Yongli Ming Dynasty

Chapter 331 Gentleman
In the back hall of Huizhou government office, Chen Bangyan, wearing a bright red official robe, is sitting behind a desk processing official documents
The door of the study room opened, and Chen Shangchuan walked into the hall with a piece of letter paper in his hand and a look of joy on his face.

"Teacher, good news has come from Guangzhou. Your Highness, Huguang has won a great victory, killing tens of thousands of Qing invaders. Now, except for the three prefectures in eastern Hubei, all of Huguang has been recovered by the court."

Chen Bangyan took the victory report from Chen Shangchuan, glanced at it quickly, and his face was also full of joy.
The situation on the letter was clearly written, but Chen Shangchuan was still excited and kept repeating the contents of the victory report.
Chen Bangyan did not stop him at this time. He just listened to Chen Shangchuan's retelling. Chen Bangyan read the victory report twice, thought for a moment, and then spoke.

"Your Highness has personally led the army to fight for years. Now the rebellion in Yunnan Province has been suppressed, Sichuan Province has been recovered, and Huguang Province has also won a great victory. The rebellion in each province has dissipated, and there should be no war in the court in the short term."

"After His Highness returns, we should start what we do here."

When the Ming court deployed troops in Huguang, the Qing troops in Jiangnan did not sit idly by. Between the summer and autumn of last year, the Qing invaders from Zhejiang, Fujian and Guangdong provinces all attempted to invade, but all three groups of troops returned empty-handed.
When the imperial guards left the court, the Qing army in the three provinces was unable to achieve anything. Now that His Highness has led the army back to the court, the Qing invaders in the three provinces dare not act rashly.

The imperial court has temporarily stopped its foreign wars, so it is time to sort out its internal affairs. The affairs of Chaozhou and Huizhou have been delayed for too long.
Chen Bangyan has been stationed in the two prefectures with a group of officials from the Guanzheng Hall for more than a year. He has already understood the situation of Chaozhou and Huizhou, and can cooperate with His Highness to deal with the two prefectures.

According to the previous plan, in fact, at the beginning of last year, the court had a great victory in Fujian and Zhejiang. After His Highness returned to Guangdong Province, he should have started to clean up the two governments.

However, due to the renewed war in the southwest, His Highness had to lead his troops away from the court again, which delayed the affairs of the two governments.
Although Chaozhou and Huizhou have been quite peaceful over the past year, Chen Bangyan is well aware that His Highness has not given up on cleaning up the two prefectures.
Although His Royal Highness the Regent has not been in Guangdong Province for the past year, he has sent letters from time to time. This time His Royal Highness has returned victoriously, and he will definitely start to take action against the two governments.
Chen Bangyan's eyes flashed with a hint of sternness, and he looked at Chen Shangchuan below and said

"What is the current situation in the two prefectures? Have the gentry in the prefectures made any unusual moves?"

"Teacher, don't worry. When we first arrived, the county magistrates sent to various places were still a little suspicious, but in the past year, the two prefectures have been peaceful. Not to mention the gentry in the prefectures, even the officials sent to the various counties have put their minds at ease."

Chen Shangchuan said this with a cold expression on his face, and continued

"At this time, the gentry in the two prefectures are not only not afraid, but have even returned to their old ways. Last year, when the prefectures collected summer taxes, they were still a little hesitant and tried their best to pay the taxes."

"But seeing that the government did not strictly collect taxes, when the autumn tax came last year, the gentry of the two prefectures began to default on the court's taxes, citing reasons such as bad weather. Last autumn, the gentry of the two prefectures defaulted on 30% of the taxes owed to the government."

The court's handling of the two prefectures this time was not a simple punishment for the gentry who had treasoned, but would involve the land held by the gentry and officials of the two prefectures.

At this time, the imperial court had its capital in Guangzhou, and Chaozhou and Huizhou were close to the imperial capital. Once Chen Bangyan took action against the two prefectures, it would inevitably cause an uproar in the court. This matter was not something that Su Guansheng or Chen Bangyan could suppress.

After Zhu Lang led his army to the battle, Chen Bangyan stopped all other actions except ordering the officials of the two prefectures to continue to verify the land area of ​​each county and secretly collect information about the relationships of the gentry in the prefecture.

In order to stabilize the gentry of the two prefectures and prevent them from noticing the clues, Chen Bangyan let the gentry of Chaohui find excuses to delay paying taxes and grain last year, and did not urge the officials of the counties to collect taxes and grain in full.
Chen Bangyan's weak move also successfully confused the gentry in the two governments. In the eyes of the gentry in the two governments, it was natural for Chen Bangyan to give in to them.

Although Chen Bangyan was the governor, he was only a juren. If Chen Bangyan didn't know what was good for them, they could impeach him at any time.
Chen Bangyan heard what Chen Shangchuan said, but there was no anger on his face. He just chuckled and said

"The literary style of Chaozhou and Huizhou is flourishing. Now the imperial court is located in Guangdong Province, and there are countless officials from Chaozhou and Huizhou in the court."

"It's easier to get things done if you have someone in the court. In the previous dynasty, most of the gentry in the court were from Jiangnan, so Jiangnan owed the most taxes to the court. Now that the court has moved to Guangdong Province, it's the turn of the gentry in these two prefectures to start defaulting on taxes and grain."

Chen Shangchuan also sneered and said

"Not only that, their news is more up-to-date than that of the government office. Before the government office received the news from the court, the gentry of the two prefectures had already known the news of the great victory in the court. I also got the news from them."

"They are very concerned about the developments in the court. The gentry of the two prefectures have learned that His Highness is about to return to the court, and are now preparing to plead for the people."

"The gentry of the two prefectures are now preparing a memorial, preparing to use the court's victory as an excuse to request the court to relieve the people's suffering and exempt the two prefectures from arrears of money and grain."

Chen Bangyan's face remained calm after hearing this, but he no longer smiled. He put down the letter in his hand and said softly:
"Have you sorted out the relationship between the gentry of these two prefectures?"

"It has been sorted out. The leader of the Huizhou gentry is named Yao Jing, a successful candidate in the Gengwu year of the Chongzhen reign."

"The power of Chaozhou gentry is even stronger. There are two main leaders in the government, one named Chen Yanyu and the other named Li Shichang."

"Chen Yanyu was a juren in the Renwu year of the Chongzhen reign. He was from the Fushe Society and was quite famous among the scholars in Guangdong Province. Li Shichang was also a juren. Although he was not as famous as Chen Yanyu, the Li family was more powerful in Chaozhou. The Li family had been in the imperial examinations for six generations, and they were truly well-known in Chaozhou."

Upon hearing this, Chen Bangyan's face flashed with satisfaction, and he said to Chen Shangchuan below

"Your Highness has not returned yet. You must not alert the enemy at this moment. When and how to act must all be determined by Your Highness's order." "After you return to the yamen, if they ask you to submit a memorial, you can do so for them. If they want to host a banquet, you can also do so with them."

"Just don't accept their money. If they insist on giving you money and you really can't refuse, you can accept it first, but you must report it to the government immediately afterwards. Do you understand?"

Chen Shangchuan's face straightened up and he spoke directly

"Teacher, what do you think of me? If I receive one cent of bribe from these evil gentry, they will steal ten from the court. How can I accept their dirty money?"

"The gentry of the two prefectures have received the emperor's favor for generations. Now they know that the court is at war with the Eastern Tartars and that the court is in urgent need of military pay, but they still try every means to delay the payment of money and food to the court. They are really courting death."

"Although I am only a minor official, I will never forget the warnings in the Stone Pavilion. Even if this dirty silver is placed in front of me, I will never take it."

Chen Bangyan looked at Chen Shangchuan, who had a stern expression, but frowned slightly and said

"Do you know why I sent Wengshan to Chaozhou and asked you to stay in Huizhou?" Qu Dajun took the name Wengshan

"Weng Shan has a gentle personality. I am not worried about him in Chaozhou. But you are too rigid. You should be rigid inside and soft outside. Only in this way can you handle things harmoniously."

"You are so stubborn and upright, but you may be taken advantage of by others. Do you understand?"

Upon hearing this, Chen Shangchuan's face straightened and he immediately said

"Teacher, don't worry. They are just a bunch of local tyrants and evil gentry. I can handle them and will never ruin the arrangement of Your Highness and Teacher."

Chen Bangyan looked at Chen Shangchuan, who had a serious face, and sighed.

Although Chen Bangyan was trying to persuade Chen Shangchuan not to be too upright, the reason why he accepted Chen Shangchuan as his disciple was precisely because of Chen Shangchuan's hatred of evil.
Chen Bangyan thought for a moment, and without further persuasion, he spoke again

"If my prediction is correct, after His Highness returns to the court, he will soon start to deal with the people in the two mansions. From now on, you should arrange for people to keep an eye on the gentry in the mansions. If they make any unusual moves, report them immediately."

"Disciple understands"

Chen Shangchuan responded, took the official hat from the table, and then strode out of the hall.
Nanchang Prefecture Office, Gan Province. On the left side of the hall are the Qing Dynasty Ganzhou Governor Zhang Yutian, Inspector Dong Xuecheng and other civil officials. On the right side are the Gan Province Admiral Jin Shenghuan and Jiujiang General Wang Deren.

The two parties sat opposite each other in the lobby. Zhang Yutian looked at Jin Shenghuan and the other man who were not interested in anything. His face was gloomy. The atmosphere in the room was extremely depressing.

The Ming court led the army to fight in the southwest, and the Qing army in Jiangnan did not remain indifferent.

Last year, the Ming court defeated the Qing court in Sichuan Province. After confirming that the Ming court's imperial army had been fully deployed, Dorgon immediately ordered the Qing army in Jiangnan to attack, hoping to take advantage of the Ming court's main force to march west and attack the Ming court's hinterland.

At the time of the autumn harvest in October last year, the Qing troops from Zhejiang and Jiangxi provinces were dispatched together. Shen Zhixiang, the Duke of Xushun in Zhejiang Province, led his troops to attack the Ming court's Quzhou. Jin Shenghuan was also forced to lead his troops to attack Dayu County on the border of Fujian and Jiangxi.
However, the Qing Dynasty's attack on Jiangnan last year was not smooth. Shen Zhixiang, Duke of Zhejiang Province, and others were defeated by the artillery fire of Li Mingzhong, the governor of Fujian Province, and fled in embarrassment.
After Jin Shenghuan discovered that Zhejiang Province had been defeated, he withdrew his troops and returned to Nanchang despite Zhang Yutian's opposition.
In the twelfth month of last year, the Ming court was unstoppable in Huguang. Important towns such as Jingxiang and Yuezhou fell one after another. The Qing army in Huguang fled back to eastern Hubei and struggled to hold on. The situation of the Qing court in Huguang collapsed in an instant.

The Qing court recruited the military affairs minister Hong Chengchou, the governor-general of the southern part of the country. After receiving the imperial edict from the Qing court in Nanjing, he urgently transferred elite troops from Nanzhili to support Huguang. On the other hand, he ordered Jin Shenghuan and others to guard the Hunan-Jiangxi passage and attack Guangdong at the same time, hoping to force the Ming army in Huguang to withdraw and return to support.

The Ming court's defenses in Fujian and Zhejiang were extremely strong. After Shen Zhixiang's defeat, the Qing army in Zhejiang Province was greatly weakened and was no longer able to launch a counterattack.

Hong Chengchou had no choice but to hope that Jin Shenghuan from Gan Province could invade Guangdong Province and contain the Ming army.

The military order from Nanzhili had been sent to Ganzhou in early February, but now more than half a month had passed and Jin Shenghuan was still reluctant to lead the main force to attack Guangdong Province.
Jin Shenghuan and others were unwilling to send troops. At this time, Jiangxi Province was surrounded by enemies everywhere, and Hunan Province, Guangdong Province, and Fujian Province were surrounded by Ming troops on three sides.

It was fine when the main force of the Ming court was in Sichuan Province, but now the imperial army of the Ming court is in Hunan Province.
If Jin Shenghuan sent troops to attack Guangdong Province at this time, the main force of the Ming army in Hunan Province would most likely attack Jiangxi Province directly from Hunan Province after learning the news. What would Jin Shenghuan and his men do?

The three prefectures in eastern Hubei were the only strongholds of the Qing court in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River. Hong Chengchou certainly wanted to lead the Ming army away from Huguang. Gan Province was closer to Nanzhili, so it would be more convenient for the Qing court to dispatch troops for rescue. But by then, it would be him, Jin Shenghuan, who would be at the forefront.
If the Ming court did not attack Gan Province at this time, Jin Shenghuan would be very lucky. How could he take the initiative to provoke the Ming court and lead the Ming army into Gan Province?

(End of this chapter)