Great Qing Dynasty talker

Chapter 387: You gentry are too submissive. The Lady is not used to it!
On the third day after leaving Jiangpu Town, a group of Qing cavalry entered Jiangpu County.
The four people in the lead were wearing blue banner cotton armor, and the dozens of people behind them were wearing green battalion uniforms.

"My fellow soldiers, who are you?"

"roll."

The leading officer, Duolong, a lieutenant of the Zhenglan Banner, raised his hand and swung a horsewhip, hitting the yamen runner who was asking questions with a smile, leaving blood all over his face.

then,

He kicked his horse hard and rushed into the city.

The cavalrymen following him followed suit, shouting at their horses to speed up.

The busiest street in Jiangpu County was suddenly in chaos.
Pedestrians dodged, vendors were overturned, and those who reacted slowly were even knocked away by the galloping horses.

……

They smashed and looted everything along the way until they reached the gate of the county government office.

Doron then adjusted his helmet and walked into the hall in a heroic manner.

"Sir, please wait a moment. I will go and report to the county lord right away."

"roll."

The magistrate had not even put on his official robe when he ran into Duolong who had already broken into the second hall of the county government.

The two stared at each other.

"Who is this general?"

At this moment, Duolong felt a slight itch under his nose and at the philtrum.

He grabbed around a few times and then pulled out a piece of paper soaked with his sweat from his armor.

"I am here under the order of the governor to take over the defense of Jiangpu. Stop talking nonsense and settle my brothers."

The magistrate endured the sweat odor on the paper and confirmed that the warrant was authentic. The bright red seal of the governor could not be faked.

"Okay, I'll make the arrangements right away. Please take a seat, Mr. Man."

The magistrate wiped the sweat from his forehead and walked quickly out of the county government office.

……

Duolong took off his lightning rod helmet and looked around the layout of the county hall.

suddenly,

He keenly smelled a faint fragrance, and immediately became alert.
"Mr. Mandarin, you can't go in."

"Ok?"

The servants didn't care that Duolong was puffing his beard and glaring, looking ferocious.

With arms outstretched, he stood in front of us:

"The women of the county lord live inside. It's really inconvenient in this hot summer. Please respect yourself, Lord Man."

"Heavy your mother's head."

Duolong slapped the servant in green clothes and a small hat, and he rolled two feet away.

He came here this time on orders from both sides.

Fu Chang'an asked him to temporarily take charge of the city defense and urged for money and grain.

Liu Qian told him to let go and commit the crime ruthlessly.

……

Duolong didn't quite understand the ins and outs of this.

But he also knew that he had to listen to both sides.

However, it seems that there is no conflict between the two?
The war has not yet reached Jiangpu Town, so the defense pressure is not great.

Otherwise, they would not have sent only 40 cavalrymen.

Duolong is under great psychological pressure. This kind of life where he has to be a human on one side and a ghost on the other is too tiring.

Waking up in the middle of the night,

He often cannot tell his own worth.

When people are suppressed for a long time, they tend to develop a tendency to self-destruct! Also known as seeking death!
The quiet little wooden door in front of him was kicked open by Duolong.

The young woman swinging on the swing inside let out a miserable scream and fell off the swing. Her bound feet were weak and she fell to the ground after taking a few steps.

The little maidservant next to her turned pale, as if she had been hit by a spell.

……

"My lady, are you all right?"

Duolong walked over and reached out to pick up the fallen young woman.

This behavior was totally inconsistent with "feudal morality", and the woman was so frightened that she begged him to leave.

"well."

Duolong rubbed it vigorously, then walked out of the yard with a smile.

When I walked out of the county government office,
He sniffed his fingers, sweaty~
"I never thought that Jiangpu County would also have such a beautiful spring."

"Let's go! Let's go have some drinks."

The cavalry roared away, leaving the people in the county government office looking at each other in bewilderment.

When the magistrate heard this, he was so angry that his face turned black and he smashed all the porcelain in the room, but he could do nothing about Mr. Man.

quickly,

All kinds of complaints came in.

"Your Excellency, that soldier drank wine at my restaurant without paying, and even urinated in the wine jar."

"Your Excellency, the Manchu soldiers knocked over my sedan chair and beat up the bearer."

"County Master, help me. I took in my fifth concubine today, and that Manchu soldier saw me. He insisted that it was immoral and took her away."

"Your Excellency, in broad daylight, the Manchu soldiers occupied my house, saying that it was temporarily used as a military camp. They also fed the horses in the garden and brushed the horses in the pond."

……

The magistrate felt overwhelmed and left in anger.

He had no choice but to write a tactful letter and have it delivered to Huai'an Prefecture.

But it's basically useless.

It is impossible for Fu Chang'an to punish the bannermen just because of this conflict.

At least for now,

The Jiangpu gentry have little value in united front work.

Dong Mansion,

Four green camp soldiers with swords in their arms stood guard at the gate.

There were four musketeers in the gatehouse.

If anyone still tries to force their way in, strike the gong, there are two more soldiers inside.

Hu Zhihuang is not stupid.

There was no way he would let anyone destroy his lair while he was away.

The Dong Mansion even had a small French cannon and six hunting dogs.

It can be said to be heavily guarded.

Mr. Dong was very busy, constantly receiving friends from all walks of life and telling them about their miserable experiences.

Behind closed doors, resentment runs deep.

He criticized the Eight Banners soldiers for their domineering behavior and expressed dissatisfaction with the imperial court.

……

The magistrate remained in his room and showed a helpless attitude.

The gentry in Jiangpu also gradually accepted the fact that they could not afford to offend the Manchu soldiers.

Everyone discussed it.

Then let’s collect some money and reward these grandchildren.

Try to keep them safe, it would be best if they could eat meat and drink wine every day and not go out to the county town.

however,
What happened two days later made them extremely angry and almost nervous.

"This old man pays his respects to Master Duo."

Duolong, who was drinking, asked with his eyes squinting:

"What's your business?"

"I have discussed this with several gentry in this county. It is not easy to station so many soldiers to protect the local area. We have collected some money to reward the soldiers. I also hope that the soldiers will~"

"Okay, okay, go ahead."

Duolong impatiently sent away the old man wearing a melon-shaped hat.

He looked up and drank another half bowl of wine.

The gentry representative endured his depression and tried to get a promise:
"In the future, if you need anything, you can tell us. Whether it's money or women, we will do our best to meet your needs, so that you don't have to do it yourself."

……

After eating and drinking,
Doron suddenly realized a problem.

The Wu State Intelligence Agency required him to commit atrocities in Jiangpu County and torture the gentry to death. If he accepted the large sum of money offered by the gentry, would he have no excuse to get mad?
It's not impossible to lose your temper, but it will make you look like a very bad person.

Not so good~
The drunk Duolong had a few passers-by arrested and questioned:

"Among the gentry and merchants in this county, which one is the richest?"

"The Dong family. But the Dong family has a good son-in-law, who is appointed as the general of Jiangpu Town, and there are soldiers standing guard at the gate of the mansion."

"That doesn't sound very wealthy, change it!"

"Then it's the Zhao family. Mr. Zhao used to be a county magistrate in another province, and he owns two streets of property in this city."

“That sounds rich.”

……

Mr. Zhao is not in the mansion today.

He took a sedan chair to the county government office to discuss with the magistrate "how much of the overdue taxes and grain the court is demanding payment of, and how much of it the county should hand over."

The essence of this problem,
It is the ratio between the gentry and the court.

In paying off the debts of previous years, the imperial court was actually skimming off a layer of fat that originally belonged to the gentry class.

The local governments are in debt of money and grain, some of which are true and some are false.

It may be true that Shaanxi, Gansu, Yunnan and Guizhou cannot pay taxes, but it is mostly false that the Jiangnan area cannot pay taxes.

Local officials and gentry reported the disaster together and exaggerated the words.

There is a lot of room for maneuver in this regard.

For example, 7% was paid to the court, but in reality 8% or even 9% was collected.

The gentry make huge profits by acting as middlemen!

Of course, a portion of the profits would also be given to the county government, allowing the county magistrate to spend money flexibly.

……

this year,

Heavy rains caused disasters in most parts of Guangdong and southern Jiangxi and Fujian provinces.

However, water shortages are common in southwestern Shandong, southeastern Henan, northern Anhui and northern Jiangsu, and severe droughts are occurring in some areas.

Jiangpu County is not in the center of the drought, but it is right next to the Yangtze River.

but,

Food production still decreased by 2%.

Because even if the Yangtze River is just 10 miles away from their own farmland, if there are no well-connected canals, farmers can only watch helplessly and have no way to divert water for irrigation.

The only way was to use human power to push a wheelbarrow to transport water, which was called "a drop in the bucket".

For many years, the imperial court had not allocated money to repair water conservancy projects.

There are several irrigation channels that still benefit Jiangbei today, and their history can even be traced back to the Yongzheng period.

Speaking of which, Yongzheng and Qianlong, father and son, are quite interesting.

Dad is good at handling domestic affairs and financial management, but not good at war.

The son is good at war and spending money, but not good at domestic affairs.

……

Zhao Mansion.

The doors are decorated with carved beams and painted pillars, and are bright red. The entrance is swept clean and elegant.

The servant at the door saw a group of Eight Banners soldiers rushing in and knew something was wrong, so he quickly informed the housekeeper.

The housekeeper was startled.
He hurriedly ordered that the doors and windows of the inner house be closed and that the female family members not show their faces in public.

He also asked the accountant to take out 100 taels of silver in cash to get rid of the plague god.

Duolong looked unkind.

He felt his scalp was a little itchy, so he took off his lightning rod helmet and threw it to the butler beside him.

The butler didn't catch it.

The heavy iron helmet fell to the ground and rolled far away.

"Sir, I deserve to die. I will pay for it."

The housekeeper was so scared that he slapped himself.

Duolong was ecstatic, as he had found the best reason to get angry.

……

He jumped off his horse and knocked the butler unconscious with one punch.

shout:
"How dare you, a mere servant, throw my helmet in public. To humiliate me is to humiliate the Zhenglan Banner and the entire Eight Banners."

"Brothers, grab it."

Duolong shouted the last word in a clear and loud voice.

The soldiers who came with him were all delighted, drew their belts and carried out the military orders.

First, knock down all the men in the Zhao Mansion within sight.

Like robbers breaking into a house, searching everywhere for gold and silver.

The soldiers grabbed the accountant of the Zhao residence and put a knife to his neck.

"Tell me, where is the silver?"

The accountant quickly pointed out several places where the silver was hidden, which were simply under the floor tiles of the study, inside the wall, and under the bed of the master and mistress.

in the sun,
Golden and white flowers are piled up in the yard.

The soldiers were delighted and said it was worth following the leader.

The money is shared among everyone.

The risk is borne by everyone.

……

Duolong was helpless.
The State of Wu had several fatal evidences against him. If he dared to disobey, the Intelligence Agency would send the evidence to Fu Chang'an and he would lose his head immediately.

Once you're on that pirate ship, you can only go with the flow.

Midnight moonlight,

Duolong often felt that he was like that chaste woman, who originally had a husband but was unfortunately targeted by unscrupulous bandits.

Since then,

Forced to please both sides, hiding the humiliating secret deep in my heart.

Thinking of this,

The long-term suppressed emotions erupted like a volcano again.

The strong tendency of self-destruction came back.

He shouted:
"Are there any women in the Zhao Mansion?"

When the soldiers who were busy moving gold and silver heard this, they hurried to help break down the wooden door of the inner house.

"How big is it, there is an embroidery building."

……

Half an hour later,
Upon hearing the news, Mr. Zhao rushed back in a sedan chair, taking the county magistrate with him.

Just as I walked to the bottom of the embroidery building,
I happened to run into Doron coming down the stairs. His armor was in disarray, his expression was satisfied, and he was not even wearing boots.

From upstairs came the sound of a woman crying.

"You, you, you are shameless, a beast~"

Mr. Zhao was almost going crazy, pointing his finger at Duolong.

The magistrate also felt that this Manchu commander was going too far and could not help but question him:

"Why do you want to do this? The gentry of this county has clearly promised you that if you want silver, you will get silver, and if you want women, you will get women. Isn't it good to have them delivered to your door? Why do you have to snatch them?"

Duolong thought about it and said seriously:

"I'm not used to it."

……

This tragedy spread like wildfire.

Everyone in the county knew about it, and the people all shook their heads, disappointed with the Eight Banners Army and the imperial court.

The people all sighed:
"If General Hu were still here, the people of Jiangpu would be able to live and work in peace and contentment."

The angry Jiangpu gentry jointly wrote a letter to accuse Duolong of Zhenglan Banner of crimes and asked the new governor to uphold justice.

because,

Mr. Zhao, who was almost biting his teeth, asked someone to mediate.

Let the instigator marry his daughter in a formal ceremony, and even be willing to give a good dowry to protect his family's reputation and turn the funeral into a happy event.

As a result, I was rejected.

Duolong said something strange:
"Can you change to a clean one?"

Mr. Zhao vomited blood and went to the county government office to beat the drum to file a complaint.

Naturally, the magistrate had no ability to judge this case.

So Mr. Zhao gathered hundreds of his servants, relatives and neighbors, and confronted the Eight Banners soldiers with weapons.

The magistrate was overwhelmed.

They dared neither instigate fighting nor suppress the gentry in the county excessively.

Because the gentry, who were grief-stricken by the loss of the rabbit, had begun to secretly collude and refuse to pay the overdue taxes and grain. This was a terrible signal.

The magistrate quickly sent someone to Huai'an Prefecture to request that this group of Eight Banners soldiers be transferred away.

Otherwise, Jiangpu will be in chaos.

……

For Jiangpu County, this is a big deal.

For Fu Changan, this was just a trivial matter.

even,

He didn't take care of it himself, so his staff helped to handle it.

Dealing with comments is simple:
At the same time, both sides were admonished and asked to reconcile and not to make any more trouble. Anyone who made trouble again would be held accountable.

Duolong, the county magistrate, and the gentry have all come to an end. Next, they must strictly follow the court's requirements and cooperate in supervising grain~
Fu Chang'an himself entered Yangzhou City in a low-key manner with his cavalry escort.

He did not use the title of governor, nor did he make a big fuss about it.

Hai Lancha, the commander-in-chief of the Jiangbei camp, and Zu Youen, the deputy commander-in-chief of the Cavalry Camp, had already been waiting in the prefectural government office.

"See you, Governor."

"No courtesy, sit down."

These two people were qualified to sit down, and there were more than a dozen generals, wing commanders, and lieutenants standing in the room.

……

Fu Changan is young and calm.

First, each general introduced himself one by one, including his name, military rank, and background.

then,

He then spoke:

"This time, the emperor has granted me the power to control the civil and military forces of Jiangsu and Anhui provinces. The purpose is to destroy the main force of the Wu bandits who have crossed the river. General Hai, can you introduce the situation?"

"Yes." Hailancha replied respectfully, "Scouts have reported that the Wu bandits who crossed the river have 3 to 5 troops. They have camps stretching over ten miles, with numerous artillery pieces, and there are constant boat traffic on the Yangtze River. Therefore, the bandits must have no shortage of rations, gunpowder, and shells. But they have no cavalry."

Zu Youen's eyes lit up, and he immediately asked:

"What percentage of the bandits are wearing armor?"

"Not many, no more than 3%. Most of the bandits are musketeers, and the proportion of hand-to-hand combatants is very small."

Fu Changan shook his head:

"Don't underestimate the bandits. Li Ni is no simple man, otherwise my third brother wouldn't have died in battle on the banks of the Huangpu River. I think the fighting power of the Jiangnan bandits is no worse than that of the elite troops of the Three Feudatories back then, and maybe even better."

……

All the Manchu and Han officers in the room were silent.

There was indeed a fight, and the Jiangbei camp suffered a loss.

Hailancha spoke again:
"After the last battle, I discovered a weakness of the bandits."

(End of this chapter)