In the Ming Dynasty, Zhejiang was a place where humanities gathered and treasures were born. Hangzhou is the world's top rich and prosperous place, and Shaoxing, Huzhou, Jiaxing and other prefectures are the hometown of the gentry.

Cang Liao knows etiquette, food and clothing are sufficient and knows honor and disgrace, and education needs an economic foundation. Therefore, as far as the whole Ming Dynasty is concerned, the most gentry are Jiangnan, Suzhou and Hangzhou, and this is also the place with the highest education level in the entire Ming Dynasty, and the foundation of the Donglin Party is Jiangdong Zhejiang!

After capturing Zhejiang, the rebels led by Qian Fenglin stopped at the Taihu Lake, and did not try to attack Su Song and other Nanzhili Jiangnan and other prefectures, but decided to deal with the affairs of Zhejiang first before continuing to march.

100,000 Zhejiang soldiers were destroyed, and the Nanjing Imperial Court only had the strength to fight in Beijing, and Chongzhen did not dare to send the Beijing camp to attack Zhejiang no matter what, so Qian Fenglin had time.

Conquering Zhejiang is not the goal, what Qian Fenglin wants to do is to destroy the foundation of the Donglin Party and sweep away the gentry in Zhejiang!

This was difficult in the past, but now it is easy to deal with these gentry. Violence is the best force that destroys everything.

Of course, uncontrollable violence would be a disaster. But so what? If it is not broken, it will not stand, and only then can it be reborn. The Han people have always been the best people, and as long as they have the right soil, it won't be long before they can create a rich Zhejiang. And Zhejiang, where there is no gentry, is a Zhejiang that truly belongs to the people!

Unlike the big gentry in the north, who often have tens of thousands of acres of land across counties and prefectures, because of the development of the imperial examination, there are far more gentry in Zhejiang who are famous and famous than in the north, which also causes a single gentry to control not too many fields. The number of gentry with tens of thousands of acres of cultivated land is very small, most of them are only thousands of acres.

Of course, the amount of land owned is proportional to the size of the famous official position, for example, the elder Qian Qianyi, almost half of Changshu Mansion is his family's cultivated land, with a total amount of 100,000 mu.

The reason why the gentry in Zhejiang is rich is not by the land they own, but by the developed commerce, most of the gentry grow mulberry and silkworms, and their families open silk reeling workshops, textile workshops, or engage in other businesses. In Jiangnan and Zhejiang, there are countless 100,000 homes, and there are hundreds of million homes.

The gentry controlled the land, controlled the workshop commerce, controlled the entire economy, and were the de facto rulers.

Since he was acting in the name of the rebels, Qian Fenglin naturally did not care about what means he used. While a gentle drizzle is safe, a violent storm is more conducive to destroying the old foundations.

Although violent means can have serious consequences and set the economy back, it is more profitable to build on the ruins than to tinker with them.

Qian Fenglin's task is to destroy the foundation of the gentry, and as for the reconstruction, he will wait for King Qi to take power!

Except for the 10,000 main force of 10,000 to deal with the possible attack of the imperial army, the other armies were all placed in various prefectures and counties.

Then Qian Fenglin gave an order, and all the provinces acted at the same time, and the soldiers rushed into the gentry's homes, began to raid the houses and arrest people, and began to loot and rob. As long as those who have the fame of lifting people or above, all are arrested, and all family property is confiscated.

Although Qian Fenglin emphasized discipline in advance, most of this army was composed of surrendered Zhejiang soldiers, and the soldiers of military households have always been the poorest class and the most cruel existence. In the past, to the high-ranking gentry and lords, not to mention different soldiers, even the officers of hundreds of households had to look up.

And now, these gentry and lords are the targets of defeat, and they can personally raid their homes and destroy their homes, which makes these soldiers have a kind of pathological madness, so that evil is inevitable.

In the days when the rebels entered Zhejiang, for the gentry in Zhejiang, they encountered the most tragic experience since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, they watched those lowly rebel soldiers rush into the house, watched them humiliate their wives and daughters, and watched them take away their hard-earned property, but they were completely powerless.

Resisted, 100,000 Zhejiang soldiers became rebels, how did these gentry resist? Although the gentry were influential in the countryside and were able to gather a large number of tenants and slaves who were sacrificed to their families, how could they be the opponents of an organized army?

It was not that there were no gentry who tried to resist, and the result of the rebellion was only to bring more killing. Seeing the resistance, these rebel soldiers were extremely excited, relying on powerful force to crush the strong men organized by the gentry, and then rushed into the gentry's manor villages and towns, and began to rob and kill people unscrupulously!

A luxurious garden by the West Lake, now the center of the rebels.

In the elegant study, Qian Fenglin quietly looked at the documents, each of which had a series of numbers written on it, which were sent by the army generals sent to various prefectures and counties to report the wealth confiscated.

There was a sound of heavy footsteps, and then there was the sound of angry scolding outside.

"Sir, Lord Zuo Maodi is here, clamoring to see you." The attendant pushed the door in and reported to Qian Fenglin.

Qian Fenglin sighed and ordered, "Let him come in." ”

Zuo Mao walked in with a gloomy face for the first time, and turned a blind eye to Qian Fenglin's earnest concession to persuade tea, but directly said: "Lord Qian, what did you tell me at the beginning?" ”

Qian Fenglin smiled and said, "What's the matter, my Lord Zuo, what is it that makes you so annoyed?" ”

Zuo Maodi said angrily: "What's the matter? Lord Qian, why do you knowingly ask! When you were in Fuzhou, you kept saying that the purpose of organizing the rebels was to force the imperial court to make concessions, so that Your Majesty could make the princess an heir, so that the king of Qi could take power.

Indeed, the days when the princess was in power as the king of Qi were the best years of my Ming Dynasty. The court worked together, the national strength was thriving, and the king of Qi led a large army to fight in the south and the north, expelling the Manchurians and recovering our territory.

It was precisely because the princess held the king of Qi and did not want the Ming Dynasty to continue to degenerate, that I agreed to cooperate with you, and sent 100,000 Zhejiang soldiers to the sword of the rebels, so that you could easily control the entire Zhejiang.

But, Lord Qian, you didn't tell me beforehand that you were going to use the knife against the entire gentry. Your current actions are clearly aimed at destroying the whole of Zhejiang and destroying the foundation of my scholars.

Master Qian, do you know what those rebels are doing? They are killing people and setting fires, wantonly plundering other people's property, wantonly insulting my saint disciples, and trampling on the dignity of my scholars!

Lord Qian, you are also a scholar, you are also from the two lists of jinshi, and you are a member of the gentry, don't you feel ashamed to attack your own kind like this? Don't you have a little compassion in your heart?

What is all this for? ”