The lack of silver in the Ming treasury is the norm, for more than ten years, years of war, foreign prisoners and internal criminals, the silver spent on the army is like flowing water. However, in the past few years when the imperial court has arrived in Nanjing, the imperial court has been much better than before.

The loss of the north also left a huge burden, and the richest land in the south of the Yangtze River, Jiangxi, and Huguang was still in the hands of the Ming Dynasty. The savings of the treasury were much better than those in Beijing, and Chen Yue spared no effort to get silver for the imperial court, confiscate the nobles, and reorganize the salt administration, which made the income of the treasury far better than before.

Therefore, being able to defend Jiangnan under the Manchurian attack and then wave troops to the Northern Expedition has a lot to do with the improvement of the imperial court's finances.

But even so, the finances are still tight, especially since last year, Chen Yue, the king of Qi, led an army of 100,000 to the Northern Expedition, all the way to recruit rebels, and formed a Northern Expedition army of more than 200,000. The vast majority of the revenue of the state treasury was spent on the great cause of the Northern Expedition, so it had to reduce other expenses, and the Beijing camp owed several months of wages because of this.

However, in any case, for the soldiers of Jingying, in order to support the Northern Expedition, they could endure months of arrears of pay under the call of the imperial court, but it was impossible to fool them into going to Jiangdong to fight the rebels.

The emperor is not a hungry soldier, everyone understands this truth.

If the silver two are not settled, the Beijing camp will not be able to send troops. The only way to count on Wu Mengming's Jiangbei Army was to quickly cross the river and resist the rebels.

Therefore, the imperial court decided to send a decree to Wu Mengming, the governor of Jiangbei, ordering him to lead his headquarters to cross the river to Zhenjiang immediately, and approach Suzhou from the north to threaten the rebels.

Next, the court discussed day and night how to raise money and food, which was not mentioned for the time being.

Yangzhou Governor's Palace, Jiangbei Governor Wu Mengming is receiving a mysterious guest.

All the guards were sent out, and soldiers were sent to guard the surroundings to prevent anyone from approaching, and Wu Mengming and the guests were left in the study.

"Master Qian, Wu didn't expect you to dare to come to my Yangzhou." Wu Mengming's sharp eyes stared at Qian Fenglin, and his words carried a cold chill.

Qian Fenglin had a calm face, and replied with a smile: "Xiaguan and Marquis Wu are also old acquaintances, can you harm me?" ”

Wu Mengming said coldly: "That's not for sure, maybe I will take down you, the head of the rebel army, and escort you to the imperial court for disposal!" ”

Qian Fenglin smiled slightly: "Marquis Wu, you are joking, the leader of the rebel army is Ai Nengqi, what does it have to do with the lower officials?" ”

Wu Mengming sneered: "It has nothing to do with you? Didn't you plan the rebels? You must know that you are the governor of Fujian, with your strategy and wisdom Lord Qian, coupled with the strength of Wang Inspector's division, how can the Ainengqi rebels who have been appeased have a chance to rebel again, and even if they rebel, how can they make such a big noise?

Lord Qian, Ben Hou is not the rice bucket of the imperial court, you know that Ben Hou was born in Jinyiwei, and now he is in charge of a town of male soldiers, it is not so easy to deceive me! ”

Qian Fenglin looked at Wu Mengming and smiled, he knew that Wu Mengming was not so easy to deceive. Although Wu Mengming is average, he is not stupid, and he is born in Jinyiwei and attaches great importance to intelligence, so it is normal to guess that his relationship with the rebels is very normal.

In fact, Qian Fenglin's appearance in Yangzhou is tantamount to a violent relationship with the rebels, a Fujian governor who should have been captured by the rebels, but swaggered to appear in Yangzhou, this matter is too abnormal, there can only be one reason, for the tens of thousands of Jiangbei troops in the hands of Wu Mengming!

However, even if he was seen through the details, he couldn't recognize it, Qian Fenglin smiled slightly, and said indifferently: "Marquis Wu, I have something to do with the rebels, but I was just captured by the rebels. After Ai Nengqi knew that I was the person of the King of Qi, out of fear of the King of Qi, he did not dare to do anything to me, and he survived by luck. ”

Seeing Qian Fenglin forcibly covering up, Wu Mengming sneered but stopped persecuting, after all, tearing his face is not good for everyone.

Speaking of which, the relationship between Wu Mengming and the Qi Wang family has always been very good. After all, it was Chen Yue who rescued him from Beijing back then, and he had a life-saving grace. After arriving in Nanjing, the two sides have always had a good relationship.

However, Wu Mengming is Chongzhen's confidant after all, and he is the most trusted person by Chongzhen, otherwise he would not have succeeded Chen Yue as the governor of Jiangbei. Between Chen Yue and Chongzhen, Wu Mengming must support Chongzhen, no matter how good the relationship with Chen Yue is, no matter how powerful Chen Yue is!

Therefore, after guessing the details of the rebels, Wu Mengming has been preparing to obey the imperial court's recall, so as to lead the troops to exterminate the rebels.

However, at the beginning, Chongzhen did not order the dispatch of his Jiangbei army, after all, Yangzhou was an important town in Jiangbei to defend Nanjing, and it was responsible for guarding against Shandong under Chen Yue's control. Chongzhen was worried that once the Jiangbei Army was transferred, it would inevitably make the north extremely empty, and if Chen Yue suddenly sent troops south, there would be no army to stop him!

However, later, the rebels actually rushed out of Fujian and invaded Zhejiang, occupying the entire territory of Zhejiang in a short period of time. After all, Chongzhen and the imperial court would not watch the rebels continue to march north to attack Jiangdong, so that Nanjing would be a stone's throw away.

However, to Wu Mengming's expectations, at this time, the imperial court ordained Kun Xing as the crown princess and recalled Chen Yue, the king of Qi, to return to Beijing, which made Wu Mengming breathe a sigh of relief.

Emperor Chongzhen finally compromised, and there was no need to meet Chen Yue, the king of Qi, and the Ming Dynasty still had hope. And for Kun Xing to become the empress of the emperor and then to become the empress of the Ming Dynasty, Wu Mengming is even more happy to see it, after all, Princess Kunxing was raised by him since he was a child.

However, things are always twists and turns, and a few days later, the news that the rebels have invaded Jiangdong came again, which made Wu Mengming incomprehensible.

Could it be that Chen Yue is still not satisfied with Chongzhen's compromise? Do you have to usurp the Ming Dynasty? If this is the case, even if he is unwilling, Wu Mengming can only fight with Chen Yue, he can't watch the Ming Dynasty be usurped by Chen Yue!

Because he was far away from Nanjing, Wu Mengming naturally couldn't know Chongzhen's intentions in time, and he didn't know Chongzhen's true attitude towards the rebels' invasion of Jiangdong, so he was very hostile to Qian Fenglin's appearance.

Since Qian Fenglin had to cover it up, he didn't intend to tear his face, so Wu Mengming could only make a false gesture and see what Qian Fenglin's plans were for here. He looked at Qian Fenglin coldly, waiting for him to continue.

"Marquis Wu, after the fall of Fuzhou, I have been in the rebels, and Ai Nengqi has been treating me with courtesy these days. I also understand Enench's intentions.

In fact, when I came to Yangzhou this time, I was entrusted by Ai Nengqi to tell and convey a few words to Marquis Wu.

Ai Nengqi is different from Zhang Xianzhong, he has no ambition to be the king and hegemon, he still wants to be recruited by the imperial court. So I don't want to be a real enemy of the imperial court. So, Marquis Wu, Ai Nengqi asked me to tell you that he doesn't want to be an enemy of the Jiangbei Army, and please don't embarrass him, I hope the two sides can be safe! ”

Listening to Qian Fenglin's flawed and ridiculous words, Wu Mengming almost wanted to laugh.

"Ridiculous, keep saying that you want to be recruited, but you are crazy about attacking the city and plundering the land, occupying Fujian and Zhejiang is still insufficient, and attacking Jiangdong, Lord Qian, can you be more ridiculous?"

Qian Fenglin smiled: "Where is ridiculous, it's normal!" The rebels are just a rabble, with very poor discipline, always thinking that they can grab some food and silver, and unlike the army of the imperial court, they can only grab it by themselves.

Fujian is very broken, so I can only go to Zhejiang to find food, which is normal. ”

"Normal?" Wu Mengming was almost amused, "Lord Qian, if you just say this nonsense, don't waste my time, I am now the governor of Jiangbei, in charge of the military and civil affairs of Yangzhou, Fengyang, Huai'an, and the three prefectures, and I am very busy!" ”

Qian Fenglin sighed: "Okay, Marquis Wu, I'll just say it directly." The purpose of the rebels is not to threaten the imperial court to seize the Ming Dynasty, we all know that His Majesty appointed the princess as the crown princess and summoned the king of Qi to return to Beijing, which is to hand over the country to the king and princess of Qi. So, where is the need for the rebels to continue their offensive? When the king of Qi returned to Beijing, it was the time when the rebels collapsed.

Therefore, the purpose of the rebels was not to conquer the city, but to deal with the gentry in Jiangdong, and the purpose was not only to grab money and food, but to completely overthrow the gentry's ruling base in Jiangnan. ”

"Completely overthrow the ruling base of the gentry," muttered Wu Mengming, "how to overthrow?" Kill them all? ”

When he was the governor of Jiangbei for a year, Wu Mengming also had a clear understanding of the power of the gentry. The will of the imperial court and the orders of the government could only be sent down to the county, and the villages below the county were controlled by the gentry. Although these gentry with fame were not officials, they had a reputation for being more than a person, accepted contributions by virtue of their status, owned a large amount of land, and controlled commerce but never paid any taxes. In Yangzhou, which has several prosperous places in the world, Wu Mengming has a deep understanding of the luxury of the gentry. The wealthy businessmen of Slender West Lake spent a lot of money and were extremely extravagant, and none of these wealthy businessmen had no fame, they were originally members of the gentry.

The gentry were originally the upper class of the Ming Dynasty, and the Ming Dynasty was the Son of Heaven and the gentry sharing the world, and now listening to Qian Fenglin say that the rebels completely overthrew the foundation of the gentry, Wu Mengming was naturally shocked. He knew that behind the rebels was Chen Yue, the king of Qi, and that the rebels were stabbing against the gentry, that is, Chen Yue wanted to deal with the gentry.

It turns out that there is such a reason behind the rebels that he doesn't know!

"Kill the light?" Qian Fenglin smiled, "That's not going to happen." The gentry are too powerful in Daming, and if they kill people at every turn, they will be enemies of the gentry officials in the world, not to mention the rebels, even the king of Qi has to consider the consequences.

All the rebels had to do was to confiscate the gentry's property, burn the land deeds in the hands of the gentry and the yellow books of the land in the government's mansion, and then arrest the gentry and imprison them. ”

"And then?" Wu Mengming continued to ask, but he still couldn't figure out what it meant.

"Then things can only be done after King Qi returns to Beijing. For more than 200 years, the gentry of the world have enjoyed it too much, relying on studying to gain a fame, they thought that they had really become the masters of the Ming Dynasty, relying on their privileges to occupy land and monopolize industry and commerce, and occupy a large amount of ill-gotten wealth, making the court poor and the people poor, and causing turmoil and exile in the world.

Perhaps after the king of Qi came to power, he would carry out reforms, abolish the privileges of the gentry, and implement a unified tax system for the gentry. Qian Fenglin said indifferently.

"Abolish the privileges of the gentry and implement the integrated taxation of the gentry." Wu Mengming muttered, but his eyes widened wider and wider, he could imagine how much Daming's taxes would increase if he really did this? How many more figures will the income of the imperial court have!

If you can really do this, how strong will Daming, who has a lot of income, be!

"I see!" Wu Mengming finally understood.

He knows how difficult it would be to implement such a change under normal circumstances, and how much resistance it would encounter. And only by constantly weakening the power of the gentry can the resistance to change be reduced. Therefore, there were rebels attacking Jiangdong in Zhejiang. It turned out that Chen Yue, the king of Qi, was playing a big game of chess!

Wu Mengming was a martial artist and did not have much affection for the gentry and civil officials, so he naturally had no resistance to Chen Yue dealing with the gentry. As long as Chen Yue didn't want to overthrow the imperial court and seek to usurp the throne, Wu Mengming would naturally not be his enemy.

After thinking about it, his attitude naturally changed quickly, and his attitude towards Qian Fenglin was much better.

However, Wu Mengming was still a little worried: "Lord Qian, you have to know how serious the rebels' attack on Jiangdong is, Jiangdong is the heart of the Ming Dynasty, and it is so close to Nanjing, the imperial court will definitely not look at it!" ”

Qian Fenglin said with a smile: "Marquis Wu doesn't have to worry. The army of Plugging Yinxi was blocked to the west of the Jiujiang River, and the army that the imperial court could now use was the Jiangbei Army of Hou Ye and you, except for the Beijing camp.

Although the number of soldiers in the Beijing camp is large, it is extremely weak, and the composition of the Beijing camp is complex, which is beyond the control of the imperial court, and it is simply unrealistic to expect the Beijing camp to send troops to quell the rebellion.

Therefore, the only thing that the imperial court can rely on is the Jiangbei Army of Hou Ye. As long as Hou Ye does not send troops, it will be easy for the rebels to occupy the entire Jiangdong Four Mansions. ”

Wu Mengming's face showed embarrassment: "However, if the imperial court orders me to send troops, I have no choice." ”

Qian Fenglin smiled: "How can there be no way?" As long as you don't want to send troops, there are many excuses, and you can think of one at will. ”

"But ......" Wu Mengming still hesitated, if Chongzhen's holy decree came, how could he go against it?

Qian Fenglin understood Wu Mengming's encouragement, so he said: "Marquis Wu, if you say that it is not King Qi who wants to deal with the gentry the most, but Your Majesty today. Therefore, Marquis Wu, you don't have to worry about Your Majesty at all, with Your Majesty's wisdom, you will not fail to see the purpose of the rebels. It's just that he can't explicitly order you not to enter the army. ”

Wu Mengming thought about it carefully, it was true, he had followed Chongzhen for more than ten years, and naturally understood Chongzhen's attitude towards the gentry, perhaps, the rebels dealt with the gentry is what Chongzhen likes to see!

"In that case, I will try to delay the dispatch of troops as much as possible. Hopefully, I hope that King Qi can return to Beijing as soon as possible. Wu Mengming sighed. He knew that while the rebels dealt with the gentry, they would inevitably cause great harm to the people, and even cause misery to the people. I just hope this ends soon!

PS: Approaching the Spring Festival, there are a lot of things at home, and I actually want to ask for leave today, but I am a little embarrassed during the limited exemption period. I forcibly coded a chapter.