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

Chapter 242 Smashed! All Smashed!

As soon as Qinglong and the three hundred Jinyiwei stepped into the territory of Jiangnan, countless eyes were staring at them.

But no one acted rashly, for they were afraid of alerting the enemy and even more afraid of bringing disaster upon themselves.

Qinglong came here with a very clear purpose, which was to head straight for Qiantang.

Finally, when Qinglong led the Jinyiwei to Qiantang County, the Qiantang Yu family could no longer sit still.

Just when Qinglong entered Qiantang County, Yu Yunzhong, the current head of the Yu family, had already gone to Nanjing with his servants to build relationships.

In the southeast, the city of the Three Wus, Qiantang has been prosperous since ancient times.

The prosperity of Qiantang County is incomparable to those counties in the north.

In Qiantang County, there are willow trees, painted bridges, wind-draped curtains and green screens, the market is filled with pearls and jade, and every household is filled with silk and satin, with tens of thousands of families competing in luxury.

There are crowds of tourists, hawking sounds are heard everywhere, and the commercial atmosphere is very strong.

At this time, in several economically important areas along the southeastern coast of the Ming Dynasty, capitalism had already been born, not just in its infancy.

However, not many new capitalist aristocrats were born. Instead, the original aristocratic families completed the primitive accumulation of capital early and enjoyed the dividends of capitalism.

The Yu family mansion is located in Qiantang County, the most prosperous and best-located place.

But Qinglong did not choose to go to the city, but bypassed Qiantang County and went to a place called Yipeng.

This is Yu Shen’s hometown.

All the people from his nine clans also live here.

As Qinglong and others gradually moved away from Qiantang County, the scenery in front of them was still beautiful and the crops in the fields were still thriving.

But the working people walking along the way rarely had smiles on their faces.

They were equally thin and hungry, with rough and dark skin, totally unlike the city dwellers with fair hair and white complexion.

The clothes they wore were all coarse linen, which formed a sharp contrast with the rich people in the city who were dressed in fine silk.

The houses among the fields are also simple and plain.

It seems that the wealth and prosperity here have nothing to do with them.

They are just like millions of other ordinary people, just trying to make ends meet.

But compared to the people in the north, they have no worries about food and clothing, and although their lives are not easy, they can still get by.

The family had surplus food, so they could have meat during festivals, and they would make a new set of clothes every four or five years, which was their daily routine.

Of course, the life they live now is what people in other places dream of.

But considering the prosperity of the Southeast, the people should not have to live such a hard life.

Qinglong glanced indifferently at the people walking in the fields. They were not moved at all and still went straight to Yu Shen's ancestral home.

But when passing by a luxurious ancestral hall, Qinglong stopped.

I saw several stonemasons hammering and working on a stone, very carefully.

The stone is about ten feet long, and under the hammering of the stonemason, it has already taken shape. Judging from the style, it is a stone statue of a person.

Looking more closely, the man's appearance was exactly the same as the traitor Yu Shen.

Qinglong dismounted from his horse and came to the side of the stone statue.

When the stonemasons who were hammering stones saw the man in official uniform coming, they stopped their work, stepped back a few steps with their hands hanging down, shrank their bodies, and bowed respectfully to Qinglong.

"Sir... Hello Sir..."

Qinglong's face turned pale and his brows were tightly furrowed.

Zhu Youtang had clearly already determined Yu Shen's nature and declared him a traitor to the country, and implicated all nine generations of his clan!
But these Qiantang people are actually still sculpting stone statues for Yu Shen, which is simply treasonous!
"How dare you build a stone statue for the traitor!"

"Do you want to rebel too?!"

Following Qinglong's question, hundreds of Jinyiwei behind Qinglong approached quietly and silently and surrounded the stonemasons.

The stonemasons had never seen such a force before. They were so frightened by the murderous Jinyiwei that they knelt down and begged for mercy.

"Sir, please spare my life! Sir, please spare my life!"

"We didn't build this statue ourselves. The local people paid for us to build it."

"We are just trying to make a living. We made the sculpture because someone paid us. We don't know what crime he committed!"

The stonemasons' explanation made Qinglong even more shocked and angry.

"What?! Money paid by the people?!"

"Stupid! Just stupid!"

"I don't think the people here are rich, so why spend so much money to build a statue for this traitor..."

Suddenly, Qinglong's mind raced, and he turned around and asked, "Who asked you to build this stone statue?!"

"It's impossible that the people of Qiantang spontaneously paid you to build this statue, right?"

"Your Excellency is wise. We ordinary people are lucky to have enough food and clothing. How can we have the spare money to build a statue?"

The stonemasons nodded repeatedly and explained, "It was Master Yunzhong of the Yu family who ordered the people of Yujia Village to pay for the statue of this man."

"The masters all say that this man is a meritorious official of the Ming Dynasty, a great hero who came from our area and brought great glory to our Qiantang."

"It is reasonable for us to pay for a statue of him. They also said that it is our honor to be able to pay for a statue of him!"

"For this, every household in Yujiazhuang has to contribute half a string of money. Our family works hard for a year and can't even save half a string of money!"

"Who would have known that the person we paid for the statue would actually be a sinner!"

As the stonemason spoke, he kicked the stone statue at his feet.

"Please look carefully, sir. We really don't want to build a statue for him!" After listening to the stonemason's narration, Qinglong already understood the whole story.

Qinglong then asked, "How many households in Yujiazhuang have contributed money?"

"Reporting to the officials, it should be more than 1,600 households."

Qinglong sneered: "More than 1,600 households, that means more than 800 strings of money, more than 800 taels of silver."

"Does it cost more than 800 taels of silver to build a broken stone statue?!"

The stonemason lowered his head and stammered, "Master Yu said that this money will be used for subsequent maintenance and sacrificial activities..."

After Qinglong figured out the matter of the statue, the anger that had surged in his heart disappeared without a trace.

He was not at all surprised that the aristocratic families in Qiantang would do such a thing, but he just kept another crime against the Yu family in his mind.

After all, no matter how rich Jiangnan is, no matter how favorable the court's policies towards Jiangnan are.

These have nothing to do with ordinary people.

Whether the gentry in Jiangnan rise or fall, it is always the ordinary people who suffer.

Qinglong immediately ordered: "Smash this stone statue!"

"Ah?! Smash it?!"

The stonemasons looked at each other in confusion.

"Sir, this is an order from Master Yu. If we smash it, we will have a hard time explaining to Master Yu..."

"If anyone really asks, just say that it was Qinglong, the Imperial Guard, who ordered it to be smashed."

Qinglong looked at the stonemasons with an indifferent expression: "But I promise that no one will ask these questions."

"Ah? This..."

The stonemasons were still hesitating when Qinglong shouted, "Hurry up and smash it!"

The stonemasons were so frightened that they trembled all over and smashed the statue's face with their hammers.

Just one move and Yu Shen's face was completely changed.

This stone statue is completely unusable.

In that case, the remaining stonemasons simply made up their minds and quickly smashed the remaining stones to pieces.

In this way, the stone statue of Yu Shen, which had not yet been erected, was destroyed by the stonemasons of Qiantang.

"Official...Official...it's all smashed..."

Qinglong nodded and was about to leave with the Jinyiwei when he suddenly saw a stone statue standing inside the ancestral hall.

The stone statues inside are obviously quite old, but they are still well preserved, with only some traces of time.

If it were somewhere else, Qinglong wouldn't be so sensitive.

But this is Qiantang. In addition to Yu Shen, there is another famous official from Jiangnan!
Qinglong stopped and pointed at the statue in the ancestral hall and asked, "Who is that statue?!"

The stonemasons looked in the direction of Qinglong's finger, and then smiled proudly: "Oh, that statue is the pride of our Qiantang Yu family, and also the hero of our Ming Dynasty, Yu Qian, the young master!"

"Mr. Yu from Qiantang County is the adopted grandson of this Yu Shaobao."

When talking about Yu Qian, the stonemasons' expressions were completely different from when they talked about Yu Shen.

He was indifferent to Shen, had no concern for him, and even had some hatred towards him.

Because of Yu Shen's existence, they lost half a string of money in vain. This tangible loss definitely made their attitude towards Shen not improve.

But when talking about Yu Qian, even the stonemasons in the village showed a proud smile on their faces and unconsciously straightened their chests.

In fact, what they did were similar. The only difference was that the gentry in Jiangnan did not have much time to publicize Yu Shen's glorious deeds.

Therefore, Yu Shen's popularity is not as high as Yu Qian's.

In the Jiangnan region, Yu Qian was worshipped like a Bodhisattva by the aristocratic families in Jiangnan.

Thanks to the concerted and persistent propaganda of these aristocratic families over the years, the fact that Yu Qian is a hero of the Ming Dynasty and the defender of the capital has become deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.

You see, even Emperor Xianzong rehabilitated him, how could he be wrong?
But for Zhu Youtang, it’s not possible!

After Zhu Youtang learned the whole truth about Tumu Fort from Zhou, he issued an order.

Let’s settle all new and old grudges together!
Qinglong came to Qiantang not only to kill Yu Shen's nine clans.

Yu Qian’s clan must also be uprooted!

Although Yu Qian no longer has any blood descendants, even his adopted grandson must die!

"Statue of Yu Qian? Destroy it as well!"

Qinglong's face was grim, and he immediately gave the order.

"what?!"

When the stonemasons heard Qinglong's order, they were so frightened that they knelt down in front of Qinglong and begged for mercy.

"Sir, you can't smash it! You can't smash it!"

"If we smash the statue, Master Yu will be furious and we will be in trouble!"

"Sir, please be kind and stop!"

"..."

The stonemasons were unwilling to take action, but Qinglong led the Jinyiwei behind him and rushed into the ancestral hall.

Take action yourself and destroy the statue of Yu Qian!

(End of this chapter)