Taiping Inn

After Li Xuandu ascended the throne, he summoned all the clan leaders for a brief meeting. After re-determining the goals and plans, Li Xuandu led everyone to leave Penglai Island and head to Qizhou.

Qizhou today is far from a peaceful and prosperous era. After the Qingyang Sect war, everything is in ruins. However, compared with other prefectures, Qizhou is across the sea from Liaodong. If you really can't survive, you can still cross the sea to Liaodong, so it has not become a purgatory on earth.

In response to this situation, Qin Daofang proposed the slogan of "equal distribution of land and exemption of taxes" based on the propositions of Li Xuandu and Qin Qing. Only four words, but more powerful than any artillery and cavalry. Wherever they passed, the people welcomed them wholeheartedly, and some even took the initiative to open the city gates to welcome the king's army.

However, these four words also really touched the interests of the gentry and powerful.

Strictly speaking, the gentry and powerful in the world can be divided into two categories, one is the old gentry, who are based on land, and the other is the emerging gentry, who are based on commerce. Regarding the "equal distribution of land and tax exemption" of the Liaodong army, the attitudes of the two types of gentry were also completely different. The new gentry took a wait-and-see attitude, or a welcoming attitude, and the worst result was that they did not care about it. But the old gentry was opposed, and they wanted to get rid of it as soon as possible. After all, cutting off someone's financial resources is like killing their parents.

In fact, these two types of gentry are the epitome of Confucianism and Taoism. Confucianism is the largest landlord in the world, while Taoism is prosperous because of maritime trade. For example, Qingwei Sect, Cihang Sect, Wudao Sect, Butian Sect, etc. all started with commerce. The Qin family, Li family, Zhang family, Qian family, Su family, etc., which are attached to various sects of Taoism, are also aristocratic families based on commerce.

Li Xuandu seems to represent the interests of Taoism, but in fact Qin Qing is the real representative of the interests of Taoism. It's just that in the short term, Li Xuandu and Qin Qing have the same goal, which is to overthrow the old gentry represented by Confucianism, redistribute land, and liberate productivity. Only when the people are prosperous can commerce develop further.

On this point, Li Daoxu, Zhang Jingxiu, Xu Wugui and Li Xuandu and Qin Qing are in agreement, which is also the fundamental reason why Li Daoxu, Zhang Jingxiu and Qin Qing forcefully promote the unification of Taoism. However, everyone has differences, and a war is inevitable in the end.

The reason why Li Xuandu can become the leader of Taoism is the result of mutual compromise between Li Daoxu, Zhang Jingxiu, Xu Wugui and Qin Qing. Only Li Xuandu can take into account the interests and ideas of the four people at the same time. In fact, Li Xuandu did it and initially integrated Taoism on the basis of his predecessors.

In the deduction of "The World Chess Game", Situ Xuance became the governor of Qizhou, and his successor was Zhang Haishi. With the strength of Qingwei Sect, it is natural to manage Qizhou like an iron barrel and be able to form an army on its own. However, the current situation is that Situ Xuance died early, and Qingwei Sect was frustrated by the saint's mansion and failed to manage Qizhou. Although Qin Daofang was the governor of Qizhou, he was not a vassal king who had been running the city for many years. In addition, the situation in Qizhou was complicated, so Qin Daofang could not completely control Qizhou. At the critical moment of life and death, especially after the court issued an order to dismiss Qin Daofang from the post of governor, many local gentry and officials at all levels no longer obeyed the governor's orders and directly rose up to resist Qin Xiang's army.

Qin Xiang arrived at the bank of the river on April 21st. The Qingwei Sect sent more than a thousand small ferries to help Qin Xiang's army cross the river. Qin Xiang's army took down several cities in a row, conquered the entire Lanling Prefecture, killed the Prince of Lanling, and took his property. On April 24th, Qin Xiang led his army to Beihai Prefecture and attacked Zhangqiu County. Niu Kui, the deputy general of Qizhou, led 5,000 soldiers to fight and all died. On the eighth day, the city was broken by the defender Cai Xiong as an internal response, and the prefect Zhang De hanged himself.

Qin Xiang arrived at the capital of Beihai Prefecture, which was the ancestral home of the Li family and the governor's office. There was enough food, so Qin Xiang's army was able to rest for several days. On April 27, Qin Xiang led his army to cross the river again and conquered Qihe County. The officials and people welcomed the surrender.

On April 30, Qin Xiang entered Dongping Prefecture and attacked Qingping Pass. The guarding general Zhou Ji defended the city because Qin Xiang's army did not carry artillery and failed to break the city. The two sides were deadlocked for several days. Zhou Ji finally retreated to Chaping County because of the small number of soldiers and food. After Qin Xiang conquered Qingping Pass, he continued to attack Chaping County. Zhou Ji tried his best to resist. Finally, he ran out of gunpowder and died in the battle. His body was covered with arrows like a hedgehog. His whole family also died in the raging fire. He vowed to never surrender.

On the night when Qin Xiang conquered Chaping County, Jiang Chengen, the prefect of Dongping Prefecture, surrendered, and Wang Yin, the commander of Qizhou, also surrendered. Wherever Qin Xiang's army passed, all prefectures and counties surrendered. On the second day of May, the Dashun Army entered the prefecture city of Dongping Prefecture. The whole city was in an uproar and celebrated. They decorated with colorful decorations and burned incense to welcome them. Officials and gentry representatives in the city personally held wine to welcome the general.

Qin Xiang reiterated the land policy set by Qin Qing and Li Xuandu, re-measured the land under the names of major gentry, cleared the donated land, re-registered it, and then paid the taxes of the past years. The unpaid taxes were offset by the land under their names. The remaining land was the legally owned land of the big families, and they were given official certificates. From then on, they paid taxes according to the law and remained rich.

If they did not obey and resisted by various means, they would be suppressed by force, and their property would be confiscated and put into the national treasury.

This was the case with the gentry who had previously risen up in resistance. Not only were their lands confiscated, their property was used as food and wages for the army, and even their lives could not be saved. They were all executed and their bodies were exposed to the public.

As for the lands that were taken back, Qin Xiang did not take them for himself, but distributed most of them to the people who had no farmland, and a small part of them was used as rewards for military merit.

After the news was released, it really won the support of the people. Many court military households came to surrender, and there were countless good family sons who joined the army. The people welcomed them wholeheartedly, just like the spring in the four seasons, when all things are competing to bloom and full of vitality.

People are illiterate, maybe they are ignorant and easily deceived by gentry, but they are not stupid. They try hard to exploit themselves and distribute land. There is no need to say much about who the people are looking for. Even if the gentry tells the truth, they will not believe it. , the truth of the sage? Can you compare to the visible and tangible land crops?

The people's voice suddenly changed. A few days ago, the barbarian bandits in Liaodong were still there. After redistributing the land, they became the king's heavenly soldiers. As the people were told by word of mouth, Qin Qing became the Emperor of Heaven and came down to earth to save the suffering. Qin Xiang was the general around the Emperor, and Qin Daofang was the star official around the Emperor, and some even set up a temple for the three of them to worship.

For a time, it seemed that the Liaodong army was the local villagers, but the local government army became foreign bandits.

In just over a month, Qin Xiang's army expanded from 60,000 to 100,000, and received a large number of weapons and firearms. Unlike the Wei official army that was about to collapse, their spirits were completely different.

On the contrary, many officials and soldiers kept appearing. Especially after hearing that the fields were distributed in their hometowns, they often defected to the Liaodong army in groups. No matter how the officers restrained them, they could not resist them.

In fact, this method has been implemented in a small range for some time, and the Li family and Qin family took the lead in cleaning up the fields and paying taxes. However, the Li family has not much land and does not accept investment. As long as the tax is paid, some taxes are a drop in the bucket for the Li family, so when this policy was implemented, no one in the Li family opposed it.

The foundation of the Li family and the young are all on the dividends of sea trade. They have long looked down on the soil and eat food. Even if they donated them all, they don’t care.

However, the other gentry did not have the confidence of the Li family, and they all complained secretly, measuring the land again and clearing the land to be dedicated. It would be fine, but they could only be considered as spitting out the excess food, which was not considered a damaging muscle. If you can pay the tax again, it means cutting the flesh and bleeding.

The gentry did not pay taxes, but it was decided by Emperor Taizu of the Great Wei Dynasty. It has been two hundred years, and it has been more than two hundred years at once. How many people can easily bear the tax? Moreover, the tax is paid based on the actual amount of land you have. No matter how much land you had a hundred years ago, you just need to pay the tax for nearly two hundred years with the number of fields you have in your name today. It is not enough to sell iron, and it must be offset by the land under your name. In this way, the great gentry became a little gentry, and the little gentry directly became a ruined house.

The gentry was determined to oppose it or spread rumors and slander, but the guns, cannons, swords and swords of the Liaodong army were unreasonable. Those who dared to resist had no chance to become a dilapidated person and directly confiscated their families. So many gentry could only grit their teeth and recognize them.

After all, the gentry and wealthy families rely on Confucianism. Without the support of Confucianism, they are the fish on the chopping board and can be slaughtered. So what can be done at this time? I can only recognize it. At least I can save the lives of the family and some of the family business.

Dongping Prefecture is located in the southwest of Qizhou, located at the junction of Qizhou, Chuzhou, Zhongzhou and Luzhou.

This place is the holy land of Confucianism. The most holy, sub-saints, and re-saints of Confucianism were all born here. The Grand Canal also passes through this place, so Dongping Prefecture is quite prosperous.

The saint's mansion is naturally located here.

At this time, Qin Xiang's army was only a short distance from the saint's mansion.

Qin Xiang did not launch an attack rashly, waiting for Li Xuandu to lead the Taoist people to come.

Qin Xiang's army is beside him, how can the saint's mansion not know?

In fact, since the Qin Xiang army landed in Qizhou, the Saint Mansion has been paying attention to the trends of the Qin Xiang army. Even the gentry and defenders from all over the country raised troops to resist the Qin Xiang army were planning behind the scenes.

But these gentry in Qizhou cannot even stop the Qingyang Sect. How can they stop Qin Xiang's army? As a result, Qin Xiang broke through most of Qizhou and came from the East China Sea to Dongping Prefecture, located in the westernmost part of Qizhou.

Now the saint's mansion is in sorrow.

In the courtyard of the front hall of the inner house, there are tall and straight pines, and the fish pond is lined up from east to west, quiet and elegant, with a great feeling of moving scenery.

The Duobao Pavilion in the east room is Mrs. Jiang’s residence, and the two of them sit and stand in the hall.

The sitting woman was looking at the banner hanging on the wall: "The heart of a saint is like a pearl in the abyss, and the heart of an ordinary person is like a ladle in the water."

The person standing is a middle-aged man, the Yansheng Gong of this generation.

Mrs. Jiang's face was as deep as water, and she asked in a low voice: "What's going on outside?"

Yan Shenggong smiled bitterly and said, "We underestimated Liaodong. The situation outside now... If we want to describe it in four words, it is... the people's hearts can be used."

"The people's hearts are available." Mrs. Jiang whispered, "I thought they were a group of reckless men who were reckless, but I didn't expect that they were scholars who killed people and wanted to kill their hearts."