The Song Dynasty has been deliberate for 16 years, only to know that it is the Water Margin

Chapter 349 Gentry
Just when Zhao Tang received the Xuanzhou battle report, several long text messages entered the hands of the patriarchs of the major gentry clans in Jiangning.

Some of these aristocratic families are from Jiangning's local portals, and some are from Hangzhou, Suzhou, Yuezhou and other places. They all fled to Jiangning before Fang La's army attacked the city.

Jiangning is the largest city in the south of the Yangtze River, and it is also the cultural center of the south of the Yangtze River, a place where gold and powder intertwine and gather.

The gentry in the south of the Yangtze River want to avoid disasters, and the first choice is Jiangning, because Jiangning is not only a large city, but also safer than other places. More importantly, they have been operating here for many years. The news is effective and the connections are well-connected. , and even advance and retreat in a certain way, so as not to fall into the hands of thieves.

So as soon as they received the letter from outside, they immediately got together and began to discuss countermeasures.

The content of the letter is similar to the military information received by Zhao Tong. Fang Qifo's 10,000+ army marched northward and approached Xuanzhou.

After the discussion, these people all came to the same conclusion. The bandit army's attack on Xuanzhou was to clear up obstacles, and the real goal was Jiang Ning.

After this conclusion came out, everyone's face was not good, especially those local gentry in Jiangning.

Many of these gentry clans are the remnants of clans who were not exterminated in the troubled times of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, Spring and Autumn Period. The clans of the aristocratic families have always had a long-term layout and strong vitality. Once the world is peaceful, they will come back step by step.

The so-called:
There have been five generations of chaos,
Once the clouds open and you can see the sky again.

The century-old rain and dew on the grass and trees,
Che Shu Wanli old country.

Once the world is at peace, and once again brocade clothes and hairpin tassels, another part of the emerging famous families will marry with the remaining veins of these old aristocratic families and become a new gentry group.

Father and son prime ministers, brother prime ministers, third prime ministers, and fourth reigns, these famous families control the lifelines of most people in the north and south.

The people are still those people, but they have changed their names and names.

Shuzhou Wang family, Huayang Fan family, Xianyou Cai family, Xiangzhou Han family, Jiangyou Zeng family, Linchuan Wang family, Shouzhou Lu family, Wujun Fan family, Daming Fan family, Lansi Lu family, Siming Yuan family, The Zhu family in Shezhou... countless, too numerous to enumerate.

Take the popular allusion of the lion's roar in Hedong as an example. The protagonist in it is Chen Jichang, whose father is the famous Chen Xiliang.

Why is it famous?
According to Song history records, Chen Xiliang was lonely and eager to learn. At the age of sixteen, he will be a teacher.His elder brother made it difficult for him, so he ordered more than [-] yuan in interest. Xi Liang learned that those who had called for the money burned his coupons and left.

Chen Xiliang was eager to learn since he was a child, but his parents died early and he lived with his elder brother. At the age of 16, he decided to travel to study and learn from a teacher. His elder brother was narrow-minded and wanted to take the opportunity to embezzle the family property that his parents had given him before his death, so he only sent the neighbors and servants. A total of more than 30 bills from the Chen family were handed over to him, which was regarded as a separation, but Chen Xiliang found all the debtors, burned all the bills in person, and then went out to study.

Later, Chen Xiliang managed to transport Cao Shuai all the way, but he didn't talk about his official reputation, only said that before he went out to study when he was young, he burned a total of more than [-] yuan. The more than [-] yuan here is three More than ten thousand.

This was almost an astronomical figure in the early days of the Song Dynasty. At that time, the ratio of copper coins to silver was about one to one, and the military expenditure of the Song Dynasty was about 3000 million taels a year.

This money is equivalent to one percent of the military expenditure in the early Song Dynasty. If you don't want so much money, you don't want it, and the IOUs for the accounts are burned if you don't want it. This shows how Chen Xiliang's family background is.

But even if Chen Jichang came from such a family, he was still afraid of his wife to death, but was he really afraid of his wife?
His wife's surname is Liu, and this allusion is called Hedong Lion's Roar, precisely because his wife was born in the Hedong Liu family, a powerful family for thousands of years.

What he was afraid of was the family behind Liu, not his wife.

And Chen Xiliang has a grandson named Chen Shunyu, who is also a famous official of the generation. This man married a wife who is the daughter of Fan Zhongyan. Fan Zhongyan's family is a family of three prime ministers, and both sons are prime ministers.

This Chen Shunyu had a son named Chen Yuyi, who later served as a political adviser during the Shaoxing period.

The prime minister takes turns to do it, and this year he will come to my house.

This is the gentry, and it is still a new gentry, but at the same time, it is intermarried with those thousand-year-old clans, blending into one body, and controlling various powers in the Song Dynasty.

Right now, these gentry from Jiangnan saw the content of the letter, and immediately judged that the bandit army was going to attack Jiangning. After some discussion, most of them decided to evacuate immediately, either to Hongzhou, or to cross the Yangtze River north to Yangzhou.

A small number of them don’t want to leave. Those who don’t want to leave have been operating in Jiangning for hundreds of years. There are countless land pavements, and it is difficult to give up for a while.

But at this moment, someone jumped out and spoke directly about the city of Hangzhou, which shook the minds of this small group of people, and then began to order to clean up the gold and silver, take away all that can be taken away, and dig a cellar to bury those who can't. , As for the land pavement temporarily abandoned, we will talk about it in the future.

But at this moment, they were stunned by a piece of news that Jiang Ning was suddenly closed!
It is not a symbolic closed city with half closed and half opened, nor is it temporarily closed and reopened tomorrow.

Instead, all the thirteen gates of the four cities were closed, and the inside was blocked with bluestone strips, even the water gates were sealed.

A notice from the Xuanfu Division was posted on the street, that the bandit army is going north, and in order to prevent Jiang Ning from making mistakes, the city will be completely closed from now on, and no one can enter or leave.

This is not bad. After hearing the news, it seemed that the gentry had exploded. Xuanzhou is still some distance away from Jiangning. Right now, there are no soldiers coming to the city. What does it mean that the gate is not allowed to leave?
Among the patriarchs of the Jiangnan gentry, there are many courtiers and officials who have served as officials. Some even knew Zhao Tun when they were officials in Tokyo.

However, they had to be cautious about this matter in their last discussion. After all, they didn't know Zhao Tong's specific intentions, and maybe they were just pretending. If they really wanted to leave, could Zhao Tang not let them go? ?
So three representatives were elected, two had been officials in the capital, and the other was also a local giant.

The three of them went to the Xuanfu Department to ask Zhao Tun, but they were told that the king of Qin was deploying defenses at the top of the city at the moment, and he didn't know when he would be back.

The youngest of the three is 68. Although depending on their status, even if they go to the city to look for them, no one will be able to stop them, but Jiangning City is very deep and wide, and the three of them feel that it will be too much to go to the outer city and then climb up. But he didn't want to return without success, so he went to Wang Hanzhi.

Although Wang Hanzhi was recovering from his illness in the mansion, someone reported Zhao Tun's troubles in the past few days. When he first saw Zhao Tun strengthening the city defense, building fortifications, and checking his contacts, he was applauded in his heart. Putting down the chaos in Huaixi last year was by no means luck, but real skill.

But today, knowing that the rebel army was going north, Zhao Tun suddenly ordered the city gates to be closed, he couldn't help being shocked and complained in his heart.

It's not that Wang Hanzhi doesn't believe that Zhao Tun can defend Jiangning, but that at this moment in Jiangning City, most of the Jiangnan gentry are gathered. He knows that these people are unwilling to take the slightest risk. Some of them came from other places to avoid chaos. Where people are willing to stay, they still have to go.

But he saw that Zhao Tun's notice was written decisively, as if he hadn't considered whether these gentry would leave or stay, so he began to worry.

He didn't know what kind of medicine was sold in Zhao Tama's gourd, and he was afraid that the gentry in the city would make trouble. If these people make trouble, it would be no small matter. Behind each of them is a power, big or small, all over the court, even if he is a big official all the way It is absolutely unacceptable.

Three representatives of the gentry sought an audience outside the mansion, and he hurriedly invited them in, but they all recognized him. The old man in charge was Wang Congying, who had been a member of the Privy Council who signed the letter and a scholar of the Guanwen Temple. They are all big, and there are still people in Wang Congying's clan who are serving as officials in the capital, and there are also juniors from prefects and prefectures in the local area.

Wang Hanzhi bit the bullet and served tea to the three, then pretended not to know about the closed city, and asked the three why they came here.

The three didn't know that he was pretending to be confused, but they couldn't point it out, so they directly talked about the Xuanfu Division's announcement and the closure of the city.

Wang Hanzhi pondered and said: "I don't know about this matter. At this moment, the King of Qin is in charge. If you want to leave the city, you still have to consult with the King of Qin."

The three of them sneered when they saw him evade, Wang Congying said: "King Qin is currently in the city, he is old and old, he can't go to the city, if he doesn't come to look for Mr. Wang, who else can he look for?"

Hearing the words, Wang Hanzhi was slandered, and he was most afraid of tossing about his hidden illness. Could it be that he will win the top of the city?It's just that I can't offend these people right now, so I can only apologize and say with a smile: "Why don't the three of you go look for it after King Qin goes down to the city?"

Wang Congying twirled his gray beard and said: "You must look for it. I don't know when King Qin will go to the city. The notice clearly states that no one can enter or leave, but we must leave Jiangning. Wang Congying My lord can't stay out of this matter, there is still a regulation to be made, and the king of Qin will also go to explain it together."

Wang Hanzhi groaned secretly when he heard the words, is this going to drag him into the water too?This is not a good thing, it might offend both sides!He thought about it, and said with a smile: "This matter is easy. The boss ordered each clan to choose a leader. I will wait for the king of Qin to return to the department to explain. At that time, all of you will go over and ask the king of Qin for orders."

Hearing this, Wang Congying was a little hesitant. He had been a court official for many years. Although he was old at the moment, he was still not confused. He frowned and said, "Each clan should choose a leader. I'm afraid there won't be more than a hundred people. I'm afraid the King of Qin won't like it." Bar?"

Wang Hanzhi sneered in his heart when he heard the words, do you know that King Qin doesn't like it?If you don't like it, just stay in the city honestly. If you are in such a hurry to get out of the city, don't you believe that King Qin can keep Jiangning?Will King Qin be happy?

He rubbed his temples: "There are many people to talk to. Moreover, the King of Qin has always been known as a virtuous king. If it weren't for the tense battle right now, he might have summoned you all. After all, it is not easy to get you together."

Wang Congying thought about it, the truth was correct, but he always felt that something was wrong, does King Qin have the name of a virtuous king?The virtuous king seems to be the king of Yun!
But he wanted to go out of the city wholeheartedly. He felt that Wang Hanzhi's words were not wrong. King Qin would only pay more attention if he went to more people. Thinking of this, he got up and said, "The old man will go back now. Lord Qin will tell you about it."

After saying goodbye, the three of them left, Wang Hanzhi watched them go out, and hurriedly sent someone to wait in front of Xuanfusi's gate, and if Zhao Tong came back, he would report to him immediately.

Zhao Tong went to the city today to preside over the defense change. He wanted to take advantage of Fang Qifo's attack on Jiangning to play a big game of chess. Although it was safe for Wang Bao to preside over the city defense, he was not considered his own family after all, so he could not let him know many things.

Zhao Tong handed over the Jiangning West City to Yao Pingzhong, and replaced all the troops below with the imperial army brought by his family. Originally, none of the Jiangning defenders were used.

Yao Pingzhong naturally knew what Zhao Tun was going to do, he didn't dare to move the slightest expression on his face, but he was really panicked in his heart, this was an earth-shattering event, not to mention ruining his reputation, even the Yao family in the northwest would be implicated with him.

As for Zhao Tun as the mastermind of this matter, I am afraid that the officials will not be able to defend him at that time, but Zhao Tun has a way out, he can go back to Uighur and become his son-in-law, so he can only follow Zhao Tun, all the way to the dark.

How did Zhao Tun know his many thoughts, after finishing the arrangement, he went back to Fusi, not long after Wang Hanzhi asked to see him outside, he was invited in.

After Wang Hanzhi came in, he immediately confessed his crimes, and told about Wang Congying and others going to his mansion. Except for his own idea to have all their families send people, everything else was described in great detail.

After hearing this, Zhao Tong said calmly, "Are they so distrustful of me?"

Wang Hanzhi said with a dry smile: "My lord, my subordinates also said the same. With a lord in this city, they will be safe, but they all seem to have grass growing in their hearts, and they are about to leave Jiangning."

Zhao Tang picked up the tea bowl and took a sip: "Where are you going when you leave Jiangning?"

Wang Hanzhi said: "My subordinates probably want to cross the river north to Yangzhou or Luzhou."

Zhao Tong said: "The king also issued an order before that all ships along the Yangtze River will be requisitioned. What will they use to cross the river?"

Wang Hanzhi opened his mouth. He didn't expect Zhao Tun to have such a military order, but thinking about it, the importance of the Yangtze River is self-evident. the other party?
He hesitated and said, "I'm afraid I have to go southwest and go to Hongzhou to escape."

Zhao Tuo remained silent, and said for a moment: "Go and inform them, come over to discuss matters at Xushi."

Wang Hanzhi felt relieved when he heard the words, Zhao Tong agreed to meet, then he has nothing to do with him, as to whether to let these people go, or how these people can make Zhao Tong open the city, that has nothing to do with him.

Wang Hanzhi got up to say goodbye, and when he arrived at the gentry, he saw that everyone was as anxious as ants on a hot pot. When they learned that the discussion would be held at xu o'clock in the evening, many people sighed mournfully. , When I really got to the bottom of the city, I couldn't even run if I wanted to.

Wang Congying also frowned, but he had no other way to think about it, he couldn't just bribe the city gate officials to slip away without permission, and at the moment what Zhao Tuo issued was a death order, probably no city gate official would dare to take such a serious crime Kaesong.

After everyone discussed it, it was better to meet Zhao Tun at night, and if the discussion was successful, they would leave overnight at worst.

Just like this, when the sky was getting dark, a full hundred or ten people came to the Xuanfu Division's meeting hall, waiting for Zhao Tong to discuss the matter.

(End of this chapter)