pdf-ebookys Chapter 963 Forgetting one's roots, Old Deng has truly forgotten his roots!
Chapter 963 Forgetting one's roots, Old Deng has truly forgotten his roots!
Holding the secret letter sent back from the capital, even after reading it over and over again, Zhu Biao still felt that he couldn't quite understand it.
In fact, even Yang Shaofeng felt a little confused.
Old Deng's fury was something Yang Shaofeng had anticipated.
It was no surprise that Lao Deng would ruthlessly kill local gentry and officials.
Even if Old Deng chose to kill all the gentry in Jiangnan, Yang Shaofeng wouldn't find it surprising.
The key question is why Old Deng targeted the bald monks first?
Good heavens! The Buddhist and Taoist authorities dispatched personnel, temporarily drawing clerks from local government offices and students from the Imperial Academy who could be drawn from nearby locations, to surround all the temples under the protection of local garrisons and conduct a thorough investigation of all the temples and the bald monks inside.
First, investigate the land owned by the temples and monasteries; second, examine the account books of the temples and monasteries; third, investigate the past of the bald monks and Taoist priests.
Any temples or Taoist monasteries that own land, have a history of lending money at interest, or have criminal records will be dealt with severely.
They didn't even spare Huangjue Temple.
They've forgotten their roots! They've truly forgotten their roots!
Seeing Yang Shaofeng and Zhu Biao's completely bewildered expressions, Li Shanchang couldn't help but mentally rant.
You two have done something, don't you have any self-awareness at all?
Good heavens, the secrets of the famous mountain of Songshan have been thoroughly exposed by the Embroidered Uniform Guard, who even wrote in their memorial that "Buddhists are often entangled in worldly affairs."
What, showing off your poetry skills?
Do you two know that Shangwei was a monk at Huangjue Temple back then?
Good heavens, first there was that bald monk Master Shihang stirring up trouble, and then you two revealed that the ancient temple was cunningly seizing the people's land and then renting it out, while also offering to handle interest payments.
Do you two realize how much damage this kind of thing can do to someone in a position of power?
What I thought was a pure land turned out to be full of filth!
If the person who ascended to power did not kill all the bald monks in a fit of rage, it can be said that he has been very successful in cultivating his character over the past few years!
As for those bull-nosed people?
It can only be described as a case of collateral damage caused by a fire at the city gate.
Moreover, it's not necessarily a bad thing that these high-ranking officials are being investigated.
Identifying the problem is the key to both solving and creating problems.
If they can't find the problem, they might even anger those innocent Taoist priests to give up their cultivation and instead flock to Dengzhou University.
Of course, it's also possible that he didn't give up cultivating immortality, but instead went to Dengzhou University to study more advanced ways of cultivating immortality.
After all, Dengzhou University was considered a safe place, and the Imperial Guards would not easily go there to investigate people.
Because those who could enter Dengzhou University had already been thoroughly investigated by the Embroidered Uniform Guard.
While inwardly cursing, Li Shanchang looked at Hu Weiyong and said, "Once this fire starts, it won't be easily extinguished."
"Whether it's Jiangnan, Yanyun, or Liaodong, all the local gentry and gentry must be investigated."
"The number of people involved is at least 80,000, if not 100,000."
"Hu Buzheng should think carefully about how to arrange these personnel."
Hu Weiyong grinned and said, "Let's split it into two parts, one for road construction and the other for mining."
Yang Shaofeng glanced at Hu Weiyong with great dissatisfaction: "Provincial Governor Hu, shouldn't you pay back the laborers you owe Dengzhou Prefecture now?"
Hu Weiyong chuckled twice and said, "Please grant me some more time, Your Highness. After all, the laborers haven't arrived in Liaodong yet, and there are many places in Liaodong that need manpower."
Yang Shaofeng immediately rolled his eyes.
Why don't you say that the mountains were blocked by heavy snow for more than ten days?
Damn it, Dengzhou Prefecture doesn't have any extra laborers either!
Yang Shaofeng was displeased and couldn't help but snort coldly, "It's fine to set up temples and Taoist monasteries, but if we really touch those local gentry and gentry, it might cause some trouble."
Li Shanchang's heart skipped a beat, and he looked at Yang Shaofeng, asking, "What trouble?"
Yang Shaofeng snorted again and said, "After all, not all local gentry are exploitative; there might be one or two who don't fit in."
Li Shanchang's face darkened, then brightened again in an instant.
At first, Li Shanchang thought that Yang Shaofeng was probably being sarcastic about him, saying that he was not a good fit for the group.
But then I thought, why bother joining a group at a time like this?
Those who try to fit in are the ones who suffer!
Yang Shaofeng gave Li Shanchang and Hu Weiyong a meaningful look and continued, "Moreover, the local gentry and gentry are also good at disguising themselves."
"They're better than anyone at using methods like giving out porridge, repairing roads, or building bridges to buy a reputation."
"Otherwise, the term 'hypocritical and sanctimonious' wouldn't exist."
Yang Shaofeng chuckled coldly twice, "Although some local gentry are so rotten that they're covered in sores on their heads and oozing pus from their feet, how can ordinary people tell their true colors?"
"This major case, which stemmed from the massacre of a family and the textbook scandal, involved almost all the gentry."
"Why don't Prime Minister Li and Governor Hu guess whether the common people will speak up for those hypocritical gentry?"
Li Shanchang's expression changed slightly, and he looked at Yang Shaofeng and asked, "Since Your Highness has brought this up, surely you have a solution?"
Yang Shaofeng glanced at Hu Weiyong again and said, "I do have that idea."
Before Li Shanchang could ask any questions, Yang Shaofeng directly expressed his thoughts.
"It's useless to send officials to the Shenming Pavilion to preach grand principles to the people."
"Ordinary people may not understand it, nor may they be willing to listen to those grand principles."
"Posting notices is completely useless, because most people are illiterate, otherwise they wouldn't be fooled."
"The best way is to have someone write a few plays and perform them for the people in various villages and communities."
Yang Shaofeng became more and more excited as he spoke, and directly unfolded a map of the Yan Kingdom: "For example, during the Zhizheng era of Hu Yuan, there was a tenant named Yang Bailao who owed rent to the landlord Hu Shiren, and he had to go out to avoid the debt on New Year's Eve."
"Although Hu Shih-ren's name contains the character 'ren' (仁), he was a rich man who was heartless."
"Because he couldn't collect rent, Hu Shiren disregarded the old custom of not collecting debts during the New Year and directly sent people to forcibly take Yang Bailao's daughter back to be his concubine."
"Yang Bailao was beaten to death by Hu Shiren's henchmen while protecting his daughter. His daughter ran away to hide in the deep mountains and forests and survived by eating grass roots and tree bark."
"Because they had always lived a primitive life, Yang Bailao's daughter had white hair at a young age and was called the White-Haired Girl by those who occasionally saw her in the mountains."
"It just so happens that Yang Bailao's daughter had a childhood sweetheart who joined the Red Turban Army years ago."
"His Majesty led his troops to this place, rescued the White-Haired Girl, tried Hu Shiren, and gave Yang Bailao justice."
"..."
Hu Weiyong's face turned pale.
The dog is driving Yang mad!
Do you want to hear what nonsense you're spouting?
Yang Bailao?
Hu Shih-ren?
The White-Haired Girl?
I owe you tens of thousands of laborers and haven't paid them back, and you're making up stories about me like this!