prosperous age

Chapter 1086 Rebellion

"Dong dong dong."

There was a knock on the study door, and the third brother's voice came from outside the door: "Brother, brother, are you in there?"

The shouting startled Xian Gui and brought him back to his senses. He pretended to be calm and said, "Come in."

After saying that, Xian Gui looked around and saw the letter paper dropped on the ground. He hurriedly bent down to pick it up, folded it and put it in the envelope.

At this time, the third brother had already pushed the door open and entered the room. Seeing the eldest brother sitting on the chair, the third brother said cheerfully, "Brother, why did you lock yourself in the room? I thought it was inconvenient for you to come in, haha."

"Is something wrong?"

At this moment, Xian Gui was in a state of confusion and naturally had no mood to chat with his brothers.

"Brother, I checked the warehouses of several businesses in the city today and found quite a few."

Xian Lao San started by reporting to his eldest brother the great achievements of today's seizure, but although Xian Gui tried to remain calm at this time, his eyes were a little vague, and it was obvious that he was not listening to him carefully.

This is not normal.

  Xian Lao San is very familiar with his eldest brother, besides women and gold and silver. Shouldn't he be excited when he gets good news from me?

"Brother, what's wrong with you?"

Xian Lao San stopped talking and asked in surprise.

"Have you packed your things for the next three days?"

Xian Gui did not answer, but asked.

"I'm packing now. I was just about to talk to you about how there are a lot of stuff. Should we ship a batch of packed goods across the river first to avoid a hasty shipment?

I heard that Mang Yinglong will be here in two days, so we have to prepare early. At least we should send over all the things we have been busy with these days first."

The third brother had already sensed something was wrong, but he still answered the eldest brother's question first.

Xian Gui glanced at his third brother, thought for a moment, and then said, "Third brother, do you still remember the batch of goods we sent to Baojing three years ago?"

"Three years ago, Baojing?"

At first, the third brother was indifferent, but when he heard the eldest brother mention the place name Baojing, his eyes narrowed.

Of course he knew Baojing and had been there several times, but it was not located in the Ming Dynasty, but in Mengmi.

"Brother, why are you talking about this?"

Xian Laosan took two steps to Xian Gui and asked in a low voice.

The situation is sensitive at this time. Even if he is unreliable, he knows that anything related to Myanmar is no small matter. If it gets out, the court will probably hold him accountable.

Moreover, now that Myanmar is in rebellion, the masters in Kunming should be looking for officials who can take the blame.

If word gets out that they have business dealings with Myanmar, they will probably be blamed for treason.

"Once it was done, it was done. People leave their names behind, just as wild geese leave their voices behind."

Xiangui said with a gloomy face.

"What's up, brother? Is it over there?"

Xian Lao San said anxiously.

It is such a serious crime that will bring disaster to the whole family. How could they dare to bear it? They cannot afford it.

"Take a look."

Xian Gui handed the envelope he had already collected directly to Xian Lao San and let him read it himself.

After taking the envelope and just reading a few words on it, Xian Lao San's hands began to tremble.

Trembling, he pulled out the letter and read it word by word. Soon the letter slipped from his hands and came into close contact with the ground again.

"What should I do, brother? I don't want to die."

Xian Lao San was in the same state as Xian Gui just now. He was so distraught that his legs went limp and he knelt on the ground. His lips moved, but no one knew what he was muttering.

"Why are you panicking? Everything depends on human effort. We must think carefully this time and make sure there are no mistakes."

Xian Gui had gotten over his previous gaffe, he had recovered and started looking for ways to deal with the situation in his mind.

After hearing what his eldest brother said, Xian Lao San also came back to his senses.

"What should I do, brother? I am very confused now and don't know what to do."

The third person on the line was also honest and spoke directly about his inner feelings.

In fact, it was the same with Xian Gui before. If his third brother hadn’t knocked on the door, he didn’t know how long he would have stayed in the room.

"Ming Dynasty or Burma, what do you choose?"

After gritting his teeth, Xian Gui asked.

"This"

Xian Lao San moved his mouth, then lowered his head to think.

"Ming Dynasty, I'm afraid there's no way for us to survive. Kunming is hoping someone will jump out and take the blame. Then they will directly put the charge of treason on our heads, saying that we are the ones who brought the Burmese here.

Even if you give us a lot of money, it won't be worth as much as our heads."

Xiangui said viciously.

"Yes, given the faces of those people, even if they could let us go, I'm afraid they would suck our marrow out of us and eat us clean. They might not really let me go."

The third brother suddenly looked up and said to the eldest brother.

Many of Xian Gui's contacts with the outside world were handled by Xian Lao San, because he was well-versed in eating, drinking, whoring and gambling, and was perfect for dealing with those officials.

He had no official status, so he could do anything easily, and there was no censor to keep an eye on him.

Therefore, Xian Lao San knew a lot about the habits of the officials in Kunming.

He was still thinking about his elder brother's question just now, but his elder brother's words were like a trigger, which immediately triggered his judgment of the Kunming officials.

They can't be trusted.

"But brother, you know that the imperial court has been on guard against Burma from the beginning. If this war breaks out, Burma will surely lose.

They were able to reach here because they took advantage of the unexpected situation, and also because the imperial court did not trust the chieftains on the border, so they did not send reinforcements to the border. "

Xian Lao San continued with a slightly trembling voice.

"Do we have a choice?"

Xian Gui said without hesitation. Hearing this, Xian Lao San lowered his head and said nothing.

They had no choice.

"Even if the imperial court wins, as long as we run into Burma first, Burma will still be ruled by the Three Xuans and Six Weis. As long as we don't return to the Ming Dynasty, how can they find us?"

Xiangui spoke again.

"That's right, brother, you are absolutely right. We will be fine as long as we hide in Burma."

Xian Lao San spoke up in agreement.

His elder brother's words hit the nail on the head. According to the court's attitude towards Myanmar, as long as Myanmar surrendered and became a vassal, everything would seem to return to the starting point.

Yes, it seemed that the Ming Dynasty never had any intention of expanding beyond Yunnan. It just rewarded the chieftains and allowed them to govern themselves. All they had to do was send a piece of paper expressing their allegiance and tribute to Kunming every year.

Before the Yuan Dynasty, the Central Plains dynasties’ main border management strategy was “control and seclusion”.

The core concepts of the "control" (拘縻) strategy include "拘" (拘) and "縻" (縻). "從" (拘) refers to control through military and political pressure, while "縻" (縻) refers to appeasement through economic and material benefits.

This policy allows ethnic minority areas to maintain their original social organization forms and administrative institutions, recognizes the political ruling status of their chiefs and leaders in their own ethnic group and region, and at the same time appoints local ethnic minority leaders as local officials.

Apart from being politically affiliated with the central dynasty and having the economic obligation to pay tribute, all other affairs were managed by the minority leaders themselves.

Due to the limitations of the times, the "Jie Mi Zhi Zhi" was still in the early stages of effective management, and arbitrariness and irregular implementation were more obvious. At the same time, there were few changes based on the differences between the north and the south and the characteristics of different periods.

For example, the border counties of the Han Dynasty and the vassal prefectures and counties of the Tang Dynasty were generally applied to the borders of various places without any changes based on local conditions or specific and clear regulations. The two dynasties shared a common feature of border management, focusing on defense and neglecting development. There was also a lack of due attention in terms of system building and supervision and guarantee.

The Mongols and Yuan Dynasty faced a new world order, and their rulers had fewer concepts such as "Chinese inside and barbarians outside" or "guarding against the four barbarians", and they preferred to do things simply and easily.

More than 20 years before the establishment of the Yuan Dynasty, the Mongolian army made a long-distance raid to pacify the Dali Kingdom and implemented the Wanhu system that was common in the northern grasslands, but the Yunnan region continued to be in turmoil.

Sayyid Ajjal, a minister with rich ruling experience, was ordered to establish a province in Yunnan. After investigation, he decided to abolish the Wanhu system and try out a system of appointing local barbarians as court officials. After its implementation, it achieved remarkable results and was widely promoted in the southern border areas.

Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang and subsequent emperors abandoned the Yuan Dynasty's practice of expanding outward by relying on borders, and inherited the Han and Tang dynasties' border management policy of "guarding the four barbarians."

In the 22nd year of Jiajing's reign, Emperor Jiajing said: The only way for an emperor to govern is to defend the four barbarians. Now, if I want to achieve long-term peace and stability, the only way is to defend. This roughly represents the views of the Ming Dynasty rulers.

At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang did try to continue expanding outward. However, although the Ming army easily defeated the remnants of the Yuan army when it marched into Yunnan, it was met with fierce resistance from the local barbarians. The native officials of the Yuan Dynasty in Dali, Baoshan, Dehong and other places, as well as some native officials who had already submitted to the Ming Dynasty, all rebelled. It took more than ten years to finally put down the rebellion.

From this, Zhu Yuanzhang made a judgment that the barbarians in Yunnan and other places were strong and difficult to control, and they must be suppressed by heavy troops. Therefore, it became a law to guard Yunnan with heavy troops.

As a result, the Ming Dynasty designated Yunnan as its southwestern border and no longer attempted to expand outward.

For most of the time after the Ming Dynasty, the emperors neglected state affairs, the government was sluggish and the officials were corrupt, which had a very adverse impact on the implementation of the ruling system.

This shows that the repeated mistakes in border management during the Ming Dynasty were not due to an imperfect system, but mainly due to corruption in the government and poor execution. This was particularly evident in the fact that when chieftains had to go through the succession procedures, the government often dragged its feet and shirked its responsibilities, which caused the chieftains who applied for succession to rebel in anger.

The frequent unrest in the southwestern border during the middle Ming Dynasty was also related to the weaknesses of the chieftain system itself.

The "Ming History: Biography of Tusi" says that Tusi "must be granted titles and honored with names so that they can be easily controlled, and therefore they will dote on our orders." If the imperial court dispatches them too frequently, they will "cause trouble in a hurry, rely on their merits and abuse their faults, and cause more intrusion."

In addition to resistance caused by the court's conscription, the chieftains, because they received protection from the court and gradually mastered the methods of dealing with the government, usually enriched themselves by collecting more taxes. When conditions were met, they gradually became more powerful and even split and established their own regimes with the help of the local troops they controlled.

There is a popular folk song: "The government only loves a piece of paper, and it has lost the place for 2,000 miles."

This is not only a folk song, but also a true reflection of the court's governance of the border areas.

Giving a letter of appointment to the chieftain would result in annual tribute and congratulatory messages, thus whitewashing the country's peace and prosperity.

As for who controls those places and what their surnames are, it doesn’t matter.

However, when Wei Guangde used troops against Myanmar this time, he did not consider following the old system at all, but instead planned to change the natives into officials.

Let Li Chengliang deal with the chieftains in the southwest as much as possible, and change the management of the people under his rule from the chieftains to the officials appointed by the court, so as to fundamentally prevent similar incidents from happening.

As for the chieftains within the Ming Dynasty, the imperial court could not deal with them directly before a large-scale rebellion occurred and could only take it slowly.

Li Chengliang actually only had a vague understanding of Wei Guangde's intention, but he understood the meaning of eliminating the chieftains.

But I don’t fully understand the meaning behind this operation.

But it will be soon. When the war is over and the officials appointed by the Ming Dynasty take over, the effects will gradually become apparent.

This is actually some inspiration that Wei Guangde got from "The Yongzheng Dynasty". Emperor Yongzheng did more than just return the surplus to the public and distribute the land tax according to the amount of land, he also did many other things.

However, the TV series focuses more on these two reform measures with huge impact.

The reform of the chieftain system in southern Xinjiang was a major reform made by Emperor Yongzheng.

  In the second year of Yongzheng's reign, he was deeply aware of the drawbacks of the Tusi system and the evil deeds of Tusi, and in his edict to the governors of Sichuan and other places, he said:

"I have heard that chieftains in various places have little knowledge of laws and regulations. The annual taxes levied on the local people under their jurisdiction are more than twice the regular taxes collected by the officials. They even take their cattle and horses, and their children. They kill and live at will. The local people are exploited by them and dare not speak out." He asked them to strengthen the management of chieftains, but he did not have any effective methods, and no matter how he spoke, it would not work.

  In September of the fourth year of Yongzheng's reign, Ortai, the governor-general of Yunnan and Guizhou, submitted a memorial to the emperor, suggesting that the natives be replaced by officials, and formulated a policy for implementation:

"Capturing by trickery is the best strategy, suppressing by force is the worst. Forcing people to surrender is the best strategy, forcing them to surrender is the worst strategy."

As for those who contributed, "they only collected their land tax, checked their household registration, provided them with support, and granted them official titles and robes for life as a token of encouragement."

That is to say, the strategy of changing the flow of forces requires the use of military force but not relying solely on force, striving to minimize the impact on a small area and reduce resistance as much as possible so as to quickly achieve stability.

  Emperor Yongzheng had long admired Ortai's talent. According to his idea of ​​"governing people without governing by law", he believed that Ortai could handle this matter well, so he wrote "good" learning while reading the memorial, and finally wrote:

"I am so happy in my heart that I am moved! What can I say? Try your best!"

All his suggestions were approved and he was encouraged to work hard to implement them.

Under the guidance of Emperor Yongzheng, governors-general and governors-general such as Ortai, Zhang Guangsi and Ha Yuansheng worked hard to implement the policy of converting natives into officials. By the eighth year of Yongzheng's reign, the policy of converting natives into officials was basically completed in Yunnan and Guizhou regions.

The preparations for river diversion in Hunan, Hubei and Sichuan were relatively complete and were completed by the end of the Yongzheng period and the beginning of the Qianlong period.

Among the entire area affected by the river flow changes, Guizhou was the most extensive, and the areas of its newly established prefectures and counties were actually equivalent to the areas of the original prefectures and counties.

The contents of the reform included: abolishing hereditary chieftains, setting up prefectures, counties, dispatching officials, adding garrisons, reforming the tax and service system, and establishing schools.

The chieftains were naturally unwilling to accept Yongzheng's actions, and therefore they rebelled many times.

In response, the Qing government directly sent heavy troops to suppress the rebellion by force.

In fact, even if the chieftains had not been reformed, the contradiction between the imperial court and the chieftains could not be eradicated, and this result would have occurred sooner or later.

If Xian Gui knew the purpose of the court's action, he would probably not regard fleeing to Burma as his ultimate goal, but would only use it as a springboard to escape to the Southeast Asian countries through Burma.

Unfortunately, in the Yunnan officialdom, no one knew about these follow-up arrangements at this time except Li Chengliang and Li Rusong.

"Brother, shall I contact Hanba?"

The third man on the line had already made up his mind to fight for his life, and he had no choice but to surrender.

"Be careful, I should also clean up those people in the city."

Xiangui whispered.