Chapter 220: 218: Southern Inspection Tour

It was already May, and still not a single drop of rain had fallen.

Even the most superstitious would not blame Zhao Han for a loss of virtue — they would say instead that the Chongzhen Emperor had lost the Mandate of Heaven.

Starving refugees from Zhejiang had already appeared in Guangxin Prefecture, following the trade routes into Yushan, Guangfeng, and Yanshan counties. They could not even wait for the summer harvest, because Zhejiang had little summer grain to begin with, having long since switched to cash crops.

Last year Zhejiang suffered genuine natural disaster; this year it was more than half man-made. The Chongzhen Emperor pressed tax collection so urgently that local officials simply resorted to outright plunder.

The Prefect of Guangxin was thoroughly terrified, afraid that too many starving refugees would sooner or later spark a popular uprising. So he called upon the gentry to contribute money and grain, while also recruiting local militia to drive these refugees back into Zhejiang by force!

In addition, Guangdong had blown up.

Shen Youlong had already suppressed the Guangdong popular revolts last year and was continuing to exterminate bandits in Guangxi. Yet last year more than half of Guangdong suffered drought, and this year more than half of Guangdong was suffering drought again.

The Guangdong peasant uprisings flared back to life in the fourth month, rapidly sweeping across several prefectures. All these variables were brought about by Zhao Han. Without his repeated defeats of government troops, there would not be so many peasant uprisings in the surrounding regions — and even if uprisings broke out, the governors-general and governors would have quickly suppressed them.

Ji'an Prefecture.

Zhao Han said his farewells to his wife and younger sister, then stepped aboard a warship. He was going in person to pacify the Hakka people of the Southern Jiangxi region.

In the mountain areas around the city of Ganzhou, Chen Maosheng's propaganda work had already made tremendous progress. Thanks to the economic blockade and internal divisions, more and more mountain folk were willing to settle and pay taxes, but the peasant associations still could not be established.

These Hakka people were already united to begin with, banding together for mutual aid based on locality and blood ties, so the peasant associations seemed to be a superfluous contrivance.

However, the scope of their banding together for mutual aid was too narrow. Hakka from different areas would even come to full-scale blows over conflicting interests. Just this spring, disputes over water amid the drought had produced several clashes between indigenous and Hakka, and between Hakka and Hakka, leaving more than twenty people dead in succession.

The largest single eruption saw both sides mobilize over three thousand people in a mass brawl!

Enjoying the splendid scenery along both banks the whole way, Zhao Han soon arrived by boat at the city of Ganzhou.

Fei Ruhe, Chen Maosheng, Liu Anfeng, and the others led military officers and civil officials out of the city to welcome him. The former Ming Prefect of Ganzhou, Liu Huan, had rendered meritorious service by cooperating with Chen Maosheng, and in view of the complex situation in the Southern Jiangxi region, he had been specially promoted beyond his rank to Vice Prefect of Ganzhou Prefecture.

"Our respects to the Regional Commander!" The assembled men saluted in unison with clasped hands.

Zhao Han returned the salute with a fist-and-palm gesture and said, "You have all worked hard. No need for excessive ceremony."

Walking up to Fei Ruhe, Zhao Han smiled and said, "You've grown thinner again. You look more spirited."

"Fighting nonstop — how could I not get thinner?" Fei Ruhe chuckled.

Fei Ruhe truly had been fighting nonstop this whole period. First, exterminating bandits in the mountains; second, fighting the peasant armies of the various counties in Southern Jiangxi.

The circumstances of these peasant armies varied.

Some were willing to submit to Zhao Han; some adamantly demanded autonomy. And no matter which kind, none of them were particularly cooperative — they had to be beaten into submission before they would behave.

By now, the troops under Fei Ruhe's command had already seized the seven cities of Ganzhou, Shangyou, Dayu, Nankang, Xingguo, Yudu, and Ningdu, and Xinfeng, completely opening the connecting route between Jiangxi and Guangdong. At the same time, five hundred soldiers garrisoned Meiguan Pass, holding this strategic choke point between the two provinces.

But only the three counties of Ganxian, Xingguo, and Yudu had completed land redistribution satisfactorily; elsewhere the work still had to press on.

Zhao Han then patted Chen Maosheng on the shoulder and said, "You've worked hard too."

"Not at all," Chen Maosheng replied, standing very straight.

Chen Maosheng's wife, Yang Chun'e, was standing right beside him at that moment — and her belly was large with child.

Zhao Han smiled and said, "Congratulations, congratulations!"

The couple smiled along with him. They had originally planned to adopt a child; they never expected Yang Chun'e would still be able to conceive.

Zhao Han went on to exchange words with Liu Anfeng and Liu Huan, talking as they walked through the city gate.

As a surrendered Ming official, Liu Huan had purely stumbled into a stroke of blind luck, being directly appointed Vice Prefect of Ganzhou Prefecture. He was astonished at how young Zhao Han was, and answered cautiously the whole way, only to discover that this lord truly put on no airs — so he relaxed as well.

All along the route, common folk came out to catch a glimpse, wanting to see what Heavenly King Zhao looked like. Zhao Han, for his part, did not disappoint them.

They temporarily took up quarters in the prefectural yamen. The other officials all dispersed, leaving only the few principal men in charge.

Fei Ruhe was the first to report: "If we take Chongyi County as well, the entire territory of Nan'an Prefecture will be conquered. There are no rebels there either — inside the city is the Ming government, outside the city are Hakka everywhere. The whole county is poor, surrounded on all sides by mountains, with only a few river valleys that are fairly fertile. To be honest, taking that place would just be a burden, and it wouldn't help the war effort at all."

"However poor it is, we still have to take it," Zhao Han said. "Once the other three counties of Nan'an Prefecture have finished land redistribution and the peasant associations are consolidated, then go and occupy Chongyi County. What of Ganzhou Prefecture?"

Fei Ruhe said, "We just took Xinfeng County last month. In Longnan and Dingnan counties, there is a field-soldier leader named Guo Quan, along with more than ten lesser field-soldier leaders. They were originally willing to submit, but when they heard that we absolutely require land redistribution, and that land cannot be sublet, they then seized the two counties and are stubbornly resisting."

Zhao Han laughed. "They rebelled and became landlords themselves, so now they're unwilling to cough up the land they seized."

"The situation in Ruijin, Huichang, Changning, Anyuan, Shicheng, and the other counties is more or less the same — none of the field-soldier leaders are willing to distribute land," Fei Ruhe continued. "These field-soldier leaders are all shortsighted fools. They don't even attack each other to seize territory; they just band together to resist the government. Before, they resisted the Ming; now, they resist us."

Zhao Han summed it up: "When they rebelled, all they wanted was to become big landlords."

"Exactly, that's it!" Fei Ruhe clapped his hands.

Chen Maosheng interjected: "The way these field-soldier leaders are acting actually works to our advantage. Before, they resisted the government and hated landlords; now they've become big landlords themselves, and their exploitation of the common people hasn't lessened one bit — in fact, it's even worse. Each of them has fields stretching to the horizon, throngs of servants, and clusters of concubines. The common people of those counties already bitterly hate them. Once our great army arrives, the propaganda and peasant association work will surely go very smoothly!"

"How is the drought relief and disaster response going?" Zhao Han asked next.

The Prefect of Ganzhou, Liu Anfeng, said: "The drought is most severe deep in the mountains, yet the peasant associations cannot spread out there. Those Hakka people, because of water disputes, are constantly clashing. Sometimes neighboring villages brawl, sometimes neighboring counties brawl — easily involving a hundred people, even over a thousand. The government's earnest persuasion is useless; they always think we're favoring one side or the other. We've also invited some mountain folk to negotiate, but none of them are willing to concede. They even declared that only if Mr. Zhao comes in person to talk will they be convinced."

"Haven't I come, then?" Zhao Han said with a smile.

Liu Anfeng said, "After the Regional Commander decided to come south on an inspection tour, I sent men to invite prominent figures from every area. There are Hakka leaders, and also Jiangxi gentry — we've called them all together to talk. Those who live close by have already been arriving in succession, over a dozen so far. By the end of this month they should all be here."

"Very good!"

Zhao Han addressed the group: "The resolution of the Regional Commander's headquarters is to occupy the entire Southern Jiangxi region within this year. In the north, Nanchang Prefecture, Fuzhou Prefecture, and Ruizhou Prefecture — the peasant associations must also take all of them this year."

At these words, everyone was elated.

The Southern Jiangxi region was the combined designation for Nan'an Prefecture and Ganzhou Prefecture.

The two prefectures together covered a vast area, accounting for a full quarter of Jiangxi. But most of the territory was poor, and in over two hundred years of the Great Ming dynasty, there had never been more than a few years of genuine peace here.

Zhao Han was growing impatient himself. From ancient times to the present, no rebel had ever been in revolt for several years and still held such a paltry amount of territory.

His foundation of rule was solid enough, but the pace of expansion was far too slow.

It was now the tenth year of Chongzhen; the Great Ming dynasty had already entered its countdown to collapse, and there was not much time left for Zhao Han to dawdle.

The development trend, however, was very encouraging. Although territory and troop numbers had not grown much, the reserve civil officials, propaganda officers, and peasant association cadres were already multiplying at a geometric rate.

One could say that the officials and officers were all growing impatient, even wanting to tear away all pretense with the imperial court. Because only by fighting wars could the officers and soldiers keep winning merit. Because only by fighting wars could territory expand rapidly, allowing the large pool of reserve civil officials to be formally appointed, and the serving officials to keep rising in rank.

The Great Ming court dreaded war, but here on Zhao Han's side, everyone from top to bottom was hoping for war.

Zhao Han also said to Fei Ruhe: "The Bureau of Military Affairs has made another adjustment. The Northern Bureau will administer the three prefectures of Ji'an, Yuanzhou, and Linjiang; the Southern Bureau will administer the two prefectures of Nan'an and Ganzhou."

"Haha, no problem. I follow whatever the Regional Commander's headquarters decides!"

Fei Ruhe's actual authority appeared to have shrunk, and the territory he administered had become poorer, but this was no disguised demotion.

Because there was no fighting in the north, the southern Jiangxi region still had to keep waging war.

The development strategy from now on was also to send troops out from southern Jiangxi to seize Fujian and Guangdong — that was the real heavy responsibility!

As for the Northern Military Court under Huang Yao's command, from now on it would mostly attack in the direction of Huguang.

Moreover, in order to balance the northern and southern theaters and keep the Northern Court's soldiers from feeling neglected, the timetable for sending troops into Huguang would also have to be moved up. When the strategy was first drawn up, these practical problems had not been considered, but now they had to be put on the agenda.

After Zhao Han discussed it with Pang Chunlai and Li Banghua, a detailed plan was already drawn up —

By the eleventh year of Chongzhen, they must achieve actual control over all of Jiangxi, because the soldiers and officials could not wait any longer.

In the twelfth year of Chongzhen, they would tear off all pretense with the imperial court. By then, the Northern Court troops would campaign west into southern Huguang, while the Southern Court troops would campaign south into Guangdong, linking Jiangxi, Hunan, and Guangdong into one contiguous territory.

Of course, these were all broad-strokes plans; the details would have to be adjusted according to the situation at the time.

Hearing these words from Zhao Han, Fei Ruhe's will to fight blazed up. A few days later he set out to attack Huichang, and he took five hundred musketeers and twenty-one falconets with him!

Song Yingxing had already produced over seven hundred muskets, of which five hundred were allotted to Fei Ruhe, while the remaining two hundred-plus were kept in the north.

Although the southern Jiangxi region was poor and had a great many large mountains, most of its cities were built beside rivers; as long as they had a riverine force, they could move troops and strike quickly.

Following the Gong River straight to the seat of Huichang County, it was another terrain where three rivers converged.

After Fei Ruhe surrounded the county seat, he waited to besiege the city and strike the reinforcements; a direct assault was nearly impossible, and even if they took it, the losses would certainly be grievous.

These southern Jiangxi peasant soldiers had grown stupid and would no longer readily flee into the mountains. Because the leaders of the field armies had all now become big landlords, and they could not bear to abandon their properties.

It was the same old routine: Fei Ruhe led the troops to besiege the city, while the propaganda corps and peasant association cadres immediately set to work outside the city, establishing peasant associations and organizing land distribution.

One master stroke serves everywhere under heaven.

(End of chapter: development plan for the tenth year of Chongzhen. The map shows the territory under actual control this year; some places are only city garrisons held, some only the countryside held. Refresh if you can't see it.)

(End of chapter)