I have a cornucopia

Chapter 229: Ming Dynasty Version of the Sacred Alliance

After meeting with the regent Yang Feng, he went to the cabinet duty room.

A group of ministers are already waiting.

"King of Donghai, if the Jiangxi Four People's Conference really welcomes Li Zicheng, what should we do?"

Ma Shiying said.

Then he also looked at Yuan Jixian.

"Why, Lord Linhou is not confident anymore."

Yang Feng said.

"King of the East Sea, there are always unexpected events. It is always good to be prepared."

Yuan Jixian said.

He is really not very confident!

It's not that he was worried that the designated people would choose Li Zicheng. There was really no need to worry about this, because the government's household registration would be prepared in advance for the people sent by Li Zicheng. Needless to say, the business registers in the local area are mostly a few wealthy merchant families. If the clan leader tells them in advance, no one will dare to do anything stupid. The military registers that have survived until now are actually from a few major families. The escape of military households is itself a process of concentration of high-quality assets. Those who escape are definitely the poorest. There are more or less reasons why they have been able to survive for more than two hundred years without escaping.

Simply put, they are all from several generals' families.

For example, Yang Feng’s home.

In nearly three hundred years, an initial officer can give birth to a large family.

Then, most of the military households in the garrisons that remain today are actually from these families, but only a small number of them have inherited official positions. Now in the garrisons across the country, the remaining military households are basically concentrated in a few big surnames.

Of course, most of these big surnames are also from the lower class.

But it's controllable after all.

The hereditary generals summoned their own clansmen and used a little kindness and force. In addition, the rent and interest reductions that the Jiangxi Elders Association has been promoting, as well as the demonization of Li Zicheng, were basically enough to ensure that there would be no accidents. In the final analysis, the Jiangxi people's perception of Li Zicheng was that he was a bandit who held the emperor hostage to control the princes, a devil who burned, killed, looted, and committed all kinds of evil, ate human flesh, dug the Yellow River, and liked to rob women.

The number of registered craftsmen is limited, and they are dependent on the gentry. After all, they are the most vulnerable in the local area.

We have to rely on the gentry.

Nationality...

The civilian population excludes the scholar population.

Li Zicheng's selection model was to exclude those scholars with honors, including their families, as these people would definitely not support him, and then select those who had not seen scholars in at least three generations, that is, pure peasants.

This is indeed a bit hard to guarantee, after all, there are too many of them, and it is hard to avoid a few accidents.

But it’s no big deal. They can’t all have the same voice, right?

There must be a few people who are loyal to Li Zicheng to show the fairness of this meeting.

But the problem now is that we cannot guarantee the choice of the gentry!
Yuan Ge Lao is from Yuanzhou. Some time ago, Zhu Yiwu captured Pingxiang and Wanzai, and then surrounded Yuanzhou Prefecture, which is his hometown Yichun. Although it was not captured because of the persistence of Yuanzhou militia and Zhu Yiwu's limited strength, he was actually defeated in Yuanzhou and has now retreated to Pingxiang. But Li Zicheng has sent troops to reinforce him, because Huguang has already surrendered. Although Li Zicheng's army is not allowed to enter the city, they dare not stop it from passing. So Li Zicheng sent two generals, He Zhen and Sun Shoufa, to lead their troops into Huguang, and then go south to reinforce Zhu Yiwu's troops.

Huguang remained neutral outside the situation.

They could go directly to Pingxiang, meet up with Zhu Yiwu, and then attack Yuanzhou again.

Under such circumstances, the gentry of Yuanzhou Prefecture were obviously a little discouraged, and some of them had already been secretly colluding with Li Zicheng.

After all, if a real war breaks out, Yuanzhou Prefecture will inevitably become an important battlefield.

In this case……

It’s okay to be neutral outside the matter!

If everyone in Yuanzhou Prefecture supports Li Zicheng at the next Four People's Conference, wouldn't they be able to show their loyalty to Li Zicheng?

If Yuanzhou Prefecture can do this, why not Ruizhou Prefecture?

There are bad people among the gentry too!
"If the Jiangxi Four People's Conference really decides to welcome Li Zicheng, then it must keep its promise."

Yang Feng said.

"King of the East Sea, how can you really let a bunch of fools decide who a province belongs to?"

Gu Xichou immediately became anxious and said without hesitation.

What will happen to Jiangnan then?
"King of Donghai, the Four People's Conference is only a temporary measure. Even if the decision is made by public opinion, it must be made by virtuous gentlemen and knowledgeable people from all regions. Can peddlers and hawkers understand the great principles? It is simply a joke to let such people decide the survival of a province. Who of them can understand national affairs?"

Liu Zongzhou said angrily.

Several other ministers expressed their agreement, and it was obvious that they were all anxious.

Yang Feng smiled.

"Everyone, I understand what you said, but you have to abide by the rules since you agreed to them. No matter what the final result is, even if it is not the result you want, you have to abide by it. Even if you lose, it is your own choice. You are all old, don't you understand this? Everyone has to be responsible for their own choices, even if this choice leads to a result they don't want, but the choice has been made and cannot be regretted.

Or……"

He paused.

Then he spread his hands.

"This is life!"

He said.

Then he left a group of ministers behind and turned around and left.

The ministers behind looked at each other.

Of course, the choices of the elders are not important. The choices of the generals who have already mastered the military power are really important, or the elders behind them. But in the final analysis, it is still the generals. After all, Shen Tingyang has shot Hou Xun in the elders' council. When it comes to the critical moment, it is not impossible for the young generals who have grown up to carry out the heavenly punishment.

At least now, they have the ability and courage.

"This is life!"

Now Yang Feng has actually reached the point where he has to accept defeat.

Once Jiangxi chose to kneel, Li Zicheng would give them face, at least temporarily. After all, the Jiangxi gentry had already demonstrated their strength. What they wanted was for Li Zicheng to move eastward instead of southward. If they showed their submission to Li Zicheng and withdrew all the militias downstream and stopped resisting, then Li Zicheng would probably continue to move eastward. And then the problem arose. The young and vigorous faction headed by Chen Zilong and others would definitely resist. Even if the elders chose to kneel, there would probably be young and vigorous factions forcing them to resist. It was just a military remonstration, wouldn't the militias know how to do it? Like Shen Tingyang last time, he directly broke into Xuanmiao Temple with his guns and soldiers. If any of the elders dared to surrender, he would be shot dead.

The young and vigorous generation will support it.

Then the old men in the Elders' Council had no choice but to resist obediently.

After all, since we have chosen the militia model, we have to accept the consequences of the militia model, or the danger of disintegration.

The new scholars are all very enthusiastic.

Now Chen Zilong and his gang can be said to be heroes in Jiangnan. All the scholars regard them as role models and cheer for them. Once they raise their arms, at least before they are defeated, the scholars in Jiangnan will still be full of ambition and follow them to fight for glory and property.

Then war is inevitable.

Even massive, sustained resistance.

You have to know that these new scholars were the ones who resisted to the end in the original history. They were unwilling to accept the rule of a foreign race, and they were also unwilling to accept heresy like Li Zicheng. And Li Zicheng probably did not have the ability of the Qing Dynasty in the original history.

If Jiangnan really wanted to carry out resistance similar to that in original history, Li Zicheng would really be unable to solve it. Once he was stuck in the quagmire of war in Jiangnan, Dorgon, Wu Sangui, and Zhang Xianzhong behind him would all take action. At that time, he could only admit defeat. Once he gave up conquering Jiangnan, Jiangxi and Huguang would no longer surrender.

The end result is disintegration.

Even the current barely maintained situation will collapse as a result.

The Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms model was truly launched.

"So, now you think you have the ability to influence the situation?"

Yang Feng turned and looked at Liu Wenxiu who was with Yang Guanguang.

The latter came in secret.

Of course, it cannot be said to be a secret. At least the court knew it. He actually came to Nanjing as an official sent by Wang Yingxiong. He came via the post station, but when passing through Huguang, he avoided Li Zicheng's war zone, went from Hengyang to Ji'an, and then took a boat downstream along the Ganjiang River.

"King of Donghai, at least we think it's okay. This is the memorial we submitted to the King of Shu, and then the King of Shu accepted it. Since the court has already issued an order that the princes of various places have the responsibility to protect the local areas, we, as bandits in Sichuan, have surrendered to the King of Shu, so the King of Shu does not need to report to the court again. It is okay to accept us first and then report. Therefore, we are already good citizens who have been recruited and settled on the spot by the King of Shu. Since we are good citizens, now that the people's will is in power, and Li Zicheng has also agreed to decide the place by the people's will, it is reasonable for us good citizens to refuse to obey the Xi'an court based on the will of the people in Sichuan.

And it's not just us.

Yunnan and Guizhou will also join. If Your Majesty does not allow us to obey the orders of the Nanjing Regent, then we can only obey the King of Shu.

The three southwestern provinces all respect the King of Chu.”

Liu Wenxiu said with a smile.

"What about Zhang Xianzhong?"

Yang Feng said.

“He is the head of the Sichuan Elders Association, but he can also accept the position of tutor to the King of Shu.

Next, the Sichuan Elders Association will send envoys, together with the elders from Guizhou and Yunnan, to Nanjing to petition the Regent, asking the Regent to accept their request and to submit a petition to Your Majesty on their behalf, asking Your Majesty to place the three southwestern provinces under the jurisdiction of the Regent, and to appoint Zhang Xianzhong as the tutor of the King of Shu, and to appoint us as the King of Shu’s guards.”

Liu Wenxiu said.

"In order to protect their safety, will you send a large army to escort them out of Sichuan?
Drive the warships behind Li Zicheng?"

Yang Feng said.

Liu Wenxiu smiled and nodded.

Therefore, Zhang Xianzhong has formed an alliance with Wang Yingxiong, and the Duke of Qian has also joined. The three of them are preparing to play the Southwest Mutual Protection and send troops out of Sichuan to threaten Li Zicheng from the upper reaches. If they really leave Sichuan, it will indeed change the situation. After all, He Tengjiao will definitely not stop them, and he may even join them. In the final analysis, the Huguang gentry is also full of hatred for Li Zicheng, but they can't beat him and don't want to fight. But if this is the case, their courage will suddenly grow, and the Southwest Group, which has the upper advantage, will make Li Zicheng fall into a situation of being attacked from both sides.

"Zhang Xianzhong is actually already waiting at Kuimen, right? Your combination is really surprising!"

Yang Feng said.

Liu Wenxiu smiled.

"King of the East Sea, we all just want to learn from you. We have no other thoughts and just want to live a peaceful life in our own territory.

But Li Zicheng will not allow us to do so.

He can't afford to offend you, but he is powerful enough to deal with us."

He said.

In the final analysis, it is now a separatist mentality.

With this mentality, whoever has the ability to end this state of division will be everyone's common enemy.

Zhang Xianzhong was satisfied with his current territory, and the Sichuan remnant group headed by Wang Yingxiong was also satisfied with the restoration of peace. After all, if they really fought, they would most likely be killed by Zhang Xianzhong, and the Duke of Qian also liked this state. Although the chieftains of Yunnan did rebel constantly, as long as there was no civil servant to hinder them, Mu Tianbo and his Yunnan military households were enough to deal with it. Originally, in history, it was only because Hongguang was over that the mentality of the chieftains of Yunnan changed completely.

Emperor Zhu is gone, so why do we need Duke Mu?

But not yet!
Continuous rebellion is inevitable. Their rebellion is as common as playing with a dog out of boredom, but the Yunnan chieftains have not yet launched a full-scale rebellion.

On the contrary, the lack of constraints from the imperial court made the local forces headed by the Mu family all happy.

Mu Tianbo also likes to establish his own regime!
The Mu family was indeed loyal to the Zhu family, but their loyalty to the Zhu family did not conflict with their secession of Yunnan. They could have continued to be loyal to the Zhu family while secessioning Yunnan. The Mu family had always regarded Yunnan as their territory since their ancestors, and they dared to drive King Min out. Under such circumstances, the three families, which could have been irreconcilable, actually formed a strange alliance. The bandits, the local garrison military officials, and the gentry...

This is simply the Ming version of the blasphemous alliance.

Their combination is a blasphemy against the word loyalty.

When Chongzhen found out, he was so angry that he vomited blood.

"What do you want?"

Yang Guanguang asked.

“They got the results they wanted.”

Yang Feng said.

Or in other words, as long as no one can unify the world, that's what they want.

Liu Wenxiu was still smiling.

"Let's wait for the results of the Jiangxi Four People's Conference!"

Yang Feng said.

"King of the East Sea, is this the result you want so badly?"

Liu Wenxiu said.

"What do you mean?"

Yang Feng said.

"This is a result that no one will abide by. Li Zicheng will not abide by it, and neither will the local gentry. When I came from Ji'an, the local gentry associations in several counties on the road were scolding the Elders Association. The Ji'an Local Sages Association is already preparing for war, building a new city, casting cannons, and preparing to announce that they will refuse to recognize the result if the result is not what they want.

When we passed Hukou, those militias were also preparing for battle. Once the Jiangxi Four People's Conference accepted Li Zicheng, they would raid Nanchang and control Nanchang in advance to resist. They didn't even betray anyone, and even people like me who were passing by could see their posters.

What is the significance of this meeting?

Who would really let a group of ordinary people decide on such an important matter?
Who cares about their decision? "

Liu Wenxiu said.

"I care!

The rules must become the rules. Once you accept the rules, you must abide by them. No matter who you are or what the consequences are, you must abide by them. "

Yang Feng said very directly.

Yang Feng knew that the armies in Hukou were not prepared to accept a result that was not to their liking. However, he was unaware that the gentry in Nan Gan were already preparing for war, so none of these guys took the Four People's Conference seriously!

(End of this chapter)