The most reckless man in the Ming Dynasty

The Kong family was massacred by rebels.

Once the news came out, it caused an uproar all over the world!

After all, he is the blood descendant of a saint!

Since the canonization of the Western Han Dynasty, the Kong family has always been passed down, and all dynasties have enjoyed preferential treatment from the court. This inheritance has been passed down for thousands of years. It is not an exaggeration to say that it is the best family in the world.

However, it happened that such a noble blood descendant of a saint from a thousand-year-old family was slaughtered by a group of ridiculous rebels.

For a time, the gentry and gentry in the world were shaken and restless, and they all pointed their fingers at the people who suppressed the rebellion.

Ma Zhongxi, the Minister of War, deserves to die!

As a supervisor, I failed to supervise me well, which caused the rebels to go around and slaughter the gentry, and finally the Kong family was slaughtered!

No matter what, this damn Ma Zhongxi, that is really damnable!

Especially since he himself was a member of the gentry, but watched helplessly as the Marquis of Zhongshan used the hands of rebels to massacre the gentry, he deserved to die even more.

The eunuch of the inner court, Qiu Ju, also deserves to die!

Eunuchs and eunuchs deserve to die. If he, the supervisor of the army, fails to fulfill his responsibility as a supervisor of the army, he will deserve to die even more.

Maybe this damn eunuch had already taken refuge with the Marquis of Zhongshan and conspired together to create this good show!

As for the last person, Tang Hao, the Marquis of Zhongshan, all the gentry in the dynasty wanted to cut this animal into pieces with a thousand knives, and the gentry all over the world wanted to drink the blood and eat the flesh of this thief!

How dare you?

That's the blood descendant of a saint!

You can still fucking kill me without fail?

Are descendants of saints and thousand-year-old families insignificant in your eyes?

For a time, the distraught gentry began to launch frantic impeachment accusations.

No matter what, they couldn't let these three people go, especially the Marquis of Zhongshan!

The impeachment memorials submitted from officials all over the world flew into the cabinet like snowflakes, and were then delivered to the desk of His Majesty the Emperor.

Without exception, these memorials were all aimed at impeaching Qiu Ju, Ma Zhongxi and Tang Hao, especially the latter who accounted for the majority.

Yang Tinghe, the chief minister of the cabinet, had no idea at this moment. He was not only the master of Emperor Zhengde, but also the chief minister of the cabinet, so he had to consider the attitude and thoughts of the gentry.

In the end, he simply sent all the impeachment memorials to the imperial court. As for whether His Majesty the Emperor would approve it, or how to approve it, he didn't bother to care.

However, Yang Tinghe knew clearly that this impeachment was meaningless.

Because the people who don’t care about their dignity are the Kong family members.

Once the news spread that the Kong family surrendered to the rebels in Kaicheng, the gentry and Jin gentry would lose all their face.

It's a pity that so few people know this secret, so that the gentry and officials all over the world are still frantically impeaching the Marquis of Zhongshan.

In this regard, His Majesty the Emperor's attitude is very thought-provoking. He neither approved these memorials but kept them all, nor ordered the Ministry of Rites to prepare rewards for the Marquis of Zhongshan and other soldiers who countered the rebellion.

It seems that this young emperor of tomorrow is also dissatisfied with what Zhongshan Hou Tang Hao has done, which makes the gentry officials forget about it and continue to increase their efforts to impeach Zhongshan Hou Tang Hao!

It was not until January that these impeachment memorials tapered off.

Because the Marquis of Zhongshan has returned to Beijing!

Tang Hao first went home to meet his young wife. After a long separation, the couple finally calmed down.

The beauty's face was still flushed, and she lay weakly on Tang Hao's solid chest.

"Husband, I heard that this time you have made great achievements in suppressing the rebellion, but you have been impeached by a large number of officials and gentry. I am afraid that you have become a target of public criticism."

"Well, as expected." Tang Hao chuckled, "These gentry are just driven to be anxious, so they are crazy about impeaching me."

"But apart from impeachment, apart from putting some shit in my hands, what else can they do?"

To be honest, Tang Hao is really not very afraid of these gentry nowadays.

Thanks to the efforts of Tang Hao and Zhu Houzhao, the Zhengde Court has already changed its appearance.

In the past, during the Hongzhi period, civil servants and gentry controlled the government affairs and intervened in all powers. Even the Beijing army was under the control of civil servants and gentry.

But now, the military power of the Beijing army is in the hands of Tang Hao. Even if there is Yang Yiqing on his head, the Minister of War can't stop him at all. On the contrary, he is disgusted by Tang Hao. Now he is still checking horses in Shaanxi Province. Zheng, I won't be able to come back in a year and a half.

Taking advantage of this counterinsurgency, Zhu Houzhao also successfully took back the Ministry of Household Affairs and selected Jiao Fang, a yes-man with bad morals but better than obedience, as the Secretary of the Ministry of Household Affairs. This also meant that the money and food in the treasury was no longer under the control of civil servants and gentry!

Tang Hao had some impression of Jiao Fang.

He was a notoriously treacherous villain who would do anything to advance his career. In his early years, he would send his wife to serve Li Xian, a powerful official, in exchange for promotion in his career. It can be seen that this guy was really unscrupulous and had no bottom line.

Later, during the Hongzhi period, he flattered Emperor Hongzhi and made him happy, so he was promoted to Minister of Civil Service. However, giants like Liu Jian, Xie Qian, and Ma Wensheng had long seen that this man had evil intentions, so they joined forces to suppress him in a tacit understanding. As a result, Jiao Fang was never able to advance even half a step, let alone truly enter the power center of the Ming Dynasty.

Later came the Zhengde Dynasty. Historically, Liu Jin had power in both the government and the opposition. Jiao Fang immediately fawned over her and became a famous eunuch. Fu, he can be called a ruthless person.

Of course, the arrival of Tang Hao ruined all this, so Liu Jin was sent to prison before Jiao Fang started to make a fortune. Fortunately, his bottomless operation successfully attracted the attention of Zhu Houzhao, and he was able to continue his rise to success.

The position of Minister of Household Affairs was very important to Zhu Houzhao.

This position does not require loyalty or virtuousness, only obedient people.

And Jiao Fang is the best candidate right now.

Because he is obedient enough.

If Zhu Houzhao hadn't been unwilling, he would have deliberately sent his daughter to climb onto the dragon's bed.

The next thing will be much more convenient.

With the Ministry of Household Affairs in the hands of "our own people", the money, food and supplies for the soldiers of the Beijing Army are guaranteed. Tang Hao and Zhu Houzhao no longer have to frantically raise money and food like before, and the reform of the military system of the Shandong Guards Station can also be accelerated. , it has been implemented.

After thinking about it, Tang Hao still felt that he should go to the palace first and meet Zhu Houzhao.

So he patted the beauty's butt, and the latter immediately blushed and turned up.

Tang Hao: "..."

Well, this wave is a misunderstanding.

Amid Zhang Jingshu's frantic voice, Tang Hao patted his butt and left.

Half an hour later, Zhu Houzhao looked at Tang Hao with a teasing face.

"Hey, you're a busy man!"

"I thought you would come to meet me in the middle of the night!"

"Tsk, tsk, savage, you can't do this either. It's only been half an hour, it can't be..."

Tang Hao looked at Zhu Houzhao angrily and sneered: "My half an hour is more useful than your two years!"

As soon as these words came out, Zhu Houzhao was dumbfounded, and then he yelled in anger.

Because he got married two years earlier than Tang Hao. Unfortunately, Queen Xia's stomach had been silent for more than two years.

Well, of course, excluding the year and a half, His Majesty the Emperor was busy fencing with Feng'er, so it was even more impossible to give birth to a child.

The facts were like a knife, piercing Zhu Houzhao's young heart.

His Majesty the Emperor suddenly became furious and pointed at Tang Hao's nose and cursed loudly.

"You damn guy!"

"You had a good time playing outside, where was I?"

"Do you know how many gentry and gentry have impeached you? I am almost annoyed to death by them!"

After listening to Zhu Houzhao's rambling narration, a smile suddenly appeared on Tang Hao's face.

"This time the initiative is in our hands."

"Huh?" Zhu Houzhao asked: "Are you talking about the Kong family surrendering to rebel?"

"It's probably not enough. After all, the Kong family was slaughtered by the rebels. This matter is untenable."

The reason is very simple. You said that the Kong family surrendered to the rebels in Kaicheng, so why did the rebels massacre the Kong family?

This is clearly a false accusation. They are already dead, and you, the damn Marquis of Zhongshan, are still pouring dirty water on them!

This is really unreasonable, and the ultimate bastard!

Tang Hao smiled slightly and shook his head.

"That's not the case."

"I caught a big fish this time!"

"Big fish enough for us to intervene in the south of the Yangtze River!"

Hearing this, Zhu Houzhao suddenly became excited.

Jiangnan!

A taxing powerhouse!

In charge of half of the Ming Dynasty’s taxation!

Zhu Houzhao had long wanted to intervene here, but unfortunately the Jiangnan gentry was too powerful, both inside and outside the court, so he did not dare to act rashly!

Now, he finally got the chance!

The monarch and his ministers discussed for a while and finalized the details of tomorrow's court meeting, before Tang Hao slowly left the palace.

However, when he reached the palace gate, he saw an unexpected person.

The chief assistant of the cabinet, Emperor Zhengde's master, Yang Tinghe!

Speaking of which, this was the first real official meeting between the two.

Although the two had crossed paths before, they had not had much contact. Even when Tang Hao was getting married, Yang Tinghe did not communicate much with Tang Hao due to his status.

So at this moment, Zhu Houzhao's two closest confidants, one civil and one military, finally met successfully.

Yang Tinghe got into Tang Hao's large carriage, which was specially customized according to Tang Hao's body shape. Otherwise, Tang Hao would have had to bend down and sit in Yang Tinghe's carriage, which would have been very uncomfortable.

The two of them took their seats, and the carriage moved forward slowly, circling around the imperial city.

"Yang Shoufu, do you have any advice?"

Tang Hao poured a cup of tea and handed it directly to Yang Tinghe.

Seeing this, Yang Tinghe twitched the corner of his mouth, then picked up the teacup and sipped it slowly.

"Tang Hou, has the mastermind behind this Bazhou rebellion been caught?"

Tang Hao raised his eyebrows and then smiled.

"What does it mean to be caught?"

"Even if I am not caught, if I want to go to Jiangnan, no one can stop me!"

This sentence is quite true!

The simplest and crudest way is for the Marquis of Zhongshan to send his troops to the south of the Yangtze River!

As long as the Jiangnan gentry are bloodbathed and the fields are redistributed, the court taxes will go up directly!

But the problem is that Yang Tinghe will not let him do this, and Zhu Houzhao will not let him do this.

The reason why the Jiangnan gentry dared to challenge the imperial court was because of their confidence and strength!

Half of the country's tax revenue has never been just talk.

"Marquis Tang, don't act rashly!"

Yang Tinghe sighed.

"Previously you slaughtered the Zhili gentry and the Kong family, which has caused the gentry to be shocked and the Jin gentry to be uneasy. If you continue to pursue and attack the Jiangnan gentry, I'm afraid..."

"There will be no chaos!" Tang Hao waved his hand impatiently, "The scholars have not rebelled for ten years. Do they still dare to rebel?"

"If you really have the courage, it will save me a lot of effort."

Anyone who conspires and rebels will confiscate their homes and exterminate their clans without hesitation!

If the Jiangnan gentry really dared to do this, Tang Hao would laugh out of his dreams.

In fact, they are indeed conspiring to rebel this time. Jinyiwei has rushed to Bazhou to trace the trajectory of Fan Wencheng, including the source of the armor, bows and crossbows he provided to the Bazhou rebels. Follow this line to trace and arrest him. After hearing the evidence of those guys, Tang Hao dared to raid their homes and destroy their clan!

Yang Tinghe frowned and then gave the reason.

"We can't eat it."

"With just one direct subordinate, the Ministry of Revenue is already too busy."

"Furthermore, Xiangbi Tanghou is also aware of the difficulties of clearing Zhang's fields. Even if you pursue and reach into the south of the Yangtze River, I really can't keep up. Han Wen has encountered trouble in Zhili. In a short period of time, Unable to advance!”

As soon as these words came out, Tang Hao's face suddenly darkened.

"All the gentry and squires have been killed!"

“What other resistance can the Korean language encounter?”

Yang Tinghe sighed and put down the tea cup in his hand.

"Local people are unwilling to cooperate."

"They would rather wait for new gentry to appear than trust the court anymore!"

When Tang Hao heard this, he was startled for a moment, and then suddenly burst into laughter. The laughter was full of contempt and ridicule.

"Well done!"

"They would rather believe in the gentry who enslaved them than the imperial government. This is the result of the diligent efforts of the saintly monarchs and virtuous ministers of the Hongzhi Dynasty!"

"Tang Hou!" Yang Tinghe was angry, "Be careful what you say!"

If you criticize civil servants and gentry, then criticize civil servants and gentry, and don't bring the late emperor with you.

Yang Tinghe didn't want to slander Jun's father in private, and he was unwilling to do so.

After all, although the late emperor had some faults, he was indeed the ideal example of a saintly king among Confucian civil servants.

Tang Hao was too lazy to talk nonsense to Yang Tinghe, but asked directly: "Then what are you going to do? Are you just going to give up?"

"I put my words here. Except for allocating the ownerless fields in Zhili to the homeless people, who dares to reach out and kill his whole family!"

Of course he is qualified to say this!

Because these fields were carved out by Tang Hao from the belly of the gentry with the help of the rebels!

As a result, you are now telling me that the Qingzhang field is not feasible and the local people are unwilling to cooperate?

Tang Hao was so angry that he wanted to kill someone!

Why are local people unwilling to cooperate?

Because they are fed up with the court's exorbitant taxes!

Because they have long lost confidence in the Ming Dynasty, which is rotten to the core!

Working as yeoman farmers for the imperial court, exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes forced them to sell their land, children, and daughters. Life was worse than death!

But working as tenants for the gentry and gentry, although life was a little harder, at least they could survive, and at least their family could be saved, and they would not be forced to sell their sons and daughters.

After all, the gentry and the gentry were not stupid. The higher rents forced these tenants to work hard, but there was no one to plow the land for them.

In a certain sense, it is indeed better to be a tenant for the gentry than to be a yeoman for the court!

This concept was not formed in a short while, but was built on the blood and tears of countless peasants over decades or hundreds of years!

If you want to blame, you can only blame the imperial court itself for being dead. No wonder these people are not at all to blame!

People just want to live!

What's wrong with them?

"The imperial court has lost the support of the people!"

"Yang Tinghe, if you, the chief minister of the cabinet, don't think of a way, then I will get involved!"

Hearing this, Yang Tinghe's face became even more ugly.

He and Tang Hao have now formed a tacit understanding. Tang Hao is in charge of the main battle and specializes in dealing with the gentry and gentry, while Yang Tinghe is in charge, trying his best to appease the gentry and gentry and digest the fields that Tang Hao forcibly seized.

To put it bluntly, both of them have a common goal, to prolong the life of the Ming Dynasty, and then... revive the Ming Dynasty!

"I'll find a way."

"But the Jiangnan side also asks Tang Hou to hold off for a while!"

"At least until the Zhili fields are settled, we must not take action against the Jiangnan gentry!"

Tang Hao pinched his eyebrows and thought for a long time, and finally nodded.

"This time, you owe me a favor."

"Get out of here quickly, I will be upset when I see you!"

Yang Ting and Wen Yan finally showed a smile on their faces, and then got off the carriage.

"Yang Tinghe, you look a bit like Liu Jian now."

Upon hearing this, Yang Tinghe froze, then strode away.

Tang Hao looked at his back and raised the corners of his mouth slightly.

Slowing down the pace and going south to the south of the Yangtze River is actually a good thing for Tang Hao.

Because the fleet from Shandong was about to go to sea, he had no time to fight with the Jiangnan gentry at this juncture.

But take advantage of this opportunity to seek more benefits, why not?

It is best to kill the chickens to scare the monkeys, and beat the scared monkeys with a stick, so that they will be obedient and not dare to cause trouble!

Back at the Hou Mansion, Zhang Jingshu had already prepared dinner.

After the couple had dinner, they began to communicate in depth again.

There was no way, Zhang Jingshu wanted to get pregnant as soon as possible in her dream, and she tried her best to cater to Tang Hao. The Marquis of Zhongshan could only cooperate with him, and he struggled all night.

When Tang Hao went to court the next day, he still had two panda eyes.

Then, when Deng heard about the drum, the clerk almost cried.

He looked at Tang Hao aggrievedly and fell to his knees with a "pop" sound.

"Master Hou!"

"I'm sorry, please!"

"If you have something to say, just say it directly, can you please stop knocking?"

This damn place is Dengwengu!

Why are you still addicted to knocking?

If you have anything to do, come over and knock on me?

Can you take care of everyone's feelings?

Tang Hao helped the young official up with a smile, and then spoke energetically.

"Old rule, go directly to the communication, you have nothing to do here!"

When the clerk heard this, he could only sigh and go to pass the news.

The next moment, the sound of thundering drums resounded through the sky, and the entire capital was shaken by it again!

"What's this?"

"Dengwen drum sounds again?"

"Who is not afraid of death and beats the Dengwen drum?"

At this moment, in Qianqing Palace.

Zhu Houzhao had already put on his clothes and listened to the drums calmly.

Chen Kuan walked in slowly and reminded in a low voice: "Your Majesty, Marquis Tang has already beaten the Dengwen drum!"

Zhu Houzhao said "hmm", then stood up and looked at the rising sun.

"Convene the civil and military officials of the court to discuss matters!"

This time!

He wants...Jiangnan!