A century-old family that runs through the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 346 Zhejiang does not obey the imperial edict

With Yan Ling's strength, he has already been able to occupy a large area of ​​land. Even in terms of conquest alone, with the current extent of Jiangnan being penetrated by him, it only takes a few months for him to take over all the southeastern provinces. middle.

The accumulation over the past three hundred years is no joke.

However, after he occupied several villages and towns in the prefecture, there was no movement. In order not to attract the attention of the court, he has not yet taken action against various prefectures and counties.

Because he had his own idea of ​​governing the world, it can be seen from the systems in Luzon and other places that they are no longer similar to traditional dynasties.

He wanted to implement a new system and create the empire in his mind, an empire in which the country was rich and the people were strong.

But this will definitely touch the interests of the scholar-bureaucrat class.

And he couldn't compete with it alone. He had to have a group of scholars of his own to shake the rule of the gentry class.

After all, you can't hope that thousands or tens of thousands of traitors will emerge from the gentry class to help you govern the world, right? It is possible to have a dozen or twenty promising young people, and there are many in Dongqian Academy, but if it is expanded to be able to govern the world, it is completely impossible.

This is why he founded private schools, schools, and universities, and personally participated in the compilation of various teaching materials. What he instilled in them were the governance concepts of later generations, and what they received in exchange were young people who were born out of the common people and influenced by his ideas. They were scholars who belonged entirely to him.

He has been waiting, waiting for his family's university to cultivate enough talents, and waiting for the alternative ideas pioneered by Wang Xue to overthrow the Confucian system.

……

"Where are you?"

The knight accompanied the smiling face and whispered:

"Daddy, we have left Yanzhou and are going to Shaoxing. After Shaoxing, we will reach Ningbo."

Looking at the newspapers in front of him that were copied from all over the country, Yan Ling showed a faint smile on his face, and said words that could shock the world:

"Zhejiang does not follow the imperial edict."

It's almost time.

"Sea ban? Oh, it's just something that everyone in the imperial court knows very well... How can the imperial court stop this long coast? There is a huge amount of oil and water in it. I don't need to say more? Then I can find any excuse and impose a heavy tax. , won’t you and I, father and son, get rich?”

The father-in-law chuckled:

"Little monkey, when it comes to making money, are you better than me? Hangzhou is certainly a wealthy place, but if the business tax is really to be levied, most of it will have to be in Ningbo. I have heard long ago that the businessmen and If you do business overseas and make a lot of money, if you don’t go to them, who will you go to?”

He hesitated for a moment and then said:

"It's just, godfather, why don't we go to the provincial capital instead of Ningbo?"

While walking, the curtain of the carriage suddenly lifted, and a white-faced and beardless head poked out, shouting at the knight next to him:

On the spacious official road, a luxuriously decorated carriage was rolling along, with a group of hundreds of knights on both sides.

The voice was high-pitched, hinting of impatience.

There are only a handful of young people in the family who still study Confucianism. Instead, the number of young people starting to study "politics and law" has greatly increased. He already has enough scholars to complete his next plan.

"Ah? But didn't the imperial court order a sea ban..."

"This mining tax, the oil and water is a little less, but when the time comes to hand it over, our share will still be indispensable."

The corners of the father-in-law's mouth couldn't help but rise, and his eyes were full of enthusiasm for money.

He was the tax envoy sent by the emperor to collect commercial taxes and mining taxes in Zhejiang Province. For this position, he "bid" with several eunuchs in the palace, and finally used his "sincerity" to impress the eunuch Wang Tiqian, the chief eunuch of the Supervisor of Ceremonies, and was assigned to Zhejiang, a financial and taxation center. Although more than 100,000 taels of silver were lost in one fell swoop, almost wiping out the wealth he had accumulated over the years, it was worth it. According to his estimate, if he plundered more harshly, it would cost him hundreds of thousands a year. Two pieces of silver is definitely a piece of cake!

Thinking of this, the eunuch's eyes were full of excitement. This is hundreds of thousands of taels! The overwhelming wealth finally fell on his head!

Even his adopted son couldn't suppress the smile on his face after listening to his words.

Godfather eats meat, so why should he drink some soup?

"Hurry up!"

He couldn't help but urge everyone in the team. Except for him, all the people in this group were domestic slaves raised by his godfather, so there was no need to be polite.

After walking for a while, everyone suddenly saw a group of people appearing on the road ahead, blocking the entire road tightly. The leader seemed to be wearing the official robes of the Ming Dynasty. Judging from his appearance, he should be the prefect of Shaoxing Prefecture.

Seeing this, the eunuch immediately ordered the carriage to stop and waited for the other party to come to see him.

After all, with his status as the emperor's personal eunuch, how could a small prefect of the other party compare to him? At this time, he naturally maintained his identity and refused to move forward.

Well, the prefect and his men took the initiative to greet him. They are quite sensible...

Well, there is a big car behind those little officials. Could it be a gift for my father-in-law? It feels good...

Well, those little officials opened the top of the car and took out their muskets... muskets?

Before anyone could react, the well-trained soldiers had already picked up the muskets that had been prepared in the car and lined up in a row under the order of the officer disguised as the prefect.

"Fire!"

The sound of gunfire echoed through the air along with a burst of smoke, and the people in front of them suddenly fell on their backs.

Ignoring the horrified shouts and pleas for mercy from the other side, the soldiers quickly exchanged positions and fired the next row of guns.

This eunuch and his godson were not good people. They often sold their official positions and oppressed the people. Naturally, the domestic slaves around him were also accomplices. For these people, there was absolutely no need to keep them alive.

There were also quick reactioners among the eunuchs, and a few knights turned around to escape.

But on both sides of the road, there are also cavalry who have already ambushed them. How can they escape?

Not long after, the entire army was wiped out and turned into cold corpses.

The leading officer walked up to the dead eunuch, lowered his body, and took out an edict from his arms.

It was the imperial court's order to levy additional commercial and mineral taxes in Zhejiang.

The precious yellow satin edict had been torn by bullets and stained with bright red blood.

Seeing this, the officer couldn't help but tear off a piece of the eunuch's clothes with disgust, wrapped it up, and then put it in his arms. Then he turned to the soldiers behind him and said:

"Notify the prefect of Shaoxing Prefecture that the memorial can be submitted."

"Just say——"

"The tax envoy sent by the imperial court was killed by bandits. We deeply regret it."

(End of this chapter)