Autumn of the 17th year of Chongzhen

Chapter 334 Refugee Tide

At the end of July and the beginning of August, although the harsh climate in the Central Plains, which had been dry for more than ten years, improved, it was an unprecedented disaster for the northwestern Hubei in the second year of Longwu.

Different from the natural disasters in Shaanxi and Hebei, the northwestern Hubei is actually a real man-made disaster. From the Jiashen year, first the army marched along, the Qing army followed, and then the Ming army regained the lost ground, and this time the Ming army The Xiangyang war with the Qing army completely destroyed the production in Northwest Hubei.

As the old saying goes, "Bandits come like a comb, soldiers come like a grate."

The land of Hubei suffered from military disasters almost every year, and the continuous local battles made the fields basically barren and the people could not continue.

After the Qing soldiers occupied Hubei, they did not resume production. This is why Luck Dehun immediately returned to Wuchang after Chen Zilong attacked Suzhou and seized the grain and grass that the Qing court wanted to transport to Huguang.

There was no grain in Hubei to levy, so the Qing army had to transport grain from the south of the Yangtze River. When the grain supply in the south of the Yangtze River was not enough, Tong Yanghe, in order to shrink his strength and stick to Wuchang, carried out a raid on the various prefectures in Hubei, and even took away food for the people.

The people had no rations, so they could only eat the seeds. In addition to this year's summer seeds, a war broke out between the Ming and Qing Dynasties. despair.

In addition to the food being cut off, the Qing army plundered Northwest Hubei, which also brought devastating disasters to the people of Hubei. Countless people were used as cannon fodder by the Qing army in the First World War in Xiangyang and lost their lives. Countless villages were destroyed by the Qing army. Burned and destroyed, rations were taken away, and the people lost their way of life.

In the face of desperation, nearly a million refugees who swept through more than [-] counties in the four prefectures of northwestern Hubei began to flee for their lives. There were not many directions for refugees to flee. The north and east were occupied by the Qing army. It was useless to go there. The emperor was fighting with the Qing army, and the refugees could only flee to Wuchang Mansion, which had just been recovered by the Ming army.

Compared with the Qing court and Zhang Xianzhong, the refugees still chose the government. They ran to the provincial capital. Don't the governor and high officials care about the life and death of the people?With a hope in mind, nearly a million refugees flocked towards Wuchang.

At this time, the Battle of Xiangyang was over. After Wu Sangui and Azige retreated to the north bank of the Han River, they confronted the Ming army across the river for a few days, and then pulled out their camp and returned to Henan for food. The Yanqi faction crossed the river to occupy Xinye, strangled the main roads, and left Hao Yaoqi, Ma Jinzhong and other officers and soldiers. In the northwest of Hubei, he led Gao Yigong, who had only [-]% of his troops left, and brought them from Hanzhong. He Zhen and Sun Shoufa, who had withdrawn, returned to Wuchang along the Han River.

Wherever the army passed by, there was a desolation. It would take at least 20 years to recover from the damage to Hubei caused by the Qing soldiers in the First World War in Xiangyang.

The army went down the river, and in just half a month, 60 refugees flocked to Wuchang.

Seeing this, Wang Yan was glad that he had ended the battle of Xiangyang ahead of schedule, otherwise the whole of Huguang would be dragged down by the damage caused by the war.

Seeing the people fleeing from Yunyang, De'an, Xiangyang, Chengtian, Jingdusi, etc., there was an endless stream on the official road. They helped the old and the young, carried burdens, and walked forward with crutches.

After He Tengjiao occupied Wuchang, he was full of joy, but the ensuing wave of refugees made him feel panicked.

He wants to manage the land of Hubei, but he can't let the people in Hubei starve to death. Without people, he can't collect taxes and recruit soldiers. As the governor of Huguang, he can't ignore it.

In troubled times, food is the heart of the people. Although He Tengjiao is greedy for small profits, he has no choice but to use the hundreds of thousands of shi rice and grain he got from Wuchang to help the refugees and dispatch his staff to help the refugees. , went to Changsha to find Du Yinxi to borrow food.

Refugees heading for Wuchang, after passing through Hanchuan County, porridge sheds began to appear one after another along the way. Inside the sheds were busy soldiers and officials, and the refugees finally saw the hope of survival.

Food is the heart~

The porridge shed was hope, and it also let the refugees know the attitude of the government, so the refugees continued to go south and gathered on the bank of the Yangtze River on the opposite bank of Wuchang.

On the north bank of the Yangtze River, the refugees were blocked by the river, and the wilderness along the embankment was covered with endless straw huts, stretching for dozens of miles, and more than [-] victims of the disaster had already gathered.

After Wang Yan led the army back to Wuchang, he originally planned to send troops south to Jiangxi immediately, but because of the refugee problem, he had to delay sending troops.

Originally, there were 40 shi of grain and grass looted by the Qing soldiers in Wuchang City. Wang Yan could borrow some to send troops to Jiangxi, but now that refugees are flocking to Wuchang, He Tengjiao wants to borrow food from him instead.

Wang Yan thought that Hunan would be ripe this year, so he wouldn't have to worry about the food problem, but now it seems that the food is still not enough, and even the food has to be transported from Guangdong to get through the current crisis.

It's already August, and if the refugees want to resume production, they have to wait at least for the next year, after the sowing and summer harvest. In the past half a year, the money and food consumed will undoubtedly become a huge burden for Daming, who is not rich at all. pressure.

After this battle of Huguang, Wang Yan's army has shrunk by more than 2 people, especially the Gaoyi Gong Department has lost almost [-]%, and has no strength to fight again.

Wang Yan was about to adjust the troops and horses, and organized the Hanzhong Rebel Army into the Zhongyong and Zhongzhen armies to make up for the difference a little bit, while the Gao Yigong Department that had been disabled, and the three Wang brothers who were about to be incorporated into the Houyong Camp, He led his troops to Changsha for repairs, and sent Chen Hongxu to Hunan to recruit new soldiers.

At this time, although the Zhongyong, Zhongzhen, and Dubiao left by Wang Yan's side were still not enough, after absorbing the Hanzhong Rebel Army, their strength reached [-], and they were restored to a certain extent.

At this time, the [-] troops were successively put into the ranks of disaster relief, building straw huts and tents for the refugees, maintaining law and order, and then conducting some drills and minor repairs.

Wang Yan stopped Yinxi and asked him to send a batch of grain and grass, and once again seconded a full and strong navy to recruit ships to attack Jiujiang and open the passage to Jiangxi.

At this time, while preparing for the southern expedition to Jiangxi, Wang Yan discussed with He Tengjiao the strategy for relief of refugees, and the deployment of Huguang's plan to defend the Qing army in the future. It can be said that he was very busy.

Jiang Yueguang once told Wang Yan that the Qing army was weak in follow-up, and Wang Yan wanted to make a difference, but the occurrence of the refugee wave and the destruction of production in Hubei made the Ming army lose the ability to launch a large-scale battle, and would turn to the defensive again.

With the fall of eastern Zhejiang and Zheng Zhilong about to surrender to the Qing Dynasty, the grand strategy of the entire Southern Ming Dynasty in the early days of Longwu, where Changshan was a snake and attacked head to tail, had failed. So contact many governors and anti-Qing forces to re-establish a plan that covers the whole world. The grand strategy is imminent.

(Thanks to Shu Zhan Zhi Shang, Yue Dong Wo Xin for their rewards, and thanks to book friends for their recommendations.)
(End of this chapter)