Chapter 531 Qi County Rebellion
Chapter 531 Qi County Rebellion
In a mansion in Zhangqiu County, east of Licheng County, the remnants of the National Protection Association were hidden, including Gao Zhu and others who had escaped from Gaotang County.
There were only a few dozen of them left, and they did not dare to go to Licheng County for fear of being caught by the government, so they hid in Zhangqiu County.
There is some basis for what Wang Bo said, that is, Baohui has more than 20 stores in Qi County and Beihaijun.
The most urgent task for the National Protection Association now is to take advantage of the opportunity when the imperial court is fully focused on dealing with the Hebei rebels and has no time to take care of other things, and to establish a base of its own.
The key is to incite the people to cause trouble so that they can take advantage of the situation and gather a crowd to rebel.
The charity granary is an entry point that the National Protection Association has been keeping an eye on for a long time. They are well aware of the problems with the charity granary. It is just a rotten abscess that will burst if poked.
This year, a drought occurred in the Shandong Peninsula, and it has not rained for three consecutive months. The people have been extremely anxious for a long time. Many people have placed their hopes on the charity granaries. If the charity granaries are breached at this time, it will easily trigger the anger and resistance of the grassroots farmers. Their opportunity has come.
These days, the Baoguo Association has been inciting farmers to demand grain from the charity granary, starting with Licheng County.
However, they were not adequately prepared in Licheng County and had not been fully mobilized, so they were defeated by the government using fake grain.
After listening to his subordinates' report, Gao Zhu sneered at several of them and said, "The magistrate of Licheng County is really capable. He actually fooled the farmers with fake grain."
Wang Bo, the staff member, said with a smile: "President, it's fake. It won't last long. As long as other counties start to make trouble, the farmers in Licheng County will definitely make trouble again. I suggest that we start from Zhangqiu County."
Gao Zhu nodded and said to the crowd, "Inciting the people to cause trouble is only the first step. The key is that we must take this opportunity to recruit troops and occupy Beihai County, Donglai County, Gaomi County, and Qi County. We will establish our separatist power based on these four counties. After two or three years of operation, we will expand westwards."
Everyone discussed the specific details again. This time they learned the lesson from Licheng County and began to make detailed arrangements in Zhangqiu County. They sent people to spread the word that all the grain in the charity granary had been embezzled by corrupt officials and there was not a grain left in the granary.
Several days of high-frequency and in-depth propaganda finally caused a huge stir in Zhangqiu County.
It has not rained in Zhangqiu County for three months. The fear of drought has long been brewing in the hearts of every citizen. Their only hope is the food they have stored in the charity granary.
'There's no more food in the granary!'
This news came like a bolt from the blue. Tens of thousands of anxious farmers rushed to the county town from all directions. They no longer surrounded the county government office, but surrounded the charity granary. The county government could no longer commit false charges.
When the peasants gathered to 40,000 people, thousands of them, led by Wang Bo, broke open the charity granary and found that the granary, which was supposed to have tens of thousands of shi of grain, had less than 100 shi of grain left.
Forty thousand peasants were completely enraged and rushed towards the county government office like a torrent. They broke down the government office, dragged out the county magistrate and the county magistrate and beat them to death. Under the instigation of the National Protection Association, the people of Zhangqiu took the lead in rebellion.
When the news of the rebellion of the people in Zhangqiu County reached Licheng County, the county magistrate Li Hui was shocked and quickly summoned the county gentry to discuss countermeasures.
Seeing that no one was talking and no one was at a loss, Li Hui said to Qin Qiong, "Master Qin, please say a few words!"
Everyone's eyes were on Qin Qiong. The others were all businessmen or landlords, but Qin Qiong was a famous hero in Shandong, and everyone placed their hopes on him.
Qin Qiong hesitated for a moment and said slowly, "I suspect that the National Protection Association is the one causing this chaos. Normally, peasants who cause trouble just smash and destroy things randomly, or rob government warehouses and burn county offices. They just let out their anger and then it's over. They won't rebel, because rebellion requires someone to organize. Who would come out to organize an emergency like the charity warehouse? After thinking about it, I think it can only be the National Protection Association."
County Magistrate Li Hui nodded, "Master Qin is right. The King of Qi is rebelling in Hebei. This is an opportunity for the National Protection Association. They must be taking the opportunity to rebel in Qi County. The key is how should we respond?"
Everyone looked at Qin Qiong again. Qin Qiong had no choice but to continue, "There are only a thousand soldiers in Qi County. It is definitely unreliable to rely on the soldiers to defend the county. Only if we organize ourselves, everyone contributes money and manpower, and mobilizes the people to defend their homes, maybe there is still hope to save Licheng County."
After a pause, Qin Qiong continued, "Our Licheng County is a big county, with a population of nearly 100,000 in the county alone. In addition, the martial spirit of Qi County is very strong, and most families have weapons hidden. We only need to mobilize 10,000 people and gather weapons. With the tall and solid city walls, I believe we can defend the county." County Magistrate Li Hui pondered for a moment and said decisively, "It's decided. Mobilize the people to defend the city!"
The gentry unanimously recommended Qin Qiong as the commander-in-chief. Qin Qiong agreed without hesitation and first organized more than a thousand apprentices from his martial arts school. The gentry began to contribute money and manpower, and the government mobilized the entire county.
Within three days, Licheng County mobilized more than 10,000 young and strong men. Qin Qiong selected 5,000 people, plus his martial arts school disciples and county soldiers, a total of 7,000 soldiers, and began emergency training.
Shanyang County, Jiangdu County, is the northernmost county in Jiangdu Province. In order to cope with the freezing of Tongji Canal in winter, a large number of warehouses have been built here since the beginning of the year.
That morning, Xiao Xia came to Shanyang County for inspection under the escort of hundreds of cavalrymen.
Standing on the high ground on the south bank of the Huai River and looking at the other side of the Huai River, where are Xia Pi County and Donghai County, Xiao Xia had an urge to send troops to Donghai County.
A few days ago, Xiao Xia received news that a large-scale rebellion had begun in Qi County. This should be the rebellion of the Baoguo Association in Qi County.
Historically, Wang Bo rebelled in the seventh year of Daye, but now it happened three years earlier. The reason was that the rebellion of Yang Ling, the Prince of Qi, greatly promoted the development of major rebel forces in the world.
Qi County is already the base of the National Protection Association. Now that the King of Qi has rebelled, it is the best opportunity for the National Protection Association to rebel. If you miss this opportunity, you will miss it forever.
If the Baohui rebelled rampantly in Shandong Peninsula, would the court allow him to send troops to quell the rebellion? Or would he take the initiative to ask the court for an order to send troops to Qi County to quell the rebellion?
Xiao Xia had an urge to send troops to quell the rebellion, but reason told him that the emperor would never let him go just because he sent troops to Qi County to quell the rebellion. He had to control his emotions, patiently observe how the situation changed, and wait until the last moment to take action.
Another thing that happened to Xiao Xia during his inspection trip to the north was that Wei Zheng had brought him back a message a few days ago that the emperor did not approve of his purchase of land in Pengcheng County.
Although on the surface it was the Minister of Revenue Yu Shiji who vetoed his land purchase, Xiao Xia knew in his heart that this was not something Yu Shiji dared to do and the decision could only be made by the emperor.
This matter was of great significance. It was not just a simple rejection of the land purchase, but a change in the emperor's attitude towards himself. It could also be said to be a warning that he would no longer allow any expansion of his own, not even the purchase of land.
This incident also confirmed his guess from one side that after suppressing the rebellion of the King of Qi, the emperor's next target would be himself.
Xiao Xia was also considering his own countermeasures. It was not realistic to ask him to support the King of Qi in his rebellion. Not to mention that Xiao Xia personally could not accept it, his officials would not agree to it either.
What about leading troops northward in the name of suppressing bandits? This is actually a threat, and can only be used when the emperor has ordered a transfer away from you. At this time, sending troops northward is a tough attitude.
So Xiao Xia considered it, but he would not hastily send troops north. Doing so would give the court an excuse to weaken the power of the feudal lords and would make many ministers who supported him speechless.
If he could not go north, then he would go south, put the warehouse materials and various important resources on the south bank of the Yangtze River, use the Yangtze River as a natural barrier, and divide the river with the court. Of course, he would definitely lose the seven counties north of the Yangtze River, but he could make up for it in the Dongting Lake area.
"Your Highness, it's going to rain heavily." Fang Xuanling reminded in a low voice.
Xiao Xia looked up and saw dark clouds gathering in the sky, which was indeed a sign of an approaching rainstorm.
"Let's go!"
Xiao Xia turned his horse and galloped towards Shanyang County.
(End of this chapter)