My aunt is Queen Ma

Chapter 127 Untitled
Yingtian, early morning court session.

As planned, Zhu Yuanzhang also announced the latest developments in the Fengyang Imperial City case to the public.

He flew into a rage in the imperial court, declaring that the matter would be thoroughly investigated and all those involved would be exterminated along with their entire families.

The courtiers were also extremely shocked: the imperial city's building materials had been stolen and sold.
This was completely unexpected; those people were far too audacious.

You must know that the Ming Dynasty has only been established for three years, and the emperor is working hard to create a prosperous era, yet you dare to do this.

This completely disregards the emperor.

Even the most conservative person could understand the emperor's anger.

However, the fact that all those involved in the case were executed along with their entire families seems to implicate too many people.

Immediately, some people tried to offer advice.

Zhu Yuanzhang's reaction goes without saying: all those who offered advice were dismissed from their posts and punished.

No one spoke after that.

Instead, some people glanced at Li Shanchang and jumped out to impeach him.

Zhao Yanjun and others were all recommended by him...

Upon hearing that someone had impeached Li Shanchang, many people in the court looked at them as if they were fools.

Li Shanchang glanced at the group with disdain before stepping forward to apologize.

As expected, Zhu Yuanzhang coldly said, "Liu Bowen, Song Lian..."

He named more than a dozen high-ranking officials in the imperial court in succession:
"These people were all recommended by Li Shanchang to serve in the government. Do you want to impeach them as well?"

Those who were impeaching Li Shanchang started sweating; they hadn't really thought that far ahead.

Only after Zhu Yuanzhang counted them did they realize that more than half of the high-ranking officials in the court had connections with Li Shanchang.

This has really stirred up a hornet's nest.

But it was too late for regrets. Zhu Yuanzhang then ordered them all to be dismissed and punished.

To everyone's surprise, Li Shanchang actually stepped forward to plead for them.

“Their impeachment of me was done in accordance with the rules. If we were to question their crimes, it would discourage people, and who would dare to uphold justice in the future?”

Zhu Yuanzhang sighed, "With such open-mindedness in every household, I am truly gratified."

So he reprimanded those officials and told them to go back and reflect on their mistakes.

The imperial court did have a similar system: if someone who recommended another person committed a crime, the recommender would also be held jointly liable.

However, Li Shanchang's identity was too special, so this rule did not apply to him.

Afterwards, Zhu Yuanzhang reassured Li Shanchang with a few words and publicly stated that Liu Bowen had already investigated the matter and that Li Shanchang was unaware of it.

This statement was entirely reasonable, and no one seemed to find anything wrong with it.

Li Shanchang breathed a sigh of relief, realizing that he truly knew nothing about the matter.

He only knew that those people were embezzling the craftsmen's wages and rations, but he didn't know about the theft and sale of building materials.

Hearing this news suddenly, I was terrified and broke out in a cold sweat. In my mind, I cursed Zhao Yanjun and his ancestors for eighteen generations.

He was prepared for the possibility of being impeached.

In the past, anyone who dared to impeach him would face a fight to the death.

But now that things have gone wrong one after another, he knows he can no longer act recklessly, which is why he took the initiative to plead for those people.

This tactic was indeed very effective; from the emperor down to the court officials, everyone admired his magnanimous attitude.

But because of this uproar, everyone subconsciously overlooked the fact that Zhu Yuanzhang was about to unleash a massacre.

That's how it was decided.

After the court session, news of the theft and sale of building materials from the imperial city spread rapidly throughout Yingtian City, becoming the hottest topic.

Since the matter involves the royal family, everyone naturally likes to discuss it.

As for exterminating their entire clan... well, it's not like they're killing me, so what does it have to do with me? I'll just sit back and watch the show.

Ma Yu naturally knew what had happened in the court, and he was not surprised by Zhu Yuanzhang's handling of the situation.

According to the law, buying and selling building materials for the imperial city was indeed a serious crime punishable by the extermination of three generations of one's family; there was nothing more to say about it.

This wave, however, is truly going to result in a bloodbath.
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It was indeed a scene of bloodshed.

With the tip-off from an inside source, Mao Xiang successfully captured Wan Baoquan.

At the same time, I also learned about the fate of Vantone.

Mao Xiang was quite surprised to learn that Wantong had voluntarily sought death.

He never expected that the person he despised would have such a side.

I've come to understand Vantone's choice.

On one hand, there's the master to whom they are loyal, and on the other hand, there are their own children. They are caught in a dilemma.

He made this choice out of sheer desperation.

So he had someone preserve Wantong's body, intending to return it to his family, which could be considered a return to his roots.

Afterwards, he went to the dock to meet Geng Tianbi: "General Geng, assemble the troops that can be mobilized, and enter the city to search for and confiscate the prisoners first thing tomorrow morning."

Then Mao Xiang went to see Wu Zhen.

The naval battle in Guangzhou Bay ended in less than an hour and a half.

The main targets were Japanese pirates and Zhang Shicheng's remnants trapped in the bay. Seeing no hope of breaking out, they began to surrender.

Wu Zhen ordered his men to tally the battle results.

In total, more than 2,400 Japanese pirates and more than 13,000 of Zhang Shicheng's remaining followers were captured.

The Japanese pirate leader Fujiwara Hideta committed suicide, and Sun Yunzhong also wanted to commit suicide, but he was tied up by his subordinates and surrendered.

This station can be described as a resounding victory.

However, the casualties on his side also exceeded his expectations. Despite having the advantage of favorable weather and terrain, he still lost more than 4,000 men.

Wu Zhen couldn't help but exclaim, "The Japanese pirates are indeed fierce and brave."

In the final tally, more than 10,000 people died in this battle, and countless others were wounded.

The seawater in the harbor was crimson.

However, Wu Zhen's mission was not yet over. He sent people to interrogate the Japanese pirates and Zhang Shicheng's remnants, hoping to obtain more intelligence.

The Japanese pirates were elusive, and even after questioning them once, they were unable to ascertain the exact movements of the remaining two thousand or so men.

However, Wu Zhen was not disappointed. The main force had been wiped out, and the remaining two thousand or so men could not cause any great trouble.

On the contrary, the remnants of Zhang Shicheng's regime extracted a lot of crucial information from their interrogations.

The remaining followers of Zhang Shicheng who fled to the sea numbered around 110,000.

More than 30,000 of them fled to Southeast Asian countries to make a living.

The remaining 80,000-plus men followed Sun Yunzhong and became outlaws.

Sun Yunzhong has occupied many small islands in the South China Sea, and those non-combatants are currently being housed on these islands.

After obtaining the nautical chart, Wu Zhen began to plan to send men to capture all those people the next day.

Just as he was plotting how to capture people on the island, Mao Xiang came to pay his respects.

Although Wu Zhen disliked the Embroidered Uniform Guard, he knew that Mao Xiang would definitely be promoted after this incident, so it was best not to offend him.

So he received him personally.

Upon meeting, Mao Xiang showered him with compliments: "In one battle, you wiped out the Japanese pirates and the remnants of Zhang Shicheng. Marquis Jinghai is indeed a pillar of the Ming Dynasty."

Wu Zhen said politely, "It is all thanks to His Majesty's strategic planning and Commander Mao's plan that I was able to achieve such great merit."

After exchanging compliments, Mao Xiang finally revealed his purpose:
"This is a list of wanted criminals. Some of them happen to be within the jurisdiction of Marquis Jinghai. We need you to send troops to surround and eliminate them."

Upon seeing the list, Wu Zhen couldn't help but gasp. It was full of well-known maritime merchants from Quanzhou, many of whom he knew.

The key issue is that if people are arrested according to this list, Quanzhou will likely suffer another round of damage.

No wonder they had to use the army to arrest people; they were afraid of implicating too many people and causing a rebellion. He originally wanted to personally lead a team to the South China Sea to arrest Zhang Shicheng's remnants, but now it seems he can't go.

After all, Quanzhou is more important.

So he handed the matter over to his deputy and returned to Quanzhou to oversee the situation.

As for the prisoners, they were naturally escorted to Yingtian to present as a victory gift.
-
The unrest at the port could not be kept secret, and the people of Guangzhou were filled with fear.

Fortunately, the city defense forces and government offices responded promptly, preventing any major chaos.

Ordinary people could only hide at home and pray that the Ming army could hold off the enemy and that Guangzhou would not be captured.

Those with connections began to inquire about what had happened.

Those whose boats are docked in the port are especially worried, fearing that their boats will be lost.

However, after making inquiries, all they knew was that Japanese pirates and Zhang Shicheng's remnants wanted to plunder the port; they knew nothing else.

This made them even more worried, and they didn't sleep well all night.

Early the next morning, before they could send anyone to continue scouting, Geng Tianbi led three thousand troops to take control of the city gate.

Then, led by the Imperial Guards, they began confiscating the property.

This move shocked the entire city. What is it trying to do?
Just then, Provincial Governor Shen Shutong dispatched his officers to post notices everywhere, informing the people of the whole story.

Upon learning that the Wan family had secretly purchased building materials for the imperial city, and that the matter had been exposed, they even planned to collude with Japanese pirates and Zhang Shicheng's remnants to loot Guangzhou.

The Ming army is currently investigating and confiscating the property of Wan's associates, so there's no need to worry.

I also took the opportunity to share yesterday's results with everyone.

The people were immediately enraged and cursed that Wan Jia would die a horrible death.

The Ming army was naturally very pleased to have annihilated the bandits in one battle.

In the past, people would have suspected that the imperial court was short of money and was using this as an excuse to slaughter pigs.

Many people have visited the Wan family's new residence, and they were all amazed by the exquisite carvings on some of the buildings, which were not the work of ordinary craftsmen.

Moreover, their family started selling off assets and purchasing merchant ships and supplies some time ago.

Connecting all these things, it suddenly makes sense.

It turns out the merchant ship didn't have an accident; they were trying to escape.

They had no connection with the Wan family, yet they were already plotting how to seize the share left by them.

Those who had connections with the Wan family began to worry about whether their own families would be implicated.

But worrying is useless; what's coming will come.

Mao Xiang identified seventeen households, of which only two were involved in the theft and sale of building materials in the imperial city.

The remaining fifteen households were all their relatives.

The term "Yi San Zu" refers to the father's, mother's, and wife's families. In ancient times, it was important to marry someone of equal social standing, and powerful families would typically marry into other powerful families.

These seventeen households can be said to have disrupted half of the powerful families in Guangzhou.

Shen Shutong had mixed feelings about this. The confiscation of the property and extermination of so many wealthy families would indeed damage the prosperity of Guangzhou.

But by eliminating so many powerful families, his words as the provincial governor will carry more weight in the future.

So overall, he supported the court's action and cooperated with it.

Otherwise, Mao Xiang's operation would not have gone so smoothly.

Of course, those whose homes were confiscated due to the incident would not think that way.

They cursed those who had implicated them, and then tried to beg for forgiveness.

Unfortunately, it was completely useless.

The Imperial Guards led their troops straight in to ransack the house, and anyone who dared to resist was executed on the spot.

In a single day, seventeen powerful families in Guangzhou were wiped out.

More than 3,000 criminals were arrested, and the amount of money seized was incalculable.

The other powerful clans trembled with fear, lest they be implicated.

However, what you fear most is what happens; two powerful families were indeed implicated.

The reason was that during the raid on one of the wealthy families, several eunuchs were found in their backyard.

After a round of interrogation, the family confessed to everything.

The practice of using eunuchs by powerful clans in Southeast China has a long history.

The Yuan Dynasty government did nothing but collect taxes, and crucially, they adopted a tax farming system.

Local powerful clans were true local emperors.

Their family was wealthy and powerful, so they wanted to try some fancy tricks, such as spending money to buy young children for castration.

It can be used to serve the female owner and also to satisfy certain special fetishes of the male owner.

Even after the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, they knew that times had changed, but they still couldn't give up their peculiar hobbies and continued to keep eunuchs in their homes.

As a result, he was arrested this time.

Not only that, they also implicated two other powerful families that used eunuchs.

This was also a capital offense, and Mao Xiang would not let such an opportunity pass; he immediately sent men to arrest him.

At the same time, they took this opportunity to conduct a city-wide search, causing panic throughout Guangzhou.

It was only at this point that Shen Shutong finally couldn't sit still any longer and came out to negotiate with Mao Xiang.

Mao Xiang remained rational at this point, knowing that the large-scale search of the entire city would cause too much damage to the local area.

Offending local officials by doing this is a minor issue; the real problem is if it forces local powerful figures to rebel.

Therefore, seeing that Shen Shutong had personally intervened, they decided to stop while they were ahead.

On the other side, upon learning that most of the Japanese pirates and Zhang Shicheng's remnants had been wiped out, Liao Yongzhong, who had long received Zhu Yuanzhang's edict, also launched a military operation.

His targets were the powerful clans in the Lingnan region, mainly those with fortified villages.

The list given to him by the Embroidered Uniform Guard contained a total of sixty-one families.

"Chenjiabao was established by people who migrated here during the Southern Song Dynasty and quickly gained a foothold with the help of their families."

“In the mid-Yuan Dynasty, the local tax farming rights were obtained, and under the pretext of resisting the invasion of barbarians, the construction of fortified villages was permitted.”

"Currently, the Chen family has more than 800 members, and more than 500 servants and henchmen."

"They control three villages surrounding the fortified village and own over 10,000 mu of land..."

"According to the investigation, there are more than 400 able-bodied men available in their fortified village, all of whom are armed, and some of them have bows and crossbows with armor."

"The fortified village has wells and a large amount of grain stored inside, which can sustain it for up to six months."

"If we prepare in advance, and evacuate some tenant farmers into the fortified village, and mobilize men, women, and children, we can have more than three thousand combat personnel."

"But the biggest obstacle to taking action against them is not the fortified village itself, but the Chen family; their power is too great."

"Its branches are spread throughout the country, with hundreds of thousands of members."

Listening to his subordinates' report, Liao Yongzhong showed no fear:

"No matter who they are, as long as they violate the laws of the Ming Dynasty, they will be severely punished without exception."

"The Chen family is powerful, isn't they? That's perfect, this time we'll uproot their influence in Lingnan."

His subordinates wanted to persuade him again: "General, please think it over."

Liao Yongzhong snorted coldly and said firmly:

"Don't say anything more, just follow the plan. I will take full responsibility for any consequences."

Even Little Ming Wang could fall into the water from my boat, so why would I be afraid of you, Chen?

His subordinates knew they couldn't persuade him otherwise, so they could only mobilize troops and carry out a cleanup operation according to the list.

(End of this chapter)