Chapter 98 I am sick of the inequality between the rich and the poor, now I will make it equal for you
Song Dynasty, the first year of Kaibao.

Everyone in the hall listened to the story on the sky curtain in silence and looked at the pictures on the sky curtain.

The Sichuan-Shu region at that time was already full of hidden dangers, and the flames in the hands of the local people would inevitably be raised little by little, burning fiercely, and eventually igniting the entire Shu region.

They had anticipated it, but they were powerless to stop or change the circumstances of the miracle.

"Brother, how many people do you think will gather this time?" Zhao Guangmei asked sullenly. The last time Shu rebelled, the Shu soldiers from all over the country were the main force, but this time the Shu riots were mainly local ordinary people, and the number of people might be even greater.

Zhao Kuangyin didn't really want to answer this question. After all, the situation in Shu was obvious to the naked eye: "One hundred thousand, several hundred thousand, maybe it's not a bad idea."

If it could really arouse the hearts of hundreds of thousands of people, what would happen even if they were ordinary people who had not received combat training? By then, this unrest would probably last for quite some time.

After this incident, the policies regarding Shu will have to change to some extent.

The early years of the Han Dynasty.

"The powder keg has been ignited." Liu Bang said lightly.

Everyone present knew that he was not only talking about the powder keg in Sichuan and Shu regions under Emperor Taizong of Song, but also the huge powder keg at the end of the Qin Dynasty.

"It is true that a powder keg was ignited, but this powder keg is not big enough after all, and it can only burn the Sichuan and Shu regions." Zhang Liang seemed to sigh, "After all, Wang Xiaobo and Li Shun cannot set off the entire empire like Chen Sheng and Wu Guang did."

Indeed, if the powder keg exploded again, it would only cause chaos in Sichuan and Shu, and the power would be far less than that at the end of the Qin Dynasty. In addition, the Song Dynasty was just established, the national strength was still strong, and the weapons were not rusted, so it was still able to deal with the uprising of Wang Xiaobo and Li Shun.

Xiao He smiled and said, "Although I can't ignite the world like Chen Sheng and Wu Guang, I may be able to say something as eye-catching as those two."

"That's true."

[In February of the fourth year of Chunhua, there was a severe drought in Xichuan (central and western Sichuan). The government imposed urgent taxes, forcing farmers to lose their jobs. More than a hundred farmers, led by Wang Xiaobo, revolted in Qingcheng County.

Wang Xiaobo was a small tea vendor. The tea-buying business in Shu made him lose his livelihood and gradually became impoverished. As a result, he became angry and dissatisfied with the situation in Shu.

At the same time, his many years of career as a tea dealer brought him into contact with many low-level tea farmers and upper-class dignitaries, and he clearly understood the situation in Shu where "the poor are extremely poor and the rich are extravagant and extravagant"; and when he lost his livelihood, he personally experienced the suffering of the poor people and truly realized the current situation where "those who annex goods sell cheap goods for expensive ones, and the common people become poor and lose their families and lands."

This also laid the foundation for him to revolt and quickly gather people.

Li Shunze is Wang Xiaobo's brother-in-law and a tea farmer. He also has a deep understanding of the hardships faced by the lower-class people.

So, on February 28, Wang Xiaobo gathered a crowd to revolt and shouted his own slogan: "I am sick of the inequality between the rich and the poor, and now I will make it equal for you!"

Song Dynasty, the first year of Kaibao.

"The rich and the poor are not equal, equalize the rich and the poor..." Zhao Dezhao was a little dazed, and a little disapproving. "Since ancient times, there has never been any such thing as equalization of the rich and the poor. Wang Xiaobo used this as a slogan, but it can only appease the lower-class people."

That’s right, even the Zhou Li, which Confucianism highly praised, had to follow the corresponding etiquette to distribute wealth. How could there be any equalization of the rich and the poor? As for the Confucian ideal of a harmonious society where everyone has enough food and clothing, it also requires a king to govern and a court to run. How can it be equal to the rich and the poor?
Anyway, he didn't think it could be achieved.

However, Zhao Kuangyin did not think so: "What the people need is nothing more than food and clothing, and not to go hungry or cold. Wang Xiaobo's slogan is extremely inciting. In this way, there will surely be countless people willing to follow him." And this is enough.

He frowned, recalling the slogans of the great popular uprisings of previous ages:

From the initial Chen Sheng and Wu Guang's "Are kings, princes, generals, and ministers of different species?", to the later Yellow Turban Army's saying "The world is peaceful"... to Huang Chao, who was closest to the Song Dynasty, demanding "equal burden of taxes and labor service", and during Zhao Guangyi's reign, the spearhead was directed at Wang Xiaobo, who was responsible for the "inequality between the rich and the poor".

He suddenly felt goose bumps appearing on his skin, followed by cold sweat.

What is this? It's as if something is growing bigger and bigger, out of control.

But he couldn't describe exactly what it was and what consequences it would bring.

"Brother?" Zhao Guangmei couldn't help but ask when she saw Zhao Kuangyin lost in thought for a long time.

Zhao Kuangyin came back to his senses and said nothing, "Nothing, I just felt something in my heart."

That being said, his mind kept drifting back to his previous thoughts. What on earth was this? He still trusted his feelings, but this time he also felt something was wrong. It was related to the lower-class people, but what could they do? At most, they could destabilize a dynasty and eventually overthrow it.

Although the overthrow of a dynasty was also a big deal, it was definitely not the problem he subconsciously felt.

[After Wang Xiaobo announced the uprising, the team expanded very quickly. The people who had been exploited as mentioned earlier, especially the local families, joined the uprising one after another.

Soon Wang Xiaobo captured Qingcheng County. After a short rest, the rebel army moved to the counties under the jurisdiction of Qiongzhou and Shuzhou.

In the summer of the fourth year of Chunhua, Wang Xiaobo led his people to Pengshan, targeting the greedy and tyrannical Pengshan County Magistrate Qi Yuanzhen mentioned earlier. Qi Yuanzhen did not escape the hands of the rebels, and after conquering Pengshan, Qi Yuanzhen was captured.

The local people of Pengshan hated Qi Yuanzhen to the core. After capturing Qi Yuanzhen, Wang Xiaobo deliberately followed the wishes of the local people and killed him, cut open his stomach, and stuffed the money he had plundered over the years into his stomach.

At the same time, he divided the wealth of Qi Yuanzhen and others equally among the local people.

This series of actions was of great help to Wang Xiaobo and his rebel army.

Qi Yuanzhen's bad reputation had long been known to the people, and he was deeply hated by them. Wang Xiaobo could be said to have avenged the people and distributed money to them, which greatly won their hearts. By this time, the number of rebels had reached tens of thousands.

The prefect of Chengdu at that time was Wu Yuanzai. When he heard about the uprising, he sent troops to suppress it, but was defeated by Wang Xiaobo.

At this time, Wang Xiaobo's power had basically stabilized. Farmers in some places in western Sichuan heard the slogan of "equalizing the rich and the poor" and responded to Wang Xiaobo's call, which made his momentum continue to grow. 】Song Dynasty, Chunhua 4th year.

"Qi Yuanzhen! Qi Yuanzhen!" Zhao Guangyi said angrily. This Qi Yuanzhen was indeed a big troublemaker! If it weren't for this shameless guy who exploited the people, how could he lose face? How could this traitor Wang Xiaobo find such a good sign to win people's hearts?

As for Wang Xiaobo and Li Shun, these two have already started a rebellion, and there is no chance to catch them in advance.

"Wu Yuanzai is also an incompetent person." He was also very dissatisfied with Wu Yuanzai. You couldn't even control a small rebellion and let it grow stronger. What use are you?

Moreover, Wang Xiaobo started the rebellion at the end of February, and you are only sending troops to suppress him now. What were you doing before that?
Song Dynasty, the first year of Kaibao.

"Shu is going to be in chaos." Zhao Defang sighed. Wang Xiaobo and the rebel army he led had already reached 10,000 people in just a few months, and they were able to defeat the soldiers who came to attack them. Moreover, as the miracle said, there were other areas where Wang Xiaobo had not yet arrived but where the news of him had spread, and the people actually started to revolt because of such slogans...

It was indeed the largest peasant uprising in the early Song Dynasty! (Although he disagreed with the term uprising and insisted that it was a rebellion by thieves)
"If this continues, I'm afraid the number of people will really reach hundreds of thousands. And the rebellion of the 17 states in Shu back then is not impossible to happen again." Zhao Dezhao agreed very much, "However, fortunately, this unrest should be limited to Shu and will not spread easily."

"As for the situation in Shu, some improvements should indeed be made." Zhao Guangmei added. Otherwise, if someone else comes and shouts "equalize the rich and the poor", what will happen if the local people follow suit?
[In December, Wang Xiaobo led the rebel army to attack Jiangyuan County, which was located on the main transportation route in western Sichuan, and engaged in a fierce battle with the government troops. Wang Xiaobo's rebel army fought very bravely and tenaciously, defeating the government troops several times.

In order to repel Wang Xiaobo, Zhang Qi, the inspector of Xichuan, shot an arrow at him. Wang Xiaobo was caught off guard and was hit in the forehead.

But this did not make Wang Xiaobo retreat. He continued to command the attack despite the arrow wound, and finally defeated the government troops and captured Jiangyuan County. Zhang Qi was also killed by Wang Xiaobo himself.

Zhang Qi's sneak attack finally worked. After conquering Jiangyuan, Wang Xiaobo died due to serious injuries.

However, compared with the government's goal of disbanding the rebels, Wang Xiaobo's death actually went in the opposite direction.

After Wang Xiaobo's death, the rebels did not lose their morale, but instead elected his brother-in-law Li Shun to continue leading the uprising. At the same time, Wang Xiaobo's death intensified the rebels' hatred of the Song Dynasty.

Song Dynasty, the fourth year of Chunhua.

Seeing Wang Xiaobo's death, some people could not help but get excited and wanted to use this opportunity to flatter the government by saying "God is on the government's side", but they were choked back by the subsequent developments. How else can I say this? There is no way to say it.

Zhao Guangyi was not too surprised by this. Although he had suffered many defeats in foreign wars, he was still an emperor after all, with many years of experience. He knew very well that even if Li Shun died immediately, let alone Wang Xiaobo, this wave of rebellion in Shu would not be able to end immediately.

If one wants to resolve the unrest in Shu by killing Wang Xiaobo and Li Shun, that would only be possible before they start their rebellion. What is more likely is that even if there is no Wang Xiaobo and Li Shun, there will be Li Xiaobo and Wang Shun who will stir up this unrest.

But when they started the rebellion, it was not just the two of them. The imperial court had to deal with all the dissatisfied people in the entire Shu area. It required more than just suppression overnight. It also required a qualified official to appease the local people, change the inappropriate policies that caused the unrest, and deal with the officials who exploited and extorted.

Well, as for now, Wang Xiaobo and Li Shun have already started a rebellion, and we should send troops to suppress it. It seems that the army in Shu is not very good, so we should dispatch imperial guards from the central government and find a suitable person to govern the local area.

Who to send?
Song Dynasty, the first year of Kaibao.

Zhao Kuangyin had no idea about this. Although Wang Xiaobo's death did cause some loss to the first leader of this turmoil, it actually did not have any decisive impact on this turmoil.

After all, Wang Xianzhi was also dead at that time. Did it prevent the rebel army in the late Tang Dynasty from continuing to travel across the country with Huang Chao?

However, after this unrest in Shu, the imperial court should be more cautious about domestic affairs and be able to form a complete set of countermeasures to avoid unrest and suppress it in a timely manner after it occurs.

At the very least, there won’t be a situation where Shu suffers from many disasters and the government doesn’t care.

Thinking of this, he also said the same thing to Zhao Guangmei and others who were staring at him eagerly.

Several people breathed a sigh of relief.

Ming Dynasty, Hongwu Years.

Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help but recall the days when he conquered the world. At that time, various rebel armies rose and fell one after another, and the death of a leader was nothing at all, and it did not have much impact on the overall situation.

Why? Because most people couldn’t survive, including many lower-class Mongolians.

So, he said, "As long as the people can survive, they will not rebel, so you must let the people survive and have hope." He had said this many times, and seeing that his sons were still listening carefully, he said, "Of course, if the political situation is clear and the emperor is wise, but there are still people rebelling in the local area, they are bandits and must be punished as soon as possible. Don't hesitate or be lenient."

[Wang Xiaobo’s brother-in-law Li Shun is also a man of many ideas.

After being elected as the new leader, he inherited Wang Xiaobo's combat methods: killing corrupt officials, confiscating the homes of the wealthy and powerful, and distributing the money of corrupt officials and the confiscated money to the people.

Of course, when Li Shun confiscated the property of the wealthy and powerful, he still left them enough food for their families' daily needs.

He did this very early. After he became the leader, he summoned the wealthy and powerful people in the occupied areas and ordered them to declare all their property and food. Except for the part necessary for life, all their property and food were confiscated and used to provide relief to the poor, thus gaining great support from the poor people.

As a result, a large number of lower-class people enthusiastically joined the rebel army, and the strength of the rebel army grew rapidly.

At this time, Li Shun led his troops to first capture Shuzhou and Qiongzhou, and then took advantage of the situation to capture Yongkang Army and Shuangliu, Xinjin, Wenjiang, and Pixian, forming an encirclement of Chengdu.

This was the end of the fourth year of Chunhua. 】

Song Dynasty, the fourth year of Chunhua.

Zhao Guangyi's pupils constricted: "Too fast!" Such a speed is almost like the wars in various places are going on at the same time. Although there is only one main force, it is not much different from the rebellion of the 17 states in Shu.

"Where is the imperial court? Why hasn't the imperial court sent out troops yet?" They have surrounded Chengdu, so it's obvious that the next step is to attack Chengdu! The provincial capital is under siege, so why is there no reaction from the imperial court?
"It can't be that I haven't received the news yet?" His pupils trembled.

(End of this chapter)