In the early years of Hongwu, Xuanwu Lake became the place where records of the country's population and land were stored, and civilians were prohibited from entering and exiting. There is a poem to prove it: "To store the territory, few people come, only the pavilions remain and the setting sun is low."
Although Emperor Taizong and Zhu Di moved the capital to Beijing, Xuanwu Lake (including the nearby mountains and forests) was still a forbidden royal area.
It was not until the later years of Zhu Zaiyi's reign that the imperial court finally lifted the ban on Xuanwu Lake and gradually turned it into a place for people to farm, hunt and fish. The singing and dancing music of the Qinhuai River also spread to Xuanwu Lake, and the lanterns on the boats were lit up all night.
In the sixth year of Pingning (1702 AD), the young emperor began to rule personally.
Emperor Pingning, who was eager to gain power, wanted to revive the Ming Dynasty, but it made the situation in the court even more chaotic. He was frustrated to find that although he could remove those hateful cabinet ministers based on his will, the emperor's orders could not even leave the Forbidden City.
go.
Of course, the emperor's orders could go out of the Forbidden City and even reach the state capital, but the actual implementation was completely different.
Turning the tide is easier said than done?
In the spring of this year, on the night of the Lantern Festival, the painting boat of Xie Wanchu, a famous prostitute in Xuanwu Lake, welcomed six mysterious guests. They were:
Fang Luo, named Jianyu, was recorded in the Imperial Academy of Nanjing and was born in Juren.
"Jinling Evening News" reporter Zhang Zi'ang, courtesy name Chongzhi, has a reputation as a scholar.
In the third year of Pingning, Wang Yuanzhen, a concubine, named Huaide, resigned from office and lived in seclusion.
Member of the Nanjing Branch of the Physics Society, physicist and mathematician Lu Ying, courtesy name Huacai, and a scholar.
Monk Yuanjian of Jiming Temple in Nanjing has been expelled from the gate, and his lay name is Wei Jiuliang.
Wang Pei, also known as Mingyu, a descendant of the Taizhou School, is a descendant of Wang Gen. He is a psychologist, physicist, mathematician and chemist.
"Miss Chu, I'm sorry for disturbing you," said Monk Yuanjian, cupping his fists.
Xie Wanchu smiled and said: "It's a great honor to have all the talents here. Let's drink tea and talk freely. The little girl plays the piano for the brothers to entertain them."
The maid was sent out to observe the surrounding situation, and if a ship approached, she would immediately sound a warning.
Xie Wanchu played the piano with his hands, and accompanied by the melodious sound of the piano, the boat gradually sailed towards the center of the lake.
Reporter Zhang Ziang asked: "Have you heard about the tenant revolution in Yixing County half a month ago?"
Lu Ying nodded and said, "I heard something, but I don't know the details."
Zhang Ziang said:
"This incident started last autumn. Due to the drought, more than 3,000 tenant farmers in Yixing County wandered to Liaojiazhuang, Shanghe Village, Xiahe Village and other places to force large landowners to reduce or reduce their land rent. The landlords of various ethnic groups were forced by the power of the tenant farmers to agree to waive half of the rent.
, after coaxing the tenant farmers to go home, they asked Yixing County Magistrate to file a case and arrest them. Yixing Magistrate County arrested more than a hundred tenant farmers and tortured more than ten to death, which completely aroused the tenant farmers' anger."
"The hero of the Jishi Sect, nicknamed Duxiu Peak, invited 12 friends to join forces with tenant farmers in the county to rescue people. Last winter, more than 7,000 tenant farmers gathered outside Yixing County. Because the news was leaked midway, Yixing County had already taken precautions.
The large and medium-sized households jointly provided money to recruit young and strong residents to defend the city."
"How do those tenant farmers know how to attack a city? They suffered dozens of casualties and then dispersed."
"The big families in the city who had paid to recruit soldiers thought that they had lost money and did not need to recruit young men at all. Their servants could guard the courtyard and defend the city. So, the Huang family, the Wang family, and the Zheng family sent their servants to arrest those who had received the money along the streets.
The young men were beaten and forced to return the silver to the young men who defended the city. There was no one in the city to organize the young men, and they dared not speak out in anger, so they had to return the silver."
"When the hero Du Xiufeng learned about this, he secretly trained hundreds of tenant farmers as soldiers, and linked up with more than 2,000 tenant farmers to suddenly attack the city on the first day of the lunar new year. The young men in the county took the opportunity to open the city gate and jointly attacked Huang, Wang, and Zheng
Three families were exterminated, the county magistrate was killed, the captured tenants were rescued, the county government treasury was taken over, and rice merchants were robbed to open warehouses for grain storage."
"Today, Duxiufeng is leading thousands of people to loot the gentry and merchants in Yixing County, claiming to be robbing the rich to give to the poor, and forcing the landlords to distribute the land to long-term tenants for free according to the land contract."
Monk Yuanjian praised: "Du Xiufeng is a true hero in this world!"
Zhang Ziang added: "Last winter, a slave rebellion occurred in Fuyang County, Zhejiang Province. Some wealthy slaves formed a 'nose-cutting class'. House slaves in the county took care of them. House slaves who did not join the 'nose-cutting class' would be scorned and beaten by their peers. New Year's Eve
At night, all the domestic slaves in the city went on strike. The glamorous ladies had to make fires to cook and carry their own excrement and urinate. The magistrate wanted to arrest people, so the county officials also joined the "nose-cutting class"
, imprisoned the magistrate in the county government office and starved him for three days."
"What a great trick!" Fang Luo, a teacher at the Imperial Academy, smiled and clapped his hands in praise.
The development of the Ming Dynasty was very abnormal. Capitalism had already sprouted and even formed a climate, but at the same time, slaves with low status existed.
"Bi" is homophonic to "servant". The nose-cutting team does not cut off the nose. Their request is just to cut off the slave status.
This kind of organization has been around for decades, especially the spread of "people-oriented" ideas, which gradually gave domestic slaves a sense of resistance.
Half of the leaders of the nose-cutting group have the status of wealthy slaves, and to put it bluntly, they are not good people.
These powerful slaves continued to gain money and power by flattering and deceiving their masters. Most of them had a history of bullying men and dominating women. If the master's family was weak, especially when there were orphans and widowed mothers, the powerful slaves would even take away the master's family members.
Most of the property was embezzled.
However, although the powerful slaves were powerful, they still belonged to the slave class and desperately wanted to become normal people.
Some wealthy slaves changed their names and went to other places to build property. Some even bribed court officials and falsely reported military merits to suddenly become military generals.
This time the leader of the nose-cutting group in Fuyang County was a wealthy slave who secretly embezzled his master's property.
After the master's young master came of age, he wanted to take back the property, and a fierce conflict broke out between the two parties. The young master scolded the slave in front of everyone, and even took out the deed of sale and said he wanted to report it to the official. The slave quoted the laws of the Ming Dynasty and said
Civilians were not allowed to keep slaves, and deeds of sale were not legal at all.
Immediately, Haonu used various means to order all the slaves of his master's family to join his nose-cutting class. He also used money, force and promises to recruit all the slaves in the street, and quickly spread to the whole city, unwilling to
Any domestic slaves who rebelled would be severely beaten, and eventually even the young domestic children in the city would join the nose-cutting class to cause trouble.
In the end, the big households all surrendered their bonds of sale and continued to employ their original domestic slaves as slaves, and generally raised their wages by 30%.
Lu Ying shook her head and sighed: "Such a variety of things, whether they are tenants or slaves, are nothing but trivial fights. Now that the Ming Dynasty is in turmoil and the Ming Dynasty is about to overthrow, it is time for us, the 'Datong Society', to stand up."
"The question is, how to stand up?" Monk Yuanjian said, "Seven years ago, we organized a strike in Jiangyin, but we were abandoned by the workers. Brother Zhaohong was even exiled by corrupt officials. Six years ago, brother Miyuan joined forces with poverty.
The tenants worked together to reduce rents and interest rates, and fought against the government, but they were also surrounded and suppressed by troops. Brother Miyuan is still hiding in Luzon and has not returned."
Wang Yuanzhen said: "We need soldiers, guns, money, and food!"
Wang Yuanzhen was a scholar who lived in Pingning for three years. Because he hated the darkness of the officialdom, he only stayed in the Ministry of Rites for two months before resigning and returning to his hometown to study in seclusion. He was also invited by his friends to serve as a director in a Utopia. As a result, the small Utopia society became very small.
Disband soon.
Datong Society, which means "Great Harmony under Heaven", wants to build a perfect world where rich and poor are equally divided and there is no oppression.
The more turbulent and chaotic the society, the faster various ideas are born. Datong Society has been established for more than 20 years!
Zhang Ziang spread his hands and said: "We don't have any money, but Huaide (Wang Yuanzhen)'s family is relatively wealthy."
Wang Yuanzhen is the tenth generation grandson of Wang Yuan, but he is not the main sect. He is the descendant of Wang Che, the son of Wang Yuan and Song Ling'er. His sixth generation grandmother was a maid, and his sixth generation grandfather had a drunken affair and gave birth to his fifth generation grandfather.
When I returned home, I only had a few acres of thin farmland.
It was not until Wang Yuanzhen's grandfather's generation that he finally passed the Jinshi examination, but he died of illness after serving as an official for only a few years and purchased more than 500 acres of land through corruption.
The family was divided again, and Wang Yuanzhen's father was allocated 220 acres, making him barely a small landowner.
They are really just small landowners. In large cotton-growing provinces like Shandong, land annexation has become even more serious. Super-tycoons with an area of 4 million acres have emerged. Moreover, some tribesmen are officials in the government, some go overseas to do business, some open factories, and even raise landowners.
A group of private soldiers equipped with firecrackers.
Wang Yuanzhen said: "Money and food are everywhere. Fireguns need to be ordered from Foshan, and soldiers can also be trained slowly."
"Brother Huaide wants to rebel?" Zhang Ziang asked in shock.
Wang Yuanzhen asked back: "If we don't rebel, will all the officials in the court be obedient, the merchants in the world will be obedient, and the landlords in the provinces will be obedient? If they are not obedient, how can the world of great harmony come from? Furthermore, in today's Ming Dynasty, many vassal towns have appeared, just like the Han and Tang Dynasties
What's the difference in the troubled times of the last years? Instead of letting those military leaders take over, why not let us take over!"
Lu Ying immediately said: "Huaide is the tenth grandson of Taishi. He is both civilized and military. He is worried about the world. If we really want a new emperor, I am willing to follow you and discuss the big plan!"
Zhang Ziang frowned and said: "You can't rebel directly. You can first organize team training and obtain official status."
Monk Yuanjian smiled and said: "I have a friend who is an army officer in Huguang and quite approves of the concept of Datong. Last year he wrote to me, saying that the governor of Huguang had established a new battalion, and after quelling the civil unrest, he returned to Beijing and was promoted, leaving a lot of officers and soldiers behind.
You can't get a reward. Nowadays, thieves are everywhere in Huguang. The new officers and soldiers either go to the mountains to become bandits, or they keep making trouble for their pay. You can contact this person. As a descendant of Taishi, Huaide helps the officers and soldiers make trouble for their pay and seize the soldiers.
Curry’s weapons and military pay!”
Wang Pei sneered: "There may be weapons in the arsenal, but there is absolutely no way there is too much food and salary. They have been corrupted by the civil and military officials a long time ago. In my opinion, if you want money and food, you have to kill officials, businessmen, or kill
Landlord!"
Wang Yuanzhen pondered and sighed: "Huguang, the place where the Fourth War was fought, is really not a good place to start a uprising. But since there is a chance, let's try it first. Use the salary to force the Third Division to give some money and food, and then open the arsenal.
Seize soldiers and armor. You can occupy a remote location and set up regiment training."
Wang Pei asked: "With such a big fuss, the government will still let you organize group training?"
Wang Yuanzhen said with a smile: "That's it. Let's take a step back. The officials want to save trouble and will definitely agree. When the time comes, choose a remote prefecture and county with mountains on the back, screen out the evil landlords and evil gentry, and allocate their fields to the soldiers.
And the people. Moreover, these landlords and evil gentry cannot be killed, let them go away with a life. When the soldiers and people are given land, they are naturally afraid that the landlords and evil gentry will come back and follow us wholeheartedly to fight! Who has the way of Foshan merchants? "
Lu Ying raised her hand and said: "Many members of the Guangzhou branch of the Physics Society are involved with businessmen in Foshan. One of the directors of the Guangzhou branch is the second son of the owner of Foshan Hongyuan Iron Works."
Wang Yuanzhen cupped his hands and said, "I'll leave it to Brother Huacai to order firearms."
Lu Ying smiled and said: "As long as they can afford the money, they dare to build a three thousand kilogram cannon. For my sake, they may give me a 15% discount."