As soon as these words entered his ears, Chen Wenteng stood up suddenly, turned around, and looked at the little woman who was obviously stunned by his actions at this moment in disbelief. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

"The history is beautiful, although it has not succeeded, it can be lawful; Hong En is mighty, and he can't repay the country and become an enemy. ”

For the scholars of the Southern Ming Dynasty, more people in later generations saw such as Shi Kefa's heroism and incompetence, Zhang Huangyan's tenacity and unyieldingness, Yinxi's lack of skills to return to the sky, Hong Chengchou's acting for the tiger and Qian Qianyi's "water is too cold" and "scalp itching", that is, how to Tengjiao, and more saw his unyielding death after being captured, rather than his stupidity and selfishness during his reign in Huguang, and the evil consequences caused by all this.

These things, through history, Chen Wen has long been mentally prepared, but after being squeezed out by Feng Jingdi in the name of eunuch remnants, betrayed by Cao Conglong on the grounds of disloyalty to King Lu and the prison country, and even recruited talents again and again, most of the people who are willing to serve the Ming army are just children and scholars without merit, and those "local virtuous" who enjoy preferential treatment policies often turn a blind eye, and would rather stay at home than come out to serve the Ming army. Even though Lü Liuliang's article had begun to circulate widely in the areas controlled by the Ming army in Zhejiang, the remnants were so disgusted that they could hardly breathe.

In contrast, Qian Qianyi, who was scolded for being self-conscious in later generations, and Lu Yuding, whose name is rarely known, will carry more than 100,000 taels and less than 10,000 taels of tickets every time they come. Even Huang Zongxi, who has been wanted by the Manchu Qing Dynasty for many years, is also doing his best to collect intelligence, in order to let this Zhejiang Ming army develop as soon as possible to save this collapse!

Of course, they are a minority after all, and more of the gentry who came to praise the military supplies are all very rich in their hometowns, but once they come here, dozens of taels or ten taels of silver may not even be as good as the travel expenses, and they can also handle it, and they will keep saying how poor their families are. But even so, Chen Wen has never discriminated against, never been stingy with his thanks, and has recorded and remembered this "pitiful" support without discrimination. Because whether you are willing to contribute or not is a matter of attitude, and it is a question of ability, which is much better than those who do nothing.

Everyone has their own aspirations, which is understandable, but some people are not willing to do their part at this critical juncture, enjoy the preferential regulations, and in turn dig the corners of the Zhejiang Ming army in various ways in terms of taxes. Pick up the chopsticks to eat, put down the chopsticks and scold the mother, this is really unkind.

People exist as individuals, and it is extremely normal for different characters to appear in the same class. It's just that Zhou Yueying's maiden family is also of the scholar class, a beautiful and talented girl raised by a gentry family, but her husband thinks that her husband is too soft on those peers of the same class as her maiden family, and such cross-class remarks really startled Chen Wen.

"The concubine has lost her words, and she hopes that her husband will forgive her sins."

Reacting from the shock caused by Chen Wen's actions, Zhou Yueying hurriedly fell to the ground, and the whole person trembled slightly like a flower in the cold wind.

Picking up the woman in front of him, Chen Wen considered the wording, and then asked a little tentatively: "Lady, isn't the Yue family also a gentry?" ”

"The concubine's father and uncle are old and in poor health, but they regret that they can't serve the court. The concubine's brother and two cousins have already died, and they have drawn a line with those remnants. What's more......" Speaking of this, Zhou Yueying, who was still a little trembling, raised her neck, looked directly at Chen Wen's gaze and replied: "What's more, the concubine's surname is Chen, so naturally she has to think about the Chen family!" ”

“…… Three books and six ceremonies, the concubine has been a member of the Chen family all her life......"

The ancients said that if a woman marries a woman, she must naturally consider her husband's family when she marries. Moreover, Zhou Yueying's words were originally aimed at those remnants who refused to go out for Chen Wen's use, and they had nothing to do with the Zhou family at all, and even the marriage between Chen Wen and Zhou Yueying could be regarded as a marriage between the Zhejiang military landlord group and the gentry who were willing to go out to resist the national oppression of the Manchu Dynasty. However, the concept of ancient class in his previous studies was too ingrained, and he ignored what should have been a normal reaction.

"You're right, maybe the power wasn't big enough in the past, so you can only tolerate one or two. It's not the same as it used to be, it's just ......"

The power of the scholar class in Jiangsu and Zhejiang is extremely strong, that is, in the next ten years in history, the Manchu Qing Dynasty used the "Tonghai Case", "Crying Temple Case", and "Selling Case", the three major cases in Jiangnan in the early Qing Dynasty, such as the "Ming History Case" and "Nanshan Collection" and other literary prisons, as well as cases with a little less influence such as the "Taizhou Liangzhen Dropout Case" to hit the scholar class in Jiangnan in a big way, but in the literary prison that stretched for several dynasties, it was still unable to suppress the huge influence of its power. It's just that with the hype of the righteousness of the monarch and the minister, he killed the minions of the Qing Dynasty for more than 200 years.

This class is almost impossible to eradicate, and there is absolutely no need to eradicate it. They themselves are the most indispensable part of the inheritance of civilization, even if it is simply governing the country, their existence is indispensable. If there is no Confucian scholar class, will it be necessary to use military men and businessmen to govern the country? The Han and Tang Dynasty warriors were in turmoil, Yin Jian is not far away, and it is in the world after Xia!

The literati government was the general trend, but the Confucian scholar class in the late Ming Dynasty had already gone astray, and the Manchus turned them into slaves with literary prison and slave education, and even more so through them, the braids of slaves were rooted in the hearts of ordinary people.

Chen Wen did not have a great blood feud with this class, and he wanted to uproot it quickly, he was far from being overwhelmed to that point, and he did not intend to do so. It's just that over the years, he has been constrained a lot, and it can even be said that if there were no such obstacles, even if the strength of the constraints was only smaller, I am afraid that now he has already recovered Nanjing, blockaded the Yangtze River to sit back and watch the Manchus defeat themselves.

Chen Wen's voice was not loud, but it was like thunder in Zhou Yueying's ears. It's been a few days since she got married, and she was originally observing Chen Wen and the Zhejiang Ming Army, as well as her brother Zhou Jingting, who is close to the water, and she sees many things very clearly. It's just that I didn't expect that Chen Wen really had the idea of making trouble with the Confucian scholar class, and he was willing to say anything to her without minus.

Three steps and two steps, Zhou Yueying walked to the door of the study, opened the door, and saw that only her dowry maid was sitting in the corridor waiting for instructions, so she glanced at her. Then he closed the door, returned to Chen Wen, moved the round stool next to him and sat next to Chen Wen, and the emotion and affection in his watery eyes were already so strong that they couldn't be dissolved.

"The husband trusts, and the concubine feels guilty. In the humble opinion of concubines, the Huangming ancestral system is the Huangming ancestral system, but if those remnants do not have husbands, they are only afraid that they are still living under Ma Jinbao's **, and the Tartar court will not treat them preferentially. is to go to Ma Jinbao, there will be Zhang Jinbao and Li Jinbao, how can there be such a policy that can not only protect the clothes but also enjoy preferential exemptions. But these people enjoy the benefits that their husbands bring to them, and if they don't come out to help, they just want to take advantage of our Chen family, which is really hateful. ”

Chen Wen remembered that as far as he knew, Zhou Jingting was originally a student who planned to be a remnant. Later, because he almost died of setting fire to the city when Ma Jinbao and Zhang Guoxun evacuated Jinhua, he entrusted Sun Yu's relationship to serve him and was placed by his side as a horse bone.

It's just that at this moment, the little woman in front of him, who was holding a delicate little fist and looking angry, obviously forgot all about it. Whether she is a good person or not, especially whether she has a man to help her or two, has become one of the evaluation criteria for the good and evil of the gentry in her eyes, especially the implication that "eating the Chen family, not working for the Chen family, it can be said that everyone has their own ambitions, but if they still make trouble, it is not a good thing, and they must be severely punished", Chen Wen almost laughed when he heard it.

Perhaps in this era, the difference between families and countries, the higher the status, the more ambiguous it becomes. Shaking his head, Chen Wen said with a smile: "This is said as if these six prefectures are my fiefdoms. ”

"The concubine is speechless."

said a gaffe, but on the face still disagreed, it seems that in her opinion, if she can expel the Manchu Qing from China, it is also the right to feudalize Zhejiang to her husband, and now it is just a little earlier to spend her mind on running her own fiefdom.

It's just that after a blink of an eye, I saw Zhou Yueying frowning, and then said to Chen Wen: "Husband, these ungrateful people, although they are of inferior character, but they all have a lot of energy in the local area, and it is better not to tear your face with them unless you have to." ”

"That's true."

took a deep breath, even though the snort was full of the faint fragrance emitted by the woman, Chen Wen did not have the slightest thought in his mind.

With the development and expansion of the system of granting land for military merit, the local military forces represented by the Ming army in Zhejiang will inevitably contradict the Confucian scholar class, because they are also the large holders of the most important means of production in the agricultural society. Without the expropriation and expropriation of the Manchus, the two largest land-holding forces and classes would inevitably have antagonized over the ownership of land and tenants.

Nowadays, Chen Wen only has the territory of six prefectures in his hands, and the upper eight prefectures in Zhejiang have not yet occupied all of them, but the people, especially the people of Jinhua Mansion, which has the most extensive and huge territory, already have the voice of dissatisfaction from scholars.

From Chen Wen's point of view, awarding military merits can improve morale, enhance the courage and desire of soldiers to fight, improve the army's ability to endure casualties, and at the same time reduce the constraints of the gentry. But for the gentry, it was a humiliation for the gentry to grant land, and tax-exempt land, not only to grant the benefits they had but also to military untouchables. More importantly, this will reduce the number of ways and means they can use legal and illegal means to obtain land, and their interests will be infringed on by the competition for water, land, and especially tenants.

In the Wanli Dynasty, the Wanli Emperor increased the collection of industrial and commercial taxes while improving their preferential and exemption policies. As a result, the southeastern gentry represented by the Donglin Party did not mention preferential treatment, and vigorously used Wanli's harsh government and all kinds of foul language to insult the emperor who had just given them benefits. Even in the Tianqi and Chongzhen dynasties, they managed to exempt industrial and commercial taxes by seizing the dominant power of the imperial government, and distributed the financial pressure to the ordinary peasants, which led to an even greater deterioration of the situation, in order to pay less taxes to the imperial court every year.

The rise and fall of the country is the responsibility of the husband!

This is the cry of the great Confucian named Gu Yanwu in the last years of the Ming Dynasty, which Chen Wen had read and heard more than once in books, media, Internet, film and television literary works.

I really came to this era, and I have seen a lot of such people. Wang Yi, Feng Jingdi, and the unmasked heroes who died unyieldingly, every time he thinks of them, Chen Wen will feel that even if they are no longer there, his soul is still by his side, cheering for his every victory, even if he is prejudiced against him, but he must also feel comforted by the great victories achieved by the Ming army in Zhejiang.

The deceased is gone, maybe those are just Chen Wen's conjectures, but every time he sees scholars like Zhu Huang Zongxi, Qian Qianyi, Lu Liuliang, and Sun Yu running around and working hard for the king of Zhejiang, Chen Wen also firmly believes that he is no longer alone fighting to save the fate of China!

However, such scholars were a minority or even a very small number in this era, and more gentry either chose to go out of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, or stayed at home as remnants, and often only rose up to resist when the Manchu Qing Dynasty really infringed on their interests, which was mostly useless in the overall situation.

To put it clearly, just like Gu Yanwu, Wen Ruilin and others criticized the Confucian scholar class at that time, the vast majority of this class did not have a family and country in their hearts, no monarchs and ministers, and only their own interests. As long as anyone dares to infringe on their interests, then they will definitely slander morally under the pretext of such arguments as competing with the people for profit, and even incite the people to come out and fight violently against them.

Now, the contradictions between the two sides are only just showing some signs, and now Chen Wen's Zhejiang Ming army is still protecting them from being bullied and brutalized by the Manchus. But even so, these gentry, who were used to being arrogant at the end of the Ming Dynasty, still couldn't wait to raise their voices of opposition as they did back then. There is no need to even speculate, the rare overstepping of authority by the officials of the Dongyang County Criminal Investigation Department in the Zhang Yida murder case can be completely understood as these gentry testing him, or even demonstrating!

"What does the lady think?"

The brow is slightly furrowed, and the eyelashes are drooping. After a long time, I saw Zhou Yueying raise her head again, and her face was full of determination to reveal her thoughts.

"The concubine thinks that now that the Tartars are on her side, the husband takes it as his responsibility to drive out the Tartars, and he can't blindly manipulate them. It is better to try to divide and disintegrate it, to win over those who are willing to be used by the husband, and to fight those who serve the Tartars. Of course, the more important thing is to try to increase the military strength and land in the hands of the husband, and one day these guys can only be used by the husband, and they can no longer become obstacles in the way of the husband."

Zhou Yueying's thoughts have been a routine since ancient times, and it did not surprise Chen Wen that she could think of these after reading poetry and books. For the woman in front of him, Chen Wen had never used her as a vase, but what he categorically didn't expect was that the inner part wrapped in the usual softness and intellectuality turned out to be far more than what he saw, well, wonderful.

"Unexpectedly, I actually married a female Zhuge back home."

Chen Wen slapped his hands and smiled, but the woman in front of him was flustered.

"Concubine, concubine ......"

"Well, there's nothing upset about me. Don't forget, your husband and I are big heroes, can a big hero be so small that even his daughter-in-law will be unhappy for his own sake? ”

"Yes, it's the concubine who is too worried."

said so, but Chen Wen still saw a little uneasiness in Zhou Yueying's eyebrows. The world is like this, even if it was affected by the emancipation of the mind at the end of the Ming Dynasty, but for a long time under such an environment and atmosphere, the woman in front of her could not get rid of the influence of that weak identity.

Standing up from the Taishi's chair, Chen Wen picked up the woman in front of him with both hands. "You are my wife, willing to share my worries for our Chen family, and willing to share my worries, it's too late for me to be happy, how can I blame you. Don't think too much, don't forget, you are the wife of the Marquis of Anyuan, my Chen Wen's wife, not an ordinary woman. ”

Looking at each other, Zhou Yueying's eyes were soon shrouded in a hazy mist. "What the husband said is that the concubine will no longer feel sorry for herself like this."

"You know it's not supposed to be like this." appeased the beautiful woman in front of him, and Chen Wenyu's boredom dissipated a little. "How to enhance your own strength, does the lady have a good plan?"

returned to the original atmosphere, and even in Zhou Yueying's heart, the faint panic and uneasiness, out of fear of being rejected by Chen Wen, also quietly disappeared under the appeasement, leaving only a piece of sudden enlightenment.

"The concubine thinks that the husband raises a strong man with the land, and the method of awarding the field is the only good prescription, and she needs to resist the pressure and persevere, and she will succeed in the future. In addition, the pattern of the civil and military journeys of Taizu and Chengzu has now been reproduced here. It's just that the influence of the gentry is still too great, and it needs to be suppressed. ”

"Inhibition? No, mere inhibition only exacerbates the contradictions. To outreach them in influence, and to influence them, to keep them in tune with us. ”

Hearing Chen Wen's words, Zhou Yueying couldn't help but wrinkle slightly. In her opinion, the gentry's right to speak is extremely heavy, especially in Jiangnan at the end of the Ming Dynasty, the rights of the magistrates have been repeatedly provoked by the gentry, and now it is a troubled time, they may have restrained themselves, but if they want to compete, it is still impossible to rely on these tens of thousands of troops.

It wasn't until a long time later, as if she had thought of something, her eyes suddenly lit up, and then she asked Chen Wen: "What did the husband say about the Huaxia Revival Society?" ”

It's not easy to think of this, it's just that it's far from that simple.

"The Chinese Revival Association is so, but it is only a part. The army, the conferral of land for military merit, and the system of monopoly collection and monopoly are all used to enhance hard power. The effect of the victory over the Tartars is soft power, but the influence of the gentry on the people alone will also be subject to others. It's been a long process, but now it's time to get started. ”

Speaking of this, Chen Wen smiled confidently. "I've heard a phrase before, but now I'm changing it, and it's just right here. That is, hard power and soft power, both hands must be grasped, and both hands must be hard! (To be continued.) )