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

Chapter 277: Killing in vain, I want the land but not the people!

The words of the Right Vice Minister of the Nanjing Ministry of Revenue are by no means alarmist.

After more than a year of purge operations, gentry all over the world knew the cruelty of Zhu Youtang's methods.

The number of officials, nobles, and landlords killed by Zhu Youtang reached an appalling number.

When the name of Zhu Youtang was mentioned, these landlords and gentry began to tremble unconsciously.

Half of it was out of fear, and half of it was out of hatred.

Thinking of the possible reckoning against them by Zhu Youtang, the patriarchs of the four major families were so frightened that they trembled all over and their eyes were wide open.

After the Right Assistant Minister saw that the patriarchs of the four major families were all shocked, he continued speaking slowly.

"You can rest assured. By then, not only your four major families will revolt, but all the gentry in Jiangnan will rise up to resist the tyranny."

"By then, the whole of Jiangnan will be in chaos. Will His Majesty still care about your small Xuzhou Prefecture?"

"Besides, don't you understand the principle that the law does not punish the masses?"

These few words from the Right Assistant Minister touched the hearts of the patriarchs of the four major families.

When they heard that there were a large number of people involved and that all the gentry in the south of the Yangtze River would revolt and cause trouble, their originally nervous hearts immediately relaxed by half.

As long as there are enough people on their side, they seem to have the courage to do anything.

On the one hand, they sit and wait for death, waiting to be liquidated by Zhu Youtang. Not only will the ancestral property of several generations be destroyed, but their families may even be broken up.

On the other hand, everyone responded with one call and jointly opposed Zhu Youtang’s tyranny.

If they succeed, there is no need to say more. If they fail, under the law, they may be able to escape the disaster...

Thinking of this, the patriarchs of the four major families finally relaxed.

"In that case, we will obey your orders."

The four of them bowed to the Right Vice Minister, who accepted it calmly.

"You can make the right choice, which is great. As for how to start an uprising, I don't need to teach you, right?"

"no, I'm fine!"

The patriarchs of the four major families waved their hands and said, "We are familiar with this, and we will definitely arrange it."

"By then, not only Fengxian County, but the entire Xuzhou will be in chaos!"

With the guarantee from the four major families, the Right Assistant Minister finally felt relieved.

The Right Assistant Minister had no doubt about the influence of these gentry in the countryside. As long as these four major landlords gave the order, this matter would be certain to go wrong!
Since ancient times, imperial power has never extended to the countryside, which has also led to the gentry having a very high status and great influence in the countryside.

The fundamental reason why gentry have such a great influence lies in the land distribution situation in rural areas and familism.

In the countryside, there are roughly three classes: first the big landlord class, followed by the small landlord class and rich peasants, and finally the poor peasants.

Poor peasants have the largest number of people and the smallest land, and are the targets of oppression.

The rich peasant does not own much land, but he has close relations with the small landlord class. Fundamentally speaking, he leans towards the landlord class and stands in opposition to the vast majority of poor peasants.

These middle classes, relying on familialism and land capital, threaten and intimidate poor peasants and control the right to speak of the lower-class people.

The middle class, on the other hand, obeys the orders of the landlord class.

In this way, one level suppressed another, allowing the big landlords Sun, Wang, Zhou, and Li to act like local emperors in Xuzhou and do whatever they want without restraint!
There is no other way to break down these class barriers in the countryside than to completely eliminate the large and medium landlord classes, confiscate all the property of the middle class, and push them back into the class of poor peasants.

……

Conversations like this also took place in various prefectures and counties in the south of the Yangtze River.

Almost all the prominent landlords and gentry in various places, like the four major families in Xuzhou Prefecture, agreed to Zhang Peng and his men's request.

I guarantee that when the time comes, everyone will respond with one voice and cooperate with the actions of Zhang Peng and others.

At the same time, another force in the Jiangnan area also took the initiative to ask Zhang Peng and others for help.

This force is the Jiangnan smuggling group, which is deeply involved in smuggling.

This group has a complex composition and cannot be divided into a single category.

These people included local officials, aristocratic families, wealthy businessmen, and landlords.

This group of people are the most feared ones right now, because the evil Jinyiwei commander Tongzhi Zhuque is arresting the big smugglers exposed by Yu Yunzhong all over the south of the Yangtze River.

And no one knew who the traitor Yu Yunzhong had betrayed. Everyone was so scared that they just wanted to sail away and escape from the Ming Dynasty.

But he was afraid of alerting the enemy and ending up like Yu Yunzhong, who was captured by the Embroidered Uniform Guards.

So they took the initiative to ask Zhang Peng for help.

And Zhang Peng did not forget to win over these people and invite them to conspire for great things.

The reason is simple, simply because this group of people hold unimaginable wealth in their hands.

If things really reach a point of no return, then we will have to recruit soldiers and reward the army handsomely.

All of these require huge amounts of silver.

Now Zhang Peng and his men have soldiers, people and food.

Together with these smuggling groups to fill the last gap of silver, Zhang Peng and his team have gathered all the factors to accomplish great things.

When Zhang Peng extended an olive branch to the people in these smuggling gangs, these people agreed much more readily than the landlords and gentry.

One reason is that these smugglers are naturally bold and do business that can cost them their lives.

Secondly, it was because they had indeed been forced into a desperate situation by Zhu Youtang.

Illegal annexation of land and private concealment of land may still offer a way out.

Violating the maritime ban and smuggling goods is a crime punishable by beheading at the lightest level and extermination of the entire family at the worst!

Without any hesitation, various merchants, nobles, and aristocrats in these smuggling groups joined Zhang Peng's plan.

During this period of time, Zhang Peng and others united almost all local forces including local officials, local military institutions, landlords, gentry, nobles and aristocrats.

It received an unprecedented response, and all parties expressed their strong support for Zhang Peng.

This is not because Zhang Peng is so popular among the people or has such great appeal.

This is entirely because Zhu Youtang has offended all the upper classes in Jiangnan over the past year!
The conflict between Zhu Youtang and the local forces in Jiangnan had reached an irreconcilable and unresolvable point.

Apart from a hot war, there is no other way to resolve this conflict.

Of course, the factory guards lurking across the country also found out something about Zhang Peng's conspiracy on such a large scale.

The factory guards did not dare to delay and quickly reported the unusual situation in the Jiangnan region during this period.

The matter was of great importance. The director of the West Factory, Wang Zhi, the director of the East Factory, Liu Jin, and the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, Mou Bin, rushed to the Palace of Tranquil Longevity as soon as they received the news.

They wanted to report the whole matter to Zhu Youtang.

……

Forbidden City. Hall of Mental Cultivation.

Zhu Youtang's dragon desk was filled with official documents.

At this moment, Zhu Youtang was looking through two letters regarding the war in Annan.

One of the letters was from Mu Cong, Duke of Qian and Commander-in-Chief of Dian Prefecture, requesting to go to war.

Mu Cong took the initiative to volunteer and requested to participate in the war in Annan County.

The other letter was a battle report sent by Wang Yue, which recorded in detail the battles experienced by the Ming army in Annan.

Of course, the news that Mu Cong secretly entered Annan and reunited with Wang Yue was also recorded in it.

Today, Wang Yue's offensive in Annan is generally going smoothly, and there are no problems with logistical supplies.

Although the lower-class people in Annan had serious anti-Ming sentiments, the court officials, noble gentry, wealthy businessmen and landlords in Annan were very aware of the times and many of them were willing to surrender.

The most important thing is that the soldiers of the Annan army had extremely low combat capabilities and were no match for the Ming army in one blow.

According to Wang Yue, recovering Annan is only a matter of time.

"How dare you! How can a general of a state leave his post without permission and bring troops into the country without permission?!"

The Qianguogong family had guarded Dianzhou for generations, and Zhu Youtang had no doubt about their loyalty.

However, this behavior of disobeying orders and acting on one's own is a taboo in military strategy, and Zhu Youtang was very dissatisfied.

At this time, Xiao Jing suddenly came to report: "Your Majesty, the Western Factory Supervisor Wang Zhi, the Eastern Factory Supervisor Liu Jin, and the Jinyiwei Commander Mou Bin are all outside the palace, requesting to see Your Majesty."

It is rare that the leaders of the three major factory guards would ask for a meeting at the same time.

Zhu Youtang put down the question book in his hand and drank a sip of ginseng tea: "Let them in."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

After Xiao Jing left the Yangxin Palace and reported to the outside world, not long after, the three chiefs of the factory guards walked into the Yangxin Palace at the same time.

"Your humble servant, I am here to pay my respects to Your Majesty!"

After the three of them saluted Zhu Youtang in turn, Wang Zhi spoke first: "Your Majesty, there are unusual activities in the Jiangnan region. A large number of Nanjing officials have privately contacted local gentry and landlords."

"Your Majesty, do you think it is necessary for the factory guards to stop this?"

In feudal dynasties, the imperial court was very averse to large-scale private gatherings among the people.

Because there is no guarantee that one of these people will come up with a good idea, which would cause another disaster.

The large-scale private gatherings among the people alone are already a very serious matter, not to mention the collusion between the two interest groups of officials and landlords.

During the Qing Dynasty, because the Aisin-Gioro family came to power illegitimately and were not worthy of their position, control over private gatherings among the people was at its peak.

Because Kangxi was afraid that the Han people would unite and overthrow the rule of the Qing Dynasty, he prohibited private gatherings of more than 20 Han people in the community.

Once discovered, the person who organized the meeting was beheaded in public, and the rest of the participants were either exiled or forced to do hard labor.

It was understandable and by no means an exaggeration for Wang Zhi to suggest that Zhu Youtang intervene and take control at this time.

Zhu Youtang frowned slightly and muttered in a low voice: "Nanjing officials secretly colluded with major landlords..."

Zhu Youtang sneered, "It seems that the actions of Wang Yan and Yang Jizong have deeply stimulated these landlords in Jiangnan. They are desperate and are about to take extreme measures."

Jinyiwei Commander Mou Bin bowed and said, "Your Majesty, it's not just Xuzhou Prefecture that Wang Yan and Yang Jizong investigated. We Jinyiwei have also found similar situations in Yangzhou Prefecture in Nanzhili, Hangzhou Prefecture in Zhejiang Province, and Jiujiang Prefecture in Ganzhou."

"I'm afraid that all the landlords and gentry in Jiangnan have been secretly talked to by officials in Nanjing."

"These landlords have enormous influence in the countryside. If they are maliciously instigated, there may be chaos in Jiangnan. We must be on guard!"

Zhu Youtang's heart sank, and he nodded slightly: "I understand."

The matter of Jiangnan has always been a major concern for him.

Logically speaking, the threat from the south of the Yangtze River should be dealt with gradually, bit by bit.

But now, the local forces in Jiangnan have taken action first. Wang Zhi is right, and Zhu Youtang has to be on guard.

Zhu Youtang thought for a moment, then gave the order: "Send a message to the nine important towns on the border to immediately mobilize for war. Each town should select 10,000 elite soldiers and be ready to march south at any time!"

"Pull 300,000 shi of grain and fodder from the northern states and transport them all to the capital. The grain transport soldiers are on standby to transport the grain and fodder at any time!"

"The commanders of Luzhou, Yuzhou, and Ezhou, lead the garrison troops immediately, deploy them at the border, and cut off the land transportation into Jiangnan!"

"All local customs offices are also prohibited from entering Jiangnan by sea!"

Zhu Youtang's order was undoubtedly a mobilization for war.

However, the deployment he made was mainly for defense and vigilance, not for a large-scale proactive attack.

It is best not to resort to war to deal with the chaos in the south of the Yangtze River.

If you have to move, it is best to minimize the impact as much as possible.

As soon as Zhu Youtang finished speaking, Wang Zhi and the other two immediately bowed and accepted the order.

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

Thinking of the possible war, they felt a little excited in their hearts and found it difficult to calm down.

But this was not the end. Zhu Youtang immediately ordered: "Where is Jia Jun? Call Jia Jun to me!"

After hearing the order from the Yangxin Palace, Xiao Jing, who was waiting outside the door, immediately obeyed the order: "Your Majesty, I will go and summon Lord Jia now."

Xiao Jing immediately ordered a young eunuch from the Imperial Household Department to go to the Ministry of Works to invite the Minister of Works, Jia Jun.

After receiving the order from Zhu Youtang to summon him, Jia Jun rushed to the Yangxin Palace without stopping.

In the Yangxin Palace, after Jia Jun finished his greetings, Zhu Youtang asked, "Jia Jun, how many flintlock rifles has the Ministry of Works produced now?"

Jia Jun bowed and replied: "Your Majesty, the Ministry of Industry has already produced 5,000 flintlock rifles, 2,000 pistols, and 100,000 gunpowder bullets."

Zhu Youtang was quite satisfied with the efficiency of the Ministry of Industry: "Not bad, the speed of your Ministry of Industry is so fast."

Jia Jun said modestly: "This is all thanks to your majesty's factory concept. After the Ministry of Industry successfully built the factory's... assembly line, the production speed increased a lot, which greatly accelerated the efficiency of our Ministry of Industry in manufacturing firearms."

Zhu Youtang nodded and continued to order: "Your Ministry of Works must immediately send these firearms to the Shenji Camp and Xianzhen Camp without delay!"

Jia Jun bowed and accepted the order: "Yes, Your Majesty!"

"Finally." Zhu Youtang looked at the two letters from Annan on his desk, and then gave the order.

"Appoint Mu Cong as the Left Deputy General of the Conquest of the Barbarians to assist Wang Yue in conquering Annan."

"Let Wang Yue win the battle quickly. Those who sincerely surrender to the Ming Dynasty can be spared, and those who resist stubbornly will be killed!"

"If you are really stubborn, feel free to massacre Annan. I want the land, not the people!"

Zhu Youtang's murderous words made everyone present shudder with fear.

Xiao Jing didn't dare to say anything more, he just bowed his head and accepted the order: "Yes, Your Majesty!"

(End of this chapter)