After Qin Zhongtang entered Ningbo City, he immediately issued two edicts. The first one was to invite wealthy squires who donated money to form rural soldiers to hold talks.
The second step was to order the Chahu Zhang family to hand over Zhang Qishu, the felon who set fire to the official ship twice and attempted to kill the shogunate commissioner.
Both orders were like a stone sinking in the sea, without any feedback.
The attitude of the local wealthy families in Ningbo towards the shogunate and Qin Zhongtang seemed to have entered a state of "non-violence and non-cooperation".
Ignore them, don't contact them, don't confront them head-on, just do their own thing.
When local wealthy families want to come, no matter how domineering Qin Zhongtang is, he is still an official of the imperial court and must accept the constraints of the system.
So the bottom line is here. As long as Qin Zhongtang doesn't rebel, he can't just burn, kill and loot like bandits, right?
Seeing that his two orders were ignored, Qin Dewei ordered a notice to be posted outside the government office. Tomorrow, the shogunate's pacesetters will practice firearms. Local people are welcome to watch to demonstrate their military power!
After this notice came out, the locals were very interested. At this time, firearms were more deployed in the northern frontier, but they were still rarely seen among the people in the south.
Among the soldiers Qin Zhongtang brought this time, there was a firearms team of 500 people, all brought from Nanjing City. This firepower equipment is considered very advanced today.
On the next day, Qin Zhongtang, escorted by 500 elite soldiers from Liaodong, rode out of the government office in a swaggering manner. He also led a team of 500 firearms and left the city through the south gate.
Then he turned west and walked for a while, arriving near Chahu Lake in the southwest outside the city.
Among the people who came to watch, some of them were more sensible. When they saw this, they secretly shouted, "Something is going to happen!"
The Zhang family, one of the four major families in Ningbo City, is known as the "Chahu Zhang Family". As the name suggests, you know where the Zhang family's headquarters is.
Ningbo is a land with many mountains and little flat land. It is also densely covered with waterways and rivers, making it difficult to find a particularly open place to practice firearms.
Qin Zhongtang led the troops to a river, pointed to the other side of the river, and said to General Zou of the firearms team: "Did you see the gate? This firearms drill will target this gate in the first wave!"
Mr. Zou followed Qin Zhongtang's finger and looked at the opposite side, suddenly speechless.
He felt that the building opposite looked like an ancestral hall. He heard that the place was called Zhangjiazhuang, so it was obvious whose family the ancestral hall belonged to.
Based on Mr. Zou's understanding of Qin Zhongtang's character, there is no need to ask "Did you point me to the wrong place?" and he can just get ready to get started!
Under today's conditions, it was of course impossible to move hundreds of kilograms of cannons out for ease of movement. So what was brought out for practice were small Folan cannons of tens of kilograms, and ten of them were set up at one go.
The power is just that, but it is enough to bombard the wooden gate on the other side of the small river. The main problem is whether it can be hit accurately.
The characteristics of the Folang machine gun are its fast loading speed and fast firing rate, but it still takes a short time from setting up the gun to completing the firing preparation.
Qin Zhongtang had already alerted the Zhang family by putting up such a large array since he left the city.
Just as they were preparing, a group of people ran over panting, but they could not break through the protective circle of soldiers and approach Qin Zhongtang, so they had to stand on the outside and shout something.
Qin Dewei looked at it and only let one person in, that is Zhang Shixing, the current manager of the Zhang family.
Zhang Shixing angrily said to Qin Dewei: "That is the ancestral hall of my Zhang family in Chahu!"
It goes without saying what the ancestral hall means to a clan. For Qin Dewei’s behavior, if there are not thousands of elites around to protect him, he deserves to be beaten to death!
Qin Dewei laughed at Zhang Shixing: "Why didn't you see a member of the Zhang family standing in the ancestral hall and standing up to stop the bombardment?
It seems that your Zhang family’s feelings towards the ancestral hall are just that, there is not even a single person who has sacrificed his life, so what’s the point of such a family’s existence?”
Zhang Shixing was so angry that he stared at Qin Zhongtang without saying a word. He didn't believe it. This man named Qin really dared to bombard the Zhang family ancestral hall.
Qin Dewei waved his hand casually, and the firearms soldiers seemed to have received the order and immediately started firing.
Zhang Shixing looked at this scene in astonishment, Qin Zhongtang, do you really dare?
A series of bombardments sounded, and after the smoke from the gunpowder explosion dissipated, Qin Zhongtang observed the other side of the river.
However, they saw that the gate of the Zhang Family Ancestral Hall was still standing upright and had not collapsed. The exact extent of the injuries was unclear.
Qin Zhongtang seemed to have lost his composure and cursed at the officers and soldiers handling firearms: "Ten cannons fired in one round and didn't even knock down a gate. What's the use of you idiots!"
But Zhang Shixing, who came to negotiate, was so angry that he did not expect that Qin Dewei would dare to bombard the ancestral hall without any bottom line! He was rushing to form a bloody feud with the Zhang family!
"I, the Zhang family, are at odds with you!" Zhang Shixing shouted unbearably.
After Qin Zhongtang finished scolding the firearms soldiers, he turned around curiously and asked: "How come you can't stand the law?
Does your Zhang family have more people than I have soldiers? Or does your Zhang family have more money than me? Or does your Zhang family have a higher power than me?
So what are you trying to do to be incompatible with me? Just like you, Zhang Shixing, look at the common people who were bullied by the Zhang family, do they have the qualifications to be incompatible with you?"
Qin Dewei's words were so irritating that Zhang Shixing almost choked and couldn't catch his breath.
There was no other choice but to bring out the last trump card of the Zhang family: "That is also the ancestral hall of Zhang Bangqi, the great scholar of the time!"
Qin Dewei asked rhetorically: "Do you mean to complain to the cabinet scholar? In the end, do you expect the cabinet to issue an announcement to stop and condemn this church?"
Zhang Shixing is really considering the feasibility of this matter. If the Zhang family has a bachelor, it can't be in vain, right?
Then he heard again, Qin Zhongtang said to his left and right: "Bring a pen and paper, I will write him a cabinet announcement! In case the Zhang family has to go to the capital to ask for a cabinet announcement!"
Zhang Shixing: "."
I have never seen anyone in need of a beating like Qin Zhongtang in my life.
Qin Dewei spoke again: "Don't think that this Zhongtang is making trouble out of nothing! This Zhongtang suspects that Zhang Qishu, a repeat offender, is being hidden in your Zhang family's ancestral hall!"
As the person in charge, Zhang Shixing said firmly: "The Zhang family is not harboring Zhang Qishu."
Qin Zhongtang asked without giving up, "Where are Zhang Qishu's wife and children?"
Zhang Shixing said patiently: "As the saying goes, no harm will come to your wife and children!"
Without saying a word, Qin Dewei turned around and shouted to the firearms soldiers: "Prepare for the second round of shooting! If the door cannot be blown down, all of them will be fired!"
The firearms soldier positioned the gun barrel and prepared to fire again.
Zhang Shixing now understands that Qin Zhongtang really dared to bombard the Zhang family ancestral hall and did not take the Zhang family seriously at all.
So he hurriedly shouted: "Hand in three days!"
Qin Dewei sneered: "You still want to delay? If you don't see anyone tomorrow, you can continue to practice firearms here!"
Then he said to the people around him: "Today's firearms drill ends here and will continue tomorrow! In order to save time, we will not leave the city tomorrow. We will drill at Yuehu Lake in the south of the city!"
The knowledgeable people will know when they hear this, there is great excitement again. The Lu family, one of the four major families, is known as the Yuehu Lu family!
There were not many ordinary scholars here to watch today, not because they didn’t like to join in the fun, but because there were more important things entangled them.
Notices were hung at the shogunate office and outside the gate of the government office at the same time today. Qin Zhongtang, which inspects the academic affairs of the coastal prefectures and counties on behalf of the Grand Master, will open an examination room in Ningbo City in the near future!
Qin Zhongtang will hold two exams. The first exam is the imperial examination in Xiaosan Pass. If you are admitted, you will be a scholar. If you are not admitted, you will be a child student.
The second examination is called the scientific examination. The assessment objects are the students, also commonly known as scholars. The students are given a grade, which can be divided into sixth grade, first and second grade, third and fourth grade, and the bottom grade has different treatment.
Are not the same.
At this time, the sudden start of exams caught all the major families off guard. Why did the exam season suddenly begin?
Chen Feng, an official of the shogunate, had been staying in Ningbo City for half a year and had made several acquaintances. One of his acquaintances asked Chen Feng for inside information about the exam.
After receiving the money, Chen Feng answered honestly: "In order to prepare for Japanese pirates and the safety of the candidates, this exam will be the last academic and scientific examination in Ningbo before the provincial examination!"
Moreover, Qin Zhongtang also said privately that in the college examination, no one with the surnames Yang, Lu, Zhang, and Tu will be admitted! In the scientific examination, all the students with the above four surnames will be judged to be at the bottom of the class and will be dismissed as Qingyi!"
After the news leaked out, Ningbo Prefecture scholars were in an uproar. Unexpectedly, Qin Zhongtang had no bottom line and even openly used the country to recruit scholars to vent his emotions!
Crying, I didn’t make up enough. I’ll try again tomorrow.