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June 1, 1853. Vézé brought his main force back to Shou Zhou.
As they fought their way from Anqing to Shou Zhou, there were more and more reports of the Qing Army's attack. In addition, Vézé didn't have a base of operations, so it was even more difficult to verify the authenticity of the news. The General Staff was also afraid of new problems, so after parting ways with Lin Fengxiang's Northern Expedition Army, they immediately rushed back to Shou Zhou.
At this time, the pontoon bridge over the Huai River was still there, so the main force crossed it and arrived at the gate of Shou Zhou. The north gate of Shou Zhou was named "Jing Huai." Although Vézé didn't have a foundation in archeology, he thought that it was because the Huai River often flooded, and the north gate faced the frequently flooded Huai River, so he casually gave it this name. At this time, there was a string of heads outside the north gate. Basically all of Shou Zhou's civil and military officials were here.
"Are you going to use their heads as a sacrifice to the river god?" Vézé asked Xu Kaiwen, who had just joined the group. Some of these people had formed great enmity with the Xu family, so Xu Kaiwen had brought them to his house and ruthlessly tortured them before beheading them.
"Prime Minister, I'm doing this to establish prestige for Prime Minister!" Xu Kaiwen immediately explained.
Vézé looked at Xu Kaiwen helplessly. "I said you were going to use their heads as a sacrifice because you almost scalded their heads with boiling water! Isn't boiling the heads of the three animals a good way to sacrifice to the river god? "
Xu Kaiwen didn't expect Vézé to be able to see that these officials had been scalded by boiling water. He originally thought that no matter how badly their bodies had been tortured, at least their heads would look relatively intact. Xu Kaiwen stared at the heads for a while, but he really couldn't see any signs that the heads had been scalded by boiling water. But this kind of thing couldn't be asked directly, so Xu Kaiwen could only pretend that nothing had happened and randomly say a few words in an attempt to fool this matter. Xu Kaiwen said, "Prime Minister, this subordinate has already contacted the local tax collectors in Shouzhou. A portion of them have run away, but there are still a few who remain in Shouzhou. I wonder if Prime Minister would like to see them?"
Vézé shook his head. "Brother Xu, I want you to be a commissioner of the Food Department, which is equivalent to the state judge of Manchu Qing. But we don't have any government affairs right now. The most important thing is to pay taxes after the harvest … "
"Mm." Xu Kaiwen did not understand what Vézé's words had to do with the tax collectors.
"… and the tax collectors will not stand on the side of our Taiping army. In that case, why should I see them? "Vézé explained his view of the tax collectors.
Knowing Vézé's thoughts, Xu Kaiwen said, "Prime Minister, I've also seen your method of paying taxes. I have to say, this is clearly a method that won't win the favor of either side! "
"Why?" Vézé did not expect Xu Kaiwen to start pointing out the policy of paying taxes after the harvest.
Xu Kaiwen said, "Prime Minister, this subordinate feels that your method requires the tax to be paid according to the number of acres of land. Those with more land pay more, those with less land pay less, and those without land don't pay taxes … "
Ke Gongyu and Lei Hu were beside Vézé. Hearing Xu Kaiwen's criticism of Vézé's policy, the two immediately became angry. "If you don't pay with more land, do you want those with less land to pay more?"
On the surface, Xu Kaiwen was blocked by these righteous words. He smiled apologetically, but in his heart, he had already placed Ke Gongyu and Lei Hu in the ranks of the peasants. According to the history that Xu Kaiwen knew, the world had always been that those with more land paid less tax, and those with less land paid more tax. Xu Kaiwen's gaze fell on Vézé, but he saw that Vézé did not say a word, waiting for Xu Kaiwen to continue. Xu Kaiwen praised in his heart, This is the real Prime Minister! As the saying goes, a Prime Minister's stomach can sail a boat. If he can't even hold back when he encounters a small matter that doesn't go his way, how can he do big things?
Xu Kaiwen continued his persuasion, "Prime Minister, you have just arrived in Shouzhou, and I'm afraid that the large families with more land are still not convinced. When the imperial court collected taxes from them, these large families did not pay taxes, but Prime Minister, if you go straight to them now, I'm afraid that they will not be convinced. If there are local tax collectors helping Prime Minister, many things can be done better. "
"I know they won't be convinced, so this has to be publicized!" Vézé laughed, "Brother Xu, you said that those with more land pay more tax, those with less land pay less tax, and those without land don't pay taxes. I think it's very good. We have to publicize these words everywhere I go, so that all the people know my method of collecting grain and paying taxes! "
Xu Kaiwen did not expect Vézé to be so heartless. He originally wanted to persuade Vézé to cooperate with the tax collectors, and then use the old tax system to operate this year's grain collection. But he did not expect that Vézé did not care about the rich at all. So Xu Kaiwen tried to persuade him, "Prime Minister, I'm afraid that those people will not listen to your method of collecting grain …"
"First use your mouth to reason. If you say that you understand, then there will be no problem. Then I can only shut my mouth and use the knife in my hand to push the reason. "Vézé smiled as he expressed his point of view.
His words were full of murderous intent. Because Vézé's voice was soft and emotionless, Xu Kaiwen did not understand how murderous these words were when he first heard them. When he finally understood, Xu Kaiwen's face turned pale. He stammered, "Se … Prime Minister, you … How many people are you going to kill?"
"If they are willing to pay taxes according to my rules, I won't kill a single one of them. But there are definitely people who are not willing to do things according to my rules. As for why they don't want to listen to me, I don't know. But I only have one way to deal with these people, and that is to kill them! "Vézé said calmly, even showing a compassionate expression on his face. In a sense, this calmness was also a kind of disguise. At least when the army finished discussing the issue of food and taxes, Wei Ze was agitated when he heard that he was going to deal with the landlords who resisted. At one point, he gnashed his teeth and swore that he would kill the entire families of the landlords.
Now that the plan and supporters were confirmed, Vézé also vented during the discussion, he was able to calmly state his position and point of view.
Vézé's calm attitude scared Xu Kaiwen, who had experience in collecting taxes. Xu Kaiwen was knowledgeable and had friends. He knew very well that the more determined a person was, the less likely they would be to bluff. If Vézé shouted, "You must collect the taxes!", it would only mean that Vézé did not have the ability to collect the taxes. But Vézé played it down and said, "Those who don't pay taxes will die!" This time, they were playing for real!
"Prime Minister, if they really don't want to pay taxes, there is no point in killing them." Xu Kaiwen could not help but argue.
Vézé said slowly, "Brother Xu, your family is also rich. There are a few landlords and gentry who can't pay taxes, but most of them can. They don't want to pay taxes because they think I can't do anything to them, or they think they can scare me. If I were to patiently reason with them, it would definitely not work. These people had their own principles in their own places. How could they possibly allow me to speak? The only reason they can accept is that the one with the harder fist is the one with the faster knife! Between money and life, I will let them choose. "
Xu Kaiwen swallowed. Vézé's tone and manner were still elegant, but there was an earth-shaking change behind it. Raising a butcher's knife to the landlords because of taxes, this was unimaginable in the Manchu Qing era. Because of the pressure of the mainstream of Manchu Qing society, Xu Kaiwen had been forced into rebellion. This wasn't because he was born rebellious, but because he had no other choice.
Even though participating in the rebellion had broadened Xu Kaiwen's political horizons, Xu Kaiwen had still spent a lot of effort to confirm that it was okay to act against the landlords and gentry.
But Vézé did not want to waste his breath on whether to kill them or not. The two of them discussed the specific implementation measures as they walked. When they arrived at the prefectural yamen of Shouzhou, the two of them had reached a basic consensus. Xu Kaiwen sighed, "Prime Minister, you really do things differently."
"Differently?" Vézé squeezed his goatee and laughed dryly. "Everything I have done has been recorded in the history books. Not only am I not different, I am exactly the same as everyone else."
After leaving a few troops in Shouzhou, Vézé led his troops straight to Liu 'an. Liu 'an was north of Anqing and south of Shouzhou. It happened to be under the pincer attack of Vézé's troops. The local officials had long since prepared to escape. When Vézé's troops arrived, the local officials abandoned the city and fled. After seizing Liu 'an, Vézé temporarily obtained a vast area that stretched north to the Huai River and south to the Yangtze River.
The news of the Qing Army was relatively chaotic. Ever since Lin Fengxiang went north, the Qing Army's deployment had a big problem. Some went to chase after Lin Fengxiang, and some went to defend against Vézé's attack. But the Qing Army's performance was the same. They would not take the initiative to attack if they could. Vézé seemed to be under a lot of pressure, but in reality, it was not that bad.
The General Staff Headquarters had already begun to establish a base in Anhui according to Vézé's instructions. There were three levels of management: guerrilla areas and enemy-occupied areas. They gradually determined the corresponding management model for each area.
The news from the Taiping army, on the other hand, made Vézé and the General Staff Headquarters quite speechless. After the Northern Expedition, Yang Xiuqing ordered the Taiping army to start the Western Expedition. The troops passed through Anqing, where Vézé was entrenched, and headed straight for Jiangxi. According to the latest news, the Taiping army's old rival, Jiang Zhongyuan, took his subordinate, Chu Yong, and ran to Nanchang to help defend the city.
With the experience of fighting the Taiping army several times, Jiang Zhongyuan destroyed the civilian houses outside Nanchang and burned all kinds of buildings outside the city that could be used by the Taiping army to attack the city. The Taiping army attacking Nanchang fell into a bitter battle.
Vézé did not stay in Liu 'an for too long. He left some troops in Liu' an to spread the Taiping army's latest policy of paying taxes after the grain is used up. He himself led the main force south and went straight to Anqing. Before leaving, Vézé said to the commanders of the various troops, "Remember, the main target of our propaganda is not the landlords and gentry. The target of our propaganda is the common people. The landlords and gentry will find out the news themselves. Only when the common people really know what we are advocating can we really finish the job! "
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