Chapter 18 198 Fangla Uprising

Huashi Gang made the southeast area into a dark place, and the people suffered the most in places where there were many flowers and stones.In Qingxi (now Chunxian County, Zhejiang Province) in Muzhou, various kinds of flowers, carnations, bamboos and woods were produced. Zhu Yu's Yingfeng Bureau often sent people there to search for flowers and stones.There is a Fang La in the local area, and there is a lacquer garden at home.Fang La can barely get by relying on the produce in this garden.Fang La's family has also been blackmailed since Zhu Xi established Hua Shi Gang.Fang La hated those government servants, and saw that the local peasant brothers suffered so much from Hua Shigang, so he decided to organize everyone to rebel against the government.

One day in 1120 A.D., hundreds of bitter and bitter farmers gathered in Fang La’s lacquer garden. Fang La said excitedly to everyone: “A country is like a family. A little bit of food and cloth was spent recklessly by their father and brother. The younger generation will be whipped by them if they dislike them a little bit. Do you think this should be done?" Everyone replied in unison: "No!" Fang La said again: "The waste of those fathers and brothers is not counted, and they use the family's property to please the enemy. Do you think it should be?" Everyone replied angrily: "How can there be such a reason?"

Fang La said with tears: "Now the government imposes heavy taxes and labor, and those high-ranking officials still have to squeeze and extort. The common people finally produced some paint and paper, and they plundered them all. We worked hard all year round, and as a result, the whole family suffered. Frozen and starving, and can’t even get a full meal, what do you think?” When everyone heard this, they all shouted loudly: "Please give the order! We will obey you." Fang La was supported by the peasants, so he launched an uprising under the banner of killing Zhu Xi.Fang La served as the commander-in-chief of the rebel army and called himself "Holy Duke".Soldiers wear headscarves of various colors as symbols.The angry uprising soldiers killed the officials there and burned their houses.The people in the vicinity of Qingxi were all harmed by the government, and they responded to the Fangla uprising army one after another.In less than ten days, the rebel army gathered tens of thousands of horses.

The local officials and generals sent troops to suppress them, but they were beaten to pieces by the rebels, and two Song generals were killed.The rebel army took advantage of the victory to attack Qingxi County and drove away the county magistrate there.Then, dozens of county towns were laid down one after another, and they soon reached Hangzhou. The alarm was sent to Tokyo, which frightened Song Huizong into a faint.Song Huizong quickly sent Tong Guan to lead an army of 150,000 officers to the southeast to suppress the uprising. When Tong Guan arrived in Suzhou, he knew that Hua Shigang had aroused too much public anger, so he immediately issued an imperial edict in the name of Emperor Huizong of Song Dynasty, admitting his mistake, and revoked the "Ying Feng Bureau" that specialized in Hua Shigang, and dismissed Zhu Xi from his post.

The people in the southeast finally breathed a sigh of relief when they saw that the imperial court canceled Hua Shigang and dismissed Zhu Xi.Who knows that Tong Guan is stepping up the deployment of troops to suppress the uprising at this time. Tong Guan concentrated all kinds of troops to attack, Fang La had to retreat to Qingxi, and insisted on fighting at Bangyuan Cave deep in the valley.The officers and soldiers didn't know the mountain roads, so they couldn't attack.At this juncture, spies emerged from the rebel army to lead the way for the officers and soldiers.The officers and soldiers finally found Bangyuan Cave. Fang La was caught off guard and was taken prisoner. Not long after, he was escorted to Tokyo where he was brutally killed.

Although the Fang La uprising failed, it dealt a heavy blow to the Northern Song Dynasty.At this time, a large-scale uprising broke out in the north. Thirty-six people, including the leader of the uprising, Song Jiang, raised troops from Hebei and fought in Qingzhou, Qizhou, and Puzhou (all in this mountain province). The officers and soldiers were frightened. Tremble, and run when they hear their call. In Liangshanbo, Shandong, fishermen's uprising also occurred.It is said that Song Jiang's rebel army also went to Liangshanbo.Later, the stories of "Liangshanbo heroes" and "one hundred and eight generals" spread among the people were developed based on their deeds.At the end of the Yuan Dynasty and the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, the novelist Shi Naian processed the legend of the peasant uprising in Liangshanbo into the novel "Water Margin" (Hu Yinhu), successfully shaping the artistic images of Lin Chong, Lu Zhishen, Wu Song and many other Liangshan heroes. It has become one of the outstanding novels in the history of Chinese literature.