It is not as simple as dealing with the gentry group headed by the old man to deal with Xiucai, because the wealth possessed by the former is far from being comparable to that of the latter, and the status in the township is even more incomparable to that of the latter.

The monopoly of the lords on the right to speak in the township is embodied in their right to rule the township, which benefits from the tradition of the imperial power of the past dynasties not going to the countryside. Basically, except for the special areas directly under Gyeonggi, the government delegated the power to govern the countryside to the local gentry, and the gentry managed the local area in the place of the chief and the chief of the first. Those who can serve as local security chiefs and A chiefs must be candidates approved by the gentry, otherwise they will not be able to replace the gentry in the management of the township.

If the Taiping army wanted to gain a foothold in Xiangshan and develop and grow, it was inevitable that it would clash with the local indigenous forces. This conflict can be mild, or violent and bloody. If the Taiping army was just an ordinary soldier of the Ming army, and Zhou Shixiang was only an ordinary general of the Southern Ming regime, then he could continue to implement the previous system of imperial power not going to the countryside, and only notify the clan gentry below when the Taiping army needed money and food, and then they would let the chief of the armor go to the people's homes to collect it, and similarly, the Taiping army would also adopt this procedure when it needed service.

But the crux of the matter is that Zhou Shixiang is a two-life man, so he will not accept this inefficient and extremely harmful system to the peasants, because this system is beneficial to the gentry and the chief of the armor, but the waste and infamy generated by the Taiping army. The growth of the Taiping Army and the long-term hardship of the anti-Qing Dynasty determined that the Taiping Army needed to establish an effective mobilization system in Xiangshan. This effective mobilization system includes not only money and food, but also manpower.

One government, one army, one leader, one faith!

Under this belief, the gentry and armor chiefs who existed in various parts of Xiangshan undoubtedly became a stumbling block for Zhou Shixiang, and the best way was to eliminate them, but the consequences of this would make the reputation of the Taiping Army very bad, after all, it was these landlords and gentry who had the right to speak in this era. And Zhou Shixiang has no reason to take those gentry who did not escape, after all, the Taiping army is flying the banner of the Ming army. It is also an army that is Zhengshuo in the Yongli court.

Before he had contact with the Ming army in the past, it was his business what Zhou Shixiang wanted to do, and no one would care about him, because whether he admitted it or not, the Taiping Army he established was a rogue. But after coming into contact with Chen Qice and other Ming troops, he was recognized by the Yamen, the governor of Guangdong in the Ming Dynasty, and he couldn't treat diplomacy if he killed the gentry again.

This kind of thing of fighting local tyrants and dividing the land sounds beautiful, but it is difficult to actually implement it. The peasant uprisings of all dynasties and dynasties have all taken this as a slogan for rebellion, but none of them have really succeeded, and the results of countless peasant uprisings have not been stolen by guys who have merged with the landlords and gentry? Even the founder of the Ming Dynasty, Emperor Hongwu, didn't he create the 260-year foundation of the Ming Dynasty because of the support of the landlords and gentry. If Emperor Hongwu was still under the banner of Mingjiao and did not have the elite support of Liu Ji and other landlords and gentry, could this Ming Dynasty still be established?

Zhou Shixiang came to Xiangshan to change his previous policy, he really wanted to develop in Xiangshan, so it was impossible for him to do anything to fight local tyrants and divide the land, but this did not mean that he could not do something else.

The word curve salvation doesn't sound good, but it depends on how to do it.

Zhou Shixiang could not kill the landlords and gentry who remained in Xiangshan, nor could he rob their family property. But he can deprive them of their right to rule.

Zhou Shixiang's first step was to officially issue a list in the name of Xinhui County, and from now on, the ten squares under the governance of Xiangshan County will all be changed from the square back to the township, such as the good character is more good word township. Yongle is more Yongle Township.

The renaming of Fangdu did not arouse the opposition of the landlords and gentry, because during the Song Dynasty, the Fangdu to which Xiangshan belonged was the township, and it was only changed in the fourteenth year of Hongwu. Since it used to be called a township, it is nothing to change back now. It's just that the names on the official documents are different, there is no need to make a fuss, and some actions of the Taiping Army when they first arrived are also inevitable.

Soon, though. The gentry realized that something was wrong. Just after the New Year's pass, the soldiers of the Taiping Army stationed in various fangdus "invited" the local security and A chiefs to Xiangshan County, and then there was news in the county that the original security and A chiefs of each township were all dismissed, and in the future, they will no longer set up security and A chiefs, but the township chiefs and village chiefs appointed by the Taiping Army are responsible for the governance of the local people. If the local people have something to do in the future, they will first go to the village chief appointed by the Taiping Army to deal with it, and if the village chief can't handle it, the township head will deal with it, and if the township head can't handle it, the county magistrate will deal with it.

Not only that, but the Taiping army also set up township offices in various townships. This township office is generally located in densely populated villages or places with convenient transportation. In addition to one township head, the township office also has two deputy township heads, and there are also 10 to 20 people in charge of the township.

As early as a year ago, Zhou Shixiang and Song Xianggong agreed on the selection of the township heads, and finally decided that the elders of each battalion in the rear camp would be appointed, and another battalion manager would be selected as the deputy township head, and the other deputy township head would be prepared for the locals.

A cadre of the township office alone could not shake the gentry and clan forces in the township, so Zhou Shixiang set up security teams in each township. The establishment of the township security team with a small population is 100 people, called the security squadron; In the more populous townships, the number of people ranges from 150 to 200 and is called the security brigade.

The members of the security team were all drawn from the former rear battalion security regiment, and at the same time, the establishment of the rear battalion was also disbanded, and the battalion members were resettled in the townships. In addition to the 2,000 women and children who were originally placed in the rear camp in Longyandu, Zhou Shixiang successively placed 3,000 people in Zhiren Houfang in Xiangshan County, 1,600 people in Qianshanzhai, 800 people in Liangzidu, and hundreds of people in Changle, Yongning, Dazidu and other places, so that nearly 10,000 people were scattered and resettled in the old and weak women and children in the back camp.

The duty of the security team is to maintain law and order in the local area, and to be called by the township chief to deal with emergencies, such as the gentry inciting the peasants to resist the donation, and encircling and suppressing the bandits in the territory. When the Taiping Army mobilized for combat, the security team also undertook the rear security and provided reinforcements to the front line. In other words, the security forces of each township not only had a function similar to that of the police in later generations, but also served as a reserve force of the Taiping Army.

It was only after the establishment of the township office, the stationing of the security corps, and the dizzying array of new township and village chiefs that the gentry came to their senses that they had been stripped of their rule over the countryside by the Taipings.

Zhou Shixiang was also worried that when township offices were established in various places, there would be gentry who were unwilling to lose their right to rule and clan forces to incite the people to make trouble, so when each township office was established, not only the security team was fully armed, but the local and neighboring Taiping troops were also on standby in the camp, ready to kill possible rebellions at any time, but until all ten township offices were established, the expected rebellion did not occur.

The news from the townships is that the local gentry are very honest and welcome the establishment of the township office, and a few gentry specially sent people to the township to inquire whether they can arrange an errand for their children in the office, and some of them went directly to Liao Ruixiang. In this regard, Zhou Shixiang's statement was that on the premise of not affecting the normal ministry of the public office, certain arrangements could be made for the children of these gentry.

Afterwards, Song Xianggong analyzed the mentality of these gentry, he said: "These people have no courage, when the Qing Demon came, they hid in the countryside and refused to come out to resist, and the Qing Demon killed their people and burned their houses, and they all lost their smiles." Now that the Qing demons have been driven away by us, we will not confiscate their land, nor rob them of their silver, but just let them hand over the local ruling rights and give their children a certain way out, which is already the end of benevolence and righteousness. The people have benefited from us, although it is hindered by the face of the township and the clan, but they are still welcome to us, and they will never listen to these people and go against us, so they can only be honest. If they are not honest, what can they do? Beat? The Qing demons have told us to drive us away, they can still be stronger than the Qing demons! In the end, he was not without worry: "Don't be afraid of anything else, I'm afraid that they will sue us, in that case, it will not be easy to explain to the governor's yamen." ”

Hearing this, Zhou Shixiang laughed: "What are you afraid of?" Let them go! Even if I sue Kunming, I'm not afraid! It's a big deal, when the time comes, the thousand households themselves will open a court and ask them, why do you people want to sue this official! (To be continued.) )