Volume 3: Dragon and Snake Movement Chapter 366: Dying with Ease
"She is willing to sacrifice her life to bring down the emperor..." This statement by Feng Jie in "Dream of Red Mansions" was even quoted by Emperor Taizu in later generations, which shows that it is deeply rooted in people's hearts. Although Zhang Shou had only met Xian Yunhe once before, and could not say that he knew him well, but after hearing what the uncle and nephew said, he felt that Xian Yunhe was really trying his best to bring down the eldest prince, and that satisfied him.
As for death... I'm afraid people have already been mentally prepared before doing such a daring thing!
On the way just now, he had been thinking for a long time in his mind. At this moment, he sent away the two personal soldiers of the Ruiqi Battalion. Seeing Ah Liu jumping onto the top of the wall and looking down from above, he glanced at Ge Yong with a frown on his face and said, "Teacher, hundreds of people are being exiled to Liaodong. What about their families? Cangzhou City has finally been pacified. Won't it be chaos again next?"
"Not to mention this dynasty, there have been disturbances in previous dynasties. In the Tang Dynasty, some people took advantage of the emperor's trip to Luoyang to attack the palace. That was a real treason, which was countless times more serious than the people of Cangzhou who were forced to hold the eldest prince hostage and occupy the palace. But in the end, only the main culprit was executed, and the rest were not questioned."
Hearing that Zhang Shou tried to limit the problem to the main culprit but excused others, the pale face of Lao Xianyu lost all color. Whether the main culprit was limited to one person or eight people, Xian Yunhe would not be able to escape. However, when he looked at Xian Yunhe, he saw that he was actually showing a hint of joy.
This time, he hurriedly shouted: "Don't talk! You stupid boy, you alone can't bear the wrath of so many big men in the court!"
After stopping Xian Yunhe, Lao Xianyu suddenly had an idea and came up with an extremely bold idea. He immediately rushed to Zhang Shou and said loudly: "Dr. Zhang, didn't you say before that those rubber trees can't be planted in Cangzhou? As for the climate in the south, I have heard a little bit about it. If there is a place with a climate similar to the native place of those rubber trees, it must be Qiongzhou Prefecture!"
Seeing that Ge Yong and Zhang Shou were both looking at him, he said word by word: "If the court cannot tolerate Yunhe and his group, instead of killing them and causing unrest among the people of Cangzhou, why not send them to Qiongzhou to plant trees? If they can grow trees, at least they have made up for their crimes. If they can't, then they deserve to die there!"
Xian Yunhe's expression changed immediately, and he subconsciously shouted, "Uncle, how can you let others get involved just for me!"
"What do you mean by implicate? Ask Grand Tutor Ge. Are those guys in the court really satisfied with only punishing you, the main culprit? Don't forget, the initial proposal was to behead all eight of you, and all those who participated in this matter were sent into exile! The emperor even directly dealt with a prince. He is such a noble child. How can it be equal if there are not enough people to fill in?"
After the old salted fish finished his words, he immediately ignored Ge Yong who seemed to be thinking about something, and said to Zhang Shou sincerely: "Dr. Zhang, didn't you say that the rubber trees may need to be planted for ten or eight years before they can be tapped? No one, whether rich or ordinary, can endure such years of hardship? But if Yunhe and the others survived, they will naturally work hard without complaint..."
"Okay, you don't have to say anything."
Zhang Shou just wanted to see what tricks Old Salted Fish had. After hearing the powerful reason of moving out of Hainan Island to plant trees, he finally confirmed that this old and wrinkled acting master Old Salted Fish was indeed a talent.
Even though this guy had grown the continental cotton from America into such a terrible state and planted the rubber trees until only one dying tree was left, and the facts proved that he actually had very little talent in agronomy, he still set his sights on Hainan Island so quickly and wanted to take the opportunity to solve the life and death issue of Xian Yunhe. His mind really worked quickly.
You have to know that Hainan Island, also known as Qiongzhou Prefecture, was under the jurisdiction of Guangdong Provincial Government at that time. Although it was far from the poor and barren place like it was in the Song Dynasty, it was definitely not developed. Among the many prefectures under Guangzhou, although Qiongzhou Prefecture had three states and ten counties under its jurisdiction, it was generally at the bottom in terms of population and economy.
Today, the population of Guangdong Province is over 2 million, with the largest population being Guangzhou Prefecture, followed by coastal prefectures such as Chaozhou Prefecture and Huizhou Prefecture. What is even more bizarre is that compared to the 3 million population at the beginning of Emperor Taizu’s founding of the country, the population of Guangzhou has actually declined over the past hundred years, with only 1.8 million left at the beginning of Emperor Yingzong’s reign, and is now slowly recovering to over 2 million.
The situation in Fujian was more serious than that in Guangdong. At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, the population was nearly four million. In the early years of Emperor Yingzong, it dropped to just over two million. When the registered population was counted again in the tenth year of Yongchen... Haha, it was reduced by another 200,000, leaving only 1.8 million!
Although local officials insisted that the reason was low birth rate and high death rate, after learning about this situation, Zhang Shou could figure out the connection even with his toes.
In a place like this where it is very convenient to sail out to sea, it would be fine if you have land and property, but if you don't, and you have to bear heavy taxes and labor service, then... of course you would go to Southeast Asia!
As for the other possibility, it is easier to explain - there are always hidden households at all times. Those who want to evade the head tax will not hesitate to directly blacklist their household registration. As for the future... How many people who can't even guarantee their survival now have the energy to think about the future?
It is also because of this that if Lao Xianyu and Zang Hai wanted to find places to plant trees in Guangdong, Fujian and other places, even if the local government and local forces were not so strong and would not come to pick peaches after you have harvested something, it would still be a big problem to find sufficient and reliable people to do the work in these places.
At this moment, after interrupting Old Salty Fish's words, Zhang Shou sneered and said, "Are you talking about sending Xian Yunhe and the other eight people to Qiongzhou Prefecture to plant trees, or are you also counting the hundreds of people who followed him in the rebellion?"
Ge Yong's eyes moved slightly, but he didn't say anything. He just watched Zhang Shou perform leisurely.
"Yunhe, shut up. I didn't ask you!" Old Salty Fish keenly sensed that Xian Yunhe seemed to have something to say, so he stopped him first, then smiled and said, "Dr. Zhang, didn't you just say that we would only execute the ringleader and not ask about the rest? If so, isn't it too much to force hundreds of people to leave their homes? Isn't it enough to send the eight of them thousands of miles away?"
Seeing Xian Yunhe's face flushed, Zhang Shou looked at the old man who was trying to remain calm and said, "Fortunately, you just said that you would send all those hundreds of people to Qiongzhou Prefecture to plant trees. If you are willing to let hundreds of people leave their homes just for your nephew, and spare no effort for one person, even for the innocent, how is this behavior different from that of the eldest prince?"
Lao Xianyu was immediately very happy. He actually wanted to say that if those hundreds of people were to be exiled to Liaodong, it would be better to go to Qiongzhou Prefecture - at least compared to that freezing cold place, Qiongzhou Prefecture was hot, but heat was much more bearable than cold.
Fortunately, he thought carefully about the tone of Zhang Shou and Ge Yong just now, so he did not say the wrong thing.
Until this time, Ge Yong slowly said: "After all, it was the eldest prince who made the mistake first. Xian Yunhe and eight others were sent to the army, and the rest were not questioned. If the eldest prince had not been thrown into the Zongzheng Temple, this would have been a way to settle the matter peacefully. But now it is probably not possible. Just like what the Prime Minister Jiang Ge Lao said, someone is responsible for the occupation of the palace this time."
Zhang Shou saw that the old man's eyes were gradually dimming, so he said at the right time: "The five people sentenced to death by beheading by Yingying's elder brother before, plus the two heads that fell to the ground yesterday, can't make up for it?"
"No." Ge Yong knew that Zhang Shou's words were not just for him, so he said straightforwardly, "The capital has imprisoned a prince, Cangzhou has killed two idlers, and next five unscrupulous wealthy people will be killed, and Changlu County Magistrate Xu Cheng must also be killed. But at the same time, a group of rioters did not die. If this gets out, it will be either connivance or indulgence. What's more..."
The old master glanced at Xian Yunhe, who was still kneeling on the ground but whose complexion had returned to normal, and then he said softly, "Stripping the 100 men of the Ruiqi Battalion naked and imprisoning them in an underground stone chamber is already too much. It's okay that the officials are uneasy now, but the more important thing is that the morale of the imperial guards who protect the capital will also be shaken."
Although he had just racked his brains to come up with a solution, at this moment, Lao Xianyu finally became discouraged.
He was an extremely intelligent man and could see that Zhang Shou did not want to kill his nephew. Ge Yong, an old and retired senior minister, also had no interest in killing people. However, the current situation was not something that could be decided by the two of them, teacher and student.
Let's not talk about the other seven people, Xian Yunhe must be dead! Who let this damn kid plan to hold the eldest prince hostage, and then led people to occupy the palace, strip the clothes of the imperial guards, and seize their weapons... If he had known earlier, he would have stopped this bold kid!
"Thank you, Grand Master Ge, for speaking frankly and allowing me to die with a clear conscience. Thank you, Dr. Zhang, for speaking for me. I have long thought that I would die, and I was afraid that my death would implicate more people. Now, if only I die, it can save the lives of so many others, and I will be satisfied."
Xian Yunhe bowed calmly and then whispered, "After I was born, my family, which was once well-off, had already gone from bad to worse. Although I was educated, I had neither the money nor the talent to become an official. When I was young, I followed my uncle to sea despite my mother's opposition. Later, I was forced by my mother to stay in Cangzhou to make a living."
"But the arranged marriage was broken off after my mother died. I had no intention of getting married, and even the work I did was just to make a living. I lived in a daze all the time, not knowing why I was born, and even less why I would die in the future."
"This time, when the eldest prince and those wealthy families burned down my house and forced me into a desperate situation, although I escaped death, I realized for the first time in my life that I should do something... So when he came to comfort me, I pretended to be frustrated and tricked him away. I have never lived for myself in my life, but this time, I lived for myself and for everyone else."
"I used up all my abilities and tried every possible way, just to get this done, without thinking too much about the consequences. Because when I started, I knew that I would most likely die. So, no matter what the outcome is, it is my own fault and I cannot blame others. However, if I implicate others, I will feel uneasy even if I die."
Old Salty Fish couldn't help but turn away, not wanting to let anyone see his red eyes and tears. Ge Yong had lived for most of his life and had seen all kinds of people. Xian Yunhe couldn't even be considered the best of the best. But even so, he couldn't help but be moved by such a calm attitude of waiting for death.
As for Zhang Shou… He certainly wouldn't be so chaste as to blame himself for everything that happened in Cangzhou, but he never thought that Xian Yunhe really deserved to die. But feelings are one thing, and reason is another. However, when he was thinking about whether his method was feasible, he heard Ge Yong's voice.
"Zhu Dalang has many people to kill, so we can't push everything onto him. You also need to take some responsibility. The life and death of Xian Yunhe and the other seven people is now in your hands."
Zhang Shou looked at Ge Yong in astonishment. He was sure that the teacher was not joking. He pondered for a moment and finally nodded and said, "I understand. Since the incident was caused by me, I should bear the responsibility... Old Salted Fish, send your nephew back, and then follow me back to the county government office."
Lao Xianyu rubbed his eyes hard and forced himself to calm down.
He turned around, walked up to Xian Yunhe without saying anything, and pulled him up. After helping him back to the narrow woodshed, he said viciously: "You want to be a hero who holds his head high and accepts death calmly? No way! Just wait!"
Before Lao Xianyu could leave, Xian Yunhe grabbed his hand like lightning and said word by word: "Uncle, don't do anything stupid! Xiao Huasheng is almost like my son. If anything happens to you, what will he do?"
Seeing that the man was completely deflated, he deliberately said lightly: "Besides, I am still waiting for you to marry a virtuous aunt, so that my mother and I can have someone to burn incense and worship! Go back, my life in exchange for the fall of a prince, the beheading of a crooked official, and the death, exile or beating of a bunch of profiteers and wealthy people, it is already a huge profit!"
Old Salty Fish was so angry that he raised his palm and wanted to hit someone, but his hand fell down in despair after it was raised in the air. In the end, he turned around and walked away without saying a word. When he followed Ge Yong and Zhang Shou out of the palace and got on the carriage, he no longer had the strength to speak.
After returning to the county government office, Zhang Shou sent Ge Yong to the guest room and called him to the room. After hearing what Zhang Shou said, the already completely discouraged old salted fish suddenly woke up. He stared at Zhang Shou doubtfully, and seeing that he was as calm as ever, he immediately felt a struggle between his mind and his conscience, and it took him a long time before he sighed.
"If it works... then from now on, Dr. Zhang, if you have any orders, I will go through fire and water and die without hesitation!"
He didn't think he had anything left that was worth Zhang Shou's risk, because everything he could offer now was not as risky as what Zhang Shou was going to do! With the famous Grand Tutor Ge having made it clear that there was no way out, if Zhang Shou really dared to do that, what would he be afraid of?
