The miserable means of livelihood of the people before liberation

Before liberation, especially during the period of Japanese puppet rule, the living standard of farmers under the small-scale peasant economy was very low. They depend on the sky for food, and only when they don't encounter natural and man-made disasters can they make a living. Farmers work hard all the year round, in addition to paying public grain, lotus grain, land rent, and seeds that owe feed. If they leave the production costs until next year, they won't have enough rations. In this way, every year, 1/3 farmers need to borrow grain and debt when sowing next year, year after year, and they will never turn over. Orphans and widows have a hard life, have no normal income, and can only rely on relatives and friends to solve temporary difficulties. Because of low income, most farmers have to tighten their belts and dress badly. Those who have cotton-padded clothes for two seasons throughout the year are considered as excellent households. Most farmers wear suits in winter and summer, which are made of blue coarse cloth or "lotus cloth" Add cotton to the singlets they wear in summer as winter coats. Because it can't be replaced and washed after being worn on the body for a long time, it is damaged quickly. Most workers and farmers wear patched clothes. If there is a disaster, people's lives will be even more sad. According to the historical records of Xin 'an Township, there is a folk song in Kaoshantun: "Kaoshantun, Guangze Tun, can't afford to wear cotton trousers and can't enter a leather shop." Farmers eat corn flour, corn pepper or millet for three meals a day. Drink thin in the morning, dry in the afternoon, and eat "confused" at night. Many people are half a year's grain bran vegetables, and most people are "pickles in winter, wild vegetables in summer, and old pickles all year round." Farmers' poultry can't feed themselves by laying eggs, so they must gather in the market to exchange urgently needed daily necessities, such as kerosene, matches and salt. Living conditions are even worse. A few well-off farmers can live in mud houses, but they are usually east-west houses with kang in the north-south direction and a kitchen in the middle, which is narrow and small, and it runs in the family is very inconvenient. Most families live in shacks and pony racks. The daily necessities are poor, and even some pots, spoons, pots, etc. necessary for family daily life are not ready. There are not a few people who sleep in a bed for four or five people. Even some residents don't even have bedding. At night, you can only wear two sacks on your body. Some households can't afford kang mats, so they have to sleep on the grass. The poor middle peasants look forward to having children, but they are afraid of having children. The wife of Li XX, the Jianxing Brigade of Deshan Commune, gave birth to her son in the 9th year of pseudo-Kant (1942) and had to put the child in her mother's pants to support her. Before liberation, the lives of workers, handicraft workers and clerks were also low. The salary is very low, except for food, clothing and burning. Once a disaster happens, they will be exploited by usurers like farmers, and some even lose their money and their wives and children will be separated. Especially after Japanese militarism invaded this county, the life of the broad masses of people became even poorer. At that time, the puppet government tried its best to exploit the economy, and the working people had endless taxes and voluntary labor. At that time, in order to meet the needs of its war of aggression against China, the Japanese invaders expanded their forces, seized laborers and produced coolies, forcing the people in the county to build airports, forts and dig trenches for them. All the arrested people were forced to engage in high-intensity labor, without enough food and clothing, without medical care, and were thrown into the dead pit with vitality. Before liberation, people lived a hard life and had to live in huts. In the past, sesame oil (gourd sesame oil) was used for lighting. Generally speaking, farmers use iron and bronze lamp bowls, and wood or clay is used as lamp posts. In the 1940s, some farmers began to use kerosene for lighting. Poor people use clay bowls as lamps, carve a nest on the wall, and there will be a situation that "the heatable adobe sleeping platform breaks the wall and the lamp oil goes up the wall". Some farmers can't buy lamp oil, so they have to faint and rest. Light is seldom used in a year. Farmers were exploited by landlords before, and only need to pay a certain amount of agricultural tax to the state after solving the problem. Now, they can get money instead of paying taxes. Before liberation, the workers were severely deducted by the factory owners and went on strike. After the solution, most of them are state-owned enterprises. (Of course, there are many private enterprises now. Both state-owned enterprises and private enterprises try their best to ensure the normal life of workers.