"I received a message from the county Yazhong the day before yesterday that there are businessmen from Nanzhong who plan to buy the land in Tai Po, and Wu Wenming, the county magistrate, has agreed, and only needs to be printed on the house!"

Deng Yuanxun took out a letter and shook it in front of everyone's eyes,

Everyone is not surprised that the Deng family can obtain secrets from the county office, they are all families that have been operating in Xin'an County for hundreds of years, and there are several eyeliner, ears and eyes, and self-esteem in the county office, and everyone knows it, otherwise it is not worthy of being called the word Wang. But to be able to inquire about such new news, and it is also a matter of conspiracy between the magistrate and the master, this will be awe-inspiring.

It is not uncommon for other families to hear this, and things like buying and selling land are common things in thousands of years of agricultural civilization like China. Besides, it's just a promontory.

However, the children of the Deng family are different, there are their houses, their shops, and the Deng family's fishing boats, cargo ships, and passenger ships, which come and go here, bringing them a lot of money.

"Ah Gong, is this serious?!"

"Do you know who is the group of people who crossed the border from the county a few days ago and killed the hundreds of people who came out of the city to intercept under the county seat?"

"Didn't you say it was a mob passing by?!"

"Whew! Something that has no knowledge and no brains, the mob has so many firearms that can annihilate hundreds of people outside the city in the blink of an eye? And then walk away? ”

"This little brother of the Hou family is right, he is not a so-called mob." Slowly, Deng Yuanxun solved this mystery for everyone.

"It's the South Central Army. Escorting a batch of goods from the Han Yuan firm to Chaozhou and Huizhou, I didn't want the county's Dianshi and others to plan to make a fortune, and as a result, everyone saw it. ”

"Just now I heard someone say that he has already bought half of the land in Zuo Jinwei Village, and if the rice still can't be sold at a price, he plans to buy the other half of the land as well. However, I would like to ask you about these lands that you bought. If it gets into your hands, it's still a money-losing product. What about you? ”

"When the time comes, there won't be so much income in your shop for your family's expenses, but you are a family that you are used to, I see if you will cry when you look at the barn full of rice!"

The crowd began to calm down. The events that Deng Yuanxun said were put together for analysis.

Buy land in Tai Po. The South Chinese army escorted the goods across the border. Death is near. This series of words is threaded together. An extremely terrible thing gradually appeared in everyone's minds, and slowly became clear.

"In the past, the South China Army could not take care of Guangdong. However, after the great victories in Luowan and Nanao Island, this sea has become the world of their domination with the Zheng family. It can be shipped to the mainland in a large way. I heard that the two families are bounded by the big members, the south belongs to the South Central Army, and the north belongs to the Zheng family. Guangdong, China, is the sphere of influence of the South China Army. ”

"In the past, the goods of the South China Army could only be sold to merchants from all over the country after entering the provincial capital at the mouth of the Pearl River, or after we purchased the goods from Hong Kong Island, they could be sold to all parts of eastern Guangdong. Everyone is fine. ”

"However, the thing in front of us now is very simple, the South Central Army plans to kick out us and ship to the hinterland of Guangdong by itself!"

Old Man Deng's words were like sprinkling a handful of salt into a hot oil pot, and everyone's feelings immediately became excited, if the Southern Zhongjun directly opened a store in Tai Po and sold to the hinterland of Guangdong, then these actual distributors and agents would not have so much business and profits, even if they still supplied to themselves, but their status was bound to plummet.

How can a guest be compared to a host?

In fact, he is the tenant of the Nanzhong Army, working for them, but this owner is very idiotic, as long as his things are sold at the price he set, he doesn't care if you increase the price, for this matter of increasing the price, the shops have fought many times openly and secretly. Fortunately, the five major families are still in the same breath here, and after several discussions, they agreed on a price agreement, and everyone earns other people's money together.

However, what is clearly in front of us is that the owner is coming to open a store himself, so what money will we make in the future?!

No way! Absolutely not!

In China's so-called traditional agrarian society, the real rich people are not the so-called landlords, but the businessmen and landlords. Liu Wencai, a large landowner who became famous throughout the country because of a group of sculptures "Rent Collection Courtyard", and his real source of wealth, in addition to relying on the power of his younger brother Liu Wenhui to collect donations and taxes, and embezzlement from them, was to run all kinds of businesses, from opium trafficking to pawnshops and money houses, all of which earned a lot of silver dollars, and in his wealth, the proportion of land rent was only a small component.

In the rural areas of old China, the landlords who really lived on land rent were reluctant to eat meat, and lived in houses with at most thirteen floors of bricks, and the rest were adobe.

It was precisely in the wave of the South Chinese Army's large-scale dumping of various products into the interior that these five major families and the small surnames that were closely related to them completed the transformation from landlords to concurrent businesses and developed rapidly. At the same time, he used his rapidly expanding economic strength to wantonly expand and buy land when a large number of peasants went bankrupt or were on the verge of bankruptcy. This is where some people smugly say that they have bought almost half of the land while drinking.

In fact, every time a natural disaster occurs, it is often a time when land is rapidly annexed and concentrated in large quantities, and now it is not a natural disaster, but it is a man-made disaster.

How can these people who are engaged in entrepot trade in the commercial exchanges between the South Chinese Army and the hinterland, and who have made a lot of money, suddenly lose the source of huge profits and have to compete with others on the same starting line?

"Tai Po is the Tai Po of the Tai Po people! Tai Po, which is my Xin'an people, must not be sold to outsiders! ”

"That's right! Without our consent, the land in Tai Po must not be sold to outsiders! ”

"That's right! Gather the children of the clan and prepare to resist these Nanban! ”

"I have to come first?!" (Isn't this slogan a little familiar.) Similar to the name of a dead Hong Kong co-op organization? It's not kind again in the next time! ）

Looking at the excited crowd in front of him, Deng Yuanxun's old eyes exuded a trace of smugness, as if an old wolf had eaten a fat lamb.

"Our parents don't want us, and we can't sit still! Nanban does not follow the law, does not know the shame, does no evil, is insatiable, Nanban occupies Tai Po Market today, tomorrow is Qingshan Bay, our ancestors' land and money will be squeezed out by Nanban, we can't be a loser, we can't ruin the ancestors' family business! ”

Posts of similar content were rapidly spreading throughout the walled villages. People's love was ignited. Originally. The rice in the field cannot be sold, and even if it is sold, it will lose money, and everyone will still lose money by working hard all year round. These are all caused by Nanban's troublemaking behind his back!

Lincun, Baxiang, Jintian, Shibaxiang, Pingshan, Xiamen (not Xiamen, Fujian. It is actually a village in the New Territories), and the landlords and gentry from all over Castle Peak, Yuen Long, and Fanling have joined the great cause of fighting against the Nanban and defending their homes and fields under the tandem of the five major surnames of Deng, Hou, Peng, Liao, and Man in the New Territories.

And the patriarchs and masters of the Deng family, the Hou family, the Peng family, the Liao family, and the Wen family. It was very generous to take out all the Nanban swords and guns stored in his warehouse. It was handed over to the young and strong children of the clan, and they were organized into a group practice, ready to deal a head-on blow to those Nanban who came to Tai Po to grab food. Let them know a little bit awesome!

Looking out from the fort of Jiqingwei, you can see from a distance that the flags with the names of their respective villages are inserted on the walls of the walled villages, flying wantonly in the early spring wind.

Deng Yuanxun was supported by his children and grandchildren, and walked around the wall, already slightly panting.

"Ah Gong, among the six enclosures of our Jintian, the wall of this auspicious village is the thickest, and the fortifications are the strongest and tenacious! We'll definitely be able to give Nanban a little bit of power! ”

A young man from his grandchildren waved his arms with his eyebrows fluttering, quite a bit of a point of pointing.

"Stupid thing!"

I don't know why, Deng Yuanxun's temper has not been very good recently, and his liver is very hot, because a cup of tea is not hot enough, he punished one of his big maids to kneel, knelt in the courtyard for a day and a night, and actually knelt to death.

"Can this auspicious Qingwei be stronger than several capitals in Annam?!"

When they returned home, several sons and powerful grandchildren knelt down in front of Mr. Deng to listen to his instructions.

"Remember, we can't defeat the South China Army. This is important to keep in mind. Our purpose is not to go to war with the South China Army. ”

"Dad, what's that for?!"

"Ah Gong, do you mean to let the barbarians of the Nanzhong Army know that this piece of land in Tai Po is not so easy to occupy, and then retreat in the face of difficulties, and continue to cooperate with our Deng family, so that we can continue to make a fortune?!"

Looking at the grandson kneeling in the distance, Deng Yuanxun's old face like an orange peel showed a smile that was rare in recent days, "The son can be taught!" ”

"Fighting, charging into battle, and letting others do the things of the dead, we must remember that our purpose is two, one is to turn Tai Po into our land, at least and half of the two families and one half of the Han Yuan firm. The second is to continue to sell all kinds of goods of the South Central Army. ”

"Got it?!"

"Son (grandson) understood!"

In this way, the conflict caused by the purchase of land proceeded rapidly from brewing to accumulation to eruption, along its inherent track. The consequences it brought were something that neither the five major families nor Chen Tianhua expected.

(By the way, in the history we are familiar with, the famous Anti-British Incident in the New Territories was organized by these five families.) However, the reason is that it is not as magnificent as in the textbooks. The British were optimistic about Tai Po Market and planned to build a police headquarters here. However, Tai Po Market was granted by Xin'an County to the Tang family to build a market in the area north of the Lam Tsuen River 11 years ago, and named Tai Bu Market, which is now Tai Po Old Market, which soon developed into a prosperous market. People with foreign surnames wanted to open shops in Dabu Market, but they were all opposed by the Deng clan, and even beaten out. Even the Wen family, who also has five major surnames, can't get a piece of the pie, so they can only choose another place to build a market house. In 1892 (the eighteenth year of Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty), Xin'an Zhi County ruled that Dabu Market was the tax land of the Deng family, and other clans could not build shops in the market. Since then, Tai Po Market has legally become the property of the Deng family or a happy forest. However, you Hongmaoyi are not Jiang Men gods. Why take away my cornucopia? As a result, the gentry landlords found a great name and organized the anti-British struggle. In the end, the siege of Jiqing was breached, and even the iron gate was taken to the Scottish exhibition. However, after that, the relationship between this group of local tyrants and the Hong Kong British authorities was immediately very good, and during the provincial and Hong Kong strikes, they seemed to stand with the Hong Kong and British authorities. This is the touching story of the Hong Kong Governor personally returning the iron gate of Jiqing Wai. ）

March of the seventh year of Chongzhen.

Chen Tianhua led the army back from Huizhou.

At the front of the team were the guards led by Liang Kuan, who served as the team officer. Horses were riding in the middle of the group. This group of guards acted as scouts for the whole army, choosing the path for the group and probing the enemy.

The weather has begun to get a little hot, and there is a long march. Everyone was dripping with sweat on their heads. His face was red from the sun. To hydrate. People kept picking up the kettle and pouring water into their mouths.

The scouts looked back in the direction the procession had come, and there was a dense mass of human heads, mixed with the ranks of chariots and horses. It seems bustling and lively.

Riding a horse in the team, beside him were the commander and the guards who followed closely, Chen Tianhua had the feeling of immediately closing the front, staring at the horizontal knife, and it was really useless to be a scholar! This trip to Huizhou and Chaozhou not only sold all the goods of the Han and Yuan merchants, those swords, guns and armor, in exchange for a lot of gold and silver, not to mention, but also from all over the country either as goods discounted, or from the bandits' lair, anyway, nearly 20,000 more people harvested.

Nowadays, there is a trend of rising up to resist grain and taxes everywhere in Guangdong, but according to the chairman's analysis of various classes in Chinese society, the most energetic and courageous people who rose up first and fought against taxes and taxes were often those hooligan proletarians. Money, food, women, livestock, and clothes were all swept away, leaving behind a ruin and thousands or tens of thousands of homeless people.

These people have either become new blood in the ranks of anti-food and tax resistance, or they have become displaced people, in short, they are all factors of social instability.

What is even more tragic is that those who are plundered by those bandits under the banner of anti-grain are used, women are used by them to solve physiological problems, the old and weak are the objects of abuse and killing, and the young and strong have become cannon fodder for the next battle.

This kind of situation has been seen by Chen Tianhua several times, and he was rescued when he encountered those blindless bandits blocking the way along the way. Knowing that these strong and brave masters came from the legendary Nanzhong, they naturally joined the marching team without mobilization, and more and more.

The rest of the group was used by a large mob to pay for the purchase of armor, knives and guns. There were slaves of large families, tenants, craftsmen of market towns, and so on. In the eyes of others, these people can neither rush and kill, nor can they be used for factional use, and they have to consume grain and rice all day long to feed, so they simply send them out in exchange for something that can be useful!

That's how these 20,000 people came!

Looking at the people in the procession who were talking and laughing, and who had the courage and hope to live again, and think about the scene when they were accepted that day, they were all ragged, and their clothes were torn like sacks, barely enough to cover their bodies. Some women and children have become numb to the concept of clothing, and only a few pieces of cloth cover the vital parts of their bodies, and large areas of their skin are exposed. The word shame is no longer visible in them, and they only have numbness in their eyes, or they don't care. Chen Tianhua didn't know what had happened to them, but looking at their appearance, he couldn't help but secretly clench his fists. "We must not let them, let us live like this again!"

"Your Excellency!" Battalion officer Deng Xianda rode his horse to catch Chen Tianhua's horse, and the two walked side by side. "The subordinates have checked, among the more than 20,000 people, there are about 10,000 young people, return to Xin'an County, and raise them on Hong Kong Island for some time, or board a ship to transport them back to Nanzhong, or select some people to come out, enrich our team, and the subordinates dare to make a military order, as long as I am given three months, at most half a year, and it will be a strong army again!"

"Good! I'll give you three months to train me 2,000 soldiers!" ”

The two talked and laughed for a while, and then entered the territory of Xin'an County.

"My lord! Officer Liang, who served as a scout, asked for instructions, how should we march? Is it from the county seat, but also crossed the Shenzhen River to the south of the Kowloon Walled City? ”

"Tell Team Officer Liang to cross the river and go south and go directly to the Kowloon Walled City!"

Riding a horse across the Shenzhen River, Liang Kuan keenly felt that the atmosphere was not quite right.

A Shenzhen River seems to separate two worlds.

To the north of the river, people who were busy in the fields for spring plowing and rice planting, saw a horse team passing by, and immediately led the oxen and carried the plough stick to run quickly to the walled village, leaving a few pairs of straw sandals and bamboo hats that the Hakka people like to bring with wide sides and black tops along the way.

The south side of the river is a different scene. There were almost no people busy with spring plowing in the fields, and as Liang Kuan's small horse team entered, flags were raised on the fences along the way, and loud gongs were beaten. Countless young and middle-aged people, armed with knives and guns, poured onto the wall, watching the arrival of this group of uninvited guests with hatred.

"That's not right!"

Liang Kuan hurriedly summoned the two captains and assigned their respective tasks.

"The people south of the river seem to be trying to turn it against us! You, I'll give you a few more horses, and you can take people to the Kowloon Walled City quickly, find a way to cross the sea to Hong Kong Island, and ask them to send a boat to the beach to meet them! Be sure to come with a gunboat! ”

The captain was commanded to take the men and ride away.

"You, hurry up and report to the adults, the people here seem to have bad intentions, ask him to supervise the team, hurry up and cross the river to the walled area, and then I am afraid of changes!" (To be continued......)

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