"It's too much!"
Wu Zhiqi stood up and said to Man Chaojian, who had resigned and returned to his hometown: "Mr. Man, Wu Sheng is right. We can't wait any longer. It's time to confiscate the Xu family!"
Man Chaojian nodded, and then looked at all the civil servants and gentry present: "Everyone! We established Yingshe to fulfill Donglin's aspirations, to uphold Ye Gong's last wish, to encourage the court to lighten corvees and reduce taxes, and to hide wealth among the people; Uphold justice for the people of Jiangnan and eliminate the shameless tyrants! But now, the court is controlled by treacherous officials who want to prevent us from operating textiles for profit. We are not even allowed to buy cotton yarn and raw silk. In the name of rigorous hoarding, we are stealing profits. What do you think of us? Can you agree?"
"Can't agree!"
Zhang Caixian replied loudly.
"That's right, we cannot agree to this matter. Cotton yarn and raw silk are our roots in Jiangnan. How can we be arbitrarily controlled by such an unscrupulous court!"
Zha Jizuo also agreed.
Other Yingshe members also responded one after another, directly criticizing the court for being unjust.
Man Chaojian smiled because of this: "Okay, now I ask you to go to Songjiang to arrange separate operations and mobilize the villagers to confiscate the Xu family! But we should not come forward in person to avoid exposing ourselves, and let the people we have arranged tell the villagers Folks, the Xu family has colluded with the treacherous ministers in the court to seize the benefits of spinning and weaving in the south of the Yangtze River. Anyone who is willing to follow the arrangements to confiscate the Xu family will be rewarded fifty taels of silver per household! Share the Xu family's wealth equally!"
"clear!"
These members all stood up and replied.
These Jiangnan gentry had particularly strong control over the people at the county level and below in the Jiangnan area.
They used clan as a link and had a strong ability to mobilize the people of Jiangnan. They were almost the local emperors.
Common people without much thinking ability can easily believe the words of these gentry who are not only clan leaders but also noble gentry in local society.
And this kind of inciting people to make trouble with weapons and smash government officials and wealthy families often happens.
During the Wanli period, a tax supervisor was temporarily stationed at an official office in the south of the Yangtze River. Many scholars and civilians gathered together, naked to the waist, holding the same sticks, and surrounded the official office in a well-trained manner. They also obeyed the leader's order and rushed to the official office after smashing it. After leaving the tax prison, they did not rob other merchants along the street or smash the houses of other gentry. They dispersed in an orderly manner. This was naturally because the Jiangnan gentry took command from them and had such an effect.
Therefore, organizing the people to clean up the Xu family was nothing new and not difficult for the Jiangnan gentry.
Moreover, the gentry in the south of the Yangtze River, especially those in Songjiang who had no relatives or friends with the Xu family, had long been dissatisfied with the Xu family and had long been prepared to deal with the Xu family.
These Jiangnan gentry in Songjiang Prefecture have been mobilizing merchants and weavers from all over the country for a long time. Now they are spreading rumors that the Xu family will seize their property and leave them with no food to eat. This is true according to what Man Chao Jian said. He wanted to give a generous reward to those who participated in the confiscation of the Xu family. Therefore, for a time, the Jiangnan gentry who had already prepared really mobilized many people in Songjiang Prefecture to come to Shanghai County.
Sun Chengzong, the governor of Susong, did not know about this at this time.
Now he is touring social schools and medical centers in various places. In accordance with Zhu Youxiao's instructions, he used the money left for the local areas to win over the hearts of the people at the bottom of Jiangnan, built more social schools, medical centers and even almshouses, and hired migrant workers to repair them. Seawall channel.
On this day, Sun Chengzong had just returned to Suzhou by boat from Changzhou, when a large amount of water suddenly appeared on the hull of the boat.
Sun Chengzong's guard couldn't help being shocked when he saw this: "Zhongcheng, this ship seems to be sinking. Someone has done something to it!"
Sun Chengzong also became a little nervous.
But not long after, Sun Chuanting and his escort staff all fell into the water because the ship sank.
"Zhongcheng!"
As soon as Sun Chengzong's guards fell into the water, they swam towards Sun Chuanting first, shouted and then said: "Zhongcheng has fallen into the water! Rescue Zhongcheng quickly!"
boom!
boom!
boom!
But at this time, there suddenly appeared the sound of many firecrackers and white smoke rising from the houses facing the water on both sides.
Sun Chengzong's guards and staff were all killed.
The river water in this area was dyed a lot of red.
Sun Chengzong himself also heard the gunfire, but he soon fell unconscious.
When Sun Chengzong woke up, he was already lying in a dark room with no one around him.
Sun Chengzong naturally realized that something big might have happened, so he shouted excitedly: "Who are you! Who gave you the courage to kidnap me! Do you know what crime this is? It is a serious crime of conspiracy. ! I am Governor Su Song, and I am patrolling on behalf of the Emperor. Don’t think that you will get away with it if you do it secretly. You’d better not let the people in Dongchang find out!”
"Why is Zhongcheng so angry? We just want you to stay here for a longer time, and we can't talk about rebellion."
At this time, a dark shadow that Sun Chengzong couldn't see very clearly suddenly appeared outside the dark cell.
Then, the shadow continued to ask: "Zhongcheng, how does it feel like falling into the water?"
Sun Chengzong couldn't tell who it was from the dark shadow's voice, so he had to ask: "Who are you?"
"who are we?"
The shadow laughed, and then said: "We are Nagasaki merchants, that is, pirates."
Sun Chengzong said unconvincingly: "Are you going to take action against the Xu family?"
"Zhongcheng is indeed wise, and nothing can escape your eyes. Yes, we are going to attack the Xu family, and we know your Xu family's backers, so naturally we have to let you suffer here for a few days first, waiting for this Xu family After your home is raided, we will naturally let you out, and then you can report the truth to the court and say that pirates hijacked you."
The black shadow spoke.
"You are shameless! Despicable!"
Sun Chengzong cursed directly, and then said: "You are definitely not pirates, are you some of the big Jiangnan families in Songjiang? Or are there also some big Jiangnan families in Suzhou?!"
"Why is Zhong Cheng so ignorant of praise and still wants to fall into the water again?"
The black shadow spoke.
"You, you, don't get too proud too early!"
Sun Chengzong shouted loudly.
"Okay! We know that you, Zhongcheng, are related to the Xu family. It's normal for you to be so angry. You don't really care about the tyrant's gains and losses. You can rest for a few days, and then after a while, you will find that you can confiscate your family and exterminate your clan. It’s not just him, Zhu Youxiao, but I, the ruthless people of Jiangnan, and the group of unscrupulous people that Zhu Youxiao cares about can also confiscate their homes and exterminate their clans.”
The dark figure laughed as he spoke.
…
Back to a month ago, during the Mid-Autumn Festival in August of the second year of Tianqi, Zhu Youxiao, who was celebrating the festival with Zhang Yan, saw Wei Zhongxian appearing outside the palace and said to Wang Chengen: "Let him in."
So, Wei Zhongxian hurriedly came to Zhu Youxiao and replied: "Back to the emperor, Dongchang's informants in Jiangnan came to report that there are people in the cities, towns and villages in Jiangnan who are inciting the scholars and people to cause trouble, saying that they will deal with the Xu family who will not let them live! "
After Zhu Youxiao heard this, he realized that something was wrong, and immediately stood up: "If you dare to deal with the Xu family, you are rebelling against the imperial court. Dongchang will immediately investigate strictly. In addition, according to my decree, the Guards in Qufu The 3000 Infantry Headquarters immediately went to Songjiang and asked Yang Huan of Dongchang to rush to Songjiang. He also gave Zhang Tongchang and Yang Huan a secret order, telling them that if a rebellion breaks out in Jiangnan, they will directly suppress it on the grounds of treason! Suppress first and then Investigate the instigator behind the scenes! Let Zhang Tongchang succeed Feng Quan as the governor of the southeast and control the southeast. Feng Quan was promoted to the left minister of household affairs in Beijing and told Zhang Tongchang that although ordinary people should be kind to ordinary people, they should be ruthless in public affairs. You have to beat him up when there is a riot! We can’t let them only fear the gentry, the clan, not the court, nor the king’s law! We need to make them remember and know that the court can treat them well, but it can also destroy their families!”
Everything must have a leader. Zhu Youxiao has directly characterized the possible Jiangnan riots as a matter of rebellion. Naturally, he does not expect Feng Quan, a speculator, to solve the matter, so he directly uses Zhang Tongchang, a daredevil. Kill the governor's reliable cronies as governor.
As for Sun Chengzong, Zhu Youxiao had a vague feeling that Sun Chengzong might have been plotted by the gentry in Jiangnan.
Therefore, Zhu Youxiao directly appointed Zhang Tongchang, an official of the Yulin Guard who had not been noticed by many people, to go to Jiangnan.
In addition, as Zhu Youxiao himself said, he hoped that Zhang Tongchang could use force to suppress the people in Jiangnan who were used to making troubles and know to respect the court. Even if the Ming court could not massacre the city as inhumanely as the Manchu Qing Dynasty, it would still be able to deal with the iron-blooded people who caused trouble. Suppression is necessary.
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