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 the 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 came to Jiangshan County in advance as a vanguard with two thousand vine armor soldiers.
"Meet General Zhang!"
The rebel leaders led their troops out of the city to greet him.
The leader is called Zheng Baolu, and Fei Laoer's wife, Zheng, is a distant relative of this person. The clans have moved for more than ten generations, so they may be related, but they may not be related.
Zheng Baolu introduced himself to his family and other people around him.
Zhang Tieniu and the intellectuals had nothing in common, 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 Jiangshan county is left. I heard that thirty-two rebel soldiers were killed in Longyou. General Zhang must avenge them!"
When Zheng Baolu said he occupied several counties, he specifically meant seizing several county towns. Outside the cities, there were still landlord forces.
"How many defenders are there in the capital of Quzhou?" Zhang Tieniu asked.
Zheng Baolu said: "There are thousands of them. The Kong family is the leader, and many landowners and merchants are recruited as generals. They also recruit many domestic slaves, homeless people and farmers as soldiers."
"Tomorrow I will go to the capital of Quzhou, and you will be our guide." Zhang Tieniu said.
Zheng Baolu had only a ragtag group of more than a thousand people under his command. He left a thousand men to guard the city, led more than 400 men himself, and set off with Zhang Tieniu's two thousand elite men.
In addition, the merchants of the Longyou Merchant Group provided many ships to help transport food and grass with the army.
These merchants are mainly small and medium-sized merchants.
They didn't help when there were previous uprisings. When the big landowners fought back, they didn't help either.
Anyway, it’s just a show, it doesn’t matter who wins or loses.
Now that Zhang Tieniu and his troops had arrived, the merchants immediately took notice and provided ships to help fight the war. They were used to steering the ship when the wind came.
The prefect of Quzhou is called Huang Huangzhong, and he is a son of a military household in Guiyang. He felt that the situation was not good and ran away last winter. The new prefect is still on the way.
In the absence of the magistrate, there is no leader, and neither the magistrate nor the magistrate dare to make the decision.
At this time, the commander of Quzhou's city defense was Kong Shangqian, the 63rd 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.
"How about surrendering," Zheng Tai said. "We can take back the city and kill a few people. They are all locked up in prison. Longyou's side has 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 have to recruit troops and can't bear to part with those few 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 you 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 a very agitated mood, and there were people around him clamoring for surrender. Although he was afraid of war, he was unwilling to surrender. How could the descendants of the saint Kong surrender to thieves if he was loyal to the 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 head of the Southern Sect and has served as a cabinet minister in the imperial court. As long as he surrenders, 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 quickly said: "Please come quickly."
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.
This is probably the case:
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 made changes to the list. Chongzhen was unhappy and rejected all the cabinet votes, bypassing the cabinet and letting the six ministries discuss it.
It happened that the newly appointed censor Guo Jingchang went to the cabinet to see Kong Zhenyun, and heard Kong Zhenyun say that there was a problem with the appointment and dismissal list. So Guo Jingchang impeached Kong Zhenyun, and Kong Zhenyun was dismissed from office and returned to his hometown.
After he was dismissed from office, Kong Zhenyun first went to Hangzhou and spent two months on an outing with Qian Qianyi, and then gathered people in the mountains to give lectures.
This spring, Xu Ying paid a visit to Kong Zhenyun, hoping that he would surrender to Zhao Han, but Kong Zhenyun scolded him angrily.
Historically, although Chongzhen’s body was still cold, the Confucius family in Shandong came to the Qing Dynasty and took the lead in shaving their hair and leaving braids. However, the Confucius family in Quzhou performed much better. When Kong Zhenyun heard the news of Chongzhen’s death, he burst into tears and became seriously ill. , died in the same year as Chongzhen.
Kong Zhenyun, who almost became the first assistant, and was also the head of the Southern Sect, how could he easily become a thief?
But news soon came from Zhejiang that there were uprisings all over western and central Zhejiang. He was so frightened that he immediately returned to his hometown from Hangzhou.
Zhang Tieniu bowed his hands and said, "I have met Mr. Kong."
Zheng Baolu quickly introduced: "Mr. Yuheng, this is General Zhang Tieniu."
Kong Zhenyun didn't talk nonsense and said directly: "If Quzhou City is under attack, please general, treat the people well and don't hurt innocent people."
Respect is respect. I didn’t like hearing this anymore. Zhang Tieniu said angrily: "Our Datong army has strict discipline, but where have we ever killed innocent people? You, an old man, are still a descendant of Confucius, and you talk nonsense as soon as you open your mouth."
If you surrender, surrender, if you want to fight, fight, don't bother with so much!"
This is a reckless person. Kong Zhenyun is not as knowledgeable as him, so he said in a gentle tone: "General Zhang, please forgive me. I'm just giving you a reminder."
Zhang Tieniu said: "How about you remind me and just say whether I will surrender or not."
How can you ask such a question? I am a descendant of Confucius after all!
Kong Zhenyun sighed helplessly: "I wish to surrender."
What else can we do if we don’t surrender?
The pioneers from Jiangxi are here, and the army will definitely arrive in a blink of an eye. Resisting by holding the city will only increase casualties.
What's more, although Xu Ying did not convince Kong Zhenyun, she also made him understand many of Zhao Han's policies. Kong Zhenyun even finished reading "Datong Collection" in Hangzhou and read it carefully more than a dozen times.
When meeting Zhang Xianzhong and Li Zicheng, Kong Zhenyun really would not surrender.
If the Kong family in Shandong is compared to the Zhang family in Longhu Mountain, then the Kong family in Quzhou has a status similar to that of Zaoge Mountain.
A hereditary doctor of the Eighth Grade and Five Classics is not even as good as a county magistrate in terms of rank.
Moreover, apart from presiding over local sacrifices, the Confucius family in Quzhou did not have any privileges. Even the sacrificial fields used to worship Confucius were exempted from the imperial court until Emperor Hongzhi was about to die.
It's a reduction, not an exemption.
The Confucius' sacrificial fields in Quzhou were subject to tax, but were exempted from corvee service.
Due to Beikong's constant interference and suppression, Nankong simply formulated a family rule with only seven items.
Article 4: Prevent surname impersonation. The Kong family can be exempted from corvee service. If anyone impersonates the Kong family, the descendants of the Kong family and their neighbors should report it to the government.
Article 5: It is strictly forbidden to send goods by mistake. The Confucius family’s land property can avoid corvee labor. When Confucius family members buy and sell property, they must report it to the government for registration.
Regardless of whether these two items are followed or not, at least the family rules are very good.
This kind of content in family rules may be deliberately disgusting Beikong!
The Kong family in Quzhou had a lot of land. After all, they had been living and multiplying since the Song Dynasty. However, they also had many descendants. They divided the land among the Kong family, and not much was left. They might have lost several thousand acres.
Kong Zhenyun came to the city with his long entourage and shouted: "Open the city!"
The city gates were opened immediately, and everyone came out of the city to greet him.
Zhang Tieniu first led his troops to take over the city gate, asked the defenders in the city to put down their weapons, and then divided into several groups to guard it.
"Arrests!"
After taking complete control of the situation, Zhang Tieniu suddenly changed his face.
In addition to Kong Zhenyun, even Kong Zhenyun's son was captured and detained by the soldiers.
Kong Zhenyun was furious, pointed at Zhang Tieniu's nose and said: "He goes back on his word, he has no credibility!"
Zhang Tieniu said with a smile: "They are human beings, but the rebels are not human beings. The rebels captured the city, and these people took the lead in suppressing them. They are all guilty. I will not kill them. I will wait for the chief town to come and then try them. If they should be killed or let go, please ask the chief town.
Come and decide.”
"You two, please calm down and speak slowly if you have something to say." Zheng Baolu quickly smoothed things over.
Zheng Baolu was also the leader of the rebel army. Although he did not agree with Zhang Tieniu's move, he liked it emotionally. However, he respected Kong Zhenyun and was afraid that the two would fall out.
Zhang Tieniu's vanguard army will not leave, so they will stay in Quzhou to guard these guys.
(Yeah, yeah, I'm so far behind. Everyone, hurry up and buy some monthly passes!)