I traveled with them to the Northern Song Dynasty

Chapter 237 War Flames Ignite Jiangnan, Gentry Beg for Heavenly Soldiers

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Bao Kang was surprised that Fang La wanted to use "purging the emperor's inner circle" as the slogan of his rebel army.

"Purge the emperor's inner circle" is a common political slogan used in rebellions, and it has both advantages and disadvantages.

On the positive side, uprisings need a legitimate cause. "Purge the court of corrupt officials" allows one to justify their actions by eliminating treacherous ministers around the monarch, thus reducing the pressure of direct confrontation with the monarch and making it easier to gain the support of some subjects who are unwilling to oppose imperial power. For example, during the Rebellion of the Seven States in the Western Han Dynasty, Liu Bi, the King of Wu, used the slogan "Execute Chao Cuo and purge the court of corrupt officials" to try to make his rebellion seem justified.

This also directs the conflict towards the treacherous ministers and villains around the monarch, rather than the monarch himself, thus reducing the rebellion's treasonous nature to some extent and potentially attracting support from those forces who still have some recognition of imperial power but are dissatisfied with powerful ministers.

From the perspective of Fang La's rebel army, given that Zhao Yu had no problems and was even known as a "wise ruler," the slogan "cleansing the court of corrupt officials" was indeed very appropriate.

Moreover, Fang La's choice of treacherous officials and villains was also quite appropriate. He did not choose Zhang Dun, the prime minister whose reputation had improved due to the recovery of Qinghai and Western Xia, the great defeat of the Liao Dynasty, and the assistance he provided to Zhao Yu in governing the Song Dynasty, nor did he choose Han Zhongyan, the deputy prime minister. Instead, he chose Cai Jing, the left vice minister of the Ministry of Personnel.

Cai Jing wielded immense power and frequently sent women to Zhao Yu, even offering his own daughter to him. He was fond of luxury, unscrupulous in his actions, and had a bad reputation. Crucially, he did indeed use his power to annex land in Jiangnan, amassing a large fortune and acquiring numerous properties. More importantly, during his early years in Hangzhou, Cai Jing befriended a very capable but treacherous man, whom the people of the south deeply resented.

This villain was named Zhu Chong, and he had a son named Zhu Mian, who was one of the six notorious thieves in history. The father and son were very famous gentry in Suzhou, with connections to the highest levels, ruthless and capable. It was said that there was nothing they couldn't accomplish or anyone they couldn't handle.

Zhu Chong was originally a servant, but by chance he met a benefactor who helped him open a pharmacy after returning home.

Zhu Chong's medicines were remarkably effective, and he gradually gained considerable fame in the Suzhou area, which also made his family wealthy.

Once, Cai Jing came to Suzhou wanting to build a temple. However, the enormous cost gave him a major headache, so he consulted with the local monks. During the discussion, the monks unanimously recommended Zhu Chong, believing that only Zhu Chong could afford such a huge donation. Upon hearing this, Cai Jing entrusted the matter to Zhu Chong.

After agreeing to Cai Jing's request, Zhu Chong acted swiftly, and soon, building materials for the temple were piled up like mountains.

A few days later, Cai Jing came to the temple to check on the progress of the project, and he was very satisfied with Zhu Chong's efficiency.

After that, Cai Jing greatly valued Zhu Chong and his son Zhu Mian.

Although the emperor in this generation changed from Zhao Ji to Zhao Yu, and the Flower and Stone Tribute was no longer in effect, since Zhu Chong and his son Zhu Mian had allied themselves with Cai Jing, who was in charge of the economy of the Zhao Song Dynasty and had the most profitable maritime trade, how could the exceptionally capable Zhu Chong and Zhu Mian earn less?

The details are omitted, but in short, over the years, Zhu Chong and his son Zhu Mian have made a lot of money. They and their family have purchased hundreds of thousands of acres of land, terrorized the countryside, bullied men and women, and committed all sorts of evil deeds. They are notorious throughout the Jiangnan region.

Speaking of which, it's no wonder that the gentry in the south resisted the two new policies so much; they simply owned too much land.

It should be noted that Zhu Chong and his son Zhu Mian were actually just "nouveau riche" among the gentry, yet their family owned hundreds of thousands of acres of land.

Not to mention those great families that have been passed down for one or two hundred years, or even thousands of years. These great families probably own millions of acres of land.
Do you think these gentry didn't see Zhao Yu's resolute attitude towards reform?
how is this possible.

In order to implement the two new policies, Zhao Yu turned a blind eye to Song Jiang's rebel army. How could these gentry not know that Zhao Yu was determined to reform?

The problem is that the north has long faced military threats from regimes such as the Liao and Western Xia, with frequent wars leading to population loss and land abandonment. People fled their homes to escape the war, and land was easily abandoned or sold at low prices, making it difficult to form a long-term stable environment for land consolidation.

The south, being far from the borders, enjoyed a stable social environment, which facilitated land development and concentration. This stable environment also gave southern gentry more opportunities to accumulate land through purchase, reclamation, and ruthless plunder.

Furthermore, while the north is mostly plains, long-term farming has led to a decline in soil fertility, and the relatively arid climate results in unstable agricultural output. Some land has become saline-alkali land or wasteland due to war or neglect of irrigation, making it difficult to form high-value, centralized farmland. In addition, the mixed nature of animal husbandry and agriculture in the north has resulted in more dispersed land use, making it less susceptible to large-scale monopolies by a single social class.

The south, with its superior conditions, is suitable for growing high-yield crops such as rice. Furthermore, through land reclamation from lakes and the development of terraced fields, arable land has been continuously expanded, resulting in high economic value for the land. Southern gentry were more inclined to invest in land, creating a large-scale effect of interconnected fields. In contrast, the lower returns on land in the north made it less attractive to the gentry.

Furthermore, the capital of the Song Dynasty was located in the north, allowing for relatively strict oversight of northern officials. Additionally, the northern gentry had suffered significantly during the turmoil of the late Tang and Five Dynasties period, and the emerging gentry class had not yet formed a powerful land monopoly. Moreover, the north's proximity to the capital allowed for more direct intervention by the court in land annexation.

Since the late Tang Dynasty, the economic status of the South had risen, and under the imperial examination system, a large number of Southern scholars entered officialdom. After retiring, they returned to their hometowns and acquired land, forming a gentry class. They used their political privileges and economic power to massively acquire land. Moreover, the South was far from the imperial court, and the court's supervision was weaker, making land concentration even more likely to occur.

Most importantly, the war resulted in a lower population density and more wasteland in the north, making it easier for ordinary people to acquire land and making it difficult for gentry to expand their businesses by monopolizing scarce land.

Meanwhile, the population in the south continued to grow, exacerbating the contradiction between a large population and a limited land area. The gentry controlled the limited land resources through purchasing and leasing, resulting in a situation where "the rich owned vast tracts of land, while the poor had no place to stand."

This resulted in land annexation being far less severe in the north than in the south. Southern gentry not only owned vast amounts of land, often numbering in the thousands, tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands of acres, but land was also their greatest asset.

If Zhao Yu successfully implements the two new policies, the gentry in the south will not only have to pay high taxes every year, but the land they own will also be greatly devalued, resulting in a significant reduction in their wealth.

Just as Wang Xifeng said, greatness has its own difficulties.

These southern gentry families are used to luxury. Their servants are dressed in fine clothes and wear gold and jade belts. How could you expect them to cut back on food and clothing and live a "hard life"?

After all, it is easy to go from frugality to extravagance, but difficult to go from extravagance to frugality.

Therefore, it is understandable that the southern gentry strongly resisted the two new policies.

The gentry in the south probably even wanted to kill Zhao Yu.

However, assassinating Zhao Yu was extremely difficult, especially since Zhao Yu had strengthened his security and self-protection, as well as the power of the Imperial City Guard, the Eastern Depot, and the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

Some gentry members who had just plotted to assassinate Zhao Yu were apprehended by these three major intelligence agencies, and what awaited them was undoubtedly the most severe punishment—the kind that would involve the extermination of nine generations of their families. Secondly, the cost of assassinating Zhao Yu was too high. Success aside, failure meant the confiscation of their property and the extermination of their entire clan. Normally, only those desperate enough to starve would take such a risk, willing to perish with their families. Wealthy people had so many concerns; how could they dare risk being wiped out by Zhao Yu?
This is why no gentry member has attempted to assassinate Zhao Yu; at least, so far, no one has succeeded in doing so.

But let's get back to the point.

If Fang La's rebel army had raised the slogan of "purging the emperor's inner circle" and executed the gentry led by Cai Jing and his sons Zhu Chong and Zhu Mian, it would have indeed quickly ignited the anger of the people in Jiangnan, turning their pent-up resentment towards the gentry into a powerful driving force to support Fang La's rebel army. This would have garnered widespread sympathy and support for Fang La's actions among the people. More importantly, this move would have cleverly avoided a direct conflict with the court and reduced the pressure of directly confronting imperial power.

On the downside, if Fang La's rebel army's actual goal was to overthrow the Song Dynasty, the slogan of "purging the emperor's inner circle" would be disconnected from their true intentions. Once their actions exceeded the scope of "purging the emperor," their ambitions would be easily exposed, and they would lose public support. For example, during the An Lushan Rebellion in the Tang Dynasty, although An Lushan used the pretext of "purging the emperor's inner circle," the essence of the rebellion was to seize power, and the hypocrisy of his slogans gradually became apparent in the later stages.

Furthermore, if Zhao Yu had truly eliminated the so-called "treacherous officials and villains," such as dealing with Cai Jing and the father-son duo of Zhu Chong and Zhu Mian, Fang La's rebel army might have lost its rallying cry and fallen into a passive position. For instance, during the Rebellion of the Seven States, Emperor Jing of Han executed Chao Cuo to quell the unrest, but Liu Bi, the King of Wu, did not cease his military campaigns; instead, he solidified his rebellious nature.

In short, Fang La's rebel army used "purging the emperor's inner circle" as its slogan, which may have had a certain mobilization effect in the early stages of the uprising due to its use of the name of "loyalty to the emperor." However, whether it could be effective in the long term depended on the degree to which Fang La's rebel army's real goals aligned with its slogan.

Based on this, Bao Kang and the other members of Fang La's rebel army, who were also hoping to be recruited by the emperor, would certainly agree with Fang La's idea, even though "purging the emperor's inner circle" was a common slogan used in rebellions.

For Fang La, what he wanted was to rebel, to become emperor himself, and to build up his army now. Considering the wavering attitudes of Bao Kang and the rest of Fang La's rebel army, only the banner of "purging the emperor's corrupt advisors" could temporarily conceal his ambitious plans, serving as a stopgap measure to unite the people and consolidate strength, thus temporarily solving Fang La's biggest problem.

Immediately afterwards, Wang Gong Laofo, who had been promoted to Fang La's chief advisor, argued that if the name is not correct, the words will not be proper, and the most urgent task should be to establish a management system for Fang La's rebel army as soon as possible so that the rebel army could form a fighting force.

At the same time, Master Wang wrote letters to the protectors of Manichaeism, including Lü Shinang in Xianju County of Taizhou, Qiu Daoren in Shan County of Yuezhou, and Zheng Mowang in Quzhou, instructing them to secretly organize their followers to rise up in response to Fang La's uprising and to kill corrupt officials and wealthy but unkind gentry.

Fang La also wrote letters to Shi Sheng in Suzhou, Lu Xing'er in Gui'an County, Huzhou, Zhu Yan and Wu Bang in Lingshandong, Lanxi County, Wuzhou, Chen Shisi in Fangyanshan, Yongkang County, and Huo Chengfu and Chen Gutong in Jinyun County, Chuzhou, inviting them to join the uprising and kill corrupt officials and wealthy but unkind gentry.

Bao Kang suggested that since the rebel army lacked weapons, they should cut bamboo from the nearby bamboo forest mountain to make bamboo spears and arrows, and conduct day and night drills to actively train in combat so as to become familiar with battle formations and be prepared for battles that could come at any time.

Fang La agreed and ordered the Fang Fifth Division, Fang Seventh Division, Fang Baihua Division, Lu Balang Division, Guan Sunzhong Division, Fang Shizong Division, and the small groups of rebels led by Fang Jing to immediately make bamboo spears and arrows and conduct combat training.

Wang Gong Laofo suggested that the soldiers of the righteous army should all wear red turbans or other colored turbans as a symbol, and that in the future, the color of the turbans could be used to distinguish ranks for easier management.

Fang La also instructed Fang Fei to do so immediately.

With the combined efforts of several people, they managed to straighten out the previously chaotic Fang La rebel army.

With the addition of Bao Kang and Wang Gong Laofo, Fang La was not only able to stabilize the morale of his most worrying rebel army, but also solidify his position as the leader of the Fang La rebel army. In addition, with the disciples brought by Bao Kang and the followers brought by Wang Gong Laofo serving as the backbone of the Fang La rebel army, the Fang La rebel army finally began to take shape.

This gave Fang La a glimmer of hope that he could become emperor.

Soon, Fang La proclaimed himself "Holy Duke." Because many of Fang La's rebel soldiers believed that if they advanced, they could help Fang La ascend the throne and become founding heroes; if they retreated, they could accept the imperial court's amnesty and still enjoy wealth and status. Therefore, they did not change the era name, but instead appointed officials and generals, distinguished by their headbands, starting with red headbands and dividing them into six ranks. The uprising spread like wildfire, and a large number of people in the south rose up in response.

Soon after launching the uprising, Fang La's rebel army grew to more than 100,000 people.

Wherever Fang La's rebel army went, they robbed the wealthy, killed officials and scholars, and targeted corrupt officials and gentry, distributing their property to recruit followers.

In the early stages of the uprising, Fang La's rebel army, though lacking armor and weapons, was able to control the southern people who were struggling to survive under the exploitation of the gentry through the form of Manichaeism. Whenever they fought against the private armies of the gentry or the Song army, they fought desperately and relentlessly, demonstrating the terrifying power of human wave tactics.

In Xikeng, Qingxi County, Fang La's rebel army used this method to annihilate the 5,000 Jiangnan Imperial Guards who came to suppress them, and then took advantage of the victory to capture Qingxi County, becoming famous in one battle.

Fang La's rebel army then captured Muzhou, Shezhou, and Quzhou, and occupied counties such as Shouchang, Fenshui, Tonglu, and Suian. Its forces quickly grew to more than one million people.

Fang La's rebel army won a series of victories. In order to expand the results, Fang La personally led his troops northward, capturing Xincheng, Fuyang and other counties with unstoppable momentum, and heading straight for Hangzhou...

The Jiangnan gentry group originally intended to resolve this issue themselves. They were well aware that because their resistance to the court's implementation of the two new policies had severely delayed the court's reforms and hindered the development of the Zhao Song Dynasty, Zhao Yu hated them to the core and wished he could get rid of them as soon as possible. Therefore, even if they begged the court to take action, the court would most likely not intervene and might even use the excuse that they had instigated a rebellion among the people to settle scores with them.

Those five thousand Jiangnan Imperial Guards were sent by the Jiangnan gentry group to suppress Fang La's rebel army.

In addition, the gentry of Jiangnan recruited a large number of private soldiers in preparation for eliminating Fang La's rebel army and protecting themselves.

However, to the gentry of Jiangnan's utter surprise, the Jiangnan Imperial Guard's combat effectiveness was so poor that five thousand well-equipped regular soldiers were completely annihilated by a group of farmers wielding hoes.

Actually, upon closer examination, it's not hard to understand why the Jiangnan Imperial Guards were so ineffective in combat.

Due to the prolonged period of peace, the Imperial Guards of Jiangnan had long suffered from a lack of military preparedness. Moreover, under the corrupt influence of the gentry, many soldiers and officers of the Imperial Guards also engaged in commercial activities. After making money, they bought land and became landlords, living a life of luxury and neglecting their training, which naturally led to a significant decline in their combat effectiveness.

As a result, all the armed forces in Jiangnan (whether Song army or private armed forces organized by gentry) could not withstand the attacks of Fang La's rebel army and Song Jiang's rebel army that marched south.

The key point is that the people of the South hated the gentry of the South, and they were also a religious rebel army. This meant that when they captured officials and gentry, they would cut off their hands and feet, rip out their lungs and intestines, sometimes boil them in hot oil, sometimes shoot them with a hail of arrows. In short, they used every means to torture these officials and gentry in order to vent their pent-up resentment.

Faced with the bloodthirsty, million-strong rebel army of Fang La, the gentry of Jiangnan finally realized the danger. They appealed to the imperial court for help through various channels, and offered to accept the two new policies and actively cooperate with the court's reforms, hoping that the court would quickly send reinforcements to save them from their dire straits...

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(End of this chapter)