Chapter 99: 097: Handing Out Wives

To anyone with clear eyes, Zhao Han has already risen in rebellion.

Killing a few gentry and great clans only makes you a bandit; refusing to pay the land tax and the Liaodong levy only makes you a tax resister.

Replacing townships with villages — that is true rebellion!

In the Ming dynasty, both townships and villages were merely settlement names, carrying no administrative meaning.

Strictly speaking, only the thirty-some households in the township itself and its immediate surroundings counted as Huangjia Township — at most two or three hundred people. Huangjia Township was therefore just a small township.

The rest of the territory, reckoned by the lijia system, comprised about 30 li and over 300 jia (the official registers reported far fewer, because of the vast number of hidden households). Reckoned by the dutu system, it comprised 2 du and 24 tu.

Zhao Han directly altered the imperial court's administrative divisions, abolishing the lijia and dutu systems, and designated the territory under his control as Wuxing Village, subdivided into one central village and three natural villages.

From this angle alone, Zhao Han is the number-one rebel in the Great Ming!

The peasant armies of southern Jiangxi and western Fujian have linked up into a single bloc and confronted the authorities for years. The peasant armies of Shaanxi and Shanxi have already stormed into Northern Zhili and will soon spill over into Sichuan and Henan.

All these insurgent armies, for all the chaos they have stirred up, have never been seen altering administrative divisions.

Zhao Han and his fellow rebels in every province have already revealed a fundamental difference — he is a mudslide among peasant armies.

The ordinary farming households gradually dispersed, leaving only five hundred or so able-bodied young men.

"Jiang Dashan!" Zhao Han called out.

"Here!"

Jiang Dashan stepped forward from the ranks.

Zhao Han declared, "I hereby appoint you chief of Wuxing Village."

Jiang Dashan was overjoyed and gave his thanks. Wuxing Village was the central village, the most important of the four.

"Huang Yao, I appoint you chief of Upper Huang Village."

"Huang Shun, I appoint you chief of Lower Huang Village."

"Li Zheng, I appoint you chief of Li Family Village."

The first batch of followers had received only slightly more land than the other farming households. The official posts were their compensation — each village chief would draw two dou of grain a month as his salary!

(According to A Study of Grain Yields per Mu Across Chinese Dynasties, one shi equals roughly 153.5 Ming jin, so two dou of rice is 30 Ming jin. There is also a theory that one shi equals 120 jin, possibly using a smaller dou measure.)

Moreover, because of the acute shortage of capable men, these four also held concurrent military posts.

Five men make a squad, ten a section, fifty a platoon, one hundred a company.

Zhang Tieniu, Jiang Dashan, Huang Yao, Huang Shun, and Li Zheng were all appointed company commanders.

Among them, Zhang Tieniu was given command of over a hundred men, designated as Zhao Han's directly controlled elite guard.

From the mid-Jiajing period to the early Chongzhen years, the main combat strength of the Great Ming army was in fact the provincial elite guards, not the generals' household retainers.

The elite guard system grew out of the battalion system and was first created by the renowned minister Weng Wanda.

That is, when the Governor-General, Governor, Regional Commander, Vice Regional Commander, or Assistant Regional Commander found the regular troops unusable, they would select elite guards to train and command personally — a practice that ran parallel to both the guard-station system and the battalion system. Logistics for the elite guards were also the personal responsibility of these commanding officers. Elite guard contingents ranged from a few hundred to, at their peak, over ten thousand.

Weng Wanda himself once commanded over ten thousand elite guards — as a civil official, his military might overawed the entire Nine Frontiers.

Even in many southern provinces, the Governor-General (or Governor) had an elite guard quota.

Curiously enough, looking across the entire realm, Jiangxi alone — its Governor and Regional Commander had no authority to recruit elite guards. The one and only scorpion dropping… which also counted as an advantage for Zhao Han.

Neighboring Huguang was weak too: the Huguang Governor-General and Regional Commander were forbidden to recruit elite guards, though the Governor of Yunyang had a small elite guard quota.

At the end of the second year of Chongzhen, when troops from every province marched to the capital to relieve the siege, the main force was precisely these provincial elite guards.

They were the last flower of the Great Ming army, and they were directly ground down until more than half collapsed. From then on, fighting had to rely on the exertions of household retainers.

Of course, the elite guard system had not yet completely collapsed.

Historically, the Dashing King Gao Yingxiang was captured by Sun Chuanting's elite guards.

Those from the first two groups who had risen up with Zhao Han were also all appointed to military posts, each receiving extra compensation.

Zhao Han announced, "Militiamen will receive no regular pay or rations. However, meals will be provided during training, and during campaigns there will be mobilization pay and marching rations!"

Because he feared encirclement and suppression by the authorities, Zhao Han put ideological work aside for the time being and concentrated every effort on military training.

"Platoon captain and above — all you bachelors, step forward!" Zhao Han ordered.

Eleven men immediately stepped out, including Jiang Dashan, Li Zheng, Huang Yao, and Huang Shun. Sure enough, it was those with no ties who dared to make trouble.

Zhao Han asked, "Do you want wives?"

"Yes!"

The answers came scattered and thin.

Zhao Han barked, "Do you want wives? Louder!"

"YES!" they all roared.

Zhao Han at once had Chen Maosheng bring people over — all unmarried maidservants and widows from the great households.

Zhao Han tore up their indenture contracts on the spot and said to the women, "You are free. You may choose to return home. You may also stay on at my residence — I will sign new short-term contracts with you. Whether you go home or stay to work, you may each choose a husband. Of course, you may also choose not to. Those who wish to marry, step forward!"

The unmarried girls and young widows all looked awkward and ill at ease; not one of them stepped forward on her own.

Zhao Han added, "To any who wish to marry, I will give half a shi of grain on the spot as a wedding gift!"

"I… I…"

At last a widow spoke up, hesitating, "I still have a son. He's two years old now."

This widow was the surviving wife of Master Huang's trusted household slave.

Zhao Han asked, "Who is willing to raise another man's son?"

The bachelors glanced at one another. After a silent exchange of looks, a platoon captain stepped forward. "I will."

The son, conveniently, was also surnamed Huang — no need even to change the family name.

Zhao Han asked the widow, "Are you willing to marry him?"

The widow looked at the platoon captain. Though the man was ugly, he was fairly sturdy, so she blushed, nodded, and said nothing.

Chastity and fidelity were matters for the gentry and great clans; the lower orders paid them little mind. To get a wife without trouble and eat one's fill was satisfaction enough.

"Good!"

Zhao Han smiled. "You're a family now. Go collect half a dan of grain as a wedding gift."

The squad captain just grinned foolishly and dragged the widow behind him, as if afraid someone might snatch her away. Then, beaming with joy, he took his wife to collect the grain, his whole body brimming with drive. If the authorities sent troops to suppress them, this fellow would stake his life against the soldiers — for his land, his wife, and his son.

Seeing them form a new family and get grain on top of it, the other men and women began stirring restlessly.

Zhao Han went on asking the maids and widows, "Who else wants to marry?"

At once more than twenty people stepped forward, leaving only a handful still too embarrassed to come out.

Huang Yao suddenly spoke. "Master Zhao, may I choose one first?"

Zhao Han thought highly of Huang Yao. "Go ahead."

Huang Yao said to one of the maids, "Little sister, come live with me."

The maid nodded, weeping, and her sobs grew louder and louder.

Zhao Han called Jiang Dashan over and asked in a low voice, "What's going on?"

Jiang Dashan answered, "Huang Yao and this woman's older sister were lovers. They were already arranging the wedding when Old Master Huang… when Huang Zundao's son seized her as a concubine. Later his main wife beat her to death. Huang Yao's own sister was also struck dead by Old Master Huang in a fit of rage."

"Ah, all of them people of bitter fate," Zhao Han sighed. "Go and collect your grain."

Huang Yao did not rush off for the grain. Instead he knelt and knocked his head on the ground. "Master Zhao, this worthless life of mine, Huang Yao's, belongs to you from now on. Whenever you want me to die, just say the word!"

"Good brother, get up, quick!" Zhao Han hurriedly helped Huang Yao to his feet.

Huang Yao's eyes were wet, but he held back the tears and led his wife off to collect the grain.

Zhao Han set aside all talk of equality among men and said to Jiang Dashan, Huang Shun, and Li Zheng, "You three go pick wives too."

The three were overjoyed and each chose one.

Zhang Tieniu watched, his eyes burning with longing. He was nearly thirty and still hadn't started a family. He couldn't help saying, "Young master… I…"

Zhao Han laughed. "You go choose one too."

Zhang Tieniu had already fixed on someone in his heart. He didn't pick a young, pretty one but went straight for a widow in her twenties.

Big hips, good for bearing children.

Zhang Tieniu didn't ask whether the widow was willing. He came straight to the point. "Do you have children?"

"Two sons," the widow said, a little frightened, because Zhang Tieniu looked far too fierce.

"I don't mind. From now on they'll both be named Zhang." Just like that, Zhang Tieniu gained two ready-made sons.

This widow's father-in-law was none other than Huang Sanshui — his body was still lying there unburied. Her husband, too, had been a trusted household slave and was beaten to death a few days ago; the grass on his grave had only just sprouted.

Equality between men and women?

www• ⓣⓣⓚⓐⓝ• ￠O

Set that aside for now!

Theory and practice — one of them always has to compromise. The main problem right now was dealing with the authorities' encirclement campaign, so he had to secure the loyalty of these "officers" as quickly as possible.

Everyone from squad captain up had been assigned a wife. Zhao Han now had the squad leaders pick wives too.

No one dared choose Xiaocui or Xiaohong.

Zhao Han asked Chen Maosheng, "Aren't you going to pick one?"

Chen Maosheng grinned. "I'm still young. I'll think about it later."

The "officers" who didn't get a wife were each given two dou of grain as compensation, along with a promise to find them wives in the future.

The officers who weren't bachelors also received one dou of grain each.

Every ordinary soldier got half a dou of grain, counted as their enlistment pay.

Once the wives and grain were handed out, the ragtag troops immediately found their spirit. No one thought about deserting to go home anymore.

…

Inside the Huang ancestral hall.

Pang Chunlai sat cross-legged on the ground, a sword at his side. Before him were two private tutors — one from the Huang family private school, one from the Li family private school.

"You can see for yourselves that Master Zhao means to rebel," Pang Chunlai threatened. "You may run away, or you may report us to the authorities. But if you dare leave this place, your entire families will die horribly, and your land will be confiscated. From now on, the Huang ancestral hall will be converted into the Wuxing Private School. You two will stay and teach here under me."

The two tutors looked miserable, but neither dared refuse.

"Jiangxi truly deserves its reputation as a land where literary culture flourishes," Pang Chunlai remarked with feeling. "Many villages in Xuanhua District are quite remote, yet they've produced a Zhuangyuan, a Tanhua, and more than a dozen jinshi. Hard to imagine."

The two tutors still dared not speak.

The Zhuangyuan Pang Chunlai spoke of came from deep in the mountains — the very place where Fei Yinggong was now a bandit.

It was precisely because they had produced a Zhuangyuan, a Tanhua, and so many jinshi that land consolidation in these villages had intensified to the point where you could hardly find any independent smallholders. Everyone was either a great landlord, a lesser landlord spun off from the main family, or an ordinary peasant who had sunk entirely into tenant farming!

In Huang Family Town and the surrounding villages, those three Huang lineages and the Li clan — four families — controlled ninety percent of the arable land. The remaining ten percent was held by their own clansmen.

The total population was just over four thousand, yet the able-bodied male servants of those four families alone numbered more than a hundred and fifty — men who could be turned into hired thugs at a moment's notice!

This was nothing special. According to historical records, in the late Ming it was not uncommon for a single great clan in Jiangnan to hold a million mu of land. In places like that, you simply could not find an independent smallholder of a different surname. They were all, every damn one of them, landlords great and small and their tenants.

Like tumors without number, impossible to cut out completely, dragging the Great Ming down to its ruin.

(End of chapter)