Some of them ran to Florida in search of freedom.
The passage is not showing up, but in general Gargantuan essentially means massive or large
The Tang Dynasty of China when faced with rebellion from General An Lushan in their northern territories sought outside support from mercenary forces. This was done a number of times during the rebellion, these mercenaries were typically Arab, however, we also have examples of soldiers brought from Uighur to fight with the Tang and numbered in the thousands in the fight against Lushan's forces.
With the help of mercenary forces, the Tang were able to take back several important capital cities of China and effectively eliminated the rebellion of Lushan, as well as his later supporters and successors.
Opium became a major issue of contention between the Qing dynasty and the British.
