Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 872 Southern Theater ([-])

In April 1651, Ningbo Mansion in the early spring had gradually warmed up.Outside Ninghai County, Taizhou Prefecture, Wei Boqiu was overseeing a mass execution accompanied by Xie Qian, commander of the Sixth Division of the Xinjian Army.The targets of execution were the local Qing court generals and some direct male relatives. Of course, some local gentry and landlords were also indispensable. The crimes committed by these people were nothing more than "loyal officials and false Qing" and "stubbornness". The Sixth Division of the Servant Army who conquered this place was also captured and executed.

Hundreds of officers and soldiers of the Sixth Division circled a large open space on the school grounds outside the city. These soldiers uniformly dressed in khaki military uniforms, black-brimmed caps, suede shoes, and white leggings on their calves were holding spears. , and drove out the people who were watching the fun outside.They speak a Shandong accent that is difficult for local people to understand, and the knives and guns in their hands are shining coldly. In addition, when they broke through the city more than a month ago, they killed the Qing soldiers' heads, so they are still very deterrent in the eyes of the local people.

The division commander Xie Qian dusted off the dust on his well-made woolen military uniform, stroked the handle of the command knife with his left hand, subconsciously put his right hand on the flintlock holster at his waist, and looked at the execution ground with vigor, dejected, or The generals of the Qing court who cursed or cried, don't mention how happy they are.

He himself was just a domestic slave of an official in Zichuan County, Qingzhou Prefecture. Because he was dissatisfied with the Qing government's policy of shaving their hair and changing clothes and excessive exploitation of the people, he rebelled against some friends in the Jianghu.His greatest "achievement" was capturing and killing Sun Zhixie, the right servant of the Ministry of Rites of the Manchu Dynasty who was the first to write to Dorgon to ask for a haircut and easy clothing. He said, "Grow hair for you", which greatly cheered the hearts of the people all over the world.

However, after being besieged by the Qing army and almost killed (thanks to the people from the East Bank who rescued him from the siege), Xie Qian took refuge in the East Bank people who, in his opinion, were the only "unknown force" who persisted in resisting the Qing Dynasty.However, after a few years of ups and downs in the East Coast servant army system, Xie Qian has changed a lot. Now he is no longer the same as before, and gradually began to move closer to a warlord and politician. For example, he now compares making money to killing Tartars. Another example is that he not only shaved his hair and changed his clothes (he shaved his crew head and wore the East Coast military uniform, but in his opinion, this is much better than the money rat tails or mandarin jackets promoted by the Tartars), Many things on the east coast (such as various daily necessities) are not excluded at all, and it is almost a different person compared with a few years ago.

In his opinion, those officials of the Qing government who were tied up and awaiting execution in the school grounds were pathetic and idiots.why?I don't know the situation, I don't know the general situation!Don't talk about anything else, just talk about the current situation in Zhejiang Province, which is a great disadvantage to the Qing court!A few months ago, Lieutenant Commander Liu Haiyang, the commander of the Southern Theater Command in Yin County, mobilized the [-]th and [-]th Divisions of the Servant Army to go south. It took two months to conquer Xiangshan County, Changguowei, Ninghai County and other places successively, and wiped out the defenders. More than [-] landlord regiments from these counties practiced armed forces; when returning to the division, they passed through Fenghua County, and put an end to two gentry riots that occurred there, which can be described as extremely majestic.

While the army on the east bank was consolidating the place, the armed forces of King Lu who had been active in the Jiantiaosuo area also began to exert their strength gradually. They took advantage of the opportunity of the Qing army's main force to withdraw northward from Hangzhou Prefecture, and successively attacked the coastal areas of Taizhou Prefecture and Wenzhou Prefecture. Attacked and conquered many cities guarded by the Qing army. At present, Jiantiaosuo, Taozhusuo, Haimenwei, Huangyan County, Songmenwei, Panshiwei and other places have been occupied. The main force is tens of thousands of people. The leader of the army is currently outside Yongjia County, the capital of Wenzhou, besieging day and night.

The Qing army in eastern Zhejiang, southern Zhejiang, and even northern Fujian was already sparse in strength. Chen Tai and others raided another batch when they went north to rescue Hangzhou. Now there are only a few crooked melons and dates. Don't talk about saving others.This unfavorable situation of the Qing court was deliberately magnified by the deliberate propaganda and earnest persuasion of the people on the east coast——Zhang Mingzhen, Ruan Jin and others who controlled the military power of the King of Lu began to work in Wenzhou and Taizhou. Siege the city and seize the land, and the strength has grown, and the embarrassment of half-dead when living on Zhoushan Island a few years ago is no longer there.

The Zheng Group, which guarded Jinsha, also began to exert its strength. Under the banner of Nanming, they besieged the coastal areas of Fujian, exhausting the Qing army and constantly losing cities and lands.And their efforts made the Qing army who invaded Chaozhou Prefecture in Guangdong suffer from the enemy. Li Chengdong took advantage of the situation and led the army to counterattack, defeated the Qing army, and recovered most of Chaozhou Prefecture.The situation on the southeast coast, under the deliberate prying of the people on the east coast, has set off earth-shaking changes, and the Qing army has nothing to do.

"If the situation in the southeast is reversed like this, these local tyrants and evil gentry are as stupid as pigs and dogs to be willing to make trouble!" Xie Qian, the commander of the Sixth Division, thought disdainfully.After seeing Wei Boqiu on the high platform waved his hand indifferently, he tightened the belt around his waist, drew out his sharp command saber, and slashed down fiercely, saying: "Execution!"

Following his order, a large group of Green Battalion soldiers still wearing Qing uniforms will be kicked down by the officers and soldiers of the Sixth Division, holding the issued short knives, and stabbing these former superiors and generals tremblingly.The officers and soldiers of the Sixth Division around them wore armor and held knives, supervising their execution.

"After the nomination certificate is handed in, these people will be incorporated into the military team. After a few trips, they will be digested." Wei Boqiu got up and left the execution ground, and said to his student Li Kaduo: "Ninghai County is located in the mountains. Valleys and plains are easy to defend and difficult to attack. If the Qing army came, they would have to cross mountains and ridges, and they would be extremely exhausted. Troops and military resources landed ashore, which has an inside advantage that the Qing army can hardly match. Therefore, this place can be digested into our rear, of course, it may take many years."

Li Kaduo nodded, now he really understands what the teacher meant by "it will take many years", because there are real examples: in the counties of Ningbo Prefecture that the people on the east coast have captured, The various policies that are currently being implemented have considerable resistance in the countryside. Landlords and gentry, ordinary scholars, remnants of the Qing army, local clan forces, etc., for various reasons, have almost become enemies of the people on the east coast.

They spread public opinion unfavorable to the East Bank among the people, connected with various anti-East Bank forces, informed the Qing court, killed the grain collection teams and work teams sent by the East Bank, and some people even continued to incite foolish men and women or clan relatives and friends Standing up to fight against the rule of the people on the east coast, they almost dragged the 7000 troops of the Fourth Division and the Sixth Division firmly in place, and they were still unable to be transferred to the front line to fight the Qing army.

However, the people on the east bank are not merciful people, especially the leaders of the east bank have grown up in the blood and fire with the Spaniards since the beginning of the crossing. They have two policies for local resistance forces: suppression and exile. That is, those with minor circumstances (usually foolish men and women who were coerced) were exiled to Sakhalin Island, Ezo, and Tahiti, and those with serious circumstances (generally planners and organizers) were killed on the spot.The vacated house land happened to be nationalized, and then found an opportunity to distribute it to the disabled and retired soldiers, or to reward those who took the initiative to move closer to the east bank, so as to attract people's hearts.

As far as Licado knew, Yin County, which is currently the most powerfully ruled by the people on the east bank, had allocated land to more than [-] soldiers for free; To resume production, since last year, the long-silted canals have been dredged, the dilapidated Potang embankment has been rebuilt, and the overwintering wheat has been planted. It will be harvested in a short time. There is not much shortage of food and fodder for the tens of thousands of Fang's troops to fight.

After the crop of wheat is harvested, these Shaoxing people from the west will plant another crop of rice immediately, and around the paddy fields, some miscellaneous grains such as taro and black beans are grown as a supplement to the ration.Don't underestimate the enthusiasm of these Shaoxing people, because the people from the east coast once promised them that they would be free to cultivate the land for five years for the east bank government (during this period, they will be paid three yuan a month for adult men, including food and lodging, women and children) The wages of the elderly are declining), they can buy the land they have cultivated for several years at a low price of five yuan per mu, with a maximum limit of [-] mu.

Thirty acres of fertile land, this is a family property that can be passed on to future generations, so these people can't help but be indifferent.Therefore, their short-term enthusiasm has been mobilized, and at the same time, they have completely formed an inextricable feud with the local landlords and gentry-because the land they will buy in the future will obviously be taken from these gentry by the people on the east coast. These gentry often had many descendants of their clansmen serving as officials in the Qing court, and the Qing court clearly protected the interests of the landlord gentry, so they had irreconcilable conflicts with the Qing court.In this way, they have become the most powerful helpers for the people on the east coast to rule the local area - is there any more reliable relationship than the same interests?

In addition to allocating land to these Shaoxing immigrants and veterans, the people on the east bank are also trying to divide and disintegrate the original clan social system in the local area. They find various reasons to confiscate the land of the landlords and distribute it to the landless poor.This was the suggestion given by Ricardo at the beginning. During his long-term research, he discovered that the so-called clan forces in the local villages are not monolithic.

Therefore, he proposed to divide and disintegrate the power of the clan, that is, to distribute land to poor households who have no land and little land (following the previous policy, hire them to cultivate the land, and buy it cheaply after five years), and the source of this land is naturally within the clan. The landlord of a large amount of land - he does not believe that with the support and maintenance of soldiers on the east coast, those poor households who can't eat enough and are in a state of malnutrition all year round will not be tempted!Nothing can stop the Chinese people's obsession with land!As long as I can have a piece of land that can be passed down to future generations, I don't care who you are?Whoever wants to block me, I will fight desperately!

(End of this chapter)