met free Chapter 1045 What rank are you? How dare you speak on behalf of the Emperor?
Chapter 1045 What rank are you? How dare you speak on behalf of the Emperor?
The old man sighed again and said, "Years ago, Yangzhou was almost wiped out."
"Although Xujiazhuang is outside Xinghua County, it is not like Yangzhou City."
"But they didn't get anything good in return."
"Zhang Liuliu's family moved to Xujiazhuang later."
The old man's remark about "Yangzhou City being almost wiped out" refers to the story of how, in the seventeenth year of the Yuan Dynasty's Zhizheng era, Yangzhou City was occupied by Zhang Mingjian, the so-called leader of the rebel army. Subsequently, Zhang Mingjian ordered his troops to massacre the city and even resorted to cannibalism for a long period of time, leaving only eighteen households in the entire city of Yangzhou.
Yang Shaofeng and Zhu Biao remained silent, waiting for the old man to continue.
"I've heard that Zhang Liuliu was quite a restless person back then, having roamed the martial arts world and seen a bit of the world."
"This summer we suffered from floods. The county said they would exempt us from taxes, but then they started collecting money for silt control and grain transportation. They said that if we wanted to receive the imperial relief grain from the county, we had to pay the money honestly."
“Zhang Liuliu said there was no such rule. He said the emperor’s decree was to exempt all the money. These money for silt control and grain transportation were all collected and pocketed by the county officials themselves. It was not the emperor who wanted to collect them.”
"He also said that the emperor allowed people to keep some kind of imperial edict at home, which meant that people were permitted to tie up corrupt officials and take the edict to the capital to file a complaint."
After a slight pause, the old man said a few kind words to Zhang Liuliu.
"He had said in the village before that the emperor allowed the people to tie up corrupt officials and take them to the capital to file a complaint with the emperor."
"It is also said that the current emperor is a good emperor who loves his people like his own children."
"So he led his brothers into the county government office, tied up the county magistrate, and said he wanted to go to the capital to file a complaint with the emperor."
"later……"
The old man's hands trembled slightly as he said, "Later, Master Xu had someone bring back the bodies of Zhang Liuliu's brothers, saying that this was the consequence of daring to tie up the county magistrate and take him to the capital to file a complaint."
"Master Xu also said that the emperor didn't want anyone to come to the capital to file a complaint, and that Zhang Liuliu's brothers were killed by government soldiers."
He also said that Zhang Liuliu is now nowhere to be found, either alive or dead, and has most likely been captured and tortured alive in the capital.
"Later, Master Xu said that if everyone in the village behaved themselves and honestly cultivated the land and paid taxes, he could guarantee that everyone in the village would survive."
"..."
Yang Shaofeng had a bewildered expression, as if he were talking about "subway, elderly people, and mobile phones."
No, what the hell is all this?
Although the officials and gentry of the Ming Dynasty were all very wild.
But who would have thought they would be so wild?
Good heavens, they're playing this game of keeping the people ignorant right here in Yangzhou Prefecture, which isn't too far from the capital.
Do you really think Old Deng is a good-tempered guy?
Yang Shaofeng silently mourned for the officials and gentry of the Ming Dynasty for three seconds, while Zhu Biao's face was ashen. He unconsciously used more force when he picked up a clod of earth, crushing it into powder.
Xujiazhuang belongs to Xinghua County.
Xinghua County was under the jurisdiction of Gaoyou Prefecture.
Gaoyou Prefecture was under the jurisdiction of Yangzhou Prefecture.
Yangzhou Prefecture belonged to Zhili Province.
In other words, Xujiazhuang could be considered to be under the emperor's nose, even if it was a bit remote.
But who would have thought that in such a "slightly remote" place, there would be gentry who would dare to openly tarnish the reputation of the emperor and the court?
The key point is that they've made such a huge commotion, yet not a single word of it had leaked out beforehand.
What are the Jinyiwei Hundred-Household Office in Yangzhou Prefecture and the Imperial Inspector in charge of Yangzhou Prefecture doing?
Zhu Biao's expression grew increasingly gloomy, and he gained a deeper understanding of the saying "Imperial power does not extend to the countryside."
Ultimately, it's impossible to expect all prefectures and counties in the world to be like Ningyang County and Dengzhou Prefecture.
Or, once all prefectures and counties have undergone reforms like Ningyang County, the problem of royal power not extending to the countryside can be completely solved?
The old man continued, rambling on, "It's not that no one has ever agreed with Zhang Liuliu before."
"But the county officials have visited Xujiazhuang several times, and each time they have returned drunk."
"The officials in the mansion are related to Master Xu."
"With the deaths of Zhang Liuliu's brothers, no one in the village dares to offend Master Xu anymore."
"Even a good death is not as good as a miserable life."
"What if Master Xu dies one day?"
"..."
Are we pinning our hopes on what will happen after "Master Xu" dies?
Yang Shaofeng shook his head and interrupted the old man's rambling: "Even if Master Xu Er dies, perhaps Master Xu San will emerge. What will you do then? Continue to endure Master Xu San's exploitation?"
The old man's face grew even more bitter: "What else can we do? We can't exactly rebel, can we? That's a capital crime punishable by death and the extermination of nine generations of one's family!"
As the old man finished speaking, a ruthless look gradually appeared on Zhu Biao's face: "If you can't survive, what are you waiting for if not to rebel? I'm telling you right now, if any of the people of our Great Ming rebel because they can't survive, I will pardon you! I will only cause trouble for those officials!"
The old man was not moved by Zhu Biao's words.
Instead, I wanted to laugh—was this official from the capital stupid?
Rebellion is not a crime if one cannot survive.
How high a rank are you?
Can you speak on behalf of the emperor?
But the old man couldn't laugh.
If this were true... how wonderful would that be?
It doesn't really matter whether it's true or false.
As long as they can survive, no one will think of rebelling.
This has been going on for thousands of years.
How come life changed so much when we got to the Ming Dynasty?
Only a fool would believe that!
Well, the old man had no idea what the word "orphan" that Zhu Biao had just used to refer to himself actually meant.
Just as the old man was unable to laugh or cry, a series of heart-wrenching cries came from Xujiazhuang.
The usually aloof "Second Master Xu," along with his parents, wife, children, brothers, sisters, and even the guards and servants of his household, were all dragged out of the manor like dead dogs.
The old man stood up abruptly, looked at the miserable state of Xu Erye's family, then turned to look at Yang Shaofeng and Zhu Biao, who had also stood up, and said in a trembling voice, "They...they really caught them?"
Yang Shaofeng smiled, reached out and grasped the old man's dry, cracked hands again, and said, "Take them!"
"Didn't I just tell you, sir? I am the son-in-law of the Emperor of our Great Ming Dynasty, the Duke of Ying of our Great Ming Dynasty, and the Imperial Inspector of Nine Provinces with the Imperial Sword."
"Even if Master Xu is just a nouveau riche from the countryside, or even if he were a high-ranking official in Yangzhou or even the capital, I can still arrest him today."
At this point, Yang Shaofeng said to the old man with a serious expression, "Don't worry, the emperor is a good emperor. He also experienced poverty before, and he knows how difficult it is for us ordinary people to make a living."
"He sent me here to deal with these corrupt officials."
"If we say we'll kill their whole family, we won't let a single dog go."
Shake the egg until the yolk is broken.
"Split the earthworm vertically."
"Pouring boiling water into an ant nest."
"Give the people of Xinghua County and Yangzhou Prefecture justice!"