Zhu Erdan was unaware of the argument between Agui and Mingxing, and even if he had known, he wouldn't have cared.
Compared to that, Zhu Erdan was more concerned about the peasant association issue in Laizhou.
The peasant association in Laizhou was not right.
From the time they departed from Yizhou until they reached the borders of Linqu county, they passed by hundreds of villages, large and small, and thus hundreds of peasant associations. All of these hundreds of peasant associations, large and small, were organizing the young and strong in the villages to help transport cannons and supplies. During this rapid march, Zhu Erdan and Geng Rui, the two main officers leading the troops, not only didn't lose weight but even gained two pounds from the food provided by the common people.
However, after entering Laizhou territory, Zhu Erdan clearly felt the difference between the peasant associations in Laizhou and those in Yizhou and Linqu.
The peasant associations here did organize the young and strong to help transport cannons and supplies, and food was also provided. However, the frenzied feeding they had experienced in Linyi Prefecture and Linqu was no longer seen. Even the faces of those young and strong men showed reluctance, completely different from the young and strong men who had helped transport supplies and cannons in Yizhou and Linqu before.
This was very wrong.
If this situation occurred in one or two villages, it could still be勉强 explained. But if it happened in many villages, Zhu Erdan couldn't figure out the reason behind it.
To say that the common people were afraid of disorderly soldiers was pure nonsense. After all, their army's discipline was there for all to see. They neither robbed the people of their property nor ate their food for free. Even their rest was taken collectively at the village entrance, with no one entering the villagers' homes. What was there to be afraid of?
To say that the people of Laizhou were all loyal to the Great Qing was even more absurd. The living conditions of the people in Laizhou were indeed a bit better than those in Yizhou, but only a bit. If the common people were loyal to the Qing court because of this, even Qianlong, the old dog, wouldn't believe it.
Zhu Erdan and Geng Rui, while nibbling on the pancakes in their hands, carefully pondered these abnormal situations.
Their elder brother had once said that even two villages that were closely adjacent might not be in exactly the same situation. For specific problems, specific analysis must be done, and decisions could not be made without on-site investigation.
However, before Zhu Erdan could figure anything out, Geng Rui suddenly spoke, "Have you noticed that the people from the peasant associations and the young and strong who helped us transport supplies and cannons in the five villages we passed earlier seem a bit off?"
Zhu Erdan nodded, "I noticed something was wrong long ago, but I haven't figured out what's wrong with it. Logically speaking, even if the peasant associations in Laizhou didn't welcome us as much as those in Linqu, they shouldn't have been as unwelcoming as those in the first few villages."
Geng Rui hummed and said, "I noticed something, I don't know if you noticed it too."
With that said, Geng Rui closed his eyes, recalling the situation in the previous five villages, and said, "Before this, whether it was the peasant associations in Linqu or our peasant associations in Yizhou, the people from the peasant associations mingled with the young and strong to help us transport supplies and cannons. Their clothes were no different from those worn by the young and strong, all the same dirty and old."
"But the people from the peasant associations in those five villages never lent a hand to the young and strong. Also, although their clothes were similar to those worn by the young and strong, they were clearly cleaner than those worn by the young and strong, looking more like new ones."
"This is very wrong. Logically, the people from the peasant associations, like the young and strong, are all hardship farmers. Especially when helping us transport supplies and cannons, they would intentionally pull out their most worn-out and old clothes. No one would wear clean clothes, let alone new clothes."
"Besides these two points of abnormality, these peasant associations in several villages had no intention of letting us enter the villages at all. They gave me the feeling that they couldn't wait for us to leave as soon as possible."
With Geng Rui's reminder, Zhu Erdan also suddenly came to his senses.
In the villages they passed through south of Linqu and within Qingzhou, the villagers were not afraid of the Menglianggu army. In addition to the peasant associations and young and strong helping to transport supplies and cannons, there were always some half-grown mischievous children who wanted to come and see what a Hongyi cannon looked like. Some young women and married women also hid far away to steal glances.
After arriving in Laizhou, only the people from the peasant associations and the young and strong helped transport supplies and cannons. Not a single half-grown mischievous child was seen, and the figures of young women and married women also disappeared, truly fulfilling the saying that every household was closed.
The more Zhu Erdan thought about it, the more wrong it felt. He immediately put away the pancake in his hand and angrily cursed, "Damn it! We've been hunting geese every day, and now we've been pecked in the eye by the geese! We even praised them before when they said they had dealt with the local bullies and gentry!"
Seeing that Zhu Erdan was about to lose his temper, Geng Rui quickly grabbed him and said, "Don't be anxious! Think about what the boss said before. We need to figure out what's going on here first."
It was not difficult to figure out why the peasant associations in Laizhou were so different from those in Yizhou and Linqu. Soon, Zhu Erdan and Geng Rui learned the reason—
Compared to the Qingzhou region south of Linqu, Laizhou was farther from Yizhou. Although the peasant associations had spread early, the peasant associations that reached Laizhou had Laizhou characteristics, and they were completely different from those in Yizhou.
The reason was that the drought-resistant crop of sweet potatoes was first trial-cultivated in Jiaozhou, which was under Laizhou's jurisdiction, and then slowly promoted throughout Laizhou. In addition, Laizhou was adjacent to the sea on two sides, and the living conditions of the people were much better than those in Yizhou. The influence of local gentry and clan forces was also greater. xxs one
This resulted in the existence of peasant associations in Laizhou, but many of them were dominated by gentry and large families. They resisted grain collection and taxes under the guise of helping the poor, but their oppression of the poor had never stopped.
In other words, many peasant associations in Laizhou had become a barrier between the government and the poor masses. They spoke of the government's corruption among the people, and of the people's stubbornness to the government. This had made the lives of the people in Laizhou, which were barely passable, become unbearable.
Consequently, the people of Laizhou also strongly disliked the term "peasant association" and did not welcome Zhu Erdan's arrival.
The peasant associations that had helped Zhu Erdan and Geng Rui transport supplies and cannons earlier were actually organized by those local bullies and gentry themselves, who forced the young and strong in the villages to help transport supplies and cannons.
However, it was a case of "he who wins the cause, he who loses the cause." The local bullies and gentry and their lackeys had been rampant in the area for a long time. It was already extremely rare for them to organize people to help transport supplies and cannons, so how could they possibly do this arduous work themselves?
As a result, Zhu Erdan and Geng Rui discovered the abnormality.
Now, Zhu Erdan and Geng Rui had two paths before them.
One was to turn back and eliminate those local bullies and gentry village by village, emulating the previous practice in Yizhou Prefecture and establishing true peasant associations.
The other was to temporarily ignore those peasant associations, proceed to Yexian, then to Penglai, completely eliminate the yamen set up by the Great Qing court in Dengzhou and Laizhou, bring the entire Laizhou and Dengzhou into the sphere of influence of Menglianggu, and then slowly deal with those local bullies and gentry.
After convening the discussion with their subordinates, the leaders of various levels, Zhu Erdan and Geng Rui finally decided to turn back and eliminate those local bullies and gentry thoroughly.
Although this would delay the time to capture all of Dengzhou and Laizhou, it would give them a stable rear, and they would have enough confidence to deal with any troops that Agui and Mingxing might send to suppress them.
The most crucial point was that by taking the lead in eliminating the local bullies and gentry in the first few villages, the surrounding villages would follow suit. By the time they captured all of Laizhou, Menglianggu would already have a foundation in Laizhou, unlike the county magistrates of the Great Qing who were kept in the dark by the peasant associations of those local bullies and gentry.
After Zhu Erdan and Geng Rui finished their discussion, they immediately led their men back to Xiaohu Village, east of Luquan Village.
Upon arriving at Xiaohu Village, Zhu Erdan directly ordered his men to surround the entire village and sent people to beat gongs to gather the villagers at the threshing ground. Geng Rui, on the other hand, led his men directly to the home of Master Hu in Xiaohu Village. Although Geng Rui did not know where Master Hu's house was, by looking for the best courtyard in the village, he was sure not to miss it!
At Master Hu's house at this moment, several house guards were beating a man fiercely. Butler Hu was mockingly taunting the man being beaten, "Hu San, Hu San, it's not that I blame you, but you're a tenant, and you're not farming well enough? Master is kind, he has reduced your rent to thirty percent, what more do you want from Master? Huh? You insist Master divide the land to you? Let me tell you, you're dreaming!"
"Master has always told you, whether this world belongs to the Great Qing or those rebels, the peasant association must always belong to Master."
"Master may not be able to afford to provoke those rebels, but those rebels come today and leave tomorrow. What they want is a peasant association, and they want someone to help them transport supplies and cannons. Do you think they have time to care about the lives of you poor wretches?"
"Don't you think about it? What are they fighting for the world so hard? They want to sit on the dragon throne! What about land redistribution, what about acting for the common people, these are just empty words, you just listen and that's it, you actually took them seriously? You even thought of reporting Master to those rebels?"
Speaking of this, Butler Hu actually became extremely angry. He pointed to several house guards and instructed, "Beat him hard! After you finish beating him, hang him up for public display. I'll see who dares to go against our Master in the future!"
The man being beaten, at this moment, could not even resist, let alone wail. He could only use his hands to protect his head and neck tightly, allowing the house guards to beat him wildly.
Just as the beaten man was almost out of breath, a gong sound was heard from outside the courtyard wall of Master Hu's house, followed by the loud shouts of the "rebel" soldiers: "The Menglianggu righteous army is back! Fellow villagers, everyone gather at the threshing ground!"
The several house guards who were beating people stopped as if they had been immobilized. Butler Hu's originally arrogant and overbearing expression also became extremely gloomy. On the contrary, the man who was being beaten suddenly regained his strength, spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva, and cursed, "Beat! Keep beating! They're here to be our masters, you keep beating!"
Butler Hu suddenly came back to his senses, glared at the man, and then shouted at several house guards, "Hide him quickly, I'll go deal with those rebels first!"
Before he finished speaking, the main door of Master Hu's house was suddenly pushed open, and Geng Rui unceremoniously led his men into Master Hu's house, holding a grenade in his hand, and shouted, "Don't move! Everyone kneel down on the spot! Hands on your head!"
From entering the village to arriving at Master Hu's house, the information he had gathered along the way had almost made Geng Rui furious!
Xiaohu Village did have a peasant association, but this peasant association was formed by Master Hu, who relied on his family's wealth and land to gather a group of rascals!
When Zhu Erdan and Geng Rui led their men past Xiaohu Village before, Master Hu first forced the young and strong in the village to transport cannons and supplies for Zhu Erdan and Geng Rui. Afterward, he swallowed the money that Zhu Erdan paid for grain and captured several men in the village who wanted to form a true peasant association and brought them to Master Hu's mansion!