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In August 1853, Shouzhou in the north, Anqing in the south, the Dabie Mountains in the west, and Chuzhou in the east. Vézé's subordinates began to carry out their final operations in the central Anhui province.
As a temporary worker, Shen Xin received the news at the end of July that his salary in August and September would be doubled from four taels to eight taels. However, the excitement didn't last long. A mountain of work came crashing down.
From the south to the north, people had to be sent to collect taxes from the villages. Firstly, they were worried that the landlords would dare to resist, and the troops could immediately suppress them. Secondly, they were worried that if they didn't send people, the landlords would play the old trick and shift the tax burden to the tenant farmers. In the new troops that joined Vézé, the majority of them were poor farmers. How could such a poor troop stand on the side of the landlords? Thirdly, the troops hoped that this tax could be used as a standard. In the future, the amount of tax would probably be this level.
When Shen Xin and the troops arrived at the first village, they saw the poor people coming back to greet them from afar. As a temporary civil servant who understood culture, Shen Xin was responsible for posting notices and reading the contents to the people. The specific administrative work made Shen Xin extremely unhappy. The contents had not changed at all. They were repeated less than a month ago. However, the people acted as if they hadn't heard of it.
"Master! Does what you said last time still count? "This was a better way of saying it.
"Master! Our family's XXX is in our troops! "There was no lack of people trying to make connections.
"Master! How come I don't remember saying that last time! "Some people tried to pester endlessly.
"Who are you trying to fool? Do you dare to XXX? "Some people with ulterior motives began to provoke.
"Master! Here, XXX lied to you, and he even did XXX things! "Some people began to snitch.
After the daily work with the people was finished, there was a work summary meeting. All kinds of reactions were summarized, and the sinister nature of people's hearts was also discussed in this summary and discussion.
One of the core points of Vézé's actions was "I am the leader!" The people's words, opinions, and even incitement were all different from Vézé's orders.
"We can't do anything that doesn't comply with the rules!" Captain Bi Qingshan was also annoyed. He yelled at the staff members with a bad attitude.
"What are we going to tell them? I've already promised some things, "someone from the task force shouted.
Shen Xin tried his best to keep a calm expression on his face, but in his heart, he was very disapproving. The higher-ups hadn't said anything yet, but the people below dared to agree. They were too bold.
Captain Bi Qingshan said with a straight face, "How do you say it? I'll give both of you an explanation. The first one was that he didn't know the rules at all, so he lied to his fellow countrymen! If you feel embarrassed, you can choose the second explanation. You can say that you really want to work for your fellow townsman, but your captain is a big bad guy and he won't agree! "
Although Bi Qingshan had a stern expression on his face, Shen Xin couldn't help but laugh out loud at Bi Qingshan's words. This Bi Qingshan was too broad-minded. He actually allowed his subordinates to pour dirty water on his head.
Bi Qingshan glared at Shen Xin, then turned to the other team members, "You guys remember clearly, we have clear rules and regulations, written in black and white … Oh, written in black and white! If you don't know what to say, read these rules and policies to me! I don't care how you explain it, but there's one thing. But there's one thing. If any of you dare to agree to something that isn't in the policy, you'd better think of a way to solve it yourself! "
Because as a temporary worker, Shen Xin was not a core member. With this mentality, Shen Xin handled the work with the mentality of "a monk ringing the bell for a day". Under the protection of this mentality, Shen Xin had a lot of fun in the process of completing the work. Those who used to be bossy in the village were now forced to lower their heads. When they were forced to pay according to the number of mu, they wanted to smile apologetically, but because of the pain, the smile and the painful expression merged together. When they signed the account books, almost all the landlords and gentry burst into tears.
Their cries were filled with pain, reluctance, grievance, and a feeling of humiliation. Shen Xin secretly thought that this kind of humiliation was probably because they had never handed over food to anyone other than the government. The current political power of the Taiping army was undoubtedly not treated as the government by the landlords and gentry.
Although collecting food was the main work, there were also internal problems. During the period when Shen Xin was in the army, there were two incidents of internal personnel handling. In the army, there was a small team leader who tried to give his subordinates extra treatment. After being rejected by the captain, he thought he was clever and carried out some small tricks. As a result, he was found out.
Even as a temporary worker, Shen Xin was ordered to participate in the trial. Bi Qingshan stared at the two small team leaders who looked somewhat unconvinced. He turned to the team members who participated in the trial and asked a question, "Can we disobey the military law?"
"Of course not!" The team members all answered. Even though Shen Xin didn't dare to answer, he knew the correct answer.
The captain continued to ask, "Then, did I pass on the order from the General Staff Headquarters? This time, we followed the military law for the payment of the grain. Did I let everyone see the order from the General Staff Headquarters?! "
"Yes!" The team members yelled.
"No!" Shen Xin answered in his heart. As a temporary worker, he didn't have the right to see this kind of thing. After realizing this, Shen Xin couldn't help but feel a little unhappy.
"Since you all have seen it, then now there are two people who disobeyed the military order!" After Bi Qingshan finished speaking, he turned his head to look at the two small team leaders who still looked a little unconvinced, "You two must have seen the document, then how dare you disobey the military order!"
"Captain, those two families are indeed wronged!" Even at this level, the two small team leaders didn't seem to be convinced.
Waving his hand impatiently, Bi Qingshan shouted, "I'm not talking about their grievances, I'm talking about how dare you disobey the military order! Do you know that you're wrong? "
"I! We shouldn't disobey the military order and make decisions on our own! "The two small team leaders seemed to be a little soft.
Bi Qingshan didn't talk endlessly after he was in the right as Shen Xin thought, and he didn't make up all kinds of charges. Bi Qingshan said, "We're not on the battlefield, so those who disobey the military order will be punished ten times! If they do it again next time, then the punishment will be doubled! "
After the punishment, Captain Bi Qingshan said to the people below again, "The military order can't be disobeyed, this is the rule. No one can do what they want in private! "
However, this matter wasn't as intense as Shen Xin thought. In less than a day, Shen Xin happened to see Bi Qingshan and the two small team leaders who were beaten, talking and laughing together. It seemed that the matter of them being punished by the military order was over.
Food began to be transported out of the villages, like a trickle of water gradually gathering, turning into more and more things. The Taiping army had already made their own preparations. Some of the food was transported by land, but most of it was transported by ship. Moreover, the food was transported in all directions.
In September, the salary of eight taels of silver was doubled, and the bonus of two taels of silver was given to Shen Xin. Not only did Shen Xin not feel that it was a lot of money, but he also felt that compared to his labor, it was a big loss.
September 5th, 1853, Shou Zhou.
"Fengyang has a Zhu Yuanzhang, ten years have nine years of famine …" The Fengyang Flower Drum Troupe was singing.
Vézé and the cavalry were the first to arrive at Shou Zhou through Liu 'an. It would take them one or two days to reach Shou Zhou, escorting a large amount of food. When Vézé passed by the small and crude residential area outside the city, he heard the most commonly sung part of the Fengyang Flower Drum Troupe.
Vézé snorted slightly, but didn't make any comments. The meaning of the Flower Drum Troupe was not literal. According to the historical commentary that Vézé had read, the natural environment of Fengyang was not as bad as it seemed. It was just that the local bureaucrats of Fengyang used the usual methods of officialdom in order to report to the emperor. Thus, Fengyang enjoyed good weather every year. Since the weather was good, there was naturally no problem of not being able to harvest food. Thus, the lives of the people of Fengyang were just like in The Legend of the Snake Catcher. Tyranny was fiercer than a tiger!
Disasters caused by humans were often more tragic than natural disasters. In the Flower Drum Troupe of Fengyang, it was said that there would be disasters nine out of ten years.
As for the Huai River of 1853, Vézé really didn't feel this way. Compared to the Huai River of new China, the current Huai River could be called the Milky Way. Jiang Guangtou ordered people to blow up the embankment at the entrance of the garden. The surging Yellow River flowed south, causing a devastating blow to the ecology between the Yellow and Huai rivers. Swamps, saline-alkali lands, and suspended rivers — all these disasters caused a heavy burden to new China. Up until Vézé's transmigration, more than half a century had passed, and the Huai River had not been completely managed.
Back in the Qing Dynasty, although the current Huai River was not as good, it was still many times better than the Huai River that new China inherited. However, Vézé had people translate a lot of information about water conservancy. Then, he saw another strange thing. During the Northern Song Dynasty, the Jin army invaded south. Du Chong dug up the dam of the Yellow River and tried to stop the Jin army with the flood. The result was predictable. The resistance did not help at all. Instead, two hundred thousand people drowned. The entire lower reaches of the Yellow River became a disaster area, which continued to flood for hundreds of years. Du Chong single-handedly changed the flow of the Yellow River and the geography of the middle and lower reaches! He was not fighting alone!
Du Chong's personality was very similar to that of the bald man. They were both extremely violent. Du Chong was Zong Ze's successor. When Zong Ze was in office, many rebels turned into rebels. After Du Chong took over, many rebels turned into rebels. The civil resistance troops recruited by Zong Ze were all forced to rebel by him.
The situation in Kaifeng, the capital of the Northern Song Dynasty, was critical. Du Chong, who stayed in Dongjing, slipped away with the army. He called it "rescuing the emperor" and left the defense of the capital to his subordinates. As a result, the subordinates did the same and left it to their subordinates. The lower officials also followed suit and left it to their subordinates …
After escaping to the south, Du Chong continued to be entrusted with important tasks. Because he disliked the position of Tongzhi Privy Council, he pretended to be a patient and said he had a stroke. Until he was appointed as the Right Minister, he immediately jumped out to take office.
Enjoying the great grace of the Song Dynasty, Du Chong immediately surrendered as the Prime Minister after he learned that the Jin army had crossed the Yangtze River. He became the highest-ranking person among those who publicly committed treason.
Vézé always believed that the bald man would have surrendered to the Japanese if his American godfather had not been behind him. After reading Du Chong's information, Wei Ze couldn't help but want to believe that some people were traitors in their bones and could be called natural thieves!
But Vézé did not immerse himself in the anger brought by history for a long time. He still had obligations to more realistic people. So he took a deep breath and calmed down. Vézé led the troops into Shouzhou.
Shouzhou was already an important fulcrum for Vézé to fight against the Qing Army on the front line. There was a waterway from Liu 'an to Shouzhou. Blocking Shouzhou was equivalent to ensuring the waterway was smooth and could also push the front line to the Huai River. The Qing Army's troops in Anhui were empty and slow, which gave Vézé a lot of space to act.
For the whole of August, Vézé's troops almost gave up on war preparations. They put all their efforts into implementing the "grain payment" in the areas under their control. This operation was undoubtedly a success. In the central Anhui area, Vézé collected nearly 600 million catties of grain. According to the standard of 400 catties of rations per employee per year, Vézé could theoretically feed 150,000 troops.
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