Wu Wanggeng?
The descendant of the Pu family in Quanzhou who was led by his own troops to massacre his entire family?
Zhu Yunxuan remembered that he was originally a wealthy businessman in Suzhou.
Liu Hanmo saluted again and said seriously: "I heard that Xu Dongjiang, the prefect of Jiaxing, once refused to open the city gate and put His Highness Taisun in danger. However, His Highness Taisun did not take it seriously. When he returned to Beijing this time, he took him with him. This shows that Taisun Your Highness is broad-minded, if not, even the lower officials would not dare to say these words today."
The purpose of taking him back is to accuse others of their crimes, and then chop off his head!
Zhu Yunxian didn't say this.
He was still waiting for Liu Hanmo to reveal the truth to him.
Zhu Yunxuan smiled and said: "Political affairs have their own public opinions, how can they be misunderstood because of personal hatred? Magistrate Liu, please speak frankly."
Liu Hanmo no longer hesitated.
"Although Wu Wanggeng is a descendant of the Pu family in Quanzhou, he hid it very well. When he was in Suzhou, he was very kind and charitable, and everyone praised him for his kindness. Many people have a very good friendship with him."
"When the Wu Wanggeng incident occurred, the imperial court ordered a strict investigation. Many of his former close friends were implicated. There were many who were imprisoned and convicted and had their property confiscated."
"The wealthy businessmen in Suzhou City have also lost a lot because of this."
Killing Lian was a common method used by the Ming Dynasty.
If something happens to Wu Wanggeng, not only his clan members, but also his former friends and people who have dealings with him in the business world will be involved, whether they know about it or not.
Under strict investigation, the skin will be peeled off even if he is dead.
Zhu Yunxun didn't think deeply about this.
In his opinion, it was enough to kill Wu Wanggeng's entire family.
But Lao Zhu doesn’t see it that way.
How could Lao Zhu let him go so easily if he dared to assassinate his most beloved grandson?
Therefore, the imperial court sent officials to Suzhou to handle the case, and strictly investigated people in Suzhou who were related to Wu Wanggeng.
This kind of businessman has a wide network of contacts, and there are few wealthy businessmen in Suzhou who do not deal with him.
Although they are not very deep contacts, it is difficult to tell clearly when looking into them.
Zhu Yunzhen took a deep breath.
You really have to bear this responsibility yourself.
Whether he meant it or not, it all started with him.
"It is precisely because the case of Wu Wanggeng involved many people, and the increase in business taxes and the opening of business qualifications, which also dealt a big blow to those wealthy businessmen, that they took the risk and did not hesitate to secretly fight with the Japanese pirates. Collusion.”
"While subsidizing the Japanese pirates with huge sums of money, they also created connections for them, causing Zhang Shicheng's old men, private salt dealers and other rebels to collude with the Japanese pirates and work together, which resulted in the disaster of Songjiang Prefecture being occupied by the Japanese pirates."
Liu Hanmo said: "After that, Taisun Palace ordered Liang Guogong Lan Yu to be the vanguard, leading three thousand soldiers and horses, and came to Suzhou to take charge."
"On the one hand, it is to stabilize people's hearts; on the other hand, it is to make military preparations to pacify the Japanese pirates and prevent their attacks; on the other hand, it is to track down the wealthy businessmen of Suzhou who secretly funded the Japanese pirates."
Zhu Yunzhen nodded slightly.
These people dare to collude with the Japanese pirates and secretly support the Japanese pirates. Of course, they cannot be let go easily.
It is natural to pursue their crimes.
"After all, there are only a few wealthy businessmen with malicious intentions who secretly support Japanese pirates, but they have committed a serious crime."
"Whenever one person is found, the people who associate with him will be investigated again. Even if he is unaware of it, he will be severely punished because of the close relationship."
Liu Hanmo smiled bitterly and said: "After this investigation, nine out of ten wealthy businessmen in Suzhou were involved. Countless people had their property confiscated, their fields confiscated, and their heads decapitated."
"The trading business they used to run has naturally stopped."
"There was no land in the first place, so the poor merchants and workers were forced to live on the streets and lost their source of livelihood. How could Suzhou not be in depression?"
Zhu Yunzhen was stunned when he heard this.
It turns out that in the end, the most critical reason turned out to be a series of involvements.
Wu Yigeng assassinated himself, and wealthy businessmen in Suzhou were implicated.
In desperation, he had no choice but to secretly support the Japanese pirates and collude with them in order to put pressure on the court to let him go.
As a result, it was discovered again, and not only was he dealt with, but also the people related to it, whether they knew it or not, were all implicated.
It's like a domino effect.
Most of the wealthy businessmen in Suzhou City were involved. No wonder Suzhou became so depressed.
Speaking of which, it all really happened because of myself.
Zhu Yunxuan scolded: "Lanyu is also willful and willful, and has implicated too many people. It should be stopped in moderation. How can he just ignore it and expand the scope of attack?"
Implications are very common in this era.
In a way, it has its positives.
For example, if an official in the family commits corruption, but the whole family benefits from it, there seems to be nothing wrong with paying the price collectively.
But once the involvement expands, many innocent people will be involved.
Several major cases during the Hongwu period were all like this.
But this was done intentionally by Lao Zhu, using "implication" to achieve his political goals.
And a comprehensive attack on Suzhou's wealthy businessmen...
Zhu Yunxuan had no such intention!
But he thought for a moment and understood immediately.
To outsiders, it seemed that the grandson was competing with these wealthy businessmen.
From increasing business taxes, to Wu Wanggeng’s assassination, to applying for tax certificates, opening up business qualifications...
The wealthy businessmen had a grudge against him, and Zhu Yunzhen was merciless in his revenge.
When it happened that wealthy businessmen secretly colluded with Japanese pirates, Lan Yu must have believed that these people came here for His Majesty Taisun.
Then he would help His Royal Highness Taisun "revenge" and attack them without mercy.
This can explain why all the big merchants in Suzhou are involved.
Liu Hanmo said: "The Duke of Liang originally wanted to please his grandson, but in addition, it was also because the imperial court spent too much and Songjiang Mansion was occupied. Putting down the Japanese pirate rebellion required a lot of military expenditures, and future reconstruction was indispensable. silver."
"The Duke of Liang took the opportunity to act, and he also had this intention."
"One more thing. In addition to wealthy businessmen, Suzhou Prefecture used to have excessive taxes and the people had no food to pay, so they owed a lot of taxes to the court."
"The cumulative amount owed amounts to more than eight million dan."
"After Liang Guogong came, he aggressively tracked down the taxes owed over the years and used them for military purposes."
"The people had no food to feed, so they took people in large numbers, so there were countless people fleeing, which is why it was so depressed."
Zhu Yunzhen had also heard about the fact that the Suzhou government owed a lot of taxes to the court.
On the one hand, the imperial court imposed heavy taxes on Suzhou, and on the other hand, Suzhou could not pay them, so it owed them.
This has long been an old problem.
Every time when the Suzhou magistrate takes office, the first thing he solves is the tax arrears.
But the problem of tax arrears in Suzhou has never been resolved.
On the contrary, it increases every year.
A little bit is owed every year, and a little bit is owed every year.
Over the years, it has become an astronomical figure.
If they were suddenly asked to pay all the taxes they had accumulated over the years, wouldn't that cost their lives?
Zhu Yunzhen also knew that Lan Yu had his difficulties.
The three armies have not moved, and the food and grass go first.
The daily expenditure on food and fodder for a 50,000-strong army is not a small amount.
If it is transported from Jinling, it is a long way, and the civilians who transport the food alone will have to collect hundreds of thousands, or even more.
The consumption on the road is also an astronomical figure.
The best way is, of course, to collect grain locally in Suzhou and solve it on the spot.
When the army arrives, the food has been collected, and there is no need to transfer food from Jinling.
It can not only save the court a lot of money, but also make the army advance faster.
Suzhou originally had taxes and grain arrears accumulated over the years, and it was logical to collect them on the spot.
But the price is not small.
Liu Hanmo suddenly knelt down.
"Your Highness, Suzhou has long-standing problems. If it is not solved, the people of Suzhou will not be able to survive."
"This city that has been prosperous for thousands of years will also become a barren land."
"Your Majesty, Liu Hanmo, hereby pleads for your life on behalf of the people, and also asks His Highness the Grand Sun to make decisions for the millions of people living in Suzhou, and to give the people of Suzhou a way to survive!"
(End of chapter)
