Chapter 281: Relocate to the Capital Region and Live, or Stay and Die

Luo Rufang is a representative of the Ming Dynasty's Taizhou School. The Taizhou School is a branch of Wang Yangming's School of Mind, but it is also a simplified and distorted version. It only speaks of mind and nature, focusing on "wrestling with dragons and snakes with bare hands" and "I think, I can, I am, therefore I am free." This atmosphere of the School of Mind does not conform to the original intent of Wang Yangming's School of Mind. Anyone who has read the *Instructions for Practical Living* would scoff at this kind of unlimited freedom.

The most outrageous of the Ming Dynasty's "base scholars" appeared in the late Ming period: the *bizheng* (pen-corrector) of the Liantai Poetry Society, and the Ming Dynasty's Minister of Revenue, Ni Yuanlu, who shamelessly declared: "If given a tablet of office, I will surely strike the bandits; if given fifty thousand troops, I will roam across the frontier!"

This meant that if he were given power and allowed to lead fifty thousand men to the frontier, he could defeat the Jianzhou Jurchens, who had already grown fully powerful and had won successive victories in the battles of Sarhu, Fushun, Liaoyang, and Guangning. Ni Yuanlu's specialty was "ink-soldier warfare," pointing out the fate of the nation through the tip of his brush.

By that time, the Jianzhou Jurchens were already led by Hong Taiji, who had usurped the title of Emperor and styled himself the "Tatar Qing."

The reason for creating this kind of learning that only speaks of mind and nature was, in fact, for one purpose: unlimited freedom—to do whatever one wants.

This is also the fundamental reason why the base scholars desperately resisted the two new policies of the sixth year of Wanli. The first policy was to relocate wealthy households to the capital region. These wealthy households entrenched themselves in one area; once they left the soil they relied on for survival and arrived in the capital region, they would only be bullied. This, too, is freedom—the freedom of class sliding downward.

The second policy was that selecting officials and promoting education required examinations on the "Theory of Contradictions" and mathematics, which involved the distribution of power.

The Theory of Contradictions is a meme-like pollution, a learning that cannot be touched. Anyone who has read this learning becomes as if possessed; when thinking about problems, they involuntarily think about the two sides of a single issue and subconsciously go to practice it. This has been proven countless times: the Theory of Contradictions truly cannot be read.

Wan Shihe, Wang Chonggu, Fan Yingqi, Wang Jiaping, and Xu Jie's son, Xu Fan, were all people who read the Theory of Contradictions until they became obsessed. These base scholars, who were themselves on the opposite side of the Emperor, used their own bodies to tell the scholars of the world that reading the Theory of Contradictions would turn one into a sycophantic official offering bribes.

Zhu Yijun had originally hammered away at Zhang Juzheng's "ideological imprint" blow by blow, forcibly shattering it. Finally, from the wreckage of that fragmentation, he obtained the Theory of Contradictions. This was the ideological weapon Zhu Yijun wanted.

Zhang Juzheng had actually lost his sense of submissiveness; he was no longer the Zhang Juzheng of history. A very clear example: Zhu Yijun went to the Yicheng Earl's mansion to see Zhang Juzheng with the etiquette of a disciple. This violated the "ideological imprint" of "ruler is ruler, subject is subject" that Zhang Juzheng had always held. Zhang Juzheng refused once, but later, he did not refuse again.

Because Zhang Juzheng also believed he deserved this courtesy. He had truly done a lot. When the ruler was young and the state was in doubt, he did not let the country continue to deteriorate. Instead, under enormous financial difficulties, he exchanged five years of usurping divine artifacts for the foundation of the Ming's restoration and a qualified imperial successor. He did not ask for extra leniency from His Majesty, and when the Emperor insisted on giving it, Zhang Juzheng did not refuse.

In fact, Zhang Juzheng did not know that besides the titles of Grand Tutor, Yicheng Earl, Marquis, and Duke, Zhu Yijun's bottom line was actually to give Zhang Juzheng the temple name of "Ming She Zong." Since ancient times, only monarchs had temple names. Zhu Yijun was already very restrained; he could only think about it in his heart. If he really did that, he would see Zhang Juzheng's obituary the next day.

And mathematics—this thing is even more unreasonable.

Promoting mathematics meant that Confucian scholars had to submit to the objective laws of the infinite myriad things and mathematical principles, as well as physical laws. These laws were not man-made, but the basic logic of the world's operation discovered by people in constant exploration. The development of the world would no longer be their subjective imagination. They would no longer be free.

Submitting to the objective laws of the infinite myriad things and the "magic-modified School of Mind" of "I think, I can, I am, therefore I am free" were extremely conflicting. A doctrine that values the physical while not denying the metaphysical, and a doctrine that worships the metaphysical while denying the physical, must inevitably produce conflict and contradiction.

This is the fundamental contradiction that led to the first court conference at the beginning of the sixth year of Wanli, where the Ming's Wanli sixth-year new policies were so fiercely opposed, to the point that they were willing to let the "Su Jing Sanren" enter the capital to plot harm.

This contradiction cannot be reconciled.

In a letter to the Southern Yamen's Commandant Luo Bingliang, Zhu Yijun explained this contradiction very clearly, while also telling Luo Bingliang to use all means and spare no cost to push forward the government decree for the Southern Yamen to relocate wealthy households to enrich the capital region.

Zhu Yijun never opposed freedom; he even advocated for it. Everything he had done so far was merely to restore his own freedom, rather than being confined within the small square city of the Imperial Palace, where one look up meant seeing palace walls. He did not live in the Qianqing Palace; he liked to go to the Northern Tucheng Northern Camp in the capital region, he liked to go to Nanhai Zi to console the relatives of the Duntai distant Marquises, he liked to go to Tianjin Wei to watch the "hundreds of boats competing and thousands of sails passing," he liked to go to the banks of the Yongdinghe to watch the ever-changing scenery, and he even liked to watch the changes in the life of the Yanxing Tower's top courtesan, Liu Qiniang.

Zhu Yijun did not want to be confined, nor did he want to be defined. He advocated for freedom, but he never advocated for freedom without a bottom line.

Freedom is not without a bottom line; it is not doing whatever one wants without scruples. Complete, thorough, bottomless, uninhibited, unprincipled, unrestricted, and unconstrained freedom—where individuals and groups can act entirely according to their own will—would only cause disorder, chaos, and loss of control. Under this kind of public opinion, everyone would choose to use violence at will according to their own desires, making others submit to their own will.

As Emperor, Zhu Yijun could not sit and watch the Ming Dynasty turn into that state. He needed to maintain the Ming in a relatively orderly, fair, and equal state, reducing oppression and exploitation. Even if he could not do the best, as long as he could do a little bit, the sky of the Ming could be a little clearer.

The greatest freedom is not unlimited freedom, but an orderly, just, and equal freedom.

This is Zhu Yijun's understanding of freedom.

Southern Yamen Commandant Luo Bingliang, Yingtian Governor Pan Jixun, Songjiang Governor Wang Daokun, Songjiang Regional Commander Chen Lin, Southern Yamen Military Supervisor Eunuch Zhang Jin, Songjiang Garrison Commander Eunuch Zhang Cheng, Nanjing Minister of Rites Pan Cheng, Nanjing Censorate Vice Censor-in-Chief Zhang Yue, Songjiang Shipyard General Manager Guo Rulin, Zhao Shizhen, and others gathered at the Southern Yamen Yingtian Dai Fuya. They had received the Emperor's imperial decree and the first batch of investment silver sent by the Emperor, totaling two million taels.

"Governing people is harder than governing water. It was much easier when I was the Governor of Waterways. Struggling with the Yellow River is better than struggling with people," Pan Jixun said, complaining to everyone first. This complaint indicated that the officials of the Southern Yamen were having a really hard time this year—harder than governing water or taming the "candle dragon" of the Yellow River.

The new policies of the Ming Southern Yamen included, but were not limited to, opening the seas, clearing land and returning it to the people, rectifying educational administration, prohibiting mass gatherings for lectures, dredging waterways, relocating wealthy households, auditing taxes, and expanding overseas to Ryukyu, Jilong, and the Japanese nation. All these things were things that offended people, and they involved conflicts of interest. The contradictions had already become irreconcilable.

"Governor Pan is absolutely right. The state has the intention of revitalization, and His Majesty has the heart to govern diligently. This is a blessing for our dynasty. Being in the Southern Yamen, one always feels that the years are quiet, but in fact, the Ming is already on the verge of national subjugation. The national treasury is empty, and border troubles are invading the capital region. We must implement the new policies. How fortunate it is to walk with you all."

"Comrades, walking together, only then can we share the joy. This is like 'having friends come from afar, is it not a joy?'" Wang Daokun highly agreed with Pan Jixun's words. His state was very strange—very tired, yet very excited at the same time. He clearly knew what kind of things he was participating in, and he also clearly knew the reason why Zhang Juzheng wanted to implement the new policies: the Ming was about to perish.

Being in the world of fireworks in the Southern Yamen, one saw scenes of prosperity, but one could also see the signs of national subjugation.

Refugees flowing everywhere because they lost their land, tens of miles of fields lying waste and overgrown with weeds, the common people starving and unable to survive, the poor and laborers working hard all day still unable to fill their stomachs.

The singing and dancing on the banks of the Qinhuai River is the Ming, and the poor and laborers struggling to survive in the grass markets outside the city is also the Ming.

Both are the Ming—a wealthy Ming, and a poor Ming.

In Wang Daokun's view, politics is a game of compromising with more people. Clearly, the poor and laborers struggling in the grass markets outside the city were the majority, while the gentry and wealthy merchants living in luxury and dissipation were the minority.

No matter how loud the voices of these gentry and wealthy merchants were, they were still the minority.

During a lecture, a sentence flashed into Zhang Juzheng's mind that shattered his worldview and "ideological imprint": "Rob the rich to help the poor." Zhang Juzheng wanted to forget this sentence, but the more he wanted to forget, the more clearly he remembered it, gradually forming a governing philosophy of "let the powerful and wealthy suffer a little, and I will bear the infamy."

Zhang Cheng sneered and said, "This servant recently heard that there is a proverb in the Southern Yamen: 'Clearing land and returning it to the people is knocking the bones and sucking the marrow.' Whose bones are being knocked, and whose marrow is being sucked? The Southern Yamen has been clearing land for more than five years, defying imperial decrees just for the benefit of private families. Since it is a conflict of interest, then let's fight to the death."

"Who should we start with?" Luo Bingliang slapped his Xiuchun saber on the table, looked around, and said calmly.

"Let's start with the Duke of Huating, Xu Jie and his family. To relocate wealthy households to enrich the capital region, let's start with Xu Jie. The land is all under their control. The government affairs of the Southern Yamen are complex, but to find that thread, we must start with the land. All the new policies are actually revolving around the land. Start with Xu Jie, start with Songjiang Prefecture," Wang Daokun proposed.

"I agree," Pan Jixun said methodically. "Xu Jie is the teacher of Yicheng Earl Zhang Juzheng and a former Grand Secretary. Starting with him can reflect the court's determination for the new policies and let the gentry of the Southern Yamen recognize the trend of the times. If they cannot recognize it, then they cannot blame the court for being heartless."

"His Majesty is a holy and wise monarch, still willing to give them a chance."

When Pan Jixun was governing the locust plague in Jiangxi the year before last, he had already become completely disappointed with the powerful and wealthy. These people fully embodied what it meant to be stubborn and ignorant. If you didn't put a knife to their necks, they would never understand the court's intention to revitalize. If you didn't tear down their doors and move their beds, these "dog scholars" wouldn't even be willing to distribute a mouthful of grain to the common people, and they would still want to annex land. You have to kill.

Killing is an effective but endless way to deal with future troubles, but the contradictions have intensified to this point, and one has to kill.

Pan Jixun felt that His Majesty was merciful to still give them a chance. Just show the knife directly. Relocate and live, don't relocate and die.

It's that simple.

The sharpness of the contradictions in the Southern Yamen could absolutely not be blamed on the court. The court had been clearing land for five years and had been carefully pushing it forward, even taking out government decrees to support overseas development to exchange for land.

His Majesty was full of sincerity, working hard to improve the business environment, revitalizing the navy, clearing out sea bandits, organizing production shipyards, and establishing supporting industries related to opening the seas. His Majesty even used the silver he saved from his own mouth for opening the seas, rather than for his grand wedding. With such sufficient sincerity, if they still resisted stubbornly, they were no longer ordinary rebels and must be dealt a heavy blow.

Everyone meeting at the Yingtian Dai Fuya was actually to decide the bottom line and characterization of the specific implementation.

"I think His Majesty's conditions are very generous. If they are unwilling to cooperate and have no sense of submissiveness, they deserve to die," said Sun Kehong, the Songjiang merchant leader sitting in a swivel chair, representing the wealthy merchants and tycoons.

Sun Kehong and his brother Sun Keyi were *juren* and merchant leaders appointed by the court. They were also honorary principals of the Ming Songjiang Maritime Academy and had received a handwritten plaque from the Ming Emperor for a "family of poetry, books, rites, and music." That was an honor the two brothers had spent 140,000 taels of real gold and silver to buy to support the Songjiang Maritime Academy, so Sun Kehong was qualified to attend this meeting.

Sun Kehong believed that His Majesty's conditions were too generous. Having made so much money that he was numb, he even felt the silver was burning his hands and took the initiative to send silver to the Maritime Academy. He didn't think it was a bad thing for the Emperor's funds to enter the Southern Yamen. Such a huge investment would definitely determine the trend of the Ming opening the seas, which was beneficial to opening the seas, and likewise, beneficial to their Sun family.

People always speak from their own standpoint, and Sun Kehong was no exception.

Speaking of which, the Sun family of Songjiang offering bribes to the court was related to Xu Jie. Anyone who made things difficult for Xu Jie, the old Sun family would help out! Sun Kehong's leg was a gift from Xu Jie. Since then, the gentle, kind, respectful, and frugal Sun Kehong's temperament had become sinister. If Xu Jie was going to have bad luck, Sun Kehong would only cheer loudly and then spit a mouthful of thick phlegm viciously.

Yan Song wasn't as greedy as Xu Jie, and Yan Song didn't make half of Songjiang Prefecture his own family's land.

"Then let's start with Xu Jie," Luo Bingliang stood up, picked up his Xiuchun saber, and went straight out. As a Commandant, if he wasn't responsible for raiding homes, was he responsible for grinding teeth with these scholars?

Let them grind their teeth first; Luo Bingliang was going to send Xu Jie and his Xu family to the capital to enrich the capital region!

"The Commandant is truly swift and decisive." Sun Kehong looked at Luo Bingliang's back, shocked beyond measure. The efficiency of the court had exceeded his cognitive range. In his heart, the court was always so rigid, reacting slowly, covering things up when problems arose, and thinking about turning big problems into small ones when they couldn't be covered up, and only responding when they really couldn't be resolved.

But Luo Bingliang's style of doing things was completely different—acting as soon as he spoke, with a speed that Sun Kehong couldn't keep up with.

"Gentlemen, discuss slowly. I will follow the Commandant. Commandant Luo, wait for me!" Sun Kehong shook the swivel chair desperately. When he couldn't shake it, he could only shout for Luo Bingliang to slow down. Luo Bingliang signaled a guard to push Sun Kehong.

Sun Kehong attended this meeting just to say that the gentry and wealthy merchants who were unwilling to cooperate with the court's imperial decree had no sense of submissiveness and deserved to die. There were really too many gentry and wealthy merchants in the Southern Yamen. If a batch died quickly, wouldn't there be a bunch fewer competitors?

"We are going to Songjiang Prefecture by boat. Can Merchant Leader Sun handle it?" Luo Bingliang looked at Sun Kehong's small stature and his leg injury. The boat was not like land; Sun Kehong might not be able to handle the bumping.

"I can handle it! I'm afraid that if I go late, I won't see Xu Jie have bad luck!" Sun Kehong gripped the armrests of the swivel chair and said with great force.

With a crippled leg, he could only sit in a swivel chair. Sun Kehong, who had become somewhat gentle and elegant, still gnashed his teeth in hatred when mentioning Xu Jie, without any of the refinement of a scholar.

With a crippled leg, it would be better to just kill him. In this half-dead state, Sun Kehong sometimes hated himself to the extreme and wished he could die. If it weren't for Sun Keyi's constant comfort and the fact that Xu Jie really had bad luck, Sun Kehong didn't know what he would have become.

Luo Bingliang led the guards and killed his way to Xu Jie's old mansion in just one day. It was indeed killing his way to Xu Jie's old home, just like when Yu Dayou first came to Songjiang Prefecture to find trouble with Xu Jie. Six hundred guards were ready in battle array, fully armed, with full sets of iron armor, long and short weapons, muskets, flat-barbarian muskets, "one-nest-bee" rocket launchers, tiger-crouching cannons, and five nine-jin cannons.

Luo Bingliang was in charge of the Tax Audit Institute in the Southern Yamen. Tax collection required armed force. Just like the Ming Dynasty's Police Inspectorate could raise two hundred archers as thugs, the Ming Dynasty's Tax Audit Institute had tax audit rooms in various prefectures. Besides the tax audit inspectors being ninth-rank officials appointed by the court, they also raised archers as thugs, and the number was unlimited. For the tax collection tickets sent out, the Police Inspectorate kept thirty percent as a reward.

The tax audit rooms could raise as many thugs as they wanted; anyway, the Police Inspectorate could only keep thirty percent.

If there were some tax collections that were really difficult to collect, then the Commandant and guards of the Tax Audit Institute would supervise them personally. Currently, the Tax Audit Institute mainly operated in the fourteen prefectures of the Southern Yamen and the two places of Hangzhou and Suzhou in Zhejiang. Fujian, Jiangxi, and the two Guangs had not yet opened, and they were still in the pilot stage.

The Tax Audit Institute needed firepower. The Tax Audit Institute was dedicated to tax auditing and nothing else. No matter what you sold, if you didn't pay taxes, they would urge you, and if they couldn't urge you, they would come to your door.

Zhang Juzheng was very worried that this violent department would become a tool for oppressing the common people. At the time of its establishment, he proposed that it must be treated as military affairs—that is, controlled by the civil, military, and eunuch sides, and treated as an army to be the right path. Zhu Yijun agreed, but he didn't do it, because Zhang Juzheng retired. Only when Zhang Juzheng returned to the court would civil officials intervene.

"Luo Bingliang, Commander of the Southern Zhenfu Division, is visiting to discuss important matters with Master Xu." Luo Bingliang's identity in coming was as the Southern Yamen Commandant, not the head of the Tax Audit Institute. The firepower he brought was the firepower of the Tax Audit Institute, and he was doing the Emperor's errand, not the work of the Tax Audit Institute, so he reported his identity as Commandant, not head of the institute.

On the matter of relocating wealthy households to the capital, the Emperor gave Luo Bingliang the power to act as he saw fit.

Luo Bingliang waited for a while, but the gate still didn't open. He tightened his legs around the horse's belly, slowly drew his waist saber, held it high above his head, and then pointed it straight at the gate of Xu Jie's house. He snapped on his face mask, and the guards drew their Xiuchun sabers in unison, pointing them at Xu Jie's gate.

Luo Bingliang was still waiting, but the other side still didn't open the gate. Luo Bingliang shouted loudly: "His Majesty is mighty!"

"His Majesty is mighty!"

Five nine-jin cannons were slowly pulled out, and the gunners began to load them. Before the sealed oil-paper packages were opened, the gate of the Xu family opened immediately.

"Commandant is visiting. The house was a mess, so we tidied up. Why go to such trouble? Cool down, cool down." Xu Jie's second son, Xu Kun, walked out with a full face of smiles. The reflection of the bright Xiuchun sabers kept flickering on Xu Kun's body.

"My father heard that the angel was visiting, so naturally, he had to be grand. Hence the neglect, please forgive us." Xu Kun was bitter. His old man's temper was too stubborn. If the gate wasn't opened, could the guards not get in? Xu Kun couldn't persuade him, so he simply opened the gate to welcome the guests himself. If he didn't open it, the guards would really fire the cannons.

More than a dozen guards ignored Xu Kun, went straight to the gate, and began to dismantle it.

Xu Kun was dumbfounded, and Sun Kehong tried hard to hold back his laughter. These were all bad habits learned from the Duke of Si Shui, Guo Zhengmao.

Anyone who didn't cooperate would have their gate dismantled. If they still didn't cooperate, their wall would be dismantled. If they still didn't cooperate, their bed would be moved. Usually, by this point, they would cooperate. Life and money were both very important, but if put on a scale, life was obviously more important.

Ling Yunyi was different. Ling Yunyi would directly use his knife to kill people, not bothering to dismantle gates, walls, or move beds.

"What are you laughing at! Today it's my house, tomorrow it will be yours! Now that the court is using you, you can be arrogant for a while. Tomorrow, when the court doesn't need you, today of the Xu family will be tomorrow of yours!" Xu Kun said viciously to Sun Kehong.

"As long as your family has bad luck, that's enough. I've already offered bribes to the court. Do you think I haven't thought about it? Do you guess why my brother went to sea? Leaving me, a cripple, behind, was just to trade lives with your family! Old man Xu Jie! You bullied my Sun family too much!" Sun Kehong didn't mince words at all and immediately retorted.

Why Sun Keyi wanted to follow the court's call and run to Nagasaki also had a part of the reason for Sun Kehong to take revenge. He went to sea to leave a way out for the old Sun family, so that the Sun family of Songjiang could let go and fight the Xu family to the death, burning both jade and stone.

"Not necessarily. His Majesty is in his prime. Merchant Leader Sun has done nothing wrong in his life; I'm afraid you won't see that day. The plaque bestowed by His Majesty is still hanging on the gate of the Sun mansion," Luo Bingliang said with a full face of smiles.

He knew His Majesty very well. After all, his son Luo Sigong beat the Emperor and was beaten by the Emperor in the palace every day. The Emperor was actually very simple: don't block the Ming from becoming great again, and you are a gentry and virtuous person; if you are willing to work together to make the Ming great again, then you are loyal to the monarch and patriotic, and you will be treated favorably!

The Sun family of Songjiang was a pillar established by the Ming court in Songjiang Prefecture, the pillar of "moving a log to establish trust," and a key position in disintegrating the combined forces of the gentry of the Southern Yamen in the struggle. As long as the Sun family didn't play those tricks that harmed the country and the people, His Majesty could protect their glory and wealth while he was alive.

"Hahaha!" Sun Kehong's face absolutely couldn't be considered that of a gentleman; it was full of pleasure and revenge. This old thing also had today. Sun Kehong living to this day could be considered worth it.

Luo Bingliang looked at the common people pointing and whispering in the streets and alleys. Sun Kehong was a family of official lineage and powerful and wealthy, and he could still plot revenge. What about these common people?

The means Xu Jie used to annex those fields were not gentle. How could these common people plot revenge? They could only accumulate the anger in their hearts. This fire would burn hotter and hotter until it turned the world upside down.

The establishment of the Ming Dynasty was "the stone man with one eye, stirring up the Yellow River and the world rebels." At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, the ruler and subjects lost their discipline and could not guard the world. Natural and man-made disasters made the people unable to survive. Just one stone man was enough to stir up the accumulated anger, and finally, the Hu Yuan court was burned clean.

Luo Bingliang understood in a trance why the Emperor and Zhang Juzheng wanted to implement the new policies even if it meant facing each other with weapons. If they didn't implement the new policies, the Ming would perish in civil unrest. Established in civil unrest, and ending in civil unrest—what a shame that was!

The Luo family had been Embroidered Uniform Guards for generations, sharing the same fate as the country. If the Ming perished, so be it, but to perish so shamefully was truly something to be regretted and lamented.

The Theory of Contradictions is meme-like pollution, which cannot be read, touched, or inquired about. As long as one comes into contact with it, one will be polluted. Luo Bingliang had a very clear positioning of himself: the court's eagle dog, the knife that kills people. This was also the reason for the establishment of the Embroidered Uniform Guards. However, when the eagle dog Luo Bingliang was handling cases, he would involuntarily think about "top-down" and "bottom-up." Sun Kehong could hold a grudge and take revenge, but what about the common people?

They were powerless to take revenge; just living was already very difficult. Those common people who lost their land were probably already starved to death on the roadside.

Luo Bingliang suddenly remembered Chen Zhuang, a guest soldier who pacified the Japanese pirates. After being disbanded, he became a scoundrel in the Southern Yamen who would kill for money. In the Southern Yamen's "Strange Book Case," he killed Wu Shiqi in the street. Chen Zhuang wanted to kill Xu Jie because Xu Jie caused Hu Zongxian to die in prison, but Chen Zhuang couldn't do it. With the courage of blood, he couldn't even splash blood three feet.

Xu Jie's house had guards, and there were quite a few of them.

Luo Bingliang and the guards' knives were still not back in their sheaths. Although the knives were lowered, the face masks on their helmets were still not taken off, but were quietly waiting for the gate to be dismantled.

"Go and call Xu Jie out. One stick of incense time. If your father doesn't come out, I'll go in." Luo Bingliang's tone was very solemn. He flipped his knife and told Xu Kun that he wasn't joking. One stick of incense time—if Xu Jie didn't come out, he would have to kill his way in.

Xu Jie obviously received the news and knew that the guards coming to his house were forcing him to relocate to the capital. A person like Xu Jie was a great figure who reached the heavens. Even if he wasn't in the court, those disciples and grand-disciples would tell him about the major events in the court. Whether he relocated or not, he had to relocate. The court was forcing the relocation.

Xu Jie in the inner hall was hesitating. He wasn't hesitating about whether to resist. The gatekeeper had described the armor of the guards outside in detail. As far as the guards in Xu Jie's house were concerned, they couldn't break the defense at all. It wasn't that there were no good bows, but they couldn't pull them.

The entire capital camp had one hundred thousand armored soldiers, but there were only thirty-some tiger-strength archers. Xu Jie couldn't afford to raise tiger-strength archers.

Xu Jie was hesitating about whether to hang himself with a rope, so that the court's infamy of oppressing the gentry would be completely confirmed, using his life to defy the court's imperial decree, and then winning more sympathy in the public opinion to resist the court's chaotic orders.

But why should Xu Jie hang himself to make wedding clothes for others, letting them benefit from his suicide?!

Xu Jie didn't want to die. Even if he didn't have much time left, even if he was old, he still didn't want to die. He had been in a high position for many years and knew a truth: once the Emperor really made up his mind to do something, there was no legal power that could interfere. Imperial power, the power of administration, the power of the upright, even after more than two hundred years of constant weakening, still had great power in the early Wanli years, and it was even more tyrannical than in the Jiajing years.

After Zhang Cong, the Daoist Emperor lacked a capable official like Zhang Juzheng. Yan Song could be used, but that was just being able to be used.

Xu Jie walked out of the gate, looked at the gate that had been dismantled clean, exhaled a turbid breath, and went up to meet them.

"Old Duke Xu, I'm just doing my job. Don't make things difficult for me. Please." Luo Bingliang still hadn't put away his knife, and his words were not polite at all.

Since Xu Jie came out, he intended to relocate to the capital. He tentatively said: "Allow us two days to pack our luggage?"

"Old Duke Xu, give me the bottom line. Did you participate in that mess with the 'Zhixing Zhixing Heyi Zhong'?" Luo Bingliang asked a strange question.

Xu Jie's face changed greatly, and he immediately said: "Absolutely not! I cannot get involved in things that lead to the extermination of the clan! They sent people, but I didn't let them in. Absolutely not! Commandant, please investigate clearly!"

Luo Bingliang put his knife into the sheath, took off his face mask, changed into a smiling face, and said: "If not, then it's not too late to extend the deadline by two days before going to the capital."

The court's eagle dogs all had dog faces, changing faster than flipping a book. The Commandant, who was just about to kill, immediately became full of smiles.

Luo Bingliang felt that Xu Jie was telling the truth because Xu Jie knew what price he would pay. This old thing, who was good at calculating, could still calculate the accounts clearly.

The guards were like facing a great enemy, and they also somewhat suspected that this old thing was unwilling to return the land and was mixed up with the "Zhixing Zhixing Heyi Zhong." But since Xu Jie promised to go to the capital, he had no ghosts in his heart. Since he wasn't mixed up with evil spirits, Xu Jie had no need to die together. After all, Xu Jie still had the court's first-rank official title of Crown Prince's Grand Tutor.

"It's not worth it, is it? In any case, I am a decent person." Xu Jie breathed a sigh of relief. He thought that in the major case in the capital, that "Su Jing Sanren" had implicated him.

Some things are political struggles, some things are treason, the nature is different. Xu Jie, a decent person, was unwilling to lower himself to contact these rotten things.

The Ming Dynasty really never showed mercy to evil spirits.

Ask for monthly tickets, Aowu!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 282 =====