People in the Song Dynasty were lawless

Chapter 341 Things got big

Several of the largest landowners in Suzhou planned to plan a riot from the beginning, but they were forced to stop when Zhao Jun was cracking down on gangs and evil.

But after a year, they finally decided to make huge waves again.

The reason is that their power at that time was not very strong. The landowners in Suzhou alone could not make any waves. In addition, the government was arresting people everywhere, so they did not dare to act rashly.

However, after a year of observation, many people discovered that the government was really just cracking down on crime and eradicating evil. As long as they form a society, run rampant in the city, and bully good people everywhere, they will be arrested.

Although there are rural bandits and road bullies in the countryside, such as village tyrants and rural tyrants in many villages, they are still relatively rare in most southern villages.

The reason is that the clan concept in the south is relatively strong. There are patriarchs and elders and other highly respected people at the top who suppress them. Even if there are domineering people below, they often dare not bully people with the same surname and village.

As for the behavior of clan leaders and elders bullying their own families, it is true that there are not many behaviors, because the southern clans often pay attention to poetry and etiquette to pass down the family. As a clan leader, you must pay attention to fairness and justice in order to maintain your prestige, otherwise the clan members below will not obey him. .

Therefore, even if there are certain actions, they must use fairer means to deal with them. At most, they just do some small things behind the scenes, but evil behaviors such as bullying, robbery, unprovoked beatings, and violent coercion will not happen openly.

Therefore, with such order maintained, there are not many evil forces in Southern Township. In other words, there are, but due to clannishness and the support of fellow clan members, not many people report it.

"Spreading the land is harmful to the country and the people. This kind of bad government should be abolished long ago!"

The landowners in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, headed by Gong Xu, decided to be polite before fighting. They jointly petitioned the transfer envoy's Yamen to cancel the tenements.

At this time, because the imperial court did not deal with the landlords' protest immediately, after a year of fermentation, the matter became more and more troublesome. Thousands of landlords and their slaves broke into Hangzhou City, disrupting traffic inside and outside Hangzhou City. Almost paralyzed.

Therefore, demonstrations have not been a minority since ancient times. Even when Emperor Yongzheng of the Qing Dynasty implemented the system of dividing land into acres, a large number of landowners went to Zhejiang Yamen to protest against Li Wei.

In the early morning of the 16th, the protest team entered the city from Yuhangmen in the north, and then people from all streets came like a tide, congesting the entire street.

This also gave courage to the landowners.

We must know that the total of the two Zhejiang roads is only 70 million acres, of which Suzhou, Huzhou, Changzhou, Xiuzhou, Hangzhou, Runzhou, Jiangningfu and other places combined have more than 40 million acres.

So starting from March 10th, a large number of landowners rushed to Hangzhou Fucheng with their manpower.

Tolerable or unbearable.

In the second year of Jiayou, Ouyang Xiu dismissed thousands of students because of the Taixue Ti matter, which led to them gathering thousands of people to demonstrate in Bianliang and besieging Ouyang Xiu's residence and his official sedan.

The so-called people do not hold officials accountable, and this is true at any time. Even though these landowners have some thugs at home, they usually disguise themselves as slaves. Due to their wealth and power, the villagers naturally keep silent.

Under such circumstances, as long as someone raises their voice, I believe many landowners will choose to stand with them.

They shouted and petitioned outside the yamen of the Transport Department, the Appeasement Department, the Lifting Department, the Changping Department, and the Yushi Department. By March 15, more and more people were in the city of Hangzhou. There are tens of thousands of people.

"The court's lack of justice has caused my wife and children to be separated."

All kinds of slogans were loud.

This is not bad.

"We promised that we would never increase the tax, but instead it is allotted to us and our local guests are taken away. We are miserable beyond words!"

During the Republic of China, the dung pickers' strike in Shanghai and Guangzhou was extremely severe. The city was filled with filth and the smell of incense spread far and wide.

For example, in the third year of Jingyou's reign, the imperial court wanted to lay off more than 500 officials in the third division. These officials went to the door of Lu Yijian and Wang Zeng's house to cause trouble. They also went to the door of the house of Du Yan, the censor Zhongcheng, to curse and throw tiles and stones in protest.

The remaining fourteen prefectures, including Taizhou, Wenzhou, Muzhou, and Quzhou, have more mountainous areas and fewer acres of land, so the total number of acres is only over 20 million acres.

But now, after a year of fermentation, the idea of ​​​​allocation has swept the entire Song Dynasty, seriously damaging the interests of landlords throughout Jiangsu and Zhejiang.

By March, landowners in many places responded, and they agreed to take their troops to Hangzhou to transfer to the government office to protest.

Don’t think that there were no demonstrations in ancient times. In fact, there were quite a few during the Northern Song Dynasty.

The landowners headed by Gong Xu and other four major families felt that since the court was still conducting official business and did not implicate them, does that mean that they could also pursue their demands reasonably?

After a month of preparations, many landowners have taken action.

The Liangzhe Road Transfer Office is located among the government offices inside Fengyu Gate, close to the West Lake.

But when I thought about the fact that I was an official transfer envoy, and had many friendly discussions with those people all the way, they turned a deaf ear to it. It really made me lose face, so I ignored it and just sent someone to convey that it was the imperial court's responsibility to share the property with the tenants. The national policy cannot be shaken, let them take care of themselves.

They signed it densely with two to three thousand names, all of which were very important landowners from various places. Small landowners with only a few hundred acres were not even qualified to sign on it.

In the first year of Jingkang, the Jin army besieged the city, and tens of thousands of people in Bianliang demonstrated, forcing Song Qinzong to appoint Li Gang, the prime minister of the main war faction. More than 200 eunuchs were even killed in the process, and the entire Bianliang was reduced to chaos.

If calculated based on 28% of land annexation, landowners ranging from a few hundred acres to tens of thousands of acres on Jiangzhe Road own almost 30 million acres of land. The landowners who responded this time are basically one-third of the entire Jiangzhe Road The landowners are causing trouble.

The streets on the east side of the West Lake are lined with white walls and gray tiles, with willows lingering in the air. There are rows of painted boats on the lake and rows of brothels by the lake. This is the time for tourists to go out and see the beautiful scenery.

After receiving the petition, Du Qi, the transfer envoy of Jiangsu-Zhejiang Road, originally wanted to invite the leading landowners to have a discussion.

The total land owned by the landlords who caused trouble this time may have reached more than 10 million acres.

And before, their power was too small.

As a land of fish and rice, Suzhou was the place with the most abundant grain production in the Song Dynasty, and the local landowners suffered the greatest loss of profits.

So Gong Xu and other landowners first discussed with other large landowners in Suzhou, then expanded their contacts, and contacted landowners in Huzhou, Changzhou, Xiuzhou, Hangzhou, Runzhou, Jiangning Prefecture and many other places.

There are more than 300 large landowners with tens of thousands of acres of land in their families. The remaining small and medium-sized landowners with thousands to 1,000 acres of land add up to more than 2,000 people, forming a huge force.

When the news spread back, the landowners on Jiangzhe Road were very angry. They felt that the imperial court was too arrogant to harm their interests in this way, but they always ignored it and adopted various methods to take away the tenants under their hands.

In early March, the weather was clear and sunny.

And those landlords who were arrested by the court were basically punished because they took in desperadoes. Most landowners are safe and unscathed by the storm.

At the end of the day, a large number of people rushed to the streets of Dawazi, and the traffic was temporarily blocked. Except for the boats at the water gates, which were still running smoothly, the markets in other places were already blocked, making it difficult for people to pass.

As a result, a large number of protesters poured in, and the east bank of West Lake was suddenly crowded with people. There was even a stampede and the riots continued.

There were countless crowds of people outside the transfer office, shouting and demanding that the court stop the policy of sharing the land from one person to another.

"boom!"

At this moment, in the government office, Du Qi, the transfer envoy of Liangzhe Road, heard the news and became furious. He slapped the table and said, "What? Say it again."

The clerk below quickly said: "Commander Commander, at least tens of thousands of people have come to the city. They are blocking the streets and shouting everywhere. As a result, the bustling city has stopped and the people have gone home to hide. Those who did not hesitate were trampled and injured."

"These bastards."

Du Qi stood up from the desk, put his hands behind his back, and immediately began to think.

There has been a lot of trouble lately, but he doesn't care.

This is the intention of the court. According to the Zhiyuan, this can be regarded as the last chance for these Liangzhe Road landlords.

As long as they are obedient and get through this period peacefully, everything will be easy in the future.

But apparently they don't want that.

They actually made the matter bigger and bigger. In the past, there were only one or two thousand people at most, but now tens of thousands of people have gathered. What are you trying to do, to rebel?
Du Qi wanted to send troops to suppress it at that time, but then he realized that he had no military power and could only mobilize government officials.

The yamen's limited manpower may not be enough to suppress the situation.

He hesitated for a moment and then said: "First send someone out to maintain order on the streets to prevent anyone from being trampled and injured again."

"Yes."

The official went out.

The government office was working today, and Du Qi was dealing with other matters, so Ren Maocheng, the deputy transfer envoy, happened to be there too.

After hearing Du Qi's words, Ren Maocheng hesitated and said, "Commander, would you like to ignore it for a moment?" "How?"

Du Qi spread his hands and said, "If we want to suppress it, we must send troops. Do we have any troops on hand?"

"That"

Ren Maocheng said: "Should we send someone to the capital immediately to report to the Imperial Academy?"

"Well"

Du Qi narrowed his eyes and thought deeply.

Under normal circumstances, if something like this happens during his term of office, if he fails to suppress it and reports it, he will definitely be punished.

Historically, the reason why Nong Zhigao repeatedly sent letters to the court but received no response was because the magistrate of Yongzhou intercepted the letters.

After all, if the imperial court knew that the Jiaozhi people often raided their borders in the Song Dynasty, but Yongzhou could not deal with it, then the imperial court would only feel that the governor of Yongzhou was incompetent, which would affect their career.

Therefore, many times, officials tend to suppress such high-impact matters and prevent them from spreading to prevent them from being reported to the court.

But now this matter obviously cannot be blamed on Du Qi, because he had long wanted to deal with the landlords, but Zhao Jun gave him a secret order and asked him to let the situation develop, which led to the current situation.

Although the magistrate did not clearly explain why he did this, Du Qi was not stupid and could vaguely guess something.

Nothing more than two points.

First, as the Zhiyuan said on the surface, it gave the landowners a chance and hoped that they would invest their wealth in industries such as steel, cement, and brick factories to contribute to industrial development.

Secondly...

Du Qi raised his head, looked at Ren Maocheng and said, "Don't rush to report this matter yet."

"Why?"

Ren Maocheng said in astonishment: "Commander Commander, the matter is so big. If we don't report it, the other four departments will also report it, including the Imperial City Department."

"It's up to them whether they want to retaliate, but we won't retaliate anyway."

Du Qi shook his head.

"What if the court blames this?"

Ren Maocheng hesitated.

Du Qi smiled and said: "No, we will not take credit for this."

"Achieving merit? This, this, this."

Ren Maocheng was dumbfounded. Is it still a merit if he didn't report the knowledge?
How is it possible?

However, Du Qi smiled mysteriously and said: "I heard that the imperial court is going to build a railway from Kaifeng to Nanyang this year. Most of the railway line is wasteland, but there are also some farmland. Do you know how the imperial court solved the problem?"

Ren Maocheng thought for a while and said, "I heard that I bought it."

"Jiangsu and Zhejiang are all land, and transportation basically relies on shipping. How fast is the railway? It is said that it can travel thousands of miles in a day, and can go from Jiangsu and Zhejiang to Sichuan in a few days."

Du Qi said calmly: "But if we ask them to buy land, will they give it to us?"

"What does Si Shuai mean?"

"Actually, the imperial court has long wanted to touch them. First of all, they have a lot of land. The rich have thousands of houses and the poor have no place to stand, which makes the people miserable. Based on the movements of the Imperial Court in recent years, I am afraid that they want to take back the land."

Du Qi said: "You see, the government issued a few years ago, asking local governments to find ways to buy back land and use it as official land for the poor to farm. But what about these people on the Liangzhe Road?"

"Oh oh oh oh."

Ren Maocheng suddenly understood, opened his eyes wide and said: "So Zhiyuan deliberately let them go, so that he could find an excuse."

"Well, the transfer has made the Yamen very busy with official duties, so we have to continue working."

Du Qi said calmly.

"Yes Yes Yes."

Ren Maocheng laughed.

Anyone who can reach the rank of commander is not a fool.

The policy changes of the imperial court in recent years can actually be seen clearly.

For example, what is the purpose of sharing the land, what is the purpose of redeeming official land, and what is the purpose of reducing corvee taxes.

In the final analysis, it is actually to alleviate the increasingly acute land conflicts and the huge gap between rich and poor.

As early as the Western Han Dynasty, Minister Shi Dan saw the disadvantages of land annexation. All dynasties have been trying to solve this problem, but they have never been able to eradicate it.

Now that the imperial court is going to take serious action, these frontier officials naturally know it very well.

So where do they stand?

Naturally, we have to side with the imperial court.

Because all the officials who did not side with the imperial court had already been beaten down by the magistrate.

So how to choose a side? It’s natural to have a clear idea.

It seems.

Zhiyuan is about to wield the butcher's knife again.

Du Qi dipped his brush in ink, thought to himself, and then began to work on official documents.

Soon, the attitude of the transfer envoy to the Yamen was conveyed.

Still indifferent.

This in turn aroused the anger of the people in Hangzhou Prefecture, because it seriously interfered with their daily lives.

Therefore, many people waited for the demonstrators to disperse at night and then ran to the government offices to curse.

Du Qiquan pretended not to hear.

This is also something that can't be helped.

If you want to make things bigger, you must make things bigger so that the court can easily send troops.

So a few days later.

The number of people demonstrating has increased.

At first, everyone showed some restraint, but by March 20, more and more people came to Hangzhou, with nearly 20,000 people coming in to protest.

Moreover, things got really big on this day. Seeing that the government office had been closed due to the changes in the past few days, the people who were originally just protesting actually started throwing stones, bricks and tiles.

Then someone shouted and actually rushed to the government office. Later, they were forced back by people sent by the government with crossbows, and they dispersed in the streets. Unable to vent their anger accumulated over the past few days, they rampaged and smashed everywhere.

For a time, Hangzhou became more chaotic and public security declined rapidly. With the first death, the first shop being smashed, and even someone raising a torch, the nature suddenly changed.

It was only then that the transfer envoy's Yamen finally made some movement. Together with the other four Yamen, the Imperial City Department and the Hangzhou Prefecture, all the Yamen were dispatched to arrest those who smashed, looted, and burned, extinguished the flames, and treated the injured.

A few days later, the transfer envoy's letter from the Yamen was conveyed to Bianliang at an extremely fast speed.

(End of this chapter)