Rule the Ming Dynasty Alone

In Yangzhou in April, the weather has turned warm.

The elm trees on both sides of the Little Qinhuai River have become lush and lush. A few red carp jumped out of the clear water provocatively, knowing that there was a fisherman not far away, showing off its vigorous figure.

A large group of people hurriedly walked across the stone bridge, and even the fisherman who was fishing just now disappeared without a trace. Only a bamboo raft was left floating there.

"My dear, why are there so many people?"

"There might have been a spot an hour ago, but don't think about it now!"

"I came all the way from Taizhou, but luckily I have the ability to climb trees and walls!"

…

At this time, the East Market was already overcrowded. Not to mention the two restaurants in the East Market, there was no place to stand even on the ground. Many people had already climbed into the trees.

Just today, prisoners such as Li Zhiqing, the transfer envoy of the Huaihe and Huaihe Rivers, Yang Mingyuan, the prefect of Yangzhou, and Zhang Lushan, the salt inspector of the two Huaihe Rivers, were to be executed. This major corruption case in the salt administration system ended with beheadings.

Chinese people have always been very lively, and such a grand scene is rare in Yangzhou for a century, so it attracted many people from the surrounding area to flock here. At this time, Yangzhou Mansion was already empty of people.

"My dear, can you really kill me?"

"Isn't there one here who is the son of Mr. Gao Ge?"

"It's hard for anyone to do anything now. The emperor appointed Wang Yue just to kill corrupt officials!"

"Zan Bu Zan will know it just by looking at it! If it is really beheaded, I will only accept the king's beheading from now on!"

…

Although they had learned that today was the execution day of Li Zhiqing and other officials, the thought that these officials had backers in the court, especially the son of the original chief assistant Gao Gu, made some people doubtful.

It was at this time that prison vans came one after another from the direction of the temporary Yangzhou Governor's Mansion.

Since the officials involved in this incident almost ran through the entire yamen of Yangzhou Prefecture, even if the court wanted to fill the vacant official positions, it would still need to give new officials time to take up their posts.

Likewise, in addition to mobilizing troops for support, the imperial court also jointly established a temporary military control governor's office with Wang Zhi and Wang Yue, who had full authority to handle all affairs.

Even if it is a petty theft, as long as the temporary governor-general gives the order, he can be killed directly. As a result, the current Yangzhou City simply does not pick up items on the road and does not close the door at night.

"I'm coming!"

"Bah, you really deserve it!"

"Eh? Why doesn't this magistrate take the prison car?"

"If you don't take a look, how can there be enough prison cars?"

"Today, hundreds of officials will be killed. This matter will probably go down in history!"

…

The people watching on the street watched the disheveled death row officials being led to the execution ground, and watched these evil-doing officials being beheaded, and they also discussed one after another.

The ones who received the most attention were naturally the Iron Triangle of Yangzhou City, and they were all locked up in prison cars and escorted.

Li Zhiqing's hair was now disheveled, and he looked like he was ten years older. His eyes were looking blankly ahead at the road.

When he was caught, he always imagined that the capital would surely rescue him. But as time went by, especially when his crimes of killing Wang Chunlai, the transfer envoy to the Huaidu capital, and Wailang Guandong, a member of the household department in Nanjing, Yangzhou, and others were discovered, he knew that he was helpless.

After years of careful management, he had already taken control of Yangzhou and could be said to be the real king of Yangzhou. But he never expected that he would be ruined by a man who had just been reinstated as a fringe figure in the civil service group.

If I had been more cautious, if I had discovered Wang Yue's identity earlier, then things would never be like this. It was just because of his carelessness that he lost everything in the end, and now he is being pushed to the guillotine.

He hated God for being unfair, and he also hated himself for being careless, otherwise why would he be like this?

"How could this happen? How could it happen? My father is Wan An and Liu Ji's teacher!"

When Gao Heng saw that he had not been pardoned by the court, and that he was being taken to the execution ground, the emotions he had accumulated for a long time finally burst out, and he muttered to himself in panic.

Although he was uneducated and had no skills, he was a famous idiot in the Imperial College, but fortunately he had a powerful father, so he naturally became an official.

It's just that the meager salary of Zhongshusheren is not enough for him to pay for a trip to Jiaofangsi, and the dispensable idle official is not his pursuit, so he sets his sights on the deputy envoy of the Lianghuai Capital Transfer Envoy. Vocational high school fat errand.

Things proved that his choice was right. Although the official position of the Lianghuai Transport Envoy and Deputy Envoy was only the fifth rank, the oil and gas involved was terrifying.

Who would have thought that after more than ten years of sharing the blessing of peace in this position, things would still be revealed, and he, an important participant, would naturally be punished.

But he is the son of the former chief minister, and the only two ministers in the current government are his father's disciples. He really doesn't want to die!

Wow……

I don't want to die!

My sin is not worthy of death!

…

Zhang Hushan, the salt censor of the Huaihe River Basin, was the first to break his psychological defense. After seeing the corner of the torture platform at the front desk, he suddenly burst into tears and screamed.

He was indeed wronged. He worked hard for more than ten years to create the character of the iron-faced censor, and finally got the lucrative position of the salt censor of the Huaihe River.

As a result, Gao Heng and others have enjoyed the wealth and wealth of the world for more than ten years, but he has only been in office for a month, and he has been enjoying himself secretly. Now he is about to be beheaded together with Gao Heng and others.

If he could choose again, he would never want this Salt Patrol Censor. This deal was too unworthy.

"Li Zhiqing, you hurt me, you won't have a good death in hell!" Yang Mingyuan, the prefect of Yangzhou, cursed loudly when he thought that Li Zhiqing had dragged him into the water.

"Yang Mingyuan, you are not a good bird, you and Li Zhiqing should go to hell together!" When hearing Yang Mingyuan's complaints, Zhao Sansi, the general judge of Yangzhou Prefecture behind him, also cursed.

But as soon as he finished speaking, someone also cursed him behind him. The one who stood up was Liu Ming, the judge of the Lianghuai Capital Transfer Division who had the same discipline and hometown friendship with him.

The officialdom of the Ming Dynasty had three types of relationships: teachers and students, peers and fellow villagers, and these relationships had connected all officials together to form a group.

Just like this, after Li Zhiqing went into the water alone, everyone continued to develop and go offline, so that now almost all officials in Yangzhou Prefecture are spared.

Snapped!

Bang bang!

Bang bang bang!

…

Just as they were cursing each other, rotten vegetable leaves, semi-dried cow dung, rotten eggs and other objects flew from the corner near the execution platform, and these things quickly seemed to confuse their faces.

Wow!

Wow!

Wow wow wow!

…

The life of Yangzhou officials is undoubtedly the most comfortable, and they are even more obsessed with food. Now faced with these filthy things, many officials are vomiting in their stomachs.

"Go quickly, or I will whip you with a whip!" the Nanjing Shenji Battalion officer responsible for escorting death row prisoners held a whip and drove away the vomiting official.

In Dongshi, a execution platform the size of a basketball court has been set up.

Wang Zhi, who had delicate skin, came to the execution platform with a painting fan and looked at the crowds of people and said with emotion: "Today is really lively!"

"You deliberately released the news of the execution of hundreds of officials a few days in advance, so that people from Nanjing came over!" Wang Yue seemed to know it well and directly exposed the little trick of the culprit.

Wang Zhi had a handsome face and said matter-of-factly: "Such a grand event, naturally more people come to witness it!" After a pause, he turned to look at Wang Yue and said: "They say that the Za family is a big devil, but The Zajia family has been in Xichang for so many years, but they are not as good as you!"

"You are also responsible for what happened today!" Wang Yue corrected him seriously as he looked at the prisoners being led to the execution platform one after another.

Wang Zhi did not argue, but looked at the execution platform where the prisoners were being taken one after another and said: "After this is over, the Zajia family will no longer be here to accompany you. You have to go back to Nanjing! I have handed over the drawings of the flintlock rifle that Your Majesty gave me. As a result, this bunch of losers haven’t come up with the finished product yet, and the Zajia family will have to go back and peel off their skins, otherwise they really think they have to bargain over the Zajia family’s affairs.”

"Hasn't the flintlock gun been making progress? It's just that they haven't found qualified fine iron for the thing that works on the principle of a bowstring!" Wang Yue was also paying attention to the progress of this new type of firearm and suddenly asked in confusion.

Wang Zhi asked for a pen and wrote on the fan while replying: "If there is no achievement at all, there is no need for the Za family to go back. Just send a message back to loosen their bones!"

"You are still the same as before, still so... harsh!" Wang Yue originally wanted to say he was being picky, but in the end he changed his words to a gentle one.

Whether he is leading troops in Xichang or Datong, although the man in front of him has clear rewards and punishments, he is also very strict. Those craftsmen working under him can only ask for their own blessings.

When Wang Zhi heard Wang Yue's words, he nodded and wrote: "Wang Yue said that slaves are strict, and I deeply agree! When I was in the study hall, I heard: If you want to be a square, the rules must be strict. Now your majesty He is the emperor, and slaves must be loyal and not disobey the emperor..."

"What are you muttering about?" Wang Yue asked curiously when he saw Wang Zhi writing furiously.

Wang Zhi put away the pen with satisfaction and handed over the written paper fan and said: "You have to learn more from the Za family now! Don't wait for ten days and eight days to write a memorial. We must report everything to His Majesty in detail now, so that we can You won’t be taken advantage of by those hypocrites like back then. You were just writing poems and complaining, while the Za family did nothing wrong, but you were impeached and led the troops to cause trouble!"

"When you were the supervisor of the Datong Army, you did mobilize more frontier troops!" Wang Yue did not expect that Wang Zhi's desire for survival would become so high, but he still pointed out his fault.

Wang Zhi handed the pen back to the little eunuch beside him, but he defended it seriously: "The bounden duty of soldiers is to guard the border! The Tatar cattle and sheep come to eat the water and grass of the Ming Dynasty, and they have not paid taxes to the Ming Dynasty, why can't the Zajia family Leading troops out to fight them? They sent sentries to investigate, why did the Zajia let them spy?"

Wang Yue knew that it was difficult to reach a conclusion on this matter. From the perspective of civil servants, Wang Zhi was indeed looking for trouble, but from Wang Zhi's perspective, he had to guard every inch of grass.

Wang Zhi took a deep look at Wang Yue and suddenly asked a heartbreaking question: "They indirectly killed two thousand Datong soldiers. Do you really not hate those hypocrites?"