Chapter 153, The Turbulent Jiangnan (Part 1)
The hot sunshine in midsummer shines on the narrow and winding ancient streets of Jiangnan Water Town, but it cannot bring a trace of comfortable warmth to the hungry unemployed workers - these earliest members of the proletariat in China. Streets and alleys are full of people struggling to die.
As mentioned in later history textbooks, the Jiangnan region in the late Ming Dynasty was densely populated, with prosperous cities, prosperous industry and commerce, and the emergence of early capitalism. The population of the four major cities of Nanjing, Suzhou, Hangzhou and Yangzhou was said to be around one million at that time. They were said to be "the capital of the world's merchants". Wuzhong and Jinling accounted for seven out of ten, Fujian and Beidi accounted for three out of ten. Even the capital is incomparable."
In addition to developed commerce, large-scale handicraft textile workshops also appeared in the Jiangnan region. The silk from Susong Lake, the bookstores in Hangzhou, and especially the cotton from Songjiang were sold all over the world. The number of workers employed in its workshops can reach up to several thousand, forming a large urban working class.
However, since the natural economy of men farming and women weaving has developed into a capitalist market economy of mass production, it is naturally inseparable from the origin and sales market of raw materials. At the same time, with the increase in the non-agricultural population and the development of industrial and commercial cities, more food needs to be obtained from rural food-producing areas. Therefore, by the end of the Ming Dynasty, the food in the land of fish and rice in the south of the Yangtze River was no longer self-sufficient and had to rely on external inputs. .
Therefore, during the six years of Chongzhen's war, the early capitalist economy in the Jiangnan region suffered a devastating blow.
Because the demons of Wenxiang Cult have been wreaking havoc in Jiangbei since last year, from Jining, Shandong to Yangzhou, there is no hope for the cotton grown in Shandong and Lianghuai;
After the Australian thieves captured Zhoushan, Ningbo, Hangzhou, Wenzhou and other seaports in eastern Zhejiang, they used the Shengsi Islands as a base to launch a long-range blockade at the Yangtze River Estuary, intercepting and detaining any ships that dared to go to sea, cutting off the overseas export of Jiangnan products. Channel;
After the overseas market was lost, Emperor Chongzhen came to Huguang to prepare for the crusade against the puppet emperor of Jiangnan, so he issued an order to seal the river. As a result, not only did the industry and commerce in Jiangnan lose the inland market in the middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze River, but also the major cities in Jiangnan could no longer Obtain grain and rice supplies from Huguang!
As the vital raw material production areas, sales markets and food import channels were all destroyed in a short period of time, the entire Jiangnan region suddenly fell into an unprecedented economic crisis. Songjiang's cotton spinning industry lost its cotton supply and was forced to shut down. The products of other handicraft workshops were quickly overstocked in large quantities and could not be digested in the local market. So all of a sudden, workshops and factories in cities south of the Yangtze River went bankrupt one after another, and thousands of citizens lost their jobs collectively.
What's even worse is that the hundreds of thousands of war refugees pouring in from both directions of Jiangbei and Zhejiang have dealt a fatal blow to the already overwhelmed Jiangnan government - due to the large number of mulberry and silkworm cultivation occupying Land and rice production in Jiangnan are no longer enough for local people to make ends meet. But now a large number of refugees are pouring into Jiangnan, resulting in an increase in the number of people in need of food, while all the original food import channels have been cut off! To make matters worse, even in this situation where the entire society is like a powder keg, those cunning grain merchants with deep backgrounds are still hoarding grain and rice, creating rumors, and hyping it wildly... As a result, even after the summer grain was put on the market, various grain merchants in Jiangnan were The price of food in big cities is still as high as more than 8 taels of silver per stone of brown rice!
However, even though the people's livelihood in the south of the Yangtze River was already so overwhelmed, Nanjing's Yonghe Emperor would continue to impose brutal conquests: Facing Emperor Chongzhen who was intensifying his troops in Wuchang, the entire Nanjing court had reached a consensus that the army must be expanded as soon as possible. Try to protect yourself! However, even at this life-and-death moment, the landlords, gentry and wealthy businessmen group of the Jiangnan Donglin Party are still reluctant to part with their good fortune and never plunk away any money.
In the end, Zhou Yanru, the chief minister of the cabinet of the Yonghe Emperor in Nanjing, had no choice but to turn his attention back to the small people of Shengdou who were already struggling on the verge of death. He mainly used the poll tax to raise funds for food and salary distribution. After being assigned layer by layer and taking into account the pervasive corruption and exploitation of officials at all levels, when it falls on the people, it has become a very terrifying astronomical figure.
In this way, on the one hand, a large number of citizens have collectively lost their jobs and lost their income. On the other hand, food prices have skyrocketed. In addition, a large number of war refugees have poured into the shrinking "safe haven" of Jiangnan, competing with the locals for market share. The food that was already insufficient to eat... coupled with the fact that the court was still frantically apportioning new military expenditures, made it even worse for the people who were in dire straits. Finally, the entire Jiangnan powder keg was detonated!
A large-scale civil uprising that swept almost the entire Jiangnan broke out with great fanfare in the summer of the sixth year of Chongzhen!
※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※
"...It's time to grab rice! It's time to grab rice! Let's grab rice together!"
"...If you don't want to starve to death, just go rob those profiteers and eat the big ones!"
"...Wait for me! Let's go together! Let's go together!"
……
The entrance to the largest grain store in Suzhou was crowded with unemployed weavers in ragged clothes. Everyone was so hungry that their faces were yellow and skinny, but their eyes seemed to be burning! At this time, these desperate unemployed people were rushing into the store, carrying a bag of rice and wheat and heading out. The shopkeepers, clerks and bodyguards who tried to stop them were beaten to death by the swarming hungry people. Bags of white rice were scattered messily all over the street.
——In any era and in any country, hunger will give people unprecedented power, especially when they are desperate. Then these hungry people, no matter how peaceful and law-abiding they are on weekdays, will be driven by the desire to survive. Turn your poverty, anxiety and resentment into unprecedented courage, use your fists and even your life to fight for a chance to survive with a full stomach!
A discerning grain store clerk saw this and hurried to the Yamen to fetch reinforcements. Unexpectedly, as soon as he ran outside the Suzhou magistrate's office, he saw a group of scholars wearing square turbans and straight jackets. They were setting up a formation of broken boots outside the government office, blocking the gate of the government office, and spitting and swearing. Although there are also officers in the yamen with water and fire sticks and guards carrying swords and guns, and they never show mercy in suppressing the common people, but now they are very wary of these scholars with honors, and not only do they dare not use their swords Stick greeted him, but he retreated timidly.
Seeing this situation, the scholars and Tongsheng became even more courageous and shouted: "...It is this corrupt official who is corrupt, perverts the law, and colludes with profiteers, making us Suzhou people unable to eat rice and wear clothes! Such traitorous culprits , why don’t we all rush in and kill him to eliminate a big harm to the court?”
Immediately, someone in the team responded: "...Yes, today we stormed the prefect's Yamen. It was a feat of petitioning for the people and eradicating traitors for the country!" It’s the festival of death! Let’s smash it together!”
All of a sudden, all kinds of dirt and rubble mixed with old vegetable peels flew towards the magistrate's office like a downpour, forcing the officials and guards to close the door quickly and act like a tortoise. As soon as the door was closed, there was a thumping sound outside, as if countless rubbles and bricks were hitting the door. One of the government officials stepped back a few steps and was hit on the forehead by a stone. Blood immediately flowed out. It looked so scary.
Unexpectedly, even though the Suzhou magistrate's yamen had already given in, these mad-dog-like scholars still refused to give up. They actually cursed loudly through the courtyard wall and continued to throw rocks over the wall into the yamen. Some even set fire to them. The torch was also thrown in!
——In the cities south of the Yangtze River in the late Ming Dynasty, there was a strong sense of resistance in society. It was not uncommon for scholars to organize tax resistance and attack the government. It was recorded in the notes of scholars at that time that "...the custom of scholars in (Jiangnan) was to gather in groups and insult officials. They were good at compiling scripts and period articles, and satirized the bad officialdom, especially in Wuzhong" - in short, it was It is said that these restless students and scholars often like to organize neighbors and neighbors to make troubles, and through songs They used ballads, dramas and novels to expand their influence, launched public opinion attacks and mass movements against the government, and even led brothel prostitutes, hawkers, workers and idle men on the streets to attack the government offices, cause riots, and even set fire to the houses. The purpose is to force the government to make concessions or to force officials to step down.
This situation of scholars taking the lead in making trouble happened almost every year in Jiangnan in the late Ming Dynasty. Because scholars were a privileged class, most officials did not dare to suppress them bloodyly. The final result was often the government compromising and giving in, while the leading scholars became famous and gained both fame and fortune. Even the founders of the early Donglin Party and Fushe used this mass movement to gain prestige. For example, Zhang Pu, the leader of Fushe, once wrote the "Inscription of the Five People" for the five victims of the Suzhou civil uprising in the sixth year of Tianqi's reign, which instantly became famous all over the world.