"The stone must pass the knife, the thatch must pass the fire, and the natives must change the species!" It was carried out by some middle- and low-level officers in the Xiangxi Bandit Suppression Army behind their backs to the town headquarters and the yamen of the bandits, because their troops were attacked by the stubborn Tusi armed forces, so under the psychology of revenge, this sensational slogan was put forward and put into practice.

In the core areas of several counties, there were soldiers in the villages, knives in every house, and blood in the villages, and the tragedy was no less than the policy of burning, looting, and killing all the people in Jingzhou implemented by the Sixth Town. According to statistics, after the thirteenth year of Yongli, more than 100 earthen villages were slaughtered, and more than 60,000 natives died.

In the process of attacking and suppressing, some brigades mainly surrendered from the green battalion of the original Qing army were particularly crazy in the process of execution, and several brigades reorganized from the Tusi armed forces also acted as the vanguard of the slaughter, and their ferocity made the rest of the troops ashamed of themselves.

Under the guidance of this crazy slogan, the armed forces that did not attach to Tusi in Xiangxi were wiped out, and most of the bandits entrenched in Xiangxi were also destroyed. Although there are still disabled remnants of the Tusi armed forces in Xiangxi who refuse to go down the mountain to join them, and many of the disabled soldiers of the Green Battalion of the Qing Army who were originally stationed in Xiangxi are still resisting stubbornly, the army marshal's office and the bandit suppression army have no doubt that the bandit problem in Xiangxi will be completely wiped out.

Mobilizing the people, using the people, encouraging the people, and giving the people benefits are the keys to the success of the suppression of bandits in Xiangxi. And this people, regardless of nationality, as long as they are willing to accept the leadership of the Taiping Army and are willing to be sinicized, they are the people of the Ming Dynasty and the people protected by the Taiping Army.

Zhou Shixiang copied the experience of the People's Liberation Army in suppressing bandits in Xiangxi in later generations in this era, and the essence of bandits in Xiangxi is the same in this life and in the future, and the activity mode is also the same, so naturally there is no such problem as water and soil. Facts have proved that no matter how cunning and treacherous the enemy is, he is a paper tiger in front of the power of the masses, and he is vulnerable.

And when the mobilization of the masses was combined with the large-scale massacre, the local plague in Xiangxi, which had plagued China for thousands of years, was completely ended.

A large number of combat heroes and heroic units have also emerged in the Xiangxi Bandit Army, and those who have been awarded flags and honors by the Military Marshal's Office include the "Wuzhai Heroic Guard", "Phoenix Attack Hero Team", "Mayang Sharp Knife New Brigade" and so on; The heroes awarded by the Xiangxi Bandit Command Yamen include the "15-dong Special Operations Heroic Model Brigade", "Migongzhai Mass Work Model Battalion", and "Brave and Tenacious Fangjiatun New Sixth Brigade".

The individuals who won the commendation of the Military Marshal's Office include Liao Lanqi, the former Tusi of Donkey Chidong, who was awarded the medal of "Han Warrior" and was appointed to the post of General Baojing; Wan Ma, the former local official of Huangdaoxi, was awarded the medal of "Loyal Guardian of the Ming Dynasty" and was appointed as the deputy general of Yuanzhou.

There are more than 60 personal medals issued by the Xiangxi Bandit Command Yamen, and the medals are made of gold and silver, with the words "Daming" on the front and "Honor Han" on the reverse. Among those who were awarded the Gold Medal, there were 4 Han Chinese, 6 Tuguan and 14 Turen. There were 9 Han Chinese, 12 native officials, and 28 native medals awarded the Silver Medal.

On the seventh day of the second lunar month, Zhou Shixiang himself went to Mayang County to award a heroic mother, which was the first case of the Taiping Army awarding medals to women.

The hero's mother is a Miao woman Laos Lianghua, after the Taiping army arrived in Mayang to exterminate the Tusi armed forces and called on the natives to go down the mountain to return to the Han Dynasty, Laos Lianghua took six sons and two daughters across dozens of miles of mountain roads to Mayang County. After that, he responded to the call of the government and sent his three sons to join the Taiping Army, and after the eldest son and the second son died in battle, he signed up for the three young sons around him.

When Mayang County was jointly attacked by several bandits nearby, Lao Lianghua resolutely led her two daughters to participate in the defense of the city and help treat the wounded. Its heroic deeds are widely recited in Mayang, and the new Fourth Brigade of Mayang garrison is reported to the Yamen of the bandits, and Zhao Sihai, the commander-in-chief of the bandits, reported to the army marshal's mansion, and Zhou Shi went to Mayang on a blind date to meet the beautiful flowers of Laos, in addition to awarding his honors and commendations, he personally took the Chinese name Fan Hanjie, and his children all took the surname Fan. In addition to giving honors, they also give certain political status and material rewards to encourage more natives to learn from Fan Hanjie.

Zhou Shixiang said to Fan Hanjie and other native women in Mayang: "From now on, you are the women of the Han family, and your children are also sons of the Han family, you don't have to worry about being oppressed by the Tusi, and you don't have to worry about your daughter being occupied by the Tusi, and you don't have to worry about your son being killed by the Tusi, because you have me and the Taiping Army!" ”

After the meeting, Zhou Shixiang said to the generals of the anti-bandit army who came to the Ya of Mayang County: "A while ago, we suppressed bandits and killed more than 4,600 Tusi bandit leaders and local bullies in more than 20 counties in Xiangxi. Ben Shuai believes that this disposition is very necessary and must be resolutely implemented. Only in this way can the enemy's flame be lowered and the people's morale be greatly expanded. If we are indecisive, tolerate and nurture traitors, do not completely solve the problem of banditry, and fail to completely sinicize Xiangxi, we will leave a disaster to the Han people and future generations. ”

Zhao Sihai, on behalf of the Yamen to suppress bandits, reported on the next stage of the task, he said: "There are still about 100,000 bad elements in the core and peripheral areas who refuse to come to join the bandits, bullies in the countryside and local officials of the pseudo-Qing Dynasty, stragglers, green forest bandits, and local gentry with hidden evil intentions. Under this general policy, a budget was made for the killing of another 50,000 people. These 50,000 people include bandits and people in the township. ”

Zhou Shixiang happily agreed, and he said: "This budget military marshal's office recognizes that only when the bandit problem is completely eliminated and there are no more natives can we consider not killing people." Otherwise, you still have to kill. The best way to destroy the enemy is to destroy it physically, and whoever they are, as long as they are our enemies, then they should be ruthlessly destroyed. ”

In order to more effectively eliminate banditry, let the people of the Han and Tu areas in Xiangxi know who is the bad guy and who is the good guy; Whoever is violating their rights and interests is protecting their rights and interests. Zhou Shixiang suggested that all localities should hold a wide range of public hearings, and the conference should be held with great fanfare. The prisoners in the public trial were the most heinous Tusi, Dakou and those pseudo-Qing officials. The number of people attending the congress can range from a few hundred to several thousand or tens of thousands, and the people are organized to take the stage to accuse the prisoners of their crimes, and then announce the sentence in public, and cut off the heads of the most heinous criminals in front of the people.

With the approval of the military marshal's office, the yamen of the anti-bandit army was deployed, and the new Eighth Brigade of the anti-bandit army stationed in Yuanling held a meeting to try Qiu Wu, Wu Ji Langda, and Guo Wankui in the square of the school field.

Qiu Wu, a native of Yongshun County, served as the general and the thousand general in Sun Kewang's driving army, and later served as the garrison of Yuanling of the Qing army. After the Taiping army invaded Hunan, Qiu Wukaicheng surrendered, and at the same time actively cooperated with the Taiping army to eliminate the remnants of the nearby Qing army. Because of his loyalty, he was entrusted with the position of a thousand households. No, it didn't take long for Qiu Wu to see that the Taiping army was "persuading grain" to the gentry in various places, and Qiu Wu was worried that his family would also be extorted for food, so he led his troops to rebel under the heavy persuasion and instigation of Guo Wankui, a pseudo-Qing official and Jishou Zhi County, and washed Yuanling County in blood, and more than 1,000 people of Chenghan were killed. Later, the Taiping army, which was rushed to hear the news, drove out of Yuanling County, and joined forces with the nearby Tusi Ukilangda to continue to attack the Taiping army, and even created a no-man's land, resulting in the innocent killing of 3,000 Han and Tu people. After suppressing the bandits, the Yamen entered the heavy army, and the three major Kou were defeated and captured on the 21st day of the first month of the thirteenth year of Yongli.

After the trial, Qiu Wu, Ukilangda, Guo Wankui and 254 of their henchmen were collectively beheaded. The head hangs in the gate tower of Yuanling County, and it is taken down after the wind and rain in March.

At the same time, a rally was held in Zhijiang to hold a public trial of Li Yongquan, which was attended by representatives of Zhijiang, Huaihua, Qianyang, and Huangxian counties.

Li Yongquan was a bandit when he was young, and was later recruited by the Xiangxi government of the Ming Dynasty, and successively served as a thousand generals and generals. After the Ming army under his command was defeated by the Qing army, Li Yongquan fled back to his hometown to continue to be a bandit, rampant in the township, and expanded his power by means of developing gang organizations, becoming the double dragon head of the "revival of the Tang Palace". On March 18, the twelfth year of Yongli, he participated in the "bloody Qiancheng" incident, and soon surrendered to the Qing army, and was awarded the post of deputy general of Yuanzhou. In June of the same year, the five provinces of the Qing Dynasty came to Zhijiang through Liu Hong Chengchou, praised Li Yongquan, and issued him 3,000 taels of silver. After the Taiping army entered Hunan Province, Li Yongquan devoted himself to serving the Manchu Qing Dynasty and led his troops to attack the Taiping army several times. At the end of December last year, three brigades of the Taiping Army stationed in Zhijiang launched an encirclement and suppression of the Li Division, which was quickly routed, but Li Yongquan himself was able to escape. He went into hiding, and was eventually captured as a prisoner when he escaped in a sedan chair disguised as a bride, and was publicly executed on the day of his trial, along with 18 of his henchmen.

Because of Li Yongquan's request to harm the people, Li Yongquan himself was tortured by dismemberment. That is, the corpse was cut off by several horses, and then the people were allowed to take the corpse and eat it to vent their anger.

According to the opinion of the Military Marshal's Office, the command yamen of the Xiangxi Bandit Suppression Army has also opened officer training classes in various places. Half of the trainees were Qing officers who surrendered due to defeat in the early days of the Taiping Army's entry into Hunan, and the other half were some Tusi and Tuguan who were forced to surrender during the invasion.

There is no barbed wire or security fence in these training classes, and those with their families can go home every seven days to reunite. The Taiping army gave the greatest trust to these surrendered Qing soldiers and local officials, but the fact was that many of the people in the training class were ostensibly trained, but secretly contacted the reactionary local officials and local gentry, and were bent on planning to meet the Qing army. Especially when the members of these training classes knew that the army led by Luo Keduo, the king of the Manchu Ping County, was attacking the Taiping army, these people's activities became more intensive. After repeated weighing, Zhou Shixiang issued an order to suppress it.

Under the special order of the commander, 356 puppet Qing officers and native officials in six training classes in Xiangxi were killed.

The high-ranking officers and Tusi officials are unstable, and the low-level minions are equally unstable. As with the training courses for senior officers, the Taiping Army also set up low-level training courses in some places. Most of the members were ordinary Qing soldiers and bandits, and on the premise that the ideological work of these veterans and bandits was not going well, they reported to the military marshal's office through the yamen of the suppression of bandits and decided to execute them.

After receiving the order, all localities immediately started to take action, first selected a place in the valley, arranged the execution ground in advance, set up guards at both ends of the valley, and then immediately executed the bandits who were to be executed in batches after being escorted over by heavy troops in the name of transfer.

Similar to such executions, a newspaper of the Yamen of the Suppression of Bandits wrote: "In some places, there is a phenomenon of mass killings, such as Zhijiang, Chenxi, and Yuanling, where 30 or 50 people were killed in one day. In some places, when the garrison was ordered to move its defenses, they acted in such a hurry that some bandits were killed on official roads and could not be buried."

The large-scale executions of the reactionary puppet Qing officers, Tusi local officials, and low-level minions who did not change their character were carried out for less than a month, and because of the tense fighting, the military marshal's office ordered the suppression of the bandits, and the yamen who were in good health and those who did not commit serious crimes were exempted from the death penalty, and instead transported to various units for the use of their masters. These people were really used as masters, not as auxiliaries, and the number was probably about 10,000. Although they were dressed in red, they were not military uniforms, and they were all extremely hard work. In the subsequent large-scale battle between the Taiping army and the Yunnan-Guizhou Qing army, many of these bandits died in the battle. Some people are brave, others are miserable.

During the large-scale execution of bandits in various places, there were not without different opinions among the Taiping army, especially among the Xiangxi bandit suppression army, which held that some bandits might have been wronged, and some were forced to go to Liangshan, and the essence was not bad, and they should be given a chance to make amends. Some say that Tusi and Tuguan are unique phenomena in Xiangxi and other places for 2,000 years, and their oppression of the clansmen does not harm the interests of the government, so they should not be exterminated and killed, but should be treated with gentle means. Some were in the mountains, forcing them to come out and change their names, learn Chinese, wear Chinese clothes, and be a bit harsh under Han orders.

Some different voices in the Xiangxi Bandit Command Yamen and the Military Marshal's Mansion reached Zhou Shixiang's ears, and he did not express any precepts or opinions on this, but sent six handwritten books to the Xiangxi Bandit Command Yamen.

These six words -- "It is better to kill the wrong than to let it go." ”

"The successful experience of Xiangxi should be promoted to the world in the future, especially for people outside the Guanxi and other ethnic groups, and it should be done according to this example. Those who have comments can be retained, but they must be implemented. Those who do not execute are the same as thieves. ”

(To be continued.) )