Jiajing Chengming

Chapter 94: Behead them all to establish authority first!
Snapped!
Zhang Cong slapped Zhao Ren directly in the face.

Zhao Ren saw stars on the spot.

Zhang Cong pointed at Zhao Ren's nose and cursed: "You treacherous merchant, you dare to bribe me and even blame me. Just based on your disrespectful behavior, I can sentence you to death! I can even exterminate your clan!"

"Catch the profiteer Zhao Ren!"

Zhang Cong gave an order at this time.

"Asshole! How dare you hit my dad!"

At this time, Zhao Qing also started to scold Zhang Cong and picked up the slingshot again.

but.

This time.

Zhao Qing didn't hit Zhang Cong.

Zhang Cong, on the other hand, gave a solemn order to Li Bing, the guerrilla commander beside him:
"Take down and chop off these disrespectful dandies, put their heads on a spear, and display them in public as a warning to others!"

Li Bing nodded in agreement and sent his troops directly towards Zhao Qing.

All the servants around Zhao Qing ran away immediately.

Zhao Qing himself realized that something was wrong. When he was about to run into the house to seek protection from his grandmother, the soldiers who had caught up with him had already captured him and forced him to his knees outside the Zhao family residence.

At this time, one of Li Bing's personal soldiers had already drawn his axe.

Zhao Qing was also frightened when he saw this, and hurriedly shouted to his father Zhao Ren:
"Dad, save me!"

Zhao Ren also begged Zhang Cong at this time:

"Minister, I will give you another ten thousand taels. Please have mercy on me and release my son. I will make amends to you!"

"late!"

Zhang Cong shouted loudly.

then.

Zhang Cong looked at Zhao Ren, who had passed the imperial examination:

"Zhao Xiaolian, you should know that from the moment I assume the power of the emperor, your property no longer belongs to you. Therefore, you no longer have the right to dispose of your family's property or even your family!"

"Before, you were able to dispose of your property because the emperor was so generous and recognized it as yours. But now, I, on behalf of the emperor's constitution and national law, want to confiscate your property because you have betrayed the emperor's grace, hoarded goods, indulged your rebellious son, disrespected the imperial envoy, and even disrespected the imperial envoy yourself. You blame me for making a fuss and want to bargain with me."

"Are you qualified to bargain?!"

Zhang Cong asked sternly when he got to this point.

Zhao Ren couldn't help but frown after hearing this.

Zhang Cong suddenly smiled and said, "No, you are qualified. Your qualifications are those bandits outside and your salt soldiers who are loyal to you."

"But you should know that the imperial court has sent a large army, so your support is gone."

"Also, you'd better not incite your people to rebel. If you do, not only will you lose your property, but your entire clan will also be gone."

"Is your mother still alive?"

"You don't want your mother to be implicated for treason, do you?"

"As long as you are willing to cooperate, I can grant you a break from the law and let you send your mother to the countryside first, and then I will have someone search your house."

Zhang Cong said as he looked at Zhao Qing: "Don't be naughty, otherwise, it won't just be as simple as beheading!"

Zhao Qing, who was forced to his knees by the sergeant, was trembling with fear.

The soldier behind him had already raised his axe.

Zhao Qing was also scared at this time, and hurriedly shouted again: "Minister, please spare my life, I will never dare to be naughty again!"

Click!

But the axe fell anyway.

Zhao Qing was beheaded on the spot.

Zhao Ren couldn't help but close his eyes, his heart aching, but he still had to kneel down: "My son deserves to die, but I beg the minister to show mercy and let me send my mother away first before showing the emperor's power!"

"allow!"

After Zhang Cong said this, he ordered Li Bing, "Send troops to surround this place, and the rest of you go and raid the next house."

Li Bing nodded and said yes.

Now he was deeply afraid that the officers and soldiers under him would be bribed by these rich businessmen with huge sums of money, so he simply worked harder and went to copy it himself.

Soon.

Zhang Cong went to the home of another wealthy businessman, Huang Zhao, and came to his warehouse.

Simultaneously.

Zhang Cong also sent troops to bring Huang Zhao before him.

"You said you didn't have much food, what are these?!"

Zhang Cong asked sternly.

Huang Zhao immediately knelt down and said, "Please spare my life, Minister. I lied because I wanted to make a lot of money."

"You people are blinded by greed."

"I have no idea how I was able to own such a large family business."

"The power of the world does not come from the imperial constitution, and the wealth of the world does not come from the imperial grace."

"The reason you have such a large business today is entirely due to the emperor's grace, which gave you the opportunity to make a fortune."

"Logically, since you have received such a great favor from the Emperor, you should contribute more to the court." "But you are the opposite, and you want to take all the benefits of the court."

"Instead, you forget that what the court can give you, it can also take back."

"Your Majesty is kind and has no intention of confiscating your property. He only intends to buy your grain at a fair price or slightly higher than the market price to help the victims and let you benefit from it."

"But you are so ungrateful that you have taken advantage of your majesty's kindness and lured corrupt officials to hoard goods. Not only have you colluded with bandits to massacre the people in order to get a share of the court's profits."

"therefore."

"I have no choice but to act on behalf of the emperor and confiscate your property to help the people of the world."

"If you dare to disobey, you will be killed without mercy!"

Zhang Cong then ordered: "Send the organized civilians to move the food, salt permits, gold, silver, copper, iron and other items!"

"Yes!"

Huang Zhao was naturally filled with rage, and he was even more heartbroken when he saw the civilians actually carrying their own food and property under the supervision of the government soldiers.

Jiang Ruobi, who was standing by, could not help but say to Zhang Cong:

"They are also stupid. If they were willing to actively cooperate with the court in disaster relief, the court would not want to suppress them, but would only encourage them to continue to expand their family businesses to increase the opportunities for the people to make a living. However, they forced the court to use force and directly confiscate their property."

“That’s why I have to establish my authority!”

“We must first let them watch helplessly as their family businesses of several generations are confiscated overnight, or even as people die. Only then will they feel the pain and know that the will of the court cannot be disobeyed. If they obey it, they may become richer, but if they disobey it, their families will be destroyed!”

Zhang Cong stood under the eaves with his hands behind his back, watching the laborers carrying grain like ants moving house, and spoke.

then.

Zhang Cong said thoughtfully: "This is also related to the fact that the ministers in the court first despised the imperial power. The bureaucrats themselves had no respect for the emperor, so naturally they all indulged the merchants to break the law and disregard the court!"

"This is also the real reason why I want to be formal!"

"If even the emperor cannot establish etiquette, then etiquette and music will inevitably collapse, and everyone will be rebellious!"

"If merchants dare to deceive officials, and officials dare to deceive the emperor, then the people of the world will naturally be treated like grass, and there will be no one to uphold justice for them!"

When Zhang Cong said this, Jiang Ruobi nodded as if he understood something.

"well said!"

"You are worthy of being a person that Your Majesty values ​​and has promoted several times!"

"I regret that I didn't meet you earlier."

Wang Yangming came over at this time and bowed to Zhang Cong.

Zhang Cong returned the greeting and asked, "Why did you come here?"

"The bandits are coming!"

Wang Yangming replied with a serious look.

Jiang Rubi couldn't help but be shocked.

Zhang Cong looked at Huang Zhao with a sullen face, then sneered and said, "They reacted quickly!"

"So, it would have been fine if the bandits hadn't come. Now that they've come, it's not as simple as providing disaster relief and keeping the people safe. Everything has to be treated as if it were a war."

"These big hoarders must all be charged with collusion with thieves."

"This way, we can prevent them from colluding with each other and passing information inside. In short, it is better to kill a thousand people by mistake than to let one go."

Wang Yangming waved his hand and said, "Catch all the adult males of the profiteers and corrupt officials in the city who are hoarding goods, and then take them to the top of the city and behead them!"

Huang Zhao shouted at the side: "Master, our Huang family has never colluded with thieves!"

"Just because you are hoarding goods, you have no conscience. You are encouraging the thieves and are colluding with them."

"In your next life, remember to actively awaken your conscience, help the people, and prevent the bandits from becoming bigger, so that you won't end up like this in this life!"

After Wang Yangming finished speaking, he shouted, "Action!"

Zhou Shangwen nodded in agreement.

At once, a large number of government troops rushed into the inner courtyard.

Not long after, a lot of screams were heard in Huang's house.

Huang Zhao only continued to beg: "Master, please have mercy! I know I was wrong. I promise to cooperate with the court in disaster relief in the future. I would rather break my family's door than save the people and neighbors. I only ask you to spare my family!"

Wang Yangming ignored Huang Zhao.

Compassion does not command troops.

Since he has decided to put Huai'an City into a wartime state, he can only do everything to defend Huai'an City and eliminate the bandits, and he will not show mercy.

Whether they deserved the punishment or were extremely wronged, at this moment, we can only blame the ruthlessness of war.

Because you have to know that once the bandits break into the city, they will massacre everyone, and more people will die.

The wealthy businessmen in Huai'an were naturally very skilled in colluding with officials to fight for power and profit, but they were helpless when the war and violence machine started. They could only wail and cry like the ordinary people who had been ravaged and bullied by them in the past.

As a result, a large number of children of wealthy businessmen were taken to Huai'an City.

Wang Yangming waved his hand.

The people behind these wealthy families raised their butcher knives.

"Wait!"

At this time, the river patrol censor Gu Xuezeng rushed over and shouted loudly.

Wang Yangming's eyes suddenly turned cold as a knife, and he looked over and asked, "What's the matter?"

(End of this chapter)