Wang Qiong finally convinced Peng Ze, because Peng Ze also didn't want to see that scene of blood flowing into the river.
Li Min, the number one scholar, and Li Zhi, who called himself Wuya and was known as Mr. Wuya. These people who were somewhat famous in the local literary circles, he summoned to the Yamen to receive them in person.
Of course, the author of "Tombstone Story" is indispensable, a Confucian scholar named Huang Siguo.
In Wensheng, Zhejiang, there are many academies of various kinds, and there are countless lectures and cultural gatherings on weekdays.
This group of people has a great reputation, that is to say, Peng Ze usually has a good reputation. If it were Wang Qiong with a bad reputation, he might not even be willing to come.
Wang Qiong also knew this, so he did not come forward.
"Dong Zhuangyuan, Mr. Li, Mr. Huang..." Peng Ze handed over and saw them all one by one, "I invite you all here today because of the storm in Hangzhou these days. Even though corruption broke out in Zhejiang in the 17th year of Hongzhi, There were no scenes of tens of thousands of people gathering together and making noise in Hangzhou. If this happens this time, I'm afraid the result will be unfavorable to everyone."
"Mr. Jiwu." Li Min came first. After all, he still had an official status and was the number one scholar. Everyone looked to him as the leader. He couldn't hide and say nothing. "The public was furious and the court was investigating corruption in Zhejiang." It has nothing to do with it. People and gods are angry with corrupt people, and the imperial court will destroy them. We can only applaud and applaud them. How can we listen to Mr. Jiwu's words, as if we are not happy to see them."
Peng Ze was stunned. Logically speaking, what he said did not make sense. He was often hanging out in the government, and Wang Qiong and his gang were led astray.
Li Min added: "Your Majesty is a wise king, and everyone praised him even when he was the prince. However, there are treacherous people in the court who first lured your Majesty into smuggling and competed for profits with the people, like Mei Kejia; now They also induce your majesty to open the sea, like Yang Jiefu. Opening the sea is an ancestral system. Once the sea ban is lifted, Japanese pirates invade, what will happen then? Who will take care of the people of Zhejiang?"
Peng Ze raised his hand, "Don't talk about competing with the people for profit. Today, the Holy Spirit is frugal in spending, and most of the money he raises is used for state affairs."
"So...where are the people below?" Li Zhi closed his fan, "There was a corruption scandal in the seventeenth year of Hongzhi. The reason was that the eunuch in the palace was caught by His Highness to embezzle money and money. Although this person is dead, the palace eunuch Is there more than one person who is corrupt? His Majesty opened the sea, and most of the silver he earned will probably go into the pockets of officials at all levels. In the end, they will be enriched and the people of Zhejiang will be poor. Calculated in this way, what is the benefit? ?”
"So, do you think it is unfavorable to open the sea?"
No one dares to say this. Of course, you can say whatever you want in private.
But no matter how good the relationship is, Peng Ze is still an official of the imperial court.
There was no reason to discuss national affairs in front of him, and if he really said it, he would put Peng Ze in an unjust position. Do you think he reported it to the superiors, or did he want to protect him?
"Mr. Jiwu, the sea ban is an ancestral system."
This is not wrong.
Peng Ze stood up, thought for a while and said: "It's good that you are worried about the country, but far away from the court, there are many things that are not what you think. First, the court wants to open the sea, and the root cause The reason is that the imperial court needs to regroup. The military supplies of silver must come out of the open sea. The purpose of retrieval is to solve the border troubles. After solving the border troubles, our Ming Dynasty does not need to bear huge military pressure, and we do not even need to deploy hundreds of troops. 10,000. This is a national policy formulated by His Majesty himself. Your Majesty is a sovereign monarch, and no one can induce or change His Majesty's mind."
"Second." Peng Zebi made a 'two' gesture, "I know that you each have your own opinions. National policies like this involve a wide range of things...especially when it comes to whether the ancestral system needs to be changed. This is also difficult to do. Something that can be explained clearly in one or two sentences. But His Majesty’s imperial edict has been issued. I hope everyone understands that the imperial court has appointed governors of Zhejiang and Fujian in advance, replaced the commanders of Zhejiang Dusi and Fujian Dusi, and several important guards. The envoys under command have also been replaced by people from Zhejiang, and they are appointed governors of Zhejiang and Fujian, or imperial advisors. What does this mean? It is what you want, but no official can agree to you, and even if I agree to you, it will be useless."
"First of all, your opinions cannot go out of Zhejiang, because Zhongcheng will not ignore the opinions of the Governor, and the Governor will not ignore His Majesty's will. After all, what you are talking loudly about loyalty and traitor are not against Yang Tinghe and Gu People like you, the one you are opposing is the Emperor. So for your own good and the good of Zhejiang, I advise you all to go home. If you have any opinions, you can go to the media. Your Majesty did not severely punish those censors who spoke fiercely, right? But don’t gather people to stir people up. Remember, remember.”
After Peng Ze finished speaking, Li Min, Li Zhi and other Confucian scholars fell into silence.
"Mr. Jiwu, do you mean that we, the people, just live in an ignoble existence?" Huang Siguo was the first to ask, "We are all doing it for the sake of the country, the country, and the great tomorrow. If His Majesty still wants to kill people like this, then I, Huang Siguo, will have no choice but to live in peace. I will die bravely. But it is absolutely impossible for me to give up the way in my heart because I am afraid of death."
Peng Ze sighed, he actually expected this.
Like people know like people.
If Peng Ze were to threaten him with a knife one day, he would not even frown.
For people like Huang Siguo, reputation is more important than life.
Don't say that they don't quite believe that the imperial court would use a butcher's knife like this.
Even if it was about to happen, they wouldn't be able to go back and persuade those thousands of scholars, what should they say?
Could it be that this is too dangerous? Let's all go home!
Then it would be better to just die.
And no one here can say that. It was you who said the words that filled me with righteous indignation and anger, and it is also your words that now I am struggling to survive.
Basically, even if they really tried to persuade them, not only would their reputation be in jeopardy, but things would not change. It would be better if thousands of scholars beat them into shameless people.
In short, under the current situation in Zhejiang, it has actually lost its meaning on whether opening up the sea is beneficial to or harmful to the country. The fierce promotion and resolute opposition have caused rationality to lose its space for survival, and each other can no longer hear each other's voices.
So this period of time and this space has actually lost its voice. It seems that the whole city is noisy, but no one can hear what anyone is saying, and if they hear it, they don't care.
Peng Ze had nothing to say. He could only stand up and salute.
"Everyone, please take it seriously."
At this point, there is nothing more to say.
Li Min, Li Zhi, Huang Siguo and others will not talk about it anymore. If this was the reason for coming to the Yamen today, there was no need to come in the first place.
Wait until these people leave.
Officials from the Imperial Envoy's Yamen also came to plead with Peng Ze.
About six or seven people were kneeling on the ground with anxious expressions, "...Envoy Peng, do you want to send an urgent message to Your Majesty? According to reports, the Jin Yiwei will enter the city soon. That Mao Yuwen is an executioner, in front of everyone in Jiangxi If he is allowed to come to Hangzhou under such circumstances, then Hangzhou will become a purgatory on earth!"
In fact, they don't need to ask Peng Ze. Peng Ze is also thinking of a solution and he is also anxious, "You guys, after all, you should take care of your own families first, but you don't want people from the government to go to the streets to tear down the government! I’m going to find Zhong Cheng now, hoping he can delay some of the Jin Yiwei’s actions.”
"good!"
For Wang Qiong, Peng Ze doesn't have to come.
The subordinate officials in the governor's yamen and the chief envoy's yamen, as well as deputy envoys and political advisors, as well as officials and magistrates from various prefectures, either pleaded with him in person or wrote to him to plead for mercy.
In the final analysis, Mao’s Chinese language cannot be allowed to destroy the seeds of reading in Zhejiang.
But Wang Qiong ignored him. He was not a tall-headed person like Peng Jiwu. Jin Yiwei was a member of the emperor's personal army. The governor of Jiangxi had been arrested. Why did he, the governor of Zhejiang, join in the fun?
If you really want to do that, you might as well find a rope and tie yourself up.
So he had made up his mind to watch. The governor's yamen and the chief envoy's yamen would not say a word or leave a single person, just watching. Whoever goes up to the top is responsible for himself.
Peng Ze spent a long time talking with him, but still got the same result.
Finally, Peng Ze rolled up his sleeves and was about to leave.
Wang Qiong looked at his back and reminded him, "Brother Peng Ze, you and I are officials in the same dynasty. Even if it is out of friendship as colleagues, I still have to say something. You'd better be like me and sit here these days. Here, if you don't listen or see, you will be fine after the incident. Otherwise, you will be the inspector of Zhejiang, which is not a big official in the eyes of the court. Why bother when a moth flies into a flame?"
Peng Ze clenched his fists, turned around and said, "A gentleman has something he should do and something he should not do!"
"You said I am a villain. Then let me ask you a question." Wang Qiong smiled and put his index and middle fingers together, as if he were painting, "This... you know, Tian Qianlian of Suzhou Prefecture and Songjiang Prefecture Isn’t it less than half of the land price in places like Shandong and Henan?”
Peng Ze looked confused.
"You don't know." Wang Qiong laughed, "It stands to reason that in the land of fish and rice in the south of the Yangtze River, the yield is nearly two dan per mu, and mature fields can yield three shi per mu. Why is the land price so cheap? It's because of Su, Song, Chang, and Jia. The taxes in several prefectures are extremely heavy. They are often more than twice as high as other places."
This was decided by Zhu Yuanzhang.
"How does this relate to today's events?"
"Look. Don't be anxious. Listen to me." Wang Qiong continued to tell him, "For ordinary people, they can plant whatever land they have. There is no way around it. But for those who have a lot of money, For people, he can buy the fields in Su and Songfu at a lower price. And according to the court's policy..."
"...Gentlemen can be exempted."
Peng Ze was slightly shocked.
"The opening of the sea is an ancestral system, and the privileges and exemptions for gentry are also an ancestral system. Which one do you think is easier to move?"
To put it bluntly, the court's policy made good land here cheap, and according to the gentry's preferential treatment, these lands did not pay for grain.
So South Zhili and Zhejiang, the land south of the Yangtze River, are rich. The land is full of people who have good land and don’t have to pay taxes.
"But the imperial court will not deliberately come here just for this..."
Wang Qiong shook his head. This guy still didn't understand. "The imperial court will not do it deliberately. But Zhejiang itself has given the opportunity. What do you think the imperial court will do?"
…
On the sixth day of November, the commander of the Jinyi Guard ordered Mao Yuwen to transfer to Hangzhou City.
Among the Zhejiang officials, only the guarding eunuch Gu Dayong went to pick him up.
Gu Da had been hiding for a long time these days. When he saw Mao Yuwen, he was meeting his relatives. He was very close when he came up and said, "My deputy envoy, you are finally here!"
Mao Yuwen threw down the reins and entered the house. He bowed first and said, "Tell your father-in-law to wait. I have already heard about some things on the way."
Gu Dayong was also a little curious at first, "It is said that the Zhan family in Poyang confessed to many clans in Zhejiang. Our family thought you went there to arrest people first. How did you come to Hangzhou so quickly?"
Mao Yuwen smiled and said, "If nothing happens in Hangzhou, that is indeed the plan. But Hangzhou has made people panic. No matter how illiterate I am, I still know the principle of catching the thief first. As for those people, if they are not in a hurry, they can run away. Even if you capture someone, you won’t be able to escape.”
Indeed, if this group of people is not dealt with, even if those clans are arrested, the place will still be noisy and noisy, so Mao Yuwen thought about it and went straight to Hangzhou.
"Father, who wrote this "Tombstone"?"
Gu Dayong knew, "Huang Siguo. His ancestral home is Ningbo, Zhejiang. He was extremely intelligent when he was young. It is said that he could recite "The Great Learning" when he was six or seven years old. I couldn't stand my superiors, so I repeatedly resisted him. During the Chenghua period, I resigned and returned to my hometown. In these years, I often gathered my disciples to give lectures, which was quite influential."
"Can it be killed?" After saying so much, Mao Yuwen was concerned about this point.
Gu Dayong was speechless, but this question went straight to the core, "Kill... Who can't be killed by Jin Yiwei and Dongchang? But our family thinks that if we want to be safer, we can capture them and bring them to the capital for His Majesty to make a decision." Your Majesty is angry with these people, and just giving them a head will not relieve his anger."
Mainly because these Taishan and Beidou-like characters were killed inexplicably...it didn't seem right.
"If you can't kill, can you beat him?" Mao Yuwen said with a smile while drinking tea: "People like these always have unclean mouths. It's hard for me not to beat him if I get anxious. "
Gu Dayong pondered for a moment, "It shouldn't matter if I hit him a dozen times."
"Then I've got it in my mind. Father-in-law, please don't go out these days." Mao Yuwen finished drinking the tea and asked about the person he most wanted to arrest, so he didn't stop here. He stuck the machete in his waist and stood. He got up and wanted to leave.
It's not a coincidence that after noon, the weather changed a bit, it was a bit cold, and it started to rain lightly again.
The scenery in Jiangnan became even more peaceful in the rain. Children playing on the street corner were chased by their mothers and pulled back into the house. One after another, the wooden doors were violently closed. Even the frozen dogs ran away after grabbing a piece of black steamed bun.
Jin Yiwei is here.
The clatter of horse hooves gradually took over the street, and hundreds of people splashed in the water.
"Jinyiwei!"
"stop looking!"
A female voice and a boy's voice came from the second floor, and then there was a 'pop' and the window was closed.
When Mao Yuwen was working, it was rare that there were not many people and it was quiet like today. This quietness makes it easier for people to face their own hearts.
Will ask some pretentious questions, but everyone will ask them.
For example, does he regret it till today?
Rainy days like this also reminded him of his childhood.
When he was a child, his mother took him to shelter from the wind and rain. At that time, once he encountered the officers and soldiers, his mother would rush to drag him away without even letting him look at him, as if she would lose her life.
Occasionally when he was not killing people, he would think that it would be great if his mother was still alive. At least he had the ability to save her from the wind and rain today.
Snapped!
On the rainy street, upstairs on the right hand side, a scholar-looking man threw an egg down. The egg hit Mao Yuwen's horse, and the yolk quickly disappeared under the wash of the rain.
"The great traitor!
"The man pointed at them and cursed.
When a group of people looked up, they discovered that there were four or five people in total, all wearing long robes and looking filled with indignation.
'Herodus', the horse raised its front hooves, and the beast seemed angry.
"Those who obstruct the royal guards will die."
Mao Yuwen said that word without any emotion.
The guard in Jinyi beside him got the order and immediately got off his horse and kicked down the door.
The people above were anxious, "Traitor! Do you think we are people who are afraid of death?"
Mao Yuwen didn't hear what these people were saying. He was wiping the rain off his face. He thought that even though his mother was gone, there was still a woman named Xu Xueyun waiting for him in the capital.
He must go back, victorious.
The person who threw the eggs, looking at the costumes, should be a high-ranking person. If he could do such a thing at this time, he should be a person who is not afraid of death, otherwise he would be like this if he was out of his mind.
So when people were taken down there, they were still barking.
The Jin Yiwei who took action looked at Mao Yuwen as if he was in a daze, but according to the rules, they were not allowed to stop without permission unless otherwise ordered. So several people looked at each other to confirm that their leader really didn't want to speak, so they felt cruel and said,
"Wait."
At the last moment, Mao Yuwen spoke up. He looked down and saw five faces that were actually still childish.
"Why did you stop? Do it?!" This man has a mustache and is easy to recognize. He is the one who has been talking.
"Okay. I'll help you." Mao Yuwen gestured to the Jin Yiwei who was holding him down.
Then the steel knife passed over his neck, and the rain began to mix with blood, flowing to both sides of the street.
"Treacherous minister!" The remaining four people were greatly shocked when they saw that they actually started killing people. "We are all famous people. If you kill someone on the street without permission, do you know the consequences in the future?"
Mao Yuwen's expression was dull, "Who knows where Huang Siguo lives?"
"Do you still want to kill Mr. Huang?!" The young man's expression seemed as if he had never heard of such an outrageous thing in his life.
"Tell me, you are alive. The next sentence is not your address, you will die too."
"Do you think……"
Mao Yuwen interrupted him directly, "Kill."
puff!
The blade was sharp and now stained with blood.
The rest were three young men wearing blue gowns. Two friends died in front of them in succession. This should be something they had never thought about in their lives.
Mao Yuwen's eyes turned slightly to the right and stared at the next person.
This person had big eyes, double eyelids, and fair skin. He was actually pretty, but his lips were trembling and his face was colorless, which made him lose a lot of points.
"You should be able to say it, right?"
"Huang...Mr. Huang..."
"Brother Yu!" the one among the three shouted loudly, "Tai Shigong said that everyone is destined to die, and it may be heavier than Mount Tai or lighter than a feather! It's time now, do you want to be that person who is greedy for life, afraid of death, and lives without justice? A villain?"
Probably because he was deceived in this way, the young man closed his eyes tightly and shouted: "I don't know!"
Mao Yuwen said nothing and waved his hands.
puff!
So another corpse.
The man just yelled at Mao Yuwen like crazy, "Treacherous minister! You will definitely die badly in the future!"
Mao Yuwen dismounted and wiped his neck with a knife, then placed the bloody blade on the shoulder of the last person, "Think about it before you say it. This may be your last words in this life."
Four people died in a row, this is the real god of murder.
The person who usually held the book of sages in his study had never seen such a scene before. He was so scared that he fainted after breathing loudly for a few times!
Not only that, around his butt, the originally clear rainwater actually seeped into a yellow color.
Mao Yuwen grinned and turned to look at his subordinates, "Brothers, I often say don't think that scholars are so great. You see, they are just this kind of thing."
"Hahaha. Boss, do you want to kill him?"
Mao Yuwen actually didn’t care, “What do you think?”
"Save someone under the knife!"
This high-pitched sound came from another direction. Mao Yuwen and everyone turned their heads to look, and saw an old man holding a paper umbrella walking step by step in the rain.
"I, Huang Siguo!"
Wow.
The Jin Yiwei were divided into two teams, advancing on the left and right respectively, and then surrounded them, even the steel knives were drawn out.
But the old man's expression did not change and he approached step by step.
After he stopped walking, he looked down at the corpse on the ground. The anger in his eyes was clearly visible, "Deputy Envoy Mao, what crime did they have to let you commit murder on the street?"
Mao Yuwen put away the knife. In fact, he was used to killing people. He was not angry at all and his mood was always calm. "A scholar cannot be killed without humiliation. Isn't this what you scholars said? He insulted me by calling me a treacherous minister." . I originally wanted to insult him, but in order to respect the opinions of you scholars, I changed the insult to beheading."
"There is no daylight, there is no daylight!" Such an unreasonable response made Huang Siguo feel cold in his heart. "Is it really the emperor's will for you to do this? The emperor told you that Zhejiang is good at killing scholars?!"
Mao's experience in Chinese language has also been enriched. "Don't try to trick me. Just tell me, was it you who wrote "Tombstone"?"
"So what?"
"No, it's your crime to confuse people's minds and incite scholars to fight against the imperial government's national policies. And I, in charge of the Beizhen Prefecture, will take you to jail here today!"
"Do you think I will be afraid?"
"I don't care whether you are afraid or not. Whether you are afraid or not is a boring thing to me." Mao Yuwen didn't care, he got back on the horse, "Catch him. Next one."
"Boss, where is this guy who's scared to death?"
Mao Yuwen turned to the right and looked down, "I was so frightened that I probably won't dare to resist the imperial court anymore. Since I don't resist, let's keep him."
This behavior actually told everyone that Jin Yiwei and Dongchang came to Zhejiang for one reason.
Those who follow the imperial government's policies will live, those who don't will die.
"who is the next?"
"Li Min."
"Li Min from the Qiantang Li family?"
"yes."
On the other side,
Peng Ze, the inspector, was really restless. He couldn't help shouting filial piety to Wang Qiong, "Zhongcheng! Mao Yuwen has already killed people in Hangzhou. If we don't care anymore, we don't know how many people will die in Hangzhou!"
"Qiantang Li's sea trade smuggled and disobeyed the imperial edict. Even when they arrived in the capital, His Majesty still viewed them this way. If you want to save him, how can he be saved? Does he have a reason to live? Are you telling Your Majesty that it's because they are scholars...?"
Wang Qiong shook his head helplessly.
He's not a pervert, and he certainly doesn't want to see these people die like this. He would rather things in Zhejiang go smoother.
But what is the will of the emperor?
At that time, the two emperors Taizu and Taizong were very ruthless in their killings. Maybe it took too long and people forgot that the emperor could do this.
"The news came from Beijing that Marquis Wu Ding asked your Majesty to rebuke him and became sick with fright. Brother Peng Ze, do you know what your Majesty said that frightened Marquis Wu Ding? His Majesty said that if you are dissatisfied with Kaihai and deeply hate people like Yang Jiefu, you can do it. What happened to Emperor Taizong back then, or just go home and endure it."
What Emperor Taizong did back then...Peng Ze is a scholar, so of course he knows about it.
"In the final analysis, His Majesty has already made up his mind, and no matter how many people die, it won't change it."
---
Why do you say updates are slow...
