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

Chapter 282 Kill all the landlords and gentry, and do not harm any civilians!
Zhu Youtang was resting in the West Garden with his concubines at the moment. If it was not an extremely urgent matter, Wang Zhi would never have come to the West Garden.

And right now, the only thing that can be called extremely urgent is in Jiangnan.

The smile on Zhu Youtang's face gradually faded, and his eyes became serious: "Let him come over."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

After receiving the order, the young eunuch immediately withdrew and summoned Wang Zhi to meet him.

Seeing this, Chen Yuanyuan, who was originally sitting on a stool, stood up and said, "If that's the case, Xiaowan, let's go see the Qinghui Palace that His Majesty has gifted us."

"I don't dare live on this Qionghua Island alone. If I come to live here, you have to come and accompany me!"

Chen Yuanyuan said jokingly. Dong Xiaowan jumped up from the armchair and came to Chen Yuanyuan's side: "Okay! Okay! I will definitely come here to accompany my sister."

"Qionghua Island is so beautiful and has a wide open terrain. It's much better than being stuck in Zhongcui Palace."

Liu Rushi stood up, supported Chen Yuanyuan, and looked at Dong Xiaowan with some resentment.

"Be careful, my sister is pregnant and can't stand your recklessness."

Dong Xiaowan stuck out her tongue embarrassedly and stuck to the other side of Chen Yuanyuan.

"Your Majesty, I will take my leave first."

Chen Yuanyuan, along with Liu Rushi and Dong Xiaowan, bowed and said goodbye to Zhu Youtang.

Chen Yuanyuan was so obedient and sensible that Zhu Youtang just nodded and didn't say much.

Just as the three women turned around and walked back, they met Wang Zhi who was hurrying over at the pavilion.

Wang Zhi took a step to the side and bowed, "Greetings to the three ladies."

Chen Yuanyuan didn't say anything, but just nodded and walked straight past Wang Zhi.

After the three women walked past him, Wang Zhi quickly came to Zhu Youtang and knelt down to pay his respects.

"Your humble servant Wang Zhi pays respect to Your Majesty!"

"Get up."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

After Wang Zhi stood up, he couldn't wait to report to Zhu Youtang.

"Your Majesty, Jiangnan is in chaos!"

"Just the night before yesterday, Jiangnan Shipyard and Fuqing Shipyard were attacked by Japanese pirates at the same time!"

"The Jiangnan Shipyard and the Fuqing Shipyard were both set on fire by the Japanese pirates, burning down part of the shipyard and the treasure ship that had already been built!"

"In addition, these pirates also attacked and killed more than 60 craftsmen in the shipyard, and more than 150 craftsmen were seriously injured!"

Zhu Youtang's expression suddenly turned gloomy, his eyes narrowed slightly, the air around him suddenly solidified, and murderous aura lingered around him.

"Who did it?"

Zhu Youtang's tone was still calm, but Wang Zhi could clearly feel the anger and murderous intent hidden in his tone.

Wang Zhi immediately replied: "Your Majesty, Ji Sheng captured several Japanese pirates alive. According to the pirates' own confession, the person behind them was none other than the Nanjing Minister of War, Zhang Peng!"

When Zhu Youtang heard the name, he sneered, "Zhang Peng..."

Zhu Youtang was already furious. He had not expected that Zhang Peng would be so impatient to take action against these two shipyards first.

It seems that in the eyes of these Jiangnan gentry, traveling to the West is the most untouchable taboo in their minds.

The burning of two shipyards alone was enough to make Zhu Youtang angry and murderous.

But the changes in Jiangnan are not just that.

Then, Wang Zhi continued to report: "Your Majesty, in addition to the burning of the two shipyards, there have been a large number of civil uprisings in prefectures and counties throughout Jiangnan."

"Wang Yan, the doctor of the Ministry of Rites, Yang Jizong, the left assistant censor, and Tan Lu, the commander of the Western Factory, led a team to survey the land in Pei County."

"But also the night before yesterday, the people of Pei County suddenly stormed the Pei County government office and beat the Pei County Magistrate Liu Chuan to death on the spot!"

"Wang Yan and his men managed to flee all the way to Luzhou, and only then did they save their lives!"

"what?!"

Zhu Youtang clenched the fish food in his hand tightly, and with such great strength, he easily crushed it into a ball of powder.

Such a serious civil unrest made Zhu Youtang really angry.

The people stormed the county government office and beat the magistrate to death. This kind of thing shook the foundation of the Zhu family's rule.

If it cannot be suppressed quickly, this civil unrest may turn into an uprising or rebellion at any time!

And this is just the beginning, Wang Zhi continued to report.

"Such attacks on government offices in various prefectures and counties occurred a total of 33 times the night before yesterday, covering Suzhou Prefecture, Hangzhou Prefecture, Nanchang Prefecture, etc."

"The number of county magistrates and prefects killed and injured is innumerable!"

"Until now, there is still a steady stream of reports of civil unrest in Jiangnan being sent to the capital!"

"Your Majesty, Jiangnan is now...completely in chaos!"

After Wang Zhi finished speaking, he bowed deeply to Zhu Youtang and lowered his head.

Zhu Youtang's breathing became rapid, and he tried his best to suppress the anger in his heart.

What he was most worried about happened.

Ever since the last report from the Imperial Household Department that officials in Jiangnan were secretly contacting landlords and gentry in various parts of Jiangnan, Zhu Youtang had a premonition that something big was going to happen in Jiangnan, so he made arrangements in advance.

But he did not expect that Jiangnan would fall into chaos so quickly and on such a large scale.

This has completely exceeded the scope of the case handled by the factory guards.

If we want to resolve the rebellion in Jiangnan now, we can no longer rely solely on the Censorate and the Guards.

We must dispatch troops to go south of the Yangtze River to quell the rebellion!

Zhu Youtang originally did not want to start a war, but these Jiangnan gentry were really too much and challenged Zhu Youtang's bottom line again and again.

In this case, Zhu Youtang doesn't mind fighting Jiangnan all over again!
Ever since Emperor Taizu Gaozu established the Ming Dynasty, the imperial court has found it difficult to control Jiangnan.

Especially after Yang Shiqi and Yu Qian, people in Jiangnan almost obeyed orders from the capital instead of announcements.

The reason why Jiangnan is so bold and unrestrained is that it is too rich.

Because they were rich, the noble officials, landlords, gentry, wealthy merchants and aristocrats in Jiangnan had the courage to sing against the imperial court.

In addition, Jiangnan is a famous land of fish and rice, and its annual grain output accounts for nearly half of the total grain output of the Ming Dynasty.

In addition, Jiangnan has a large population. During the Hongzhi period, the Ming Dynasty household register recorded that there were about 9 million households in the country, and Jiangnan alone accounted for 1.5 million households.

Although they had money, food, and people, Jiangnan and the imperial court had long been at odds with each other.

But over the years, the effort I put in to save face is still acceptable.

Until now, Zhu Youtang's powerful measures have forced the Jiangnan gentry to take the initiative to tear off the fig leaf on their faces.

Since Jiangnan openly rebelled, Zhu Youtang would no longer hold back.

Zhu Youtang was determined to prescribe the right remedy to completely eliminate the rebelliousness in Jiangnan, so that Jiangnan would submit to the imperial court from now on and never dare to act presumptuously again!
Zhu Youtang was determined to kill, and a resolute sneer appeared on the corner of his mouth: "Jiangnan is in chaos? It's good to be in chaos! It will be convenient for me to eliminate these evils!"

"Go, go and find Gao Shun for me!"

The young eunuch waiting in the distance straightened his face and nodded quickly, "Yes, Your Majesty!"

Afterwards, the young eunuchs hurriedly left Xiyuan and wanted to go to the Xishan military camp to summon Gao Shun.

But just when the young eunuch walked out of the gate of Xiyuan, he found Gao Shun waiting outside the gate. It turned out that after Wang Zhi got the news from Jiangnan, he had a premonition that Zhu Youtang would mobilize troops against Jiangnan.

So he sent people to the Xishan military camp in advance, asking Gao Shun to come to Xiyuan in advance to wait for orders and wait for Zhu Youtang's summons.

"General Gao, you are right here! Come with us quickly, His Majesty is anxious to see you!"

The young eunuch's face lit up with joy, as Gao Shun was right at the gate of the West Garden, so he didn't have to run back and forth.

Gao Shun looked solemn and nodded silently, then followed the young eunuch all the way to the pavilion on Qionghua Island.

"General Gao Shun pays respect to His Majesty!"

When Gao Shun came before Zhu Youtang, he bowed respectfully.

Zhu Youtang raised his eyes and looked at Gao Shun, his tone full of murderous intent.

"Gao Shun, I order you to lead an army of 100,000 to Jiangnan to quell the rebellion immediately!"

"In all prefectures and counties where civil unrest occurs, all landlords, gentry, nobles and aristocrats will be executed along with their entire families!"

"After we have pacified all the places in Jiangnan, we will immediately check all the farmland. Any family that has hidden more than 100,000 taels of silver, more than 10,000 acres of good farmland, or secretly hidden large ships will be slaughtered!"

"All officials in Nanjing will be imprisoned and charged!"

Before Zhu Youtang finished speaking, Wang Zhi and Gao Shun's faces suddenly became extremely solemn.

Zhu Youtang's tone was filled with murderous intent, and the orders he issued were filled with unrestrained murderous intent.

Just with this one sentence, countless people in Jiangnan would be killed, and blood would flow for a thousand miles.

Zhu Youtang's governance style is always so simple, crude, and full of murderous intent.

Jiangnan listens to orders but not announcements. The bottom line is that there are too many rich people.

Once people have money, they become arrogant and think they have the ability and confidence to challenge the imperial power of the Ming Dynasty.

People always have a misunderstanding that emperors in every dynasty were as lawless and supreme as the Qing Dynasty, and no one could suppress them.

I always feel that as long as one becomes an emperor and has the identity of an emperor, the ministers will obey the emperor's orders, the gentry will be afraid of the emperor, and the soldiers will be loyal to the emperor.

no.

Before the Qing Dynasty, there were forces that checked imperial power in every dynasty.

There are relatives by marriage, prime ministers, military governors, eunuchs, and aristocratic families...

These forces are all checks and balances on imperial power. The emperor also needs to balance the forces of all parties and strengthen himself in the cracks.

Only after the Manchus entered the Pass, these savages who had just come down from the mountains used their butcher knives to destroy the imperial power to the point where no one dared to check and balance it.

Relatives by marriage?!
kill!

Civil officials?!
kill!

Military commander?!
kill!

Aristocracy?!
kill!

Rich businessman?!
kill!

Noble?!
kill!

Han Chinese?!
kill!

Since the Manchus entered the Central Plains, there have been hundreds of massacres committed by the Manchus against the Han people.

The Liaodong Massacre killed more than three million people.

During the 81st day of Jiangyin, the people of Jiangyin refused to accept the order to shave their heads and launched an anti-Qing uprising. After 81 days of resistance, the city was captured, more than 200,000 people in the city died, and only 53 people were left alive in Jiangyin.

Eighteen people were killed. After the Qing army had been besieging Guangzhou for ten months, it carried out a large-scale massacre for twelve days, with the death toll ranging from 700,000 to one million.

During the ten days in Yangzhou, the swords were not put down and eight hundred thousand people were brutally massacred.

The Three Massacres of Jiading: After the Qing army issued the order to shave their heads, the people of Jiading rebelled. The Qing army carried out three massacres in Jiading, with an estimated death toll of more than 30,000 people.
According to the Jiaxing City Annals, the entire city was massacred and no one was spared.

In the Jiangyin Massacre, 172,000 people were killed, and only 53 people survived in Jiangyin City.

In the Shuzhou Massacre, the Qing army massacred Li Zicheng, the Southern Ming and other forces. Six million Ming people died tragically, and nine out of ten houses in Shuzhou were left empty.

In the Kunshan Massacre, the blood of 40,000 people stained the land.

In the Jinhua massacre, 50,000 people died.

In the massacre in Jing County, 50,000 people were brutally slaughtered.

In the Ganzhou massacre, the blood of 200,000 people stained the land.

A total of 250,000 people died in the Tongan Massacre and the Nanchang Massacre.

In the Xiangtan massacre, less than a hundred people survived in the city.

In the Fenzhou Massacre, 400,000 people were brutally massacred.

The Chaozhou Massacre, the blood of hundreds of thousands of people stained the land.

After the massacre in Yongchang, no one lived within a hundred miles.

The massacre in the early Qing Dynasty caused the population of the Ming Dynasty to drop from more than 99 million during the Tianqi period of Emperor Xizong of the Ming Dynasty to more than 88 million during the Shunzhi period.

Tens of millions of Han people were massacred.

And the main massacre area is Jiangnan!
Therefore, throughout the Qing Dynasty, Jiangnan Province was so obedient, which was completely different from the Ming Dynasty.

Because those who had the courage to resist were all killed by the Qing Dynasty in those bloody massacres.

The Qing Dynasty can slaughter these people, but I can't?
"Yes, Your Majesty!"

"I will gather all my troops and head to Jiangnan to quell the rebellion!"

After Gao Shun bowed and accepted the order, he turned around and walked out.

He never considered the rationality of Zhu Youtang's orders, but only considered how to successfully complete the orders issued by Zhu Youtang.

But at this moment, Zhu Youtang sighed leisurely again.

"Alas... Wang Zhi, you should also take the soldiers from the Western Factory with you to Jiangnan."

Wang Zhi, who had been silent, was suddenly startled and looked excitedly at Zhu Youtang in front of him.

Zhu Youtang threw the last bit of fish food in his hand into the lake with an expressionless face, and watched the group of fat carps fighting for the food with all their might.

"Remember, kill all the landlords and gentry, and don't hurt any Ming people!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

"Your humble servant, go and count the troops and immediately go to Jiangnan to kill all these traitors!"

Wang Zhi suppressed his excitement, kowtowed deeply to Zhu Youtang, then stood up and walked out.

Gao Shun, who was standing in front of Wang Zhi, also stopped and listened respectfully to Zhu Youtang's orders.

It was not until Wang Zhi walked beside him that he lifted his feet in tacit understanding and walked out of the West Garden side by side with Wang Zhi.

One of them was Zhu Youtang's most trusted head of the factory guards, and the other was a general in charge of Zhu Youtang's most elite army.

They were Zhu Youtang's right-hand men, with spies in one hand and the army in the other, helping Zhu Youtang to firmly control the government affairs in the northern part of the Ming Dynasty.

Now, they have to work together again to kill all opposition forces in Jiangnan and bring Jiangnan completely under Zhu Youtang's control.

Let Zhu Youtang completely control the government of the Ming Dynasty in both the north and the south!

(End of this chapter)