Ming Dynasty: Is a mere unruly commoner rebelling against heaven?

"Ahhhh!!!"

A shrill scream echoed as Liu Chuan was knocked off his horse by the rioting villagers.

In the blink of an eye, Liu Chuan was submerged in the surging crowd, and his voice was no more.

"County Magistrate Liu!"

Wang Yan widened his eyes and shouted with all his might, but there was no response.

Watching the county's magistrate being torn to pieces by the enraged crowd, Wang Yan, Yang Jizong, and the other officials were instantly covered in cold sweat from head to toe.

Only then did they suddenly realize that this incident was completely different from what they had encountered before.

Although there had been many obstacles before, everyone had a bottom line, which was to never harm the imperial envoy.

But this time, the person behind the scenes really wanted their lives!

"Run!"

覃鲁 brandished his long saber, and together with the West Factory agents, cut a bloody path to cover the retreat of Wang Yan and the other officials.

Of course, the most important thing was the documents carried by the Ministry of Revenue officials, which contained data on the fields in various places.

These documents were more important than their lives, and they kept them close to their bodies, with the documents always with them.

After a series of collisions,覃鲁 led the West Factory agents and successfully escaped the encirclement of the people of Pei County.

Then they headed north all the way, and at dawn, they arrived at the junction of Luzhou and Southern Zhili.

From a distance,覃鲁 and others saw a large number of soldiers gathered in Luzhou territory ahead of them.

Moreover, several layers of chevaux-de-frise were placed on the post road, completely cutting off the road connecting Luzhou and Southern Zhili.

"We are imperial envoys, quickly remove the chevaux-de-frise."

Wang Yan took out his tooth牌 (official pass) and travel documents, and after proving his identity, he was allowed to enter Luzhou territory.

After confirming that they were safe, Wang Yan and his party's originally tense hearts relaxed all at once.

"Audacious, simply audacious!"

"To dare to instigate the people to attack the imperial envoy, they should be killed, all of them should be killed!"

Yang Jizong's eyes were bloodshot as he clenched the reins tightly, practically squeezing these words out from between his teeth.

Wang Yan's face was pale, still in shock, and he said tremblingly: "It's chaos, it's chaos, Pei County is in chaos, this is simply rebellion!"

"Quickly report to His Majesty, quickly report this matter to His Majesty!"

覃鲁's expression was serious, filled with a murderous aura.

"Rest assured, I will truthfully report the Pei County rebellion to His Majesty!"

覃鲁 quickly wrote down what happened in Pei County into a document and handed it over to the West Factory agents to send it to the capital via eight hundred li urgent delivery.

And that night, places like Pei County where civil unrest occurred were numerous within the Jiangnan's One Capital and Two Provinces area.

Suzhou Prefecture, Hangzhou Prefecture, Nanchang Prefecture... the people of various prefectures and counties were stirred up into a mess by those with ulterior motives.

County magistrates and prefects like Liu Chuan, who did not collude with the Jiangnan gentry, had their residences attacked.

Many county magistrates and prefects lost their lives in the riots that night.

The agents of the Embroidered Uniform Guard and West Factory lurking in various places in Jiangnan, like 覃鲁, immediately sent the news of the Jiangnan riots to the capital at full speed.

...

Forbidden City.

Inside the West Factory Yamen, every once in a while, a West Factory agent would rush in, holding a secret letter recording the situation of the Jiangnan riots.

"Report! Reporting to the Factory Supervisor, an urgent report has arrived from Xuzhou Prefecture, Southern Zhili!"

"A civil uprising has occurred in Pei County, Xuzhou Prefecture. County Magistrate Liu Chuan has been killed. Ministry of Revenue Official Wang Yan, Assistant Censor-in-chief of the Left Yang Jizong, and Third Leader 覃鲁 led their team back to Luzhou!"

Inside the West Factory Yamen, the West Factory agent briefly explained the contents of the secret letter while placing it on Wang Zhi's desk, which was covered with secret letter documents.

West Factory Supervisor Wang Zhi, examined the secret letters sent from various places in Jiangnan, his brow furrowed high, his expression serious, and his calm eyes hid deep anger.

In just one night, two major shipyards were burned down, craftsmen were killed, and civil unrest occurred in various parts of Jiangnan, a large number of county and prefecture yamen were attacked, and countless county magistrates and prefects died on the spot.

This is no longer just a civil unrest in Jiangnan, this is a premeditated rebellion!

The entire Jiangnan is in rebellion!

Wang Zhi stood up without saying a word and quickly walked towards the Forbidden City.

But when he arrived at the Hall of Mental Cultivation, Wang Zhi did not see Zhu You樘's figure.

Wang Zhi then asked the eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial serving in the Hall of Mental Cultivation about Zhu You樘's whereabouts.

"Factory Supervisor, His Majesty saw that the weather was good today, so he went to the West Garden to play with several of the palace's imperial concubines."

Hearing this, Wang Zhi went non-stop to the West Garden.

...

West Garden.

Qionghua Island.

Guanghan Palace.

Zhu You樘 and Chen Yuanyuan, Liu Rushi, and Dong Xiaowan, enjoyed the beautiful scenery in the palace on this island.

Qionghua Island is an island in the middle of the Taiye Pond in the West Garden, covering a large area, and the pond is home to groups of large koi.

The current scale and layout of the West Garden was laid during the Tianshun years of the Yingzong era.

After Zhu You樘 took power, he ordered the Ministry of Works to renovate the three great halls of Fengtian and build the Hall of Mental Cultivation, and at the same time, rebuild the West Garden.

Now, the three great halls of Fengtian and the Hall of Mental Cultivation have been repaired, but the reconstruction of the West Garden is still far away.

To this day, the Ministry of Works has only renovated and laid out some buildings on the Guanghan Palace, Qing Shu Palace, and Qionghua Island.

The originally slightly empty Qionghua Island, now has a rich variety of buildings on the island, with a bit of charm.

Because of this, after the Ministry of Works came to report that Qionghua Island had been rebuilt, Zhu You樘 saw that the weather was good today, so he brought the three imperial concubines to Qionghua Island to play.

"Your Majesty, look at these fish, they are really fat and gluttonous!"

Dong Xiaowan leaned on the railing of the lakeside pavilion and poured the fish food in her hand into the lake.

The fish in the lake were immediately attracted by the fish food, and the colorful fat koi scrambled for the fish food, making the calm lake boil.

Zhu You樘 walked to Dong Xiaowan and sat down, also throwing a handful of fish food, and sat watching these big fat koi, vying with all their might for a little fish food.

"Watching these small fish grab food is indeed a bit interesting."

Zhu You樘 looked at this funny scene, and a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.

Behind them, Liu Rushi and Chen Yuanyuan, whose belly was slightly bulging, walked hand in hand and slowly walked into the pavilion to sit down.

"Your Majesty, don't say, this Qionghua Island after the reconstruction is really beautiful."

"Walking among them, this concubine feels that the depressed heart has opened up a lot."

Chen Yuanyuan looked at Zhu You樘 and said with a smile.

Zhu You樘 fed the fish food while smiling faintly: "If Consort Ning likes this place, I will reward you with the Qinghui Hall on this Qionghua Island."

"Here, the environment is good here, it is suitable for you to have a baby."

Chen Yuanyuan originally said this casually, but she didn't expect to have an unexpected surprise, and quickly nodded to thank her: "Thank you for your Majesty's reward!"

Dong Xiaowan and Liu Rushi looked at each other and smiled, and the lakeside pavilion was filled with a harmonious scene.

At this moment, a little eunuch came to report, breaking this harmony.

"Reporting to Your Majesty, East Factory Supervisor Wang Zhi is requesting an audience!"