Shang Yi's front foot had just entered Daozhou, and Wu Yan's emergency document arrived. The content was that a rebellion occurred in Zhejiang. The rebels captured Hangzhou Prefecture with the flow. Nanjing was in an emergency and urged Shang Yi to return to Changsha to rescue Nanjing together and quell the rebellion in Zhejiang.
After receiving the official document, Shang Yi was also shocked because Zhejiang has always been one of the most economically developed regions in the Ming Dynasty, and life is relatively relaxed. It is above the national average. Although it is in the late Ming Dynasty and is inevitably affected by the whole country, the lives of the people are still quite acceptable, much better than those in northern Shaanxi, Central Plains, and Jiubian areas, so society has always been relatively stable.
Moreover, in Shang Yi's memory, not to mention the late Ming Dynasty, even in the nearly three hundred years of the Ming Dynasty, there were no large-scale peasant uprisings in the Jiangnan area. Of course, some small-scale riots such as rent resistance and donation resistance were still present. However, such small-scale riots can be said to have occurred in any era in ancient China, and it is impossible to completely cut off, even in some prosperous times.
Is this the butterfly effect that I have traveled to this era? It is not impossible. Therefore, at this time, although the overall historical situation is still developing on a normal track, there have been obvious changes in some details. As a result, Zhang Xianzhong did not control the Huguang area like another time and space, but was driven to Guangxi by himself. Therefore, some unexpected things happened, and it is not surprising that what is now in front of Shang Yi is a new choice: whether to stay in Huguang or go to Zhejiang.
Of course there is no problem to stay in Huguang. It can be said that Shang Yi has the final say in Huguang now. As long as he doesn't want to touch the place, no one can do anything to him. Anyway, at this time, it is common for the court's orders to be used as toilet paper. However, this will have some impact on Shang Yi's reputation. Until now, Shang Yi has a good reputation in both the people and the court. The merchants' military discipline is strict and has no violations, and has won a lot of people's hearts. Moreover, they are brave enough to fight and fight bravely. Other Ming troops passively avoid war, and they only preserve their strength and even tolerate thieves, forming a very sharp contrast, and thus have won a lot of praise among the officials and literati classes.
Once he refused to enter Zhejiang, he would undoubtedly embark on the old path of warlords in the late Ming Dynasty, and the reputation he had established before would be greatly reduced. Although Shang Yi also knew that he would take that step sooner or later, he always hoped that he would come later this day and do his best to accumulate more people and have a good reputation, which would be of great benefit to him in the future.
If you accept the order and march into Zhejiang, it means a major adjustment in the plan, because with Shang Yi's current military strength and personnel configuration, it is impossible to maintain three bases at the same time. Therefore, whether to accept the order is just to see if it is a base in Zhejiang and Huguang, which base is more beneficial to his future development. This is a decision-making decision and must be treated with caution. Therefore, on the night after receiving the letter from Wu Yan, Shang Yi sat alone in the account room, took out paper and pen, and wrote seriously.
When he chose Huguang as his base, on the one hand, it was because Shang Yi wanted to march into Huguang to quell the rebellion, and on the other hand, it was because there were indeed many convenient conditions for Huguang to be a base. First, Huguang has a natural danger in the Yangtze River, which will be a great strategic advantage in the future battle against the Qing army. Second, Huguang is the world's granary, and the problem of grain used here as a base can be easily solved. Third, he has now obtained a certain foundation in the Huguang area.