Zhutian: Starting from the Space-Time Merchant

Chapter 621 Qing Dynasty Demons, Landlords, and Foreign Devils
"Our first step in opposing the Qing Dynasty is to figure out who the enemy is."

Outside Cangwu County, Lin Dao, carrying an electric megaphone, was spreading propaganda to a group of Taiping soldiers.

"you."

Pointing to one of the many soldiers sitting on the ground, Lin Dao tossed a megaphone over and asked, "Tell me, who is our enemy?"

The soldier was clearly a little nervous, and the laughter from his comrades around him made him scratch his head repeatedly.
For the time being, everyone was scratching their heads, because everyone had shaved off the ugly pig tails that symbolized their status as slaves.

My hair hasn't grown much in a short time, so I'm naturally scratching my scalp.

"Don't be nervous or afraid."

Lin Dao smiled and said, "Everyone around here is your brother or sister, they're all on our side, there's nothing to be afraid of."

The good-natured laughter from the crowd grew even louder.

The soldier mustered his courage, raised the megaphone, and proclaimed, "Chief, we are anti-Qing, and the enemy must be the Manchus!"

"well said."

Lin Dao nodded repeatedly, “The Mite-Cleansing Colonizers are indeed our number one enemy.”

"They are brutal, they are bloodthirsty, they plunder and pillage, they commit all kinds of evil."

"They are the most brutal bandit group in the world in the last two hundred years."

"We cannot bear the oppression of these bandits any longer, so we have risen up in resistance to send these colonizers who have been exploiting us to hell!"

"Oh~~~" The Taiping soldiers, who were sitting on the ground where the Qing army's temporary camp had been completely demolished, cheered and raised their arms.

Two hundred years have passed, and no one understands the true nature of the Mite-Cleansing colonists better than the common people.

They were truly the most ruthless of bandits, even more slave-owning than slave owners.

The methods and intensity of exploitation and oppression have reached their peak over thousands of years.

The people of the Central Plains, who have suffered for two hundred years, have long been burning with a blazing fire.

"you."

Lin Dao then pointed to another Taiping soldier and said, "We already know the main enemy. Now tell me, who else are the enemies?"

The soldier was also scratching his head.

Everyone laughed, but the laughter was much quieter.

The sergeant thought for a while before taking the megaphone from his comrade and speaking, "Chief, back in the village, my family were tenants, working for Master Lan's family."

"Actually, a few years ago, my family still had a few acres of land and raised a few chickens."

The sergeant reminisced about his happy past life, a gentle smile appearing on his face.

Unfortunately, this happy smile did not last long.

"It's been about ten years, a few years ago."

"Guangdong is full of foreigners."

"The troops are going to Guangdong to provide reinforcements, and laborers are being dispatched from various places."

The so-called "paifu" refers to corvée labor.

Some people boast that the Qing Dynasty was the only era in history without widespread corvée labor.

He probably doesn't even believe these words himself.

In theory, the mite-clearing method did indeed change the corvée labor service to labor tax or equal corvée labor.

The system of fixed silver tael collection was eventually established through the land tax system, thus transforming corvée labor into land tax.

When there is a real need for manpower, the approach shifts to recruitment, or hiring.

On the surface, it looks pretty good.

In reality, the Qing dynasty, the darkest ruling institution in history, naturally demanded that not a single penny be missing when collecting taxes.

But when it comes to the actual need for people to perform corvée labor, which government office would be willing to provide money and grain to those peasants?
It's impossible when you think about it.

As a result, the people toiled in the fields to make a living and struggled to pay the equal corvée tax.

But when it comes to manpower, they are still conscripted and forced into labor without any compensation!
In other words, instead of saving time, they had an additional burden while performing corvée labor.

“My father was arrested and sent to Guangdong.”

"I remember that a lot of people were arrested at that time, they were all farmers."

"None of those gentlemen went."

As the soldier spoke, tears began to fall.

"Many of the people who went to the village never came back."

"My father came back alive, but he was injured."

"The soldiers wouldn't provide medical treatment, so I could only drag my wounds home."

"We had no money at home, so we had to sell the chickens, call a doctor, and get some medicine."

"But it was no use. My father's wound started to fester and rot, and he couldn't sleep all night because of the pain."

"My mother had no choice but to mortgage the family's fields to Master Lan, bit by bit."

"I borrowed money to pay for my father's medical treatment."

“But we’ve mortgaged all the fields at home, and given all the money to the doctor at the clinic, but my father still died.”

At this point, the soldier choked up and tears streamed down his face.

Many of the Taiping soldiers wore sorrowful expressions.

Many people have encountered similar situations.

Just as Runtu said, the poor cannot afford to get sick.

"It's probably a wound infection."

After listening to the description, Lin Dao had roughly deduced the reason for the incident.

"Traditional Chinese medicine can be used as an adjunct treatment for wound infections."

"Honeysuckle, Coptis chinensis, dandelion, gromwell root, and so on."

Upon hearing this, the soldier was stunned. "No, my father's medicine doesn't include these things."

"Although I am illiterate, I remember the contents of the prescription very clearly; it's my father's life."

Then he mentioned more than a dozen medicinal herbs.

"These are all mild and gentle medicines." By this time, Lin Dao had gained a certain understanding of traditional Chinese medicine.

You can tell what kind of medicine it's used for just by hearing its name. "It's mainly for nourishing, and it's not effective for wound infection."

"The doctor your family hired is a heartless man."

There were far too many heartless doctors like this in ancient times. Countless people were kept alive, driven to ruin and death, all for the sake of making money.

There are no angels, only business and money.

Upon hearing this, the soldier was clearly stunned.

His face immediately filled with uncontrollable rage.

He was trembling all over, and his eyes were bloodshot.

He wished he could go back immediately and kill that doctor.

"Wei Changhui." Lin Dao looked over. "Did you bring all the doctors from along the way with you?"

Wei Changhui hurriedly bowed and said, "I've brought everything I could find."

He walked over to the soldier, asked the doctor's name, and then turned to go to the old camp to look for him.

"If this person is here, he definitely can't escape," Lin Dao said loudly. "If he's not here, then take your men back to find him!"

"Yes~"

The soldier's mood improved noticeably.

She wiped away her tears and continued speaking, "Master Lan~"

"There is no master; he is just a landlord who exploits the working class!"

"Yes, it was Landlord Lan who came to my house to collect debts."

“My mother was driven to her death, and our family’s fields were taken away.”

"I had no choice but to sell myself to bury my parents."

"After that, I worked for the landlord Lan and became a tenant farmer."

"You mean," Lin Dao smiled, "that besides the Qing colonists, the landlords and gentry who drove the people to ruin and death are also our enemies?"

"Yes, that's what it means!"

"Very good." Lin Dao smiled slightly and calmly instructed, "Go find Wei Changhui and go with him to find the doctor who cheated your family."

"It's up to you to handle."

The soldier saluted repeatedly, wiping away tears as he ran after Wei Changhui.

“The colonists who kill mites are our enemies, and so are the landlords and gentry.”

Lin Dao continued, "They call us peasants, peasants who rely on exploiting the land to fill their stomachs and enjoy life."

"Those who farm the land may grow a year's worth of grain, but they still can't even afford to eat the grain they grow themselves!"

"What do you think we should do about an enemy like this?"

The soldiers, their emotions stirred, raised their arms and shouted.

"Kill~~~"

Once everyone had calmed down, Lin Dao randomly asked one of the soldiers a question.

"Besides the colonists, landlords, and gentry, who else is the enemy?"

The sergeant thought for a while and said, "The officials in the yamen are very bad. They bully the poor and behead many people every year."

"The prison guards are very bad. They have killed many people. Every day, dead people are carried out of the prison."

"The tax collectors are wicked!"

"The constables are wicked~"

"The people in the government offices are all wicked!"

"What you said is very true." Lin Dao nodded.

"However, these people can all be categorized as lackeys of the Mite-Clean colonists and can be included in the same system."

"The colonizers of the mite-sweeping colony are not only themselves, but also the bondservants they have won over with their bones."

“In the local areas, those so-called gentry who had once served as bondservants also belonged to this category.”

"Their descendants, even more than a hundred years from now, will be proud of this."

Lin Dao took a big gulp of Nongfu Spring water to moisten his throat and continued talking.

"Besides these people, we have another powerful enemy: foreigners!"

These words immediately sparked a flurry of discussion among the soldiers, creating a constant buzzing sound.

Foreigners actually arrived in China a long time ago.

In ancient times, there were Kunlun slaves and Hu merchants.

More recently, over the past few centuries, they have gradually annexed Southeast Asia, and are now very close to the Central Plains.

Putting aside other things, the Portuguese in Macau have been standing on their front doorsteps for hundreds of years.

As for those who preached in various places, their numbers were even greater.

Guangxi borders Guangdong, so people there generally know more about related information than those in inland areas.

"Leader!" someone shouted, "The foreigners are fighting the Qing devils!"

This is the current state of mite-killing products.

The brutal exploitation of the people and the intense sense of alienation between them led the people to completely disregard them as one of their own.

When the foreigners came to kill the mites, the locals even cheered and helped hold up the ladders.

To sum it up in one sentence, they have long since lost the support of the people.

The Taiping soldiers felt that the foreigners who came to fight the Qing dynasty, even if they were not their own people, were not necessarily enemies.

Do you know?

Lin Dao patiently explained, "What are these foreigners with high noses and blond hair doing here, having traveled so far from their homes?"

Everyone looked over, curiously waiting for what would happen next.

"What they want to do is take over from the Qing dynasty and continue to act as colonizers!"

"What the Qing demons did, they will do again!"

"They want to exploit us like the Qing dynasty, to keep us as slaves forever, never to rise up!"

"These foreign devils are just as wicked as the Qing devils!"

"The treaties they signed with Mite Cleaner will ultimately come at the cost of ordinary people!"

"They are the enemy too!"

(End of this chapter)