Therefore, just thinking about the powerful military force held by these gentry made Emperor Zhu feel somewhat apprehensive.
"Excellent, excellent! Now that the Manchus and Han are divided, this Tacha is acting against the tide of history. As long as we defeat the remaining troops of the imperial court head-on, taking Guangzhou will be a matter of days," Zhu Jishi said happily.
In this world, let alone myself, even if Mao Zedong were alive, try asking him to fight against the local tyrants. He probably wouldn't even be able to defeat a few before his regime was destroyed by those reckless tyrants using guerrilla warfare.
The thought of a large group of innate masters fighting him to the death made Emperor Zhu decide that he should treat the gentry well. At least, before unifying the country, he must treat the gentry well.
Therefore, Emperor Zhu made a decision.
"Yes, there are far too few officials in the country right now. In my opinion, the number should be at least ten times that. The entire Qing Dynasty only has a little over 20,000 officials. What can such a small number accomplish?"
If that's ten times the number, that's over two hundred thousand officials. Has Emperor Zhu gone mad? Thinking this, Zuo Zongtang looked up at Zhu Jishi with great curiosity.
"I have no respect for those high-ranking officials of the pseudo-Qing dynasty. They are all incompetent and corrupt, and know nothing. In the future, the officials of my Great Ming Dynasty must not be like that."
"Therefore, in order to improve their abilities, they were started directly from the ranks of clerks. In this way, they would not be deceived by the lower-ranking officials. Thus, all clerks were promoted to officials."
"All scholars with the title of Xiucai can come here to become officials. Moreover, they must become officials. Of course, they must be ninth-rank officials. In this way, after three to five years without any major mistakes, they can continue to take the imperial examinations and become Juren."
"After passing the provincial examination and becoming a Juren, one must serve as an official again. This time, one will be an eighth-rank official. After three to five years, if one has a good reputation and makes no mistakes, one can take the imperial examination again. Those who pass the imperial examination will be given a seventh-rank official position," Zhu Jishi said with a smile.
In doing so, he wondered how many gentry he could win over. In any case, Zhu Jishi felt that if the Qing court had been willing to do the same, he certainly wouldn't have been able to take Guangzhou now.
Just imagine the scene of tens of thousands of scholars (all of whom were highly skilled in martial arts) spontaneously heading to Guangzhou to join the army and stop him—it's like a nightmare!
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Chapter 50: Rebellion is Justified
tap tap tap
A series of neat and powerful footsteps echoed from one direction to the other. Following the sound, one could see hundreds of young men.
Before these young people stood a banner symbolizing the Ming Dynasty, with the sun and moon shining together. It was obvious that this was the army of that overseas emperor.
After all, no one who lives and grows up in Guangzhou is unaware of the Hongmen. Almost everyone grew up hearing the slogans: "Colorful flags fluttering, heroes recruited, overseas emperors, to restore the Ming Dynasty."
In the past, people just thought it was a slogan. But today, no one dares to think that way anymore.
In particular, the sheer awe-inspiring sight of these hundreds of outstanding young men, lined up in uniform and moving in unison, is breathtaking.
Especially their clothes, which were exactly the same. When they raised their hands and feet, the hundreds of people moved in perfect unison, creating a truly powerful visual impact.
Along the streets, countless curious onlookers were peeking through cracks in their doors, secretly observing this scene.
Among these people were spies from the imperial court and spies from other feudal lords. But the majority were local villagers from Guangzhou.
"Colorful flags flutter, heroes are summoned. The overseas emperor has come to restore the Ming Dynasty. They are truly elite troops, many times stronger than the Green Standard Army! Truly a fine army!"
Whether it's the local Green Standard Army in Guangzhou, or the officers and soldiers of the various banners, or even the cavalry of the Plain Red Banner, none of them can compare to these young men. Just their spirit alone is different; they're not even in the same league.
"I wonder how many troops this overseas emperor has? This battalion is elite enough, but the number is still too small! If there were three thousand of these elite troops, they could probably defend themselves. Five thousand would definitely be enough to defeat the court and occupy Guangzhou. If there were ten thousand..." An elderly man muttered to himself.
There were many others who shared his idea. For example, the local gentry of Guangzhou. After all, the gentry were also masters of the art of groveling when they couldn't win a fight.
If Emperor Zhu is certain he can defeat the Qing army, then they wouldn't mind helping him in advance.
Soon, the entire battalion of 480 strong young men disappeared from everyone's sight.
"This is the second battalion, hmm, they look quite elite. That means we have over a thousand elite soldiers. With over a thousand elite soldiers, at least we won't suffer a crushing defeat!"
"Huh, this third battalion is still so elite! It seems that the legend of the overseas emperor might actually come true."
"The fourth battalion..."
...
"The 40th battalion, wow, there are a full forty battalions of infantry alone. There are nearly 20,000 combat soldiers alone. And they are all so elite. My Great Qing is doomed! At the very least, Guangzhou is definitely not going to be saved. No, I have to talk to my master right away."
Next came the cavalry. These warhorses were fine horses purchased by Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang (the Qing emperor) through his trading company, Jishi Foreign Firm, from Europe and Arabia. They appeared to be at least one horse taller than the Mongolian horses used by the Qing army.
"Wow, these horses are so tall and magnificent! Every single one of them is a thoroughbred. Where did you get so many thoroughbreds, my lord?"
"It's a pity that there aren't many, only two thousand cavalry, but it's enough for now."
Next came a line of dark, imposing cannons. These cannons, though they didn't look particularly imposing, were, in the eyes of those in the know, the real weapons of mass destruction.
Seeing this scene, everyone had to admit that this overseas emperor had truly become a force to be reckoned with. And the Ming Dynasty had truly returned.
With so many elite troops at his disposal, unless the imperial court immediately mobilizes all the troops in the country to suppress him, it will certainly allow Zhu Jishi to grow stronger.
"What audacity! This traitor Zhu actually dares to occupy Kowloon and attack Guangzhou, what is he doing..."
Tachar initially wanted to say that this man was plotting a rebellion. But then he thought, "He is indeed rebelling! This land originally belonged to the Zhu family. Now that their descendants are capable, they naturally want to take it back."
This was perfectly justified; no one would even think he shouldn't rebel. As a descendant of the Ming dynasty, someone with the ability to do so, rebelling against the Qing dynasty would only be seen as justifiable.
"We must attack! We must attack! We must have a good fight with Zhu Ni!" Tacha said excitedly.
Upon hearing this, Sai Shang'a frowned. Fighting a war—it's easy to say, but can they really win? Seven or eight thousand able-bodied men on Baiyun Mountain have been fighting for so long.
But what about now? The opponent is Zhu Ni's carefully trained elite troops, which are definitely stronger than the rebels on Baiyun Mountain. Moreover, their numbers exceed 20,000. In any case, Sai Shang'a feels that if they were to fight, they probably wouldn't win.
"What if we lose?" Saishanga asked directly. Now was no time to hold back; he had to speak his mind.
“Even if we lose, it’s better than fleeing without a fight. If we flee without a fight, what dignity will the court have left? Will tens of thousands of troops be forced to retreat by a rebel and dare not fight?” Tacha retorted excitedly.
Then, looking at Sai Shang'a, Tacha sighed and said, "To be honest, I'm not very confident about this battle either, but we have no choice but to fight. This is the first direct battle between the court and the Zhu traitor. Even if we lose, we can't just run away."
Upon hearing this, Sai Shang'a fell silent. What was happening to the world? So many ambitious people had suddenly appeared, each one a master of magic (actually, they were just cheat codes, but in his eyes, they were magic or sorcery), incredibly powerful.