Chapter 10 8. Sell Heroes

In the second month of the lunar calendar in the second year of Xianfeng in the Qing Dynasty (1852), farmers in Yin County, Ningbo Prefecture, Zhejiang Province made troubles due to two land policies, and set fire to the yamen of Ningbo and Yin County.The person who took the lead in opposing the tax and land policy was called Zhou Xiangqian, and the person who led the opposition to the salt monopoly land policy was called Zhang Chaoqing. People in Yin County pay taxes, and they have to use paper of different colors to seal the money and put it into the cabinet.Poor and broken households use white seals, while gentry and large households use red seals.The red packaging symbolizes a privilege, which can avoid the "rule" part of the extortion by officials. Therefore, the gray income of the small treasury and the officials and servants is all deducted from the heads of the white seals.When the ordinary people discussed it, they naturally gritted their teeth and resented it, but after decades, no one dared to take the lead in making trouble.

Zhou Xiangqian is a student supervisor, and like today's college students, he belongs to the class of candidate cadres.As a member of the Red Seal class, he even said that the land policy was unreasonable, and he was tempted several times, inviting big households to jointly submit a petition to the county government, "Please collect the grain price as an example", but the big households refused to sign. During the first lunar month of this year, some guests came to Zhou Xiangqian's house to drink New Year's wine, and everyone talked about the red and white seals again.The guests urged Zhou Xiangqian to lead the petition, and everyone expressed their strong support.Inspired, Zhou Xiangqian went to the nearby Earth God Temple to ask the gods to see if the matter could be done.The sign said that this matter is auspicious and it will be successful this year.A century and a half later, I can still understand Zhou Xiangqian's mood at that time: the magic sign said that he could succeed, and everyone sincerely supported him. Somewhat handsome.Zhou Xiangqian immediately issued a notice to all townships in the temple, inviting grain collectors to come to the city to petition at the designated time, "Please equalize the grain price."

"Please equalize food prices" is a word that is prone to misunderstanding.The difference between canceling the red and white seals is the price of food; canceling all additional demands and collecting money and food according to the officially stipulated amount is also the price of food.At that time, the county magistrate of Yin County was surnamed Feng. He heard that Zhou Xiangqian was leading the "gathering to discuss food matters" in the temple, so he immediately sent guards to arrest Zhou Xiangqian in the county for interrogation.Mr. Feng believes that the flat grain price proposed by Zhou Xiangqian is to "reduce the grain price", and once the grain price is reduced, the gray income of himself and the officials will be affected.Zhou Xiangqian said separately that what they asked for was flat red and white seals. The implication was that Mr. Feng did not have to worry, and the interests of the government would not be affected.Mr. Feng couldn't help but imprison Zhou Xiangqian for the crime of gathering crowds.

In the eyes of an authoritarian government in any era, "gathering crowds" is a felony. The "Laws of the Qing Dynasty" stipulates: "To resist food and gather people, or to stop the examination or the market to forty or fifty people, the leader will be executed." "Such as coercing the hall and fortifying the government, and beating the officials fiercely, the leader will behead the owl." The beheading is to cut off the head and hang it on the pole to show the public.As for the people who participated in the riots, according to the provisions of the criminal law, even if they belonged to the co-workers who were threatened, they had to "stick one hundred sticks."

After Zhou Xiangqian was imprisoned, the people who pushed him to lead the trouble felt very sorry, and the villagers also hated it. Zhou Xiangqian is from Nanxiang, Yin County, and Dongxiang people from Yin County also had a quarrel two months ago, and the leader Zhang Chaoqing was also imprisoned by Mr. Feng. Dongxiang is close to the sea, and the locals buy "private salt" when they eat salt.Private salt dealers compete fiercely with official franchised salt merchants.In terms of price, salt merchants cannot compete with private salt dealers.For the same salt, there is no tax burden on private salt, but salt merchants have to buy a distribution license from the government at a high price.If businessmen want to regain the market, they can only rely on the government and use the law to strangle the private salt dealers.The salt merchants then embarked on a political effort to influence legislation and enforcement.

"Great Qing Regulations, Household Law, Salt Law" strictly prohibits the sale and purchase of illegal salt. Those who sell illegal salt will be sent to the army for two thousand miles, and those who buy illegal salt will be given a stick of one hundred.But the legislators also understand that it is almost impossible to control the small people on the seashore, so they lenient the net: the poor people along the coast who carry a small amount of illegal salt on their backs in exchange for grain to maintain their livelihoods are not included in the punishment.Dongxiang, Yinxian County belongs to the territory of this kind of private salt dealers who carry their hands on their shoulders, and it is called "Jiaoyin".This situation lasted from the founding of the Qing Dynasty to the Qianlong period (1736-1795), and all parties lived in peace for more than a hundred years.

During Qianlong's southern tours several times, the salt merchants in the south of the Yangtze River spent their money like flowing water, serving the emperor so that he felt comfortable physically and mentally, and the status of the salt merchants rose rapidly.The salt merchants took the opportunity to expand the market. After a series of activities, the central government approved the request of the salt merchants, and the shoulder-to-shoulder land must also buy salt from the salt merchants.Logically speaking, this new policy conflicts with the higher-level "Laws of the Qing Dynasty", and it seems to be a bit of a "local policy" at the central level.However, this phenomenon is not uncommon. From the Confucian theory of governing the country to imperial edicts, to the "laws" and "ministerial cases" of the central government, to the "notices" of local governments, and finally to the actual implementation of "rule regulations", or translation In modern language, from the constitution to the highest instruction to laws to central documents to local policies to the unspoken rules that everyone actually follows, the rules at each level inevitably have some conflicts or corruptions compared with the rules at the previous level.Propagating the Constitution or other official laws and regulations in such a situation can easily lead to confusion in the "guidance of public opinion", and Zhou Xiangqian is suspected of being badly taught by the "wrong guidance" of Confucian classics.It is easy to add confusion to these words, but we will focus on the efforts of salt merchants to influence policies.

With the central document, it is necessary to implement the spirit of the document.In the early years of Daoguang (around 1823), the local government had been fully bribed, and the wishes of the salt merchants became the decision of the government.It just so happened that the son of a salt merchant got a professional name, and his house teacher went to Ningbo to become an official. With benefits and affection, the law enforcement became unprecedentedly strict.Many arrests were made and extensive investigations were carried out. As long as it was found that anyone whose salt was not bought from a salt shop, he would be punished as eating illegal salt.This not only increases consumer spending, but also cuts off the livelihood of shoulder vendors.As a result, the conflicts increased day by day, and the shoulder sellers and consumers couldn't bear it anymore. Under the active activities of Zhang Chaoqing, they united and demanded that the government uphold justice and restore the original salt industry.The local government sent officials to investigate, and believed that the merchants had indeed occupied the land of shoulder peddlers, and the unemployment problem was serious. If things went on like this, accidents might happen, and it was best to return to the old way.When the results of the investigation were reported to the province, the leaders disagreed, and laughed at the investigators and said: Do you have the ability to change the central government documents?

When the government refuses to modify the policy, the people try to make trouble.About two months before Zhou Xiangqian was imprisoned, the governor of Zhejiang (the top leader of the province) went to Ningbo to recruit pirates. In order to protect the safety of the leaders, Ningbo Prefecture and Yin County first rectified social order and arrested some fugitives and restless elements.At this time, the merchants urged Mr. Feng of Yin County to arrest Zhang Chaoqing, the vanguard of the shoulder-selling movement, and Mr. Feng sent someone to arrest Zhang Chaoqing. After the governor arrived in Ningbo, Dongxiang people went to the city to petition, begging for the release of Zhang Chaoqing.Zhang Chaoqing has an assistant named Yu Nenggui, who is brave and good at fighting.The two of them also have a military adviser named Li Zhiying, who is also a supervisor like Zhou Xiangqian.Li Zhiying was good at planning and strategic, and the petition in the city was probably organized by these two.The villagers respectfully burned incense and knelt in front of the yamen, begging for Zhang Chaoqing's protection.According to Duan Guangqing, the next county magistrate of Yin County, Mr. Feng had an illusion at the time, thinking that the top provincial leaders were in town and the villagers would not dare to make trouble, so he let the villagers kneel there and ignored them.But Mrs. Feng overlooked a problem: After the Opium War, the prestige of the government in the eyes of the people dropped drastically, and the people looked down on this bullying, shameless and shameless government from the bottom of their hearts.Since the soft begging was ineffective, the villagers turned to hard work, and everyone rushed into the prison to snatch Zhang Chaoqing out.The governor panicked and fired trumpets to mobilize the regular army. As a result, to everyone's surprise, none of the officers and soldiers showed up.

More than five months later, Zhou Xiangqian talked about the matter with Duan Guangqing, the magistrate of the county, and introduced the psychology of the people: officials are not enough to win the hearts of the people, and soldiers are not enough to fear. After robbing Zhang Chaoqing, the government did not have the courage or ability to organize revenge, which is tantamount to acquiescing to the prison robbery.Therefore, on February 20th of the second year of Xianfeng, the villagers of Yin County flocked into the city again, surrounded Ningbo Mansion and Yin County Office, first snatched Zhou Xiangqian out, and then escorted the always stubborn and violent prefect of Ningbo to the stage of Chenghuang Temple , insulting and intimidating, forcing him to issue a notice of flat food prices.The crowd became agitated, and they simply looted the Ningbo government office and set it on fire.Then they looted and burned the Yamen of Yin County, and destroyed the houses where money and food were collected.When the complacency was high, it was hard for the villagers not to have the feeling that Ah Q was participating in the revolution, and they snatched away many city residents in awe-inspiring manner.

"Crowding the halls and filling the offices, and beating the officials violently" are already the sins of the lords, and burning down the yamen is simply the opposite.Zhejiang Jietai, who is in charge of the province's public security (that is, according to the procurator, the third in command of the province), immediately took command in person and dispatched troops to suppress it.At the same time, Duan Guangqing, a capable member of the provincial committee, was appointed as the county magistrate of Yin County. The people of Yin County also knew that things were getting serious, and they were panicked and worried about the government's revenge.On the second day after Duan Guangqing took office, in response to this concern, without any armed personnel, he asked a guard to hold a sign of "Yin County Zhengtang Duan", and a book servant to pass the message, and went to the countryside to make inspections to calm people's hearts.He asked a few old people from the book servant to ask questions. Duan Guangqing asked: Do you really want a county to reunite? The old people expressed that they did not dare to rebel.They said that they heard from Zhou Xiangqian that there are two titles of red and white seals for finished grain, which is too uneven, and everyone enters the city just to ask for a flat grain price. Duan Guangqing said, "Even the yamen is burned down, so why don't you dare to rebel?"All the old people panicked and asked him what to do.Duan Guangqing resorted to the strategy of differentiation and disintegration, suggesting that they should clean themselves first.Each of them wrote a report stating that the village did not go to the city to cause trouble, and they were willing to pay the money and food as usual.Written like this, even if officers and soldiers come to arrest Zhou Xiangqian in the future, they will not do your business.As a result, townships in the southeast, north, and west submitted submissions one after another. In just five days, Duan Guangqing received more than 380 submissions.Everyone said that they were obedient and good citizens, and they drew a clear line with Zhou Xiangqian in writing. The experience of the people is very rich: officers and soldiers are very cruel in suppressing rebellion, soldiers pass by, burn, kill and loot without leaving any chickens or dogs behind.The government does not hide this point, and sometimes it specifically states in the notice that "the soldiers will gather soon, and the jade will not be separated."Therefore, when villagers write a report, they are tantamount to making a choice between their lives and their moral responsibilities, and there is no way to have the best of both worlds. Just as Duan Guangqing's differentiation strategy was beginning to bear fruit, thousands of officers and soldiers led by Zhejiang Jianxian and Yunxian arrived in Ningbo.The constitutional and constitutional officials are all provincial civil servants, while the military has deputy generals and generals, who belong to the second and third rank officials, and there are many fourth-rank prefectural-level cadres and seventh-rank county-level cadres. Local officials do not want the army to enter their territory.Corruption in the Qing soldiers was a scourge like locusts, not to mention that the division strategy had paid off, the people were willing to run out of food, and there was only one Zhou Xiangqian left, and Yin County's captors were enough to deal with it.Therefore, both Yin County and Ningbo Mansion opposed the use of troops.But the military has its own interests.First of all, the military does not consider this to be a real counter-insurgency.A group of ordinary people made troubles, mobs, and the army was frightened when they arrived, so there is no risk in this action.Second, in name this is counterinsurgency.Go around, catch a few people, chop off some heads, and the cadres can ask for credit and reward.This is a shortcut to promotion and wealth.Soldiers who rape and plunder will also gain a lot.Therefore, the military insisted on using troops. For several days in a row, the civil and military officials accompanying the army took soldiers to the countryside every day to pick up people, but Zhou Xiangqian had already fled.The military was not satisfied, so they took the initiative to expand the scope of operations and went to Dongxiang to arrest Zhang Chaoqing.On March 25th, a group of officers and soldiers went to Shishan in Dongxiang to arrest people. They did not find Zhang Chaoqing and Yu Nenggui, so they robbed a lot of property and burned two houses.The Dongxiang people resented the injustice, and they beat the gongs to gather a crowd to resist the officers and soldiers. Seeing that the situation was not good, the officers and soldiers fled back to the city. Hearing that Dongxiang people gathered together to resist the government army, Nisi decided to send troops to suppress it.At dawn on the 26th day of the third lunar month in the second year of Xianfeng, the officers and soldiers hurriedly boarded more than a hundred emergency civilian boats and headed for Dongxiang. Most of the boatmen were from Dongxiang.Leading the troops are Deputy General Zhang and General Xue, who are equivalent to the current military-level cadres.Until then, the officers and soldiers seemed not to be really prepared to fight. Before boarding the boat, they only complained that the local officials were not attentive enough to serve them. snatched away. The news had already reached Dongxiang.Facing thousands of butchers, people have no choice but to go all out.The troop carrier crossed a pontoon bridge and came to a temple.The Dongxiang people who were ambushing here fired bombardments. As soon as the cannons rang, the villagers rushed out, and the officers and soldiers were in chaos.Countless officers and soldiers on board were killed by cannonballs, and those who landed were cut down and overturned. The emergency retreated boats retreated to the pontoon bridge, and were killed by villagers intercepted by the bridge.In this battle, more than 200 officers and soldiers died, more than 20 civil and military officials died, and Yu Nenggui killed more than a dozen officers and soldiers by himself.Vice General Zhang was beaten to death and thrown into the river, while Xue Shen was captured alive by villagers.According to Duan Guangqing, who rushed to the negotiation later, dead bodies were lying around by the river, and the river was flowing red. Several county-level officials he knew were lying naked by the river, and there were half-floating and half-sinking corpses in the river. This time, Nie Si Yunxian, who was waiting for the reward, was dumbfounded.The shops in the city closed one after another, and there were rumors in the city that people from Dongxiang were going into the city to capture Bai Si alive.The next day, all the commissioners accompanying the army fled without a trace, and the chief said, "I'll wait here, things are even more unpredictable," and slipped away with Yun Xian in the middle of the night, leaving the mess to the magistrate to clean up. In my opinion, the magistrate's handling of this matter is very clever, and Zhou Xiangqian's performance is even more admirable. However, Duan Guangqing, the county magistrate of Yin County, rushed to Dongxiang to negotiate, "exchanged prisoners of war" with 13 civilians captured by officers and soldiers, cleaned up the corpses, and after finishing the most necessary things, he let go of the matter.He said that this is a matter for the provincial leaders, and he can't control it.The goal of the Dongxiang people is nothing more than to restore the "salt world", to return the 13 people who were taken away by the officers and soldiers, and to live in peace as before.They have no ambition to overthrow the government, but they dare not take it lightly.With the support of the villagers, Zhang Chaoqing and Yu Nenggui organized a militia team to stand guard and guard against sneak attacks and retaliation by officers and soldiers.The two sides were in a stalemate for no apparent reason, not knowing how it would end. In a blink of an eye, it was April.Since the first month of the first lunar month, people started to fight to level the food price, and then arrested people and started fighting. People were in panic, and the money and food that should have been collected long ago have not yet been collected.The villagers have long written a letter of guarantee, willing to pay money and food, and settle down as soon as possible.The government dared not collect money and food for fear of provoking the people to make trouble.While hesitating, Duan Guangqing received an anonymous letter. The gist of the anonymous letter is: If money and food are not collected, the turmoil will not be considered over.However, Yinxian County has no price for collecting money and food, and you set the price at the same price. The people will naturally cooperate and rush to pay.If the conversion rate of silver and money is set at 2,600 taels of silver (the original 3,200 taels for the white-sealed civilians, and 2,200 red-sealed gentry jins), and the difference between the red and white seals is cancelled, the hearts of the people will be calm, and the government’s expenses will be enough. up.Such an immediate levy, the hearts of the people will be self-determined, and the people will live and work in peace. Those who followed Zhou Xiangqian into the city to make troubles will definitely not want to be his party members anymore, and Zhou Xiangqian will be isolated.Zhou Xiangqian is isolated, can Zhang Chaoqing and Yu Nenggui of Dongxiang continue to be troubled for a long time? Duan Guangqing read the anonymous letter and invited the gentry to discuss it.The gentry said that the views in the letter were fair, but they did not know whether the villagers would accept it or not.Duan Guangqing said, with such a price, I'm afraid the big gentry won't agree. Since you say it's fair, the matter is settled.So money and food were levied.Sure enough, everything went well, and the hearts of the people were determined. In 201 BC, shortly after Liu Bang pacified the world, Han Xin, the great hero who fought for him, was arrested.Han Xin was tied to the back of the car and sighed: "If people say it-'If the cunning rabbit dies, the good dog will cook; After all, Han Xin is a great hero, and the sentence "I will definitely cook" expresses a sober and profound understanding of the reality of interests and interests.Churchill also had such great insight.He led the British people to defeat fascist Germany. In July 1945, he was discussing the post-war order with the US and the Soviet Union in Potsdam, Germany. He was elected in the general election in the UK, and the Labor Party, which paid more attention to the interests of labor, came to power.When Churchill left office, he said: "The ruthlessness of a distinguished cabinet minister is the symbol of a great nation." Now Yin County has also reached the juncture of "the world has been settled". The common people have won, and everyone will live a normal life.If there is no danger, the common people might as well maintain their respect for the heroes of the past.If a hero can only incur revenge from the government for the people, or use this kind of respect to go out of line, he will become a superfluous scourge—heroes are something extraordinary in extraordinary times, and there is no need for heroes in a stable conventional order. , and there is no place for a hero. Soon after the collection of money and grain, Zhou Xiangqian surrendered to the government.When people in urban and rural areas heard that Zhou Xiangqian had come to surrender, there was a crowd of spectators and a chorus of voices.Zhou Xiangqian sat calmly on the floor in the lobby, waiting for the government to come and get it.But Ningbo Bi Zhifu was still in shock, hearing the commotion outside, he was too frightened to come out to see Zhou Xiangqian.Duan Guangqing was summoned to the scene, held Zhou Xiangqian's hand in full view, and said, "A real man is responsible for everything. You came here today, and you will not affect your fellow countrymen. You really deserve to be a real man!"As he spoke, he glanced at the onlookers, and said loudly: If Zhou Xiangqian hadn't come today, I'm afraid your fortunes would not be quiet.You should all be grateful to Zhou Xiangqian!As soon as these words were said, the crowds of onlookers suddenly became calm and silent. From the overall point of view, this is the last moment to decide Zhou Xiangqian's fate.Put yourself in the shoes of those villagers who watched Zhou Xiangqian jump into the tiger's mouth, they felt ashamed.They secretly hope that Zhou Xiangqian will surrender, so they will not seriously dissuade him.Now that he really came to surrender, it strengthened the guilt in their hearts.At this moment, if the official's attitude is slightly wrong, even if he moves a finger, someone may be unable to hold back and shout loudly, and the sky will turn upside down again. After entering the back hall, Duan Guangqing discussed a solution with Bi Zhifu, thinking that the case could not be handled here.Zhou Xiangqian was punished according to the law, and the people were not convinced.Release Zhou Xiangqian, the case is too serious to explain to the superiors.The best solution is to push the case to the top and ask Zhou Xiangqian to surrender to the top.As soon as Zhou Xiangqian left, the onlookers naturally dispersed, and the matter completely subsided.When we got to the province, we also suggested that the case be postponed.Immediately deal with it strictly, and Shi Shantong's party members will not be easy to disband.The discussion has been decided, and Zhou Xiangqian will be sent to the province to surrender on the same day.When they arrived at the company, they really entertained them with wine and meat all day long, showing their respect for Zhou Xiangqian's personality. After a century and a half, I have seen some similar things in books and in real life, and I know that Zhou Xiangqian still has other choices.Needless to say, going to the "liberated area" is more beneficial to the strategy of the leader of the trouble, which is to make the matter bigger, and raise the target by every inch, so that it is difficult for the government to make concessions.For Zhou Xiangqian, the most ideal ending is to intensify the conflict between the government and the people, unite with Dongxiang to rise up, lead a team to join the Taiping Army, and even start a Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement by himself.Of course, it is not easy for the middle peasants to get involved, but there are also poor peasants and activists who make trouble. They can be used to form pickets and severely crack down on all opportunistic tendencies that try to compromise with the government.According to the law, Zhou Xiangqian would die anyway, so why not make him happy?There are many such heroes in Chinese history. When they could instigate and intensify the situation, when they could coerce and use public opinion, they voluntarily gave up their last ray of hope and stood up as sacrifices made by the people to the ruler.I have sympathy and respect for them. If Zhou Xiangqian did not surrender himself, we can also speculate on his ending based on what happened to Zhang Chaoqing and Yu Nenggui. When Duan Guangqing went to Shishantong to negotiate, he exchanged views with Zhang Chaoqing and Yu Nenggui's schemer Li Zhiying in private.Duan Guangqing asked Li Zhiying if she wanted to rebel in the end, and Li Zhiying said that the people resisted the officials out of helplessness.If the government does not question the crime, the people will not take the initiative to attack.Duan Guangqing also told him that if the matter got serious, the government would not be able to completely ignore the crime, but as long as the leader was caught, it could be perfunctory.Duan Guangqing advised Li Zhiying to think about the future for herself as soon as possible.Li Zhiying didn't pick up. After Zhou Xiangqian turned himself in, Duan Guangqing arranged for a private meeting with Li Zhiying through a doctor, and promised to exonerate him in exchange for his cooperation.The choice Li Zhiying faced at this time was: either cooperate with the government, or rebel.Cooperating with the government, to put it simply, is to be a traitor, and it is the choice with the least personal risk.Without cooperation, long-term delay is definitely not the end. It is impossible for Dongxiang to maintain an army strong enough to resist the government for a long time.That would bring things to the point of rebellion.In fact, such a proposition had already appeared at that time. A Juren from a neighboring county suggested that they first capture Ningbo, then Shaoxing, and then occupy Hangzhou. At the same time, they sent people to get in touch with the Taiping Army in Guangxi.This radically revolutionary plan was clearly in the minds of Zhang Chaoqing and Yu Nenggui, and Juren's reputation was much higher than that of Li Zhiying, a superintendent, so this Juren almost became Dongxiang's mastermind.At present, the leaders who are attempting to rebel are trying to persuade everyone to join them. The so-called "raise wild words and incite people's hearts." If Li Zhiying chooses this path, not to mention the great risks, the benefits are also very uncertain.After all, the position of the mastermind has already belonged to Juren. Li Zhiying finally chose to cooperate with the government.He suggested that the salt boundary should be drawn immediately.This is probably the easiest way to betray conscience: betraying the leader of the rebels, but gaining practical benefits for the villagers.Duan Guangqing accepted it immediately, prepared hundreds of stone pillars, engraved the words of the land boundary on his shoulders, and announced it to the whole county at the same time.The boundary pillars were quickly placed in place with great fanfare, the people won, and the situation of "the world is settled" was formed in Dongxiang again. Li Zhiying understood the meaning of this matter, and after defining it, she was bedridden, as if she had suffered a serious illness.When Yu Nenggui went to visit his doctor, Li Zhiying said in tears: "Since the salt boundary has been established and everyone lives in peace, who will join us in resisting the officers and soldiers?"I also want to surrender like Zhou Xiangqian.Only then did Yu Nenggui understand, and scolded: So we fell for the trick of the two thieves Bi and Duan!The Juren from the neighboring county also knew that the situation was over, so he fled back to his hometown that night. In May, Zhang Chaoqing and Yu Nenggui still occupy Shishantong, but their followers are decreasing day by day. In the end, there are only a dozen or so people left, and their defense is lax.The time has come. The government continued to implement the policy of differentiation, and issued an announcement to specifically target Zhang and Yu, and not to implicate the rest.The announcement said that if the villagers can capture two criminals and bring them to justice, each will be rewarded with 800 yuan.Converted to grain prices, the money is about 150,000 to 160,000 RMB. Thirty or forty farmers may not be able to earn this much money after a year of hard work. One can imagine the temptation. One day in June, while Duan Guangqing was sitting in the hall to question the case, there was a sudden commotion in the street. It was rumored that hundreds of people in Dongxiang swarmed into the city armed with weapons.While inquiring, a Dongxiang villager in wet clothes knelt in front of the hall and said that they had brought Zhang Chaoqing here.He said that Zhang Chaoqing sneaked back to the village from Shishan last night, and hundreds of families in the village discussed together, saying that the county had issued a notice to arrest only Zhang and Yu, not to implicate Dongxiang, and there was a heavy reward.Why don't we in Dongxiang bring Zhang Chaoqing to justice to ensure the peace of Dongxiang?So the whole village united and acted together at dawn.Zhang Chaoqing heard the wind, jumped over the back wall and fled into the river, where the villagers caught him again.Now we villagers come together to bring Zhang Chaoqing to justice. Before finally closing the case, I want to settle the score from the standpoint of the villagers.They have been hiding behind the scenes, but they are the real protagonists. How have their interests and mentality changed? Assume that this white-sealed peasant is a well-to-do middle peasant with five or six people, 15 or 16 acres of land, a courtyard of five or six rooms, and a total property of nearly 100,000 RMB.Purely from an economic point of view, is he willing to take the lead in making trouble? The amount of diding silver collected in various places in the Qing Dynasty varied.Calculated on the basis of one cent and two cents per mu, about two taels of silver should be paid for 16 mu of land, which is paid in exchange for money.According to the local policy, the white-sealed small min was converted into one tael of silver at 3,200 Wen, while the red-sealed gentry was converted at 2,200 Wen to one tael of silver at the market price.If this riot is successful, the middle peasants can enjoy the same conversion rate as the red seal class, and the middle peasant can pay two thousand coins less every year.Converted to food prices, this figure is roughly equivalent to one hundred and twenty thirty yuan.But if all the red seals are paid, the government's small treasury will be empty, and the officials and servants will have no extra money.This goal is too high to be counted on.The real possible result is that everyone will share the bad rules. Gentlemen should not pay 2,200 yuan, and ordinary people should not pay 3,200 yuan. After a compromise, everyone will pay 2,600 yuan.Calculated in this way, the benefit of making trouble is to pay 1,200 Wen less each year, which is about 70 yuan.This is roughly equivalent to the living expenses of a middle peasant family for seven or eight days. The money was enough to make him angry and willing to take part in the trouble, but not enough to make him take the lead.If he is a man in his early forties who has been in Chinese society for many years, he will naturally know how difficult it is for the government to talk.Regardless of whether Xiaomin's petition is justified or not, whether it is fair or not, as long as he is not pleasing to the eye, if he says to arrest you, he will arrest you, if he says to kill you, he will kill you, and the government will definitely be right in the end.To take the lead in provoking the government's anger is not to risk one's life but also to play with fire. How can this risk be compensated by one hundred and eighty dollars?If you take all the 100,000 property, you may not be able to pay it off! After this account is settled, we can understand why unspoken rules have prevailed for decades without resistance.Everyone is willing to hitchhike, at most they can only do their best to pull the side cover, and no one is willing to drive the shaft.The driver must be a person who doesn't care about material interests, who is not afraid or ignorant of risks, and who has charisma.Zhou Xiangqian, who was influenced by the spirit of Confucian idealism, just met these conditions.He is a member of the red-sealed class, but he enthusiastically fights for the justice required by the moral requirements of the white-sealed people.Such a person is rare even in the environment of reading sage books.Therefore, after he was imprisoned, those middle peasants who were willing to make trouble but did not dare to take the lead in making trouble would inevitably feel indignation and the impulse of conscience in addition to fear and rejoicing.After Zhang Chaoqing was imprisoned, the psychology of Dongxiang people should be similar.As long as it is not too dangerous, of course they want to kick the government, and at the same time do something for Zhou Xiangqian and Zhang Chaoqing. So how risky is it?During that time, the air in Jiangnan was full of commotion.In Duan Guangqing's words, it means "people's thoughts change": everyone feels that the world is about to change, and they all look forward to the arrival of some major social change.Hong Xiuquan established the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom in Guangxi, and then marched to the south of the Yangtze River. The whole journey was overwhelming and irresistible-this is not only the result of the change of people's mind, but also the reason for the change of people's mind.In addition, although the Opium War has passed for more than ten years, the incompetence of the officers and soldiers is still ridiculed by the whole society.Originally, it was a very dignified thing for officers to take their caps to the streets and ride on horses, but after the war, they lost their dignity.The common people in Ningbo pointed and joked that they would throw their hats and flee for their lives when they met foreigners, and put on their hats to show off when they saw ordinary people.So the officers stopped wearing hats and scolding when they went to the streets.Due to internal and external troubles and financial constraints, the government was forced to reduce horse food, and officers did not even ride horses in the streets.Both the government's superficial prestige and actual deterrence ability have declined, and the courage of the people to make trouble has been encouraged. In short, as long as they are not leaders, the people have the desire and the courage to rob prisons and burn government offices. After the incident broke out, the pattern of interests changed suddenly, and the villagers changed from obedient people to mobs in the eyes of the government.At this time, the first wish of the villagers is not to be retaliated by the government, and not to be suppressed by the government as a mob. For this reason, they can even give up the demand for food price parity-the pursuit of income is the second priority, and the first thing is to keep the original. .After keeping this premise, we might try our best to achieve the goal of leveling food prices.If the government is powerful, it might as well back down. If the government backs down, it should insist.If the government takes calming the situation as its first goal, not only promises not to retaliate, but also meets the demand for equal food prices, and the order that was distorted by officials in private is restored, Zhou Xiangqian's fire will fall into wet wood.At this time, paying money and food and abandoning Zhou Xiangqian is the best choice in the interests of the villagers. The most difficult thing to understand is to capture Zhang Chaoqing.But we might as well put ourselves in the shoes of the county, two months have passed since the piling was made to demarcate the county, and they are still making trouble there. Isn't this causing trouble for the villagers?Isn't this trying to put a mob hat on the folks?In the beginning, it was difficult for everyone to say anything, and they were willing to contribute money to maintain their self-defense regiment.But the government met the requirements of buying and selling private salt, and said that the people would not be implicated. The order distorted by the salt merchants colluding with the government was restored. Everyone can continue to be a good citizen, and there is no reason to support them.Look at Zhou Xiangqian, a hero who does things like a hero. In contrast, Zhang Chaoqing and Yu Nenggui have to drop their prices.As for the reward, hundreds of households will share 150,000 to 16,000 yuan equally, and each family will only pay a few hundred yuan. It is tempting, but not enough to fool conscience.The point is not money.The key point is that once someone proposes to arrest him, everyone in the village will express their opinion at the meeting. If no one opposes it, even if some individuals are unwilling, they dare not oppose it and dare not take part in the action.The stakes calculation also tells us that fundamentally the villagers will not oppose such initiatives.The risk calculation of the other party will also tell us that the proponents must not be willing to go it alone, and must call a meeting of the whole village, so as not to face the revenge of Zhang Chaoqing and Yu Nenggui alone in case of failure. Analyzing from the beginning to the end, although the public does not have a fixed Facebook, it is always a rational group that seeks advantages and avoids disadvantages.They have neither eternal friends nor eternal enemies, "only their own interests are eternal."And the arrangement and change of this interest can be explained in the characteristics of the social system. The people did not dare to make trouble at the beginning, and they could not be good citizens in the legitimate order. They have been obedient citizens for decades under the unspoken rules established by corrupt officials. If there is no hero who bears the organizational costs and legal risks for them , obedient citizens will continue to endure bullying, injustice and extortion.The appearance of the hero changed the calculation of interests and interests. Shunmin realized that the risk of hitchhiking and causing trouble was not high, so he committed what the government called mob behavior.Later, after a more legitimate order was restored, if the government did not treat them as mobs, threatened with repression, and lured them with bounties, they might not have done the trick of betraying their heroes.A great nation can choose Churchill without beheading a hero. The difficulty for the people of Yin County is that it is difficult to find a normal way to express their desire to equalize food prices at first, and their sympathy and respect for Zhou Xiangqian and Zhang Chaoqing later.If Zhou Xiangqian or Zhang Chaoqing organized a peasant association, or launched a lawsuit, there must be many people willing to pay membership fees and donate money to hire lawyers, just as they would like to maintain a self-defense group.This is both reasonable and cost-effective; it does not involve much risk and maintains the status of a good citizen.In a reasonable order, these human and financial resources should be able to help the common people win the fairness promised by the law, and can also make the leaders gain both fame and fortune, and encourage them to continue to take the lead in the future.However, the autocratic system does not allow gatherings and associations, and does not allow everyone to raise funds to protect their own political interests. Everything must be represented by them.As a result, it is impossible to form a leading negotiating subject that can overcome the free-rider obstacle. At the same time, those in power can block the sky with one hand, and the people cannot find other peaceful and legal ways to bargain with the government. It is hard to be a good citizen.Major imbalances and injustices cannot be adjusted, and you want to adjust them very much, but what should you do?The method of salt merchants to influence the system is to use money, and the method of ordinary people is to use their lives—becoming a mob and burning down the government offices. In this system, the hero is the catalyst for the transformation of obedient people into so-called mobs, and the initiator and organizer who pulls the distorted order back to its original position or part of it. symbol and guarantee.We Chinese people are very good people. We all don't want to be a mob, and we all know that it is not a long-term solution. Zhang Chaoqing has been brought to justice.Duan Guangqing took out 800 oceans and asked the villagers to divide them. He said there were 800 more, so why didn't he arrest Yu Nenggui?The villagers took the money and said happily: "We will go to Shishan to catch him together. The grandfather will walk slowly behind. As long as he doesn't run away, he will be caught."When everyone rushed to Shishantong, Yu Nenggui had heard the news and ran away.The villagers arrested Yu Nenggui's family members and relatives who sent letters telling him to escape—these people were hidden dangers of leading or initiating revenge, and the act of eliminating hidden dangers should not be difficult to understand.Duan Guangqing later said that he had announced that he would not implicate others, and he knew that sending his family members to the province would make them hard to survive, but since the villagers had sent them, he did not dare to let them go, but he did not give money.So the villagers dispersed. A month later, a villager sent a letter saying that Yu Nenggui was hiding in a nunnery on the mountain by the seaside of Fenghua, and that the villagers in Yin County could not go out of the county to arrest him.The government sent more than a dozen soldiers to rush there, and they captured Yu Nenggui, put him in a wooden cage, and sent him to the province.Soon, according to the "Laws of the Qing Dynasty", Zhou Xiangqian, Zhang Chaoqing, and Yu Nenggui were "beheaded" by the provincial government, and their heads were sent back to the county to be hung for public display. Zhou Xiangqian's wife went crazy and ran around in the fields of Nanxiang all day long.People in Dongxiang felt that Zhang Chaoqing and Yu Nenggui were doing it for the villagers at first, so they begged not to hang their heads so that the villagers would not be "heartbroken".The government accepted the suggestion and asked the land protection to bury the three heads.