In fact, Hong Chengchou now has no shortage of money and grain in his hands, after controlling the forty-one Weicang, the entire Nanjing City Treasury is in his hands, and if it is used to defend the city, it can last at least half a year, but who dislikes the money and grain in his hands?

Since Xu Hongji, the Duke of Wei, took the initiative to donate money and grain to defend the city, of course Hong Chengchou would not be polite, no matter whether Xu Hongji was voluntary or conspiracy, with his attitude, then other nobles must follow suit!

Hong Chengchou immediately sent people to other Hou Bo mansions in Nanjing, asking these nobles to follow the example of Xu Hongji, the Duke of Wei, and donate money and grain to defend the city.

If the twenty or thirty nobles in the entire Nanjing City are like Xu Hongji, then the donated money and grain will be a huge amount, and with these money and food, many great things can be done!

And through this incident, we can also observe the attitude of these nobles, for the nobles who are loyal to the country, the emperor will naturally be broad-minded in the future, so as not to make people say too mean.

In order to achieve a certain effect, Hong Chengchou seconded a group of Jinyi guards from Chang Wu, led by Jinyi Wei, and went to Xungui's mansion to collect money and grain.

Seeing the Jinyi Guard wearing a flying fish suit coming to the door, many nobles couldn't help but feel scared, they knew what it meant for the Jinyi Guard to come to the door. Knowing that they were sent by Hong Chengchou, the governor of Jiangnan, to let them pay money and grain for defending the city, many nobles could only pinch their noses and promise to hand over some even if they were unwilling.

Of course, there are also some nobles who feel sorry for their money and don't know each other. For these people, the brocade guards sent out were not polite.

"Benbo's family can't afford to feed them, where can they get money and food? The Duke of Wei, the Duke of Wei, has a big family and occupies hundreds of thousands of acres of land around Yingtianfu. And my small Xincheng Mansion, a small family, can only rely on a meager amount of money to support the family on weekdays, how can it be compared with the Wei State Mansion? Xincheng Bo Zhao Zhilong cried to the Jinyi guard who came to urge the payment of money and grain.

"Uncle, you have to think clearly, now that the enemy is present, everyone in the city must work together to fight against the thieves, and the soldiers are fighting bloodily with the army of thieves on the city wall, but you are not pulling out a hair, if it reaches Your Majesty's ears, I don't know what Your Majesty will think?" The brocade guard said with a threatening tone.

Zhao Zhilong's face changed greatly: "Okay, okay, I am willing to give 1,000 taels of silver, 500 stones of grain, and please report back to Governor Hong, I really don't have more money and food in my house!" ”

Since the resignation of Xu Hongji, the Duke of Wei, due to illness, the military power of Nanjing City has been divided into two, and the commander of the Caojiang Water Division is Liu Kongzhao, who is the commander of the Ruyi Bo, while Zhao Zilong is the garrison of Nanjing, in charge of all the infantry in Nanjing.

However, since Hong Chengchou arrived in Nanjing, he directly confiscated the military power of the two, and Liu Kongzhao was the first to move closer to Hong Chengchou and was able to retain his position. And Zhao Zhilong's position as a garrison in Nanjing was directly canceled.

Therefore, Zhao Zilong was very unwilling and was very dissatisfied with Hong Chengchou. Because of the loss of the military power in his hands, there is no way to eat empty pay and drink the blood of the soldiers, and the losses are very large! And now, Hong Chengchou actually sent someone to the door to urge the payment of money and grain, which made the resentment in Zhao Zilong's heart even stronger.

"Uncle, I'm not wrong, right?" As soon as the brocade guard who came to the door left, a scribe walked out from behind the screen and said to Zhao Zilong, this scribe is Zhang Pu.

"Mr. is right, Hong Chengchou and His Majesty..., they obviously don't give us a way to live!" Zhao Zhilong gritted his teeth and said.

"Chongzhen, he has already made up his mind to eradicate all the nobles and all the gentry, so we won't be able to escape sooner or later." Zhang Pu sighed.

"But why is that? This world was brought down by our ancestors with the help of the Zhu family, and you scribes are needed to govern the world, Your Majesty treats us like this, who will help him govern the world? Isn't he afraid of the collapse of the Ming Dynasty for more than 200 years? Zhao Zhilong was full of puzzlement.

"Our majesty is the most greedy for money, in his opinion, whether it is the gentry or the nobles of the clan, they occupy too much land and wealth, and they are the moths of the Ming Dynasty, and they are the so-called guilty of it!" Zhang Pu sighed, he naturally knew the specific reasons, but there was no need to talk to Zhao Zhilong in detail.

"In other words, no matter what, Your Majesty will attack us!" Zhao Zhilong said.

"Exactly!" Zhang Pu nodded.

"If he is unkind, don't blame me for being unjust, Mr. Zhang, I am willing to listen to you, I am willing to support the prince of Fuwang to supervise the country!" Zhao Zhilong finally made up his mind.

"So very good, Uncle has been guarding Nanjing for several years, and he is deeply rooted in the army, with the support of Uncle, great things can be done! Uncle rest assured, as long as he wins the world, he will definitely not treat the uncle badly, and the uncle's mansion will definitely become the Hou Mansion in the future! Zhang Pu said with satisfaction.

Leaving the Xincheng Mansion, Zhang Pu got into a carriage and quickly went to the south of the city, and soon came to the bank of the Qinhuai River and entered a mansion.

"Brother Zhang, what's going on?" Huang Li was waiting in the house and said to Zhang Pu who came in.

"Zhao Zhilong has agreed to cooperate!" Zhang Pu said with a smile.

"Good, good! With Xu Hongji and Zhao Zhilong as the internal response, half of the garrison of Nanjing City is in our hands, and great things will be done! Huang Li said excitedly.

"Now the nobles of Nanjing City can be said to be on our side, not to mention the gentry, as long as they get the cooperation of the Nanjing government, then the big thing will really be done." Zhang Pu said.

"Hong Chengchou is now in charge alone, what role can the Nanjing government play?" Huang Li was puzzled.

"How is the government useless? The war is about to start, and a large number of people are needed to defend the city, and the people in the city need to be mobilized to transport various materials for the soldiers defending the city, and a large number of people are needed to help defend the city. And all of this needs to be organized by the government. Although Hong Chengchou is in charge of the power, although he can issue all orders, the implementation of orders still needs to go through the government. Zhang Pu explained.

"Then persuade the officials of the Sixth Ministry." Huang Li said with a smile. Now the upper-class people in the entire Nanjing city are all interested in Jiangxi, which makes him feel very relaxed.

"Mu Zhai Gong and the officials of the Six Ministries are very familiar with each other, and they can be persuaded through Mu Zhai Gong. As long as you can persuade Fu Zhenshang, the secretary of the military department, it will be fine. Zhang Pu nodded. The six departments in Nanjing, headed by the military department, and the other five departments had no real power.

......

"Jinyiwei is hunting you down, how dare you run around the city?" Seeing Zhang Pu's arrival, Qian Qianyi was shocked.

"It's okay, there are only a few Jinyi guards, how can you search the entire Nanjing City?" Zhang Pu said disapprovingly.

"Mu Zhai Gong, now that Wei Guogong and Xin Chengbo have promised to support King Fu's prince to supervise the country, the big thing can be done!" Zhang Pu told me what he had done today.

"Tianru, we are all people who read the books of sages, do we really want to do such disloyal things?" Qian Qianyi sighed.

"Mu Zhaigong, when is it, the news of your hometown of Changzhou should have come over, your family's field must have been carved up, right? Would you like to see all the fields handed down from your ancestors taken away? Do you want to see the entire Shilin completely eradicated by the emperor? Zhang Pu said impatiently.

He was most annoyed by Qian Qianyi's hesitant temperament, obviously wanting the emperor to step down very much, but he still had to put on a reluctant appearance.

"Okay, what do you need me to do?" Qian Qianyi said helplessly. The Fushe and the Donglin Party infiltrated each other, and if Zhang Pu and the others failed, he would not be able to escape the relationship.

"I heard that Xu Hongji, the Duke of Wei, said that Hong Chengchou wants to recruit young people in the whole city to help defend the city, Mu Zhai Gong, you go and tell Fu Da Sima to ask him to go to Hong Chengchou and express his willingness to help recruit young people and be responsible for defending the city." Zhang Pu said.

……

"What? Want me to work with Hong Seung-joe? No way! Fu Zhenshang of the Nanjing Military Department said angrily.

Since Hong Chengchou arrived in Nanjing, he has been arbitrary, and the six yamen have completely become decorations, which makes Fu Zhenshang very dissatisfied! Coupled with the dissatisfaction with the emperor's policy of Juntian, the Nanjing government has always disobeyed Hong Chengchou and is unwilling to cooperate at all. Now Qian Qianyi came to tell him to take the initiative to cooperate with Hong Chengzhou, how willing was Fu Zhenshang?

In the eyes of Fu Zhenshang and other Nanjing officials, Nanjing City was captured by Jiangxi soldiers, and Zhu Yousong should be the emperor!

"What's impossible, now that the enemy is present, Nanjing's civil and military forces must work together in order to resist the thieves. Brother Fu, only if we have enough strength in our hands can we play a role in the battle to defend the city, and only then can we live up to the fathers and elders of Nanjing and the people of the world! Passive cooperation is the worst option! Qian Qianyi said earnestly.

"You mean......" Fu Zhenshang was stunned for a moment, and somewhat understood.

Qian Qianyi nodded: "That's right!" ”

……

Mrs. Fu wants to help me defend the city? Looking at Fu Zhenshang, who took the initiative to run, Hong Chengchou was a little surprised.

"Of course, at the moment of the great enemy, as an official of the imperial court, we should be in harmony with each other, and as the secretary of the Nanjing Military Department, how can I sit back and watch the thieves besiege the city and do nothing?" Fu Zhenshang said angrily.

"Okay, since Master Fu wants to do something, Hong Chengchou naturally can't ask for it." Hong Chengchou said with a smile.

"Governor Hong, aren't you going to organize the whole city to defend the city? Leave this to me. Fu Zhenshang took the initiative.

"How can you use such trivial things as organizing young people to be Master Fu? I only need some prefectural and county officials, and Master Fu will help me deal with big things in the Governor's Mansion!" Hong Chengchou said with a smile.

"What can they do? Let's leave this kind of work to the Yamen of the Ministry of War! Fu Zhenshang argued.

Hong Chengchou shook his head: "The people who are most familiar with the people of Nanjing are still the officials of Yingtianfu and Shangyuan Jiangning County, as well as the officials and soldiers of the Five Cities Soldiers and Horses, after all, they have been dealing with the people in the city. Master Fu, you are in the temple, where do you know these low-level things? I still don't bother you to do such trifles. ”

Seeing that Hong Chengchou insisted on not allowing himself to organize young and strong, Fu Zhenshang could only leave helplessly.

Looking at Fu Zhenshang's back, Hong Chengchou was thoughtful.

In the past day, the noble civil officials of Nanjing City came to the door one after another, and they were all very concerned about the matter of defending the city, some took the initiative to pay money and food, and some took the initiative to ask for help to defend the city.

It is very important to organize young people to defend the city, and if someone with a different heart gets such an errand, they can put people in it at will, which will cause great harm to the defense of the city. How could Hong Chengchou dare to hand over such an important matter to the Nanjing Military Department, which was not dealing with him?

After Fu Zhenshang left, Hong Chengchou immediately sent people to summon the officials of Shuntianfu, Shangyuan County and Jiangning County, as well as the officials and soldiers of the Five Cities Soldiers and Horses Division to gather in the Great Teaching Field.

In Nanjing, there were nearly 1,000 officials and soldiers in one prefecture and two counties, and the total number of soldiers and officials in the five cities was more than 2,000. More than 3,000 people stood on the school grounds, all looking at the red-robed Governor on the stage in disbelief.

Such lowly officials as they are on an errand of honor, and the biggest official they usually come into contact with is the county official, the cabinet scholar and the governor of Jiangnan, and such a senior official is too far away from them.

Seeing that the people were almost coming, Hong Chengchou stopped inking, waved his hand, and his staff member Zhao Yin stepped forward and began to lecture the officials below:

"The Jiangxi rebels are about to arrive in Nanjing, and the war is imminent, in order to defend the city of Nanjing, the governor decided to form a shogunate and take full responsibility for defending the city. Therefore, it was decided to transfer scribes from the two counties of Yingtianfu and Shangyuan Jiangning to be responsible for the affairs of the shogunate, and it was decided to transfer officials from one prefecture and two counties and the five cities of the Terracotta Division to be responsible for organizing and leading the people to participate in the defense of the city.

During the period of participation in the defense of the city, the salary was doubled, and the governor's palace was responsible for the payment, and there was also a subsidy during the defense of the city. Those who have made meritorious contributions in the defense of the city can be appointed as officials, and the errand servants can also be qualified as officials. As long as you make meritorious service, you will be rewarded! ”

After saying this, the officials present first looked at each other, and then they all burst into ecstasy. From the very beginning, the class of the Ming Dynasty has been solidified, and these officials are often father and son, and there is no possibility of crossing the class at all!

It is almost impossible for them to be officials, because their children and grandchildren are not qualified to participate in the scientific examination, and now, Hong Chengchou actually promised that as long as he can make contributions, he will be able to become an official, which makes them ecstatic!

And for those errand servants and even white servants, if they can make meritorious contributions, they also have the opportunity to be promoted, and they can be promoted to officials. Of course, it is estimated that there are only a few people who can make contributions, and there will definitely be casualties when defending the city, but Hong Chengchou may have given a heavy reward, at least during this period, their salaries are much more than before, and this alone is enough to make people's hearts moved.

In the past, when encountering this kind of city defense, the whole city was unconditionally defended by the people of the city, and they had to obey the call of the government, when would they be given such generous treatment?

"Thank you, Governor!"

"Listen to the Governor, let us do whatever we want!"

All of a sudden, the officials and servants present shouted one after another, and the atmosphere was very warm.

Seeing this situation, Hong Chengchou nodded with satisfaction and walked slowly to the front of the stage.

Seeing that the Governor was about to speak, everyone present fell silent.

"You must have heard of the current situation in Jiangdong, whether it is a servant in Jiangdong, or an ordinary person, or even a domestic slave, as long as he is talented, as long as he is capable, he has the opportunity to become an official, and everyone is equal. The governor does not dare to guarantee anything else, but dares to guarantee that after defeating the Jiangxi rebels, the government of Jiangdong will also be implemented in Nanjing, and all those who support His Majesty's great cause will be reused, and everyone will be equal at that time, and there will be no distinction between high and low! Hong Chengchou's clear words rippled in the school field.

The officials and gentry in Nanjing are not credible, and I don't know how many people are secretly planning to sacrifice the city to Jiangxi anti-thieves, and Hong Chengchou does not believe any of those who take the initiative to come to express their service.

However, the city of Nanjing is too big, and if you want to defend the city, you can't rely on more than 10,000 Praetorian Guards. But there are still the vast number of low-level people in Nanjing City who can believe it, as long as they can get the hearts of these low-level people, let alone defend Nanjing City, why is it difficult to completely annihilate 200,000 anti-thieves?