Qing Yao

Chapter 320 Shocking Change
Outside Suzhou City, the area has been divided into four relief camps: east, south, west, and north. Each camp has various sheds for the refugees to stay in. Officials estimate that there are still more than 110,000 refugees outside Suzhou City, which is half the number of more than 200,000 at the peak. Apart from the more than 20,000 who died in the White Lotus Rebellion, most of the refugees who left went to Fengyang, Sizhou, Huaibei, and Xuzhou to escape the famine.

Perhaps even God felt that the past year had been too cruel to the people of Anhui, so this morning the sky suddenly turned gloomy, and then a light rain fell.

Although the rain was not enough to immediately revitalize the parched land of Huaibei, it excited everyone, with some elderly people predicting that even greater rainfall was on its way.

Where there is water, there is life.

Each relief camp had designated personnel in charge. Following the instructions of the acting provincial governor, Zhao, they sounded gongs in each camp to announce that a large amount of relief grain was being transported from Sizhou to Suzhou. They assured the disaster victims that the court and Zhao would never abandon them and that no more disaster victims would starve to death.

When the slaughtered mules were delivered to the disaster relief camp, when the large pots filled with the aroma of meat boiled, and when it was heard that Lord Zhao had even killed his own horse to feed the disaster victims, all doubts vanished.

Laughter, which had been absent for a long time, filled the camp. The children played together in the camp, a rare occurrence. Parents no longer had to worry about their children being kidnapped and eaten, nor did they have to worry about someone offering their wives or daughters a few sweet potatoes and asking them to do *that*.

The soldiers guarding the camp were no longer as fierce as before, and the bullying of men and women never happened again. In particular, the soldiers who spoke with Yangzhou accents not only helped the disaster victims build sheds, but also helped them transport water from a great distance.

Everything is moving in a positive direction. The dead cannot be brought back to life, and the disaster victims can only bury their longing for their loved ones deep in their hearts, planning how to rebuild their homes once the drought ends.

In the South Camp, hundreds of Nian rebel prisoners were organized to dig pits together. These pits were supposed to be public toilets for disaster victims to use for excretion.

The instructions from Lord Zhao also stipulated that men and women should use the restroom separately. This would not only maintain a good sanitary environment in the camp, but also take care of the female disaster victims.

After each pit was dug, a wooden shed was placed over it, with a large bucket filled with lime inside. The disaster victims were instructed to sprinkle a handful of lime into the pit after relieving themselves, so that maggots would not easily breed.

The guards protecting these Nian prisoners were 200 members of the Canal Gang led by Ye Zhigui, who had already changed into the uniforms they wore earlier.

Yesterday, Zhao An summoned Ye Zhigui and other leaders to the city and asked them to inquire whether their subordinates were willing to "eat the emperor's salary" in Anhui long-term.

If he wished, Zhao An would find a way to incorporate these members of the Canal Gang into the Huaibei Green Standard Army and various local militias, and their families would also be brought from Yangzhou to Anhui.

The reason for requiring voluntariness is that the economy in Yangzhou is much better than that in Anhui, and the living conditions in all aspects are incomparable to those in Anhui. Zhao An cannot force the disciples of the Canal Gang to settle in Anhui just because of his own needs.

Furthermore, the brothers from the canal gang who remained in Anhui would definitely be fighting and risking their lives in the future, so Zhao An could not force them to stay.

I made it very clear to Ye Zhigui and the others that those who were willing to stay would definitely be given a permanent position within two years, meaning at least the rank of sentry officer. As for how far these brothers would go in the future, that would depend on their individual abilities and performance.

Even those who didn't want to stay, Zhao Shaojun didn't "discriminate" against them. He gave each person thirty taels of silver to return to Yangzhou and continue their previous lives, while ensuring they received all the benefits that were due to them.

After Ye Zhigui and the others returned, they conveyed Shaojun's intentions. About 80% of the Cao Gang brothers chose to follow Shaojun and settle down in Anhui. After all, Shaojun was now a high-ranking official in Anhui, and following him would definitely lead to a bright future.

The other 20% chose to return to Yangzhou for various reasons, and Zhao An kept his word and promised to let them go back at the end of the month.

Ye Zhigui was definitely kept. Zhao An ranked him second in the second class on the merit list submitted to the old master and recommended him for the rank of Qianzong (a military officer). Xu Lin ranked him first in the second class and recommended him for the same rank of Qianzong.

A Qianzong (千总) is a sixth-rank official, and like a seventh-rank Bazong (把总), the actual number of soldiers he commands is equivalent to that of a company commander. In some cases, a Bazong is even equivalent to a platoon leader.

Logically, Zhao An should have recommended his confidants for higher positions, at least guerrilla or garrison commanders. However, Zhao An did not do so because he did not want to openly eliminate all the officers of the Huaibei Green Standard Army. In addition, he believed that the importance of the grassroots was higher than that of the upper levels.

Out of necessity to defend against the Han, the Qing government broke up the Green Standard Army into smaller units, assigning twenty or thirty men to each town. As a result, the positions of Qianzong and Bazong at the grassroots level became very common, and the Qing government did not pay much attention to these low-ranking military officers. This gave Zhao An the opportunity to replace the old guard with new ones.

The plan is to replace the grassroots military officers in Huaibei and other places with his own people within a year, and replace all the grassroots military officers in Anhui in three years. At that time, the generals, deputy generals, guerrillas and garrison commanders will not follow him, Lord Zhao, and the people below will not agree.

Those designated as first-class by Zhao An were all officials, such as the group of hawks and guards, and Green Standard Army generals like Zhou Ku, a guerrilla commander. In addition, Hou Feng, a guest army commander from Yangzhou, was also designated as first-class.

The third class mainly consisted of clerical staff, including Lao Song.

Ye Zhigui, who had already been appointed as a sixth-rank officer, was naturally overjoyed. Since he was not literate, he asked a student from Yangzhou Prefecture who worked as a clerk for Shaojun to write a letter home for him. He had nothing else to say, just to make his old mother back home happy.

After all, ever since he committed murder in his hometown, he hadn't dared to go back to see his mother for more than ten years, only sending her some money through someone every year.

Now that Ye Zhigui is an official, what is there to be afraid of?

As he was writing the letter, he suddenly heard the sound of horses' hooves in the distance. Curious, Ye Zhigui looked up to the south and saw a group of horsemen galloping towards him.

They are waving the green flag of the pro-independence camp.

Having heard from Zhao An that there were Green Standard Army troops under the command of Governor Zhu Gui in the south, and that someone had been sent to inform them, Ye Zhigui was not surprised. He got up and led his men to prepare to welcome this belated "friendly army."

The cavalry quickly approached the southern camp. Upon discovering that there were people ahead, the officer in charge immediately reined in his horse with a shout and scanned the area with eyes like a hawk.

This man was none other than Li Zhong, the deputy commander of the Fubiao Army, followed by over two hundred elite Fubiao cavalrymen in full armor. "Are you from the Canal Gang?"

Seeing that Ye Zhigui and the others were dressed in the uniforms of transport soldiers, Li Zhong curled his lips into an extremely disdainful smile. He was also very uncomfortable because a bunch of peasants from the canal gang had stolen his credit for quelling the rebellion. Just thinking about it made him angry.

If I had known this would happen, I shouldn't have listened to the governor and waited another day. I should have just led the troops over directly.

Unfortunately, it was just one step too late!
"Reply to your question, sir!"

Upon realizing that the other party was an important figure, Ye Zhigui put aside his arrogance and stepped forward neither servilely nor overbearingly to show that they were indeed members of the Grand Canal Gang.

Not at all afraid. It wasn't that Ye Zhigui was bold, but that the canal gang also worked for the imperial court.

During the reign of Emperor Yongzheng, Lord Li Wei frequently dispatched them to quell rebellions and suppress salt smugglers.

The Grand Canal Transport Commissioner's Office had its own register and roster of transport workers.

Li Zhong nodded, raised his hand and pointed his riding whip at the group of Nian rebel prisoners who were working, and asked, "Who are these people?"

Ye Zhigui replied, "Reporting to you, sir, these are all White Lotus Rebels we have captured."

"Since they are White Lotus cult bandits, then I will take them back for detailed interrogation. You few, take your men and escort these cult bandits back!"

Li Zhong's greed was undisguised. Aren't hundreds of rebel leaders a ready-made military achievement? Why should he just let these peasants, Yun Ding, benefit from it?

Even if you don't get the great credit for quelling the rebellion, you can still make do with a few hundred real cult bandit leaders.

"Whoo!"

The officers of the garrison responded with a roar, dismounted, and prepared to take the prisoners with them.

"What are you doing?"

Seeing this, Ye Zhigui stepped forward and blocked the group of officers, saying with dissatisfaction, "These prisoners were captured by us, why should they be given to you!"

"Yes, why should we give it to you!"

Hundreds of members of the Caobang gang immediately stood behind Ye Zhigui, forming a human wall. Although it looked thin, none of them showed any fear.

"The transport soldiers are not government troops, and you have nothing to do with the prisoners. Get out of here, or we'll consider it a rebellion!"

The first captain, with utter contempt in his eyes, lashed his riding whip across Ye Zhigui's face without hesitation as he spoke!

"Snapped!"

A glaring bloodstain instantly appeared on Ye Zhigui's dark cheek, the skin torn and flesh exposed.

The excruciating pain instantly contorted Ye Zhigui's face.

"Damn it, you hit me!"

Blood streamed from between his fingers as he covered his face. Ye Zhigui, who dared to kill the Fuzhou general, was like an enraged lion with fierce eyes. He grabbed the unsheathed longsword in his hand and smashed it down hard on the head of the general!
Unexpectedly, the peasant from the canal gang dared to fight back. Caught off guard, he took a solid hit from Ye Zhigui's scabbard. He felt a blur before his eyes, the world went dark, and then his body went limp and he collapsed.

"Rebellion! Rebellion! The canal gang has rebelled!"

The men who were holding the banner were startled and quickly drew their swords. One of the officers had just drawn his sword when Ye Zhigui slammed it heavily into his forearm, and the sound of bones breaking could be clearly heard!
The officer couldn't help but scream in pain.

At the same time, Ye Zhigui, who had gone mad, shouted to his men, "This is too much! Brothers, kill these sons of bitches!"

"Kill them!"

Among the men Ye Zhigui brought were many desperados like him. Upon hearing the shout, they grabbed their weapons without hesitation and charged at the Fu Biao soldiers, causing some chaos among the unprepared Fu Biao soldiers.

Warhorses were startled and reared up, neighing. Several cavalrymen were thrown off their horses because they could not control them. More than a dozen cavalrymen who did not even have their weapons ready were dragged off their horses and killed by the canal gang members. The scene was out of control in an instant!
The officers who had dismounted were also terrified and ran backwards. In an instant, screams, curses, the clang of weapons clashing, and the muffled sound of bones breaking mingled together, shocking the entire South Camp.

(End of this chapter)