Chapter 221: Change of stream
History has given the Ming Dynasty countless opportunities to start over, but the empire seems to be under a curse that can never be shaken off. Every time it restarts, it will continue to run along the same old road that once hit its head and bloodied it, until Hitting the south wall again... The only difference is that each time I run faster, hit harder, and bleed more.
For example, the war in Liaodong. During the Little Ice Age that lasted for more than half a century, even in the prosperous Suzhou Prefecture, the river ice was three feet thick in winter. You can imagine the situation outside the pass. At this time, it is not difficult for a normal person with a little common sense to make the right choice: close the door, go to bed, and freeze to death those wild boar skins in the wild! But Ming Dynasty refused, because it was politically incorrect. We must fight to the death with them! This is called the incompatibility of good and evil, this is called loving the Ming Dynasty. So time and time again, blood was drawn from the empire, border troops were transferred, rice and beans were transported, fortresses were built, Liao levies were collected... and then they were robbed by the Nurhachi Emperor Taiji again and again! While the Ming Dynasty continuously sent food to Hou Jin Wanli, he also helped them send people to train their soldiers and courage, until a group of beggars who were dying were trained into heroes who were almost invincible in the world in that era. As for things like really not being able to defeat Hou Jin... we can't even mention it! What are your intentions? Where is the conscience? Everyone can be punished!
Another example is to change one's native land and return to one's current position.
A little further away, the Yang Rebellion in Bozhou and the She'an Rebellion right before your eyes all had their root cause of returning to their hometown.
It’s not like Ming Dynasty didn’t have people who understood. Zhu Xieyuan once wrote: "(After the Yang Rebellion in Pingbo Prefecture), Shu since Zunyi Prefecture and County has not been interested in gaining land, but has been burdened by raising troops. Therefore, when talking about changing the flow, people often frown." Mr. Zhu said very implicitly , just stating facts and not adding personal opinions. There are also those who are bolder. For example, Yu Wenqi, the censor of Fujian, directly questioned: "I have seen the land of Zunyi County and County in the past thirty years. How much has been endowed with the land? Will it help the public? And the cost of bureaucratic guarding of the city palaces and palaces must be paid first." If you have no resources, you can live in a vast land without being desolate, but you can be far-sighted and diligent!"
Are they right?
certainly……
wrong!
As the saying goes, let's put aside the facts and talk about reason...
What what? Put aside the facts?
That's right.
Because in Ming Dynasty, facts are never important, the most important thing is "principle", well, the so-called truth. These two words are very powerful. One is "Tao", which means the world's great road, and the other is "Li", which represents the truth of the universe. Put these two words together and you are invincible!
For example, "Starving to death is a small matter, but being dishonest is a big deal." By the way, don't get it wrong. The so-called indiscretion here refers to women in most cases, especially when they are forced to be victimized. It is even more important to commit suicide as soon as possible and die cleanly! As for surrendering to the enemy and betraying... Well, that depends on the situation: if you are the last defeated enemy, you have to be considered unfaithful, and both humans and gods will be angry - and if you become a king, it is called a good bird choosing the wood and the good minister choosing the master. A role model that everyone admires!
Another example is this change of origin.
There is no royal land in the world, and the words of the saints are the only last word. The whole world belongs to the imperial court - it's a pity that there were no spaceships at that time, otherwise, the whole universe would have belonged to Lao Zhu's family!
This is called "righteousness"! Nothing else matters.
Things are going very well now, and it is a good time to commit suicide. If we don't do anything now, when will we wait? Therefore, a group of sad and righteous people appeared in the court and began to shout about the old talk again. Li Jingwu handed over the mission and returned to the capital, but he also reminded him a few words: "Why did Yang Yinglong worship the Ming Dynasty, and An Bangyan and several others rebelled successively? Our ancestors have all contributed to the Ming Dynasty, and the place is poor. Let's not always worry about robbing them of their eight pieces." Is it good to have a broken bamboo building with a good ventilation?"
As a result, he was almost sprayed to death by the righteous people:
"If the whole land had been returned to the king earlier, they would have starved to death long ago. How could they have rebelled?" This is a master of false reasoning.
"If you are dedicated to serving the country, you will be happy even if you are a ghost. How can you care about personal gains and losses?" This is a handsome man with wide eyes and nonsense.
"From now on, you will be surrounded by thousands of miles, and you will be included in the emperor's map. You will be able to be a king. There will never be dogs barking or roosters crowing in the three provinces. The mountains and swamps will turn against you!" This is a domineering and sideways statement. King of guns.
To name a few...
Wang Er is a good person, but he is not a bad person. But on the one hand, I have been a Beijing official for too long, and I have deep habitual thinking in my mind, and I also believe that it is natural to change my country and return to my hometown. Secondly, I have real difficulties: the generals will avoid war for various reasons, even if they are forced to go out. Fight, if you lose, all your previous efforts may be wasted. At that time, you will have to settle the old score of not supporting Guiyang, so you might as well find something to do. Dare to touch She'an, the two are really tough, but they are experts at bullying the submissive and easy-to-talk little chieftain, and they can also get a lot of benefits, why not do it? Not only was Zhang Fang's enthusiasm among the loyalists unprecedentedly high, but Chen Qiyu also said from time to time, intentionally or unintentionally, that the Miao people had been suffering for a long time, and that being a glorious citizen of the Celestial Dynasty was what everyone had longed for...
So Mr. Wang took charge of Dafang and began a vigorous movement to reform the land and return it to the local people.
At Zhang Fang's strong request, Xiongsuo Zexi was the first to be implemented. There are many places in Guizhou called Zexi (sometimes written as Zexi), such as Xiongsuozexi, Zewozexi (the name is interesting - the word Ze was the same as "thief" in the Ming Dynasty, try it), Longkuaze Creek, Duo Ni Zexi, Huo Zhuo Zexi... The word Zexi is a transliteration, and it means granary in Yi language. Except for one place in each Zexi area, which is personally led by the local chieftain, the rest of the land is managed by clan members within the Shuixi An clan. This also shows the great power of the An clan.
Even if it is a change of status, if the original chieftain is retained for the time being, and other places controlled by the An family are first set up with officials to take charge, everyone's reaction will not be so strong. But how could Marshal Zhang Fang care so much about you? The more he looked at the land, the less he thought it was too much, so he directly kicked out the local Tumu (tribal leader) Sidingzhou who did not join the army with An Bangyan!
Guizhou itself is a poor place, and it has been fighting for so long. Don't look at the slogans in the court. When Wang Ershan's report comes, no one can be dispatched. Looking forward to going to the land of plenty to benefit the people, who is willing to wait for several years half dead and then go all the way to a barren valley and throw away his life in a daze? So the officials asked Mr. Wang to find someone to top up the hole first. Wang Ershan really didn't have anyone at hand, so after thinking for a long time, he finally found him a scholar in Guiyang City who had not been eaten by Zhang Fang and sent him to be the acting magistrate.
Zhang Fang did a great job. Pointing to a few hills in the distance that were originally intended to be given to Huang Yuanqing, but they thought they were too far and too barren and had been arguing with Marshal Zhang, he said that these places will be under your control from now on, and the other places will be regarded as my Lao Zhang's military garrison to raise troops to suppress rebellion for the imperial court. Do you have any objections to counterinsurgency? As soon as this handsome scholar saw Zhang Dashuai's white teeth, he remembered his heroic figure of picking rib meat from the grill with a dagger and bringing it to his mouth. He trembled all over. How could he dare to say no? So Xiongsuo Zexi overnight became the starting point for the imperial court's great cause of reforming the land and returning it to Liuzhou.
Xiongsuoze River belongs to the "Six Eyes Outside the Water" and was formerly the territory of the Song family in Shuidong. After the Shuixi An clan established a firm rule in western Guizhou, they crossed the Luguang River to encroach on the declining territory of the Song clan in Hedong, and annexed large areas of land in a hundred years. However, most of the local leaders were forced by the situation and had no choice but to surrender to Anjia. In addition, they were forcibly seized of a large area of land except their own village. Therefore, many people did not follow Anbangyan to rebel. At most, they were like Ning. The owner of Gu Village, Mani Village, dealt with it in a cowardly and cowardly manner. And the impact of Zhang Fang's eviction of Sidingzhou, an old-timer from Xiongsuo Zexi, was really bad - Sidingzhou didn't pay attention to An Bangyan at all!
All the chieftains who did not follow Anjia and stayed in the local area, or who first rebelled and then surrendered, could not sleep. Everyone was thinking about the same question: Today is homesick, who will be tomorrow? When will it be my turn?
Gradually, rumors came out: "The imperial court is about to raise a large army. There will be no distinction between obedience and disobedience. All the Miao mansions will fight together."
Wang Ershan also heard the rumor and immediately announced that it was a rumor, but it was of no use at all - because Vice Marshal Xie followed suit and surrounded Jialeze River (near today's Liupanshui) as a military camp, and, They also killed the chieftain Simukui's family who refused to obey the overall situation!
Is this a big deal? Simukui fought with An Bangyan, and not only did he have no fault, but he also made meritorious deeds! However, when Wang Ershan was about to settle accounts with Jie Zhongren, Chen Qiyu sent an important piece of information collected from his home: a letter written by An Bangyan to Simukui. This is strong circumstantial evidence, because although there is no direct evidence of Simu Kui's treason, An Bangyan's letter clearly stated that he was very grateful for the military information he sent to Xie Zhongren!
The facts were there, and Wang Ershan couldn't help but believe it: the military strength and resources were almost exactly the same - if it weren't for this comradeship, how could An Bangyan know the military situation of the Ming army in such detail?
So Xie Zhongren was considered a meritorious service.
It must be said that this general Chen Shen is really a talent. Not only did he provide Lord Wang with a lot of important information about the inside of the An thief, he relied on him as his arm. Zhang Fang and Xie Zhongren regarded him as a close friend - no, he also They found a good way to make a fortune for their two handsome friends: selling military rations.
On weekdays, there are military camps to protect the military leaders, and they still ask the court for food from time to time, let alone during the war? In addition to the fact that the soldiers are physically exhausted and need to eat more food to have the strength to fight hard, the frequent mobilization of troops must be timely transportation support, and the wear and tear on the way will naturally be much greater. In addition, a large number of temporarily recruited civil servants have to eat and transport food teams They need to eat, they need to burn when they are attacked by powerful enemies, and refugees need to be resettled and fed... Therefore, in the event of a war, the consumption of food and grass is astronomical. Although the Ming army was stationed in Dafang instead of fighting in the field and could not consume so much food, Wang Ershan was the governor of Guizhou, and the example of Guiyang is there. Therefore, the food and grass transported to the front were only considered for maximum transportation capacity rather than actual needs.
A new problem arises - too much food.
Of course, no general would be dissatisfied with having too much food. One day when he was "discussing military affairs" in the small courtyard, Chen Shen said a few understatement words that made the two commanders feel happy: "Silver and silver grain, in other places, silver may not be used as food, but grain must be Silver. But it is different in our province of Guizhou. Silver can be used as food, but food cannot be used as silver."
"How is that possible?" Zhang Fang immediately retorted, "When I was in Guiyang, food was very expensive. It was much better than silver. One liter of rice could be sold for four taels of silver!"
"Brother, it was an extraordinary period. What I'm talking about is a normal situation. It's incomparable." Chen Qiyu said with a smile.
Xie Zhongren asked jokingly: "How do you say this? Brother, please tell me."
"We have a lot of rain in Guizhou Province and the weather is very humid. No matter how much grain you store, it will be useless, especially now in summer and autumn. Of course, a lot of grain will be lost after sprouting, but if it gets moldy, the entire grain in the warehouse will turn into Poison, pigs and sheep cannot be fed, and we must throw them away. But no one has ever heard that silver grows hair, right? Brothers, does this mean that food cannot be used as silver? "
The two of them looked at each other, and they both thought of the overstuffed barn where the grain station was located in their camp. Their expressions changed and they asked in surprise: "What can we do?"
Chen Qiyu was a little embarrassed: "It's not that there is no way, but...well, it's too difficult, too difficult, so let's forget it. Anyway, it's all brought by the imperial court. If it decays, it will decay. Fortunately, the money in our own pockets is not the one that is damaged. .”
"How can that be done!"
"Brother, you are wrong! The grain in our warehouse is the silver in our own pockets!"
Zhang Jie and Zhang Jie were anxious, and at the same time they pushed away the woman in their arms and said in unison.
"But..." Chen Qiyu still seemed hesitant to speak.
"Brother, just tell me. Is there anything else we can't talk about between us?"
Chen Qiyu seemed to have made up his mind after hearing this: "Brother, I know a lot of leaders in the villages. After fighting for so long, there are not many young people in each village who can still farm, and everyone is short of food. But they don't have much money. , even if the grain is transported out, it is estimated that it can be sold for 50% to 60% at most. Moreover, this kind of thing is always risky. It has to travel to many villages. If the person contacted is checked by the officers and soldiers of his battalion on the way, it will be very troublesome. …”
"Hey, I thought it was such a big deal! The price is easy to talk about. Anyway, it's worthless if it rots in the warehouse. You get what you sell for, and we didn't grow it ourselves. Brother, do you think this is true?" Xie Zhongren patted his thigh and looked at Zhang Fang. go.
"The old commentator is right! I will leave this matter to you, brother. Later, I will give you a set of Zunyi's command flags and arrows. I, Lao Zhang, will see who dares to stop my handsome military envoy!"
Chen Shenjiang lived up to his expectations. It didn't take long for the grain in the two commanders' camp to turn into cash in their pockets. Although it was only sold at half price, it was picked up for free after all. Who wouldn't be happy? It's okay if the camp soldiers don't have enough food. As long as they don't starve to death in droves, they can continue to ask Wang Fuzun for more. There are many reasons!
In order to express their gratitude, and to show their rock-solid brotherhood, the two marshals insisted on dragging Brother Chen to a restaurant to have a drink - but after thinking about it, this small courtyard has the most comfortable environment and good food. It was also the most delicious, so the two of them clapped their chests and expressed that they would definitely have a good time when they come to Zunyi or Tongguwei in the future!
As for such trivial matters as which village leaders bought Ming Dynasty's military rations, the two commanders didn't bother to ask - can they still not trust Brother Chen?
In fact, there is only one real buyer.
His name is An Bangyan.
*There are many records on the Internet named Yu Wenhuo Cao. I personally think this name is rather strange. I suspect that many records are citing and excerpting from the same source. After checking some historical materials, I couldn't find the list of Fujian censors from the same period, so I couldn't be sure. Such insights were rare in the Ming Dynasty, so in order to show respect, I tried to keep my real name as much as possible, so I wrote Yu Wen㷮 in the article.
