Brother Zhu Youxiao

Chapter 387
"Governor, everything has been cleaned up, no one has escaped, and none of the gentry in Chengdu is here."

What can you do with a cup of tea?Sun Chuanting told Zhou's staff and Wu Youxing with his actions.

In the time of a cup of tea, all the gentry in a prefecture in Chengdu were killed, and the more than 400 million mu of military farmland they involved, and millions of mu of civilian land became ownerless and were left to be distributed by Sun Chuanting.

One by one the corpses were dragged away, Wu Youxing seemed to have lost all strength, and sat on a chair with one hand on the table.

Sun Chuanting wiped the blood on his face with a towel, and said lightly:

"According to the crime of embezzling the army's farmland, all their homes were confiscated, the fields were counted, and the documents were compiled."

"Yes..." Staff Zhou responded, then turned around and went to deal with the matter.

A soldier removed the blood-stained food, wiped the table, and placed a simple leek egg and a bowl of rice again.

One dish and one meal, this is the most delicious meal Sun Chuanting has eaten since he entered Sichuan.

Wu Youxing looked at him who was eating peacefully, and couldn't help but say:

"This matter has been brought up, and the matter of His Highness arranging you to go to the northwest is gone."

"It is estimated that your official position as governor, chief envoy, and governor will no longer exist."

"If I don't kill them, the 10,000+ victims outside the city and the millions of victims in eastern Sichuan will also kill them." Sun Chuanting said flatly while eating.

"Kill them, and the millions of disaster victims in Sichuan will still have a way to survive."

"I will bear the charges, and I will resign from the post of chief envoy, governor, and governor-general from now on."

"Ah..." Listening to Sun Chuanting's words, Wu Youxing sighed deeply.

Not long after this sigh, a team of Tangqi left for Beijing overnight.

When the news reached the capital, it was already five days later.

Sun Chuanting's ruthlessness was unexpected by everyone, including Zhu Youjian.

Even though Sun Chuanting had the Shangfang sword in his hand to kill a family of gentry, his ability to do such a thing exceeded Zhu Youxiao's expectations.

Zhu Youxiao originally thought that he was just killing a few officials, Liu Yuyou and Pan Shiliang, but he didn't expect that Sun Chuanting didn't choose to kill the officials, but chose to kill the gentry.

When the matter got to such an extent, it was impossible for the Qi Palace, the cabinet, and the emperor to settle the case simply by discussing matters.

A court meeting was held suddenly, and all officials above the fifth rank in the court rushed to the Huangji Gate. This kind of temporary court meeting was impossible in the Huangji Palace, and everyone came in a hurry.

Zhu Youjian was wearing the crimson prince's uniform, and rushed over without bringing anything.

All the officials were waiting for him to take the lead, but the atmosphere at the scene was very strange.

What did the Ming Dynasty consist of...

Simply put, it is composed of imperial power, ministerial power, and military power, but if you look carefully, it is actually composed of gentry.

The essence of a feudal dynasty is to plunder the means of production, and the emperor is the biggest gentry and the most plundering gentry.

The difference is that the gentry only need to be responsible to themselves and their family, while the emperor needs to be responsible to the dynasty.

The scope of this responsibility is very wide. It can be as wide as tens of millions of people, or as narrow as hundreds of people above the temple.

Killing gentry, this is something that only bandits and anti-people can do. Even Zhu Youjian needs to find an excuse to do it, and it will take several years to wipe his ass after finishing it.

Now Sun Chuanting has done it, not only has he done it, he has done it very well.

The matter of killing the gentry in Chengdu can be big or small, justified or unreasonable.

To put it mildly, this is just a single case of locality.

On a larger scale, this has started a very bad head, which will put everyone in the country's gentry at risk.

The reason is that the gentry in Chengdu did do something that the gentry in the world dared not do, that is, they embezzled the military farmland that Zhu Youjian had finally taken back, and they should be killed according to reason.

It is unreasonable that the gentry in Chengdu Mansion need at least a joint trial by the three divisions before deciding whether to kill or not, and Sun Chuanting is currently mobilizing the Western Army's Gongwei battalion to kill people.

Does this mean that as long as you have military power, you can kill gentry at will?

If this is the case, is the Ming Dynasty going to repeat the chaos of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms?

Originally, Zhu Youjian used military power to revive the imperial power, which had already caused the army to grow.

There is no use of Wu Lingwen at the moment, because Man Gui, Sun Yingyuan, Qi Jin, and Qin Bangping are knowledgeable and loyal, and the civil servants also know how to tuck their tails to be a talent.

In any case, what Sun Chuanting did undoubtedly played an initial role in how Daming treated the gentry in the new situation.

After the news and treatment spread, all the gentry will wait and see.

If the imperial court thinks that Sun Chuanting is doing the right thing, that's fine, the military generals will suddenly surpass the civil servants, and the gentry only need to win over the generals.

In this way, once a military general wants to rebel, after they have close contact with the gentry, they don't have to worry about logistical issues.

Conversely, if the imperial court felt that Sun Chuanting had done something wrong, it would also arouse military commanders' dissatisfaction with civil servants.

Military generals had been suppressed by civil servants for hundreds of years, but now seeing what Sun Chuanting did, some generals got angry in the future and drew their swords to cut civil servants and gentry under their horses.

To put it bluntly, the outcome of this matter deserves everyone's attention.

"quiet--"

When Honglu Siqing sang at the Huangji Gate, everyone fell silent.

"Sing--"

"Den..."

"Long live Long live Long live……"

The singing ceremony sounded, and then the bell was struck. Zhu Youjian took the lead in singing the ceremony of pushing the golden mountain and falling the jade pillars.

Zhu Youxiao came in a sky-blue uniform, wearing a winged crown, and sat on a dragon chair.

"Get up—" Honglu Temple Minister rang the bell again, and all the officials got up one after another.

Faced with this situation, no one dared to speak first, only the two brothers Zhu Youjian and Zhu Youxiao could.

Zhu Youxiao subconsciously put his eyes on his younger brother, and the eyes of all the officials followed suit.

This gaze contained many meanings, and everyone wanted to know whether Zhu Youjian's actions were ordered by Sun Chuanting.

Zhu Youjian felt his eyes. Of course, he couldn't say that he didn't instigate this matter, but he couldn't say that he instigated this matter either.

Facing his gaze, he chose to avoid this question and said instead:
"Sun Chuanting, the governor of Sichuan, chief envoy, and governor of seventeen provinces, beheaded more than seventy gentry, big and small, according to their crimes five days ago."

Zhu Youjian chose to ask the question first, and Feng Quan, Shi Fenglai and others listened to this question very carefully, as did Gu Bingqian and the others.

It can be said that at present Feng Quan and Shi Fenglai represent all the gentry in Zhili and Zhejiang, and Gu Bingqian represents the gentry in other provinces.

Regarding the matter of the gentry in Chengdu, the imperial court had to come up with an explanation, an explanation that would not displease the gentry all over the world, so that they could explain it to the people below, and the people below could explain to the gentry.

Zhu Youjian is very clear, but at the same time he also wants to take this opportunity to beat the gentry.

The essence of the feudal dynasty was to plunder the means of production. Even if the gentry in Sichuan did not invade the military farmland, the gentry in other provinces would invade the military farmland.

The next three years will be a good opportunity for Zhu Youjian to organize the sweep of the north. The drought will decline in stages, so he wants a stable situation to organize the sweep of the north.

It is very important to beat the gentry with this matter of Sun Chuanting and tell the gentry what the court's bottom line is.

What is Daming's bottom line?There is no doubt that this is nothing more than the word finance.

If the gentry pay taxes honestly, the imperial court will not take the initiative to trouble them.

If Zhu Youjian wants to stabilize them and beat them at the same time, he first needs to magnify the matter of the Yumajian.

"Sichuan army farmed more than 400 million mu of land, all of which were occupied by Sichuan's gentry and tyrants by means of extortion."

"What is the nature of the army's farming, you don't need to speak alone, you know it well."

"If local gentry and tyrants are allowed to occupy the military farmland, the more than 9000 million mu of military farmland in the Ming Dynasty will be invaded, and who will pay the more than 4000 million stone land taxes of the Royal Horse Supervisor? Who will send it?"

Zhu Youjian raised the matter of the Sichuan army's farming to the level of an unshakable national policy, and then he continued:
"The gentry in Chengdu Mansion should be killed, but Sun Chuanting should not be killed. The three divisions should have a joint trial before deciding whether to kill or exile."

If the previous sentence exaggerated the seriousness of the Sichuan incident, then the current sentence is calming people's hearts.

The procedures that should be followed must be followed, and the rules that should be followed must also be followed.

This matter is Sun Chuanting's personal behavior. Although he did the right thing, the process went wrong, which is what Zhu Youjian meant.

Gu Bingqian and the others have guessed this meaning a long time ago, and what they care about now is not Zhu Youjian's meaning, but how to deal with the matter and how to make them explain to the people below.

"Temporary resignation of Sun Chuanting's five-army governor's office, Western Army Sichuan Governor, Sichuan Chief Envoy, and seventeen provincial governors!"

Zhu Youjian began to convict Sun Chuanting, everyone held their breath and listened carefully.

"Also, let's go to Sun Chuanting and Lord Wu to take over the post and serve the people!"

To the end, this is Zhu Youjian's explanation to the officials and the gentry all over the world, and at the same time he is protecting Sun Chuanting.

In Zhu Youjian's view, Sun Chuanting has the ability to be an official, and he can return to his post at any time. What he has to do now is to keep him.

"Dare to ask Your Highness, is this the result of beheading more than [-] gentry with merit and fame without the joint trial of the three divisions?!"

A spokesperson from the Metropolitan Procuratorate stepped forward, and Zhu Youjian glanced at the other party, and recognized the other party as a member of the Sichuan Party at first glance.

Facing the other party's questioning, Zhu Youjian turned his body sideways and responded unhurriedly:
"Li Gongsheng and others should be killed, and Sun Chuanting is right. Just over 400 of their families have corrupted half of Sichuan's land, including more than [-] million mu of military farmland. Shouldn't such behavior be killed?"

"According to the "Law of the Ming Dynasty", Sun Chuanting did not kill wrongly, and there was no act of unjust killing."

"Besides, he still has the square sword in his hand, so he has the right to cut first and then play!"

Zhu Youjian wanted to protect Sun Chuanting. There is no doubt that everyone could see that, so Gu Bingqian, Shi Fenglai and others did not stand up to refute.

After all, with Sun Chuanting's status, killing Li Gongsheng and the others was nothing.

If it wasn't for the fact that this case involved too much, causing the gentlemen all over the world to wait and see, they wouldn't find it troublesome.

Now Zhu Youjian has given a reason, that is, the invading army garrisoned the land.

Although everyone knows that the more than 400 million mu of military farmland is definitely not occupied by these 70 or so families. Zhu Youjian's move is to impose all the charges on the [-] dead gentry, but who cares about the dead people?

In other words, Li Gongsheng and others took the burden of the other living small and medium gentry in Sichuan, and the other small and medium gentry in Sichuan were too late to be happy.

Handing over the army to farm is an inevitable act, and no one dares to be an enemy of the current imperial court.

In this case, handing over the ground to save your life is a good choice.

As for the loss of money and food due to forced renting of land, it can only be that the Sichuan gentry think they are unlucky.

Zhu Youjian was willing to let some small and medium-sized gentry go, which made the Sichuan Party breathe a sigh of relief.

They were most afraid that Zhu Youjian, like Sun Chuanting, would uproot the Sichuan Party and kill all the gentry in Sichuan regardless of the consequences.

Now it seems that although they can't give any explanation to the living Sichuan gentry, at least they kept the living young gentry.

Even if the energy and power of these small and medium-sized gentry were not as good as those of the few gentry in Chengdu Mansion, they managed to save a bit of face after all.

The speaker got the benefit and naturally withdrew.

"Army farmland is the foundation of the country, and whoever dares to embezzle military farmland will be punished without mercy!"

After appeasing everyone, Zhu Youjian is about to start beating everyone.

Military farming is the bottom line of the Ming Dynasty, and no one can shake this point.

"Long live, I have finished what I should say, please long live to make a decision!"

After the matter was dealt with, Zhu Youjian gave Zhu Youxiao the chance to make the final decision.

Zhu Youjian can only express his opinion, because Sun Chuanting is his man, compared with him, Zhu Youxiao has much more maneuverable space.

After Zhu Youjian made his statement, he had certain powers to retain Sun Chuanting, so he wouldn't cut it to the end.

However, he couldn't explicitly protect Sun Chuanting, but he wanted to advance by retreating.

Sitting on the dragon chair, Zhu Youxiao glanced at all the officials, seeing how everyone lowered their heads and looked at their noses, noses, noses and hearts, and said slowly:

"Sun Chuanting's matter cannot end in such a hasty way."

"First remove all his official positions temporarily, and take back Shangfang sword and official seal."

"In addition, since the officials of the Sixth Division have already arrived in Nanjing, and it is only a month's journey by water from Chengdu, then the case of Sun Chuanting should be jointly reviewed by the Sixth Division."

"Wen Tiren will temporarily act as the presiding judge, and Zhou Yanru and Li Banghua will be the deputy judges. Sun Chuanting's crimes can be judged according to his own judgment."

"Long live Shengming..." Hearing Zhu Youxiao's words, everyone bowed and sang.

Everyone could tell that whether it was King Zhu Youjian of Qi or Emperor Zhu Youxiao, they all wanted to protect Sun Chuanting, especially Zhu Youxiao.

After all, Sun Chuanting's crimes can be big or small, and it depends on Wen Tiren and the others how they are sentenced.

When he grows up, he will cut his job for the people according to Zhu Youjian's order.

When he was young, at most his official position with real power would be removed, but his rank and military honors would still be retained. Although he had to go home, he still had two salaries.

No matter what, it was very difficult for Sun Chuanting to cause trouble for the parties in a short period of time, which also made Gu Bingqian and others breathe a sigh of relief.

Let Sun Chuanting continue to be the governor, I am afraid that next time he will not only kill such a few people.

"Sancha-"

The singing of Honglu Siqing sounded again, and all the officials began to retreat after singing the ceremony, but Zhu Youjian did not leave.

He walked around the dragon chair at the Huangji Gate, and sure enough, he saw Zhu Youxiao waiting with his back turned to him.

"Brother..."

Zhu Youjian stepped forward to bow, but Zhu Youxiao frowned and turned to look at him when he heard it:

"Sun Chuanting's matter should end here, right?"

Apparently, Zhu Youxiao was also very dissatisfied with Sun Chuanting's way of handling it. It was a pleasure to kill someone, but the subsequent impact would definitely end with the court.

Zhu Youxiao couldn't deny that Sun Chuanting was a good general and virtuous minister, but he didn't want to spend the entire court's energy cleaning one person's ass.

"ended……"

Zhu Youjian heard the meaning of Zhu Youxiao's words, and nodded slightly to indicate that the matter was over.

"That's fine." Zhu Youxiao breathed a sigh of relief, and then comforted him:

"No matter what the results of the trial of the Sixth Division are, let him go home and rest first, and it will not be too late to come back after a two-year hiatus."

"My younger brother thinks so too." Zhu Youjian nodded in response.

Perhaps in Zhu Youxiao's view, Sun Chuanting is capable, but he is more likely to cause trouble, but in Zhu Youjian's view, Sun Chuanting really should take a break.

Not to mention that he pacified the Southwest, controlled Jianlu, managed the Northwest, and governed the world. He didn't go home for nine years. The follow-up turmoil caused by him just now also determines that he will not show his face in a short time.

"I will ask Zhongxian to send some gift money to the Sun's residence. Anyway, he has indeed made meritorious service for the court this time."

Zhu Youxiao is still very aware of Sun Chuanting's achievements this time. Although the court wants to wipe his ass, he has cleaned up all the gentry and powerful men in Sichuan. If there is no accident, Sichuan will be stable for at least several decades.

In contrast, rewarding some money is nothing. If it is not to estimate the feelings of the gentry in the world, Zhu Youxiao would like to promote Sun Chuanting.

"My brother thanked the emperor on behalf of Sun Chuanting." Zhu Youjian bowed to express his gratitude, and Zhu Youxiao also nodded:
"Okay, that's the way it is. The military farms in Sichuan must be taken back as soon as possible, and the other [-] gentry families should also search their homes. Don't delay the autumn harvest."

"Yes..." Zhu Youjian nodded, and then said:

"Since there is nothing to do, I will go back to the mansion first. There are still many memorials to be processed in the mansion."

"Okay, I'm going back to the Hall of Mental Cultivation." Zhu Youxiao nodded slightly, and also talked about his own affairs.

After the two brothers had a clear division of work, both sides were a little busy. Naturally, it was impossible for Zhu Youxiao to pester Zhu Youjian to play like before.

But although life is very busy, at least Zhu Youxiao can understand his brother's difficulties.

The two exchanged a few words, and then drove away separately.

For Zhu Youxiao, this matter is a bit troublesome, but it is not too difficult. After all, as long as the feelings of the gentry in the south of the Yangtze River are taken care of, the feelings of the gentry in other places are not important.

For Zhu Youjian, Sichuan is empty, which is good for him and the court.

Riding on the carriage, Zhu Youjian closed his eyes and meditated, and then slowly opened his mouth and said:

"Let Lu Wenzhao escort the family members of the more than seventy gentry families to Jiaozhi, and accompany the boat to Levia when they sail to the West for the second time next year."

"Your servant takes orders..." Wang Chengen responded, but then he looked at Zhu Youjian and said hesitantly:

"Your Highness, Sun Chuanting has been dismissed as a civilian, so next year's Uzang..."

"Wuszang is temporarily postponed..." Zhu Youjian responded with his eyes closed, because this matter about Sun Chuanting gave him a good opportunity to beat the gentry.

Right now, he wants to see the reaction of the gentry. If the gentry is honest and the scale of the drought subsides next year, then he can free up his hands to clean up the prisoners.

Calculating carefully, he also let the old slaves linger on for nearly six years. Once the severe drought subsides, he can start to do it.

Compared with the Northeast, things in Uzang can be temporarily put aside.

"Your Highness, I don't understand one thing..."

When Wang Chengen heard Zhu Youjian's words, he hesitated and said:

"Since Sun Chuanting can deal with the gentry, why can't we?"

"Although the gentry in Jiangnan are powerful, they are not as powerful as swords..."

Wang Chengen's question is similar to the question of "the Qing Dynasty can move the sword, but the Ming Dynasty does not" in the question of later generations.

The Qing Dynasty was able to use the knife because in the early Qing Dynasty and even throughout the Qing Dynasty, the small clans bullied the big clans. The small clans were an interest group, and because of their ethnicity, it was impossible for them to be harmonious with the Han gentry.

In the early Qing Dynasty, tens of thousands of gentry in the south of the Yangtze River were killed in one go, and the scale was hundreds of times that of Sun Chuanting at present.

They are not afraid of turmoil because there are 10,000+ oppressors behind them to help stand in line, and their national attributes limit their ability to seek refuge with the Han gentry. Even if they are bribed, it will not delay them raising their swords against the Han gentry.

It is the same reason that Zhu Youjian used officials without background to kill corrupt officials at the beginning.

It was only when he started doing this that the gentry in Jiangnan began to notice.

Qi Wangdang, Yumajian, and Yanshan faction, their corruption rate far exceeds the rate at which Zhu Youjian cultivated them.

It takes several years for Zhu Youjian to cultivate an interest group with a clean background, but it only takes a few months for the gentry to corrupt them.

The Qing Dynasty was able to suppress the Han gentry because it led Manchu interest groups and some Han officials to squeeze all classes, and then distributed the collected means of production according to the royal family-Manchen-Hanchen hierarchy.

Zhu Youjian is also engaged in distribution right now, but he cannot squeeze all classes to engage in distribution like the Qing Dynasty did.

Right now he is oppressing the gentry alone, and the gentry is in turn oppressing the people, and the people can't stand the suffering and become refugees. This feels like an endless cycle.

In short, no matter what his original intention is, even if he is dedicated to reducing the burden on the people, judging from the situation this time, all the oppression will be passed on to the people, which is an unsolvable problem.

Although it is comfortable to kill the gentry in Sichuan, the existence of the gentry cannot be killed.

As long as people exist, there will be differences. He killed the gentry today, and in a few years, some rich peasants will evolve into gentry.

It's easy to make a big move, but who supports him?

Houjin has 10,000+ Jianlu support, but his surroundings...

The Qi Royal Party has become the Gu Party, and the Yanshan faction is also a bit obedient, and the only one who obeys orders is the Governor's Mansion of the Five Armies.

It's just that once the five-army governor's mansion is used to carry out brainless massacres, not to mention that the military discipline of the Ming army that Zhu Youjian has cultivated for so many years will be corrupted, he can't afford the consequences of military meddling in politics alone.

One is not operated well, and it is another Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms.

Right now he has no other better way than to use some people of faith to slowly deal with the gentry.

Sun Chuanting can use the knife because there are many people behind him to wipe his ass. If Zhu Youjian uses the knife, there will be no 10,000+ determined oppressors behind him to help him.

Ninety-nine percent of the officials in the court are related to the gentry, as can be seen from this incident.

Besides, his Zhu family is the biggest gentry leader in this land...

(End of this chapter)