Chapter 167: Southeast Sword Roaring, Hai Rui: This kind of nonsense is not allowed to exist on the territory of the Ming Dynasty!
"Is it over?" Yan Maoqing looked at Yan Shifan in confusion.
Recently, they heard that the dispute among the three religions of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism in the capital was becoming increasingly fierce, so at the request of the young minister, the two came to the largest restaurant in the capital, Zuixianlou.
Unfortunately, they actually encountered this scene.
This was just a spur-of-the-moment idea. I didn't expect to encounter it. This shows how the conflict among the three religions has developed to what extent.
However, when Yan Maoqing heard the young cabinet minister say that it was time to end it, he was a little confused. The dispute among the three religions had reached this point. Could it really be so easy to end it?
As Yan Shifan's confidant, Yan Maoqing naturally knew some inside information, and he also knew that the dispute among the three religions was instigated by the imperial court.
However, he had no idea how the imperial court specifically planned to end the conflict among the three religions.
"Help me arrange something," Yan Shifan waved his hand at the confused Yan Maoqing, asking him to come closer, "arrange a group of people to go..."
After hearing the whisper, Yan Maoqing nodded repeatedly.
In the Western Garden, in Yuxi Palace, Jiajing looked at his natal Ming Dynasty floating in front of him, while Lv Fang quietly served beside him.
Naturally, both of them saw the fierce struggle among the three religions of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism in the Ming Dynasty today.
"The power of Confucianism headed by the Kong family should not be underestimated..." Jiajing withdrew his gaze from his natal Ming Dynasty and said in an inexplicable tone.
"My Lord," Lu Fang could naturally hear the meaning of Jiajing's words, indicating that he was expressing his dissatisfaction with the Kong family, so he said with an idea: "The secret report from the Jinyiwei stationed in the Kong family shows that Kong Zhengan directly called the Lord by his name, which was extremely arrogant."
"This move is tantamount to expressing rebellious intentions." Lu Fang said slowly, carefully observing Jiajing's expression.
"The finale is almost over," but Jiajing didn't seem to care at all. He raised his finger slightly and said, "Next, it's the turn of the main act..."
Having served Jiajing for many years, Lu Fang naturally understood what his master meant, and immediately agreed with a smile:
"I think it's time for Elder Yan and his men to take action."
"It's time to unsheathe the sword I left in the southeast," Jiajing said, raising his finger slightly, "Send a letter to Hai Rui, and he will know what to do then."
"Yes, I'll do it right away." Lu Fang said, bowed, turned around and left.
"Once the dispute among the three religions is over and the reform begins, we can plant spiritual veins in the capital." Looking at Lu Fang's leaving back, Jiajing secretly calculated in his heart.
A falcon flew out from the West Garden and rushed towards the southeast.
In the evening, in Ningbo Prefecture, in the back hall of the prefectural government office.
"Go." Hai Rui gently patted the falcon standing on the windowsill. With spiritual energy floating on his hands, he dried the falcon's wet feathers, then gently patted the falcon's head and said.
"Ga..." Feeling the gentleness of Hai Rui's big hand, the spirit falcon seemed to have sensed something and gently put its head close to Hai Rui's palm. After making a hoarse whimper, it flapped its wings and flew into the sky.
After watching Ling Falcon leave, Hai Rui chuckled, then picked up the secret decree sent to him by the palace and began to read it.
"Huh." After reading it, Hai Rui let out a light breath, looked up at the gloomy sky, and said softly, "I hope Yan Song and his son won't make a big fuss..."
As he spoke, spiritual energy burst out from Hai Rui's hands, and the secret decree instantly shattered into dust.
In August of the 48th year of the Jiajing reign, the entire southeast was rainy and overcast.
Ningbo Prefecture, Yin County, Wharf.
Hai Rui took office as the prefect of Ningbo Prefecture, and the prefectural government was located in Yin County.
At this time, the Yinxian Wharf was extremely lively.
"Beat them! Beat to death those people who speak for the bald donkey!"
"Brothers, don't be cowardly. Don't let those fools who only dream of becoming immortals and have been fooled by others and can't even find the north take advantage of you!"
For a moment, a fierce conflict broke out between the two groups of people on the dock. You punch me, I kick you, and curses can be heard one after another.
As for the cause of all this, there is no need to guess, it is because of the conflict between the three religions.
The cause is very simple. Some people say that Buddhism is a place full of filth and dirt, which naturally caused dissatisfaction among many Buddhist believers.
The person who said this was naturally a supporter of Taoism.
So, Buddhist believers began to fight back, and Taoist followers were not afraid of trouble either. Then the two sides went from a verbal dispute at the beginning to a full-scale fight today.
The back hall of the prefectural government office.
"Master, Master, something bad has happened!" Hai Rui was working with Wang Yongji when suddenly a servant ran in in a panic.
"Why are you so panicked? Don't forget that this is the prefectural government office. How can this be disrespectful?"
Seeing the servant panicking and behaving in an inappropriate manner, Wang Yongji frowned, stood up and scolded him in a low voice.
"Calm down," Hai Rui frowned as he looked at the servant's panicked and frightened appearance. He raised his sleeves and said calmly, "Tell me the truth, what has made you so panicked?"
Hai Rui was indeed dissatisfied with the servant's behavior.
As a servant in the prefectural government, he actually shouted and screamed when something happened, and kept saying that something serious was going to happen. It was really unbecoming.
Even if this servant is not an official, since he is in the prefectural government, his words and actions represent the court!
In Hai Rui's opinion, there is nothing in the current Ming Dynasty that is worthy of the court's panic.
"Gulp!" Hearing Hai Rui's words, the servant swallowed hard, and then forced himself to calm down. He then raised his hand and bowed to Wang Yongji and Hai Rui, saying, "My two masters, there's a fight at the dock, between Buddhist and Taoist believers!"
"Not only that, with the Taoists and Buddhists coming forward, the entire Yin County has been completely mobilized!"
"Many people have started to take sides, holding hoes and shovels, and are determined to compete with the other side!"
A fight broke out? After hearing the servant's words, Wang Yongji glanced at Hai Rui, and a hint of surprise appeared in his eyes.
On the contrary, Hai Rui, after hearing the news from the servant, behaved unusually calmly, with a hint of understanding in his eyes.
He knew that the dispute between Buddhism and Taoism in Ningbo Prefecture in the southeast today was a fuse, and the purpose was for him to come forward and end this dispute caused by the three religions of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism.
This paved the way for the reforms of the Junior Cabinet Minister Yan Shifan.
Who has the power to cause such a large-scale conflict suddenly to break out in Yin County, where he is in charge?
There is no doubt that there would be no one else except Yan Shifan who presided over the "Qisi Reform" reform.
"Ming Shou," Hai Rui said, standing up and saying, "You go to the garrison immediately and have someone go to the dock!" Hai Rui stood up and said to the servant, "Lead the way!" "Yes!" The servant naturally did not dare to disobey Hai Rui's order, so he responded and quickly turned around and ran out, "Come on, prepare the sedan chair!"
Wang Yongji stared at Hai Rui's back in shock, and then thinking of the crisis, he did not dare to stay any longer and quickly walked out of the hall, but in his heart he was thinking about Hai Rui's calm expression.
"Gangfeng's expression. Hearing that the entire Yin County had erupted into such a large-scale fight because of the dispute between Buddhism and Taoism, Brother Gangfeng, he didn't seem surprised at all, as if he had expected it long ago..."
Soon, Hai Rui arrived at the dock under the guidance of his servants.
At this time, the dock was in chaos, crowded and extremely noisy, while in an open space, a dozen constables had drawn their swords and separated the two groups of people.
"Coward from the Haiyun Gang over there, if you have the guts, come up here or I'll beat your brains out!" A sturdy man with a wooden stick in his hand and a face full of flesh glared at the opposite side, ignoring the obstruction of the constable.
"You jerk from the Chaoyong Society, do you think my grandpa is afraid of you? Come on!" A tall man, with veins bulging out of his neck, glared at the front with a red face.
If the constables hadn't stopped them, the two sides would have already rushed into each other.
"The hypocrites of the Haiyun Gang are just like those bald donkeys in the Buddhist sect. We agreed that the land west of the pier belongs to you and the land east of the pier belongs to us. It's been so many years. How much business of my Chaoyong Club have you taken away?"
"Bullshit!" Faced with the slander from the Chaoyong Society, the people from the Haiyun Gang naturally would not sit idly by and began to refute.
"What do you mean we have encroached upon your Chaoyong Society's business? I think you are just like those Taoist bullies, thinking about cultivating immortals all day long and believing in the existence of immortals. Are you crazy?"
The tall man spat a mouthful of thick phlegm, which almost flew into the mouth of the constable who was shouting at both sides not to rush over.
"You don't know why others don't do business with you, Chaoyonghui, do you?"
"For many years, no matter how the maritime business is, you guys don't know how to adapt, and you stick to those useless, old rules. And your boss is a waste."
"I don't care about the life-and-death struggles among the gang members at all. After following Niubizi to cultivate the Dao for a few days, I started to play the game of governing by doing nothing and letting things take their own course. The management of the family is in chaos..."
"That's it. You still have the nerve to say you're stealing business with your big fat face?" The tall man's attack power is really strong. He said with disdain on his face: "It's normal for those overseas businessmen not to do business with you. If they really do business with you one day, I'm afraid those Westerners are crazy."
“Hahahaha…” After saying that, everyone from the Haiyun Gang burst into laughter, while the people from the Chaoyong Society were extremely angry.
"Bullshit!" The big man with a face full of flesh suddenly became angry and waved the wooden stick in his hand and shouted: "Brothers, go ahead and kill these bastards from the Haiyun Gang!"
“Come on, come on, you wimp from the Chaoyong Society, if you can’t kill me today, I will take your surname!” The Haiyun Gang was not afraid either.
For a moment, the conflict between the two sides at the dock escalated again.
Seeing this, a dozen constables could only try their best to push the two sides apart. However, facing the angry members of the Haiyun Gang and the Chaoyong Gang, the power of a dozen people was too small.
If it weren't for the official uniforms they were wearing, and if the prefect of Ningbo Prefecture was not Hai Rui, this group of people would have lost control and started fighting each other.
At this time, not far from the freight terminal, Hai Rui had already gotten off the sedan chair and was looking coldly at the two parties who were blushing in the distance.
Beside him, the servant wiped the sweat from his forehead and carefully introduced the Haiyun Gang and the Chaoyong Society to Hai Rui.
"Master, this Haiyun Gang has existed since the Hongwu Dynasty of Emperor Taizu. To put it bluntly, it is a group of fishermen and dock workers. They initially united to jointly resist pirate invasions. Even some of their leaders are military personnel..."
"In the beginning, it was a force formed by a few injured centurions. Later, they began to gather some brothers who were injured on the battlefield, and gradually they became a force of great strength."
"After that, they gathered a lot of refugees and solved a lot of problems for the court and the local area. The prefect tacitly approved their existence..."
"As time went by, the Haiyun Gang gradually developed into an influential freight gang in Ningbo Prefecture."
"It is mainly responsible for unloading goods shipped from various places, and also provides ship repairs to ensure that merchant ships can travel safely between Ningbo and other ports."
"Even many overseas merchant ships have cooperated with them. Now that the court has lifted the maritime ban policy, they have also begun to do business at sea. However, their business scope is mainly to the east of this pier, that is, the east coast area to Hangzhou Bay..."
"The area along the west coast to the west of the dock belongs to the Chaoyong Society." The servant explained to Hai Rui in detail, "Of course, before the Yongle era, the entire Ningbo Prefecture was their territory."
"Compared to the Haiyun Gang, which existed during the Hongwu Dynasty, the Chaoyong Society was established later, rising during the Yongle period."
"The similarity is that they are also backed by a group of injured veterans from the military, who say they are imitating the Haiyun Gang back then."
"At first, they made a living under the Haiyun Gang, but there were too many small gangs under the Haiyun Gang. Gradually, they became dissatisfied with the unfair treatment they received at the docks and hoped to fight for a better life by uniting together."
"In addition, the Haiyun Gang was very powerful in the entire Ningbo Prefecture at that time, and was also a force that could not be ignored in the people's resistance against the Japanese pirates. All the prefects or governors who took office would reward them after learning about their deeds."
"In order to prevent one party from dominating, the prefect at that time supported the Chaoyong Society. Since the Yongle period, the two sides have been in constant friction, and gradually they divided the territory with the east and west as the boundary."
"In the recent heated debate among the three religions, I don't know how, the Haiyun Gang and the Chaoyong Society also got involved..." As he spoke, the servant shook his head and sighed.
However, when Hai Rui heard this, a gleam of light flashed in his eyes, and he thought to himself, "It seems that the imperial court has already made plans for my Ningbo Prefecture. Otherwise, why would the Haiyun Gang and Chao Yong be like this?"
The servant naturally had no idea what Hai Rui was thinking, so he continued, "The Haiyun Gang supports Buddhism, and the Chaoyong Society supports Taoism..."
"Just now, because a scholar casually said a word about Buddhist bald donkey when getting off the boat, it caused dissatisfaction among the Haiyun Gang. Chaoyong Club will naturally not allow its guests to be harmed..." As he said this, the servant spread his hands, and the meaning was self-evident.
The two sides fought because of such a ridiculous reason.
"Thump, thump, thump!" At this moment, a burst of dense and orderly footsteps came from the distance.
Wang Yongji was seen riding a horse and hurriedly coming with a group of elite garrison troops behind him.
"Gangfeng, I've brought a thousand garrison troops here. Next..." Before Wang Yongji could finish his words, Hai Rui said coldly, "Detain them all and lock them up in the prefectural government office!"
"Master, wait a minute!" However, as soon as Hai Rui finished speaking, the servant beside him was immediately shocked. He waved his hands repeatedly and said in a low voice: "Absolutely not. There are at least a thousand people here. How can we detain them all? Besides, the Haiyun Gang and the Chaoyong Society are quite powerful..."
The servant was still trying to persuade him urgently, but suddenly he found that Hai Rui was staring at him with a cold look on his face and a faint sense of oppression on his body, which made his heart tremble violently.
"I accept it!" Hai Rui said coldly.
"Captain Li, arrest them all!" Wang Yongji naturally understood Hai Rui's meaning, and waved his hand to signal the captain to take action.
All of a sudden, thousands of elite soldiers took action and there was a loud shout.
"In our Ming Dynasty, there is only the imperial court. There is no such thing as the Haiyun Gang or the Chaoyong Society!" Hai Rui said coldly, "Understand?"
The meaning is very clear. In the Ming Dynasty, such nonsense of court appointment without official permission is not allowed to exist.
Especially right under Hai Rui's nose!
"..."
I have a day off for National Day, so I will update less. I will make up for it tomorrow~
(End of this chapter)
