A small soldier of the frontier army in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 346 The method of thunderbolt shows the heart of Bodhisattva

Wang Dou's words surprised everyone. Was this move too big? The shogunate first came to the East Road, and if the methods were too drastic, it might not be good for future governance.

Feng Dachang, the chief copywriter of the shogunate, said: "General, according to the students' opinion, it is better to punish only a few people and release the rest. In this way, it is not too much to offend scholars and businessmen on the East Road. There is room for change in the future. This can also be done. Showing the general's benevolent heart, after all, strikes from the city and schools are no more difficult than the military chaos in the prefectures and cities, and the obstacles are difficult to investigate."

Zhang Gui, the ambassador of the Department of Civil Affairs, is also pondering: "According to the roster of the Intelligence Department, most of the officials and merchants of the East Road have participated in the conspiracy. There are many conspirators, many of whom are influential figures in the East Road. How about choosing a few people? , Kill chickens to scare monkeys? That Zhang Wanshan is the uncle of the deputy general Zhang Guowei, according to the officials, this person is temporarily..."

Wang Dou said indifferently: "Ambassador Zhang and Chief Feng are overwhelmed. I'm not even afraid of Mrs. Hong. I'm afraid of a few clowns?"

He slowly looked around the crowd: "How can you show the heart of a Bodhisattva if you don't use thunderbolts? The east road has accumulated evils for a long time, and only the power of thunder can break the clouds and sun, and return the east road to a bright future."

He raised his voice: "If you want to kill, choose the merchant with the most powerful influence! If you want to kill, choose the person with the most reputation among the literati! If you want to kill, choose the person with the most warriors! I just want to let all the soldiers and civilians on the East Road Let's see what will happen if you dare to oppose our General's Mansion!"

Hearing Wang Dou's words, everyone's blood boiled with enthusiasm, but also, he was still a little hesitant, not as bold as the general.Our Shun Township army formed a division and fought all the way, who were we afraid of?Everyone looked at each other and smiled, and it was a joy to follow the general.

Ye Xizhi said in a loud voice: "Our Shun Township Army's thunderous actions require teachers to be famous."

Wang Dou wrote lightly: "All those who strike the school and strike the market are capital captives and slaves, traitors to the country!"

He shouted: "I command!"

Immediately, everyone in the hall stood upright.

Wang Dou said: "Ambassador of the Intelligence Department, Wen Daxing, immediately arrested Dong Nu and made a detailed interrogation record. He thought that all the traitors had committed slavery!"

"Zhang Gui, the ambassador of the Department of Civil Affairs, hastened to issue the following notice. All those who strike the market correct the public and humiliate the officials. They have committed a heinous crime. Within three days, they must vote for the General's House quickly, otherwise the punishment will be doubled. All shops under his name will be opened immediately. To make up for it The strikes have caused losses to the people, and within half a month, the prices of all the strikers will have to drop by [-]%. We will not wait until we are outdated, and we will not neglect severe punishments!"

"Ambassador Zhong Rong, Financial Secretary, transported grain and rice from Shunbao, and sold them in various cities three days later to solve the shortage of the market. Zheng Jinglun and Lai Mancheng, merchants in the state city, understood the righteousness and did not join forces with traitors, so they asked them to help The General Staff Department dispatched a general to protect the grain stores, and anyone with ulterior motives who dared to attack the grain stores would be killed on the spot!"

Wang Dou passed down his orders one by one, and the rules were clear, which showed that he had thought it over a long time ago, and everyone in the hall listened attentively, and those who received the orders obeyed them loudly.

"The Chief of Staff made preparations to suppress the rebellion. Three days later, they sent troops into the city, cleared the streets, and arrested the following people: Zhang Wanshan, a merchant on the East Road, Zeng Youxian, a student at Guanshan Academy in Yanqing Prefecture, and his son Zeng Fuyang. Wu Lue, the son of the prefect of Yanqing Prefecture , and his concubine Wan Meier. Chen Enchong at Yanqing, Huang Changyi at Huailai, Song Jiaxuan at Jinghubao, Chen Qinluan at Zhougoubao, Ding Fangming at Heihanlingbao, and Guo Cairong at Liubinbao!"

"All the shops under his name will be confiscated. All the merchants who are still on strike will be arrested and their shops will be sealed up."

"Anyone who dares to resist arrest, who raises troops to resist, will be shot and killed!"

Everyone in the hall shouted in unison: "Follow the general's order!"

A high-spirited murderous aura permeated the air. After Wang Dou's order was issued, everyone in the shogunate rushed out. Gao Shiyin laughed and said repeatedly: "Happy, happy!"

Wen Fangliang also sneered: "A group of people who don't know how to live or die!"

……

Two days after the market strike, the much-anticipated Yongning City Branch Guard General's Mansion began to act, and the action was stunned. Instead of compromise, an order was issued all over the cities—not a negotiation, but an order.The notice requires all those who strike the market to resume the market immediately, otherwise they will be severely punished.

The notice also used the phrase "don't say that it is unpredictable", which makes people feel chilling.Reminiscent of the soon-to-be suppressed bandits, it was under this order that the banditry that had dominated the East Road for a hundred years was wiped out.What will General Dingguo do?All those who participated in the school strike and city strike were beating their hearts out.

Reminiscent of Wang Dou's previous behaviors, it seems that this person is a person who prefers softness to toughness, and acts ruthlessly, everyone does this...

As soon as the notice order came out, the strike alliances tended to collapse. Zhang Wanshan, Wu Lue and others were busy recruiting merchants and students to discuss the matter. The advisers behind them also dispatched one after another. With their encouragement, everyone decided to fight to the death and persist in the end.

Moreover, there is also a section in Wang Dou's order that made the merchants extremely angry.Not only must the market be resumed immediately, and votes must be made to the General's Mansion, but within half a month after the opening of the market, all merchants will have to cut their prices by [-]%... How can everyone bear this?

So after some plotting, the city strikes continued in various cities. The large number of employees, domestic slaves, and tenants in their family came out everywhere, and the student parade made the crowds of petitioners in each city even more massive.They either went all over the street to listen quietly, or gathered in front of various government offices and cried, and even various ruffians took the opportunity to rise up, and the scene was chaotic.

Faced with this situation, the city officials were either at a loss, or secretly delighted, and just watched the local people with cold eyes.

They are two different worlds from the local scholars and merchants. They are deeply dissatisfied with the rampant military officers and gentry in the countryside, and the merchants in their clan hoarding and driving up prices, but they can only bear it silently.After General Dingguo arrived, hope rose in everyone's heart.

It is even more welcome for the general's mansion to order all merchants to open the market immediately, and to reduce the price of special goods by [-]% within half a month.These profiteers went on strike, causing everyone a lot of losses these days. If the price of the goods can be reduced by a few percent, they will make up for it.They all hoped that Wang Dou would take tougher measures in the future.

The two sides are still at a stalemate, and it seems that the two are at odds, and there is a potential for fire and water.

On the afternoon of the [-]th, a heavily tied man with black eyes and a rag gagged was lifted from the carriage and escorted into an unremarkable house in Yongning City.

When he woke up, he found that he was in a dark room, and there were several people standing silently in the room. He was facing the light, but he couldn't see the faces of the few people in the room.

But the gloomy atmosphere in the room and the dazzling array of instruments of torture on the walls made him shudder.There was a bloody smell coming from Ruoyou Ruowu inside, which made his body tremble more and more. If it wasn't for being held hostage by others, he would collapse to the ground.

A sinister laugh sounded: "In the face of my strong master's methods, no one dares not to recruit."

The person who spoke couldn't see clearly, only that he was tall and thin, and a pair of poisonous snake-like eyes stared at him in the dark, making the man dizzy for a while.

The gloomy voice continued: "You may have heard of Jin Yiwei's name..."

He fiddled with the utensils in his hand one by one: "This is Jinyiwei's torture device, this is nail finger, this is brainband, this is brush iron... If you don't do it, you will be stripped and pressed on the iron bed, and you will be soaked in boiling water. Pour it on you, and then while it’s hot, this iron brush nailed with iron nails will vigorously scrub the place you scalded, and slowly brush out the bones..."

The man trembled more and more, and with a "snap", a booklet was thrown in front of him, and a stern voice said: "As the scribe of Song Jiaxuan guarding Jinghu Fort, you should serve the country loyally, but you help Jie For the sake of abuse, assist him in the acquisition of captives and enemies. The records are clearly recorded. If you recruit them one by one, report and make meritorious service, General Dingguo will be kind and will spare your dog's life. If you dare to resist, hehe snort……"

"Whether you want to abandon the dark and turn to the bright, or whether you want to resist and die, I will give you a quarter of an hour to think about it."

As soon as the voice fell, the man fell to the ground and kowtowed desperately: "The villain is willing to recruit, the villain is willing to recruit."

……

Not long after, Liu Benshen, who had been standing quietly in the dark, got a detailed transcript. He looked at it blankly and ordered the man to be escorted to the Zhenfu Department.Different from Jin Yiwei, Wang Dou's intelligence department only has the power to detect and interrogate, and the conviction is handed over to the officials of the Zhenfu department to control each other, so as not to overpower their power and make it too big to lose.

After the man was escorted away, Lord Qiang said, "Next."

Soon after, another fat man shaking all over was brought into the house.Everyone in the house has interrogated more than a dozen adulterers today, and in the next few days, maybe everyone will be busy until late at night before resting.

In Huailai City that day, Huang Changyi, the guard of Huailai, walked back and forth in his mansion like ants on a hot pot.His confidant's tent disappeared, and some important books also disappeared, which made Huang Changyi feel that things were not good.

He conspired with everyone to participate in the strike, the General's Mansion has been very peaceful, but the calmer Wang Dou was, the more worried Huang Changyi became.It is always calm before the storm, but it is followed by squalls and torrential rains. Huang Changyi has lived in the officialdom for a long time, relying on his observation and observation. He faintly felt the great power behind the calm of the general's mansion.

General Dingguo is not moving now, but once he moves...even if everyone present is very powerful, are they Wang Dou's opponents?The disappearance of the tent meant that General Dingguo had already started to do something, and the future would definitely be full of thunder. Huang Changyi, who had studied Wang Dou's fortune-telling experience, could conclude.

He suddenly regretted it very much, why did he have to take this muddy water?With Wang Dou's cruelty and unscrupulousness, it would be better not to ruin his family in the future.

He circled around the room for a long time, and suddenly he gritted his teeth, with a ferocious expression on his face: "Dead fellow Taoists never die, Chen Enchong, Song Jiaxuan, don't blame me in the future."

He summoned a servant: "Prepare my horse quickly."

In the evening of that day, Huang Changyi secretly went to the Yongning General's Mansion. When he met Wang Dou, he knelt on the ground and cried bitterly: "General, the villain is blinded by lard, the little one should die, the small one should die... Redemption, I want to report, I want to report!"

……

On the morning of July 12th, [-]th year of Chongzhen, Yanqing Prefecture.

The deadline for the General's Mansion's notice has passed, but there is not a single shop in the city open, and no merchants have surrendered to the General's Mansion... In fact, some small shops were afraid of the notice of the General's Mansion and opened their doors secretly, but then they seemed to be taken by some hooligans. Looting smashed, the owner was beaten.

After such a few incidents, the facades in the city are still in a state of depression, and every household is closed.

Of course, the streets in the city are still full of people, and anyone with a discerning eye can tell that most of them are officials, generals, merchants, house slaves, and the like, as well as a large number of local ruffians and idlers.They gathered in groups of three or four, or shouted loudly, or held a large number of anonymous posters, and continued to post them all over the city.

In front of the state government and the garrison mansion, there was a sea of ​​people again at this time, and a large number of merchants petitioned.Xuezheng Zeng Youxian of Guanshan Academy and others dispatched again, and together with Wu Lue and others led hundreds of students to fiercely denounce the disaster of commercial taxation.

After a few days of operation, the city strike petition was formalized. A large number of banners were arranged in front of the two yamen, and there were many tables and chairs for students and businessmen to enjoy hot tea.There is also a troupe next to the venue, which is convenient for everyone to relieve stress and drowsiness when they are sleepy.

As before, there were no soldiers in the streets, and no officials came out to call the city to persuade the people.When petitioners flocked to the prefecture and garrison mansions, Yanqing prefect Wu Zhi and garrison Chen Enchong reiterated their opinions from the past few days and went back to the government office to rest.

It has been five days since the market strike, and Ma Guoxi, the soldier in Huailai City, is "seriously ill", and there is still no movement in the General's Mansion in Yongning City. He said in the notice that he was murderous, but he only heard voices, but no movement.Everyone who stopped the market secretly breathed a sigh of relief, it seems that Wang Dou was just talking and didn't dare to do anything to everyone.

That's right, this is a joint action of all the merchants and gentry on the East Road, representing the popular support of the people on the East Road. No matter how unscrupulous Wang Dou is, how dare he go against the entire class of scholars and merchants on the East Road?

Zhang Wanshan, Wu Lue and the others were complacent, as long as everyone persisted for a few more days, then Wang Dou would definitely surrender.

At this time, Wu Lue was giving a speech, and his generous speech aroused cheers and applause from everyone in the meeting.

Wu Lue spoke for half an hour in one breath, drank some tea to moisten his throat, coughed lightly, and was about to continue his speech.

At this moment, suddenly there was a tsunami-like voice from the east of the city: "Wan Sheng!"

The sound pierced through the whole city, making the whole city immediately quiet.

Then the ground seemed to vibrate faintly, as if it was the sound of a large group of people marching in order.

The sound of orderly footsteps was getting closer and closer, Wu Lue and others looked at each other in blank dismay: "What's going on?"

(End of this chapter)