Southern Ming: A boy soldier at the beginning, supporting the world

Chapter 344: Enlightenment of the People

"The Lord's article 'A Warning to the World' is very popular. With China being so large, powerful, and populous, if we can unite as one, can we still defeat the little Tartars? If each of us spits on them, we can drown the Tartars!"

The person who spoke was a middle-aged man in short clothes, who looked like a coachman.

Seeing that he was well-spoken, Gu Yanwu could not help but look at him twice. Most of the chivalrous people are butchers, and heroes emerge in troubled times. This is probably what he is talking about.

Another young man, who looked like an apprentice in a business, asked, "Brother Liu San, the newspaper said that the Manchu Tartars have less than 60,000 soldiers and horses. Is that true?"

"Huh?" The uneducated Liu Sange was stunned for a moment and said, "The king said less than 60,000, so of course it is less than 60,000. I think the bitter cold land of the Northeast can't support many Tartars."

There were few gentlemen among the diners, and most of them were uninformed and half-believing and half-doubting.

Gu Yanwu secretly sighed that the Chinese people were numb and ignorant, which was why the Tartars took advantage of the situation. The Red Army published the "Revitalization Newspaper" and promoted racial theories. What was the purpose? Probably to enlighten the people and stimulate their bloodiness.

There is still a long way to go. There is still a long way to go.

"I don't quite believe it. If the Tartars had only 60,000 men, how could they defeat millions of bandits? How could they command the fierce armies of Wu Sangui, Kong Youde, and Shang Kexi? How could they occupy most of China?"

The person who was speaking was a little drunk and loved to argue with others.

"Bullshit!" Brother Liu was furious and shouted, "The king said 60,000, so it is 60,000. What are you, a lowly porter, trying to argue with?"

Seeing that the two were about to argue, the waiter quickly stepped forward to persuade them to stop.

Gu Yanwu watched coldly and could not help but say, "Why are you two arguing? The king just said in the newspaper that the Han people must unite as one to drive out the Tartars. You two are swearing at each other because of a disagreement, which goes against the king's original intention."

When Brother Liu San saw that he was dressed as a scholar and had an extraordinary demeanor, he quickly bowed and apologized.

Gu Yanwu bowed to everyone, nodded to Gu Zuyu, and said, "Everyone, my cousin is interested in geography and has researched the whole story of the Tartars. Why not ask him to explain your doubts to you?"

Gu Zuyu was a rookie, but he stood up and bowed to everyone, saying in Mandarin: "The ancestors of the Manchu Tartars were the Jin Tartars, who lived in the bitter cold land of the northeast. At the beginning of the dynasty, the Nurgan Dusi was established, a horse market was opened, tribute was set, and the Manchu Tartars were controlled. There are three main tribes of Tartars, namely the Jianzhou Jurchens, the Haixi Jurchens, and the Wild Jurchens.

"Nurhaci, the founder of the Tatars, was originally a general under the Liaodong general Li Chengdong, and served as the commander of the Left Guard of Jianzhou. Nurhaci betrayed his loyalty and rebelled against the Ming Dynasty, unifying the Jurchen tribes with a population of 200,000 and 60,000 soldiers.

"Afterwards, the Tartars kept plundering Han people and livestock and opened up land for production in the Northeast. Traitors such as Li Yongfang, Kong Youde, Geng Jimao, and Shang Kexi surrendered to the Tartars with their followers. As the Tartars gradually gained power, Wu Sangui opened Shanhaiguan and surrendered, and then marched straight in, and the Central Plains fell..."

Gu Zuyu was a young man after all, and his speech was stilted and not as appealing as in "The Alarm Bell". His Mandarin was not authentic, and many Cantonese speakers could not understand him clearly.

China is a vast country with many dialects. Every dynasty has its own official language. The official language of the Ming Dynasty was Nanjing dialect, which was easier to understand than Wu dialect and was widely used throughout the country.

Zhou Tingshen thought that the Cantonese people did not believe Gu Zuyu's words, so he said, "My dear brothers, this young gentleman is from Changshu County, Suzhou Prefecture, Nanzhili."

When they heard Changshu County, everyone became excited. There were many high-ranking officials from Changshu in the Red Army, and the father-in-law of the leader was Qu Shisi from Changshu.

"Young Master's surname is Gu, and he comes from a family of geographers. Have you heard of the Illustrated History of the Nine Frontiers? It is the Gu family's masterpiece."

Gu Zuyu blushed, bowed deeply to Zhou Ting and said, "You are so flattering, so flattering."

In fact, Gu Zuyu was not a native of Changshu. His father, Gu Rouqian, was originally from Wanshan, Wuxi. His family was very poor, so he married into the Tan family of Changshu. Therefore, Gu Zuyu was born in Changshu.

Although Gu Rouqian was a concubine, he was quite ambitious and had close relations with Huang Yuqi and Huang Chunyao from the same town. Huang Yuqi and Huang Chunyao were patriots who fought against the Qing Dynasty and died in the hands of the Qing army. Rouqian stayed indoors and wrote works such as "Buyunlue", "Liushu Kaoding" and "Shanju Zhuiluan".

Gu Zuyu was determined to travel far away, and Rouqian was very supportive and asked Gu Yanwu to take care of him.

Not many of the diners knew about "Nine Frontiers Illustrated Explanation", and the reaction was sparse. In this era, people were not very knowledgeable, and there were not many people who could read and write. Zhou Tingshen was quite disappointed, and pointed at Gu Yanwu and said: "This gentleman is also surnamed Gu, Kunlun Gu Yanwu, in the first year of Hongguang, he submitted four essays in Yiyou, namely "Military System", "Situation", "Agricultural Merit", and "Money Law", which were very famous at the time.

"In the past few years, Mr. Gu has been traveling around Jiangnan, contacting heroes and working with Chen Zilong, the military official of the Hongguang Dynasty, and Yang Tingshu, the director of the Ministry of War..."

The diners still didn't react. Zhou Tingshen was very embarrassed. He suddenly had an idea and said, "Mr. Gu was a famous scholar of the Fushe Society in his early years. He is a sworn brother of Fang Yizhi, the left assistant general of the current Red Army."

When these words were spoken, everyone in the room was shocked and came over to chat with him.

Liu Sange was already drunk, and came over to toast Gu Yanwu, saying, "Mr. Gu, I just don't understand why Wu Sangui, who had received the emperor's favor for generations and had a powerful army like the Guanning Iron Cavalry under his command, kept his troops to himself and did not save Emperor Chongzhen.

"Although Li Zicheng is a bandit, he is also a Han Chinese after all. Although the Tartars are strong, they are not of our race after all. Wu Sangui would rather shave his head and become a Tartar, and would rather fight a bloody battle with the bandits than to protect the Ming Dynasty. How despicable!"

A drunk person's speech is not logical. Wu Sangui's surrender to the Qing Dynasty cannot be explained in a few words.

Gu Yanwu suddenly realized that the country was in a difficult situation. The court often emphasized the loyalty of frontier officials and the bravery of military commanders, but paid little attention to the people. The gentry talked about morality and principles, but also ignored the people. When slaves and tenants rebelled in Jiangnan, the gentry were helpless and shocked by the chaos.

Although the Red Army was born out of the government army, it was somewhat similar to the bandits and was very good at dealing with the common people. Cen Danchu was even better at stirring up the people, and an article called "The Alarm Bell" was better than many official documents.

"Wu Sangui recognized the enemy as his father and persisted in his mistakes. Although he was rampant in Sichuan for a while, I believe that Wu Sangui will sooner or later follow in Shang Kexi's footsteps. Hong Chengchou will also die like Zhang Cunren, without a burial place."

Gu Yanwu avoided the topic and made everyone excited.

"You are right, sir. The Tartars have appointed several kings of different surnames. Kong Youde, Geng Zhongming, and Shang Kexi have all met their end. The remaining Wu Sangui and Geng Jimao are like grasshoppers in autumn. They won't be able to jump for many more days."

"There is also Shang Zhixin, who is still a young boy and a commander without any troops."

"Last year, Li Erlong, a great general, failed in his attempt to assassinate Zhang Cunren and died heroically. Everyone felt very sorry for him. I always say that those who do evil will eventually perish. Look, Zhang Cunren has received his retribution."

"It has to be you, Brother Liu San. I heard that it was you who found the tomb of Li Dashi."

Brother Liu was full of pride and said, "I don't have the ability to assassinate the Tartars, but I happened to know a Feng Shui master who helped Master Li find a treasure land."

……

Gu Yanwu's expression changed, and he looked at Brother Liu San with new eyes, and advised: "Brother Liu San, I see that you are tall and strong, loyal, brave and righteous, and you are really a good material for joining the army. Why don't you find a future in the Red Army?"

Brother Liu sighed, "It's a pity that I'm already over 30, and I have old and young people at home."

Everyone was filled with regret and said, "What a pity, what a pity. If Brother Liu had not been over the age limit, he would have at least become a general officer in the future if he had joined the Red Army."

"What kind of general commander is this? The Red Army now calls them flag commanders, assistant commanders, and town commanders."

Someone instigated, "Mr. Gu is well-known, so if he can just say hello to General Zuo, wouldn't it be a piece of cake for Brother Liu San to join the army?"

Brother Liu San was not in a position to plead for mercy, but his eyes were full of expectation.

Gu Yanwu had just arrived and was reluctant to ask for favors on behalf of others. However, thinking that Liu Sange was a loyal and righteous man, he generously said, "Let me give it a try and ask Liu Sange to write a name card..."

The old problem of the literati came back. Gu Yanwu quickly changed his words and said to Gu Zuyu: "Jingfan, please record Liu Sange's age, hometown, address..."

(End of this chapter)