Leaving Hubei and heading for Hunan, although this road has existed since ancient times, it is not only difficult to walk but also has obstacles on the road. The so-called obstruction is not an obstacle in the geographical environment, but a road that is not very smooth. Some people want to ask, Hunan and Hubei were the most prosperous places for agriculture at that time, and in a country founded on agriculture, would this kind of place not be peaceful? In fact, if you think about it, you can have an answer to this question right away. The problem is that this place is too suitable for growing food, and a lot of land is occupied by powerful people, and the lives of ordinary people are becoming more and more difficult. The common people really can't survive anymore, and they have no choice but to do illegal things, and even fall into the grass. This is really a realistic version of "forcing Liangshan".

As early as the Zhengde period, a nerd who served as a county magistrate in Hunan told a few truths because he couldn't get used to seeing the local tyrants encroaching on land. As a result, not only did it not help, but it even affected him and did not even protect his official position. This nerd is very angry and wants to investigate this matter even if he breaks the bank. After nearly a decade of hard work, he finally summed up the incomplete findings. He asked someone to report it to the imperial court, but the report has not been found. Three years later, he was depressed and finally couldn't hold on, and when he was dying, he asked someone to ask about the outcome of this matter. As a result, the cabinet officials at the time not only did not pay attention to it, but also gave a "no-brainer" evaluation, and then casually discarded the report. The nerd was so angry that he fainted immediately, and he didn't close his eyes. His son is really filial enough to continue to complete the unfinished business for his father. It wasn't until Yang Tinghe became the head of the cabinet that his son Yang Shen inadvertently got it and handed it over to his father. This report was finally taken seriously by the imperial court, but even if it did, it would have no effect. Because neither the cabinet nor the emperor could change the situation. These local tyrants have become a force, and if the court or the emperor really dares to touch them, they will unite to fight against them. At that time, even if the imperial court wins, it will be greatly damaged, which will directly affect the country's grain harvest in the future. As a large agricultural country, the grain harvest of the Ming Dynasty is the most important, and once it affects the harvest, it will affect the national capital. Yang Tinghe didn't dare to mess around, and even Emperor Zhu Houzhao, who had always been bold and misbehaving, didn't dare to mess around. Still, the report did a certain thing, at least letting the adults know some local truths.

Although the conditions in the poor mountains and bad water are difficult, there are not too many disputes there. On the contrary, the more prosperous the place, the more the gap between the rich and the poor, the more intense the contradictions. The common people have neither backstage nor support, how can they confront Haoqiang. Silent anger does not work, it only fuels the arrogance of the powerful even more. If they resist, everyone will not be able to work together, and they will all be timid and afraid to only care about their own interests. Therefore, the resistance again and again not only failed but also brought more harm and pain to the families of these ordinary people. So there is a very common and comical pattern. The older you get, the more damage you receive, but the less you dare to stand up to hostile powers. These people are almost numb, and they have lost the courage and energy to confront the local people. I had to endure humiliation and secretly sell my life to the enemy, and even while working for the enemy, I had to desperately suppress the antagonism of the younger generation and help Haoqiang do everyone's anti-work. With these people, if you want to have the determination to fight against Haoqiang, you can't really make a difference. This is the main reason why the common people of all generations have not been able to resist the government and the powerful.

Emperor Taizu, the founder of New China, once commented on the previous peasant uprisings, and there were five main reasons for their failure. First, there is a lack of a leader, a commander who can really lead everyone in the fight against the enemy. Because the group of dragons has no leader, the organization is scattered, and there are many opinions that are not unified. It is impossible to enforce orders and prohibitions, nor can it achieve timely unification of opinions. Without a capable person who is in charge of the overall situation, deploying forces from all sides, and directing the overall situation, it will absolutely not be possible to accomplish great things.

Second, there is a lack of a theme, and everyone has only anger in their hearts and no goal. Not only can we not get everyone on the same page, but we also can't attract more people to join. Because the purpose is not clear, everyone can only blindly follow or imagine it out of thin air. Therefore, to do anything, you need a belief, a goal, and a firm confidence. Beliefs, ideals, goals and confidence are the foundation and indispensable factors for doing great things.

Third, there is a lack of discipline. Any organization that wants to exist and grow needs a set of rules and regulations. Under these rules and regulations, everyone's behavior is restricted, so that everyone can be restrained. However, almost all the peasant rebels made this mistake, and at the beginning of their establishment there were no rules and regulations, and they relied on the anger of the people to start the incident. After some achievements, everyone was busy dividing the fruits of victory, and did a lot of bad things without restraint. They have become people who are hated by the people more than Haoqiang, so they cannot get the support of the people. For the rebels, who have just achieved something and are living a life that they did not dare to think of before, this kind of thinking is absolutely present and absolutely cannot be restrained. This requires strict, even severe, discipline to restrain everyone's emotions and behavior. Otherwise, under the enemy's counterattack and the indifference of the common people, these rebel armies, which could have succeeded, will be ruthlessly wiped out.

Fourth, there is a lack of a strong logistical support and propaganda team. The rebels focused only on how to expand their gains, but forgot the importance of logistics and the stabilization of the rear. Only when the common people are appeased, and only when the common people are thoroughly supported by the rebel army, can there be a steady stream of logistical support and soldiers. Doing a good job in everyone's ideological work can not only stabilize everyone's emotions, but also attract more people to join the rebel army. Once their relatives join the rebel army, these ordinary people, even if they do not go to the battlefield, will be of the same mind as the rebel army. This requires the power of propaganda, and only propaganda that penetrates into the hearts of the people can have such an effect. Therefore, do not underestimate the importance of propaganda work, and do not neglect propaganda work.

Fifth, there is a lack of long-term and ambitious plans and goals, especially the cultivation of talents. The first victory of any army is due to the concerted efforts of everyone. But the blood will always run out, and later victory still requires wisdom and strength. Almost all rebel armies are the same, there will always be some people with superior abilities, otherwise it is impossible to obtain a certain victory in the first place. But these people will be sacrificed, they will be worn out, and they will grow old or decline. Therefore, it is necessary to train and train new people, so that these new people can gradually become the backbone of the rebel army, and replace the old generation of leaders into the new generation of leaders in the future. However, almost all the previous rebels did not think about it in this way, and the leaders of the older generation were unwilling to delegate power and teach the next generation real skills. The new generation of people looked down on their predecessors and began to be arrogant without learning the real skills. The older generation struggled for power and infighting, and the younger generation bullied men and women to attack each other, which eventually led to the fragmentation of the rebel army. The Taiping Rebellion at the end of the Qing Dynasty is the best example.

Everyone thinks that the people living in Hunan and Hubei do not have to worry about starvation, at least they will not starve to death. But is that really the case? The truth of the matter is very incomprehensible, but it is the truth of the matter. As early as the Tang Dynasty, some people faced social contradictions and wrote the hard life of the grassroots people into their poems. "Those who burn charcoal cannot afford coal, those who weave cloth cannot afford to wear coarse cloth, those who farm can only drink porridge, and those who raise silkworms do not have a trace of silk." Everyone thinks it's just an exaggerated metaphor, but in fact, this is the most realistic portrayal of ordinary people.

Although Hunan and Hubei are the main grain producing areas, these grains are not the people's own. In addition to paying the grain tax of the imperial court, most of the harvest must also be handed over to Haoqiang, because these lands belong to these Haoqiang. In order to survive, the common people can only rent Haoqiang's land and grow food for Haoqiang. Some ordinary people who can't afford to rent land, in order to survive, even work as tenants or servants for Haoqiang. These ordinary people only have the right to farm, but not the right to enjoy the fruits of their labor. When the year is good, it may be possible to make an old snack half full. In the event of a famine or a bad year, it will be a problem to pay the grain tax and the rent of the strong. Some people will owe Haoqiang a lot of food or money in a few years, so they have to sell themselves as slaves and become slaves of Haoqiang's family forever. Selling children and daughters often happens here, some because the family can't support them, and some because Hao is forced to repay his debts.

When there is a famine or a bad year, two kinds of business are especially easy to do in the countryside. The first is to buy land or real estate at a low price, and the second is human traffickers. In order to pay taxes and prevent their families from starving to death, some people who still have land and real estate in their hands have no choice but to sell their family business cheaply. And the people who buy and buy land are actually powerful people, who use this opportunity to annex more land, and then rent it to ordinary people or original owners who have no land. Not only does this cost nothing, but it also ensures that the field can be sustained.