Gentleman, what is a gentry?

Gentlemen are intermediaries between imperial power and the people.

In the Ming and Qing dynasties, where imperial power was highly strengthened, there was a helpless fact that "the imperial power did not go to the countryside". The court could only mobilize the resources of the grassroots social ranks by winning over gentry. On the other hand, the privileges and status of gentry also needed the protection of imperial power. Only with the support of imperial power can gentry "legally" dominate and plunder the people. Therefore, the existence of the gentry class played a great role in stabilizing the grassroots social order of the dynasty. For the court and the country, gentry could use their reputation and status to represent the people, and for the people, gentry also played the role of "officials are the people".

Since the mid-Ming Dynasty, the gentry class has been a huge group with strong economic strength, political influence and social grassroots dominance.

Whether it was Li Zicheng who retreated from defeat in the capital, or the Qing Dynasty who had just entered the pass, let alone the Ming Dynasty, who was not willing to win over the gentry?

In other words, Zheng Zhilong took the initiative to stand opposite the gentry.

However, there seem to be a few more comrades in the trenches on Zheng Zhilong's side, Gao Jie, Liu Liangzuo, Xu Dingguo, etc., which made the image of the old "gentle good friend" of the Ming Dynasty quickly shattered the hearts of the gentry class in the north.

Therefore, compared with the Central Plains, the Northern Zhili gentry cried and moaned, the Qilu gentry's sense of superiority has really strongly recently.

Even though Zheng Zhilong slapped them in the face and confiscated the Kong family and Yan family in Qufu, and they suffered some losses during the march north by Liu Zhaoji, Cao Bianjiao and others, everything has to be compared - it is still the Central Plains, and Northern Zhili is even worse.

Gao Jie, Liu Liangzuo and Xu Dingguo were three hungry wolves who rushed into the sheep pen.

I wish I could take all the things I could get in front of me into my arms...

Therefore, compared with the gentry landlords who suffered in the next province, the gentry in Qi and Lu, especially the gentry in southwest Shandong and northwest Shandong, that day was really happy.

But just after they tasted the taste of happiness, a huge bad news came from the east - Zheng Zhilong is not a human being.

He was planning to clear the land, but it was not enough to confiscate the land. He also had to recover the tax arrears, which was to force the gentry to death!

Although Zheng Zhilong's territory is now controlled by Shandong, not to mention that the Denglai incident has not ended yet, Qingzhou is even more of a big problem. Not to mention that the world belongs to the Ming Dynasty after all, Zheng Zhilong is just a vassal state, and at most it will be an overseas vassal king in the future.

He seemed to be leaving the Central Plains soon, and he might not have time to search the entire Qilu.

But Zheng Zhilong is now leading a large army to suppress the Qing Dynasty in Jinan, and he looks like he is about to sweep across Jinan Prefecture. The gentry and bureaucrats in Yanzhou and Dongchang Prefectures are on the verge of being sharp, and they are filled with fear, and they can't help but miss the good things of the Qing Dynasty.

The latter's search in western Shandong (Dongchang, Yanzhou and Jinan) is also very strong, much more "harsh" than Zhu Mingke, but what about Zheng Zhilong? That's nothing to compare with.

Just like the fate of the gentry here and the gentry landlords in the next province, the gap will come out.

The Qing Dynasty only asked for some more money and food for them, but Zheng Zhilong wanted to cut them off and search their homes.

Therefore, there were no gentry in Dongchang and Yanzhou. They all wanted to see me immediately. The Qing Dynasty immediately restored the Central Plains and set foot on Qilu.

Of course, it is a bit of a luxury to come to the south of the Qing Dynasty. The Ming Dynasty is their real backer. Although the Ming Dynasty just cut them off, it is okay, the Ming Dynasty is still more reliable.

Qiu Zude, who was appointed as the governor of Qi and Lu by Emperor Chongzhen for a time, felt that he had become the savior of the gentry of Luxi. Since he entered Yanzhou Prefecture, he and the Ming Dynasty he represented had a strong presence.

First of all, the amount of money and grain donated by local gentry is not a small number. Qiu Zude, who was empty-handed, was immediately much more generous. Hong Chengchou also left him a lot of soldiers, so there is no need to worry about money and grain issues in the short term.

Secondly, the administrative order issued by Qiu Zude was really prohibited and violated. He couldn't believe it. When did the gentry be so obedient?

Although Qiu Zude can control only Yanzhou and Dongchang, he still feels that he is really the governor of his department, sitting in Ziyang City.

"Zheng Zhilong, Zheng Yiguan..."

Qiu Zude knew very well that he had received a magical assist from Zheng Zhilong.

But no matter what, the Ming Dynasty's majesty has been established in Yanzhou and Dongchang prefectures, and a large number of officials following the north have also taken their positions, and everything is developing in a good direction.

As Qiu Zude estimated, as long as nothing unexpected happens - that is, Zheng Zhilong is willing to let go of Qilu, it will be at most half a year, and Qilu will still be Qilu of the Ming Dynasty.

Unfortunately, Qiu Zude, who was excited to show his skills, didn't know that just when he was already buried in the case and worked hard to deal with government affairs, a major change had already happened in Beizhili.

The Ming army had been in the Northern Expedition for a while. The Qing Dynasty abandoned Li Zicheng, who was injured by himself, and the main force of the army was divided into two pieces, with infantry behind and vest soldiers in front, and moved towards Yanjing City at the time. The vest soldiers had arrived in Yanjing at this moment.

"Twelfth Brother!"

Dorgon personally greeted Xizhimen. He watched Ajige, who was following the collar and helmet, with frost all over his neck and hat, couldn't help but feel excited.

At this critical moment, my brothers were still reliable. Even when it snowed heavily in Xuanda, Ajige arrived on time.

Compared with the bastards in the court who were shouting to return to their hometown outside the pass, in Xuanfu, Ajige, who returned from Yanjing without stopping, regardless of the heavy snow, made Dorgon feel much more comfortable.

Dorgon had already prepared to defend the city before.

"Fourth brother, you take charge of the great power and do not have time to do anything for the country. How dare I, a brother, abandon state affairs?"

The intimacy between Ajige and Dorgon is far less than that between Dorgon and Dodo. The reason is very simple. Although Ajige is obviously his elder brother, whether it is the old slave or Huang Taiji's life, the most outstanding among the three brothers of their compatriots is always Dorgon.

His elder brother was suppressed by his younger brother, which naturally made Ajige feel a little unhappy. In addition, the leader of the Zhengbai Banner was dissatisfied, Huang Taiji punished Ajige and lifted Dorgon up, which was also a knot.

At the same time, although Ajige was brave, he was rude and could not pee in the same pot as Dorgon, who was full of colorful intestines. On the contrary, Duoduo was still able to fight and had a flexible mind. He was also a younger brother, and was even closer to Dorgon.

In addition, Dorgon had no son, Zheng Zhilong remembered that he had heard of Dorgon in his previous life that he wanted to pass the position to Dodo's son Dorbo, and accepted Dorbo as his adopted son.

But after all this, the three brothers are still very close. Because the three of them know what their power comes from. If they want to maintain their power, the three brothers must be close.

Ajige ran all the way, which was really for the sake of the Qing Dynasty. What are some wind and snow? But it was hard work. At this moment, I felt warm when I saw Dorgon treating him so politely. In the face of embarrassment, the two brothers abandoned all the old knots.

The Ajige people did not return to their mansion, but went directly to Dorgon's Prince Rui's mansion.

After washing it for a while, when people entered the greenhouse, they saw the wine and food on the small table on the couch. Dorgon had already asked people to prepare food.

"What new news is there besides the attack on Zhuozhou?" Ajige grabbed a roasted golden lamb leg, bit it in big mouth, and asked Dorgon directly.

On the way he came, he received an urgent report from the capital, and Zhuozhou had been taken down by the Ming army.

"Fangshan and Liangxiang have all been reduced. The people in the capital are in chaos. Many wealthy families have left to go out and shops have begun to close." Dorgon knew the situation in the capital and said directly: "It is estimated that at least 30% of the Han officials have presented letters of surrender to Nanming. The prices of rice and salt in the city have begun to rise ten days ago. Recently, there are firewood and coal, and some people are already buying them."

"These Nikans who were changing with the wind killed all the things." Ajige had no good attitude towards the Han officials, but was even more dissatisfied with the changes in prices in the capital. "The news spread so quickly, someone must have caused trouble." Then three words came to my mind - Jinyiwei.

Dorgon laughed, but said indifferently: "The left and right are just Jinyiwei. Our current imperial court is full of holes!" Especially when the Qing Dynasty was about to fail, that was even more so.

Things like where the Ming army has arrived should have been temporarily blocked to avoid panic when the people find out.

But Dorgon saw that the people in this city received news at all was no slower than him. This could only prove that the Qing Dynasty was full of holes and the Qing Dynasty's control ability was weakening.

"Is there any news coming from Zhuozhou?" Ajige asked again.

Although the army had not arrived yet, Azige believed that he would go south soon, so he naturally had to understand the enemy's intelligence as much as possible.

The news website of the Qing Dynasty was also very well-versed, and all the news in Jinling could be quickly spread to Yanjing. The Fan family is really a slave.

"As soon as the news arrived, the troops of Gao Jie broke Zhuozhou, and then Xu Dingguo, Liu Zhaoji, Cao Bianjiao and other troops arrived. There were about 60,000 to 70,000 troops."

"Now Gao Jie, Xu Dingguo and Cao Bianjiao continued to move forward and captured Fangshan. They were the ones in Liangxiang, and Liu Zhaoji followed. Wang Tingchen and Liu Liangzuo led their troops to besiege Baoding, and Huang Degong followed Baiyangdian and captured Xiongxian and Bazhou. The purpose should be to unite with the Zheng army of Tianjin and block the Qing Dynasty's way back to the pass."

It can be said that judging from the current situation, the Ming army's plan for the Northern Expedition has really come to an end.

As long as you successfully take Yanjing, everything will be so beautiful.

The dreams of Emperor Chongzhen and the dreams of the ministers of Jinling can all be realized.

However, just looking at Dorgon's current appearance, you should know that the Qing Dynasty gave in step by step. Apart from Baoding City, the Ming army almost allowed to kill to Yanjing City, so you should know that Dorgon must have a backup plan.

Although Xuanda was not the time to make him miscalculate. Even if the Ming army reached the city of Yanjing, how could they quickly take down Yanjing?

There are so many Eight Banners and Green Banners in this city, but they are not Yanjing during the reign of Emperor Chongzhen.

In fact, there were not many Eight Banners soldiers guarding Baoding City with Abatai, but more were the Green Banners soldiers in the Northern Zhili, a small number of Guanning troops, and even many servants who fled into the Central Plains and the Northern Zhili gentry guarding the courtyard.

The Eight Banners soldiers in Northern Zhili, especially the Eight Banners soldiers who had seen Tianjin before, are now mostly in Yanjing. This is Dorgon's backup plan.

Baoding Prefecture is a strong city. The Ming army went north smoothly and arrived in Yanjing in just a month. Not to mention that there were not many cannons in their army, but now even with cannons, they were left behind. Liu Liangzuo was a waste of money again. Although Wang Tingchen dared to fight, he really couldn't take Baoding for a while.

That's enough.

Although Qi Chongge once proposed to Dorgon, doing this would be too dangerous. Be careful that Prince Ying holds military power and sits and watches the enemy troops approach the city without moving.

But Dorgon believed that no matter how stupid Ajige was, he would not be so stupid. Moreover, Ajige was just stupid and irritable, not vicious and insidious.

Sit on the way to the Ming army take over Yanjing, the empress dowager and the regent are all done, and then defeat the Ming army himself and revive the Qing Dynasty...

Haha, Qi Chongge is really thinking too much. Don’t forget that most of the relatives of the Eight Banners have moved to Yanjing City.

The parents and children of the Eight Banners Army under Ajige are all in Yanjing City. How about letting Ajige remain unmoved?

"The Liangxiang is lost. Then the Southern Barbarians have already reached Lugou Bridge now?" Ajige only knew that Zhuozhou was lost, and he did not expect that the progress of the Ming army had reached the outskirts of Yanjing City. He was shocked at the moment.

When you arrived in Yanjing, Zheng Jun arrived, "You are too dangerous."

Even though Ajige knew that Yanjing City was not broken with just a stab, it still felt bad if he was beaten to the capital by the enemy.

The latter laughed: "Zheng Zhilong said something well, he can't bear to let his children go to trap the wolf. The Jinyiwei will die without being stiff, and we will kill all the people in a short time. If I don't do it, how can I earn so many Ming troops?" It is to ask the Eight Banners soldiers of Shanxi to arrive at the right time, and to keep the city of Yanjing empty, so that the Ming army will come with confidence and boldness.

Even the heavy snowstorm in Xuanda helped them a lot.

I'm afraid Hong Chengchou and the others now think that the Qing Dynasty's troops returning to the aid are still in Xuanda.

This is the principle of "I can't bear to leave my children and can't trap the wolf."

There were more than 100,000 people on the front line of the Ming army, and 30,000 people were left in Baoding. The remaining 100,000 people dared to divide the troops into two groups. Wouldn't this wolf just be trapped?
Chapter completed!