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"Every revolutionary soldier must bear in mind the Three Main Rules of Discipline and Eight Points for Attention.
First, all actions must be taken according to command. Only by marching in unison can we achieve victory.
Second, do not take a single needle or thread from the masses. The masses support and like me.
Third, all seized goods must be returned to the public. Strive to lighten the burden of the people.
We must adhere to the Three Main Rules of Discipline and never forget the Eight Points for Attention.
… "
The word revolution has a history of several thousand years in China. Revolution? In the Book of Ci, there is a saying, "The Tang Dynasty revolts in accordance with the Heavens and the people." However, the word revolution was rarely mentioned in the past, let alone sung in the songs of the rebels.
Shen Xin once thought that the Prime Minister of Anqing, Vézé, was a very knowledgeable bumpkin. This was because, whether it was the Anhui News or Vézé's own speeches, they were all written in the vernacular. However, Vézé's explanation of the word "revolution" and the word "revolutionary soldier" was quoted from the classics. Shen Xin had a deep impression of Vézé's words. "Thousands of years ago, in the Book of Songs, a valiant warrior was the defender of the country. Because at that time, soldiers were at least countrymen and could express their opinions on politics. I don't care what other armies think of soldiers. At least in our army, this is the case. As a soldier, when you want to speak, no one can stop you! "
What did "countrymen" mean? Shen Xin did not know. He had read very little of the Book of Songs. However, after this incident, Shen Xin's impression of Vézé completely changed. Vézé was no longer a bumpkin. Instead, he was a hidden scholar. Because of this understanding, Shen Xin's original rejection of the Taiping army was reduced. Even the "Three Main Rules of Discipline and Eight Points for Attention", a simple and straightforward song, became more pleasing to the ear.
After listening to this song for a long time during the march, Shen Xin suddenly had a question. If an army could follow the Three Great Rules of Discipline and Eight Points of Attention, could they still be called Cantonese bandits? An army that didn't take a single needle or thread from the masses, and even tied them up again after using the masses' straw as a bed. No matter how one looked at it, it sounded like a benevolent and righteous army. Shen Xin originally thought that this song was only for the people along the way to listen to, but he realized that this song was actually to ask the Taiping army to abide by their own discipline, which confused him.
The propaganda team gradually began to disperse. From Anqing, Tongcheng, Shucheng, Luzhou, and other major cities controlled by the Taiping army as the center, they spread out to the surrounding areas. Shen Xin was assigned to the Luzhou region.
Due to the seizure of local land account books, tax records, and other items, Shen Xin, who knew some classical Chinese, was used to do the "translation" work, which was to translate classical Chinese into white Chinese. The translated white language summarized and determined the basic amount of taxes paid by those places.
Not only did they need to translate, but the Taiping army also captured many tax collectors and asked them to explain the specific situation of paying taxes. As a translator, Shen Xin also had to listen to the corresponding information. As an 18-year-old young man, Shen Xin had heard too many injustices.
Before the departure, Vézé told everyone that paying according to the number of acres of land would inevitably lead to strong resistance from the landlords and gentry. In order to resist the landlords and gentry, they had to rely on the poor people. Shen Xin felt that Vézé might be right, but it shouldn't be as shocking as Vézé said.
After listening to the tax collectors, Shen Xin realized how fierce the landlords and gentry were. First of all, if a family had a jinshi, they would immediately become a local tyrant. If the land near the jinshi's hometown was sold, before the jinshi's family made a clear statement, other people wouldn't even consider buying the land. The land of the jinshi's hometown would quickly be concentrated in the jinshi's family, and they would be under the protection of the jinshi's family. From then on, they didn't have to pay taxes.
Of course, not having to pay taxes didn't mean that the rent would be the same. The land under the protection of a high-ranking official would only be rented more and not less. Since they didn't have to pay taxes to the country, in exchange, they had to pay more to the high-ranking official's family.
Compared to other kinds of protection, the officials had to fight in the bureaucracy, and if they went too far in private, they would be impeached. Therefore, it was even considered good to be under the protection of a high-ranking official's family. If they were unlucky enough to be under the protection of a "local tyrant," it would be like becoming a slave.
After listening to the tax collectors' introduction, Shen Xin felt that the cultured tyrants also bullied the people, but their methods were more to maintain a system that was beneficial to them. And the uncultured tyrants bullied the people, that was to make them feel happy. All kinds of things that were already absurd in Shen Xin's eyes were done by the uncultured tyrants happily. Physically and mentally, he couldn't understand why the local tyrants wanted to rob men and women, and he couldn't understand why they spent so much effort to bribe some people in the government, and then went against the government's policies.
After the training and understanding of the situation, the propaganda team that he was in was incorporated into the army. The army was divided into two to three hundred people, and they split up and went to different villages. During the march, Shen Xin saw many old human heads that had been pickled with lime, and there were also some relatively fresh heads. After asking, he found out that these people were the local tyrants of Luzhou, and they were trying to form a team to fight against the Taiping army.
Of course, their fate was clear. The team was annihilated, and the leader was beheaded as a warning to others. Some of the more powerful people even had their entire families killed, and their land confiscated. Their land and houses were banished to the army, and they were used as a local stronghold for the army.
When they arrived at the village, the two hundred people strolled around the crop fields, and then entered the village. The sudden appearance of the two to three hundred armed forces shocked the local people. However, it wasn't the first time that the Taiping army had arrived in this village, so the villagers didn't misunderstand and think that they were bandits.
As a temporary worker, Shen Xin naturally couldn't be in charge of the important work of negotiating with the landlords in the village. He and the other propaganda team members went from house to house to talk to the people.
"Fellow countryman! Have you heard about our new policy of paying taxes? "
"… Those with more land pay more taxes, those with less land pay less taxes, and those without land don't pay taxes …"
"… Fellow countryman, don't be like this! The reason why we came to the village is to explain this to you, if you don't believe us … "
"… Fellow countryman, get up, we can't accept this courtesy. Don't worry, as long as your family doesn't have that much land, you really don't have to pay taxes …"
"… That's right, as long as someone in your family is a soldier in the Taiping army, no one can give you usury. The annual interest is up to fifteen percent …"
"… What if no one lends money to you? As long as you are a soldier's family member, you can borrow money from the Taiping army's bank … "
"… Fellow countryman, if you want your son to be a soldier, then go to the entrance of the village to find someone, or I can take you there now …"
Every family had to go to the village to publicize. Shen Xin originally looked down on the ordinary people, thinking that they were ignorant fools. However, when he brought the Taiping army's policy to the village, the people quickly understood the purpose of the Taiping army. Some of the people looked simple and honest, and they didn't say anything. But these people didn't even wait for Shen Xin to speak first, they took the initiative to say, "As long as you let us poor people who don't have land pay taxes, you can come and take care of those landlords who don't pay taxes. We definitely won't dare to fight against the lords!"
Originally, Shen Xin thought that the Taiping army's attempt to divide the relationship between the landlords and the poor might not be understood by the poor. Now, it seemed that the poor understood these things very well. Or in other words, after the people heard the content of Shen Xin's propaganda, the first thing that came to their mind was that as long as the poor were not taxed, the poor would not help the rich.
After finishing his work, Shen Xin added a few things that he cared about.
"… Fellow countryman, do you know about the imperial court …"
To this question, Shen Xin found that half of the people didn't even know the term "imperial court." After many guided inquiries, Shen Xin found that everyone knew about the emperor, and they also knew the names of some high-ranking officials who appeared in some dramas. Of course, these people also knew about the county magistrate and other low-level officials.
However, the people didn't have the concept of the imperial court. They thought that the emperor directly ordered some people to come and be an official. Whether they did a good job or not, it was the official's own action. This simple concept was summed up as everyone's answer to Shen Xin's question about being loyal to the emperor.
"… I don't know the emperor! Besides, what benefits did he give me … "
In the whole hot July, the propaganda team was trekking in the countryside. Under the leadership of the team, they tried to spread the news of the "full grain and tax payment" to all the lands controlled by the Taiping army one by one. This kind of hard work was immediately rewarded. A large number of people in the impoverished areas went to seek refuge with the Taiping army. Just through the introduction of Shen Xin's team, the number of people who went to join the army was more than 500. As for the purpose of these people joining the army, Shen Xin was also very clear. This group of people was bullied in the countryside. If someone in their family joined the army, they would naturally have someone to support them. At least in the tax collection in the near future, it would ensure that these poor people would pay more taxes according to the propaganda of the Taiping army. "Those with more land pay more taxes, those with less land pay less taxes, and those without land don't pay taxes."
The reaction of the people also made Shen Xin understand one thing. The emperor was important to those scholars who wanted to pass the imperial examinations to obtain fame, but it was of no importance to the ordinary people. First, the two sides couldn't see each other. Second, the emperor collected taxes from the people through the officials. Whoever really thought that there could be "loyalty to the emperor" in the countryside could only say that the person who thought so was sick. In the countryside, there was always only one truth: "A county magistrate is not as good as a local official."
After thinking about it, Shen Xin understood another problem. In fact, for those who wanted to take the official route, a county magistrate was not as good as a local official. In theory, the emperor had the highest authority in the officialdom. Everyone had to be loyal to the emperor, because if they were not loyal to the emperor, they would immediately lose their official position. In fact, the people in the officialdom were no different from the ordinary people. The purpose of all the choices was to maximize their own interests.
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