Chapter 851 This is a provocation, blood should be shed
In Jiangjiazhuang outside the city, hundreds of people were standing in the village's drying yard.
Just last night, a group of thieves raided the village and set fire to more than ten households. People managed to escape, but after escaping, they were attacked by more than ten thieves, who immediately injured three people seriously and dozens of people slightly.
"Has the doctor arrived?" The village head Han Shan came. He had just visited the three seriously injured farmers. The situation was not optimistic.
"Go and invite them. I guess we'll have to wait for a while." said a farmer.
"Old Han, call the police!" said an old man.
"I've sent someone to go." Han Shan said in a deep voice, "The village celebrated loudly yesterday, which gave the thieves an opportunity to take advantage of it. This is my fault."
As early as the great war between Confucianism and Mohism, Jiang Qingzhi had repeatedly told Han Shan that Zhuangzi must be vigilant against sneak attacks.
Perhaps only Jiang Qingzhi knew what the Confucian group was capable of... Later, when Emperor Wanli learned that the people he sent to collect taxes were burned to death, he couldn't believe it.
"What should we do?" Several old men gathered together and after discussing it, they all looked solemn.
"This happened just after Lord Earl assumed power. It must have been intentional. Those people wanted to intimidate Lord Earl." An old man sighed, "We are also victims of this disaster!"
"Don't forget, we pay the least taxes and levies. This is all due to the grace of the Lord. As a human being, you can't just give up everything you have earned!" said another old man dissatisfiedly.
"I have never forgotten my roots, but if this continues... there is no such thing as guarding against thieves for a thousand days, right? You can never be too defensive."
"That's true, but let's wait until the government catches the thief."
"Yes, I know who attacked last night."
"Someone is coming."
An official came trotting over with a few clerks and constables.
It's jogging!
The farmers around Han Shan cursed: "In the past, we couldn't even invite them, and when they did, they were very arrogant. But today they are like this."
"Shut up!" Han Shan shouted at the farmer, but there was also sarcasm in his eyes. An old man sighed, "What do you mean the lord is in charge of the new policy? That's nothing... He has so much power, killing a few officials is not a big deal. These people are afraid."
Sure enough, the official politely asked about what happened last night, and the detectives went to investigate the scene, busy as a whirlwind.
Da da da!
The sound of horse hooves came hurriedly.
somebody is coming.
Han Shan smiled and said, "Old people always say that if one person succeeds, the whole family will benefit. We can be considered to have benefited from the uncle's help."
But the fish in the pond also benefited from it.
"It's the uncle." someone shouted.
Han Shan's body trembled, and he turned around, only to see several riders galloping towards him.
The leader is none other than Jiang Qingzhi.
"My uncle is here."
The farmers seemed to have found their backbone. The women began to weep, and the men silently watched Jiang Qingzhi dismounting in front of them.
Han Shan went up to him and said, "Greetings, Master."
Jiang Qing got off his horse and glanced at everyone, "How is it?"
"Three people were seriously injured. The doctor should be on the way. I..."
Pfft!
Han Shan knelt down and bowed his head. "Yesterday, I heard the news of Master's promotion, so..."
"It was us who took the initiative." Several old men came over and knelt down.
"Get up!" Jiang Qingzhi frowned, "Don't shorten my life."
Mo Zhan and others came over and lifted up the old men. Jiang Qingzhi looked at Han Shan who was ready to stand up and said, "You, keep kneeling."
Han Shan smiled bitterly, "Last night, the farm was celebrating for the Lord, and many people drank too much."
"The night watchman must have drunk too much!" Jiang Qingzhi asked coldly.
After the Confucian-Mohist war broke out, Jiang Qingzhi ordered the village to be alert and someone must be on duty at night to give the alarm if anything was wrong.
"Yes. This villain deserves to die." Han Shan was panicked.
"Tell me about the situation."
"Yes." Han Shan saw the officials waiting on the side, and bowed slightly, not daring to look directly at Jiang Qingzhi. He didn't know how much power it was to take charge of the new policy, but he knew something about the power of the prime minister.
That was the prime minister who could discuss and make decisions on state affairs with the emperor.
"Last night, more than ten thieves raided the farm. They set it on fire first. When I rushed out, they were beating up the farmers who had rushed out..."
"Wait!" Jiang Qingzhi stretched out his hand, "You said beating?"
"Yes, they used wooden sticks." Han Shan said, "Our people were disheveled and in a state of panic, and they were beaten up severely..."
"No knife?" Jiang Qingzhi asked.
Han Shan shook his head, "Not really."
Xu Wei had just come back from the scene and said, "Those people didn't dare to kill anyone, for fear of angering the Lord and causing a fight to the death."
"It's a fight to the death." Sun Bu Tong said, "The imperial decree came yesterday, and someone raided the manor last night. This is to slap the face of the Bo Mansion!"
Xu Wei rarely refuted people, "The fight to the death refers to those scholars and officials, but the thieves last night didn't dare to do so. Do you understand?"
Sun Bu Tong thought he was smart, but was startled when he heard this. "Yes, they set the fire, and if we're not careful, someone will get burned to death. The person behind it must have ordered the killing, but the thief was worried that the uncle would get to the bottom of the matter..."
Jiang Qingzhi turned his gaze to the official, who hurried over and said, "This humble official greets you, Lord."
Tsk!
Jiang Qingzhi felt a little uncomfortable with the title of "Lord". "Let's just keep the original title!"
Mr. Prime Minister, it seems like he is in his seventies or eighties.
Just like in later generations, no matter how big or small the business is, it is always addressed as something like "General".
"Yes, sir, after learning about this, the county magistrate immediately led his subordinates to come, and he will be here soon." This is a gesture: Knowing that such a thing happened in your village, our local officials are extremely anxious!
Xu Wei was somewhat displeased with these officialdom posturings, but seeing that Jiang Qingzhi was calm and composed, he thought that the uncle was quite calm, as if he had experienced all of this before.
"Have you found anything?"
"No." The official lowered his head in shame, "The thief did not leave anything behind."
This matter was the fault of the village. More than ten thieves beat dozens of farmers into a panic, and they had no power to fight back. Han Shan's face was as red as a monkey's butt.
The county magistrate arrived, and Jiang Qingzhi said to Xu Wei: "You go and negotiate. In one word, investigate thoroughly!"
When Xu Wei came over, the county magistrate looked at him with a heavy expression, "I am incompetent, so this happened under my jurisdiction. As for the elder..."
"Call him Lord!" Xu Wei thought his boss's habit was a little strange. The elder was much more noble than Lord, and he felt uncomfortable. "This happened after the decree was issued. This is a provocation!"
The county magistrate was very clear-headed. "Yes. This matter is outrageous to both humans and gods. I will definitely investigate it thoroughly."
"The people from the Ministry of Justice are here."
What the hell!
This time even the calm Mo Zhan was shocked, "Isn't this noise too loud?"
Sun Bu Tong smiled and said, "A new official has three things to do when he takes office. The Ministry of Justice also has to please Lord Bo. Otherwise, if they start a fire... who knows who will be burned to death."
The people from the Ministry of Justice are good, but the thieves last night were not bad either, and they didn't leave any traces at all.
"I am incompetent!" The leader of the team was actually a palace official, which shows the attitude of the Ministry of Justice towards Jiang Qingzhi, the newly appointed powerful official.
He had just taken office, no, he hadn’t even taken office yet and he was hit hard. Everyone was thinking that this cabinet minister would most likely be extremely furious!
We have all tried our best, and the anger should not be over.
"First, ask the doctor to do his best to treat you. Just go to Xin'an Lane to get the money, no matter how much it costs." Jiang Qingzhi ordered.
"Thank you, uncle!"
"My uncle is so kind and righteous!"
If it were any other big boss, when something like this happened in his village, at most he would send a manager.
"Second, the weather is cold, so we immediately hired someone to tear down and rebuild the burned house, and the money still went to the family."
"Thank you, uncle!"
The dozen or so families knelt down. They were originally worried about how they would survive the winter, but Jiang Qingzhi took care of it as soon as he asked. Moreover, their original house was old, so this was also a benefit.
"Third." Jiang Qingzhi raised his eyebrows, and Han Shan felt a chill coming over him. "There's nothing going on in the farm these days, so let the farmers go around and tell the people around them that anyone who can provide clues about the thief will get one thousand coins. If the thief is found based on the clues, ten thousand coins will be given!"
There were farms all around, although they belonged to different families. But no matter which family they were from, no one dared to offend this new boss at this moment.
"Yes."
Jiang Qing got on the horse and immediately returned to Beijing.
Behind him, the county magistrate smiled and said, "Your Excellency is in command, and you are indeed a famous general." Turning back, he had a cold face. "Why are you still standing there? Go and tell them, I will give you another thousand coins."
"Yes."
Dao Ye just got the news.
"This is a provocation from those people." Most of the memorials received last night expressed dissatisfaction with the new policy, with various hints. The most common were "worried" advice.
Any new policy, especially the land inventory, will inevitably lead to opposition from the people of the country. In this case, how can the new policy be implemented?
"Yes." Rui Jingxian said, "Those people set fire to the manor, but they didn't dare to kill them. That's their habit."
"This is a provocation, but also a warning." Emperor Jiajing picked up a memorial and took a look at it.
——The land inventory is too hasty, and I am worried that there will be things that I cannot bear to talk about...
"I can't bear to say it!" Emperor Jiajing laughed, "You are threatening me!"
"Your Majesty, how about this servant..." Rui Jingxian's eyes were filled with excitement, "The whole East Factory is on standby, waiting for your Majesty's order to arrest someone."
"After arresting people, the ones who came in to replace them were still the same people." Emperor Jiajing was not stupid. He had fought against the literati for decades and had seen through all this.
You can change people, no problem, but the people you replace are still my Confucian disciples. For example, Xu Jie.
Looking around, who among the officials in the entire court, and even in the entire world, is not a disciple of Confucianism?
Unless the Taoist priest appoints peddlers as officials, replacing them is the worst option.
Later, Emperor Chongzhen took this path. If this one doesn't suit my taste, I'll replace him. If that minister doesn't suit my taste, I'll replace him...
During the reign of Emperor Chongzhen, important officials were replaced like a revolving lantern, but no matter how Emperor Chongzhen changed them, the situation remained the same. And the more they changed, the worse it got.
Later on, the emperor and his ministers became complete enemies, to the point that Emperor Chongzhen's decrees became waste paper once they left the palace.
This is a lose-lose situation!
The Taoist priest naturally wouldn't do that.
"Your Majesty, Long Wilbur requests to see you."
"Chang Wei Bo?" Emperor Jiajing smiled. "Doesn't that idiot allow people to call him a minister?"
The eunuch who came to report said with a smile, "That's right. Chang Wei Bo said, 'Grand Master, Grand Master.' You can tell he's in his seventies or eighties."
Jiang Qingzhi is here.
"How do you plan to deal with this matter?" asked Emperor Jiajing.
This is a small test.
Jiang Qingzhi smiled and said, "Of course, there will be blood."
(End of this chapter)
