1883 Rebellion, failed to withstand the test
Feng Qingchen felt that she must have saved the Milky Way in her previous life, which was why she was so lucky. Not only did she guess Jiangnan's affairs correctly, but she also got angry just as she was about to leave...
"You want me to enjoy the baptism of war, right? You won't let me go even after I came to Jiangnan. God, I am not your biological child."
She thought that she would not have to worry about war when she came to the pure land of Jiangnan. However, before she left, something happened in Jiangnan and war broke out.
Feng Qingchen gnashed his teeth, wishing he could drag out all the rebels and have Guo Baoji feed each of them a poison pill.
Unfortunately, the rebels had already fled the city, and the culprit could not be found. Feng Qingchen could only vent his anger on the King of Jiangnan and the King of Qing.
"I really admire you. People have already put their hands into your bowls, but you are completely unaware of it. You think the people of Jiangnan are so kind and beautiful." Feng Qingchen was so angry that she gritted her teeth. The Prince of Qing and the Prince of Jiangnan should be thankful that it was her who was here today, not the Ninth Prince, otherwise these two would have been in great pains.
Jiangnan is the most important rear base for the Ninth Prince. If anything goes wrong, the Ninth Prince will definitely put the interests of the country above his own and imprison these two people for life.
"This matter... was indeed our negligence." King Jiangnan and King Qing were filled with shame and wished they could commit suicide with a knife.
The rebellion in Jiangnan was caused by collusion between internal and external forces. Their subordinates colluded with the local wealthy people in Jiangnan and robbed the government silver and grain.
There were only 50,000 soldiers in Jiangnan, but their men led more than 10,000 people to rebel. Together with the family soldiers maintained by the local wealthy people in Jiangnan and the young and strong men they recruited, the rebel army totaled 20,000 people.
For Jiangnan, this is definitely a powerful force, not to mention, there are several mysterious masters among the rebels, which makes it truly hard to guard against.
Feng Qingchen exhaled lightly. Seeing that the King of Jiangnan and the King of Qing were blaming themselves, she could not say any more blame. Instead, she comforted them, "The other party was scheming but you were not. It is normal that you were unaware. There is no reason to be on guard against thieves all day long. Fortunately, you were prepared early. The official silver and grain that were robbed were only a small part."
If not for this, the other side would not have stationed troops outside the territory of Jiangnan, preparing to attack Jiangnan and rob official silver and grain.
"Although the loss this time is not heavy, the area south of the Yangtze River is also very dangerous. We only have 40,000 troops, and we don't know when the court's reinforcements will arrive." Although Prince Qing has always wanted to lead troops to fight, he never thought that the battlefield would be in south of the Yangtze River.
If Jiangnan is affected by the war, I wonder if it will affect next year's tax revenue.
"It will take a long time to go back and forth. Instead of waiting for reinforcements, it is better to save ourselves." In this era of extremely underdeveloped communications, the Ninth Prince, who was far away in the imperial city, did not know how many days it would take to know the situation in Jiangnan. And after the Ninth Prince knew, it would take another ten days or half a month to send troops over, by which time the opportunity would be cold.
"Without reinforcements, our chances of winning are slim. Although our troops are twice as many as the enemy's, we have to leave people to guard the official grain, and also maintain order in the city to prevent anyone from taking the opportunity to cause chaos. Most importantly, we don't know how many people in the city are related to the rebels." Any one of them would be a troublesome matter, and King Qing got a headache just thinking about it.
If it is to resist foreign enemies, 50,000 troops are not a small number. King Qing is not afraid of a war at all. However, civil strife is a troublesome matter. He not only has to resist the enemy's attack, but also has to suppress the civil strife, so the manpower is a little insufficient.
"Ordinary people will not commit suicide. Those who would participate in the rebellion are most likely local wealthy people. Since we don't know if there are any spies in Jiangnan, we should arrest them all." Feng Qingchen firmly believed that severe punishments should be used in troubled times, and he could not be soft-hearted at this time.
Prince Qing frowned slightly, clearly disagreeing, but Prince Jiangnan nodded slightly: "It's a good idea."
"Is it okay to disturb the people like this?" King Qing was very strict in military discipline. He never allowed his soldiers to disturb the people, let alone oppress them.
"It's okay. Don't forget that there are rebels among them." King Jiangnan's eyes were filled with murderous aura, and the momentum he exuded made ordinary people dare not look at him directly: "Ziqing..."
When the King of Jiangnan called him, the King of Qing stood up involuntarily, clasped his hands together, bowed his head and said, "Your humble servant is here."
After saying this, King Qing realized that he had spoken out of turn, and quickly looked at Feng Qingchen. Seeing Feng Qingchen looking up at the sky with an expression that said, "I heard nothing," King Qing couldn't help but laugh, and the tense atmosphere eased...
The King of Qing was not a good leader, but he was definitely an excellent soldier. He strictly followed the orders of the King of Jiangnan and "invited" the local wealthy families in Jiangnan to the palace one by one, and all those who had in-laws with the rebels were "invited" to the prison.
If any family refused to cooperate, the King of Qing would directly order his subordinates to take action and "invite" them all to prison, and any resisters would be killed without mercy.
Under the iron fist of King Qing, these wealthy businessmen in Jiangnan were as obedient as grandsons. If King Qing told them to go east, they would never dare to go west. Occasionally, when there were a few who felt guilty, King Qing would directly kill them.
Things went quite smoothly. In just one day, Prince Qing had "invited" all the people. The palace was packed with people, so Feng Qingchen and the others had to live in the government office with Prince Jiangnan.
In addition to "inviting" all the families of wealthy merchants in Jiangnan, the King of Jiangnan also "invited" all the families of his officials to come together, under the euphemism of protection.
If any official sends his family away early, he will have to stay in jail. There is no other way because he is highly suspicious.
After these actions, the hidden dangers within Jiangnan were basically suppressed, and now what we have to deal with is the rebels.
"The rebels are from Jiangnan and are very familiar with the terrain there. If they want to hide, we won't be able to find them for a while. Moreover, we don't have enough troops, and we can't extend the battle line. If the rebels run too far, we can only defend ourselves." The King of Jiangnan has to play political struggles, but when it comes to fighting, only the King of Qing has the final say.
"So, we can only wait for them to come to our door before we can take action?" Feng Qingchen didn't know much about the war, but he knew that this way of fighting was too passive and very disadvantageous to them.
"It's the only way." Prince Qing nodded heavily.
They could not get accurate information about the rebels, so naturally they could not send troops out. If the rebels caused trouble, Jiangnan would be undefendable.
Feng Qingchen frowned, thought for a moment, and said, "The wealthy businessmen you put in jail are all related to the rebels by marriage. Even if they did not participate in the rebellion, they probably know something. Treason is a capital crime punishable by the death of nine clans, and they are also included in the nine clans. If you, the King of Jiangnan, promise them in the name of the court that as long as they provide useful information or are willing to make amends, the court can pardon their crimes, do you think they will betray their relatives?"
Human nature is something that cannot stand the test. Feng Qingchen wanted to know, when it comes to the lives of the whole family, what choices will these people make?