Chapter 83 Revolutionary Violence Rent Tax

Since the Qin and Han Dynasties, when there is political power, there is taxation.The rent is for the landlord, and the tax is for the government.Before the revolution, due to the large number of urban landlords in the Jiangnan area, many landlords entrusted rent collection to professional "bureaus".Professionals urging rents are naturally stronger than landlords, and sometimes they use the power of the government to scare people, but when they really move the real thing, they are very rare.As for the imperial grain and national tax, when local officials collect taxes, they will also send yamen servants to arrest those "troublemakers" who refuse to pay the tax and lock them up in the prison for "comparison" (a quasi-violent tax collection method, the so-called three-day One match, five days for one match), but the actual use of force is out of the question.Unless there is a collective resistance to food and taxes in a certain area, it will apply for suppression.But at this point, it means that the people have changed, and the suppression is done by the army, but the probability of this kind of thing happening is not high.

The Revolution of 1911 was a matter for urban people. The average inland rural people basically didn't understand the revolution, and they were confused. Of course, they didn't care about it, unless the revolution found themselves on their own heads, for example, they were kidnapped and had their braids cut.However, for such a big event, even if the countryside is a stagnant pool, there will always be some movement, especially those relatively developed and affluent places, such as the Yangtze River Delta in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, will inevitably be affected. Rumors about the revolution in these places generally fall into two schools of thought.One faction thought it was an act of a gang, and opposed the Qing Dynasty and restored the Ming Dynasty. The revolutionary party flew a white flag, white helmets and white armor, and wore filial piety for Emperor Chongzhen.The revolution drove out the Tartars, the Han people ruled the world, and the Ming Dynasty returned.Therefore, some local gentry from the countryside came out to meet the revolutionary army in Ming Dynasty clothes.The other faction has a little more understanding than the former. In their view, revolution means the elimination of the emperor, not the revival of the Ming Dynasty.Since there is no need for the emperor, and the emperor is gone, there is no need to pay the imperial grain and national tax.Therefore, those who believe in the latter statement not only do not pay the imperial grain and national taxes, but even the landlord's rent is automatically exempted.

In the Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions, Shanghai was the first to revolutionize.The military government of Shanghai is guarding the No. 1 commercial port, without worrying about running out of money.In order to buy people's hearts, they dug the corners of the Qing Dynasty and posted notices everywhere exempting farmers from rent and tax.However, both Zhejiang and Jiangsu became independent after working hard.Although these two places are also rich, they cannot withstand the rapid expansion of the new government's army. Division by division is added, and foreign troops from other places are constantly pouring in.At that time, it was not popular to talk about the revolutionary spirit as a substitute for material enjoyment, and every sergeant had to be paid.It turned out that the silver in the fan's inventory was quickly exhausted.Just in time for the collection in the fall, the tax should be levied and still have to be levied. If it is not levied, what will the government and the army eat.The peasants refused to pay, and gathered together to fight against the grain. As long as the local landowners asked, the military government immediately sent troops to conquer.The peasants in the Qingpu area of ​​Kunshan had the intention of refusing to pay rent and tax, and seeing the notice of exempting rent and tax from the governor of the Shanghai Army Chen Qimei, they resisted rent and tax with confidence.But the Jiangsu military government sent several boats of soldiers to suppress it without hesitation.When a person dies, the tax will naturally be levied.Anti-grain and rent incidents also occurred in Wuxi, Changshu, Jiangyin and other places one after another, and they were violently suppressed every time.The leader of Kunshan Kangliang was a granary student. He thought the peasants' behavior was justified, and even sent them to fight with the government.Farmers in Wangzhuang Township, Changshu resisted the rent, and the military government of Changshu sent troops to kill more than 30 villagers in one go.The landlord who led the anti-rent campaign at Dayi Bridge was arrested and taken to the county. Committee members from the province came to interrogate the culprits.At that time, the military government issued a decree that all farmers who resisted grain and rent would be subject to military law and executed without interrogation.In some places, peasants did gather together for armed resistance. For example, the thousand people meeting at the junction of Wuxi, Changshu and Jiangyin resisted the rent and grain incident, and troops were sent to suppress it.But most of the so-called protests against rent and food were nothing more than a little commotion, and some were peaceful petitions by scholars, but many people died for no reason.Such killings, large-scale killings, if placed in the Qing Dynasty, no local officials would dare to do this in the Taiping period, but the revolutionary government did it.

Obviously, as we mentioned earlier, in the post-revolutionary government, due to the rapid expansion of military expenditures, a large number of soldiers have been recruited. If they do not pay their wages, there will be troubles and even mutinies.In fact, such mutinies occurred frequently not only in Nanjing, but also in Suzhou.In order to curb the riots of soldiers, military expenditure must be guaranteed.Turning to merchants for help is of course one way, but it is always done in this way. When the war is in chaos, the business of merchants also shrinks, and they cannot respond to orders.The only way is to take it from the peasants. If the peasants don't give it, they can only take it by force.Anyway, the regime of the revolutionaries thought it had more legitimacy than the Qing Dynasty, and they dared to do what the Qing government dared not do.Not only did the military government of Jiangsu do this, but it was the same in other places. Even the military government of Shanghai began to violently collect food later.A scholar in Taicang once wrote: "The climate of the new dynasty has no disadvantages, but the rent and tax are hard to get rid of. The government is in a hurry to raise military supplies, and I will protest against Hu Weihu? If you talk too much, you will be punished, even if you don't use the cane Xiaomin sighed in fear of the law, and he didn't feel the pain." Although Xiaomin was in pain, because of the urgent need for military supplies, he didn't care about so much.

Although one of the goals of the revolution is to relieve the people from hanging upside down.However, revolutionaries with a strong view of heroic history do not care much about the suffering of the people at the bottom.The success of the revolution is the most critical.Because in their view, a successful revolution can give the people a bright future.As for the damage done to the general public during the revolution, it actually caused the people to hang upside down, which was a necessary sacrifice in the first place.As long as they can get a new world in the end, a paradise in their eyes, it doesn't matter if the people suffer a little bit temporarily.When the revolutionaries assassinated, they never had the motive of avoiding pedestrians. The revolution is in progress, why do they care whether the people are suffering or not?The nobility of the revolution itself overwhelms everything else, making them somewhat unscrupulous.As long as the revolution can succeed, it is understandable to pay any price.