Jiajing Chengming

Chapter 108: Corpses are spread all over the land, and tax soldiers enter Qufu!

Shandong.

After Shu Sheng received Zhu Houcong's secret decree, he immediately came to see Cai Tianyou: "Did you receive the secret decree?"

Cai Tianyou nodded: "I will take the food to Qufu immediately and cooperate with the public action!"

"This time, the Kong family failed to get rid of me by causing a big disturbance in the government office, so they must be unwilling to accept it. We can use this as an excuse."

Shu Sheng also nodded: "I will mobilize the troops right away, and when the troops and food arrive, we will start the battle directly in Qufu!"

Cai Tianyou didn't say anything else, just frowned and looked at the distant sky.

although.

He and Shu Sheng decided to act closely in accordance with the emperor's will.

but.

In fact, they were still unsure about attacking powerful families like the Kong family.

because.

They knew that suppressing the powerful families had never been an easy task since ancient times.

The bureaucrats who carry out this task are often held accountable later.

After all, the world's current situation is always unpredictable.

It's not that the east wind prevails over the west wind.

The west wind prevails over the east wind.

Now, the imperial court wants to suppress the powerful, but who knows, in the future the imperial court may be controlled by the powerful and become a tool for them to settle accounts with these people.

and so.

Cai Tianyou has such concerns.

Seeing this, Shu Sheng also knew what Cai Tianyou was worried about, so he advised:

"Don't think too much, sir. This is not up to you or me."

"If you listen to the court, you may die;"

"But if you don't obey the court, you will definitely die!"

"Things in this world are beyond your and my control."

"Just know how to do good things, don't ask about the future!"

"Of course I understand. No matter what, if the Ming Dynasty can be revived, it will be beneficial to the family. What is the value of a personal life?"

Cai Tianyou replied.

Shu Sheng nodded and smiled.

boom!
Let’s talk.

When Kong Wenshao learned that Shu Sheng, the military governor, had killed his family members, he was so angry that he slammed the table and stood up.

Wang Xu, who had come to the Confucius Mansion to tell him about this, said, "You don't have to be so angry. This matter is related to the fact that your family members and friends have no respect for the law."

"A military officer is so arrogant?"

Kong Wenshao asked, still a little angrily.

"As long as someone above him lets him be arrogant, he can be arrogant!"

Wang Xu couldn't help but say something.

Subsequently.

He also advised Kong Wenshao: "Sir, don't go against the court anymore!"

"Although I don't know what other options the court has, I can be sure that if you continue like this, there will be no benefit!"

"The Emperor has invited me to the capital to attend the grand ceremony of visiting the Imperial Academy!"

"It's clear that you have no intention of pursuing our Kong family!"

"How could there be anything else on your mind?"

Kong Wenshao asked in confusion.

Wang Xu smiled bitterly and said, "Who knows?"

“Perhaps the people above are fighting each other, but now the knives are all slashing towards Shandong!”

"Don't forget the example of Lianghuai. Since His Majesty has asked you to come to the capital, you'd better go there as soon as possible!"

"At least this way, the knife won't hit the public!"

Wang Xu actually didn't know what the emperor was thinking.

But he knew that if he wanted to protect his career and life, he could only take the initiative to help the emperor summon Kong Wenshao to the capital.

So, he took the initiative to deceive Kong Wenshao and told him that as long as he obeyed and went to Beijing, everything would be fine.

"But I have already filed a complaint claiming to be ill!"

"Now we can only send my son to Beijing to find out the truth."

Kong Wenshao replied.

then.

Kong Wenshao looked at Wang Xu and said, "However, if the Zhongcheng wants to avoid being hit by this knife, he should submit a petition to plead for Xiong Yushi and impeach Shu Sheng for slaughtering the people!"

"This one……"

Wang Xu was quite hesitant.

Kong Wenshao sneered and said, "I am not begging the Zhongcheng to do this, but suggesting that the Zhongcheng should do this!"

"What do you mean by that, sir?"

Wang Xu couldn't help but ask in a deep voice.

Kong Wenshao said, "Why does the Minister ask so many questions?"

“Whether it’s the emperor or the prime minister, if they want to stir up trouble in Shandong, our Kong family must protect our position and show the world that no one can shake the position of our Northern Kong family!”

"Even if the imperial court really wants to use the Southern Kong family to replace us to prove its own power."

"We, the Northern Sect Kong Clan, must spare no effort to prove to the court that the Southern Sect is not the Northern Sect after all, and cannot replace the Northern Sect!"

"And the imperial court should not wishfully believe that the Southern School can replace the Northern School."

After Kong Wenshao said this, Wang Xu stood up on the spot:
"Do you really have to fight the court to the end?!"

Kong Wenshao said: "I don't want to fight, it's the court that forces me to fight!"

"Ever since the Grand Ceremony was set to not recognize Emperor Xiaozong as the Emperor, the higher-ups have been going against the wishes of the people of the world!"

"The imperial court has no intention of stopping or giving up. What can we do?"

"Does the Duke really want my Northern Sect to give up everything?"

"I am willing to give in, but are my tribesmen willing to give in?!"

Kong Wenshao continued to speak, gritting his teeth. "You guys!"

Wang Xu fainted immediately.

Seeing this, Kong Wenli hurriedly shouted:

"Zhongcheng has fainted, help him inside to rest!"

"Also, call the doctor in the mansion immediately!"

Kong Wenshao still gritted his teeth. After Wang Xu was carried away by Kong's servants, he told Kong Wenli:

"Wang Xu is an unreliable person. You must go to the capital immediately and contact our people in the capital to put pressure on the court in the name of impeaching Shu Sheng and saving Censor Xiong!"

Kong Wenli bowed and said yes.

then.

Kong Wenshao then summoned Kong Chengzhen, the magistrate of Qufu, and told him about what Wang Xu had told him.

"It is a petty dynasty after all!"

"Why do you have to be so fussy?"

"As a vassal king, the new emperor is more petty."

After hearing what Kong Wenshao said, Kong Chengzhen couldn't help but chuckle and said, "But he is petty, and our Kong family is not a soft persimmon. The ministers in the court would not really want to see the new emperor manipulate our Kong family at will, right?"

"They are all sensible people, so they won't do that!"

"But they won't really do anything for our Kong family."

Kong Wenshao replied.

Kong Chengzhen nodded: "I have received news about where Cai Tianyou will be inspecting next, and I have ordered people to do it. Once this person is gone, it will definitely cause a small shock in the court! Let the court know that if this matter is not stopped, more officials will die."

"That alone is not enough."

"The trade routes along the canal will be cut off!"

"The canal transportation will also be cut off."

"In addition, all the shops under our name will go on strike, and all the strong men under our control who work as porters and boatmen at the docks will go on strike!"

"The most important thing is to prevent the Southern Sect from actually reaching the capital, so we need to send people to keep a close eye on each checkpoint."

"I have sent Wen Li to the capital to make arrangements. I will also go to the capital soon to show my skills to the world."

"Let the world know that it is not my Kong family that refuses to compromise, but it is the imperial court's military governor Shu Sheng who has been corrupt, perverted the law, and slaughtered and plundered without restraint in Shandong, which is why the people are extremely resentful!"

Kong Wen Shao said.

Kong Chengzhen nodded: "I'll arrange it myself!"

As Kong Chengzhen said this, he left the Yansheng Mansion and headed towards the Qufu County Government Office.

But after Kong Chengzhen arrived at the county government office, he began to arrange for servants to pretend to be thieves to rob merchants and travelers, and to stop ships to prevent the Southern School Kong family from coming to Beijing.

but.

One day a few days later.

As Kong Chengzhen was heading towards the county government office, he saw a large number of archers shooting the servants he had sent out to rob merchants.

"put!"

Kong Chengzhen also saw with his own eyes a large number of arrows shot from teams of archers, which defeated the servants he had sent out and left corpses all over the ground.

And at the same time.

There were even archers surrounding his county government office.

Kong Chengzhen couldn't help but be shocked.

"He is Kong Chengzhen, the magistrate of Qufu!"

"Take him down!"

At this time.

Shu Sheng also came on horseback, escorted by a team of cavalry, and pointed at Kong Chengzhen.

The militia archers trained by Shu Sheng all raised their bows and aimed at Kong Chengzhen. At the same time, two garrison officers who were the leaders of the archers also walked towards Kong Chengzhen.

original.

Because the Liu Liu and Liu Qi uprising took place during the Zhengde period and affected Shandong, a military preparation department was set up to train civilian archers. They were all under the control of a military officer and were sent back to their hometowns after the suppression of the bandits was over.

And now.

Zhu Houcong also asked Shu Sheng to recruit more militia archers.

Therefore, these militia archers who had been dismissed and sent back to their hometowns were called together again and became Shu Sheng's main force to deal with the Kong family.

At this time, Kong Chengzhen had been escorted to Shu Sheng by officers from two guard posts under Shu Sheng's command.

After Kong Chengzhen came to Shu Sheng, he asked, "What is Bingxian going to do?"

"Your clan member Kong Chengsi has confessed that you were the one who ordered him to murder an official of the imperial court, and His Majesty has already issued an order that you often collude with bandits, so you will be arrested and taken to the capital to be punished!"

Shu Sheng said.

Kong Chengzhen was shocked when he heard this.

Subsequently.

Kong Chengzhen said loudly: "The military magistrate should advise the court not to treat our Kong family like this, otherwise Shandong's tax grain will be difficult to collect. Why do you still obey such an order and do things that are detrimental to the safety of the country?!"

"You don't have to worry about that."

"The people from the tax camp have arrived!"

Shu Sheng said with a smile.

At this time.

A team of armored soldiers wearing armbands with the word "tax" on them came over, led by Mou Bin.

As soon as Mou Bin arrived at the county government office, he gave these instructions to the soldiers of the tax camp:

"Immediately follow the old tax collector of our team and go to the treasury to copy the tax and service list and collect taxes according to the list."

"Especially the big households listed as exempt from taxation in the white book. They should be sorted by the amount of tax arrears, and those with the most arrears should be collected first!"

"Yes!"

then.

This team of armored soldiers rushed into the Qufu County Government Office with muskets and abacus.

Seeing this, the clerks and servants of the Qufu County Government dared not resist and just hid away.

"Tax camp?"

Kong Chengzhen was very puzzled.

(End of this chapter)