Ming Dynasty: A mere unruly commoner is rebelling against the heaven?

Chapter 233 If you dare to burn my nautical chart, I will burn all your clans!
During the Song and Yuan dynasties, maritime trade was actually always in the hands of the southern gentry.

Even if the Northern Song Dynasty was defeated and the Southern Song Dynasty was destroyed, it had little to do with the southern gentry.

As long as the sea is shining, you can still make money.

It's just a matter of changing the emperor or the ethnic group ruling the Central Plains. It has nothing to do with them.

As long as they are not stopped from making money, it doesn’t matter who is the emperor.

Even after the fall of the Southern Song Dynasty, when the Yuan Dynasty ruled the Central Plains, these southern gentry were happier and lived more comfortably than during the Southern Song Dynasty.

Because the Yuan Dynasty implemented the tax farming system, the land of the Yuan Dynasty was contracted piece by piece to the aristocratic families.

As long as the southern gentry paid a certain amount of tax to the Yuan Dynasty court on time, the central government would not care about the land they controlled.

As for how much money these nobles can squeeze from their own land, that depends on their own abilities.

Under such circumstances, the maritime smuggling trade of the southern gentry of the Yuan Dynasty was even more rampant.

Because the Yuan Dynasty did not crack down on maritime smuggling, the gentry along the southeast coast lived a life of luxury.

At that time, they exported tea from Fujian, porcelain from Jingdezhen and silk from Suzhou to foreign countries at will and made a lot of money.

In just less than a hundred years, a huge amount of wealth was accumulated.

But after Zhu Yuanzhang established the Ming Dynasty, the first thing he did was to crack down on the maritime smuggling trade in the south.

Private maritime trade was directly banned, and only royal ships were allowed to sail on the ocean.

From then on, porcelain was made by several official kilns during the Yongle period, silk was made by the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau, and tea was also produced by imperial farms.

The final transportation and sales were the responsibility of Zheng He's fleet.

The entire industrial chain from production to sales and export was monopolized by the Zhu family and had nothing to do with these Jiangnan gentry.

Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Di directly blocked the financial path of the southern gentry, making the Ming court extremely wealthy in a very short period of time.

From then on, throughout the Ming Dynasty, all conflicts between the central government and the south were over maritime trade.

By the end of the Ming Dynasty, the aristocratic families on the southeast coast clapped their hands in joy when they heard that another ethnic minority had entered the country.

They dreamed of returning to the tax-farming system of the Yuan Dynasty and continuing to make money.

Therefore, when the Qing army reached the southeast coast, it progressed very smoothly. It quickly put down various local resistance forces and ruled the Central Plains.

But soon, the Qing Dynasty discovered something was wrong. He had indeed conquered the entire Central Plains.

But the problem is, they have no money!

All the money was in the hands of the southern gentry. Although they had unified the country, they could not even afford to pay the salaries of the Eight Banners soldiers.

If there is no money, the Qing army will rob!
Not only did they kill the nobles and rob them of their money, they also launched indiscriminate massacres against civilians.

The ordinary people along the southeast coast were implicated by these aristocratic families and suffered unexpected disasters.

The Qing Dynasty's massacre of the southern people did not begin during the conquest of the world, but only after the situation had been decided.

Obviously, he went there for the money.

From then on, the Qing Dynasty also learned the policies of the Ming Dynasty and started a maritime ban policy that lasted for more than two hundred years.

What we need to guard against is the smuggling activities of this group of nobles from the southeast coastal areas.

As for the last point, Liu Daxia said he burned the nautical charts...

Even if Liu Daxia dug up all his ancestors for eighteen generations and burned them into ashes, he would never burn the nautical charts left by Zheng He.

This is a mountain of gold!

Liu Daxia wasn't stupid from reading so how could he burn such a mountain of gold?
Do you really think that the civil servants of the Ming Dynasty have become fools by studying Confucianism?

Zheng He’s navigation map must have been hidden by Liu Daxia!
As for where it was hidden, only he knew.

"Burned?"

Zhu Youtang sneered: "Humph, a good one to burn."

"I want to see how long you can keep being stubborn!"

"Come here, bring Liu Daxia's family members up here and burn them at the stake!"

"If you dare to burn my nautical charts, I will burn all your clans!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

Following Zhu Youtang's order, dozens of factory guards quickly brought Liu Daxia's family members from the group of family members at the back and brought them in front of Liu Daxia.

Among these family members, there are Liu Daxia's wife, Liu Daxia's mother, Liu Daxia's son, daughter, daughter-in-law, son-in-law, grandson, and granddaughter...

At the same time, other factory guards had already set up stakes, with flammable sticks and straw piled under a thick log.

Then all of Liu Daxia's family members were tied to the stake one by one.

During this period, the miserable wails and pleas for mercy from Liu Daxia's family never stopped.

"Grandpa! Grandpa! Save me, Grandpa!"

"Grandpa! I don't want to die yet, Grandpa!"

"Dad! Dad, help me! Save me, Dad!"

"Dad! Please take out the nautical chart and give it to His Majesty!"

"Dad! Our whole family is going to die, why are you still hiding that nautical chart, Dad!"

"If you take out the nautical chart and give it to His Majesty, His Majesty might give us a chance to live, Dad!"

"..."

Faced with death, Liu Daxia's family members were terrified and kept asking Liu Daxia to hand over the nautical chart in exchange for the lives of their entire family.

But their pleas for mercy drew the collective glares of the southern civil servants. Death?
How many people in your Liu family, young and old, died in total?

If Liu Daxia took out this nautical chart, the number of deaths would be more than tens of thousands.
Even if your Liu family is implicated, you are not allowed to take out this nautical chart!

Liu Daxia's heart was broken, tears welled up, and he kowtowed to Zhu Youtang and begged for mercy: "Your Majesty, the navigation chart has really been burned by me."

"If Your Majesty finds it strange, please sentence me to death by burning, and do not implicate my wife and children..."

"They...they are all innocent!"

Liu Daxia's head was broken and bleeding, but Zhu Youtang remained unmoved.

"Execute them in order from youngest to oldest!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

The factory guards first lit the stake under Liu Daxia's youngest grandson.

In an instant, a fierce flame erupted from the stake, devouring Liu Daxia's grandson.

In an instant, Liu Daxia's grandson let out a shrill wail.

"Ah ah ah ah ah!!!!!"

"It's so hot, Grandpa! My body hurts so much, Grandpa!"

"Grandpa! Please save me! Save me, Grandpa!"

"..."

The screams of Liu Daxia's grandson gradually became weaker and weaker, and finally became inaudible.

Liu Daxia's grandson also turned into a ball of charcoal.

Seeing this scene, Liu Daxia burst into tears, his heart was heartbroken and full of regret.

He should never, ever, hide the navigation maps of Zheng He's voyages and the ancient documents from Annan!

Now he was in a difficult situation, the officials in the south were all watching him, how could he dare to take out the nautical chart!

If he really handed this nautical chart to Zhu Youtang, his reputation would be ruined!
Those civil servants in the south will definitely fabricate a story about him as an unforgivable traitor!
He worked hard and fought for the southern smuggling groups for decades. Wasn't it because he wanted both fame and profit?

Now that the benefits are gone, if he gives up fame again, wouldn’t all his decades of ups and downs in the officialdom be in vain?
Liu Daxia was heartbroken but could do nothing.

The pressure on him was enormous. In front of him were his wife, children, and dozens of other elderly people, and behind him were hundreds of officials with burning eyes.

He has no choice, he really has no choice!

"continue."

At Zhu Youtang's order, the factory guards immediately lit the second stake.

Tied to the stake was Liu Daxia's eldest son, Liu Zuxiu.

Liu Zuxiu failed in the examinations many times and is still only a student now. He has not even passed the examination to become a scholar and cannot even go to the Imperial College to make a living.

But he is Liu Daxia's eldest son after all, and Liu Daxia loves him the most.

When Liu Daxia saw Liu Zuxiu being engulfed by the fire, his eyes went dark and he was so excited that he wanted to rush towards the fire.

But the next moment, he was pinned to the ground by the factory guards on both sides, unable to move.

Liu Zuxiu's miserable cries could be heard in his ears again.

"Dad! It hurts so much! Dad!"

"Dad! Please save me! Please save me quickly!"

"I'm dying! Dad! Please think of a way to save me!"

"Dad! I don't want to die, Dad!"

"..."

Every word of Liu Zuxiu's words pierced Liu Daxia's heart like needles.

Liu Daxia howled like a wild beast and tears and blood flowed from his eyes.

Zhu Youtang looked at Liu Daxia's miserable appearance and felt happy in his heart: "This is just the beginning. If you don't hand over the navigation chart, I will burn all your family members to death in front of you every day."

"I will burn your immediate family members first today, and your three clansmen tomorrow, and your nine clansmen the day after tomorrow!"

"After burning your nine clans, burn your clansmen, your classmates, your teachers, your peers, your colleagues, your fellow townsmen..."

"Burn all the people who have anything to do with you, Liu Daxia. They will all die because of you!"

"Burn until everyone who knows you, Liu Daxia, hates you! Hates you! Spit on you!"

"Don't you like burning nautical charts? Then I will burn you until you become infamous forever!"

"Now, I will give you one last chance. If you hand over Zheng He's navigation chart, I will kill your whole family!"

"Are you going to hand it in? Or not?!"

Zhu Youtang's words made Liu Daxia cry bitterly and shake her head repeatedly, feeling extremely desperate.

The people Zhu Youtang listed just now are more than ten clans.
If a massacre really took place at this intensity, the number of people implicated would probably be tens of thousands!
Soon, when Liu Zuxiu's voice gradually disappeared, the factory guards put out the fire in front of Liu Daxia.

What was once a vibrant life has now turned into a pile of black charcoal.

"Xiu'er! Xiu'er!"

Liu Daxia screamed to the sky and let out a heart-wrenching roar.

Zhu Youtang just ordered coldly: "Continue."

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

(End of this chapter)