Ming Dynasty: Traveling through the harem, Zhu Yuanzhang was dumbfounded

Chapter 169 The dust has settled
Before the fort was abandoned, Zhou Shizhong no longer had the high spirits he had as a prefect. Instead, he only had the loneliness of being arrested and awaiting conviction.

Bao Laiying found a bundle of hemp rope from somewhere.

He tied the man up with swift hands and feet.

If he wasn't a soldier, and the other party had bullied his superior's family, he would have deliberately tied the ropes very tightly, causing Zhou Shizhong to grimace in pain and discomfort from time to time.

Zhu Chong glanced at Zhou Shizhong and ignored him. Instead, he looked at Bao Laiqiang and ordered:

"Take the person back first and keep him under strict guard. Remember not to make any mistakes, otherwise you will be held responsible."

Bao Laiying grabbed Zhou Shizhong with his left hand and the servant who was disabled by him with his other hand. With a smile on his face, he nodded and said:
"Don't worry, Your Highness. They will definitely not escape my sight. If anything happens, I will bring my head to you."

After saying that, Bao Lai forced the two of them to jump onto the horse, and they followed behind the horses, their destination being the city of Zhenjiang Prefecture.

Yang Chen entered the fort, followed the traces left by Bao Laiqiang, and quickly detected the entire fort clearly.

Just as Zhou Shizhong explained, the cellar that originally stored grain was now filled with mountains of gold and silver. Under the light of the torches, these things reflected the greed that tempted people.

Yang Chen reached out his hand, took a gold ingot the size of a baby's arm, and said jokingly:

"Good fellow, really good fellow, how corrupt were these people to accumulate so much gold and silver treasures? No wonder the Ming Dynasty has been unable to collect taxes. It turns out that this is the case in Zhenjiang Prefecture alone. If it were other places, I really can't imagine how jaw-droppingly rich those Jiangnan regions would be."

Hearing Yang Chen's sigh, Zhu Chong suddenly felt that the connection between these businessmen and corrupt officials was too deep.

"Yes, Zhenjiang Prefecture is just a branch of the Yangtze River, and it is still like this. Suzhou, Hangzhou, Yangzhou, and Quanzhou in the Jiangnan region are probably even worse."

Yang Chen raised his eyebrows slightly, and couldn't help but look at how Zhu Chong could say such a thing. When it comes to corruption, Xi'an where he lives is probably definitely ranked at the top.

Because Xi'an was his fiefdom, the mistakes he made at the beginning proved that he was the biggest corrupt official in the entire Xi'an.

The sight of Yang Chen smiling but not saying anything made Zhu Chong feel eerie.

I thought that if this guy started joking, something bad would happen.

Yang Chen put the gold ingots back into the warehouse, and the two of them rode their horses back towards Zhenjiang Prefecture.

At the same time, Chi Lin, who was guarding the city of Zhenjiang Prefecture, had also taken action.

He led his personal guards and Zhu Chong's men towards the residence of the commander of the guard stationed in Zhenjiang Prefecture.

In the Ming Dynasty, every administrative area had a military base. Their mission was simple, which was to ensure that there would not be any disturbance or rebellion in the area.

Otherwise, if a rebel army appears in a certain area and troops cannot be dispatched in time to suppress it, the rebel army will grow stronger and endanger the capital city in an instant. This is the scenario that the rulers of the capital city least want to see.

In the early days of the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang stipulated that a military base must be established in all places, and each place must have a number of people as a garrison.

That is to say, the number of troops is about four to five thousand, and the supreme ruler in charge of these troops is the commander-in-chief.

He is usually only responsible for training troops. His rank is second only to the prefect in every prefecture. Until someone comes down from above, he is the highest military ruler of a prefecture.

The troops stationed in Zhenjiang Prefecture were only thirty miles away from the city, and Chi Lin arrived there on a fast horse in less than an incense stick of time.

"Stop! Who are you? This is an important place! No outsiders are allowed to come near!"

As soon as he arrived, he was stopped by the guards outside the door. Not only that, the guards also sent people to notify for backup.

The reason is simple. Chi Lin brought not just one person, but two hundred people.

These are the imperial guards who secretly protect Yang Chen and Zhu Chong.

The two of them have special identities and cannot afford any mistakes. Without complete preparation, Yang Chen would not choose to do business far away from the capital.

Without any hesitation, Chi Lin took out a token from his pocket.

Originally, the guards knew that the aura of Chi Lin and his group was unusual, but now, the moment the token appeared, they immediately stood aside and dared not say a word.

On the other hand, Chi Lin was very fast. He came directly to the center of the military station and shouted loudly:
"Zhenjiang Prefecture Commander Ma Bin, come out to receive the order!"

At that moment, a door not far away was pushed open, and a sturdy man rushed to Chi Lin in confusion.

He glanced at the token in the other person's hand, then knelt down and clasped his fists:

"I will follow your orders!"

As he had military connections, Chi Lin was very efficient and took care of everything Yang Chen had prepared for him without any hesitation.

"Commander Ma, listen to your order. I, the Imperial Censor, have come to Zhenjiang Prefecture to inspect and rectify the situation. Now I have discovered that the prefect of Zhenjiang Prefecture, Zhou Shizhong, has been corrupt and perverted the law, oppressing the people and persecuting good merchants. Today, I, the Imperial Censor, have specially used this token to dispatch you to lead two thousand fully armed troops to Zhenjiang Prefecture to maintain order.

Tell the people not to get agitated and cause the situation to get out of control. After receiving the order, set off immediately without making any mistakes. Otherwise, if the people become restless and rumors spread, causing the Imperial City to be affected, you will be held responsible!"

As the commander of Zhenjiang Prefecture, Ma Bin naturally had a very friendly relationship with Zhou Shizhong. He knew all the things the other party did secretly. He never expected that the communication that he thought would be foolproof would turn into a confrontation between the enemy and us.

While thinking, Chi Lin saw the other party's reaction and couldn't help but admire Yang Chen in his heart.

"What the master said is indeed correct. This guy is really connected with that corrupt official."

Chi Lin spoke softly, reminding the other party with words that only the two of them could hear, not to lose the big picture for the small:
"Commander Ma, my master knows that you and Zhou Shizhong have conflicts of interest, but I hope you can consider the overall situation. Zhou Shizhong has already been executed on the spot. He confessed everything, and he was also responsible for all the major crimes.

If you offend my master for a little petty gain, I believe the Crown Prince, His Majesty, and His Royal Highness the Prince of Qin will never forgive you easily."

As a commander, Ma Bin was certainly not a fool. How could he not think that the other party was reminding him to make the right choice?

What happened next was a natural progression. Ma Bin raised his head, lowered his head, and raised his hands upward, making a gesture of accepting the imperial edict.

"I am waiting for your orders. I hope Censor Yang will wait for a moment."

"I'll be waiting for you at the door." Chi Lin put away the token in his hand and turned away.

The moment the other party left, Ma Bin immediately stood up and instructed the two assistants beside him:
"Each of you will mobilize a thousand men and prepare to gather at the training ground outside the gate. After counting the number of people, immediately go to the gate to find the gentleman mentioned earlier. I will be there shortly."

The two deputies nodded without any hesitation.

"My subordinate understands!"

Soon, two thousand people formed a black mass and were neatly arranged. They didn't know what to do next. They only knew to follow orders. The rest was not something they could worry about.

Ma Bin put on his military uniform and followed Chi Lin to wait for orders. "Everyone! Move towards Zhenjiang City as fast as possible. Do not harm the people on the way. Follow orders and set off!" Chi Lin stood in front of the crowd and shouted loudly, and his voice quickly fell into everyone's ears.

After receiving the order, without any nonsense, they moved forward with the sound of neat footsteps like a roar that could shake the mountains.

Today, Zhenjiang Prefecture is as lively as usual, even a little weird.

There was no other reason. After Zhou Shizhong was captured, Yang Chen used various methods to make him give out all the members of the clan that he had cultivated with great difficulty.

Now, these guys, all of whom are guilty, are being detained in front of tens of thousands of people.

The two thousand men that Chi Lin had mobilized earlier had already formed a siege. They used spears to block each other's connections to ensure that the scene would not fall into chaos due to clashes among the people.

In the huge square, the number of people was still increasing, and the people in Yang Chen's mansion were using bamboo poles to connect the microphone to a high place.

"Silence! Silence!"

Standing in the center, Yang Chen held a large loudspeaker in his hand, which was connected to a loudspeaker hastily built with iron sheets under the stage, allowing his voice to cover everyone's noise in the shortest time.

After he shouted like that, the noise from the people eating melons and eating their brains was indeed much quieter.

"Everyone! Let me introduce myself briefly. I am the Imperial Censor from the capital. My name is Yang Chen. The person standing next to me is the second prince of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Chong. You can call him the King of Qin.

I believe that many of you have seen the notice I posted at the city gate. The current prefect of Zhenjiang Prefecture, Zhou Shizhong, has been arrested by me on suspicion of many crimes, and is now imprisoned in the cage below the stage, being cursed by you.

The reason why I act so vigorously and vigorously is not because I want to cause trouble for you.

Instead, we are going to bring you a brand new reform, which will help you live a good life!"

The sound was transmitted to the speaker through the iron loudspeaker, and Yang Chen's voice could be heard by everyone.

The people who came to watch the excitement also quieted down and did not make any noisy noises. They just sat there quietly or climbed to a high place to see if the official from the capital was exactly like the storyteller in the legend said, that he was the God of Literature who had descended to earth with a glow covering his body.

Some people also wanted to see whether Zhu Chong, as the son of the "dragon", had dragon aura and whether he was different from ordinary people.

Unfortunately, Te Te didn't notice it, but instead the people saw the circle of soldiers surrounding them.

These troops were on high alert and dared not relax at all. If the civilians in front of them charged towards them, it would definitely create a horrific scene.

“Everyone knows that the imperial court issued a new land policy some time ago, which was originally intended to benefit the general public, but Zhou Shizhong and others secretly changed the imperial decree.

The land of the landlords should be distributed to everyone according to the number of people, and unpaid corvée labor will be converted into taxes and distributed among the land. If corvée labor is required, the court will take out a portion of the collected taxes as compensation to the people who are required to perform corvée labor.

Such a policy that benefits you all, when it fell into Zhou Shizhong's hands, turned into a means and excuse for him to embezzle and commit crimes.

From now on, I will explain this to you clearly and solemnly.

From now on, all people and all citizens must abide by the Ming Dynasty's "New Land Reform Law" to divide the land.

No one can annex your land. If anyone does, you can go to the government and I will take charge of it for you!

This is all His Majesty's will, and I will guarantee it!"

"Long live the emperor! Long live the Ming Dynasty!"

"Your Majesty is wise! Your Majesty is wise!"

"With His Majesty here, good days for us common people have finally arrived!"

The people don't understand what policies are or aren't. They just need to know that once this thing is passed down, their lives will definitely be much better than before. Naturally, many people will raise their arms and shout in approval.

"quiet!"

Yang Chen raised his hands, then quickly put them down, and shouted two words at the same time. The surrounding sounds like waves gradually calmed down.

"I know that many people may think that the capital sent me here just for show, and then I went back after the job was done, leaving nothing behind except a pile of shit.

But I want to tell you that from today on, the King of Qin and I will be living in Zhenjiang Prefecture for a long time, and since the middle of the Zhou Dynasty, there has been no prefect in Zhenjiang Prefecture.

Only if the King of Qin and I lead the team together and carry out new reforms so that everyone present, including the people in the three counties around Zhenjiang City, can have enough food to eat, will we leave.

Therefore, I hope that you can cooperate with us honestly, otherwise there will be only one outcome!
kill! "

When the word "kill" was spoken, Chi Lin brought out Zhou Shizhong's former relatives so that all the people could see, and then the knives fell and heads rolled down.

From this moment on, the people of Zhenjiang Prefecture officially understood that this new official from the capital, the "Wenquxing", was not joking with them, but was sincere in making changes.

Zhou Shizhong felt no wave of emotion when he saw his relatives being killed, for he knew that his final outcome would be similar.

Now there is only one thing he wants to do, and that is to drag Hu Weiyong into this situation. If the other party lets him fall to this point, he will definitely not let him off easily!

Next, Yang Chen announced one policy reform after another. In addition to the equalization of land tax, there were also more detailed land reform policies.

As a former powerful family in Zhenjiang Prefecture, after the Cui family was liberated and rescued by Yang Chen, he began to appoint them as the president of the Zhenjiang Chamber of Commerce. In other words, the Cui family's identity and status remained unchanged, but they would be under the surveillance of the government.

Considering that the other party was once a wealthy man but did not oppress the people, Yang Chen decided not to hold Cui responsible for anything and let the servants in the other party's family decide whether to stay in the Cui family.

If he stayed in the Cui family, less of the Cui family’s land would be confiscated.

That is to say, starting from today, the entire Zhenjiang Prefecture will usher in a vigorous transformation, and the east wind of reform will blow into every household of the people.

Everything went slowly according to Yang Chen's script.

The first is the test site. In order to better establish an industrial infrastructure development site, Yang Chen directly took over a piece of wasteland of about 200 acres in the downstream location.

This place cannot grow crops and no one lives there, but in less than a week, a large-scale base was built.

It was also named "The First Industrial Experimental Zone of the Ming Dynasty" by Yang Chen.

The commander Ma Bin personally named his deputies and sent 500 reinforcements to garrison again.

Zhou Shizhong was also transported back to the capital as quickly as possible.

(End of this chapter)