Chapter 218 0213 [Please ask for orders for the people]
When Ju Ming returned to Yangzhou, he stayed directly at Min's house without alerting the officials.
He brought Min Zishun's home letter. After hearing the news, Min Wenwei immediately went down the mountain and quickly came to his brother's house. He often claimed to be Ju Ming's teacher, but at this moment he was extremely respectful: "Min Wenwei of Yangzhou Academy, pay your respects to Governor Zhu!"
"Master, why are you so polite? Sit down and talk." Zhu Ming pretended to help him.
After Min Wenwei sat down, he was still flattering: "Prefect Zhu is extremely talented. At the first glance, I was sure that the prefect must be a prime minister!"
After chatting with this man for a long time, Zhu Ming asked: "Huang Qianshan is in Yangzhou City?"
Min Wenwei dismissed his servants, leaving only his brothers behind, and whispered: "They have always been there. The people who built the plank road were causing trouble. Although he brought troops to suppress the thieves and said he would personally take charge, in fact he did not even dare to go out of the city. He really led the army.
It was the magistrate of Yangzhou who put an end to the rebellion. He was not good at suppressing bandits, but he was very good at conquering and plundering people!"
"I heard that he had a quarrel with Gao Yunpan not long ago," Min Zishun's father said.
Ju Ming asked: "How would Gao Yun judge this person?"
Min Wenwei said: "Although Gao Yunpan also took advantage of the bandit suppression to amass money, he still had some sense of restraint after all. Huang Qianshan, however, completely ignored the people's life and death and ordered the three counties of Yangzhou to levy additional miscellaneous taxes. They had already been increased once when building the plank road, and when the chaos was quelled,
It’s been added once more, and now there’s even more tax!”
Ju Ming asked again: "How much will the taxes be increased on the rich, and how much will the taxes on the poor be increased?"
Min Wenwei said: "The taxes are levied according to the grain tax, tea tax, gold tax, wine tax, and vinegar tax. Every time the tax is levied, it is the same as the regular tax."
Well, Huang Qianshan did not target the lower class people. When it came to exorbitant taxes, he treated all people equally. Even the businessmen in the city were forcibly taxed several times.
If this continues, it is likely that the four major families in Yangzhou will want to rebel.
"The Xiang army has not been dispatched?" Zhu Ming asked again.
Min Wenwei said: "If we send out the Xiang army, we have to alert the imperial court. How dare the Lizhou Road officials? The soldiers who put down the rebellion were all rural soldiers and archers recruited temporarily. These soldiers are now quite miserable, and they were taken away after the rebellion was put down.
Build plank roads. Moreover, food and salary are often deducted. If this continues, thousands of rural soldiers and archers will rebel in just one or two months!"
"How is the plank road repaired?" Zhu Ming asked.
"The repairs are almost completed, but Huang Qianshan refuses to leave, and seems to want to add another tax before the Chinese New Year," Min Wenwei said.
Ju Ming was surprised and said: "Is he crazy?"
Min Wenwei said: "He is just crazy. He is addicted to collecting taxes. Otherwise, why would Magistrate Gao Yun have quarreled with him? Magistrate Gao Yun has been responsible for the taxes on Lizhou Road these years. He knows that if he continues to levy taxes, it will definitely stir up trouble again.
Civil uprising."
Huang Qianshan was a member of Wang Fu's party and could barely be counted as a party member of Zheng, but he had little relationship with Zheng Juzhong.
As the saying goes, the partisans of my partisans are not my partisans.
Zhu Ming was too lazy to go to court to impeach this person. Firstly, he would offend Zheng Juzhong and Wang Fu, and secondly, there was no need to impeach him. It would be best for such a corrupt official and traitorous official to be promoted quickly and give the Song Dynasty a two-foot foot on him.
Although he is not impeached, he will still have to suffer.
Ju Ming said: "There is no need to get used to this kind of person. Contact the people inside and outside the city to surround the place where he is temporarily staying. It is best to kill a few of his followers."
"This... I'm afraid this is not good." Min Wenwei was a little scared.
Zhu Ming said: "Don't worry, I will be responsible for ending the matter. Huang Qianshan dare not even leave the city, so he must be very timid. To deal with this kind of person, the weaker you are, the more he will push forward. If you become tougher, he will be scared off.
. He suppressed the civil unrest and concealed it. If civil unrest broke out again, how could he dare to report it to the court? It would be impossible to settle accounts after the fall. The person responsible for collecting taxes was Gao Yunpan. What could he do as a punishment envoy? He repaired the plank road and did not demobilize.
The soldiers just don't want to give up their rights. Once the soldiers are disbanded, they will have no chance to levy excessive amounts of money."
The Zheng family's house was in the city, and Ju Ming didn't want to show up for the time being, so he stayed with the Min family in the countryside.
Min Wenwei summoned the brothers in the clan to discuss, and everyone felt that it was time to show off their muscles. So they went to discuss with several other families, and even contacted merchants inside and outside the city. The Li family also went to contact the village soldiers and archers.
With such a large-scale conspiracy, news quickly leaked out and ordinary people wanted to join in.
When Gao Jingshan, the Lizhou transportation magistrate, heard the commotion, he was so frightened that he quickly rode back to the city and went straight to Huang Qianshan's temporary residence: "Huang Xiansi, you have done such a big thing, everyone inside and outside the city is going to make noise and cause chaos."
Huang Qianshan lived in the Jinghu Guild Hall. He knew that excessive levies and expropriations were so hateful that he did not even dare to step out of the Guild Hall. After hearing this, Huang Qianshan could actually remain calm and said with a smile: "The high judge is here again to make alarmist remarks.
Soldiers and archers are stationed in the Golden Gorge. Which unruly citizen dares to cause trouble after eating a bear's heart and a leopard?"
Gao Jingshan was furious and shouted directly: "Once civil unrest is stirred up, those rural soldiers and archers will probably be at the forefront!"
Huang Qianshan said doubtfully: "I don't treat them lightly, what are these Qiuba messes about?"
Gao Jingshan said: "You asked the magistrate to lead the troops, but you asked the agricultural deputy envoy to take charge of the money and food. Can the military ministers be trusted? The military pay has been withheld a long time ago, and now there are all resentful soldiers in the Golden Gorge!"
The Tixing envoy often also served as the agricultural envoy, and there was also the deputy agricultural envoy below, who was also affiliated with the Tidian Penal and Prison Department. The deputy agricultural envoy was originally served by civil servants, but during the reign of Zhenzong, military ministers were selected instead. In fact, they had little power, so
You can participate in military affairs at the frontier road.
Huang Qianshan took advantage of the transfer envoy to be demoted and frantically usurped local power. He had no confidants to use, so he actually asked a military minister to help him take charge of military rations.
Wu Chen advised the deputy agricultural envoy, if he doesn't have much money in normal times, why not take the opportunity to make more money?
Of course Huang Qianshan knew about the embezzlement, but he didn't know the extent of the embezzlement. At this moment, he finally panicked and asked, "Do the soldiers really want to cause chaos?"
Gao Jingshan said: "They worked hard to repair the plank road, and more than ten people fell to death, but their food and salary were deducted. Do you think they feel good? If Hu Zhizhou and I hadn't pressured them and transferred some money and food from the state government, they would have been there long ago.
He rebelled!"
Huang Qianshan thought about it and said: "Now that the plank road has been repaired, let's dismiss the soldiers."
Gao Jingshan asked back: "Can you be demobilized just as your Excellency said? They still haven't received their food and wages. Even if they don't make up the arrears, they still have to pay for their return home!"
Huang Qianshan said: "I will give you two hundred guan of money and five hundred shi of food."
Gao Jingshan was so angry that he roared: "Each person can only get a few dozen cents and more than ten kilograms of food. Are you sending a beggar away?"
"Then... give me five hundred guan in money and one thousand dan in food." Huang Qianshan's heart was bleeding.
Gao Jingshan walked away with a puff of his sleeves and said: "I don't care anymore, I'm going back to Xingyuan Mansion now!"
Huang Qianshan thought about it alone and thought that he could add more to get rid of those Qiu Ba. He called his personal followers and said, "Go and call Hu Zhizhou and Zhong Quannong, and tell them that I want to distribute food and disperse the soldiers."
The Golden Gorge side has been bombed.
Thousands of local soldiers and archers were already ready to move. Once they were incited, hundreds of people immediately started making noises.
They surrounded the magistrate and the deputy envoy to encourage farmers, roaring for back pay. After hearing the news, more soldiers arrived, and soon thousands of people gathered.
Hu Zhizhou tried to persuade, but Zhong Qunong tried to intimidate him.
This fellow was a polished military attaché, and he borrowed some horse-riding troops from Lizhou. He asked the troops to urge the horses forward, and he shouted with a knife: "You guys still dare to rebel? Just go back to the camp, and you will be able to do it in a few days."
Back home!”
"If we don't go home, we want food and wages!"
"Even if we don't give you food and salary, we have to work hard to build the plank road, and we still have to make up for the wages!"
"That's it, make up for the wages!"
"We also need wages, and we also need food and wages!"
"..."
The soldiers were making a lot of noise, and several soldiers on horseback retreated in fright. However, Zhong Qunong rode forward and drew his sword to threaten: "Whoever makes more noise will be beheaded and punished!"
"Kill this bird official!"
The soldiers were completely furious and rushed forward in a swarm.
Seeing that the situation was not good, Zhong Quannong immediately fled on horseback. Several Xiang troops ran faster.
Hu Zhizhou was stunned for a moment. The real owner had escaped. He was the scapegoat and would most likely be beaten to death on the spot.
Hu Zhizhou was so anxious that he raised his arms and shouted: "Follow me to get money and food, come on!"
Several of Zhizhou's personal followers also shouted.
The paying soldiers who had already rushed over subconsciously followed Zhizhou and Qin, and rushed towards the granary of the military camp.
There is not much food here, it is daily food, and on average it only weighs more than 20 kilograms per person. In the case of looting, many people ran away with bags of food, and they were so slow that they didn't even catch a hair.
Taking advantage of the looting of food, Hu Zhizhou also fled with his followers.
The soldiers who were making trouble for their pay were still not satisfied, and they were heading towards the city in a fierce and violent manner.
There had been chaos in Zhoucheng for a long time. People inside and outside the city, and even shopkeepers, had surrounded the Jinghu Guild Hall. They wanted to be more civilized, but they just gathered people and shouted, asking Huang Qianshan not to collect taxes anymore.
When the paying soldiers arrived outside the city, Ju Ming suddenly rushed out on horseback with Li Bao and others.
Bai Sheng shouted: "Tanhua Lang is here, Tanhua Lang is here!"
As he shouted, the elders of several major families also brought people over to shout.
After actually calming down these soldiers, a temporary officer of the rural soldiers said: "Mr. Zhu, we respect you and Mr. Yuan Zhang for their benevolence and righteousness. Don't block our way today."
Ju Ming said: "If you kill an official, it will be difficult to deal with. You all have wives, children, and children at home. If you can trust me, follow my orders and do things, and I promise to help you get back the wages you owe."
The soldiers who were demanding pay did not say anything anymore. They somewhat believed in Ju Ming, but they were worried about an accident and did not dare to really rebel.
Zhu Ming dismounted from his horse, took off the sword from his waist, and threw it to Bai Sheng. Then, he walked to the front of thousands of soldiers with his bare hands and said: "You will crowd me into the city. If I cheat, beat me to death with sticks."
how?"
This approach is full of sincerity.
The officers said one after another: "We believe in Mr. Zhu, so we will follow Mr. Zhu into the city."
Thousands of soldiers surrounded Ju Ming and headed straight for the Jinghu Guild Hall.
The people who were surrounding the guild hall to resist the tax heard that Ju Ming was coming, and they all made way for them.
Zhu Ming said to the soldiers and civilians around him: "Fathers and fellow citizens, if you can trust me, I will go in and speak for you right now."
"Xiangong Zhu, let us make the decision!" An old man suddenly knelt down. This was the entrustment arranged by the Zheng family.
"Please Xianggong Zhu make the decision for us!"
The people around him also knelt down, like a contagious virus. More and more people knelt down, and even the soldiers on the outermost perimeter knelt down.
Ju Ming straightened his clothes and strode into the guild hall under the gaze of the people.