Southern Ming Rebel Army

Chapter 559 Delay

At this point, Lu Ping is only one step away from the truth. Wen Yunde may have blurted out the truth in anger. From his confession, it can be concluded that Wen Yunde was involved in the assassination of the imperial envoy and cannot escape the identity of a mastermind.

As for Lin Weining, Lu Ping couldn't guess whether he was involved. However, Lu Ping thought that what Wen Yunde said made a lot of sense. It would be enough to arrest all the servants of the Lin family and interrogate them.

Jinling, formerly the southern capital of the Ming Dynasty, was the most prosperous city in the south of the Yangtze River. Even when Duoduo conquered this city, there had never been a massacre.

After all these years of peaceful life, nearly one million people have gathered in and around Jinling City, and the population has even exceeded that of the current capital of the Qian Dynasty. Such prosperity naturally attracted gentry from all over the country to live here.

The Lin Mansion is located in the inner city of Jinling. The area of the Lin Mansion is not too large. However, in today's Jinling city, it is no exaggeration to say that every inch of land is worth a lot of money. With the financial resources of the Lin family, they can naturally gain a place in the inner city.

At this time in the Lin Mansion, although Master Lin was invited in for questioning by the Qingluan Guards, so many wealthy families in the city were also invited in. Therefore, these servants still ate, drank, and took care of the master and the mistress as usual, and did not dare to be careless at all.

But the housekeeper Lin Gui was different. He knew what kind of earth-shattering thing the master had done. Therefore, after Lin Weining was taken away, he could not sleep or eat well for the past two days. The case involved a major treason case, and the Jinling Mansion could not intervene. Even if Lin Gui wanted to find out the news, he could not find a way.

Lin Gui was in his mansion, absentmindedly directing the servants to sweep the floor. However, at this moment, there was a commotion, and a team of armed Qingluan Guards pushed the door open and rushed into the Lin Mansion.

The leader shouted loudly: "Take everyone away and seal the door!"

A group of fully armed Qingluan Guards suddenly broke in with great momentum. With an order from the leading official, the mansion fell into chaos and screams rang out one after another. Lin Gui's face turned pale, but he had a bad feeling in his heart.

Faced with this sudden change, Lin Gui was extremely frightened, but he was powerless. As everyone in the Lin family was arrested and brought to justice, the case was solved.

Although Lin Weining killed the person who did it, there were also several people cleaning up the scene, and the housekeeper Lin Gui was the one who poisoned the person himself, so it was impossible for him to do it perfectly.

As the case was solved, Lu Ping imprisoned Lin, Wen and their entire family, and reported the case file to the capital, awaiting the emperor's decision.

Before Wu Jinkun arrived in Nanjing, a storm had already been set off because of his affairs. The Lin and Wen families went from prosperity to decline in just one day. The rich and powerful might be high and mighty in the eyes of the common people, but in front of the imperial court, they were like bubbles that would burst at the slightest touch.

On the third day of June in the fourth year of Zhaowu, Wu Jinkun's carriage entered the city of Jinling.

For a moment, all the gentry in Jinling City turned their eyes to Wu Jinkun, and everyone was waiting to see what Wu Jinkun would do next.

On the second day after arriving in Jinling, Wu Jinkun summoned all officials of Jinling Prefecture as the imperial inspector.

At the meeting, Wu Jinkun stated firmly that he would conduct a land survey in the Jinling area, and said ruthlessly: "Among the nine provinces, only Jiangnan is rich, but the taxation has been uneven over the years because the powerful and wealthy occupy the good farmland, exploit the common people, and evade taxes. Today, we are ordered to survey the land and get back to the original source. Anyone who obstructs will be severely punished, regardless of whether they are noble or humble."

The news that the court was going to reform the law and implement the land-based tax system had long been heard in Nanjing. Moreover, before Wu Jinkun arrived, news came that he had been assassinated. Then the Qingluan Guards quickly found out that it was Lin Weining and Wen Yunde who committed the crime. The family business of the Lin and Wen families, which had been passed down for generations, was wiped out in one day.

To many gentry in Jinling Prefecture, these events were too coincidental. Some even believed that the court did it on purpose to scare the emperor. However, the officials in Jinling knew more about the inside story. There was already solid evidence that Lin and Wen had attempted to assassinate the imperial envoy, but many officials still doubted whether the reform could succeed.

But in front of Wu Jinkun, officials of all ranks expressed that they would obey the imperial order.

Wu Jinkun added in the final words: "The land tax is a major plan of our dynasty, which aims to benefit the people and reduce their burden. If anyone dares to privately keep an inch of land, it is considered as disobeying the order. The consequences are so serious that I hope my colleagues will think carefully about it!"

Afterwards, Wu Jinkun ordered the various government offices in Jinling and the Qingluan Guard to jointly form a land survey team, totaling 26 teams. Wu Jinkun expected that within two months, all the land in the entire Jinling Prefecture would be measured and compiled into the Yellow Book.

Wu Jinkun has already written to the court, requesting the establishment of a new Yellow Book Office, which would be under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Revenue and would be set up in every city in the country to manage changes in land sales.

This Yellow Book will be made in triplicate. One will be placed in the Yellow Book Offices in various places, the second will be placed in the Yellow Book Departments in provincial capitals, and the third will be placed in the Yellow Book Library in the capital.

Wu Jinkun was a man of upright character, not good at speaking, and he acted vigorously and decisively, rarely making compromises. As soon as he arrived in Nanjing, he announced to the city of Nanjing: "The land tax is to be distributed according to the land area, and the land survey is urgent. Anyone who obstructs will not be forgiven!"

Upon hearing this declaration, the gentry of Jinling felt quite uneasy. Many gentry were unwilling to accept the policy of distributing the tax rate based on the amount of land. However, the fate of Lin and Wen was happening right before their eyes. Although many gentry did not dare to oppose it openly, they privately ordered their subordinates to make things difficult for the land surveying team and delay time.

It's not that these gentry are not afraid of death, it's because the old rules benefit them. Everyone is greedy for vested interests and is unwilling to give up even a little bit.

Therefore, many people gathered in private to discuss countermeasures or criticize Wu Jinkun's character, such as "Wu's actions are probably not for the country, but to abuse power for his own selfish interests. He is undoubtedly a cruel official!"

"Such laws disrupt local customs and harm the well-being of our clan."

"It is difficult to inherit the ancestral property, so why should we introduce new laws?" There were many different opinions, and the gentry's refusal to cooperate also led to slow progress in the land survey. At this rate, it would be difficult to complete the task within the two-month deadline.

However, these gentry did not oppose openly, but only tried to trip him up in secret. This made Wu Jinkun feel powerless, as if he had punched hard but hit cotton. Moreover, Wu Jinkun had only been in Nanjing for less than ten days, and his reputation in this city was plummeting.

When the land survey was difficult to implement, Lu Ping said to Wu Jinkun, "Sir Wu, why don't you let me come forward and gather all these gentry together? Maybe there will be some changes!"