Chapter 644 Don’t Let Anyone Die
Early in the morning, Zhou Xia led the horse out of the house.
The spring light scattered in the alley, and a few rays of sunlight shone through the gaps in the roof tiles and shone on Zhou Xia.
He walked slowly, walked out of the alley and turned right, then was startled and smiled: "That's to the Ministry of Rites."
He mounted his horse and left the city. The moment he left the city, he felt a little melancholy, but more of a sense of lightness.
Free!
Zhou Xia felt like every pore in his body was cheering.
When we arrived at the Mohist base, someone had given us instructions yesterday, so the managers of the workshop came to see us first.
"Everything remains the same." Zhou Xia said, "The creation of flintlock rifles is the top priority at the moment, and everything else must give way to it."
Altan will march south this year, and muskets will be the focus of this battle.
"Yes."
The stewards took their leave.
Wang Tingxiang came over, and Zhou Xia said with a smile, "Please take a seat, Your Excellency."
Wang Tingxiang asked, "Does the uncle have any instructions on whether we will enroll students this year?"
Zhou Xia said: "I asked the teacher about this matter, and the teacher said that 200 students are enrolled each year."
"Two hundred, so you'll have to go look for it, sir."
"My teacher has given this matter to me, but I still have to rely on the prince." Zhou Xia knew the importance of Wang Tingxiang.
"The Confucian scholars are simple, and my disciples are just sitting idle at home. If it's not appropriate, I can still invite them to come. But the Mohist scholars..."
As expected, it was Wang Tingxiang who easily solved a troublesome issue for the Mohist School.
"There are teachers of Mohism." Zhou Xia said, "I can teach. Besides, there are many students in Xin'an Lane who have achieved academic success and can also teach."
Zhu Shitai is here.
Jiang Qingzhi kicked him to the Mohist base and asked him to teach the children for a few days.
Zhu Shitai taught the class well and Wang Tingxiang was very satisfied, but he felt there was one thing that was not so good.
"They look listless all day, and the children follow their lead."
Zhou Xia called Zhu Shitai over, "Is that matter still not resolved?"
Zhu Shitai smiled bitterly, "Now it's all over the place. People say I have a chronic illness and I'm going crazy from time to time..."
Isn't that epilepsy?
Zhou Xia asked: "How will the Duke respond?"
"My parents are trying to refute the rumors, but..." Zhu Shitai sighed, "My second uncle said that it takes only one mouth to spread a rumor, but it takes a lot of effort to refute it."
Zhou Xia also felt quite sympathetic, "Who said it wasn't true?"
But he couldn't say anything about it, he could only comfort her.
Zhu Shitai's coming to teach outside the city also caused some discussion. Some people said that he was going to avoid criticism, while others said that the Chengguo Mansion wanted to prove to the outside world that their beloved son was not crazy at all.
"Can a madman still teach?"
Rui Jingxian looked at the news in his hand and laughed, "Earlier, that young Duke was very popular. Matchmakers trampled on the threshold of the Duke's Mansion. But now no one is interested. This is the rich and powerful! They turn their backs on people, even worse than us!"
Although the eunuchs acted extreme, they would not change their attitude as swiftly as turning over the pages of a book.
"This guy! Now that he has a wife and children, he becomes more cautious in his actions. This uncle..." Rui Jingxian saw the message about Jiang Qingzhi.
"I stay at home all day, and at most I go out to go fishing."
Rui Jingxian stroked his smooth chin, "Yesterday, Long Wei Bo and his fishing friends said that it would be nice if this Long Wei Bo was changed to Fishing Bo. Fishing Bo, where is the place name called Fishing?"
"Superintendent." A foreigner came in and said after saluting, "The merchants of the Altan tribe are making a fuss."
"Oh! Why?" Rui Jingxian's eyes flashed with a gleam. This is a rare opportunity. While the Jinyiwei haven't reacted yet, my Dongchang will take decisive action to suppress it... a great achievement!
"The Ministry of Rites sent someone to expel them, saying that from today on, all transactions must be conducted outside the capital. The merchants refused to comply and even resorted to violence."
"Okay!" Rui Jingxian stood up suddenly, "Call the good guys, remember, we are suppressing them, don't take action unless it's absolutely necessary."
He just wanted credit and to suppress his old rival Lu Bing at the same time. Once he took action, the nature of the situation would change and he could not afford it.
The merchants of the Altan tribe were all concentrated in an inn. According to the agreement reached at the beginning, they could move around in the city, but if they were discovered while spying...
I'm sorry, I will kill you without mercy, and execute you immediately. Since the beginning of trade between the two sides, more than ten merchants and associates have died in the Altan tribe.
Correspondingly, more than ten people from the Ming Dynasty caravan also died.
This battle without the smoke of gunpowder has continued to this day, but with the expulsion by the Ministry of Rites today, it is about to come to an abrupt end.
More than a dozen grassland merchants became angry upon hearing the news and started to fight with the officials from the Ministry of Rites. It was unclear who started the fight first, but a fierce fight broke out between the two sides.
Jiang Qingzhi was just about to go out of town to go fishing when he received this news.
The news was sent by the Jinyiwei, and it was sent by Jiang Qingzhi's rival Zhu Hao. He stared at Jiang Qingzhi with a defiant look, "The commander said that His Majesty asked Changwei Bo to take charge of this matter. Now the officials of the Ministry of Rites have been beaten to a bloody pulp by those grassland barbarians. Please ask Changwei Bo to deal with it. If Changwei Bo feels embarrassed, I, the Jinyiwei, am willing to serve you."
The Minister of Rites Xu Jie was Jiang Qingzhi's enemy, and Jiang Qingzhi's eldest disciple Zhou Xiacai was about to resign. From the outside world's perspective, this person was dismissed from the Ministry of Rites.
That is Jiang Qingzhi’s eldest disciple!
The next step is the doctor, the future important official. Jiang Qingzhi and the Mohist School lack this kind of core official.
But now that Zhou Xia has resigned, Jiang Qingzhi's hopes have been dashed. Zhu Hao asked himself, if it were him, upon hearing that the officials of the Ministry of Rites were beaten, he would just stand by and watch.
There are only two things in the world: none of your business, and none of my business.
Just watch the show.
Zhu Hao came in person just to provoke Jiang Qingzhi and put him in a dilemma.
If I don't go, it would seem like I'm derelict in my duty, but if I go, I'm helping my old rival out.
Jiang Qingzhi glanced at him, turned his horse's head, and said, "Gee!"
……
"Your Majesty, officials from the Ministry of Rites were injured while trying to expel the Altan merchants. Two of them were seriously injured."
Lu Bing was not as slow to realize the news as Rui Jingxian. He had already learned the news and was reporting it in Yongshou Palace.
When the master is humiliated, the minister dies; but in many cases, the master is humiliated when the minister dies.
Beating the officials of the Ministry of Rites was tantamount to slapping Emperor Jiajing in the face.
It's been a long time since someone did something like this. The Jiajing Emperor's face turned green, and Lu Bing, who knew him well, knew that His Majesty was angry!
"Yan San!"
"His Majesty!"
At some point, Yan San quietly came to the side of Emperor Jiajing.
Lu Bing glanced at Yan San and felt a chill in his heart.
He dared to marry Yan Song, dared to marry Xu Jie, and dared to build relationships with anyone, but he just didn't dare to get close to Yan San.
That is the emperor's last resort, and even his brothers cannot touch it.
"His Majesty."
Lu Bing knew something was going to happen, so his previous arrangements seemed a bit redundant. He quickly said, "This matter is under the overall control of Chang Wei Bo. I have sent someone to find him and report this matter."
In an instant, Lu Bing saw that Emperor Jiajing's body relaxed and his face gradually turned rosy.
"I'm tired."
"Yes, I resign!"
Lu Bing slowly backed away until he was almost at the palace gate, then he turned around.
He took the opportunity to glance at Emperor Jiajing when he turned around.
Emperor Jiajing stroked the jade awl and said softly, "Go and have a look, but don't let anyone get killed."
"Yes." Yan San saluted.
……
Jiang Qingzhi has arrived.
In the lobby of the inn, three officials from the Ministry of Rites were lying there, and the remaining two stood aside. One of them sneered, "Don't even think about escaping after we start fighting. Let's wait for the people from the Five Cities Military Department to arrive."
The other person looked back from time to time.
More than a dozen grassland merchants were discussing something at the back of the lobby, many of them looking panicked.
"No matter who is right in this matter, they lost three people, but we are not hurt at all. This is not right."
"What about that?"
"Someone of us has to suffer as well."
"Then would you like to go?"
"Draw lots."
"Alright."
Someone brought some hay, broke it into pieces, and more than ten merchants drew it.
"short!"
"Fuck! Chief!"
Two grassland merchants drew the long lot. They were decisive. They stretched out their arms and closed their eyes. "Hurry up!"
The two followers took sticks and smashed down fiercely.
Click!
"Ow!"
The merchants came out, their arms hanging down, in great pain.
"You..." The official from the Ministry of Rites saw them and pointed at them: "This is self-mutilation!"
The two businessmen looked up, and one of them grinned and said, "The officials from the Ministry of Rites started it first, and we fought back now."
"People from the Five Cities Military Department are here."
When the people from the Five Cities Military Division arrived, the officials from the Ministry of Rites quickly told them about the incident, including the fact that the other party had committed self-mutilation.
But the people from the Five Cities Army were in trouble.
"For this matter... why don't we send the Jinyiwei?" The general leading the team knew that this was a hornet's nest and he would be the one to be blamed if he didn't handle it properly.
Just as the officials of the Ministry of Rites were furious and the grassland merchants were secretly delighted, someone outside shouted, "Get out of the way!"
"Who is so arrogant?" a soldier cursed, turned around, slapped himself, and said with a smile: "My Lord, I didn't know you were here."
When Jiang Qingzhi walked into the lobby, the two officials from the Ministry of Rites were delighted at first, then fell silent.
After Zhou Xia resigned, everyone in the Ministry of Rites felt that from then on the Ministry of Rites would be the mortal enemy of Jiang Qingzhi and the Mohists.
Now that our mortal enemy has arrived, he will naturally not help the Ministry of Rites.
Then the guards rushed in and drove the merchants' entourage aside.
"Who can tell me what happened here?" Jiang Qingzhi asked.
The official from the Ministry of Rites remained silent, thinking, since we don't expect you to help us, what's the point of saying more? It's just humiliating yourself.
The innkeeper had been hiding in the back, and now he came out and said, "My Lord, today the officials from the Ministry of Rites came here and told these merchants to pack up and leave the capital immediately. They are not allowed to trade in the capital from now on. The two sides had a dispute and started fighting..."
The three officials from the Ministry of Rites were still howling on the ground. Jiang Qingzhi frowned slightly, which was seen as gloating by the officials from the Ministry of Rites.
"As for those two." The shopkeeper pointed at the two grassland merchants with broken arms and was about to speak.
"Who did it?" Jiang Qingzhi asked.
Why don't you ask the truth about the two men's broken arms?
The shopkeeper was about to speak when a waiter said, "There are seven people who took action!"
Jiang Qingzhi said: "Who?"
At this time, an official from the Ministry of Rites came out, pointed at seven people, and sneered at Jiang Qingzhi, "These seven people."
What, just pretend?
Jiang Qingzhi glanced at him and turned around, "Mo Zhan!"
"exist!"
"Kill three of them, and break the legs of the remaining four!"
(End of this chapter)
