The White Lotus Sect originated in the Tang and Song dynasties and was just an ordinary religious organization at the beginning. However, with the continuous spread and promotion, the White Lotus Sect's influence among the people has become increasingly greater and gradually evolved into an anti-government non-government organization.

Looking at the various powerful peasant uprisings since the Tang and Song dynasties, there is a shadow of the White Lotus Sect behind all the huge peasant uprisings. It can be said that Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding ancestor of the Ming Dynasty, started his business with the White Lotus Sect. It is precisely because of this that Zhu Yuanzhang knew the harm of the White Lotus Sect to the rulers, so after he settled in the country, he immediately declared the White Lotus Sect a cult and launched a severe crackdown.

However, Zhu Yuanzhang's bloody suppression did not completely eradicate the White Lotus Sect, but instead caused a strong rebound from the White Lotus Sect. They changed from open to dark, and their missionary methods became more hidden, secretly accumulating strength and waiting for an opportunity to overthrow the rule of the Ming Dynasty.

However, as time goes by and the long-term high-pressure attack by the imperial court, the White Lotus Sect has actually been divided into various sects, each with its own doctrine and gods. They are loosely organized, and the heads of the various places are not subordinate to each other. Some sects have even forgotten their original intentions and preaching is just to make money and enjoyment.

The giant thief Xu Weixue is the leader of the White Lotus Sect in the Zhizhe area. However, this guy lives very happily in the wealthy Jiangnan area. On the surface, he is a wealthy businessman, but secretly he is a giant thief on the sea that dominates the country. He is known as the Shark King. His life is as nourishing as a local emperor, so his missionary mind is fading.

However, Xu Weixue has been rampant in Ningbo Prefecture, Zhejiang for many years and has made some "achievements". Through coercion and inducement, a group of officials and gentry have been developed to join the church, including Shi Haoran, the then prefect of Ningbo Prefecture. Moreover, Shi Haoran's status in the sect is not low, and he is the elder of the Dharma Protector.

Later, Xu Weixue was trapped by Zhejiang Governor Qiao Yu and was detained in the Ningbo government office. Although Shi Haoran was afraid, he had a handle in Xu Weixue's hands, so he could only bite the bullet and risk using a substitute to steal Xu Weixue out of prison before execution.

After that, Xu Weixue, who survived the disaster, ran to Daming Temple in Yangzhou and became a monk incognito. This guy is worthy of being a great owl, with great martial arts skills and great skills. How could those serious monks who eat vegetarian food and chant Buddha be their opponents? Therefore, Xu Weixue was in the Daming Temple and gradually climbed to the position of hosting.

At that time, the respected monks in Daming Temple either Xu Weixue excluded them or secretly killed them. As a result, Daming Temple became Xu Weixue's private temple.

A few years ago, Shi Haoran was transferred to the Yanhuai Salt Transportation Commissioner in Yangzhou, and these two "old friends" got together again. Xu Weixue's status became more stable and began to contact his former subordinate Chen Sipan to return to his old career.

Chen Sipan occupied Dongsha Island and was responsible for trading with the Japanese, while Xu Weixue manipulated behind the scenes and joined forces with Shi Haoran to provide shelter to the gentry involved in smuggling. Whenever someone reported smuggling to the government, they would be covered up immediately. The whistleblower was also retaliated against, and even silenced directly. Over time, no one dared to report it again.

At this time, facing the interrogation of Xu Jin and Xia Yan, Shi Haoran explained everything one after another, and also provided a list of gentry who had already joined the sect, as well as a list of gentry participating in the smuggling trade.

Now Lu Bing was so excited that he was as if he was injected with chicken blood. The horse-dressed cavalry swarmed out. According to the list confessed by Shi Haoran, he arrested people everywhere in Jiangnan, and even if the people were thousands of miles away, he would not let them go. For a moment, the whole Jiangnan and northern Jiangnan were in chaos, and everyone was in danger.

In the afternoon of the same day, the memorial drafted by Xia Yan rushed to the capital for 800 miles, and also notified the Nanjing Ministry of Justice. As early as the night before, Lu Bing's secret memorial had been rushed to the capital for 800 miles through the intelligence system of the Jinyiwei.

On April 17, the second year of Jiajing, Xu Jin and Xia Yan arrived in the capital, which instantly caused an uproar and quickly shifted the eyes of the ministers from the dispute over the "Great Ceremony".

Zhang Cong and Gui E naturally would not give up this excellent opportunity to weaken the Yang Party. On the same day, the two took the lead in writing to impeach the Minister of Personnel Qiao Yu, asking the emperor to issue an order to thoroughly investigate the case. At the same time, officials and relatives standing on Zhang Cong's side also wrote letters to request the removal of the Minister of Personnel Qiao Yu, and demanded that he be imprisoned for review.

The Minister of Personnel Qiao Yu hurriedly wrote to himself to make a letter to judge, and the Yang Party also wrote to him as a guarantee to defend Qiao Yu. Finally, the chief assistant of the cabinet, Yang Tinghe, stood up and proposed to escort Shi Haoran and others back to Beijing and hand them over to the three judicial departments for trial. The second assistant Fei Hong also agreed with this.

After a fierce battle and competition between the two factions, the young emperor Zhu Houcong issued an order and agreed to the trial of the three judicial departments proposed by the Chief Secretary Yang Tinghe. However, as the governor of Zhejiang at that time, Qiao Yu was guilty of misunderstanding even if he did not participate in the dereliction of duty, he would be punished with misunderstanding and had to suspend his post before he could clear his suspicion.

In response, Yang Tinghe could only pinch his nose and recognize him. The Ministry of Personnel is the assessment and promotion agency in charge of all officials, and is the leader of the six ministries. Now that the Minister of Personnel Qiao Yu has been suspended, it is not an exaggeration to say that Yang Ge Lao's power has been cut off by 20%.

On April 20, the second year of Jiajing, Emperor Jiajing Zhu Houcong officially passed the imperial edict of the cabinet and rushed to Yangzhou for 800 miles, and ordered two imperial envoys, Xu Jin and Xia Yan, to arrest and preliminary interrogation of the salt transport envoy Shi Haoran and his followers, and then escorted back to Beijing for the three courts to conduct trial.

On the night when the emperor sent the imperial edict out of the capital, Zhang Cong, Gui E and Huo Tao were invited by Wuding Marquis Guo Xun to have a banquet at the Marquis's mansion to celebrate the victory of the initial battle against Yang Ting and the party, and Zhu Fu, Duke Cheng Guo, was also present.

It is worth mentioning here that Wuding Marquis Guo Xun was demoted two years ago, but recently this guy has become aware of it and instead supports the young emperor, shaking the flag for Zhang Cong and Gui'e during the big ritual debate. When the young emperor Zhu Houcong was happy, he found a reason to restore the title of Wuding Marquis to Guo Xun.

Wuding Hou Guo Xun, who tasted the sweetness, naturally stood firmly on the side of the little emperor, and spared no effort to waving flags and shout for Zhang Cong and Gui E.

Of course, no matter how fierce the two factions in the capital were fighting, it was not related to Xu Jin's business. At this time, the imperial envoy Xu was busy, because there were too many officials and gentry involved by Shi Haoran, and the government jail was already overcrowded.

You should know that those who participated in smuggling were local tyrants, and their energy was not too great. Once these people were arrested, problems arose one after another. The unemployed people increased sharply, public security immediately became worse, and prices began to soar. What followed was the turbulence and uneasiness.

It is said that after the "tributive dispute" occurred in Ningbo, Zhejiang last year, Xia Yan was the first to submit a memorial to propose a strict ban on sea smuggling, so now he is not ruthless in cracking down on sea smuggling. He strongly advocates arrest and severe punishment for any officials and gentry involved in sea smuggling.
Chapter completed!