Even as his loyal brothers mocked him mercilessly, Zhu Zhongtao, the seventeenth emperor of the Great Ming, had no time to be angry.
Zhu Zhongtao was completely stunned.
His imperial edict, inviting the gentry of the realm and other rebels to jointly attack Zhu Jinsong, had not yet been issued, but the Prefect of Guide Prefecture and the Magistrate of Shangqiu County under his command had already fled. How could he then rally the entire country?
Even if he could get the edict to attack the rebel Zhu out, how many people in the world would respond?
By the time those other rebels finished their discussions and rose up to attack Zhu Jinsong, would it not be time for him, the Great Ming Emperor, to find a tree to hang himself from?
As for relying on his own strength to stop Zhu Jinsong in the Guide Prefecture region, Zhu Zhongchao, the seventeenth emperor of the Great Ming, hadn't even considered it.
Zhu Zhongtao knew very well that even if his loyal brothers were willing to lead troops into battle, they might not be able to stop Zhu Jinsong.
With this thought, Zhu Zhongtao cast his gaze at his old brothers and tentatively said, "How about we all surrender?"
Upon hearing Zhu Zhongtao's suggestion, his loyal brothers immediately thought it was a good idea.
Since they couldn't defeat the army under Zhu Jinsong, they might as well surrender. As long as they could preserve their wealth and status, surrender was not shameful.
However, at the grand court assembly the next day, as soon as Zhu Zhongtao announced his intention to surrender, the entire "Great Ming Court" erupted in chaos.
Although the civil and military officials under Zhu Zhongtao looked down on him somewhat, none of them intended to surrender to Zhu Jinsong. After all, these officials were either representatives recommended by the local gentry or had bought their positions with money. They knew their own situations well. Following Zhu Zhongtao to the end might preserve their wealth and status, but if they surrendered... that was uncertain.
Therefore, for these local gentry who intended to fight Zhu Jinsong to the death, Zhu Zhongtao's surrender plan was nothing short of a bolt from the blue, leaving them utterly shocked.
The Grand Secretary of the Cabinet immediately stepped forward, bowed, and said, "Your Majesty, we are prepared to fight to the death. Why do you seek to surrender first?"
Zhu Zhongtao immediately signaled to his old brothers.
Then, the loyal brother Zhu Zhongtao had enfeêted as the Duke of Protecting the State stepped forward and looked at the Grand Secretary of the Cabinet, saying, "Since Your Excellency the Grand Secretary is unwilling to surrender, why not have Your Excellency lead the troops to quell the rebel Zhu?"
Immediately after, the loyal brother Zhu Zhongtao had enfeêted as the Duke of Suppressing the State stepped forward and said righteously, "Don't think I don't know what you're thinking. Prepared to fight to the death? Aren't you afraid that the rebel Zhu will settle scores with you? But you're foolish. It's a hostile relationship when the rebel Zhu leads his troops against us, so it's normal for him to settle scores with you. But if we surrender, would he still have the nerve to settle scores?"
Then these local gentry felt that the Duke of Suppressing the State was right.
Zhu Jinsong, that top-tier rebel leader, was indeed attacking the Great Ming with his troops, which was a hostile relationship. Therefore, suppressing the gentry and officials was justifiable.
If they, the esteemed officials and local gentry of "Great Ming," under the leadership of Zhu Zhongtao, the seventeenth emperor of the Great Ming, were to surrender directly, would Zhu Jinsong still have the nerve to deal with them village by village as he had before? Would he still dare to hang all the officials in Henan?
Was he not afraid of the criticism of the world?
Therefore, after much argument, the "Cabinet Ministers" and the noble officials of the Five Military Commissions unanimously agreed to send people to discuss surrender matters.
Upon receiving Zhu Zhongtao's letter of surrender, Zhu Jinsong immediately replied, stating that surrender was acceptable, but everything must be done according to the rules set by Zhu Jinsong.
Then, Zhu Zhongtao and his civil and military officials were in a quandary.
What were Zhu Jinsong's rules?
Zhu Jinsong's rules were simple: each village must establish a peasant association, and the land occupied by the gentry must be returned to the people. Those gentry who had oppressed the people in the past must also be subject to public trial.
This meant that Zhu Zhongtao and his civil and military officials would be in trouble whether they surrendered or not.
Since that was the case, why surrender at all!
Then, Zhu Zhongtao's "Great Ming" court became agitated.
Whether they were representatives recommended by the local gentry or Zhu Zhongtao's old brothers, these people, in order to preserve their wealth and status, all declared that they would fight to the death against Zhu Jinsong, the rebel leader.
After all, they had only lost Guide Prefecture. "Our Great Ming" still held several other prefectures. If they fought to the death, not to mention whether they could defeat the rebel leader Zhu Jinsong, they could at least prolong their wealth and status for a while longer.
Then, the "seventeenth emperor of the Great Ming," Zhu Zhongtao, who had vowed to fight Zhu Jinsong to the death in court the previous day, did not appear at the grand court assembly the next day.
Zhu Zhongtao had also fled.
Zhu Zhongtao's reasoning was clear: since he could neither fight nor surrender, it was better to flee in advance. As long as he had money, he could be a master anywhere. Even if he found a place where no one knew him and lived in anonymity, it would be better than fighting to the death with these people.
This certainly caused amusement.
Just as a snake cannot move without a head and a bird cannot fly without wings.
The act of Prefect Zhao Ji of Guide Prefecture and Magistrate Zhao Gou of Shangqiu County fleeing had demoralized the gentry of Guide Prefecture. Zhu Zhongtao, the seventeenth emperor of the Great Ming, fleeing directly had demoralized the entire "Great Ming Court" and the gentry of Henan.
"We are prepared to fight to the death, yet Your Majesty flees first?"
How could this possibly work?
Having completely lost hope, the high-ranking officials in the "Great Ming Court" who could flee, directly fled. As for those who could not flee and the local gentry, they simply chose to give up, adopting an attitude of welcoming the royal army with food and drink.
You, Zhu Jinsong, want to establish peasant associations?
Not only do we not oppose it, but we actively apply to join the peasant association and even sing your praises.
You, Zhu Jinsong, want to divide the land among the commoners?
Not only do we not oppose it, but we are waiting for you to arrive and are proactively distributing the land to the commoners and also distributing some of the money.
You also want to conduct public trials of us?
That's fine too. Since we have already proactively distributed the land to the commoners and given out the money, and have somewhat compensated them for their past grievances, the commoners will at least remember us favorably. This way, our lives and the lives of our families will be saved, won't they?
These local gentry had come to understand: they certainly couldn't win a fight.
Since they couldn't win, they would find a way to join.
These gentry understood very clearly that wealth and land were ultimately external possessions; letting them go was just letting them go.
But don't forget, no matter how great the commotion Zhu Jinsong caused, he was still a rebel leader. His ultimate goal was to become emperor.
Once he became emperor, he would need people to govern the realm for him. Would he still rely on those commoners who were illiterate? He would still need to rely on us educated gentry.
The wealth, land, and grain given up now could be recovered later.
Then, Guide Prefecture, Chen Prefecture, Weihui Prefecture, Xuzhou, and Nanyang Prefecture, Ruzhou, and other territories one by one fell under the rule of Menglianggu.
The time was precisely September of the 158th year of the Great Ming, Chongzhen era, and the 50th year of the Qing Dynasty, Qianlong era. The entire Henan fell into Zhu Jinsong's hands.
This meant that Zhu Jinsong now had sufficient territory to resettle the refugees who had fled from Zhili to Shandong.
It also meant that the local gentry had indeed achieved their objective.
Except for some gentry who had severely oppressed the people and even had blood on their hands, the remaining gentry had managed to preserve their families and their own lives. The remaining wealth and land were enough to ensure their families lived comfortably.
But for Zhu Jinsong, this outcome was not what he desired.
The reason was simple.
If his sole aim was to incorporate the entire Henan into the Menglianggu rebel group, then Zhu Jinsong could have simply sent a detachment to capture Henan Prefecture. If Zhu Zhongtao, the so-called "seventeenth emperor of the Great Ming," had been eliminated, the entire Henan would not necessarily have been conquered without a fight, but it would have been much easier than it was now.
The reason Zhu Jinsong chose to advance step by step was to eliminate these gentry who occupied a large amount of the means of production and leeched off the people. This would not only liberate vast tracts of land and a large amount of productive forces but also strike a blow against traditional clan forces, saving much trouble in the future.
If he were to let these gentry go now simply to quickly capture the entire Henan, it would mean an incomplete liquidation. An incomplete liquidation would inevitably lead to a recurrence of a situation like that in the song of a doctor.
Zhu Jinsong detested such trouble.
But no matter how much Zhu Jinsong detested such trouble, such trouble still appeared.
And even more troublesome matters lay ahead.
The Central Plains region had always valued legitimacy and righteousness.
When Zhu Jinsong raised his army, he did so under the banner of opposing the Qing. When he led his men to attack the Qianlong dog, he also did so under the banner of opposing the Qing. Therefore, Zhu Jinsong was merely the Great Leader of Menglianggu, and everyone else, including the Qianlong dog, referred to Zhu Jinsong as the leader of the Menglianggu rebels.
Now that the Qianlong dog had resorted to a cowardly tactic, recalling all the Banner soldiers to Zhili, and Zhu Jinsong not only held the claim of being the first to rise up against the Qing but also controlled the entire Shandong and Henan, it was somewhat inappropriate to continue using the Menglianggu banner.
What made Zhu Jinsong even more frustrated was that there were now dozens of "Great Ming" courts of various sizes across the land, and some were sending Zhu Jinsong, the legitimate one, a pile of nonsensical enfeoffment edicts.
How utterly outrageous!
This was an insult too great!
Therefore, Zhu Jinsong pondered whether he should teach those people a lesson and perhaps proclaim himself king.
It would definitely not do to be the King of Lu. Looking at the Kings of Lu in history, the reason why the Duke Yansheng's mansion had previously submitted a memorial requesting Zhu Jinsong to proclaim himself King of Lu was partly to gain merit by following the dragon and continue to preserve the Duke Yansheng's mansion's wealth and status, and at the same time, it was to subtly provoke Zhu Jinsong.
Only at that time, Duke Yansheng Kong Xianpei certainly did not expect that Zhu Jinsong, this commoner, would be so aware of these subtleties.
Similarly, the title of King of Qi was not a good one either.
There was also a very important issue: according to the ancient rules of the Central Plains region, the proclamation of kingship or emperorship could not be initiated by Zhu Jinsong, the Great Leader of the Menglianggu rebel group. Someone had to "persuade" him.
The problem was that the Duke Yansheng's mansion, which was most suitable for "persuasion," had already perished, and perished utterly.