Outside the pavilion, Qian Qianyi had already disappeared at the end of the Peach Blossom River in a big boat, and disappeared without a trace. The onlookers waited in the hot weather to see the end of this reversal show.

The weather was hot, and the peach garden immediately sent hundreds of male servants and maidservants to hand out the prepared iced herbal tea to everyone who came to visit for free.

In the pavilion, Fang Yuan wiped the sweat from his forehead, stood up, looked at the three of them with his hands behind his back, and said lightly, "Three, the words have come to this, I will make it clear with the three of you!" I'm not just targeting these 600 people, but also the literati of the whole Jiangnan. Emperor Taizu's Hu Weiyong case and Lanyu case can involve tens of thousands of people. Jiangnan literati are intertwined, and there are not a few people who cite each other as confidants, starting with these 600 people, and casually pulling 100,000 people! ”

Wang Bingjian and the three of them looked at each other when they heard this, and they didn't know if Fang Yuan was stimulated by something and wanted to kill? Based on their understanding of Fang Yuan, Fang Yuan should not be this kind of person who loves to kill and lick blood, not to mention that at this juncture when Jiangnan is prosperous and thriving, how can there be a reason to suddenly go crazy and cut off his hands and feet?

Wang Bingjian is also an old fritter who has been mixed with officialdom for decades, and he has already realized that Fang Yuan did not want to kill people at all, but to use killing to negotiate conditions with the three people, and even the literati in Jiangnan.

Wang Bingjian asked tentatively, "Does Governor Fang want the gentry and wealthy merchants of the whole Jiangnan to support Governor Fang to establish his own imperial court in Jiangnan, and then the Northern Expedition?" ”

Fang Yuan saw that he was indeed a smart person, and it was not difficult to talk to a smart person, so he smiled and said, "Elder Wang Ge is really as wise as a torch, this is exactly one of the requirements I want to make." ”

Wang Bingjian asked again, "What else does the governor of that side want?" ”

Fang Yuan glanced at the three of them and said in a deep voice, "I want to depose the privilege of not paying the land endowment of literati who have raised merit and above the fame, let's discuss it!" ”

As a representative of the literati in Jiangnan, Mao Bijiang couldn't help but object, "Governor Fang, this policy of preferential treatment of literati has been implemented for more than two hundred years, and Governor Fang said that if he is deposed, he will be deposed, which will inevitably cause an uproar in Jiangnan!" ”

Fang Yuan snorted coldly and said, "Young Master Mao, don't you know that Jiangnan is now half of the dynasty that has changed?" The so-called three fires for new officials to take office, the previous policies of the Ming court, those that did not conform to the rules should be changed. ”

It is the truth that at least half of Jiangnan today is not surnamed Zhu. Fang Yuan wanted to implement a different policy from the Ming Dynasty, and he could not openly question the legitimacy of Fang Yuan's rule. It is not a simple resignation, but a rebellion, and the crime of being listed with those detained literati.

As a representative of the merchants, Xi Benzhen couldn't help but express his position, if Fang Yuan was allowed to mess around like this, he would arbitrarily and willfully depose the law of the ancestors. Today, Fang Yuan has cleaned up the literati, and it is estimated that it will be the turn of the businessman tomorrow, and he still understands the truth of the cold lips and teeth, and he also stands on the side of the frontier, "Governor Fang has increased the commercial tax and the city tax before, and now he has to forcibly levy the land tax, which is a tyrannical and unscrupulous raid on the south of the Yangtze River." ”

Fang Yuan smiled and said, "Master Xi, the commercial tax is a rule formulated by the Ming Imperial Court, and I just follow it, how can it be regarded as a tyrannical levy?" As for the city tax, I didn't pay the city tax before, and the businessman had to give Zheng Zhilong a protection fee for foreign trade, but now these city taxes are what I killed Zheng Zhilong and snatched from Zheng Zhilong's bag, how can it be regarded as a tyrannical expropriation? ”

Xi Benzhen was also speechless, the reason why the commercial tax was paid less before was because the Ming Dynasty was controlled by the Donglin Party, which made the wealthy businessmen in Jiangnan have been evading taxes. He can't discuss the legality of tax evasion with Fang Yuan in righteous words! As for the city tax, it was indeed Fang Yuan who robbed Zheng Zhilong of the protection fee, and these businessmen should have paid as much as they had before, without adding an extra burden.

Wang Bingjian said, "Governor Fang, you are collecting more land taxes and more business taxes, you are collecting military salaries and rations for the Northern Expedition!" Are these short-term actions, and after the Northern Expedition, they will be canceled according to local conditions? ”

Fang Yuan shook his head and said, "These are the national policies to write the law, and they will be implemented permanently. ”

Wang Bingjian was stunned and asked, "It is still reasonable to levy such a state of war, in peacetime, what is Governor Fang doing when he gathers so much money?" Several large granaries in Zhejiang and Fujian are full of grain, and if the grain cannot be eaten, it will be damp and moldy. It's better to have food rotten in the official warehouse, and it must be forcibly expropriated! Governor Fang, you have long been an uncrowned emperor in Jiangnan, what are you doing with so much money? ”

Fang Yuan said coldly, "Not to mention that it costs a lot of silver to dominate the world, even the army that maintains the normal operation of the whole world needs at least one million!" Where do these rations and salaries come from? The Ming Dynasty was defeated in the pockets of the squires, wealthy merchants, and literati with all the silver and grain, and the imperial court had no money and grain to attack the Manchus and Liukou, and they were dragged to death. Does Wang Ge Lao want me to repeat the mistakes of the Ming Dynasty? ”

Fang Yuan was reasonable, and the three of them had nothing to say, neither agreeing nor opposing, let alone just letting go.

The two sides were at a stalemate in the gazebo. Fang Yuan looked at the three of them silently, but he didn't see anger. They are willing to refute in public, although it is a headache for Fang Yuan, but they are always giving advice for this regime, which is better than those who are good people on the surface and make stumbling behind their backs.

Outside the gazebo, it's a different story. Those literati who were scurrying up and plotting to subvert, some literati saw that the matter was exposed, and they were escorted to the river, estimating that Fang Yuan might be beheaded by the river at any time. Only then did he know that the rebellion was not a dinner party, but a martyrdom with his head, and suddenly lost the pride of the previous plot to subvert, and he was already frightened, and he shouted to imitate Qian Qianyi, willing to admit his guilt, and confessed to other conspiring literati in exchange for his life.

With one person at the beginning, one spread ten, ten to hundred, a full six hundred literati who were detained, at least three hundred were willing to confess to save their lives. But if anyone is willing to confess, Jinyiwei immediately took the name of the person who confessed in the book of impermanence, and prepared to continue to liquidate in the future.

The commotion outside the pavilion spread to the pavilion, and Wang Bingjian and the three of them smiled bitterly when they saw it. Before Fang Yuan could start the torture, these literati began to bite indiscriminately, and they were simply spineless. If it spreads like this, it will be easy to gather enough 100,000 literati. When the time comes, it will really be the catastrophe of the Jiangnan literary world.

The reason why Fang Yuan used Qian Qianyi to arrest 600 literati, and even threatened to carry out a purge of tens of thousands, tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of literati in Jiangnan, was all the simplest negotiation tactic. First raise the asking price, hit the cabinet three, and the psychological expectations of these literati. Then gradually reduce the asking price, and show goodwill to make them accept the policy change that abolishes the privileges of the literati.

To die, or to be privileged, they naturally have a scale in their hearts!

Fang Yuan smiled and said, "Three, can these people subvert our Fang Yuan?" Can you defend Jiangnan? It's a big joke! Three, what do you think? If it is not enough to kill some literati, the officialdom can also do it again, the three same intellectuals of the prefect have all been arrested, and I think there are still a few people in the entire officialdom who are not bitten! ”

"You must not think that killing literati and officials will cause turmoil in Jiangnan. There were countless people, farmers, and tenants who wanted to kill all the officials and literati. Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong all made their fortunes by killing officials and squires. We didn't kill like this, it's not that I can't kill them, but we just want to settle peacefully with the squires and wealthy businessmen in Jiangnan and maintain the prosperity and stability of Jiangnan. It is better for both sides to give one step and open the sky. ”

The three members of the cabinet were completely speechless, and Fang Yuan's purge of officialdom and wealthy businessmen in Guangdong was a model for Nan Zhili. They would never doubt Fang Yuan's ability and determination to do it again in Jiangnan.