boom!
Maybe Liu Shangyi had bad luck, or the accuracy of Shen Mao's cannon was too random, or maybe the servants around him rushed over, making Liu Shangyi's target too obvious.
In short, Liu Shangyi himself lost his lower body with just one shot.
"it hurts!"
Liu Shangyi couldn't help shouting for a moment, and then looked up at Shen Mao with a surprised look on his face: "You!"
After saying that, Liu Shangyi was shocked to see that his lower body was gone, and soon died.
Liu Shangyi's servants were also stunned at this time.
"They actually beat the uncle to death!"
"Niang Le, their National Tax Department is serious!"
"What should we do? Should we leave the uncle behind or avenge him?"
…
These servants suddenly became confused.
The main reason is that reality hit them too quickly, and they did not have this expectation.
You must know that as the servants of Chengcheng's house, their knowledge is actually limited. What's more, most of them are still domestic slaves. They have grown up and worked in Liu's manor all their lives, which means that the world they see is only as big as Liu's manor. He has always regarded Liu Shangyi, the head of the Liu family, as the top priority.
In fact, in their eyes, the emperor and bureaucrats were very vague concepts and not concrete. What they were more afraid of was the head of the Liu family who could be seen every day.
Therefore, now that the family leader is gone, these servants are a little at a loss.
Bang bang!
This moment of confusion was followed by a series of gunshots.
Although Shen Mao is now a tax collector, he and his tax collectors are originally border troops. Once they decide to use force, they will naturally strive to annihilate them all.
As a result, these servants were soon found dead on the spot.
Huanghuali was also directly confiscated as an adverse birth.
Now that military households are treated favorably by the court and are regarded as nobles, many officials from military households will become more serious in order to maintain the stability of their own class.
Because the richer the country is, the more stable their privileged status will be. Not only the Jin Yiwei will think more actively, but even the officers and soldiers responsible for taxation will be more serious. Therefore, Shen Mao dared to directly kill the people in the Chengyi Mansion.
What's more, the current chief assistant is still Qi Jiguang.
Therefore, Shen Mao, who was in the Nanbing system, could not allow a powerful man like Cheng Yibo to prevent the reforms presided over by Qi Jiguang from being implemented.
Even though Qi Jiguang might punish him for this and use his life to extinguish the anger of the nobles.
After Shen Mao killed Liu Shangyi, the merchants who passed through Xushuguan became much more honest.
Even though they all have powerful backgrounds.
"Nan Zongbo Huang's family has 500 horses of Shu brocade. Additional luxury tax is required. This is a tax stamp. Do you want to pay it or not?"
Shen Mao was standing on the gate at this time, holding a small bronze cannon under his feet, blowing fire, and then watched a tax official asking a wealthy businessman.
The wealthy businessman hurriedly smiled and said: "Pay, of course you have to pay. Our master has already said that you must pay the taxes you should pay!"
"That's good."
"One thousand kilograms of spices from Deqing Wang Family in Zheng Mansion?"
"Of course we also have to pay, no exception."
"very good!"
…
Luxury taxes were collected quite seriously by many taxing bureaucrats, so a lot of silver dollars were continuously transported into the national treasury through the collection of luxury taxes.
However, the officers and generals under Qi Jiguang were also too strict when they were responsible for collecting taxes, and they completely followed the way of performing military tasks, which was simple and rough.
Therefore, many powerful and powerful bureaucrats become more fearful and resentful.
"My son!"
After Liu Shiyan, the sincere uncle, saw the body of his son Liu Shangyi, he was heartbroken with grief and resentment. He directly wrote a memorial to Zhu Yijun, impeaching Shen Mao for excessive use of power and killing his ministers. He also said to Zhu Yijun in the memorial:
"Arrogant soldiers and brave generals have always been inappropriate for civil affairs officials. They are prone to provoke civil uprisings and will waste many lives. Therefore, the late emperor was wise and restrained military force with literature. Even in the days of Taizu, he also used severe punishments on arrogant soldiers and brave generals. The law controls its evil.”
"However, now that the honorable minister is the auxiliary prime minister, even if he is loyal to the country, his old subordinates will become arrogant and misbehave!"
"But if the arrogant and powerful generals do something wrong, the disaster will only be on the civil servants. Please use civil servants to control the military. You should not order the distinguished ministers to be the leaders, and the distinguished ministers can only take care of themselves."
After Zhu Yijun read Liu Shiyan's memorial, his face sank:
"The edict is that Uncle Chengyi committed an illegal crime and intended to kill the taxman, which is like treason. However, since the culprit has been punished, we can only pursue the crime of Uncle Chengyi and his family. Uncle Chengyi himself is unswervingly evil and confuses right and wrong. He was good at discussing government affairs and should have been sentenced to death. After thinking that he was an honorable minister, he was exiled to Eni and stayed with Li Yingchen, the former Bo of Xiangcheng. He will never be pardoned."
"The family will regain the title and grant the land. Only if the heirs have great achievements in the future can they petition to restore the ancestral title."
Zhu Yijun had to admit that an honorable man like Liu Shiyan had truly fallen.
Although there is an element of anger caused by his own son being bombarded, he actually supports emphasizing civility and restraining military force. It is obvious that deep down he only wants to be in peace and comfort for his own family, but not for the comfort of the country and the people.
Therefore, Zhu Yijun simply used this to severely punish Liu Shiyan.
"According to the order!"
After receiving the imperial edict, Liu Shiyan was not too surprised. Instead, he just smiled bitterly. When he was caught and taken away by the Jin Yiwei, he shouted to the north:
"Qi Yuanjing, don't be too proud, sooner or later someone will deal with you!"
When Liu Shiyan was taken to Ezo, the tribute envoys Masuda Nagamori and Sakai Ieji sent by Tokugawa Ieyasu finally arrived in the capital.
As a result, Masuda Nagamori saw the luxury tax being levied at Chongbunmon, and couldn't help but say to Sakai Ieji:
"It is not easy to collect this luxury tax. It involves the interests of many powerful gentry. After all, luxury goods have little to do with ordinary people."
"Yes, this shows that their emperor is indeed a good emperor, and he does have a strong control over the country. Their ministers are also strong-willed ministers with an iron fist. They dare to attack the powerful and powerful gentry. This shows that they are not afraid of life and death."
Sakai Ieji said.
After hearing this, Masuda Nagamori frowned even more and said sadly:
"The monarchy is very powerful, and the ministers are also very courageous. Such a Ming Dynasty is both respectable and formidable. We must try our best to make it accept the reality that our Tokugawa clan is the shogun. Otherwise, the consequences will be really serious. horrible."
"Should accept it."
Sakai Ieji said something at this time.
Masuda Nagamori looked at Sakai Ieji with great interest: "Why did you meet him?"
Sakai Ieji replied with a smile:
"Because the people of the Ming Dynasty can be so wealthy and idle, and the sergeants can get enough preferential treatment, and even the old sergeants will be given silver to support themselves in old age, it also has something to do with our Japan;"
"It can be said that our contribution to the greatness of the Heavenly Kingdom is due to the diligence and hard work of our Japanese people, which provides them with a steady stream of wealth and allows them to be so idle."
"Therefore, the Ming Emperor, as one of the greatest monarchs in the world, is so wise that he should know how to allow our family leader, the Tokugawa clan, to be the master of this state and also his vassal, and to live in harmony with it, and allow our shogunate to insist on His own system and etiquette will only keep his empire peaceful and peaceful."
"You are right."
"The Ming Emperor should understand."
"But I can't say for sure. After all, there is an issue of etiquette involved."
Masuda Nagamori replied.
Sakai Ieji immediately asked: "Why can't you say for sure?"
"Does he really want to destroy our Tokugawa clan?"
"Isn't he afraid of forcing us Tokugawa clan to reform in order to protect ourselves, and then incite all Japanese to resist the Ming Dynasty?"
"If he doesn't want to, is there any benefit to facing him here?"
"To put it lightly, why don't we take the initiative to be His Majesty the Ming Emperor's lackeys?"
"Is he unwilling to force us to become mad dogs that bite him?"
"Let's wait until we meet His Majesty the Ming Emperor."
Masuda Nagamori replied and did not argue with Sakai Ieji anymore.
After Zhu Yijun learned that they were coming to Beijing, he issued an order to meet with them.
After Masuda Nagamori met Zhu Yijun, he first presented the first copy of Tokugawa Ieyasu and said:
"Our family governor feels extremely guilty for the daimyo's attack on the merchant ship of the upper country. He is willing to apologize to His Majesty the Ming Emperor. He has executed the daimyo first and is willing to double compensation for all losses;"
"In addition, our family governor is willing to accept His Majesty the Ming Emperor as our king, and we only ask His Majesty the Ming Emperor to make him the King of Japan."
"What you asked for is not allowed!"
"This dynasty has enthroned the King of Japan, and I have sent people to declare to your family governor that you should step down as shogun and accept the rule of your king Ashikaga Yoshiaki."
Zhu Yijun directly rejected Tokugawa Ieyasu's request.
After hearing this, the Sakai family looked horrified, and then hurriedly said: "I beg the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty to clearly understand that Ashikaga Yoshiaki has lost his moral character and has no merit, and is no longer enough to rule Japan. The people of my family who are governor of Japan have outstanding achievements and are honest. He is the best choice to be the king of Japan, and it is also the wish of all Japanese subjects. Therefore, I ask His Majesty the Emperor of Ming Dynasty to grant Japan peace according to the wishes of our Japanese people, and we, Japan, are willing to maintain peace for the heavenly country forever."
Zhu Yijun said: "The Ashikaga clan was appointed by the Emperor Taizu of the Celestial Dynasty. They are highly regarded by people and are the virtuous Japanese. How can the Tokugawa clan be virtuous?"
"Repeatedly invading other people's land and massacring common people, is this considered virtuous?"
"What's more, the Ashikaga clan has been your lord of Japan for many generations, and now you are rashly usurping his throne, but you can't do it with etiquette. Do you want to break the etiquette?"
After Masuda Changsheng heard what Zhu Yijun said, he was so ashamed that he couldn't help but replied: "I don't dare!"
Zhu Yijun glanced at him.
Sakai Ieji also glanced at him in shock.
And this time.
Sakai Ieji couldn't help but ask Zhu Yijun: "Your Majesty the Ming Emperor, aren't you worried that the Tokugawa clan will imitate your reform and reform, so that the higher country will not be able to support its own military and civilians with the fat people of Japan? ?”
"The key is, can you Tokugawa succeed?"
Zhu Yijun asked first at this time.
then.
Zhu Yijun looked at these Japanese tribute envoys and said: "Even if you can, I will not let you succeed in cheating."
"The reason why I met you is to declare to you that you should go back and persuade him to the Tokugawa family, let him abide by the etiquette of the world, remove himself from the position of shogunate, and ask the king to ennoble him. Do not establish it without authorization! Otherwise, I will raise a large army to fight against you!"
Then, Zhu Yijun said a few more words.
Masuda Nagamori said at this time: "I would like to ask Emperor Ming to show mercy to me, the Tokugawa clan. After all, etiquette and law cannot be compared with imperial orders."
"Having said that, the etiquette I have set must not be messed with!"
"Especially the ceremony of passing on the throne is the foundation of world unity. How can it be disrupted by an immoral person from the Tokugawa family?"
As Zhu Yijun spoke, he looked at the summoned envoys from the foreign vassals of Korea, Ryukyu, and Siam stationed in the capital: "You also tell me, should this world's etiquette be disordered?"
At this time, Yin Yuanjie, the ceremonial officer of the Joseon Dynasty, first raised his hands and said:
"Your Majesty, the etiquette of the world should not be disordered. If it is disordered, the authority of the king will not exist, and all the vassals in the world will be chaotic. The reigning king will worry about his ministers usurping the throne, and once the ministers are in power, they will also plot to usurp the throne. But none of them will concentrate on ensuring the peace of the country and benefiting the people, so those like the Tokugawa who are good at establishing a shogunate should be chopped into pieces to correct the etiquette and law."
"Your Majesty, I agree that the Tokugawa clan should be beheaded in order to rectify the law. Otherwise, Dong Yi will never be able to be enlightened and will remain like a wolf, only knowing how to kill."
Ryukyu envoy Qi Wenzhao also expressed his opinion.
Immediately, the Siamese envoy Luo Zongjun also said: "Your Majesty is wise, etiquette cannot be abolished, and the succession of the throne cannot be disrupted. Otherwise, if the etiquette is disrupted for the sake of temporary benevolence, it will allow the country to commit evil for eternity!"
…
For a time, envoys from various foreign vassals expressed that they could not allow the Tokugawa clan to succeed in usurping the throne, and they all supported the Ashikaga clan as the king of Japan.
This is naturally because they do not hope that powerful officials in their own country will succeed in usurping the throne.
And for this reason, the ceremony of passing the throne must not be messed up, and it seems to have become a political value recognized by all countries in the international system with the entire Ming Dynasty as the suzerain state.
Zhu Yijun nodded after hearing this: "In that case, once the Tokugawa clan insists on violating the etiquette, you vassal states cannot shirk my order to mobilize troops. They should obey my order and raise troops together to attack the Tokugawa clan and protect the etiquette! If you dare to shirk the responsibility, , I will also punish you for violating the etiquette!"
"I don't dare!"
These foreign envoys answered without hesitation.
After all, this was also related to the interests of their monarch. The crusade against the Tokugawa clan was a reflection of the values they shared with the Ming Emperor, so there was no hesitation.
Tokugawa Ieyasu's envoys, such as Masuda Nagamori and Sakai Ieji, felt particularly helpless.
"what should we do?"
Therefore, Sakai Ieji asked about Masuda Nagamori after the interview.
Masuda Nagamori said: "Try to persuade the general as much as possible, etiquette cannot be violated!"
"How could the general agree? Besides, why should we be bound by etiquette?"
Sakai Ieji asked.
Masuda Nagamori said: "If we don't abide by this etiquette that is recognized by all countries in the world, is there any other way for us to survive in the world? Is there anyone with strong ships and powerful guns?"
"If the general cannot become a general because of these etiquette, we retainers should be ashamed of it!"
Sakai Ieji just looked at the setting sun and said this in a deep voice.
…
"If Tokugawa Ieyasu becomes the king of Japan, we in Korea should be ashamed of this, because he is corrupting etiquette and bullying our Ming Dynasty emperor!"
"It's hard to sleep and eat alone!"
In fact, many foreign vassals already knew about the Tokugawa clan, and also knew that the Ming Dynasty was going to attack the Tokugawa clan. Among them, the King of Korea, Li Huo, specifically expressed his views in the court on this day.
(End of chapter)
