After Ming Dynasty

Chapter 43 A Letter to the Kong Family (for further reading)

It's nothing if the people in the city run away, but the problem is that even the soldiers have run away, isn't it fatal!

Yan Zibin was completely dumbfounded.

Master Fang had a big heart, "Tang Zun, let them go, they can't beat them anyway, there is no difference between three hundred soldiers and two hundred soldiers."

"You know what!" Yan Zibin glared at Master Fang, he couldn't say too much, so he could only stride, almost trot, back to the county yamen.

Master Fang followed closely behind, and the two arrived at the second hall. Yan Zibin immediately asked Master Fang to look around to make sure that no one was eavesdropping. gone."

"What?" Master Fang didn't seem to hear clearly, Yan Zibin had no choice but to repeat it again, Master Fang was spinning and almost fell to the ground.

"It's over, it's over. Mr. Zhu won't let us go, he said, if he knows we broke the contract in the morning, he can die in the evening."

Yan Zibin rolled his eyes, "That's what I heard in the morning, and I will die in the evening. The local thieves are uneducated and misinterpret the words of the saint."

Master Fang lamented helplessly, "Even if he misunderstood the meaning of the saint, I didn't understand his meaning. I'll go buy a coffin, buy some paper money, and burn it quickly. Tonight is my death day... By the way, And Tang Zun, you should also prepare for the funeral."

Yan Zibin was so angry that he couldn't speak, who knows why this Fang person is so afraid of Zhu Yiyuan?
Could he still really know his plan?

I took a full 500 taels, there must be a brave man under the heavy reward, enough to buy dozens of lives, and I will definitely not let me down.

Will not!
……

"Young Master Zhu, here is a letter for me to send to the provincial capital. This is ten taels of silver."

Zhu Yiyuan scanned the pieces of black and broken silver, looked at the letter again, and then said with a smile: "I'm very happy that you came to report the letter. I can reward you with these ten taels of silver...but I want to know, is it Who sent you this letter? Can you tell me about it?"

The tall villager was still hesitating, and Wang Laoben on the side snorted: "They are worried and kind, and they want to find the dog officer to harm us. If you don't tell the truth, do you want to help the dog officer?"

After such a scolding, the villagers honestly said that he accepted the request from the accountant of the chariot and horse company and asked him to help deliver the letter.

"What about the cashier?"

"Go back to Qishan Village."

Zhu Yiyuan nodded, "Call Huang Ying here, and ask him to bring a few rebel brothers and arrest them."

No one would be willing to be caught without a fight, Zhu Yiyuan did not believe that Yan Zhixian and Master Fang would be honest.Therefore, Zhu Yiyuan ordered his rebel army to bring people out of the city and send them to Kong Fan's courtyard first.

Then, according to different villages, they were sent back properly, and at the same time, they were also instructed that the whole village should guarantee this person when he went back.

If he helped the imperial court and did something wrong to the rebels, he would be punished.

At this time, Zhu Yiyuan showed his methods more and more, he would still be better to the common people, but he would be more vigilant towards the enemy, and his methods would only be more cruel.

Baojia even sits, which is conducive to local control, and it is not impossible to use it.

No, as soon as you use it, you will gain something.

The villagers couldn't leave the village because they guaranteed each other's surveillance, and they couldn't send the letter from the county magistrate in their arms, so he could only give it to Zhu Yiyuan, lest the whole family suffer from bad luck.

Zhu Yiyuan waited for a long time, but Huang Ying did not come back.

This kid is very happy to yell, why is he so procrastinating when it comes to doing things, isn't he just arresting someone, why is he so slow?

Just when Zhu Yiyuan almost lost his patience, Huang Yingcai came back out of breath, not alone, but three people accompanied him.

After careful questioning, he finally figured out that Yan Zibin felt that Master Fang was unreliable, so he found a local clerk and asked him to get out of the city and send the news to the governor.

This scribe's family has a lot of property, and it belongs to his own people who are trustworthy.

Yanzhi County did not think wrong, but the only problem was that the clerk was a little older. From Laiwu to Jinan Prefecture, he needed to cross Mount Tai and Changchengling. The journey was too hard.

So he entrusted his brother-in-law to do it for him.

500 taels became 150 taels.

The problem is that this brother-in-law is also afraid of being tired!
He also quietly found a porter from a chariot dealer, and the money was naturally reduced to ten taels.

Just running errands, ten taels of silver is enough.

Haven't earned that much in the past year.

And then no surprises.

"You bastard! Why don't you go to such an important matter yourself?" The clerk scolded his brother-in-law.

The brother-in-law rolled his eyes, "Brother-in-law, what you said sounds nice, why don't you go by yourself?"

The scribe said helplessly: "I'm getting old, and there are Taishan bandits on the way, don't you want your sister to be a widow?"

The brother-in-law couldn't help screaming, "Okay! I don't want my sister to be a widow? You just want your wife and nephew to have no father? You are shameless."

These two guys complained all the way, and finally they pointed the finger at the porter.

"Being entrusted by someone, it's a matter of loyalty. I gave you money, why didn't you send it honestly?"

The tall villager didn't bother to look at these two, what kind of shit, two cowards.

"You regret your life, so let me die for you? Let me tell you, this time my family can get [-] acres of land, and I won't do it for you!"

……

After the matter is clarified, it really is Yan Zibin's fault, this guy still doesn't give up!
I have already told you that if you hear the truth in the morning, you will die in the evening.

You are courting death yourself, so don't blame me for being rude.

Just when Zhu Yiyuan was thinking about what to do, suddenly there was a visitor from outside.

There were two in total, and their entourage stayed behind.

"I have met Mr. Zhu, and I am the county magistrate of Laiwu, Yan Zibin."

Master Fang next to him also said: "It is indeed our Tang Zun, the young one came here with Tang Zun to meet Mr. Zhu, just to find out, how many people can we arrange to leave the city next?"

Zhu Yiyuan was very interested, looked at these two people, suddenly smiled and said: "Isn't that what you want to ask about? You want to ask, have you sent the letter asking for help?"

"It's over!"

Master Fang sat down on the ground.

This time there is no help, so I can only ask for a happy life.

After all, Yan Zibin is an official, and his psychological quality is much better than that of Master Fang. Although he is also panicked, he still has a trace of reason.

"Young master Zhu, there is nothing else. No one can help but be confused. I just ask you to give the subordinate a chance to live. No matter what it is, the subordinate will agree."

Zhu Yiyuan looked at him, it was obvious that this guy's life was already in his hands, but it was obvious that the value of a county magistrate in the Qing Dynasty was far from being squeezed out.

"Yanzhi County, you are standing at the gate of hell right now. If I ask you anything, you must know everything without saying anything, otherwise I don't mind pushing you to the underworld."

Yan Zibin's eyes widened, and he nodded vigorously, very seriously, for fear that he might miss a word.

"How many rebels are there in Shandong right now? How many are there near Laiwu?"

Hearing this, Master Fang, who was sitting on the ground, got up and stared at Zhu Yiyuan obsessively.

You are a thief, asking the magistrate of the Qing Dynasty about other thieves?
Forgive me for my ignorance, and I don't understand what tricks you are playing.

However, Yan Zibin really answered honestly, "Young Master Zhu, the nearest one is Mount Tai...the rebel army, they are not many in number, they seem to be the former Ministry of King Ji, and one person claims to be the son of King Ji. It's just King Ji It may not be true, and it is even more difficult for him to say."

Zhu Yiyuan nodded, this King Ji and the two of them share the same illness, the only difference is that Xie Qian didn't succeed.It can be seen from this that Lao Zhu's family still has a little bit of popular support, otherwise they wouldn't be pushed out again and again...

"Any more?"

"Yes, in Yanzhou Mansion, Fei County, there is also Wang Jun, who has quite a few troops under him. Then there is the Yuyuan Rebel Army in Cao County, they are considered to be the most powerful,"

Zhu Yiyuan nodded, since the Qing soldiers entered the customs, the land of Shandong was full of flames of war, and there were as many rebels as a cow's hair, but many of them had failed, and it was not easy to survive.

"Yanzhi County, according to what you said, my troops are in the north of Yanzhou Mansion, Wang Jun is in the southeast, and the Yuyuan Rebel Army is in the west... If we join forces, enter Yanzhou Mansion and attack Confucius Mansion, what will happen?"

Master Fang turned pale with fright, "That's Duke Yan! Don't offend me, otherwise no scholar in the world will agree."

Master Fang waved his hands again and again, frightened.As for Yan Zibin, he was calmer after all. After thinking for a while, he shook his head and said, "Mr. Zhu, I have no other intentions. I just want to remind Mr. Zhu that once the Confucian Mansion is attacked, the Qing army will definitely come."

"Why? Is it also because of Yan Shenggong's name?"

Yan Zibin pondered for a while and said, "There is this reason, but there are other reasons."

Zhu Yiyuan said slowly, "Is it food?"

Yan Zibin was startled, showing a look of horror, he did not expect Zhu Yiyuan to be so keen.

"Mr. Zhu, in fact, the Kong family has occupied so many acres, and they have long been angry. But why are so many people impeaching them, but it is useless? Apart from this signboard of Yan Shenggong, it is also related to another matter. When it comes to food, it’s not like eating it yourself. For a long time, Confucius’ Mansion has been the largest grain merchant in Shandong. There is a canal passing through Yanzhou Mansion. At this time, Jiangnan is still fighting, and the food in Beijing needs Shandong’s supply. The people who raised the land rent to [-]% are also trying to please the court..."

When Yan Zibin said this, he bowed deeply to Zhu Yiyuan, "Young master Zhu, I have really said everything, I hope you will weigh it carefully, and don't rush to send troops, or the consequences will be disastrous."

Zhu Yiyuan finally nodded and smiled.

"The words of Yanzhi County are indeed true, and only someone like you who is familiar with the inside story of the court can tell the truth. By the way... have you arrested that Kong Fan?"

Yan Zibin was taken aback again, and said in surprise, "Young Master Zhu, how do you know?"

Zhu Yiyuan laughed loudly, "Talking about things with me, other merchants and gentry are easy to deal with, but the Kong family, you can't make it right at all. If you don't arrest Kong Fan, you will be exposed sooner or later, you still have a dead end, right? ?”

Yan Zibin showed a look of amazement, and he couldn't help admiring that Zhu Yiyuan was really powerful and thoughtful, it was really terrifying.

"Actually, Mr. Zhu guessed half right. When I asked Mr. Fang to talk to you, I had already tricked him into the yamen, hacked and strangled him to death, and his body was still in the dry well."

After hearing this, not only Zhu Yiyuan was shocked, but even Master Fang was shocked.

Do you think Yan Zibin is an ordinary person?
Forcing Li Zicheng to rebel, he can still live to this day, among other things, his ability to save his life is absolutely amazing.Moreover, he was still trying to survive in a desperate situation. If he made a mistake, he would lose his head, so he didn't dare to be careless.

Zhu Yiyuan couldn't say anything, just said: "Please send Kong Fan's head, I want to write a letter to the Kong family."

"write a letter?"

"Yes." As he spoke, Zhu Yiyuan picked up a large pen and wrote on the paper: "Grandchildren of the Kong family: You have betrayed dozens of imperial courts and been disloyal to the country. Now you are still extorting money and oppressing the villagers. Don't do it anymore. Folks in Yanzhou Prefecture, you guys don't want to hand over a grain of food to the Kong family..."

After Zhu Yiyuan finished writing, he did not write his name in the signature, but wrote three words: Kong Zhongni!
(End of this chapter)