Great Qing Dynasty talker

Chapter 431 A bloody murder caused by a bundle of firewood~
On March 3 of the lunar calendar, the weather suddenly warmed up and the General Staff officially launched the plan to "attack Guangdong."

Old rules,
Before the troops move, the logistics must go first.

As many as hundreds of types of military supplies were transported from various factories to the docks, and then assembled into fleets and set sail.

The Jiangnan Canal section is absolutely safe.

The Yangtze River section requires naval escort.

After entering Poyang Lake, everything was absolutely safe again.

The sailors of the fleet occasionally saw one or two Qing army corpses floating in the lake, and they were all very excited.

The 2 bodies of the Qing army in Nangan Town were not cleaned up after all. After thawing, some of them were washed into Poyang Lake by the current.
……

The fleet entered the Ganjiang River from Poyang Lake, went upstream to Fengcheng County, and stayed there for 3 days.

The big ship changes to a small ship.

Having learned from the lessons of transporting cotton-padded clothes last winter, the small boats could flexibly go upstream until they were 30 miles away from Dayuling Mountain, where they hired porters again to carry the clothes on their shoulders or in their hands across Mei Pass.

finally,
Arrived at Nanxiong Prefecture and delivered to the 5th Legion.

The quartermaster confirmed the type and quantity of the goods received, and stamped it after confirming that they were correct. Finally, Miao Youlin stamped it.

Wu Jun's characteristics,

The government offices had official seals, and civil and military officials also had personal seals.

Unified format:

Square, made of brass, with a hole at the end for threading a cowhide rope to tie to the belt.

Any document that requires your confirmation can be stamped.

It will be convenient to trace back the responsibility in the future.

……

Miao Youlin inspected the military camp. After a winter of rest, the morale of the 5th Corps was high.

suddenly,

The sound of horse hooves rang out in the camp, and the soldiers along the way hurriedly gave way.

The tall helmet tassel on the knight's head showed that he was a messenger. It was strictly forbidden to ride a horse without permission in the army, except for scouts and messengers.

Miao Youlin stopped.
The messenger stopped his horse beautifully and dismounted.

Holding a bamboo tube:

"An urgent letter from the General Staff Headquarters. Please check it, Captain."

Miao Youlin took out his pocket knife, broke the wax seal of the bamboo tube, took out the letter inside and unfolded it for a closer look.

It turned out that the Training Bureau had sent 2000 new recruits to him, and they were expected to arrive within 3 to 5 days.

……

Artillery is the focus of this battle.

Unfortunately, the siege artillery was too heavy to transport.

The Guangzhou city wall is of considerable thickness.

Ordinary caliber artillery is powerless, and can only rely on blasting~
Thinking of this,

Miao Youlin whispered to his men:
"Organize a 400-man demolition battalion."

"As ordered."

Meiguan Ancient Road has not been so lively for a long time.

Thousands of porters from Ganzhou Prefecture rushed back and forth shouting work songs.

Ganzhou is one of the four Hakka states. After the Qing army destroyed it, its population dropped by 3%.

Wu Jun hired them as porters, which was equivalent to work in lieu of relief.

……

Li Yu has high hopes for Jiangxi.
Jiangxi has always been a traditional grain-producing region.

Considering the current war situation, whether fighting Guangdong and Guangxi or Huguang, Jiangxi is the most ideal supply base.

There is no need to elaborate on how important it was to transport food over short distances during ancient wars.

Since the demise of Ma Zhongyi's army, the Wu civil service system in the entire southern Jiangxi region has been busy with only one thing - spring ploughing.

Abandoned fertile farmland needs to be replanted in a timely manner.

The rest of the fields are used for composting.

In general, the organic composting method (fermentation of feces and straw) promoted by the Department of Agriculture has a good effect.

The Water Resources Agency is temporarily unable to manage Jiangxi. The "t-shaped artificial river network" in Suzhou and Songjiang alone has almost made the Director of the Water Resources Agency, Huang Wenyun, collapse.
It’s nothing, the project is just too huge.

It was all done by digging with a shovel, and transporting the work back and forth using wheelbarrows and carrying poles.

If it weren't for the embarrassment of my identity,

Huang Wenyun really wanted to persuade Li Yu not to dig anymore, as it was a waste of money.

……

A lieutenant knocked on the door and whispered:
"Commander-in-chief, the people of Shaozhou Prefecture are here to give us information again."

Miao Youlin rubbed his face, his tone tangled:

"Got it. You can receive him. But be careful not to reveal our military deployment plans."

enthusiasm!

Hakka people are so welcoming!

Another time he took the initiative to join the army!

He also took the initiative to deliver intelligence on the Qing army, including the movements of the Qing army in Shaozhou Prefecture, the approximate size of the troops, the length of the city defenses, the width of the moat, information on the officers and soldiers defending the city, the road conditions from Shaoguan to Guangzhou, and so on.

After verification by scouts, the intelligence was basically accurate.

……

Miao Youlin said to himself:

"Damn it, it would be great if there were no native-Hakka conflict in Guangdong. I would raise my arm and the Cantonese people would respond in droves."

Suddenly someone knocked on the door.

"Come in."

"Commander-in-chief, the new recruits have arrived."

"Got it. I'll go inspect it this afternoon."

Miao Youlin raised his head, looked at the captain military judge who was hesitant to leave, and asked doubtfully:

"Xue Chen, do you have anything else to say?"

"I have a guess, and I can't help but express it."

"speak!"

"The Hakka people in Shaozhou Prefecture actively provided intelligence, which was not completely spontaneous. There may be someone behind the scenes organizing and planning it."

"Ok?"

"For example, how do ordinary people know the information about the city's guards? But it is not a secret to the gentry."

Miao Youlin was stunned, as if waking up from a dream:

"You mean, the Hakka leader is testing our inclinations while providing intelligence?"

The military judge nodded silently.

Then he saluted and left the house.

……

Heshan County is under the jurisdiction of Zhaoqing Prefecture.

After experiencing the brutal tug-of-war in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, the local Cantonese population dropped sharply.

Later, when the Qing Dynasty had consolidated its rule over the country, it repeatedly relocated Hakka people from Huizhou and Jiayingzhou to settle here and farm.

Gradually, Heshan County became a place where natives and Hakkas lived together.

During the reign of Emperor Kangxi, there was basically peace.

During the reign of Emperor Qianlong, the two sides had a quarrel. The reason was simple: fighting over farmland and water sources!
Fengtang Village,
The Hakka leaders Lu Dayou and Zeng Huaigu sat opposite each other and smoked water pipes.

The room was filled with smoke, which was very choking.

"How to do?"

"do not know."

The room fell silent again.

……

recent,
The Heshan County Government sent people to notify each Hakka village one by one - the construction of walled houses was prohibited.

Only one of the existing walled houses is allowed to remain, and the rest must be demolished within a specified period of time. If they are not demolished after 1 days, the county government will impose heavy penalties.

The burly Lu Dayou put down his hookah and said:
“I don’t think it can be demolished.”

"What about the county government?"

"Everyone should pool some money and give it to the clerks. We can delay it for a while. The world is not peaceful. Without the walled house, Fengtang Village will be at the mercy of others~"

Zeng Huaigu suddenly lowered his voice and said:

"Chenjia Village is holding group training!"

A hint of helplessness flashed across Lu Dayou's eyes:
"I know."

……

Chenjia Village and Fengtang Village are separated by a river, and all the villagers are Cantonese.

I heard from the elders in the village that during the Kangxi and Yongzheng periods, the relationship between the two villages was pretty good, and there were occasional intermarriages.

But since I can remember, the relationship between the two villages has become increasingly worse.

Chenjia Village no longer rents out its excess land to Fengtang villagers for cultivation, and instead demands to buy back the dozens of acres of irrigated land that were originally sold to Fengtang Village.

The increase in population and the reduction in per capita farmland are the fundamental reasons for the hostility.

But this is exactly the most unsolvable~
No one is wrong.

Fengtang Village and Chenjia Village are just a microcosm of the conflicts between the natives and Hakkas in the entire Heshan County, and Heshan is a microcosm of Guangdong and Guangxi.

……

"It's not just Chenjia Village, many Cantonese villages are doing militia training." Zeng Huaigu's eyes flickered, "Who do you think they are doing militia training to deal with?" Lv Dayou, Wang looked around and said something else:
"Old Li from Nandong Village spent 1 tael of silver to ask an acquaintance to find out that Guangfu Village's militia formation had been approved by the government."

at the same time,

By the small river outside Fengtang Village.

Two Hakka teenagers saw a small bundle of firewood floating in the river and picked up a branch, but they couldn't reach it.
"Let's go. There's a water trap ahead. We can pick up the ready-made ones there."

The two young men walked downstream along the river.

suddenly,

The two were dumbfounded; the firewood had been stolen by someone.

A group of teenagers from Chenjia Village happened to be collecting traps at the water trap, and they caught them without any effort.

……

"We were the first to discover this bundle of firewood!"

"Pooh!"

"You are not allowed to leave. You must split it in half!"

"We'll share it in half when we meet? You Hakkas want to be the landowners?"

"Push the street boy~"

The boys' quarrel soon escalated into throwing dirt and clods of earth at each other across the narrow river.

A young boy from Fengtang Village was unlucky and his forehead was broken by a hard piece of earth.

Seeing blood,

Both sides were panicked, after all, they were still children, so they ran back home to seek shelter.

……

Fengtang Village,
Zeng Huaigu held a bowl of pickled vegetable porridge and didn't pick up his chopsticks for a long time.
He always felt that things were getting worse.

There is no reason, it's just a survival instinct.

The so-called Hakka is actually a broad term.

It refers to the collective concept formed by the northern Han people who migrated southward in groups to escape the war and who continued to merge on the way of escape.

There are two key words in the blood of Hakka people - wandering and struggle.

In southern Jiangxi, they fought against people from Jiangyou.

In Guangdong, fight with the Cantonese people.

In Guangxi, the fighting was even more chaotic.

……

Under such a cruel screening mechanism, those who ultimately survive are the strong, fierce, and united.

Because of this,
The government governments of Jiangxi, Guangdong and Guangxi provinces have always been extremely wary of the Hakka people.

From the government's perspective, this is also easy to understand.

The local government could not collect much money or grain from the Hakka people and had to constantly be on guard against them causing trouble.

A group of refugees who are good at migration, highly organized, have a strong sense of collective struggle, and live in the mountains have gathered all the elements for rebellion.

The response of the Guangdong and Guangxi governments was to recruit soldiers and recruit strong Hakka men to join the Green Camp and be stationed in other provinces.

It is both a restraint and a way to remove the firewood from under the cauldron.

……

Chenjia Village has a history of more than 700 years.

Farming was the main occupation, with business as a supplement. Occasionally, there were a few scholars, but overall, the literary style was not popular.

The whole village is connected by blood, and the villagers are not interested in anything like overthrowing the Qing Dynasty and restoring the Ming Dynasty, the birth of Maitreya, or eliminating violence and maintaining peace.

Apart from being slow in paying taxes and levies and repeatedly defaulting on payments, there was nothing else that would alert the government.

Chenjia Village also has a tradition of martial arts.

During the slack season,

Young and strong people all like to practice a set of boxing - Chen style Tai Chi.

……

A teenager in Fengtang Village who had his head broken had his parents, uncles, aunts, and cousins, all of whom came across the river to ask for medical expenses.

Zeng Huaigu, who was carrying a sharp knife, also mixed in with them.

Because the boy’s surname was Zeng, he was within the five generations of mourning.

More importantly, he wanted to see the militia training in Chenjia Village with his own eyes.

The two sides soon started arguing.

"Compensate for 50 kilograms of rice? No way. Just give me 2 kilograms. Take it or leave it."

"Don't go too far, 2 jin? Are you sending away beggars?"

"Yes, to send away beggars."

The two sides quickly escalated their war of words, with the language becoming increasingly romantic and focusing on pain points.

"Street thug."

"Pujie Guangzai."

……

The Cantonese people are very united, with their clans as the bond.

The other side of unity is xenophobia.

The two sides soon began to push and shove.

The two young men from the Chen family recognized Zeng Huaigu as the leader of Fengtang Village. They attacked him from the left and right with their cannon punches, each with great force.

Tai Chi has many derivatives, and the soothing tortoise-style routine is only one part of it. There is also no shortage of vigorous and powerful routines with big movements.

Zeng Huaigu retreated repeatedly, and when he had time he kicked one man down, but was also hit by an elbow from another.

The pain in my ribs was unbearable.

Facing the two young men who rushed over again,

He quickly pulled out the sharp knife from his arms and forced back the four hands in an instant.

The village leader, Chen Shihao, who had been standing at the back with his arms folded and watching the fight coldly, was furious:
"The Fengtang guys have bullied me too much. Ring the gong!"

……

The gong sounded and the militia came out.

The dispute escalated again.

Chen Shihao was the eldest son of the village grandfather. He loved spears and sticks. He gave orders to the gathered militia from the village:

"The spearmen are in front, the swordmen are in the back, line up."

Zeng Huaigu's face changed drastically when he looked at the Chenjia Village militia training with murderous intent.

Yelled loudly:
"Run away."

……

A dozen people were running in front.

The Chenjia Village militia was chasing them relentlessly.

This is the crushing of weapons over bare hands, and the crushing of organized forces over unorganized forces.

Fortunately,

Reinforcements have arrived from Fengtang Village.

Three gunshots were heard and the whole village, young and old, rushed out.

Hakka people love to use three-barreled guns~
The first sound means gathering, which means there is something to discuss, and the men from each family go to the threshing ground.

Two beeps are a warning, indicating that a small group of thieves have entered the village.
The third sound is an emergency mobilization, indicating that a crisis has arrived, and men, women, young and old should grab any weapons and go out to gather.

……

Lu Dayou rushed to the front with a long knife in hand.

The weapons in the hands of the men behind him were a hodgepodge, including machetes, dung forks, hook-and-sickle spears, short spears, short knives with blades, and sticks.
Protected Zeng Huaigu and others.

Chen Shihao stopped the group training in time:

"Stop, form a formation."

The two sides were 30 meters apart and confronted each other with force.

Conflict is about to break out.

……

Chen Shihao's eyes were vicious as he silently calculated the power comparison between the two sides.

There were 50 able-bodied men in the militia, and the training lasted for two and a half months, plus more than 2 armed men from the village who came with them.

There are more men on the opposite side, at least 300 of them.

Hundreds of big-footed women and half-grown children followed behind.
He slowly stepped back a few steps, hooked his hand and called for the gunman:

"You three will listen to my orders later and bombard the area where they have the most people."

"Yes."

These three were his cousins, and they commanded the most powerful military force in the village—large rifles purchased at high prices from Zhaoqing Prefecture, each weighing 30 taels.

Chen Shihao suddenly had an idea to massacre Fengtang Village, divide up their land, and completely eliminate the grudge between the two villages.
……

Zeng Huaigu finally got the most handy weapon, a hook-and-sickle spear.

He was still in shock, and he came close to Lu Dayou and whispered:
"Old Lu, I'm afraid he's not easy to deal with."

"why?"

"They have many long weapons in their hands, they advance and retreat together, and they also have large raised guns."

The burly Lu Dayou gnashed his teeth.
"When a man dies, the birds fly up to the sky. Fight them. I will rush to the front later."

……

【Dear book friends, I wrote about the Hakka-Punti conflict to reflect this period of history hundreds of years ago. Behind this was the strong instigation of the Qing court, which deliberately instigated the Han people to control the Han people and benefited from the conflict between the snipe and the clam. Nowadays, in Guangdong, there are abundant resources, and the Hakka people live and work in peace and contentment, and get along normally. Therefore, please do not over-interpret it, and the author has no prejudice. After all, the history of human survival has been cruel since the beginning of Homo sapiens. You can feel sorry, but you don’t have to ignore it. 】

(End of this chapter)