Chapter 133: Why Not Report to the Authorities

Returning to the residence, he removed his armor and washed up.

Sitting in the chair, Lin Dao breathed out a sigh of relief.

Though he had ridden horseback all the way, moving around in armor for so long was truly exhausting.

Li Xiangjun stepped forward without changing expression, taking her place behind Lin Dao ahead of Dong Xiaowan.

The soldiers on both sides all turned their gazes onto her.

She acted as if she hadn't seen them, raising a pair of slender jade hands to knead Lin Dao's shoulders.

Dong Xiaowan smiled faintly, turned, and went to serve herself the silver ear soup she had simmered.

Only Chen Yuanyuan stood there, like a sculpture.

Lin Dao was only temporarily back to rest for a bit; he would still have to leave soon.

Jinling City had just been pacified, and there were too many matters to attend to.

Dong Xiaowan brought the silver ear soup and placed it before Lin Dao.

Seeing Lin Dao with his eyes closed and unmoving, she leaned in and whispered, "Master, the new arrivals have all been sent to the rooms; aren't you going to take a look?"

"Hmm?"

Lin Dao opened his eyes, his expression one of surprise. "What new arrivals?"

"The new arrivals Master brought back from outside—surely you haven't forgotten already?"

"Speak properly." Lin Dao frowned. "Say what you have to say directly; those who speak in yin-yang tones get the family law."

Dong Xiaowan smoothed her hair, looking slightly resentful. "Sister Mei was sent into the room, and now you say you don't know."

Lin Dao rubbed his brow, his expression already showing impatience.

This wasn't a female-oriented novel; he had no mind or energy to spend on the inner courtyard.

If you have something to say, say it clearly. Don't speak in riddles to me. How the hell am I supposed to know which scallion Sister Mei is?!

"It's Sister Kou Mei."

Chen Yuanyuan stepped forward to interject, "She entered the Baoguo Gongfu a few months ago after leaving her life as a courtesan."

"Two hours ago, soldiers brought her into the courtyard, saying it was the wish of the Earl of Xincheng."

If you'd said so earlier, it would have been simple and clear.

Lin Dao frowned. Why did these people always treat him like a lecher?

Could one not live without women by one's side?

"Then let her go."

Lin Dao simply stood up and walked out. "Give her some silver; let her go wherever she wants."

He had wanted to come back and rest, but he hadn't expected the women to be so troublesome.

As for Zhao Zhilong, who acted on his own authority, his utility value remained, so this matter would be dropped.

As long as he was useful, he would be used until squeezed dry.

Once squeezed dry, he could be casually thrown away.

All the way to a street not far from the Guozijian, the place was bustling with noise, and shouts and curses never ceased.

Lin Dao frowned slightly and rode his horse forward.

"Everyone, everyone~"

Qian Qianyi, drenched in sweat, was surrounded by the jiansheng in the middle, shouting repeatedly, "Go back first, no matter what, go back first~"

"Ptooey!"

A jiansheng spat in his face. "For all that you are the leader of the Donglin, you actually serve the bandits—you have truly disgraced us scholars!"

"Right! This old coffin board has defected to the bandits~~~"

"It's truly a pity for Lord Hedong."

"Beat him~~~"

Someone, unknown who, punched Qian Qianyi in the eye socket, instantly giving him a panda eye.

"A gentleman uses words, not hands~"

"Beat him!" The jiansheng swarmed up, punching and kicking Qian Qianyi.

"Truly lawless." Lin Dao, seeing this scene, immediately snorted with laughter. "Go rescue Director Qian."

The soldiers pounced like wolves and tigers, dragging Qian Qianyi to Lin Dao's front.

"Mr. Mu Zhai."

Looking at Qian Qianyi, whose nosebleed flowed freely and whose mouth corner was swollen, Lin Dao also smiled. "Weren't you saying you could persuade them to listen?"

"You're persuading them with your face?"

Qian Qianyi, greatly struck, covered his face and laughed bitterly repeatedly, no longer knowing what to say.

"The bandit leader is coming~"

A hot-blooded jiansheng, seeing Lin Dao on horseback, shouted loudly, "Fellow students, the restoration of the state is today—charge~~~"

Lin Dao looked on with an amused expression, watching a group of jiansheng wearing Confucian robes and square flat-topped caps run toward him.

They didn't have weapons in their hands, not even books.

Yet they actually charged straight over like this, not a bit afraid.

The scholars of the Great Ming—indeed, their days were too good.

The one charging the fastest suddenly felt his vision blur, his head ached fiercely, and he slammed heavily onto the ground.

A guard in armor punched him down to the ground with one blow.

The students behind immediately stopped in their tracks.

Were they really going to fight?

In the past, when they stormed the yamen, no one dared stop them.

These bandit soldiers really have big guts, daring to actually fight?

Lin Dao straightened his back: "You all, violating curfew and going out onto the streets without permission."

His gaze fell on Qian Qianyi: "Beating others without cause, truly bold."

The students dared not charge forward, but they did not put down their skill at verbal cannon fire.

Someone immediately shouted: "You are a rebel!"

"Yes, you are a rebel!"

"We are students of the Imperial Court; how could we take orders from a rebel!"

"Lin the bandit, you openly rebel; you will not have a good ending."

"The Imperial Court's great army will arrive soon; by then, you will have no place to bury yourself."

"The people of Jiangnan would love to eat your flesh and sleep on your skin!"

"Lin the bandit, you will not die a good death~~~"

Hundreds of students, shouting and clamoring with many voices, the noise never ceased.

When the shouting gradually subsided, Lin Dao finally spoke: "So what if they are rebels?"

"Duke of Wei and other meritorious nobles conspired to seize my family wealth and harm my life; am I supposed to just deserve having my property robbed by them and actively send myself to death?"

A student shouted: "Why not report it to the authorities?"

That one sentence made Lin Dao laugh.

These students really have no brains.

Qian Qianyi couldn't help but defend Lin Dao a bit: "Those who come to your door to ransack your home and seize people are the constables of Ying Tian Fu; where else would Marshal Lin go to report it?"

The students' voices lowered a bit.

But someone still shouted: "You should trust the Imperial Court; as long as you have not broken the law, you will surely be given justice."

"That's right."

"Exactly."

"Brother Qi Fu is absolutely right!"

"You should trust the Imperial Court to give you justice, not rebel!"

Hearing these words, Lin Dao laughed even louder.

"You say, the people of Jiangnan want to eat my flesh and sleep on my skin?"

"The people in your mouths are not refugees who can't survive in various places, are they?"

"It should be the local gentry and landlords."

"Put that way, it is indeed correct."

Lin Dao calmed his breath: "I will soon seize their land, take their trade, and then hand them over to the true people for judgment."

In the late Ming Dynasty, the power of local gentry and landlords reached its peak.

Upward, they paid no taxes and ignored the orders of the Emperor and the Imperial Court.

Downward, they crazily squeezed the people, treating the people as serfs.

Outwardly, they extensively developed maritime trade, using the maritime Silk Road to earn trade surpluses from the whole world.

Especially the gentry and powerful families of the Jiangnan region; their human and material resources were rare in all dynasties and generations.

Unfortunately, this strength ultimately became nourishment for Wild Boar Skin.

In Lin Dao's words: "Rather than let Wild Boar Skin have it cheap, I might as well have it cheap~~~"

"You say, the Imperial Court's great army will make me have no place to bury myself?"

Lin Dao collected his smile: "You lot usually, besides trifling matters, don't you pay attention to affairs under heaven?"

"Where does the Great Ming have any great army anymore."

"The troops outside the pass have all been buried on the Songjin Battlefield."

"Cao Bianjiao, Wang Tingchen and others died in battle; Hong Chengchou, Zu Dashou and others surrendered to Wild Boar Skin."

"Zhuxian Town suffered a crushing defeat; the troops inside the pass were nearly wiped out."

Lin Dao wore a faint smile on his face: "The Imperial Court, where is there any great army anymore."

The two great wars of Chongzhen Year 15 completely exhausted the last essence of the Ming Empire.

Both battlefields inside and outside the pass ended in crushing defeat.

The elite troops loyal to the Imperial Court and the capable generals were almost all lost.

From then on, the Great Ming no longer had the strength to launch large-scale strategic offensives.

The nation's essence was exhausted; all that remained was a dying struggle.

Of course, this does not include Jiangnan.

Jiangnan was out of step with the whole Great Ming, like a nation within a nation.

"As for you all."

Lin Dao raised his hand and swept across the crowd of students: "Accustomed to acting high and mighty in the Great Ming, do you think I am like the Great Ming, powerless against you blood-sucking leeches?"

The scholars of the Great Ming were truly leeches lying on the nation's body sucking blood.

They invoked Zhu Yuanzhang's name to uphold the ancestral system, forcibly giving themselves an identity exempt from taxes.

Using this identity, they gained endless benefits and directly dug up the foundation of the Ming Empire.

The reason the Great Ming fell.

On the surface, it was said to be natural disasters of the Little Ice Age, with bandits inside and Wild Boar Skin outside, plus many treacherous officials in court, eunuchs holding power, and the Son of Heaven being a fool, and so on.

But at the true root, there was only one reason.

No money or grain.

Where did the money and grain go?

The Fanbang Zongshi, the Noble and Military Officials, and these scholars.

Lin Dao, standing on the Historical Records, understood these clearly.

So he would absolutely not treat scholars with privilege like the Great Ming did.

Not treating scholars like the martial men of the late Tang did, taking amusement in them, was already Lin Dao's goodness.

"We all have fame and titles!"

Killing intent crisscrossed in Lin Dao's words, as if substantial.

But the Guozijian students were still iron-headed: "Aren't you afraid of the world's spittle?"

Lin Dao wanted to smile, but felt sorrow instead.

After Wild Boar Skin won the world, these scholars also wanted to maintain their privileges like the Great Ming.

As a result, Wild Boar Skin killed them until they cried for their parents, and they honestly became obedient subjects.

If the Great Ming could also wave a butcher's knife at the malignant tumors, it probably wouldn't have killed hundreds of millions of common people.

Thinking here, he shook his head, his gaze falling on a tall young guard.

"Liu San Dao."

"Tell them what rules are."

Liu San Dao's whole family were Liaodi people, fleeing south all the way, fleeing to Jiangnan.

Parents and elder brothers and sisters-in-law all died on the road.

Younger brothers and sisters were all sold off.

He himself survived until joining the Yongwei Camp, his tall stature already starved to skin and bone, like a skeleton.

It was Lin Dao's life-saving grain that allowed him to live.

Lin Dao once asked him why he was called Liu San Dao.

This young man untied his clothes, revealing three knife scars on his body.

"I gave myself three knives, to remind myself to always remember to take revenge on Liaodi!"

His performance was outstanding, his studies extremely diligent, Lin Dao promoted him to a Qi Guan of the guard troop.

Liu San Dao brought his thirty-four men forward, raising the huqiang in his hand.

"First warning! All go back!"

The students stirred, and the timid ones began to retreat.

"Second warning! All lie prone on the ground!"

The timid students began to flee, staggering toward the Guozijian.

Those who didn't believe Lin Dao really dared to turn against scholars shouted loudly, "They don't dare!"

There was no third warning.

Liu San Dao waved his hand hard.

"Fire!"

End of Chapter