Zhou Yanru stood at the bow of the boat, looking at the distant ferry crossing, and suddenly laughed.
He turned to Zheng Chenggong beside him and asked, "Little Zheng, it seems that the gentry in Jiangnan have prepared a good show for us this time."
“Look at the docks, a lot of laborers have already gathered there.”
“The eunuchs that the late emperor sent to Jiangnan were once severely beaten by them.”
Zheng Chenggong's small face was full of disdain.
"We're not eunuchs!"
"Besides, I don't think they're necessarily just laborers!"
Now Zhou Yanru was quite curious.
Why do you say that?
Zheng Chenggong pointed at the people on the dock and shook his head.
“My family is in the shipping business, so naturally I can spot the clues.”
"This is where the canal and the Yangtze River meet. Anyone who makes a living at the docks not only has to endure the wind and sun, but also frequently gets wet."
"The skin on a person's body, once it gets wet and then exposed to the sun, will turn bronze in just a few days."
“But, Lord Zhou, look at them. Although their skin isn’t exactly fair either, they are clearly different from the people who make a living by the water.”
Zhou Yanru took a closer look and found that it was indeed true.
He nodded to himself inwardly, feeling that the child beside him was indeed extraordinary.
Zhou Yanru, wanting to get closer to Zheng Chenggong again, cautiously asked:
"To be honest, I've never heard of your family background before, Xiao Zheng. Your accent sounds a bit like that of Fujian. Is your father a naval officer from there?"
Zheng Chenggong smiled and shook his head.
“My father used to be just a businessman, but recently he’s been lucky and actually managed to get a minor official position.”
When Zhou Yanru heard this, he thought that Zheng Chenggong's family hadn't been very well-off before.
It was all thanks to this child becoming Gao Qingyun's apprentice that the family was able to prosper.
He thought to himself, "In that case, when I meet this kid's father, I'll have to take the opportunity to promote him."
"This child's future is definitely limitless."
Just as he was pondering this, the fleet had already approached the dock.
Li Ruolian was already standing in the cabin, and she led her men off the ship first.
Although the men he brought with him were all elites carefully selected from those three thousand soldiers.
But the people on the shore didn't take them seriously.
The eyes of a dozen or so local gentry turned cold:
"Why was a brute sent forward first? Where is Zhou Yanru?"
"Hmph, that old bastard betrayed his friends for personal gain. The Donglin Party is finished, but he stays out of it."
"He must be too ashamed to face his elders in Jiangdong, which is why he doesn't dare to leave the cabin!"
Immediately, someone angrily stepped forward and approached Li Ruolian.
"Hey, soldier over there, where's Zhou Yanru?"
Li Ruolian frowned slightly, but did not turn hostile.
"Lord Zhou is still behind; he will disembark shortly."
"Please wait a moment, everyone. Also, you'd better step back a bit. There are over ten thousand people on these dozens of ships ahead of us."
"If you block them here, they won't be able to get off the ship."
Li Ruolian's words only made the leading local gentry displease.
"What are you saying! We are all scholars with official titles and ranks, how can we give way to you warriors!"
"You can find a place to disembark yourselves!"
As soon as the gentry spoke, their servants, disguised as laborers, joined in the commotion.
"That's right!"
"You stinking soldier, do you think you can make us give way?"
Li Ruolian's face darkened, but they became even more excited.
"Hmph, how dare you, a military officer, get angry?"
"Be careful, or we'll go back and report you to your classmates!"
Zhou Yanru heard these commotions on the boat and a smile appeared on his face.
"Hehe, I was worried that General Li would be too soft-hearted and unwilling to kill more people."
"But now it's all right, I can finally relax."
Zheng Chenggong seemed to be deep in thought, and murmured to himself:
"So this is really what the gentry of the Ming Dynasty are like. No wonder Kong Youde and his men were forced into rebellion..."
Zhou Yanru didn't quite hear him: "What did you say?"
Zheng Chenggong chuckled.
"I didn't say anything, I just felt that I was too young and it seemed like I wasn't suitable to watch the later scenes."
"Old Zhou, you can see for yourself. I'm leaving now!"
He continued his train of thought after leaving the deck.
“I remember the gentleman saying that in history… oh no, in the future.”
"A few years later, Kong Youde and his troops led their troops to Jiaodong. Because the local gentry oppressed the soldiers, they rebelled in anger and eventually surrendered to the Jurchens."
"It seems that the gentry of Jiangnan have even bigger tempers."
"But it's all for the best. The more inhuman they are right now, the less burden Li Ruolian will have to bear when killing, and the easier things will be to handle in Jiangnan."
At that moment, he heard a commotion coming from the dock outside the ship, followed by screams.
He listened intently and could hear Li Ruolian growling in a low voice, "I'm killing you all!"
Zheng Chenggong did not take these matters to heart.
Instead, it rested directly against the cabin.
“Kill them. If we don’t kill more people, those gentry won’t remember that this Jiangnan belongs to our Great Ming.”
After Li Ruolian "cleared" the dock, he allowed all the soldiers to disembark.
They entered Guazhou, treading on blood.
Before they could fully settle down, the news had already reached Jinling City.
"What? That warrior dared to go on a killing spree? Are they planning a rebellion?"
The gentry in the city were immediately excited.
The local gentry gathered again, but there were far fewer of them.
After all, more than a dozen local gentry had already been purged at the Guazhou ferry crossing.
After a few words of discussion, they immediately came up with an idea.
"Someone, go and summon the Minister of War immediately. Have him severely reprimand that brute and then escort him to the Ministry of Justice!"
The Ministry of War and the Ministry of Justice they mentioned were naturally not the Northern Zhili court.
Instead, it refers to the six ministries within Jinling City.
When Emperor Chengzu moved the capital to the north, he also left a backup of the court in Nanjing.
However, over the years, these six southern districts have long since become places for retirement.
They usually have no influence at all, and even the locals ignore them.
However, at this point, the gentry remembered these people.
"Get the person out here right now!"
Although the ministers of the Southern Six Ministries were marginalized in the court, they were quite well-informed.
When they heard that someone had come to see them, they simply shut themselves in.
"Heh, these bastards, now they want me to pull chestnuts out of the fire for them?"
"I know that Li Ruolian, who is leading the troops this time, has just won a battle in Liaodong and is a confidant of the new emperor."
"Since he dared to kill people as soon as he disembarked, could it be that he wasn't acting on the emperor's orders?"
Several ministers gave orders to their subordinates: "For the next period of time, you should not go out unless necessary. Stay at home and behave yourselves."
"Let's just watch the show!"
The servants sent by the gentry knocked on the doors of several ministers' residences for a long time.
But no one came out.
They finally realized they had been turned away, so they had no choice but to return dejectedly to report.
"Master, those officials refuse to open the door to see us."
The local gentry immediately became anxious.
"Those bastards! How could they do such a thing?"
"Exactly, those soldiers killed someone in public, and they just did nothing?"
"No, I'll go back and write a letter to my uncle who's an official in the court, and tell him to impeach that soldier severely!"
As they were talking, some people started to walk out.
But the old man, Mr. Wang, who was at the head of the group, suddenly coughed heavily and asked the people who were about to leave:
Where are you going?
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