GBP Chapter 73 Let's see if that Zhu Emperor still has any shame.
Chapter 73 Let's see if that Zhu Emperor still has any shame.
As the famous decadent writer Mr. Dong Jihe once said, "If you endure it for a moment, you will only get angrier the more you think about it; if you back down, you will only feel more cheated the more you think about it."
"Too deceiving!"
The group of gentry pointed in the direction of Ningyang County and cursed for a long time. Suddenly, Liu Hongchang spat angrily and said, "It's bad enough that this corrupt official is so blatantly bullying us, but he even had those peasants summoned to the county government office to make us look bad in front of them. If I don't file a complaint against him with my brother-in-law, I'm afraid the world will think that I, Liu Hongchang, am a cowardly and weak coward!"
The gentry who had just been clamoring to appeal to the imperial court and to Emperor Zhu Chongba sneered and said, "That corrupt official surnamed Yang dares to act like this. I'm afraid he must have connections in Yanzhou Prefecture and Yidu Prefecture. Even if you appeal to your brother-in-law, do you really think he can stand up for you?"
Liu Hongchang's expression froze for a moment, and he asked, "Then what do you think, Master Geng? Are you really going to go to the capital and beat the grievance drum to appeal to the emperor?"
Master Geng said, "Since we have no way to sue him in Yanzhou Prefecture or Yidu, we can only go to the capital to file a complaint with the emperor."
After a slight pause, Master Geng continued, "As far as I know, before the Ming army's northern expedition, Emperor Zhu issued an edict strictly prohibiting killing and looting. After the Ming army's northern expedition, the military discipline was indeed strict. It can be seen that Emperor Zhu was a wise ruler who cared for the people."
"Moreover, there are many scholars in the capital. If they hear about our plight and learn that the corrupt official surnamed Yang seized our land by abducting us just because he is the head of a county, those scholars will surely cry out for justice for us."
"When I finally bring this up before Emperor Zhu, I'm not afraid that he'll side with that corrupt official surnamed Yang. Then, hmph..."
Hearing Master Geng's murderous words, the dozen or so local gentry exchanged glances and then echoed his sentiments.
"That's right, we should appeal to the capital to prevent the officials of Yanzhou and Yidu from colluding with that corrupt official surnamed Yang and protecting each other!"
"After we arrive in the capital, we will not file a complaint with the emperor immediately. Instead, we will find someone to spread the word that the corrupt official surnamed Yang forcibly seized our land."
"Why wait until we get to the capital? Can't we let people spread the word on our way there?"
"..."
Listening to the dozen or so local gentry talking at once about how to deal with Magistrate Yang Shaofeng, Liu Hongchang couldn't help but nod vigorously and said loudly, "In that case, let's go to the capital now!"
As soon as Liu Hongchang finished speaking, the dozen or so local gentry were instantly energized, each calling to their wives, children, and elderly relatives, and began to head towards Yanzhou Prefecture along the official road leading from Ningyang County.
After traveling for about half an hour towards Yanzhou Prefecture, as dusk approached, a commotion suddenly arose from behind the group of gentry. Liu Hongchang and the others turned around and saw a cloud of dust rising from the direction of Ningyang County. Upon closer inspection, they saw dozens of tall horses galloping towards them.
In the blink of an eye, dozens of horses had already galloped up to Liu Hongchang and other gentry. Dozens of men with their faces covered by black cloth and holding sticks dismounted from the horses.
These people didn't say much to Liu Manchang and his group, and even when faced with cries of "I'm rich, please spare my life, sir!" they turned a deaf ear and simply started beating Liu Hongchang and the other gentry with sticks.
After fighting for about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, these people stopped, mounted their horses, and galloped off towards Ningyang County, leaving Liu Hongchang and the others screaming in pain.
After a long while, a low sob rose from the crowd. Liu Hongchang's wife cried out softly, "Master, can't we just buy some land anywhere after leaving Ningyang County? If that corrupt official had connections in the capital, we...we..."
Before Liu Hongchang could even reply, Master Geng's face turned pale and then red, and he suddenly vomited a mouthful of blood. Pointing in the direction of Ningyang County, he cursed, "You corrupt official! You corrupt official! I will never forgive you! I will fight you to the death!"
Liu Hongchang glanced at his wife, then at the vomiting-blood-old Master Geng, and said angrily, "What a woman's view! As the saying goes, a person is cheap when they leave their hometown. Don't you think about it? If we leave Ningyang County, who will sell us land? But if we don't leave Ningyang County, what just happened could happen again, twice, three times. Who can withstand such torment?"
"The current situation is a fight to the death. This time, it's either we bring down that corrupt official surnamed Yang, or we die on our way to the capital."
“As long as we make it to the capital alive,” Liu Hongchang took a deep breath and said, “even if that corrupt official surnamed Yang has connections in the capital, the emperor surnamed Zhu will certainly not be too biased towards him. He must give us an explanation no matter what.”
"The worst outcome is that we will be resettled elsewhere and the government will allocate some land to us—even so, it will still be much better than us finding a place to settle on our own."
Master Geng nodded and sighed, "Master Liu is right. The current situation is a fight to the death. Neither we nor that Yang can retreat. Whether we live or die depends entirely on whether that Emperor Zhu still has any shame."
……
"They're really good at hiding."
Just as Liu Hongchang and Master Geng, along with other gentry, were discussing going to the capital to appeal to the emperor, Magistrate Yang Shaofeng, led by Lame Wu, had already found the hiding places that many of the gentry had confessed to.
It must be admitted that these local gentry were indeed quite capable. For example, one of them, surnamed Yang, hid in a cave in Woniu Mountain.
When Limpy Wu led Magistrate Yang to this cave, it contained a large amount of rice, flour, oil, salt, various needles, threads, and cloth, as well as various spices such as peppercorns, star anise, cinnamon, bay leaves, and fennel.
Even though Magistrate Yang had already guessed, when he actually saw these things, he still couldn't help but exclaim, "Damn it, these things alone are enough to feed the entire Heshan Village for two or three years!"
Limpy Wu whispered, "Your Excellency, this cave contains the least amount of stuff. I suspect that these scoundrels haven't told us everything, and there are definitely more things they've hidden away."
Yang Shaofeng hummed in agreement, but inwardly he was having some existential doubts.
The things that this local gentryman surnamed Yang confessed to alone were enough to feed and sustain the entire Heshan Village of forty households and ninety people for two years. And that was just the least of them. What about the things that the other gentrymen hid?
If you add everything together, the stuff these gentry have hidden away would probably be enough to feed the more than two thousand people in Ningyang County for two or three years or even longer.
No, what are these bastards thinking?