Jiajing Chengming

Chapter 309: Military officials are arbitrary and protect the villagers!
Xie Qian had no choice but to bite the bullet and continue:
"Your Majesty, I have lived in the countryside for a long time. I can say that no one in the court understands the pros and cons of the sea ban better than me!"

"In my humble opinion, the maritime ban is still in line with the people's will. It is not yet time for people's will to change and the ancestral system to become inappropriate, because everyone in the world wants peace!"

Zhu Houcong nodded after hearing this.

He also couldn't say that what Xie Qian proposed was completely unreasonable.

Because, in the Ming Dynasty, most people supported the maritime ban because they were afraid that foreign forces would disturb the peace of their society.

But Zhu Houcong also knew that Xie Qian still supported the maritime ban because he still wanted coastal officials and gentry like his Xie family to monopolize maritime trade and then control the common people along the coast through the monopoly of maritime trade.

After all, as long as the imperial court continues to ban maritime operations, the common people along the coast can only rely on the protection of wealthy families like the Xie family if they want to go out to sea to make a profit.

However, Xie Qian just didn't want the court's maritime ban to be too strict, so strict that it didn't even give face to the wealthy families.

"Therefore, I believe that if there is a mistake in the current sea ban, it is only because the person in charge of the sea ban was not appointed correctly, which has led to the ancestral sea ban being detrimental to the people."

Xie Qian also added to this.

Wang Ao had to stand up and bow to Zhu Houcong, saying, "Your Majesty, what Mr. Xie said is absolutely right. If Zhu Wan really did not do a good job in banning the sea, this is truly the fault of this old minister! This old minister made a mistake in recommending him, and I am willing to be implicated when the time comes."

"It's too early to say that now."

"I summoned Lord Xie here just to ask."

After Zhu Houcong finished speaking, he told Gu Dayong, "Help Mr. Xie back to the Council Chamber."

"Old minister retire!"

Xie Qian glanced at Wang Ao with a guilty look on his face.

Then he left the imperial study.

After Xie Qian left, Zhu Houcong looked at Wang Ao and said:
"Draft an imperial edict and send it to Zhu Wan at an urgent speed of 800 miles. Tell her that the naval ban is like preparing for the Japanese invasion, and that this is a matter of military importance!"

"Therefore, I not only grant him the power to act at his own discretion, but also grant him the power to make arbitrary decisions in court! Not only can he execute common people first and report later, he can also punish officials first and report later!"

"If there is a murder case, it is just because the military affairs cannot be delayed and I have to make an arbitrary decision. I will forgive him!"

"Yes!"

After Xie Qian returned home, he said to Xie Zhi, "Write a letter to your family, saying that His Majesty has issued an order to send someone to investigate Zhu Wan, and ask them to prepare."

"Son, I'll ask them to write a letter right away."

"This is great. A man like Zhu Wan who doesn't follow the rules will surely be exposed by anyone who is sent!"

"Unless these people don't follow the rules either."

After Xie Zhi agreed, he started talking with a smile.

Xie Qian glanced at Xie Zhi and said, "None of this is important. What's important is that I have to remind my family to pay off the payment as soon as possible!"

"Your Majesty, I won't do anything reckless here, but I can't guarantee that the people below won't do anything reckless if they are pushed too hard! Don't transfer the pressure downwards every time the court puts pressure on you!"

"Yes!"

"My son knows."

For many bureaucrats and scholars who came from wealthy families along the coast, they would like to believe that the reason for all this today is simply Zhu Wan's non-cooperation.

If other officials were in his place, they would cooperate and safeguard the interests of the gentry and wealthy families.

Even if Xie Qian was willing to believe that only the emperor himself and individual officials wanted to open the sea, he would not support Zhu Wan's strict ban on the sea.

Because of the performance of Wang Aozhi, who was mainly responsible for the sea ban, they believed that Wang Ao was on their side.

But what they didn't know was that from beginning to end, Wang Ao had been following the emperor's instructions.

"His Majesty!"

"Henan Province Censor Liang Shibiao was from Shunde, Guangdong."

"Chen Kun, the Left Secretary of the Ministry of Personnel, was from Tongan, Fujian."

“When they impeached Zhu Wan, it seemed that they were speaking for the scholars and people of Liangzhe, but in fact, they were also speaking for the gentry and wealthy families in their hometown.

After the imperial envoy was sent out to investigate Zhu Wan, Wang Ao told Zhu Houcong in detail about the two censors who had made bold suggestions at the court meeting.

Zhu Houcong nodded after hearing this: "The storm is about to come. Now they are only attacking Zhu Wan, and I am afraid they will start a large-scale Japanese rebellion next! So, no matter what, we must first stop the large-scale Japanese rebellion, and at the same time, we must also let them know the pain!"

"Therefore, the imperial envoys sent should be instructed to investigate carefully, but they must not deceive the emperor or conceal anything from their superiors."

Zhu Houcong reminded as he spoke.

Wang Ao nodded in agreement.

Let’s talk.

Zhu Wan's ban on sea trade in Liangzhe and Nanzhi did make the wealthy coastal families in these places very dissatisfied.

Even the various societies in the Shilin community began to discuss the matter endlessly.

Moreover, when these people heard that an imperial envoy was coming south to investigate Zhu Wan, they became even more active in publicly cursing and attacking Zhu Wan.

After receiving a letter from his father Xie Qian, Xie Dou asked his son Xie Cong, who was organizing a literary society, to incite the scholars to cause trouble.

As for Xie Qian's request to settle the payments to the downstream pirates and Portuguese as soon as possible, Xie Dou still turned a deaf ear to it.

It's not that he didn't understand Xie Qian's concerns.

But he did not think that the pirates and Portuguese downstream would dare to fight to the death.

He even held out the hope that these people would be driven into a corner by him and would directly take action against the government and force the government and the court to compromise.

……

……

"Gentlemen, Mr. Hengqu once said that a gentleman should establish his mind for the heaven and earth and his destiny for the people. Now cruel officials are in power, under the pretext of banning the sea, they allow soldiers and bandits to harm the people, poison the lives of the people, and disrupt our hometown. How can we sit idly by!"

"And now that the imperial court has sent a special envoy to investigate, I should let them hear the voices of our people!"

Inside a college.

When the scholar Xie Cong was gathering with his friends in the same society, he stood up, brushed his sleeves, and raised his voice to question the scholars.

Scholar Lou Yingkui also stood up resolutely and said:

"That's exactly what he said. If Zhu Wan bans the sea like he did, the people will suffer sooner or later. The officials and the gentry don't care. We, the people who work for the country, have to plead for the people! We should call on the villagers to stop these soldiers and bandits from coming and protect our homes!"

"well said!"

"We must let His Majesty see our loyalty and our courage to fight against cruel officials and bandits!"

"We should also call on the villagers to petition the Grand Master and the elderly parents. They are afraid of Zhu Wan, the traitor, so why don't they dare to report this to the higher-ups?!"

"That's right! In addition to petitioning the Grand Master and my parents, we should also publish a notice to let the imperial envoys see that the people of Southeast China are already in turmoil. If we continue to allow Zhu Wan to ban the sea like this, Southeast China will inevitably be in chaos!"

"It should be so. A gentleman should not be afraid of death or difficulties. He should sacrifice his life and shed his blood to protect the villagers!"

"Yes, at worst I won't have this fame, at worst I will become the dead soul under Zhu Wan's sword!"

So, the scholars responded one after another.

Many young and energetic people even said that they are not afraid of death.

Those who remained silent were also instigated to respond.

Otherwise, you will inevitably be blamed.

then.

When the imperial envoy went south, Liangzhe and Nanzhi had already become lively.

Many scholars led the villagers to post notices at various waterway docks leading to the sea to prevent officials from investigating cases and to prevent the navy from investigating smuggling.

Seeing this, the newly appointed Zhejiang Governor Cai Tianyou had no choice but to come to Wang Yangming in person and tell him about the matter:
"Lord Yangming, the governor's office has arrested many scholars, but there are still more and more people causing trouble. Even many common people have joined in, and they want to appeal for justice for the arrested scholars. If the situation continues like this, I'm afraid there will really be a civil uprising!"

(End of this chapter)