The heads of Gu Xian's and other gentry fell to the ground, fell from the city gate, and directly smashed their brains beyond recognition.

The Jiangnan scholars outside the city gate were greatly touched.

Some people can't bear to look at each other and hide their faces with their sleeves, feeling that it is really insulting.

Some people know that these gentry are because they collude with pirates and bandits, and they deplore that they are obviously gentry and rich people, but why are they not satisfied and secretly do this kind of thing.

There were also those who were full of indignation and felt that the court officials were not lenient towards the gentry.

However, for the common people who were also outside the city gates, they simply turned a blind eye to this.

In their eyes, whether it is the gentry who were killed or the officials who enforced the law on the city wall, they couldn't afford to provoke them, so it didn't matter to them who died, and even they only felt wonderful and novel, and secretly glad that the place where they lived in the future was missing a powerful lord!

Many of the common people also wished that all the gentry were dead, because many of them were tenants or long-term workers of these gentry and lords, and if these gentry and lords were all dead, they could pay less rent.

Even some of the common people, who had suffered from the exploitation of the gentry, had not quietly whispered that they deserved it.

In general, Wang Yangming, the governor of Nanzhili, executed the gentry in Nanjing City at this time or the struggle within the ruling class, and the people still didn't care about it, they were still indifferent, as long as the court didn't let them suffer from the stomach, whatever you wanted, the court would kill people as much as you wanted!

At this time, Yuan Chong'an was lying on the ground at the gate of the city, he was very scared now, and even cried, especially when he thought that he was about to die, that sense of fear made him even more devastated.

"Lord Futai! Spare your life! Please! Wrong in the next! It's really wrong, I shouldn't have the idea of fighting the tax bureau, I shouldn't think about colluding with the courtiers to make profits for myself, I really don't want to die! Whining! ”

Yuan Chong'an cried so much that he cried out even more in panic when he saw Gu Xian's head fall off.

But now no one paid attention to him, and even the gentlemen of the same class as him could only watch silently at this time.

The chains were dragged up by the carriage, and gradually Yuan Chong'an's arms and feet were pulled up, and Yuan Chong'an shouted again heartbreakingly: "Don't! ”

Yes!

Yes!

Yes!

A scream resounded in the city of Nanjing, and Yuan Chong'an ended his life of sin.

The case of the slaughter of the Tax Bureau was thus over, but Wang Yangming, the governor of Nanzhili, who was in charge of the case, was not happy at this time, because he didn't understand why these gentlemen still colluded with bandits just to not pay the 30 to 1 commercial tax, how could they be satisfied, so that they would not be so greedy!

The other gentry in Jiangnan were indeed shocked by this, but at the same time, they also planted the seeds of hatred for Wang Shouren and even the court behind him.

Many of them did not think that scholars should be punished in this way, and they should even be forgiven.

Besides, isn't it just the slaughter of some tax supervisors and tax collectors, the lives of those eunuchs and martial artists are cheap, and if they are killed, they will be killed, why use the lives of the gentry to compensate!

After all, as the saying goes, you can't punish a doctor, and the Holy Ming Dynasty should be even more so! And now, the court is doing this, it can be seen that the court has no way!

At this time, Gu Xinlei in the crowd outside the city gate thought so, he didn't understand why the imperial court wanted to kill his father so cruelly, and even forced Yin Shangshu to hang himself.

But it is undeniable that Zhu Houzhao and Wang Shouren did the right thing, hundreds of people were killed in the two tax bureaus, and these people can be regarded as state officials, if the imperial court does not make decisions for them, who will dare to collect taxes for the imperial court in the future.

As for Yin Qian, if Zhu Houzhao listened to his slanderous words and dismissed Wang Shouren, would the next governor of Nanzhili be the first to curry favor with Yin Qian, and only Yin Qian's orders would be obeyed, and whether Yin Qian would become the emperor of Jiangnan, the magistrates would begin to deceive their superiors and subordinates, and the officials would be corrupt day by day.

However, Zhu Houzhao also knew that if he did this, he would naturally make more Jiangnan gentry dissatisfied with him again, but Zhu Houzhao was unwilling to stop his rhythm of reforming the Ming Dynasty and revitalizing the Ming Dynasty, and letting Wang Yangming come to Jiangnan to execute the gentry who participated in the massacre of the Tax Bureau was just a prelude to his coming to Jiangnan.

His real purpose was to recover the wealth that belonged to him and the Ming Dynasty in Jiangnan, and to declare the majesty of the imperial court to the local officials and gentry in Jiangnan.

So, for the Jiangnan gentry, the nightmare has just begun!

For Zhu Houzhao, the big drama has just begun.

Zhu Houzhao did not come to Nanjing alone this time, Ma Wensheng, the first assistant of the cabinet, Liu Jin, the eunuch of the master of ceremonies, and Wang Shu, the secretary of the ministry, also followed him to Nanjing, which means that the Ming Dynasty temporarily moved the center of the empire to the south, and it is naturally convenient to deal with the affairs of Nanzhili.

On the day that Gu Xiantong, Yuan Chong'an and other Jiangnan gentry were executed, the cabinet issued a new plan for Nanzhili, and on the same day, it was in the hands of the officials and governor Wang Yangming, and Wang Yangming immediately announced it to all prefectures and counties!

Because of the cabinet and the ministry, the plan led by Governor Wang Yangming this time can be described as quite severe, and more than a dozen officials who have failed to pay taxes for three years amounting to 100,000 yuan were immediately reported to him for dismissal! In addition, several magistrates who were greedy for ink or abused the people were also reported by him for dismissal.

The cabinet and the ministry all agreed.

"Your Majesty, this is the accumulation of the endowment of the prefectures and counties of Nanzhili submitted by the governor of Nanzhili, of which Suzhou Mansion has reached 2 million stones in three years, and Songjiang Mansion Hongzhi 18 has 1.5 million stone endowments!"

Ma Wensheng, the first assistant to the cabinet, handed a note to Zhu Houzhao at this time.

Zhu Houzhao was also very surprised when he heard this, thinking that although the current imperial court tax was calculated in grain, even if it was calculated in one tael and one stone of grain, Suzhou Mansion alone would owe two million taels in taxes, and he didn't know how much income the imperial court had flowed into the pockets of these Jiangnan squires.

"Ma Aiqing, what do you think?" Zhu Houzhao did not express his opinion directly, but asked Ma Wensheng first.

"Back to Your Majesty! It is common for the common people to accumulate endowments every year, and the common people naturally dare not owe them, and most of the people who owe them are the gentry of the living gentry, and the local government does not dare to urge them, so presumably these endowments are owed by the gentry of the living gentry, even if the imperial court wants to recover it, it is difficult to be afraid of offending Shilin, and Suzhou Mansion and other places have always had many gentry, and it is normal for the natural gentry to have more, according to the convention, they can be exempted. ”

Marven replied.

Zhu Houzhao thought to himself and sighed secretly, no wonder he looked at historical materials in his previous life and found that the emperor was exempt from taxes at every turn, and at that time he was still wondering why the taxes owed by the imperial court would not be collected and should be exempted? Now it seems that you can't collect it if you don't want to, because those who owe it are the gentry, how can you collect it?

"Recover, must recover! In the past, I can ignore it, since the first emperor decreed that it be dismissed, I also admit it, but the endowment after the first year of Zhengde must be recovered! issued an order to the governor of Nanzhili, ordering the prefectures and county officials to recover the endowment after the first year of Zhengde, and to recover those who do not return to seventy percent of them to be punished and exiled, and to recover those who do not return to eighty percent of them to be dismissed! If you can't recover ninety percent, you will be fined and evaluated! ”

Zhu Houzhao did not intend to be polite to these gentry who owed them, in his opinion, the imperial court had treated them favorably enough, and they did not have to bear the burden of forced labor if they had tax-free fields, and now they refused to pay even thirty taxes and one tax, which was simply not too much.

However, at this time, Ma Wensheng couldn't help but persuade: "Your Majesty, please think twice!" Doing so will only make the Jiangnan gentry more resentful, and I am afraid that it will not be a long-term peace and stability plan. ”

"Is it a long-term peace and stability plan to let them evade taxes, if they have not paid their taxes, the military expenses of the imperial court, the salaries of hundreds of officials, and the expenses of river control and disaster relief can only be pressed on the people, and the burden of the people will only become heavier and heavier.

Zhu Houzhao asked Ma Wensheng.

Ma Wensheng didn't know how to answer, so he had to say: "Your Majesty, can you give these gentry a face, first make a will, let them consciously pay the taxes they owe, if they don't pay, and then let the government forcibly recover, so that it will not hurt the face, even if it is forced to recover at that time, there is a good explanation." ”

Zhu Houzhao did not speak.

At this time, Wang Shu also persuaded: "Your Majesty, what the first assistant said is very true, not the old ministers are too talkative, although Your Majesty is young and ambitious, and has the heart to rectify the dynasty, but everything must be courteous before the soldiers, and it is good to be tolerant and helpful, and these gentry are all scholars, they are all knowledgeable and reasonable, and they should be able to understand the painstaking efforts of the court." ”

"In this case, according to what you said, I will first draft a decree that the governor of Nanzhili will make public the households owed by the prefectures and counties, and order them to pay back the taxes owed within three months, if they can do so, the court will not pursue it, and in order to show the grace of the court's forgiveness, since the first year of Zhengde, the arrears are less than 500 stones, which can be exempted, so that the poor family will not be burdened by this! Ladies and gentlemen, I am doing this as a grace, right? ”

Zhu Houzhao did compromise a little, after all, he also knew that he had indeed killed too hard before, and now he only took 500 stone as the standard, and it was only after the first year of Zhengde, and even let you consciously hand it over, very much in front of these gentry, and did not let the government come to force it.

"The minister first thanked Your Majesty for the Jiangnan gentry! Your Majesty's move can make Jiangnan Hanshi worry-free! ”

Ma Wensheng was very relieved to see Zhu Houzhao like this, thinking that His Majesty was finally a little mature and steady, and knew that he would be gracious; And Wang Shu also arched his hand and said: "Although the people's hearts are unpredictable, but in the opinion of the old ministers, these Jiangnan gentry are also reading the books of sages, so that they will not know the grace of the court, and they will truthfully hand over the arrears!" ”

Soon, Wang Yangming, the governor of Nanzhili, asked all prefectures and counties to issue the imperial court's decree and persuade these Jiangnan gentry to hand over a large amount of money.

But.

A month has passed, and not a single gentry from all the prefectures, states and counties have come to pay taxes!

Two months have passed, and there is still not a single gentry in the prefectures and counties who have come to pay taxes!

Three months have passed, and Zhu Houzhao's ceremony of sacrificing filial piety has ended, but there is still no half-stone endowment handed over by the gentry!