"Master Jiao, give a brother a meal to eat!"
"Master Jiao, considering the loyalty and righteousness of the hall, bestow a few rewards on this brother, please!"
"Master Jiao, we are all brothers and sisters of the Heavenly Union. Don't let us starve!"
The beggars who are asking for alms on the streets of Daozhou are mostly unemployed miners, ship workers, and dock workers, as well as open members of the Heavenly Union!
Even if the Daozhou government is already cracking down on the Heavenly Union, they still call Jiao Hong the master, still call it the "Loyalty and Righteousness Hall," still claim to be "brothers of the Heavenly Union"... without showing any fear.
For them, it is simply a group of unemployed workers on the verge of starvation......
As the Taiping Army advanced from Guangxi into Hunan, the Xiangjiang River navigation within the Yongzhou Prefecture had long been blocked by the government, making it impossible for ships to travel.
With the navigation of the Xiangjiang River interrupted, the tributaries of Xiangjiang such as the Xiao Stream could no longer be navigated. And with the transportation of the Xiao Stream interrupted, those private mines in Daozhou naturally had to stop work and temporarily close down - they could not keep operating without working, as the mined materials could not be transported out, and it would not be reasonable for the mine owners to continue pouring money into it.
Although the miners, ship workers, and dock workers of this era earn much more than the farmers, they are mostly people who stop working and have to stop eating, and it is quite good if they can have enough savings to live for three or four months.
So, within less than a month after the mining and shipping industries in the Daozhou area shut down, the city of Daozhou was filled with beggars who were unemployed miners, ship workers, and dock workers!
These people are different from the beggars over at Yellow Pond, Master Huang. The beggars at Yellow Pond suffer from "chronic starvation". They have been enduring hunger for a long time before bankruptcy, and even after bankruptcy, there is Master Huang's soup kitchen to provide them with temporary relief. They starve slowly, becoming thin and weak, and eventually die. The "disease" progresses slowly until it is too late to rebel.
Now, the miners, ship workers, and dock workers who have gathered in Daozhou used to be able to eat well! They do heavy manual labor, so how can they survive without enough food?
These people, when they take off their clothes, reveal well-defined muscles; they are incredibly strong! Moreover, at least eight out of ten of them have scars on their bodies - these are scars left from fights over territory!
To fight in groups and seize territories, one needs an organization!
So they are a group of men who are strong physically and fight in packs... now collectively suffering from "acute starvation"!
The muscles are still there, the organization is still there, and the ferocity is still there. The means of livelihood has been shattered, and they are collectively facing "acute starvation." Does one not know what to do just by looking at it, without even needing to read "Reverse Strategies"?
This situation is even more dangerous than the one in the Yellow Pond village.
Historically, the frequent rebellions of the Heavenly Union in Guangdong and Guangxi after the Opium War were largely due to the transfer of trade ports and the acute exacerbation of human-land conflicts, leading to a large number of unemployed ship workers, miners, and dock workers.
In fact, many of the old comrades of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom were miners from the area around Zijing Mountain and unemployed ship workers (pirates) on the Xi River.
Master Jiao also didn't mind revealing his identity. After entering the city, he deliberately slowed down, walking slowly while also bowing and greeting to the beggars on either side of the road: "Everyone, everyone... Hurry up, quickly scatter copper coins to your brothers!"
"Don't push, don't push... Everyone gets a share!"
"If you don't have food, come to my Zhaojun Hall. I, Master Jiao, have united the thirty-six halls of the Heavenly Union in Hunan and will provide relief for our brothers. Everyone come to Zhaojun Hall! Everyone is welcome!"
This is the style of the Heavenly Union's leaders in the southern region of Hunan during the early years of Xianfeng's reign, when the central government was distant and powerful!
There's no need to hide their identities anymore; they might as well hang a sign for the "Heavenly Union Recruitment Hall" right on the streets.
In reality, even if a sign for the "Heavenly Union Recruitment Hall" were actually hung, what could the Wang Prefecture do? When Yu Wanqing's army was still present, he could even ask Yu Wanqing to send troops to suppress them. Now that Yu Wanqing has become Yu Xiaochun, and his ten or so "children who have converted to God" follow behind Master Jiao - they are in control of Yu Wanqing's troops on the spot! The Wang Prefecture has no power over them.
Regarding Huang, the lord who wants to sell tickets to defraud Wang Kuaiyi, he actually has no intention of capturing the Heavenly Union at all. He just wants to extort some money and recruit some manpower from the merchants in Daozhou City and the gentry who have fled into the city.
Many of the merchants who have been defrauded by him and Wang Kuaiyi, as well as Zhang Dingxiang, have also been admitted to the hall of the Heavenly Union. As for the gentlemen, they are all not members of the Heavenly Union - historically, scholars did not join the Heavenly Union in large numbers until the Qing Dynasty abolished the imperial examinations, and now they dream of taking exams to become officials, and they look down on those "big shots" who are involved in "underworld activities."
Now, the dozens of scholars who have taken refuge in the city of Daozhou may have realized something was wrong, and they have all gathered at the Huang family's mansion in the city, discussing the situation one after another.
"Brother Ziying, what are we to do? There are rebels from the society that worships God outside the city, and everywhere inside the city there are unemployed miners, ship workers, and dock laborers who have joined the Heavenly Union..."
"Brother Ziying, those laborers who beg for food on the mines, ships, and docks are all very fierce and ferocious people!"
"Brother Ziying, I'm afraid that right now, the Long Mao are attacking from outside while the party members are causing chaos inside..."
"What should we do? What should we do..."
Watching these nearly desperate scholars, Huang Laozu knew that he had found the right person.
According to "Antijing" Volume 2, the statements on the rebellion of scholars and the knowledge of establishing a regional self-defense army that Huang Laozu learned from his master Luo ZENan, this regional self-defense army cannot rely on miners, ship workers, and dock workers to organize, as they are all members of the Heavenly Union!
The regional self-defense army can only rely on the clansmen, apprentices, and fellow villagers of the scholars as the backbone. Through these core members, recruit simple farmers who are related to them as soldiers. Only in this way can the recruited regional self-defense army be obedient and able to fight!
These seemingly helpless scholars are in fact the clansmen and fellow villagers of Huang Laozu's family, classmates, and friends. They cannot possibly enter the city alone; they must have brought their clan's young men with them. As long as they can be gathered together, hundreds of regional self-defense troops will be formed. In addition to Huang Laozu and Zhang Dingxiang's 300 men, there might be as many as a thousand people from Yuhuan who have remained in the city.
Jiang Zhongyuan became a prefectural governor with only a few thousand regional self-defense troops, so with a thousand or eight hundred, can he not be at least a prefectural governor?
Thinking of this, Huang Shijie bowed to the group of scholars below: "Gentlemen, do not worry. I, Huang Shijie, have been favored by the Minister Extraordinary and Grand Secretary, Marquis Sai, as well as the Grand Academician Marquis Sai at the University of Martial Sciences. I have been tasked with organizing the Daozhou regional self-defense troops to assist in suppressing the rebellion from Guangdong... Marquis Sai even recommended me for a county magistrate position!"
Huang Shijie actually obtained Marquis Sai's favor?
And he was recommended for a magistrate position?
Is he aiming to be the second Jiang Zhongyuan?
Huang Shijie was originally the leader of the scholar community in Daozhou, and he had a high reputation in the local area. Today, with scholars who were familiar with him invited by him, they naturally believed his words, showing envious expressions one after another.
When he felt the timing was right, Huang Shijie said, "Is there anyone among you who is willing to join me in protecting our hometown, establishing achievements, and serving the court? Let's work together. Even if the city of Daozhou falls temporarily, as long as we have troops and generals, we will have a day to restore our family fortunes. Perhaps we can even establish merits and be granted official titles!"
Hearing Huang Shijie's promise of pie in the sky, this group of scholars who already had a high opinion of him became immediately interested.
"Brother Ziying, We are willing to follow you like the wings of a bird!"
"Brother Ziying, we are willing to follow your lead!"
"Brother Ziying... lead us in action!"
Huang Shijie took a deep breath, with the support of these classmates and fellow villagers, his regional self-defense army could definitely get off the ground.
However, the atmosphere in Daozhou City over the past few days has been a bit off! It looks very similar to the situation in Eo Town before the "explosion"! This is not good. I need to send my family's fine goods as soon as possible.
Thinking about this, Huang Shijie spoke to the crowd: "I observe that a great battle is imminent in Daozhou. It is not advisable for the people here and my family members to remain in the city. It would be best to send them to the provincial capital for safekeeping as soon as possible...... I have a large estate in the north of Changsha City, where we could place my family and relatives. Let's all stay together and support each other there!"
The scholars of Daozhou also sensed that something was amiss in the city, and they knew that Huang Shijie's wife had fallen into the hands of the rebels in Eotang Town... That was a severe lesson! They needed to send their female relatives away as soon as possible.
"Very well, it's up to you, Ziying brother!"
"Please rely on Brother Ziying!"
"All is at the discretion of Brother Ziying."
