There is no such thing as the Kangxi and Qianlong eras

Chapter 152 Changes in Mentality
Yongshun.

The prefect Tian Hao is almost going crazy. He is a complete unlucky guy. He was born in a Yinjian family and relied on the customary bribes to fill the vacancy of the Yongshun prefect. He just took office at the beginning of this year.

In a blink of an eye, the situation in Hunan took a sharp turn for the worse. First, the rebel army approached Lizhou, just across the Longzhua Pass from his jurisdiction. Then even Changde Prefecture fell, and the Jingzhou General Aixinjueluo Xingzhao was killed in battle.

Tian Hao was terrified and rushed to Chenzhou to ask his immediate superior, Jiang Sheng, for help. However, Jiang Sheng had no troops to give him and could only authorize him to recruit his own soldiers to fight the bandits. Fortunately, the Han army's policy focused on distributing land, freeing slaves, and reforming the tax law. With these three measures, many gentry enthusiastically recruited soldiers to help the government fight the bandits.

then……

Chenzhou fell, the governor and admiral were killed in battle, and the 100,000-strong army was defeated and disintegrated. A series of news followed one after another.

Tian Hao was dumbfounded in an instant, and the gentry and landlords of Yongshun Prefecture were also dumbfounded. They saw that the Han army was so capable of fighting that even the government and the court could not resist it.

The gentry who had been quite active in recruiting soldiers for the government to fight against the bandits began to find excuses to shirk responsibility or retreat, or simply returned to their hometowns with their militia, saying that there were bandits in their hometowns and they had to go back to wipe out the bandits and defend their hometown.

Tian Hao had only been there for a year when he encountered various major events and changes. He was seriously lacking in authority. The gentry were collectively acting in this way, and he could not suppress them by force. He could only let the gentry leave with the militia.

By now, Tian Hao only had less than 3,000 soldiers under his command, which was slightly better than the 2,000 soldiers under Jiang Sheng's command, but only slightly better.

The three thousand soldiers were all newly recruited militiamen. They could hardly be relied upon in battle, but they all had great appetites for food.

Tian Hao was almost numb. Although he was a scholar, he did not realize that these 3,000 newly recruited soldiers would not be enough to fill the gaps in the rebels' teeth.

"Your Excellency, Your Excellency, something bad has happened!"

"What happened again?"

Tian Hao was drinking alone in the courtyard of the government office when he suddenly saw his legal advisor rushing in without even sending a message through the servants.

Tian Hao had a bad feeling. When his master handed him a secret letter and he opened it, his face suddenly changed in shock.

The Miao rebel army in western Hunan defeated the remaining troops of the imperial army and retook western Hunan. They then gave up the title of "Miao King" and demoted themselves to a Miao general. They also raised the flag of the Han army and formally declared their allegiance to the Han army.

Not only that, passing merchants also brought some important news: the Yao people's volunteer armies in Baoqing and Yongzhou also raised the Chinese flag.

In this way, including the Guiyang and Chaling volunteer armies that they had long regarded as Han army troops, the only territories in Hunan still under the control of the court were his Yongshun Prefecture, Yuanzhou Prefecture and Jingzhou Prefecture in the south, and Chenzhou Prefecture in eastern Hunan.

In other words, in the eyes of Tian Hao, the prefect of Yongshun, Hunan has basically been taken over by the rebels.

what to do? How can I do?
Before, Chenzhou had two immediate superiors, Jiang Sheng and Liu Junfu, in charge, and Changde also had the general of Jingzhou in charge, so of course this guy was not that worried.

But now, the governor, admiral, and general of Jingzhou have all died in battle, and the 100,000-strong imperial army that Xiangxi relied on has completely lost hope.

Seeing that his own prefect had been silent for a long time, the lawyer became impatient and asked urgently, "Sir, now that the situation has come to this, how should we respond? Please, Sir, come up with a decision quickly!"

Make a decision? What the hell!
If he had an idea, he wouldn't have to wait until now. Tian Hao now regretted very much. Why was he so anxious that he spent the money in this shabby place, Yongshun Prefecture.

Not only was there little profit to be made in this remote and impoverished area, but there were also rebels everywhere. Tian Hao was surrounded by various rebels. To his north was the Tujia (Tujia) White Lotus Sect of Shinan Prefecture, to his west was the Sichuan Province White Lotus Sect wreaking havoc, to his east was the territory of the Han army, and to his south were the Miao people of western Hunan.

Han Ge is everywhere, and we are ambushed on all sides!

"Open the granaries and release grain, recruit more soldiers, and guard against the rebels!" Tian Hao pondered for a long time before speaking slowly.

The master was confused by his answer. No, this is a bullshit idea. Recruiting soldiers to fight against the bandits, isn't that what we are already doing?

Even if you really want to recruit soldiers to fight the bandits, at least come up with a specific set of rules. Three sentences with no more than fifteen words are useless!

Unfortunately, before the master could ask any further questions, Tian Hao did not give him any chance and waved his hand to let him leave.

"Well? What does the prefect say?"

"That's right! The Miao people in western Hunan have all joined the rebels. Our Yongshun Prefecture is in danger from all sides. If we're not careful, we'll be doomed!"

As soon as the lawyer returned to the front hall of the yamen, Wang Tongzhi and Li Tongpan, who were sitting there waiting, hurried forward and asked.

“…distribute grain and recruit soldiers.”

"what?"

"The prefect said that grain should be distributed to recruit soldiers."

"..."

The three of them fell silent instantly.

After a long while, the lawyer suddenly asked, "My two lords, do you want to live or die?"

Wang Tongzhi and Li Tongpan looked at each other and immediately asked, "Master, why don't you explain it more clearly? How will you live and how will you die?"

The lawyer shook his head and said, "As for the way to die, it's nothing more than stubbornly resisting. The two gentlemen died in battle and sacrificed their lives for the Qing Dynasty. If the Qing court takes their hard work into consideration, perhaps it will grant titles to your wives and children, so that your families will be rich and prosperous forever." "What about the way to live?" Li Tongpan asked hurriedly.

"How to survive! I have three strategies here, good, medium and bad."

The master smiled faintly: "The worst option is for the two gentlemen to continue to resist stubbornly, but if they can fake their own death and escape before the city is breached, and then hide their identities from now on, perhaps they can save their lives."

"That won't work." Li Tongpan shook his head.

Faking death and escaping, hiding one's identity, this is too unreliable.

The household registration issue alone cannot be resolved. Didn’t you see that Prince Zhu San was already over 70 years old, but he was still captured and executed by the Qing Dynasty by slow slicing?

The advisor continued calmly, "The best strategy is for you two to abandon the city and flee to Youyang. While there are bandits in Youyang, they are all members of the White Lotus Sect, who are relatively weak, and they are protected by imperial officers and soldiers. You two can escape all the way to Youyang and then report to the court. The new Emperor Jiaqing is said to be benevolent and may spare your lives."

"..."

Wang Tongzhi understood what he heard and asked directly, "What's the best strategy?"

"Surrender the city!"

"Bold (outrageous)!"

Wang Tongzhi and Li Tongpan shouted and scolded at the same time.

The lawyer was not afraid at all. Instead, he smiled and said, "My lords, please be as loud as you can. It would be best if you could get some yamen runners to arrest me. Then you can become loyal officials of the Qing Dynasty and get posthumous titles for your wives."

Now, both of them were silent. They had only scolded subconsciously just now. It was a conditioned reflex after suddenly hearing something they shouldn't hear.

But after scolding, they found that they were not so disgusted at all. Instead, they wanted to consider it seriously.

this is too scary!

Why did they think so? Because the Han army had almost conquered the entire Hunan province. In addition, at that time, Sichuan, Hubei, Guizhou and Guizhou were either in rebellion by the Miao people or by the White Lotus Sect against the Qing Dynasty. This situation was quite similar to the Three Feudatories Rebellion during the reign of Emperor Kangxi.

The advisor seemed to see through their thoughts and said, "You two masters must have already seen that in today's Qing Dynasty, Hunan has been almost completely occupied by the Han army, and Hubei and Sichuan are also infested with the White Lotus Sect. Even in the southwest of Guizhou and Guizhou, although the Miao people there have been suppressed, if the imperial army in western Hunan is defeated, the governor and admiral of Hunan are killed in battle, and Hunan is completely occupied by the Han army, as soon as the news spreads, the Miao people in Guizhou and Guizhou will definitely rebel again."

This is indeed the truth. In the eyes of the Qing court, the Miao people are so fickle.

It is possible that the rebellion can be suppressed in the first year, and there will be peace for a year, but riots will break out again in the third year.

There is no way, the Qing Dynasty court can't change its ways. It oppresses and exploits people until they rebel, so it suppresses them. After suppressing them, it continues to oppress and exploit them, forcing them to rebel again, and then continues to suppress them...

The counselor continued, "The Qing Dynasty is almost over. You two are nobles, so you can't see it. But as a counselor, I can see it clearly. Including our Yongshun Prefecture, the local area has long been rotten. Even if the gentry under our jurisdiction can recruit soldiers with all their strength, they will definitely not be able to stop the Han army!"

Li Tongpan frowned and asked, "So, you are here to persuade us to surrender the city?"

The advisor laughed and said, "Don't you understand, my Lords? We only have three thousand soldiers left. How can we stop the Han army of tens of thousands? Moreover, are you so sure that these three thousand soldiers will not defect, and that no gentry or wealthy families in the city, outside the city, or even in the local villages, will follow them and become their guides?"

When these words came out, the two were shocked.

After a long while...

"Is it really possible to surrender the city?" Wang Tongzhi still had some doubts.

The lawyer grinned and said, "Haha, don't we still have the prefect here?"

My goodness, the Han army hasn’t even sent out troops yet, and Yongshun Prefecture is already ready to surrender and offer the city.

In fact, it was not only Yongshun Prefecture that was like this, but also Yuanzhou Prefecture and Jingzhou Prefecture in the south were also struggling with this consideration.

If it were six months ago, they wouldn't even think about it, let alone worrying about it. Because they were all legitimate officials appointed by the imperial court. Even the governor of Jingzhou, who had a slightly lower rank, could wear the official uniform of the fifth rank.

How is it possible to ask them to follow the thieves?

But now, Hunan has been completely occupied by the Han army, and Hubei, Sichuan and the southwest are all under the White Lotus Sect and the Miao people who are rebelling against the Qing Dynasty, and the situation is getting worse and worse.

Moreover, the Han army was not like ordinary rebels. At least they respected scholars. Except for the distribution of land, freeing slaves and tax law reform, which were somewhat difficult to accept, the rest were completely the template of a founding emperor and a heroic ruler.

Perhaps, they can take a risk and go all in.

Extend your head with a knife, shrink your head with a knife.

They don't dare to die for real, so they take a risk. If they win, they will be rich for a hundred years, but if they lose, the worst that can happen is that they will still die.

(End of this chapter)