Forty-eight years of Qianlong

Chapter 466

It is said that after Man Qing signed a secret agreement with Beihai Town with his nose pinched, from the end of October in the 54th year of Qianlong, that is, as soon as He Shen returned to Beijing, a court drama began in full swing.

No hurry.When Deng Fei finally signed the contract, he told He Shen, Liu Yong and Fu Chang'an that the Raytheon would come to Dagu every month for the past six months to show his supervision.This made the three of He Shen very angry, but there was nothing they could do.

However, when the feudal dynasty did things, it had to talk about face and procedural issues.

A large-scale population movement of 50 people, and sending these people to sea, must have a high-sounding statement.Since he appeared to be upright and aboveboard, Qianlong loved the people like a son, so he could not arouse criticism from all over the world.It can't be said that the imperial court can't beat the North Sea Pirates, so that Qianlong can't even live a Longevity Festival, right?
So under the instruction of He Shen, the first person to appear on the stage was the Huguangdao Censor of the Inspectorate.

In the memorial, the minister said that in recent years, there have been many refugees gathering at the junction of Sichuan, Shaanxi, and Hubei provinces, and the thieves have become more and more rampant.There are unemployed poor people, or refugees, or beggars, who take the opportunity to rob.After careful investigation by the ministers, these people are actually small people without land, and they were moved to different places because of natural disasters.However, only a small part of the refugees are really poor, and most of them are young and able to earn their own living.

The reason why these people gathered in Nanba Laolin from Hubei was because Hubei had previously had examples of keeping hungry people.So these small people pretended to be refugees in an attempt to get relief from the imperial court, causing idle people from other provinces to come here after hearing about it.

In order to solve this problem, he suggested that the imperial court send these people back to their original farming lands, or send them to the coast to reclaim wasteland, and not allow these people to be kept in other places to prevent more troubles.

After the papers were handed over, Qianlong made a reply the next day, asking all the scholars to discuss with Jiuqing in detail and quickly.

The academicians and Jiuqing pretended to have a discussion, and it took only one day to reach an agreement, and then He Shen played back on behalf of everyone.

He Zhongtang said that in order to prove to the world that our country is stable and peaceful when the Longevity Day comes, and that your kindness, Your Majesty, benefits the world, our opinion is that refugees should disperse rather than gather.After our discussion, it is suggested that some people be resettled in the area of ​​Sheyang Lake in northern Jiangsu; there is a large amount of coastal wasteland, which no one cultivates.

In the end, Qianlong agreed with the reply, and at the same time requested that the matter must be completed before June, so as not to affect the Wanshou Festival on August [-]th.

At the same time, he appointed He Shen as the general manager to deal with the migration of refugees with full authority; and He Zhongtang recommended his younger brother He Lin, so Qianlong promoted He Lin, who was still in the affairs of the Ministry of Officials, to the deputy capital of the Zhenglan Banner Han Army. , ordered him to be an imperial envoy, and went to Sichuan to supervise the handling.

The migration of 50 people took a total of five days from the censor’s report, to the discussion of the scholar Jiuqing, to Qianlong’s approval and issuance of the edict, which set a record for the speed of approval in the history of the founding of the Qing Dynasty. most.If Yongzheng saw his son's speed of doing things, he would definitely lament that he was not "diligent" enough.

At the beginning of November in the 54th year of Qianlong, along with the [-]-mile express horses dispatched to various places, the governors of Sichuan, Huguang, Shaanxi, Henan, Jiangxi, Liangjiang, and Hedao all received orders.

In this decree drafted by Prince Jia and approved by Qianlong, the matter of sending the refugees to Beihai Town is described in a high-sounding manner, and the word "Beihai Town" is missing throughout the text; The emperor simply cared about the people's livelihood and wanted to send the refugees back to their hometowns to work in agriculture.

Although some of these officials had heard some rumors before, but because the Qing court did not inform King Qin of the world for the sake of face, many people were still at a loss after receiving the edict, and did not understand why the court took so much trouble .It wasn't until they saw the messenger sent by Heshen that they all understood it.

At this time, Heshen's power was in the hands of the government and the public, and no officials anywhere dared to offend him.These couriers were not only here to deliver letters, but also sent by him to monitor the progress of the refugees moving out.

However, the Qianlong father and son and a group of ministers thought very well, but greatly underestimated the complexity of the situation at the junction of the three provinces.

The old forests in Nanba are densely covered with ancient trees and clumps. The traffic is extremely inconvenient, and it is also very difficult for the residents in the mountain to communicate with the outside world.Because it is located in a remote and inaccessible area, the government of the three provinces is beyond the reach of management. The so-called "those who enter it will be blinded and will not see the sun, and it will be difficult to prevent it."

Moreover, due to the corruption of officials, corruption among officials in Sichuan and Chu provinces was prevalent at this time.They only know peace and leisure on weekdays, and they don't know what repairing is at all.

It is said that the imperial power in the feudal era was not that it could not go to the countryside, but that the cost of going to the countryside was too high.

Taking Kuizhou Prefecture under Chuandong Road as an example, Fengjie, the government office, is 740 miles away from Chengdu, and the counties under its jurisdiction, such as Daning and Wushan, are all more than [-] miles away from Chengdu.

Dazhou is [-] miles away from Chengdu, and the counties of Tongjiang and Nanjiang in Shunqing Prefecture in northern Sichuan are also thousands of miles away from the provincial government.The exchange of official documents by the government took a lot of trouble, and the decrees of the Second Secretary of Fanjian could not be conveyed in time due to the long distance, and emergencies could not be dealt with immediately.

It can be seen that if the Qing government wanted to wipe out all the refugees in Nanba Laolin, the governors of the three provinces must sit together and make an overall plan. If each province only pays attention to one corner, the effect will inevitably be poor.

The problem is that time waits for no one. It is very clear in the edict that whoever fails to do this will be dismissed.Therefore, before the arrival of the imperial envoy, the three provinces were surprisingly consistent, that is, to clean up the refugees and beggars in the provincial capital and the prefectures under the rule, and empty the prisoners in the prison.

With the dispatch of a large number of yamen servants, those beggars, stranded trackers, and even prisoners in cells, regardless of men, women, young or old, sick or not, were all sent on board or escorted to Jiangsu by land; The governor of Jiangsu sent officials, together with the prefect of Huai'an, to Xuzhuang, Sheyang Lake.

A month later, in all the prefectures and prefectures in eastern Sichuan and western Hubei, except for the death row prisoners, all other prisoners were wiped out, and there was not a single beggar in or outside the city.

If it's just like this, the common people who don't know it will definitely praise it.However, no matter what kind of scriptures, under the cloud of official corruption in the late Qianlong period, they will definitely sing crookedly when they go down.If the state and county officials in various places do not take advantage of this "good time" to get rich from corruption and ask for money and accept bribes, they will be ashamed of their own top Dai Hualing.

Dai Ruhuang, the magistrate of Dazhou, is old and greedy. In order to complete the tasks assigned by the governor, he actually sent five thousand servants to extort money within his rule, and detained countless property owners.As long as you don't pay, you will be regarded as a refugee and escorted out of Sichuan.

But Dangyang and Yunyang in Hubei are even more extreme. They first sent government officials to check everywhere in the prefectural and county towns. As long as the accent is not local, and there is no guide and Baojia certificate, they will all be treated as "refugees"; Fighting, right or wrong, all were taken into custody and extorted money under the pretext of being beaten into refugees.Afterwards, government servants were sent into the fringes of the old forests of Nanshan Mountain, and the villages that were difficult to pay taxes were brought together.

By the beginning of Qianlong's 55th year, the three provinces had gathered [-] refugees, who were escorted out of the country one after another.

Whether they were trackers, beggars or prisoners, these people were originally poorly clothed and hungry. After a lot of trouble, many of them fell ill before entering Jiangsu.

The governors of the provinces along the way only sent troops to monitor these "refugees" who crossed the border to prevent these people from escaping and fleeing the country.The Yamen of the Governor-General of Liangjiang and the Governor-General of Rivers sent soldiers and ships to designate a large area extending south to Yechaoyang, north to Wusha River, west to the east of Funing County, and east to the sea as a forbidden area, specially for the resettlement of the land transported by the three provinces. The "refugees" who are waiting for Beihai Town to pick them up.

The officials below are full, and the Taoists, officials, envoys, and governors at all levels above also reap a lot.For example, the people of Hubei called Bi Yuan, the governor of Huguang, Funing the governor, and Chen Huai, the chief envoy, as "Bi doesn't care, Fu dies, and Chen Dabao".

In February, with He Lin sitting in Xiangyang and coordinating in the middle, coupled with He Shen's constant letters of urging, the governors of the three provinces agreed to start at the same time on March [-] after a lot of letters and discussions.

Li Shijie, the governor of Sichuan, personally led the deputy general of the Zhongying Army, the commander-in-chief of Chuanbei Town, and the commander-in-chief of Chongqing Town to Dazhou. , Taipingying, Tongbaying and other 4000 people, from Ningqiang Prefecture, Nanjiang County, Tongjiang County, Bazhou, and Lexiang County to the east, entered the Bashan old forest in the northeast of Sichuan.

Bi Yuan, governor of Huguang, sat in Xiangyang and sent 500 supervisors to bid for Zhongying. Together with the bidders for Zhongying, Xiangyang Town, Yunyang Association, Yichang Town, and Zhenzhen Town, a total of [-] people came from Yunxi County, Baihe County, and Zhushan County. , Fang County, Xingshan County, and Guizhou to the west, entering Nanshan old forest and Bashan old forest.

Qin Chengen, the governor of Shaanxi Province, was in Hanzhong, and sent [-] soldiers from Tibiao Zhongying, together with [-] troops from Ningqiang, Hanfeng, Yudulu, and Wanyang, from Qiangning, Yiyang, Ningshan, Xiao Yi, Baocheng, and Gucheng go south and enter the old forest of Nanshan.

March [-]rd of the lunar calendar was called "Shangsi Festival" in ancient times, but in the Qing Dynasty it evolved into "Ghost Festival" in Han areas.On this day, in addition to eating boiled eggs with shepherd's purse, the common people also go to temple fairs during the day, and stay behind closed doors after returning home at night, setting off firecrackers in the house to drive away evil spirits.The so-called "March [-]rd, the kid lays down the green bricks".

Those refugees who live in the Laolin Mountains of Nanba will go out of the mountains on this day, come to the surrounding towns, or go to temple fairs, or sell some mountain products to exchange for some food to go back.However, to their surprise, the little ghost did not come, but the "officers and soldiers" who looked like bullheads and horse faces did.

At noon when the sun was shining brightly, as the officers and soldiers mobilized one after another, the temple fairs in various places suddenly jumped, people turned their backs, and there were cries and shouts one after another.However, to the surprise of the mountain people, the officers and soldiers did not kill people indiscriminately, but forced them with knives and guns. After gathering the people, they tied them up with ropes.

Among the kidnapped were not only refugees from the mountains, but also many people from surrounding counties and villages who came to watch the scene.However, the officers and soldiers didn't care at all, and there were too many people just to take the opportunity to extort money.So in the next few days, the family members of those who were wrongly arrested brought Baojia to look for them. Faced with extortion by officers and soldiers, they had to pay money to get them.Those who came out of the mountains to look for their families were all locked up.

In this way, boat after boat of refugees were once again driven out of their homes and embarked on the road to the east.

Although there was a moment of public dissatisfaction, no one dared to resist.At this time, the Sanyang Sect was still secretly preaching in Henan and eastern Hubei, and at most it only extended its tentacles to Xiangyang; the secret society at the junction of the three provinces had not yet developed to the huge scale it later developed.

Speaking of Sanyang Sect, it has only been established for two years, and its predecessor was Hunyuan Sect.The so-called "Ming Dynasty direct faction, Baofu Niu Ba" was created by them.

The "Sichuan-Shaanxi White Lotus Sect Rebellion" that broke out in another time and space history, in fact, has to be traced back to the "Qingshui Sect Rebellion" in Qianlong 39.

Although the Wang Lun Rebellion lasted only one month, since the Qingshui teaching case was exposed and surfaced, we can already see that the entire North China region is covered with a network of "evil cults" of the Bagua religion system, which have been passed down from generation to generation and are intertwined; many of them are It has been spreading since the Ming Dynasty, and the latest one has been since the early years of Kangxi.

And things like Shouyuan and Hunyuan are also separated from the hexagrams taught by the Eight Diagrams.For example, the Qingshui Sect belongs to the "Zhen Gua" in the Ba Gua Sect, and Wang Lun called himself "Master of the Eastern Zhen Palace" when he first preached.In history, during the Jiaqing period, Tianli religion rebelled, and Zhen Gua was one of the important forces.

One night in early April 1790, in a courtyard outside Zhijiang County, Jingzhou, a group of ordinary people were kneeling on the ground and praying devoutly.In front of them was an incense table, and a thin old man in his fifties was wearing cassocks, holding formulas in his hands, and muttering words in his mouth:
"Ceremony of sincere conversion, believe in the incense and think about Zhoushajie, please--the incense in the furnace is bursting, and the cigarette smoke faintly strikes the gate of heaven, please what god will be the soldier! Please--smoke all over the ten directions, invite the heavenly soldiers from the sky Surrender, please get the soldiers to come from the ground. Around 28 points, 36 divisions guard the gate of the altar, six Ding Liujia protect my body, and the eight kings come down. I am burning incense to apply for summoning, and I would like to descend on the incense altar as a proof."

After this man pretended to be a ghost, more than 100 people kneeling in the courtyard stepped forward one after another, and some of them threw a bunch of silver coins, or more than a dozen copper coins into the merit box.And there is a table next to the merit box, and there are two people who are responsible for counting the money invested by everyone and recording them one by one in the book.

At the same time, another person in colorful clothes recited: "When the upper class is successful in learning, he will become immortal and enlightened. When the middle class is successful in learning, he will cure diseases and prolong his life. When the lower class is successful in learning, he will eliminate disasters and avoid difficulties."

After paying the money, everyone returned to the original place and knelt down, and began to chant: "Muyi Muzi's real name and surname, Muyi Muzi sees a real person. When he comes with a golden sword in the Mao character, when will we see the Peaceful Year?"

The old man in cassock waited for everyone to recite for a while, and when he saw his accomplice standing next to the merit box nodding slightly at him, he knew that the money for today was almost collected, so he said: "I have four truths, which I will pass on to you today, day and night. Adhering to it, you will surely be able to ward off disasters and avoid disasters.”

The kneeling people quickly kowtowed and said, "I beseech you to be merciful!"

The old man looked serious, and said in a deep voice: "Those who practice my teaching will save each other when they are in trouble, and die when they are in trouble. They will travel around the world without holding a single coin. The curse says, a black wind blows up day and night, killing countless people, A mountain of bones, a sea of ​​blood."

After half an hour, the crowd gradually left, and the courtyard finally returned to calm.The old man had already changed his cassock at this time, and was sitting in the room drinking tea, dangling his legs happily.

All of a sudden, when the door slammed, the old man hurriedly put his legs down, and the complacent expression on his face turned into a deep, compassionate one.

A man in his thirties came in, bowed to the old man, and said with a happy face: "Master Liu, today I received a total of 30 taels of silver, and there are still five slings of 28 coins."

"Yeah." The old man known as Mr. Liu frowned, and said to the man: "It's still the old rule, you all get half of it. It's not good here in Jingzhou. It's been four or five days in a row. After collecting more than 200 taels, I thought that in two days, we should go back to Xiangyang."

The man said: "If it weren't for the fact that the government has extorted the refugees in recent months, those dog yamen servants and tiger and wolf soldiers have blackmailed them, Jingzhou is actually quite good."

The old man said, "I asked you to inquire about Sun Guiyuan, did you get any news?"

The man said: "Our people haven't come back from Jiangsu yet."

The old man frowned and said: "This is really strange, why did several big living people suddenly disappear?"

The old man who pretends to be a ghost is named Liu Zhixie, and he is the leader of Sanyang Sect in Anhui and Hubei.And it was his disciple Song Zhiqing who was talking to him, who was also the person who founded the "Western Mahayana Teaching" in the future.The two are still in a master-student relationship now, and they will part ways in a few years, each cheating each other of their money.

But they didn't know that Sun Guiyuan and his great apprentice Zhan Zhenglin had been taken over by someone a few years ago and sent overseas to dig coal.

(End of this chapter)