The miners didn't expect the IRS tax collectors to shoot, and the timid ones had already begun to flee, and the bold ones only stood in place.

The tax collectors of the IRS did not shoot again, after all, it was the people of the Ming Dynasty who hindered law enforcement, and they were not aliens, so there was no need to massacre.

These IRS tax collectors came to the mines with muskets only.

The miners standing at the gate of the mine did not have the courage to confront the IRS at this time, and consciously moved out of the way.

The IRS tax collector went inside, cut the ropes, filled the hole, and sealed the gates, and removed all the mined minerals.

Even the miners, who were lying on the ground, were taken away for treatment.

Only the other miners and Xu Guangzuo were still stunned.

For Xu Guangzuo and the miners, the current behavior of the tax collectors of the Imperial Court and the State Taxation Bureau was shocking.

Because no matter how fierce the government is, it will be a little afraid in the face of mass incidents, for fear of provoking a civil uprising.

But now, instead of being intimidated by so many miners, the IRS is enforcing the law.

Zhang Xuan actually didn't want to do this, but there was no way, he knew that he would offend not only the gentry but also the people by collecting heavy taxes, but he had to offend! Otherwise, sooner or later, the empire will be dragged down by increasingly large military spending.

Therefore, Zhang Xuan continued to force the IRS to continue to collect taxes on minerals, and the Ministry of Mines continued to put pressure on provincial governments.

But the backlash has also intensified.

In addition, the incident of Zhang Xuan shooting and killing the people who obstructed law enforcement directly caused an uproar.

The first is Xu Guangzuo, Xu Guangzuo personally went to the Metropolitan Procuratorate to sue Zhang Xuan for acquiescing to the officers and soldiers of the National Taxation Bureau to kill the people without permission.

Zuodu Yushi Jin Xianmin was also very shocked when he heard this, and immediately asked to see Zhu Houzhao: "Your Majesty, Zhang Xuan, the deputy assistant of the cabinet, acquiesced in allowing the officers and soldiers of the National Taxation Bureau to kill the people without permission and ignore the royal law!" I ask Your Majesty for your grace to severely punish the officers and soldiers of the National Taxation Bureau who killed the people without permission, and punish the second assistant Zhang Xuan! ”

Zhu Houzhao took the evidence that Jin Xianmin brought up through Xu Guangzuo, and he was speechless for a long time, he naturally knew that the imposition of heavy taxes on mining would definitely lead to conflicts between officials and the people, and casualties were inevitable, and he would also be very reluctant to see a person who did not violate the law killed, but he also knew that he could not deal with Zhang Xuan because of this, and even the officers and soldiers of the National Taxation Bureau, otherwise they would never dare to strictly enforce the law for Daming.

Therefore, after Zhu Houzhao for a long time, he said: "Jin Qing, don't be impatient, I will summon Zhang Xuan now, let him explain the situation to you, if it is really the people of the National Taxation Bureau who violently enforce the law and kill the people without reason, they will naturally be dealt with according to the law, and they will do what they should do, but if it is the people who resist taxes and violate the administrative order, and the law enforcers are forced to fight back in self-defense, it is another matter." ”

Zhang Xuan was passed into the palace, and when he saw the unkind eyes of Zuodu Yushi Jin Xianmin, he could also guess what was going on, but after Zhu Houzhao handed Xu Guangzuo's impeachment note to him, Zhang Xuan also explained and explained the situation to Zhu Houzhao.

"It seems that it was caused by the miners' violent resistance to taxes, but it is not a crime to shoot and kill the intentional perpetrator out of self-defense, and this matter is forgotten, but Zhang Zhang, you must also order it to go down and let the officials of the IRS try to avoid bloodshed!"

After Zhu Houzhao finished speaking, Zhang Xuan arched his hand: "The minister obeys the order!" ”

Jin Xianmin was also a little surprised when he saw this, thinking that His Majesty has always loved the people, why did Zhang Xuan cause the people to bleed today but did not punish Zhang Zhang, but Jin Xianmin knew that this matter could not be just settled, after all, the heavy tax on mining had touched the interests of many people, for the sake of the Ming Dynasty, he had to risk angering Zhu Houzhao:

"Your Majesty! The minister thought that this matter could not be punished by law! Now that the IRS has imposed taxes, the people are angry and bloodshed, and if they are not dealt with properly, they may provoke a civil uprising! ”

"This is not something that you should take care of in the imperial history of Zuodu, step down."

Zhu Houzhao only said lightly.

At present, there is no need for Jin Xianmin to say about the heavy tax on mining, Zhu Houzhao also knows that it may cause a popular uprising, but if he does not do this, it will provoke great changes in the world in the future, and he can only use the imperial power to force these officials to accept the reality.

Jin Xianmin was scolded by the emperor for saying this, and he knew that it was meaningless for him to continue, so he had to retreat, but his face was still red, obviously very unwilling, unwilling Emperor Zhu Houzhao to connive at Zhang Xuan like this.

But at this time, Gu Dayong ran in: "Your Majesty, the first assistant of the cabinet, Kang Hai, asks to see you!" ”

Zhu Houzhao nodded, and didn't let Zhang Xuan retreat, so he let Kang Hai walk in first.

As soon as Kang Hai came to Zhu Houzhao, he directly prostrated on the ground: "Your Majesty, please ask Your Majesty to stop collecting mining taxes and remove Zhang Xuan!" Punish those who kill the people! ”

Zhu Houzhao was quite surprised, thinking that it would be understandable if other people did not support Zhang Xuan at this time, but Kang Hai, the first assistant of the cabinet, participated in the court meeting, and knew the reason why Zhang Xuan did this, why did he also start to ask himself to remove Zhang Xuan and listen to the mining tax.

"Kang Hai, do you know what you're talking about now, I don't want this sentence to come out of your mouth", Zhu Houzhao said coldly.

Kang Hai got up and said: "The minister understands, but Your Majesty, the collection of heavy mining taxes in the customs is a harsh government, and now the officers and soldiers of the National Taxation Bureau are directly involved in bloody conflicts with the people, and the minister is worried that if this continues, the world will be really in chaos!" Please think twice, Your Majesty! For example, today's people hate Zhang Zhang, the second assistant, because of this, the minister knows that Zhang Cifu is wronged, but the minister also asks His Majesty to dismiss Zhang Zhang Zhang and punish him! Otherwise, in the future, people in the world will hate Your Majesty because of Zhang Xuan! ”

Zhang Xuan didn't speak, he kept silent, he didn't hate Kang Hai because of this, he knew that Kang Hai was now opposing him out of a good heart, after all, it was possible to save his head by disposing of himself now, if the heavy mining tax collection he was leading now really led to a big change in the world, his sin was not just as simple as losing his head.

After Kang Hai said this, Zhu Houzhao did not look at Kang Hai, but glanced at Zhang Xuan, he saw that Zhang Xuan was silent, and he also knew that Zhang Xuan must have been shaken.

Zhu Houzhao is the emperor, as the emperor, he naturally thinks differently from Kang Hai and other ministers, he knows that if he is also shaken, Zhang Xuan will be shaken more thoroughly, and the matter of imposing heavy taxes on mining will be anticlimactic!

Therefore, Zhu Houzhao slapped the table directly, and asked Kang Hai angrily: "Have you finished talking!" When you're done, get out of here with me! Do you know that this matter should have been carried by you, the head of the cabinet, and it was Zhang Xuan who did it for you, and you yourself know better than anyone else, although this matter is offended by the people of the world, it is beneficial to the society of Qianqiu!

Zhang Xuan came to be this wicked person, but you, the first assistant, did not take the responsibility to support him, but he retreated first, and asked me to remove Zhang Zhang! You get out of here, I don't have a cowardly Shousuke like you! ”

Kang Hai hadn't seen His Majesty get so angry for a long time, and he was angry at himself, so he was so frightened that he hurriedly crawled to the ground, put his head on the ground, and was very flustered, only stammering and nodding like pounding garlic: "The minister is guilty!" ”

Seeing this, Zhang Xuan was a little unbearable, and hurriedly stood up: "Your Majesty, the first man is not unreasonable, he is also considering the overall situation of the imperial court, and he also asks His Majesty to forgive the first one, and what the first one said is not for the sake of His Majesty and the lower officials." ”

"You don't have to intercede for him! As the first assistant, I don't know the harm of changing the order of the day, but I am afraid of difficulties and retreat, please ask for it! What's the use of staying in the court! ”

Zhu Houzhao's words are tantamount to removing Kang Hai from his post as chief assistant to the cabinet.

Of course, Zhu Houzhao is not really angry with Kang Hai in his heart, he just expressed his position to Zhang Xuan and the outside world by deposing Kang Hai, and he, the emperor, still supports Zhang Zhang, and Zhang Zhang's holy family is no longer comparable to others, even if Kang Hai, the head of the cabinet, wants to slander Zhang Zhang, he will be dismissed.

Really.

As soon as the news of Kang Hai's ouster came out of the palace, the entire government and the opposition were shocked, especially after knowing that Kang Hai was deposed because of his opposition to Zhang Xuan, they were even more surprised!

"Fengtian carries the emperor, and the edict says...... Zhang Xuan, a scholar of the Jianji Palace, with the title of Fu Tai, was given the imperial sedan chair of the Forbidden City! ”

When Zhang Zhang's will to succeed the cabinet was announced, the government and the opposition were even more shocked, but they also knew that the current heavy taxation of mining taxes was irreversible.

……

Zhu Houzhao knew that he didn't care about the feelings of the people in the world, dismissed Kang Hai, and promoted Zhang Zhang, who was criticized by the world, to be the first assistant, which was equivalent to adding another fire when the people's anger was burning, which was equivalent to roasting Zhang Zhang on a more fierce fire, and he might even be hated by the people of the world.

But as the emperor, Zhu Houzhao knew that he had to be more determined than anyone else at this time, so on the surface, he still had the audacity to show favor to Zhang Xuan, and even called Zhang Xuan as a gentleman.

Zhang Xuan knows that the emperor's respect is not something he can enjoy casually, the more the emperor respects himself, the more the emperor needs himself, the more jealousy and resentment he will incur, it can be said that the emperor's respect is a time bomb that the emperor gave himself.

But Ma Wensheng, Jiao Fang and other examples of good endings, Zhang Xuan still feels that the current Ming Emperor is different from the previous emperors, and what he has to do now is to live up to the emperor's absolute trust in him.

Because of this, Zhang Xuan will be more decisive in his next steps.

Zhang Zheng, the governor of Jiangxi, who had always been an upright official, refused to obey the edict, refused to set up a mining agency, and blocked the collection of mining taxes by the people of the State Taxation Bureau.

Zhang Xuan had no choice but to ask for Zhang Zheng's dismissal.

Zheng Yue, the secretary of Dali Temple, was also forced by Zhang Xuan to write ten thousand words to impeach Zhang Xuan because he couldn't afford to pay taxes, and then committed suicide by drinking poison.

When the government and the opposition heard this, they were shocked.

Even when it comes to the military, Zhang Xuan has no intention of backing down and compromising.

"Tell the commander-in-chief Li Long that he made the officers and soldiers open mines for profit, but did not pay the salaries of the officers and soldiers, and now he has deducted the military salaries issued by the imperial court to the officers and soldiers under his command! The officers and soldiers of the imperial court are guarding the border and defending against the enemy for the imperial court, not his Li Long's domestic slaves! The mine belongs to His Majesty the Emperor, and it is not his private property for personal gain! He is limited to three days to close the silver mine he has opened, otherwise the officer will dismiss him from his post with the military department!" Parallel to the Wendu Procuratorate to punish his crimes! ”

After learning from the governor of Gansu, Xu Xu, that Li Long, the chief military officer of Ganzhou, refused to pay the mining tax, Zhang Xuan also directly issued a strict order to the governor Xu Xu.

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