Southern Ming Rebel Army

Chapter 556 Assassination of the Imperial Envoy

Since ancient times, when it comes to how to govern the world, kings will generally listen to the advice of their ministers, and even follow their strategies. As the saying goes, one person's plan may be short, while three people's plan may be long. There are too many things in the world, and if the emperor is left to make the final decision on everything, there will inevitably be mistakes and omissions.

During the Qian Dynasty, the emperor was indeed wise and intelligent, and he would listen to the opinions of his ministers on many matters. However, if Meng Jun wanted to do some things, he would still do them even if his ministers opposed it.

This kind of autocratic decision-making is quite similar to the style of great rulers in history, but many ministers privately discuss that the emperor is comparable to the Qin Emperor and Han Wudi.

But this is not flattery. For the civil officials, the Qin Emperor and Han Emperor Wu are also the models of tyrants in their minds. And this is still a bit obscure by these civil officials. To put it more bluntly, it is almost catching up with the Hongwu Emperor of the Ming Dynasty.

A strong and smart emperor is not liked by his subjects, because it means the weakening of their power. Not to mention taking advantage of others to gain benefits, even passive resistance is a very risky thing.

The kind of king that literati most desire is one who rules the world together with the scholars and officials, and that state affairs are handled according to their wishes. The emperor can then just be at peace and be a peaceful emperor.

But now, even though many ministers opposed it, the emperor still issued a tough decree to check the land area. Everyone can see clearly that this is a preparation for the equalization of land tax.

………………

Thirty miles away from the outskirts of Xuzhou, was the convoy of Wu Jinkun, the Inspector General of Jiangnan.

The imperial envoy's convoy raised a lot of dust along the way with the rumbling of carts and the neighing of horses. The team included twelve officials of all ranks, thirty-six clerks, and more than two hundred guards assigned by the court, and they marched south in a mighty procession.

Wu Jinkun, the inspector of Jiangnan, was not in a good mood despite the good weather. He sat upright in the carriage, flipping through the fish scale book of Jiangnan in his hand. This book was made in the early Ming Dynasty and was already full of errors and omissions.

Wu Jinkun's eyes were stern and his mind was filled with thoughts. It took him a long time to close the book. The mission of this trip was not only to survey the land, but also related to the success or failure of the entire new policy.

At this time, Li Yuan, an aide, gently lifted a corner of the carriage curtain and whispered, "Sir, 25 miles ahead is Xuzhou. According to the plan, we will arrive there by dusk today. Do you want to enter the city to rest for a while and then set off tomorrow?"

Wu Jinkun nodded and said calmly: "Okay"

Just as Wu Jinkun nodded, suddenly, there was a sound of breaking air outside the carriage, and three crossbow arrows shot like lightning, heading straight for the carriage. The aide Li Yuan, a scholar, reacted quickly. He immediately grabbed Wu Jinkun's shoulder and pulled him down with all his might. However, two arrows flew out through the window, and the third arrow hit Wu Jinkun directly above his head.

At the critical moment of life and death, Wu Jinkun was blessed with great fortune. He suddenly lowered his head and hit it hard on the wooden board, allowing the fatal arrow to brush past his hair and avoid the fatal injury.

The scene fell into chaos, and the soldiers shouted: "There is an assassin, protect the lord!" The soldiers looked everywhere for the attacker's traces, and more than a dozen people holding shields surrounded the carriage.

As an inspector, countless eyes were focused on Wu Jinkun. Meng Jun also knew that Wu Jinkun was too ambitious, so in the arrangement of the escort personnel, Meng Jun specially dispatched two hundred guards to protect him along the way.

At the same time, to be on the safe side, Meng Jun ordered Lu Ping, who was still in Jinling, to closely monitor the movements of the gentry in the south of the Yangtze River and to provide protection for Wu Jinkun when he arrived in Jinling. He also had to obey Wu Jinkun's temporary dispatch.

However, Meng Jun did not think that the gentry in Jiangnan had the courage to kill the imperial envoy. After all, it was just asking the rich to pay more taxes, not their lives. If the imperial envoy died on the road, it would mean that they completely disregarded Meng Jun, the founding emperor.

But what Meng Jun did not expect was that Wu Jinkun's convoy was attacked by crossbows as soon as it entered Xuzhou. If it were not for Li Yuan's cleverness, he would probably have died by now.

Wu Jinkun's face was extremely gloomy. He knew that he had come to Jiangnan this time to do something that would offend people, but he had not expected that this group of gentry would be so bold and presumptuous. Attacking and killing the imperial envoy was a capital crime in any dynasty.

Although he was still in Xuzhou, Wu Jinkun believed that the gentry from Jiangnan were the most suspicious.

When the convoy entered the outskirts of Xuzhou, the prefect Fang Youdao was already waiting at the city gate. Originally, Fang Youdao was very happy that the imperial envoy was passing through Xuzhou, and was preparing to entertain him well and to establish a good relationship with this important figure from the capital. However, he never expected that the imperial envoy would be attacked in his own jurisdiction. This was like a bolt from the blue for Fang Youdao.

Fang Youdao was trembling with fear and wiping the sweat from his sleeves from time to time. He thought about what was an unexpected disaster and what was an innocent fish. He was the fish now. Even though he was the prefect now, what time was it? It was a fight between gods, so what was the difference between him and the little fish?

Seeing the convoy arriving, Fang Youdao hurriedly went to greet them. When he was about to speak, he was stopped by the leading general, who also had a grim look on his face and said in a bad tone: "Sir Wu is not feeling well, there is no need to greet him. Go and find the best doctor in the city!" After that, he led the convoy into the city without looking back.

Upon hearing this, Fang Youdao turned pale, his whole body trembled, and he could hardly stand. The seriousness of the matter was self-evident that the imperial envoy was attacked within the area under his jurisdiction. If anything happened to the imperial envoy, at the very least, his own official career would be over immediately.

Fang Youdao did not dare to delay and quickly asked his men to invite the famous doctor in the city to the government office.

The doctor hurried to the government office, and after a thorough body search, he saw Wu Jinkun. The doctor took a look at Wu Jinkun, shook his head, and said, "My lord, you just bumped your head, it's nothing serious, you just need to rest for two days."

The doctor was not prepared to prescribe any medicine. Finally, at the request of the general who was ordered to protect Wu Jinkun, he prescribed two doses of medicine. Everyone present breathed a sigh of relief when they heard that Sir Wu was not seriously injured.

The attack on the imperial envoy was the first major case since the founding of the Qian Dynasty. No one dared to be negligent, whether it was Fang Youdao or the accompanying generals, they all reported the attack on the imperial envoy to the court and the emperor.

Outside Jinling City, Lin Weining listened anxiously to his subordinates' solemn words: "Master, that Wu is definitely dead. The arrowhead is smeared with poison. Even if the skin is broken, he will definitely die within an hour!"

Hearing this, Lin Weining relaxed a little, and then he changed the subject and said, "Don't go out these few days. I'll have someone bring you food and drinks. The situation is urgent."

The man in his hand smiled flatteringly and said, "Yes, Master, I understand and will never cause any trouble to you!"

Lin Weining nodded, and after leaving the house, he winked at the butler beside him. The butler bowed slightly to show that he understood!