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

Chapter 294: When doing things, the Western Factory officials do not care about evidence, they only look at assets!

Wang Yan cried and shed tears, and told them all the difficulties they had encountered since they surveyed the land all over the country.

It started from Jinghai being coerced and bribed by the Wang brothers, to the civil uprising in Puzhou, the house arrest in Fengxian, and then to the attack on the county government office in Peixian and the killing of the county magistrate.

Their journey was filled with many hardships and difficulties, and they experienced many difficulties and obstacles. The grievances they suffered were deeper than the sea.

Wang Zhi patted Wang Yan on the shoulder and spoke in a deep voice.

"My two lords, you have suffered a lot of difficulties since the re-survey of the land throughout the country. I am really sorry for you."

"I have heard all these things from Qin Lu. Don't worry, from today on, the court will never let you suffer any injustice again."

"This……"

Wang Yan wiped the tears from his eyes and was about to ask the court what to do when the leader of the one hundred soldiers in the Xianzhen Camp beside him spoke first.

"My Lords, from now on, until the land survey is completed, we will be responsible for protecting the safety of the members of the land survey team."

"what?!"

Wang Yan and Yang Jizong's pupils shrank and expressions of extreme shock appeared on their faces.

The Xianzhen Camp was the most elite force of the Ming Dynasty imperial court. Every battle in which the Xianzhen Camp participated was always victorious.

In such a powerful army, every soldier is invaluable.

And these precious soldiers, in batches of one hundred, are there to protect their safety.

This...this...both Wang Yan and Yang Jizong felt flattered.

Wang Yan looked at Wang Zhi in shock: "This...is this your order, or your majesty's?"

Wang Zhi nodded at him and said, "Of course, Your Majesty, from now on, anyone who dares to obstruct the land survey will be executed first and reported later. This is a special permission granted by the Emperor!"

When he said the last eight words, Wang Zhi emphasized his tone, making Wang Yan and Yang Jizong feel the murderous intent coming towards them.

After Wang Yan's initial shock, all that was left was emotion.

On the one hand, with the addition of these one hundred soldiers from the Xianzhen Camp, their efficiency in surveying the land would be much faster, and those gods, demons and villains would not dare to have any crooked ideas anymore.

On the other hand, all the grievances and hardships they suffered in surveying the land throughout the country were worth it.

His Majesty the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty has been paying attention to the difficulties they encounter and has given them strong support!
Wang Yan once again clasped his hands together and said to Wang Zhi with deep emotion, "Please, Lord Wang, thank Your Majesty on my behalf!"

"Please rest assured, Your Majesty. As long as we are still alive, the progress of this land survey will never stop!"

Yang Jizong also cupped his hands, his expression extremely focused: "To investigate the land in the world and benefit the people of all places, I will not hesitate to die!"

Wang Zhi nodded with satisfaction and said, "The time is short and the task is heavy for checking the land in the country. I will not bother you any more."

"Doctor Wang, Censor Yang, I am leaving now."

Wang Yan quickly replied, "Yes, the previous mutiny in Pei County has already wasted a lot of time."

"We will immediately continue to survey the amount of farmland in Pei County, and we will definitely clear out the amount of farmland in Pei County as quickly as possible."

Wang Zhi nodded, and without staying any longer, he left Pei County with the Western Factory guards behind him.

Wang Yan and Yang Jizong looked at each other and saw joy and anticipation in each other's eyes.

After they quickly settled their luggage, they immediately led the team out of the county and headed for the fields.

Only this time, their team was much larger.

With one hundred soldiers from the Formation Trap protecting them, Wang Yan, Yang Jizong and others felt completely safe.

This time, they felt extremely refreshed when they measured the land.

No one dared to make trouble, no one dared to obstruct in the slightest, and the speed of surveying the land had never been so smooth and pleasant.

Wang Yan and Yang Jizong did not ask the reason, but they knew the general idea in their hearts.

Perhaps those who wanted to prevent them from surveying the land are all dead.

If the Western Factory and the Xianzhen Camp were dispatched at the same time, there was no way they could survive.

……

Xuzhou Prefecture City.

Inside the government office, Gao Shun, Wang Zhi, Qin Lu, Xu Chang and others gathered together and were holding a military meeting.

Xu Chang spoke first: "General Gao Shun, all the soldiers in the Xuzhou garrison have been controlled, and all the officers have been detained."

"How should we deal with these guards?"

How to deal with these garrison soldiers is indeed a difficult problem.

The number of soldiers guarding a prefecture is at least several thousand or even tens of thousands.

Among these garrison soldiers, some were properly trained soldiers, while others had completely become serfs of the officers, only knowing how to farm and without any combat capabilities.

Whether it is guarding or escorting, a certain amount of troops need to be allocated to watch over these garrison soldiers.

This was a huge loss for the army that went south to quell the rebellion.

Gao Shun thought for a moment and replied, "I will report this matter to your majesty and ask him to send some northern guards to take over these southern guards."

"Send them to the nearby northern state capital and detain them elsewhere."

"Yes, General Gao Shun."

Xu Chang sat back down, and then Qin Lu spoke again.

"Master Factory Supervisor, the four major families in Xuzhou Prefecture have all been slaughtered, and all those who were related to them have been executed."

"And all the landlords and gentry in Xuzhou Prefecture have been detained by the Western Factory."

"Once we have investigated their property, we can follow your majesty's orders and execute those who should be executed and release those who should be released."

No wonder Wang Yan, Yang Jizong and others made such rapid progress in surveying land in Xuzhou Prefecture.

It turns out that not only the four major families of Xuzhou Prefecture were wiped out by the Western Factory.

All the landlords and gentry in Xuzhou Prefecture were arrested by the Western Factory.

When the Western Factory officials do things, they don't look at evidence, they only look at assets.

All landlords, regardless of their character or reputation.

As long as the family has assets and land, they will all be arrested first.

As to whether to kill or release him, that will depend on the follow-up investigation.

Moreover, the investigation is not to see whether these landlords and gentry have committed any crimes, but to see how much property you have.

According to Zhu Youtang's order, any family that hid more than 100,000 taels of silver, more than 10,000 acres of fertile land, or secretly hid large ships for sailing would be slaughtered.

However, the landlords and gentry whose wealth is below this number can escape the disaster.

Zhu Youtang issued this seemingly unreasonable order not because he hated the rich.

Rather, it is because the landlords and gentry whose property exceeds this figure are capable of shaking the foundation of the Zhu family's rule.

Another reason is that in a feudal era with such strict hierarchy and serious class stratification.

In the absence of the Industrial Revolution, anyone who could accumulate such a huge amount of wealth would basically have to break the law.

All the roads that can quickly accumulate original capital have been blocked by predecessors. Working hard step by step can only provide food and clothing, but not get rich overnight. To get rich overnight, one can only exploit the surplus value of others and severely squeeze other ordinary people.

Therefore, when a person's capital exceeds a certain level, it will not be unfair if nine out of ten people are killed.

Of course, this refers to feudal society.

Among these families that have more than 100,000 taels of silver and more than 10,000 acres of fertile land, is there anyone who has worked hard for generations and has never done anything illegal?
There might be some, but Zhu Youtang doesn't have enough energy to find them out from among the cannibalistic capitalists and landlords.

These people were unjustly killed, so they were unjustly killed. Compared with the happiness of tens of millions of Ming people, their lives are insignificant.

Besides, in this land of the Ming Dynasty, there are always a few unjust cases happening every day.
Is there not a few innocent people who are persecuted to death by landlords, gentry, and noble officials?

To Zhu Youtang, there was no difference between the life of a big landlord or a high-ranking official and the life of an ordinary citizen.

After Qin Lu finished speaking, Wang Zhi nodded, his face expressionless: "Not bad."

Then, Wang Zhi looked at Gao Shun next to him and said, "General Gao Shun, now that the matter in Xuzhou has been resolved, should we continue to march in other directions?"

Gao Shun nodded: "That's right, we are still too slow."

"After opening a gap in Xuzhou Prefecture, I plan to divide my troops into three groups and march to Huai'an Prefecture, Yangzhou Prefecture, and Zhongdu Fengyang Prefecture respectively."

"Attack from three directions simultaneously to speed up the suppression of the rebellion."

Wang Zhi nodded and had no objection to Gao Shun's arrangement.

No matter which prefecture their army went south to quell the rebellion, it was a dimensionality reduction blow to the local rebels.

In order to speed up the suppression of the rebellion, it is expected that the troops will be divided.

Soon, everyone implemented the deployment arrangements. Gao Shun, Xu Chang and Wang Zhi each led 40,000 troops to Yangzhou Prefecture, Huai'an Prefecture and Zhongdu Fengyang Prefecture respectively.

Although Wang Zhi was only the head of a secret agency, not a military general, he did not have the authority to command troops.

But unfortunately, he was Zhu Youtang's confidant and had experience in commanding troops in battle.

Gao Shun confidently handed over the command of 40,000 troops to Wang Zhi.

"Since everyone has no objection, we will set out from Xuzhou tomorrow and go deep into Nanzhili!"

When Gao Shun finished speaking, Wang Zhi just nodded, but the others hurriedly bowed and accepted the order: "Yes, General Gao Shun!"

……

Two days ago, the army that went south to suppress the rebellion captured Xuzhou Prefecture.

Ying Tianfu.

Nanjing.

A frightened guest came to the residence of Zhang Peng, the Minister of War.

He sat on a chair in the living room anxiously, looking around constantly and shaking his legs anxiously.

Suddenly, he saw Zhang Peng and stood up in surprise.

"Master Zhang!"

His movement was so big that he bumped into the wooden table beside him and knocked the teacup on the table to the ground.

"boom!"

The teacup fell to the ground and immediately broke into pieces, splashing everywhere.

"Why are you so anxious?"

"You look so distraught, what are you talking about?!"

Zhang Peng came from the backyard and looked at Tang Fang's anxious look. He couldn't help but frown and scold him a few words.

Then he happily sat down, picked up the hot tea at hand and took a sip.

"Tell me, what happened in Xuzhou?"

Zhang Peng has been in a pretty good mood these days.

His plan was being carried out step by step, and every link was going as he expected, without any mistakes.

They united all the landlords and gentry in the entire Jiangnan region, organized the local people, and launched a civil uprising.

The commanders of various provinces either promised to bring their garrison troops and obey his orders, or promised to stand idly by and not send troops to obstruct him.

Even many prefects and county magistrates in various government offices were willing to obey his orders and resist the court's censorship.

Not to mention that the entire Nanjing officialdom stood behind him and supported him.

Zhang Peng never thought that so many landlords, gentry, noble officials in Jiangnan would respond to his call.

However, his biggest concerns, the Jiangnan Shipyard and the Fuqing Shipyard, the two shipyards that could build large ships for sailing to the West, finally stopped building seagoing ships for some reason.

All of this is moving towards the best possible ending.

There were just some minor accidents, such as the Japanese pirates he sent to destroy the two shipyards. Until now, Zhang Peng has not received any news from them.

But this doesn’t matter. Maybe after they succeeded, they hid themselves for safety reasons?

All in all, their plans were going well, and final victory seemed just around the corner.

Zhang Peng felt relaxed again, as he hadn't felt for a long time. He only reprimanded Tang Fang for his rude behavior but didn't really get angry.

Compared to Zhang Peng's comfort, Tang Fang was really anxious. The hope that had originally risen in his heart turned into despair.

"Master Zhang, something bad has happened!"

"The imperial army has arrived and has already invaded Xuzhou Prefecture!"

"What? Your Majesty sent out troops?!"

The teacup in Zhang Peng's hand shook, and some tea splashed out.

He stared at Tang Fang with his eyes fixed and his brows furrowed tightly, but overall, he did not panic like Tang Fang.

"Yes, Master Zhang, what should we do? You must think of a solution quickly!"

Zhang Peng lowered his head and thought for a moment, then asked, "How many soldiers are there in the army heading south this time?"

Tang Fang quickly replied: "According to them, His Majesty has sent 100,000 troops to Jiangnan this time!"

Zhang Peng widened his eyes in shock, his expression stunned.

He thought that Zhu Youtang would send troops to the south of the Yangtze River, but he never thought that Zhu Youtang would send 100,000 troops to the south of the Yangtze River at one time.

With an army of 100,000 marching south of the Yangtze River, even if he had the support of all the landlords, gentry, officials and nobles in the south of the Yangtze River, it would probably not be so easy to stop them.

Zhang Peng's eyes suddenly became sharp: "It is said? One hundred thousand?!"

"So you didn't see it with your own eyes?"

Tang Fang was stunned for a moment, lowered his head, and said with a evasive look: "Yes, I... I... I heard that His Majesty sent 100,000 troops south, so I came back immediately and reported the matter to the adults..."

Zhang Peng did not expose Tang Fang's words, but just smiled coldly: "Since you didn't see it with your own eyes, don't be so sure."

"The title of a 100,000-man army is probably just a bluff. The real army may only be 30,000 or 40,000 people."

After Zhang Peng finished speaking, he smiled as if he was relaxed, full of hope.

(End of this chapter)