I have a cornucopia

Chapter 302 Stability overrides everything!

As soon as Yan Shenggong landed in Zhejiang, he killed a scholar on the charge of heresy...

That's what the newspaper said.

As for the fact that the latter shot him first, and that he actually asked Li Zhifang to be sent to the capital, and that he did not order any killing, of course no one cared. In short, the news that quickly spread in newspapers everywhere was that Duke Yansheng killed Zhejiang scholars on the charge of heresy as soon as he got off the boat, and he also pointed at the latter's corpse and roared that he was here to carry out the execution of Shao Zhengmao for Confucius.

heresy!

You heretics!

His roar echoed across both sides of the Yinjiang River.

Nanjing.

"Her Majesty will not interfere."

Facing Yuan Jixian, who personally returned to the capital to ask Her Majesty the Queen to intervene in the Jingnan Army, King Yang made his position very clear.

"First, the slogan of the Jingnan Army is Jingnan, which is to avenge the late emperor and the murder of the empress's father. So what reason does the empress have to interfere?
Do you still want filial piety?

Or wasn’t the late emperor killed by the Senate?
We all know the truth. I also know that the elders from Jiangxi collectively opposed it, but ultimately failed to stop the decision of the elders from Zhejiang and Nanzhili. I have investigated this very clearly. I even have the recording of the elders' meeting at that time. If you still insist that the order for the militia to attack Xijiangkou was not issued by the elders' meeting, then I can take out this recording and let's listen to what the truth is.

Second, even if the case of the assassination of the late emperor has not been fully solved, we cannot say that the Zhejiang Elders Association and local village associations were all involved. It can be investigated. As long as they agree to lay down their arms, I will conduct a thorough investigation of the case. If they are guilty, their entire clan will be exterminated. If they are not guilty, they will be cleared of all charges. I can also ask the Empress to order the Jingnan Army to stop the attack.

Would the Zhejiang Elderly Association be willing?
Third, Her Majesty the Queen also knows that the Jingnan Army did kill too many people, but now is different from the past. Her Majesty the Queen claims to be the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, but in reality, her orders do not leave Nanjing, just like the Zhou emperor. Local areas have their own armies, which are even stronger than the imperial court. The Confucius and Mencius Knights are Shandong's own soldiers. First, they do not receive imperial pay, and second, they are not imperial officials. It is a favor for them to listen to the Queen, and there is nothing wrong with not listening to the Queen.

The Ming Dynasty is no longer the Ming Dynasty of the past. It has long been a region of separatist regimes. But don’t you in Jiangxi still have tens of thousands of elite militia?

Her Majesty the Queen can’t do anything about it.

How does she manage?
She is just an eighteen-year-old girl. Last time, even the imperial palace was captured by the militia, and the eunuchs and palace maids around her were killed, but she couldn't do anything about it. How could you ask her to take care of those elite troops who have tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of soldiers?

She doesn't have that ability!
Can the Zhou emperor control Qi, Chu, Jin and Qin?
Could Emperor Dezong of Tang Dynasty control the three towns of Heshuo?
I can’t control it!
She doesn't have that ability!
Wouldn't it be difficult for her if you asked her to take care of it?
If things get out of hand one day and he becomes like Emperor Dezong of Tang, and he travels to Yue in a royal carriage, wouldn't we be sinners? The Ming Dynasty has been in such chaos until now, and it has finally stabilized. The most important thing now is to maintain stability and not have any more chaos. The rest can be taken slowly. Even if there are still a few prefectures fighting, we can't mess up the whole country just for these few prefectures, right?
If Emperor Dezong of Tang had appeased the people properly, the rebellion in Hebei would not have turned into a chaos in the whole country!
Stablize!

Stability is everything!"

Then King Yang put on a face like someone commenting on the Chinese national football team and continued to explain.

Yuan Jixian was completely blocked. After all, he said that stability overrides everything. This basically blocked all possibilities of reasoning. And the separatist regimes, weren't you the one who led this? Now you are pretending to be innocent. Didn't you create the Confucian Knights? You are also a Confucian Knight! Of course, this was also blocked long ago, because the Confucian Knights Jingnan was based on voluntary participation, and the knights could participate or not. After all, there were still some knights who did not participate, including the knights in Lunan and Subei headed by Yang Feng, and some knights who stayed behind to defend the Jianlu line. None of them participated.

So it is on a voluntary basis.

As for the recording of the meeting of the Elders...

Yang Feng definitely has this. Even if Yuan Jixian doesn't understand what kind of magic the recording is, he is sure that Yang Feng definitely has this thing.

Of course, this is true.

How could Yang Feng not plant a spy in the Council of Elders? The recording was simpler. The decision to attack Xijiangkou was indeed made by the Council of Elders. After all, no old fox would give the order himself. The elders from Jiangxi did oppose the meeting. Of course, their opposition was not out of loyalty to Chongzhen, but purely because they were ready to sing the song of conquest to Li Zicheng.

Then there is no need to worry about things downstream. Whether there is an attack or not has nothing to do with Jiangxi.

Then why not be more detached?
Of course, the decision of the Senate was definitely not to kill Chongzhen with cannons, but the reason why the Jiangxi elders opposed it was that it was easy to accidentally injure Chongzhen. This reason was refuted by Shui Tailiang. His reason was that he was loyal to the Ming Dynasty and Chongzhen was no longer worthy of being a king. In this case, they should not stop because of concerns about his safety...

Then he received unanimous support from most of the elders.

That's enough.

It can be said that the Senate murdered the king.

Anyone who agreed to attack Xijiangkou could be exterminated along with their entire family, and even those who opposed it were accomplices, and even if they were accomplices, they could still be exterminated along with their entire family. So if Yang Feng were to investigate, he could really label all the gentry in Jiangnan as rebels. Although the decision was made by the Council of Elders, the elders were elected by the local elders' councils. Moreover, the explanation of the elders' council was also very clear. The elders went to Nanjing to form the Council of Elders, which represented the local elders' councils, and their decisions were the decisions of the local elders' councils.

Including regicide.

The Elders' Association is elected by local hometown associations.

Similarly, when local associations of local elders elected elders, similar statements were made...

This is called collective punishment.

It is very easy to implicate tens of thousands of people by exterminating three clans.

However, Yang Tinglin, who came with Yuan Jixian at this time, heard something else.

"Your Majesty, what you mean is that if you want Her Majesty to intervene, you have to first resolve the local situation and disband the militias in various places?"

He said.

"There's no need to disband them. Just reorganize them into the imperial army."

Yang Feng said.

Yang Tinglin smiled slightly.

Indeed, it was easy to rebuild after disbanding, and there was no shortage of weapons. Every place had its own military industry, and the militia was composed of gentry clans. When the time came, the clan leader could complete the reconstruction with a word. But it was different to reorganize the imperial army, because it could be transferred. When the time came, the generals were replaced and transferred away from their hometowns. The Jiangxi militia was transferred to Shanxi to attack Wu Sangui.

Then after several battles, their resources were almost completely consumed.

Without these battle-hardened veterans, it will be difficult to rebuild the local area.

After all, this was the result of years of continuous war.

In short, the key is for local gentry to abandon the armed forces they have worked so hard to build.

Then this is a serious problem.

This means that the gentry will give up their military power, surrender the power they have finally gained over the years, lose their bargaining chips with the court, and return to the past when they were governed by the court and local officials, and once again face an emperor who has the power of life and death. Moreover, unlike the courts in the past that were controlled by civil officials, the empress backed by Yang Feng will be as powerful as Emperor Taizu Gao...

That would be terrible.

The Ming gentry did not want to return to the dark ages of Emperor Taizu Gao.

Although they shouted "Emperor Taizu Gao" and kowtowed to the Xiaoling Mausoleum, in fact, in their hearts, they hoped that the Xiaoling Mausoleum would be forever solid and that the devil-like soul would be sealed forever. But if they surrendered their weapons and showed their true colors, the seal would be broken. He wanted the Zhejiang gentry to give up resistance, lay down their weapons and accept investigation, so that the Jingnan Army would stop. The real purpose was to play the same trick as Emperor Taizu Gao. When the time came, a big prison would be held. No matter whether the Zhejiang gentry participated in the regicide case, he would say that you participated, and if you didn't, you would be severely punished. In the end, it was the same as the big prisons of Emperor Taizu Gao. The Zhejiang families were cleared out and their land was confiscated. He was even more cruel than Emperor Taizu Gao. After all, Emperor Taizu Gao was not a demon, and he had to control his degree to avoid forcing the Jiangnan families to rebel or kill him.

But Yang Feng is different.

He is a monster.

He is not afraid.

Kill him?
Who in the Ming Dynasty could defeat him? So he would be more ruthless than Emperor Taizu Gao.

It can be said that handing over the militia is tantamount to inviting death.

If he doesn't hand over the militia, he will continue to let the Jingnan Army and Li Zicheng's subordinates attack, but the unlucky ones will be the six prefectures in the south of the Yangtze River. Moreover, since the empress will not interfere in the war, the Jiangxi militia can send troops to help the Zhejiang militia.

It even includes militia groups from other places.

This is not just a battle for interests, but also a battle for power between local governments and the imperial court.

In the past, the gentry had endured without military force, but now that they have tasted the taste of holding the army, it is impossible for them to give up. Who would give up something that has already been obtained? Moreover, although the traditional gentry did criticize Huang Zongxi's theory, in fact, most of the gentry were beginning to understand him. His theory was really the most beneficial to the gentry. It's just that everyone had to maintain the appearance of a loyal minister and couldn't really support it publicly, but they still agreed with it in their hearts. The foundation for the realization of Huang Zongxi's theory was the militia in Jiangnan.

Only when you hold the gun can you talk about other things.

Give up military power?

How can it be?

"I've already grown grass in my heart!"

King Yang, hugging Her Majesty the Queen, sighed.

"Let them all jump out. Didn't you say that luring the snake out of its hole is the only way to catch them all in one fell swoop?

Let’s just ignore them and let them all jump out, then we can catch them all in one fell swoop.”

Her Majesty the Queen said, leaning on his chest.

King Yang looked at her with satisfaction, then poked her nose...

"Yes, just do it!"

He said with a smile like a typical treacherous minister.

Of course, this was his plan.

"It seems that Li Zicheng's men will not be able to capture Changzhou, right?"

Her Majesty the Queen suddenly asked.

this problem……

"It is indeed unlikely. The fighting capacity of these old bandits has deteriorated. Or maybe this is their true level. It is not because they were so good at fighting in the past, but because our imperial army is too weak. But now they are not good enough to face the militia."

King Yang said as he rubbed her back.

This question did surprise him. Gao Yigong's attack on Changzhou failed, Yuan Zongdi was also defeated by Du Yinxi, Li Laiheng's attempt to attack Jiangyin also failed, which was Shen Tingyang's naval base, Tian Jianxiu was also defeated in Henglin, it can be said that they did not win a single victory, which also made them a little discouraged. In fact, the combat effectiveness of these people can't really be said to be very strong, but the official army was too bad before, not to mention that these people have enjoyed a few years of happiness, and they have been somewhat degraded. Gao Yigong can even start to put on the pomp of a vassal king.

They probably won’t be able to take over Changzhou, or rather, they won’t be able to take over the Susongchang fortress area.

However, Wang Yuncheng and his men from the south captured Liyang.

Then they used tongs to crush the heads of all the gentry in Liyang, including Chen Mingxia's family.

But the attack on Yixing was blocked.

The Zhejiang militia sent out two battalions for reinforcement, and then together with the nearly 10,000 newly recruited militiamen from Huizhou and Ningguo, they blocked Wang Yuncheng's attempt to attack Yixing from Liyang. The latter suffered heavy losses, and eager to plunder, he relied on his cavalry advantage to charge into the chariot formation of the Zhejiang militia. As a result, not only did he fail to break through, but three hundred elite servants were killed by the latter's firepower.

All of them are injured.

After all, Wang Yuncheng only has more than a thousand such elite servants.

These brave generals among the old-style government troops finally realized the violent firepower of the new elite troops.

They have now retreated to Liyang.

Therefore, the Suzhou, Songjiang and Changzhou battlefields also entered a stalemate like the Zhejiang battlefield.

But the key point is that there have been no large-scale civil uprisings in the six prefectures of Jiangnan.

There was no rebellion.

So the gentry's concessions were useful after all.

The Zhejiang Elders Association has limited the land rent to 30%, and the loan sharks have returned to the original interest-only rate. The original donations have basically been cancelled, and now the military expenses are all collected by the gentry. They also know that if they don't fight hard, they will all die. Whether it is the Jingnan Army or Li Zicheng's men, they want not only their money but also their lives. So they appeased the people by making continuous concessions. After all, they are all clans. If they are not too oppressive, facing outsiders, the people can still work together with them to a minimum.

Of course, another very important point is that those militias really demonstrated the ability to defeat the enemy.

"Let Gao Jie go south?"

Her Majesty the Queen said.

Gao Jie's original plan was to go south when necessary.

He is as loyal to the Queen as a family dog...

He said it himself, he is the Queen's dog.

After making a fortune in Zhenjiang, this guy accepted another one million from Li Zicheng, and then happily returned to Jiangbei to rob Taizhou. He had a long-standing grudge against Zhu Yifeng, the leader of the Taizhou gentry. The latter relied on the Taizhou militia and had been working with the Jiangnan gang in recent years to cover up the smuggling of Huai salt to Jiangnan.

So Gao Jie took this opportunity to capture Taizhou and ransacked his house, but did not kill him.

Mainly because he was on Yang Feng’s list.

Moreover, one of his sons was in the Northern Expedition, but Zhu Yifeng was old and died of anger after this disaster.

Originally in history, he was blackmailed by Gao Jie, but he cried poor and refused to pay, so Gao Jie robbed 40,000 taels from his house. Of course, some say it is 800,000 taels.

Now Gao Jie has taken over Taizhou.

He can go straight down to Jiangyin at any time.

"Not for now. It's not time for him to go down yet. Even if he goes down, it will probably be difficult to open Jiangyin. Shen Tingyang's warships are not easy to deal with. Besides, we are luring the snake out of its hole. If he goes down, it will scare the snake back."

Yang Feng said.

(End of this chapter)