Chapter 218: People’s Desire (I)
As a man who had cooperated with Huo Chong in the early days, Feng Yukuan kept his word. He started packing his luggage the day after receiving Huo Chong's order. At dawn on the fourth day, a large group of vehicles carrying most of the Feng family's belongings and most of the Feng family's population left Jinan City in a mighty manner and went to join Huo Chong.
The officials in Jinan City never expected that the biggest secret agent planted by Huo Chong in Jinan would leave like this. While they were discussing this, the news was quickly and covertly sent to the Governor of Shandong, Lord Guwalgiya Seleng'e.
Lord Seleng'e thought for a long time, but he just couldn't figure out the key point. The master beside him couldn't bear to see Seleng'e's self-torture of worrying about gains and losses, so he reminded him: "Master, I heard that hundreds of officials in the six ministries were killed. Before you came to Shandong, you were the right assistant minister of the Ministry of Revenue. I'm afraid the court will let you go back to the Ministry of Revenue."
After being reminded of this, Seleng'e was only slightly relieved. The news from the capital was indeed horrifying. The emperor being killed was one thing, after all, he was just one person. And it was someone Seleng'e would never be able to achieve the same status as.
Hundreds of officials from the six tribes, such as Seleng'e, died in the war. According to the news, Huo Chong carried out an inhumane massacre of the six tribes on Qipan Street.
All the officials in the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Revenue, from the Shangshu to the Vice Minister, from those who looked after the storehouse to those who guarded the gate, were killed.
The officials from the other four departments had never seen such a scene before. Some fools were still watching in the yard, and many of them were beaten to death by the rebels who climbed up the wall.
Thinking that if he had not come to Shandong but stayed in the Ministry of Revenue, he would probably have died by now, Governor Saileng'e could not be happy.
Seeing that Saileng'e was not happy, the master could only tell him the most important thing, "Boss, as long as the new emperor ascends the throne, we can return to the capital. In the meantime, as long as nothing goes wrong in Jinan City, it will be fine."
Saileng'e also felt that this was the only way, so he continued to do nothing. However, not long after, Lord Saileng'e was disturbed by official business. Gentry began to come to Jinan City again.
Ever since Yue Zhongqi led his troops to a great defeat, Jinan City basically didn't care who came in and out. Jinan City couldn't be defended anyway, and those who came in could make money, so what was there to care about? Just accept everyone who came.
However, the number of people in this wave was much larger than the previous ones. For half a month, the gentry in Jiaodong area came to Jinan to seek refuge. When Saileng'e's master reported to Saileng'e, he carefully told him the current situation of these gentry. They all had pigtails with golden money rat tails, and did not cut their pigtails as Huo Chong said.
Hearing this, Sai Leng'e was stunned for a moment, and his eyes became moist. Reaching out and touching the corners of his eyes, the Shandong prefect sighed: "Loyal ministers, these gentry are all loyal ministers!"
After saying this, Saileng'e wiped his eyes again and sighed, "Send someone to tell these people that they will be safe once they reach Jinan."
In the end, Saileng'e's propaganda plan came to nothing, and no official cared what would happen to this group of gentry. At a time when Jinan officials themselves did not know what their future would be like, officials did not care at all about what would happen to those who were loyal to the Qing Dynasty.
Compared with the government in Jinan, the Intelligence Department of the Han regime paid more attention to these gentry. A list of these people had been drawn up, and all their land, population, etc. were archived.
Qian Qing, who was stationed in Qingzhou, read the data and immediately issued an order, "Find out who is left behind in these people's families. These people should pay the tax for their land use, not a single copper coin less!"
On the first day of February, there was a knock on the door of Mr. Gao's house. He opened the door reluctantly and welcomed the arrogant working group members.
Before entering the Gao family, the working group had been informed that they might not be attacked by the gentry. They were asked to be careful and safe. The working group members were also told that if the gentry dared to attack them, the gentry family would be finished.
With such a guarantee, the Han working group, who had a lot of war experience, was not afraid at all. They told the Gao family, "It's time to pay the land tax this year."
"Master, the war just ended here. We don't have the money." The Gao family tried to use the same excuse as before.
This is all the experience accumulated over many years, and the rhetoric is complete. Just as I was thinking about how to respond according to the statement of the Great Han Regime Working Group, I heard the people of the Great Han Regime laughing and saying, "Haha, don't be afraid of not having money. You have land. If you sell the land, you will have money, right?"
Hearing this, the Gao family members who were receiving the working group all changed their expressions. The older one smiled and said, "Master, how much benefit do you want?"
The working group member put away his smile and asked with a straight face, "What do you want? Didn't you see the notice these days?"
"this……"
"You've seen it or you haven't. If you haven't seen it, we'll take you to see it now. If you can't read, we'll read it to you!"
Even the most cultured of the Gao family members changed their expressions because of anger. Although the government officials in the past were also fierce and aggressive, they were still for their own interests in the end. As long as the gentry could get along well with the county magistrate or find various channels to smooth things over, there were various ways to avoid the seemingly fierce taxes.
The officials looked fierce, but they actually tried every means to make the gentry pay taxes and grain, and they would provide them with solutions after being so fierce.
However, the poor rebels in front of them had no such intentions, and the gentry didn't know what to do. At least they couldn't find a way to talk to their superiors.
Seeing how arrogant these people were, the Gao family wanted to persuade them softly. But they didn't expect the people from the working group to continue, "It's clearly written in the notice. If you don't pay the tax, we will arrest you according to the old rules. How will the county jail deal with you? You should have read the notice, right?"
This made the young man from the Gao family even angrier. The notice of the Han regime was very clear. Those who were arrested for tax arrears don't have to worry. They won't be abused in the prison, but they will be charged accommodation fees, management fees, and food fees every day. Even the amount is clearly written. When you take someone out of the prison, you have to pay off these fees first.
If the Qing government still had some regard for their reputation and only embezzled money in private, the people of the Han regime would directly rob people. They were even complacent about it, not ashamed, but proud of it.
But the Gao family didn't even dare to offend the Qing Dynasty, so how could they dare to take action against the Han regime? Seeing that the working group was so stubborn, they could only obediently pay the money for their several thousand acres of land. The Gao family's land was paid at a rate of six cents per acre, and five thousand acres of land would cost three hundred taels of silver. The heartbroken Gao family almost cried.
Outside of the Gao family, the Han regime’s working groups for the people gathered the common people and delivered propaganda content aimed at the working people.
There was no need to deliberately vilify them. All that was needed was to tell the people what the landlords and gentry had done, and they would immediately listen very seriously.
The gentry's method of defrauding money from the people had long become a routine, and the people were suffering from the fact that they had no solution. At that moment, someone finally told everyone that everyone had suffered, and everyone should not suffer so much. This made everyone feel that the people in front of them might be their own people, at least these people in front of them were not on the side of the landlords and gentry.
When the working group finished speaking, the people were already impatiently asking, "Master..."
"Don't call me master, the notice clearly states it! We, the great men, want everyone to live a good life. Call me comrade, comrade!"
"Hey... Brother, you guys are talking so much, but what should we do if the landlords don't rent the land to us?"
"There are three ways. First, there is a place 20 miles away from us. The rebels there followed the Qing Dynasty and fought against us. After they were defeated, their land was taken. You can go there to farm. Second, if you don't want to go there and don't want to leave home, we will turn the hillsides that are not suitable for farming into forest farms. You can work there and earn money. Third, we have many jobs to do here. You can try to do them first. If you think you can do it, it's okay if you don't farm."
" If we don't farm, what will we eat?" The people were confused.
"That depends on the methods of our Han people. We will purchase and sell grain in a unified manner!"
For Huo Chong, these things were completely what he had long been accustomed to. But for the people of Shandong in the sixth year of Yongzheng's reign, the life described by the working group was really unimaginable.
This situation was not only found in Gaojiazhuang, but also in other work groups. Although the people were full of expectations for a new life, only a few would participate when a completely new path was pointed out to them.
When Qian Qing saw these reports, his eyebrows almost stood up in anger. Some of the comrades in charge of this work couldn't help but curse: "This is ungrateful!"
Although he somewhat sympathized, Qian Qing remembered what Huo Chong said at the meeting and criticized the cadre immediately.
When the person being scolded bowed his head and admitted his fault, Qian Qing felt that things should not be like this. Since Huo Chong had completely good intentions in the beginning, why did the people still refuse to listen to his advice?
Thinking of this, Qian Qing called Liang Liang over and asked, "How long have you not been home?"
"It's been almost a year."
"Let's go to your house and take a look." Qian Qingming said.
Liangliang's family happened to be in Qingzhou. When we arrived at her home, we saw her family preparing farm tools and seeds.
Although they didn't know who Qian Qing was, the parents knew very well that the woman who got off the horse was no ordinary person, so they hurried forward to greet her.
Qian Qing first chatted with Liangliang's family for a while, and then asked directly why everyone did not believe in the policies of the Han Dynasty. After hearing this question, Liangliang's parents did not dare to say anything for a while, but Liangliang's cousin asked tentatively: "Sister Qian, I heard that if the court returns, they will arrest people like us."
"Haha. According to what you said, the imperial court is quite bold." Qian Qing sneered helplessly.
"Both of us have followed you to join the army. When the world is at peace, we will of course obey the court. Now, we are also uneasy."
The other people in the two families didn't say anything, which made Qian Qing wonder if he underestimated the ordinary people's awe of the Qing Dynasty. After all, the Qing Dynasty had ruled Shandong for more than 60 years, and Huo Chong had only been there for one or two years. It was inevitable that everyone was worried about how long Huo Chong could last.
