The Imperial Age with the Resurgence of Han Style

Chapter 303: The Sudden Native Riot

"Master Hou..."

Gao Zhien, the chief steward of the Huixin Copper Mine in Luxi, saw Qi Weishu standing at the dock, still staring at the empty sea in a daze, and couldn't help but say carefully: "My Lord, if you are worried that those forced laborers will die in the hands of the natives, why don't you come forward to stop the military's order? With your status as the Lord, they will have to give you some face, and maybe cancel the order to recruit our mine. There are hundreds of mines and plantations of all sizes in Jing'an Prefecture, and they can definitely get the number of people required by the military. Now, the mine has lost 30 strong laborers. How much less ore will be mined every day? Wouldn't it be much less copper ingots to be refined every day? This is..."

"You are so impatient!" Qi Weishu turned around and glared at him fiercely. "What do you know? ... Have you been obsessed with money all day long? The most important affairs of the country are sacrifice and war. The military mobilized the people to suppress the rebellion of the natives for the safety and stability of the entire Jing'an Prefecture, and to protect our mines and plantations of all sizes from being raided by the natives. If everyone thinks like you, refuses to contribute money and manpower, and allows the rioting native forces to spread and expand, it will inevitably get out of control and spread throughout the entire Sanyi Island (now Mindanao Island), and even the entire Luzon Governorate."

"My Lord, I'm thinking about digging more ores and refining more copper so that the mine can earn more interest..." Gao Zhien said timidly, "If the military consumes all the laborers we have recruited in the process of suppressing the rebellion, we will have to work hard to recruit new ones."

"Can those few thousand natives defeat the army's suppression troops?" Qi Weishu said disdainfully: "Just wait and see. Even if there are some casualties in the fight, they won't be too great. Hey, these natives really picked a good opportunity. They took advantage of the fact that the garrison of the Luzon Governor-General's District was transferred to Borneo and Annan to make such a huge commotion!"

After the agreement to divide the Kingdom of Brunei was signed, in addition to several vassal states such as Shun, Luzon, Wei, Sulu and others sending naval and land forces to enter Brunei, the Qi State also carried out limited mobilization in the two governorates of Borneo and Luzon, and transported the stationed army in the two places directly to the vicinity of the Brunei Royal City by ships, preparing to take over the Brunei government.

At the same time, another feast of division slowly began. Ha Tien, Champa, and the Governor-General's District of Annan and the Governor-General's District of Runzhou of Qi issued an ultimatum to the Kingdom of Cambodia on the grounds that the Kingdom of Cambodia had wantonly "persecuted" the Han ethnic group and suppressed and expelled Han merchants. They demanded that the Kingdom of Cambodia grant autonomy to the local Han, Jarai and Annamites in the vast areas east of the Mekong River and south of Ton Sali Lake, strictly limit the size of the domestic army, and stop any discrimination and persecution of the Han people.

In order to achieve its goal and force Cambodia to submit, the State of Qi not only mobilized and conscripted a large number of local troops, but also drew a number of garrison troops from the two overseas governorates of Luzon and Jingping (now Sulawesi Island), and deployed heavy troops on the Cambodian border, trying to use this powerful force to intimidate Cambodia and dismember the other side without bloodshed.

After a troop mobilization, only three and a half Marine companies with more than 400 soldiers were left in the entire Luzon Governorate, and they were stationed in Huining (now Zamboanga City), Xinghua (now Lucena City in the southeast of Luzon Island), Huining (now Cebu City), and Imen Island (now Basilan Island).

However, with Qi's maritime power dominating the South Seas, there should not be a risk of foreign invasion. Moreover, the Luzon Governorate is protected by two vassal states, Luzon and Wei, so there is no need to worry about security and defense issues.

As for the natives in the Luzon region, since several native kingdoms were destroyed after a powerful blow decades ago, they have hardly been able to make any bigger waves. They have become "hired laborers" in major mines and plantations, or fled into the mountains and forests and become savages. Those former kings of the native states and tribal leaders, holding on to the wealth they had plundered and accumulated, live a life of drunkenness and debauchery under the surveillance of Qi's military and political officials.

Therefore, the people of Qi boldly transferred all the more than 3,000 troops from the Luzon Governorate to ensure the smooth progress of the two division operations.

But who could have imagined that a large-scale native riot would suddenly break out in the seemingly peaceful Governor-General's District of Luzon.

Half a month ago, the native laborers in an abaca plantation in Liping County (now General Santos City, a coastal city in southern Mindanao Island), more than 200 kilometers south of Jing'an, could not bear the bullying and exploitation of the supervisors, so they suddenly revolted, killed more than a dozen guards and supervisors, and seized weapons. They then attacked several surrounding plantations, freeing more native laborers.

After occupying several plantations and villages, these riotous natives did not hide in the jungle after looting. Instead, under the instigation of several True God imams, they raised banners such as "expel the Han people and restore their homes" and "launch a holy war to promote the holy religion", calling on all True God believers to unite, launch an armed uprising, and drive out the brutal and evil Qi people.

The rebellious natives even found a prince of the former Maguindanao Sultanate and made him the leader of the "rebel army" to lead all the True God believers who were determined to resist foreign invaders to resist the colonial rule of the Qi people and ultimately achieve the goal of restoring the country and pacifying the people.

In just half a month, the native riots spread to the entire Liping County and spread to the hinterland. They attacked the immigrant villages and plantations of the Qi people, burned houses, destroyed farmland, and brutally killed all the captured Qi people and the naturalized natives who followed them.

Upon hearing the news, local military and political officials in Jing'an Prefecture ordered the counties, towns, and villages under their jurisdiction to guard their gates and not be taken advantage of by the rioting natives in order to reduce unnecessary casualties and property losses. At the same time, they issued a comprehensive emergency mobilization order, recruiting local militia on a large scale in preparation to quell the native riots as quickly as possible to prevent the native rebel forces from growing and spreading to more immigrant settlements.

By the first year of the Yonglong reign (1730), the population of the Luzon Governorate of Qi State had reached over (excluding local indigenous people). It was divided into six prefectures, two directly-controlled states, and counties. It had long had an overwhelming advantage in strength over the local natives.

Moreover, after years of governance and division, the natives had been completely subdued, and their tribes and settlements had been divided into pieces by the numerous immigrant settlements set up by the State of Qi, making it impossible for them to form a joint force in a short period of time.

Therefore, after the native labor riot, the Jing'an local government received the information and was initially a little careless. It only ordered the Liping County local government to send police and gendarmes to suppress it forcefully so as not to cause greater casualties and property losses.

In the several governor-general's territories in Southeast Asia, were there no years when there were no riots by the natives or attacks on the local Han Chinese settlements?
It's not a big deal. Just send people to chop off the natives who are leading the riot and severely punish the natives who are participating in the riot. Naturally, the incident will be settled quickly.

The only worry is that after the natives cause some trouble, they will flee the plantation directly and dive into the vast mountains and dense forests. That would be difficult to deal with. The only thing they can do is block the edge of the forest and hope that the natives who escape in will be killed by snakes, insects, and poisonous ants.

But we never expected that after these natives made things worse, they would openly "raise the flag of rebellion" and wanted to drive us Qi people out of Shanyi Island and rebuild the native kingdom.

When Jing'an Prefecture Governor Sun Jizheng heard the news, his scalp suddenly went numb.

With the natives causing such a big fuss, his political career is over.

Regardless of whether the aboriginal riot was finally quelled, his dismissal from office was a foregone conclusion. If he allowed it to spread and the aboriginals to overthrow the entire Jing'an Prefecture, he might be held accountable and his descendants would be implicated (the "Da Qi Official Law" stipulated that those who were convicted of crimes could not serve as officials for the first three generations). In a hurry, Sun Jizhi immediately ordered the local military preparation department to work with the military police and the police to actively recruit and organize local soldiers to put out the aboriginal riot in Liping as quickly as possible and restore local production and living order.

If he moves quickly enough, the natives can be nipped in the bud before they gain power, and the whole matter is handled cleanly and beautifully, perhaps the cabinet will give him a lighter sentence and give him a chance to be reinstated.

In addition, two royal relatives have come to Jing'an City. We must not let the native rebellion affect them, otherwise we will be in an irretrievable situation.

"What do you think? If the rebellion is suppressed successfully this time, will Jing'an Prefecture give us thirty or fifty captured natives for free to make up for the losses in our mines?" Qi Weishu dusted off his clothes and got on the carriage leisurely.

"Of course!" Gao Zhien was delighted when he heard this and complimented him, "Your Majesty is really far-sighted! Since Jing'an Prefecture has recruited the laborers in our mine to form a militia to suppress the rebellion, no matter how much they lose in the end, they will have to compensate us with the captured natives. Hey, maybe in the end we can spend a little money to buy more natives from them to expand the number of laborers in the mine. Although these natives are not very obedient, they are much cheaper after all."

"What do you mean by buying or not buying? ... We in Great Qi do not engage in human trafficking!"

"Yes, yes, that's right, sir. We are hiring the natives, so the wages can be slightly lower. Sir, where are we going?"

"Changchun Tower. ... Later, I will give you a list. Invite all the guests. I will introduce a distinguished guest to them in the evening."

"Yes, Lord Marquis."
-
"Get off, get off!"

As the train stopped steadily at the Yanling County (now Digos City, Mindanao) station, the door of the carriage was heavily opened, and a military police corporal shouted loudly and kicked and beat the militiamen in the carriage to drive them out.

"Assemble, assemble!" On the platform, a military police sergeant waved the butt of his rifle, gathered the still confused militiamen into a team, and then shouted commands to lead them out of the station.

In the square outside the station, there were more than 20 horse-drawn carriages that had been temporarily requisitioned, apparently ready to transport the armed militiamen who had just got off the train.

"Hurry up everyone." A military police captain frowned as he watched the chaotic militia team walk out of the station. He ordered loudly, "The military situation is urgent and there is no time to delay. After transporting these people to the dock, they must board the ship immediately and head to Liping to assemble and wait for orders."

"Yes, sir." A military police lieutenant (second lieutenant) answered loudly, then rushed over quickly, waving the scabbard in his hand, and hit the militiamen who were fighting for the carriage.

"These people have not received any training yet, and we don't know how effective they will be on the battlefield." An officer from the Military Police Intelligence Department said with some concern.

"Do you think those natives have undergone strict military training?" The military police lieutenant said disapprovingly, "Although there are thousands of rioting natives, they are just a mob. Besides, the ones fighting against them are mainly local police and armed militia. These hastily recruited militiamen are just to strengthen the momentum of our army and to block and encircle the fleeing natives to prevent them from escaping. It is not difficult to defeat those rioting natives, but the difficult part is how to capture more prisoners after defeating them."

"Oh, that's right." The intelligence officer nodded after hearing this. "It's true. Every native is a valuable asset. We can't let them all run into the mountains and forests like rabbits after being dispersed. Hey, do you think those natives will choose to stay in seclusion and retreat to the inland mountains after our army arrives?"

"They will probably run away," said the military police lieutenant. "So the superiors asked us to recruit more armed militiamen to go and suppress them, in order to expand the battlefield as much as possible and surround the natives. However, our actions are still a bit slow. If the railway was built from Jing'an to Liping, we could definitely catch the natives by surprise and wipe them out before they could react. But now, we have to take the train and the steamer, and when we get to Liping, we have to rely on pack horses or walk. How time-consuming!"

"Sir, the southern coastal area is sparsely populated. Apart from a few abaca plantations, there is nothing worth investing in. If a railway is built there, it will not transport many passengers and goods throughout the year. It will definitely be a loss-making business. Tell me, under such circumstances, who would invest in building this section of railway to Liping?"

"These railway companies deserve to be damned by God, they are all obsessed with money!" The Imperial Guard Captain said bitterly: "Don't even mention that there are so few railways on Shanyi Island. Even if the entire Luzon Governorate is added together, there are still fewer railways than the Kingdom of Luzon!"

"Haha, they have a large population, and all the territory they occupy is concentrated in the prime area of ​​Luzon, so naturally they have a higher demand for railways. Hey, when it comes to suppressing the native rebellion, didn't our superiors think of borrowing some manpower from Weiguo and Luzon?"

"Why would we need to borrow troops from a vassal state just because the natives are rioting? ... The army brothers can't afford to lose this man anyway!"

"Are they being a little too confident? That Army commander Xu has set out with 300 to 400 vanguard troops. If they face thousands of native rebels, will they suffer a great loss?"

"I don't think so. Even if we encounter the main force of the native rebels and cannot defeat them for a while, we should be able to protect ourselves with advanced firearms..."

(End of this chapter)