The Ming Dynasty: Starting with the border troops, it was overthrown and the Qing Dynasty was destro

Chapter 223 presents a political program.
The capital city, the Forbidden City.

Chen Qiyu's dismissal did not bring any peace to the empire's power center.

The criticism of releasing the tiger back into the mountains at Chexiang Gorge spread rapidly among civil and military officials, much like a plague.

Zhu Youjian, sitting on the dragon throne, had a livid face.

In an attempt to make amends, he ultimately placed all his hopes on Hong Chengchou.

He ordered Hong Chengchou to remain as the Governor-General of the Three Border Regions of Shaanxi, but for his merits, he was granted the titles of Grand Tutor of the Crown Prince and Minister of War, and appointed Governor-General of the military affairs of the five provinces of Henan, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Huguang, and Sichuan. He was also granted the Imperial Sword and given command of the troops of the five provinces.

Zhu Youjian had only one requirement for Hong Chengchou: to exterminate the rebel army completely!
However, just a few days after the imperial edict was issued, an urgent memorial from Hong Chengchou was placed on his desk.

The situation was simple, yet deadly: the front lines had run out of money and supplies.

The previous commander-in-chief of the suppression campaign, Chen Qiyu, had little resources left after more than half a year of encirclement and suppression.

The tens of thousands of soldiers had been exhausted by the time they reached Chexiang Gorge, having eaten and grazed their horses.

Moreover, many of them were seized by the enemy soldiers when they feigned surrender and broke through the encirclement.

The 40,000 to 50,000 Ming soldiers at the front are starving and eagerly awaiting grain supplies from the capital.

When Zhu Youjian received Hong Chengchou's memorial, he was so angry that he almost overturned his desk on the spot.

He was filled with remorse. He shouldn't have listened to the eunuch Fang Jin's nonsense and tried to get him to surrender.

But now it's too late for regrets. An army cannot go a day without food, otherwise a mutiny could happen in an instant.

What else can we do? We can only resort to the old method: increase the quota.

Therefore, at the emperor's suggestion, Wen Tiren immediately requested at the court assembly that an additional 1.25 million taels of new funds be allocated on top of the existing 6.85 million taels to be used for suppressing bandits.

As for the matter of increasing the number of officials, it doesn't matter to the ministers in the court, because no matter how many more are added, it won't affect them.

All they need to do is open their mouths, and countless officials will naturally squeeze every last drop of blood from the people.

Only a small group of officials, led by Bi Ziyan, the Minister of Revenue, risked their lives to plead with the emperor to reject the proposal and not to add any more burden to the people.

But this suggestion was originally Chongzhen's own idea; he just used Wen Tiren to put it into words.

Bi Ziyan launched into a tirade against Wen Tiren, calling him a scourge of the country and its people, unworthy of his position, a treacherous and vile official—basically, using every nasty insult imaginable.

Wen Tiren didn't care about these words, but Emperor Chongzhen was really worried.

That old codger Bi Ziyan wasn't just scolding Wen Tiren, he was clearly slapping me in the face!
Thus, in a fit of rage, Emperor Chongzhen ruthlessly threw Bi Ziyan, the Minister of Revenue who had devoted half his life to the Ming Dynasty's finances, into the imperial prison.

Zhu Youjian was a harsh and ungrateful man. He completely forgot that when the Qing army was at the gates of the city during the Jisi Incident and the capital was in turmoil, it was Bi Ziyan who did his best to raise funds and ensure logistics for him, which ultimately led to the defeat of the Qing army.

At that time, after the victory in the Battle of the Four Cities and the retreat of the Qing troops, Bi Ziyan was so exhausted that he vomited blood and his face swelled up to the size of a bucket. He almost lost half his life.

Although Bi Ziyan was thrown into prison, he had served as an official for many years and still had many old friends in the court.

Only after the ministers pleaded with him did Zhu Youjian finally relent and release Bi Ziyan from prison, ordering him to resign and return to his hometown.

After this incident, no one in the court dared to oppose the additional dispatch, and the order was successfully issued to the two capitals and thirteen provinces.

Once the summer taxes and autumn grains arrive, Hong Chengchou will be able to gather enough military supplies and pay to continue the pursuit and suppression of the bandits.

However, while the imperial court was arguing and waiting for supplies, the rebel army that broke through the encirclement became unstoppable.

Gao Yingxiang's main force marched eastward, heading towards the prosperous Jingzhou Prefecture in Huguang.

Another small group, led by Sweeping King, Full Sky Star, and others, led more than 3,000 people westward, returning from Hanzhong to the Fengxiang area of ​​Shaanxi.

The two rebel armies, like fish entering the sea or birds soaring into the sky, swept up starving people along the way, conquering cities and strongholds, and their ranks grew rapidly like a snowball.

Within just one or two months, they managed to raise two more armies of nearly 100,000 men, plunging Shaanxi and Hubei into chaos.

Faced with this situation, even Hong Chengchou, who was hailed as a "pillar of the Ming Dynasty," was somewhat at a loss.

Even if he wanted to divide his forces to encircle and suppress them, he would have to wait for the supplies to arrive.

Hong Chengchou could afford to wait, but Zhu Youjian could not. Requests for assistance from various places piled up on his desk, leaving him in a state of utter confusion.

Zhu Youjian could only force Hong Chengchou to send troops to suppress the bandits in various places.

In order to raise funds and supplies, Hong Chengchou had no choice but to resort to his old methods, allowing his troops to plunder.

Let the people suffer a little longer.

He personally took command in Xi'an Prefecture, mobilizing border troops from Shanxi and Shaanxi to wipe out the bandits in Fengxiang Prefecture; while in the Huguang region, Hong Chengchou handed over the task to Lu Xiangsheng.

As for Sichuan, he said he was powerless to help and could only let Governor Zhu Xieyuan deal with the bandits on his own. Once Zhu Xieyuan had wiped out the bandits on the outskirts, he would immediately lead his troops to support Sichuan.

Zhu Xieyuan's face darkened when he received Hong Chengchou's message.

Damn it, they're going to wipe them out themselves?

If he can defeat these rebels, what's the point of having your border troops?
Although his officers and soldiers had experienced the An She Rebellion and fought many battles to quell rebellions, in terms of combat effectiveness, they were no match for the fierce soldiers in the Northwest.
Some time ago, Governor Liu Hanru led his troops to attack Jiangyou, but was defeated by more than 3,000 border troops and fled back to Anxian to save his life.

After this battle, Zhu Xieyuan only dared to defend the city and did not dare to lead his army to attack Long'an Prefecture.

But if he doesn't attack, Jiang Han will make his move.

It's already late April, and spring plowing is long over. Jiang Han has set his sights on Baoning Prefecture, another important town in northern Sichuan.

Inside the government office, Jiang Han stood with his hands behind his back in front of the map, planning the marching route.

The best approach for this operation is to split the forces into two groups.

He personally led the main force, starting from the Qingchuan Garrison Command, and attacked Jianzhou, Guangyuan, and Shaohua.
The other route, led by Shao Yong, marched out of Jiangyou to attack Zitong, cutting off the connection between Baoning Prefecture and Chengdu Prefecture.

The plan was perfect, but the problem was that Jiang Han's forces were currently stretched thin.

The main force brought from the Northwest numbered eight thousand, and with the addition of more than four thousand newly trained militia from various counties, the total strength barely exceeded ten thousand.

Of these, at least two to three thousand people must remain in Long'an Prefecture to guard the homes and property.

With this limited force, they are more than capable of holding the line, but it would be quite difficult to divide their troops into two groups for an offensive.

Ultimately, it comes down to a lack of manpower.

Just as Jiang Han was at his wit's end, Zhao Sheng suddenly walked in hurriedly, his face showing barely suppressed joy.

"Commander, good news!"

As he spoke, he waved the letter in his hand.
"Guess who wrote the letter?"

"A letter?"

Jiang Han was somewhat surprised. Among his subordinates and the rebel leaders he knew, no more than a handful of them wrote letters.

Seeing this, Zhao Sheng stopped keeping him in suspense:

"It's General Deng Yang and General Fang Hong. They are currently in the Hanzhong area, guarding the plank roads."

"Upon hearing that we were in Sichuan, they immediately sent someone with a secret letter."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Han's eyes lit up. Deng Yang and Hei Zi were in Hanzhong? Shouldn't they be in the Shanxi area?

In this matter, Jiang Han should really thank Chen Qiyu.

In order to block his route north to Hanzhong, Chen Qiyu specially transferred Zhang Zongheng, the governor of Xuanda, to block the plank roads into Sichuan.

Deng Yang and Hei Zi's troops happened to be under Zhang Zongheng's command.

Hearing that Jiang Han had arrived in Sichuan, the two of them couldn't contain themselves and secretly sent a messenger, taking a huge risk, to contact Jiang Han.

Zhao Sheng quickly walked to Jiang Han's side and lowered his voice:
"General, since Deng Yang's troops are in Hanzhong, and we're short-handed right now, why don't we recall them?"

"They have nearly two thousand men under their command."

He pointed to Jianmen Pass on the map:
"Anyway, it's not far away. We can take Jianzhou first, then occupy the Jianmen Pass, a natural barrier, to help them enter Sichuan."

But after a moment of contemplation, Jiang Han rejected Zhao Sheng's suggestion.

"It's not right, it's not right."

He shook his head as he looked at the secret letter in his hand.
"I finally managed to plant a spy in the government army, and Deng Yang is now a deputy commander-in-chief, which is not a low position."

"It would be a waste of their talents to recall them now to attack Baoning Prefecture."

"We are currently located on the frontier and are not very clear about the situation in the Central Plains."

"It's perfect to have Deng Yang act as our eyes and ears, so he can send back more messages."

"Besides, of their two thousand-plus men, only eight hundred or so are our old brothers; the rest are government troops drawn from various places."

“These people have rashly switched sides, turning from government troops into rebels. I’m afraid they won’t accept it so easily, and I don’t trust them with my services.”

Jiang Han smiled.

"Let them stay in Hanzhong. Isn't he guarding the plank road?"

“Perfect timing. If we want to return to Hanzhong in the future, it will be much more convenient.” Zhao Sheng nodded. This was indeed a good idea. Since ancient times, it has been easier to enter Sichuan than to leave.

With an inside man, things should be much simpler.

But he still had some concerns:

"But even so, we still don't have enough manpower."

"The Ming army is currently holed up and unwilling to leave the city for open battle. We, with only a few thousand men, are unlikely to be able to conquer cities and fortresses one by one."

"What do you think, General?"

Jiang Han glanced at Deng Yang's letter and handed it to Zhao Sheng:

"Look closely, besides military intelligence, there are also a lot of recent news from the imperial court."

"Li Zicheng broke through the siege, Chen Qiyu was dismissed from his post, Hong Chengchou took over as governor of five provinces, the emperor appointed additional officials, and Bi Ziyan was dismissed from office."

"Do you see any opportunities?"

Zhao Sheng took the letter and read it word by word. After a long while, he tentatively asked:

"Could it be that the commander-in-chief is interested in the matter of sending more troops?"

Jiang Han nodded approvingly, a glint of shrewdness flashing in his eyes:
"Zhu Youjian has gone mad. He is determined to increase the amount of grain and provisions to suppress the bandits, and he is even willing to imprison and dismiss capable ministers like Bi Ziyan."

"He's digging his own grave!"

"If you do the math carefully, how many times will the extra 1.25 million taels of silver from the imperial court end up on the shoulders of the common people?"

“Back then in Shaanxi, the summer and autumn seasons were the peak period for rebellions.”

"Let's wait and see when Sichuan's anti-tax season arrives."

"At that time, public resentment will boil over, and officials will force the people to rebel."

"If we seize the opportunity to raise the banner of righteousness and march into Baoning Prefecture, many people will surely rise up to rebel against the government and come to join us."

Zhao Sheng's eyes lit up, and he instantly understood Jiang Han's intention.

This is an attempt to capitalize on the existing momentum.

Because the Sichuan region suffered relatively little damage, it was usually the chieftains who caused trouble, and there were very few peasant uprisings.

However, the imperial court kept increasing its levies, and the people of Sichuan would eventually reach their breaking point.

"So, what exactly are your plans, General?"

Have you come up with a slogan yet?

Jiang Han smiled and said:
"Isn't there a ready-made slogan? Equal land distribution and tax exemption, so that the hungry can get food."

"This is it! Simple, direct, and most persuasive!"

“But just shouting slogans is useless; we need to publicize our political platform.”

"Send spies to follow the caravan and infiltrate Baoning Prefecture to spread the word about our Long'an Prefecture's policies."

"In my opinion, our Long'an Three Agreements can also be transformed into the Baoning Three Agreements, the Sichuan Three Agreements, and the Southwest Three Agreements."

The importance of a political program to peasant uprisings is beyond doubt.

With a political program, bandits can transform into revolutionary forces.

This is the key to whether peasant uprisings can break through geographical limitations, build social consensus, and even achieve regime change.

Only with a political program can individual survival demands be elevated to propositions for institutional reform, thus preventing uprisings from degenerating into blind destruction and losing popular support.

Historically, Li Zicheng's saying, "Open the city gates, welcome the King Chuang, and the King Chuang will not collect taxes," may seem simple, but it resonated with the most genuine and urgent needs of the common people, and its effect was no less than that of tens of thousands of troops.

Zhao Sheng nodded, but still raised a practical question:

"General, should we advocate equal land distribution and tax exemption, or equal land distribution and rent reduction?"

"If taxes are really exempted, where will the funds for food and wages come from?"

Jiang Han, however, seemed somewhat unconcerned about this:

"No matter what you shout, the most important thing is to shout it out and create momentum."

"Equal land distribution and tax exemption is a good thing. Exaggerating it a little isn't a bad thing either. It's called propaganda and creating momentum, understand?"

"Moreover,"

Jiang Han changed the subject,
“In Long’an Prefecture, we implement a land rent system. What we collect is called ‘land rent’, not ‘tax’.”

"Let's lure people in first, who cares about this or that."

"No matter what, we must pay the taxes and provisions that are due, otherwise we won't have the money and provisions to support our army, and how will we rebel?"

"Why not just rephrase it to make the people feel better?"

"We have already reduced or waived the exorbitant taxes. If anyone dares to resist taxes again, let him talk to my troops!"

With the plan finalized, Jiang Han's war machine began to operate quietly in an invisible way.

Caravans, composed of elite soldiers and disguised merchants, carrying mountain goods and smuggled salt, continuously entered Baoning Prefecture.

They traveled to markets and towns, establishing connections with local people, itinerant merchants, and even people from all walks of life.

During breaks in their transactions, these merchants would intentionally or unintentionally spread the "good news" from Long'an Prefecture to the surrounding people.

"Have you heard? Commander Jiang of Long'an Prefecture doesn't have to pay any taxes!"

"Really? If we don't pay taxes, what will the government eat?"

"Hey, General Jiang is so benevolent. He took all the land from those corrupt officials and distributed it to the farmers. Whoever farms it will reap the harvest."

"As long as you pay some land rent to the government, the rest is yours. I heard it's more than 70% or 80% less than the taxes levied by the imperial court!"

"Is that true? I've heard that those people are rebels from the Northwest!"

"We're being lenient by not cutting off your head, let alone dividing up the land? Dream on!"

“You’re wrong. They say that General Jiang set a rule that no innocent people should be killed indiscriminately.”

"Moreover, as long as it's under General Jiang's rule, anyone without land will be immediately given land; I heard it's called 'equal land distribution and tax exemption'."

In this way, slogans such as prohibiting indiscriminate killing, equal land distribution and tax exemption, and ensuring that the hungry are fed began to spread quietly in the fields of Baoning Prefecture, as if they had grown wings.

But initially, there were very few respondents.

Most ordinary people still harbored fears.

The officials and the village gentry said that the group from Long'an Prefecture were rebels who had come from Shaanxi, and that they were ruthless killers.

The so-called "equal distribution of land and exemption from taxes" sounds quite tempting, but it's probably just a trick to coax them into joining the army and risking their lives.

On my side, although life is tough, at least we can still make ends meet.

Seeing that the weather has been favorable this year, with no natural disasters and the crops growing well, there should be a good harvest. Why bother getting involved in something as risky as rebellion?

As a result, many farmers, after hearing this, forgot about the "equal distribution of land and exemption from taxes" and continued to hunch over, focusing on tending their own small plots of land.

Sichuan did not suffer any major natural disasters in the sixth year of the Chongzhen Emperor's reign.

In late July, with the autumn breeze blowing, the boundless rice paddies in Baoning Prefecture were laden with heavy ears of rice, their golden hues heralding a bountiful harvest.

However, even without natural disasters, there are still man-made disasters.

As the saying goes, "oppressive government is more ferocious than a tiger." Due to the increase in the imperial court's new levies, Baoning Prefecture's tax revenue this year is 50% higher than in previous years!
The farmers had just finished harvesting the rice, and their joy hadn't lasted long when the government's tax collectors, like wild beasts smelling blood, swarmed into every village.

Armed with official documents and abacuses, they went door-to-door measuring and calculating.

One bushel of rice, threshed into grain, is handed over as autumn grain tax; this is called the regular tax.

The remaining taxes and levies were numerous and bewildering, including the Liaodong tax, additional levies, and fire loss tax, which were paid on a per-acre basis.

Many farmers work hard all year round, only to hand over the grain they have just harvested as soon as they turn around.

But when they did the math, they found that they not only didn't have much left, but they even owed the government money!
Even so, the government showed no sympathy whatsoever.

The tax collectors, like vengeful ghosts, broke into each house one after another, collecting taxes from door to door.

Those who couldn't hand over their grain would have their last bit of stored grain confiscated; those without any grain would have their houses ransacked; and those without even a house would simply be arrested, imprisoned, or sent to the army!
For a time, the entire Baoning Prefecture, and even Chengdu Prefecture, and most of the rural areas of Sichuan, were filled with heart-wrenching cries and wails.

Countless people were driven to sell their children and families due to the heavy taxes, resulting in their deaths and ruin.

The joy of a bountiful harvest brought by favorable weather turned into blood and tears in the blink of an eye.

Those farmers who once scorned the "equal distribution of land and exemption from taxes" were now being robbed of their last grain of rice and whipped until their skin was torn and bleeding by the yamen runners.
Their minds involuntarily drifted back to the words spoken by the merchants from Long'an Prefecture.

(End of this chapter)