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

Chapter 244 Oh no, sir, the Jinyiwei are here!

The news that Jinyiwei Qinglong smashed the statue of Yu Qian and wiped out the entire Yu Shen family caused a huge sensation in Qiantang County.

People like Yu Yang and Yu Hao are naturally not favored by the old-fashioned aristocratic families in Jiangnan.

It was no secret to these privileged people that Yu Shen was executed by Zhu Youtang.

But the problem is that the message conveyed by Qinglong's destruction of Yu Qian's statue is too horrifying.

Does this mean that Zhu Youtang is going to settle old scores and take action against the Qiantang Yu family?
If the Yu family is destroyed, won’t those who depend on the Yu family also be destroyed along with them?

For a time, all the big landowners and businessmen in Qiantang County were in danger.

As expected, after Qinglong eliminated Yu Shen's clan, he did not stop, but continued to kill towards Qiantang Yu's family and Yu Yunzhong's old house.

Qiantang is more than 500 miles away from Nanjing. If you ride at full speed, you can reach it in one day.

Nanjing.

Zhang Peng’s home.

Just as Qinglong led his troops to clean out the Yu family's old house, Yu Yunzhong was working on his connections in Nanjing City.

"Master Zhang, you are the only one who can save the Yu family now."

"My grandfather and Yu Shen are both people who have made contributions to Jiangnan!"

"At this point, Minister Zhang, you can't just stand by and watch someone die!"

Yu Yunzhong sat in front of Zhang Peng, the Nanjing Minister of War, crying and complaining like a nagging woman.

Although he was the prefect of Yingtian Prefecture, he could not do much when encountering such a situation.

Only by inviting the ministers of the six ministries in Nanjing to their attention can we have a chance to safely overcome the crisis.

A few months ago, when Xu Pu and Liu Daxia were imprisoned, it was Zhang Peng who made the final decision and played the Annan card, successfully allowing Xu Pu and Liu Daxia to be released safely from prison.

However, all Zhang Peng's efforts were in vain, as Xu Pu and Liu Daxia died in the end.

Although they died a little later, their deaths were more miserable!

Zhang Peng was filled with worry and was in a dilemma.

"I know, I know. Who among the people of Jiangnan doesn't remember the kindness of Yu Shaobao?"

"But there is nothing I can do. Yu Shen is dead, Xu Pu is dead, Liu Daxia is dead, the emperor has been restored, and Annan has played all his cards..."

"This time, we in Jiangnan suffered heavy losses. It can be said that we were completely defeated."

"It's already difficult to keep Nanjing unaffected. Even if I wanted to help you, I can't do anything!"

What Zhang Peng said was true. After this coup, the southern officials were on the verge of defeat in the court.

The most important cabinet originally had two people from Jiangnan in it, and even a chief minister of the cabinet.

But now, there is no one from Jiangnan in the cabinet.

Among the six departments, there were originally three in Jiangnan, but now there is only one left.

This kind of great defeat had never happened since Emperor Taizu founded the country.

The most important thing for the Jiangnan Civil Service Group now is to stabilize its base in Nanjing.

As for other things, they no longer dared to have any hope.

But Zhang Peng's explanation did not satisfy Yu Yunzhong.

Yu Yunzhong was certain that the difficulty Zhang Peng mentioned was simply that the profits had not yet arrived.

So he gritted his teeth and offered a generous condition that no one could refuse.

"I know that it is difficult for Minister Zhang, so I prepared a small gift for him to show my appreciation."

"The Yu family's boat will be launched in two months. This time, our Yu family is willing to take out the profit of one boat to express our gratitude and support to Mr. Zhang."

"As long as you can help the Yu family survive this hardship, all the profits from this ship for the next ten years will belong to you, Master Zhang!"

Sure enough, as soon as Yu Yunzhong finished speaking, a greedy look immediately appeared in Zhang Peng's eyes.

An entire ship’s worth of profit!

And that’s ten years of profit!
Zhang Peng was so excited by the price offered by Yu Yunzhong that he was stunned for a long time without saying anything.

Seeing Zhang Peng silent, with greed in his eyes, Yu Yunzhong was secretly happy.

But just when he thought Zhang Peng was about to agree, Zhang Peng showed reluctance on his face, sighed and shook his head.

"Yu Fuyin, the conditions you offer are really hard to refuse."

"But it's not that I don't want to save him, it's that I don't have the ability."

"If the Jinyiwei really took action against the Yu family, it must be His Majesty's intention. Anyone who protects you is going against His Majesty..."

"In this situation, who dares to go against His Majesty?"

"Yu Fuyin, I really can't do anything for you. Please go back."

Yu Yunzhong was completely dumbfounded. Even such conditions could not impress Zhang Peng. Zhang Peng had made up his mind to sit back and watch!

Yu Yunzhong was extremely anxious and said without thinking: "How can there be no solution? The Japanese pirates!"

"Those Japanese pirates will obey your orders. You can let them kill all the Jinyiwei, and then..."

"Yu Fuyin!"

Before Yu Yunzhong could finish his words, he was interrupted rudely by Zhang Peng.

Zhang Peng had a serious face, a dark complexion, and a frown. He suppressed the anger in his heart and said in a deep voice: "Yu Fuyin, you can eat whatever you want, but you can't say anything you want!"

"I am the Minister of War of the Ming Dynasty. Those Japanese pirates are so scared of me that they can't wait to kill me. How could they possibly listen to me?"

"Yu Fuyin, you are slandering someone's innocence out of thin air!"

Some things are like this, you can do them but you can't say them.

Although everyone knows the truth, if anyone talks about it openly, it would be breaking the rules.

Yu Yunzhong blurted out the words because he was anxious and angry and acted impulsively.

Now that he was interrupted by Zhang Peng, his eyes immediately became clear and he realized that he had said the wrong thing.

Yu Yunzhong patted his mouth gently and smiled cautiously: "Look at my mouth, it farts easily, Master Zhang, please don't take it seriously!"

"What I mean is, we can take action against the Jinyiwei first, and then put the blame on the Japanese pirates!"

Zhang Peng's face turned cold: "I'm sorry, I can't do what you said."

Yu Yunzhong was anxious: "Stop, Master Zhang..."

"Come here, see the guests off!"

Zhang Peng slapped the armrest, stood up and went back to the study.

Yu Yunzhong wanted to keep him, but was stopped by the servants in Zhang Peng's house.

"Yu Fuyin, my master is resting, please come in."

Yu Yunzhong's face turned pale. After taking a deep breath, he did not linger any longer. He turned around and left the Zhang family's mansion with his servants.

Yu Yunzhong's trip to Nanjing was not smooth, and he encountered obstacles everywhere.

Zhang Peng was the fifth senior official to have been turned away by him, others including the Minister of Revenue Zhang Sheng and others.

Yu Yunzhong did everything he could.

Yu Yunzhong asked everyone he could for help.

But it was useless. The situation was already established. No matter how powerful the Yu family was or how rich they were, they could not compete with the emperor of the Ming Dynasty on their own.

Yu Yunzhong sighed, and his originally straight back seemed to become a little bent.

"Master, where should we go next?"

The old butler beside Yu Yunzhong spoke after careful consideration.

Yu Yunzhong shook his head and said in a somewhat desolate tone, "I won't look for it anymore. I won't look for it anymore."

The old butler was shocked: "Ah? Then...then what should we do?!"

Then, he cursed indignantly: "These officials are really hateful!"

"You usually eat the master's food, drink the master's drinks, and even take the master's things." "Now when something happens, you make excuses for it. You are so shameless!"

Yu Yunzhong waved his hand and took a deep breath: "Okay, stop talking."

"Since no one is going to save our Yu family, then we will save ourselves."

"Have you brought all the young masters and ladies to Nanjing?"

The old housekeeper quickly replied: "Master, the housekeeper is quite smart and has kept your words in mind."

"When he heard that the Jinyiwei had destroyed the statue of Yu Shaobao, he rushed to Nanjing with his family and money."

"There are eighteen carriages in total. We will reach Nanjing tonight."

"it is good."

Yu Yunzhong nodded, a hint of determination flashing in his eyes.

"When the young master and his wife arrive, have everyone board the ship and quickly prepare the goods. We will go to the Xuanwei Office in Jiugang in advance!"

If he can't afford to offend him, can he still not afford to hide?

Leaving the Ming Dynasty and running away secretly was the last way out Yu Yunzhong left for himself.

After more than forty years of accumulation, the entire Yu family now owns six ships that can sail to the West.

Yu Yunzhong planned that when he was left with no other options, he would take the wealth accumulated by his family over decades and run to the Jiugang Xuanwei Office.

At this time, the Jiugang Xuanwei Office had already broken away from the control of the Ming Dynasty with the help of Yang Shiqi.

A wanted criminal like him in the Ming Dynasty is absolutely safe in Jiugang.

With his huge wealth, he can live the rest of his life freely and leisurely in Old Port.

"Yes, sir, I'll do it right away!"

After receiving the order, the old butler walked towards the port.

Normally, in order to catch the southeast monsoon, the smuggling fleets along the coast of the Ming Dynasty would usually leave the port of Nanjing in June and head for the Jiugang Xuanweisi in Nanyang.

But in order to escape, Yu Yunzhong could not wait any longer and set out two months in advance.

……

Qiantang County.

Yu Yunzhong's home.

In the extremely luxurious courtyard, dozens of corpses were lying in a mess, blood splattered on the snow-white walls and flowing on the bluestone bricks underfoot.

Some of these corpses were relatives of Yu Qian, while others were servants who tried to stop the Jinyiwei from enforcing the law.

There were also dozens of maids and servants of the Yu family, squatting in the courtyard, shivering.

These servants were much more obedient and did not stand up for the Yu family, because anyone who dared to stand up for the Yu family was already dead.

Qinglong stood in the courtyard, his face looking frighteningly dark.

Suddenly, a blood-stained Jinyiwei rushed out from the backyard: "Second Master, there is no one in the backyard!"

The next moment, another Jinyiwei rushed out from the side hall: "Second Master, we searched the side hall, but there's no one there!"

Qinglong turned around with a gloomy expression and glanced at the servants in the yard with his sharp eyes.

Several hours ago, they rushed from Yujiazhuang to Yu's residence in Qiantang City.

But to Qinglong's surprise, the current head of the Yu family, Yu Yunzhong, was not found in the house.

At the same time, no immediate relatives such as Yu Yunzhong’s wife, children, and mother were found.

Yes, only servants and distant relatives.

After Qinglong cleared out the Yu clan members, he ordered his Jinyiwei to search the Yu family compound carefully.

In the end, nothing was found, and Yu Yunzhong ran away with his wife, children and the elderly!
This was a major mistake in Qinglong's work. Qinglong was extremely anxious and in a very bad mood.

"Tell me, where have all the people gone?"

Qinglong's eyes swept over the servants, frightening them so much that their faces turned pale and they became incontinent.

"I don't know, we really don't know anything!"

"The master passed away a few days ago, and the young master and his wife also passed away last night!"

"Don't kill me, I'm just a maid, I really don't know anything!"

"..."

They were not lying, and Qinglong did not expect to get anything useful out of these servants.

Qinglong turned around and gave orders to his subordinates.

"check!"

"We must dig deep to find Yu Yunzhong!"

"We can't let them get away!"

The Jinyiwei behind Qinglong immediately received the order.

"Yes, Second Master!"

Afterwards, three hundred Jinyiwei launched a thorough search and investigation in Qiantang County.

Soon, they heard from a night watchman that Mrs. Yu and the young master's carriage were heading towards Nanjing city.

That night, Qinglong led three hundred Jinyiwei and galloped towards Nanjing city!

……

Ying Tianfu.

Port of Nanjing.

Although the Ming Dynasty court never sailed to the West again after Emperor Xuanzong, there was no record of long-distance voyages.

However, all ports, large and small, along the southeast coast are still operating normally.

Its main function is to serve the maritime transportation within the Ming Dynasty.

For example, the wood used to build the three main halls of Fengtian was transported from the south to the north through these ports.

The Nanjing Port is exceptionally busy at this moment. The porters coming and going are sweating profusely as they load boxes of goods onto the ship.

In previous years, such lively scenes usually occurred in June.

At that time, there were so many people, and people and goods were coming and going in an endless stream.

And now, because the Yu family set sail early, this busy scene took place two months in advance.

"Be careful, everyone. If you break something, I won't be able to pay for it even if I sell you all!"

"Hey! Slow down! These are porcelains from Jingdezhen. If you dare to break one, I will skin you alive!"

"Lift this box higher, it contains Suzhou embroidery. If you dare to make it dirty, I will tear out your tendons!"

"..."

The servants of the Yu family bossed the laborers around to carry the goods, and insulted and threatened them from time to time.

Yu Yunzhong was standing on the deck, taking care of his wife and children.

"Master, why are you calling people here so hastily? Why are you going to the sea with these servants?"

"This boat is dirty and smelly. Is it a place for people to stay?"

Mrs. Yu Yunzhong, who was dressed in gorgeous clothes, asked Yu Chen.

She looked at the porters passing by and the shabby environment, frowning in disdain.

Yu Yunzhong frowned irritably: "Don't ask so many questions, this is a critical time, we..."

Yu Yunzhong was speaking when suddenly the sound of horse hooves roared from the shore.

Immediately, the old butler of the Yu family rushed under the boat, panicked, and shouted to Yu Yunzhong with a face full of fear: "It's bad, master!"

"Jinyiwei! Jinyiwei is coming!"

(End of this chapter)