In March of the second year of Guangde, the city of Taicang was like a pot of boiling water, rolling and suffering.
Daqi and the former Ming Dynasty, the central and local governments, northerners and southerners... all kinds of contradictions are intertwined and entangled in this southeastern metropolis.
In mid-March, as Zhang Yunxiu vigorously pushed forward the new policy of clearing the parents-in-law, the core interests of Taicang's wealthy families were seriously threatened, and the situation became increasingly turbulent. Various overt and covert retaliatory actions against the new law and inspections were emerging one after another.
The fundamental contradiction between Daqi polarism and pre-Ming slavery was finally completely ignited in the hinterland of Jiangnan in the spring of the second year of Guangde.
Starting from February 11th, the land clearance of the father-in-law's land in Taicang, led by Zhang Yunxiu, achieved an initial victory by March 20th.
This group of desperate Daqi officials fought for more than 40 days to clear away more than 1,400 hectares of land (1 hectare, 120 acres) in Taicang (and surrounding counties), and recovered land taxes, commercial taxes, and banknote duties converted into silver Six hundred and thirty-five thousand taels, a total of 302 households were punished for hiding their property and evading taxes, and countless pieces of cloth, silk, and food were obtained from the raids.
Judging from the income from clearing land and recovering tax arrears, all we caught were small fish and shrimps.
The real big fish has not been caught yet.
For example, the Wang family in Taicang, the three major families, and the gentlemen from the Weaving Bureau and Chaoguan...
If all these rats were cleared away, the land tax money earned would be more than ten times the amount above.
Zhang Yunxiu paid a heavy price just to deal with these little shrimps.
Among the one hundred and twenty inspectors, sixteen were killed.
in:
Five people were assassinated in the street by assassins. The murderers were either crazy or insane, or had committed suicide before being arrested.
The three people disappeared. Many years later, in the backyard of Taicang Prefecture School, a group of craftsmen renovating the garden dug up their bodies.
The four people rushed to Wuxian County to handle the case. They stayed at the guild hall that night and were burned to death. Wuxian County’s statement to Zhang Jinglue was: “Whale oil leaked that night, the fire spread, and rescue was impossible.”
Four other inspectors were drowned in the water.
On the way back to Taicang from Jiading County, the four people took a awning boat and sailed to the middle of the Loujiang River. The bilge suddenly leaked. In a moment, the people on the boat, the boatman, and the Jiading farmland album that had just been cleared were all buried in the belly of the fish. ···
As for the number of inspectors who were beaten, beaten and injured on the way to clean their parents-in-law, there were countless more.
In addition, memorials to impeach Zhang Yunxiu were sent to the Forbidden City in Nanjing at an average rate of 125.5 copies per day, as if rice paper from Jiangnan was cheap.
The contents of the memorials are all the same, and they are all threatening and putting pressure on the little emperor:
If the traitor Zhang Yunxiu and others are allowed to continue to harm Taicang. Taicang will become the next Suzhou.
The Suzhou riots that lasted for several days caused losses of more than one million taels. A large number of looms were burned and large tea gardens were destroyed.
As for the losses caused by the mob's looting, burning and killing, they are astronomical...
To paraphrase the words of the righteous Yan Weipei in "The Tombstones of the Seven", "I would rather destroy the tea leaves, treasures and silk than hand them over to traitors. Don't let the people in the north think that I have no one in the south of the Yangtze River!"
The local gangsters in Taicang were sure that the young emperor of Qi could not bear the huge losses like Suzhou, so they used this threat to control the court.
The reason why he is so crazy is not complicated at all.
Although Zhang Yunxiu's campaign to clear out the father-in-law was not as thorough as the "Qi Dynasty Land Acquisition System", it still hit the local tyrants and evil gentry accurately and cut off the lifeblood of these powerful men.
The four major families in Taicang, together with the men at Chaoguan of the Weaving Bureau, were polite on the surface, but secretly wanted to eat Zhang Yunxiu's flesh and sleep on his skin. It is said that Wang Heng offered a reward of 5,000 taels of silver and offered a reward for Zhang Yunxiu's head.
Zhang Juzheng's youngest son knew very well that in this magical land, there were at least a million ways to die waiting for him every day.
However, he and his father Zhang Juzheng both have the same temperament. As long as they follow the right path, they will only end up in the dark.
When Zhang Juzheng was in love with her, Wang Xijue, a bachelor of the Hanlin Academy, led dozens of people from Hanlin to Zongbo and below to break into Zhang's house to ask for an audience.
Zhang Juzheng wore sackcloth and filial piety and refused to see guests.
Wang Xijue broke into Zhang's house to mourn Ci, and begged face to face to let the censor who had been convicted Ying Yan be spared.
Zhang Juzheng said: "The emperor is angry and wants to fight against them. I am powerless."
Wang Xijue said: "Even if the Holy One is angry, the Emperor is angry because of you."
Zhang Juzheng, who was already a highly respected minister, suddenly knelt down, took off his sword, handed it to Wang Xijue, and shouted:
"The emperor wants to keep me, but you want to drive me out. The new government needs me, but the court officials won't tolerate me. Where should I go? Come on! Come on! Come on! I'll give you a knife, and you can chop me off! That's it!"
Wang Xijue had never seen this formation before, so he was so frightened that he ran away.
~~~~~
"In the early years of Wanli, my father fought with Wang Jingshi (Wang Xijue) in order to implement the new law. Now, in order to implement the new policy, I have a fight with Wang Jingshi's son. It's nothing more than this! It's just a dispute between my father and Wang Xijue. It's harmless. Today, Wang Heng and I will either die or I will die..."
"Zhang Jinglue, when Zhang Shoufu strictly implemented the new law, the Wanli Zhongxing came to be. Jinglue will be the same as your father, and he will bring peace to our great Qi forever!"
On March 16, Taicang Prefecture visited the Yamen.
"Thank you for your kind words."
Zhang Yunxiu, a Suzhou-Hangzhou economic strategist, and Dai Li, a lecturer at the University Hall, walked toward the door of the Yamen together.
Li Zicheng led his guards to watch the surroundings vigilantly, guarding against possible assassinations at any time. The wall of the Imperial Palace behind them had been temporarily heightened and reinforced, and there were still rubbles left by the construction on the ground.
There was a thin willow coffin parked at the gate. This coffin, which could not have been more simple, was not spared in this game of life and death.
The originally dark coffin board was splashed with red paint, like blooming blood flowers, which looked out of place in the inky blackness.
Obviously, these plum blossoms were not made by the craftsmen of the coffin shop.
"If I can't defeat him, I will eventually die in Taicang. I will also be bloodied five steps away, and the blood will be sprinkled on the gate of his Wang family! Let Wang Xijue see what kind of beasts he has taught the unscrupulous descendants!"
Dai Li looked at Zhang Yunxiu respectfully.
As Zhang Jinglue spoke, he stretched his hand toward the thin, mottled coffin, toward his destination.
Li Zicheng, who was patrolling, suddenly turned around. When he saw this scene, he hurriedly shouted: "Sir, no! Be careful, the paint is poisonous."
Dai Li, who was young and strong, quickly pulled Zhang Jinglue over.
"The New Deal has not yet been completed, and if anything unexpected happens to the plan, I will be ashamed of the Emperor!"
Zhang Yunxiu shook his head helplessly, looked at Li Zicheng, and asked, "General Li, have you discovered anything recently?"
Li Zicheng's sharp eyes like a falcon fell on a few sneaky gangsters in the market. When he heard Zhang Jinglue's inquiry, he quickly arranged for his men to continue monitoring and came to Zhang Yunxiu's side.
"Going back to the story, at noon the day before yesterday, two monsters climbed over the wall and entered the courtyard, preparing to poison them. They were killed by the guards on the spot. Last night, someone set fire to the courtyard behind the wall. Then there was this coffin, which was splashed with paint in the middle of the night. Finally, the general We don’t have enough manpower to send people out to investigate...”
Zhang Yunxiu patted Li Zicheng on the shoulder, smiled slightly and said: "General Li, there are less than two hundred soldiers, thieves are everywhere, the enemy is outnumbered, and we are outnumbered. My emperor is busy suppressing the rebellion in Suzhou. You and I may lose our lives here. I regret coming to Taicang." ?"
Li Zicheng cupped his hands and said: "A certain martial artist who can follow the strategy and do such a big thing, kill these moths and relieve our emperor's worries, will definitely leave a name in history in the future, even if he dies, he will have no regrets."
Zhang Yunxiu stroked his beard and laughed, and said loudly to the bustling pedestrians in the market:
"Hahaha! They used to kill my subordinates, but now they point the finger at me. Hahaha, they are anxious, they can't wait any longer, and they are eager to kill me. What should I be afraid of! I am dead, and I still have Daqi Can they kill all the countless loyal ministers and good generals?"
~~~~
A month ago, Zhang Yunxiu prepared this coffin for himself on the day of the Qing mother-in-law implementation.
He said to everyone: "If I am killed by an adulterer, please bury me on your behalf."
On the eve of the Suzhou riots, Zhang Yunxiu followed the advice of Kang Guangxu and others and withdrew all supervisors and soldiers deployed in the counties around Taicang to the state city. A total of 260 soldiers and more than 80 officials, big and small, were obtained.
The New Deal harmed not only the interests of the local gentry.
Whether it is cleaning up commercial taxes or rectifying currency customs, groups such as bankers, gangsters, nuns and six wives, homesteaders, porters, etc. will lose their jobs. According to the New Deal, these industries will either be directly banned or nationalized and replaced by large-scale enterprises. People from the Qi Chamber of Commerce—they spontaneously united and fiercely resisted the New Deal.
Compared with the machinations of the wealthy Jin gentry, the methods of bluffing and resisting were simple and crude.
And more bloody.
More than fifty soldiers and officials were killed by these people.
Zhang Yunxiu waited thousands of times, and finally waited for the eunuch sent by the court to announce the decree.
In view of the fact that Da Qi's mobile troops were used to quell the rebellion in Suzhou and were temporarily unable to take care of Taicang, Emperor Guangde ordered Zhang Jinglue to "act cheaply" in Taicang in the imperial edict, and only sent instructors to Loucheng to "deliver new policies" to the people.
In other words, there are no reinforcements.
Zhang Yunxiu didn't complain at all. He sent away the emperor's favored Eunuch Fang and immediately announced it to the whole city.
"If the land is not cleared for one day and the tax debt is not recovered for one day, I will not leave Loucheng for one day, and I swear to deal with this matter forever!"
