In the Jiangnan area, the power of local gentry and landlords was intricate and deep-rooted.
Moreover, these forces are not only in Jiangnan, but have actually radiated to the whole country. Among the officials of various yamen in the capital, many are from Jiangnan.
But the Ming Dynasty has a good thing. Unlike the powerful families before the Sui and Tang Dynasties, their disciples are all over the world, and they even have military strength. In the Ming Dynasty, if any household kept private soldiers in captivity, they could peel off their skin twice.
But having said that, if this matter gets serious, you will still have to take risks, because there will be people from Jiangnan in the court and the army.
Don't worry, the dignified cabinet chief, Wang Kui, Wangge Lao, is from Wuxian County, Suzhou!
Of course, it didn't mean that he was deliberately antagonizing the imperial court by covering the officials in Jiangnan. He didn't have the heart, let alone the courage. The imperial court's Qingtian made him fully aware of the inside story, but Zhang Cong's actions were unacceptable to him.
Since then, he returned to Beijing from Shandong to take charge of the affairs of clearing the land. He only served in the cabinet for two days, and he began to punish people!
This made Wang Hao, who was always mild-tempered, frown a little.
"Changzhou Tuiguan, Wuxi Prefect, Songjiang Prefect... Zhang Ge is really powerful. He collected the charges against three people in just two days. Does Zhang Ge want to spread the disasters in Shandong to Jiangnan?"
On the surface, Wang Hao was still his boss. Zhang Cong could not indulge too much. He bowed his head and said, "I dare not. These criminals are not investigated by subordinates, but by factory guards. Now the evidence is conclusive. I am just acting in accordance with the laws of the imperial court."
"According to the court's laws? I'm afraid you're not seeking personal revenge or venting your private anger, right?"
Zhang Cong said neither humble nor arrogantly: "The things they committed were not investigated by the lower officials, nor judged by the lower officials. They were only reported to the emperor for the hearing of heaven. How can there be any talk of personal hatred and anger?"
Yang Tinghe also disliked Zhang Cong. He said: "In this way, Mr. Zhang Ge is so warm-hearted and dedicated to things that have nothing to do with him."
Zhang Cong raised his brows, with only such a small movement on his expression, "What are you talking about, Mr. Yang Ge? As an official of the Ming Dynasty, shouldn't we do our best to expose those who hide evil and do evil things? Or should we just hang it high?" ? The lower official just did something out of hatred, yet he is asked why here. Does the cabinet want to give the emperor such an official atmosphere? "
Yang Tinghe immediately felt pain in his feet. This Zhang Cong spoke sharply, was very difficult to deal with, and acted shamelessly. Why did such a guy come into the cabinet!
"Not only are you loyal to the emperor, we are also loyal to the emperor. You acted like this in Qingtian, Jiangnan, just to provoke chaos in Jiangnan. At that time, the officialdom was shaken, how could it be a good thing for the court?"
Wang Hao also knew that there was nothing he could say to him.
It's because he doesn't have the ability of Liu Jian and Yang Yiqing to bring the three of them together. As a result, it is inevitable for the two parties to attack in the court.
At this time, we still have to ask the emperor to make a decision.
So they ignored Zhang Cong and handed the note to the palace.
Zhu Houzhao, of course, received them with courtesy.
After listening to the accusations from the two veterans, he only asked one question, "So are there any problems with those three people?"
Wang Hao and Yang Ting had a chat. They were both experienced. The emperor began to circle around the problem, which was to protect Zhang Cong. I was afraid that this matter would not go well.
In fact, some stupid young people will insist that there is a problem, but they are both veterans of officialdom and will never dig this hole for themselves, and they do not understand the specific situation. What if it happens? How can you express your position indiscriminately in front of the emperor?
"Replying to the emperor, I don't know much about those three people. Whether there are any specific problems will be revealed later. It's just that Zhang Cong acted recklessly and too fiercely. This is not a move for the sake of the country. Please let the emperor know clearly."
"Since you can't figure it out, then go and find out. It's normal for courtiers to have disagreements, but I have my own reasons for using Zhang Cong. You can't see the way he acts, so you want me to punish him. There must be a real crime, just like I did with the three people Zhang Cong wanted to take part in. The emperor acted with dignity and dignity. As for you saying that you think he is loyal and traitorous, I believe you are speaking of loyalty, but this is inconsistent with Whether you use him or not is not the same thing."
The implication is, you two can't just withdraw whoever you ask me to withdraw, right?
Wang Hao and Yang Tinghe have calmed down, and it seems that this scene will have to be longer.
In fact, if the officials of the Ming Dynasty really want to investigate his crime, they must first focus on the crime of corruption, and basically check it accurately. So sometimes Zhu Houzhao would turn a blind eye.
But there are some things that cannot be weighed even if they are not weighed. They cannot be weighed even if they weigh a thousand pounds.
If the imperial court wanted to implement the land clearing order in Jiangnan, how could it be possible without making some preparations in advance? Any of these local chief officials who had objections from their superiors had been touched in the past six months.
In this way, it is just to kill people to clear the way.
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However, the influence of Jiangnan is deeply intertwined and deep-rooted. It is not limited to the influence of the elders and the officialdom. The powerful families in various places themselves are also the foundation of the imperial court. In fact, it can be said that this is the case.
In other words, some scholars warned the emperor not to touch the foundation of the country. This sentence is true.
Because according to the traditional concept, taxes in Jiangnan account for nearly half of the annual income, and the tax collection mechanism of the Ming Dynasty relied heavily on these people who had some influence in the local area.
There is a classic saying by Mr. He in "Iron Teeth and Bronze Teeth Ji Xiaolan". The word "official" has two mouths. Only when you feed the upper mouth can you feed the lower mouth.
For thousands of years, ordinary people have been unwilling to pay taxes, but how many dozens of tax collectors can there be in a county, even if all the "Kuaizhuangzao Third Class Yamen" are included?
Therefore, tax collection in the Ming Dynasty can be understood as being 'outsourced'.
Under the tax quota system, every official in the prefecture and county is under pressure to pay taxes. You are facing a tax quota system, which means that no matter what method you adopt, you have to collect the taxes for the year.
Looking back, what can the county magistrate do?
Personally lead seven or eight policemen to collect taxes from door to door? If you encounter some cruel people, you may get together and beat them up. Don't say that our nation is not martial. It does not involve land, money and food.
Therefore, in most cases, local officials do not dare to completely break with the local wealthy families. Otherwise, if they secretly resist the tax, you, a mediocre official, will not be able to continue to be an official.
At the same time, wealthy families do not feel that they are the best in the world. Of course, they are still afraid of the government, so they always respect filial piety. This makes it easier for them to hide their fields, hide their sons, escape from service, etc. Not only that, but also in terms of their children's education, employment, etc. Seek convenience.
In this way, the two sides hit it off and took advantage of each other. This is how officials and gentry got together.
Therefore, the difficulty in implementing this matter lies in measuring the land of gentry, that is, measuring the land of officials. Once the surveyors arrive at the place, they will naturally encounter various resistances.
The day Jin Gui arrived in Nanjing was July 23rd, and he indeed brought the emperor's decree to Qingtian in the counties south of the Yangtze River. At that time, no one knew the emperor's subsequent moves.
It's just that Jin Gui didn't act like Zhang Cong. He still followed the normal path of the government and gradually advanced according to the official document issuance process.
In fact, they also act relatively cautiously.
In addition, of course he also went to the Duke of Wei's mansion. Unlike Duke Wei, the emperor 'threatened' him in private. At most, he only dared to hide, but did not dare to resist.
When the news spread, from Nanjing to Changzhou to Suzhou and Songjiang, countless people secretly spit in their faces.
And Jin Gui's real trouble soon came.
On July 26, the surveyor of Jiangning County reported that several local workers were deliberately provocative. They first provoked them by messing around, then provoked trouble, and then sent a petition to the county government. They spent several days just litigating the lawsuit. , when they really want to measure the land, they will obstruct it in every possible way in the name of lawsuit.
After all, surveyors are mostly scholars and scholars who failed to pass the Jinshi examination. They do this job because their families are short of money, so it will be difficult for them to achieve success in the future.
And these students, least of all, have officials in their families, are they still afraid of them?
On July 28, the magistrate of Yixing County, Changzhou Prefecture, reported again that the surveyors sent by the imperial court despised the government and went to the countryside to work, completely disregarding the dignity of the magistrate and the county. They acted as if they were imperial envoys and were extremely arrogant and domineering. As a result, both the big families and the common people in the county were If you don't like it, it will be extremely difficult to implement the Qingtian matter.
On August 1, the Zhenjiang Prefecture came to report again, simply saying that there were more than 400 local students including Liu Guangxi and other entangled classmates, publicly marching on the street, shouting slogans, and demanding a postponement of land clearing.
Because it was easy to get out the hidden land, they used this as an excuse to incite the people to resist the imperial surveyors, making it difficult to get out the land.
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Governor's Yamen.
Jing Shaokui could see that the imperial envoy's face was full of sadness. Faced with such objections, even the emperor's attendants must have felt a lot of pressure.
First of all, these people cannot be killed directly, and Jin Gui himself is a scholar. He has never thought of killing all the Jiangnan gentry. Then he will leave his infamy in the history books for eternity, and there must be a reason for killing, even though he can see these people He had ulterior motives, but he didn't commit any serious crimes on the surface, so why should he kill someone? It's not like he has the final say in this world.
"Sir, why don't we call all these people here like Yang Ge did when he was in Shandong?" Jing Shaokui suggested.
Jin Gui felt the same, "The clearing of land is a national policy. Now, no matter how hard these people obstruct it, if they make the emperor angry, they will kill millions of people. Originally, I thought I had emphasized it clearly, but now it seems that I still have to say it face to face. Every state has to say it face to face." It’s understandable that the county has difficulties, but the government wants to do everything possible to advance this matter, rather than going to court all day long to ask for a delay.”
"Then I will give the order immediately."
Jin Gui pinched his fingers. He was not an incompetent person who didn't understand at all. "If that doesn't work, we still have to use thunder to shock them. Jiangning County is close, and those who are causing trouble have to be frightened." , if scaring them doesn’t work, then we can only arrest them.”
In fact, the students in Jiangning are indeed confident that they are not afraid of these surveyors. They rely on their schemes to succeed, and it doesn't matter even if they lose the lawsuit.
Not only that, but someone else said at that gathering place of literati, "Have you heard? The emperor has decreed to choose a good place outside the capital and build a large palace to escape the summer heat. It is true that God has no mercy on the living people, so this is stable. In the past few years, there has been a lot of construction work!”
"Brother Zhao, please be careful. It concerns the Emperor. If word of this gets out, it will be a crime of beheading!"
"Oh, I not only want to say it here, but also die for my article! In today's world, we have been considered wise for several years, but now we use traitors to stir up chaos in the south of the Yangtze River, and we want to build large-scale construction projects. This is a sign of chaos! Man, read According to the book of sages, the world should be put first, and death means death, so what is there to fear?"
