unclear

Chapter 547 The End
"Hey, isn't this a butcher? Thank you for your concern, but you should think more about yourself and your family. If I fall into my hands this time, I'm afraid it won't be as easy as resigning and returning home.

You have failed to repent over and over again. With Long Live Lord's methods, I'm afraid there will no longer be Yang Lu and Zhang Tu's family in Ningbo. Roads are being built in Shanhaiguan, and the work of cutting stones is more suitable for them.

In addition, if I say a few more words, you will give up. The Long Live Lord has already arranged for heavy troops to guard the factory. Not to mention the thousands of servants and villagers, even if the Japanese pirates come, they will not be able to get close. "

Facing Tu Benzhen's arrogance, Zhou Jiaqing felt sick in his stomach. These so-called celebrities and great scholars are even more immoral than scoundrels when they do bad things. It was obviously for his own benefit to encourage others to rush forward and serve as cannon fodder, but in the end, he was said to be a great hero who brought order to the chaos and a great benevolent person who loved the people like his own son.

What's even more frightening is that these remarks are particularly able to confuse the people. If he hadn't seen boat after boat of soldiers on the sea, he wouldn't be sure whether the emperor could deal with these people.

"Huh, you are a clown! The Jiangsu and Zhejiang Guards will not send out any soldiers without orders from the Ministry of War, and the navy and army of the Hunjun are tied up by the Kingdom of Jin and dare not move even half a step. Do you think that these hawks and minions can turn the tide? Hahahaha...shameless!"

Yang Dezhou didn't believe a word Zhou Jiaqing said, and he felt that Jin Yiwei was kept in the dark, so he took a step forward and proudly revealed the truth, laughing endlessly.

"Don't be busy. I will raid your homes one by one, and then go to the shipyard and take the navy's large ship to return to Beijing. Then you will know who is dreaming. Come on, let them stop for a while. Since you are shameless, don’t blame me for doing business!”

Seeing the criminals being so arrogant, Zhou Jiaqing was not angry at all, nor did he talk nonsense with them. With a wave of his hand, several Tiqi immediately pounced on them. In less than a cup of tea, these powerful officials and gentry were gagged, their coats were taken off, their heads were covered, and they were tied into a bunch with ropes. From their appearance, it was impossible to tell who was the master and who was the servant.

This kind of scene will last for several days, not only in Ningbo Prefecture, but also in Songjiang Prefecture, Shaoxing Prefecture, Taizhou Prefecture, Changzhou Prefecture, Suzhou Prefecture and other places. Regardless of day or night, a team of Tiqi will gallop by from time to time. The target was the one that couldn't be secured, and then a string of prisoners were taken to the Songjiang Shipyard and Shipping Terminal.

Thousands of miles away, a similar drama was going on in Shanxi, except that the Jinyi Guards were replaced by Yumajian warriors led by Dongchang Fanzi, and the quality of the prisoners captured was also higher.

In addition to more than a dozen well-known local Shanxi merchants, the two vassal kings Jin Wang Zhu and Dai Wang Zhu Gui, together with several princes, including the late cabinet scholar Zhang Siwei, Shanxi Governor Wei Yangmeng, Xuanda Governor Wu Chongli, and A bunch of government officials and county officials were all charged with treason and their houses were ransacked. The criminals were immediately escorted to Beijing.

News soon spread from various prefectures in South Zhili and Zhejiang. The people whose homes were ransacked and arrested were all involved in the night raids on Songjiang spinning mills and shipyards, and both the people and the stolen goods were taken away. This is irrefutable evidence of a heinous conspiracy. The great crime has not escaped.

Some of Shanxi's two princes, a large number of officials, and many gentry and merchants were involved in the Songjiang case, and some were involved in smuggling armor, weapons, food, and providing border intelligence to Mongolia and Jurchens, which constituted collusion with bandits and conspiracy. In the midst of heinous crimes.

In the capital, the turmoil in the court caused by this can be called a storm. Among the Beijing officials above the fifth rank, there were more than 40 officials directly involved with Shanxi and Ningbo merchants, and more than 100 were indirectly involved, including top officials such as ministers, left and right governors, and Hou Bo. Your honor. "Send someone to go through the confessions and witnesses again. If there are no major discrepancies, the first offender and direct participants will be executed without leaving any relatives, including old women, young girls, and their relatives. Those who were indirectly involved will write a confession and have half of their property confiscated. They will remain in office to watch. As a result, you will not be allowed to resign within five years.”

Five years ago, we only had the navy to rely on, and there were many faction bosses like Shen Li, Li Tingji, Wen Chun, and Sun Wei sitting in the court. Hong Tao would not have dared to take action even if the witnesses and physical evidence were available. If you start a killing spree, you will most likely pick a few political opponents with the highest level of publicity to be your punching bag, and the remaining fines will be downgraded.

If we had put it two years ago, when the Army had just been established, the effect of the New Deal in Guangdong and Fujian was not obvious, and the opposition between the DPRK and China was strong, Hong Tao still did not dare to sweep away the fallen leaves in the autumn wind. In the end, the chief culprit would be punished, the servant would resign, and at most he would be reduced to a People, just take the opportunity to clean up the opposition forces in the court.

But things are different now. Facing six ministries and nine ministers and cabinet bachelors, he has more than 50,000 soldiers on the sea route, is in charge of customs, shipping yamen and hundreds of factory shares. He takes the opportunity to deceive all the soldiers from the border town and put them under house arrest in the capital. Emperor Yang finally showed his true colors.

During his more than ten years in power, the tolerance, generosity, kindness and kindness shown many times in the face of political opponents were all fake. It was not that he did not want to kill, but that he did not have enough strength to dare to kill. No, if you just open your mouth casually, dozens of large families will be killed without leaving a trace of grass. Among them are many royal relatives, meritorious officials and important ministers.

"Your Majesty, I believe that harsh punishments are detrimental to the holy name. Can you spare the life of the old girl and her family to show our emperor's benevolence to the world?"

Facing the cold-faced emperor, even Fang Congzhe, who was usually the best at flattering, didn't dare to say anything. Instead, Yuan Yingtai, a high-ranking member of the royalist faction and the official minister, stood up and tried to intercede for the old and young of these dozens of families.

According to the laws of the Ming Dynasty, children under six years old and elderly people over eighty years old were not included in the execution of the whole family, and female family members were also exempted from death. They were usually demoted to a lowly status and served as official prostitutes.

Ordinarily, these people deserved to die for committing such a serious crime, but considering that the emperor had a reputation of being murderous, it was not a good thing, so he came to comfort them. Those who should be killed should still be killed, but they must be killed according to the laws of the Ming Dynasty, and the emperor cannot be blamed.

"Children, the elderly, and women's family members not only enjoyed the money collected by these sinners, but also did not know anything about it. If the Ming Dynasty died because of what they did, how should I face those who risked their lives at the border to protect the country and the country? Soldier?
Is it possible to tell them that officials can do whatever they want, and even if they are exposed, their descendants will be tainted, but the people should face the disaster of war and live and die according to God? Gao Panlong, can you tell me whether I should be tolerant? "

However, the emperor did not seem to intend to give face, and had no intention of pardoning, but he did not completely say death. Instead, he left the decision-making power to the minister of Dali Temple who was in charge of law and trial and the Minister of Punishment.

"Report to Your Majesty, heinous crimes cannot be forgiven." Gao Panlong was a bachelor. Even though there were several close friends from Donglin Academy among the prisoners, he gritted his teeth and refused to surrender in person.

(End of this chapter)