Shifu advised his students to go through the palace collection of essays, newspapers and magazines about Gongmen society before they sat off. They needed to understand their enemy as it was unlike anything they had come across.
Po and the Five obeyed their teacher's advice. After Po started his study, he admitted that he had no idea about China's current political and economic situation let alone Gongmen society, because he was only interested in Kungfu and food, and study these two topics exclusively.
Fortunately, Crane and Viper are willing to lend help and go through the materials with Po together.
They studied the history of The Peafowl Family of Gongmen City which was the founder of Gongmen Society, and the early history of Gongmen Society first. They were well-documented and understood. Po had learnt the following.
Gongmen City was one of the major maritime trade centres of Guangdong Province, and it was also the home of a Peafowl Family with the family name Shen. They owned a family business named "Gongmen Pyrotechnics". The company manufactured fireworks, gunpowder, firearms and ammunition. Unproven legend said they were the inventor of fireworks.
The Peafowl Family was a close collaborator with the founding emperor. The Peafowl family supplied most of the guns, firearms and ammunition used by the Emperor's army. The emperor's campaign of unifying China could not have succeeded without this material support.
When the current dynasty was established about 200 years ago, the founding Emperor rewarded the hereditary title of King of Gongmen City to the patriarch of The Peafowl family. However, the Kings did not rule over the city as feudal fiefs, local officials continued to be subject to the central government. The family members were not allowed to enter civil services and the armed forces.
Each successive King or Lord Shen stayed away from politics and focused their effort on their family business "Gongmen Pyrotechnics".
By the 1850s, "Gongmen Pyrotechnics" had become one of the largest manufacturing companies in China and was one of the major defense contractors of the Imperial Armed Force. Its products were sold all across China and exported to the Asian region. The numerous manufacturing complexes of the company made Gongmen one of the few industrial cities in China.
"Gongmen Pyrotechnics" was the largest employer of the city and was crucial to the city's economy. The company included a mostly self-contained model village within the city, where it provided housing, healthcare, education, and entertainment for the company employees and their family members. The Peafowl Family received prestige and the loyalty of their employees and their families by giving them decent working and living conditions.
Also in 1850, the previous King of Gongmen City ("The King") founded the Gongmen Society, with himself as Chairperson. At that time, the organization was a charity. It provided preschool and primary education, healthcare and mediation affordable to the poor population in Gongmen.
The Peafowl Family were liked by the Gongmen population and were influential even though they did not have actual power.
In 1866, the turning point had come for The Peafowl Family and The Gongmen Society.
During the 1840s to 1860s, the country was struck by several waves of large-scale peasant rebellions. These peasant rebellions were caused by severe social inequality, exorbitant levies and natural disasters.
The corrupted Imperial government and armed forces could not suppress the revolts on their own. As a result, the government allowed local gentry and nobles to establish militia with the purpose of assisting the government in suppressing revolts. In a few years, countless militia popped up all across the country which became a threat to local law and order.
In 1866, the central government established a new executive post called militia commander in every city. Militia commanders were usually local nobles or retired officials and were the head of the city's militia. The King was appointed as the militia commander of Gongmen City.
In the same year, the Gongmen Society established itself as a political party. It stated that China was an underdeveloped country and was under the threat of economic colonization by Western Countries. Chinese society was feudal, as were its politics, economy and culture. The only way to save China was to start a bourgeois-democratic revolution and get rid of the feudal politics, economy and culture in the process.
The Society established Gongmen Peasant Association ("Peasant Association"). The Peasant Association was small at first which consisted of several Society members and no more than 100 pleasants. The membership of the Peasant Association grew exponentially after it successfully defended poor pleasants from the suppression of local tyrants, evil gentry and lawless landlords.
By 1870, the membership of the Peasant Association had grown to a million and had become the dominant force in Gongmen City especially in rural areas.
The Society defined the relationship between The Society, the Peasant Association and the government as follows. The Society led the Peasant Association which meant Society members and its political allies occupied the majority of leadership positions. The Peasant Association collaborated with the government and acted as a consultant and legislative agency. The government announced all executive orders and laws, and the Peasant Association reinforced them among the masses.
From 1866 to 1870, The Society and Peasant Association brought a series of positive changes.
In the rural area, the Peasant Association became the sole authority and exercised power granted by the government, for example, mediation of civil disputes. Local tyrants, evil gentry and lawless landlords were removed from power. Enlightened gentry, landlord clan elders and clan administrators could not exercise their power unless they were members of the Peasant Associations.
After negotiations between the Peasant Association and the government, the latter abolished exorbitant levies. The Peasant Association also combat usury. It established Gongmen Bank which offered low-interest loans to the masses. The government reaffirmed that usury was not recognised according to the law. As a result, usury disappeared almost completely.
Besides that, Books and accounts of land and property ownership were audited and updated, and such records served as the basis of tax calculations. New roads and embankments were built, and existing ones were repaired.
On the military aspect, The King nominally controlled all militia in Gongmen City. Therewere three types of militia. The first was The Peafowl Army established by theSociety. It was a small private army consisting of professional soldiers. The second was the militia of The Peasant Association which The Society indirectly controlled. The last were militia controlled by gentry and clans. The King organized a campaign against local bandits. Tens of thousands of militia were mobilized. They swept every hill and wood and guarded every road intersection and village. Bandits no nowhere to hide. At the end of the campaign, the banditry was eliminated, and incompetent militia controlled by the gentry and clans were disbanded.
Masses in other parts of Guangdong province were inspired and motivated by the achievement of the Gongmen Society and Gongmen Peasant Association. In 1870, pleasant associations appeared in every part of the province.
It brought great alarm to the provincial and central government. They decided to outlaw all peasant associations except the one in Gongmen otherwise it was going to be the beginning of a new large-scale peasant revolt. In the regions outside of Gongmen, police and pro-government militias were sent out to disband peasant associations and used lethal force whenever there was resistance. The peasant associations were forced to go underground.
Although the central government did not announce the solution to the Gongmen Society and Gongmen Peasant Association, The Society decided to strike first. In December of 1870, Gongmen City revolted against the empire and the war began.
Materials about the course of the war were fragmented and often contradicted each other. The government placed censorship on news related to the Gongmen Society. There were only news reports and propaganda from the government side and all publications from 's territory were banned.
Despite this, Po could still piece things together and draw out the course of the war during the last 18 years.
When The Society decided to revolt, the Gongmen government joined their side. They ordered all militia controlled by the gentry and clan must be disbanded and surrender all weapons. Militias that disobeyed this order were wiped out. It was rumoured that The Society slaughtered and burned down an entire Panda Village because they did not disband their clan militia.
Then, The Society's Force, which consist of the Peafowl Army and Peasant Association Milita, stormed nearby cities and caught them by surprise. The Society received support from the local underground peasant association and The Society's Force grew exponentially. Within a few months, The Society took Guangdong province and cleared out all pro-government forces.
Then, the war entered the Attrition Stage. During the first 3 years, the imperial army launched multiple offensives into Guangdong and The Society repelled them successfully. In the fourth year, The Society went into offensive, and the Society Force made their way into neighbouring Guangxi, Hunan, Jiangxi and Fujian provinces.
These provinces had been the frontline to this day. The imperial government formally controlled most areas of these provinces. At the same time, they designated many areas as "Unsecured Area" where there were Peafowl Rebels activities. Anyone with common sense could come up with the conclusion that The Society successfully set up numerous base areas in these provinces. The actual area that the imperial government controlled was much smaller.
Despite the imperial government referred The Society as "rebels", both sides maintained diplomatic relationships. Firstly, there had been numerous rounds of peace talks. No meaningful result was achieved, however. Secondly, The emperor did not remove the King's title. When The King was killed during the war, the title of King of Gongmen was inherited by his only surviving son who was a white peacock.
The situation within the territory of the Gongemn Society was a mystery. Since the government banned all news from The Society, there was only government propaganda available. Government propaganda portrayed The Society as a tyrant and the population under its rule lived miserably. Po did not believe such propaganda because The Society could not stand against the vastly more powerful imperial army if they were the horrific monster the government described.
Po also unexpectedly discovered his babyhood during this study. Since Po could remember, Po knew he was adopted. His adoptive father Mr Ping found him in a crate of radishes and no one in the valley had a clue about his panda parents. When Po saw pictures of the Flag of the Peafowl Army and the white peacock Lord Shen, it triggered a series of flashbacks about the destruction of a village, his mother's face, and a white peacock. The secret of his past was within Gongmen City.
At the same time, he was kind of glad that he grew up and lived in the Valley of Peace. The weather was good for farming most of the time and there was no shortage of food. It was peaceful and was not ravaged by war. His life was much better than most people in China. His story may not have such a happy beginning, but he is having a happy life.
Author note:
The family name of Gongmen Peafowl Nobles is Shen "沈". It means Lord Shen's father is also called Lord Shen.
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