"The Farmer's Fat Wife" - Fat Men Are All Potential Stocks (Part 12)...

What should be considered when launching a peasant uprising in ancient times?

Hurry! We have to be quick!

Even the most corrupt ancient courts were still state machines. Once they were in operation, they were difficult for untrained peasant armies to handle.

However, this massive state apparatus has a fatal weakness: it is strong in the trunk but weak in the branches, and operates slowly.

The speed of information flow in ancient times meant that even if a hundred horses were to run themselves to death, news of a rebellion in the south would take ten days to reach the imperial court.

After the message arrives, troops will not be dispatched immediately; a few more days of meetings will be held to determine whose responsibility it is.

After shirking responsibility, a meeting still had to be held to decide whether to offer amnesty or suppress the bandits, who to send to suppress them, how many men to bring, how much money and how much grain to provide.

After the meeting, we still need to raise funds for military pay and figure out where we can squeeze out more military funds.

If the money is squeezed in, the number of troops should not be less than 100,000. Even if 100,000 troops march at full speed, it will take them more than a month to get there.

With this back and forth, winter is almost here. If we're lucky, the imperial court's meeting will be delayed a little longer, and the government troops can still celebrate the New Year.

Without a clear order from the imperial court, even if there were local troops in neighboring prefectures, they would not dare to take charge of matters on their own.

The more you do, the more mistakes you make; the less you do, the fewer mistakes you make; if you do nothing, you make no mistakes. The situation of local officials is even more complicated. First and foremost, they are in office for themselves, and only then do they serve the imperial court.

In this vacuum period where there is no leader above and no one below, it is the time when peasant rebels can take advantage of the chaos and expand their influence.

Having already captured Yang County, there's no reason to retreat. Strongholds aren't just mountains and rivers; the city walls themselves are the best defensive fortifications.

After dealing with Yang County, Ye Xiqing had some people control the city gates, while the rest who could ride horses rode the horses confiscated from the government offices.

Or they could take the silver they had just stolen from the county government office, forcefully buy horses from the families of those who owned them, head straight for the river construction site, draw their bows and shoot arrows wildly, killing the foreman.

The prefect of Huaizhou dealt with the disaster victims by requiring them to pay their taxes. Those who could not pay their taxes were sent to repair the river embankment as a form of manual labor to pay their taxes. At that moment, a group of people were working hard on the construction site. When they saw this scene, they all panicked and ran away.

Some sharp-eyed people recognized the person on horseback and called out to everyone, "It's the person who gave us advance warning of the floods!"

Ye Xiqing was still thinking about how to start the conversation, but this opening was too satisfying for her. She held up the head of the Yang County Magistrate for everyone to see.

"The court is corrupt and the officials are wicked. The Goddess of Mount Tai is benevolent and issued a decree to save the people. However, the corrupt officials disregard the will of Heaven and continue to oppress the surviving people. Heaven is angry and people are resentful."

"Now I am carrying out the benevolent decree of the Goddess of Mount Tai to kill the corrupt officials, abolish tyranny, and save the people. Who dares to follow me?"

They'd come to the right place! The people who had lost their homes and were displaced were building makeshift shelters on the riverbank with their families to perform forced labor when they heard this news.

Ye Xiqing had predicted the flood three years later, which gave her some prestige among the local people. Now, looking at the group of fierce soldiers she led and the head of the county magistrate in her hand...

The crowd below was immediately stirred up, and they grabbed whatever they could and rushed out of the riverbank, shouting: "We are willing to follow!"

With the new recruits, the defense of Yang County became much easier. The city's garrison was instantly replaced, and there was still room to send people to guard all the checkpoints. Entry was permitted, but exit was not. Anyone who dared to go out and report the news was killed on the spot!

After mobilizing the people, Ye Xiqing did not stay to settle the newly recruited people. Instead, he left only thirty people for Zhu Niangzi and Niu Xiaohuan to guard Yang County and quickly organize the newly joined rebel army.

The remaining core members were split into two groups. She led one group and headed straight for Wei County!

Weixian was more prosperous, but only economically; in terms of defensive strength, it was only slightly stronger than Yangxian.

Being constantly dazzled by the dazzling facade, the guards have become so lax in their duties.

She had been operating in Weixian County for a long time and had many downlines there. She was more familiar with Weixian County than with Yangxian County.

Before news of what happened in Yang County reached Wei County, she took half of her people and took Wei County directly. The remaining team, led by Wu Niang and Lin Xiaofu, went to attack Donghai County!

Donghai County, further east of Yang County, is the stronghold of the Hai Gang. Ye Xiqing instructed Wu Niang and Zhou Yue'e not to launch a direct attack, but to incite the remaining smugglers and salt farmers along the coast to rebel.

The imperial court made a lot of money monopolizing salt, but the salt merchants who supplied salt to the court did not make any money. Not only did they not make any money, but they were also burdened by high taxes and could not stand upright for the rest of their lives. This is why they were willing to risk their lives to cooperate with private salt dealers.

The arrest of the leader of the Haiyan Gang has made the coastal salt farmers most afraid, as they are likely to take extreme measures if provoked in the slightest.

Knowing that Yang County has been captured, they will definitely follow suit. Don't give the nearby counties time to react; take all three counties at once!

Of course, one's own life should be the priority. If the situation becomes unfavorable, one should quickly retreat to Yang County and avoid a direct confrontation.

They only have three hundred core members, and under no circumstances can they afford to lose any of their own.

Those in charge of the attack should each lead one route, and those left behind should not slack off. After capturing the other two counties, whether successful or not, a large number of manpower will be needed immediately, and reinforcements must be sent as soon as possible.

This timing for reinforcements shouldn't rely solely on her relaying messages; she trusts that Zhu Niangzi will make her own judgment.

Entrusted with such an important task, Zhu Niangzi quickly nodded. In an instant, the world changed. Everyone seemed to be wound up tightly, rushing forward with their heads down.

Although Yang County was Li Sanyue's hometown, Wei County was a more familiar place for Ye Xiqing, who had just transmigrated. She knew every city defense officer and quickly infiltrated Wei County by choosing a route for smuggling salt.

Because the flood discharge route deliberately bypassed Weixian County, Weixian County was not significantly damaged by the flood, but there were many refugees outside Weixian County.

To prevent refugees from entering, the guards outside the city gates were actually more heavily maneuvered, something Ye Xiqing hadn't expected.

After thinking it over, Ye Xiqing had an idea. She decided to have someone disguise themselves as merchants and enter the city. On one of the carts, she packed a few bags of real grain. Just in case, they brought some "military pay" with them.

When they arrived at the checkpoint, and the checkpoint officials came to inspect, he took out a short knife hidden in his sleeve and made a cut, and the grain instantly spilled out.

Then Ye Xiqing gave everyone a demonstration on the spot: "Oh dear, my car overturned, and the grain spilled all over the ground."

The starving refugees, seeing the food, didn't bother to think carefully and rushed forward with both hands and feet.

Seeing the chaos, the guards rushed forward to drive away the rioters, but more and more people surged in and surrounded them. Suddenly, they felt a chill in their abdomen.

Ye Xiqing drew his knife and shouted, "Charge with me!"

She was tall and imposing. The refugees were so hungry that they had lost the ability to think and couldn't understand why they charged at her.

It's the same old trick: instantly control the city gates so they can't be closed. If the city gates can't be closed, no matter how high the city walls are, it won't matter.

With the influx of refugees, Weixian County fell into ruin even faster than Yangxian County.

Ye Xiqing led his soldiers and refugees. The county magistrate died, his old comrade died, and the granary was opened. He first opened the granary on the spot and distributed grain to feed the refugees.

Seeing that everyone had eaten their fill, he looked at them and said, "I'll take you to a new place where you can eat even more. Do you want to come?"

Having already struggled to the brink of starvation and witnessed bloodshed, what was there for the refugees to hesitate about? They immediately nodded: "Go!"

"Alright, those who aren't afraid of death, come with me. July, Xiao Fu, you two stay here. You don't need to do anything, just close the city gates and guard the city."

Everyone rebelled, and her mother and sister would definitely rebel as well. Hua Xigu was old and stayed in Yang County, while Li Qiyue came to Wei County with Ye Xiqing.

Li Qiyue wasn't part of the salt-selling team; she joined later. Being inexperienced, every detail after the rebellion challenged her worldview.

But Li Qiyue lived up to his reputation as a quick learner; he adapted to everything rapidly. Even when others were making a spectacle of rebellion, he always wanted to be the first to do so, and soon he had already killed someone with a knife and fled.

Being thin doesn't mean she's weak. She works tirelessly in the fields every day, so how could she be weak? Ye Xiqing had the chance to see her before; when she rolled up her sleeves, her arms were all naturally muscular.

While others still maintained a sense of hierarchy when dealing with Ye Xiqing, she didn't. She stood up and asked directly, "What are you still doing? We've already taken down two!"

Ye Xiqing looked at the group of refugees glowing green and said slowly, "The plan has changed. I suddenly feel that it would be good to take over Mao County as well."

Li Qiyue was dumbfounded. "Do you know what you're talking about?!" Mao County was a military garrison; the imperial court had stationed five thousand heavily armed soldiers there!

Ye Xiqing stroked his chin: "It is precisely because this place is so important that we must use some unconventional methods to take it down."

...

In the dead of night, even in a heavily fortified town, the guards would be tired. It's normal for people to feel sleepy at night.

The guards on the city wall were struggling to keep their eyes open when they suddenly heard someone knocking at the door. They immediately raised their torches and looked down: "Who goes there!"

Below the city wall stood a group of men dressed in the uniforms of the county patrol garrison. The leader held up a badge and a document: "We are the garrison of Wei County. The rioters in Wei County are causing chaos. Please come to our aid immediately, General!"

The guards were exhausted but had to report to their superiors under pressure, which they were very reluctant to do. However, their subordinates were anxiously scrambling around: "The military situation is dire. Wei County has fallen, which may endanger the prefecture. Please inform the commander immediately!"

There was no other way; we couldn't stop such a big deal, so we had to bite the bullet and report it.

The officer was dragged out of his reverie, seething with anger. He opened the city gate, led a group of men, and checked the visitor's identification badge and documents. It was indeed the badge of the patrol inspector of Wei County.

But even if Weixian County is really overrun by the disaster victims, why call in troops in the middle of the night? Wait until tomorrow!

The officers of the Wei County Patrol Office pleaded desperately, "General! It's an extremely urgent matter! Please send troops immediately!"

Who could be in a good mood after being woken up in the middle of the night? The supervisor said irritably, "You can't wait to die, can you? Where are the rioters at this hour?"

The Weixian County Inspector, who had been pleading desperately, suddenly looked up and slit his throat with a knife: "Here he is!"

In the dead of night, before one is fully awake, one suddenly sees flames everywhere and shouts of battle filling the air. One scrambles up and frantically searches for one's helmet and armor, but finds nothing.

Good heavens! This is the heartland of the heartland. The sea pirates can't hit them, the southern pirates can't hit them, the western pirates and the northern pirates can't hit them either, and the internal pirates dare not hit them. It's as safe as a secluded post. How did the enemy manage to crawl out from underground?

Having five thousand soldiers in the physics doesn't mean they have five thousand combat strength. Huaizhou's military preparedness has been complacent for too long, and its military and political affairs have been neglected. When it was suddenly attacked by rioters, several large camps were thrown into chaos, with some surrendering and others dying.

Ye Xiqing gathered his men in a snowballing fashion, stormed into the city, opened the armory, and used the spoils of war to fight for more spoils.

What should have been the most secure base for the government troops turned into a major base for the rebels in a dramatic turn of events.

Everyone was dumbfounded to see that Maoxian, a strategic town with ample troops, high walls, and abundant food and water, had become a stronghold of rebels. Whose house was this anyway?

With such a momentous event occurring, the prefect of Huaizhou certainly couldn't be unaware of it. How could he know? Of course, it was because Ye Xiqing had already joined forces to attack.

Ye Xiqing had previously thought that news of the rebellion should reach the imperial court within ten days, but she overlooked one thing: who would report this matter to the imperial court.

The floods had already disrupted transportation, and then this traitor sabotaged communications, so much so that the imperial court received the news that the New Year was almost here.

Even before the Lunar New Year, the emperor in the imperial palace was still worried about the floods in the south, holding deep meetings with his ministers every day to discuss how to solve the problem.

The two sides went through countless cycles of disaster relief, lack of funds, disaster relief, and lack of funds, dragging it out until the Lunar New Year, without ever figuring out how to provide disaster relief.

Then a messenger arrived from the south on a slow horse: Your Majesty! My lords! Forget about disaster relief! The south has rebelled! The south has rebelled!

Emperor: Hmm?

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Author's note: Kind-hearted Qingqing, worried that the imperial court was under too much pressure to provide disaster relief, helped it rebel [laughing and crying emoji].