Chapter 296: Water is clear and water is turbid.
Officials in Fujian were not happy because the Japanese pirates were temporarily suppressed. This was all because Zhang Lian's rebel army, which had swept through the three provinces of Fujian, Guangdong, and Jiangxi, had become more violent since October.
Zhang Lian ascended the throne and proclaimed himself emperor in the Minyue Mountains. His country was named "Feilong" and he called himself the "Feilong Lord". The rebel army he led was also called the Feilong Army and soon swept through the three provinces.
In the past two years, Guangzhou, Fujian Province, has levied a lot of excessive taxes and miscellaneous taxes in order to fight against Japanese invaders. The people have been living in dire straits, and civil unrest has broken out everywhere.
A tax increase in ancient times is not a modern tax increase. In modern times, a tax increase may mean eating less and lowering consumption.
In ancient agricultural societies, there was not much surplus food left for ordinary people. After a year of hard work growing food, sometimes even the capital could not be recovered.
Every time the court raised taxes, they would eventually be borne by the poorest people. The wealthy gentry could avoid taxes through various methods.
The reason is actually very simple. For the government, tax increase is an indicator and a number.
According to the Hongwu ancestral system, land taxes will never be increased. It can only be said that Lord Hongwu had a good idea, but he underestimated the wisdom of future generations.
The court was spending more and more money. During the Hongwu period, this money might have been enough.
But now, just relying on these land taxes, the court has long been bankrupt.
Of course, this cannot just be attributed to the emperor's extravagance and waste.
The number of officials is expanding, the number of affairs that the government needs to manage is increasing, the cost of various infrastructure construction is expanding, and the money and food for raising troops and fighting on the border is increasing.
For example, during the Japanese Rebellion in the Southeast, the imperial court wanted to recruit troops to suppress the bandits, so it naturally had to impose new exorbitant taxes.
The Ministry of Household Affairs and the Ministry of War calculate an amount based on the recruitment plan submitted by the local government.
Then after a cabinet meeting, the Chief of Ceremonies approved it, and the tax increase decree was sent to the local government.
The Fujian Chief Envoy Yamen began to divide the money into each government based on the previous tax levels of the eight Fujian governments.
When the prefecture receives this tax increase quota, it will be divided again into various counties, and each county must complete the task of increasing taxes in accordance with the requirements of the court.
After receiving the official document announcing the tax increase, Hai Rui, the magistrate of Xingguo County in Jiangxi Province, immediately summoned the big households in the city and used decrees to force them to pay taxes.
Hai Rui was a selfless official and was proficient in the "Ming Dynasty Law" and various yamen branches. He managed the subordinate officials in the county obediently as soon as he took office.
After he took office, he personally measured the land and seized a large number of hidden properties and hidden tenant farmers from the hands of large households.
Even so, Hai Rui still used his wits and courage to collect the increased taxes and grain from these large households.
Other local officials would not work as hard as Hai Rui.
For example, Magistrate Sun of Nanping County would ask Su Ze to make some kind of donation, and in the end he would "repay the full amount to the big households and 70/30 to the small households", and then take the money off the heads of the ordinary people.
Sun Zhixian can be considered a good official who loves the people and works hard. More county officials directly called the subordinate officials and Li Zhengbaojia of each house to assign the task of increasing taxes again.
Hold a meeting to convey the spirit of the emperor's imperial meeting, emphasize that this is an important task that the emperor personally handles, the cabinet attaches great importance to, and superiors pay attention to, and requires subordinates to pay close attention to the implementation and successfully complete the tax increase targets.
When the county government breaks down the tasks, the subordinate officials in the household are often even happier.
If taxes are increased, the subordinate officials can continue to plunder the people.
Naturally, they did not dare and would not go to the local wealthy and powerful families, so these taxes fell on ordinary people, and the subordinate officials could get more bone marrow from the common people.
After such actions, the poor people in Fujian have almost no way to survive. Since they have to buy and sell their children to pay taxes, it is better to rebel against them.
Zhang Lian also rose rapidly under this opportunity and launched such a huge battle.
In October, Fuzhou's Dusi Yamen received an urgent report that Nanjing, the seat of Zhangzhou Prefecture, was captured by Zhang Lian's troops, the Zhangzhou prefect was captured, and the Zhenhaiwei army, the largest military guard stationed in Zhangzhou Prefecture, was wiped out.
Zhang Lian personally led 30,000 people and used Nanjing, Zhangzhou Prefecture as a base to intercept the officers and soldiers fighting south.
You Zhende, the governor of Fujian, was ordered to mobilize and command Wang Haotong's three armies, and he and Fuzhou's general magistrate Peng Denghuan led the local soldiers to jointly conquer Zhang Lian's rebel army, but they were all defeated by the rebels.
You Zhende, the governor of Fujian, issued successive orders, asking Qi Jiguang, who had just won the battle in Xinghua Prefecture, to go south at a high speed and be sure to block the Feilong Army south of Quanzhou Prefecture.
Qi Jiguang reluctantly led the troops to set off. It was obvious that suppressing the rebels had demoralized the Qi army more than fighting the Japanese.
Qi Jiguang went deep into the front line and set up defenses in Tong'an County, Quanzhou Prefecture, blocking Zhang Lian who tried to attack Quanzhou northward.
Zhang Lian and Qi Jiguang fought a battle, but neither side achieved much results. Zhang Lian had to lead his troops back to Nanjing to continue the confrontation with Qi's army.
At the same time, Zhang Lian asked his trusted generals to lead two rebel armies to attack in other directions.
Zhang Lian's general Lin Chaoxi led 30,000 troops and went south to attack Meizhou, Xingning, and Changle in Guangdong. They captured cities and territories along the way, but local officials fled.
Another general, Xiao Wan, went west from Zhangzhou Prefecture to attack Tingzhou Prefecture in southern Fujian. After capturing Liancheng of Tingzhou Prefecture, his troops surrounded Ting, the governor of Tingzhou Prefecture. The prefect of Tingzhou spent a lot of money to recruit the best troops in the city to defend the city. That's why it wasn't captured.
Xiao Wan knew that his soldiers seemed to have many people, but in fact they were not strong in combat effectiveness and did not have engineering equipment, so he gave up attacking Changting and continued to attack Ruijin in Jiangxi Province to the west.
Xiao Wan then invaded Jiangxi, conquering Huichang, Shicheng, and Ningdu, and the entire southern part of Jiangxi was in ruins.
At this point, Zhang Lian's uprising reached its peak. Two of the eight prefectures in Fujian fell, two prefectures in Jiangxi fell into the hands of the Feilong Army, and three prefectures in Guangdong were in turmoil, with rebels rising everywhere.
Zhang Lian claimed to have an army of 100,000 rebels, which shocked the governors of the three provinces. After deliberation, they concluded that the wolf soldiers from the southwest border who had been in the mountains for a long time and were known for their strength and ferocity should be recruited and fought.
As a result, the wolf soldiers were also defeated. The rebels echoed each other in the border areas of the three provinces, and were also harassed by Zhang Lian's gang at sea. For example, Zhang Lian ordered Wang Boxuan to lead the maritime rebels to attack Chaozhou City in Guangdong.
At this point, Zhang Lian is no longer an ordinary bandit in the Minyue Mountains. They are a big rebel bandit with a hundred thousand mercenaries, sweeping through three provinces and occupying seven mansions.
After Su Ze used the [History] skill, he realized that Zhang Lian was indeed a powerful figure.
In Su Ze's historical timeline, although the Feilong Army was encircled and suppressed by the official army, the uprising failed in the end.
But this Zhang Lian sailed out to sea, first attacking Macau occupied by the Portuguese, and then went south to Srivijaya (today's Sumatra) to establish himself as king overseas. In October of the 40th year of Jiajing, the Feilong Army swept through the three provinces. People in Fujian, Guangxi and Jiangxi rushed to seek refuge, and the Feilong regime reached its peak.
However, like many peasant uprisings in history, the Feilong Army did not have a systematic program, and the uprising slogans were naturally slogans such as resisting taxes and dividing land.
After Zhang Lian occupied Nanjing, he also began to recruit women to build a harem. Then he awarded meritorious titles and generously rewarded them with gold, silver and jewelry.
Big households in the area occupied by Zhang Lian fled one after another, and officials and subordinates were unwilling to follow Zhang Lian. However, October was the season for collecting autumn grain. Zhang Lian needed more military grain for the war, so he simply allowed the soldiers to go out and rob on their own. In southern Fujian, The people found that the rebels they were looking forward to came, but they did not live a good life.
After Zhang Lian won several victories, he began a large-scale recruitment operation. He forcibly recruited local people to join the army, and there were not enough officers to control such a large army. The already poor military discipline was further deteriorated.
However, Zhang Lian didn't take this seriously. It was already October, and the officers and soldiers had suffered heavy losses. They would definitely not launch a counterattack before spring, which meant that the Feilong regime still had several good months to live.
Nanjing City was also very lively, with various forces from the three provinces of Fujian, Guangxi and Jiangxi coming and going here.
These are the envoys of rebels from all over the country. Among them are hundreds of bandits and road bullies, there are also rebels who have really raised their armies due to oppression, and there are even self-protection regiments organized by powerful gentry.
They gathered in Nanjing because they saw the Feilong Army's overwhelming power and wanted to borrow the Feilong Army's brand.
Zhang Lian was overjoyed by the "rebels" from all over the country who came to join him. He finally realized what it meant for the people to "welcome Master Wang".
The appointment orders of the Feilong regime were printed like crazy. Prime ministers, generals, princes, and dukes all had clearly marked prices, and they would be issued as long as the money was paid.
There was a bandit group of more than a hundred people. Because they paid a lot of tribute, Zhang Lian named him the King of Generals and the Generals of Pingmin. Zhang Lian also gave this bandit leader several beautiful women from official families he had captured. .
Lin Chaoxi, the general who came back from Guangdong, advised Zhang Lian: "Your Majesty! These 'rebels' are a mixed bag, and some of them are villains who have caused trouble to the local area for many years. Now your Majesty easily grants them titles. In the future, they will use the banner of the Feilong Army to do evil. Aren’t the common people putting all their accounts on us? It’s not worth it for this small amount of money!”
Unexpectedly, Zhang Lian said: “I heard that clear water and turbid water are useful. I’m here to protect you brothers. The government and the army also need these people to fight against the government and the army. We must resist Baoming. Although we have the land of Qifu now, we are still too weak compared to Baoming. Now that there are people who lead the people to surrender, do we still want to fight? Push them out?"
Lin Chaoxi was speechless at this time. He originally wanted to advise Zhang Lian not to indulge in women, but Zhang Lian spoke first and said:
"You quickly return to Guangdong and cooperate with Wang Boxuan from the sea to attack Chaozhou City. , if Chaozhou City can be captured, the two beloved princes will be crowned king together!"
After hearing the title, Lin Chaoxi stopped talking and quickly led his people back to Guangdong to cooperate with the Feilong Army's navy to lay siege to Chaozhou City.
On October 12, the "Flying Dragon Army" in the Yanping Mansion broke into the imperial mines. The guarding eunuch Hu Eunuch "died" in battle, and all of Hu Eunuch's godsons "missed". The workers in the mines joined the "Flying Dragon Army" , looted the imperial mines, and finally burned the entire mine to the ground.
At the same time, the New World, loaded with experimental equipment and various ore samples, departed from Changningwei and headed for Madou Port, a new city on Damuan Island.
Madou Port is not far north of Anping City.
During this period of time, Lin Mojun had been traveling between the coastal areas of Fujian and Guangzhou, loading people who were willing to go to sea onto ships and transporting them to Dayu Island.
Now Anping City has transformed from a fishing port into a large city with more than 30,000 residents.
Too many people gather together, which is a very dangerous thing on a tropical island like Taiyuan Island. It’s okay now that it’s winter, but it will be terrible when mosquitoes become rampant in summer and cause malaria.
So Su Ze personally went to the island to inspect and identified two new cities on Dajuan Island.
They are Madou Port to the north of Chengtianfu and Dagou Port (now Kaohsiung) to the south of Chengtianfu.
At the same time, people are also encouraged to form voluntary associations and organize reclamation activities voluntarily.
But at this time, Su Ze was in the square of Chengtianfu City, personally hearing the case of the former Sheriff of Chengtianfu.
Su Ze has set up a county in Chengtian Mansion, but has not yet appointed a county magistrate. Daily affairs are managed by three departments.
One is the General Administration of Immigration and Reclamation, which is the department responsible for the reclamation affairs of the entire Chengtian Prefecture and even Damuan Island. It is also responsible for accepting immigrants and health care. It is currently the main agency for managing civil affairs in Chengtian Prefecture.
The General Immigration and Reclamation Group is currently in charge of Lin Xianyang. Lin Xianyang resigned from the Nanping County Government at the beginning of this year and was arranged by Su Ze to move to Dajuan Island.
The second department is the Sheriff's Department. After the population of Daguang Island increased, a Sheriff's Department was established in Chengtian Mansion based on the standard of appointing a Sheriff with a population of 1,000. The Sheriff is responsible for the security within the jurisdiction and arbitrates ordinary disputes. , these peace officers are all elected by the population of the jurisdiction.
The last department is the Da Yuan Inspection Department, which is the security military department of Da Yuan Island. Lin Mojun is the chief officer of the Inspection Department. His main responsibility is to crack down on Japanese pirates and pirates who have landed in Da Yuan and maintain security in the sea area.
In addition, Su Ze will land on the island every once in a while to deal with the backlog of criminal and civil cases in Chengtian Mansion.
As soon as he landed on the island today, Su Ze immediately dealt with the case of former Sheriff Cai Sancai.
Cai Sancai was Yanding who followed Zhu Qi, and was considered the earliest group of people in Changning Guard.
At that time, Su Ze was giving lectures in Tianlang, and Cai Sancai followed Su Ze to listen in. Later, he participated in the literacy class of Changning Wei.
Later, when Damuan Island was developed, he also took the initiative to sign up and was among the first batch of immigrants.
Because of these qualifications, he was elected as the Sheriff, responsible for the security work in a workshop area in the north of Chengtian Mansion.
The reason why Cai Sancai was tried was that he colluded with a workshop owner, accepted bribes, suppressed the legitimate wage demands of the workshop craftsmen, and killed the leader of the craftsmen who took the lead in asking for wages.
Before the trial, Lin Mojun sighed and asked Su Ze: "Cai Sancai can be considered an old man in Changning Wei. How about we announce that he has been executed and let him secretly return to Dong'ao Island to do something?" Su
Ze He shook his head and said: "This kind of thing must not be tolerated. If you indulge this time, there will be another time. If Cai Sancai is let go of the old man Chang Ningwei, there will be more people like him in the future." Cai Sancai was in Chengtian
Mansion A public trial was held in the square, and the final sentence was pronounced to be hanged, and the execution was carried out in front of the people.
Su Ze looked at Cai Sancai's body and lowered his head to have it buried in the Luze Garden outside Chengtianfu City.
On the boat returning, Su Ze looked at the waves and said,
"Although the Yellow River is turbid, it can still be used for irrigation; although the Yangtze River is clear, it floods from time to time."
Lin Mojun looked at Su Ze, wondering why he said such a thing.
Su Ze changed the topic again and said: "What nonsense, it's just a way to control and fool the people! I don't use it when the water is turbid!"
Su Ze then said: "The theory of the two phases of pure and turbid water is an ancient herdsman's art. As soon as I think of civil rights, I will I feel that the world is vast."
(End of this chapter)