Autumn of the 17th year of Chongzhen

Chapter 458 Meeting the Gentlemen
The few people who came to see Wang Yan were not ordinary squires. To be precise, they were all big and famous families in Quanzhou, and many of them were former officials of the Ming Dynasty.

Compared with the ordinary people in Quanzhou, these people were mostly safe and sound except for the loss of money and property in this military disaster.

At this time, there were more than 20 gentry in the hall, representing more than half of the famous families in Quanzhou Prefecture. They sat and discussed in a low voice, while Chen Bangyan sat upright with his eyes closed.

There was a commotion in the auditorium, an old man coughed heavily, and the hall suddenly fell silent. The old man's name was Guo Bichang, he was the largest family in Quanzhou, he had served as Minister of the Ministry of War of the Ming Dynasty, and he was also recognized as the leader of the gentry in Quanzhou.

Guo Bichang said slowly: "Now that Quanzhou is restored by the imperial court, the Duke of Chu is a scholar of the current dynasty. He must consider for me and other gentry. If you have anything to say, we will talk about it when the Duke comes. Everyone, don't be rude in front of Mr. Chen."

Everyone nodded in agreement. At this time, a soldier outside the hall shouted: "Mr. Chen, the Duke and the surname are here!"

Hearing the words, Chen Bangyan opened his eyes, led everyone to get up quickly, and greeted them outside the hall together, then walked Wang Yan and Zheng Chenggong while talking, and strode into the courtyard.

"Gentlemen have been waiting for a long time. You come here, do you have any suitable advice?" Wang Yan walked up to the gentleman and said with a smile.

"I don't dare to give any advice. It's just that in some cases, I should report to Chu Guogong. Chu Guogong is busy with military affairs. I'm really sorry to bother you!"

"No problem, everyone please!"

Everyone walked into the lobby and took their seats one after another. Wang Yan said with a smile, "Although this Eastern Expedition is led by the imperial court and this pavilion, in the land of Bamin, the imperial court will still rely on the prestige of the country's success to preside over Fujian. Therefore, if you have any specific matters, you can directly report to Guoxing in the future."

Hearing the words, everyone stood up one after another and saluted Zheng Chenggong, but the faces of many gentry showed some embarrassment. After the soldiers entered Fujian, they were purged, and they obviously belonged to the Qing court.

Among them, Guo Bichang, because of his close friendship with Zheng Zhilong, also helped Boluo write a personal letter persuading Zheng Zhilong to surrender, and it was precisely because of Zheng Zhilong's surrender that the Zheng family fell apart, and Zheng Chenggong's mother, Tian Chuan, was humiliated and committed suicide.

At this time, when Guo Bichang faced Zheng Chenggong, he was inevitably worried, so he came to Wang Yan, but Wang Yan still pushed them to Zheng Chenggong.

In fact, during the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the positions of the gentry during the Ming and Qing Dynasties can be said to be very complicated. First, after the Qing soldiers occupied Nanjing, a large number of them directly fell to the Qing court, but after the haircut order, a large number of them participated in the anti-Qing and restoration of the Ming Dynasty.

This phenomenon was actually due to the ideological confusion at that time. The Ming Dynasty was rotten to the bone during the reign of Chongzhen. Willing to contribute to the imperial court, they regard Man Qing as Li Zicheng, just another emperor, so they surrender easily.

But in fact, after they surrendered to the Qing Dynasty, they quickly discovered the difference between the Manchu and Qing Dynasties. They said that Guo Bichang persuaded Zheng Zhilong to surrender to the Qing Dynasty. Killed by Zhao Guozuo, the admiral of the Qing Dynasty.

Guo Bichang is obviously not a special case. The most representative of them is naturally Donglin Juzi Qian. The world knows his famous saying "the water is too cold to go down", but looking at his subsequent actions, he not only supported him with money several times He fought against the Qing Dynasty, and even secretly planned a big plan to join forces with the Yangtze River. After reading the poems after that, it is really hard to hate this complicated person.

Why did it appear, this kind of throwing and rebelling, wave after wave of awakening, the chaos of strength that has never been unified, is still ideological chaos after all.

Then, during the Ming and Qing Dynasties, was there an idea that could save the Ming Dynasty? Yes, but unfortunately it was decades late, and that was Gu Yanwu's "distinguishing between the subjugation of the country and the subjugation of the world?"

It said: "Changing the surname and changing the name is called the subjugation of the country; benevolence and righteousness are full, so that the beasts cannibalize the people, and the people will eat each other, which is called the subjugation of the world. Therefore, knowing how to protect the world, and then knowing how to protect the country. The person who protects the country is the king. The ministers who eat meat seek it out; those who protect the world have nothing to do with the lowliness and responsibility of a common man."

In Gu Yanwu's eyes, the Manchus entered the Central Plains, and all kinds of atrocities meant the destruction of the world. However, the common people farmed the land and received food. Even many gentry only regarded Manchu as a different surname and changed their names. The Ming Dynasty did not fully mobilize the gentry and common people.

Many gentry voted for the Qing court, only to find out that they were deceived, and the worst deceived in Bamin was undoubtedly Zheng Zhilong, the overlord of the sea. Many years of foundation was ruined with one hand, and he himself was placed under house arrest in Beijing, becoming a prisoner of his rank, and even the many Fujianese families who followed the Zheng family also suffered greatly.

Just imagine, when Zheng Zhilong had surrendered to the Qing, the generals of the Qing army still captured the Zheng family's old nest, Anping, because they were greedy for Zheng's wealth, and even Zheng Chenggong's mother was insulted. A lot of exploitation is indispensable.

This time the Qing soldiers in Quanzhou rebelled, although they did not lose their lives, they also lost a lot of money. The most important thing was that they were all terrified and had no sense of security in their hearts.

When Zheng Chenggong raided Quanzhou last time, Guo Bichang was not in the city. At this time, he had to sincerely reason with Wang Yan and Zheng Chenggong: "Old man Guo Bichang is the head of the Guo family in Jinjiang. These are also local big families in Quanzhou. Today we Come here, first of all, on behalf of the people and clan of Quanzhou, I would like to thank my soldiers of the Ming Dynasty for recovering Quanzhou. I would like to thank the Duke of Chu and Lord Guoxing for leading the army to save us from the fire. We have nothing to repay. Please, Lord Chu and Lord Guoxing, accept our gift The so-called gentry must first be a scholar, Xiang Guo Bichang is the Jinshi of Tianqi, and most of the people present are Juren. They all saluted again and thanked Wang and Zheng. Wang Yan waved his hand and said to everyone: "Fight against the Qing soldiers!" , Restoring the old land and protecting the people of Ming Dynasty, this is the duty of the officers and soldiers, so you don't need to be polite!"

Zheng Chenggong also said: "The misfortune of Bamin today is that the northern captives are filthy. My fault lies in my Zheng family's failure to defend Bamin. Today, I have succeeded in paying the emperor's order to admiral Fujian's military affairs. I will drive the northern captives out of Bamin and protect the gentry and the people." Peaceful."

Zheng Chenggong has a high prestige among ordinary people in Fujian. What he is saying now is actually to reach a settlement with those big clans who once instigated Zheng Zhilong to surrender. After all, fighting against the Qing Dynasty and restoring the Ming Dynasty still needs the support of the gentry.

Guo Bichang was slightly relieved when he heard the words, and everyone sat down one after another. Guo Bichang sighed and said: "We are looking forward to the stars, to the moon, and finally the imperial army. I hope that from now on, Quanzhou will never suffer from military disasters again. .”

Wang Yan and Zheng Chenggong looked at each other. Both of them understood the true intention of the Quanzhou gentry. They wanted to find out what to do after the imperial court conquered Quanzhou. Zhang Cunren communicated to prevent them from being massacred by the Qing soldiers again after the Ming army abandoned Quanzhou, but if the Ming army said to defend, they had to prove their strength and determination to them, otherwise they would not dare to take their lives easily.

The goal Wang Yan set before was to at least pull out Zhangzhou, but Zhangzhou is a part of Fujian. If he wants to pull it out, he has to compete with the Qing army in Fujian. The specific situation depends on the changes in the subsequent battle. But he saw that Zheng Chenggong killed prisoners and bribed Quanzhou's people's hearts as soon as he entered Quanzhou, and he took the initiative to reveal the meaning of reconciliation with Guo Bichang, obviously he did not want to give up Quanzhou.

"Everyone can rest assured that this joint attack on Bamin by the Pavilion and Chenggong is nothing but a fight, and the problem will be solved in a single battle. Even if the Eastern Expedition cannot drive the Qing soldiers out of Fujian, it will still make Zhang Cunren dare not cross the border." Cross the Min River."

Zheng Chenggong comforted him and said: "Li Chengdong and Tong Yangjia have been besieged in Zhangzhou, and sooner or later they will be captured by the Ming Dynasty. Now that our army has captured Quanzhou, we will wipe out all the Qing troops west of the Minjiang River, and Quanzhou will gradually calm down in the future. Foreign trade will also resume. However, fighting against the Qing soldiers cost a lot. Although the officers and soldiers captured a little money and food, you also know that the war consumes a lot and there is very little food in the warehouse. The actions of the officers and soldiers to restore Fujian, everyone Much support is needed.”

The faces of the people were a little unnatural. They also lost a lot this time. Most of the seizures by the officers and soldiers were from the Qing soldiers who seized their assets. They did not propose to recover them. They are already very sensible. Now Zheng Chenggong means to let them support the Ming army. , They suddenly felt a little fleshy.

Guo Bichang hesitated for a moment before expressing his opinion: "If the officers and soldiers can really guarantee the safety of Quanzhou and resume trade, I am willing to provide some food and grass."

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(End of this chapter)