Unlike the northern provinces, the Jiangnan business atmosphere in the Ming Dynasty is strong, but all the gentry will do some business. Or set up a workshop, or sell goods. The same is true of Jiangxi, where the business atmosphere is no less than in Jiangdong, Jingdezhen in Raozhou Prefecture and Leadshan Town in Guangxin Prefecture are all one of the world's famous towns. Because of its remote location, Tong'an Town cannot be compared with those famous towns, but Squire Lu also opened a silk reeling workshop in the town, and purchased a lot of mountain goods for sale every year. For Squire Lu, the silver earned in business was more than the family's thousands of acres of land.

However, agriculture-oriented is not only the national policy of the Ming Dynasty, but also a deep-rooted concept in China for thousands of years. In the eyes of most of the gentry, nothing was more important than the fields at home. Many people who have earned money outside the home will return to their hometowns to buy land, even though the income from the fields is very small.

"Xian, General Zhang naturally understands what he said, but ......" Squire Lu smiled bitterly, asking him to give up the thousands of acres of land at home.

"But without the field, there will be no hundreds of tenants attached to the field, Shibo, I'm afraid you won't be able to say anything in Tong'an Town, right?" Zhang Huangyan said with a smile, although his words were gentle, they pointed directly to the hearts of the people, which made Squire Lu change color in shock.

Although farming is not as profitable as doing business, why do countless gentry still merge fields on a large scale? Herein lies the reason.

With a great deal of land comes a multitude of tenants, and these tenants who cultivate their fields have to follow their orders and obey their orders. That's why there are gentry who cross state and county, and what these gentry say is more effective for the people than the government, that is, the government has to look at the faces of the gentry.

Without the land and the tenant relationship, the people will naturally no longer listen to the gentry, and the status of the gentry will not plummet, but it will be far inferior to before. When the time comes, any official will be able to handle them.

And this is the real reason why Squire Lu and others are reluctant to hand over the land.

"Juntian is a national policy formulated by His Majesty himself, and for this reason, His Majesty did not hesitate to lead a large army to the south, and did not hesitate to risk forcing the gentry officials from all over the country to rebel. Jiangxi Fu Rebellion claimed that the prison country colluded with the thieves, and the rebel minister Yuan Chonghuan led the army to attack Nanjing, all of which were due to this. There are countless opponents in the government and the opposition.

But even so, His Majesty is still unswerving, not hesitating to conquer with the respect of ten thousand times, and not hesitating to be the enemy of all the gentry in the world, in order to return the world to true fairness and equality, in order to allow countless small people to live, and in order to establish an unprecedentedly strong Ming Dynasty.

Now that the 200,000 Jiangxi rebels have been completely annihilated, His Majesty has transferred 100,000 border troops from Liaodong, a total of 200,000 troops, to level Jiangxi in one fell swoop, and those who follow the will prosper and those who rebel will die, where to go, Lu Shibo, you will decide as soon as possible! Zhang Huangyan didn't want to ink anymore, and said directly to the showdown.

"I, I'm ......" Squire Lu's face changed, and he couldn't make a decision for a while.

"If you don't want to cooperate, then you are the enemy of the Praetorian Guard, and when the army led by General Li arrives, the jade will be burned. The liquidation will be liquidated! Zhang Huangyan continued to persecute.

"I listen to you." Under the threat, Squire Lu finally made up his mind, because he knew that he had no way out.

Because he helped Zhang Huangyan collect grain before, and Zhang Huangyan killed many soldiers in the Inspection Department, in the eyes of the Imperial Court of the Prison State, I am afraid that he is already "rebellious", if he no longer helps Zhang Huangyan, I am afraid that in the end, both sides will not be pleased. Although in the end, the family's land could not be saved, but if he could make a good relationship with the Praetorian Guard and make some contributions, he would be much better than other gentry in the future.

"General Zhang, what do you say, I'll listen to you." After making up his mind, Squire Lu quickly straightened his position and asked as a subordinate.

Zhang Huangyan thought for a while and directly ordered: "You now send people to the nearby towns and call the other squires." ”

Squire Lu nodded: "Okay, but what if the other squires refuse to come?" ”

Everyone is a gentry, and it is too rude to call other people directly, and other gentry may not be willing to come.

"You tell them that there is a great good thing waiting for them, and they will regret it if they don't come." Zhang Huang said.

"Okay, I'll send someone." Squire Lu didn't ink either, and immediately went to do something. On the same day, seven or eight servants were sent to deliver letters to other squires in the vicinity.

I have to say that Squire Lu still has some influence, and the next day, there were gentry who came to Tong'an Town one after another, and all the gentry who came were closer to Tong'an Town, and as for the gentry who were farther away, it was too late at all.

"Brother Lu, what's the matter, I'm so anxious that someone called me over."

"What's the big deal, do you want to be so mysterious?"

"Brother Lu, are you going to marry the second room, I don't have time to prepare a congratulatory gift in such a hurry."

In the face of the inquiries of these familiar gentry, Squire Lu always haha, that is, he did not say the reason for inviting them, but only said that he would introduce someone to them after a while.

At noon, the gentry from the surrounding towns were basically all there, and a total of four squires came, all of whom were friends of Squire Lu.

"Have you met your seniors?" Zhang Huangyan finally appeared and hugged his fist towards the squires.

"Who is this little brother?" Squire Wang of Whitewater Town looked at Squire Lu with a smile.

"In Xia Zhang Huangyan, he is a general of the Fujian Navy Division." Zhang Huangyan introduced himself.

The squires were shocked. After the Jiangxi rebels and Yuan Chonghuan joined forces to support Zhu Yousong as the prisoner, they were supported by the officials and gentry of the entire Jiangxi, and these gentry present also supported the Nanchang court, which means that they were actually rebellious to the imperial court and had a hostile relationship with the Praetorian Guard.

"Brother Lu, what the hell is going on?" The horse squire of Jigao Town asked coldly.

"Brothers, listen to me." Squire Lu smiled bitterly.

"Let me tell you." Zhang Huangyan interrupted Squire Lu's words.

"Your Majesty decided to send a large army of 500,000 to conquer the rebels in Jiangxi, and my Fujian Praetorian Guard is one of them, and the 50,000 troops commanded by Fujian General Li crossed Wuyi Mountain to attack Jianchang Mansion. And I am the outpost of the army, the first to come, firstly to investigate the enemy's situation, and then to unite the righteous men who have their hearts to the imperial court. You are all Ming people, and you are all readers of the sages, so you naturally understand the truth of loyalty and patriotism. So I asked Lu Shibo to gather everyone over and discuss some matters. Zhang Huang said.

500,000 troops!

50,000 Fujian Janissaries want to attack Jianchang Mansion!

The gentry present were suddenly shocked on the outside and tender on the inside.

Although they support the Nanchang Imperial Court, they are not fools and know how to choose. The 200,000 Jiangxi army was wiped out, and the emperor sent another 500,000 troops to conquer, as long as the people who were not stupid knew that the Nanchang Imperial Court had gone over. These gentry present, although they are only famous, are also from thousands of scholars, and they are not stupid. At this time, it is natural to know how to choose.

"Your Majesty has finally sent a large army, and I have waited for the people of Jiangxi to finally arrive." A cry of surprise sounded, but it was Squire Zhang from Victorious Town.

I saw Squire Zhang's body trembling, revealing an extremely excited look, and cried with joy: "Since Fu rebelled and claimed to be the prisoner of the country and cut Jiangxi to rebel, we and other gentry have been looking forward to the king and the prince like Ganlin, and we have finally waited!" ”

Shameless! The other squires looked at Squire Zhang with disdain, but when they turned their heads, they all showed flattery,

"yes, I've finally arrived."

"Those traitors in Nanchang have no king and no father, all of them are extremely evil, we all want to eat their flesh, but they are weak, there is nothing they can do, it is really good that Master Wang is here."

Squire Lu looked at these people blankly, as if he didn't know each other. In the past, as long as the emperor's Juntian policy was mentioned, these people hated it so much, and they all clamored for the hope that the prison country would send a large army to abolish the Wudao faint monarch as soon as possible, but now they all put on a loyal and patriotic appearance. It seems that the old man is the most upright, Squire Lu sighed in his heart.

"Lu Shibo." Zhang Huangyan looked at Squire Lu who was in a daze.

"Huh?" Squire Lu came back to his senses, "Everyone is right, we have been looking forward to Master Wang coming over for a long time." By the way, this time I called everyone over, General Zhang has something to say. ”

"If General Zhang has anything to say, I will definitely give it my full support." The gentry said one after another.

Zhang Huangyan is very satisfied, this is the normal operation. is also from a family of eunuchs, Zhang Huangyan naturally knows these gentry very well, these people don't look at how righteous they usually behave, when they are in danger, they will all make a choice from their hearts. The rebels are strong, they support the rebels, and when the Praetorian Guards come, they will naturally support the Praetorian Guards.

"In that case, you're welcome." Zhang Huang said, "General Li is about to lead an army of 50,000 to attack Jianchang Mansion, I was ordered to be the outpost of the army, since you are committed to the imperial court, then listen to my orders, everyone go back to gather the tenants Qingzhuang, come to Tong'an Town tomorrow, and obey my orders." ”

"General Zhang, since the army is coming, why should we summon the young and strong?" Squire Wang asked cautiously.

"I might as well tell you that General Li has already set off with his troops, and he will be able to reach Jianchang Mansion in five or six days, but my whereabouts have been discovered by the Inspection Division, and just yesterday, the soldiers of the Inspection Division came to Tong'an Town, and were repelled by my subordinates, killing more than ten people. I was worried that after they fled, they would lead more people to kill again and rob me of the military rations I bought, so I asked everyone to gather the strong men to come. Zhang Huangyan explained.

"It turns out that you were collecting grain from the general. The general can rest assured, it is only a district inspection department, and there are not many soldiers, so there is no need to be afraid of them. Squire Ma laughed.

Zhang Huang said: "I'm not afraid of it, but I'm worried about the loss of military rations." Tens of thousands of troops crossed the mountains, and it was not easy to transport grain and grass, so I came here as a pioneer to buy grain. It's hard to say what would have happened if the loss of food had left the army without food and grass. ”

What else can happen, the army will naturally not be hungry without food, and will naturally plunder, thinking of this, all the squires shuddered. Tens of thousands of armies let go of the plunder, and the first to be unlucky were the squires who had a lot of wealth and food.

"General Zhang, don't worry, I'll go back and gather people." Squire Ma patted his chest and reassured.

"Me too." The other squires said one after another.

"Then please. Also, because I am in a hurry, I have limited food to purchase, so please sell me more food, and I will pay according to the market price. Zhang Huangyan continued.

"What you want, not silver. I am willing to sacrifice 500 stone of grain to the army. ”

"I offer eight hundred stones."

"I'll give a thousand stones!"

The squires said one after another.

"In this case, please everyone, go back now, I think I can see Qingzhuang coming over early tomorrow morning." Zhang Huangyan hugged his fists.

All the squires said goodbye one after another and left, and Zhang Huangyan smiled and personally sent them to the door.

"It's worthy of being a squire who reads the books of sages, and they are all smart people." Zhang Huangyan said to Squire Lu with a smile.

Squire Lu blushed and changed the subject: "The Inspection Department shouldn't send troops over again." ”

Zhang Huangyan nodded: "With the strength of the Inspection Division, as well as the temperament of the inspection of Nama, I will definitely not dare to bring people to kill again." ”

"Then why do you still want everyone to gather the young people?" Squire Lu asked in surprise.

"Because I want to get out." Zhang Huangyan said with a smile.

"Hit out?" Squire Lu was puzzled.

"Shibo, you are not an outsider, I might as well say it directly. The food raised is almost enough, enough for the army to eat for some time, but in the period before the arrival of the army, I don't want to wait, I want to lead people to take the new city and county, and I have to make some contributions. Zhang Huangyan said with a smile.

"Ahh Squire Lu was shocked, and hurriedly said, "The young men and women everyone gathered are all farmers who can only farm, and they don't know how to fight at all." ”

People will die in battle, these young people include the young people in Tong'an Town, many of them are the clansmen of the Lu squire, and he doesn't want to see these people die on the battlefield.

"Don't worry, they don't know how to fight, I understand, I have a hundred people under my command, all of them are battle-hardened elites, and there are no elites in the county, at most some officials, it is easy to take the county seat." Zhang Huangyan said with a smile.

As for the real reason for summoning Qingzhuang, he couldn't tell Squire Lu.

After the people of the inspection department fled back, they would inevitably report to the above, although Xincheng County did not have an army, but Jianchang Mansion City did, and thousands of troops were killed, not the hundred and ten people under his command could resist. Therefore, Zhang Huangyan decided to take the initiative, first leading people to take the county seat of Xincheng, and then resisting the city to resist the rebels of Jianchang Mansion. As long as you hold on for a few days, it will be good to hold on until Li Yanzhi leads the army into Jianchang Mansion.

As for what is for meritorious service, it is just to fool Squire Lu.

Why don't you stay in Tong'an Town? Tong'an Town is in no danger to defend. After taking Xincheng County, there are at least city walls that can withstand the attack of the rebels.

Zhang Huangyan knew that even if the squires were obedient and summoned the young men of each township to come forward, at most a few thousand people, these young men were untrained peasants and could not be sent to the battlefield at all, even if they were equal to the number of attacking rebels, they were not the opponents of the rebels.

But defending the city is different, guarding the city wall, as long as you have the strength to throw bricks and stones under the city, even women can defend the city, and these young men are enough to do it.