Xushuguan, formerly known as Xushuguan Town, is close to the canal. In the fourth year of Xuande in the Ming Dynasty, the imperial court began to set up a banknote here to collect commercial taxes from merchant ships traveling on the canal. Xushuguan is very close to Suzhou and not on the shore of Taihu Lake. In addition,

There are dozens of tax collectors in the customs, so there is no problem with safety. But who would have thought that Taihu water bandits would come to kill them?

Since the Wanli Apocalypse, all the bank checkpoints in various parts of the Ming Dynasty have been directly under the jurisdiction of the inner government. The emperor specially sent tax envoys to take charge of the banknotes to collect commercial taxes. In another time and space, after Zhu Youjian ascended the throne, he was deceived by civil servants and recalled the mine supervisory tax envoys.

The Ministry of Household Affairs assigned officials to govern. And because the gentry had the privilege of being exempted from taxes, the customs did not dare to inquire about the gentry's ships. Naturally, they could not collect much commercial tax, so the revenue of the imperial treasury in another time and space decreased year by year.

Although Zhu Youjian, who had resurrected his life, did not recall the tax envoys, the gentry's tax-free privileges still existed. After all, he had just ascended the throne and was unable to control the entire Ming Dynasty. Therefore, Zhu Youjian later established a tax department to collect commercial taxes. And taxation

The establishment of the company did not happen overnight. At first, it was only in Beijing, and then gradually

Canal lines were established in Tongzhou, Linqing, Xuzhou, Huai'an, and Yangzhou. But it was only after Zhu Youjian's southern tour that the Yangtze River actually crossed. The Suzhou Taxation Branch was established in Hushu on the bank of the canal only three months after its establishment.

Guan. In fact, the original Chaoguan Yamen was changed into the Taxation Department. All the officials were changed, but some tax officials were retained.

Because commercial taxes were also levied on the gentry, in just three months, as much as 200,000 taels of tax money were collected!

At this time, Xushuguan has also become a thorn in the eyes of the gentry. Since they are going to cause chaos, of course they will not let Xushuguan go!

Three thousand Taihu water bandits took dozens of boats to launch an attack on Xushuguan. The officials and soldiers of the taxation branch were caught off guard and could not stop them. They were quickly attacked by the water bandits, and most of the officials and soldiers were killed.

, two hundred thousand taels of tax money were looted.

After robbing the tax branch, the water bandits were not satisfied and started looting in Hushu Town. They broke down the doors of people's homes and broke into their houses to commit robbery and rape. For a while, Hushu Town was filled with cries and howls.

Jiangnan has been at peace for too long, and military equipment has been extremely lax. In Hushu Town, there are dozens of tax collectors in the customs, and there is no other force at all. Naturally, they cannot resist thousands of water bandits.

After wreaking havoc for half the night, they robbed a large amount of wealth and put it all on the boat. The three thousand water bandits turned around and returned in the boat. They traveled more than twenty miles and entered Taihu Lake, disappearing into the vast night.

On Xishan Island, in the flower hall, the banquet had ended, and most of the people present went to rest with the beauty. Only two or three people were left, and they were all lying half asleep and half awake.

Suddenly there were footsteps, breaking the calm of the night. The three people in the flower hall woke up almost at the same time and sat upright.

"Master, there is news from Hushu Town that thousands of water bandits have robbed Hushu Pass!" the visitor reported.

"What's going on in Suzhou City? Are you sending troops out of the city?" Zhang Pu asked quickly.

Naturally, there is an army in Suzhou City. Governor Yingtian's Yamen is in Suzhou City. The governor's standard battalion alone has more than 2,000 soldiers. There are also more than 3,000 troops outside Suzhou City. Although there are a large number of

There is no pay, but the actual number is as many as a thousand. Xushuguan is the imperial tax customs, so it is certainly not a trivial matter!

The water bandits entered the canal from Taihu Lake and rushed to Xushuguan, and then returned to Taihu Lake via the canal from Xushuguan. It was a round trip of forty or fifty miles. Plus the time they spent looting at Xushuguan, the army in Suzhou City had enough

They had to leave the city at the right time to block their retreat. This was what the Shen family leaders and Zhang Pu were worried about, so they stayed up all night waiting here.

"There is no movement in Suzhou City, and no officers or soldiers are intercepting it," the visitor replied.

"Haha, it seems that the governor is also a sensible person." Zhang Pu said with a smile.

"We hastily assembled the troops to go out to fight in the city. It's hard to say whether we can win. If we lose, we will be guilty of a bigger crime. Anyway, we will be dismissed sooner or later. Why bother to work for the emperor anymore? The governor is not stupid." The head of the Shen family said with a smile, "The night is already dark.

Tianru, go down and rest."

Zhang Pu stood up and looked at the other person who was sitting silently beside him: "Why don't you, friend Huang, come with us?"

Another person smiled and shook his head: "Mr. Zhang, please invite me first."

This man named Huang is from Fujian. Zhang Pu is not familiar with him and has never heard of his name before, but it seems that he has a close relationship with the head of the Shen family. Why is he still refusing to leave so late? What is going on?

Zhang Pu was a little uncomfortable with the fact that the head of the Shen family drove him away but left the man named Huang behind, but there was no abnormality on his face.

"This Tianru is very efficient in doing things." After Zhang Pu walked away, the man named Huang smiled at the head of the Shen family.

The head of the Shen family nodded slightly: "He is very capable, but a little arrogant, but he is still obedient for the time being. Brother Huang, you have also seen that the preparations are complete. With the money stolen from Xushuguan to recruit troops, the number of Taihu water bandits will increase."

Huixun

The army will expand rapidly. Next, they will plunder villages around Taihu Lake and even attack counties, trying their best to create a big momentum. Suzhou's military equipment is empty. Because of the emperor, the governor, Bing Beidao and other officials are all in danger, and the suppression of bandits will not be too great.

Too positive"

"No, they should be more active!" Brother Huang interrupted him, "The governor prepared his troops and led his troops into Taihu Lake to suppress the bandits and defeat Taihu Lake. This will have a better effect!"

Head Shen frowned: "If those water bandits are too powerful, they may actually capture the city, and the interests of the gentry and us will be affected!"

Brother Huang asked curiously: "Master Shen, can't you control the water bandits?"

The head of the Shen family shook his head: "I just placed some people among the water bandits and relied on profits to make them obey. But if they are really powerful enough to fight against the government and the army, they may not still listen to me and they may lose control."

"

"If you lose control, you lose control. Mr. Shen, we are doing something earth-shattering. As long as we can accomplish it, what will happen if we suffer some losses in profits? Once the dynasty changes, the lost profits can be recovered with interest!" Huang

Brother said decisively.

"It's good to be successful, but I'm afraid." The head of the Shen family shook his head slightly and sighed.

"We have already reached this point, the Shen family head must not hesitate!" Brother Huang explained, "The Shen family head can imagine that once the Taihu water bandits are strong enough to capture the city, Zhenjiang, the land of money and grain taxation in Jiangdong,

Can the emperor still ignore it? He will definitely send troops to suppress the bandits! The emperor already has thousands of troops around him, and Li Yanzhi's Fujian Navy only has more than 10,000 people. Li Yanzhi will definitely be sent to lead the navy to Taihu Lake to suppress the bandits.

Jiangxi has already made plans, and they are working together from inside and outside to conquer Nanchang! Once Nanchang City is captured, they will immediately support the person who was declared as the supervisor of the country in Nanchang City. In this way, the Jiangxi gentry will definitely surrender! After all, they are all from the Zhu family, and it will be the same no matter who becomes the emperor.

Do not rebel. Chongzhen must equalize the land and free the slaves, and he must take action against the gentry in the world. Even for the sake of wealth and life, the gentry in Jiangxi will support him!

In an instant, he would own the whole province of Jiangxi, and his army of 200,000 to 300,000 would be able to move down the river from Jiujiang and attack Nanjing in a few days! The emperor was so tyrannical, treating the gentry and officials as trivial, and along the way Anqing, Chizhou

, Wuhu and other places naturally would not resist vigorously. However, Li Yanzhi's navy was deep in Taihu Lake and had no time to rush to Nanjing to resist.

Although there are more than 100,000 troops in the city of Nanjing, most of the officials in Nanjing are Donglin Party members. You Jiangnan gentry have great strength in Nanjing. With the cooperation inside and outside, it will not be difficult to invade Nanjing. When the time comes, the supervisor will announce his accession to the throne in Nanjing and dispatch The army attacked Zhenjiang, so what could Chongzhen do if he had an army of 100,000? The army in the town thousands of miles away had no time to reach the south of the Yangtze River.

The gentry and officials all over the world have been struggling to Chongzhen for a long time. As long as the new emperor ascends the throne, the provinces in the south of the Yangtze River will definitely summon him! At that time, a large army will be mobilized to attack Zhenjiang, and it will be impossible to keep Chongzhen in the south of the Yangtze River.

Even if Chongzhen fled back to the north of the Yangtze River, there were rebellions in Henan, Shandong had just been pacified, and the whole north was in chaos. He could not get enough support and could only flee back to Beijing in despair. By then, the North and the South would be in opposition!

Although Chongzhen has a strong army, we occupy the richest land of money and food. Without the money, food and taxes from Jiangnan, how can Chongzhen support his army? We only need to use the navy to block the Yangtze River, and only need to maintain a stalemate for a few years. The Northern Ming Dynasty will not collapse. No!"

The person surnamed Huang became more and more excited as he talked. He couldn't help but stand up and dance.

"It sounds good, but" Head Shen still hesitated.

"Nothing is wrong! Mr. Shen, if you want to do big things, you can't look forward and backward! You have to do your best. Mr. Shen, can you imagine what will happen if things fail because of hesitation? Even if you are hiding behind the scenes, Chongzhen will not know what you are doing. , but under the policy of equalizing land and releasing slaves, how much of your huge family property can you keep? Forget about equalizing land and releasing slaves, the emperor will also impose commercial taxes, cancel the privileges of the gentry, and even cancel the imperial examination and replace it with a ridiculous official examination .Under these kinds of policies, it won’t be long before the Shen family and even all the big families in Wuzhong will cease to exist, disappearing into oblivion! Mr. Wu, can you endure this?" Brother Huang asked forcefully.

Master Shen closed his eyes in pain. Naturally, he couldn't bear it.

"Mr. Shen, no one would choose to rebel if there was a chance. But Chongzhen was really too tyrannical! Mr. Shen, you know what it is like in Fujian. Seven mountains, two rivers and one farmland, even the fields are barren. It is simply impossible to feed the people of Fujian. In order to survive, the people of Fujian have no choice but to go to sea. I, the Huang family of Quanzhou, have been engaged in sea trade for a hundred years. I have taken the children of Quanzhou to sea trade. How many people in Quanzhou have been supported by sea trade?

However, Li Yan of the Chongzhen faction went to Fujian and actually colluded with the pirate Zheng Zhilong to fight for profit with the common people like me. For the sake of profit, he bombarded Quanzhou and massacred my Quanzhou merchant gang. My brother Huang Jiong died tragically at his hands. With the strong support of Chongzhen , then Li Yanzhi squeezed out the Fujian generals and drove the deputy general Yu Zigao to Zhoushan, then Zheng Zhilong brazenly attacked other merchant gangs in the Japanese country and robbed all the ships of the Fuzhou merchant gang and the Funing merchant gang!

Mr. Shen, tell me, what kind of emperor is this? What is the difference between the behavior of Chongzhen and his minions and that of bandits? Is such an emperor worthy of our allegiance?

Mr. Shen, you have the reputation of being a civil servant, I am just a scholar, but I have also read the books of sages and I know that a minister should be loyal to the emperor, but we must also look at what kind of king he is? Are tyrants like Xia Jie, Yin and Zhou worthy of our loyalty?

Overthrowing the tyrant's rule and establishing a new king is what we should do! Besides, we are not betraying the Ming Dynasty, but assisting other Zhu family members and Chongzhen to fight for the throne. We are not rebellious officials and traitors!"

Brother Huang spoke eloquently, as if he had endless words in his heart.

"I understand Brother Huang's hard work. I will act according to the plan!" Head Shen took a deep breath and his expression became firm.

The news that Xushuguan was attacked by lake bandits reached Suzhou in the middle of the night. Governor Mei Baohua of Yingtian was shocked when he heard about it. He wanted to dispatch the Biao Battalion to rescue, but was stopped by his staff.

"Proprietor, we don't know the number of lake bandits at all. We rush out of the city at night to suppress the bandits. If something unexpected happens, we will be in trouble if we let the lake bandits invade Suzhou again." Master Zhang said.

"But Xushuguan is an important customs place. Once the lake bandits capture it, the impact will be too great." Mei Baohua sighed, "Tell me where the lake bandits came from. There was no movement at all in advance, and they suddenly captured Xushuguan."

!”

Master Zhang shook his head: "No one knows the specific situation, but there are many inspection departments and health stations along the Taihu Lake. If the lake bandits can reach the north of Suzhou without a trace, someone must be colluding with them."

"First, during the day, the scholars rioted and burned down the Royal Newspaper Office under construction. Then the weavers caused trouble and besieged the weaving yamen. At night, the lake bandits attacked Xushuguan. With so many things happening in one day and night, there must be a driving force behind it!" Mei Baohua!

Frowning.

Master Zhang remained silent. It is certain that there is someone behind these things, and it is not difficult to guess who is behind them.

"The other party is powerful, and there is nothing you can do against them without evidence." Master Zhang could only say.

Mei Baohua sighed, why didn't he know? No one like him, the governor, could understand the huge power of the gentry in Wuzhong. If many things could not be agreed by the gentry in Wuzhong, even his decrees as the governor would not be able to do it.

If it continues to be implemented, because local governments are always disobedient, the officials in prefectures and counties will listen to the words of the gentry.

After finally surviving the night, at dawn the next day, Mei Baohua sent someone to inquire about the situation in Xushuguan and the whereabouts of the lake bandits. In the morning, his subordinates came to report, and the heads of the Shen family, Zhou family, Jin family and other families joined hands.

Visit.

These families were the largest gentry families in Suzhou, so Governor Mei naturally did not dare to neglect them and quickly led people to meet them in the back hall.

"Sir Governor, we have all heard about what happened at Xushuguan. We didn't expect the lake bandits to be so bold. They robbed Chaoguan and Hushu Town and killed countless people! For the safety of the people in Wuzhong, please send troops to suppress it as soon as possible, Mr. Governor.

Bandits, we and the gentry are willing to fully assist the government!" The head of the Shen family said on behalf of everyone.

Is it so refreshing? Governor Mei was a little surprised. After thinking about it, it was understandable that these gentry were so eager. After all, if the lake bandits were plundering everywhere, these gentry would be the most affected. For example, many gentry live in beautiful places.

Xishan Island, and Xishan Island is in Taihu Lake. Those lake bandits are likely to attack these gentry.
Chapter completed!