Southern Ming Rebel Army

The next morning, Yang En gave the information to Gao Yi early, and asked Gao Yi to go back and give the information to Meng Jun, and he went to Zhang's house to take a look. Yang En walked slowly to the gate of Zhang's house, straightened his clothes, took out the visiting card, handed it to the doorman and said, "Student Yang En wants to see your master for something." The doorman took the visiting card, looked at Yang En and said, "Please wait a moment."

Yang En stood at the door and waited leisurely. After a while, the doorman came to invite Yang En in. Zhang Zhe was sitting on the armchair drinking tea at this time. When he saw Yang En coming in, he exclaimed, "Well, you are gentle and elegant, and you look handsome. Please sit down and serve tea." A handsome guy always makes people feel good at first sight. When Yang En heard Zhang Zhe's words, he bowed and said politely, "Thank you, sir." Yang En saw that Zhang Zhe had not shaved his head and was still wearing a Confucian cap on his head, and he was sure in his heart.

Zhang Zhuo saw Yang En sitting down and asked, "Mu De, we have never met before. I wonder what important matter has brought you to my house today?" Yang En smiled and said, "I have always heard that the Zhang family is a famous family in Suzhou. I have some questions and would like to ask you to explain them."

"Oh, please go ahead, Mude," Zhang said without comment as he picked up the tea.

"Now, the imperial court in Beijing has issued an order to change the customs and habits, shave the hair and keep the braid. I wonder what your opinion is," Yang En probed, "How can a commoner like me know about the affairs of the imperial court?" It is a taboo to talk about deep things with a stranger, so Zhang Zhe would not casually reveal it to outsiders. The two chatted for a while, and Yang En saw that Zhang Zhe was gradually showing impatience. After thinking for a moment, he said, "I wonder if you have heard about the incident in Lizhuang Meng Jun who killed 100 Eight Banners soldiers in the village a few days ago?"

Zhang said calmly, "They are just a few bandits. The Eight Banners have hundreds of thousands of troops, but only a few hundred people were killed. It's not worth mentioning."

Yang En was a little angry when he heard this, thinking that there was no point in talking, so he was ready to say goodbye. He stood up and bowed to Zhang Zhuo, saying, "I have understood your intention, and I will take my leave first." Without waiting for Zhang Zhuo to say anything, Yang En turned around and prepared to leave. As he was leaving, he suddenly turned back and asked, "Since you are so confident in the Qing court, why don't you shave your hair to follow the court's elegant policies and keep your hair here for now?"

Zhang Zhuo was stunned when he heard this, and suddenly he seemed to think of something and said, "You are Meng Jun's man, right?" Yang En was startled but quickly calmed down and said, "I am Han Chinese." Zhang Zhuo stared at Yang En's face, but couldn't see anything from his face, and then said, "Mu De, please be patient, let's go to the study to talk in detail."

The walls of Zhang's study were lined with books, some of which were even rare works. Yang En looked at the books on the wall with envy. Having endless books to read was the life he had always dreamed of.

"Let's get straight to the point. You are Meng Jun from Lizhuang, right? What do you want to do by coming to see me?" Zhang asked Yang En directly.

Yang En looked at Zhang Zhuo and didn't answer. He just said, "It doesn't matter who I am now. What matters is what Mr. Zhang wants to do? Are you going to call the police to arrest me? I have already put my life and death aside." Zhang Zhuo asked seriously, "I want to know what you are going to do? Arresting you will not benefit me in any way."

"Your Excellency knows that I am a traitor but he did not arrest me. The Qing court ordered that anyone who did not shave his hair would be executed, but the entire Zhang family refused to shave their hair and still have sideburns. I would like to ask your Excellency what your intention is?"

Zhang Zhuo sighed and said, "Alas, to be honest, the hair-shaving order is becoming more and more strict, and my Zhang family will soon be unable to hold on. If we continue to hold on, I am afraid that my family will suffer unspeakable things. But if they really shave their heads and change their clothes, I will really be unwilling to do so."

"In this case, the knife is already on your neck, why doesn't Zhang fight back?"

"How to fight back? There are many people in my clan who are well-versed in literature and classics, and the Zhang family can be said to be rich in money and food, but in this chaotic world, the knife handle is the hard truth." Zhang said with a slightly tired look

"Since you have such intention, I, Yang En, will tell you the truth. I am General Meng's man. We already have someone controlling the city gate. Now we just lack people in the city to support us. I want the Zhang family to cooperate with us to take Suzhou." Yang En whispered the purpose of this trip. Although his voice was small, it sounded like thunder in Zhang's ears. "General Meng, you are brave and courageous, and you have a good way of managing the army. You have broken the Eight Banners with the strength of the local soldiers. People have joined the army in an endless stream. Now we have 8,000 soldiers and more than 1,000 soldiers. The money, food and supplies for military needs can be used for half a year. The people in Suzhou are panicking, and there are countless people who have the intention to rebel. As for the civilian camp, I think Zhang knows that the result of using a panicked city to fight against a group of elite soldiers and armored soldiers is self-evident." Yang En started the lobbying mode without any teacher...

After a long while, he opened his mouth and said, "How do you want me to cooperate?"

...............After a detailed discussion, it was found that the Zhang family had 200 confidants, with complete weapons except for ten sets of armor. Although there were only 200 people, the Zhang family was the local boss in Suzhou and was familiar with the place. Most of the officers in the Green Camp had some connections with them. Finally, Yang En warned Zhang Zhuo not to make this public and not to contact other families. At this critical moment, no one could be trusted unconditionally. Before leaving, Yang En said to Zhang Zhuo, "If a minister is not discreet, he will lose his body. If a king is not discreet, he will lose his country. Please remember this. Goodbye, I have other important things to do. Please stay." After that, he left.

Yang En wanted to go to his cousin Yang Gang's house immediately to persuade him to turn against the dynasty. Now he had used his eloquence to convince the Zhang family to join him, and used the fact that the Zhang family, a prominent family in Suzhou, had already defected to Meng Jun as a bargaining chip to persuade Yang Gang again. Yang En felt 70% confident.

At this moment, Zhang Zhe was still sitting in the study, unable to calm down for a long time. After a while, Zhang Zhe opened the door and said to a servant passing by, "Go tell the eldest and second sons to come to the study." Half an hour later, the second son of Zhang Zhe's family, along with the women and children, began to leave Suzhou in batches and went to Zhangjiawu Fort in the countryside to seek refuge, while they made the excuse of returning to their hometown to worship their ancestors.

In the afternoon at the Yang family mansion, Yang Can felt his heart was extremely cold in the hot summer. His nephews and wives at home all persuaded him to do this beheading. Yang En even said that he was Meng Jun's confidant. Meng Jun must be a thorn in the eyes of the Qing court for killing so many Eight Banners soldiers. Yang En was Meng Jun's confidant, which was about the same level. If Yang En rebelled, he would definitely be executed. He was Yang En's uncle. If he didn't follow him, if he stayed in the Green Camp and was discovered, he would not be able to be a captain, and even if he was Xue Shoubei's confidant, he would be beheaded. Finally, Yang Can was forced to agree reluctantly.

After Yang En and Yang Gang agreed on the approximate time for opening the city gates, he rushed back to the Zhang family and confirmed everything with both sides. He then warned them that he would go into Suzhou city again before the army arrived.

After everything was settled, Yang En suddenly burst into tears. He really did it. During this process, Yang En had been under too much pressure. Yang En wanted to vent, but it was not the right time. He needed to return to Lizhuang as soon as possible to tell Meng Jun. And this result was far beyond Meng Jun's expectations.....................