The First Marquis of Daxuan

Chapter 240 Pressure (Please subscribe, please collect, please vote for the monthly ticket and recommend the ticket)
Li Dangsen, the prefect of Songjiang Prefecture, looked pale and almost fainted.

"Crazy, he's really crazy!"

Li Dangsen was like an ant on hot pot, turning around in circles anxiously.

Zhang Luzhong's face also turned pale, with a bitter smile on his face.

"I didn't expect that he was so brave."

He smiled bitterly and said, "Putting hundreds of people in shackles and displaying them to the public, those scholars are weak, if they really display them like this for three days, who knows how many people will die.

Your Excellency, this has become a big deal."

"I don't know what's going on?"

Li Dangsen said.

These scholars are not alone, they have families, teachers and classmates behind them.

If you provoke one, it's like stirring up a hornet's nest.

Now Su Mu directly put hundreds of people in shackles and put them on display for public display, which is equivalent to rubbing the faces of all the scholars in Xiangzhou on the ground.

The scholars in Xiangzhou all have close connections. Their teachers, their teachers’ teachers…

Those old guys who hold high positions in the court...

Li Dangsen just thought about it and felt like his head was twice as big.

"How do we end this now?!"

Li Dangsen let out a long sigh. Now it was no longer a question of evaluation. His career as a prefect had come to an end.

"Your Excellency, the most urgent thing now is to return to Songjiang Prefecture. As long as you can save those scholars from Su Zhenfushi, there will be a chance for things to turn around. As long as you save them, their teachers will have to accept your favor."

Zhang Luzhong's mind raced, and he said in a deep voice, "Su Mu will take advantage of this issue, and so can we.

This is a crisis, but also an opportunity.

As long as we firmly stand on the side of scholars, you can establish a persona that is not afraid of power and speaks for scholars!"

After listening to Zhang Luzhong's words, Li Dangsen's emotions gradually stabilized and a thoughtful look appeared on his face.

Those hundreds of scholars would definitely not be able to withstand three days of being shackled and displayed in public.

If they were really forced to stand under the scorching sun for three days carrying shackles weighing dozens of kilograms, it would be good if half of the hundreds of people could survive.

If I step forward and rescue them from Su Mu, I will be the savior of Xiangzhou scholars and a hero.

These scholars may not be of high status, but their teachers all hold high positions.

It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to show my kindness to so many people at once!

Li Dangsen's eyes showed surprise, and he pondered and said, "Do you think Su Mu will give me this face?"

"Your Excellency, you are the prefect of Songjiang Prefecture."

Zhang Luzhong said, "The Taiping Division's pacification envoy is on the same level as you, the governor. He has no control over you. The responsibility of supervising all officials is not in the Taiping Division, but in the Supervisory Division.

The Inspector of the Supervisory Office of Songjiang Prefecture is Wu Yiqi from the Wu family. He has a grudge against Su Mu and will definitely not stand on the side of the Taiping Office.

You don't have to worry about him not giving you face.

And it’s even better if he doesn’t give you face, as this can better demonstrate your integrity.

The more this happens, the more favors those scholars owe us!"

"Su Mu wouldn't kill anyone, would he? He's a ruthless man who dared to chop off a scholar's head in public."

Li Dangsen said with some concern.

"Master Fu Zun, are you an ordinary person? Unless he is really crazy, he would never dare to touch a hair of yours."

Zhang Luzhong said confidently.

"That's true."

Li Dangsen nodded. Even if he was corrupt and committed abuse of power, it would be the responsibility of the Supervisory Department, and the Taiping Department would not be able to control him.

"Return to the city! I'm going to meet Su Mu."

Li Dangsen said, "Let Su Mu see the backbone of Xiangzhou scholars!"

…………

"Did Envoy Su really do this?"

In the capital of Xiangzhou, Fu Qingzhu widened his eyes.

“The real deal!”

A Taiping lieutenant said while drinking water, "The gate of Songjiang City is full of people. It's a spectacular scene!
Yang Yunzhong was also punished by Su Zhenfushi and was made to stand in shackles."

"Damn it!"

Fu Qingzhu couldn't help but say.

"Don't mention it, Su Zhenfushi's work is really fucking satisfying!"

The Taiping lieutenant said, "A bunch of guys who don't even dare to kill a chicken think they can talk about everything just because they've read a few books. How dare they attack the Taiping Division?"

"It's a pleasure, but how do we end it now?"

Fu Qingzhu said helplessly, "There are hundreds of scholars, how many teachers and elders do they have behind them?
How many classmates did they have? This was a revelation.

No, I can't handle it anymore, hurry up and notify Lord Li and ask him to come back to put out the fire!"

Before he could finish his words, he heard shouting from outside.

"Master Fu, the Censor Yu, as well as the former Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice, Master Lu, and the former Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, Master Li, jointly request an audience."

Fu Qingzhu sighed and looked at the Taiping Captain, "See? Trouble is coming."

These people were all high-ranking officials who had already retired, and their disciples were all shackled and put on display by Su Mu.

Hundreds of people, these are just a few of them, and who knows how many more will come to us later.

This matter is no longer limited to Songjiang Prefecture. Someone may even file a complaint to the emperor soon, as Xiangzhou and even Daxuanjing City have already happened.

"Why should I be afraid of them? They think they are right to attack the Taiping Division?"

The Taiping Captain said unhappily.

"They were wrong, but not fatally wrong."

Fu Qingzhu said, "Forget it, come with me and get rid of them first. We can only take as many as we can. We can't let a bunch of scholars who are harming the country bully our Taiping Division!"

Although Fu Qingzhu did not have the courage like Su Mu to put hundreds of people in shackles and expose them to the public, it was impossible to make him betray his own people.

…………

With the first, there is the second.

The Xiangzhou Taipingsi Yamen has never been so lively.

Almost every famous person in Xiangzhou came to visit.

Their attitude was not too tough. They just said that they were young and ignorant and asked the Taiping Division to be magnanimous and give them a chance to live.

Fu Qingzhu responded with his masterful Tai Chi skills, agreeing to everything but doing nothing.

Even so, as more and more people came to plead for mercy, he gradually couldn't bear it anymore.

The officials who came forward held higher and higher positions, and even a former prime minister sent people to intercede.

Moreover, seeing that they could not convince the Xiangzhou Taiping Division, these people began to head towards Songjiang Prefecture.

"Call the brothers at home."

Fu Qingzhu made up his mind and said in a deep voice, "Go to Songjiang Prefecture!
No matter what, we must not allow chaos in Songjiang Prefecture. At this time, we need to support Su Mu unconditionally!"

"Yes!"

The Taiping captains said excitedly.

…………

"My lord, Songjiang Prefecture Governor Li Dangsen is here again."

Shi Ziran came to Su Mu and said, “This time he said he didn’t want to see you, so he stood at the door and refused to leave.

He also said that if the adults did not release those scholars, he would rather be shackled and displayed to the public with them. "

Only one day had passed, and not only the prefect of Songjiang Prefecture, but also officials of all ranks, as well as those famous elders, all came to the Taiping Division to exert pressure.

If Su Mu had targeted various families before, these people were just bystanders.

Even when scholars came out to attack the Taiping Division, they just waited and watched.
Now, they all began to put pressure on the Taiping Division. Hundreds of scholars and almost all the famous families in Songjiang Prefecture were involved.

"If he wants to stand, let him stand."

Su Mu said lightly.

"My Lord, I have checked and found that these people were indeed instigated by someone, but I only found out that one of them was a little beggar. The person behind the scenes is very cunning."

Shi Ziran said, "I suspect it is the Pure Land Sect.

But these scholars probably don't know the truth, they are just stupid."

"So, there are still many Pure Land Sect followers lurking in Songjiang Prefecture?"

Su Mu pondered.

"should be."

Shi Ziran nodded and said, “These people like places like Songjiang Prefecture the most.

The people here live a prosperous life and lack vigilance against demons, making them the easiest to be bewitched."

"How are the families that Wenren has linked up with?"

Su Mu asked.

“None of them are clean, but at most they are collusion between officials and businessmen and hoarding.”

Shi Ziran said, "At present, they have nothing to do with the Pure Land Sect."

Although the Pure Land Sect is a demonic sect, not every member practices demonic skills. A large number of them practice normal martial arts, just like ordinary warriors.

Only a very small number of people would use demonic energy to practice magic, and these are the easiest to be detected by the Taiping Division.

As for the others, as long as they hide well enough, they will be difficult to detect.

"Among these hundreds of scholars, there must be some who follow the Pure Land School."

Su Mu pondered and said, "Ordinary scholars may not be able to withstand being shackled for a day.

Uncle Shi, keep an eye on them. If anyone faints, take them away first. If anyone can hold on for three days, they must have a foundation in martial arts. Check their martial arts and find out where they came from. "

"My lord is wise!"

Shi Ziran was stunned for a moment before he realized that Su Mu's display of the scholars in shackles was not a momentary impulse.

He wanted to use this method to identify those scholars who had practiced martial arts.

By following the clues, perhaps we can find the Pure Land Buddhist followers lurking among the crowd!

"I will keep an eye on them. As long as there are Pure Land followers among them, they will definitely not be able to hide from my eyes!"

Shi Ziran said seriously.

He left in a hurry and happened to meet Luo Anning who came in from outside.

"Husband--Master Su."

Luo Anning said that when she was working, she still liked to use the common name of the Taiping Division.

"Many people have come from outside the city. They all came from all over Xiangzhou. They are all retired officials."

Luo An Ning said with a serious expression, "They are all standing outside the city now, asking the Taiping Division to release them."

Things were starting to get out of hand.

At least from Luo Anning's point of view, things were out of control.

These people are not ordinary people, and gathering together like this is definitely not a trivial matter.

Not to mention the Taiping Division of Songjiang Prefecture, even if it was the Daxuan court, with so many officials gathered together, it could be considered as forcing a palace.

Even Emperor Daxuan would have a headache facing this situation.

Those people are not ordinary scholars, the forces behind them are extraordinary.

The most important thing is that these people are accompanied by powerful guards. If they really get impulsive, the Taiping Division of Songjiang Prefecture may not be able to stop them.

"Should we go and make it clear to them that it was these scholars who made the mistake first?"

Luo An Ning hesitated for a moment and said.

"unimportant."

Su Mu shook his head and said, "But since they want to see me, I will go and meet them."

"Okay, I'll call my fellow apprentices from the Songjiang Prefecture Taiping Division to join us."

Luo Anning said.

…………

Wu Yiqi came to Songjiang Prefecture with the Wu family's craftsmen.

Before he entered the city, he saw rows of people standing at the city gate, with their shackles on display.

Most of those people were wearing green shirts, but the ones who attracted his attention the most were those wearing brocade and black shirts.

Judging from their attire, there were Taiping Xiaowei and Taiping Duwei.

Wu Yiqi rubbed his eyes, unable to believe that this was true.

Were the Taiping Colonel and the Taiping Commandant put in shackles and put on display for public display?
Is Songjiang Prefecture so powerful?

Even when the Supervisory Department was at its peak, it was unable to achieve this.

Didn’t Su Mu come to Songjiang Prefecture a long time ago?

Could it be that even he couldn't defeat Songjiang Prefecture?
What about those other people?

Hundreds of people were put in shackles and displayed in public. Could it be that a treasonous rebellion had occurred in Songjiang Prefecture?
Wu Yiqi was full of doubts, but the next moment, he saw a man in the prefect's official uniform with tears on his face, saying loudly, "This prefecture is incompetent, and this prefecture cannot save you.

If this government cannot convince Su Zhenfushi, then this government can only accompany you to be shown to the public!"

Wu Yiqi blinked his eyes. It wasn't Songjiang Prefecture who did it? Was it Su Mu who did it?
Oh my god, Su Mu has only been here for a few days, and he has caused such a big thing?

Wu Yiqi glanced over and saw that in addition to the people in shackles, there were dozens of carriages gathered outside the city gate.

The people who got off the carriage were all either rich or noble, and Wu Yiqi was familiar with several of them, the kind of people he would bow respectfully to whenever he saw them.

Just as Wu Yiqi shrank his neck and prepared to step back.

Suddenly, someone shouted, "Inspector, it's the Inspector!"

Li Dangsen turned around and saw Wu Yiqi, and said happily, "Are you Brother Wu, the new fourth-rank inspector of the Songjiang Prefecture's Supervisory Department?
How great that you came!"

He rushed in front of Wu Yiqi in a few steps, his agility totally inconsistent with his fat body.

"Sir Wu, Su Mu, the governor of the Songjiang Prefecture, put so many scholars in shackles for no reason. Will your Supervisory Office take care of this cruel behavior or not?"

Li Dangsen grabbed Wu Yiqi's hand and said excitedly.

"To care, or not to care?"

Wu Yiqi hesitated.

"The Supervisory Department supervises all officials. The Pacification Envoy is also an official and should be supervised by you!"

Li Dangsen shouted, "Will Inspector Wu allow him to do whatever he wants?"

"Inspector Wu, if you don't do anything about it, I will definitely report you!"

A pale-haired old man next to him said majestically.

Wu Yiqi: “…”

This is none of my business. I just got here and I don’t even know the situation.

Besides, why should I stand with you?

If I were to stand, I would stand for Su Mu.

"My Lords, Su Mu is here, let's go and ask him to release them!"

At this time, someone suddenly spoke loudly.

I saw a group of people walking out of the gate of Songjiang Prefecture, and the one in front was Su Mu.

Those retired old men gave up on Wu Yiqi and surrounded Su Mu.

Only Li Dangsen, the prefect of Songjiang Prefecture, rushed forward without letting go of Wu Yiqi's hand and pulled Wu Yiqi over as well.

　Second update
　　
　
(End of this chapter)