Ming Dynasty: I, Yan Maoqing, am truly radiating auspicious energy!

Chapter 233 Your son is in my hands! [Seeking monthly votes]

Apart from Yan Maoqing, Shen Kun, Gao Gong, and Yan Shifan, no one knew what happened in that room afterward.

The only thing that is certain is.

When the group emerged from the room again and led the Heroes' Battalion to set off again for Datong Prefecture.

Yan Maoqing has recovered completely and looks radiant.

Shen Kun, Gao Gong, and Yan Shifan all looked like they had been thoroughly humiliated, and for quite some time they didn't have the courage to look Yan Maoqing in the eye.

It was a form of ultimate mental torture. In this feudal era where male superiority and female virtue prevailed, none of the heads of families like Shen Kun, Gao Gong, and Yan Shifan had ever had such a terrible experience, and they absolutely did not want to experience it again...

The "big shot" named Tsunakata was also taken along by the Heroes' Camp.

Once Yan Maoqing returned to normal, he finally felt the urge to interrogate him personally, and even "invited" him onto his carriage while they were on their way.

"You should know the Tatar language, right?"

Looking at Ci Zhongtai, who was tied up like a rice dumpling, Yan Maoqing asked a very sudden question.

"Uh... how did the master know?"

Ci Zhongtai, already covered in bruises and pale-faced from torture, still looked up in confusion upon hearing this.

Since being captured alive and witnessing the Heroes' Battalion shoot and kill the magistrate of Ying County, Ci Zhongtai has gained a full understanding of reality.

Therefore, before Yan Shifan tortured him, he had already accepted reality and immediately revealed everything he knew about the matter.

But the one-eyed fat man was not satisfied and insisted on torturing him severely. He even used the water droplet torture, which was terrifying just to hear about. He didn't ask any new questions, but just kept pressing him to tell him.

He has said everything he needed to say, what else could he possibly say?

Even if that one-eyed fat man wanted him to frame someone, he should at least give him some direction, right?

Are we just going to let him guess until he figures it out?

Compared to that one-eyed fat man, this young gentleman is much more sophisticated; you can tell just by listening to his voice.

After all, apart from a few close acquaintances, no outsiders really knew that he could speak the Tatar language. It's just a mystery how this young man, whom I've never met before, found out.
He must be Yan Maoqing, who swept through Taiyuan Prefecture and captured Zhang Yin, the old manager who was said to have the ability to "repair the sky and mend the earth, change the stars, observe celestial phenomena, and accomplish anything".

It seems this person is indeed no ordinary person...

"I'm asking you."

Yan Maoqing poked the wound on Ci Zhongtai's shoulder, which had been inflicted by Yan Shifan.

"Hiss—Replying to your question, sir, I do indeed know some of the Tatar language. I learned it all these years when I secretly went out of the pass to sell Tatar cloth and ironware."

The second son, grimacing in pain, immediately confessed honestly.

Yo ho!

Opening his mouth adds another capital offense to his list.

Even when the horse market was opened to the Tatars, selling ironware was a capital offense of aiding the enemy, let alone smuggling ironware.

Yan Maoqing then asked:

"Who instructed you to smuggle Tatar cloth and ironware across the border?"

"Sometimes it's the master of a villain, sometimes it's a powerful merchant from Shanxi, and sometimes it's a general from the garrison. In short, all kinds of people are involved. As long as there's money to be made, anyone can order around villains. It's all just about making a living."

Ci Zhongtai immediately launched into a tirade, his words flowing freely.

“The items sold privately were not only cloth and ironware, but sometimes also newly arrived weapons and armor in Datong, sometimes blueprints of the border defenses of the relevant garrisons, or letters exchanged between the Tatars and the border generals.”

“Besides these dead things, the Tatars sometimes also bought two-legged sheep to take back as slaves.”

"They want everyone except the elderly, regardless of age or gender."

"This is something that our White Lotus Sect often sells. The members entrust their children to my master, and my master immediately has me secretly kidnap them and exchange them for silver. Those people think that their children are enjoying a life of luxury with my master."

Okay.

Before I knew it, several more capital offenses had been added to my list.

Moreover, each offense is more serious than the last, some even constituting treasonous crimes punishable by the extermination of one's entire clan.

I don't know if this guy really doesn't understand or he's pretending, but he just said it so openly.

Why did Yan Shifan torture him just now? He's such a talkative and honest person. He'll tell you anything you ask. Was there really any need to torture him?
Yan Maoqing nodded slightly and finally asked the question that mattered most to him at that moment:

"Let me ask you again, among those who instructed you to smuggle, are there any people from the Prince of Dai's mansion?"

"The Prince's Mansion?"

Upon hearing this, Ji Zhongtai paused for a moment, then sneered and laughed.

"How could those cowards from the Prince of Dai's mansion have any connections to earn this kind of money? If they did, would they be struggling to guard their small plot of land, willing to let others use their names as a pretext to exempt them from land taxes, just for a tiny bit of food that others squeeze out from between their teeth?"

"The way they act as princes is so frustrating to watch."

"They have no power, no soldiers, they can't be officials, they can't marry into official families, they can't do business, they can't farm, they're not allowed to do any kind of money-making business." "They can only rely on their meager salary and rewards, but now the court owes half the salary every year and keeps cutting it off, so they can hardly count on it anymore."

"You know, they're such a big family, yet they're always struggling to make ends meet. How are they supposed to survive? They're practically bursting at the seams."

"Luckily I wasn't born into this prince's family, otherwise I would definitely follow the example of those garrison soldiers and escape while I'm still young and strong. Who would want to live a life with no hope at all? I can't live like that."

"..."

Upon hearing these words, Yan Maoqing's heart sank.

He began to doubt his previous ideas, unsure whether it was still feasible to force the Prince of Dai's lineage to rebel, or whether he should still take action against the Prince of Dai's lineage.

If the lineage of the Prince of Dai truly suffered such a miserable fate in Datong, then this must be considered a relic of this era…

He did have some rough understanding of the development of the Ming Dynasty's imperial family.

It is said that as the population of the imperial clan surged in the mid-to-late Ming Dynasty, the imperial treasury was overwhelmed, and there were indeed serious arrears and reductions in the stipends for the imperial clan at certain times, which led to some lower-ranking members of the imperial clan falling into poverty.

Even under these circumstances, members of the imperial family were still forbidden from engaging in the "four professions" for a living, and ultimately could only die in captivity and poverty, with many in worse circumstances than ordinary people...

Speaking of which, this was the reign of Emperor Jiajing.

It seems that the imperial finances have always been weak, with fixed expenditures such as the salaries of serving officials constantly being delayed, and the salaries of the imperial family members are naturally even more likely to be delayed.

Given this premise, let's analyze the rebellion case of the Prince of Dai's lineage.

It seems that only one person launched the rebellion at that time, namely Zhu Yunzhuo, the General of Chuanfengguo from the lineage of the Prince of Dai.

The cause seems to be that Zhu Yunzhuo, because the court owed him salary, led people to rob the prefect of Datong. He was eventually punished by being stripped of his salary. As a result, Zhu Yunzhuo resented Prince Zhu Yunyao and harbored hatred towards the court. So he colluded with the White Lotus Sect and secretly communicated with the Tatars, intending to rebel against the country.

"Zhu Yunzhuo therefore resented Prince Dai, Zhu Yunyao, for not resolving the matter," which means that the matter could have been explained and was understandable.

Yan Maoqing couldn't say for sure either.

After all, this is something that will happen in the future, and his understanding of it is only a very rough understanding from historical records.

He showed no sympathy for anyone and believed in the law of cause and effect: "If you enjoy blessings you shouldn't have, you should suffer hardships you shouldn't have."

But if this treason case is true, and the Dai King's lineage, as described by Cizhongtai, is in the same predicament, then his plan will likely be impossible to implement.

Because the lineage of the Prince of Dai now has almost no chance of colluding with the White Lotus Sect, officials, powerful figures, and merchants, no matter how he manipulates things, the lineage of the Prince of Dai would never rebel over something unrelated to them, right?
He suddenly remembered the Prince of Jin in Taiyuan Prefecture.

He caused such a commotion in Taiyuan a few days ago, but the Prince of Jin's residence has remained completely silent.

Moreover, neither the White Lotus Sect nor the officials, powerful figures, and merchants ever implicated Prince Jin. Could this be the reason?
After all, the contempt and mockery that Ji Zhongtai showed at this moment was clearly not an act; it came from the heart.

If that's the case...

No!

Yan Maoqing clenched his fists. If even the Prince of Dai's lineage couldn't be implicated, then his appearance this time would truly be a merit.

Especially if the officials in Datong also fell before he could make a move, just like in Taiyuan, making Zhu Houcong think that his marksmanship was incredibly accurate, he would definitely be trapped and killed in the future. How could he escape then?

Also.

He is currently unaware of how Zhu Houcong, far away in the capital, intends to react to the events in Taiyuan Prefecture.

If Zhu Houcong were still in the capital issuing edicts, fully cooperating with his operation...

Yan Maoqing simply dared not think any further.

Because the situation in Datong was already in his favor, with Governor Guo Xun there, the Ming Dynasty's "Flying General" Zhou Shangwen serving as commander-in-chief, and Yan Song, who was desperately trying to make a name for himself and return to the capital for reinstatement as soon as possible.

He helped establish a positive situation in Taiyuan.

Even if he didn't go to Datong, as long as Zhu Houcong gave the order, Guo Xun, Zhou Shangwen, and Yan Song would definitely make him "return empty-handed"!
"No, no, no, I can't accept my fate so easily!"

Yan Maoqing clenched his fists, his eyes flashing with resentment, so much so that blood vessels gradually filled the whites of his eyes.

Huo Guang, the Grand Marshal and General of the Han Dynasty, once said: "No army should be sent out in vain!"

The Tatars had previously said, "A bow must not be released without a shot, otherwise it will damage both the bow and the person!"

Yan Maoqing's brain cells were working at lightning speed, one idea after another flashing through his mind as he searched for an effective solution.

After a while.

"Ding!"

A flash of inspiration finally appeared in Yan Maoqing's mind.

"Yes, yes, maybe we can do it this way!"

In front of Ci Zhongtai, Yan Maoqing muttered to himself nervously, then quickly took out his calligraphy and paper and began writing furiously:

Magistrate Yan:

Your son is in my hands...

(End of this chapter)