Jiajing Chengming

Chapter 148: The army invaded Nanzhi, and the end of the Jiangnan gentry came! (Subscribe)

May 17th, the first year of the Jiajing reign.

Jinshanwei.

The sky was just beginning to turn pale.

A large number of laborers carried goods and came to the seaport where many large ships were docked.

"hurry up!"

The pirates gathered here were also urging these civilians to quickly move the goods onto the big ship.

Because they had to rush to ship these commercial goods to Japan for sale before the end of July.

This was the benefit given to them by the Nanzhi gentry.

Because these commercial goods are all discounted by half, these pirates will be able to make more money in Japan.

but.

at this time.

The Yongwei Battalion also disguised themselves as local pirates or militiamen, and quietly came by boat from the direction of Liangzhuang, Jiaxing, or from the direction of Zhujing Town.

The Yongwei Camp was the elite force selected by Zhu Houcong from the original Yongshi Camp. They had practiced water battles in the Taiye Lake in the Forbidden Courtyard and were quite versatile, so they were no strangers to things like going ashore by boat.

and……

The vanguard of the Yongwei Camp had already occupied all the important roads without anyone noticing, and also eliminated the scouts on each road.

By the time the pirates of Jinshanwei discovered that the main force of the Yongwei Camp appeared on a giant ship, hundreds of cavalrymen were already galloping towards them from all directions, shouting loudly, "Kneel down and I won't kill you."

Gu Xueyan, the cousin of Gu Dingchen, who was talking with Jinshanwei Captain Guo Jie, student Qian Zhide, and the pirate leader Min, was so shocked when he saw this scene that he lost all his courage.

Guo Jie was relatively calm, but he couldn't help but complain: "Such superb riding skills, such a good warhorse, could it be that some government troops are imitating our Jinshan Guards to pretend to be pirates?"

"From Jiaxing, Zhejiang!"

"This shows that the Zhejiang gentry have no intention of giving up!"

The pirate leader, Chief Min, said.

Qian Zhide said: "How is it possible! How could they really break off completely with our Nanzhi nobles just for a few lowly local villagers!"

Gu Xueyan said with trembling teeth: "It's not impossible. They may wish that we would break with our Nanzhi nobles and unite with the nobles in Jiangxi, Fujian and other places."

"Kneel down first."

As Gu Xueyan said this, he knelt down on the deck.

Guo Jie and Qian Zhide also knelt down.

"Kneel down!"

Chief Min cursed, drew his sword, jumped off the boat, and was ready to lead the pirates to fight the government troops.

But as soon as he rushed over, the infantrymen of the Guards who had already landed knocked him to the ground with their muskets and captured him alive.

After Zhou Shangwen landed, these pirates had been basically wiped out, and hundreds of them were captured alive.

A large amount of raw silk and cotton cloth provided by the Nanzhi nobles to these pirates also fell into the hands of the Yongwei Camp, including the bill of lading receipts.

Shortly after.

Zhou Shangwen also learned from his officer Li Bing that Gu Dingchen's family was in collusion with these pirates, so he asked Li Bing to lead the infantry to stay here, while he personally led the cavalry, took off his outer clothes, revealing the official army armor, and galloped to Kunshan, Suzhou. After arriving in Kunshan, he took out the secret decree and forced the Kunshan County Magistrate to open the city gate on his own initiative.

then.

Zhou Shangwen led his troops to surround Gu's house.

When Zhou Shangwen led the cavalry from Jinshanwei to Songjiang and Suzhou, he attracted the attention and panic of the gentry in Nanzhi.

Many Nanzhi nobles gathered with their relatives and friends to discuss why so many cavalry suddenly appeared in their area, and they were obviously elite troops who were good at fighting and had strict military discipline.

Upon hearing the news, Yingtian Governor Wu Tingju immediately rushed over from Nanjing.

Ma Lu, the imperial censor of Nanzhi, also rushed over from Zhenjiang.

The Nanzhi nobles also began to worry whether the sudden appearance of these troops was related to the fact that a large family on their side had sent pirates who were friendly with their Nanzhi nobles to invade Yuyao, Zhejiang, and destroy Wang Yangming's entire family.

Therefore, many Nanzhi nobles also began to write letters to their sons who were officials in Beijing, asking them if there were any new developments in Beijing and when the court suddenly sent troops to Nanzhi.

And in the capital half a month later.

Zhu Houcong was visiting the Imperial College accompanied by the new Duke of Yansheng, Kong Chengxian, to express his emphasis on education.

This is an action that must be performed after the new emperor ascends the throne.

Naturally, many of the top officials from the Hanlin Academy, the Ministry of Rites, the Imperial College, the Censorate, and the Six Ministries had to accompany them to the Imperial College.

But at this time, the officials who came from the Nanzhi aristocratic families did not know that Zhu Houcong had asked Zhou Shangwen to go to Jinshanwei in Nanzhi instead of Yuyao, Zhejiang.

All they knew was that the emperor was worried that the local government troops in Zhejiang could not suppress the local pirates, so he sent out his elite mobile troops in the imperial court - the Yongwei Battalion.

Therefore, because the officials from Nanzhi knew that the pirates in Yuyao would evacuate early according to the orders of their own Nanzhi gentry, they simply thought that the emperor's sending of official troops to Yuyao would only be a bluff and return empty-handed.

For this reason, when Tao Zhongfu came to the Imperial College, he smiled and asked his classmate Huang Kai: "Do you think that General Zhou will be furious when he knows that he will return empty-handed?"

"I think not only General Zhou will be furious, but His Majesty himself will be furious too."

Huang Kai also responded with a smile, and said: "After all, His Majesty hopes that our General Zhou can make meritorious contributions."

"Yes, His Majesty really loves the people like his own children. He even sent his most loyal brave guards to Zhejiang to help suppress the pirates. But I'm afraid he still doesn't know that these pirates have already withdrawn in advance."

Tao Zhongfu said with emotion.

Huang Kai nodded with a sneer on his face:
"So, although our emperor is scheming, he is still young after all. He thinks he can control all the officials in the world, but he doesn't know that if he does nothing, he is still high above and people dare not disrespect him. But if he does something, he will be ridiculed by officials in the world, and people will see his stupidity!"

"That's right!"

"And Mr. Gu and his men have a new plan because the Yongwei Camp is heading south. That is to make up some charges against the Yongwei Camp's fellow villagers who pass by along the way, saying that the Yongwei Camp has corrupted military discipline and bullied the people and abused the soldiers."

"Especially in Yuyao, Zhejiang, many innocent people died this time, so we can frame them and say they killed innocent people for the credit." "Let Zhou Shangwen know that if he doesn't know how to treat scholars and officials with courtesy, he will not have a good reputation."

Tao Zhongfu smiled and talked about the Nanzhi nobles' plot to harm the Yongwei Camp.

Huang Kai smiled and said, "This may force His Majesty to be more cautious in sending troops south in the future!"

"Yes, in the name of the people, your majesty dare not use force against the South easily, which is a blessing for the people of the South!"

Tao Zhongfu echoed.

Let’s talk.

The Nanzhi gentry intended to make the Yongwei Camp led by Zhou Shangwen bear the crime of oppressing the people and corrupting military discipline.

Because the Nanzhi gentry did not want the emperor to easily send his own troops south.

After all, this means that imperial power began to extend.

Unless a large-scale Japanese invasion occurred as in history, the Nanzhi gentry and even the large landowners and bureaucrats in the entire south would be forced to support the emperor in dispatching troops south to destroy the Japanese.

In fact, it was not just the Nanzhi gentry who were unwilling to let the emperor send troops south.

In fact, the entire southern gentry were not very willing to let the emperor send troops south, and to send their own personal troops south.

Because the South has been regarded by the southern gentry as their independent territory.

However, this time there was a pirate rebellion in Zhejiang, and the emperor had legitimate reasons to send troops south to assist, so no one could directly dissuade him. They hoped that this method would prevent the emperor from sending troops south in the future.

of course.

When Zhejiang Governor Sun Run and Provincial Inspector He Yue reported to the capital that the pirates had been repelled and killed in large numbers, many civil officials also petitioned the emperor to transfer them back to the Yongwei Camp.

Zhu Houcong adopted the approach of keeping it in the palace and not issuing it.

The court officials thought that Zhu Houcong was unwilling to believe the governor's statement that Yuyao had not been conquered, so he deliberately stayed in the center to delay, so they just kept submitting suggestions and urging the emperor to recall the Yongwei Camp.

Back to the topic.

There was a long-established procedure for the emperor's visit to the Imperial College, so Zhu Houcong did not have much freedom to play.

After all, most bureaucrats essentially didn't want the emperor to express his political ideas in the Imperial College, or to select a few particularly outstanding students from the Imperial College and promote them as exceptions to become drivers of reform. So they had already taken strict precautions in this regard, and stipulated every procedure for the emperor's visit to the Imperial College into specific etiquette.

Only a monarch like Zhu Yuanzhang had the power to promote a student from the Imperial College to an important official position directly after visiting the Imperial College.

Zhu Houcong does not have as much power as Zhu Yuanzhang at the moment.

But for Zhu Houcong, he was increasing his power.

Because not only had he rebuilt the Weiwu Camp, he also began to send troops to the south, and had issued a secret order to let Zhou Shangwen lead the Yongwei Camp to Nanzhi.

All this means that his power continues to grow.

Let’s talk.

Not long after Zhu Houcong visited the Imperial College, he received an urgent letter from Zhou Shangwen.

Zhou Shangwen reported in an urgent letter that he had wiped out the pirates who had been harassing Yuyao in Jinshanwei and captured hundreds of pirates alive. He also found out that the family of Gu Dingchen, the right vice minister of the Ministry of Rites, was involved.

"very good!"

Zhu Houcong was therefore very satisfied.

But Zhu Houcong saw Zhou Shangwen's urgent message when he was holding court.

Therefore, Zhu Houcong did not rush to issue an order to arrest Gu Dingchen, but went to Zuo Shunmen first.

After Zhu Houcong arrived at Zuoshun Gate to review the court, Ding Xuan, the imperial censor of Zhejiang Province, stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, I accuse the Yongwei Battalion of violating military discipline after arriving in Shaoxing Prefecture, bullying the people, and killing innocent people to claim credit!"

"Is there any evidence?"

After hearing this, Zhu Houcong immediately asked in a deep voice.

Ding Xuan took out a petition with bloody handprints from his own memorial and said, "I have a confession signed in blood by hundreds of Yuyao officials and civilians as evidence!"

Zhu Houcong took over the statement.

When seeing Zhu Houcong accept the statement with a grim expression, officials such as Gu Dingchen and Tao Zhongfu were all delighted, and the corners of their mouths curled up secretly.

But this time.

Zhu Houcong suddenly said in a deep voice: "Before the Yongwei Battalion entered Nanzhi, because they reported to me that Yebushou had discovered that the pirates who attacked Yuyao went to Jinshanwei, I asked the cabinet to urgently tell him to change his route and go to Jinshanwei in Nanzhi. Logically, the Yongwei Battalion could not have appeared in Yuyao, so how could these Yuyao officials and people be sure that it was the Yongwei Battalion that was causing trouble in Yuyao?"

"You went to Nanzhi?"

"Didn't you go to Yuyao?"

Gu Dingchen and others were shocked after hearing this.

Snapped!
Sudden.

Zhu Houcong slammed the table and stood up, looking at Gu Dingchen: "Gu Dingchen!"

At this time, Gu Dingchen was standing there motionless.

Many ministers looked at him because of this.

Zhu Houcong also looked at Gu Dingchen with lightning-like eyes at this time:

"Zhou Shangwen sent me an urgent letter saying that he captured your nephew Gu Xueyan in Jinshanwei and found him colluding with the pirates. He also said that the disaster in Yuyao was planned by you!"

"We even caught a large amount of commercial goods that your Gu family was about to smuggle to Japan! The Imperial Censor Tao Zhongfu said that many of the nobles in eastern Zhejiang were involved in smuggling. If what he said is true, then it seems that your nobles in Nanzhi are also involved in smuggling!"

"I will now give you a chance to confess yourself to me."

"You colluded with the pirates, participated in smuggling, ordered the pirates to attack Yuyao, and plotted to wipe out the entire Wang family. Was it you who planned it?"

"answer!"

The number of subscriptions has dropped by more than 400 compared to three days ago, so I beg for subscriptions. The plot has only reached the stage of training new soldiers, further disintegrating the major clans, strengthening the Ritual Party, and using the Ritual Party to expand the basic base, so the plot may not seem very exciting yet. The author will try to reduce unnecessary content and let the climax come as soon as possible.

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(End of this chapter)