Ming Taizi's Total War

Chapter 267 Please Your Majesty Punish Zhou Yuantong
Seeing that Zhu Cihong attached great importance to him, he turned to look at him as soon as he heard his voice.

Kong Yanzhi smiled triumphantly at Zhou Yuantong. He thought that he had already defeated Zhou Yuantong, and he only needed to say something bad and splash some dirty water on himself, and Zhou Yuantong would be killed.

"Your Majesty, the people in Shandong are struggling to live and work in peace and contentment. There are even bandits in various states and counties attacking the government. The whole world is in chaos."

Kong Yanzhi told Zhu Cihong about the current situation in Shandong with elaboration.

It is not a big deal that the people are struggling to live and work in peace and contentment. After all, it is a troubled time, the government is becoming more and more corrupt, and its ability to control the local area is getting weaker and weaker. There is hardly an inch of peace and prosperity in the sea.

But Zhu Cihong frowned when he heard that the bandits dared to attack the government's team.

Attacking the government's team is not a good thing. It shows that the local bandits are either bold or have the ability to fight against the government.

If it is ignored, there may be another vigorous peasant uprising.

So Zhu Cihong asked Kong Yanzhi very anxiously, "If this is true, in which states and counties have bandits appeared, how many are there, and whether the local government has the ability to exterminate them."

Whether it is to protect the people or maintain the rule of the court, it is necessary to wipe out the bandits as soon as possible.

"Of course, I, Kong Yanzhi, as the 64th grandson of the sage, No. 60 fourth-generation Yan Shenggong, how can I lie." In order to make Zhu Cihong believe in himself, Kong Yanzhi even moved out his ancestors.

But what he said was indeed true, but those bandits who attacked the government team were not simple bandits.

Instead, the gentry from all over Shandong did not want their tenants, wealth, and food to be taken to the army for military use, so they brazenly armed their servants and pretended to be bandits to launch attacks.

Of course, it is not ruled out that there are real bandits among them, but even if they are real bandits, most of them are bought by squires.

"This is the case almost everywhere in the prefectures and counties of Shandong. The number of bandits is probably no less than 10,000+." Kong Yanzhi continued.

The gentry from all over Shandong were unwilling to damage their own interests, even if Zhou Yuantong wanted to form an army, arm them, and use them to resist the Qing soldiers going south.

Therefore, the gentry all over the country either armed their servants or bought bandits. There are hundreds of counties in Shandong, and there are more than 1000 bandits in each place. After calculation, there are 10,000+ bandits in the whole province.

"The situation in Shandong has deteriorated to this point!" Zhu Cihong said in shock.

He remembered that that was not what Zhou Yuantong said in his letters and memorials to him. Could it be that Zhou Yuantong was hiding something from him.

Thinking of this, Zhang Peilun looked suspiciously at Zhou Yuantong.

There is no way, as an emperor, it is normal to be suspicious. When you reach the highest position in the world, you will feel that no one can be trusted.

Hearing Zhu Cihong looking at him suspiciously, Zhou Yuantong cursed Kong Yanzhi in his heart and said, "You old man, you know how to pour dirty water on me. Those gangsters are not all yours. Besides, it's just one time in total. You have to say it." It seems that the whole province is about to fall.

In order to avoid Zhu Cihong's suspicion and counterattack Kong Yanzhi at the same time, Zhou Yuantong stood up and said, "Your Majesty, this is not the case."

But before he could continue speaking, a group of gentry behind Kong Yanzhi stood up and accused him.

"It's not because you have made the people miserable, otherwise there would be so many gangsters."

"It's all because of Zhou Yuantong's search for the people's wealth and exhaustion of the people's power, so that the people are forced to become bandits."

"Your Majesty, please hurry up and punish Zhou Yuantong, otherwise we, the people of Shandong, will really not be able to survive."

"Yes, Your Majesty, please make an order."

I saw a group of squires in their seventies and eighties accusing Zhou Yuantong in unison like a treasure, and even asked Zhu Cihong to punish Zhou Yuantong immediately.

"Your Majesty, you have also seen that Governor Zhou has been in office for a few months, and he has caused anger and resentment, and the people are in dire straits. I really dare not think about what will happen next."

Kong Yanzhi's alarmist remarks, in Zhu Cihong's view, are simply too low-level, just like Juren who has just entered the officialdom.

As soon as Zhu Cihong heard it, he knew that he was at odds with Zhou Yuan, and wanted to make trouble for him.

However, Zhang Peilun was relieved when he thought that Kong Yanzhi would be able to become the emperor of Qufu by virtue of his own blood, and it didn't even matter if he didn't read the Four Books and Five Classics.

How could he, a local emperor living in the countryside, have the skill of the group of old foxes around Zhu Cihong who have been in officialdom for decades and who have been familiar with the classics and history collections.

"Anyway, Zhou Yuantong is to blame for everything. Please issue an order to punish Zhou Yuantong." After finishing speaking, Kong Yanzhi knelt down in front of Zhu Cihong, as if Zhu Cihong would not get up if Zhu Cihong did not agree to his request.

But it's a pity that Zhu Cihong doesn't like him. If you kneel down, I can do whatever I should.

"Zhou Yuantong, is there really such a thing?" Zhu Cihong looked at Zhou Yuantong.

There was not a single drop of sweat on Zhou Yuantong's face, and his facial expression was very relaxed. He didn't look nervous at all when someone exposed him. Just by looking at his expression, Zhu Cihong could tell that things were definitely not what the old guy Kong Yanzhi said.

"Your Majesty, how is this possible? In Shandong, I only did two things: training soldiers and raising wages. I didn't do anything else. It would be too wrong for Yan Shenggong to put all these accounts on my head." People." Zhou Yuantong and Kong Yanzhi said tit for tat.

Although according to his status, Zhou Yuantong should have more respect for Kong Yanzhi, after all, he is Yan Shenggong, a super-rank, and Zhou Yuantong is just a governor.

But Zhou Yuantong held great power and had the trust of Zhu Cixiang. Why should he be afraid of Yanshenggong, a mere local emperor?

"Kong Yanzhi, what do you say?" Zhu Cixiang stared at Kong Yanzhi with a smile.

Now he really wants to see how Kong Yanzhi can continue to perform. A group of stupid guys are here to entertain themselves. This scene is rare.

"Your Majesty, Zhou Yuantong has military power in his hands. You should arrest him first, put him in prison, and then investigate and interrogate him. It's not too late to make a long-term plan." Kong Yanzhi didn't notice Zhu Cihong's strangeness, and thought that Zhu Cihong believed his own words, so he continued. .

He had a very good plan in mind, once Zhou Yuantong was released from prison, he and the squires would have the final say on the investigation and interrogation.

As long as you give some money to the interrogating officials, let them torture and torture them, and then bribe the investigating officials, and make some false evidence, you will not be afraid of killing Zhou Yuantong.

After all, the seventeenth century was a feudal era, and the corruption of the imperial court was from top to bottom, from the inside to the outside.

As long as they are willing to spend money, coupled with the relationship of everyone, Yan Shenggong's great reputation, why can't Zhou Yuan be put to death together.

(End of this chapter)