While Cai Yan and her companion were looking around, Lin Yang was talking with Zheng Hong, inquiring about the situation.
"Now the court knows that you, sir, are about to rebel. After all, if the court officials are not brain-dead, they will be on guard against the private stockpiling of weapons, training of private soldiers, and the private establishment of military academies."
"Now, among the experts in Guangzhou, there is Sai Shang'a, the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi and Imperial Commissioner. He is a member of the Eight Banners of the Mongols. He is also a tutor in the Imperial Study and a notorious traitor. He is a third-rank Grandmaster. He is a veteran Grandmaster and should not be underestimated."
"There is also Ye Mingchen, the governor of Guangzhou, who is a Han Chinese. In terms of strength, he is also a third-rank grandmaster."
"And then there's Zeng Guofan, a third-rank master, who was also a Han Chinese. Sigh, there are so many traitors these days."
"There is also Tachaer, the banner lord of the Plain Red Banner among the Eight Banners. His strength is also that of a third-rank grandmaster. In addition, he once suffered a qi deviation when he was young, and later developed a habit of eating the hearts and livers of children raw."
"In addition, there is the notorious traitor Bai Siwen. He was originally a member of the Han Banner Army, but now he has become a member of the Manchu Banner Army. His strength is probably around the fourth rank."
"besides……"
"This is the situation of all the experts, big and small, in Guangzhou. That's why we asked the three of you to come and provide support, just in case. If we're lucky, we might not even have to take action."
"Our purpose in coming here is actually to incite the local gentry to rebel. Once the gentry rebel, regardless of whether they succeed or not, these Manchus will inevitably distrust the Han people even more. At that time, the local militia will not be able to be formed."
"In this way, the only enemies in Guangzhou are the Plain Red Banner and tens of thousands of Green Standard Army soldiers who are as shoddy as tofu," Zheng Hong explained slowly.
Soon, the group arrived at their destination—Sanyuanli.
This place is no ordinary place. Several years ago, during the Opium War, when Mr. Guan Tianpei died at Humen, the British had also died, well, several of them.
But in Sanyuanli, five people were beaten to death in one fell swoop. Moreover, they were beaten to death by the villagers themselves. This shows just how powerful the local gentry were.
But as it turned out, these powerful local gentry received no reward whatsoever after the war. Not only that, of the three leading gentry who held the title of Juren (a successful candidate in the imperial examinations at the provincial level), one was stripped of his Juren title. This truly shows the injustice of the court and the misery of the people.
Therefore, in Zheng Hong's view, the local gentry harbored resentment towards the imperial court and were quite powerful, at least stronger than the Green Standard Army. Thus, it would be easy to use some methods to force the local gentry into rebellion.
...
"What? They want to seize land to train troops? And train new recruits? What on earth is this imperial court trying to do?!"
"How much money would you pay for acquiring that land?"
"Twenty taels per mu? But you have to pay off all the debts from previous years first?"
"Scholar Lu, Scholar Lu, quickly calculate how much you can get after deducting the debts!" a burly man said hurriedly.
This man was none other than Wei Shaoguang, the old man who led the people of Sanyuanli in several battles against the British army on rainy days. Because he was quite capable in combat and very burly, and because he had once led the people in besieging the British army, he was also a notorious troublemaker in Guangzhou.
“Well, if we take out the debts, on average, each mu of land will yield five taels of silver,” Lu Xiucai calculated before saying.
"What? They only pay five taels of silver for enclosing an acre of land? That's outrageous!" Old Man Wei exclaimed.
"Um, Second Master, it's not that there are only five taels left, but that we still need to pay another five taels. The amount owed to the government for each mu of land is at least twenty-five taels," Lu Xiucai said cautiously. After speaking, he handed the account book to Master Wei.
"There must be some treacherous officials in this court. How can the common people survive?" Just thinking about this made Old Man Wei feel uneasy.
"Well, Second Master, let's not talk about the fields anymore. Let me tell you, your affair has been exposed. The imperial court is planning to use your head as a gift to appease the British."
"What? Why? Why?" Wei Shaoguang asked, somewhat flustered.
“Hey, there are rebels everywhere these days. In order to gain the support of the British, someone said they would offer your head as a gift. As a result, as soon as they said it, the officials above agreed. Then, Lord Lin didn’t want a loyal minister to suffer, so he sent someone to deliver the message.” Lu Xiucai shook his head and said in a low voice.
"Escape? But the world is so big, where can I escape to?" As he spoke, Grandpa Wei anxiously scratched his head. He already had very little hair on his head, and now he was completely bald.
"I'll fight them to the death!" With that, Grandpa Wei went straight out and rang the bell to summon the local gentry and people.
Seeing Grandpa Wei's fiery temper, Scholar Lu couldn't help but nod. Only someone with such a volatile temper would dare to lead the people in a direct attack on the British army.
"I can't live like this anymore!"
"Not only do they not give us any money, they also expect us to pay the imperial court! How can we live like this?! Heaven has no eyes!"
"Hehe, what does it matter if the imperial court wants to train the Eight Banners new army and takes over a little land from us? Anyone who dares to stop us is considered to be rebelling. In this way, those Han officials will naturally not dare to dissuade us."
"What Eight Banners New Army? There's Chen Ming of Lushan, who led his Chen Family Army and routed the Eight Banners cavalry and the Mongol cavalry. And there are the people of our Sanyuanli who defeated the British army."
"Yes, foreigners are afraid of ordinary people, ordinary people are afraid of officials, and officials are afraid of foreigners. Life is truly unbearable..."
"Let's rebel!"
"Rebellion is punishable by death..."
"Is there a way to survive if we don't rebel?"
"But……"
"There's nothing to say but..."
Standing at the window, listening to the villagers' discussions outside, Lu Peifang, the head of the local gentry in Sanyuanli, sighed incessantly. In this era, in the countryside, these gentry were the ones who truly held the reins.
“Father, let’s rebel! If we rebel, we’ll have made a great contribution. When Lord Ming comes, we’ll definitely be able to become high-ranking officials,” Lu Xiucai hurriedly advised.
In the past few days, with the cooperation of the Hongmen brothers, they managed to change the government's statement of forty taels of silver per mu, with all outstanding debts waived, to twenty taels of silver per mu, without waiving outstanding debts.
Fortunately, the Hongmen (Triads) were incredibly resourceful, and after the deed was done, no one in the Guangzhou government discovered it. If this happened in later times, the people of Sanyuanli would have simply posted it online, and the whole thing would have been exposed!
"This rebellion is doomed to fail! What are you after?"
"As long as the Manchu officials in charge of Guangzhou completely lose trust in the Han Chinese militias, that's enough. At the very least, plant a thorn in their side. With that thorn in their side, the rest will be much easier!"
"What if I get beheaded?"
"Don't worry about that. We can just hide on the ship and run to Hong Kong. If all else fails, Father can become a teacher at Hong Kong Ji Shi University."