Zhou Yanru didn't answer at all. After giving a cold laugh, he turned and walked away.
Only Old Master Wang was left standing there in a daze.
"He...he must have just been talking nonsense."
"We did it so discreetly, there's no way he could have known."
"Besides, even if he knew, it would be too late to send people north now."
He tried to comfort himself, regardless of whether what he said was right or wrong.
Anyway, he himself felt it was quite convincing.
"Hmph, Zhou Yanru is a shameless scoundrel. How could he possibly discover our scheme?"
“We, the gentry of Jiangnan, have diligently studied the classics and are destined to be pillars of the nation.”
"Whatever we do is right!"
"So Zhou Yanru and Li Ruolian are destined to lose."
"This is what they mean by good triumphing over evil!"
Thinking about this, he finally calmed down.
He even had the mood to joke with the soldiers who were guarding him.
"Hmph, in a few days your general will have to come begging to me!"
On the other side, after Zhou Yanru finished speaking with Old Master Wang, he immediately went to find Li Ruolian.
"General Li, now that those gentry have come to us of their own accord, then Nanjing can be considered at peace."
"You'd better hurry north and take charge over the Grand Canal."
Don't be fooled by his confident demeanor when he spoke just now.
Actually, he wasn't sure himself.
After all, the soldiers they brought from Jiangnan this time were just disaster victims from Shaanxi and Gansu a few months ago.
They're not hard-hearted enough, nor are they ruthless enough.
If you're too soft-hearted and let the canal workers escalate the situation, that would be a real problem.
Li Ruolian nodded and said:
"Rest assured, Lord Zhou, I have already ordered a fast boat to be prepared. I will head north now!"
After saying goodbye to Zhou Yanru, Li Ruolian did not dare to delay and quickly boarded a ship to head north.
But as soon as he arrived at the Guazhou ferry, he heard bad news.
"General, there's been a commotion on both sides of the Grand Canal. Many canal workers have blocked the docks, preventing merchant ships and canal boats from passing through."
Li Ruolian frowned and quickly asked, "Didn't I give you orders to suppress this?"
The soldiers exchanged glances, all looking somewhat embarrassed.
"General, they are all unfortunate people, and they did not say they wanted to rebel. They just said they wanted to reason with you."
"Wouldn't it be inappropriate to take action against them?"
Li Ruolian almost laughed out of anger.
"You guys... sigh, never mind."
"Fortunately, those local gentry delivered themselves to my door, giving me time to head north; otherwise, I don't know how much trouble they would have caused!"
At the same time, he also felt some regret.
If it were the Beijing garrison he used to lead, they wouldn't be good at fighting, and they would only know how to extort money, demand bribes, and oppress the people.
But if you send them to suppress the canal workers, they can take on ten men each without flinching.
But it wouldn't work for these Shaanxi-Gansu soldiers.
"Fortunately, they are from the Northwest after all, so they only have some sympathy for those canal workers."
"If it were the troops from Jiangnan, they would probably join in the commotion at this time."
He sighed and continued north.
But when he arrived in Yangzhou, he found that things weren't as bad as he had thought.
Although the canal workers did gather at the ferry crossing, they dared not act recklessly.
Li Ruolian looked up and discovered that there were actually dozens of Imperial Guards standing next to the canal workers.
Although the number of Imperial Guards was only one percent of that of the canal workers, the canal workers dared not act recklessly.
It seems that even after more than two hundred years since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, the reputation of the Embroidered Uniform Guard is still effective.
As for the thousands of men he sent to Yangzhou, they all hid in the distance and watched from afar.
Li Ruolian quickly disembarked and hurried over.
The leader of the Imperial Guards saw him and quickly came over to salute.
"Greetings, General Li!"
"No need for formalities. What are you doing here?" Li Ruolian asked hurriedly.
The Imperial Guard said:
"His Majesty specifically ordered Commander Luo to send our Embroidered Uniform Guard to assist you."
Li Ruolian felt relieved upon hearing this, followed by another sigh of admiration.
"His Majesty is indeed farsighted. He probably already guessed that my troops were not very reliable, which is why he sent you out."
He then asked, "What about the various places in the north? Are there also Imperial Guards there?"
The Imperial Guard replied, "That's right, we have brothers over there too."
"Moreover, His Majesty specifically ordered General Qin to lead the White-Spear Soldiers southward."
"We have already passed Xuzhou."
Hearing this, Li Ruolian's last worry was relieved.
"His Majesty is meticulous in his work!"
He turned his head to look in the direction of the capital and bowed deeply with sincere devotion.
"Our Great Ming Dynasty is truly blessed!"
After Li Ruolian stood up, she took the initiative to approach the local canal workers.
He asked the canal workers directly:
"Aren't you afraid of being accused of rebellion if you dare to gather crowds and cause trouble?"
The canal workers were immediately displeased upon hearing this.
"How could we be rebelling? There are clearly bad people in the court!"
"That's right! We've all heard that the imperial envoy sent to Jiangnan this time has actually started a massacre there."
"It is said that they killed tens of thousands of people as soon as they disembarked at Guazhou, and even the Yangtze River was dyed red!"
Li Ruolian immediately realized that this was a rumor deliberately spread by the gentry of Jiangnan in order to tarnish his reputation.
He sneered, "Heh, if I and my soldiers were truly so bloodthirsty, why would you dare to blockade the dock?"
The canal workers fell silent upon hearing this.
Seeing this, Li Ruolian pressed on, saying, "Hmph, if you still have any respect for the law, then hurry up and go home. This general will be lenient and let you off the hook."
"Otherwise..."
A hint of murderous intent flashed in his eyes.
"I didn't kill tens of thousands of people in Guazhou, but I still killed dozens."
"Of your tens of thousands of laborers, I wouldn't mind killing a few hundred to deter other scoundrels from the surrounding areas!"
Upon hearing this, the canal workers were immediately frightened. After hesitating for a moment, they gradually retreated.
Li Ruolian smiled as they waited until they had completely left the dock.
"Hmph, I knew they wouldn't cause any trouble!"
The Imperial Guards standing nearby were rather curious.
"General, how do you know they won't cause trouble?"
Li Ruolian shook her head.
"Hey, my soldiers from the Northwest don't understand this principle, why don't you understand it either?"
“Those canal workers were not unfortunate people at all. On the contrary, they made a living off the water and lived better than many small landlords.”
"They are quite good at causing trouble, but they lack the determination to fight to the death."
“If it were tens of thousands of displaced people rioting today, my words just now would be completely useless.”
The Imperial Guards nodded in admiration after hearing this.
"General Li is right."
Li Ruolian casually waved his hand, walked to a distance, reprimanded his soldiers a few times, and then boarded the fast boat to continue northward.
After suppressing the unrest at several docks, the disturbances caused by the canal workers along the banks of the canal had lost their momentum.
Li Ruolian secretly breathed a sigh of relief, and then ordered the Embroidered Uniform Guard to arrest all the leaders who had secretly instigated the canal workers.
Then he led this group of people back to Jinling.
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