The Ming Dynasty: The opening scene features Zhu Di angrily accusing him of illegitimate succession.

Chapter 73 Lin Yue Decides to Do Something Big (Seeking First Subscription)

The warhorse nuzzled his palm affectionately, its mane flying like flames.

Lin Yue mounted his horse, raised the reins, and said loudly, "Lord Ji, don't waste your time. The floods in Jiangnan have not yet subsided, and I will definitely not return to the capital."

After saying that, he whipped his horse and galloped away, his figure quickly disappearing into the distance, leaving Ji Gang standing there with his eyes wide open in anger, but helpless.

Ji Gang flew into a rage and kicked the broken wall next to him.

He pointed in the direction Lin Yue had gone and cursed, "What kind of horse is that? It keeps ruining my plans, you son of a bitch!"

"We managed to control him in Huating County last time, but this beast forced his way out and trampled three of my brothers!"

Ji Gang grew angrier with each curse, veins throbbing on his forehead. "I had already pinned him down, and it still managed to sneak up from behind and kick me! I almost kicked it to death!"

Liu Zhong stood to the side with his hands hanging down, cold sweat streaming down his forehead.

He secretly glanced at Ji Gang's furious profile, then quickly lowered his head, not daring to speak.

Lin Yue's warhorse was specially selected by him because this chestnut warhorse looked very intelligent, but at present, it seems to be a little too intelligent.

Faced with Lin Yue's killing of the county magistrate and subsequent escape, Ji Gang did not choose to continue the pursuit. Instead, he planned to write a memorial to Emperor Yongle to shift the blame.

This will be the decision that Ji Gang will regret most in the second half of his life.

The commotion Lin Yue caused was far greater than he had imagined.

Lin Yue spurred his horse and galloped away, heading far away from Ji Gang and the others.

Unlike Liu Zhong, Ji Gang was extremely loyal to Zhu Di and was a ruthless character who would not give up until he achieved his goal.

They won't let this go easily since they failed to catch me this time. They might even use force against me next time. It would be terrible if I were caught and taken back.

At least for now, we can't let him take us back to Nanjing.

Lin Yue's mind involuntarily conjured up the horrific scenes he had witnessed along the way: villages along the shores of Taihu Lake submerged, rotting corpses swirling on the water's surface, and emaciated refugees.

The magistrate of Wu County was executed for embezzlement and corruption, and the magistrate of Huating County was also beheaded by him personally on the riverbank for abandoning the people and fleeing.

The heads of two high-ranking officials have already been chopped off. Now that we've started, let's go all the way.

Lin Yue wanted to completely eradicate the floods in Jiangnan, not for any other reason than for the sake of those starving people.

Lin Yue decided to pull off something big: he would mobilize the people of the Ming Dynasty!

After running all the way, Lin Yue came to a high earthen slope, which was crowded with displaced disaster victims, densely packed together.

Lin Yue reined in his horse, the chestnut warhorse neighed, and came to a steady stop at the bottom of the slope.

Upon seeing this, the disaster victims turned around one after another. When they saw that the person who came was wearing a bright red robe, a commotion broke out in the crowd.

"It's an imperial envoy. He's so young; he must be the imperial envoy in charge of flood control in Jiangnan."

"The Imperial Envoy has come to our rescue!"

Shouts rose and fell as the disaster victims crowded around Lin Yue. Despite their weakness, they still tried to squeeze to the front to get closer to the imperial envoy who was relieving the suffering in Jiangnan.

Lin Yue was very surprised. He had only been in Jiangnan for a little over ten days to manage the floods, so how could the people in any place recognize him?

It's not really an exaggeration. Floods occurred in various parts of Jiangnan, and there were disaster victims everywhere. It was easy for a high-ranking imperial envoy who suddenly appeared to be killing corrupt officials and controlling floods to be widely praised.

As long as you do things for the people, they will naturally raise you high.

Lin Yue urged his horse forward, wading through the puddles, and approached the small hill.

Upon seeing Lin Yue arrive on horseback, an old woman knelt down, lifted her young grandson high in the air, and wept uncontrollably.

"Your Excellency, my son and daughter-in-law have been swept away by the flood, leaving only this one grandson. Please, grant us a way to survive!"

Lin Yue helped the old woman up and said loudly to the crowd of disaster victims, "Please get up, old lady, and fellow villagers!"

"Until the floods are eradicated, our homes will never be restored. I, Lin Yue, will not leave until the floods in Jiangnan are cured!"

He drew the eight-sided Han sword bestowed upon him by the emperor from his waist and proclaimed loudly, "I am the imperial envoy appointed by His Majesty. Today I will select strong and robust men to accompany me in controlling the floods and protecting the people!"

"As long as you're willing to work, you'll be provided with three full meals a day and two bushels of grain a month. Those who are willing, step forward!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a tall, tattooed man stepped forward. He was about thirty years old, with strong arms and a fierce look in his eyes.

"Imperial Envoy Lin is a good official who stands up for the people. I, Zhao Hu, am willing to follow you, even if it means going through fire and water!"

With the first person taking the lead, more and more burly men responded and stepped forward. In a short while, hundreds of people stood in front of Lin Yue.

Lin Yue selected fifty strong and capable men from among them.

"From this day forward, you will be my guard. You will protect the safety of the flood control project, supervise the laborers' work, and rigorously investigate corrupt officials and treacherous villains!"

Lin Yue said in a deep voice, "Let me make this clear from the start: if anyone dares to act recklessly or oppress the people, don't blame me, Lin Yue, for being ruthless!"

"yes!"

Fifty young men responded in unison; their voices weren't perfectly synchronized, but they were certainly loud.

Lin Yue nodded in satisfaction. With these fifty able-bodied men around, they could at least hinder Ji Gang's arrest to some extent.

As long as he doesn't get caught, Lin Yue is confident that he can make a name for himself in the Jiangnan region.

It's time to show the Ming Dynasty a little bit of the methods later generations used to unite farmers.

Lin Yue led the group of disaster victims, avoiding the official roads and speeding along country lanes towards Qingpu in Songjiang Prefecture.

Disaster victims joined along the way, and many able-bodied men from Huating County and Shanghai County also came back to join them, gradually growing the group to several thousand people at one point.

Qingpu is located in the lower reaches of Taihu Lake and the upper reaches of the Huangpu River. With its rivers and streams crisscrossing like a spider web, it is an important waterway in the Yangtze River Delta region and a key hub for water management.

Upon arriving in Qingpu, Lin Yue, following the same pattern as before, immediately ordered the town to be sealed off, prohibiting landlords and gentry from entering or leaving at will.

At the same time, all the prominent local landlords and gentry were summoned and given one hour to assemble at the City God Temple. Those who failed to do so would be punished for colluding with corrupt officials and obstructing flood control efforts.

Young men, armed with sickles, went along the streets shouting warnings and banging gongs, causing chaos and disorder in the town of Qingpu.

The landlords and gentry were terrified when they received the news.

They were better informed than the common people, and they were terrified of Lin Yue's ruthless methods.

Some wanted to delay, some wanted to escape, but when they thought of the thousands of disaster victims outside the city, they dared not make any rash moves and could only bite the bullet and head to the City God Temple.

The City God Temple had long been submerged by floodwaters, with half of the stone lions in front of the gate submerged in water, and the statues inside the temple leaning precariously.

Lin Yue sat upright before the altar, on which sat an oil lamp, its dim light illuminating his stern face.

He had an eight-sided Han sword slung across his waist, and dozens of strong young men stood on either side of him, making him look intimidating.

Before long, dozens of landlords and gentry arrived one after another, and they all showed expressions of fear upon seeing the scene.

"Your Excellency, what important matter has summoned us here for?"

Lin Yue's gaze was sharp as a knife as he swept over the crowd and slowly said, "You are all gentry from Qingpu, with large families and great wealth, and you have received great favor from the Emperor."

The Jiangnan region is currently suffering from devastating floods, leaving many people homeless. Flood control is of utmost urgency. The reason I have summoned you all today is to levy taxes and provisions and mobilize manpower.

He paused, then raised his voice: "Anyone who voluntarily donates a thousand bushels of grain or a hundred taels of cash will be pardoned for past offenses. Those who voluntarily return any previously acquired land may be rewarded accordingly. But those who hoard land, collude with corrupt officials, or refuse to cooperate will not be spared!"

Upon hearing this, a commotion immediately arose in the crowd.

The landlords and gentry looked at each other, their faces showing reluctance.

Donating a thousand bushels of grain or a hundred taels of money was not difficult for them, but returning the confiscated land was like cutting off their flesh.

Lin Yue sneered: "It seems that all the landlords and gentry in these places are the same; they all won't shed tears until they see the coffin."

"Guards, arrest everyone present, confiscate their property, open the granaries and distribute the grain to the people, and give all their land to the people."

The able-bodied men excitedly rushed forward and pinned the landlord and gentry to the ground.

Some local gentry were narrow-minded, resorting to insults and fierce resistance.

Lin Yue immediately transformed into a psychologist, delivering a decisive blow that cured him instantly, helping him broaden his mind.

"I am a relative of Minister Li, the Minister of Rites! You can't arrest me! Minister Li will not let you get away with this!"

"A relative of Minister Li?" Lin Yue kicked him and shouted, "Tie him up tighter, we'll have to interrogate him severely later."

"Spare me, Your Excellency! I'm willing to donate money and grain, I just beg Your Excellency to spare my life."

Lin Yue remained unmoved and shouted sternly, "I have given you a chance. It's too late to beg for mercy now. Drag him away."

The landlord, who had been dragged away, stopped begging for mercy and immediately roared in anger.

"How can they confiscate our property immediately after we ask once and they don't agree? Besides, we didn't say we objected, so why did they confiscate our property?"

You planned this all along; you just wanted to find an excuse to seize our land!

You cruel official!

Lin Yue raised an eyebrow: "You guessed right. So what are you going to do about it?"

Faced with Lin Yue's shameless behavior, the landlord was at his wit's end and could only wail repeatedly, "Heavens above, is there any justice left? Is there any law left?"

Lin Yue snorted coldly: "Hmph, the one that can save the majority of people is the true justice."

I am an imperial envoy. His Majesty has bestowed upon me a precious sword and granted me the authority to act as I see fit. In Jiangnan, my words are law!

Drag him away. If he has blood on his hands, let him experience the cruel methods of a ruthless official!

With swift and brutal interrogation and the support of numerous disaster victims, Lin Yue confiscated all the landlords' money and grain, firmly controlling the area near Qingpu.

He ordered all the confiscated grain and fodder to be stored in an open space near the City God Temple, and assigned able-bodied men to guard it strictly. At the same time, he posted notices informing the people that they could come and collect the grain.

Subsequently, Lin Yue recruited laborers on a large scale and mobilized people from all over the country, accepting them all, regardless of age, gender, or whether they were vagrants or unregistered residents.

The able-bodied young men were responsible for dredging the river and transporting stones, while the elderly and weak, with their limited physical strength, were responsible for making tools and transporting provisions. The women, on the other hand, organized themselves to cook and mend clothes.

Meanwhile, Lin Yue also held a grievance meeting in Qingpu County at the frequency of beheading one landlord a day, with various classic model operas performed in turn, and the people of the Ming Dynasty were able to appreciate the White-Haired Girl ahead of time.

Lin Yue also took the initiative to slightly modify the Longjiang Song into the Huangpu River Song, featuring an unknown hero who jumped into the river to block the flood.

In an instant, the Qingpu area burst forth with an astonishing power of vibrant life and burgeoning vitality.

In Qingpu County, where the work is in full swing, the water management project has officially begun.

The banks of the river were densely packed with laborers, many of whom had even come from Suzhou Prefecture.

Upon hearing that it was Imperial Envoy Lin Yuelin in charge of flood control, they immediately responded with great enthusiasm.

Unaware of the true situation, Tang Zong, the prefect of Suzhou, once again assumed that Lin Yue's large-scale mobilization of laborers for flood control was an order from Zhu Di and proactively transported tens of thousands of shi of grain and a large amount of flood control equipment to Qingpu.

Suzhou Prefecture was an important grain-producing area in the Ming Dynasty, with tax grain generally exceeding 2 million shi (a unit of dry measure). Its grain reserves were also very large, consistently maintained at 100,000 shi, or even 1 million shi.

Given this level of savings, if Ming Dynasty officials had actively provided disaster relief, there would have been virtually no large number of victims due to the floods. However, Ming Dynasty officials were never proactive in this regard.

Through Lin Yue's actions, he assembled the laborers at an astonishing speed.

In just a few days, the number of laborers who came to join the movement from Qingpu to the border of Suzhou and Songjiang surged from the initial few thousand to tens of thousands, and the number is still growing rapidly.

The reason why so many laborers flocked to the laborers so quickly was entirely because Lin Yue had gone completely mad.

Previously, Lin Yue was still somewhat concerned about the impact, but now he has completely let himself go and is carrying out this resource redistribution on the land of the Ming Dynasty.

Whenever corrupt officials or landlords and gentry who hoarded goods were discovered, Lin Yue would unleash the eight-sided Han sword bestowed upon him by the Yongle Emperor and slaughter them.

Then came the much-anticipated opening of granaries and distribution of land.

In addition, Lin Yue personally went to the front line to control the floods and spared no effort in digging canals to save people. The people all regarded him as a benevolent ruler and flocked to him for help.

To facilitate management, Lin Yue divided tens of thousands of laborers into battalions and teams. Each battalion had 1,000 men and a battalion leader. Each battalion was further divided into ten teams, each with 100 men and a team leader.

Lin Yue also had uniform flags made, one for each battalion, with the battalion number embroidered on it for easy identification.

The laborers not only had a clear division of labor, but even their commands were quite accurate.

Before starting work each day, the camp leader would shout out commands to each laborer to ensure that the orders were accurately conveyed.

After work began, the laborers chanted slogans and exerted themselves with great efficiency and uniformity.

From afar, the banks of the river were adorned with fluttering banners and teeming with laborers, creating an astonishingly large and imposing sight. An uninformed person might mistake it for a large army preparing for battle.

One day, Lin Yue personally came to inspect the construction site of the dredging of Fanjiabang.

Fanjiabang is a tributary of the Huangpu River. The river channel is narrow and heavily silted up, making it one of the key areas for water management.

Lin Yue, dressed in shorts with his sleeves rolled up, jumped into the riverbed himself and joined the laborers in digging up the mud and sand.

After working in the fields for many days, Lin Yue's movements had become very skilled. He wielded a shovel, shoveled soil, and threw mud in one go, doing just as well as the laborers who worked year-round.

Seeing the imperial envoy's approachable manner, the laborers worked even harder.

"Since Imperial Envoy Lin is personally taking charge, we must put in even more effort!"

"May the floods be cured soon, and may we all be able to return home and reunite with our families!"

The laborers encouraged each other, their shovels practically smoking from the effort.

Just then, a young and strong guard rushed over and whispered a few words in Lin Yue's ear.

Lin Yue frowned, then relaxed.

It startled him; he thought Zhu Di had reacted swiftly and attacked.

It turned out that Ji Gang, along with a few Imperial Guards, disguised themselves as disaster victims and tried to sneak into the flood control site, but they were recognized by the patrolling laborers and surrounded on the spot.