On March 18, the fifteenth year of the Apocalypse, Qingming Festival, a light rain fell on the streets in the early morning. The night watchman put on his raincoat, put away his bag and was about to call it a day. When he walked to the gate of Yuanzhen Guogong Mansion,
Suddenly his mouth opened wide in shock.
The Zhenguogong Mansion is one of the most luxurious mansions in the capital. There is a huge open space in front of the door, and there are hundreds of horse tethering posts. In the past, this place was bustling with people, but since the accident, it has become deserted and deserted.
, there are two seals affixed to the red lacquer door, with the words "Qin Mi Si Seal" clearly written on them. Usually at night, some people who are not afraid of death often come secretly to burn paper, so it is normal to see some ashes in the morning, but today there are a lot of them.
It was different. There were more than a dozen white wreaths placed there, the soul-calling flags were hanging low in the drizzle, and there were several scholars with hemp ribbons wrapped around their waists kneeling in the rain.
The watchman was shocked. Duke Zhen Guo was executed for treason. This was a major crime against the nine tribes. Let alone mourning, even if he expressed sympathy for Liu Ziguang in the teahouse, he would be questioned by Ying Tianfu. How did these people do it?
Really? You are so brave that you are so ambitious that you actually held a wreath, draped in sackcloth and mourning in mourning at the gate of the Zhenguo Palace. Isn’t this sincerity against the imperial court?
More frightening things are yet to come. On the wet stone road, more people appear in twos and threes, carrying wreaths and white flowers. They slowly gather together. More and more people gather, and the door of the house becomes a sea of flowers. Countless people write
The white note with the eulogy swayed in the wind, and countless low sobs echoed in the rain.
These people who spontaneously mourned the Duke of Zhen were mainly students from the three major universities in the capital: Jinling Academy, Donglin Academy, and Imperial College. There were also some candidates from various places who were waiting for the Spring Festival, and occasionally one or two female students from Jinling Women's Academy appeared.
Many people who had received Liu Ziguang's kindness also spontaneously joined in, pinned small white flowers on their lapels, and burned a stick of incense for the hero who died.
The atmosphere at the memorial site was gloomy and depressing. The young students did not dare to openly question the court's actions, so they had to express their grief for Liu Ziguang and their anger towards the traitorous officials in the court through poetry. A young man of about seventeen or eighteen years old
The man suddenly jumped up on the altar and loudly recited a eulogy:
Feeling sad to hear ghosts screaming
I cry and the jackal laughs
Tears for heroes
The raised eyebrow sword is unsheathed
This is more of a limerick than a five-character quatrain. Any of the scholars present can write a more regular poem than this one, but this kind of grief and anger is expressed extremely well, especially the last line of the eyebrow raising sword.
Taking out the sheath also expressed the determination not to let go of the traitor who framed Liu Ziguang. Everyone cheered loudly and applauded. The young man did not wear a scarf on his head. It seemed that he was not a student of the academy, but he was more courageous than anyone else.
Du Da raised his arms openly and shouted: "The Duke of Zhen Guo died unjustly. There is a traitor in the court. We must avenge Duke Zhen Guo."
His voice represented the aspirations of everyone present, and countless voices followed: "Zhaoxue! Zhaoxue!"
At this time, there was a sudden sound of gongs, and a large number of Yingtianfu government officials with water and fire sticks appeared on the street. The leader of the team shouted loudly: "Everyone should leave the scene immediately. After a stick of incense, Yingtianfu will begin to clear the place."
The students' emotions had just been aroused. How could these lackeys wearing black and red hats be allowed to run rampant? It was said that Zhen Guogong was executed in Yingtianfu Yamen, which aroused everyone's indignation even more. The students protected the wreaths and glared at them.
The government officials, most of the government officials in the capital are bad guys with pus on their soles. They don't have any justice in their hearts. They just wait for the order from the class leader, and then they swoop in and beat the students with water and fire sticks.
The students were all weak and weak scholars, and they were unarmed, so they were no match for these wolf-like government officials. Sticks of water and fire were flying, and the scholars were beaten with bloody heads. The government officials used soap boots to kill them.
The wreath was kicked to the ground and stepped on a few times. Countless white paper flowers were soaked in the mud and mixed with the blood of the scholars. It was extremely tragic.
Yingtian Mansion arrested dozens of students, cleared out all the wreaths at the entrance of the Zhenguo Palace, and designated the place as a restricted area, strictly prohibiting anyone from staying. The students were angered, and an undercurrent was surging. That afternoon, on
Despite the obstruction of the government officials, Wan students once again came to the gate of the Zhenguo Government Office to protest.
In fact, in this era, everyone did not know what demonstrations were, but the resentment in their hearts drove them to form a huge lineup and march from the Zhenguo Palace to the streets and Yingtianfu Yamen, demanding that the Fuyin Lord release the students who were arrested without charge.
Seeing the overwhelming momentum of the students, Yingtianfu yamen quickly closed the door and refused to respond. The angry students simply demolished the yamen, rescued their classmates, and grabbed the unpretentious yamen servants and beat them up. If Yingtianfu Yin Xuqin hadn't run fast, he would have
He was going to be beaten up by the students.
The students achieved a major victory and seized a large number of water and fire sticks. They were dazzled by the victory for a while. Someone proposed to go to the Meridian Gate to persuade the emperor to kill the traitorous officials and rehabilitate the prince. Countless people responded immediately, and the students immediately elected him.
The representative wrote a letter of remonstrance in a eloquent manner, everyone bit their fingers and pressed their fingerprints, and drove to the Meridian Gate in a mighty manner.
This student movement was unexpected by the imperial court. They never thought that killing Liu Ziguang would cause such an uproar. Zhu Youxiao was so angry that his nose was crooked, and he asked Xu Qin, who had fled into the palace to report the news, what kind of errand did you do?
Xu Qin said with a mournful face that these people were all top students from major academies, including many candidates with the status of candidates and the sons of princes from the Imperial College. What's more, there were so many people that Yingtian Mansion couldn't do anything about them.
Just as he was talking, the eunuch came to report that the students had arrived at the Meridian Gate, holding weapons and banners, saying that they wanted to bring justice to the country and wanted the emperor to accept their advice.
Zhu Youxiao was furious: "Are they trying to force her into the palace?"
Wei Zhongxian said: "The scholar rebellion has not been completed for three years. I think these scholars are instigated and exploited by people with ulterior motives. As for who the instigator is, the emperor naturally knows it well."
Of course Zhu Youxiao knew that Liu Ziguang was not dead, and that he was good at using the power of public opinion to achieve his own goals. It was very likely that he was behind this student unrest.
"Xiao Weizi!"
"The slave is here."
"What crime should be committed by gathering a crowd to besiege the Meridian Gate?"
"It's the same as a conspiracy. The leader, Ling Chi, killed the nine tribes, the followers were beheaded, and the family members were exiled for three thousand miles."
"Well, you go ahead and do it carefully. I don't want to see the scholars of the Ming Dynasty become traitors and traitors without kings and fathers."
When Xu Qin heard this conversation, he watched Wei Zhongxian leave in stunned silence, and couldn't help but said: "Your Majesty, those are all Confucian scholars."
Zhu Youxiao said: "We have already taken up arms to besiege the Meridian Gate. What kind of Confucian scholar are we? Are you trying to say that I am a tyrant who burns books and entraps Confucians?"
Xu Qin hurriedly said: "I dare not, or I will die!"
Zhu Youxiao said: "That's all, you, the Yingtian Prefecture Yin, are tired enough. You should become an official."
Xu Qin hurriedly kowtowed to thank him, stopped talking, and bowed out of the Qianqing Palace. He wiped a cold sweat when he came out. He really couldn't control the situation in the capital. Instead of being investigated for dereliction of duty again in the future, it would be better to retire and return to his hometown now, at least he would be safe.
Can save a life.
The students gathered outside the Meridian Gate saw a eunuch wearing a python robe appearing on the city tower. They thought the emperor had sent someone to come out to receive advice. Little did they know that the eunuch waved his hand and a row of people holding fire guns appeared on the concave-shaped wall of the Meridian Gate.
The soldiers, before they could react, deafening gunshots rang out, and hundreds of students standing in the front row were shot and fell. Then the Meridian Gate opened wide, and the Imperial Guard cavalry holding maces rushed out from inside.
The students were running rampant. Although these students were large in number, they had no organization at all. They were divided and surrounded in an instant. The water and fire sticks in their hands did not work at all. Instead, they attracted the mace of the imperial guards. This was a
It was a one-sided massacre. Hundreds of students were killed by maces and horse hooves, and countless more were trampled on each other. Fortunately, Wei Zhongxian had other agendas, so he refrained from ruthless actions and captured the top student alive.
Thousands of students were imprisoned in prison.
The students who made trouble were all people of high status, either Juren or children of aristocratic families. Killing them all would be tantamount to destroying the foundation of the imperial court, so Zhu Youxiao was still gentle and would not do anything to implicate the Nine Clans. The troublemaker
It is best for people to get rid of their fame and never use them again, but Wei Zhongxian came up with an ingenious idea and started a business using the imprisoned students. He would not release anyone without paying tens of thousands of taels of silver, which caused a lot of resentment in the capital for a while.
Many scholars died, including the Donglin Party reserve team of Donglin Academy, loyal supporters of Zhen Guogong from Jinling Academy, and children of aristocratic families from the Imperial College. What is even more surprising is that among the victims were Jinling girls.
Female students in college.
The deceased's name was Zhu Yingtai, a sophomore at Jinling Women's College. She participated in a parade with her classmates that day. She was beaten to death by the mace of the imperial guards. Her head was deflated, and then her legs were trampled by a horse's hoof. Her death was extremely miserable.
Gu Yanwu, the president of the academy, was so indignant that he wrote an article "In Memory of Mr. Zhu Yingtai" to express his grief and anger.
But this vigorous student movement still failed. The democratic ideas in the enlightenment stage were still very immature and could not fight against the powerful imperial power. After the storm of bloody suppression, no one could be seen on the streets of the capital openly complaining about the grievances of the Duke.
Now, the streets, teahouses and restaurants are full of spies from the Imperial Secret Service. They will show off their cards to take someone out if they see any discordant remarks. Most of these careless spies are from the old Dongchang. This time they can be considered proud and proud.
Under their lustful power, people in the capital were cautious
, be cautious in your words and deeds, and the atmosphere is extremely depressing.
I thought everything would calm down, but no one expected that a more powerful movement had quietly begun.