Imperial Master of the Ming Dynasty

Songjiang Prefecture in April is humid and sultry.

The heavy rain is still falling, and the bluestone roads paved in Huating County are already full of puddles. In some places, they even cover the calves, making it extremely difficult for people to walk.

It’s not that the shoes will get wet. Even in the county, many people generally wear straw sandals. It’s just that the poor drainage system makes walking difficult.

Under such circumstances, few people are willing to go out to visit or buy anything. Even the people under the eaves of the shops next to the market entrance mostly want to avoid getting caught in the rain.

Therefore, as the seat of Songjiang Prefecture, the affluent Huating County is worthy of the saying "there are hundreds of thousands of households", but unfortunately there are very few people there. Except for those merchants who are still trying to open their doors, there are only a few or two idle around. The local rascals gathered under the eaves to brag and gossip.

At this time, the sky was gloomy, and there was a faint red light floating on the horizon in the distance, and there seemed to be the sound of thunder.

"What do you think God thinks? There will be no end to this..."

After hearing this, an older, green-skinned scoundrel with a round face looked at the dark clouds above his head that seemed to swallow up the entire sky. He frowned and complained to his companions: "Keep up like this. , I’m afraid I won’t be able to survive this summer!”

"If you can't stand it, become a civilian husband. The government should always take care of food."

"What kind of punishment will we suffer on this rainy day? Even if we squat under the eaves and listen to the rain, we won't fight for food. Whoever is stupid will get it."

Upon hearing this, the companion next to him stretched out his tongue and licked his lips, then took a few mouthfuls of moist water vapor, and then squinted his eyes and looked at the not-so-tall building in front of him - Songjiang Mansion Office.

"Master Magistrate, there should be a rocking chair to lie down and listen to the rain at this time, right?"

Don't tell me, this is not some joke about "the emperor uses a golden hoe", but this green-skinned scoundrel actually got it right.

The wind blows the rain curtain, and the bamboo moves quietly.

Under the eaves in the backyard of the government office, Huang Ziwei, the prefect of Songjiang, was lying on a rocking chair.

"Your Excellency, the Imperial Master is hosting a banquet in the evening for you, officials from Songjiang Prefecture, Huating County, and well-known local gentry."

"Not going."

Huang Ziwei looked at the sky with dull eyes.

"Oh, what's good?"

The housekeeper was stunned and looked at Magistrate Huang.

Huang Ziwei was still in the same state, waving his hands impatiently and saying.

"Just tell the Imperial Master that I have contracted the cold disease. You can kill or behead me as you wish."

The housekeeper was Huang Zhifu's distant uncle. He had watched him grow up. Naturally, he dared to say a few words and tried his best to persuade: "I heard that Ding Meixia of Changzhou Prefecture, a local official with such qualifications, The sword in the person's hand who was beheaded by the imperial master can beheaded at the fourth level, so don't be angry with yourself."

Huang Ziwei turned over in the rocking chair, pointed to the tattered clothes on his body, and said disdainfully: "My clothes are the same as Ding Meixia's, but they are different. He is greedy and pretends to be poor. I am half a copper." None of them are greedy. If the Imperial Master wants to kill me to establish his authority, then he won’t care whether he attends the banquet or not; if he doesn’t want to kill me, what’s the problem if I just pretend to be sick?”

Speaking of which, Huang Ziwei simply made it clear.

"Haha, besides, do you think the Imperial Master sent someone to invite me just because he wanted me to attend?"

Huang Ziwei sneered self-deprecatingly: "Don't he just want me to be a transparent person? It's good to be a transparent person, so as not to interfere with the affairs of the Imperial Master. Songjiang Mansion is a mess that I couldn't clean up before."

Besides, when Magistrate Huang first came to Songjiang Mansion, he was brave enough to take on the task. Unfortunately, he has been severely beaten by reality in recent years. In front of the almost omnipotent Jiangnan gentry, he has lost his desire to do something practical.

However, he was not a womanizer. Instead, after handling the government affairs that he should do, he hid in the back office and began to recite poems and compose poems every day, study knowledge, or immerse himself in sleep, so as not to disturb others. , and don’t delay yourself.

Finally, Huang Ziwei pulled a thin quilt for himself, closed his eyes and said: "Anyway, he, Sun Dasheng, has come to Songjiang Mansion, this monster, let him do whatever he wants, and sweep all these local lords away with the golden cudgel." If you can’t sweep it away, don’t offend others with me.”

In essence, Huang Ziwei is not optimistic about what Jiang Xinghuo can do.

The power of the gentry class in the Jiangnan mansions is really too great. Many famous families are inherited from the two Song Dynasties. They have survived for hundreds of years and have a terrible foundation. They are no different from the families in the Wei and Jin Dynasties.

If you say they are gentry, don't think of them as rich people. They are all powerful people with serious knowledge.

Whether you want to rely on reasoning or being tough, it won't work.

Is Zhu Yuanzhang tough enough? It was also stipulated that people with a native place in Songjiang Prefecture could not serve as chief officials of the Household Department, but a few years after his death, hadn't the gentry started to rise again in the Jiangnan prefectures? This law was abolished for a time during the reign of Emperor Jianwen, but was restored by Emperor Yongle within a few months.

In other words, as long as the suppression is slightly relaxed, the gentry can easily lift the seesaw again in the long tug-of-war between the gentry and the imperial power.

In a daze, Magistrate Huang didn't know how long he had slept. Just when he twitched his nose and vaguely suspected that he had caught a cold, the panicked shouts of the housekeeper suddenly came to his ears.

"Prefect! Prefect! It's not good!"

It was already dark, and the rain rarely stopped. At some point, a thick quilt covered his rocking chair. Huang Ziwei broke free from the shackles of the quilt and said confusedly: "What's wrong?"

"Could it be that the Imperial Master killed someone? Just kill him."

Huang Ziwei didn't take it seriously and seemed to be about to fall asleep again, but was shaken awake by the housekeeper.

At this moment, Huang Ziwei saw that he couldn't hide the panic on the butler's face, and his lips were trembling. He seemed to want to say something, but couldn't. He could only shake him mechanically, and Huang Ziwei woke up. , suddenly no sleepiness at all.

"Who was killed? How many were killed?"

"No killing."

The housekeeper said something intermittently in his ear with a sad face, and Huang Ziwei's expression also changed drastically.

"Serve me in official robes. I'm going to take a look!"

——————

When Huang Ziwei, the magistrate of Songjiang Prefecture, stopped messing around and stepped into the banquet hall urgently, he realized just how serious the situation was.

On the long table, in front of everyone, there is a bowl of bran porridge, a big sea bowl.

It wasn't as cruel as cutting off the head and putting it in a bowl, but what was more serious was that all the gentry were sitting on pins and needles in their respective seats, as if a restraining spell had been cast on them.

Jiang Xinghuo was sitting on the main seat, slowly drinking porridge.

The candle shadows flickered, and behind the screens on both sides, like a shadow puppet show, the figures of soldiers holding long knives and big axes were clearly reflected.

"The sound of candle shadow and axe?"

Huang Ziwei threw this absurd idea out of his mind, but unconsciously slowed down.

Next to Jiang Xinghuo, a man wearing a Jinyiwei Feiyu suit, with half of his face burned to the point of being almost disfigured, was reading slowly.

And what this man read was the source of the effect that turned the gentry into wooden men.

"The Xu family of Songjiang Prefecture has 5,300 acres of land. In the 35th year of Hongwu and the first year of Yongle, they took in and supported nine people who were suspected of being disciples of the White Lotus Sect."

"The Bai family of Songjiang Prefecture, whose family owns 6,327 acres of land, on the eighth day of February in the first year of Yongle, went to the same temple to offer incense with Wang Yihan, the master of Bailian Church, and talked in secret for two hours."

"The Wang Family of Songjiang Prefecture"

Cao Song, based on the information from the local Jin Yiwei in Songjiang Prefecture, acted as a desperate villain, and his mouth went dry thinking about it.

While Cao Song was taking a breather, Jiang Xinghuo pointed at the porridge in front of him and said with a smile.

"Everyone, let's have some porridge."

Looking at the bran porridge, which is comparable to pig food in their eyes, the gentry are not satisfied even if they drink it or not.

In other words, the taste and appearance of the porridge come second. The problem is that they are really not in the mood to drink this porridge now.

The big hat of the White Lotus Sect is placed on the head, which is quite fatal.

"how?"

Jiang Xinghuo's smile gradually turned cold and he asked.

"If you don't drink porridge, you won't give face to your country's teacher."

"Of course the Imperial Master's face must be given, but..."

"Just what?"

Jiang Xinghuo gently placed the sea bowl in his hand on the table and sighed: "My master is just afraid that the victims trapped by the White Lotus Sect in the rain will not be able to drink such a bowl of porridge at this time."

Knocking on the table, Jiang Xinghuo asked thoughtfully: "When you were having an affair with the White Lotus Sect, why didn't you think of sending more food?"

Hearing this, the faces of the gentry became stiffer.

Someone said with a mournful face: "National Master, we are not having an affair with the White Lotus Sect."

Obviously, Jiang Xinghuo's hands are full of speculative evidence without much concrete evidence. Therefore, this is also the reason why the gentry of Songjiang Mansion have not collapsed so far.

This is also difficult for Jin Yiwei. After all, Jin Yiwei has only been rebuilt for half a year, and the black information on the gentry collected by Jin Yiwei in Songjiang Mansion during the Hongwu period has already been destroyed by conscious people.

It has to be said that when Lao Zhu disbanded Jin Yiwei, in a sense he broke a sharp knife of his own, although Lao Zhu felt that this sharp knife might hurt his successor.

"Oh, there's not enough evidence, right? It seems that our master has wronged you."

Jiang Xinghuo thought for a while and said.

"Well, let's do this. I plan to visit your homes in person and look for evidence. How about you guys stay here first?"

After hearing this, the gentry were horrified. Who didn't have something shady in their house?

If the imperial master really comes to investigate, the consequences will be even more serious than the immediate consequences.

After all, who among the Jiangnan gentry has never done such a thing as having an affair with the White Lotus Sect?

In fact, without the support of local forces, how could the White Lotus Sect become so big, and how could it never be eradicated?

In essence, the White Lotus Sect is not much different from the Taiping Dao in the late Eastern Han Dynasty. It even spreads more secretly and its organizational structure is more able to withstand attacks.

But in any case, having an affair with the White Lotus Sect, although it is a big hat, is indeed something that can be big or small, and it is very difficult to find evidence.

But it would be bad if they ransacked their homes. Many gentry families did much dirtier things than colluding with the White Lotus Sect.

On the surface, poems and books are passed down from generation to generation, but secretly, he is full of male thieves and female prostitutes.

Once the Imperial Master comes to visit like this, something might be involved.

Therefore, the gentry unconsciously gave in.

"But."

An old man in the lead said helplessly: "The national master wants too much food."

This is the meaning of bargaining. No matter whether the Imperial Master comes to search the house or pours the dirty water of the White Lotus Sect on them, they will not be able to accept it. If they can talk about it, then everything will be easier to negotiate.

In other words, if the gentry were willing to hand over some grain, they would lose money and avoid disaster.

Although extremely reluctant, in front of the butcher's knife, as long as it doesn't touch the bottom line, it can still be discussed.

"many?"

Jiang Xinghuo looked at him calmly: "Five thousand stones per family is still more, right?"

From the soldiers hiding behind the screen, the sound of swords being drawn and the trembling of armor leaves could be heard.

Recalling the rumors that the Imperial Master went on a killing spree in Changzhou Mansion, the gentry of Songjiang Mansion, no matter how hard-headed they were, did not doubt that the Imperial Master really dared to kill people.

And some people are judging whether they can afford five thousand stones without breaking their bones.

Seeing the wretched looks of the gentry, Huang Ziwei almost snickered.

However, Jiang Xinghuo noticed him the next moment.

Jiang Xinghuo waved to him and suddenly changed the topic: "Well, five thousand stones is indeed a bit much."

Hearing this, the gentry felt a little relieved.

However, the next moment, Jiang Xinghuo gave them a roller coaster ride: "Now our master has changed his mind. Each family has 10,000 dan, and Songjiang Prefecture's annual autumn ration is 870,000 dan. I think you should pay the autumn ration in advance. It's a sure thing." It’s affordable.”

The Imperial Preceptor has driven them to a dead end.

The gentlemen looked at each other and it was time to express their stance.

They might be able to bear the pain of paying five thousand stones, but ten thousand stones would really cost people their lives.

The gentry have never lacked the courage to confront high-ranking officials who offended their interests. In the previous years, no matter how tough the frontier officials were, they seemed so powerless in the face of the weapon of time.

All changes seem to be temporary.

What remains unchanged is the gentry’s absolute control over population, land, culture and education.

These cannot be taken away by others.

It was precisely after realizing this that Magistrate Huang was completely ruined.

As for the gentry present, they did not believe that Jiang Xinghuo could do something that no one else had been able to do before.

Just when Huang Ziwei slowly walked up to the Imperial Master, feeling that the atmosphere was tense to the extreme, Jiang Xinghuo suddenly pulled out a piece of paper from his sleeve.

"Of course, my master will not take your money for nothing. If there are some who are unwilling to pay 10,000 dan, there are ways to deduct it."

"Prefect Huang, please read this deed of work-for-relief."

Huang Ziwei took the paper from the Imperial Master's hand with some confusion.

Jiang Xinghuo looked at the gentry with different expressions and chuckled. They still didn't know what this fluttering piece of paper represented.

PS: [Important reminder (there is no charge for this content)] Chapters 316 to 356 are about the rectification of officialdom and the suppression of rebellions in Jiangnan. They do not contain any theoretical knowledge. They are all practical content. If you are not interested, you can jump directly to Chapter 366. "Class" will contain theoretical knowledge content from now on.