I'm really not doing business

Chapter 876: What Your Majesty said is true!

Zhu Yijun made a bet with Zhang Juzheng that the more they fought, the more loyal these gentry and bureaucrats in Jiangnan would become. This was not only proven by the later Qing Dynasty. Going back to the early days of the country, Zhu Yuanzhang also used the "Imperial Grace Earth-Breaking Fist" many times. As time went by, these gentry and bureaucrats no longer dared to challenge Zhu Yuanzhang.

It's just that time has passed too long, and the gentry and bureaucrats in the south of the Yangtze River have forgotten the fear of being dominated by the feudal iron fist.

It's time to awaken their remaining memories.

Zhang Cheng reined in his horse and looked at the brightly lit Imperial College in Nanjing. In his sixteen years in Songjiang Prefecture, he had long seen through the true face of these evil spirits. For two hundred years, the Ming Dynasty chose kindness instead of an iron fist because, to a large extent, it was not worth it.

It's not worth it, which means there's no need to bother them because they pose no threat to the emperor's rule.

On the stage of the Ming Dynasty's rebellion, there were princes and poor laborers, but there was no stage for powerful and wealthy people and local gentry. The fundamental reason why they could not rebel was only one, that is, these people could not fight.

It’s not that the people in the south of the Yangtze River are incapable of fighting. In fact, the people here are very good at fighting. Qi Jiguang’s southern soldiers were all miners from Zhejiang. It was this group of powerful local gentry and local elites who were incapable of fighting tough battles.

But now it is worth it, because these powerful and wealthy people, local celebrities and gentry are already hollowing out the foundation of the country.

After a captain of the judiciary reported that Luo Bingliang had besieged the Imperial College, Zhang Cheng resigned from his horse.

"Everyone listen up, dig three feet deep into the ground and arrest everyone in the Imperial College. Keep all the case files on file and check them. According to the list, arrest everyone in the Imperial College and bring them to justice. No one can be left out."

"If there is resistance, kill without mercy!"

Zhang Cheng issued an order. He did not say it was an imperial edict, but he dared to do so, so he must have the emperor's instruction. The reason why he did not announce the edict was to clean up the blood before Your Majesty arrived at the Southern Yamen. By then, no one could say that it was done by the emperor's order.

As a eunuch, he doesn't even have the courage to take the blame for the emperor. It would be better for him not to be the admiral of the navy.

Zhang Cheng threw away his woolen cloak and walked towards the Imperial College. His woolen cloak was bestowed by the Emperor. He led his soldiers in and marched forward. There was chaos all along the way. Twelve chief judges, three hundred coastal defense inspectors, and three thousand soldiers and cavalry broke into the Imperial College from the West Gate, Chijing Gate, and Jingyi Gate respectively and began to arrest people.

"Blast it open." Zhang Cheng looked at the tightly closed gate of Imperial College and said to Luo Bingliang.

Twenty-one Ti cavalrymen pushed out a chariot with three nine-jin cannons and aimed at the gate. After just three minutes of preparation, the artillery signaled to the Ti commander that they were ready.

"Listen up everyone inside, the nine-jin cannon is ready. If you want to hold it against the door, don't blame us for being merciless. Three, two, one, fire!" Zhang Cheng gave three counts and after the announcement, he waved his hand vigorously, and the fuse of the nine-jin cannon was ignited. Two breaths later, the cannon exploded with a loud bang.

The sound of a huge explosion echoed continuously in the first courtyard. All the glass in the Imperial College was shattered by this shot. The gas produced by the violent explosion of the artillery pushed the solid shells towards the gate. Three solid shells directly penetrated the gate and hit the stele pavilion of the Imperial College.

"The Emperor renovated the Imperial College in the ninth year of the Wanli reign. He was worried that you would be cold in winter and that the lighting would be poor, so he installed glass. Even a dog would bark at it!" Zhang Cheng said viciously, looking at the half-missing door.

The Imperial College was renovated in the ninth year of the Wanli reign at the request of the Minister of Rites Wan Shihe. Construction began in the ninth year of the Wanli reign and was completed in the twelfth year of the Wanli reign, taking just under five years. The reason for the renovation was that the Imperial College and Imperial Examination Hall in Nanjing had fallen into disrepair.

At the beginning of the country, Nanjing was relatively warm. Inkstones would not freeze in winter, and hands and feet would not be frozen. But two hundred years later, the Imperial College, which had no warm houses, could no longer hold classes properly in winter because it was too cold. Since the financial situation of the country improved in the sixth year of Wanli and there was a surplus in the ninth year of Wanli, the Ministry of Rites has been talking about this issue.

Finally, the emperor allocated 200,000 silver coins from the imperial treasury and 400,000 silver coins from the national treasury and gave them to Li Le, the governor of Yingtian.

The new Imperial College and Imperial Examination Hall have been built. They both have thickened walls and warm rooms inlaid with iron pipes. In the words of His Majesty, no matter how hard or poor we are, we must not neglect education and students.

This is your Majesty's kindness, but it is a pity that it is not appreciated.

The nine-jin cannon hit the gate, which collapsed with a loud bang, but the courtyard wall was intact. This shows that Li Le did not cut corners in this huge construction project.

"Go in!" When the smoke cleared, Zhang Cheng waved his hand and led his men into the Imperial College, stepping on the corpses.

There were still some people who did not listen to the announcement and thought that Zhang Cheng did not dare to fire, so they blocked the door and were hit by the artillery and torn into pieces.

The scale of Nanjing Imperial College was much larger than that of Beiya Imperial College. It stretched for ten miles and was brightly lit. There were warehouses, sanatoriums, storage rooms, classrooms, libraries, study rooms, canteens, and dormitories on campus, with more than 2000 rooms. After the expansion in the ninth year of Wanli, there were more than 4000 study rooms, dormitories, classrooms, etc.

The imperial guards acted quickly. Although Zhang Cheng and Luo Bingliang did not explain the specific reasons, it must be a big case to force the admiral of the navy, the eunuch, the commander of the imperial guards, and the Duke of Wei to act together.

Zhang Cheng walked through the school buildings, dormitories, classrooms, five halls, and six halls, and came to the door of the Beiji Pavilion. The door of the Beiji Pavilion was not a main door, so Zhang Cheng kicked it open and walked in.

"You all seem to be in such good spirits. I'm sorry to bother you by coming here uninvited." Zhang Cheng looked around, his face cold.

Beiji Pavilion is the tallest building in the Imperial College. It was an observatory during the Hongwu period. After the capital was moved, it was rebuilt several times and turned into a large hall with east and west side halls. When Zhang Cheng entered, he saw a group of women.

"Zhang Cheng, you are going too far! Who gave you the courage to break into the Imperial College at night?" Lin Qing, the chief academic officer of the Imperial College, stepped forward, pointed at Zhang Cheng and said loudly.

Zhang Cheng looked at Lin Qing. He knew this man. Zhang Cheng also knew most of the people present, from the chief priest, the dean, the supervisor, the doctor, the assistant teacher, to the school principal. All of them were present.

It was obvious that the Imperial Guards had surrounded the Imperial College, and these people had nowhere else to go and finally gathered here.

Under the dim light, these scholars and officials, dressed in silk and satin, brocade hats and sable furs, had only fear on their faces. Until now, they had no idea what had happened.

"Who gave me the courage? In your eyes, aren't eunuchs all daring and daring? I coerced the imperial guards to help me vent my anger, what do you think?" Zhang Cheng sat at the main door with a majestic posture, and two young eunuchs brought stools.

According to the practice of Emperor Liu Jin and his eight lackeys during the Zhengde period, wherever the eight tigers went and needed to sit down, the eunuchs would kneel on the ground and let Liu Jin and the eight tigers sit on their backs.

Zhang Cheng's face looked just like that of an arrogant and domineering eunuch.

But the problem is that the eunuchs during the Wanli period have always been known for their tranquility, especially since His Majesty has extremely strict control over the eunuchs. The eunuchs who were sent abroad, such as Zhang Cheng, Zhang Jin, and Li Yougong, have never been so arrogant.

"Then who offended the eunuch? Please tell me, I have found out the whole story and will definitely take him to the eunuch to make apology. This is really like a flood that has flushed the Dragon King Temple. We are all working for His Majesty, why did we have to make such a fuss that the imperial guards came to your door?" The chief priest Lin Qing changed his expression immediately after hearing this.

Zhang Cheng was greatly surprised. What His Majesty said was true!
They are really all servile! The more you beat them, the more obedient they become. The more you beat them, the more loyal they become to the emperor and the country!
Zhang Cheng's tone relaxed a little, and his expression was even a little flattering.

Lin Qing was deceiving himself. The roar of the artillery could be heard from miles away. How could he not hear it? Even when the matter came to an end, he still held on to the hope that it was really a personal grudge.

Lin Qing was of course aware that due to personal grudges, he could not deploy the nine-jin artillery, but he still hoped for that tiny bit of hope.

"It's not a big deal." Zhang Cheng's eyes turned, and his tone even became gentler. He smiled and said, "Lin Jijiu is really elegant. When did the Imperial College open a girls' school? How come my family didn't know about it? There are so many girls?"

"Hiss, that's amazing, Lin Jijiu, they are all from good families."

Prostitutes, skinny horses, and female teachers in brothels are all prostitutes. There is a smell of worldly things on them that can be smelled from a long distance away. It is the fragrance of rouge and powder, and it is also the worldly smell of having been immersed in the world of fireworks for a long time. It can be seen in their every move.

Zhang Cheng often visited brothels, and eunuchs would also visit brothels, but most of the time they did so for social occasions. After all, there were no worldly desires and no bells. The more they visited, the angrier they became, and they mostly went for banquets. Of course, some eunuchs used means to torture people to satisfy their own strange fetishes, but Zhang Cheng was not like that.

He had seen many prostitutes, but the women here were all from decent families.

Lin Qing took a deep breath and said, "Isn't it March when spring begins, and the Yang energy is rising? Let's gather it together and prepare to cook some shepherd's purse and eggs to push out the turbid air accumulated during the winter."

"Shepherd's purse nourishes the liver and spleen. Boil the shepherd's purse with the roots and flowers in eggs for half an hour, then crack the eggshells to allow the medicinal power to penetrate, and add ginger and red dates to the pot."

"Eat the egg and then drink some soup, and you will be immune to cold and heat, and stay healthy for three months."

"Hurry up and serve a bowl to Da-Yan."

Lin Qing ordered people to serve Zhang Cheng a bowl of shepherd's purse and egg soup, but Zhang Cheng refused to drink it and his face turned cold. This group of scholars were making fun of him. If he drank this bowl of soup, he would be laughed at. What you lack should be supplemented. If you don't have bells, eat eggs to make up for it.

A young eunuch whispered twice in Zhang Cheng's ear. Zhang Cheng looked at Lin Qing and became furious.

Zhang Cheng sat up straight, staring at Lin Qing with his eyes, and said in disbelief: "These eunuchs in our family are castrated. Some are born eunuchs, some castrate themselves when they are desperate, some are sold by their parents for money, and some are castrated by their parents to find a way to survive. No matter how the eunuchs were castrated, most of them were not willing to do so. If they are not willing, there will be evil fire in their hearts. If this evil fire is suppressed for a long time, it will inevitably become twisted."

“Once in power, they will bring disaster to the country and the people.”

"But Lin Jijiu, are these girls from the family school gathered here just for this bowl of shepherd's purse and chicken egg soup?"

Zhang Cheng’s judgment was very accurate, they were all good families.

The imperial guards captured a woman who arrived a little late and inquired about the origins of the women in Beiji Pavilion. They were all from good families, from various schools in Nan Ya, and were all well-educated and well-mannered ladies from famous families.

After the woman was caught, the Tiqi asked her a few questions, and she started crying and told the truth.

This time I came here for a blind date.

All the women who came here were daughters of concubines in the family, or simply adopted daughters carefully selected by each family. These women were literate, and starting from March, they began to participate in such blind dates again and again. If they were chosen by someone, they would give some betrothal gifts and become concubines in these wealthy families.

A concubine was not a formal status, and it was very common for scholars and officials to send concubines to each other.

It's called a blind date, but it's just a matter of seeing who is willing to offer a good price. Usually this price is not money, but other things, such as being admitted to school separately, being selected to enter the Imperial Academy, and so on.

These privileges, of course, were not enjoyed by the women who were sold, but by the sons of the masters' families.

The eunuchs have twisted psychology and behave in a perverted way, and these wealthy families are no less evil than them.

"Of course it's to cook soup, what else could it be?" Lin Qing immediately replied harshly when he heard Zhang Cheng's sarcastic tone. It was obvious that he was so angry because his lungs were punctured.

No matter what they do, as long as they are not in the Imperial College, Lin Qing will turn a blind eye. Once they are out of the Imperial College, they can do whatever they want and he will not interfere.

Zhang Cheng raised his eyebrows slightly. The reason why he was willing to talk nonsense with Lin Qing was naturally for a purpose. He was delaying time. Luo Bingliang was searching the Imperial College on a large scale, looking for the Imperial College's roster, the open accounts and the hidden accounts. In order to prevent Lin Qing from ordering the destruction of these evidences, Zhang Cheng was willing to talk nonsense.

The Tiqi came too suddenly. If they were transferred from Yingtian Prefecture, Lin Qing would have known about it immediately and the Tiqi would not have been able to find out anything.

But these were the coastal defense inspectors, imperial guards, and naval soldiers who came from Songjiang Prefecture. The transfer of troops from another place caught Lin Qing off guard. The key was Xu Bangrui, the Duke of Wei. This guy let those people into the city without even saying hello!

Of course Xu Bangrui would not say hello, as his family had a family motto. Back then, Xu Bangrui's ancestor, the second Duke of Wei, Xu Da's eldest son Xu Huizu, was selected as a scholar-official in the Southern Court.

During the Jingnan Campaign, Xu Huizu led his troops north and defeated Prince of Yan Zhu Di in Lingbi, Suzhou. Just as Xu Huizu was about to make a final push to drive Zhu Di back to Beiping, or even take advantage of the scorching heat to eliminate Zhu Di, Zhu Yunwen followed Huang Zicheng's advice and recalled Xu Huizu.

Military talent is completely random and cannot be inherited through blood. It is easy for a good father to have a bad son, but Xu Huizu was not a bad son. Zhu Di was a good fighter, and the fact that Xu Huizu could defeat Zhu Di was itself a proof.

Xu Huizu was recalled, and He Fu, Ping An and others in Huaibei were soon defeated. The only remaining Southern Army, like a stray dog, crossed the river and returned to Nanjing.

Xu Huizu was so angry that he volunteered to lead his troops to stop Prince Yan at Puzikou in Nanjing. This time Xu Huizu won again!
However, Sheng Yong, the general of the Prince's Mansion, was defeated completely, and all the navy was returned to the Prince of Yan. From then on, there was no chance of winning.

This was the fate of Xu Huizu who chose the Southern Court scholar-officials. After Emperor Chengzu Wen ascended the throne, the Xu family still retained the title of Duke of Wei, and also had an additional Duke of Ding. It was a great honor to have two dukes in one family.

Since then, Duke Wei, who had not moved from the Southern Court to the Northern Court, already knew what to choose.

Choosing to be a scholar-official in the Southern Court is doomed to achieve nothing and even lose your life.

"Da Eunuch, everything has been done with General Luo Ti." The young eunuch whispered in Zhang Cheng's ear.

Zhang Cheng waved his hand and said cheerfully, "Catch him."

Without any reason, without any imperial edict, without anything, Zhang Cheng suppressed all the scholars and officials present.

"Zhang Dadang, Zhang Dadang, if you have something to say, we can talk about it. Why use violence? What's the point?" Lin Qing struggled hard and tried to persuade Zhang Cheng not to use force, which was disrespectful.

Zhang Cheng was too lazy to say anything and simply had someone stuff their mouths with their own socks to stop them from making any more noise.

Of course Zhang Cheng was willing to fight to the death. His Majesty gave him such a lucrative position as the Maritime Customs Office in Songjiang Prefecture and let him be in charge for sixteen years. If he didn't fight to the death for His Majesty, how would the eunuchs survive in the future?
Don’t let Your Majesty be blamed for any immoral behavior.

At this time, the Imperial Examination Hall was also carrying out arrests. After Luo Bingliang obtained the list, with the cooperation of the Five Cities Military Department, he began a city-wide search, including the students on the list.

The Five Cities Army's willingness to cooperate was an order from the Duke of Wei's Mansion.

Xu Bangrui followed the Ti cavalry for a whole night and was too tired to run anymore, so he asked his son Xu Weizi to continue to take charge of the situation. In the absence of Zhang Cheng and Luo Bingliang, the city gates were not allowed to be opened and no one was allowed to go.

The search has been going on for seven days. During the seven days of investigation, the list of "Donation Houses" has gradually been clarified.

Lin Qing, the chief priest of Nanyong, was the main culprit, but he was not the only one.

Lin Qing was a Jinshi in the 41st year of the Jiajing reign, and he was the chief academic officer of Nanyong. His elder brother, Lin Dun, was a Jinshi in the 26th year of the Jiajing reign, and he was the chief academic officer of Nanyong Imperial College. Lin Qing and Lin Dun's biological father, Lin Tingji, was a Jinshi in the 14th year of the Jiajing reign, and he was the chief academic officer of Nanyong Imperial College.

Lin Ting, the second uncle of Lin Qing and Lin Dun, was a Jinshi in the 12th year of Hongzhi, and served as the Minister of Works and Prince Taibao; Lin Han, the grandfather of the brothers Lin Qing and Lin Dun, was a Jinshi in the 2nd year of Chenghua, and served as the Minister of War in Nanjing.

The Lin Qing and Lin Dun families are known for 'five ministers in three generations, and eight Jinshi in seven subjects'. Eight Jinshi were produced in seven subjects, which shows the strength of the Lin family in Min County.

Lin Dun's teacher was Xu Jie, who said that Lin Dun was "a man who could govern the world and rule over things".

But on the other hand, Wang Yi'e was also Xu Jie's student, and he withstood all the tests; Zhang Juzheng was also half a student of Xu Jie, so there were differences among students.

Zhang Cheng and Luo Bingliang were sorting through the files, and they couldn't help but think of a phrase: three officials in four generations. Comparing Yuan Shao with the Lin family, the Lin family, with five chancellors in three generations, is not much behind.

"So, this list of families that surrendered their crimes had already been compiled as early as the third year of the Hongzhi reign." Zhang Cheng finally found this list from Lin Qing's house, and the list had been updated. In just less than eight months, from the time Li Xianfang came to Beijing for reference to the start of the Xingda Prison, the list had increased by 102 families, and the length reached an astonishing 1387 families.

Several lists were found in the Lin family's house in Nanjing, the earliest of which dated back to the third year of Hongzhi and continued to the seventeenth year of Wanli, and the list was still being added to.

Luo Bingliang handed the two lists to Zhang Cheng and said, "Tsk tsk, these scholars are really playing dirty. Once you are on this list, there is no way to leave."

"Look at the list of the third year of Hongzhi and the list of the seventeenth year of Wanli. The three famous paper-made cabinet ministers and the six clay-made ministers of the Chenghua Dynasty are all on the list, and they were still on the list until the seventeenth year of Wanli."

"It is really a contribution from one generation to the next, and it will continue from generation to generation."

After Zhang Cheng finished reading it, he was horrified and his face changed several times before he said, "No wonder Lu Shusheng looked so pale after learning that he was on the list and even roared at Wenhua Hall."

Zhang Cheng got more information. After all, the person who delivered the imperial edict was a eunuch, who told Zhang Cheng a lot of things that were not in the imperial edict.

Lu Shusheng lost his composure in the Wenhua Hall and angrily said that those who made the list would never be allowed to take the imperial examinations again. In the eyes of the eunuchs, this behavior was tantamount to roaring at the Wenhua Hall.

There is no exit mechanism on this list of donor homes.

"There are only 8042 wealthy and powerful families in our Daming. And there are already more than 1300 families that have made donations?" Zhang Cheng finished reading the list and said with a smile on his face, "If we wait a few more years, won't all the Daming be made up of families that have made donations?"

"A bunch of idiots who don't know that the world changes and I change!"

Zhang Cheng found it a little ridiculous after reading the list. Lin Qing was still revising this broken list! He couldn't see that the situation had completely changed!

Your Majesty has said more than once to the Prime Minister, the Grand Eunuch, and the court officials that the five years from the tenth to the fifteenth year of the Wanli Reform were the most dangerous five years of the Ming Dynasty's Wanli Reform. These five years were the time when people's hearts were most confused. After these five years, the offensive and defensive situations would have changed.

Starting from the 15th year of the Wanli reign, the new policies of the Wanli Reform were recognized by the majority of people. After all, His Majesty really made money and distributed it to the people. Although His Majesty felt regretful, perhaps less than 10% of the money was distributed to the people.

But after all, everyone in the Ming Dynasty shared the profits, and Your Majesty did not eat alone.

Many achievements of the Wanli Reform began to benefit the public, and even the imperial court began to dream of universal education. The honest officials selected through the performance evaluation system were gradually entering the Wenhua Hall, the center of power. Honest officials had become the new right for the Ming Dynasty, and no matter what you do, you must first be capable.

After reading a few volumes of files, Xu Weizhi frowned and said, "Daguan, these rebels do things like this? This is as absurd as making a straw man."

In Xu Weizi's view, rebellion means to gather troops, prepare food and money, shout slogans of clearing the court, and start killing. If you win, it means reforming the old and establishing the new; if you lose, the rebellion is suppressed. This is what rebellion really means.

But the actions of Lin Qing and others are really ridiculous.

The actions of these rebellious scholars were completely different from what he had imagined. They were just stabbing voodoo dolls. They had no intention of taking military action, but were preparing to engage in political manipulation.

"Your Highness, take a look at this. It really contains vampires." Luo Bingliang flipped through a scroll and handed it to Xu Weizhong, the son of Duke of Wei.

Xu Weizi was stunned after reading it. Luo Bingliang was not using a metaphor or a voodoo man to prick his penis. The director of the Imperial College, Xu Youcheng, really went to the temple and made a voodoo man, which was pricked with a needle every day.

The villain who was stabbed was none other than Wang Chonggu.

If it was Zhang Juzheng who was stabbed, it would be fine and make sense, but the stabbing of Wang Chonggu really made Xu Weizi feel complicated and speechless.

Wang Chonggu is a traitor, and it is really too much to stab a traitor.

"The reason why Xu Youcheng hates Wang Ci Fu is because Wang Ci Fu purged the Nan Ya Weaving Bureau, which was originally their family's business. After the purge, the Nan Ya Weaving Bureau fell into the hands of the court and had nothing to do with their Xu family anymore. They couldn't even arrange for people to be involved." Luo Bingliang explained the whole story.

Although outrageous, it is reasonable.

All the successive Ministers of Works seldom expressed their opinions in the court. The Nan Ya Weaving Bureau was under the management of the Ministry of Works. As early as the Zhengtong period, the Nan Ya Weaving Bureau was controlled by local powerful families.

Wang Chonggu was unreasonable. When the emperor needed silk for maritime trade, in the fourth year of Wanli, Wang Chonggu, together with the Ministry of Personnel and the Censorate, conducted a comprehensive investigation of the Nan Ya Weaving Bureau. They found that all of them were just sitting there doing nothing. Even the silk was bought from outside and sold to the court at high prices to get the job done.

Wang Chonggu fired all the staff in the Nan Ya Weaving Bureau, recruited new weavers from Suzhou Prefecture, appointed new weavers in the weaving bureau, and all personnel in the Nan Ya Weaving Bureau were appointed by the Bei Ya Beijing Ministry of Works.

This completely offended Xu Youcheng. He had been stabbing voodoo figures for fourteen years, but Wang Chonggu was not killed and was still alive and well.

Xu Weizhi said in confusion: "No, how come the Shanxi merchants, Qiao Chang, Cao Wang and Yang, are also on the list of surrendered families? The Shanxi merchants resold Iron and Steel Fire Feathers outside the Great Wall. Your Majesty has strictly prohibited it. After recovering the Beijing Xingdusi and Suiyuan, these guys are still doing it."

"Jin merchants, where is the tribute?"

"In the fourth year of Wanli, Wang Chonggu convened Shanxi merchants in the Jin Guild Hall and collected 10 million silver coins, which he gave to Your Majesty as an investment in opening up the sea." Zhang Cheng knew the reason. This 10 million silver coins was a real contribution, a free gift to Your Majesty to buy his life.

At that time, Zhang Siwei had just been executed along with his entire family, and the Shanxi merchants were really scared. Wang Chonggu survived, so the Shanxi merchants found Wang Chonggu, and they all pooled together 10 million silver coins and gave them to the emperor on the grounds of supporting His Majesty's great cause of opening up the sea. His Majesty was short of silver, but the Shanxi merchants had it.

But Your Majesty pays dividends every year, and the principal will be recovered in three years. It will be pure profit from now on, and we may even keep making profits as long as the Ming Dynasty exists.

The rebels all recognize your Majesty's credibility.

The plantations were extremely profitable. After all, the Ming Dynasty laws did not protect the Japanese slaves, the foreign slaves, or the black people, but only protected the Ming people. Slavery was widespread in Southeast Asia.

Wang Chonggu was a typical authoritarian worshiper. As the Minister of Justice, Wang Chonggu did not believe that the Ming Dynasty laws could restrain meat eaters. In his opinion, the Ming Dynasty laws could only control the poor and laborers, but could not restrain the local gentry, the powerful and wealthy.

Wang Chonggu firmly believed that only authority could suppress the desire for meat, no matter whether this authority came from the emperor or from the prime minister.

The birth of authoritarianism must come from despotism. Gao Gong's methods could not save the Ming Dynasty. Without the right reasons, despotism could not be achieved.

"This is simply too arrogant. There are only 622 powerful and wealthy people and local gentry who participated in the formulation and clearly followed the ban on the donations. They actually want to ban the majority with the minority!" Zhang Cheng exhaled and said, "Let's confiscate the property of these 622 families."

Logically speaking, politics is a game of numbers, and whoever has more people wins. But the weird thing about the whole case is that there are seven leaders, and there are only 622 companies in total, but more than 1300 of them were suppressed.

Politics is indeed a game involving more people, but the timeline needs to be extended to hundreds of years.

The people are desperate and rise up in rebellion, but it is only the final outcome of a situation where both sides perish.

(End of this chapter)