In Baiyu Mountain, the rebels led by Wang Ziyong and Gao Yingxiang were also in the stronghold where they were waiting for the arrival of Chongzhen in the fourth year.
For these heroes who resisted the feudal rule of the Ming Dynasty, the new year undoubtedly means new hope.
Because the three years of Chongzhen that are about to pass are really difficult for the poor and lower-middle peasants in Shaanxi and Henan provinces. Although the imperial court exempted Shaanxi from the Liao salary increase, it also halved the Liao salary increase in Henan. However, compared with the droughts in Shaanxi and Henan provinces, a tax reduction of this magnitude is simply a drop in the bucket, and this tax reduction has nothing to do with the tenant farmers who make up the majority of farmers in the two provinces and rent land for farming.
Officials, gentry and landowners did not pay land taxes or pay extra taxes in the first place, so the government was exempted from taxation. What did it have to do with them? It is a matter of course that tenants rent land and pay for grain. If they cannot pay, they will owe it first... The gentlemen are all reasonable. The tenants are starving to death, and they have nothing to do, and they will not force the "Yang Bailao" Forced towards death.
This is the "Yang Bailao" of Shaanxi Province, which has four towns and one province, and it's so fierce! So the best the landlords can do is charge interest on the rent arrears according to usury standards!
As for whether it can be recovered with rent and interest, it's really hard to say...
But even if the landlords in Shaanxi dare not force their tenants to pay rent, the fields still cannot grow enough food for them to live on!
If it doesn't rain, how can crops grow in the fields? Even if there is a little harvest (it does not mean that there is no rain), it will not be enough for the tenants to survive!
Under such circumstances, the poor farmers in Shaanxi who could not survive could only hope that the rich man would show mercy and open a warehouse to release grain and provide relief to the victims.
But the Ming court... came up with a response plan that made the victims of the Shaanxi disaster cry without tears, and also made the leaders of the peasant uprising such as Wang Ziyong and Gao Yingxiang laugh from ear to ear.
"Hahaha, it seems that the Ming Dynasty has really come to an end... In the year of the great disaster, we should have opened warehouses and distributed grain to keep people alive; at the same time, we should have strictly controlled the refugees and prevented the people who could not survive from gathering into large groups. But now the imperial court is doing the opposite. Not only does it not open the warehouse to release grain, but it also collects autumn grain as usual, and at the same time asks the poor people who cannot survive to go to Xi'an to get grain by themselves! Haha, this is going to destroy all of Shaanxi. All the hungry people are gathering in Xi’an!”
In a newly dug cave dwelling, Gao Yingxiang, who had just returned to the mountain, was holding a government notice that he didn't know where he had taken off, and he was talking happily.
The content of this notice is to ask hungry people from all over Shaanxi to go to Xi'an to eat after the New Year - in years with poor harvests, famine often occurs after the New Year. At this time, last year's autumn grain has been used up, and the summer grain has not yet grown. Crops are in decline, and famine is prone to occur. Moreover, there will be a shortage of food on the market at this time, and food prices are so high that poor people simply cannot afford to buy high-priced food to survive.
If Shaanxi had convenient transportation and large rivers that could navigate Jiangnan and Huguang, the Ming court could transport grain from other provinces to relieve famines. But Shaanxi does not have such conditions, and it is impossible for grain from other provinces to enter Shaanxi in large quantities.
The grain in Shaanxi's local official warehouses must be given priority to the five towns of Yansui (Yulin), Ningxia, Guyuan, Lintao, and Gansu... Although Zhu Youjian began to arrange the move to the five towns as early as the second year of Chongzhen. The actions of military households entering Yanshan and Daning.
But it’s hard to leave your homeland!
Moreover, there are vicious Donglu near Yanshan and Daning! Most of the military households in the five towns are still very afraid. If they were not afraid, they would have enlisted in the infantry army long ago. An ordinary soldier in the infantry in front of the tent has 30 shi (taels) of food and salary a year. After deducting his own food, he might be able to save 20 shi (taels) to support his family. No matter what, he can keep his family fed and clothed. ...
Therefore, the policy of relocating military households from five towns to Yanshan has been implemented for more than a year. However, less than 9,000 military households have actually moved to Yanshan and Daning. In addition, there were about 11,000 military households from the Five Towns who moved out of Shaanxi in the third year of Chongzhen because their children became tent knights or tent soldiers.
The families of the knights who moved out of Shaanxi all went to Beizhili, while the families of the Zhangqian soldiers all went to Luoyang. There were about 13,000 families of Zhangqian soldiers who moved into Luoyang. In addition to the original military households, there were also some Shaanxi civilians. household.
Zhu Youjian asked Widow Xu to allocate some properties originally belonging to Prince Fu's Mansion to the family members of the infantrymen in front of the tent, allowing them to temporarily live in Luoyang. At the same time, he also turned Luoyang City into his stronghold in Henan... Haha, if there are more rogues besieging Luoyang in the future, it may be Li Zicheng or Zhang Xianzhong who will lead the troops in front of the tent to defend!
Although 20,000 military households have moved out of the five towns, there are even more military households staying in the five towns! Especially in Gansu, Guyuan, and Lintao, the three military towns that have not had their troop quotas reduced, almost no one moved away.
Therefore, Shaanxi Governor Bi Ziyan still did not dare to starve these five border towns - the five border towns have also been suffering from drought for several years, and the lives of the border troops and generals are miserable. If Shaanxi Province cuts off their democratic movement food, then But it’s really the opposite!
The rebellion of the border troops was more severe than the rebellion of the hungry people, so Bi Ziyan had no choice but to choose the lesser of the two evils.
However, Zhu Youjian also made his arrangements. He asked Widow Xu to store the food collected from various farms in the Qin Palace and several large temples in Xi'an. At the end of the third year of Chongzhen's reign, Bi Ziyan was ordered to put up notices in all states and counties in Shaanxi, calling on hungry people to go to Xi'an for food... It would not be so easy to go back to Xi'an to starve in his hometown. .
Zhu Youjian's wishful thinking was to lead the hungry people from Shaanxi and Henan to Huguang and Jiangnan... to beg for food from the scholar-bureaucrats in Huguang and Jiangnan!
However, Gao Yingxiang and Wang Ziyong thought of taking advantage of the gathering of hungry people to cause a big fuss!
Wang Ziyong, who was still wearing a monk's robe, took over Gao Yingxiang's words and said to everyone with a profound expression: "This opportunity is rare! If you don't want to spend your whole life weeding in Baiyu Mountain, you have to seize this opportunity and make a big fuss in Xi'an. Mansion... Now the drought is like this all over Shaanxi, and there are hundreds of thousands of hungry people who cannot survive. If they all arrive in Xi'an and start a riot, it might really turn the world upside down!"
Gao Yingxiang nodded and said: "I have bribed a Dianshi in Bao'an County to get a pass for us... I and Master Wang (Monk Wang) have already made a trip last time. As long as we don't enter the city, No one questioned me at all.”
Last time, he and Monk Wang went south in the name of recruiting knights and soldiers in front of the tent. The people traveling with him were all thorns from all over northern Shaanxi. All the prefectures and counties they passed were "closed to the public", but they were allowed to come and go as they pleased.
And this time it was the hungry people who went south. It is estimated that the states and counties are still using the old method - closing the city gates to prevent entry!
Wang Ziyong smiled and said: "When those stupid officials saw the large group of hungry people, they must have been too late to hide and couldn't take the initiative to ask... And they just happened to spread out and infiltrate, trying to get a group of strong men. Wait. When we get to Xi'an Prefecture, it's better to act on your own initiative than to be trapped in the Baiyu Mountains!"
"How to act according to the situation?" Luo Rucai, the fourth in command of Bai Yushan's "Heroes" asked.
Gao Yingxiang said: "The little emperor of the Zhu family is brave and invincible. If he comes to Shaanxi in person, we cannot be enemies with him... If he is not in Shaanxi, we will take the opportunity to mobilize the hungry people, plunder food, and attack the city." , robbed rich women, and then went into the mountains of Qinling Mountains, took over the mountains and became king, and lived a comfortable life for a few days!"
After Gao Yingxiang knew how powerful Zhu Youjian was, he no longer dared to "break into the world". If he really wanted to break into Henan and Shanxi and attract the "sixty to ten thousand" little emperor, there would be no end for them.
However, Gao Yingxiang never thought about being recruited - because Zhu Youjian suffered enough from recruiting bandits in his previous life, so he would not be recruited at all in this life! Li Zicheng, Zhang Xianzhong and others all joined the ranks of feudal bureaucracy before they rebelled, and they were not recruited at all.
As for the Western thieves who have rebelled, such as Wang Ziyong, Gao Yingxiang, Wang Er, and Luo Rucai, it is impossible to be appeased. What awaits them is Zhu Youjian's iron fist of feudalism!
However, Zhu Youjian seems to have many enemies, and there will be a lot of trouble. If the thieves such as Wang Ziyong, Gao Yingxiang, Wang Er, and Luo Rucai really grab a handful and go up the mountain, the little emperor may not have the time to eliminate them... ..
"What a good idea, let's do it!" Luo Rucai laughed, grabbing a handful and then going to Qinling Luocao, it seemed good!
Wang Er, who initiated the uprising in Baishui County, is not doing well now and has been reduced to the third son of the heroes in Baiyu Mountain. He also nodded, "Okay, just listen to Brother Gao Er, we will go south after the Chinese New Year!" "
"Okay, we'll go south after the Chinese New Year!"
"Okay, let's celebrate the Chinese New Year first and then go south to rob him!"
"Go south, grab a handful and then talk..."
All the heroes were in high spirits, and they were all excited, imagining the great "money prospects" after going south.
