Chapter 230: Hong Chengchou’s Thoughts

Hong Chengchou, his enthusiasm for conversation ignited, began to speak at length.

It turned out that Wang Er had not been idle during this recent period.

After leaving Chengcheng County, he first entered Yijun County, rallied an army of six thousand, captured Yijun County, beheaded the county magistrate—this much was still known to everyone.

Next, Wang Er continued moving north.

He knew that the nearer he was to Xi’an, the easier it would be for the officials to pursue and suppress him. To stay safe, he had to go even further north. Thus, he passed through Yijun County and entered Luochuan, where he joined forces with Bu Zhan Ni (Not Sticky Mud).

After a brief period together, Wang Er took a dislike to Bu Zhan Ni’s character and no longer wished to associate with him. He continued north and soon reached the outskirts of Yan’an Prefecture.

Hong Chengchou said, “Just as Wang Er arrived at Yan’an Prefecture, the King of Disruption from Ansei also rose in rebellion.”

Hearing the words “King of Disruption,” Li Daoxuan paused slightly but immediately understood. It was still too early—this King of Disruption was not Li Zicheng, but the first generation, Gao Yingxiang from Ansei.

It was still the early stage of the peasant uprising. Gao Yingxiang, not wanting to implicate his clan, had not revealed his real name. Instead, he fought under the alias “King of Disruption.” He would not reveal his true name for another two years. So apart from Li Daoxuan, no one knew his real identity at this time.

Hong Chengchou continued, “Wang Er and the King of Disruption from Ansei combined their forces, greatly boosting their momentum. Their total troop count exceeded ten thousand. However, Yan’an Prefecture was a prefectural city, impossible for them to capture. The two bypassed the city and continued north, soon reaching the Yulin region…”

Thirty-Two whispered, “Is the Yulin region also in rebellion?”

Hong Chengchou chuckled, “You are correct. The Yulin region was also in turmoil. Suide’s Zijin Liang (Purple Golden Beam) and Fugu’s Wang Jiayin had just risen in rebellion. Wang Er, the King of Disruption, Wang Jiayin, and Zijin Liang united. Four rebel leaders gathered together, their forces numbering tens of thousands, creating an immense uproar.”

Hearing this, everyone’s faces involuntarily showed expressions of dread.

Had the bandit army outside unknowingly reached the scale of tens of thousands?

Hong Chengchou: “Wang Jiayin, originally a soldier in the border army, was skilled in archery and horse riding and knew how to train soldiers and forge weapons. Wang Er, renowned as the foremost rebel in the land—these two men together, one drawing large numbers of outlaws with his reputation alone, the other training the rebels using border army methods…”

At this point, Hong Chengchou even spoke with amusement: “‘The rebellion resolved itself by next spring!’ Ha! ‘The rebellion resolved itself by next spring!’ Truly, it makes this official laugh himself to death. If anyone had reported bandits causing chaos this time last year, the Provincial Governor would have indiscriminately had them beaten without investigating, refusing to admit bandits existed at all. Ha ha ha ha… Look at us now! You didn’t say anything, I didn’t say anything, nobody said anything, and now the bandits number tens of thousands. Now they have to speak. I wonder if his head hurts or not?”

Everyone: “…”

After a long silence, Thirty-Two sighed, “This endless turmoil ultimately harms the common people, alas. Master Hong, I have limited foresight and knowledge. I don’t know, in the end, how this rebellion can be resolved?”

Hong Chengchou had long harbored many thoughts in his mind, troubled by having no one with whom to share them. Now being asked directly, he reasoned that speaking here posed no risk and simply continued expounding: “The scourge of the roaming bandits began with natural disasters, and these disasters show no sign of being resolved in the short term. Therefore, pacifying the bandits is useless. Even if temporarily pacified, they will rebel again sooner or later once they run out of grain. To truly quell this rebellion, in the end, all the bandits must be exterminated.”

Thirty-Two: “Killing them all is too contrary to Heaven’s harmony. Could we instead consider that if there were sufficient grain to eat, extermination might not be necessary?”

“Exactly! If there were sufficient grain to pacify them, extermination wouldn’t be necessary.” Hong Chengchou said, “Yet the realm suffers severe drought, and this drought shows no sign of ending. Where could sufficient grain be found? Unless Heaven itself intervened…”

He shook his head, “Therefore, in the end, the only solution is complete extermination.”

From his position, he could see no path forward other than killing.

Li Daoxuan too sighed inwardly. Although he was not aligned with the Ming court and had no intention of helping them, if viewed from the Ming court’s perspective, exterminating these roaming rebels was undoubtedly the best, or indeed, the only solution to the problem.

During the late Ming Dynasty, several Provincial Governors and Viceroys adopted a policy of pacification towards the roaming rebels—men like Yang He and Xiong Wencan presided over such efforts. Yet without exception, they failed.

Why?

The reason was simple: pacifying people obligated the government to provide them food, farmland—a means to survive. If it couldn’t do this, how could pacification succeed?

But the Ming court’s finances were dire; it couldn’t provide sufficient food.

With natural disasters rampant, the Ming court couldn’t provide an environment capable of producing grain.

Several pacification attempts ultimately failed. Instead, they gave the bandits respite. The bandits pretended to accept pacification, ate the court’s grain for a while, rested, then promptly rebelled again. They stirred up chaos anew, coercing even more peaceful citizens into banditry, further ruining productive capacity and reducing food yield.

With productivity shattered, grain yields sank even lower. Ultimately, this led to a deficit capable of starving tens of millions.

With such a massive shortfall, this many people had to die for the survivors to have enough food to endure the famine year.

Therefore, the only correct solution for the Ming court at the time should have been to abandon the naive idea of appeasement early in the rebellion, fight desperately to annihilate the rebels, protect the common people who hadn’t rebelled, and safeguard productive forces. Only then could they prevent the food shortage from worsening further, ensuring fewer deaths later.

However, a brutal crackdown from the start would have been too cruel and inhuman. Apart from the Manchus, Zhang Xianzhong, and a few authors of wish-fulfillment web novels, no one else could bring themselves to do it.

So, the Ming court could only oscillate between appeasement and suppression, indecisively switching tactics.

Fortunately, Li Daoxuan could counter natural disasters.

He wasn’t on the same side as the Ming court. He had the confidence to avoid the “kill them all” approach. He had ample grain; the only thing lacking now was talent capable of managing all aspects of the situation…

Li Daoxuan spoke: “Ask Hong Chengchou: if there really were someone who could solve the food problem, what would he do?”

Gao Yiye quickly whispered the question into Thirty-Two’s ear.

Thirty-Two steadied his gaze and said solemnly: “Master Hong, please forgive my presumption despite our shallow acquaintance… I dare to ask: if someone could provide you with sufficient food…”

Hong Chengchou snorted lightly: “If there really were enough food, it would be simple. Execute those worthless thieves who have no sense of restraint and keep flip-flopping. Then appease the good people who were forced to become bandits, giving them enough food. This bandit menace could naturally be quelled.”

Saying this, he couldn’t help but sigh: “But this is ultimately just wishful thinking. Firstly, I cannot produce that much grain. Secondly, I am merely a humble fourth-rank Grain Transportation Commissioner, a minor official overseeing grain shipments. How could monumental decisions like this fall to me? Leaving it to those foolish, senile idiots to handle this affair will only make an utter mess.”

The method he described was precisely what Li Daoxuan was already implementing. Li thought to himself: This man’s capability is strong, and he has yet to commit any misdeeds. If I could recruit him into Gaojia Village as one of my people before he becomes corrupt, depriving him of the opportunity to fall—with such ability, he might actually be of use.

Alas…

Securing a fourth-rank official outright to become one of his own wouldn’t be easy. A mere display of divine power wouldn’t make such a man instantly prostrate himself in worship.

The higher the rank, the greater the lust for power, and the pettier the schemes and tricks become. If I were to “reveal my divinity” to him, showing the hand like Thanos, he would most likely kneel immediately, feign submission, and pretend utter obedience. Yet once he stepped beyond my sight, he’d flee far away, never setting foot in Gaojia Village again in his lifetime. That’s how cunning and slippery such men were.

For now, it had to be abandoned.

Let it be as fate decides.

During the Wanli era of the Ming Dynasty, the population was approximately over 100 million. By the end of the Ming and the start of the Qing, only 50 or 60 million remained – tens of millions had died.

The famine ceased in the early Qing partly because the Little Ice Age ended, and partly because tens of millions had perished. The reduction in population by tens of millions decreased food consumption, ensuring that enough grain finally sufficed for those left.

Simply put, during the Little Ice Age, with food supplies dwindling, the grain of the entire realm could no longer feed its entire population. Tens of millions had to die; there was no other solution…

The peasant uprising at the end of the Ming was essentially a selection process — to survive, eliminate others to guarantee food ended up in one’s own belly.

If you couldn’t conjure food out of thin air, even as a time traveler, you couldn’t save those tens of millions. They had to die – whether from starvation, execution by the Ming army, slaughter by the peasant rebels, or killing by the Qing troops. Regardless of the method of death, they were destined to die, because the grain shortfall was unsolvable.

This was a tragically helpless matter. Without the golden hand, no one sent there would possess any strategy to counter it.