A moment later, Li Ruolian and Zheng Chenggong watched Zhou Yanru walk away.
Li Ruolian then asked in a low voice, "Is this guy really reliable?"
"After all, he used to be a member of the Donglin Party..."
Zheng Chenggong smiled and shook his head.
"Don't worry, it's precisely because of his background that he's more suited to do this."
Li Ruolian still didn't quite understand.
"What makes you say that? Aren't you afraid that he might turn a blind eye to some local gentry out of consideration for past favors?"
Zheng Chenggong gently patted the tall horse beneath him and let it ride forward at its own pace.
Then, nonchalantly, he said:
"General Li, please don't mistake civil officials for military generals."
"The most righteous are often the lowly butchers, while the most ungrateful are often the scholars. How much more so our Lord Zhou, who is a scholar among scholars?"
"If it weren't for those previous events, and he had considered the Donglin Party as his base, he might have actually protected the local gentry."
"But now, hehe, his base is gone. If he wants to go any further, he can only rely on the emperor's favor."
"Then he won't hesitate for a second when he targets the gentry of Jiangnan!"
Li Ruolian frowned slightly: "Core base? That's a rather new term."
"Is this something Master Gao usually teaches you?"
Zheng Chenggong chuckled but did not reply.
She simply stretched out her small hand and waved it gently in front of Li Ruolian: "If you treat me to something delicious, then I'll tell you."
Li Ruolian smiled helplessly, but she breathed a sigh of relief.
"No matter how big or how precocious this kid is, he's still just a child."
After this incident, tens of thousands of new recruits were stationed near Yanggu County and rested for half a month.
Li Ruolian also listened to Zhou Yanru's advice and actually selected three thousand men to train day and night.
The Northwest was known for its elite troops, and with Zhu Youjian's decisive action, he forced the Ministry of Revenue to send them grain and weapons.
So after just half a month of training, these three thousand men actually looked quite presentable.
Although it's just for show, it's already quite remarkable in the eyes of laymen.
Zhou Yanru stood on the high platform, watching the soldiers below shouting commands and forming a neat formation.
He smiled and nodded, saying, "General Li truly lives up to his reputation as the martial arts champion appointed by His Majesty. His ability to train troops is truly remarkable!"
Li Ruolian scratched her head somewhat embarrassedly.
"You flatter me, Lord Zhou. What I did was nothing."
"These soldiers will need at least another year of training before they can actually go to the battlefield."
At this moment, Zheng Chenggong appeared out of nowhere.
He said with a grin, "That's enough, that's enough."
"If they really want to fight the Jurchens, they will need to train for a long time, but they don't need to go to Liaodong right now!"
Zhou Yanru nodded in agreement.
"Xiao Zheng is right, it's enough for now."
"The Southern Zhili region is a place where civil officials are complacent and military officers are lazy. It's all show and no substance, yet it's a rare and powerful army!"
This time, Li Ruolian spoke up in opposition.
"Lord Zhou, isn't that a bit off? Wasn't the main force of Qi Jiguang's army recruited from Southern Zhili?"
"Although the Southeast Garrison is in disarray now, surely no one can see through our true strength."
Zhou Yanru laughed heartily.
"General Li, you are unaware of this. The Qi Family Army is an ancient army from decades ago and has long since lost its influence in the southeast."
"Besides, even if someone sees through the deception, so what? Does anyone really dare to rally the people to rebel?"
As Zhou Yanru spoke, his gaze darkened.
"General Li, I'm not bragging, but our Ming Dynasty understands the Donglin Party and the gentry in the southeast the best. If I say I'm second, I'm afraid no one would dare to claim first!"
"I know them too well; they're all bark and no bite!"
"If we let them hide behind the scenes and encourage others to go to their deaths to resist taxes and to oppose the imperial court, they will be outrageously bold."
"But if the imperial court really goes on a killing spree and holds a knife to their throats, then their knees will be weaker than anyone else's!"
Li Ruolian thought this was a bit of an exaggeration, but Zheng Chenggong had already burst into laughter and clapped his hands.
"Lord Zhou is right, those gentry are indeed like that."
Gao Qingyun had mentioned this to him during history class.
The "unyielding" gentry of the Ming Dynasty became as docile as kittens when they came to "our Great Qing Dynasty".
Although at first he considered causing trouble, he created the "Reporting and Distributing Taxes" case and the "Crying at the Temple" case, wanting to emulate the Ming Dynasty and continue to refuse to pay taxes.
But as soon as the Eight Banners' broadswords came out and dealt with tens of thousands of people in one go, they immediately knelt down.
Zheng Chenggong laughed and said, "If we want to kill fewer people this time, we should start by being ruthless and let them know that we are determined to achieve our goal no matter what."
"Let them think that we are determined to go on a killing spree, and that it doesn't matter how many people die for it."
"In this way, they will be afraid and more cooperative, which will ultimately reduce the number of deaths."
Zhou Yanru had thought the same thing, but he was still taken aback when he heard Zheng Chenggong say that.
She expressed the same sentiment as Li Ruolian.
"Where did this kid learn all this from?"
"Is that Master Gao really that skilled?"
But he didn't dare ask any random questions, so he nodded and said:
"Xiao Zheng is right, that's exactly the point!"
Seeing that both the adult and the child said so, Li Ruolian couldn't object.
"In that case, I'll do whatever you say."
Zhou Yanru smiled and said, "Then we'll have to rely on General Li this time in the Southeast."
"We'll set off south tomorrow and give those gentry a taste of their power!"
Almost at the same time the army set off, Southern Zhili had already received the news.
"Huh? Those beggars are finally heading south?"
In a magnificent mansion in Nanjing, many gentry gathered together.
They didn't think much of the officers and soldiers who were about to arrive.
Someone deliberately asked, "Hey, those people are, after all, government soldiers. It's not really appropriate to call them beggars, is it?"
The others burst into laughter after hearing this.
"Haha, just a few months ago they were refugees from Shaanxi and Gansu. Even if they put on military uniforms, how much better off could they be than beggars?"
Actually, it's not that they look down on Shaanxi and Gansu.
In their eyes, all the officers and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty were no different from beggars.
After laughing, the old man at the head of the group said:
"Gentlemen, this time the north has sent troops to our Southern Zhili. I'm afraid their intentions are not good."
We must be very careful!
Upon hearing this, the gentry who had been smiling turned somewhat grim.
"Hmph, it's a pity the Donglin Party is already..."
"If we had known this would happen, we shouldn't have paid so much in taxes last year when the imperial court collected autumn taxes!"
"Forget it, what's the point of saying all this now?"
"Let's think about what to do!"
Soon, their gazes returned to the old man.
"Lord Wang, what do you think we should do?"
The old man, however, remained completely unperturbed.
"Do what needs to be done!"
"We'll deal with these beggars the way we dealt with the Eastern Depot back then!"
Someone immediately spoke up: "I'm afraid that won't work, will it? These government soldiers are different from the eunuchs of the Eastern Depot after all..."
Lord Wang snorted coldly.
"How could it be any different? Would they dare to kill someone?"
"Once the army arrives in Guazhou, we'll organize our forces and give them a taste of their power."
"Let them know who really controls Jiangnan!"
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