"What's the solution?" The Shen family master asked slowly.

For Zhang Pu, the head of the Shen family is also a little dissatisfied, but Zhang Pu has not made any achievements in the past few days, and he completely let Chen Zilong lead the way. But at this time, it is useless to complain, and you can only find a way to remedy it.

"Send someone to assassinate Chen Zilong!" Zhang Pu clenched his fists, and cold words squeezed out from between his teeth,

Chen Zilong was a confidant sent by the emperor to Suzhou, and if he killed him, the city defense prime minister's office naturally collapsed. And it can deter other people who are close to Chen Zilong, such as Li Jingsheng, the prefect of Suzhou! ”

"Is this possible? That Chen Zilong is surrounded by many Praetorian Guards, can you kill him, besides, I don't have anyone who does such dirty work. The Shen family master shook his head and said.

For the gentry, it was rare to use assassination to solve their opponents, and even when the Donglin Party and the Eunuch Party were fighting the most, no one would assassinate their political opponents. One is that it is too dirty, and the other is that it breaks through the bottom line. You can assassinate someone else, and someone else can assassinate you. But now it's life and death, and it's not impossible to assassinate, but the problem is that there is no such person in your hands.

"Brother Shen has no one in his hands, Zhuge Sanhe has, there are so many bandits in his hands!" Zhang Pu said.

The head of the Shen family thought for a while: "Yes, I can send someone to contact Zhuge Sanhe and ask him to send someone over." But what if the assassination fails? What if after Chen Zilong's death, the emperor sent other people to Suzhou? ”

Chen Zilong is forcing the gentry to donate money and materials in the name of the government, and is organizing the village warriors, and his strength is getting bigger and bigger, and he has already shown his fangs to the gentry. And even if Chen Zilong is killed, will it have an effect? If the emperor sends someone else, I'm afraid the trouble will be even greater.

Zhang Pu said: "Then there is only one last way, to lure the White Lotus Sect bandits into Suzhou!" Capture Suzhou, completely eradicate Chen Zilong and his gang, and then recruit troops to expand their strength, forcing the emperor to bring troops to Suzhou! ”

This is Zhang Pu's real purpose! For a long time, Zhang Pu had suggested that the White Lotus Sect bandits should attack Suzhou directly, but the Shen family head and other gentry were worried that the bottles and cans at home insisted on refusing, so they gave Chen Zilong time and opportunity, and the situation deteriorated. To be honest, Zhang Pu had long been impatient with the indecisiveness of the Shen family master and others. Not only do you want to rebel against the emperor, but you don't want to get a little bit of meat on your horse, where is there such a good thing in the world?

"But ......" the Shen family master was still hesitating.

"Brother Shen, there's really no time to delay! Now that Chen Zilong has Wan Xiangyong in his hands, once he gets a lot of financial support, no one will be able to take him at that time. And with Chen Zilong in control of Suzhou, the emperor could lead a large army to Nanjing at any time. The emperor sat in Nanjing, and even if the Jiangxi thieves broke through Nanchang and went downstream, it would be almost impossible to take Nanjing. That's the real trend is gone!

Now Chen Zilong has just recruited Xiangyong, and it will take some time to completely control these Xiangyong, our strength in Suzhou City is very strong, as long as Zhuge Sanhe leads the White Lotus Sect to Suzhou, it will not be difficult to take Suzhou under the cooperation of the inside and the outside.

With the city of Suzhou and the wealth of money and grain in the city, you can recruit troops and horses to expand the army, and then you can attack Songjiang to the east and take Jiangdong, and you can attack Hangzhou and conquer Zhejiang to the south. At that time, the entire Jiangnan will be in chaos, and there will be fires everywhere, and the emperor will still be able to stay in Zhenjiang safely? It is inevitable to bring troops to Suzhou to quell the rebellion. And only by pinning down the emperor in Jiangdong could the Jiangxi rebels have a chance to capture Nanjing. ”

Zhang Pu calmly analyzed, it was obvious that it was easy to figure it out, but the Shen family master and the others had been hesitating, which made him very helpless.

"I understand what you said, but ......" The Shen family master was still hesitating. He really didn't want to go that far.

It should be reconciled with the outside world, and colluded with the White Lotus Sect to capture Suzhou City, which is already a blatant rebellion! Even if you don't come forward to participate in person, how can you hide the matter? That's a real rebellion, a crime of raiding the family and exterminating the clan!

If the rebellion succeeds, it is fine, but if it fails, all the gentry in Wuzhong will be uprooted by the emperor. The head of the Shen family had to think about the family.

"If you want to achieve great things, you must be decided, and indecisiveness will never end well!" Zhang Pu said coldly, "Brother Shen, think about it, if you let the emperor succeed, where will the Jiangnan gentry be?" Will the major families still exist? Without the land slaves, without the family's property, the rest is just to make a living, unless Brother Shen you are willing to really cultivate the fields for a living. ”

With Zhang Pu's words, a picture appeared in the mind of the head of the Shen family, the family's fields and industries were all taken away, and the slaves were scattered, leaving him with his little feet wife to work hard in the fields, and he had to cook and cook when he returned home......

I can't help but shiver all over! You can't live a day like that!

"If the big thing can be accomplished, then everything will go back to the past, maybe it can go further because of the merits, and it is unknown that the Shen family will become the first in Jiangnan!" Zhang Pu's words were full of temptation.

"I don't dare to be the first one in Jiangnan, but the matter has come to this point, and I can only go all the way to the dark!" The head of the Shen family finally made up his mind, "I will send someone to contact Zhuge Sanhe and order him to quickly bring troops to Suzhou!" Tianru, the matter of contacting the gentry to act together and cooperate with the inside and outside will be left to you. ”

"Brother Shen, rest assured, Zhang Pu will never live up to his trust!" Zhang Pu said excitedly. After waiting for so long, I can finally show my strength! This time, I'm going to give Chen Zilong a little color!

As for the head of the Shen family, he still didn't want to come forward, but handed over the matter to himself, which made Zhang Pu secretly disdainful. How can such a person accomplish great things? The Restoration Society has to make its own decisions!

After Zhang Pu left, the head of the Shen family asked his two sons to call him and briefly explain what he was going to do.

"Father, this is the crime of raiding the family and exterminating the clan, why is it so!" His eldest son was shocked.

"There is no way to be a father, if you don't do this, the Shen family will be in the dust!" The head of the Shen family sighed, "But the cunning rabbit three holes, I can't pin all my expectations on Zhang Pu." The two of you set off today at night, take your family, take more silver taels, and take the waterway to Hangzhou! Our family has an industry in Hangzhou, and there is a fleet at sea, you take your family to hide in Hangzhou first, once the emperor wins, you immediately set sail and leave Hangzhou, Luzon, Zhancheng, Nanyang is so big that you can survive anywhere, and you can always pass on the incense of our Shen family. ”

"Father, what about you?" The second son cried.

"Me?" The head of the Shen family said gloomily, "If you win, it's easy to say, if you lose, I will sneak out of Suzhou and go to Hangzhou to meet you." ”

If things can be done, the Shen family can go further, otherwise with the financial resources of the Shen family, it is enough to gain a foothold even if they go abroad. Since the Jiajing period, the Shen family has been engaged in maritime trade, and over the years, the Shen family's fleet has traveled all over the East and South Seas, and it is natural to find a place to stay.

......

Zhang Pu returned to Hangzhou, hid in a mansion outside the city, and began to contact the scholars of the Fushe in Suzhou, all of whom could be absolutely trusted, and sent people to send letters to the gentry such as the Huang family and the Zhou family, wanting to unite the gentry to discuss the next plan.

Soon, some gentry and gentlemen were called, but some Suzhou gentry such as the Huang family and the Zhou family never came.

"Brother Huang, they seem to be gathering domestic slaves, tenants, and hired laborers to resist the forced apportionment of the Prime Minister's Office of Urban Defense." A scholar who knows the details said.

"What stupidity!" Zhang Pu sneered, "What can be achieved by fighting alone, you can only let people break it!" But it's okay, let them attract Chen Zilong's idea, and let's take the opportunity to gather strength secretly. ”

"Brother Tianru, do you really want to come this far?" There is a word of concern for the scholars. Collusion with the White Lotus Sect, this thing doesn't sound reliable.

"Are you willing to give up your family's land? Are you willing to lose all the privileges of the gentry and live by cultivating the land like ordinary untouchables? Zhang Pu asked coldly.

"However, I have heard that the emperor only collects the land and does not rob the house, nor does he rob the business...... the scholar muttered.

"Fools would believe this! What did the emperor do when he formed a trading house, a trading house, and a fleet at sea? It is to compete with the people for profit! After he completes the release of Juntian, he will definitely start with the business of each family, will nationalize all the workshops, and maybe will encourage the people to sue and arrest all the gentry and landlords, just like he did in northern Shaanxi and Shandong! Zhang Pu sneered.

All the gentlemen were saddened when they heard this.

"We gentry must stand up, unite, let the emperor see our strength, let him know that even if he is the emperor, he can't mess around, and we must give enough respect to the gentry! Do nothing but let others slaughter! Zhang Pu clenched his fists and said.

"Brother Tianru, just say what to do, I'll listen to you!" Some of the gentry were boiling with blood and shouted loudly.

"Gan! The emperor can't mess around either! Others said.

"Let's ...... like this," Zhang Pu said in a low voice, and finally said: "In short, you don't have to come forward in person, you can find your henchmen and house slaves to do it, give the house slave a heavy reward, and then control his family, it is enough to ensure that he will not betray you." We gentry have money, and under the heavy money, it is not difficult to find people who are willing to make trouble. If the matter is leaked, kill the house slaves who handle it, and then return everything to the White Lotus Sect bandits, you can easily get out. ”

Zhang Pu understands the minds of these gentry, they are all fierce and inward-looking, and he must think of ways to eliminate the fear in their hearts in order to blend them together and make them obedient. In fact, as long as this kind of thing is done, it will no longer be able to clear the deal, and it can only go all the way to the dark, unless all the insiders are killed. And this is also the reason why Zhang Pu convened so many gentry to discuss at once.

Zhang Pu knew that he had fallen too deep and could not be washed away, so he decided to drag more people into the water. As long as these people do it, they will have the handle in his hands, and they will have to listen to him honestly in the future.

......

"Half a day has passed, how is the conscription of money and food going?" Chen Zilong asked.

Gu Yanwu, the official of the Du branch, sighed: "Some people honestly handed over money and grain, but most of the local gentry did not move......

There are many workshops and shops inside and outside Suzhou, and they don't have time to collect taxes from all the businessmen and gentry, but they just send official documents for the apportionment of money, grain and materials to dozens of businesses that have done big business, but I didn't expect most of them to ignore them completely.

"It's shameless!" Chen Zilong sneered, "I'm going to meet them in person!" ”

At this time, Chen Zilong had already made up his mind that he must kill the chickens and monkeys and give these gentry a little color!

"Brother among people should be cautious," Huang Zongxi came to persuade when he heard the news, "At the moment of the great enemy, so many gentry refuse to pay money and grain, and the reason behind it must be pondered. If you do it, I'm afraid there will be a big mess. If the White Lotus Bandits take the opportunity to attack, it will be very troublesome! ”

There must be collusion between the gentry and the White Lotus bandits, this is certain, otherwise the governor Mei Baohua would not have been defeated so quickly. So what is the reason behind the refusal of the gentry to pay money and food now? Chen Zilong thought about it carefully, suppressed his ups and downs, and asked softly, "Brother Taichong, what do you have in mind?" ”

Huang Zongxi said: "If someone makes trouble, they will inevitably cooperate with the White Lotus Bandits!" There are white lotus bandits to attack outside, and there are a large number of internal should take the opportunity to make trouble, our townsmen are all new soldiers, and their morale will inevitably collapse at that time, and Suzhou City may be difficult to hold. Therefore, there is no hurry to deal with those gentry, and then control the city defense first. From now on, all gates of Suzhou should be closed immediately, and all people should be prevented from entering and leaving. After isolating the inside and outside, then attack the gentry in the city! Take down all the gentry who are unwilling to honestly pay money and food to help defend the city! Eliminate the hidden danger of civil strife"

With Huang Zongxi's character, he would not come up with such an idea unless he had to, after all, many gentry in Suzhou were his friends and had a good relationship with each other. But now, Huang Zongxi smelled a hint of danger, and he knew in his heart that he was afraid that those gentry had really united and were ready to attack. And once the gentry seduces the White Lotus bandits to break through the city, the next thing is to lose their lives. The White Lotus Bandits will not plunder the gentry's house, but will only do it to ordinary merchants. It is about hundreds of people, about the righteousness of the family and the country, Huang Zongxi can no longer care about the old friendship.

"Brother Taichong is right, just do it!" Chen Zilong immediately made a decision and ordered people to give orders to all cities and villages, immediately close the eight city gates of Suzhou, and then deploy defenses above and below the city.

In an instant, the city gates were closed, and chaos was in place inside and outside the city gates. Some people complained loudly, but they were told that the White Lotus bandits were about to attack, and they were not allowed to go home.

In the courtyard outside the city, Zhang Pu was still arranging the next plan, and when he heard the news that the city gate was closed, he couldn't help but be stunned.

"Did you leak the news? How did Chen Zilong know that the White Lotus Sect was about to kill? Someone wondered. There are a large number of workshops and shops outside the city of Suzhou, where a large number of people live, and the population living outside the city is more than in the city. Unless it was Chen Zilong who got the news of the White Lotus Sect's killing.

"The White Lotus Sect will only kill in two days!" Zhang Pu said with a calm face.

According to the plan discussed with the Shen family master, it will take two days to prepare here, and only after it is ready will the White Lotus Sect send troops from Wujiang County to attack Suzhou. It must have been Chen Zilong who smelled something, so he suddenly closed the city gate! Now that many of the gentlemen who came to discuss the matter have not returned to the city, they have been locked up outside the city, how can they enter the city to organize the internal response?

Damn, once again let Chen Zilong have the upper hand!