Chapter 206: 204 A Special Situation

Ganzhou, Yugu Terrace.

Fei Ruhe had moved a chair up there and sat down, spending his idle moments observing the city through a telescope — he was thoroughly delighted with this newly captured little gadget.

The Eight-Mirror Terrace atop the city wall could survey the river in all four directions. Yugu Terrace on the hill could survey the entire city of Ganzhou.

Liu Anfeng, leading several officials, ascended the terrace to pay his respects: "I pay my greetings to Military Commissioner Zhao!"

"Yo, Old Liu's here," Fei Ruhe set down the telescope and welcomed him warmly. "The Regional Commander actually sent you to be Prefect of Ganzhou?"

Liu Anfeng cupped his hands and said, "All thanks to the Regional Commander's cultivation."

Liu Anfeng had previously been County Magistrate of Luling, a position within Zhao Han's territory somewhat akin to the Governor of the capital district. Promotion from this post meant either being sent out as a Prefect or elevated directly into the Regional Command headquarters.

Liu Anfeng could barely be counted among the old guard — a poor xiucai who had pledged his service back in the Yongyang Town days.

For a post like County Magistrate, a literate man had to be used. Not necessarily a scholar with examination credentials, but someone versed in letters and arithmetic — even a household slave or an actor could serve, provided they had studied.

A household slave named Xiao Gui, for instance, had already risen to become County Magistrate of Longquan.

Fei Ruhe asked, "Which territories are we taking this time?"

"Aside from Ganzhou city itself, the four counties of Nankang, Shangyou, Yudu, and Xingguo must be taken," Liu Anfeng relayed the Regional Command's orders. "Nankang is the southern gateway to Ganzhou Prefecture, Shangyou the western gateway, Yudu the eastern gateway — only by seizing these three counties can we hold the strategic passes. As for Xingguo, taking it will link the southern counties into one contiguous area."

Fei Ruhe said, "Add Gan County, where Ganzhou city sits, and that's a sudden increase of five counties. Do we have enough officials for that?"

"We do," Liu Anfeng explained. "The yamen of each prefecture, county, and town will detach a portion of their assistant officials and clerks to transfer here; the vacated posts will naturally be filled by other officials and clerks."

"Fine," Fei Ruhe asked further, "Did you bring any of Zou Weilian's family members?"

Liu Anfeng said, "His mother is advanced in years and unfit for a long journey. We brought only his eldest son, Zou Liangyi. Zou Liangyi has already come over to our side. Coming to Ganzhou this time, he can serve as a civil clerk for Gan County."

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Fei Ruhe said with a headache, "Then send him quickly to urge their surrender. This city of Ganzhou is truly hard to assault."

Zou Liangyi was only seventeen. Before being taken away, he had been studying assiduously to pass the xiucai examination. He had been sent to White Egret Isle Academy, where after studying for over half a year, he had inwardly accepted the Great Unity ideal — though he still felt some reluctance about his family's landholdings.

But however reluctant he might be, now he could only give them up — his entire family had been carried off by the rebels, after all.

Moreover, when they left home, his grandmother had given away the family's landholdings. Zou Liangyi had now fallen into the "landless class."

Anyway, with the family land gone, why not follow Mr. Zhao and work for the cause?

"I am the son of Governor Zou! Let me up at once!" Zou Liangyi stood below the city wall and shouted.

The officers and soldiers defending the city immediately hoisted him up inside.

In truth, these Fujian soldiers also wanted to surrender; it was just that the terms had not yet been settled. To ensure a smooth surrender, they had not even looted the city, seeking only to leave a good impression on Zhao Han's side.

At this very moment, Zou Weilian was playing chess with Liu Huan, the Prefect of Ganzhou.

They both knew Ganzhou was doomed. The reason they had not immediately surrendered the city was simply that every city gate was in the hands of the Fujian troops.

Zou Weilian and Liu Huan were responsible for negotiating with the enemy. If negotiations succeeded, they would surrender. If negotiations failed, those Fujian soldiers, before dying, would certainly wreak havoc upon the populace of the prefectural city.

"Father, your son has come!" Zou Liangyi cupped his hands.

Zou Weilian kept his eyes fixed on the chessboard. After a long pause, he placed a stone and asked, "You have joined the rebels?"

"I have," Zou Liangyi said. "The entire household, young and old, was taken away by Mr. Zhao's troops. When we left, Grandmother gave all our landholdings to our clansmen, household slaves, and tenant farmers. Father, our family has no land left now. Even if land were distributed, none would come under our name."

Zou Weilian finally raised his head, glaring at his son: "Turning your back on your sovereign to follow rebels — is this a matter of land distribution?"

Zou Liangyi said, "Father, your son has now grasped Mr. Zhao's learning. The realm and the altars of state truly are a matter of land distribution. Today, the gentry and magnates annex the land, so that the tillers have no fields of their own, and the court can scarcely collect taxes. The poor grow poorer, the rich grow richer, while the state treasury stands empty. When the poor cannot stay alive, they rise up and stake their lives. When the treasury is empty, they cannot be suppressed. The Great Ming's realm will topple sooner or later."

Liu Huan, Prefect of Ganzhou, smiled and said, "Brother Dehui, a tiger father begets no dog son. It is rare for your son to possess such insight."

Zou Weilian's face finally showed astonishment. He asked, "You learned this whole set of arguments among the rebels?"

"Father, please examine this book." Zou Liangyi handed over a copy of The Great Unity Collection.

Zou Weilian had already read this book long ago — Fei Yinghuan had brought it from Ji'an Prefecture.

Now, Zou Weilian opened The Great Unity Collection once more. After reading it, he did not know what to say.

Zou Liangyi said, "I ask Father to surrender the city."

"In matters of city defense, your father cannot make the decision," Zou Weilian told his son. "Go out of the city and ask whether they will allow these Fujian soldiers to return home. They have all been away from home for over two years and do not wish to remain in Jiangxi. They ask only to go back and reunite with their families. If this is agreed to, withdraw thirty li to the north, and these Fujian soldiers will abandon the city and leave of their own accord."

Zou Liangyi said, "Those whose hands are not stained with the blood of the common people may naturally depart."

"How can soldiers not be stained with blood?" Zou Weilian said, amused.

Zou Liangyi explained, "Killing in pitched battle, each for his own master, cannot be harshly judged. 'Stained with the blood of the common people' means having committed acts of plunder."

Zou Weilian sighed and said, "Then go back and relay this message: say that the three thousand Fujian soldiers defending the city plundered the common people only in western Fujian. After entering Jiangxi, they have been kept under my restraint. The recent forays out of the city to plunder had nothing to do with them either — these three thousand men were all kept back to hold the city. If negotiations fail, I fear the entire city will be destroyed."

This matter was beyond Zou Liangyi's authority to decide, and beyond Fei Ruhe's as well. They could only send a boat back to request instructions from Zhao Han.

Seizing this interval, Fei Ruhe divided his forces to attack Nankang County.

That place already lay within the borders of Nan'an Prefecture, but it had to be taken to secure the military safety of Ganzhou Prefecture.

Vice Regional Commander Zhou Dezhen led three thousand troops forth. Before they even reached the county seat of Nankang, they heard that Nankang County had already been seized by local field-soldiers. The field-soldier leader, bringing several dozen of his subordinates, came several li out of the city to greet them. Kneeling and kowtowing, he said, "I beg the General to deliver justice for us!"

……

Ningdu County.

Several thousand tenant farmers had elected tenant-chiefs and organized themselves into three thousand field-soldiers. They shouted in the Hakka tongue: "General Fei of Luling has already routed the government troops at Ganzhou! Now is the very moment for us to rise up! Follow me to take the county seat!"

……

Huichang County.

The remnant field-soldiers who had fled into the great mountains, several hundred strong, raised a great banner reading "Execute Heaven's Justice."

After emerging from the mountains, countless tenant farmers joined them along the way. By the time they reached the county seat, they had swelled to several thousand.

……

Yudu County.

Chen Tingdui, the Fujian Regional Commander who had retreated here, gazed at the field-soldiers outside the city, his face stricken with terror. He hastily gave the order: "Quickly, shout out to them! Tell them I am a man of Fujian, and Fujian men do not fight Fujian men! If they want to occupy the county seat, I can yield it — just leave me a road to get out!"

Indeed, the majority of the tenant farmers rebelling in southern Jiangxi were of Fujian ancestry.

……

Shicheng County.

Xingguo County.

Ruijin County.

One after another, tenant-soldier uprisings erupted.

As these reports came in one by one, Fei Ruhe was utterly dumbfounded. He muttered to himself, "Could it be that I have already won such fearsome renown that a single great victory outside Ganzhou city has stirred seven counties to revolt at once?"

Of course not!

The real reason was that the tenant farmers of southern Jiangxi lived in such misery that they were already prone to rebellion. The moment word spread of the government troops' great defeat, they sprang into action at once.

How miserable were they?

During the period of the Southern Ming rump court, the Tingzhou Regional Commander Zhou Zhifan and the Ruijin County Magistrate Liu Yili secretly backed the tenant farmers in revolting against the landlords — even those officials could not bear to watch any longer!

Moreover, the situation of rebellion here was extraordinarily complex, entangling the interests of four parties: the government, the landlords, the tenant-masters, and the tenant farmers.

The Registrar of Ningdu County, Wei Jiaju, came by boat straight to the outskirts of Ganzhou city, requesting that Fei Ruhe dispatch troops to escort him to Ji'an Prefecture.

Upon meeting Zhao Han, this man came straight to the point: "If Mr. Zhao wishes to take southern Jiangxi, you must understand the true situation here. Do not assume that all tenant farmers are wretched souls."

Zhao Han asked with a smile, "Could there be rich men among the tenant farmers?"

"There are indeed powerful tenants," Wei Jiaju said. "The bandit troubles of southern Jiangxi are never fully stamped out, and the common folk and tenant farmers can barely survive. The fault lies not only with the landlords — these powerful tenants are even more detestable!"

Zhao Han asked, puzzled, "How did these powerful tenants become powerful?"

Wei Jiaju said, "Take Ningdu County as an example. Of the entire county's populace, six or seven out of ten are Fujian people."

"How can six or seven out of ten in a county within Jiangxi be Fujian people?" Zhao Han felt even more baffled.

Wei Jiaju explained in detail: "At the founding of the Great Ming, there were already many Fujian people working as tenant farmers in Ningdu. During the Hongzhi, Zhengde, and Jiajing reigns, Ningdu County was never free of bandits. After three reigns of bandit suppression, the local populace had either died or fled, with barely one or two in ten remaining. The Fujian people — mostly Hakka — called on their friends and kin and seized the chance to come tenant the land. They were extremely united, and the landlords depended on them to farm, so in this way the guests became masters, and the tenant farmers were actually able to dominate the landlords."

During the Hongwu reign, Ningdu County's population exceeded one hundred and fifty thousand.

During the Wanli reign, Ningdu County's population was under twenty thousand.

These were not the true figures; rather, many of the local population had been concealed by the landlords. And the Fujian people, who made up sixty to seventy percent, still had their household registrations in Fujian and had never registered locally at all.

The first several waves of Fujian tenant farmers, by banding together against the landlords, quickly grew rich from farming.

What was the situation at the time?

The landlords had to pay heavy taxes to the government, while the tenant farmers only paid normal rent to the landlords. From the yield of one mu of land, the tenant farmer's income was actually three or four times that of the landlord!

After farming for two or three generations, some tenant farmers who had made their fortunes no longer wished to labor in the fields themselves.

So they brought in more fellow Fujian natives, subleased the land to them, and turned themselves into powerful tenants and tenant-masters who sat back and collected the profits.

Thus a three-tier relationship formed: landlord — powerful tenant — tenant farmer.

Many powerful tenants, after making money, even returned to Fujian to buy houses and fields, while still acting as tenant-masters in Jiangxi.

The bottom-tier tenant farmers of the southern Jiangxi region suffered double oppression from both landlords and powerful tenants!

And to protect their own interests, the powerful tenants constantly stirred up conflict between the tenant farmers and the landlords. They set the landlords and tenant farmers against each other while reaping the benefits themselves. Many of the tenant-soldier uprisings were orchestrated by the powerful tenants.

Wei Jiaju said, "Mr. Zhao, I have read the Great Unity Collection. If you distribute land in the southern Jiangxi region, you must not only strike at the landlords but also suppress those powerful tenants. What is more, both the powerful tenants and the tenant farmers are Fujian people, mostly Hakka. You must guard against the powerful tenants inciting the tenant farmers — never mind confronting the government, they will turn out by the thousands in armed brawls even over water rights!"

This account greatly broadened Zhao Han's horizons, and he decided to dispatch Chen Maosheng to personally take charge of the work there.

(That's all for today, more tomorrow.)

(End of chapter)