The Han culture is spreading strongly in Southeast Asia

Chapter 480 Don’t make a nest, there are no fish here
Zhili, Shuntian Prefecture, Gu'an County, Niudaobao Village.

The three words "Niu Zai Bao" come from a fortress at the east end of the village, or it can be said that Niu Zai Bao came first, and then Niu Zai Bao Village came into being.

This solitary and conspicuous fortress stands on the North China Plain. It was built on the only mound of earth in the surrounding wilderness and was originally used to store grain.

Gu'an is located near Beijing. Since the Ming Dynasty, it has been a place with many imperial farms. Building such a small castle is conducive to collecting and storing grain.

During the Qing Dynasty, the Bannermen rushed to enclose land and occupied all the surrounding fields. Among them, the Bannermen nobles and some of the Han Eight Banners began to live in the countryside and manage the farms, and villages began to form around the fortress.

The North China Plain, with its vast fertile fields, developed transportation, and flourishing handicraft industry, is a first-class place.

This situation is likely beyond the imagination of later generations, because Hebei Province in later generations always gives people the impression of being poor and having no sense of existence.

But that is because it gives people the feeling that the political center Beijing and the first natural port Tianjin have been taken away. Especially in this era when agricultural production accounts for a large proportion of the economy, the North China Plain has never been poor.

This is also the reason why the Qing Dynasty's rule in Hebei was relatively stable. The land was fertile, and the amount of land tax silver and land tax grain paid was ridiculously small.

Zhili, which is located on the vast fertile North China Plain, paid 700,000 to 800,000 taels of tax less than Shanxi, which is full of mountains and small basins and where the people can only eat a lot of carbohydrates to survive. It was only 60% of Henan to its south.

However, these soon became outdated. After the Qing Dynasty successively lost wealthy areas such as Lingnan, Jiangnan, and Huguang, in order to raise money and grain, it began to impose various harsh taxes on Zhili.

In addition, there is another important reason, that is, the Qing Dynasty recruited soldiers on a large scale in Zhili.

Not only did they restore the banner identities of hundreds of thousands of Han army members who had left the banner, they also conscripted a large number of young men from the public and incorporated them into the army, causing a serious shortage of civilian labor.

"I only pray that the Heavenly Venerable will show those who have not heard of it, so that they may understand the root causes of their sins, bestow the medicine of the Great Dharma, heal those who are in ruins, resonate the sound of the Great Dharma, enlighten the ignorant, pour down the rain of the Great Dharma, bathe the body and mind, spread the cloud of the Great Dharma, shade all beings, light the torch of the Great Dharma, illuminate the darkness, open the door of the Great Dharma, and guide all beings. I am grateful for your kindness and grace."

At the foot of Niutao Fort, a team that was neither Taoist nor Buddhist was walking slowly towards them, chanting the Blood Lake Sutra.

In the team, a girl called Sanxiangu sat on a tall sedan chair. She wore a crown on her head and a long ochre-yellow robe. Two ribbons flowed down from both sides of the crown, printed with various talismans written in cinnabar.

The ceremony was extremely grand. There were six strong men alone carrying the sedan chair for the Three Fairies. There were also dozens of people dressed as monks and Taoists around them, chanting the Blood Lake Sutra.

The whole team was filled with loud gongs and drums, and colorful flags were fluttering. The three fairies had bright red lips, bright eyes and white teeth, and they looked serious. From a distance, they really looked like fairies.

Hearing the sound of chanting, all the women in Niu Zaobao came out. They knelt on the roadside and chanted the scriptures loudly. They also offered the only presentable cakes, fruits and fine grains in their homes and placed them at their feet for the believers behind them to take away.

Some men did not want to kneel, but were pulled by their mothers or sisters and knelt down reluctantly.

Some people who are extremely filial have already taken the initiative to recite the scriptures.

At this time, due to the constant wars during the Qianlong period, the capital and even the entire Zhili Banner suffered serious losses of male men, resulting in a large number of widows.

Gradually, these bannermen widows were regarded as symbols of uncleanness. It was said that it was because they brought bad luck to their fathers and husbands that the men died and never returned. After death, they would go to the Blood Lake Hell to atone for their sins. If they wanted to be saved, they had to join a religion and ask a master to chant the Blood Lake Sutra to free them from their sins.

As for which religion to join and which master to seek, there are many options.

Initially, it was just some cunning Han Chinese White Lotus sect members who used it to cheat the bodies and money of bannermen widows. Later, it gradually flourished and has now spread to the whole Zhili and half of Shandong.

And it is no longer limited to women, but men must also chant the Blood Lake Sutra and offer money and property. Otherwise, it would be considered as being unwilling to contribute to the mother's escape from the Blood Lake Hell, which is extremely unfilial.

When these evil spirits walked away, officials from the yamen came over, banging gongs and shouting.

"Militia from every household will gather at the county government office in three days. They will conduct drills every ten days. This is an order from the Ascending Heavenly Emperor, who is under the seat of the Mother of No Birth. If you disobey, not only will you be sent to the Eighteen Levels of Hell, but your wives, daughters, mothers, and sisters will also be sent to the Blood Lake Hell."

Xing Dunxing watched all this coldly, but he knelt down and kept chanting scriptures. He was from Anzhou, not far from Niu Zaibao (Anzhou Town, Anxin County, Baoding).

He has been skilled in martial arts since childhood, skilled in archery and horse riding, and is extremely filial to his mother. Therefore, although he disdains these superstitious things, when he encounters the opportunity to chant the Blood Lake Sutra, he still prays for his mother very devoutly.

"What the hell is this Ten Directions Ascending Heavenly Emperor? Is he crazy?" Xing Dunxing's younger brother Xing Dunchao stood up from the ground, muttering in disgust.

"Instead of being the Sixth Prince, he became some deceptive Ten Directions Ascended Heavenly Emperor.

If you could truly ascend to heaven, become invulnerable to swords and spears, and possess immense magical powers, why would you still need us to suffer so much? You could just go and destroy the southern bandits yourself."

It turns out that the so-called Ascended Emperor of Ten Directions was none other than Emperor Qianlong's sixth son, Yongrong.

Because he was in power without legitimate reasons, many people were dissatisfied with him. He even had to hesitate several times before he could become the regent.

Yongrong looked around and saw that there were not many people supporting him. The only way he could think of was to seize the military power and threaten others to support him.

But nowadays, there are very few men among the Bannermen, or to be more precise, the Eight Banners stationed in Beijing. At most, there are only two or three thousand who can fight. It is difficult to claim military power with such a small number of people.

Therefore, Yongrong intensified the strategy of restoring the Han army flag to its status, which had been implemented before Qianlong suffered a stroke, and soon formed an Eight Banners Army of 15,000 people.

Although the army was mobilized, it was short of weapons and food, so they had no choice but to continue to impose heavy taxes and levies.

However, taxation has always been a matter that depends on the government's administrative ability. Now the people of the Qing Dynasty are demoralized, and Yongrong is not in a legitimate position, so he can't collect much money or grain at all.

So he simply made up his mind and started cooperating with the Han Chinese cult members below.

These various White Lotus Sect members, big and small, spread across Zhili and half of Shandong, worshipped him as the Ascended Heavenly Emperor of the Ten Directions, second only to top gods such as the Mother of the Unborn, Maitreya Buddha, and the Heavenly Generals and the Bright King. He was ranked fourth in the True Vacuum Homeland, but first in the mortal world.

Yongrong granted them official positions, recognized their status, and even allocated princely mansions in Beijing as their temples, making it look like a state religion. Through this method, Yongrong gained the ability to extract money, grain, men, and other resources from the grassroots countryside.

But the consequences are also very serious. These underground missionaries from the lowest level are all poor people. It’s not that they are necessarily evil, but they are really hungry!

The family is extremely poor, and once there is a chance to gain uncontrollable power, they will rush to make a living!
They would not stop plundering until the leaders of the big and small sects became rich and powerful. If they gave Yongrong one tael of silver, they would collect at least five taels for themselves.

Here, Xing Dunxing finished reciting the sutra and heard his brother's muttering. He stood up and glared at him fiercely, "Be careful with your words and actions, be careful of the harm that comes from your mouth!"

Several fellow villagers behind him looked at this martial arts master in awe and asked in a low voice, "Brother Xing, after drinking the Three Fairies' talisman water, will we really be invulnerable to swords and guns?"

Xing Dunxing looked around and saw that not many people were paying attention to them. He lowered his voice and said, "Don't worry about whether it's useful or not. Just follow me on the battlefield. We won't charge forward."

His talkative brother Xing Dunchao couldn't help himself anymore. He snorted coldly, "Fuck that Sanxian Gu. Drinking her magic water will make you invulnerable to swords and guns. But my brother is still training in the dog days of summer and the coldest days of winter!"

After hearing this, Xing Dunxing's face changed and he was about to curse, but in the distance a messenger riding a yellow horse came galloping towards them.

"The Ten Directions Ascending Heavenly Emperor has issued an order. All militiamen are to immediately depart for the county government office and assemble. Those who fail to meet their deadline will be executed immediately!"

Xing Dunchao was a little confused. "Your mother just said that we would take action in three days, but now we have to take action immediately. Could it be that the southern bandits are really attacking?"

Capital city, outside Yongding Gate.

Fu Kang'an also received the rumor that the Xing Tang Army was going to march north, but he was powerless to do anything.

Because after Qianlong suffered a stroke, Fu Kang'an's power declined rapidly, especially after Hailancha, whom he strongly supported, surrendered to Dayu.

Over the years, in addition to Fukang'an, the sixth prince Yongrong was jealous of him, could not tolerate him, and was afraid that he could not control him, so he kept suppressing him.

Heshen hid in the deep palace and controlled Emperor Qianlong and the sixteenth prince Yongyan with a group of people. He did not allow outsiders to see them easily and held the highest voice.

They were also very afraid of Fu Kang'an, fearing that he would gather people to take Qianlong away.

"Let's go, let's go back outside the Great Wall, back to our hometown. If Mo Zhao wants to chase us, he can just play hide-and-seek with us between the white mountains and black waters!"

Fukang'an was very unwilling, but he pretended to be cool and shouted loudly, then rode his horse eastward with more than a hundred people who still supported him.

On February 1781, 2, the sixth year of the Guangzhong reign of the Yu Dynasty and the forty-sixth year of the Qianlong reign of the Qing Dynasty, the second day of the second month, the Dragon Raised its Head.

Mo Zibu swore an oath in Yingtian Prefecture to lead his troops to the north and personally led the army.

On the third day of February, the army crossed the Guazhou Ferry and headed towards Xuzhou along the Grand Canal.

In this battle, Mo Zibu mobilized 6,000 guards including the Right Regiment of the Yulin Guards and the Yuancong Guards, as well as four of the twelve armies of the Beijing Camp, totaling 50,000 people.

On the day when Mo Zibu swore to launch the Northern Expedition, the 8,000 cavalrymen led by Zuoge (Rakoczi Zuoge) including the Changshui Hu Cavalry Regiment of the Imperial Guard, the Huaibei Cavalry Regiment of the Beijing Camp, and the Huainan Cavalry Regiment had already entered the Central Plains against the west of the Yellow River.

Behind these 8,000 cavalrymen, Chen Qiuze, the Earl of Songjiang and the commander of the military affairs of the four states in Jiangbei, also set out with 15,000 men. They will serve as the vanguard of the army and pave the way for Mo Zibu's main force.

On the eighth day of February, the vanguard cavalry team took control of Kaifeng City, and the places along the way such as Guide (Shangqiu) and Chenliu were captured without a fight.

When they arrived at Kaifeng City, the militia organized by local gentry dispersed, and the cavalry quickly entered the city and then continued westward along the Yellow River.

On the tenth day of February, Dong Jinfeng, the commander of the Huaibei Cavalry Regiment, successively conquered Zhongmu and Zhengzhou.

No, it shouldn’t be called “Ke”. This is a little more troublesome than taking Kaifeng.

At that time, the Zhengzhou militia put up a brief resistance outside the city of Zhengzhou, but were hit twice by 500 dragoons from the cavalry regiment with flintlock rifles. After dozens of casualties, they retreated into the city. Then the Qing Kaifeng prefect opened the city and surrendered.

The reason why he was the prefect of Kaifeng was because Zhengzhou was under the jurisdiction of Kaifeng at that time.

The Kaifeng prefect was afraid of death and did not dare to stay in Kaifeng, which was too close to Xuzhou. Instead, he ran to Zhengzhou. However, he did not expect that the Dayu cavalry would arrive so quickly and he had no time to react at all.

Similarly, on the Western Route Army side, Wang Wubing encountered little resistance. In ten days, he took over all the prefectures and counties and arrived at the city of Xuzhou.

Ye Xianchun also surrounded Yunyang City, repelled two groups of Hunyuan believers who tried to break out, and was preparing to close the door and beat the dog.

At this time, Mo Zibu had just arrived in Suqian, which was still a hundred kilometers away from Xuzhou.

Our Emperor Mo scratched his head and said, "My goodness, didn't you, the Qing Dynasty, set up a militia in Henan?"
That's all you did?
Eight thousand cavalrymen almost reached Luoyang from Xuzhou in eleven days, braving the snow all the way.

Hiss, didn’t I make a big fuss about dividing the land among you local gentry and taking your property?

Why can't you just stand up a little and form these mischievous militias to fool people?
"Select ten thousand elite soldiers and follow me to accelerate our advance. We must rush to Kaifeng Prefecture as soon as possible, preferably to Luoyang. The rest of the troops will be led by Ryan Stan."

Mo Zibu made a decision immediately. He had been baiting the pond for so long, but there were no fish at all. What was the point of catching any fish? He had to go and stabilize the situation!

It seems that the Qing Dynasty really only had some military strength in Zhili.

(End of this chapter)