Jiajing Chengming

Zhang Cong couldn't help but raise the corners of his mouth slightly, and his eyes revealed gratitude and admiration.

He knew that the current emperor would not let him down!
Most of the court officials were dumbfounded and showed endless loss.

"Many problems will certainly arise during the land survey, but we should solve them one by one instead of using them as an excuse for not being able to conduct the land survey."

"If the imperial court doesn't control the real and fake land of the world, then does the world still belong to the imperial court?!"

Zhu Houcong asked these court officials with a stern look.

After Zhu Houcong asked this, the court officials who had been criticizing the emperor just now suddenly fell silent.

After all, the emperor personally supported Zhang Cong.

What else could they do?
We can’t change the emperor, can we?
Looking at these dejected courtiers, Zhang Cong regained his fighting spirit and looked at them with contempt.

His hatred and disdain for these people also increased exponentially.

"You can all write up specific issues and submit them to the cabinet for handling."

"What needs to be reported should be reported, and what needs to be resolved should be resolved, but you cannot make personal attacks, deny anyone, or accuse anyone here!"

"There are no traitors in my court. The real traitors are in the local areas, among those who resist and sabotage the land reclamation!"

Zhu Houcong announced the end of the court after saying this.

And then, except for the ministers who spoke up at the court meeting and had to report the problems in the book, no other court officials reported the problems in the book. They suddenly became negative!

It seemed as if this land reclamation matter had nothing to do with them and they just wanted to be party members.

However, Zhu Houcong still asked Zhang Cong to deal with the problems raised by the court officials as soon as possible.

After all, if these problems are not dealt with in a timely manner, they will indeed affect the results of the survey.

The purpose of Zhu Houcong's land survey was indeed not to allow local bureaucrats and wealthy families to take advantage of the opportunity to plunder.

Suzhou.

After Gui E and Xiong Jia arrived here, they first interrogated Qian Wu, a mulberry farmer who killed Qingtian Langguan Wen'an.

Many gentry and local celebrities in Suzhou who were able to sign official documents also went to the court, under the pretext of supervising the government not torturing Qian Wu, a local righteous man, to extract a confession.

According to the five people's confession:

The reason why he killed Wen An was that Wen An was too harsh during the land survey process and even forced the Changzhou County Magistrate to beat Qiu Changli, the household clerk of Changzhou County, with a stick. He even beat Qiu Changli to death. Qiu Changli was a man who pleaded for the people and was eager to do good for others. He also saved Qian Wu's life. Therefore, Qian Wu killed Wen An in anger to avenge Qiu Changli.

Many scholars and people in Suzhou were therefore impressed by Wen'an's chivalrous spirit, and felt sorry for the fact that people like Song Jiang like Qiu Changli were beaten to death.

As a result, the gentry and local celebrities in Suzhou all came to support Qian Wu, saying that they could accept Qian Wu being executed for killing an official, but they could not accept Qian Wu being tortured.

of course!

The reason why these Suzhou gentry and local celebrities banded together to stand up for an ordinary mulberry farmer was that they were afraid that Qian Wu would be tortured and implicate themselves, so they appeared very united.

These days, Qian Wu has indeed become a "righteous man" and "hero" respected by everyone in Suzhou City. Even in prison, the jailers are very respectful to him.

Whatever Qian Wu wanted, someone would send it to him through the jailer, even a skinny horse was sent to the prison.

Gui E and Xiong Jia started from Suzhou, and they saw the unity of the scholars and people of Suzhou.

Whether it was the banner at the Changmen Gate that read "Calling on scholars to write an epitaph for the righteous citizen Qian Wu", or the activity at the Hanshan Temple where rich people burned incense and asked the people to pray for the righteous citizen Qian Wu, both made Gui E and Xiong Jia realize that it was more accurate to say that the extravagant and wealthy families in Suzhou wanted to kill Wen'an rather than Qian Wu.

"Lord, Minister, Qian Wu has violated the law of the country and is certainly guilty of death, but according to the righteousness of the Spring and Autumn Annals, he died to avenge his benefactor! Although I have been greatly favored by the court and retired as a minister to return home, I will never sit idly by and watch the righteous people in my hometown being humiliated at will."

"I am the same. Whether Qian Wu is beheaded or hanged, it is all punishment. But it is not appropriate to torture him to extract a confession, and to implicate good people and humiliate righteous men. If the officials are looking for an opportunity to retaliate, I will file a report to impeach him!"

"That's right. Qian Wu is certainly guilty of the death penalty, but the cause of this incident is that the land survey disturbed the people too much, which led to this incident. If the officials still ignore the people's feelings, don't blame me for not reminding them in advance."

……

Even the gentry and wise men of Suzhou, sitting on the jury, expressed their opinions on Qian Wu's case when Gui E and Xiong Jia were trying him.

Gui E just sneered and didn't take it seriously.

Because he had received the emperor's secret order and knew how to deal with these people.

Therefore, Gui E just winked at the Southern Zhili Governor Xiong Jia. The Southern Zhili Governor Xiong Jia first asked Qian Wu: "Did anyone instruct you to kill Wen Langguan?"

Qian Wu, who was emboldened by the Suzhou gentry and the entire Suzhou people, said disdainfully, "No one ordered me to do this."

"nonsense!"

Gui E immediately shouted sternly.

"Does the Lord intend to torture him into confessing in public?"

At this time, a gentleman couldn't help but ask about Gui E in a cold voice.

Gui E said, "I will not torture someone to extract a confession, but as the ruler, I have been ordered to clean up and supervise the taxation policy and deal with the government as I see fit, so I have the right to make a judgment on the nature of this matter."

"In my opinion, Qian Wu's killing of Langguan this time was not a personal grudge, nor was it simply revenge for his benefactor. It is very likely that the entire Suzhou people are rebelling! They are rebelling against the national policy!"

"Since you, Qian Wu, said you didn't instigate anyone, that only means that the people of Suzhou were the masterminds behind your plan!"

When Gui E said this, the gentry and dignitaries present could no longer sit still.

Qian Wu said proudly at this time: "I told you, no one was the mastermind. I wanted to kill Wen An myself."

"Good! Mr. Qian is indeed a man of honor!"

Many nobles and dignitaries began to praise him at this time.

"It is not your turn to teach me what I think!"

Gui E ignored these nobles and dignitaries at this time, and just responded to Qian Wu in a cold voice.

Qian Wu gritted his teeth, feeling depressed about the fact that he couldn't interfere with a cabinet elder.

Gui E shouted, "Qingtian Censors Weng Wanda and Tang Shunzhi!"

"My subordinate is here!"

The two men stood up at this time.

"Pass on my command. Suzhou has defied the national policy and plotted to murder the imperial commissioner for clearing the land. After the tax is cleared, the punitive land tax will be tripled, the punitive gold and silver will be five times higher, and the punitive business tax will be ten times higher!"

"Yes!"

As soon as Gui E said this.

The gentry and wise men could no longer sit still.

The gentleman Gu Ning immediately stood up and said, "Your Excellency is so overbearing in treating the people of Suzhou. This is against the way of a gentleman! We will definitely file a report to the emperor!"

"You can protest! You can even file a petition to the emperor to impeach me. This is your right to retire and return home, but I don't have to listen!"

"But if you disobey, that would be rebellion!"

Gui E responded to Gu Ning, and then ordered: "Wang Yuan, the prefect of Suzhou."

Wang Yuan, the governor of Suzhou, also stood up at this time: "I am here."

"Now, on behalf of the Emperor, I hereby order you to arrest all the reactionary traitors who have incited the people in Suzhou to oppose the national policy within one month after the land survey is completed! Although they have not directly committed treason, the main culprits must be executed and their families must be exiled."

"Among the wealthy families in Suzhou who own more than 10,000 acres of land, at least one out of every ten households must be a reactionary traitor. As for which ones to arrest, it's up to you to decide."

"But if it's less than a stop, then you're an accomplice!"

Gui E directly gave the order to Suzhou prefect Wang Yuan to label the big landlords as reactionary traitors.

Wang Yuan was naturally shocked when he heard this.

The gentry and dignitaries present were also horrified.

Wang Yuan had to ask, "Sir, what if, I mean what if, there are not so many reactionary rebels who are wealthy families with more than 10,000 acres of land?"

"Don't tell me what will happen. Everyone in Suzhou is against the national policy. It is a great mercy to convict only one of them as a traitor."

"Don't be afraid that they will rebel because of this. Anyway, I and Xiong Fuyuan will back you up. If things don't work out, there are tens of thousands of soldiers under the command of Governor Yan Butang, Yu Dayou and Dai Yi in Huai'an. They can come here by land and sea within a few days to help you put down the rebellion!" (End of this chapter)