Ming Taizi's Total War

Chapter 98 Arresting the Prefect of Zhenjiang
After receiving the [-] battalions of cavalry rewarded by the system, Zhu Cihong did not incorporate them into the original battle sequence of the Beijing camp, but into his imperial guards.

Because these people are powerful in combat and extremely loyal, Zhu Cihong can only sleep peacefully every night when they are placed beside Zhu Cihong.

In order to clarify the goal of the task, Zhu Cihong went on to say, "Those gentry and unruly people left a few witnesses, and the bureaucrats who colluded with the gentry were all arrested. Their land, real estate, gold and silver, and servants were all confiscated and handed over Enter the treasury of the Ministry of Internal Affairs."

The next morning, the sound of rumbling horseshoes awakened the Zhenjiang people who were still asleep.

"Quickly open the city gate. The second-rank Nandu is staying behind, and Li Wenkui, the supervisor of the third-rank Jiangsu and Zhejiang Lijin Bureau, is going to enter the city." A rider came to the city gate of Zhenjiang Mansion and said loudly to the people above the city gate.

Behind him was Li Wenkui who came to arrest the prefect of Zhenjiang personally, because Li Wenkui was also a local official after all, the parental official of a prefecture, and ordinary officials might not be able to restrain him when they came, so a high-ranking official like Li Wenkui was necessary.

Early morning was the time when people were most tired and lethargic. Several soldiers guarding the city had already leaned against the parapet and fell asleep. At this moment, they were awakened by the shouts of the people in the city. They were unhappy and wanted to curse when they stood up.

But after hearing the words "stay behind in Nandu" and "supervised by the Lijin Bureau", he quickly reacted, knowing that the people in the city were noble, and he couldn't afford to offend them.

So he didn't dare to delay, so he immediately greeted his companions and opened the city gate.

After the city gate opened, Li Wenkui and the soldiers he brought quickly rushed in on horseback without looking at the city defenders standing in two rows under the door.

Along the way, patrolling soldiers and yamen gatekeepers saw Li Wenkui and the others, but they didn't even dare to look at them, because the people around Li Wenkui were a huge crowd, and they were fighting openly. The appearance of preparing to fight on the battlefield.

As soon as they came to the magistrate's yamen, without saying a word, they broke down the gate and filed in.

The magistrate of Zhenjiang, who was still lying on the bed and didn't get up, heard voices outside. It seemed that many people gathered in front of the magistrate's yamen.

"Xiao Cui, why is it so noisy outside? Let Bantou Wang drive those troublemakers away." The prefect of Zhenjiang lay lazily on the bed and said to the maid who came to help him wash and get up.

It's a pity that before Xiao Cui walked out of the room, Bantou Wang kicked open the wooden door and broke in, panting and said, "Master is not good, the officers and soldiers have broken into the yamen, you run quickly."

Hearing Bantou Wang's words, the prefect of Zhenjiang looked displeased, and said, "Absurd, your master and I are officials, and this is the official residence. How could the official army break into the official residence?"

The prefect of Zhenjiang forgot one thing. Under normal circumstances, the officers and soldiers would not break into the government, but since the officers and soldiers came, the matter must be a big deal, otherwise the officers and soldiers would not be dispatched.

The next second, when Li Wenkui entered his room with the tax barracks, the prefect of Zhenjiang realized that Bantou Wang was not lying.

"Zhenjiang Mansion, you colluded with the squires, attacked the government, and disobeyed the emperor's orders. Now I am ordered to arrest you." Li Wenkui did not arrest the person without saying a word.

After all, he is a literati, and he still pays attention to procedures and rules when doing things. First, he told him about the crimes of the prefect of Zhenjiang, and then let the soldiers arrest him.

When the Zhenjiang prefect heard Li Wenkui's words, he was like an eggplant beaten by frost. He didn't expect that he only saw the tax collector from the Lijin Bureau yesterday and was arrested today.

He thought to himself, this is too unlucky for him, I just went to the tax card with Shen Juren and the others to look at it, no, I have grievances, I have to explain, I can't just get caught so easily.

"My lord, I am wronged. I have always been conscientious in my humble position, and I have never dared to go beyond the slightest, let alone colluding with the squires. How can I be charged with these crimes?"

The prefect of Zhenjiang didn't feel guilty for what he did. He was still living in the old Ming Dynasty. He didn't know that everything had changed since Zhu Cihong became emperor.

Taking bribes, showing filial piety, drinking tea, chatting, and making friends between officials and gentry, perhaps in the eyes of most officials, these are just normal activities of being an official.

But in Zhu Cihong's view, this is giving him a reason to kill, not to mention that the prefect of Zhenjiang got into trouble with the tax card yesterday and wanted to act as a protective umbrella for the squires, which is even more unbearable for Zhu Cihong.

"Wrong, hum, wait until you enter Zhao Prison to say this sentence."

As he said that, Li Wenkui ordered the tax soldiers to forcibly take the prefect of Zhenjiang out. Next, he will go to Zhang Chao to see how he is doing.

Zhang Chao led his cavalry and split up with Li Wenkui's troops, taking a country road to the outside of Shenjia Village where Shen Ju's family lived.

The fate waiting for Shen Juren and the others is not to go to prison, let alone Zhao Prison, because they have no such qualifications at all, and the fate waiting for them is to be killed on the spot.

Because Shen Ju was there, Shenjia Village had never been exploited by the government, let alone paid taxes, so it was relatively wealthy. It even had the financial resources to build a low earth wall around the entire village and install two wooden doors.

In this way, their village was built into a village with military functions.

But to Zhang Chao and the thousand cavalrymen of the [-] Battalion behind him, this was like a child building a sandcastle on the beach. It looked very good and had everything it needed.

But sand is sand, no matter how high it is piled up, it is useless. Similarly, even if Shenjia Village is given a city wall like Constantinople, Zhang Chao can still break through it easily.

Although Zhang Chao had already arrived outside Shenjia Village, he was not in a hurry to attack. He was waiting for an opportunity, when the people of Shenjia Village stretched out their necks to chop him off.

It is impossible for a village to keep its gates closed all the time. After all, the villagers inside are going out to work. Soon, Zhang Chao saw farmers in twos and threes carrying heads and plowshares from the gate of Shenjia Village to the farmland.

"The time has come, let's go!" Zhang Chao decided that this was a good opportunity, so he led [-] battalions of cavalry to launch a surprise attack from a distance.

At a distance of 800 to [-] meters from the village, Zhang Chao and the others rode horses, driving their mounts in a brisk walking posture.

It was not until they were 300 meters away from the village that they charged suddenly, especially some cavalry at the front of the team. In order to enter the village before the gate closed, they flogged their mounts desperately.

The guards of those villages suddenly saw a large number of cavalry rushing towards their homes, and they all panicked. They forgot to close the gates of the village a long time ago. Dare to resist.

(End of this chapter)