If the emperor breaks the law, he shall be punished the same as the common people.

This is of course a cover-up.

But the evidence of the prince's guilt was actually very favorable to Zhu Ying.

Because as the vassal states develop, they will inevitably gradually get rid of their dependence on the Ming Dynasty. When they become strong enough, they may even obey orders but not declarations.

Now it seems that no matter it is the King of Yan, the King of Qin, the King of Jin, or the King of Qi, they are all very obedient.

Among them, Zhu Ying was one aspect, but the biggest factor was their fear of their father Zhu Yuanzhang.

If Zhu Yuanzhang were no longer around, even if Zhu Ying could suppress them firmly, it would not be so easy to make them as obedient as they are now.

Nowadays, their vassal states can be easily taken away with just one imperial decree, and even a vassal king can be demoted to a commoner without any resistance.

But if it were only Zhu Ying, people like the Prince of Yan would not be so obedient.

The most likely possibility is that the four major feudal lords will unite and fight against Zhu Ying in Japan.

This is much more difficult than what Zhu Yunwen did to Zhu Di in history.

After all, Japan is so far away from the Ming Dynasty. Even if Zhu Ying sent troops to conquer it, the Four Princes could choose to annex Japan or cooperate with it.

The outcome is inevitable.

But this would also destroy the Ming Dynasty's vassal state policy.

Of course, Zhu Ying dared to do this because he had absolute confidence that the development of the Ming Dynasty would far surpass that of other vassal states.

As technology took off, the vassal states could only serve as the Ming Dynasty's frontier barrier.

"Give me the account book, and then tell my uncles about the account book, and let them know that I have evidence of smuggling."

Zhu Ying thought for a moment and then gave the order.

This is a righteous cause, but it is also a handle for the princes.

If Zhu Ying made their tax evasion and smuggling of contraband public, the princes would suffer a severe blow to their reputation.

Don't underestimate this 'name'.

As the saying goes, "A righteous man has many supporters, while an unrighteous man has few." In many cases, these reputations often bring about many chain reactions.

For example, Liu Bang and Xiang Yu won or lost in reputation.

Not to mention that the public opinion of the whole world is now in Zhu Ying's hands.

A powerful weapon like the official newspaper is just like the gossips of all living beings.

What Zhu Ying wants the world to hear, the world can only hear it; what Zhu Ying doesn't want people to hear, no one can hear.

"Yes, Your Highness."

Guan Xianghai has already given up struggling and will just accept whatever His Highness says.

…

Xin'an County Government Office.

A large number of police officers from the public security bureau have surrounded the place, and the yamen runners are nervously guarding the gate.

The two groups of troops confronted each other.

"Don't struggle any more. This is a capture mission issued by the City Security Department. I don't want to make things too awkward. Let Magistrate Liu come out."

The person standing in front leading the team was none other than the director of the Public Security Bureau.

It was obvious that the public security station had hundreds of officers under it, and these dozens of yamen runners could not resist them at all.

A sigh came from behind.

The Xin'an County Magistrate, wearing his official uniform, came out, looked at the number of runners around him, his eyes dimmed, and he smiled bitterly, "I didn't expect it to be so fast. Is this the respect that Director Zhang is giving me?"

Director Zhang shook his head slightly: "I believe County Magistrate Liu will not resist arrest, he just wants to delay time."

"But this is meaningless. We have three teams heading to the Hong Kong dental clinics. I think they have all been arrested by now."

According to the current organization of the Public Security Bureau, a squad consists of ten people, and a general team consists of a hundred people.

The staffing of the public security station is roughly five to eight brigades, depending on the situation in the county.

County Magistrate Liu asked somewhat unwillingly, "Where are Director Li and the others?"

Chief Zhang is not from the Xin'an County Public Security Station, but from the neighboring county.

This was a cross-county arrest operation.

Because of the information obtained by the higher-ups, the Xin'an County Public Security Bureau had already colluded with the Xin'an County Government.

Director Zhang shook his head. "These are not things I can ask about. For me, arresting County Magistrate Liu and investigating the pawnbrokers in Hong Kong are the orders I received. I don't know anything else."

County Magistrate Liu knew that at this point, he was completely doomed.

He had not expected that within just a few days of receiving the news that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince had arrived in Hong Kong Island, the crimes he had committed would be completely exposed, with no room for turning back.

In fact, he had already arranged a retreat as soon as he received the news.

For him, who often hangs out along the coast, as long as he can get on the ship and leave Ming Dynasty, he can completely protect himself.

His brother-in-law, the prefect of Guangzhou government, had connections in Japan and could make proper arrangements.

Officials like himself who had committed crimes would also be treated with courtesy after arriving in the vassal state, and there was a high probability that they would be able to continue serving as officials.

Unfortunately, it was one day late.

He thought it wouldn't be that fast and wanted to wait for news from his brother-in-law.

If I can't wait today, I'll run away early tomorrow morning.

Unfortunately it's too late now.

Not only County Magistrate Liu, but also officials including the county magistrate, the chief clerk, the registrar, and the director of the public security office were basically all arrested.

This means that the leadership team of Xin'an County has been completely cleared out.

County Magistrate Liu was still hoping that his brother-in-law would come to rescue him, so he decided to take all the blame.

However, he did not know that the situation in the Guangzhou government office was no different from his.

In order to stabilize the situation, even the Guangzhou garrison was dispatched.

It is not actually difficult for officials to resolve the issue. The most they worry about is that they will get the news in advance and escape.

The military and politics have been separated, and there is no possibility for officials to oppose the court.

The most troublesome part is the handling of Hong Kong Island.

The investment by those foreign investors was naturally illegal. In fact, they did not even have formal land deeds. The Hong Kong land brokers used simple agreements to make these people pay the money obediently, and they had been trying to delay the processing of the land deeds.

It can be said that the vast majority of foreign businessmen are victims.

Five hundred police officers and a local garrison were dispatched to directly station on Hong Kong Island.

And began to recruit craftsmen to build the Hong Kong Magistrate's Office.

At the same time, a notice was issued, declaring that Hong Kong Island belonged to the Ming Dynasty, all land deeds belonged to the imperial court, and all territories occupied by foreign businessmen on the island were illegal.

This time, a single stone caused a thousand ripples.

A large number of foreign businessmen became excited.

They flocked to the Hong Kong dental clinic.

However, the pawnshops in Hong Kong had already been closed down, and the angry crowd had nowhere to vent their anger, so they finally stormed the headquarters of the Qianhu Suo.

This is currently the only official location on Hong Kong Island.

"You are committing fraud. We have spent so much hard-earned money, risking our lives to earn money, and invested almost half of it in the construction of this place. Just based on a notice, you want to take away all our property. I refuse to accept this!!!"

"That's right. We don't accept it. We have the agreement signed by your government in our hands. It should be legal and valid. Are we going to lose the home we built with great difficulty?"

"This is an internal issue of your Ming government. We, the foreign merchants, should not be held responsible. You should recognize the legitimacy of our house and land."

"I know high-ranking officials in your government. If you don't give us a satisfactory answer, I will sue you, even if I have to go to the capital. I believe that the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty will understand us."

"We will send a message to the envoys stationed in the capital, telling them what happened here and the unfair treatment we received. You will definitely be punished."

The crowd was excited.

Originally, most of the people on Hong Kong Island were foreign businessmen, but in just half a day, thousands of people gathered here.

And this number is constantly increasing.

Even foreign businessmen passing by choose to join such a parade.

In fact, some businessmen knew that the procedures they used to build houses were illegal, but they colluded with Hong Kong pawnbrokers and the Xin'an County Government to form a community of interests.

The instigation of this march was also initiated by these people.

Several leaders did not participate in the parade, but watched the indignant march from outside the team.

One of them said, "We have gathered merchants from at least a dozen countries here. The Ming court must attach great importance to us. Besides, we really spent money, so they should give us fair treatment."

“As long as this march is successful, the homes we build will be legal and the government will have to issue us land deeds.”

"With the land deed, according to the current laws of the Ming Dynasty, we have the possibility of being included in the Ming Dynasty household registration."

The eyes of several people nearby lit up.

They really want to obtain household registration in the Ming Dynasty.

Because only by obtaining Ming Dynasty household registration would they be eligible to purchase more luxury goods such as porcelain and silk, and then obtain more benefits.

Moreover, as Ming people, they were able to raise the flag of Ming merchants on their ships and receive protection from the Ming navy, which to a great extent ensured the safety of their navigation.

The benefits presented here are very different.

In fact, the illegal construction of Hong Kong Island was not the idea of ​​the Xin'an County Government at all, but was proposed by these foreign businessmen. They contributed a large amount of gold and silver as bait to implement such a plan.

It's not just the Xin'an County Government. In fact, most coastal areas will suffer similar consequences.

However, Hong Kong Island is the most special. There are no government offices of the Ming Dynasty here, which provides a lot of room for maneuver.

They even wanted to set up their own administrative agency on Hong Kong Island, forming administrative boundaries of various countries in the Ming Dynasty, achieving the possibility of self-management, and thus accumulating more benefits.

For example, evading Ming Dynasty customs duties and building up armed forces.

Don't underestimate these foreign merchants.

After the Ming Dynasty opened its seas, they also quickly accumulated a large amount of wealth.

A piece of Ming Dynasty porcelain might be sold for only a few strings of treasure notes, but when it was sold by these sea merchants to overseas destinations, such as Central Asia or even India, it was worth dozens or even hundreds of strings of treasure notes.

Nobles from afar would even offer gold in exchange.

A robe made of oriental silk is the face of a noble. As we all know, only the silk from this oriental country is the most marketable commodity.

pity.

They did not understand the Ming Dynasty's choice of rebellion.

In many countries, due to the sparse population, the government often does not carry out large-scale massacres of merchants.

But this is the Ming Dynasty.

"How dare you, these ignorant barbarians, attack our Ming army camp."

Chief Captain Xiji looked at the crowd outside and said with a sneer.

The deputy captain next to him grinned and said, "Brothers, we haven't exercised for a long time. These rebels are just for our military merit. I don't know who gave them the courage to charge into our captain's office."

"Sir, give the order. My sword is starving!"

Xiji's face turned grim, and he shouted, "Pass my military order, mobilize the entire army to suppress the riot!!!"

"The commander-in-chief has ordered the entire army to be dispatched to suppress the riot!!!"

"Open the gate and kill!!!"

A thousand households has 800 soldiers, which is the headquarters of a thousand households.

When the military order was given and the gate of the village was opened, a total of eight hundred soldiers lined up and rushed out.

In the front, there are one hundred sword and shield soldiers, and behind them are one hundred musketeers.

"What are they going to do? Are they going to attack us?"

"No, they definitely don't dare to open fire."

"Wait for their leader to come out and negotiate."

The foreigners in the front were obviously panicked, even though they numbered thousands.

But on the opposite side is the regular army of the Ming Dynasty.

Almost all officers and soldiers wore armor. They had spears, swords, shields, and even muskets.

The marchers did not have any weapons at all.

If a real fight breaks out, it will be a massacre of hundreds of people against thousands of people.

Xiji looked at it coldly and scolded: "If it doesn't dissipate within ten breaths, you will bear the consequences."

There were a lot of translation voices in the parade, and of course most people here could understand basic Chinese.

Faced with the strong force of the Ming Dynasty officers and soldiers, the parade became somewhat chaotic.

They don't want to lose their lives.

However, it is very difficult to escape when there are so many people. If there is no order, it may even cause panic and stampede.

"Oh, if you don't listen to my advice, then it's not Xi's fault. Fire!!!"

As the order to open fire was conveyed.

The musketeers in the front row, under the cover of the sword and shield soldiers, directly ignited their muskets.

"Damn it, how dare they, how dare they!!!"

The masterminds who were watching the show from afar suddenly felt their eyes turn red when they saw the musket nod. They didn't bother to hide their positions and shouted in fear.

In the front row of the parade, people saw the lit fuse and suddenly shouted in fear, and turned around and wanted to leave.

BANG BANG BANG BANG!!!

A large amount of smoke rose as the gunshot rang out, and at the same time his screams of pain were heard.

At such a close distance, the musketeers did not need to aim very precisely, they could just shoot directly at the crowd.

The Hundred Musketeers formed a three-shot firing formation and exploded directly into the middle of the marching team.

The thrust generated by the gunpowder explosion caused lead bullets to burst wildly among the crowd.

Rows of marchers kept falling down. The crowd was too dense, and nearly a hundred people fell down in an instant.

The matchlock gun could not kill with one shot, and the injured could only wail in pain.

In fact, compared to the thousands of people marching, a hundred people is not a lot.

But no one had the courage to attack the positions of the Ming soldiers.

Suddenly, thousands of people began to flee for their lives.