The Ming Dynasty’s Prodigal Son - Chapter 1739

[1739. Chapter 1654 Justice is in the heart of the people]

After all, they are scholars, and their minds are like mirrors. But for them, right and wrong are not important now. What is important is to make the court feel troublesome.

For example, this imperial envoy is a sure-fire crime. The reason why no one in Jiangnan can touch him is just because he still has the title of imperial envoy. But as for the imperial court…

the imperial court would let someone kill Zuo Fuduyu in Xiaoling in broad daylight. History person?

Therefore… this imperial envoy… must be punished by death.

Since this person’s crime has been proven conclusive, then… at this time, find a way to implicate Xishan Bank with this heinous person, and let people know that the two are colluding, then… Xishan Bank’s crime Not too small.

Now that everyone is making a fuss again, the court is bound to be in a dilemma. After all…if the court does not severely punish Xishan Bank, then there will inevitably be rumors that His Majesty is shielding the Duke of Qi and allowing the Duke of Qi to harm the people of Jiangnan. Or even…

could the court just Aren’t you worried about the huge consequences of the unstable public sentiment in Jiangnan?

But once…the imperial court takes pictures of the gentry in the south of the Yangtze River, the most likely result is that both sides will simply fight fifty times each. The imperial envoy is dead. The Duke of Qi is suspected of colluding with the imperial envoy, but at least there will be some punishment. Of course, This punishment may not be too big, but in order to appease the people of Jiangnan, the next step is to ask Xishan Bank to return the land…

In this way, everyone is happy.

Here in the south of the Yangtze River…there are many things like this. In fact, as early as the Chenghua period, there was a guarding eunuch who asked the gentry to pay taxes. The matter was so popular that the Jin Yiwei who suppressed him was thrown into the river and drowned. die.

The final result is that the law does not punish everyone, and the imperial court has fifty boards, and this matter… is considered a thing of the past.

Therefore, there was no longer a guard eunuch… and the idea was put on the gentry’s head.

Now this Xishan Bank is equivalent to the original guarding eunuch. At this time… it depends on whether everyone makes enough trouble.

What’s more, most people in the Nanjing Six Divisions are quite sympathetic to the gentry.

This is actually easy to understand. Which of the six Nanjing ministries is not from a gentry family? After taking office, will he have anything in common with ordinary people?

Of course not, because they had the same experience as the gentry, read the same books, and had some human interactions with each other. When the court abused the gentry in this way, it was actually abusing themselves.

It’s just… I can’t express my feelings for the time being. Some things still have to be done according to procedures and it needs to be fair.

The British Duke Zhang Mao was a straightforward person, so he immediately rushed to the Governor’s Mansion of the Fifth Army in Nanjing and was promoted to the throne.

Entering the city along the way, you can see the vast crowd of scholars, and the crowd is everywhere. People are mourning everywhere. These people are raising slaves and tenants in the countryside. They control the livelihood of many people. Every one of them is crying bitterly. Behind the gentry, there may be dozens or hundreds of common people attached to them.

Therefore… Zhang Mao couldn’t help but frown, thinking to himself, this Jiangnan gentry… is not easy to mess with.

Of course… He was still expressionless, but he couldn’t help but sneer in his heart… When

I brought my troops here, the first thing I encountered was such a thing. Is this an excuse to give him a blow?

After he was enthroned, a huge crowd of people gathered outside the Governor’s Mansion. It was very noisy and noisy. The soldiers who came with him wanted to drive away some of the people, but the crowd could not be driven away. Instead, the soldiers’ ranks dispersed.

The military attache who led the team did not dare to be driven away with a whip. No matter how simple his thinking was, he still knew that today’s matter was not simple. If these gentry and scholars were whipped away, it would definitely arouse public outrage and cause trouble. More, so I couldn’t help but wipe the sweat desperately, feeling extremely anxious.

Zhang Mao was naturally able to keep his composure. After all the officials from the six ministries sat down around him like stars holding the moon in their arms, he looked at Liu Yi, the Minister of Household Affairs, with a gentle look, and then said: “Mr. Liu, just now these people have Chen Zhiqing, Liu Gong is the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue and has been in Nanjing for a long time. What do you think?”

Liu Yi was obviously prepared in his mind and said immediately without thinking: “Since the Ming Dynasty, the tax rate in Jiangnan has been the highest. It’s heavy, but… the British prince knows that with such a heavy tax, the Jiangnan provinces have the fewest troops and horses stationed there. The imperial court has only a few dozen troops who are not enough to meet the quota, so the Jiangnan one hundred and five soldiers are not enough. In the past ten years, there has been long-term peace and stability. Is this because of… the gentry in the south of the Yangtze River? All of them are well-read poetry and loyal to the country. There are no people like this who have been crying and complaining for generations. He has experienced being punished by the imperial court and the government, and every family has a memorial arch awarded by the emperor or an official. If such a person… was not really forced into a desperate situation, how could he not even be polite and decent and cry out here? “

Zhang After listening, Mao fell into silence.

Shangshu is Shangshu. Such words, not to mention the right and wrong, the truth of the matter seems to be unimportant, but it is enough to make people sympathize with Qi Zhiyuan and others.

Zhang Mao was speechless. He was a rough man, and the only thing he had some sense of culture was to worship his ancestors on behalf of the emperor. At this time, after hearing Liu Yi’s sincere words, Zhang Mao’s face actually became much gentler.

At this time, Liu Yi continued: “As for the imperial envoy, he is a heinous person. Now people are saying that the imperial envoy is related to Xishan Bank. I did find out that the imperial envoy bought property in Beijing and took out a loan from Xishan Bank. A lot of money… He suddenly committed murder. The person who was killed had a clear name and was respected by people in Nanjing. The censor of Caodu was jealous of evil. He may have heard about the land invasion by Xishan Bank, and This imperial envoy… relied on the emperor’s orders to carry out such a vicious attack on him. The Duke… the right and wrong here are really difficult to distinguish, but… the lower official thought that there is no airtight wall in this world. , now the rumors outside must have some basis. The gentry and common people in the south of the Yangtze River all feel pity for the Censor of Caodu. The family members of the Censor of Caodu also arrived in Nanjing two days ago. Alas… I saw it with my own eyes. I was shocked. Hearing such bad news, I burst into tears, how pitiful I am to you.”

Liu Yi spoke, and the others nodded.

Zhang Mao kept a straight face, but thought in his heart, Jifan, you bastard has really caused me a lot of trouble.

He showed no expression on his face, and turned to say: “Have you invited the imperial envoy? Bring an extra team of people to prevent him from fleeing in fear of crime. Of course… Be polite along the way. He is the imperial envoy. No matter what it is, Tianda said It’s not a crime you can offend.”

Then, his face darkened, he turned around and said, “Gentlemen, please recommend a few people to come in. I will ask them personally.”

Liu Yi and others knew it. At this time… Zhang Mao probably knew it in his heart. Even if he was not biased towards Qi Zhiyuan and others, at least in order to prevent any trouble, he would definitely not wear the same pants as Qi Guogong.

Not long after, Qi Zhiyuan and seven or eight gentry walked in quickly. Without waiting for the courtesy, they all took the lead in bowing down and complaining.

Zhang Mao glanced at them with a solemn look on his face: “Okay, I will give you justice. You keep saying that Xishan Bank colluded with the imperial envoy to kill people. Is there any evidence?”

“Yes!” Qi Zhiyuan said one word neatly. , we have made such a fuss today, so we came prepared.

So he said loudly: “Cao Gong, the censor of Zuo Fudu, had told his family members before that Xishan Bank had repeatedly tried to bribe him so that he could turn a blind eye to Xishan Bank’s embezzlement of property. In one eye, Cao Gong was an upright man, so he tried his best to refuse and drove the person out with righteous words. However, he was worried in his heart. He once said to his second son that if Xishan Bank refused to submit, he would be punished. In order to murder him, he was the left deputy censor of the capital procuratorate, blocking their way of making money, but they didn’t know… what tricks the other party would use them to do. The Duke didn’t believe it, so he summoned Cao Gong’s second son… and he would know after asking. “

Zhang Mao had a gloomy face.

Honestly, what a crime.

This Cao Yuan people are all dead, it can be said that there is no evidence of death.

As for his second son’s testimony, it may not be acceptable.

But the problem is that…he is Cao Yuan’s son. Zhang Mao can not believe it, but will the soldiers and civilians in the world not believe it?

Zhang Mao then asked: “What is this man’s name?”

“My name is Cao Shang. He is outside, begging the Duke to make a decision for his father.”

“Summon him.”

Cao Shang came immediately, with a submissive look, and was cautious at first. He glanced at Qi Zhiyuan, then bowed down, and then cried: “My father died unjustly. He was killed by the imperial envoys colluded with the Xishan Bank. During his lifetime, my father fulfilled his duties faithfully and never made any negligence. Who would have thought that when he got old? , It’s a violent death, I beg the Duke to make the decision.”

He cried really hard, the sound of his cries shook the rubble, and people couldn’t help but sympathize with Cao Chang’s pain of losing his father.

…………

I caught a cold today, sorry for the late update.

(End of chapter)