Suzhou prefectural government office.
The newly appointed governor, Shi Kunyu, was as anxious as an ant on hot pan.
Of course he had known about the weavers' rebellion, which had caused such a big commotion.
During this period, Sun Long also sent a young eunuch to ask for help, but Prefect Shi did not dare to get involved in this muddy water. He only ordered people to guard the granary and silver vault, and of course his own government office.
He also ordered the Wu County Magistrate Wen Ruzhang and the Changshu County Magistrate Huang Rujin to maintain public order in Suzhou City and not to cause riots.
Then he called his teacher, Mr. Shen Weijing, to discuss countermeasures urgently.
"It has begun. Sure enough, it starts from Suzhou!" Shi Kunyu put his hands behind his back and paced back and forth anxiously. "Why can't we start from Jinling?"
"This is obvious." Shen Weijing puffed on his pipe and blew out a smoke ring.
"Suzhou has a great influence. It is the place where Jiangnan Group was founded, and most of its senior executives are from Suzhou. They have been operating here for a long time and have the best foundation, so they can ensure a good start... As for Nanjing, there are too many government offices and more than 100,000 troops, so there are too many variables."
"Yeah, that's true." Shi Kunyu nodded dejectedly.
Let’s not talk about other places, let’s just talk about the officialdom in Suzhou.
His boss, Yingtian Governor Jin Xuezeng, Zhao Hao's direct disciple, has been involved with the Jiangnan Group since the day he entered the official career, and they have long been indistinguishable from each other!
The two magistrates under him, Wen Ruzhang, the magistrate of Changzhou, was from Chaozhou, Guangdong, and Huang Rujin, the magistrate of Wu County, was from Putian, Fujian. Both were graduates of Fenghuang Academy and were fellow Jinshi in the 17th year of Wanli. Young people with this background were all fanatical admirers of Zhao Hao.
In fact, even the assistant officials in his government office were all members of the Jiangnan Group. The Ministry of Personnel had been controlled by the Jiangnan Gang for many years. If your pants were not red enough, you would not be sent to Suzhou to be an official.
But Shi Kunyu was different, he was specially appointed by the emperor, because he had a good reputation as an official, was known throughout the world for his integrity and uprightness, and was known as "Little Hai Rui".
Moreover, he was a clear-cut royalist. When the country was under dispute, all officials urged Wanli to appoint a crown prince early. However, he wrote a letter to defend Wanli, saying that "there are no parents who are not right, and there are no kings who are not right", and we, as ministers, should not push too hard.
Wanli was so moved that he burst into tears. What Shi Aiqing said was absolutely right. The civil servants were just pushing him too hard.
Needless to say, Shi Kunyu would definitely not be able to survive in Beijing. However, Wanli specially appointed him as the governor of Suzhou to avoid the limelight, so that he could make achievements and help him clean up the Jiangnan Group.
The biggest discovery Shi Futai made during his six months in office was that Suzhou had completely become the territory of the Jiangnan Group. Even the archers in the prefecture and the gunners in the county were run by the Jiangnan Group under the name of the government, and he had no say in the matter.
However, Shi Kunyu was not someone who would easily give in. In the past six months, he had been working hard to regain power and had fought against the Jiangnan Group several times in secret. Especially after Wanli reinstated the maritime ban, other governments were perfunctory, but he took it seriously.
Shi Kunyu also went to Chongming County, preparing to shut down the Jiangnan Shipyard... but before he could even get in, he was driven out of Chongming Island by angry shipyard workers.
Shi Futai lost all face. He also tore his face off completely and filed a complaint to the emperor, saying that the Jiangnan Group had flouted the maritime ban and incited workers to fight against the government. He also impeached his boss, Yingtian Governor Jin Xuezeng, for shielding the Jiangnan Group.
It is easy to imagine how tense the relationship between the two sides was. Sun Long suddenly raised taxes drastically because he saw that Shifutai could only rely on the emperor's support and did not dare to offend the weaving office.
Sun Long's guess was correct. Although Shi Kunyu disliked eunuchs, he could not afford to be picky at the moment. The eunuch in charge of weaving was at least an imperial envoy with connections to the heavens. The prefectural government and the weaving government temporarily agreed, so they were barely isolated and helpless. So he could only turn a blind eye to Sun Long's money-making behavior.
Who would have thought that the world would change so quickly? In the blink of an eye, the emperor killed Hai Rui, the person he admired the most. How embarrassed would Shi Futai, who called himself "Little Hai Rui", feel?
Although he did not go to the Lou River to pay tribute due to his status, he still set up an incense table in the government office. Before he had time to calm down and think about what to do next, Sun Long's nest was destroyed by the rioting weavers...
~~
The mule was frightened when it was hit, and the stone magistrate also had grass growing in the temple - he was in a panic.
"Sir, what do you think our government should do now?" He was looking forward to the staff he had hired at a high price.
"I have three plans, and running away is the best one." Shen Weijing shook his head and said.
"The prefect has the responsibility to defend the territory, how can he escape in the face of battle?" Shi Kunyu said unhappily, "What about the middle strategy?"
"Immediately communicate with Jiangnan Group and express their full cooperation." Shen Weijing took a puff of cigarette and said, "With Dong Weng's status and reputation, even if they want to buy a horse's bones for a huge sum of money, they will forgive the past and even give Dong Weng the credit for being the first to rebel."
"If it succeeds, I'll marry you. If it fails, I'll cook you?" Shi Kunyu gasped.
"Not really. Jiangnan Group is much more powerful than the imperial court. At worst, they can divide the country by the Yangtze River and return to the Northern and Southern Dynasties. The imperial court wants to cross the Yangtze River? Let's protect the area north of the Yellow River first." Shen Weijing shook his head slightly and said, "Of course, Dong Weng must dare to be the first in the world."
"Oh, it's difficult." Shi Kunyu shook his head vigorously. Being the first official in the Ming Dynasty to openly rebel, the psychological pressure was too great.
He patted his chest vigorously and said, "Shi is deeply favored by the emperor..."
"Then don't do anything and call yourself sick." Shen Weijing rolled his eyes and said, "Anyway, as long as Dong Weng doesn't go to suppress the riots, the Jiangnan Group won't touch you. Once Jiangnan issues the order, they will form a government and divide up the power. Who will care who Dong Weng is?"
"Since I am the ruler of a prefecture, how can I be so negative..." Shi Futai said unwillingly.
While he was struggling with this, the doorman came in in a panic and reported that the rioting weavers had come to Fuqian Street and were taking Sun Long with them to be handed over to the prefect for punishment.
"Oh!" Shi Kunyu was startled at first, but then he was actually a little happy. This showed that they did not treat him, the old ancestor, as air.
"That's reasonable." Shi Futai regained his composure and said, "It seems that they are not completely lawless."
"This is to ask Dong Weng to surrender." Shen Weijing said calmly: "If you don't kill Sun Long, I'm afraid they will arrest you and find the governor."
"Ah..." Shi Kunyu suddenly collapsed. Sun Long was the imperial envoy. Killing him would be treason, wouldn't it?
But if it is really as Mr. Shen said, if I don't kill Sun Long, I will die with him.
Is it okay to sacrifice one's life for justice? Is it okay!
Prefect Shi was thinking about the examples of loyal ministers such as Boyi and Shu Qi, and trying to muster up the courage to follow in their footsteps.
"That person spent thousands of gold to buy horse bones, so it's a bargain for Zhou Erfu." Mr. Shen said quietly.
"Why should he be given such a privilege?!" Magistrate Shi was immediately unhappy. "He's an old scholar! Does he deserve it? How many do he deserve?"
He completely forgot that his idol was also a juren...
~~
So the prefect Shi ordered the gates to be removed, opened the gates, dressed neatly, and went to the gates of the yamen to welcome the rebellious weavers in person...
Magistrate Shi kept calling them "all the righteous men", which put the weavers at ease and emboldened them.
Sun Long, covered in phlegm, was thrown to the ground for the second time.
"The false emperor Zhu Yijun is cruel and merciless, perverted and cruel, and persecuted loyal people! The eunuch Sun Long abused his power to commit crimes and bully the people! It is the wrath of heaven and the resentment of the people, and it cannot be worse! It is true that 'the one who messes up the world is the king'! Now we are raising an uprising, not for the selfishness of one family, but because the world is without a king!" Then Ge Cheng said loudly:
"Please, my dear ancestor, follow the will of heaven and the people and execute this beast, so as to relieve the suffering of the people and comfort the spirit of Lord Hai in heaven!"
"Kill the castrated dog! Kill the castrated dog! Kill the castrated dog!" The weavers then raised their arms and shouted, causing Magistrate Shi's eardrums to hurt.
He understood clearly that what Mr. Shen said was absolutely correct. Facing the rioting people, if he dared to say "no", he would have to lie down with Sun Long.
He turned his head away, not looking at Sun Long's pleading eyes, and waved his hand weakly, saying, "It's up to you..."
"Ahhh!" Amid cheers, the weavers rushed forward and beat Sun Long to death on the spot.
Then Ge Cheng and others took out the "Exhortation to the Tyrant on Behalf of Shi Kunyu" that they had written earlier and asked Prefect Shi to sign it.
At first glance, Magistrate Shi found the whole text easy to understand and basically stayed within the scope of Mencius.
At the beginning, according to convention, the ten major crimes of the false emperor Zhu Yijun were listed:
First, he persecuted loyal and honest people and killed Hai Rui for no reason!
Second, they are extravagant and greedy, and they squeeze the people’s money!
Third, he neglected his duties and did not attend court for three years!
Fourth, disregarding the livelihood of the people, the maritime ban was re-imposed!
Fifth, he favored Zheng and wanted to depose the eldest son and enthrone the youngest son!
Sixth, he was ungrateful and was scheming against his teacher and prime minister Zhang Juzheng!
Seventh, he was stubborn and refused to listen to the advice of the censors!
Eighth, they committed acts of perverseness and arrested all officials of the imperial court!
Ninth, they are disrespectful to their ancestors and have not offered sacrifices to them for many years.
Tenth, he was tyrannical, beating civil officials with sticks in the court and beating countless palace maids to death...
Objectively speaking, every crime is true. Emperor Wanli was able to achieve so many achievements in three and a half years, a thousand days. It is really unparalleled.
After listing all the crimes, the message set the tone: "If the scholar is killed without any crime, the official can be dismissed; if the civilian is killed without any crime, the scholar can be exiled!"
'If the ruler makes a serious mistake, he should be remonstrated; if he does not listen after repeated admonitions, he should be replaced.'
"Those who harm kindness are called 'thieves'; those who harm righteousness are called 'cruel'. Those who are cruel and thieves are called 'tyrants'. I have heard of the execution of the tyrant Zhou, but I have never heard of the murder of a king!"
What he meant was that the emperor killed scholars without any crime, so as a scholar-official, Shi Zhifu could no longer be a minister of the tyrant.
This stubborn tyrant should be killed. Killing him is not a crime! It is not considered regicide!
Who would kill him? The basis for a king to rule the world is the will of the people, so the people certainly have the power to overthrow the tyrant.
This point breaks through Mencius's view, because Mencius did not affirm that the "people" have the right to rise up against the tyrant. His view is that the people can only endure the tyrant and look forward to the salvation of the benevolent monarch.
But once the "Song of Uprising" was released, there was no savior, and we don't need gods or emperors. To create our own happiness, we have to rely on ourselves!
It is a historic moment that the power to eliminate tyrants has been handed over to the hands of the people!
So he, Shi Kunyu, followed the will of the people, killed the tyrant's lackeys, and called on all prefectures and counties in the world to revolt together, overthrow the king's tyranny, and end the family monarchy!
ps. Keep writing, don’t wait.