Autumn of the 17th year of Chongzhen

Chapter 165

After Wang Yan finished speaking, he looked expectantly at the old man in front of him, but the old man still hesitated.

Seeing this, Chen Bangyan on the side stepped forward, "Old man, this is the Duke of Chu, who was conferred by the emperor in charge of Guangdong, and the whole of Guangdong is under the rule of the Duke of Chu. If you are the guarantor, what else is there to worry about? Besides, you are waiting on the mountain, and the villagers at the foot of the mountain will not retreat. If you want to save the whole village, you still need to go down the mountain to negotiate a result before solving the problem." "

The old man and many Hakka people were shocked when they heard the words, the governor didn't know what, but the Duke was like thunder, that was only the existence of the king. Aren't Da and Chang Yuchun both Dukes of the State during their lifetime?
For a moment, all the Hakka villagers bowed down in unison, Wang Yan had no choice but to help the old man again, and then said to many villagers: "The governor knows that the government has always been unfair in dealing with the disputes between the Hakkas, but now Guangdong is under the rule of this governor, and this governor will not let you suffer any more injustice."

Wang Yan held the old man's hand tightly while talking, and felt the power from his hand, the old man burst into tears suddenly, "Caomin and others thank the Duke for his kindness, Caomin will follow the Duke down the mountain and obey the arrangement of the Duke."

Hearing the words, Wang Yan nodded in satisfaction, "Old man, don't worry, let's communicate with the people of the clan first, and discuss the bottom line before negotiating with the villagers in Guangnan. downhill."

Reminded by Wang Yan, the old man entered the earthen village to discuss with his clansmen, and Wang Yan was led to rest inside. When he passed the center of the earthen village, he saw that the open space for children to play was almost full of people covered with white cloth. There are hundreds of dead bodies.

Seeing this, Wang Yan couldn't help but exchanged glances with Chen Bangyan who was behind him, and they both came to a conclusion from their respective gazes that the conflict between the natives and the guests was irreconcilable, and only living in separate lands could avoid the next conflict. occur.

Wang Yan and his party went up the mountain early in the morning, and they didn't bring down two old Hakkas until about noon. One of them was called Li Guangsi and the other was Wang Xiu'an.

The cause of this dispute between the natives and the natives was nothing more than a competition between the natives for a water source. From the first two families, it developed to two villages, and finally affected nearly four prefectures in western and southern Guangdong, causing over ten thousand casualties. It can be seen that the conflict between the natives has a long history, and any trivial matter can develop into a big fight, and there is no trust between the two parties at all.

After returning to the big tent, Wang Yan sent someone to invite both the natives and the guests in. After sitting down separately, he went straight to the topic, "The natives and the guests are all citizens of the Ming Dynasty. Now because of the land and water sources, the two parties are fighting each other. Thousands of people were killed or injured in the village, and the governor was very sad. The situation has deteriorated to this point. The court mediation is not good, the management is neglected, and the rich are also responsible. Today, the locals, the guests, and the governor, and we are the three parties. For the current matter, discuss it carefully and come up with a strategy acceptable to all parties to avoid such fights in the future."

After Wang Yan finished speaking, it was like Chen Bangyan took a look, so he got up and said: "It is the intention of the Duke, the government will never allow such fighting in Guangdong from now on, this is the bottom line of the government, so today Both parties, the guest and the guest, have their own opinions, and they all speak out, and the government will mediate and mediate to completely resolve the conflict, so that the people can live in peace."

After hearing the words, people from both the land and the guest knew that the attitude of the government this time was quite different from the past.In the past, the government was fighting with the mud, and then dealt with it after they finished fighting. Most of the people who came forward were the magistrates. But this time, an adult surnamed He came out to stop the situation, but he failed to control the situation. He immediately invited the Duke from Guangzhou. Bringing a large army to mediate, it can be seen that the government has made up its mind this time and must resolve the dispute between the natives and the guests.

Both parties explained the government's attitude, and an old man named Xie Wencai among the villagers in Guangnan immediately got up and saluted: "My lord, my lords, this fight probably started because of a guest who robbed our water source. And my family was young and strong, and more than [-] people were beaten to death by the Hakkas. This kind of enmity may not be held by our family, but the Hakkas must compensate our family for the loss."

"My lord, the land in the west of Guangdong is barren, and most of the good paddy fields are owned by the gentry. My Guangnan villagers lack arable land and cannot support many people. However, the Hakka family has moved into Guangnan. Come to compete for land and water, and the villagers in Guangnan will not have enough to eat. The grassroots think that the Hakkas must move back to the east of Guangdong if the disputes are to be calmed down." Another old man of the Xie clan got up and said.

After listening to the order, the Hakka elders who sat beside the order couldn't help feeling very anxious, and hurried out to cry: "The Lord Guo, Caomin and others moved to western Guangdong. The land of southern rural people, and the land of eastern Guangdong is barren, and cannot support many people at all. We cannot survive, so we moved to the land of western Guangdong. If we are forced to move back to eastern Guangdong now, it is to force the Hakka people to a dead end. Ah! Also ask the Duke of the country to be the master for the Hakka people."

Wang Yan knew in his heart that there was no right or wrong in the dispute between natives and guests.The Hakka people were forced to move to eastern Guangdong in order to survive, and the villagers in Guangnan who participated in the struggle were also poor people who did not have much land.Wealthy landlords and squires will not participate in it, but Wang Yan suspects that behind the disputes between natives and offenders, it is mostly those squires who provoke them, because they occupy most of the land and have greater conflicts with the poor in Guangnan, and they secretly Provoking a dispute between the natives and the Hakkas can lead the conflict between them and the poor in Guangnan to the Hakkas.

After listening to the words of the Tuke, Wang Yan knew that they were all the lowest-level existences of Ming Dynasty, and they all wanted to survive, so he stood up and pressed his hand, signaling them to calm down, and then said: "The governor has already understood, what you mean , the villagers in Guangnan want to move the Hakka people away to get more land, while the Hakka people need a place to settle down."

Seeing Wang Yan talking, the Tukes listened quietly, and nodded when he finished speaking.

Seeing this, Wang Yan continued, "In order to prevent conflicts between the two clans, the governor has decided that the natives of Guangnan must live in separate lands."

"Live in separate land? Isn't that just to move the Hakka people away?"

When the Guangnan villagers heard this, their faces were suddenly filled with joy. The government really favored them because of their large number of people, while the Hakka people were already ashamed. Moving away, years of painstaking efforts will be destroyed once again, and moving to a new place, can the new place accommodate them?
When they were in the same room, Li Guangsi and Wang Xiu'an immediately knelt down and cried, "Grandpa~"

However, Wang Yan quickly interrupted: "Two old men, the governor has made a promise before, how can you break your word and get rich? You two should listen to the governor's strategy first, so that no one will suffer."

(End of this chapter)