The Ming Dynasty: The most ruthless imperial grandson, Old Zhu begged me not to kill him.

Chapter 547: Greed is enough and the snake swallows the elephant

"Besides, where did they get their soldiers from!"

"This must be a false order from you! How dare you disrupt the morale of the army! What is your punishment?"

The man said in a panic.

“Everything I have said is true. If you gentlemen do not believe me, you are welcome to go up to the city wall and take a look!”

The group hurriedly left the place and went to the city wall. Sure enough, they saw that there were troops everywhere outside, and their place was completely surrounded.

These people are somewhat incredible.

"How is this possible? How could it be the army of the Ming Dynasty?"

"Where are our troops now?!"

At this moment, the leading general threw out all the flags and shouted to the people inside the city tower.

"Those inside the city walls, listen up! Your reinforcements have been completely wiped out by us!"

"Surrender immediately, or we will leave not a single one alive when we breach the city!"

The group looked on incredulously upon hearing this.

"How come?"

"How could they possibly annihilate our large army?"

"Moreover, they have so many powerful firearms, are they pigs?!"

The person next to him was terrified and spoke in a trembling voice.

"Patriarchs, what should we do now?"

"Our entire family has gathered here. What should we do if they breach the city walls?"

Even now, when all our families gather together, we only have about 30,000 to 40,000 servants.

The soldiers had not received any special training, and many of them had been tricked into joining. They had little loyalty and were not even worth a drop of blood in a real fight.

Each family has a considerable number of hidden tenants and resources.

Furthermore, the number of troops they turned to defect was even greater.

A person next to him frowned and said.

"That's not the most important thing. Our plan has now been exposed to those people in the military!"

"They might not necessarily obey our orders. If they riot now, our forces might not be able to stop them!"

The men frowned, their eyes filled with despair.

"This is no small matter!"

"Quickly transfer all the people from our families out, and also use all the wealth of our families to reward the three armies!"

"Tell them that we are now traitors to the Ming Dynasty!"

"The only way out is to fight our way out, otherwise we will surely die without a burial place!"

Only then did the soldiers realize they had been tricked, but there was nothing they could do about it.

Zhu Xiong Ying looked at these families and sneered.

"Now is not the time to deal with them all. If we're fishing, how can we only catch this one big fish?"

"Why not take this opportunity to catch all the other big fish and see how many of the major clans in the Ming Dynasty still have ulterior motives!"

Sure enough, many other families are now waiting for this news.

Soon, news spread from various places that these powerful families had gathered a considerable number of troops.

The family members who seized the territory in the Songjiang Prefecture area, claiming to be rebelling against the rule of the Ming Dynasty, were extremely excited upon hearing this news.

"Great! Finally, someone has succeeded!"

"With these people joining us, things will be much easier for us from now on!"

Some family members also expressed concern. "But the Ming Dynasty still has a large army; can they rely on them alone?"

"Can it really succeed?"

"Moreover, the Ming Dynasty has a considerable number of troops stationed in various places outside. If they react at this time, we may not be their match!"

At this moment, a family head said smugly.

"Don't worry, the Ming Dynasty will definitely not withdraw its troops so easily!"

"Those areas have just been captured, and the morale of the people has not yet recovered. If we withdraw the troops now, the impact will be enormous!"

"What if all the ethnic groups rebel together? In that case, the situation of the Ming Dynasty will be extremely precarious!"

"When all the armies are gathered together, that will be our real opportunity!"

Everyone nodded in agreement, and one person said regretfully.

"What a pity, the Ming Dynasty is quite powerful now!"

"If we, the powerful clans, were given important positions, we could actually build a nation as powerful as the Han and Tang dynasties!"

"It's a pity that the current emperor of the Ming Dynasty can't tolerate us. Since that's the case, we might as well smash this world to pieces and rebuild it."

The people next to him nodded in agreement.

“You’re right. It doesn’t matter who’s in charge of the world today. Even when the Mongols invaded back then, it didn’t stop us!”

"As long as our interests are protected, that's fine!"

"But now the Ming Dynasty is implementing the land tax system and requiring gentry to pay taxes together, completely disregarding the interests of clans like ours!"

"Since that's the case, why should we continue to help the Ming Dynasty!"

The others nodded in agreement. Since ancient times, it had been the scholar-officials who ruled the country together with the emperor. But now, the Ming Dynasty was mingling with ordinary people.

Although it is not in their interest.

Immediately, numerous families responded, causing widespread chaos in various regions.

When the news reached Yingtian Prefecture, the officials there were extremely surprised, never expecting that trouble would break out within the Ming Dynasty at this time.

Zhu Yuanzhang's face was extremely grim. He had clearly ordered Zhu Xiong Ying to suppress the matter, but it seemed that the problem was not resolved at all.

At this moment, an official stepped forward and spoke.

Your Majesty, the Ming Dynasty is currently facing a severe criminal crisis. Apart from Yingtian Prefecture, we do not have many troops in other places. Almost all of them are stationed on the border, which are far from the capital.

Why don't we first agree with them?

At this point, another official stepped forward and spoke.

"The powerful clans are the pillars of the nation. We have now strayed from them. How can the officials of the nation stand with our Great Ming? We should take this opportunity to make peace with the major clans. I believe the heads of the clans will recognize the interests of our Great Ming!"

"Those who follow the righteous path receive much help, while those who stray from it receive little. Your Majesty, please reconsider!"

Zhu Yuanzhang sneered upon hearing this.

"So what do you want to do?"

"Now that things have come to this, why don't you all speak your minds!"

Several officials' eyes lit up upon hearing this.

"Our idea is to abolish the land tax system and the system of taxation for gentry, and to grant all surplus land in various places to powerful families!"

"Only in this way can the interests of all ethnic groups be guaranteed, and only in this way can our Great Ming Dynasty enjoy long-term stability and peace!"

Then another official stepped forward.

"In addition, the imperial examination system should be reformed. The imperial examination system should only test Confucian classics!"

"Only the Confucian way can govern the world. The arts and crafts are nothing but strange skills and tricks. If we put them in the court, they will surely pollute the atmosphere of the court!"

(End of this chapter)