Zhang Lian was escorted to Fuzhou City together with his general Lin Chaoxi.
Lin Chaoxi was the general who had previously advised Zhang Lian not to rush to the title of hero, but to capture Jiangxi first.
When Lin Chaoxi heard the news that the Feilong Army was attacked by the Fujian-Zhejiang coalition forces, he immediately led his troops from Jiangxi to attack Fujian, trying to encircle Wei and save Zhao.
Who would have thought that the elite Feilong Army he led could not even capture a county town before being defeated by the Xiangyong reorganized from Fujian.
When Zhang Lian saw Lin Chaoxi, his nose felt sore and tears flowed down: "I regret that I didn't listen to my brother's words. I should have accumulated more food and become king later!"
Zhang Lian had taken off his dragon robe and was wearing a set of ordinary clothes. This reminded Lin Chaoxi of the days when they revolted together, and Lin Chaoxi's eyes turned red.
To be able to become the leader of the peasant army, Zhang Lian is also a person with personal charm, otherwise he would not have so many followers.
In fact, the upper echelons of the Feilong Army were not completely degenerate, and Zhang Lian was not a person who indulged in enjoyment. It was just that he could not control his generals well, and he appointed heroes in advance. As a result, the middle level of the Feilong Army quickly became corrupted and lost its ability to expand.
The two of them looked at each other in silence, and Zhang Lian was also uneasy. The biggest question was, what was the composition of Su Ze who defeated him?
You say he is a rebel like yourself? Their combat disciplines are the same as those of the official army, and they also recruit troops like the Qi Family Army.
You said he was a member of the army. Didn't Su Ze also issue a message to rebel?
Zhang Lian met Su Ze in the Governor's Mansion with great anxiety.
Su Ze was also looking at Zhang Lian. Zhang Lian now looked like an ordinary farmer, but he still had a different temperament.
Behind Zhang Lian, Lin Chaoxi has a straight back and looks like a general.
Historically, Lin Chaoxi was very loyal to Zhang Lian and tried his best to cover his escape before Zhang Lian was destroyed. After learning that Zhang Lian was defeated and sent to sea, Lin Chaoxi immediately committed suicide.
Sure enough, these people who can leave their names in history all have their own merits.
"Commander Zhang, General Lin, I just copied a few dishes, come and have a chat."
Zhang Lian and Lin Chaoxi looked at each other. On the way to Fuzhou, they thought about countless scenarios, but never thought of such a meeting.
Su Ze looked like an ordinary scholar and had no airs, but he was the most charming person they had ever seen.
After taking their seats, Zhang Lian and Lin Chaoxi saw a middle-aged general in his forties sitting at the table drinking.
Su Ze said affectionately: "This is General Qi Jiguang Qi."
Zhang Lian and Lin Chaoxi were shocked again. They were also deeply afraid of Qi Jiguang.
Their Feilong Army originally made rapid advances in southern Fujian, but they did not expect to encounter Qi Jiguang who went south to fight against the Japanese.
While Qi Jiguang was focusing on fighting against the Japanese, he "conveniently" beat the crap out of the Feilong Army, completely blocking the Dragon Army's way north.
That's why Zhang Lian sent Lin Chaoxi to invade Jiangxi. It was because the Qi Army was too tough!
Strictly speaking, Zhang Lian was also defeated by General Qi, so Zhang Lian and Lin Chaoxi were a little frightened when they saw this powerful general.
Qi Jiguang just raised his head and glanced at Zhang Lian and Lin Chaoxi, then lowered his head and continued drinking.
Seeing Su Ze's attitude, both of them knew that their lives should be saved.
After relaxing, Zhang Lian also focused on the banquet.
Zhang Lian was also an emperor and had eaten a lot of delicacies, but he had never seen the dishes on the table today.
He has seen roasted and oily sweet potatoes, and Feilongjun also grows them in the mountains.
The fragrant and oily stir-fried pork with shredded potatoes and the fried corn sprinkled with sugar were all new dishes that Zhang Lian had never seen before.
The dishes on the table are mainly stir-fried. Although they are all small stir-fries, they are full of color, flavor and flavor. They are much more delicious than when Zhang Lian was the king of the mountain.
After eating the food and wine, Zhang Lian's resentment towards Su Ze was basically gone.
Along the way, he also saw that under Su Ze's rule, the people were living and working in peace and contentment.
When Zhang Lian rebelled, he was dissatisfied with the corrupt officials in northern Guangdong who oppressed the people, so he gathered a crowd to quickly occupy such a large territory.
But when he recalled the days when he was eating, drinking and having fun in the mountains, he felt a little ashamed. It seemed that except for the elder brothers who followed him in the uprising, the lives of many people under his rule were not as good as before.
Zhang Lian thought of Lin Chaoxi's advice again, and felt even more ashamed.
"Commander Zhang, General Lin, I am going to hold a training class at Xichan Temple. It is not a training class, but a temporary classroom for observing politics."
"This course at Xichan Temple mainly teaches why our Fujian-Zhejiang Allied Forces launched an army and the program of civil and military affairs."
"In addition to giving lectures, I will also take everyone to visit various places in Fujian. In short, it is to observe politics and study."
"General Qi has also agreed to go to Xichan Temple as a lecturer first, and will also follow you to Fujian to observe the government."
Zhang Lian and Lin Chaoxi looked at each other. Su Ze was really acting out of common sense.
If you are caught, you will either be killed and chopped up, or you will be surrendered and appointed. What the hell is this person who is observing politics in class?
However, the two of them did not dare to ask any more questions. Su Ze's attitude at the banquet was friendly, and the main questions he asked were the reasons why Zhang Lian and Lin Chaoxi rebelled.
Zhang Lian is still filled with indignation when talking about the corrupt officials who bullied him. When talking about the injustices of the Ming Dynasty, the famous general Qi Jiguang's brows furrowed even more.
After the banquet, Su Ze arranged for them to report to Xichan Temple. The monk's room in Xichan Temple was simply renovated and turned into a dormitory for students.
Although the dormitory is not big, Zhang Lian and Lin Chaoxi feel very comfortable with cotton quilts, buckwheat pillows, whale oil lamps and other new things that have just become popular in Fuzhou.
In addition, the monk's room is also equipped with a collective shower area, and everyone is also provided with a basin and soap.
When hot water flowed from the top of their heads and they wiped the dirt off their bodies with soap, Zhang Lian and Lin Chaoxi couldn't help but sigh, this life is much better than being a dirt king in the mountains!
The only drawback is that you have to report when you go out, and there will be two "guards" following you when you leave Xizen Temple.
But when there are no classes, Su Ze does not restrict them from going out. In Su Ze's words, "checking Fuzhou's folk customs is also part of observing the government."
Zhang Lian and Lin Chaoxi lived very comfortably in Xichan Temple, but the same could not be said for other students.
"Rebellious ministers and traitors! Wolfish ambitions!"
"We all have honors! Just because of the false accusations made by those unscrupulous people, they want to imprison us, and they call it 'reform'?"
"This thief Su didn't keep his word. He said he could come and go freely, but he confiscated my property! And he locked us up in this hellish place!"
"No words, no words, haven't you heard? Yan Maoqing has been put on trial. It is said that the Soviet thieves revealed everything about Yan Maoqing's involvement in the Qing army in Fujian eight years ago, saying that he solicited bribes and looted in Fujian and forced more than a dozen military households Death, it is said that one will be beheaded!”
Now the complaints finally subsided.
Immediately afterwards, Zhang Lian and Lin Chaoxi came to the classroom in the renovated monk cafeteria. Only after a few days did they learn that these "classmates" turned out to be local officials in Fujian.
They are the kind of officials who have no life-threatening lawsuits on their hands and no particularly serious economic problems.
There were civil servants and military generals, but after these people knew the identities of Zhang Lian and Lin Chaoxi, they all arrogantly ignored them.
In addition, there were several people who, like Zhang Lian, were relatively large rebel leaders in Fujian. These people quickly became familiar with Zhang Lian.
However, after the order of seeking talents, Su Ze "invited" these officials out of their respective yamen and gave them two choices. Like Tan Lun and other Zhejiang officials, they could leave Fujian or return home after spitting out the stolen money, or come to Nanchan. Watch the government in the temple class and wait until the training class is over before choosing.
Their treatment is the same as Zhang Lian and Lin Chaoxi, but they heard that there will be an exam when they "graduate". However, this exam is not a paper, but an interview to answer questions one by one.
If you pass the exam, you can be awarded an official position in Fujian and Zhejiang. If you fail the exam, you have to continue taking classes at Nanchan Temple.
Zhang Lian and Lin Chaoxi both looked forward to it. If they could pass the exam, wouldn't they be able to become officials under Su Ze?
The two of them had a hard time listening to the civil affairs class in the morning.
But in the military and political class in the afternoon, the two of them were shocked.
The lecturer was indeed Qi Jiguang whom I had met yesterday.
Both of them had led troops in battles. After hearing this, they were enlightened and opened the door to a new world. It turns out that this is how soldiers should be led!
Zhang Lian and Lin Chaoxi felt that they were not unjustly defeated and listened more seriously.
The food at Xichan Temple is also quite good. Although it only has three dishes and one soup on a plate, there is meat in every meal. Zhang Lian and Lin Chaoxi simply did not even go out of Xichan Temple and spent their free time discussing military affairs in the monk's room. The days reminded Zhang Lian of the days he spent planning with his brothers before organizing the uprising.
Compared with these Fujian officials who were scolding and taking lessons seriously, those officials who chose to leave Fujian and Zhejiang were a little unhappy.
In Nanjing, these released officials were a little uneasy.
The superiors and superiors of the old friends and colleagues in Nanjing closed their doors, and there was no way to say what they were going to do with the released officials.
Originally, these officials returned to Nanjing after all the hardships, thinking that their loyalty would be rewarded by the court and they would be appointed to new positions.
Now they can't even enter the government offices, and they can't get a penny of salary or money, so they can only sit in Nanjing and live in vain.
Thinking about it this way, I might as well stay in Zhejiang! At least there is still a bite to eat!
But let them make money in Nanjing. They are all officials with good backgrounds, so how can they be embarrassed to work and make money?
It is impossible to work part-time!
In contrast, people like Gao Hanwen, who was originally a poor Hanlin official and had not been a prefect for a few days, were still able to show off.
He was too embarrassed to live and eat at Tan Lun's house for free, so he secretly found a job writing lyrics and composing music anonymously, and he could earn two taels of silver every month.
However, Gao Hanwen didn't tell Tan Lun about his part-time job. Those adapted obscene lyrics were sung on the Qinhuai River Boat.
After paying his wages today, Gao Hanwen bought two newspapers and returned to the house with some food and wine.
"Brother Zili, the latest newspaper!"
Tan Lun came out of the study, glanced at the food and wine in Gao Hanwen's hand, and took the two newspapers.
This newspaper was the "Huang Ming Official News" that Zhang Juzheng founded after he arrived in Nanjing and heard about Su Ze's rebellion. This newspaper was printed with money from the Nanzhili government, and its editorial office was located in the Nanjing Imperial College.
Sponsored by the Nanjing Ministry of Rites, and with the Yanguan of Nanjing Sixth Section and Thirteenth Road as editor, its main function was to compete with Su Ze's newspaper, promote the Ming court's policies, and criticize Su Ze's "anti-traitor" remarks.
Although the editor-in-chief of this newspaper was Yan Guan, and people from the Imperial College were asked to help with proofreading, printing and publishing, the efficiency was still too low.
It’s not that there were too few submissions, but that these contents were subject to strict review and required the counter-signature of the Six Ministries of Nanjing before they could be published.
It takes three days to compile the content of a newspaper, plus two days of printing time, so "Huangming Official News" can only produce an issue every five days, and it only has four pages.
The other newspaper in Gao Hanwen's hand was much thicker. It was the "Jingshi News" founded by Su Ze in Jiangnan.
After splitting the drama part, the current "Jingshi Bao" has eight pages, but one issue is every two days. The most terrifying thing is the newspaper printed and sold in Suzhou Prefecture in the morning. Before sunset, it will appear on newsboys and underground in Nanjing. In the hands of a bookseller.
They started selling like crazy as soon as it got dark, and they were sold out every day. Gao Hanwen snapped up this newspaper from a newspaper boy he knew well.
Although the Sixth Ministry of Nanjing issued a ban to prohibit the "Warning World Newspaper" from flowing into Nanjing, it was really unable to sustain the popularity of this newspaper.
Those officials in Nanjing would secretly buy newspapers, and the newsboys in Nanjing were all trained by Xiong Wu himself. With a sales network in hand, newspapers would naturally be sold.
Tan Lun opened the "Huang Ming Official News". He glanced at the front page, the second page and the third page and flipped through it.
He knows all these contents by heart. The front page must be about promoting the legitimacy of the imperial court. The Ming Emperor loves the people, all officials are diligent in their duties, and there are rebels like Su Ze, who are simply punishable.
The second edition contains some academic content, which basically teaches the people Confucianism to be loyal to the emperor and patriotic.
The third page is an article that smeared Su Ze and the Fujian and Zhejiang regions. In Tan Lun's opinion, this page can be called curiosity literature. It said that Su Ze must eat human flesh for every meal, that the Zhejiang New Army shared wives, and that Su Ze snatched The wives and daughters of officials and gentry were rewarded to their subordinates.
Unfortunately, the writing is not as exciting as those written by black market booksellers. The latest version of The Plum in the Golden Lotus is all accompanied by illustrations!
For Tan Lun, the only thing he can read is the content of the fourth edition.
This edition mainly talks about the situation near Nanjing. It was reviewed and published by Zhang Juzheng himself. At any rate, it still contains some valuable content.
Although it was also embellished, for example, the recent battle report was that Liu Shiyan, the sincerity uncle, led troops to snipe the Zhejiang bandits who invaded Huizhou Prefecture, but there was no mention of the territory in Jiangxi that had been captured by the Fujian-Zhejiang coalition forces.
Tan Lun already knew from fellow villagers from Jiangxi that the Fujian-Zhejiang coalition forces were conquering cities and territories in Jiangxi, otherwise he would have thought that the government troops had really won the battle.
However, there is still some useful information on the fourth page. Tan Lun found the news about the peace agreement between the imperial court and Mongolia in the smallest font.
He was worried, and he didn't know whether Zhao Zhenji had sent his memorial to the capital court.
(End of chapter)
