Daming: At the start of the showdown, Lao Zhu was stunned

Chapter 864 Go with the flow
Qin had studied Chinese studies for a long time, and as far as the chieftain clan was concerned, his knowledge and vision were actually no different from those of the Han people. He had devised this strategy with great care, like cooking porridge over a low fire, the porridge was almost boiling, but no one knew it.

After the establishment of the market in Lianzhou, many chieftains, native tribes, sailors, Fujian merchants, Guangdong merchants, and Nanyang merchants flocked to the city because of Zhu Su's words. The more people there are, the more disputes there are, so there have always been many disputes in this city. Today, the native tribes and sailors have a conflict, and tomorrow, the merchants and chieftains have a dispute. This is a common occurrence. If it were not for this, the governor of Lianzhou, Wang Dabin, would not have petitioned Zhu Su and Li Wenzhong to request the dispatch of soldiers to serve as yamen runners and maintain order.

Therefore, when most of the chaos in Lianzhou City turned from verbal disputes to street riots, Wang Dabin and Xie Jin did not react much. The city was a mixed bag, and some chaos was within Xie Jin's expectations. In his opinion, as long as they were suppressed well and survived this period of pain, everything in the city would naturally get better and better. But when the street riots escalated again and turned into murderous venting, all the chaos that had been suppressed before, like a grenade that suddenly exploded, caught Xie Jin and Wang Dabin off guard.

The Han merchants who came to purchase South Pearls naturally did not come empty-handed. They also set up many stalls and shops in the market to sell sundries. With this bustling market nearby, the ordinary people of the Tu tribes in Lianzhou naturally flocked to the various exquisite Han goods in the market. Many people were attracted by the goods and rushed to the city to purchase. These Tu tribes had lived in the mountains for a long time and were not well-informed in the world. They were often deceived and overcharged by Han merchants.

The Qin clan saw this opportunity and disguised themselves as passers-by and hired servants. With their exaggerated efforts, the friction between the Han merchants and the various native tribes in the city increased significantly.

As a result, constant friction created an increasingly tense atmosphere. Finally, one day, under the deliberate provocation of pretending to be the Han merchants' assistants, a group of Tu customers became angry and verbally abused the Han merchants. The Han merchants, who always felt they were superior, could not tolerate this and immediately retorted, and the quarrel quickly turned into a fight.

The Qin clan members who were mixed in the crowd fanned the flames and added fuel to the fire. The Han merchants and the Tu customers who were united in a group became hot-headed and their resentment erupted. The fight escalated again and turned into looting and smashing against the Han merchants. When the blood and money dazzled people's eyes, the riot was out of control...

When Zhu Su received the letter, the riot had temporarily stopped. Lianzhou Prefecture was originally the territory of Han merchants. There were not many Tu tribesmen shopping in the market, and they were quickly repelled by the Han merchants who shared the same hatred. This was the largest riot since the establishment of Lianzhou Market. In this fight, both Tu people and Han merchants suffered casualties. Xie Jin did not dare to neglect it, so he hurriedly wrote a letter to report to Li Wenzhong and Zhu Su who were outside the city.

"Xiaowu, I'm afraid things are not going well." Li Wenzhong took the letter from Zhu Su and frowned deeply after reading it. "I have been in Lianzhou for some time and I know the temperament of these Tu people very well."

"They live in tribes and have not heard of the king's rule for a long time. If they encounter injustice, they often act without restraint. They also like to call their friends and come and go in droves."

"They have suffered a loss this time, and they may not be able to swallow this bitter anger in their hearts. They will definitely call on their tribesmen to get back at them."

"You and I should hurry back and intimidate the city... Otherwise, I'm afraid the situation in the city will get out of control."

What Li Wenzhong was worried about was the possibility of a large-scale armed fight in Lianzhou City. When it comes to group fighting, it is not just these Tuzu chieftains, but it is actually a fine tradition in all parts of China for thousands of years. From large-scale disputes over land and water sources to small-scale disputes such as villagers being bullied by neighbors or being scolded and damaging the reputation of the village, it is possible to cause a large-scale armed fight between two villages.

This kind of armed fight is difficult to prevent and is often extremely brutal. In two villages in Hunan, 5,000 people were mobilized to engage in the fight. The two sides fought for two days and one night, firing guns and ammunition, and even using heavy weapons such as artillery.

Even in Hunan, a region that had been under the rule of the king for a long time, this was the case, not to mention Lianzhou in this era. The Tu tribes in Lianzhou had always been accustomed to lawlessness, and the emperor was far away, so they only knew their own Tusi, but not who the emperor was. Now that they had suffered a loss of face, it was normal for them to go back and call their tribesmen to come back to get back their place.

In fact, their lawlessness can also be seen from this letter: although both sides had their own reasons for the quarrel, the letter clearly stated that it was the Tu people who took the initiative to smash and destroy things, and even killed the Han merchant who had argued with him. Xie Jin did not dare to exaggerate the letter he sent to Zhu Su. The rule of law was not strong in Lianzhou, so it was not impossible for them to kill people outrageously.

Xie Jin sent this letter, probably with the intention of asking him and Li Wenzhong to return quickly, to use the overwhelming power of the army to intimidate the chieftains of various ethnic groups and stabilize Lianzhou.

Zhu Su stroked his chin, thinking about the pros and cons of this matter. In fact, when he heard about this matter, his first reaction was to return to the army as soon as possible to stabilize the place.

However, after calming down, he suddenly felt that this was not a bad thing. After thinking deeply for a while, he said to Li Wenzhong: "Brother Baoer, the Ming Dynasty stationed troops here to conquer Annan in the future, not to stabilize Lianzhou."

"If Lianzhou needs a large army to deter others in order to be safe, then what will happen to Lianzhou when we go to Annan in the future?"

Li Wenzhong was stunned and asked in confusion: "Xiaowu, what do you mean?"

"The rebellion in Lianzhou was caused by the lack of government prestige, and the local tribes each acted on their own. The root of the evil has long been buried deep. Even if we return, we will only cover it with a layer of soil and bury the root of the evil again."

"Since this is the case, why not go with the flow and expose the root of this evil in broad daylight so that we can eliminate it right away? What we want is long-term peace and stability in Lianzhou, so why should we be sad about this temporary chaos?"

"You want to... let the Lianzhou government solve this matter themselves?" Li Wenzhong asked in surprise.

"In Lianzhou Prefecture, those police officers and the soldiers we left in the city are enough to quell a few rioters." Zhu Su said with a smile. "The reason they are panicking is that they are concerned about the conflict between the Tu people and the Han people. They are reluctant to take action, fearing that the conflict will intensify and ruin our plan to appease the Tusi of Lianzhou and control Lianzhou."

"But in my opinion, a strong and prestigious government is the foundation of Lianzhou's stability... Let's leave this matter to Xie Jin. Once he calms down, he will understand our thoughts." Zhu Su said firmly.

(End of this chapter)