"kill the evil, welcome peace, when peace comes, the land is divided, when peace comes, there is food to eat..."
"The Taiping Army has entered the city! Kill the foreign devils! Go to heaven!"
"South King Pavilion of Taiping Heavenly Kingdom leads troops of one hundred thousand to Daozhou!"
"Rebellion! Rebellion! Kill the Qing demons, welcome peace, ascend to heaven!"
"Boom, boom, boom..."
The storm of the armed uprising of workers in Daozhou, at this moment, had already enveloped the fortress of Daozhou, a short time ago still firmly occupied by feudal forces under the Qing dynasty!
At the beginning, only a few tens of thousands of Qing troops and about three to four thousand miners under the leadership of the thirty-six halls of the Tiandi Hui were mobilized for an armed uprising.
But soon, other unemployed miners, boatmen, beggars, and poor people of all kinds in Daozhou spontaneously joined this great uprising. The number of the army quickly exceeded 200,000!
At this time, the Qing troops in Daozhou, including the garrison soldiers, the strongmen of the county magistrate, and the newly established Daozhou militia, were only over one thousand. This was just a fraction of the number of insurgents, with only about ten percent.
Once mighty government authorities, facing the miners, boatmen, and beggars mobilized by the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and the Tiandi Hui, seemed so weak.
The Beidan and Ximensui gates, guarded by the Daozhou garrison with only about 200 people, were soon breached by Jiao Hong and Xu Xiangui's two columns of rebel forces. The over a hundred Qing troops defending these two gates didn't even put up any resistance before disappearing into thin air!
After successfully controlling the two gates, the miners rose in rebellion and, under the command of Jiao Hong and Xu Xiangui, began attacking various government offices, barracks, and granaries within the city. By midnight, all but Huang Shijie's and Zhang Dingxiang's state magistrate were under the control of the rebel army.
The flag of the rebel army — a red banner with the four characters "One Unified Peace" embroidered in black — was fluttering above the northern and western gates of Daozhou city, over the office of the state judge, the military command office, the military camp, the government granary, and even above the headquarters of the Tiandi Hui's recruitment hall.
The miners from the recruitment hall began patrolling various parts of the city to maintain order and capture any remaining Qing demons.
And the battle surrounding the last Qing forces' fortress in Daozhou — the Daozhou Prefecture — had not ended even as the first shot of the Daozhou Uprising echoed, continuing until just before dawn, in the darkest hour.
However, the newly established Daozhou militia tonight showed impressive performance. It not only fiercely guarded the southern gate of Daozhou City, ensuring the lives of Wang Kuiyi, Huang Shijie, and Zhang Dingxiang and several others, but also held its ground with over 300 people at the Daozhou Prefecture.
Although Yu Daba, Ji Daopao, brought in seven large cannons and fired at the walls of the magistrate's office, blowing holes in them several times, the rebel troops did not respond well. They were repeatedly driven back by the militia under the command of Zhang Dingxiang.
However, there were far too many "rebels" inside the city of Daozhou!
They continuously surged from various parts of the city of Daozhou, eventually forming an ocean of "red-headed people" that seemed about to engulf the small Prefecture Office.
At this moment, Huang Shijie, the Huang family lord, had changed into rough cotton clothing and was commanding the group of more than ten Huang family relatives who had joined the militia. They stood in the courtyard of the magistrate's office, around Huang Shijie were dozens of cypress wood chests. The lids were all open, illuminated by the torches carried by Huang's militia, inside these dozens of chests lay silver coins sparkling brightly!
Every time Zhang Dingxiang led his militia to drive back the rebels who had charged through the breaches in the wall, he would shout out, "Great rewards await those who excel!"
And the dozens of Huang family militia around him would all shout together, "The Lord has rewards!"
Soon after, covered in blood, Zhang Dingxiang would lead the warriors he had just driven back to claim their rewards. With the support of silver coins thrown out one by one, the Daozhou Prefecture Office was able to hold on until now.
However, the slogans echoing like a sea of anger around him were still distinctly telling Huang Shijie that the city of Daozhou could not be held.
Not only could the city of Daozhou not be held, but the surrounding counties of Ningyuan, Jianhua, Yongming, and Xinqian may all fall! Even Guiyang Prefecture next to Yongzhou Prefecture and Chenzhou next to Guiyang Prefecture may fall to the Longtail rebels in the not-too-distant future.
And the worst-case scenario is that the entire Hunan Province and even Hubei Province will be swept away by the Longtail army and the Tiandi Hui as well as countless impoverished people in the two provinces......In fact, during the end of Qing Dynasty and early years of Jiajing reign, the Hunan and Hubei regions were ridden with White Lotus movements, which lasted for eight years!
The end of the Qianlong reign and the beginning of the Jiajing reign were much better than now; back then, so many people in the Huguang region couldn't make ends meet. And now... thinking about this, Huang Shijie's body started to tremble involuntarily.
"Ziying, Ziying, we've won again! We've won... again and again!"
Zhang Dingxiang's shout suddenly broke Huang Shijie's trembling.
Looking up, Huang Shijie saw that Zhang Dingxiang seemed to be slightly injured, using a piece of rag to cover his head, his face covered in exhaustion.
Seeing Huang Shijie's gaze, Zhang Dingxiang shook his head, muttering lowly, "As long as we have the green mountains, we don't need to worry about not having firewood to burn. We can't lose our capital..."
Huang Shijie stood up abruptly, shouting out, "Rewards! Rewards... Great rewards await those who excel!"
After shouting, he turned around and walked quickly with Zhang Dingxiang towards the main hall of the magistrate's office. As they walked, they both pulled out large pieces of red cloth from their pockets and wrapped them around their heads. Zhang Dingxiang also simultaneously took off his uniform to reveal the coarse short shirt underneath.
And the Huang family members guarding the silver boxes struggled to push over one by one the opened boxes, with the silver ingots and coins pouring out...
......
"Hold on! Hold on, the magistrate has great rewards..."
West of Daozhou City, Thirteen Li Poshu.
Zhang Guoliang, who had set up an array at a small dilapidated temple, cried out once again, unable to fulfill his promises.
Great rewards? Where are the rewards?
Zhang Guoliang, just an adjutant, doesn't eat empty positions, doesn't drink blood of the soldiers, and doesn't even have a garrison site. He has no foundation in the Green Camps and is watched by officials in Guangdong and Guangxi who think he is a member of the Heavenly and Earthly Society. If it weren't for the fact that he has some troops under his command, he would have been punished long ago.
So he couldn't offer any heavy rewards and could only shout a few times to deceive himself and others.
"Sir, sir, we can't hold out anymore, we're going to lose!"
"Sir, it's Su Sanyan... the Su Sanyan from the Guangdong Loyal and Venerable Hall!"
"Sir, let's retreat. We can't lose all our capital. Without capital, we're done!"
The three battalion commanders under Zhang Guoliang all hurriedly came in, having defended their respective detachments against the fierce attacks of the Taiping army for half the night. It was only because Zhang Guoliang truly had some military talent that, seeing the advancing strength of the Taiping army and realizing that they could not withstand it, he made a decisive decision to occupy a dilapidated temple on the road and gain some support, thus avoiding being routed by a single strike.
But even so, Zhang Guoliang's forces were starting to feel the strain. When the Taiping army launched a sudden attack, over two hundred of their men were killed or taken captive. After being defeated several times and suffering heavy losses, many of the remaining soldiers grew demoralized and quit.
They were wearing the green uniforms of the Qing army's Green Camps, but in reality, they were akin to militia groups, except that unlike the militia groups in Hunan that were brought together by relationships based on teachers, students, clan ties, and hometown connections, this group was organized around the associations of the Heavenly and Earthly Society — its temples, leaders, and disciples.
Zhang Guoliang was the leader, and the three battalion commanders were all double-flower sticks, with a military advisor swinging a white paper fan by his side and a loyal elder brother... And those charging into battle were all foot soldiers!
Just this "underground society army" was also being led by Zhang Guoliang to a decent appearance!
However, Zhang Guoliang was, after all, a big boss who had betrayed the Heavenly and Earthly Society. It was difficult for his troops to replenish, and once they were spent, that was the end.
And without capital, those paper fan-wavers, double-flower sticks, and loyal elder brothers would all suffer misfortunes; either they would be stabbed with three stab wounds and six holes by the assassins of the Heavenly and Earthly Society, or they would be framed by the officials they had once offended and thrown into prison.
So these people can help Zhang Guoliang hold on for a while, but they can't help him fight to the death.
Moreover, the enemy was Su Sanyan...
Zhang Guoliang turned to look at his paper fan, which was an elderly, thin man in his sixties. Instead of a paper fan, the old man held a book and handed it to Zhang Guoliang: "Boss, have a look."
"Read... a book?" Zhang Guoliang flipped his eyelids, "I only recognize a few characters, old man."
"Boss, you must recognize the words on the cover of this book!"
Zhang Guoliang lowered his head, and a subordinate immediately lit a lantern beside him.
"Fan... Jing?"
The paper fan nodded: "It was brought back by a servant of Su Sanyan... I've read it, and I think it makes a lot of sense. This Qing dynasty is definitely going to be in chaos, and there's an 80% chance that it will turn into a situation like the Yuan dynasty! We can no longer fight against the Taiping army. We need to preserve our strength, and only with strength can we climb up the ranks, get rich, seize territory!"
Boss, quickly flee! If we run now, we can still leave a couple of hundred brothers as capital. And if you send some money to Sai Shang'Er, you might even get promoted.
"If we all fight to the death, we'll be finished!"
"Kill the Qing demons! Go to heaven! Kill the Qing demons! Go to heaven..."
At this moment, a series of resounding cheers suddenly erupted outside the dilapidated temple, as if reinforcements of the Taiping army had arrived.
"Throw lightning to the old mother...!" Zhang Guoliang cursed, "Let's go first!"
