Rule the Ming Dynasty Alone

Zhu Youtang had a vague feeling that the attack on the pearling boat might have something to do with Annan, but when he saw such a big commotion in Huguang over the land inventory, he immediately felt a surge of anger in his heart.

Clearing the land of the father-in-law undoubtedly touches the fundamental interests of the local officials and gentry, and even the interests of the official and gentry groups in the world. Now this group of people may want to get rid of Liu Zhong by any means.

Although he has always wanted to focus on iron-fisted diplomacy and national development, the reality is that after all, the officials and gentry in the country are simply the scum of China.

The gentry class hid their land not only to evade taxes, but more importantly, to escape from service.

Compared with taxes, the burden of corvee is indeed much heavier.

It would be easier if the officials only had 200 acres of fertile land under their names. After all, the imperial court had corresponding exemption quotas. However, these officials never knew how to exercise restraint and could be said to be greedy.

What they want is not only their own prosperity and wealth in this life, but also the wealth of their descendants. Therefore, it is not too much for Xu Jie to have hundreds of thousands of acres of fertile land behind them.

However, after they had more acres of land, they were not weak-minded people after all, and could not perform their service obligations well at all, which led them to embark on the road of hiding in the fields and escaping from service.

Although Zhu Youtang was very angry and wanted to crack down on the officials and gentry who were obstructing the clearing of his father-in-law's land, he couldn't find a target now, so he really shouldn't act rashly.

With his status and power, it is not difficult to get rid of anyone, but the difficulty lies in finding the real villains.

As he has been secretly investigating until now, it is clear that all the officials in the Manchu Dynasty are loyal to him, but he cannot find out who is the mastermind behind the poisoning of Huai En and Xie Ke, nor can he find out who is assisting Zhu Fu to pass. Xuefeng Dao intensified the conflict between Ming Dynasty and Annan Li Dynasty.

The same is true for Huguang. If Liu Zhong could not find the unjust gentry who assassinated him in Huguang, how could he order the murder of all the gentry in Huguang?

The disadvantages of the Ming Dynasty are that officials are as slippery as oil, officials are as slippery as oil, and gentry are as slippery as oil.

Zhu Youtang did not intend to let this group of officials and gentry continue to be rampant. He immediately put aside the affairs of Li Dynasty, Mongolia and North Korea in Annan, and immediately asked for the personnel files of all officials in Huguang.

The rampant local officials and gentry are certainly caused by the power of the officials and gentry, but it is also related to the inaction or collusion of local officials. Now is the time to crack down on the officialdom.

When the personnel files of Huguang officials were sent over, even though Wang Yue had killed him a lot last year, he found that the problems in the officialdom were more serious than he thought.

Anluzhou, the hinterland of central Hubei.

Anlu City was built in the Northern Wei Dynasty and has four gates: the east gate is named Zisheng Gate, the south gate is Laixun Gate, the west gate is Fucheng Gate, the north gate is Gongchen Gate, and the Fuyun Tower on the city tower is a famous tower in the Tang and Song Dynasties.

The building is in the misty clouds, and the red railings can be seen where the floating clouds break. The mountain light shines into the purple of Yun City, and the shadow of the stream flies across the dream Zehan.

Fuyun Tower is the living symbol of Anlu City, but after all, it happened hundreds of years ago. Now when Anlu is mentioned, what everyone thinks of is Wang Yue, who has lived in Anlu for four years.

Although Wang Yue's reputation as "The King's Beheading" was shamed by the literati class, for the people at the bottom, Wang Yue simply chopped off a bright future for them.

Just the latest news is that Wang Yue has gone to Guangdong to manage salt, and the official who comes here now is Liu Zhong, the governor of Huguang who came down from the imperial court.

"What happened?"

"Liu Zhong led his men to surround the state government office!"

"What is this going on? Could it be that Qiu Zhizhou set the fire?"

…

A news that shocked the whole city came. The first thing Liu Zhong did when he led the governor's guard back to the city was to surround the Anlu Prefecture Government Office, which immediately aroused widespread concern.

In the back house of Anlu Prefecture, two maids were gently shaking their fans.

Qiu Jing, the governor of Anlu, was born in the Imperial College. He is only in his early forties now, but he holds the position of the fifth-rank governor of Anlu with the title of Gongsheng, which shows that his background is extraordinary.

Seeing the servants running in in a panic, after learning that Liu Zhong had led people to surround the front and back doors of the government office, he stretched his body without any disapproval.

Since he had stayed in the capital for several years, he naturally knew that Liu Zhong, an official who had been promoted from a doctor in the household department to a minister in the household department, was not favored by the officialdom. Now that he came down to clear his father's land, he was simply going against the officials and gentry all over the world.

Qiu Jing had a nice long beard, but she was still lying on the chair. She casually asked Liu Zhong who came in with someone: "Governor Liu, what do you mean?"

"Come here, bring this person up!" Liu Zhong's hair still had a few pieces of ash left on it, and he suppressed his anger when he saw Qiu Jing enjoying herself here.

Two guards in royal robes escorted the man up, but it was a young man with an unattractive appearance.

Qiu Jing looked at the young man casually, but she pressed her little finger to her ear and pretended to be confused: "Governor Liu, who is this?"

Cheng Yu, a member of the Jinyi Hundred Household, frowned slightly, but he did not expect that this small Zhizhou would be so arrogant.

"This man had previously prevented me from clearing my land, so I handed him over to the state government for imprisonment. Why did you let him go?" Liu Zhong suppressed the anger in his heart and asked directly.

The biggest obstacle to clearing the land was the unruly people who jumped out to stop it, and his approach was to imprison people so that he could continue to lead his people to complete the clearing.

Qiu Jing looked at this unattractive young man again, pretended to be enlightened and patted her forehead and said: "I remember this, this is indeed the case!" But before Liu Zhong could attack, he spread his hands and said: "Liu Zhong Governor, you have sent more than 300 people one after another. However, thefts have been frequent in Anlu City recently, and there are already more than a thousand people imprisoned. The state prison cannot hold so many prisoners! For the sake of public security in the state city, , this state had no choice but to release some people who had a good attitude towards admitting their mistakes. I wonder what’s wrong with this?”

Arresting people here and releasing people there are the stumbling blocks used by local officials. It's just that although Qiu Jing was born as a prison student, she is well versed in treachery. This time, under the guise of public security, no one can find fault.

"What's wrong? This person set fire to the inn, almost causing the governor to die in the fire, and even more so the governor's wife..." Cheng Yu, from a hundred households in brocade clothes, learned that Qiu Jing had let him go, and he also accused angrily.

But before he could finish his words, he was stopped by Liu Zhong's stern eyes.

Qiu Jing knew that the fire failed to burn Liu Zhong to death, so she expressed her stance in a righteous manner: "This state has just explained it very clearly! This state is releasing some prisoners for the sake of public security in the state city, but I didn't expect that there would be such a big number among them." The evil villain has been caught like this, so he will be severely punished!" After a pause, he looked at Liu Zhong who came to ask for the crime and said: "If the governor wants the official to admit his mistake, the official will hold a banquet at Fuyun Tower. I guarantee that the governor will be satisfied! It’s just that the governor thinks that the subordinate has neglected his duty, so he can submit the piano to the court, but..."

"But what?" Cheng Yu, from the Hundred Household in Jinyi, frowned as he looked at the other party's arrogant face.

Qiu Jing felt that the chair handle behind her was extremely strong, but she said with a hint of joking: "There is no one in this state in the court. Although you are the governor, your foundation is not stable and you can't move this state at all! What's more, this state is about to be He is about to be promoted, so keep a tightrope in everything so that we can see you again someday!"

Officialdom never works alone, but in groups.

People like Liu Zhong who are against the officials and gentry all over the world can magnify even the slightest fault. Wasn't it someone like Wang Yue who was brought down because of a poem?

As for the previous Governor Liu, he was just a grasshopper after autumn, and he was about to become the governor of Ganzhou.

this……

Cheng Yu, a member of the Jinyi Hundred Household, looked at Zhizhou who was so confident and fearless. He couldn't believe his eyes. He was so arrogant.

"Come here, escort Qiu Zhizhou to the gate of the state government office!" Liu Zhong's face suddenly sank, and he immediately issued the order.

Qiu Jing's expression suddenly changed, she frowned and said, "Governor Liu, what do you mean?"

The two Jinyi guards stepped forward and immediately grabbed Qiu Jing from the seat, and they were also angry at this perverse Zhizhou.

"Take it away!" Liu Zhong ignored Qiu Jing and turned around and walked towards the gate of the state government office.

Due to the great commotion in the state government office, thousands of people had gathered outside the gate to watch the excitement, and the governor's guard also dispatched personnel to maintain order.

"Out!"

"What happened?"

"Who knows? But Qiu Zhizhou may be in trouble!"

…

The people who were watching could only watch from a distance. When they saw Qiu Jing, the prefect of the state, being escorted out of the prefectural government office, they started talking about it.

"Governor Liu, this state is releasing some prisoners for the sake of public security in the state. When this matter comes to His Majesty, it is also the state's responsibility. What do you want to do?" Qiu Jing was escorted out and saw the people around him. asked angrily.

Liu Zhong still ignored Qiu Jing. He had already made a decision on certain things when he came, so he said loudly to the front: "Your Majesty, please give Shang Fang the sword!"

At this moment, a sedan carrying Shang Fangjian came towards here.

"Governor Liu actually has Shang Fang's horse-killing sword?"

"I told you there must be one, but you just didn't believe it!"

"Behead this dog official and bring peace to Anlu Province!"

…

The people who were watching were shocked when they saw Liu Zhong showing off Shang Fang's sword. They immediately knelt down to greet the Shang Fang horse-killing sword that had long been famous in Huguang.

"What...what are you going to do?" Qiu Jing's mouth trembled and she asked in fear.

After Liu Zhong knelt down to greet Shang Fang's sword, he snorted and expressed his position: "You neglect your duties, and I will kill you like a dog with Shang Fang's sword!"

"You...you are killing indiscriminately!" Qiu Jing was really scared at this moment, and she questioned loudly.

Liu Zhong let out a long breath, but looked at Qiu Jing and said: "Kill indiscriminately! The governor finally understands Wang Yue, if you don't kill, you can't do anything at all, you can't accomplish anything, and you will even harm your loved ones around you! "

In fact, it is difficult for Zhu Youtang to understand the full picture of the matter simply from the memorials delivered to the capital from below.

In that fire, although Liu Zhong was lucky enough to be saved by his servant, Liu Zhong's pregnant concubine was buried in the sea of ​​​​fire, which can be said to be one body and two lives.

It would be fine if the person who set the fire was someone else. He was the first group of troublemakers to prevent Liu Zhong from clearing his father-in-law's land. At that time, he was arrested by Liu Zhong's order and imprisoned in the state prison.

The results of it? It was the magistrate in front of him who found a high-sounding reason to send the person away, and that person was driven by the officials and gentry hiding behind the scenes. Liu Zhong almost died in the fire, and Liu Zhong's concubine and the child in his belly died unexpectedly. .

At this moment, Liu Zhong finally understood Wang Yue and knew that only Wang Yue's method could accomplish things and truly protect the people around him.

"No, don't!" Qiu Jing lost her arrogance and stared in horror.

Liu Zhong knew that it was too late for him to understand, but he stabbed forward with a sharp Shang Fang sword in his hand, seemingly gritting his teeth.

puff!

As the tip of the sword pierced the heart, a stream of blood spattered.

Liu Zhong once wanted to be a virtuous minister with a virtuous reputation, but in the face of today's world, he knew that he could only become the notorious Wang Zhao and kill all the evil spirits in the world.

puff!

Qiu Jing spat out a mouthful of blood and looked at Liu Zhong unwillingly. She clearly had a backer in the court and had been promoted, but she didn't expect to die at the hands of this fool who was against the officials and gentry of the world.

"died?"

"Zhizhou is really dead!"

"This... Governor Liu turns out to be a ruthless person!"

…

The people who were watching saw Liu Zhong stabbing someone to death with Shang Fang Sword. Although they were very happy to see Qiu Jing killed, Ruo Ruo murmured in disbelief at this moment.

Liu Zhong knew that the state government was still not clean, so he directly ordered: "Qiu Jing did not do it alone this time. The governor of the state will escort him out!"

When Zhou Tongzhi was escorted out, he was so frightened that he wet his pants, kowtowed to Liu Zhong repeatedly and begged for mercy, and cried and begged Liu Zhong to let him go.

Liu Zhong was unmoved, holding Shang Fang's sword in his hand, and stabbed the state Tongzhi again.

Originally, it was enough to kill these officials below the fifth rank with the Wang Ming Flag, but if he did not use Shang Fang's sword, some people might not know that they also had a backer in the court, and that was Emperor Hongzhi, who sat highest in the court.

"Sir, have mercy on me! My lord, have mercy on me!" When the state judge was escorted out, his legs were so frightened that he collapsed on the ground and begged for mercy as soon as he left the gate.

Liu Zhong knew that if he wanted to clear the land smoothly, the state government must be able to lock up the troublemakers, otherwise his emperor's mission could not be carried out, so he immediately raised the Shang Fang sword in his hand and slashed at the judge's neck.

At this moment, he had completely given up the idea of ​​being a wise minister, and finally understood His Majesty's painstaking efforts in hanging the plaque of "Resulting the Nation through Hard Work".

puff!

Another splash of blood splattered, and Anlu Prefecture was finally cleared.

Liu Zhong's actions eventually brought adverse consequences.

In front of Fengtian Gate in the capital, there is an early morning meeting.

"Liu Zhong has been in Huguang for more than a month, but the progress of clearing his father-in-law's land has been slow, which is a sign of God's grace! Qiu Jing, the magistrate of Anlu, is diligent and loves the people, and is deeply loved by the local people. There are sages who roll his name. Now he is responsible for public security and catching thieves. The prison was overcrowded and the people who had committed minor crimes were released and were brutally slaughtered by Liu Zhong. Please accept his Shang Fang's horse-killing sword and recall Liu Zhong to the capital for questioning!" Sun Jiao, a member of the Wenxuan Department, personally stood up and impeached.