Take control of Wei Zhongxian at the start and confiscate 100 million from him!

Chapter 221 Has the Emperor Gone Mad?

The next day.

As dawn broke and the morning mist veiled the surviving Songjiang Prefecture, a place shrouded in darkness.

This once prosperous and magnificent city is now permeated with an inescapable sense of bloodshed and death.

The shouts and cries of battle from yesterday seemed to still linger in the damp, cold air, causing every early riser to instinctively shrink their necks, hurry along, and dare not speak loudly.

The open space outside the main gate of Songjiang Prefecture had already been cordoned off by thousands of soldiers, making it completely impassable.

Outside the cordon, there was a dense crowd of people.

Before dawn, a strict imperial edict had already spread to every corner of Songjiang Prefecture.

All citizens in the city who were eighteen years of age or older, regardless of gender or mobility, were ordered to put down all their affairs and go to the open space outside the city gate.

Under the emperor's decree, no one dared to disobey.

Under the indifferent gaze of the Beijing garrison soldiers, tens of thousands of people emerged from the streets and alleys, forming silent streams of people, and were driven here.

Fear overwhelmed everything on their faces.

It was fear of disobeying the emperor's orders, and even more so, fear of the unknown.

Where their gazes converge, there lies the source of fear.

In the center of the open space, a three-zhang-high wooden platform was erected overnight.

Above the high platform, the bright yellow nine-dragon canopy floated silently like a solidified cloud.

Beneath the canopy, a figure sat upright on the dragon throne, his rugged silhouette outlined by the morning light and shadow.

It was none other than the Ming Dynasty Emperor, Zhu Youjian.

At this moment, he simply sat there quietly, his gaze fixed straight ahead, as if scrutinizing his empire, or perhaps as if examining all the evils that had arisen on this land.

The emperor needed no words, no actions; he simply existed there. His supreme majesty, the power of life and death over all under heaven, weighed heavily on the hearts of the hundreds of thousands of people in Songjiang Prefecture, like an invisible mountain range.

Not far from the platform, hundreds of prisoners were brutally driven there and forced to kneel on the ground.

They were once the masters of Songjiang Prefecture.

The wealthy gentry and powerful families, influential officials, ruthless stewards and retainers, and bullying thugs and servants.

Yesterday, they lived in luxury and could decide the life and death of ordinary people with a single order.

At this moment, their hands and feet were bound by rough hemp ropes, and they shivered in the late spring wind of Jiangnan.

The arrogance and dignity of the past have long been washed away by yesterday's blood and fire.

Their faces were now ashen, numb, and filled with fear of their impending unknown fate.

Among the crowd, Dong Qizheng and Dong Zuchang knelt at the very front.

These two prominent figures of the Dong family were now emaciated, their eyes unfocused, and they no longer showed any trace of the demeanor of renowned scholars.

Occasionally, when they looked up at the figure on the high platform, boundless regret and terror would well up in their eyes.

They couldn't understand it, they really couldn't understand it.

When the emperor killed the Kong family, the family of the Duke Yansheng, in Shandong, they heard about it. Even in private, these true aristocratic families from Jiangnan had a slight disdain for it—the Kong family was nothing but a bunch of corrupt scholars who lived off their ancestors' ancestral tablets, seeking fame and fortune, and had long lost the integrity of the literati. Killing them was just the emperor cleaning up his own house and rectifying the atmosphere.

But they are different!
They are the Dong, Xu, and Chen families of Jiangnan... For hundreds of years, they have been the true cornerstones for the imperial court in supplying talent, managing local affairs, and stabilizing tax revenue!

They are the flesh and blood of the empire, the cogs that keep this vast dynasty running!
They believed they knew better than the emperor, who was far away in the capital, how to govern the Jiangnan region.

Killing them would be tantamount to the emperor personally destroying the foundation of his own rule!

Is the emperor crazy?
Did he not know that the officials and gentry throughout the south—not just many like them, but—all of them! Their methods were largely the same, deeply intertwined, each with their own influence, forming an impenetrable web.

To take action against Songjiang is tantamount to declaring war on the entire Jiangnan region!
Is this forcing everyone to rise up in rebellion?! This isn't governing a country; this is courting death!

……

At the exact hour of Chen (7-9 AM), when the sun had completely broken free from the horizon and was casting its golden rays across the earth, there was finally movement on the high platform.

Tian Ergeng, the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, slowly walked up the high platform, carrying three heavy scrolls in his hands. He first bowed deeply to the emperor, then turned to face the dark mass of people and prisoners on the open ground.

"All prisoners of Songjiang Prefecture, hear your judgment!"

Tian Ergeng's voice, like a deep bronze bell, resonated clearly in every corner, instantly silencing all the whispers.

"I..." Zhu Youjian, standing on the high platform, finally spoke, "I am not a cruel ruler."

He paused, his gaze sweeping over the fearful and anxious faces below.

"However, the law of the land is like a furnace, while personal feelings are like snowflakes. You have occupied Jiangnan, formed cliques for personal gain, seized farmland, colluded with Japanese pirates, raised private armies, disregarded the laws of the court, and treated the lives of the people as worthless. This has led to an empty treasury, a weakened border defense, and the displacement and widespread resentment of the people. Each and every one of these acts is too numerous to recount!"

"If I were not here today, using my thunderous power and swift and decisive measures, how could I uphold the law? How could I appease the people? How could I comfort the spirits of our ancestors in heaven!"

The emperor's voice suddenly rose, like the clash of metal, filled with unquestionable majesty and profound legal legitimacy.

After he finished speaking, Zhu Youjian sat down again and nodded slightly.

Tian Ergeng understood and immediately unfolded the first file written in vermilion ink. The blood-red handwriting was particularly glaring in the morning light.

"The Book of Death!" Just those two words sent shivers down the spines of the hundreds of prisoners below, many of whom collapsed to the ground, defecating and urinating uncontrollably.

"Dong Qizheng!" Tian Ergeng's voice was like the cold iron of the deepest hell.

"Evidence 1: Under the guise of 'deceptive taxation' and 'tribute,' a total of 91,800 mu of farmland, both civilian and military, was forcibly seized in Songjiang and Jiaxing prefectures! This caused thousands of farmers to go bankrupt and flee, and widespread resentment! Evidence 2: Ignoring the imperial court's new policy of 'unified tax payment,' the perpetrators openly colluded with local gentry to violently resist taxes! This constitutes treason! Evidence 3: The perpetrators forcibly took a woman named Lu as a concubine and beat her husband to death! They also illegally set up a water dungeon in their home and abused their power. According to the investigation by the Embroidered Uniform Guard, there are nine verifiable cases of direct homicide under their name!"

With each piece of evidence Tian Ergeng read aloud, Dong Qizheng's body twitched. Each of these crimes was enough to condemn him to a death without a burial place. He had thought the Dong family had covered their tracks perfectly, but little did he know that the emperor's henchmen had uncovered everything!
"...Unforgivable crime! He deserves to be executed!"

"No!" Dong Qizheng seemed to be given his last bit of strength, and suddenly raised his head, roaring hoarsely, "Your Majesty! I am innocent! I have a great secret! It's...it's the Xu family! And the Zhou family! They were involved too!..."

He wanted to use his connections with others to gain a chance at survival.

However, the emperor's eyes remained unmoved.

Tian Ergeng sneered: "Even when death is imminent, you still want to implicate officials of the imperial court!"

He waved his hand.

Two burly generals who had been waiting nearby dragged Dong Jing to the front of the line like a dead dog and pressed him firmly to the ground.

A shirtless, muscular executioner lifted a gleaming dagger from a bucket, took a big gulp of strong liquor, and spat it onto the blade.

"puff--!"

Blood spurted out.

A fine head, filled with unbelievable terror and resentment, shot into the sky before crashing heavily back into the dust.

The headless cavity spewed out a fountain of blood taller than a person, and then collapsed.

On the open ground, tens of thousands of people who had been ordered to witness the execution were initially deathly silent, then erupted into a huge uproar. Those in the front row could even smell the warm, pungent odor of blood, and many gagged on the spot.

However, Tian Ergeng's ruthless voice instantly silenced the commotion.

"Zhang Guowei, the Prefect of Songjiang!"

The shock of hearing this name was even greater than the shock of Dong Jing's execution! An official! The emperor actually wanted to execute a court official in public!

Prefect Zhang Guowei, kneeling in the line of prisoners, trembled violently. He had thought that at most he would be dismissed and investigated, but he never expected to end up like this!

"Evidence of crimes!" Tian Ergeng's voice grew even colder. "As an official of the imperial court, you knowingly broke the law! You accepted huge bribes from powerful families like the Dong and Xu clans, amounting to 400,000 taels of silver! You protected their crimes of encroaching on land! Whenever a commoner filed a complaint, you treated them all as 'troublemakers,' either beating them to death or sending them back to their own families for private punishment, causing public resentment to boil over and the law to be completely disregarded! Execute!"

"Your Majesty! Your Majesty, have mercy!" Zhang Guowei cried out. "I am a scholar who passed the imperial examinations twice..."

He wanted to say, "You cannot kill scholar-officials," but the words stuck in his throat and he couldn't bring himself to say them.

His answer was another flash of blood.

The heads of the scholars and the merchants rolled side by side, indistinguishable from one another.

This scene shattered the last glimmer of hope in the hearts of all the surviving prisoners.

A ruthless purge!
"Dong Zuchang, the elder of the Dong clan! Evidence: The mastermind seized over 47,000 mu of military farmland... Last night, he even organized his retainers to resist with weapons! According to the law, his entire clan should be executed! His Majesty is merciful and only the ringleader is punished! Execute him!"

"Xu Ying, the head of the Xu family of Huating, is beheaded!"

"Naval Inspector Li Wei! Evidence: Neglect of duty, accepting large sums of money from the Xu family, turning a blind eye to their smuggling fleet, even acting as lookouts for them, and sharing the spoils! Execution!"

……

One after another, the names that resonated throughout Jiangnan, whether gentry or officials, were now reduced to cold syllables from Li Ruolian's lips.

Each announcement was accompanied by a series of heinous and irrefutable charges. They struck not only the prisoners' hearts but also the hearts of all the onlookers.

The murmurs from the crowd gradually subsided.

The initial fear and discomfort were gradually replaced by a strange emotion.

"So... the prefect is in cahoots with them!"

"Good riddance! The inaction of these officials has allowed those tyrants to run rampant!"

"The Emperor is wise! The Emperor is truly wise!"

Someone shouted first, and then a thunderous roar of "The Emperor is wise!" erupted from the crowd.

However, on the high platform, Zhu Youjian, seated on the dragon throne, heard this thunderous roar, yet his expression remained utterly unyielding.

His eyes remained cold, yet a deep, unfathomable helplessness flickered in their otherwise calm depths.

he knows.

He knew better than anyone what kind of people these days were who hailed him as "wise."

They can cheer for him killing these oppressive gentry and bureaucrats, so one day, when he is defeated and out of power, and a new strongman appears, they will also cheer for his downfall and death, welcoming their new master with the same enthusiasm.

In today's world, public opinion is both the most reliable and the most unreliable thing.

But Zhu Youjian didn't want to think about it that much anymore.

What will the future hold?
How will history books comment on this?
These are all too far away.

Right now, all he wants to do is crush all obstacles with his own will!
(End of this chapter)