Han Shizu

Sharp social conflicts and cruel land exploitation caused the people of Sichuan and Sichuan to boil with resentment and support each other. However, there was another extremely important reason why the peasant uprising in Sichuan and Sichuan that took place in the autumn of the first year of Xi was able to succeed.

  That is, Wang Xiaobo, the leader of the rebel army, put forward two slogans that shocked the people of Sichuan and Sichuan. One was "I am sick, the rich and the poor are unequal, but now it is you who are equal", and the other is "Avenge Pan Shijun".

  There is no need to elaborate on the former. It is the fundamental conflict and general contradiction in Sichuan and Sichuan society. As for the latter, we have to mention Pan You, the political envoy to Jiannan who was assassinated.

  During the few years that Pan You took office in Jiannan, he actually focused on two things: fighting against the powerful and powerful, and fighting against natural and man-made disasters. He actually did a lot for the people of Sichuan.

  In terms of tax reform, it was implemented to the letter, without hesitation to cut off the flesh of the powerful and landlords. The backlash and various back-room operations that occurred in other places also occurred in Jiannan, and many of them were even more excessive.

  However, as the chief envoy, Pan You is a person who can't get rid of dirt in his eyes, and he is also a more serious person. If he is targeted, there must be a result, and he has a big order and firmly stands on the tax side. If you change your position, the final result will often be unfavorable to the powerful.

  As an experienced and practical person, how could the tricks used by noble bureaucrats and powerful landlords be hidden from Pan You's eyes? Even if they could be hidden for a while, they would not be hidden forever.

  As long as you are targeted by him, the final result will be the loss of land and wealth. When there is a land dispute, under Pan You's leadership, the final punishment will be more beneficial to small farmers and small people. Usury, disguised slavery, exploitation, all kinds of coercion, threats, and contracts that visibly lose basic fairness are all invalid in Pan Shijun's case and can be directly banned and the perpetrators severely punished.
  Pan You's "extremely crooked stance" approach naturally made the vested interest groups in Sichuan hate him deeply. However, Pan You had power, fame, and support from the court, so it was difficult to shake him for a while.

  Therefore, for a long time, the political situation in Jiannan was that Pan You, the dragon crossing the river, was making waves and constantly attacking, while local snakes were constantly fighting, to no avail, compromising, and retreating.
  In the past few years, some people have chosen to wait and see and be patient, while others have caused trouble for Pan You at all levels and in all aspects. Of course, people with great energy have tried to find ways from the court to see if they can get Pan You out of the way. The "scourge" was removed.

  But one can imagine what the result would be. Pan You dared to fight even in places like Gyeonggi Province where the powerful gathered, and was able to scrape a layer of oil and water out of the powerful, not to mention the gang of people nestled in Jiannan. waited.

  Of course, there are still some influential dignitaries in Sichuan and Shu, such as the Erwang family in Jiannan (Wang Quanbin, Wang Renfan), and the Cui Shi family in eastern Sichuan (Cui Yanjin, Shi Yande). These are the people who conquered Shu and Pingnan in the past. Meritorious officials still exert an important influence decades later, and even occupy leadership positions among nobles and bureaucratic collectives.

  However, although these forces are powerful and have a certain influence in the court, they are not enough to make Pan You afraid. In the face of criticism and criticism, he is calm and calm, his attitude is still tough, and his methods are still fierce.

  Pan You knew that the vested interests had plenty of means to confront the court and Taoist officials, so he kept sending his confidants and officials to inspect various places, and even went so far as to ask for help from Jiannan's Wudesi, risking everything to fight against Jiannan. The "reactionaries" fight.

  At the same time, a report box was set up in front of the Chengdu Daosi Yamen for officials and people throughout Jiannan to report. However, if there was a problem, once it was verified, Pan You would be punished immediately.

  Throughout Pan You's entire tenure in Jiannan, Jiannan Road has been in this kind of direct and fierce confrontation. The political situation is very unstable and the struggle is fierce. Although the vested interests in Jiannan were exhausted and suffered heavy losses, Pan You was also exhausted and exhausted from the endless troubles.

  Although his opponent is stubborn and powerful, although there are constant troubles and problems, although his followers are decreasing day by day, and although even the people in Guizhou Province who he wholeheartedly protects sometimes do not understand, Pan You has always been like a wedge, nailing him to death. In Jiannan, we maintain the faint trace of clarity in the world that rarely appears in Jiannan.

  In fact, some of Pan You's actions were too crude, and there were too many questionable aspects. They even violated the court's concept of "rule of law" and went astray in some transactions.

  In the early days, due to various misunderstandings, rumors, and slander, Pan You's reputation in the eyes of the people in Shu was not good, because this man was too troublesome and gave them no "peaceful" life.

  However, although people are easily misled and fooled, the support of people's hearts needs to be tested by time. Over the past few years, no matter how many things Pan You accomplished, his style of caring about the people and consistently making decisions for the common people still infected many people.

  Pan Shijun was a good official and the "blue sky" of the people in Jiannan. A similar reputation spread a few years later. Such a good reputation makes people even more jealous.

  Of course, the core of good or bad reputation lies in the benefits it brings to ordinary people, such as Wang Xiaobo in this uprising. Pan You carried out a major rectification and standardization of Jiannan's tea policy. To put it simply, it meant redistributing the benefits of the tea industry.

  The tea market in Jiannan is only that big, and the profits are basically constant. Under the premise that the government must guarantee its dues, Pan You naturally cuts off the meat from those nobles, bureaucrats, and big tea merchants, and feeds it back to the lower-level tea merchants and tea farmers. Not to mention solving the serious problem of rich and poor awareness, it has at least alleviated the livelihood pressure of tea merchants and tea farmers to a certain extent.

  In the two major industries of well salt and silk, Pan You followed a similar approach, sparing no effort to leverage the abnormal vested interest system and allocate part of the profits to the bottom businessmen to alleviate social conflicts.

  It can be said that when Pan You was in office, he challenged vested interests in almost all aspects, from land and tea to salt and tea. With the silent support of the imperial court, he really accomplished a lot.

  If God hadn't been really unfaithful in the past few years and disasters had continued, and if Emperor Shizu had persisted for a few more years and given Pan You a certain amount of time, Jiannan's reforms might have been implemented with a smoother result.

  However, God did not give him this opportunity, and the drastic changes in the empire were too sudden. Many of the upper-class dignitaries in Gyeonggi were at a loss as to what to do, especially in the remote Sichuan and Shu.

  In the past few years, in order to get rid of Pan You, the dignitaries and landowners of Sichuan and Sichuan also used various methods and methods, even threatening, and caused countless lives, but in the end they all ended in failure. This person is too stubborn and difficult to correct.

  As a result, Pan Shijun was unfortunately stabbed by rioters during his inspection tour, and such a sad drama occurred. And what makes people use such methods may be because some people are at the end of their rope and have no other options. Pan You is too unreasonable and unforgiving.
  When the news of Pan You's death spread, countless people in Xichuan remembered Pan You. When the government concluded that Pan You was assassinated by some "rioters", the public sentiment became boiling. Jiannan's people all over the country began to express their gratitude to those who did not know. Those who are grateful and arrogant are resentful and denounced.

  However, some of the government's subsequent actions were incomprehensible. The government posted notices everywhere to declare the matter, and at the same time dispatched government officials and even some officers and soldiers to arrest people in the name of arresting "assassins" and "murderers".

  Especially those traders and lackeys in the tea, salt, and silk industries who were under Pan You's protection. When the local governments heard that Pan You was dead, not only the landlords became powerful, but also some officials celebrated that the god of plague was finally gone. Isn't that right? When "our generation" rises up?
  As a result, situations similar to "returning regiments" occurred in some states and counties, and the Chengdu Plain was boiling under the counterattack of noble bureaucrats and powerful landowners.

  At this time, the entire Xichuan has not yet shaken off the impact of the spring drought, and a large number of farmers are still crying for food, waiting for government support and relief. However, the government's relief loan has not yet been received, and the "loan agreement" from the virtuous gentry is in front of us.
  It is conceivable that under such a background, when someone climbed up and shouted out a strong voice of resistance from the bottom of Guizhou, what kind of reaction was there in the land of Sichuan and Sichuan.

  Wang Xiaobo was a short and capable man, but also because of the hunting and oppression by the government. At first, he only gathered hundreds of tea merchants and tea farmers. He first killed the officials, then attacked the county seat, broke into the county government office, took off the heads of the county magistrate, prime minister, and lieutenant, and was released from prison before being arrested. innocent people, and then looted the rich households in the county, took their money and food, and distributed it to the poor.

  After the news spread, tens of thousands of people gathered in one day. Liu Long, the military commander of Shuzhou, heard about it and hurriedly led his troops to suppress it. However, he was in a hurry and underestimated the rebels. Although their equipment was excellent, their troops were weak. They were defeated by Wang Xiaobo in the first battle. Liu Long was also captured and killed. It was also used as a sacrificial flag.

  A victory washed away all timidity and hesitation, and the haze that the imperial court cast over the hearts of everyone involved in the incident was completely eliminated with the frontal defeat of the official army.

  After winning the "Battle of Qingcheng", Wang Xiaobo took advantage of the situation and led his army to sweep through the counties of Shuzhou, looting bureaucrats, landlords, and wealthy households, relieving the poor, and practicing his slogan of "equalizing the rich and the poor", and his appeal skyrocketed.

  After completing the attack on Shuzhou, the number of rebels also expanded rapidly. In less than ten days, it increased to more than [-] people. Tea farmers, salt collectors, and other households from all over the country, watching the wind and shadow, rose up one after another to carry out righteousness. The flames grew rapidly.

  As far as the rebels are concerned, not only have their numbers increased, but they have also obtained a lot of weapons and equipment, and they have assembled a main army with initial combat effectiveness.

  Seeing the rebellion rising sharply and getting more intense, the upper echelons of Jiannan Road could no longer sit still. It was the duty of the capital commander to suppress and defend the country. In the face of an uprising, the most anxious person was the commander of Jiannan Road. Make Shangguan rectified.

  Under his command, a total of four armies from Qiong, Peng, Mei and Jian states, with more than [-] people, rushed to Shuzhou with the intention of annihilating the rebels. Facing the menacing officers and soldiers, Wang Xiaobo certainly felt a lot of pressure, but he had already saved his life twice, and there was nothing to be afraid of if he was about to do it a third time.

  You can come from all four directions, but I will only go one way. Under the leadership of Wang Xiaobo, the rebel army, which has exceeded [-] people, went straight to Pengzhou. After a fierce attack, the official army was defeated and more than [-] people died. Pengzhou soldiers and horses commanded the envoy Wang Keng was outnumbered and fled back to Pengzhou in a panic.

  Wang Xiaobo took advantage of the situation and marched in, attacking Chongning, Daojiang and Guankou counties, killing the magistrate and plundering Pengzhou. After some rest and replenishment of troops and weapons, he returned to the division's prefecture and fought with the pursuing Han armies of Qiong, Jia, and Jian. He first defeated Zhu Tiao of Qiong Prefecture and executed him, and then defeated Wang Yuanzhen of Jian Prefecture. More than a thousand people were killed, but Zhang Qi, the commander of Meizhou troops and horses, saw that the situation was not good, gathered the defeated soldiers and retreated to Jinyuan County. Wang Xiaobo was unwilling to give up, pursued and attacked Jinyuan, but Zhang Qi was a capable man and kept entangled with him. Although he was eventually driven back to Meizhou, he also caused a lot of casualties to the rebels.

  In summary of the battle between the government and the rebels, the rebels stand out for their bravery. They rely on their fearlessness of death, their anger for revenge, their numerical superiority, and a large number of sacrifices in exchange for several victories over the government troops.

  As for the officers and soldiers, they lost their professionalism and were arrogant and underestimated the enemy. They constantly gave people every opportunity to defeat them, which also caused huge losses and led to the expansion of the thieves' power. Of course, this cannot be blamed on the officers and soldiers who worked hard below. The problem still lies with the commander above.

  With the failure of the four-pronged encirclement and suppression strategy, the Sichuan-Sichuan rebellion could no longer end in a "dignified" way, and the upper-class dignitaries in Jiannan finally "awoke" and responded to what happened in the core area of ​​Tianfu. The rebellion was given the highest priority.

  However, the first encirclement and suppression was defeated in a hurry, and it was not easy to organize the second one quickly. Jiannan has been at peace for a long time, and no one from top to bottom can cope with such a large-scale chaos. Although Jiannan's frontier army, local army, and regiment training number more than [-], their stalls are still open. I couldn't concentrate my strength for a while.

  It was inevitable that the situation would escalate. As news of Wang Xiaobo's incident and victory over the government troops spread throughout Sichuan and Shu, the whole of Sichuan and Shu was noisy. In early October, Rongzhou, Fuzhou, and Rongzhou in the southeast of Jiannan each had their own troops. In response, the rebellion spread from Jiannan to Hezhou, Changzhou, Luzhou and other places in Sichuan Province. For a while, rebellions spread across the country, affecting prefectures and counties.

  However, at this time, as far as Jiannan Road was concerned, other places could no longer care about it and only ordered them to defend themselves. Shangguan Zheng even issued a death order to all prefectures and counties, and those who lost their land would be killed.
  All he wanted to do was to exterminate the traitor king Xiaobo. This was not only the initiative of the traitor, but also active in his heart. That feeling was unbearable.

  Shangguan Zheng is also a veteran who has been on the battlefield for a long time. He was once a subordinate of Prince Quanbin of Pingnan. He followed him to conquer Dali and regain Yunnan. He later served in Yulin and performed well in the process of suppressing the Dangxiang Rebellion. He was promoted to Jiannan The commander of Daodu reached the pinnacle of his official career.

  Shangguanzheng was undoubtedly under the greatest pressure regarding the Shuzhou Rebellion. Behind him, there were not only the urgings from the dignitaries who had a major say in Jiannan, but also the huge pressure from the Luoyang court, and several consecutive inquiries from the capital. , accountability and edict, the words listed all show the imperial court's anger towards the rebellion in Shuzhong.

  When the situation and development of the rebellion in central Shu were reported to Luoyang one after another, it can be imagined that the government and the public were shocked, followed by anger, and Emperor Liu Yang lost his composure again!

  I thought that Pan You's assassination was already a huge event, but I never thought that such a big disaster would be waiting for me. At that moment, Liu Yang couldn't help but feel a violent emotion. He was too bad at being an emperor. The first year of Yongxi had not yet passed, and these "surprises" were jumping in front of him one by one.

  However, no matter how angry you are, it will not help. When the news that the Fourth Route Han Army failed to suppress the rebellion arrived in Beijing, Liu Yang completely realized that the military and political corruption in Jiannan was probably more serious than he imagined.

  At the same time, at this point, although he was extremely unwilling to do so, he had to put his mind and energy on countering the rebellion. As for other things, including the "death of Pan You" he wanted to use and even the causes and consequences of the rebellion, he had to put it aside. . Liu Yang can still distinguish between the priorities and the top tasks.

  Therefore, even though the Luoyang court was full of anger, they did not take much action against the military affairs of Jiannan Road. They only ordered them to control the scope of the chaos, suppress the local area, put down the rebels as soon as possible, and restore peace to the people.

  At the same time, Wen Guogong Xiang Deming was appointed as the chief envoy to Jiannan, and he quickly went to Chengdu to take up his post. With the development of the rebellion, the struggle between the DPRK and China over the post of chief envoy to Jiannan suddenly became less intense. A consensus was easily reached, and counterinsurgency was given priority.

  At that time, Pingshu was commanded by Xiang Xun. Although the Xiang family was not as rooted in the southwest as the two kings, as Xiang Xun's successor, Xiang Deming went to Chengdu and could obviously exert a huge influence. Furthermore, as a giant in the Anxi army, Xiang Deming had extensive experience and training, and he also had sufficient ability and prestige.

  On the other hand, Liu Yang did not pin his hopes of suppressing the rebellion entirely on Sichuan and Shu. Back then, all the powerful troops and generals were in Shu, and it took a lot of effort to quell the chaos in Shu, let alone now.

  Of course, more importantly, what happened in Jiannan made Liu Yang lose trust in the military and government there. Therefore, when urging Sichuan and Shu to suppress the rebellion, Liu Yang also ordered the four counties in western Beijing, Hubei, Shannan, and Guanzhong to Dao, rectified the army and practiced martial arts, allocated ordnance and food, and mobilized the forbidden army to go west, ready to enter Sichuan to suppress the rebellion at any time.

  In this autumn and winter of the first year of Yongxi, the attention of the entire Han Empire was attracted by the great rebellion that took place in Sichuan and Shu.

  In Jiannan, pressure from all sides was coming, and Shangguan Zheng did not dare to spare his life anymore. He mobilized his troops and generals, preparing to deal a fatal blow to the rebels, and even ignored Wang Xiaobo's subsequent external expansion and harassment.

  However, the officers and soldiers were preparing, and the rebel army did not stop. After Wang Xiaobo completely captured Shuzhou, he reorganized his men and actively prepared for war.

  At the same time, he sent his confidants to contact the rebels in various places to build up his momentum. They also sent troops everywhere to attack prefectures and counties. Everywhere they went, they attracted a large number of angry and oppressed poor people, and the number of rebels also swelled like a snowball.

  The strong martial virtue of the Han Dynasty led to the spread of a large number of weapons among the people, and the continuous progress of iron forging also led to many poor people who prepared their own weapons and joined the rebel army. Even if the quality is not good, it can still kill someone if cut on the neck. .

  Seeing that the thieves were gaining momentum, Shangguan Zheng gradually became unable to sit still. However, before he could take action, the rebels led by Wang Xiaobo took the initiative to invade. Wang Xiaobo really had no choice. With more people, the food obtained from Shuzhou and previous looting was simply not enough to eat. You must know that by November of the first year of Yongxi, the number of rebels under the banner of Wang Xiaobo had exceeded 11. He directly commanded as many as [-] men.

  With so many people and so many mouths to feed, Wang Xiaobo was forced to continue to expand, and the most suitable place for food in the entire Chengdu Plain was undoubtedly Chengdu Prefecture.

  Chengdu Prefecture is the essence of Tianfu, with the most food, the densest population, the most powerful and wealthy households, and more poor people. Of course, the "reactionaries" are concentrated and are the strongest.

  However, once the Chengdu Prefecture can be defeated, there will be no shortage of food, soldiers, and wealth, and they will become completely powerful.

  With this mentality, Wang Xiaobo, who had won several bets before, mobilized all his rebel troops and marched eastward from Jinyuan, Shuzhou towards Chengdu Prefecture. He claimed that he had an "army of three hundred thousand", which shocked Sichuan and Shu for a while.

  However, this time Wang Xiaobo lost the bet. They all knew the importance of Chengdu Prefecture. As a stubborn fortress of the exploiting class, when Chengdu Prefecture was threatened, how could the superiors and subordinates sit idly by and ignore it?

  In short, in the face of the invading rebels, we can provide you with people, money, and food, and even weapons can be provided.

  With the full support of the "nobles and sages", Shangguan Zheng also quickly organized an army of more than [-] people in Chengdu Prefecture, with the Jiannan official army as the core, mixed with regiment training and "rebel troops", and marched westward to meet the enemy. Rebels.

  The two sides fought in Shuangliu, a fierce battle in the dark for three days, with numerous casualties and ended in the defeat of the rebel army. The direct reason was that Zhang Qi, who was promoted to the inspection envoy of the four prefectures of Mei, Qiong, Jia and Ling, led troops from the four prefectures to attack from behind.

  The fundamental reason is that the officers and soldiers are too strong. From top to bottom, from the front desk to the backstage, they all work under the pressure of the rebel army. At the same time, they have the organization and discipline that the rebel army cannot achieve.

  With a large number of people, bravery, and no fear of death, certain results can indeed be achieved. However, when the army resists those axes, the only way to meet the rebel army is defeat.

  Although Wang Xiaobo had some abilities and was brave, he was just a trafficker and a pawn with limited knowledge. Not to mention the [-] people, even the original [-] rebels, he only relied on his bloody courage and reputation for initiating righteous actions to lead and command.

  In the Shuangliu battle, the rebel army was directly defeated, with [-] to [-] dead. Wang Xiaobo also died in the process of covering the retreat of his subordinates, and his head was presented in front of the commander-in-chief Shangguan.

  The rebel army fled in all directions, while the official army pursued them north, taking advantage of the situation to recover Shuzhou and the occupied places. Seeing that the general situation had been decided, the next step was to eliminate the remaining parties. Shangguan couldn't help but feel satisfied, and immediately sent someone to send the Shuangliu victory and the head of Ni Kui Wang Xiaobo to Luoyang on Pegasus to pray for the good news.

  For Shangguan Zheng, although he had been under tremendous pressure before, the benefits were obvious. By suppressing the rebellion, he not only completed the redemption of previous crimes, but might also be able to go further in his later years.

  But obviously, he was a little too happy. Sichuan and Sichuan have been suffering from abuses for more than [-] years, and the conflicts caused by the uncontrolled oppression and exploitation by the powerful and powerful are far from the turmoil of less than two months, let alone this battle.