It didn’t take long for Li Wu to confess. But he was just a personal soldier of Li Sanjiu. He didn’t have much valuable information. He only roughly knew that there were about 2,000 Yao people armed forces coming to Lianzhou.
They are known as "Five Thousand Elite Soldiers". They are fully equipped with weapons, but basically no armor, not many firearms, and very little gunpowder. The boss doesn't take firearms seriously. Other than that, he can't provide any useful information.
.However, the work team learned from him an important cause of the riot: salt.
After Xiong Wencan took office as the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, he began to reorganize the armament. Rearmament required raising money. The way to raise money was naturally to "take it from the people". Salt was naturally among them.
Therefore, the price of salt has been rising in recent years. Yao District is located inland and does not produce salt itself. It relies entirely on Han salt merchants to sell it. Originally, the price of salt in Li District was higher than that of surrounding areas: Han merchants sold salt to Yao District.
It is much higher than the market price, and it is not uncommon for a big fat chicken to be exchanged for a pound of salt. In recent years, the price has doubled, leaving many people with no choice but to eat lightly. Li is extremely resentful.
Sanjiu just "happened at the right time" and seized this opportunity.
The Senate captured Guangzhou City, and wars were raging across Guangdong. The salt trade routes were interrupted, and salt from the coast could not be transported in, causing the price of salt to rise further. In Lianzhou City, some salt merchants had already sold out their inventory, and some
Some salt dealers have started hoarding, and now the price of salt in Lianzhou area is extremely high. And the salt in Li District has reached the point where there is no market at all - the roads are not smooth, and no traders dare to sell it. It can be said that the price of salt in Bapai is very high.
The main trigger of the Yao rebellion was the salt in Lianzhou City.
Salt, again salt. Huang Chao recalled that the relevant papers he had read mentioned that the Datengxia Yao Rebellion broke out because some chieftains and local civil and military officials in Guangxi controlled the salt trade, which intensified social conflicts. According to Huang Chao's experience
, whether it is the Li Rebellion in Hainan or the Yao Rebellion in Guangdong and Guangxi, there are mainly two reasons. One is the inequality in trade status with the Han people; the other is the poor living environment and low production level. Under the influence of these two factors, these
It is not surprising that ethnic minorities living in mountainous areas make a living by rioting and looting. Temporary military suppression can only be cured for a while, and it will inevitably repeat itself as time goes by.
However, it is still too early to solve the root cause of the problem. Huang Chao took out his wallet and read the "Lianyang Region Economic and Cultural Development Outline" countless times before stuffing it back. This document was written by him personally. In addition to absorbing his
In addition to some experiences in Hainan Island, we also made reference to some information on local poverty alleviation in the past.
Speaking of the Lianyang area, the population pressure is actually far less than that of the old days, and the environment is also well protected. Although there are many mountains and few flat lands, there is still a lot of wasteland that can be reclaimed, and inland river shipping is even more convenient.
Needless to say, there are still a lot of resources that can be developed here. Compared with several counties in Hainan where he once worked, this place is considered rich.
"As long as there is peace in the world, this place can do a lot."
Although it is not in the same time and space, and this "Lianzhou" is not the same "Lianzhou" that Huang Chao came to, his attachment to this land has never changed.
However, the issue of Badai Yao has always weighed on his mind. He knows very well that whether the Lianyang area can be peaceful or not depends entirely on whether he can successfully heal Yao.
The so-called Bapai Yao is the collective name of the Yao people living in Lianzhou and Lianshan. The larger villages where they live are called Pai by the Han people, and the small villages are called Chong, so they are called Pai.
Yao. Among them, the eight villages of Majian, Junliao, Libadong, Huoshuo, Dazhang, Nangang, Hengkeng and Youling are larger, and there are also several smaller villages, including "eight rows and twenty-four rushes"
Dharma, so it is also called Bapaiyao.
Different from the nearby Han clan villages, each Yao Pai does not necessarily have only one surname. For example, Nangang Pai has four surnames: Deng, Tang, Pan, and Fang. Among the eight Pai, three in Lianzhou are Nangang, Hengkeng, and Youling.
The area under direct jurisdiction is called the third row of the state, the third row of the east or the third row of the outer row; the other five rows located in the area under the jurisdiction of Lianshan County are called the fifth row of the county, the fifth row of the west or the fifth row of the inner row.
The Pai Yao are a settled group of the Yao people, with higher social organization and production level, so they have stronger combat effectiveness than the Zuoshan Yao. The Yao Pai do not belong to each other and are relatively independent, so although the Yao Pai have continued to cause chaos year after year, the entire Yao Pai has
It is relatively rare for the Eight Pai Yao to riot together. Historically, the Eight Pai Yao rebellion lasted until the Shunzhi period of the Qing Dynasty before being suppressed.
"This operation must be short and quick!" Huang Chao said secretly.
In the early morning, the troops began to set up a pontoon bridge. Because there were Dafa boats as tugboats, even though there were still two or three hours before dawn and they could only rely on torch lighting, the pontoon bridge was quickly erected. A pontoon bridge was built by searching along the river.
Several small boats were used as floating bodies, and another one was inflated with a cowhide bag carried by the army. It was connected with cables, fixed with wooden stakes on both sides, and then laid with wooden planks.
The troops who had rested for most of the night began to cross the river. The Fubo Army, the Li Miao Company and the National Army were all in high spirits. However, after walking on the mountain road for a whole day, the Yangshan Temporary Squadron, which had only arrived a few hours ago, was a little depressed.
The number of Yonghua Yao people in this temporary squadron is only about 80. Although the old and the weak have been eliminated, their physical fitness cannot be compared with that of the Fubo Army. The long-distance march without adequate rest has already shown signs of weakness.
Feeling tired.
Huang Chao didn't expect them to do much - he couldn't trust this untrained team. But their appearance was an important signal for Ba Pai Yao. Their alliance with the Yao people of Yonghua Township had already begun.
Collapse, this was the first step for Huang Chao to break up and disrupt the Yao people.
When the sky just dawned, all the ministries had successfully crossed the river. The Fubo Army Company covered the artillery team and occupied Beishan;
Before Pai Yao could react, he surrounded Yanxi Mountain; the Li and Miao Company was deployed in the south of Yanxi Mountain to monitor and defend the besieging Ba Pai Yao and the Lianzhou garrison in the city.
When he woke up, Li Sanjiu found that he was surrounded by Australians. He was very surprised: someone had reported him from the beginning when the Australians were building a floating bridge. Li Sanjiu speculated that the other party would start building the bridge even in the middle of the night, and the next day
It may not even be possible in the evening. Considering the organizational capabilities of the Yao people's armed forces, a hasty night attack would not only be ineffective, but might also disrupt his own team first. So he only asked his subordinates to send people to "continue to keep an eye on".
Unexpectedly, at dawn, the troops of the Song Dynasty had already crossed the river and surrounded the Yanxi Mountain area!
Li Sanjiu had been in the army for a long time and was not panicked at this time. He sent people to contact the various leaders on the mountain and to inquire about the enemy's situation.
The situation I heard about was both good and bad. The good thing was that the number of the enemy was much smaller than I thought. At best, there were only a thousand people, and they were scattered everywhere. Although they were all at the traffic chokepoint, they might not be able to withstand our main force.
A full blow.
The bad news is that there are actually Yao people armed forces among the team besieging him.
He was so shocked that he realized: Could it be that the Yao people in Yonghua had betrayed him?
This thought made him break into a cold sweat. It was his "wonderful move" to coerce the Yonghua Yao people into rioting, and his intention was nothing more than to attack the east and west and contain the Australians' actions.
As long as the Yonghua Yao people do not surrender to the Australians, even if the Australians can successfully regain Yangshan, they can effectively restrain their actions. Unexpectedly, the Yonghua Yao people not only handed over Yangshan obediently without being beaten,
, and they followed the troops of the Song Dynasty to attack themselves!
"Hurry up and get ready to break out!" Li Sanjiu was giving instructions when someone suddenly reported: Li Wu is back.
"Bring him quickly." Li Sanjiu said quickly.
As soon as Li Wu arrived, Li Sanjiu scolded him and asked him where he had been and whether he had delivered the message in time.
Li Wulian complained that he was wronged, and explained exactly how he sent the message. He also said that he came back this time because Mr. Huang, the "Lianyang recruiter and knowledgeable about Lianzhou military affairs" of the Song Dynasty, let him back.
Bring a message.
"What message?"
"This..." Li Wu felt quite embarrassed, "Master Huang... wants you, wants you... to surrender immediately, so that you can save your life..."
Li Sanjiu was so angry that he yelled. Not only did the other party not intend to negotiate with him, they also forced the Yonghua Yao people to surrender, and then surrounded them and asked him to surrender too. Not only did his wishful thinking fail, but he would lose everything in an instant.
"Man in charge! Now is not the time to be angry," Li Wu advised. "This Song Dynasty has a strong army and has even brought cannons. If we really want to fight, we will definitely suffer a loss, so we should leave quickly."
These words reminded Li Sanjiu. He gasped and said: "Don't be afraid, I have a backup plan."
The last move was the 200 troops and Pai Yao people who were ambushing on Jinfeng Mountain. This move was originally used by Li Sanjiu to guard against the Lianzhou defenders. If the defenders succeeded in breaking through the siege, he would take Yan Xi with him.
The Yao people on the mountain pretended to retreat eastward, tempting the Lianzhou defenders to pursue them. When they pursued Jinfeng Mountain and the southern flank was exposed, they used smoke to send a signal to Jinfeng Mountain, asking them to rush down the mountain flank to attack the defenders, and then led the main force back.
attack.
Although the Australians have a blunderbuss and cannons, they have much fewer people than themselves. Now he only needs to send a signal to ask the Yao people from the military platoon to come down the mountain and attack their flanks, which will disrupt the Australians' deployment and attract them.
With their attention, the Yao people on Yanxi Mountain could rush down the mountain, attack the Australians guarding the north of the mountain from front to back, and then take advantage of the victory to break through.
Success or failure depends on this! Li Sanjiu made up his mind in an instant and ordered: "Quick, raise the black fireworks!" He then ordered: "Ask all the leaders to come to me immediately!"
The military platoon on Yanxi Mountain is one of the most rebellious Yao platoons among the eight platoons. Every time the eight platoons of Yao riots are caused by horse arrows, the two platoons of the military residence take the lead in the uprising. Not only do they have the largest number of men, but they are also more powerful.
Tough and good at fighting. This team is actually the reserve team used by Li Sanjiu in emergencies.
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Next update: Volume 7 - Guangzhou Governance Chapter 401