This "suppression of counterrevolutionaries" movement soon swept across the entire territory under Li Laiheng's rule. Since the invasion of the army into Huguang, he had compromised with the gentry at every turn, striving to form a stable and balanced situation. However, it now seems that this compromise
and concessions only increased the arrogance of the gentry for no reason and weakened the bargaining chip used by the Chuang army to control local affairs.
This sharp knife of Azrael is just in time to be put to use.
This time Li Laiheng did not remind him again to "kill less and arrest more" and "catch less and release more". Instead, he did not deliberately seek to expand the scope of the attack, but he killed when he needed to and arrested when he needed to.
Poor Yi Daosan, after being scolded by Li Laiheng, was frightened and sick, and fainted on the spot. As a last resort, Li Laiheng had to spend his own money to arrange for him to rest and receive medical treatment in the handsome manor.
Yi Daosan's good friend Geng Yingqu was actually a wonderful man. When Yi Daosan "furiously denounced" Li Laiheng's tyranny, he was frightened and did not dare to say a word. But when Yi Daosan fainted and was placed under "house arrest" in
After returning to the Commander's Mansion, Geng Yingqu kept kneeling at the door of the Commander's Mansion, begging Li Laiheng to spare Yi Daosan's life.
Li Laiheng didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Although he was not interested in Yi Daosan's "selfless" theory, after all, Yi Daosan had not really participated in the Tongzuo affair, and he had no plan on how to deal with this person.
Geng Yingqu did not hesitate to sacrifice his life for his friends. This performance actually changed Li Laiheng's view of the jute gentry. Many of these gentry will become the leaders of the Forty-eight Villages of Qihuang in later generations.
A considerable number of people died heroically on the battlefield against the Qing Dynasty.
Li Laiheng wrote and sighed: "Where can I find such a close friend in the world?"
Fang Yiren, who was walking into the study room of Shuai Mansion with a document, heard this and nodded at Li Laiheng's rare expression of true feelings. Secretary Fang sat in the seat next to Li Laiheng and said with a smile:
"Does the Palace Master think that the jute gentry still has some good luck?"
"Leshan is here to intercede for Yi Daosan?"
"The Palace Master has no intention of dealing with Mr. Yi, so why is there any need to persuade him?"
"Oh, why didn't you hide your clumsiness today? You just said what you said directly, instead of playing riddles with me." Li Laiheng put the pen and ink aside and said, "Leshan, Leshan, speak directly when you have something to say, don't beat around the bush."
Fang Yiren took his time and helped Li Laiheng fill up the tea first, then poured himself a cup of tea, and while sipping the tea, he said slowly:
"The gentry can't kill all the people, so how can the people kill all the gentry? The palace owner used the new land farming law and public-private partnership to make so many gentry rich, but they can only stay at home. They have nothing to do every day.
, once there is a villain who provokes it, it will be difficult not to do bad things."
"You mean to arrange some errands for these gentry? Why haven't I considered it? But these gentry and Chuangjun are not considerate after all. Even people like Yi Daosan and Geng Yingqu, I can't trust them.
Leave the major affairs of the Chuang Army to them."
"It's not an option to keep it idle."
Li Laiheng narrowed his eyes and asked, "You have a draft in Leshan? Tell me quickly."
Fang Yiren laughed and said: "This is not the method I thought of. The first half of this method is what Wen Gu thought of, and the second half is what Shopkeeper Xiao thought of."
"No matter who thought it, since you are here to offer advice, if something goes wrong in the future, I will have to put the blame on you." Li Laiheng chuckled twice, "Tell me, what can I do?"
"Wen Gu was the governor of De'an Prefecture during this period. He was busy with official duties. According to his words, there were many things going on, and the number of qualified officials available to the army was less than three to four out of ten. So he paid the most attention to Even in the Suiying School and the Township Officials School, I think about how to compete with Bai Wang and the generals every day to grab people for employment. Wen Gu’s idea is to properly arrange some idle squires and let them give lectures in the schools."
Li Laiheng doubted: "If this continues, won't the disciples and former officials of the jute gentry spread all over the world?"
"The use of this can be controlled. If the palace master doesn't trust them to teach military science, public opinion, and how to manage the world, then he can just let them teach them just how to read and write sentences."
Li Laiheng was still very worried about this method, and then asked: "You should tell me about Xiao Weisong's method."
Fang Yiren replied: "Shopkeeper Xiao's method follows the path of public-private partnership, since many gentry have invested in Kendeji. What Shopkeeper Xiao means is that we can set up shops and workshops in various states and counties, so that these shares can be idle. The gentry is responsible for the specific operations."
"good!"
This method made Li Laiheng's eyes light up. He nodded repeatedly and said: "This method is quite feasible! These people have paid money and bought shares anyway. Instead of living at home, they might as well work as shopkeepers, accountants... no, shopkeepers and accountants..." Or something, these gentlemen will find it insulting to be polite again, we can be called directors, managers... yes, we should also be called factory directors!"
"That's true, but these gentry must be responsible for their own profits and losses, otherwise they will inevitably seize Chuangjun's public property." Fang Yiren added, "It seems that Shopkeeper Xiao understands the palace master's thoughts best."
Li Laiheng chuckled again and replied: "Come on, who knows me but comes back from Leshan? Is there anything else besides this matter? Let me see what's going on with the document you brought?"
When Li Laiheng mentioned this matter, Fang Yiren's face became serious. He stood up and handed the document to Li Laiheng and said: "After the general marshal swept the Central Plains, he met at Juyi in Kaifeng and there were 100,000 fighting men. Liu The old gentleman got the news from Song Xiance that the Generalissimo, after several persuasion from Niu Jinxing, planned to send the replacement commander and Chen Xin to lead an army of 30,000 people south to Huguang."
"What?"
Li Laiheng was shocked. His cheap adoptive father Li Guo was actually going to lead 30,000 troops to Huguang?
Niu Jinxing's idea... It seems that Li Zicheng has a grudge against what he did in Huguang after all!
Thirty thousand people...
The growth in strength of the Central Plains Breaking Army is really astonishing. Li Zicheng now actually has the strength to divide 30,000 troops at will. However, Huguang is not bad. According to Li Laiheng's estimation, after he has completely absorbed and digested the remaining troops of Zuozhen, , and then take down the three prefectures of Xiangyang, Chengtian, and Jingzhou, which are basically unguarded, the Huguang Army should also have a strength of 40,000 to 50,000 people.
It is not difficult to fight against Li Guo's 30,000 troops...
But now there seems to be no need to break up with Zhongyuan Chuangjun.
"Palace Master...how does Palace Master plan to deal with this matter?"
Li Laiheng still felt a headache. Now Geli was eyeing He Yilong, Lao Huihui Ma Shouying was still entrenched in Chengtian Mansion, and Zhang Xianzhong was also fighting Ding Qirui in Wuchang. If Li couldn't come over, he would spend several months alone to settle Geli. It is not difficult for Yan and Lao Huihui to even squeeze Zhang Xianzhong out of Huguang.
But after Li Guo arrived with 30,000 "reinforcements", the situation became more complicated.
The biggest question is what is Li Zicheng's purpose? The information Liu Jingting obtained from Song Xiance seems to be Niu Jinxing's suggestion to Li Zicheng to do this. So it seems that Li Zicheng's purpose is to check and balance Li Laiheng's dominant family in Huguang.
?
But Li Guo and Li Laiheng are sworn father and son. If they insist on being divided into factions within the Chuang Army, the two of them must be considered the same faction. If they have different opinions and suppress the balance, then Tian Jianxiu or Li Shuangxi should be sent to Huguang to snatch the fruits of victory.
Bar?
Or is it that Li Zicheng is worried that Li Laiheng has completely become his own family, and sending someone else will stimulate a break between Li Laiheng and the Central Plains Army?
"That's all, I believe in my adoptive father. Both the general marshal and my adoptive father are honest people, and my adoptive father is extremely kind to me. My adoptive father came to Huguang to show my sincerity and the affection between me and my adoptive father.
, I will definitely go and greet you in person."
Fang Yiren asked: "How many people will the palace bring to welcome you?"
Li Laiheng felt unsure for a while and hesitated: "This... now we mobilize 30,000 people, is there any problem?"
"Well... we just went through the Suizhou War, and having to mobilize 30,000 people to meet the replacement commander in such a short period of time is probably quite a big problem..."
Li Laiheng couldn't laugh or cry and said: "Okay, okay, if I can bring ten or twenty thousand people, it won't be a problem, right?"