Chapter 140: All chopped
Yin Qian couldn't help but be moved by his filial piety when he saw Gu Hanlin's son Gu Beixin crying so miserably. Of course, more importantly, he also knew that once the governor Wang Shouren was allowed to arrest the Jiangnan gentry so unscrupulously, it would not be a good thing for Jiangnan gentry like himself. .
Therefore, Yin Qian hurriedly helped Gu Beixin up in person: "Good boy, don't worry, I can't ignore your father's affairs! You go back first and prepare well for the exam. This matter will be left to me!"
Gu Beixin went back with great gratitude, and at this time, someone from Yin Qian came over: "Master, there is news from Jiangbei that the emperor has come to Jiangnan, saying that he wants to worship Xiaoling!"
"What! The emperor came to Jiangnan! What did the ministers in the court do? They let the emperor leave the palace and go south, and no one in the court dared to stop him! How ridiculous! The emperor came to Jiangnan, no matter what he did, it was not a good thing!"
Yin Qian couldn't help but sigh with emotion, and said to himself: "After Taizong moved north, no emperor came south again, in order not to harm the Jiangnan nobles and gain the respect of scholars. Now, your majesty suddenly went south. It is really absurd and foolish." Your Majesty! No wonder the ten clans of gentry were killed, and even Yang Tinghe harmed Mr. Wang!”
Of course, Yin Qian could only say this in his heart. He could not stop the emperor from coming to Jiangnan. Moreover, he could not turn a blind eye and even took the initiative to greet him. But because of this, he thought of Gu Xian and other governor Wang Shouren to arrest him. He wanted to rely on his status as a high official to influence the government and intimidate the local officials in Jiangnan, so he hurriedly asked:
"Get ready quickly. When your Majesty comes to Nanjing, he will definitely pass by Dan Tu, and I will go to greet him then!"
……
Zhu Houzhao and his party did stop when they arrived at Dantu, preparing to go to Nanjing by land.
At this time, Yin Qian also led a group of officials and gentry to wait here for a long time. When he saw Zhu Houzhao appearing, he immediately shouted long live the mountain. The gongs and drums were loud, and the salutes were deafening, which was very lively.
Zhu Houzhao also saw Yin Qian, but he didn't have much impression of Hongzhi's early ministers. After all, he was still young at the time. Therefore, he could only ask Ma Wensheng, the chief minister: "Who is this person?"
"Reporting to Your Majesty, this person is Yin Qian, the Minister of Household Affairs who became an official in the fifth year of Hongzhi. The old Minister has always received great favor from the emperor. Now he must have known that you are coming to Jiangnan, so he is here to welcome you."
Ma Wensheng replied.
Zhu Houzhao just smiled slightly when he saw this, but in his heart he felt that Yin Qian was so diligent for other reasons. But no matter what, now, Zhu Houzhao could not refuse Yin Qian's kindness. When he saw that Yin Qian was about to salute him, he hurriedly shouted "Free" and asked:
"How is your health, Lao Shangshu?"
"Back to Your Majesty, I am still in good health. Now that I heard that Your Majesty is visiting Dantu, I came here to greet you. Now that it is getting late, I dare to ask Your Majesty to come down to your humble abode," Yin Qian said.
"It's rare for the old minister to have kind words, I'm sure!"
Zhu Houzhao also wanted to see what kind of medicine Yin Qian was selling in the gourd, so he agreed and asked Yin Qian to personally guide him.
And Yin Qian also took this opportunity to say in front of Zhu Houzhao: "Your Majesty is busy with many things, and you still take the time to come to the capital to worship Taizu. It shows that your Majesty is benevolent and filial, but your Majesty does not know something. Some officials are not aware of your majesty's benevolence, such as this Nannan." As soon as Wang Shouren, the governor of Zhili Province, came to Jiangnan, he became arrogant and restrained the gentry, causing widespread resentment among the people! "
Zhu Houzhao stopped following Yin Qian and glanced at Yin Qian, thinking that this old minister really had a purpose.
When Yin Qian saw Zhu Houzhao stopped, he hurriedly asked: "Your Majesty, why did you stop suddenly?"
Zhu Houzhao smiled coldly and asked Yin Qian: "Yin Shangshu, are you a minister in the court or a minister who has become an official?"
"What do you mean by your Majesty's words? I have been here for more than ten years!" Yin Qian replied.
"You know you have been adopted, so why do you still dare to interfere with the government's affairs, slander me, and judge the ministers in the government without authorization?!"
Zhu Houzhao asked coldly, and then said: "Someone has come, confiscated Yin Qian's mansion, lost his family property, and sent his family members to Dongfan!"
Yin Qian was shocked. He was just about to explain that he criticized the courtiers because he could not sit back and watch the virtuous gentry being detained at will. But now he did not expect that His Majesty would raid his home before he finished speaking. Answer and asked: "Your Majesty! What is my crime?!"
"Your Majesty, Mr. Yin is also a veteran minister. Although he does not discuss government affairs, he is probably invited by others. I hope your Majesty will forgive his guilt!"
Ma Wensheng, the chief minister of the cabinet, began to persuade him at this time.
Zhu Houzhao snorted: "Rare? Why?
Today, he, a minister of household affairs who has become an official, can use his status to slander courtiers and interfere with government affairs in front of me;
In the future, his Yin Qian's children and grandchildren's slaves will be able to rely on their status as Yin Qian's descendants to confuse right and wrong in front of officials and abuse the people! Now that you have retired and returned to your hometown, you should take good care of yourself in old age. Who gave you the power to slander the court officials! Intent to influence government affairs! If you are not punished this time, the officials in Southern Zhili will definitely think that the officials and gentry returning home here must not be messed with!
For this reason, we must also be severely punished!
But because of your old age, hang yourself, lest you continue to cause trouble to your hometown in the future! ”
"Your Majesty! I am just begging for mercy. I hope your Majesty will forgive me!"
Yin Qian never thought that he was just using his status as an official and gentry to comment on the matter in front of Zhu Houzhao, so as to persuade the emperor not to let Wang Yangming treat the Jiangnan gentry so roughly. However, he did not expect that the emperor Zhu Houzhao would be even more ruthless. He had just published As soon as he expressed his opinions, he wanted to confiscate his home on the grounds that he interfered with government affairs, and even forced himself to hang himself!
This is simply more cruel than Wang Shouren, the governor of Southern Zhili!
But Zhu Houzhao still did not spare Yin Qian lightly.
Because Zhu Houzhao knew that these gentry in Jiangnan relied on their own privileges to dare to run rampant in the countryside and dig up the foundation of the Ming Dynasty, and rural officials like Yin Qian were the representatives of these gentry, and could even be said to be the most privileged and emboldened. They could even directly use their power in the court to threaten the government and even the emperor, so Zhu Houzhao had to teach Yin Qian a lesson. He wanted the officials and gentry throughout Jiangnan to understand the consequences of interfering with government affairs.
Yin Qian finally chose to hang himself, but what Zhu Houzhao didn't expect was that his people confiscated nearly five million taels of cash from Yin Qian's home, and a lot of it was Western silver, which shows that the Yin Qian family also made money from sea trade. Got a lot of money.
Zhu Houzhao had to admit that although he had not yet opened the sea, these Jiangnan gentry seemed to have begun to enjoy the benefits of maritime trade, because in Zhu Houzhao's impression, it was these Jiangnan officials who confiscated the most silver. The amount of silver is three or four times that of Liu Jian, Li Dongyang, etc.
This is such a terrible thing. Most of the gold and silver of an empire is controlled by the Jiangnan gentry plutocrats, which means that this group can control the world!
……
Zhu Houzhao didn't know how rich Jiangnan was, but he knew that the Ming Dynasty was still the richest country in the world. Most of the wealth of the Ming Dynasty was still concentrated in Jiangnan. If he did not control the wealth of Jiangnan, he would not be able to control the entire Ming Dynasty, and he would not be able to mobilize external forces. war.
The important purpose of Zhu Houzhao's trip south this time is to ensure his legal income in Jiangnan, and not to let this extremely rich land become a tax avoidance paradise for the gentry group!
For this reason, he brought here this time Ma Wensheng, the chief minister of the cabinet, and Liu Jin, the chief minister of etiquette, and other central officials, in order to control Jiangnan in a short period of time and express the presence of the central court to the gentry in the south of the Yangtze River.
"From now on, you will immediately take over the government affairs of the southern provinces, especially Southern Zhili, such as taxation, soldiers, money and grain, etc., and at the same time immediately start a new plan;
Since Taizong still retains the Nanjing status of Jinling, it cannot just be used as a place for retirement, and the southern Zhili area must be re-evaluated! Those who default on taxes should be recovered by Governor Wang Shouren. Those who have committed crimes and failed to meet the standards will be dismissed! ”
After Zhu Houzhao said that, Ma Wensheng, Liu Jin, Wang Shu and others immediately went to the Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of Husbandry and the Ministry of War in Nanjing.
At this time, Wang Yangming also obtained the results of his interrogation. He also followed the clues and uncovered the water bandits entrenched near Zhenjiang and the pirate nests in Chongming County. He even obtained a lot of new evidence, and Wang Yangming was not polite. Even if you find out one and arrest the other!
On this day, shortly after Zhu Houzhao arrived in Nanjing, he asked Wang Yangming: "Have all these Jiangnan gentry who committed crimes confessed now?"
"Reporting to Your Majesty, they have all confessed. They were all very cowardly. They were all recruited right after they were sentenced. Now we have arrested nearly fifty gentry, but they are official people after all. How to deal with them, Your Majesty? Purpose.”
"They were all beheaded, and their family members were exiled three thousand miles to Yunnan and Guizhou to reclaim wasteland! The other main culprits were executed by breaking a chariot into pieces! To serve as a warning to others!"
Zhu Houzhao ordered.
"Obey!"
Wang Yangming responded, and immediately followed Zhu Houzhao's instructions. Early the next morning, he ordered Juesheng Guards to escort all the Jiangnan gentry who had colluded with water bandits and pirates, as well as the captured water bandits and pirates, to Nanjing City. On the door, prepare to execute these people in front of the whole city!
However, the first offender Yuan Zhongan owed a heavy blood debt to the tax bureau, so he would naturally be severely punished.
Yuan Zhongan himself did not expect that in less than half a year, he would be executed by car-breaking because of this incident. What he did not expect was that secretly instigating water bandits and pirates to make profits for himself, a gentry in the south of the Yangtze River, would one day lead to his being executed. Execute!
Gu Xiantong did not expect that he would also die at the hands of his so-called nephew Wang Shouren. He couldn't help but cursed: "Wang Yun, how dare you do this to the Jiangnan gentry! You will not die well in the future! You are going to fight with the whole world. The gentry breaks up! You are betraying the scholars! Your Majesty will be shamed because of you!"
Seeing this, Wang Shouren was too lazy to pay attention. He only knew in his heart that the current Ming Dynasty belonged to his own era, not an era where these Jiangnan gentry continued to enjoy privileges.
Wang Shouren, the governor of Southern Zhili, threw away his command arrow and shouted: "Behead!"
Immediately, there was the sound of beheading with knives.
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