Zhao Tong sat on the chair and looked at the noble leaders in front of him with an indifferent expression.
It was the families of these people who controlled most of the land and wealth in Jiangnan, and also controlled many interests and powers of the Song Dynasty.
In the south of the Yangtze River, these people are the real masters. They are as domineering and vicious as Zhu Meng, but they dare not offend them. Zhu Meng's so-called small court in the southeast is just a drop in the water, scattered as it goes, without roots or foundation.
And the intertwining of these people's interactions, the climbing of families, and the passing down from generation to generation is another imperial court in the south of the Yangtze River that is truly independent beyond the imperial dynasty.
Several reforms in the Song Dynasty, including the salt-tea reform, were difficult to implement in Jiangnan. Taxes were difficult to obtain and the process was difficult.
These nobles, with Jiangnan as the center, the world as a burden, the imperial court as a vassal, arrogance as the supreme, and their intention to pastor all surnames.
These nobles used poetry and books as weapons, fish and rice as shields, and took advantage of the geographical advantage to support far more scholars than elsewhere. They entered the dynasty as officials and stole the power of the dynasty.
Up and down the court, officials from the Jiangnan gentry spread all over the country, even to the south of the Yangtze River and even the southeast. Laws and regulations were blocked and laws and taxes were difficult to enforce.
The land of these nobles was tax-free or tax-reduced, but they still remained stubborn and joined forces to fight against the imperial court. Even taxes on ships, bridges, customs, tea, wine, salt, etc. were all blocked.
Throughout the Song Dynasty, the land annexation in Jiangnan was the most serious, and the land tax in the Song Dynasty mainly collected self-cultivated land and semi-self-cultivated land. When all these lands fell into the hands of the gentry, Jiangnan did not even have this tax revenue.
The people were displaced and all became tenant farmers and tenant servants. Being able to have enough food all year round was a good situation. The common people had no life and were allowed to live on their own.
The imperial court could not collect taxes, but it still had to buy rice and grain from the Jiangnan nobles to deal with the plight of the northwest border. As time went by, a large amount of gold and silver came into the hands of these nobles.
However, these nobles said that we would support the people with our own strength, and their faces of regarding the world and the imperial court as a burden could be seen clearly.
Even the later Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties were all trapped here. All kinds of reforms that were necessary in the middle of the dynasty were all stuck in Jiangnan, and finally came to nothing.
Even the emperor fell into the water, was poisoned, or died mysteriously, the reform was interrupted, the counterattack was calculated, and the people died and the government ceased.
Zhao Tong knew that these people could not be changed. The greed and bloodthirsty in their bones had long been fixed, and there was nothing they dared not do.
The Guanlong Group back then was stupid to be able to come up with new spokesmen to reshape the world.
These Jiangnan nobles dared to replace the emperor directly.
This stubborn disease cannot be cured, and there is nothing that can be done about it. It is a disease of the dead, maggots attached to the bones, and a problem for the intimate.
Can only kill! Kill them with corpses everywhere, and kill them with blood everywhere!
Even if you don't kill them all, they will come back again, but there is no other way but to kill, kill first and then talk!
Zhao Tong looked at the leaders of the noble clans in front and smiled slightly: "I have long wanted to meet you all when I came to Jiangning, but it was only because of my busy military affairs that I couldn't do it for a long time. I just finished setting up the city defense today, and I heard Yan Zhao say that you have something to ask for, so it's just right Once we meet, you can speak freely as long as you don’t damage the military plane.”
Everyone in the front looked at each other after hearing this. Except for those who had served as court officials in Tokyo, the others were not familiar with Zhao Tong, but seeing his kind words at this moment, they all felt relieved.
They just wanted to leave Jiangning. It was not about sabotaging military aircraft. It was just a matter of opening and closing the city gate. They felt that as long as they said it, Zhao Tao would definitely agree.
The crowd was dominated by Wang Congying. At this moment, he squeezed out a smile and was about to speak when Zhao Tong suddenly picked up the post on the table and said: "When I was in Tokyo, I heard about your reputation. You are in Jiangnan. He takes care of local affairs, maintains local peace, and cultivates talents in the Song Dynasty. He always thinks of the court. I have long wanted to get to know him, but unfortunately I have never had the chance. Although there are all the names on this post, I can only recognize him. It’s just two or three people, you’d better meet them for yourselves so that I can compare them.”
Originally, according to etiquette, they had to introduce themselves after entering. Unfortunately, there were too many people. Zhao Tong just waved his hand for everyone to sit down first, so he didn't have time to introduce himself.
But at this moment, Zhao Tong brought it up again. Naturally, they had to do it. They stood up one by one and introduced their families. In fact, this was quite simple. They just mentioned their surname, origin and place of origin. Those who had been officials mentioned their previous official positions. Those who had officials in their families Probably report your rank.
The representatives of the noble clans below stood up and spoke one after another. It took about half an hour for them all to finish their narrations. Zhao Tong nodded, knowing what he was talking about, and then his eyes fell on an old man.
This old man was born with a pampered and wealthy appearance, but at the moment he was quite sad and depressed.
The old man just saw that he was Zhu Que of Shezhou. Generations of his ancestors had official positions. In his grandfather's generation, he even became a minister. However, after he took charge of the clan, it became somewhat weak. Only one of his nephews served as a county magistrate in Fujian.
Although the situation in the Zhu family may sound inferior to others, Zhao Tong's eyes lit up and he looked at him and said, "But Zhu Banzhou in person?"
After hearing this, Zhu Que stood up again, smiled bitterly and said, "I am really flattered that the prince knows this title. But now that Fang La's thieves have risen, burning, killing and looting, I can no longer afford this title."
A smile appeared on the corner of Zhao Tong's mouth. This Zhu was indeed no ordinary person. Although this person did not have as much land as the others present, his various businesses spread all over the two Zhejiang provinces, and even extended to the two Huaihe Rivers. He had countless gold and silver money, even if Some of the families that have had prime ministers don't have as much money as him, so they have the title of Zhu Banzhou.
Of course, for nobles like them, even if they have commercial properties, they are not registered as merchants, but are registered as nobles.
In the early days of the Song Dynasty, imperial examinations for merchants were not allowed, and even ordinary common landowners could not refer to it. However, this rule was later abolished after the conquest of the south.
This Zhu indeed suffered heavy losses during the Fang La Rebellion. He had little land and many shops, and the land could not be moved away in Fang La. However, those shops were emptied by the rebels and then set on fire. Therefore, the losses were greater than those of other families. It was said that it was property. It’s not an exaggeration to remove 95% to 60%.
However, there is currently only one disciple in his family who is serving as magistrate in Luzhenghe County, Fujian Province. With no more official candidates, the family is in a state of collapse.
Zhao Tong is staring at Zhu Que now, not only because he has the title of Zhu Banzhou, but also because this man has a daughter named Wuniang.
This Zhu Wuniang was a well-known talented woman. Although she was not known for her poetry, she was accustomed to writing four or six parallel poems. She was very talented in literature and well-read. It would be an exaggeration to say that she was rich in knowledge.
Zhu Wuniang later married a man, who was currently serving as the captain of Zhenghe County in Fujian Province. He was the subordinate of Zhu Wuniang's Cong brother who was appointed magistrate of the county.
This man was born in Tongshangshe, Taixue, and was a Jinshi in the first year of Zhonghe. Later, he served as a minister of the Ministry of Personnel, was presented to the Tongyi doctor, and was granted the title of Duke of Guangdong.
This man was influenced by the Ercheng theory in his early years and was considered a well-known Neo-Confucianist in the late Northern Song Dynasty. He had good relations with Hu Xian, Liu Mianzhi, Liu Ziyu and others.
This man later went to Quanzhou to serve as an official and taught "Lectures on Neo-Confucianism" to the scholars. Someone built him an "Aotou Jingshe" as a place for his lectures. He was the first person to teach Neo-Confucianism in Quanzhou and had the reputation of " The title of "the founder of Fujian learning".
This person's name is Zhu Song.
Zhao Tao praised Zhu Song's character very much. During the Southern Song Dynasty, Qin Hui negotiated peace with Jin Dynasty, but Zhu Song strongly opposed it. He talked a lot about it and was very strong-willed.
But it is a pity that Zhu Song died young and died in his forties. He and Zhu Wuniang had three sons and one daughter. The eldest son and the second son both died in infancy. Only the youngest son grew up under Zhu's arduous support.
Zhu Song, the youngest son, inherited the talents of his parents and was very talented in scholarship. He was the one who carried forward Neo-Confucianism to the extreme.
But it is a pity that because Zhu Song died young, the younger son did not receive his moral teachings. He talked about loyalty, filial piety and justice, but did many things that violated etiquette and integrity.
She seduced a nun to be a concubine, and even had her daughter-in-law pick up her ashes and even got pregnant. She didn’t know that in this little son’s theory, the so-called preservation of heavenly principles and destruction of human desires meant that whose heavenly principles were preserved and whose human desires were destroyed!
This matter is recorded in the "History of the Song Dynasty" and is supported by the "History of the Jin Dynasty", because at that time the Jin Kingdom sent an envoy Wanyan Chongdao to congratulate Zhengdan. Wanyan Chongdao witnessed with his own eyes that he was "disrespectful to the king", "disloyal to the country" and "disloyal to the country". He was impeached for ten major crimes, including "insulting the imperial court", "harming religious customs", and "privately benefiting old people's property". After Wanyan Chongdao returned to the Jin Kingdom, he recorded it and kept it in the Ministry of Rites.
At that time, the younger son admitted to taking the nun as a concubine, working as an official and showing off the nun as a concubine, and also admitted to taking bribes. So he cried bitterly, wrote essays, and repented. One moment he said that he was wrong, and the other He also said that he had some original feelings, was confused and forgot, and went back and forth, turning things upside down again and again.
Although he has great talents, his own moral character is difficult to scrutinize.
Later, there was the Yan Rui case. In order to attack his political opponents, this younger son used extremely despicable methods and deeds. With such a moral character, he was actually called a role model for others.
Zhao Tong himself did not like Ercheng or Neo-Confucianism. When he saw Zhu Que present, he thought that this man was Zhu Banzhou, who claimed to have a family in Banzhou, and was the grandfather of his younger son.
He thought that according to Zhu Song's character, if he lived a few more years and gave his young son moral education, he might not be so miserable in the end. Then Zhu Wuniang was a woman after all, raising her son alone, and there were some things that it was impossible to educate so Comprehensive, even if she is a talented woman, how many Mencius mothers are there in the world?
Zhao Yan looked at Zhu Que, tapped his fingers on the table, and said, "I have heard that Zhu Banzhou has a daughter named Wuniang, who is known as the most talented girl in Shezhou. Have you ever brought her to Jiangning?"
Zhu Que didn't know what he meant when he heard this. He had two sons and one daughter. He regarded her as the apple of his eye. He took Jiang Ning with him to avoid disaster.
"My lord, you are so complimentary. My little girl has only been studying for a few days. She cannot be called a talented woman. She is only praised by the state and cannot be taken seriously."
Zhao Tong nodded, just come. Just come!
He smiled and said nothing, turned to look at Wang Congying: "Let's get down to business."
Wang Congying was already impatient. Hearing this, he hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, in fact, it's not a big deal for us. We just heard that Fang La's bandit army was heading north and were afraid of attacking Jiangning, so we wanted to avoid it temporarily. But seeing that Your Majesty had already closed the city gate, we wanted to Just an order, please allow me to wait out."
Zhao Tong was not upset after hearing this. He looked at everyone and said, "Don't you all believe that I can defend Jiangning?"
"Don't dare, don't dare."
"Your Majesty, that's not what we meant."
"I just want to stay somewhere else for a while."
"With the prince here, what's the point of a mere bandit army?"
After hearing Zhao Tong's words, naturally no one dared to say that he couldn't hold on, and everyone responded with a smile.
Zhao Tong smiled and said: "Actually, it is not difficult to open the city and let everyone leave..."
Everyone felt relieved when they heard this, thinking to themselves that it was the case, and the rebel army didn't come, so why did you close the city gates? Are you more timid and scared than me? Then don't pretend to be loyal to the King, just leave together!
"However, just when I was going down to the city, I received an urgent report from the front!" Zhao Tong reached out and took out a battle report from his arms, shook it and continued: "Not all the bandits attacked Xuanzhou, but A small group of troops surrounded that side, and hundreds of thousands of troops came straight to Jiangning. When I received the battle report, I was already less than a hundred miles away from Jiangning!"
As soon as he said this, the expressions of everyone in front immediately changed. Many of them were stunned on the spot. They did not expect that the rebel army was so eager to attack Jiangning. Xuanzhou was not yet captured, so they sent the main force directly to rush here.
"According to the time, I am afraid that we are only thirty or fifty miles away from Jiangning, or we have already arrived. We are spying on the military situation in Jiangning and preparing to surround the city!" Zhao Tao said calmly: "Jiangning is guarding the natural dangers of the Yangtze River, and the bandit army is so anxious that they fall. It’s also normal.”
"But, Your Majesty..." Not everyone believed what Zhao Tong said. After all, Jiangning was closed at the moment and they could not receive messages from outside. Zhao Tong could not say whatever he wanted.
The man asked Ai: "According to what the prince said, it is possible that the rebel army has not arrived?"
Zhao Tong looked at this man, who was from the Xu family, a wealthy family in Hangzhou. He nodded: "It may still be dozens of miles away, or it may have already arrived. We are spying in all directions. I am not sure. After all, the spies sent out cannot be sent out all the time." Come back and report."
The man said: "If you haven't arrived yet, wouldn't we just take the opportunity to leave?"
Zhao Tong was noncommittal: "Maybe...or maybe you will encounter a bandit army not far from the city."
As soon as he said this, the people below fell silent. It was really hard to say this kind of thing, and no one could guarantee that the rebel army had not arrived.
Zhao Tong raised the battle report in his hand and said: "Logically speaking, if you want to leave, I can't stop you, but you are all Jiangnan gentry. If something happens, the court will suffer huge losses, so I still want to give you some advice." .”
Everyone lowered their heads to discuss, and after a while someone spoke again: "Your Majesty, what if we insist on leaving?"
Zhao Tong smiled and said: "If you insist on leaving, how can you stop me? But I think you all should think carefully. Even if you leave, don't leave together. Otherwise, the thief army has really arrived. If you go out at the same time, wouldn't it mean that the thief army will all be gone?" Take it away?"
Another person said: "Tonight, it is difficult for the bandits to move at night. If they don't arrive, then at least they will be safe tonight."
Zhao Tong said: "So I am thinking that if you really want to leave, you might as well go out to test a few people first. If there is no problem, then leave together. If..."
He kept silent when he said this, and everyone understood what he meant. If something happened to the one who left first, then no one in the city would go out again. If they went out, they would be delivering food to the bandit army.
They knew very well that it was impossible for Zhao Tong to send someone to explore the way for them. Being able to open the city gate would be a huge honor. If the rebel army really arrived, then opening the city gate would be very dangerous. Who knows if someone would Sneak into the city while it's dark.
However, it is a question of who will go out of the city first to test. After all, this matter is still risky. Thinking of this, these noble leaders couldn't help but look at each other.
(End of chapter)
