The landlord in Yongyang Town is really interesting!
When tenants in surrounding villages and towns spontaneously rebelled, the landlords here began to train Xiang Yong. When they heard that Jie Xuelong wanted to suppress bandits, they immediately sent Xiang Yong there.
Now, Jie Xuelong has been defeated, and Zhao Han must take Yongyang Town.
Because this is the south gate of Ji'an Prefecture, if Zhao Han takes Yongyang Town as the center of his rule, he can control Yongxin County to the west, Anfu County to the north, Taihe County to the south, and go straight to the capital city in the east!
Landowners in their right minds all knew that Zhao Yan was coming to Yongyang Town, but only a few people packed up their belongings and ran away. Most of them sat at home and waited, not knowing what they were waiting for. Waiting to be killed to divide their fields, or waiting
Does Zhao Han have a kind heart?
"Master, the rebels have disembarked!"
"Explore again!"
Xiao Wanquan was trembling all over and restless in the study room, a deep fear enveloped his heart.
"Master, there is a rebel bandit coming straight to our village!"
"What?"
Xiao Wanquan's legs felt weak, so he asked his slaves to help him out, and then ordered the whole family to be gathered together.
When Zhao Han personally led his troops to the Xiao family, he was already kneeling on the ground in front of him.
Zhao Han ignored these guys and looked up at the "Zhuangyuan Temple".
This ancestral hall is very interesting. The main entrance and side entrance are built like three archways. There are a lot of plaques with scary contents: Number One Scholar, Second Place, Hanlin, Huiyuan, Jieyuan, Huikui, Jingkui, Da Sima, Da Sikou,
Dazhong Cheng, academic administration... are all the honors obtained by the ancestors of the Xiao family, or they are the official positions held by the ancestors.
After looking at the Zhuangyuan Temple for a while, Zhao Han finally said with a smile: "Are you trying to become thieves?"
Xiao Wanquan knelt down and kowtowed, then knelt straight and cupped his hands and said: "Mr. Zhao cares about all the people and implements virtuous policies. I even heard that Mr. Zhao went to the capital, but he restrained everyone and did not commit any crimes. He is truly a righteous teacher, how can he be called a thief and bandit?"
?Although this old man is stupid, he still knows what people's intentions are, and today he is just surrendering to the Ming Lord."
"Hahahahaha!"
Zhao Han was amused by the old man and asked, "Do you know how I govern?"
"I heard a little bit." Xiao Wanquan's heart was beating wildly.
This guy still harbors illusions, thinking that Zhao Han's killing of landlords to divide their fields was a way to gather people's hearts in the early stage. Now that he has defeated the governor, his power has greatly increased, and he will probably make good friends with the local gentry.
Zhao Han asked: "Are you willing to donate the Xiao family's fields?"
As soon as these words came out, Xiao Wanquan felt desperate and his illusions were shattered.
But he can't leave this place. There is the Xiao family's ancestral hall, the Xiao family's ancestral home, the Zhuangyuan Temple, and countless pieces of land belonging to the Xiao family. After leaving, can the Xiao family still be called the Xiao family?
But if we don't cooperate with the rebels, Xiao may be killed!
After thinking about it, Xiao Wanquan kowtowed and said, "Mr. Xiao is willing to dedicate the family property and serve Mr. Zhao from generation to generation!"
"Donate all the land?" Zhao Han asked.
"Give it all!" Xiao Wanquan said bravely.
Let me go, this is not easy to handle. Zhao Han felt a little embarrassed. He hoped that the Xiao family would rise up to resist.
"Hahahahaha!"
Zhao Han suddenly laughed heartily, helped Xiao Wanquan up with his own hands, and said comfortingly: "Old sir, I understand justice well, how could I ignore human feelings? Let's do this, the whole Xiao family, everyone over twelve years old, regardless of male or female, old or young
, each person can keep twenty acres of land."
Only twenty acres per person?
Xiao Wanquan was about to cry, and forced a smile to flatter him: "Mr. Zhao is so kind and righteous, I am so grateful that I shed tears of gratitude."
Zhao Han added: "The Xiao family must divide the family property. Excluding children, there are no more than ten people in a household."
Xiao Wanquan almost fainted and wanted to bite Zhao Han to death.
Once the family is separated, people's hearts will be dispersed and his appeal will be gone.
Zhao Han asked: "Does the old gentleman disagree?"
"Yes, I am willing!" Xiao Wanquan said quickly.
Zhao Han continued: "All the Xiao family slaves must be released. Those who are willing to share the land, I will give them land. Those who are willing to stay will all be changed into servant contracts. In the future, please do not beat or scold the servants at will."
Xiao Wanquan had nothing to say. If the land could be divided, how many slaves would be willing to stay?
Zhao Han said with a smile: "I am short of talents. Mr. Xiao can recommend his children to be officials."
Xiao Wanquan seems to be alive again, and he will not be afraid of losing his position if he can become an official. The rebels have made a big fuss, and they will probably be recruited in the future, and the children of the Xiao family will follow suit. If the rebels really take over the world, wouldn't the Xiao family follow the dragon?
The hero?
Xiao Wanquan straightened his back and said: "I, the Xiao family, have one scholar, seven scholars, and countless children and students. I am willing to follow you!"
"Are there any Jinshi who are serving as officials?" Zhao Han asked.
Xiao Wanquan replied: "The literary style has declined, and there are currently no non-commissioned officers. There are only two people who have been promoted to official positions."
No wonder he was so quick to surrender to the thieves. It turned out that there were no Jinshi in these two generations.
As long as you are a scholar, then accept them all.
However, these scholars cannot all stay in Yongyang Town. When allocating land to them, they must be dispersed and distributed to other villages and towns, otherwise they will definitely become internal hidden dangers.
Even if you have land in Yongyang Town, you still have to take back the land. At worst, you can allocate a few more acres elsewhere as compensation!
Zhao Han was very satisfied with the surrender of the Xiao family and sent an order to Chen Maosheng: "Maosheng, the Xiao family's righteous deeds can serve as an example. Let the missionary team inform other landowners. Also make it clear to the common people that although this Xiao family has had bad deeds, they have already done so."
Change your mind...well," Zhao Han suddenly said to Xiao Wanquan, "Old sir, if you are angry for the common people, can you get some housekeepers to take care of things? They deceive the superiors and exploit the people, they really deserve to die!"
Xiao Wanquan was extremely angry, and at the same time extremely frightened, because those evil slaves died on behalf of their masters.
If a few evil slaves don't die, it's him, Xiao Wanquan, who will die!
However, if he pushes his close family slave out to suffer punishment, who will listen to him in the future?
It's over, everything is over!
Xiao Wanquan suddenly knelt down: "The evil slave deserves to die, and I want to kill him quickly!"
"Hahahahahaha!"
Zhao Han helped Xiao Wanquan up again, pointed to the Zhuangyuan Temple and said: "The Xiao family's ancestral home, ancestral hall and Zhuangyuan Temple can all be kept. As for the Hall of Heroes, let's replace it with a disobedient landlord!"
Following the example set by the Xiao family, two-thirds of the nearby landowners took the initiative to donate their land.
Naturally, they have a calculation in mind. Success from Long is naturally very good, and they can accept the recruitment in the future. If they are recruited, the land that has been allocated can be regained through various means. Anyway, they cannot offend the rebels now, otherwise the tribe will
They will all be killed.
The reaction of these big landowners was completely beyond Zhao Han's expectation.
He killed many landlords in the neighboring villages and towns, but as long as the soldiers pressed into the territory, the landlord class was not as stubborn as imagined. Instead of resisting, they actively donated their land and provided a large number of scholars.
Haha, so interesting!
As for the remaining third, those big landowners who refused to be thieves all had clansmen who were high officials in the court.
Of course, Zhao Han would not be lenient and would just take advantage of these guys.
Chen Maosheng's missionary team soon expanded to 200 people. They used Yongyang Town and surrounding villages to train missionaries while working.
Zhao Han's current territory is bordered by Yongxin County to the west (with Fei Yinggon in the middle), Anfu County to the north, and Taihe County to the south. The Lushui River is the dividing line to the east, and the east of the Lushui River is under the jurisdiction of the government.
.
To be honest, the government's territory is more fertile, while Zhao Han's territory is relatively barren, as many villages and towns have large areas of mountainous land.
But a barren land is more conducive to consolidating the foundation, training officials and training soldiers, otherwise the rate of corruption will be very fast!
Zhao Han's top priority is not to blindly expand his territory, otherwise he would just stay in Fucheng.
He has to strengthen the missionary group and train grassroots officials!
Once the power is consolidated, there is no need to send troops at all, and a peasant association is formed directly on the government's territory. The peasant association leads the tenants to bear rent and resist interest, and leads the tenants to oppose the landlords. It can extend its tentacles to the three surrounding counties without occupying any city.
The countryside surrounds the city!
This strategy is not to defeat the officers and soldiers, but to paralyze the court.
As long as the county, state, and government towns are not lost, the local officials will help Zhao Han deceive the central government. Maybe after actually controlling the entire Ji'an Prefecture, Emperor Chongzhen will not even know that the Zhao thief has grown bigger.
As for the government not being able to collect taxes?
Alas, there must be another major disaster. Anyway, it happens every year in Jiangxi. It just means that the tax revenue deported to the central government becomes less.
Just as Zhao Han was consolidating his territory, the peasant army moving south had already occupied half of Taihe County.
The tens of thousands of bandits captured by Xie Xuelong in the north were originally going to be released home to arrange farming, but now they are making trouble again. Some of them fled in Anfu County, and some of them returned to Luling County spontaneously and asked Zhao Han to allocate land to them.
Zhao Han is short of grassroots officials and missionary personnel, otherwise the northern and southern counties could easily acquire it.
Even officials from Taihe County and Anfu County will help Zhao Han consolidate his territory - Zhao Yan, the bandit who does not attack the county seat, is much cuter than those bandits!
The world is so absurd that the government actually wants Zhao Han...
Winter, the sixth year of Chongzhen.
The officers and soldiers from all walks of life encircled and suppressed the bandits from the northwest. The peasant army took advantage of the ice of the Yellow River to break out of the ten-lane encirclement of the officers and soldiers. They successively captured Mianchi, Lushi, and Yiyang, and the peasant army entered the border of Henan.
The governor of Henan blocked it with heavy troops, and the peasant army turned southward, plundering Ruzhou, Xichuan, Neixiang, Guanghua, and Nanyang along the way.
Facing the pursuit of the officers and soldiers, the peasant army that had merged suddenly dispersed into several groups. Not only did they flee in Henan, but Lao Huihui and other five groups of bandits even turned and invaded Huguang.
I can't take it anymore!
Rogue thieves can be seen everywhere in Shaanxi, Shanxi, Sichuan, Henan, and Huguang. Even in Beizhili, there are small groups of peasant troops fleeing. How can the imperial court care about Jiangxi?
Li Banghua and Ouyang Zhan, who were "invited" by Zhao Han, were supported by simple meals. Zhao Han did not meet them and only allowed them to accompany the missionary team to observe the administration.
At the same time, Zhao Han captured Ji'an Fucheng and the news that the governor was defeated and committed suicide quickly spread throughout Jiangxi.
Everyone knows the reputation of "Zhao Yan", and he is said to be a giant bandit who kills without blinking an eye.
This brought about a series of chain reactions. The Tantric sect, which was originally developing in the countryside, took the opportunity to gather people in advance to start an uprising. Uprisings broke out at the same time in Qianshan County and Nanfeng County.
On the other side of Poyang Lake, the Duchang County uprising also broke out in advance, and they colluded with the Poyang Lake water bandits.
If the next governor of Jiangxi is also a capable minister, he will not bother to conquer Zhao Han at all. The government must first wipe out the rebels in Duchang, which is too important, whether from a political, military or economic perspective.