Chapter 40 Mining Tax
The main ethnic group in Lijiang is the Naxi (their Dongba hieroglyphs are very interesting, interested readers can search for them). The Naxi people have only two surnames: "Mu" and "He". In short, people with the surname Mu belong to the chieftain family, while people with the surname He belong to the common people.
The surname Mu was given by Zhu Yuanzhang - in the past, the Naxi people had the names of father and son. In the fifteenth year of Hongwu's reign, Zhu Yuanzhang sent his adopted son Mu Ying to pacify Yunnan, and the Naxi leader Ajia'ade led his people to surrender. In order to commend his contribution, Zhu Yuanzhang removed one stroke and one stroke from his surname, took the character "木" and gave it as his surname, so "Ajia Ade" was called "Mude" from now on. The following year, Zhu Yuanzhang once again ordered Mu De to "inherit the local officials and prefects, and permanently defend the Shimen and suppress the Tibetan and Tatar people."
By the way, if you have the chance, you can visit Mufu in Lijiang, Yunnan. It is worth a visit. The portraits of chieftains from past dynasties in it are quite distinctive: their faces are either black or white - the ones with black faces are generals, those who have led soldiers and fought in battles, and the ones with white faces are civil servants, prefects from the peaceful years. The Naxi compatriots have a very philosophical understanding of this: when leading troops in war, exposed to wind and sun, can they not get dark? Reading in the house all day without leaving the house, how can it not be in vain?
Makes sense!
By Gu Baihua's generation, the Gu family had already joined the military and had taken root at the foot of Jade Dragon Snow Mountain. Gu Baihua, who was 17 or 18 years old at the time, was favored by the guard commander He Shixun because of his courage and ability to ride a fierce horse, and he was promoted to patrol. Although he was only a ninth-rank official, he was considered a serious court official after all.
The chieftain of this term is named Mu Zeng (very famous in history), and he also likes Xiaogu very much.
In the mainland of the Ming Dynasty, there was a saying that "good iron cannot be hammered, and good men cannot be soldiers." Most people looked down on military households. But in minority areas, people are very simple, especially those who value masculinity. Although Mr. Mu himself had a literary name in history, he was also very brave - he was only eleven years old when he first attacked the chieftain. The rural chieftain (Tibetan) of Sichuan in the neighboring province thought that the young man could be bullied, so he led thousands of horsemen to invade the border village and invaded the border village. plunder. The young chieftain Mu Zeng said with great emotion: "If you surrender to the enemy once, you will suffer troubles for generations to come." He led his generals to fight, "holding sticks, beating drums, and advancing with arrows and stones." He won a great victory, and took advantage of the victory to pursue the remaining bandits to Sichuan. Muli, Xiangcheng and Mangkang and Yanjing in Tibet!
People at that time praised: "A husband should not underestimate a young man"!
It's natural that Mr. Mu likes Gu Baihua with such a personality.
Once, a group of thieves came from the Tibetan border. It was said that there were only six or seven of them, but they made a lot of noise and harassed them a lot, causing several villages to become noisy. The military and police of the Ming Dynasty did not distinguish between each other, and the policemen in the prefecture's Yamen could not enter the mountains, so Mr. Mu asked Commander He for help, and He Shixun handed over the task to Gu Baihua.
Inspector Xiao Gu took thirteen people into the mountain.
After more than half a month, eight of them came back, carrying the bodies of six of their companions on horseback.
Of the eight alive, everyone was injured.
Hanging under the horse's neck is the head of a 19th-level Tibetan bandit!
Gu Baihua, who was covered in blood clots and couldn't take off his armor, got off his horse and started to curse: "You are a bastard, you are lying to me! Six or seven? Zini & Ma, I was so blackened that I was sore." Very miserable)! Nineteen in total, not one of them escaped!"
Naxi men in the border areas of Yunnan are not so particular. After a big drinking ceremony, Mr. Mu Zeng and Gu Baihua vomited all over the flower hall of Mu Mansion. Later, although he was not officially appointed to an official position, in fact, Bai Huaruodang (meaning "warrior" in the Dongba culture of the Naxi people) became the chieftain of the chieftain's yamen. In addition to the royal rations in his military pay, At the same time, I also had a bowl of rice from Liumen.
The Mosuo people on the banks of Lugu Lake in Lijiang are a matrilineal clan society and have the custom of "walking marriage". They are called "Axia" - both men and women live in their mother's house. Men do not marry and women do not marry. If they feel they are compatible, the man will spend the night at the woman's house and leave in the morning. The children he gives birth to will be raised by the woman. The union is voluntary and the separation is free. As long as the man does not come or the woman refuses to accept the relationship, the relationship with A-Xia will be terminated after a while, and both parties can find another sweetheart. Contrary to what most people imagine, this is a very serious matter: Although you can have many Ashas in your life, you can never have two at the same time - one relationship must end before you can start another. There are also cases where both parties live together, but when they no longer want to be together, they go back to their respective homes. Mosuo people believe that feelings are sacred and have nothing to do with property, labor, child support, etc.
Even though Mr. Mu Zeng is from the Naxi ethnic group, his Confucian cultural literacy exceeds more than 99% of the Han people: he has written seven collections of poems and essays, composed more than a thousand poems, and was once appointed as the chief envoy of Guangxi! Mr. Mu, who is well-read in poetry and books, respects Han culture and certainly does not adopt this kind of marriage custom in his family. On the other hand, the ethnic minorities in the border areas also advocated bravery and did not have the sour problems of the inland Han people, such as "military men are regarded as cheap jobs". They liked Gu Baihua and were willing to choose a wife for him in the generation of his children and nephews. As for the latter, he had already accumulated meritorious service in the camp and was promoted to deputy commander (military rank from seventh grade), and Mr. Mu would also make appropriate arrangements for him in the chieftain's yamen. More importantly, Lijiang has copper mines! Both the health center and the local government were mining money and living a relatively prosperous life - if there were no subsequent changes, Gu Baihua would be paved with a broad road within the Ming Dynasty system.
Unfortunately, all this changed completely because of the arrival of one person.
Yang Rong.
Yang Rongben was the father-in-law of Shangshan Supervisor. He was jealous when he saw other father-in-laws getting rich, so he advised Wanli: "There are treasure wells in the Awa and Mengmi areas, and they intend to add them (these two places are at the junction of Ming and Myanmar. At this time Belonging to Myanmar, or it can also be understood as a semi-independent tribe), the income can increase by hundreds of thousands taels every year (the annual income is hundreds of thousands)!"
Whether it was the courtiers at that time or the historians now, everyone likes to add a common attributive when referring to the Wanli Emperor: he wants money and is shameless - well, the Wanli Emperor wants money and is shameless.
Therefore, the restaurant waiter Arong immediately became Mr. Yang, the chairman of the Yunnan Mining Bureau who enjoys deputy ministerial status.
The concept of national territory at that time was different from today. In the Ming Dynasty's theoretical understanding, Myanmar is considered a vassal state, but this "vassal state" is not as obedient as North Korea, and it only causes friction from time to time. Whether it is the Awa tribe, the Mengmi tribe, or even the chieftains of the Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan and Tibetan generations, the imperial court regarded them as "barbarians", and their respective territories were not completely regarded as "indivisible parts of the Ming Empire" like the mainland. "Part": As long as the Ming Dynasty's suzerain status is verbally recognized, generally speaking, the degree of autonomy is very high, and they often turn a blind eye to the wars between them. Whoever wins the battle will be issued an edict: You are the king of that place. Yes, please be good in the future... Therefore, these places are not very peaceful. However, for thousands of years, the Central Plains dynasties have adopted similar "restriction" policies: on the one hand, they use huge military strength to maintain deterrence, and on the other hand, they provide some small favors and material benefits to maintain a decent situation of border peace.
Mr. Yang doesn't care about stability and unity - don't talk nonsense, the emperor sent our family here. Whether you are loyal or not depends on your actions!
When I arrived in Yunnan, I first dug for gems in Awa Mengmi, which caused a lot of trouble. The local official Chen Yongbin wrote to Wanli and complained: It is not okay to mess around like this, it will easily cause border troubles. Wanli was looking at the account book happily, "leaving everything out" (throwing it aside and ignoring it).
Because Mr. Yang belonged to the emperor, as long as the emperor didn't say anything, the local officials had nothing to do with him, so Mr. Yang continued to act mischievously. As a result, the local chieftain discovered that "neifu (the tribe was a subject of the Ming Dynasty) could not protect the leader's land, but Fumu would be safe", and thus became alienated.
The local chieftain who was sitting on the fence took the initiative to join him, and the Burmese king was certainly happy. The Burmese people are tough and will engage in mass violence when they are anxious. Mr. Yang found that the trouble was a bit big. If he continued to mess around, he would have to fight head-on to destroy the country. Based on his own weight, in order to quell the "border troubles", the emperor could give him to the Burmese people to relieve the tension, or choose a war that would cost millions of taels. He could figure it out with his toes, so he didn't dare to think about it again. Toss about there and set your sights on the territory.
Not surprisingly, he discovered the copper mine in Lijiang!
What's more terrible, he insisted that after scientific verification, the rich mine with the highest copper content was located under Master Mu Zeng's cottage!
Obviously, Mr. Mu's political consciousness still needs to be improved at this time: he mobilized manpower to drive away Mr. Yang's demolition team in three strokes. There was a guy at the front with a round head and a round face, dressed in Naxi national costume, and carrying a stick. This guy was originally carrying a long knife, but Mr. Mu snatched it away with his hands and said, "Use this", and then stuffed a stick into it. Give him - Zhang Anmin, the demolition team leader who chased Mr. Yang over two hills.
Captain Zhang was left with xenophobia from then on, and despite Mr. Yang's promises, he would no longer stay in Lijiang. Mr. Yang had no choice but to transfer him to Tengyue Prefecture (today's Tengchong) to take charge of the local tax bureau (tax factory).
This guy with a round head and a round face who fights with his life is Gu Baihua.
Violent resistance to demolition? This is great! Mr. Yang became anxious and ordered Xiong Duo, the prefect of Yunnan, to mobilize troops to attack Mr. Mu's mountain stronghold.
Magistrate Xiong was so frightened that he peed on the spot: "Eunuch Yang, Ambassador Yang, you can't do it! Master Mu was the worldly official appointed by Grandpa Taizu himself, and he was also the magistrate of our Ming Dynasty! It's unheard of for a prefect to fight against a prefect, Eunuch! This matter has never happened. , in a small way, you call me a bastard, in a big way, you call me a rebel!"
Who said Mr. Yang doesn't have hard parts in his body? Mr. Yang’s hands are very hard! How could I possibly listen to your nonsense? Mr. Yang didn't say anything. On the one hand, he told Xiong Duo that he was greedy for mining taxes - well, it wasn't you who hit her, so why did you help her? Oh, that’s wrong, why do you do good things if you don’t get any benefits? On the other hand, troops from neighboring provinces were mobilized in the name of angels, and they really demolished one of Master Mu's villages!
Master Mu pondered for a while, then forced down Gu Baihua, who was holding the knife and his eyes were red: "Don't worry, it's not the time yet. Go find Commander He and tell me that I have something to ask for."
The other local magistrates, prefectures, counties and other local officials were all afraid and came to Mr. Yang to plead: "Ambassador Yang, you can't do this! Mr. Mu has the status of an official of the imperial court, and this matter may really cause trouble in the future! Besides, there are no other The little toast in the system doesn’t have so many scruples, you’re almost done..."
Mr. Yang is so high-spirited, how could he listen to your croaking! Waved his hand: "My sons, it's time to reimburse the Great Emperor! Our prospecting team has discovered that here, there, and there, there are mines under those Tusi villages! They have all been demolished by our family!" The thin one said The sound of the voice stops the clouds.
Something that Eunuch Yang never expected happened. The most powerful local Mujiazhai could not withstand a single blow from the regular army, but the other unsightly little chieftains beat the shit out of the various Ming army demolition teams from other provinces!
Well, you guessed it right - this is why Mr. Mu approached Commander He.
He Shixun and other military leaders have gained a lot of profits from the copper mines. Seeing the fat meat in front of them being taken away by Eunuch Yang, can they not feel resentful? After Mr. Mu's guidance, each village "picked up" a lot of weapons that had been "accidentally lost" or "scrapped" by the surrounding guards. Among them, there were even mass killing weapons such as the tiger crouching cannon specially used by the imperial court for the border troops. device! Where have the officers and soldiers in the mainland seen this! At the same time, many men wearing national costumes but not speaking Dongba language appeared in various villages. They used southern and northern accents to demonstrate, and taught the mountain people how to use these weapons step by step - some were even practicing. Various defense and attack formations!
Facing the defeated soldiers crying for their fathers and mothers, Eunuch Yang was a little stupid. At this moment, a piece of bad news came: the tax factory in Tengyue Prefecture was burned down by local people - Zhang Anmin, Team Zhang, who said he would not stay in Lijiang and was sent to Tengyue Prefecture, oh, should be called Director Zhang now. , Oh, forget it, it doesn’t matter what he is called - because he has already been chopped down by the local people!
Cut into several pieces.
Knowledge points in this article:
There are two theories about the origin of the six doors.
One. Traditionally, there are three departments in charge of the Department of Justice: Dali Temple, the Ministry of Punishment, and the Supervisory Office, collectively known as the "Three Law Departments". The doors of these institutions can only be three bays (one bay between two pillars) according to the requirements of shape and etiquette. Corresponding to each bay are two doors. In this way, the entire office hall has a total of six door panels. This is the system for everyone from the Sanfa Department to the prefecture and county yamen. Therefore, people call them yamen servants, policemen, etc. with this title.
Second. According to unofficial history, during the Wanli period, the imperial court established a secret organization integrating martial arts masters, spies, famous arresters, and killers to handle major and important national cases. This institution is very mysterious. In addition to the wall on the north side, there are two doors on the east, south and west sides, hence the name - but, in my personal opinion, just listen to this and don't take it seriously.
Temples and temples.
Temple, in fact, refers to a service department of the imperial court, such as Taipu Temple, Guanglu Temple, Honglu Temple, Dali Temple, etc.
During the Han Dynasty, white horses carrying Buddhist scriptures returned eastward, bringing with them one (some say two) eminent monks and a statue of Sakyamuni. At first, the imperial court received him at Honglu Temple. The eminent monk stayed to teach the Dharma, and Emperor Yongming of the Han Dynasty built the White Horse Temple in Luoyang to show his grandeur. You see, this new house has the same specifications as the government department that is hosting you, and it is also called a temple. White Horse Temple is also called the "ancestral temple" by Buddhists in other Asian countries.
A temple is a place where ancestors are worshipped, such as the Ancestral Temple. The Ancestral Temple is a place where the royal family worships their ancestors. It is located in the imperial palace. The palace is the inner residence of the royal family. No one else is allowed to enter unless they come to visit. Another example is the Confucius Temple, Tutu Temple, Family Temple, etc. Later, places for worshiping Buddha, Guanyin, etc., were also called temples because they also had the meaning of offering sacrifices.
The outside is called "Tang", Chaotang. Taken together, they are the inner temple and the outer hall, so there is a word called "temple hall", which refers specifically to the inner and outer court that integrates the family and the country.
The temple is to worship the emperor's ancestors, and the temple is to serve the current emperor. Therefore, theoretically speaking, the specifications of the temple are higher than that of the temple.
But in any case, White Horse Temple is a lofty title named by the emperor, so later Buddhist worship places built by Buddhist disciples were called temples. When people came here and saw cigarette smoke, they called them temples. Today, temple has gradually become a word.
