From a son-in-law to a favorite of the empress

Chapter 819

After eating and drinking, Zhou Yuan and others walked out of the inn. Zhuang Xuansu suggested that they go out of the city to Fenghua County under the jurisdiction of Ningbo Prefecture.

"Ningbo Prefecture has five counties, namely Yin County, Cixi County, Fenghua County, Xiangshan County and Dinghai County."

In the carriage, Zhuang Xuansu introduced the basic situation here: "Dinghai County is where Hezhou is located. It has been occupied by sea pirates and has become a transit point for sea pirates and island pirates to store supplies, recuperate during wartime, and stay for a long time. The failure of the Guangdong Sea War has made us lose control of the place."

"The island pirates relied on Hezhou to invade and plunder various prefectures and counties. Because they were dissatisfied with the suppression of the Great Jin court, they invaded and plundered the prefectures and counties. They even launched several massacres, not for robbery, not for money, but simply to vent their anger. "

"Among them, Xiangshan County and Fenghua County in Ningbo Prefecture were the most miserable. More than ten thousand people were massacred in both places, with corpses piled up like mountains and blood flowing like rivers."

"There is a monument at the gate of Fenghua County, which can help us better understand the situation here, especially the evil deeds done by the aristocratic families."

Fenghua County is not far from Ningbo Prefecture. They arrived here at dusk.

And all the way, Zhou Yuan sat by the window, lifted the curtain and looked around.

He didn't see anyone.

There was no one on such a long official road, but there were countless corpses, with different death times. Some were corrupted, some were already white bones, and some were covered in blood and fell on the roadside.

Darkness will invade. When the bandits burned, killed and looted here, the young and middle-aged people who couldn't survive would probably gather in the mountains to become bandits and start burning, killing and looting.

When he arrived at the gate of Fenghua County, Zhou Yuan saw a few people appearing, mostly old people, carrying things or carrying loads. When they saw the carriage, they hurriedly avoided it and left quickly with their heads down.

There were more corpses here, especially about 20 feet to the left of the gate. The ground was covered with corpses, flies were flying around, and there was a terrible stench.

Zhuang Xuansu didn't care about these, but walked towards that side. After pushing aside the corpses, he finally revealed a stele.

The stele was broken, the words on it had been destroyed, and the blood had covered the stele, and only black stains could be seen.

Zhou Yuan said, "Is this the monument you mentioned?"

Zhuang Xuansu nodded and said, "In the sixth year of Zhaojing, the island pirates once again organized 800 people to land and invade. Su Mu, the garrison commander of Ningbo Prefecture, led 3,000 elite troops and rushed to Xiangshan County overnight to fight against the island pirates."

"He did not trust the intelligence of the aristocratic families, and he did a good job of keeping it secret, catching the island pirates off guard."

"Because the dock was blocked in advance, the island pirates could not get on the ship and could only flee inland, all the way here."

"Su Mu was brave and good at fighting, and he was strategic. The strategy was good. Three thousand soldiers were divided into five groups, blocking the island bandits here, encircling and annihilating them, creating the greatest victory of the Jin Dynasty over the island bandits. "

"Then the story came. The former Fenghua County Magistrate and Ningbo Prefect wrote to the court, saying that Su Mu did not kill the island bandits, but the envoys of the island bandits' country who came to pay tribute, whitewashing the island bandits' identities and discrediting Su Mu's behavior. "

"Your Majesty will naturally not believe this whitewashing, but... Yang Guozhong and Wang Lun, two people, coerced dozens of Zhejiang Party officials, with the Wanmin Book and the aristocratic families provided "The evidence, including physical evidence and confessions, demanded that Your Majesty punish Su Mu and bring justice to the island bandits."

"As for the royal family, Prince Fu personally came forward, brought his clan elders, and made a big fuss during the sacrifice at the Taimiao, putting pressure on Your Majesty again."

"The nobles in the court, including Qiu Huan and others, are also in the royal family camp."

"They all want Your Majesty to investigate Su Mu's crime of slaughtering friendly neighbors and exterminate Su Mu's entire family."

"Under pressure from all sides, Your Majesty finally sentenced Su Mu to exile."

Speaking of this, Zhuang Xuansu He sighed bitterly, "Su Mu was a young general, full of vigor and blood. He could not bear the humiliation, so he drew his sword and committed suicide at the military camp 50 miles outside Fenghua County."

"The noble family found his body, but concealed it and said that Su Mu fled for fear of crime and went out to sea as a bandit."

"All the major court officials and royal nobles wrote to your majesty, asking him to exterminate the Su family."

Zhuang Xuansu looked at Zhou Yuan and said, "Your majesty agreed, and no one in the Su family survived."

Zhou Yuan was silent, just looking at the broken stele, his emotions surging.

Zhuang Xuansu said: "Since your majesty ascended the throne, you have been in a state of being sidelined. You have been constantly fighting with the royal family and court officials, and have continuously achieved small victories, but there has been no major change."

"I have personally witnessed how your majesty endured pressure from all sides, sleepless nights, heartbroken, and heartbroken, struggling to support the court."

"Zhou Yuan, you can criticize your majesty for being greedy for imperial power and almost losing your mind, but... you cannot deny that your majesty is here today because he cares about the world and the country."

"If it weren't for her, this world would have been rotten long ago, and it wouldn't have waited for you at allWhen she grows up, perhaps the Jin Dynasty will be gone. "

"Now that you have achieved success and power, you can naturally stand on a high position and criticize your majesty's incompetence and lust for power, but you should at least know that your majesty has also taken all the infamy in the world on his own."

"Your majesty has become a vicious and evil concubine secretly cursed by scholars after exterminating the Su family, but your majesty never cares about these things. She just concentrates on doing things and strives to hold power in her hands one day."

Zhou Yuan nodded.

He had to admit that he did think that the eldest sister was incompetent and greedy for power to some extent.

But at this moment, he gradually understood that the eldest sister had to bear a lot of things along the way.

Zhuang Xuansu said: "After Su Mu died, the people of Fenghua County erected this monument for him. The inscription on the monument reads 'the great general who protects the country and is loyal, the great hero who loves the people and eliminates bandits'. "

"Last year, the island bandits came again. They liked to pile up the bodies of the people here to humiliate the dead heroes."

"Su Mu was not killed by the island bandits, but by countless people."

Zhou Yuan was silent, looking up at the sky. The sunset was still red, and the sky was shining with scarlet blood in the grayness of dusk.

The earth seemed to be falling into darkness, and the earth was about to fall into darkness.

He said slowly: "Are there any more such whitewashing and smearing incidents?"

Zhuang Xuansu said: "There are too many to count, so the island bandits are so rampant today."

Zhou Yuan said: "Compile a list of similar incidents that have occurred in recent years for me, and write down in detail which aristocratic families, which forces, and what backgrounds those people have. "

"I want to see how strong their backgrounds are. "

Zhuang Xuansu nodded.

Everyone walked out while talking.

"This time when we went south, His Majesty told you not to kill too many people."

"Merchants follow the current situation. Killing them all will not help the situation here."

"In the future, when the sea is opened, people will also be needed to explore and establish a complete and healthy trade route."

Zhuang Xuansu said very rationally.

Zhou Yuan whispered: "Social changes and policy implementation are always accompanied by pain."

"Don't be afraid of killing people. Blood will make people remember, establish new rules, comfort the dead, and protect the simple morality and justice of the people."

"This battle in Ningbo Prefecture is about island pirates, Portuguese, aristocratic families and conservatives in the court. It is the most critical step for Dajin to move towards the future."

"No bloodshed, nothing can be done."