenix Mountain, pregnant with the Longchi Mountain, the phoenix play dragon pond, can only give birth to women can not give birth to men, plus feel that this place is not safe enough, so he built a new house on the right side of the old courtyard, that is, the new courtyard now known as the new courtyard.
The new mansion is a Western architectural style, high style, simple and spacious, with the solemn solemnity of the palace. The original three hospitals, the first for grain processing and storage, has now been demolished. The entire house is symmetrically laid out, brick and wood, with two floors. The ground is paved with bluestone slabs and is still intact. Its life and defense system is very complete, and there are gun holes on all sides of the high wall, which is easy to defend and difficult to attack. With its back to the mountains, the façade is a spacious empty dam. It is said that there are also secret passage mechanisms in the backyard, and if there is a problem with the defense, you can get out of the park from the dark passage and escape from the back mountain. The two sets of residences were also the most luxurious in Ningqiang County at that time. After the completion of the new house, it became the center of wei futang's government affairs activities, and the old house became a living area. Now there are offices in the town that work here. There are also two small courtyards built on the right side of the new house. In front of it is a dining room for passers-by or the poor, and in the back is a dining room for the next person to cook and eat. There are rules for giving up food, not to give up idle people, only give up once, if you want to eat the second time, you have to work. Immediately to the right of the dining room is the famous futang spring, which uses an underground tunnel to divert mountain rock water one kilometer away, the spring water is clear and the water level is stable, which is used for drinking water in peacetime and when besieged. Although there is already running water, people are still accustomed to drinking the spring water here.
In the autumn of the 38th year of the Republic of China (1949), Wei Futang accepted the order of Cao Rihui, commander of the Eighteenth Appeasement District of Hanzhong of the Kuomintang, and expanded the original armed forces into the "Ningxi People's Self-Defense Corps", with more than a thousand officers and men. Wei Futang was the captain of the Ningxi People's Self-Defense Force, and Li Shumin was the deputy captain. Li Shumin, whose real name is Li Shoulin, is a native of Guangpinghe Temple. His father, Li Tianbing, was the police chief of Ningqiang in the old days. 6 brothers, ranked fifth, primary school culture. Because of the collusion of the brothers, many people were rampant in the Area of Guangping River and Wangquanba Stone Urn. Liu Fang, the wife of Li Damei of the Sichuan people, was clever and sharp-tongued, and was taken over by Li Shumin. Liu Fang had a certain amount of guts and brains, and soon learned to shoot with both hands. She is fierce and fierce, whoever offends, the light one scolds, the heavy one will suffer from the flesh, and for a while she became a strong woman in the Li family, although she did not know that the media was marrying, but she had to call her "five mothers-in-law". Soon, Li Shumin withdrew his self-defense team members from the Wei Fu Tang Self-Defense Brigade, and by the time of liberation, the Li Shumin brothers gathered more than 400 self-defense team members, formed 4 squadrons, and equipped them with more than 300 guns.
On the eve of liberation, the Qinba Mountains cobbled together several reactionary armed forces, including the New 4th Army, the New 5th Army, the New 8th Army, the Shaanxi 4th Brigade, and the Shaanxi Southern Provisional General Brigade, totaling more than 20,000 people, known as the "100,000 underground army." Jiang Sen's "Anti-Communist Guerrilla Corps" is one of them.
At the end of 1949, the whole territory of southern Shaanxi was liberated. The 171st Regiment of the 57th Division of the 19th Army of the People's Liberation Army entered Ningqiang. A battalion was stationed in Guangping. Intimidated by the powerful offensive of the People's Liberation Army and seeing that Wei Futang had surrendered his weapons and surrendered, Li Shumin, on the one hand, assigned his brother Li Shouhe to take 30 people and 30 worn-out guns to Ningqiang to "accept reorganization"; on the other hand, he secretly colluded with Liu Qingyun, Zhang Zhanbai, and other habitual bandits who were close to the remnants of the Kuomintang in Sichuan and Shaanxi to plot riots. Li Shumin was appointed by Jiang Sen, commander-in-chief of the "Shaanxi-Gansu-Gansu-Sichuan Anti-Communist Guerrilla Group," as the chief of the "Shaanxi-Gansu-Gansu-Sichuan Anti-Communist Guerrilla." In May 1950, he entangled his brothers and Liu Fang and others, and turned from latent activities to open rebellion, encircling the bandit garrison at Guangpinghe. At that time, there were only more than 30 people in the People's Liberation Army, fighting for 11 hours, and 9 people, including captain Li Tibi, were killed in the line of duty. The next day, Li Shumin led the bandits to approach the street, surrounded the district office, washed the Guangping River in blood, and the district captain Cao Tinglin and other heroic sacrifices. Because it was still far from the large plaster of the People's Liberation Army, there was no time for rescue, the Guangping River fell into the hands of bandits, and the PLA Guangping garrison spilled yangshi rock with blood and blood on the old forest ditch, causing a counter-revolutionary riot in Guangping that shocked the whole province. Li Shumin secretly attacked the PLA garrison and the township government four times in Guangping in 8 days, killing district and township cadres, ambushing officers and men of the garrison, causing 7 district and township cadres to die and 34 PLA commanders and fighters to die.
After the bandit troops arrived, they laid down a net of heaven and earth, surrounded and blocked it, and Li Shumin's bandits disintegrated, and most of the bandits were annihilated. On October 15, 1950, the bandit leader Li Shumin was captured by the People's Liberation Army in a large stone cave in Miaozigou, Gansu, and Liu Fang was also captured in the mountains. In February 1951, the people's government sentenced Li Shumin, Liu Fang, and other bandits and backbone bandits to death.
On January 29, 1950, Wei Futang led more than 300 people to Ningqiang County to surrender to the people's government and garrison and accept the reorganization.
On April 27, 1952, the Ningqiang County People's Court sentenced Wei Futang to death for counterrevolutionary bully homicide and transferred him back to Aokigawa for execution. Also shot was Wei Yuanchen (魏元臣), the eldest brother of Wei Futang. The execution took place on the side of the playground of Fu Jen Middle School.
In April 1986, the Shaanxi Provincial Party Committee designated the former Kuomintang Ningxi People's Self-Defense Corps as a surrender force, and the Ningqiang County Party Committee accompanied wei Futang's case to review. In July 1986, the county court retried the case, holding that although Wei Futang had committed historical crimes before liberation, he had not committed new crimes after liberation, and he surrendered his weapons to the people's government, and he was a surrenderer, and intended to revoke the 1952 judgment. In December 1986, the Shaanxi Provincial High People's Court approved and agreed to the ningqiang county court's review report, treating Wei Futang as a surrendered person and not pursuing criminal responsibility.
In the Qingming Dynasty of 2001, Wei Shukai, the younger son of Wei Futang, erected a monument for his father. The inscription was written by Xu Zhongde in the tone of the person who erected the monument. The inscription reads: "In the middle of the Republic of China, political chaos and banditry plagued the people, and the people had no peaceful days. Father initiated the regiment to defend his hometown and take charge of the government. He was appointed to the former post of commander of the Ningxi Self-Defense Corps and deputy director of the Border Joint Defense Office of the three provinces of Shaanxi, Gansu and Sichuan, with the rank of colonel. In his lifetime, he built many houses and villas, with high-rise buildings, exquisite craftsmanship, and spectacular scale. Fu Daxing water conservancy, excavated four weir canals, irrigated hundreds of acres of land, and abundant grain to enrich farmers. Three bridges were built along the river, roads were built to protect businesses, the industry was bustling, goods and goods were traded, and prosperity was better than in the past. Followed by the construction of the school, the church structure is soaring, the momentum is magnificent, the project is huge, and the neighbors are unparalleled. Opened the private Furen Middle School, served as the principal, extended the famous teacher, collected the group of talents, cultivated talents, and its spiritual will to re-teach and revitalize learning was a model at that time. Father dedicated himself to the local area for twenty years, the special situation of independence in the west of Jianning, social stability, Pepsi in order, and a generation of accomplished people. When the people of today are democratically governed, they do not lose sight of their achievements in the past, but the time has passed for a long time, and they are afraid of hearing and looking at the deeds of obedience, concubines, and so on. The one who comes to the house can discern its truth, and it is for the sake of the strategy. ”
Source: Terracotta Ridge