Emperor Zhengde

Chapter 139: Arresting the Gentry
Because Zhu Houzhao was on the Grand Canal, he ordered his men to hang up the inspector Song Kai for interrogation. As long as Song Kai refused to confess, Zhu Houzhao planned to let him have a close contact with the river water mixed with countless excrement from the east and west of the river.

However, Song Kai had just been lifted off the boat and before he was put into the water, he started to shout:
"Your Majesty! I really have nothing to do with the tax bureau case! I know nothing about it! If Your Majesty really doesn't believe it, you can have someone investigate it in detail! And please don't throw me into the water, I'm afraid of the cold. Now that winter has just passed and the spring is chilly, the water will probably be very cold!"

Zhu Houzhao thought that Song Kai was Qian Qianyi, so why were you afraid that the water was too cold? He ordered:
"Hang him in the water until he confesses!"

"Your Majesty! Your Majesty! You can't do this! I am a disciple of Confucius and Mencius! I am a Jinshi in two imperial examinations, and I deserve preferential treatment from the court!"

Song Kai yelled as he watched himself getting closer and closer to the river surface. As soon as his head touched the surface, he couldn't help but shudder:

"Your Majesty! I confess! I confess everything!"

Zhu Houzhao didn't expect that these civil officials were really so afraid of the cold. He thought that perhaps Qian Qianyi in history was not really pretentious. Seeing that Song Kai was willing to confess, he asked the Jinyiwei to bring Song Kai up.

Song Kai took a long breath, and then took the initiative to confess to Zhu Houzhao about his collusion with the gentry, and even told him how he had fallen into the interest chain of the Jiangnan gentry, and said with a sad face:

"I am really helpless! Your Majesty! Back then, I was grateful to the court for promoting me and letting me inspect Nanzhili. I was also determined to be a good official who serves the people, but those gentry said that they are the people, and that if I make decisions for them, I am making decisions for the people. I cannot deny that for the sake of local peace, I can only follow the wishes of the people!"

After hearing what Song Kai said, Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but laugh and asked, "So you make decisions for the people, and make decisions even in bed, and even in the villas of these gentry? Unconsciously, you find that you make decisions for the people, not only can you get promoted, but also you can have beautiful women throw themselves into your arms, and you can also have silver sent to you. You find that they are all obedient and good people, and those who sue them are unruly people, right?"

"That's true! Your Majesty! I really just want to make decisions for the people, but the gentry are too cunning. I am really helpless! I hope Your Majesty will forgive my sins. I am willing to resign and return home, and not be involved in government affairs. I know I am incompetent!"

Song Kai knew that he had been captured by the emperor and it was impossible for him to keep his official position, so he simply put all the blame on the Jiangnan gentry.

After all, he could see that the emperor came to Jiangnan in person to take action against the gentry in Jiangnan, and he pushed the main responsibility onto the gentry so that he could get away with it. Anyway, he had made enough money, so wouldn't it be fun to go back and be a gentry?

"Then, you can go back and become a squire like them, abuse your power, annex land, seize people's wealth, and let the government make decisions for you when you are dissatisfied? Use both soft and hard tactics? Or collude with the gentry?"

Zhu Houzhao asked with a smile again.

Song Kai, who had been exposed, guessed that Zhu Houzhao was unwilling to let him go easily, so he kowtowed and said, "Your Majesty! I have no such intention!"

"Chop him off! Since you have confessed voluntarily, I will consider it as a voluntary surrender and give you a lenient punishment! I will not torture you! Why don't you thank me now!"

After Zhu Houzhao finished speaking, Song Kai was stunned for a moment, and then he cried and begged: "Your Majesty, I don't want to die! I really don't want to die! I am willing to be a eunuch, I can be a eunuch, as long as Your Majesty lets me live!"

"Cut him off! You can't just do what the eunuchs say!"

Zhu Houzhao shouted loudly.

Then, Song Kai, the Imperial Censor of Nanzhili, was dragged away and then pressed against the side of the boat. Qiu Yue swung his knife down!

Click!

With one cut of the knife, Song Kai's head fell into the cold river water, and the lower half of his body was also thrown in.

"Quickly give the evidence of Song Kai's confession to Wang Shouren, the governor of Nanzhili. From now on, the Jinyiwei will not have to show up for the time being!

Since these Jiangnan gentry are civilians, I will not intervene and let the government deal with them. It is just right for Wang Shouren to take on the feud with these Jiangnan gentry when he takes office, so as to prevent him from being corrupted by these gentry in the future. Tell Wang Shouren that if he is not ruthless enough in this matter and does not catch them all in one fell swoop! I will remove him! Use a tougher method!"

Zhu Houzhao gave instructions to Liang Ze, a captain of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

"Yes!"

After receiving the order, Liang Ze quickly rode south on his horse. In less than three days, he arrived in Nanjing City and came to Wang Yangming.

Wang Yangming was now annoyed by the disturbances caused by various gentry from the south of the Yangtze River.

"Master Hao is here to pay his respects!"

"Master Tong sent a letter asking for an audience!"

"Reporting to the master, the two servants were sent by your uncle to entertain the master. The servant Xiao He is good at playing the flute; the servant Yu Lian is born with a narrow mind!"

"This is Master Guan's gift list. Five jade boys, five jade girls, three thousand pieces of yellow rice, and ten thousand pieces of white rice... Please take into account the public opinion and accept them all!"

Wang Yangming finally went to Zhenjiang secretly, incognito, to investigate the local pirates, and actually learned some military intelligence from the local fishermen. He also went to check it out in person, and even went to Chongming County to investigate the pirates. When Wang Yangming returned home, Liang Ze, a captain of the Jinyiwei, had been waiting for him for a long time, and conveyed to Wang Yangming the evidence of Song Kai's confession and Zhu Houzhao's instructions: "The governor can start arresting people!"

"Your Majesty, please rest assured!"

Wang Yangming read the memorial from Liang Ze, a captain of the Jinyiwei, and immediately ordered, "Change into your official uniform! Take me to see Yang Mao, the Jueshengwei! Now that everything is ready, start arresting people!"

……

Yuan Zhong'an, Gu Xiantong and other Jiangnan gentry had not returned to Suzhou at this time and were also having a small gathering by the Qinhuai River.

Gu Xiantong couldn't help but say, "Yuan Xiaolian, tell me, now that the Imperial Censor Song Kai has been captured by the Imperial Guards, will he betray us? If the Imperial Guards conduct a strict investigation, will he?"

"Gu Hanlin, don't worry. If Song Kai really betrays us, will the court dare to take action? Isn't it true that the law does not punish the masses? Besides, if the court wants to punish, it can only use the recent massacre of the Taxation Bureau as an excuse. Song Kai can only betray Yuan, so you don't have to worry!"

Yuan Zhongan said.

"Gu is worried about you!" Gu Xiantong replied.

"I will leave Nanjing tomorrow and go to Japan to stay temporarily! I will move my family there and come back when the storm is over!"

As Yuan Zhong'an was speaking, there was a sudden sound of hurried horse hooves outside. Soon, the officers and soldiers of Jueshengwei surrounded the place, and Wang Yangming also appeared in front of these gentry.

Gu Xiantong, Yuan Zhongan and other gentry from the south of the Yangtze River were shocked when they saw this.

Yuan Zhongan asked directly, "Why did the governor suddenly bring so many soldiers here?"

"Yuan Zhong'an, you colluded with bandits to steal tax silver! The evidence is irrefutable! I have decided to detain and interrogate you!"

Wang Yangming shouted directly.

Yuan Zhongan could not help but be shocked: "Governor, why do you want to arrest me? I am just drinking here! I am a student who was selected as a filial and honest official. Even if you are an official, you cannot arrest me casually!"

"You know why I want to take you!"

As Wang Yangming was speaking, Yang Mao, the Juesheng Guard, who had received Wang Yangming's signal, arrested Yuan Zhong'an.

Seeing this, Gu Xiantong hurriedly advised, "Nephew! Although you are the governor, you cannot break the court rules! I am not saying anything to you! Yuan Zhong'an is a juren, an official, how can you arrest him casually? Even if you arrest him, you must first file a petition with the Education Commissioner! Uh, the Education Commissioner Song Kaisong has been arrested by the Jinyiwei and brought to the capital. You cannot arrest him without the Education Commissioner's permission!"

"Yes, Governor, you can't arrest students at will!"

Yuan Zhong'an also shouted when he saw this. He did not expect that the people who came to arrest him would come so quickly, and they were the governor's men. However, he had clearly tested the attitude of the governor Wang Yangming before, and he had a very good attitude towards the gentry. However, he did not expect that Wang Yangming would turn against him in the blink of an eye. Yuan Zhong'an and the gentry present were a little resentful, and felt angry as if they had been fooled.

"I have received the cabinet's approval and the Imperial Household Department's approval. I am not only in charge of the military and civil affairs of Southern Zhili, but also the education department! I have already revoked Yuan Zhong'an's title of Juren, and have sent a letter to the Ministry of Rites. You don't have to worry about me.
I am following the rules. In addition, I have also stripped you of your official titles and positions, and you will also be detained. Otherwise, it will not be enough to clear you of the suspicion of being an accomplice of Yuan Zhongan!"

When these gentry were flattering him, Wang Yangming had secretly sent people to follow these people, and he also deliberately showed courtesy to these gentry at the beginning in order to paralyze these Jiangnan gentry. His purpose was to catch these people in one fell swoop after getting the evidence of their crimes. Now, he naturally would not let Gu Xiantong and the others go.

Yuan Zhongan did not expect this situation, and neither did the other Jiangnan gentry. However, Gu Xiantong, relying on his status as a former Imperial Academy official and Wang Yangming's uncle, shouted arrogantly:
"Wang Yun! (Wang Yangming's childhood name), don't be so arrogant! Don't think that you can be so presumptuous just because you are the governor now! I just want to ask you, if you dare to do this to us, how will you face your father in the future! How will you face your Wang family! If you do this, you will make it impossible for your Wang family to gain a foothold among the scholars!"

"Uncle Gu, do you think I, Wang Shouren, am afraid of my father? Of course, I don't think my father will blame me for this. Even if he does, so what? I am a member of the imperial court first, and then of the Wang family. Besides, if I don't take you away now! If I don't bring you, the people who sucked away the foundation of the Ming Dynasty, to justice, my Wang family will not benefit either!"

Wang Yangming then ordered Yang Mao to arrest Gu Xiantong and others as well.

For a time, the news that Wang Yangming, the governor of Southern Zhili, had detained more than a dozen gentry at once spread like wildfire in Jiangnan. Even the news of how Wang Yangming strictly interrogated these people every day reached the ears of these gentry.

Even Yin Qian, the retired Minister of Revenue of the Hongzhi Dynasty, knew about this.

"Lord Yin! Please help our master! The new governor arrested my father without any reason. My father was once an official in the court, but now he is in prison just because he had a drink with Yuan Zhongan. The governor also said that he would sacrifice his relatives for the sake of justice and disregard the friendship between the two. If you don't help, my father will be in great danger, wuwu!"

……

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(End of this chapter)