Chapter 1383: Nanchuan puts down the rebellion

Chapter 1383: Nanchuan puts down the rebellion

The remnants of Northern Qi in Liaodong were preparing for war, but the Tang court had not yet put the full-scale pursuit of their troops on the agenda.

Not only because the Tang army needed to rest for a period of time after the successful completion of the western tour, but also because there were other things that needed to be dealt with urgently, that is, a rebellion broke out in the Nanchuan area south of the Yangtze River, affecting most areas of Jiangzhou and even Hengzhou, which was located in the Lingbiao area.

This rebellion was mainly launched by a group of so-called Nanchuan tyrants. As for the root cause, the series of decrees promoted by the court in the Nanchuan prefectures and counties, such as the equal distribution of land and the encouragement of farming, greatly damaged the interests of these Nanchuan tyrants, so they took advantage of the emperor's western tour to launch a rebellion in the territory, trying to continue to maintain their separatist trend.

When Li Tai arrived in Longyou, he received relevant reports. The court had already begun to mobilize Shannan's manpower and material resources to prepare for the rebellion. After a little thought, he ordered to confer the title of King of Qin on his eldest son Li Jin, officially marrying and opening a government, and appointed him as the general manager of Jingzhou, and went to Jiangling to preside over the suppression of the Nanchuan rebellion.

This was the first time that Li Tai granted his son a formal title and appointed him to a position, which also meant that he began to strengthen his son's training and gradually exposed him to military and political affairs in the country.

Of course, military and national affairs should not be taken lightly. Although Li Tai wanted to train his son, it was impossible for him to directly hand over military and national affairs to him. He still had to arrange reliable people to assist him.

So Li Tai appointed his uncle Lu Shuhu as the chief of Qin Wangfu, Li Quji as the Sima of Wangfu, and appointed the former Jingzhou General Manager, Deng Guogong Tian Hong as the chief of Jingzhou General Manager's Office, Gao Jiong, Su Wei, Cui Hongdu, Lu Kai and others as assistants, and went to Jiangling to take office together, and returned to the court after the mission was completed.

The Nanchuan Rebellion has its profound historical reasons. As early as the Southern Dynasties, there were many powerful and wealthy clans in the southern part of Jiangzhou. During the Hou Jing Rebellion, there were many powerful and wealthy clans in the area, and they dominated the countryside, making it increasingly difficult to control. Even during the Southern Chen Dynasty, Chen Baxian, it was only a matter of restraint and enticement for those Wuzong and powerful people, and it was difficult to eradicate them completely.

During the period of destroying Chen, the Tang Dynasty mainly targeted the Southern Chen clan Chen Qian and Hou Andu who were entrenched in the Three Wu areas. Other local forces that did not clearly resist the rule of the Tang Dynasty were basically not purged.

At that time, because of the existence of Wang Lin, a troublemaker, many other problems in the Nanchuan area did not appear. In addition, Wang Lin surrendered directly to the Tang Dynasty, and those personnel problems had no chance to break out. The Tang Dynasty had successfully controlled the Nanchuan area.

However, these personnel problems did not break out for a while, which did not mean that they did not exist. Especially when the Tang Dynasty began to re-establish the local order after ruling the area, this naturally made the Nanchuan tyrants who acted on their own feel more restrained. The privileges they used to have in the countryside were repeatedly deprived, and the human resources they originally controlled were also constantly incorporated. These Nanchuan tyrants naturally had a long-standing grudge and deep resentment.

However, the unified Tang Dynasty was too powerful, far beyond the ability of these local tyrants to provoke, so even if they were dissatisfied, they could only suppress it for the time being.

It was not until the emperor's western tour that these Nanchuan tyrants saw some opportunities to stir up trouble. They secretly colluded with each other, and then they made an appointment to start a rebellion at the end of the year, expelling the officials stationed in the counties by the Tang Dynasty, and each occupied a river, valley, pond and pond, and became a force.

The separatist gene of the Southern Dynasty was still quite strong, and the personnel problems accumulated for many years were far from being completely reconciled by just a few years of governance. These Nanchuan tyrants were sloppy and relied on danger to resist, and soon they messed up the surrounding areas. As these Nanchuan tyrants rose up, there were also many tyrants and clans in other places in Jiangdong who watched the development of the situation, and for a time the atmosphere in the entire Jiangdong region became solemn and tense.

The most important concern of ordinary people is naturally how the court will quell the rebellion and how to deal with the rebels, but for the officials, there is another matter that deserves their attention, that is, the King of Qin's appointment.

The Nanchuan rebellion was only a minor threat. It would not be difficult to suppress the rebellion once the imperial court sent troops to the country. However, the marriage of the King of Qin was a major event that affected the foundation of the country. Although the eldest son of the emperor had not yet been directly named the crown prince, everyone understood that this was a temporary expedient because the emperor had not returned from his western tour and could not personally preside over the ceremony of the crown prince's first year of service. The future of the King of Qin in the palace was a foregone conclusion.

Although the ministers had seen His Royal Highness the King of Qin in the past, they were all in different ceremonial occasions. Everyone was dignified and serious, and their personalities were limited. The relatives, friends, and teachers that the King of Qin had contact with on a daily basis were all of high status, and they rarely talked about the King of Qin's private affairs. Therefore, the outside world knew very little about the temperament and talents of the eldest son of the emperor.

The nature of the King of Qin is related to the inheritance and development of the Tang Empire in the future, so the ministers inside and outside the court are also very curious about this. With the King of Qin's appointment, many people also want to observe it. It's a pity that the King of Qin has to go to Jiangling in Shannan when he is first appointed, which makes many officials in the capital quite disappointed, while the civil and military officials of Shannan Road are all in high spirits and ready to welcome His Majesty the King of Qin in the border.

As the imperial edict was issued, the King of Qin and his entourage quickly went south through Wuguan, without stopping along the way, and went straight to Jiangling. Li Qianzhe, the governor of Jingzhou, was still supervising money and grain matters in Jiangling Prefecture. Suddenly, he was informed by the envoy from the north that the King of Qin was about to enter the country. Li Qianzhe hurriedly led the state assistants to the state border to welcome him.

"I respectfully welcome His Highness the King of Qin to the state. The state affairs department is late to welcome you, so please forgive me!"

When Li Qianzhe and his party arrived at Wuning City in the north of Jiangling, King Qin and his party had already arrived. Li Qianzhe felt a little uneasy and hurriedly went in to pay his respects.

"You don't need to be polite to the Duke of Changsha. I have been sent here for a certain purpose, and the greetings and farewells are just a small matter. The imperial court appoints the Duke here to declare order for the herdsmen. Everything else is nothing special, so don't worry about it!"

King Li Jin of Qin is now fifteen or sixteen years old. He has the appearance of his parents and is very handsome. Although he has not yet developed a unique temperament, he is polite and courteous in dealing with others due to his good upbringing. His personality is dignified and cheerful. It's just that the journey from Chang'an to Shannan took less than ten days, so he seemed a little tired.

When Li Qianzhe heard what King Qin said, he was slightly relieved. Although they had only met for a short time and only spoke a few words, he already had a good impression of this noble man from Tianhuang and secretly looked at King Qin. After that, I couldn't help but sigh: "When I first saw the Supreme Being in the Han River, I was astonished as a heavenly being. Now when I welcome His Highness in Jiangling, I feel astonished then as well. Your Highness is young and possesses the supreme style of the Master. It is really impressive." Amazing!”

These words were somewhat disgusting, but no one in the crowd dared to laugh. Instead, they all nodded in agreement.

Although Li Jin was young, he had experienced many similar situations. Although he was happy that others praised him for being so similar to his father, he did not disturb his thoughts because of it. He just said with a smile: "It is passed down by blood, and it is unexpected." You are a common man, but you can avoid being called a mediocre person if you do your job well. It is too early for the Duke of Changsha to be praised. I will give you a message to return to the Lord on the day of his victory!"

Although he had just been conferred from the imperial court, Li Jin had never been confined to the deep palace, and he was not shy when dealing with others. He had a few words with Li Qianzhe and then met with the Jingzhou family members one by one under his introduction, and then he Return to Gangneung together.

"Although it is my first time in my life, this city is destined to be lonely! I have only just been born in the world, and a triumphal song is being played on the top of the city. Deng Guogong and others were all powerful in the south of the mountain. Now I am fortunate to work with him and other famous generals in the world. If it shows I'm so timid, please help me cover up."

Arriving outside Jiangling City, Li Jin looked at the city and couldn't help but sigh. Although he came here for the first time, he felt very warm in his heart. Thinking of his father's great achievements, he couldn't help but express his gratitude to Tian Hong who was traveling with him. Others said.

After Tian Hong heard this, he hurriedly leaned forward and said: "I am also a common human being. Fortunately, I was not abandoned and was able to obey the Lord, so I gained a bad reputation for a while. Your Highness has a deep inheritance and is deeply influenced by what you see and hear. It is difficult for Nanchuan Xiaoxiao to compete with me. I am so lucky." The division of merit is the same as before."

"Words can be flattering, but you still need to work hard when dealing with the situation. I have been ordered to come here. As long as it is beneficial to the cause, I will respond to my request. I just hope that you can quickly put an end to the chaos and achieve victory together!"

With Li Jin's background, problems that ordinary people are deeply worried about are not a problem for him, and what he needs to face is how to obtain truly useful information in a positive and enthusiastic consultation.

Therefore, under the guidance of his father, he understood from an early age that he should separate people's words and deeds, clarify his own goals, and grasp those elements that really help to achieve his goals.

Fifty thousand soldiers from Shannan Road had already gathered here in Jiangling. After the King of Qin and his party arrived, they set off one after another, marching by boat and chariot to fight towards Nanchuan. Tian Hong was in charge of supervising the battle on the front line, while Li Jin was stationed behind Jiangling, behind his uncle Lu Shuhu. With the assistance of Li Qianzhe, the governor of Jingzhou, and others, he understood and took charge of the logistical matters of the anti-rebellion army, and at the same time met and appeased the people from all over Shannan who came to see him in batches.

The powerful forces of the Nanchuan rebellion were scattered among the mountains, ravines, and ponds. The actual battle was not too difficult. After Tian Hongtong's army entered the country, they first defeated most of the rebels in Poyang and Hunan, but the subsequent encirclement and suppression was more troublesome. .

The geography of Nanchuan is filled with Zetang hills, not a plain. When these rebels dispersed in the countryside, they used their familiarity with the terrain of the countryside to play hide-and-seek with the officers and soldiers. Whenever the officers and soldiers came to them, Then they dispersed in a cacophony. If the officers and soldiers retreated, they would start to plunder the countryside again.

In this way, the Dingluan War continued from the beginning of the year to late spring. It took more than three months to complete the encirclement and suppression of these rebels. The Dingluan War has reached a stalemate, and the consumption of money and food is increasing day by day. And if the rebellion continues, , will undoubtedly greatly delay the farming work. The villagers will lose their crops and have no livelihood. I am afraid that they will break their homes and become thieves, making the chaos more serious and falling into a vicious circle.

Faced with this situation, Wang Sengmin, as the governor of Jiangzhou, suggested that instead of continuing to pursue and suppress, it would be better to appease the people, so as to avoid the continuation of the war and the further waste of people and money.

But when he made this proposal, he was opposed by some of the main battle generals. Wang Seng was convinced that this plan was not advisable. It was caused by evil parents and traitors. Now if he compromises again, he will only This will make these Nanchuan powerful people even more recalcitrant. Moreover, the reason why the war is now at a stalemate is not because of lack of combat power, but because the rebels are too cunning. At present, only by adhering to the principle of eliminating evil and doing everything possible can we hope to completely eliminate the root causes of these troubles.

Both sides insisted on their own opinions and argued endlessly. No one could convince the other. As the dispute continued, other opinions emerged one after another. Naturally, these opinions were summarized by Qin Wang Li Jin, who made a decision. .

But Li Jin only felt that each of these opinions had merits and shortcomings, and it was difficult for him to make a decision on which one to adopt. Everyone, including Lu Shuhu and others, also held their own opinions, so it was naturally difficult to give him constructive advice.

"The Holy Emperor has returned to the capital. If it is really difficult for His Highness to make a decision, it is better to report the situation to the court in detail and let the Supreme Being make the decision!"

Gao Jiong, one of the attendants, saw that King Qin was having difficulty making a decision, so he suggested.

After hearing this, Li Jin nodded his head in agreement, so he quickly sent people to ask the court to report. Not long after, a reply from the court arrived. However, what came was not some advice, but a stern reprimand from the Supreme King to the King of Qin. The Supreme Lord was here The letter not only reprimanded the King of Qin for his indecision, but also issued an ultimatum, requiring the King of Qin to end the Nanchuan War before the start of Xia no matter what, and return to the court regardless of the outcome.

Li Jin's worries in previous years were just that he didn't do his homework well enough, but now he has done like this for the first time in his job. You can imagine the frustration in his heart. Faced with the huge pressure exerted by his father, he could not avoid it. He could only bite the bullet and think carefully over and over again, and finally made a decision, that is, to immediately stop the current war of conquest and suppression in Nanchuan and make every effort to encourage farming and reward farmers.

After learning about King Qin's decision, some of the generals who were leading the battle were in an uproar. Even Tian Hong returned from the front line to dissuade him. However, in the face of the masses' dissuasion and doubts, Li Jin just said in a deep voice: "This time Going to Nanchuan to quell the chaos is for the sake of prosperity To cure, not to kill. Now that we have already killed, we have done wrong farming. Since we cannot have both, we have to gain one first. Although the thieves in Nanchuan are hateful, the people are pitiful. If the war continues, A serious mistake in farming will undoubtedly force the people to become thieves.”

"But now the thieves are all at the end of their rope. Once they give up the pursuit and give them a chance to breathe, they will definitely be in more trouble in the future!"

Tian Hong hurriedly said earnestly, but at least he could not hold back from saying that King Qin's idea was somewhat merciful.

"After this strike, we should not only persuade the people to farm, but also persuade the thieves to farm. Tell the state and county officials that if they are willing to abandon their weapons and cultivate the wasteland, they can forget about it, and measure the number of acres they cultivate, and provide them with grain seeds, farm tools, and farming tools. Cattle, cloth, etc. The army is stationed in Nanchuan, and money and food are being depleted day by day. It would be a great good thing to use this money from killing people to reward the people who reclaimed the wasteland!"

Li Jin continued to say in a deep voice: "Perhaps this is because of pedantic benevolence. A thief is a thief. He is ignorant of benevolence and righteousness, and it is even more difficult to be influenced by kindness. But it is human nature to live in peace and contentment. To live in peace and harmony with others is to bring chaos to the people. Due to the strife in the world, the people are in dire straits. However, the current dynasty is establishing rule. If one can live by rule, who would want to die by chaos?

Kuang Min is a people, not in virtue and justice, but in the land. If a thief abandons his weapon and takes up the plow, how is he different from the people? Within the Wang Tian, ​​if there are three periods of activity and one period of rest, who can be considered a thief? Killing animals can eliminate thieves, and encouraging people to farm can do the same. "

When Tian Hong heard this, he was at a loss for words. He lowered his head and was silent for a moment before speaking again: "But Your Highness, what will happen if these stubborn thieves still refuse to abandon their weapons and farm without obeying the king's orders? Remember that they are originally They are tough and difficult to tame, so they raise armies and cause chaos. The thieves are not happy to live in peace, so why should they be lured to live in peace?"

"Thieves are not happy to live in peace, but the people are happy. All the thieves who gather to cause chaos are all wealthy and violent people in their hometowns. The people in their hometowns can all share their fields and houses, and allocate their warehouses to those who can report thieves to officials and discover thieves' nests. "

Li Jin does not always insist on benevolence and righteousness. He also does not intend to let go of those stubborn thieves who are rebellious. However, unlike the previous method of tiring the army and recruiting troops at a huge expense, he intends to turn this into a relationship between the villagers and the villagers. The conflicts among the gangsters were eliminated through the reports and cooperation of the villagers to eliminate the bandit leaders.

Someone had made such a proposal before, but it was dismissed as teaching people to commit treachery and corrupting rural ethics. However, after thinking about it, Li Jin still felt that the so-called ethics was too vague, especially at the moment when the Nanchuan Rebellion was delayed. If there is no solution, can this be called rural justice and simplicity?

The basis of the imperial government's governance lies in people and land. Since the rebels are unwilling to accept the imperial rule, it is natural to reward the land to those who are willing to accept the imperial rule. With the cooperation and guidance of these people, the pursuit of those thieves will naturally be clear-cut and the efficiency will be greatly increased!

So as the King of Qin made this decision, most of the Tang army's divisions and brigades withdrew from Nanchuan, leaving only a small number of elite cavalry in counties and counties, and issued a series of decrees to reward farming, so that spring farming could be resumed as soon as possible.

As the officers and soldiers withdrew, the rebels felt that they had finally won the victory, so they returned to their hometowns proudly, and at the same time ordered their tribesmen to seize the time to farm. After all, they need to eat when they rebel, and many of the rebel leaders themselves are wealthy people in the countryside. It would be a pity if the fields of each family were abandoned due to the war and the harvest failed.

However, as these rebel armies disbanded and returned to their hometowns, and each began to farm, the rebel leaders soon discovered that something was not good. They originally agreed to keep in contact with each other, and at the same time to prevent the officers and soldiers from returning again. Regroup.

Things were fine for a while at first, but gradually more and more people broke their appointments. Because everyone found that the government management was unusually lax, and some rebel leaders even openly roamed the countryside, and even entered and exited the city without being arrested. They even only needed to report information about their fields to the government, and after the government verified it, they would give them food, silk, etc. things.

Some people naturally feel that this is a benefit gained by their hard work, and since they have already won it, there is no point in fighting anymore. After all, the officers and soldiers were really ruthless in killing people during rebellions, and many of their villagers died in the rebellion. Now that they have finally settled down and their situation has improved, they naturally don't want to cause chaos again.

But such a situation is obviously not in the interests of those village tyrants. What they want is not the small rewards from the government, but to completely monopolize the village resources and order and refuse to accept the control of the government. Therefore, when they found that the people were discouraged by the small favors of the government, they became alert and thought about gathering their troops again.

However, they wanted to cause trouble again, but they didn't know that they had become the target of some villagers. Soon, some tyrants' Wubi manors were suddenly broken by the villagers, or they were captured by the villagers in cooperation with the government army.

For a time, those Nanchuan tyrants who dared to return to the village were all trapped, even including some tyrants who were active in the country as early as the Hou Jing Rebellion, such as Yuzhang Zhou Di and Xiong Tanlang, all of whom were betrayed by their troops and villagers and were successively arrested by the government army.

In this way, the Nanchuan rebellion was put down. Some leaders were arrested one after another, and many people who had joined the rebellion took the opportunity of the government's call for peace and farming to return to their hometowns and become obedient citizens again. By the time it was midsummer in May, all the wars in Nanchuan had been settled and the customs were harmonious.

As the Nanchuan rebellion was put down, Li Jin, the King of Qin who had been stationed in Jiangling for several months, also led a group of soldiers who had put down the rebellion and the captured Nanchuan rebel leaders to return to the capital to report their achievements.