"What 'The Anti-Classics'? Huang Shiji, with an angry look, shouted with a stern face, 'Am I a scholar or a jushu...? I won't rebel, why would I read 'The Anti-Classics'?'"
"My lord, this volume two of 'The Anti-Classics' depicts the rebellion of scholars for the benefit of scholars......" Huang's wife, not sure if she was afraid that her husband would ask if she had been tainted by the Taiping Army, so she hastily diverted everyone's attention and boldly displayed the several volumes of 'The Anti-Classics' in her hand, "Moreover, these two volumes of volume three of 'The Anti-Classics', which depict the rebellion of Han officials, are still for the benefit of officials!"
"Preposterous!" Wang Kui took a volume three of "The Anti-Classics" and looked at it with disdain, "How could the parents of the people in the Qing Dynasty possibly rebel?"
"Exactly!" Yu Wanqing also took a volume three of "The Anti-Classics" and began reading it, "Once they have become officials in the court, who would dare to rebel?"
Huang Shijie's face turned dark blue, and he took a volume two of "The Anti-Classics" from his pitifully supportive wife and flipped it open to look at it, his face turning dark.
That's his wife's handwriting!
This wife can't be kept... she's going to get him all executed!
However, Huang Shijie still held back from immediately fighting with his wife - her handwriting is indeed good, but outsiders have not seen it, so he did not say it, Yu Wanqing and Wang Kui would not know.
Let's first see what this rebellious "Anti-Classics" has to say.
What? The Qing Dynasty has a total population of 433 million, while the 18 provinces under Han rule have only 100 million acres of arable land, with an average of two and a half mu per person......The geographical advantage has been fully exploited, the soil is too thin, the land under Han rule is no longer able to sustain hundreds of millions of people. Hundreds of millions of people are no longer able to support millions of Manchu nobles and officials who are extracting bone marrow and pressing and oppressing tens of millions of Han people.
Therefore, after the rise of the celestial kingdom's cause today, it will inevitably lead to rebellion across the entire country. And if the scholar-gentry and landowners cannot raise their banners and win people's support, they will undoubtedly form groups and organize local defense forces to protect themselves.
While the leaders of the Han scholar-gentry are in the countryside, they are no different from ordinary people. If they call out to the heights, thousands will follow. Family members and disciples gather to form a group, which can protect their hometown in retreat and conquer prefectural capitals in advance... Is this not rebellion?
If a scholar-gentry leader becomes powerful, occupies large tracts of land, organizes and trains a large number of local militiamen, and carves out a territory of their own to sit alone as the ruler, will they still remove their feathers out of fear of an imperial decree from the Qing demon emperor? Will they turn over their land and military forces and entrust their lives and fortunes to the Manchu nobles in the capital?
Has there ever been such an idiot throughout history? Is there one in the Twenty-Four Histories?
That... It sounds so reasonable!
Huang Shijie was so stunned that he couldn't move!
He's not some dull-witted bookworm; he's a disciple of Luo Luoshan! Who is Luo Luoshan? He is the mother of the Xiang army in history! He has already started organizing local defense forces elsewhere.
Huang Shijie had previously sent people to buy Western firearms in Guangdong, with the intention of organizing local defense forces. But what happens after the local defense forces are organized? Of course, it's to first seize Daozhou and then carve out Yongzhou. In any case, he will try to be a regional king.
And a Han person who is a leader of a regional militia that has carved out a state... in the eyes of the Manchu emperor, isn't he a rebel?
But if they don't rebel... the Taiping Army will come to seize their land, loot their homes, and make their families and people homeless!
This is called dying or rebelling, only two ways, no third way......if you don't believe it, look it up in the Twenty-Four Histories.
While Huang Shijie was lost in thought, Yu Wanqing was trembling.
He also picked up a copy of "The Rebellion of Han Officials" and was looking at it. At first, he had firmly believed that officials could not rebel. However, after just flipping through a dozen pages, he began to... believe it more and more.
Because what this "Anti-Classics" says is all logical!
Serving as a Han official under the Qing Dynasty is actually very difficult! It's a high-risk, low-reward business with high input, and one mistake could result in a complete loss.
Even someone like Yu Wanqing, a Han military official who graduated from the military examinations, had to spend money to buy a real position!
In fact, most of the "vacancies" for Han officials require money to buy!
And this "vacancy" is not necessarily a "real vacancy", not because you spent silver and could take office - such positions do exist, for example, capital officials, which can be determined by the Ministry of Personnel. The Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of War can make arrangements with some money. But most local official positions are not solely decided by the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of War. After the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of War have selected candidates, they are sent to wait for a vacancy in the local area.
That means, even after spending money, you're still just a candidate official, and you have to go to the provincial governors or prefects in the local area to buy a real position... Not only do you have to spend two batches of silver, but you also have to spend time waiting slowly. Because for Han officials, there is always a shortage of positions compared to the number of officials.
So it's not unusual for a literatus to spend ten or twenty years from passing the high school exams to becoming a real executive official, such as a county magistrate.
During these ten or twenty years... He would still have to work as a volunteer in the office of the provincial governor or prefect! The term "white duty" means serving without pay.
In the Qing Dynasty, Han officials only started receiving salaries after obtaining a real position!
Without a real position, they get nothing!
You have to serve for free - there are many miscellaneous tasks to do in the provincial governor's office! Because there are very few official positions in the Qing Dynasty, excluding the military officers on duty. If you don't count the flag officers on duty, there is only one!
Governor or Inspector General!
This is like the office of the provincial government! How can one official manage it? Therefore, in the Qing Dynasty, governors and inspectors general usually had to hire a large number of secretaries, attendants, and family members to help them manage the office. But these people all had to be hired at a cost... If a governor or inspector general was a big-time corrupt official, it would be fine. But if they encountered a clean official... With just that little salary and allowances, how many Shaoxing secretaries can they hire?
So white duty is good to use... Not only do they not have to spend silver, but they can also be thrown away as scapegoats if something goes wrong - this "soup" usually cannot be allowed to be taken by secretaries, because secretaries are not on the payroll and are not responsible. Secondly, Shaoxing secretaries also band together and are difficult to control.
Therefore, this Han official in the Qing Dynasty... is actually a high-risk position, where one can easily end up in the red.
Even before the Taiping Rebellion, they had already been working very hard, and now it's even more difficult... They're about to be jobless!
If people cannot make a living, they will rebel; what about officials who cannot make a living?
Of course... there's only one word for it: rebellion!
During times of great disorder, is it rare for local officials to become self-proclaimed rulers and become aggressive?
It's hard to come by an official position, especially one they've spent their blood and money on. Why should they be forced to resign, banished, or even die for the emperor when the Taiping Army passes through?
What gives them the right not to collude with local strongmen, to secretly tax and collect taxes, to privately recruit armies, to set up public courts privately, and to privately seize the provinces and prefectures of the court?
What a great idea! This has been the case throughout history! There are so many officials who have done this in history books!
This book is correct!
It seems that the Qing Dynasty will head towards the end of the Han, Tang, and Yuan dynasties next. Why shouldn't the local officials of the Qing Dynasty consider becoming a lord for a while?
After serving as a green camp military official for thirty years, Yu Wanqing, who has numerous trusted Qing soldiers at his disposal, suddenly feels excited... becoming a lord is great!
"Waaah...... It's over, it's over!"
Some were inspired by Luo YaoGuo's "The Art of Rebellion" to nurture ambition and grand aspirations, while others began to feel despondent.
The person who feels heartbroken is the people's mother of Dao County, Wang Kuiping, the county magistrate of Dao County.
He also picked up a copy of "The Art of Rebellion" Volume 3, which is about the rebellion of Han officials.
But he is not like Yu Wanqing, who has been a corrupt official for thirty years and has already recouped his investment, and still has some armed forces at his disposal. He says those officials who have borrowed a mountain of debt from the capital to finally buy the real position of County Magistrate of Daozhou are "officials who have worked for free!"
He has not only not recouped his investment, but he has not even paid off his debt yet!
Now the Taiping Army has arrived, and it looks like they are settling in Daozhou and not leaving... If the Taiping Army doesn't leave, what will happen to his position as County Magistrate of Daozhou? He still has to repay the loan he spent on buying his position!
These days, water transportation to and from Dao County has been interrupted because the Taiping Army is approaching Linling. With the water transportation stopped, all the large and small mines around Dao County have to stop production - without water transportation, the minerals cannot be transported out. These mines are all privately operated, and do not have to pay taxes to the government, but they must provide supplies for the local officials of Dao County, Yongzhou Prefecture, Chengyuan Prefecture, and other places along the highway.
As a magistrate of a scattered mountainous state like Daozhou, the reason he is so valuable is because these private mines provide supplies... If the Taiping Army established a base in Etodoong or Lingtang, there would be no days left for the Xiao River to navigate.
Wang Kuiyi's term as an official is limited... Once the term is up, if he cannot repay the "official position loan" from the capital, the consequences could be severe!
Who would loan high-interest loans to the people's parents in the Qing Dynasty? He must be a person of great status. Behind him are the top Qing aristocrats in Beijing... If he does not repay their debt, Wang Kuiyi has to send himself to serve in the Xinjiang military and will never return!
Thinking about all the hard work, taking exams, and selling all his family's property to buy a position and then finally having a mountain of debt from the capital to repay, and to spend the rest of his life in the bitter cold of northwest China... How can he not cry?
Of course, Yu Wanqing knows Wang Kuiping's predicament and consoles him by saying, "Xingsheng, don't cry... Don't cry... These are just a few thousand female bandits. They are giving us an opportunity to gain glory. You will also be credited for it! Once you have achieved military merit, those Qing nobilities in the capital will not bother you like they did with the old account of the dead. They are not that blindfolded."
Hearing Yu Wanqing's words, Wang Kuiping and Huang Shijie both became energetic.
"Commodore Yu, are you really going to send troops?"
"Certainly, those female bandits... are still women! I, Yu Wanqing, have served in the military for thirty years and reached the position of General of Military Command. How could I be afraid of a group of bandit women? I've also heard that that Su San is the most beautiful woman in Guangdong and Guangxi's social circles... Hahaha!"
"Commodore Yu, I can still gather one or two hundred militia, and I am willing to guide them for you!"
Yu Wanqing laughed loudly: "Good! Ziyeng, you'll also get a reward when we win. I will recommend you for a position of County Magistrate!"
"Thank you, General Yu, for your cultivation!" Huang Shijie first made a bow in gratitude and then smiled at Yu Wanqing and Wang Kuiping. "General Yu, Governor Wang, this 'The Art of Rebellion'..."
"The Art of Rebellion? What 'The Art of Rebellion'?" Yu Wanqing stuffed the "The Art of Rebellion" into his bosom while feigning ignorance, "I don't know about it, I haven't heard of it!"
Wang Kuiping also quickly put away his own copy of "The Art of Rebellion" and smiled, "I haven't heard of it either..."
Huang Shijie also smiled and said: "Actually, I haven't heard of anything called 'The Art of Rebellion' either."
