Chapter 248 Regret

Jinyiwei Prison.

Tongzhengshi Zhang Jin was covered in blood and crawling on the straw.

Jinyiwei Commander Mou Bin looked at him with regret and couldn't help but speak softly.

"Master Zhang, why do you have to do this?"

"You have served three dynasties and have a good reputation. Why do you have to do these things?"

Zhang Jin laughed bitterly and said sadly: "Whether the commander believes it or not, this is not what I did."

"Tongzhengsi is the emperor's eyes, ears and mouthpiece. How could I do such a traitorous act as deliberately withholding memorials and causing the rebels to rebel?"

Mou Bin frowned when he heard this.

He really didn't believe that this was done by Zhang Jin.

Because Zhang Jin really had a good reputation. He served three dynasties and was always honest and upright. He was a well-known virtuous and capable official!

However, last time, Zhang Jin was instigated by Li Dongyang and Liu Daxia. When Huang Xingfu, Zhu Maogong and others plotted against Zhongshan Marquis, he helped and tried his best to ask His Majesty the Emperor to send Zhongshan Marquis Tang Hao to lead troops to Qingzhou to quell the rebellion.

Afterwards, His Majesty the Emperor reacted and realized that he and Zhongshan Marquis were being plotted against, so he naturally set his sights on Zhang Jin.

However, on the surface, there was nothing wrong with Zhang Jin's actions. After all, if someone rebelled, the court should immediately dispatch troops to quell the rebellion. He was just following the trend, so it was not a mistake.

Therefore, that time, His Majesty the Emperor did not rush to take action against Zhang Jin, but only sent the factory guards to secretly watch this person.

Until this time, someone in the Tongzhengsi deliberately withheld the memorial of Xiong Xiu, the left assistant minister of the Ministry of War, which caused the military situation to be delayed and the bandits to rebel. His Majesty the Emperor finally could not bear it anymore, and naturally suspected the Tongzhengshi Zhang Jin, and directly put him in the imperial prison for severe torture.

Last time, Zhang Jin did not seem to have any crime, so His Majesty the Emperor could not do anything.

But this time, it was clearly someone who did it on purpose, and Zhang Jin, the Minister of Public Administration, was naturally involved.

However, after a series of tortures, Zhang Jin never gave in, and judging from his attitude, he seemed to be really unaware of the matter.

For a moment, Mou Bin was in a dilemma.

After thinking for a moment, he still asked a question.

"Master Zhang, why did you add fuel to the fire and plot against the Marquis of Zhongshan last time?"

Hearing this, Zhang Jin did not answer, but chose to remain silent.

"According to the investigation of the Jinyiwei, Liu Daxia had once promoted and recommended you, right?"

"Did you do this last time because you were instigated by Liu Daxia?"

"Or let's be frank, did Liu Daxia, Li Dongyang and other Huguang folks participate in the case of colluding with the Japanese pirates to smuggle for profit?"

Zhang Jin trembled when he heard this, but still did not answer.

How should he start?

Liu Daxia and Li Dongyang had helped him!

The help of helping him in his career is more important than Mount Tai, and it is not so easy to repay.

Zhang Jin has never done anything illegal since he became an official, but because of that wrong choice, he caused the emperor's fear and suspicion, which laid the foundation for today's unprovoked disaster.

There is no doubt that after this incident, even if Zhang Jin was not dismissed, his career would probably be cut off.

So, there is nothing to say.

Zhang Jin just wants to be an upright person, that's all.

"General Ti, there is no need to ask anymore."

"Zhang just wants a clear conscience, that's all."

After getting such an answer, Mou Bin couldn't help but get angry.

"What a clear conscience!"

"But have you ever thought about it, Zhang Jin, those bastards who embezzled national benefits and accepted bribes, are they right?"

"How stupid, just wait..."

Before he finished speaking, a man hurried over.

"Sir, there is news from the East Factory that the person has been found."

"This person is a fifth-rank councilor of the Tongzhengsi. After learning about the incident, he committed suicide out of fear of crime and took the blame alone."

"In addition, there is news from the East Factory that Zhang Jin will be transferred to the right deputy censor-in-chief, specializing in supervising the transportation of grain by waterways, and concurrently serving as the task of suppressing Huainan bandits. He must leave Beijing immediately without any mistakes!"

After hearing this, Mou Bin was secretly shocked. His Majesty the Emperor did not even send a eunuch, but gave an oral order, which obviously showed that he had a deep opinion of Zhang Jin.

Moreover, from the Tongzhengshi, one of the nine ministers, to the right deputy censor-in-chief, this punishment is not too severe. At least if Zhang Jin cannot make any outstanding achievements in the future, his life will stop here.

"Master Zhang, did you hear everything?"

Zhang Jin struggled to get up and kneel on the ground, then kowtowed respectfully to express his gratitude.

"The guilty minister Zhang Jin... accept the order!"

At the same time, in the Qianqing Palace.

Zhu Houzhao was still very unhappy.

"A mere fifth-rank official, is he crazy or stupid to commit such a capital crime as withholding memorials?"

"Grand eunuch, Master Yang, tell me, who did this?"

Chen Kuan did not say anything, because Yang Tinghe was present, so he did not need to speak.

Yang Tinghe thought for a moment, and finally gave an ambiguous answer.

"Your Majesty, since this person committed suicide out of fear of crime, it means that the clues are all cut off here."

"And the forces behind him can make a fifth-rank official take the blame for suicide, so naturally they should not be underestimated, even... many forces."

"At present, there are rebels in Zhili, and everyone in the capital is in danger and uneasy. I think it is better not to make trouble."

Yang Tinghe was Zhu Houzhao's imperial teacher. After so many years of teaching, he naturally understood Zhu Houzhao's temper. To put it bluntly, Zhu Houzhao just couldn't swallow this bad breath, and he wanted to let the factory guards continue to investigate, and even made a move to start a big prison.

Zhu Houzhao frowned after listening to Yang Tinghe's advice.

The rebellion of the bandits was a sensation, and even if the court wanted to conceal the news, it couldn't hide it at all.

After all, Zhili was next to the capital, and those rebels killed officials and rebelled. Such a shocking event, how could it be concealed.

Therefore, the entire capital is indeed a little uneasy now, and they are quite concerned about this rebellion.

And this also brought a lot of pressure to Zhu Houzhao, because the wild man Tang Hao was deliberately delaying time at this moment!

"Speaking of which, what do you think of Tang Hou's approach?"

Zhu Houzhao spoke again and asked the opinions of two confidants.

Chen Kuan whispered: "Your Majesty, this move by Marquis Tang may cause controversy, and there will inevitably be a large number of court officials impeaching and attacking him!"

His words were a bit inexplicable, but he was expressing his attitude indirectly, that is, supporting Tang Hao's cruel practice, using this anti-thief to purge the gentry and gentry in Zhili, and redistributing the land they annexed to the people!

Why?

Because Chen Kuan is a eunuch, and eunuchs are the emperor's servants, naturally all actions must be based on the interests of His Majesty the Emperor.

What can Marquis Tang Hao of Zhongshan get by doing this?

In addition to bearing more infamy and being attacked and impeached by gentry all over the world, what else can he get?

After all, he is loyal to His Majesty and to the Ming Dynasty!

Why not support it?

After Chen Kuan expressed his position, Zhu Houzhao turned his head and looked at Yang Tinghe.

This newly promoted cabinet chief minister has shown quite superb means in a short period of time. At least according to the information obtained by the factory guards, many court officials have already respectfully called Yang Tinghe "Yuanfu".

Yuanfu is a respectful title for the cabinet chief minister. For example, Liu Jian, the chief minister of Hongzhi, was even called "Yuanfu" by Zhu Houzhao.

And Li Dongyang, who relied on colluding with eunuchs to become the cabinet chief minister after Liu Jian, but the court officials did not buy it at all and directly called him "Li Xueshi", which is the best proof.

Not all cabinet chief ministers can get the honorific title of "Yuanfu".

And Yang Tinghe was able to subdue some court officials in such a short time, which shows his ability and means.

Yang Tinghe thought for a moment and said in a deep voice: "Although Tang Hou's move is a bit cruel and ruthless, it is beneficial to the country and the people, and your majesty should naturally support it!"

The first sentence directly stated that Yang Tinghe also supported what Tang Hao did.

They don't care about themselves. They would rather bear the infamy, the hatred and revenge of the gentry, and be loyal to the country and His Majesty. Such loyalty and virtue, Yang Tinghe naturally supports.

However, support is support, and some problems still need to be solved.

"But if so, then this rebellion will last for a long time. If some means are used, I am afraid it will shake the foundation of the country's rule."

This is also inevitable.

Zhongshan Hou Tang Hao is not busy suppressing the bandits, but deliberately chases this group of rebels everywhere, allowing them to harm the gentry in Hebei. Once the news spreads, the common people will only feel that the court is becoming more and more powerless, and even the rebels cannot be directly suppressed, while the gentry will think that His Majesty the Emperor is tyrannical and unjust, and they are bent on fighting against them!

This is naturally not a solution.

The will of the people is the kingly way. Any court that loses the will of the people will eventually collapse!

Zhu Houzhao naturally understood this truth, and he was also troubled by this matter at the moment.

Damn savages, instead of suppressing the rebellion properly, they had to chase this rebel bandit to harm the gentry everywhere. He was having fun, but Zhu Houzhao was under great pressure!

Those gentry were not fools, how could they not see the savages' sinister plans? At that time, Zhu Houzhao would face even greater pressure.

And the key is that the court could not eliminate the rebels in time, which was the best evidence of weakness. If it took longer, I am afraid that those people with ill intentions all over the world would follow suit and rise up, not to mention the White Lotus Sect monsters and other professional rebels!

Zhu Houzhao didn't want to play around and play away the Ming Dynasty, and the country would fall into the hands of others. At that time, he would really be ashamed to meet his ancestors!

"Master Yang, do you have any good ideas?"

Zhu Houzhao looked at Yang Tinghe with hope on his face.

The latter obviously prepared a plan, so he gave a solution.

"First, the Tongzheng Division should vigorously publicize the results of Tang Hou's suppression of the bandits. The rebels dare not fight against the king's army and roam around. This is also the truth. It is best for Zhongshan Hou to kill a few bandit leaders from time to time, so as to calm people's hearts."

"Second, publicize the fact that the people of Zhili are deeply harmed by the horse policy, and behead the corrupt officials of the Imperial Household Department such as Wu Tinghuan and others as a public punishment. In this way, the people and scholars can understand the cause of the rebellion, and beheading these culprits can better appease people's hearts."

"Third, the court's measures for the reform of the horse policy should be implemented as soon as possible, and the reform of the horse policy of the country should be completed with the help of this incident..."

With the help of Tang Hao, the future Ming Dynasty wise minister Yang Tinghe became the chief minister of the cabinet one step ahead of time, and he was still in his prime.

Therefore, the cabinet chief minister, who was deeply stimulated by the Marquis of Zhongshan, was eager to realize his political ambitions at this moment, and joined hands with the Marquis of Zhongshan and His Majesty the Emperor to work hard to govern the country and revive the Ming Dynasty!

After discussing Yang Tinghe's measures, Zhu Houzhao immediately issued an edict to formally implement them.

The common people and scholars also truly understood the whole story of the rebellion, and hated the corrupt officials such as Wu Tinghuan, the Minister of the Imperial Household Department.

Knowing that the court would bring these corrupt officials to justice in ten days, the entire capital was immediately jubilant, and the common people and scholars looked forward to it, but ignored the rebels who were running around at the moment.

Well, after all, the Marquis of Zhongshan was chasing these rebels in Bazhou, so what could go wrong?

Just wait for some time, and there will definitely be news that the rebels in Bazhou have been wiped out.

The rebels in Bazhou, who were forgotten by the common people and scholars at this moment, were hiding in the deep mountains and old forests in a miserable state. The 30,000 righteous troops in the past were now only more than 3,000 people, and most of them were ragged and skinny.

There was no way, they suffered a fatal blow!

Just when Fan Wencheng had formulated a grand plan for the righteous army and Qi Yanming led the people to the south with high spirits, a large army inexplicably appeared behind them. They did not actively attack them, but waited for them to break through a city before attacking and chasing them everywhere.

The righteous army was chased all the way from Bazhou Prefecture to Hejian Prefecture, and then to Zhending Prefecture, Shunde Prefecture, Guangping Prefecture...

These damned government troops, obviously have terrifying combat effectiveness, and they also have a terrifying and sharp firearm in their hands, which is enough to penetrate armor, but they just refuse to wipe them out in one breath, but deliberately chase them everywhere, like a cat chasing a mouse.

That was a battle in Jingzhou. Qi Yanming had 50,000 soldiers under his command, so he felt that he had the strength to fight with the soldiers behind him.

As a result, no one expected that the Ming soldiers who had only begged for mercy when they saw them before were so strong that they made people despair. It was simply a one-sided massacre. The 50,000 soldiers were killed by 10,000 soldiers and cried for their parents. Especially the strange firearms in the hands of those soldiers directly broke the morale of the rebels. Even the brave and combative Liu Liu and Liu Qi were frightened and fell off their horses and fled without fighting.

In that battle, the 50,000 troops fell apart, and in the end only these 3,000 people were left loyally following Qi Yanming and Liu Liu and Liu Qi.

But what's the point of this?

It is impossible to defeat the Ming soldiers, especially the extremely terrifying firearms in their hands!

Qi Yanming sat on a big tree in a daze, staring at the lingering rebels.

He just couldn't figure out why those imperial soldiers were so terrible and had such amazing fighting power?

Liu Liu approached cautiously and took out a moldy steamed bread from his arms.

"Brother, eat quickly, don't let anyone see you."

Qi Yanming heard this and looked at Liu Liu, who was covered in blood. He was so shocked that he couldn't help crying.

He was just a failed scholar. He never thought that he would start a rebellion one day, and he was beaten into such a desperate situation by the Ming soldiers!

A few months ago, he was still a righteous bandit leader. He raised his arm and attracted many people to respond, setting off a huge chaos to overthrow the violent Ming!

Today, he has become a notorious rebel leader, fleeing in a panic, and will be cursed for eternity after his death!

The huge gap between them is enough to make people despair.

"It's all my fault!"

"It's me, Qi Yanming, who harmed the brothers!"

"It's all my fault, Qi Yanming, I'm sorry, brothers!"

Qi Yanming's cry resounded throughout the venue. Hearing his words, the rebels were also sad and sobbed unconsciously.

At this moment, a shout of anger sounded.

"Why are you crying?"

"Aren't we all still alive?"

"There's still a chance! We still have a chance!"

Everyone looked in the direction of the voice and saw that the person who spoke was Fan Wencheng.

Mr. Fan was also quite embarrassed at the moment, with disheveled hair and no longer calm.

In fact, Fan Wencheng was really shocked by the generosity of Zhongshan Hou Tang Hao, or he had never thought that this damned reckless man would be so tyrannical and cruel.

The Jiangnan gentry behind Fan Wencheng wanted to delay time and wanted to make Zhongshan Hou fall into the quagmire of suppressing the rebellion, so that he could not get out and take care of the Qinghe Shipyard, thus giving the Jiangnan gentry an opportunity to take advantage of.

Faced with this conspiracy, Tang Hao, this damned thief, actually did the opposite. He deliberately chased the rebels and slaughtered the gentry and gentry everywhere, deliberately using this rebel to clean up the gentry and wealthy families in Zhili. It can be said that a river of blood flowed and heads rolled!

On the contrary, at the Qinghe Shipyard, the Jinyiwei Qianhu Zuo Yidao was in charge in person, and there were 3,000 4th Guards and 2,000 Beijing Army soldiers under his command. The gentry in Jiangnan could not spy on them at all. No matter what means they used, they were blocked by Zuo Yidao!

If this continues, who can guarantee what this beast Tang Hao will do?

What if he really chases this rebel south and kills into Jiangnan?

At that time, it will be a disaster!

So at this moment, Fan Wencheng regretted it to the extreme. After all, the gentry were one. If the Zhili gentry were bloodbathed, the gentry in Jiangnan would also be implicated, and the loss of interests was simply incalculable!

Not to mention that they have no plan to deal with it at the moment, and they have no way to deal with this damn beast, Marquis Zhongshan!

The only measure is to force Tang Hao to send troops to strangle this rebel immediately, otherwise the gentry will suffer greater losses!

Fan Wencheng thought about it and finally could only think of one place, where these three thousand rebels could be driven to!

So Mr. Fan looked at Qi Yanming with a ferocious face, and then shouted in a low voice.

"General, it is impossible to go south!"

"We will change our route to Dezhou and enter Shandong, and attack Qufu by surprise!"

"What? Qufu? You mean... Kong family?" Qi Yanming was shocked.

He subconsciously wanted to refuse, but Fan Wencheng had already prepared the words.

"Only by taking Qufu can we have the qualifications to negotiate with the court and have the hope of survival!"

"After all, Qufu is..."

Three days later, Tang Hao looked at Leng Hantie with a strange expression.

"You mean, these rebels fled to Shandong and went straight to Qufu?"

Leng Hantie nodded, the intelligence was like this.

Tang Hao was silent for a while.

What is this?

A little surprise?