I

Going east from Guangxin Prefecture in Jiangxi Province is Quzhou Prefecture in Zhejiang Province.

Uprisings broke out in all five counties of Quzhou Prefecture.

However, only Jiangshan County, which is closest to Jiangxi, is still in the hands of the rebels. The remaining four counties were all successfully counterattacked by big landowners, and many of the scholars, businessmen, and farmers who participated in the uprising were killed.

When Zhao Han was still in Qianshan County, Zhang Tieniu brought two thousand vine armor soldiers to Jiangshan County in advance as a vanguard.

"Meet General Zhang!"

The rebel leaders led their troops out of the city to greet him.

The leader was named Zheng Baolu, and Fei Laoer's wife, Zheng, was a distant relative of this person. The clans have migrated for more than ten generations. They may be related, but they may not be related.

Zheng Baolu introduced himself to his family and other people around him.

Zhang Tieniu had nothing in common with the intellectuals, so they exchanged casual greetings, and then the missionary officer came to communicate with them.

When the two sides became familiar with each other, Zhang Tieniu said: "I am the pioneer, and I only brought two thousand people with me, and I don't have much food and grass with me. Brother Zheng, get some food first!"

Zheng Baolu immediately sent someone to prepare food and said, "General Zhang, please go into the city and rest."

"No need," Zhang Tieniu said, "I will rest outside the city and continue to advance tomorrow morning. I heard that there are uprisings everywhere. How many cities have been captured?"

Zheng Baolu said sadly: "Quzhou's five counties originally occupied four counties, but now only one county, Jiangshan, is left. I heard that thirty-two rebel soldiers were killed in Longyou. General Zhang wants to avenge them!"

Zheng Baolu's so-called occupation of several counties specifically refers to the capture of several county towns. Outside the cities, there are still landlord forces.

"How many defenders are there in the capital of Quzhou?" Zhang Tieniu asked.

Zheng Baolu said: "There are several thousand. Led by the Kong family, they recruited many landowners and merchants as generals, and also recruited many domestic slaves, homeless people and farmers as soldiers."

"Tomorrow I will attack the capital city of Quzhou, and you will be our guide." Zhang Tieniu said.

Zheng Baolu only had a ragtag group of soldiers under his command, with more than a thousand soldiers. He left a thousand men to guard the city, led more than 400 men himself, and set out with Zhang Tieniu's two thousand elite men.

In addition, the merchants of the Longyou Merchant Gang provided many ships to help transport food and grass with the army.

These merchants are mainly small and medium-sized businessmen.

They didn't help during the previous uprising. The big landowners fought back, and they didn't help.

Anyway, it’s just a show, it doesn’t matter who wins or loses.

Now that Zhang Tieniu and his troops arrived, the merchants immediately took notice and provided ships to help fight the war. They are accustomed to changing the direction when the wind blows.

The prefect of Quzhou was called Huang Huangzhong, and he was a son of a military household in Guiyang. This guy felt that things were not going well, so he ran away last winter, and the new prefect is still halfway there.

In the absence of the magistrate, there is no leader, and the co-prefects, officials, and county magistrates do not dare to make the decision.

At this time, the commander of Quzhou's defense was Kong Shangqian, the 64th grandson of Confucius.

Seeing the troops approaching the city, Kong Shangqian suddenly panicked.

The other gentry who participated in suppressing the uprising were also panicked. They thought that King Zhao Tian would not attack Zhejiang, otherwise how could they dare to recruit troops to suppress the Quzhou uprising?

Xu Shaoqing's eyes wandered and he looked at the other gentry leaders, wondering whether he could dedicate himself to the city and perform meritorious service.

Zheng Tai was also looking around, and when his eyes met Xu Shaoqing's, they immediately understood each other's thoughts.

The Xu family, the Zheng family, the Wang family, the Zhou family, the Wu family, the Chen family, and the Mao family are the seven major families in Quzhou Prefecture.

"Otherwise, surrender," Zheng Tai said. "We won't take back the city, but we won't kill a few people. They're all locked up in prison. Longyou's side killed more people. Longyou can't surrender, but we can." "

Wu Huixian said: "There are only more than 2,000 people outside the city. We have more than 7,000 soldiers. Maybe we can fight."

Xu Shaoqing sarcastically said: "Those are the elite of King Zhao Tian. Although they are only two thousand in number, they are fully equipped with armor and have a neat lineup. What do you think our seven thousand people look like?"

"I just said you shouldn't mess around," Chen Yuzhong complained, "Quzhou is too close to Jiangxi, just waiting to be divided into fields. You insist on recruiting troops, and you can't bear to part with those acres of land. Now it's good, you are riding a tiger!" "

Mao Zhongmao said: "It's not a problem, it's not a problem. A total of more than 300 people revolted in the capital of Quzhou. We only killed four and injured more than ten. The rest either ran away or were locked up in prison. There’s no big grudge here, it shouldn’t be a big problem if we offer the city honestly.”

The uprising launched by scholars is so fragile.

More than 300 people occupied Fucheng. When the landlords counterattacked, only four were killed and more than ten injured, and the whole army collapsed.

And these landowners are pretty much the same.

Zhang Tieniu came with two thousand soldiers, and the landowners thought about how to surrender.

Kong Shangqian was in an extremely irritable mood, and there were a lot of people around him clamoring to surrender. Although he was afraid of fighting, he was unwilling to surrender. How could a descendant of the sage Confucius subjugate thieves when he was loyal to his emperor because he was deprived of his salary?

This is the Confucian Southern Sect, not the Northern Sect of Shandong!

Dad, why don't you come back?

It seems that after hearing Kong Shangqian's prayer, his father Kong Zhenyun really came back.

A passenger ship came from the direction of Longyou. Kong Zhenyun and two long followers did not enter the city at all, but headed directly towards Zhang Tieniu's army.

"He who comes is stopped!"

The vanguard soldiers raised their weapons.

Kong Zhenyun put his hands behind his hands and said, "Kong Zhenyun, the Southern Sect of the Kong family, wants to see your general!"

Hearing that Kong Zhenyun had arrived, Zheng Baolu, who was accompanying the army as a guide, quickly said: "General Zhang, Mr. Kong is the leader of the Southern Sect. As long as he surrenders this man, Jiangnan will be settled!"

Zhang Tieniu, a rough man, was actually in awe when he heard that the person coming was a descendant of Confucius, and said quickly: "Please come quickly."

At this time, there were two Kong Zhenyuns in Nankong. One of them, Kong Zhenyun, had the opportunity to be the first assistant. Last spring, as long as he agreed to Chongzhen's appointment and dismissal list, he would be the first assistant 100% in terms of qualifications and prestige.

Probably something like this:

Chongzhen personally inspected the selection of ministers and drew up a list. Kong Zhenyun thought that some of the officials were too bad, so he changed the list. Chongzhen was not happy, so he denied all the proposals proposed by the cabinet, and bypassed the cabinet to let the six ministries discuss it.

It happened that the newly appointed censor, Guo Jingchang, went to the cabinet to meet Kong Zhenyun, and heard Kong Zhenyun say that there was a problem with the list of appointments and removals. Therefore, Guo Jingchang was impeached, and Kong Zhenyun was dismissed from office and returned to his hometown.

After being dismissed from office, Kong Zhenyun first went to Hangzhou to go on an outing with Qian Qianyi for two months, and then gathered in the mountains to give lectures.

But Kong Zhenyun in front of him has never been a high official in the imperial court, and has always been a doctor of the Five Classics.

Historically, although Chongzhen's bones were not cold, the Confucian family in Shandong quickly surrendered to the Qing Dynasty, and even took the lead in shaving their heads and leaving their braids.

However, Kong Zhenyun, a former cabinet minister of the Confucian family of the Southern Zong, cried a lot when he heard the news of Chongzhen's death. He was seriously ill and died in the same year as Chongzhen.

Another Kong Zhenyun, as the head of the Southern sect, refused to surrender to the Manchus. Therefore, the first prefect of Quzhou in the Qing Dynasty was a member of the Confucian family in Shandong. The first thing after taking office was to let Nan Kong surrender to the Qing Dynasty.

Zhang Tieniu cupped his hands and bowed, "I've met Mr. Kong."

Zheng Baolu quickly introduced: "Mr. Yuheng, this is General Zhang Tieniu."

Kong Zhenyun didn't talk nonsense, and said directly: "If the city of Quzhou falls, please treat the people kindly, and don't hurt innocent people."

Respect is respect, and I don’t like to hear this. Zhang Tieniu said angrily: “Our Datong army has strict discipline. Where have you killed innocent people? Drop as soon as you fall, fight as you want, stop talking so much!"

This is a reckless person, Kong Zhenyun is not as knowledgeable as him, and said in a gentle tone: "General Zhang forgive me, the old man is just a reminder."

Zhang Tieniu said: "I don't need you to remind me, just tell me whether I will surrender or not."

How can there be such a question, I am a descendant of Confucius!

Kong Zhenyun sighed helplessly: "I wish to surrender."

What else can I do if I don't surrender?

Jiangxi's pioneers have all come, and the army will definitely arrive in a blink of an eye. Resisting the city will only increase casualties in vain.

Why?

When meeting Zhang Xianzhong and Li Zicheng, Kong Zhenyun really wouldn't surrender.

If the Confucius family in Shandong is compared to the Zhang family in Longhushan, then the Kong family in Quzhou is similar in status to Zaoge Mountain.

The hereditary doctor of the eight ranks and the five classics only talks about the rank, not even the county magistrate.

Moreover, apart from presiding over local sacrifices, the Kong family in Quzhou did not have any privileges. Even the sacrificial fields used to sacrifice Confucius were granted relief by the court only after Emperor Hongzhi was dying.

It's a deduction, not an exemption.

The Kong family in Quzhou had to pay taxes on the sacrifice fields, but they were exempted from corvee.

Due to Beikong's continuous interference and suppression, Nankong simply formulated a family rule with only seven contents——

Article 4, prevent fake surnames. The Confucian family can be exempted from corvee. If anyone impersonates the Confucian family, the descendants of the Confucian family and the neighbors should report to the government.

Article 5, Sneaky posting is strictly prohibited. The property of the Confucian family can escape corvee, and children of the Confucian family must report to the government for registration when buying or selling property.

Regardless of whether these two things are done or not, at least the family rules are good.

This kind of family rules may be intentionally disgusting Beikong!

The Kong family in Quzhou has a lot of land, after all, it has been living and multiplying since the Song Dynasty. But there are also many descendants, and the land is distributed to the Kong family, and there is not much left, maybe a few thousand acres.

Kong Zhenyun came to the city with his long attendants, and ordered: "Kaicheng!"

The gate of the city opened immediately, and everyone went out of the city to welcome them.

Zhang Tieniu first took over the gate of the city with his troops, asked the defenders in the city to lay down their weapons, and then divided into several groups to guard.

"Arrests!"

After completely controlling the situation, Zhang Tieniu suddenly changed his face.

Except for Kong Zhenyun, even Kong Zhenyun's son was arrested by soldiers.

Kong Zhenyun was furious, pointed at Zhang Tieniu's nose and said, "You have no credibility!"

Zhang Tieniu said with a smile: "They are human beings, so the volunteer soldiers are not human beings? The volunteer soldiers took the lead in suppressing the city, and they are all guilty. I will not kill them. I will try again when the general town comes. They should be killed or released, please the general town. Come call the shots."

"Please calm down, both of you, and speak slowly if you have something to say." Zheng Baolu quickly smoothed things over.

Zheng Baolu is also the leader of the uprising army, although he doesn't agree with Zhang Tieniu's move, he likes it emotionally. But he also respected Kong Zhenyun, and was afraid that the two would fall out.

Zhang Tieniu's vanguard did not leave, but stayed in Quzhou to guard these guys.

(Yeah, I'm behind by a lot of names, everyone hurry up and give away a few monthly tickets!)