Daming: I, Yang Xian, really govern Yang!

Chapter 299 Do you think I can’t lift the knife? (4k)

Capital City, Imperial Palace.

Hall of Supreme Harmony.

Zhu Biao is reporting to Zhu Yuanzhang on the post-disaster reconstruction situation in Huguang and Huguang. Everything is developing in a good direction, and some areas have even resumed normal production and business activities.

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded, and now the war in Goryeo has calmed down.

It's also time for those who obstructed us to pay the price they deserve.

Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes flashed coldly, and he said calmly: "Jinyiwei has collected enough evidence these days. Let Mao Xiang lead people to search the houses of these Jiangnan plutocrats first, so that these Jiangnan plutocrats can feel more at ease. In the future, the general ledger, We will slowly figure things out with them one by one!"

"And those scholars, if they sincerely want to die, then let them be fulfilled."

Zhu Biao felt a shiver in his heart. He knew his father very well.

He could already see the bloody scene that followed.

Even if he was as powerful as Jiajing, he did not hold half of the keys to the Ming Dynasty's treasury. The court had to spend money and even looked at other people's faces.

Those scholars who receive funding from the Jiangnan chaebol are all weaklings.

But it just so happened that the examiners and markers of the imperial examination this time were both from the south.

Because at that time, even the emperor could not ignore the power of the Jiangnan gentry group.

In Zhu Yuanzhang's later years, the North-South List incident that shocked the Ming Dynasty was actually the first challenge launched by the Jiangnan gentry against Lao Zhu.

What Lao Zhu wants is an attitude. After experiencing the four major cases in the early Ming Dynasty, he has killed too many people.

Those guys felt that Lao Zhu was getting old, so they began to try to challenge his authority.

Thousands of royal guards descended to the south of the Yangtze River.

The entire North and South List time is divided into two stages.

By the Jiajing period, there were only more than 200 million silver salt taxes left a year.

In the end, these guys still chose to maintain the original list, and the reasons given for eliminating these northern candidates were "poor liberal arts" and "many violations."

Even now, before Yang Xian strikes hard at Cheng and Zhu Li, the Jiangnan Gentry Group is almost at the end of its rope.

Jiajing Machiavellian is already at the T0 level, and even he suffered this fate, let alone others.

You must know that the Jiangnan Chaebol provides financial support to the opposition.

On the Jin Yiwei side, they had all been punished without any torture at all.

For Lao Zhu, as long as there are northern scholars in the review list, there will be no punishment. No matter how many northern scholars there are, as long as there are some, nothing will happen to the members of the investigation team.

In the first stage, the fifty-one Jinshi admitted by the examiner Liu Sanwu and others were all from the south.

After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Lao Zhu had been practicing self-cultivation because of Yang Xian.

When verifying the results of the first imperial examination, Zhu Yuanzhang did not deny the legitimacy of the first imperial examination. At the same time, no one was dealt with.

For a time, the entire Jiangnan plutocratic circle was in turmoil, and everyone was in danger.

With the conclusive evidence of signatures and paintings obtained from interrogation, they confiscated seven or eight Jiangnan chaebols in succession.

In the court, there were civil servants like Song Lian who advocated for their common interests.

We must know that in the original time and space, during the Hongwu and Yongle periods, the salt tax alone could collect tens of millions in taxes every year.

All it takes is for the examiner and marking officer to be inclined in this regard. After all, the Southern Examiners themselves are not bad at all.

At this time, the old Zhu gave them a chance and set up an investigation team, and even the top three on the original list joined the investigation team.

In fact, the elderly Lao Zhu has already made a compromise here.

In the second stage, Lao Zhu sent an investigation team to review the test papers. This was actually Lao Zhu who gave them a chance, but after the review by the twelve-member investigation team, these guys still chose to maintain the original list!

It is natural that there is no crime if there is no food for disaster relief, but if you fan the flames, confuse the victims, or even secretly poison the potatoes, causing a major impact on the court's disaster relief, these are the grave crimes of confiscating the family and exterminating the family.

Only the civil service group that stands with these Jiangnan plutocrats can completely open this money bank.

The reason why there are fewer students in the north than in the south is not just because of the education level, but because the number of students is very different from the south, only one-quarter of that in the south.

Moreover, the "North and South List Case" occurred in the 30th year of Hongwu, 29 years after the end of the imperial examination in the fourth year of Hongwu, during which six more imperial examinations were held. After this period of recuperation, the gap between the north and the south has narrowed a lot. It stands to reason that there should not be such an exaggerated gap to zero.

However, although the education level in the north is not as good as that in the south, it is not enough to pass the test. Moreover, northerners have occupied a place in all previous scientific examinations. In the fourth year of Hongwu, an imperial examination was held in the Ming Dynasty. A total of 120 people participated, 31 of whom were from the north.

Such a result does not necessarily have to be imperial examination fraud. There are many ways to achieve it.

At the last moment of his life, Lao Zhu had no intention of killing anymore.

You must know that there were so many imperial examinations before the Ming Dynasty. Although there was a big gap between the north and the south in each exam, it was not like there was no one in the north.

The economic gap between the north and the south has resulted in differences in the level of scholars between the north and the south. Lao Zhu naturally knows this.

Looking back at the history of the Ming Dynasty.

Some guys thought he couldn't lift the knife.

On the other hand, the Jiangnan gentry and bureaucratic group were aggressive. No matter how Zhu Yuanzhang expressed his position, this group always tried their best to prevent "northern scholars from passing the imperial examination".

You will find that behind many historical events, you can always find the figure of the Jiangnan Gentry Group.

These guys naively thought they could threaten Zhu Yuanzhang with disaster relief food. If it were some emperors in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, they might have been caught by these guys.

You must know that no matter whether you are from the north or the south, as long as you are qualified to participate in this examination, you will be an outstanding person. This explanation obviously failed to convince Zhu Yuanzhang, because even a young man who had participated in the imperial examination would not be able to make such a low-level mistake.

To put it simply, the scholars who took part in the imperial examinations were all the best in their respective places. It might be possible to say that they studied hard, but it would be too much to say that they were unable to speak fluently.

This is tantamount to deceiving Lao Zhu as a pig.

I gave you a chance, but since it didn't work for you, don't blame me for my butcher's knife.

Even if Lao Zhu is old, he is still a dragon.

Reversing dragon scales, even if it is against an old dragon's scales, the result is still only one word.

That is death.

The last officials involved in the case were Lingchi's Lingchi, beheaded beheaded, and exiled.

From this incident, we can see how bold these Jiangnan gentry were, even daring to touch the dragon's beard of Emperor Hongwu.

Because I made too much money, as early as the Yuan Dynasty BC.

The Jiangnan gentry had already passed the era of profit and began to try to gain power. In addition, the Northern Yuan court was rough in doing things, which led to leaks in the court, which gave them a thorough taste of power.

Capital and power, once tasted, are difficult to give up.

In the late Yuan Dynasty, heroes such as Zhang Shicheng and Chen Youliang had their shadows behind them.

After the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, and every subsequent emperor came to power, these Jiangnan gentry wanted to use the civil servants to empty the court, and even control the emperor!

The Jiangnan gentry was involved in incidents such as the Hongwan Case and the Fence Attack Case in the late Ming Dynasty.

Lao Zhu died in the second year after the Nanbei Bang case.

The old Zhu Yuanzhang may have concerns. Although Zhu Yuanzhang killed more than twenty officials in the North and South List and the Southern Juzi who followed him to cause trouble, the more famous people like Liu Sanwu were only exiled. His good grandson Emperor Jianwen ascended the throne. Just recall.

This kind of punishment, based on Lao Zhu's past experience, can at best serve as a warning to the southern landlord class.

Zhu Yuanzhang, who has just turned fifty, is completely different.

At this time, Lao Zhu was still in the prime of life.

With his current methods, there are many ways to flatten and round these Jiangnan plutocrats, and he can guarantee that these guys will not even dare to fart when the time comes.

Beijing.

Song Mansion, living room.

Snapped!

There was a crisp sound, and countless pieces of porcelain flew around.

In the flower hall, a group of gentry lowered their heads and did not dare to speak.

"Look at the good things you have done!" Song Lian shouted angrily in a low voice.

He glared angrily at several Jiangnan gentry in the hall.

Because he was too excited, his old illness recurred, and his whole body began to cough violently.

Fang Xiaoru on the side saw this and quickly stepped forward, stretched out his hand to gently pat his teacher's back, and said with concern: "Teacher, the doctor said that you can no longer be angry on weekdays. Nothing else is as important as your health!"

"Cough! Cough! Cough!"

After Song Lian coughed several times, he finally calmed down. He pointed at those Jiangnan gentry and cursed: "Look at what they did, can I not be angry?"

"It's just a matter of not selling food for disaster relief. How dare you fools try to instigate the victims and threaten His Majesty!"

"I want to know how many heads you have on your necks!"

As the fourth master in eastern Zhejiang, Song Lian followed Lao Zhu to conquer the world and came all the way.

He knew very well what kind of person his superior was.

"We were wrong, Master Song."

"But now the big mistake has been made. Please help me find a way. I can't just ignore it."

A wealthy gentleman from the south of the Yangtze River said with a wry smile: "Lao Zhao and Lao Yu were confiscated and their whole family was ruined. The whole family, men, women and children, are now in jail. We don't know whether they are alive or dead. We are all very concerned."

"Yes, yes, we came to the capital to find you, Mr. Song, just to ask you to think of a way to save Lao Zhao and the others. We can forget about losing the family property. At the very least, we can save people's lives." In addition, A wealthy gentleman then spoke.

Song Lian knew exactly what these wealthy gentry had in mind.

They said they asked him to rescue those Jiangnan gentry whose homes were confiscated and imprisoned, but in fact they were just worried that those people would bite them out.

Since some gentry were taken away, the remaining gentry in the south of the Yangtze River began to have trouble sleeping and eating.

They even dreamed that those Jinyi guards wearing flying fish uniforms and embroidered spring knives at their waists came to catch them, and then they woke up in the middle of the night, covered in cold sweat.

Song Lian was angry that they had done something stupid.

He was even more angry that no one came to inform him before doing such a thing.

You know, since Liu Bowen left, he has been the nominal head of the Zhedong Group.

And right now, the only people coming to the Song Mansion are the opposition Jiangnan plutocrats, and none of the officials are here!

Since the defeat in that confrontation with Yang Xian, Song Lian's reputation in the eastern Zhejiang faction and in the Jiangnan gentry circle has declined.

For the next period of time, he was bedridden again and had not been in court for a long time, which further weakened his influence on the gentry and officials in the south of the Yangtze River.

The defeat of his beloved disciple, Fang Xiaoru, in front of the Duke's Mansion also affected Song Lian.

You must know that many Confucian scholars blame Fang Xiaoru for their current situation. By the way, he, as a teacher, will naturally be implicated.

Obviously, at this time, Song Lian had been excluded from the circle by those civil servants and abandoned by them.

But now something really happened, those guys have shrunk their eggs again. They asked these Jiangnan gentry to come to find Song Lian. Didn't they know that this matter was difficult to handle and would make the emperor angry?

This is to squeeze out the last bit of use value from Song Lian before abandoning him.

Song Lian's face was extremely dark.

Fang Xiaoru on the side also understood these things. After the previous defeat, his whole person also underwent some transformation.

Fang Xiaoru stopped in front of Song Lian and glared at these Jiangnan gentry.

Song Lian raised his wrinkled hand and gently patted Fang Xiaoru's shoulder.

Fang Xiaoru turned around and met his teacher's eyes. He paused and then stepped away.

Song Lian looked at these Jiangnan gentry and said, "The first thing you have to do is to submit to His Majesty."

"Huguang and Huguang are currently undergoing post-disaster reconstruction work and are in urgent need of a large amount of supplies. After you go back, donate half of your family property to the court."

"Half of the family property!" When a wealthy gentleman from the south of the Yangtze River heard the word "half," he immediately exclaimed.

Wouldn't this cost them their lives?

The other person beside him was more enlightened. He looked at Song Lian and asked seriously: "Master Song, if we really donate half of our family property, can you guarantee that we will be fine?"

Song Lian sneered and said directly: "No."

The wealthy gentleman was immediately blocked by Song Lian's words, his face turned red, and he said: "In this case, why should we donate half of our family property."

Song Lian looked at that man as if he were a fool. He had been teammates with this guy for these years, no wonder he ended up like this.

"If you go to the disaster-stricken areas in Huguang and Guangzhou and donate half of your family property, you can at least get a good reputation. But if your home is confiscated directly by Jin Yiwei, you will really have nothing left. As long as you do this, and before this Since there is no direct evidence in this incident, generally speaking, nothing will happen."

"That being said, whether you do it or not, it has nothing to do with me."

"Xizhi, see you off!"

After hearing Song Lian's words, Fang Xiaoru immediately walked up to the Jiangnan gentry with a cold face.

(End of this chapter)