My eunuch godfather

Chapter 77 Killing Zhu

Qi Shuren refers to Zhu Fu, the seventh son of the Hongwu Emperor.

During the reigns of Emperors Jianwen and Yongle, Prince Qi, Zhu Fu, was deposed twice for his arrogance, lawlessness, and incorrigible nature.

Out of the need to appease the imperial clansmen, the Yongle Emperor stripped them of their titles, but left a stipend for the descendants of Qi Shuren.

Over time, the clan has grown into a large family with more than 500 male members.

With a life free from worries about food and clothing, coupled with their status as members of the imperial clan, the Qi commoner clan produced many idle and even bullying scoundrels.

In Nanjing during the Wanli era, they were considered the most notorious criminal gang.

Zhu Ruirou, the head of the Qi commoner clan, summoned all the brothers, uncles, nephews, and other family members who were in charge of the family affairs.

Following the rhetoric Chen Ding had taught him, he climbed onto the table to stand on higher ground and began to rally the crowd:

"Gentlemen, this newly arrived Nanjing Jin Yun ship has done all sorts of bad things! It has swindled countless amounts of our money..."

Some people below were thinking to themselves, "You were the one who led everyone to vote for Tampagu in the first place."

Now you're pretending to be ignorant and denying everything, even shifting all the blame onto the Nanjing Jinyun? They didn't force you to buy it.

However, Zhu Rui was notorious for his ruthlessness, and no one dared to speak out.

Moreover, many of the people below, although they knew that Zhu Ruirou was shirking responsibility, wanted to make him the one to take the lead.

Let's take everyone to the Nanjing Jinyun shipyard and cause a scene to get back the money we lost.

"...Come, come with me to see the man surnamed Xu."

After reciting Chen Ding's words, Zhu Ruirou raised his arm and shouted, "Take back our money!"

"Let's go! Let's go!"

Most of the people below joined in the shouts, elated.

Many of them did not participate in the speculation of Tambaku, or they withdrew in time and secured their profits.

He even bought shares in Nanjing Jinyun and made a lot of money from it.

But since I'm just idling at home anyway, I might as well go to Nanjing Jinyun and cause some trouble, and then share some of the profits afterwards.

......

A painted boat on the Qinhuai River.

Zhu Ruiru's fourth half-brother, Zhu Ruiyu, had just finished fraternal duties with his in-law Chen Ding and went out of the cabin to the side of the boat to smoke.

"How's it going with the seventh brother?"

Zhu Ruiyan threw the cigarette he had finished smoking into the water and asked Chen Ding about his seventh brother, Zhu Ruiru.

"Rest assured, Your Majesty, everything has been arranged!"

After failing the imperial examinations repeatedly, Chen Ding, who became related to Zhu Ruiyu by marriage, began to dream of achieving the greatest merit in the Jingnan Campaign.

He colluded with notorious bandits like Hu Wu to plunder and amass wealth for Zhu Ruiluo, and to recruit soldiers and horses.

The reason Chen Ding tricked Zhu Ruirou into gathering the Qi clan and causing trouble at the Nanjing Jinyun ship was because of this.

It was also because a tea shop from Changzhou wanted to cause trouble for Nanjing Jinyun.

Chen Ding saw this as a good opportunity to amass wealth and expand his influence, so he accepted the task.

If Zhu Ruiru's actions are very effective, he might even be able to win over all the major taro and mushroom trading companies in Southern Zhili and Zhejiang!

"Very good. As the saying goes, 'An army marches on its stomach.' With the Tampo business being so profitable, those..."

"Scholar!"

Zhu Rui and Chen Ding were discussing their grand plan to quell the rebellion when a bandit under Hu Wu rode up to the riverbank.

Upon finding the pleasure boat where the two were, he said urgently:

"The head manager sent me here to see you, saying that many high-ranking officials have gone to Shangxinhe to welcome the Nanjing Jinyun!"

"Shouldn't you have stopped Master Zhu to avoid offending those high-ranking officials?"

Upon hearing the bandits' report, Chen Ding immediately sensed something was terribly wrong and urgently asked, "Which high-ranking officials are involved?"

"There were the Duke, the Grand Marshal, the Grand Minister of Works, and several garrison commanders from both inside and outside the capital..."

Hearing that so many important figures had rushed to Xinhe Port to welcome Xu Bengao of the Nanjing Jinyun, people were amazed.

Chen Ding felt like the sky was falling. He screamed to the bandit who had brought the news, "Quick, quick, go tell Master Zhu to stop!"

......

Zhu Ruirou led over two hundred men from the Qi clan, along with four or five hundred henchmen and thugs, and swaggered towards Shuixi Gate.

Many of the Qi clan's men wore gold and silver jewelry; this was their old trick for staged accidents.

When a fight breaks out, if there's any bump or bruise, they'll shout that it's a treasure bestowed upon our ancestors by our great-grandfather, and that we must pay a hefty sum in compensation.

Hu Wu's dozens of henchmen, armed with weapons, were mixed in among them; they were the main force behind the trouble.

"What...what are you going to do?!"

Zhang Sanjie, the head of the Nanjing Ministry of Revenue who personally went to the Shuixi Gate to oversee the tax collection office, was dispersing the merchants who were queuing to pay taxes.

Seeing the men of Qi Zong charging towards them menacingly, they cried out in alarm, "Disperse immediately!"

"Scatter...scatter your mother's head!"

Zhu Ruirui's cousin, Zhu Ruixiong, was drunk. Emboldened by the alcohol, he staggered forward and threw a punch at Zhang Sanjie.

Many of the Qi clan men who followed Zhu Ruiru in causing trouble were usually arrogant and domineering.

Even seeing Zhang Sanjie wearing a dark blue heron-patterned sixth-rank official robe, they didn't care and surrounded him to beat him up.

When the officials of the Xuanke Division and the guards at Shuixi Gate came to dissuade them, they were also attacked by Qi Zong's male members with fists and feet.

By the time the notorious bandit Hu Wu arrived at Shuixi Gate, the men of Qi Zong were already caught up in a brawl and were completely out of control.

Seeing that things were not going well, Hu Wu turned his horse around and ran away.

Meanwhile, Xu Bengao, Zhang Kun, and Liu Du Guanxun's group had already crossed the Jiangdong Bridge.

Seeing the commotion at Shuixi Gate, Zhang Kun immediately called over Zhang Zhiyuan from the Duke of Ying's residence and said urgently:

"This is a plot to rebel, Brother Zhiyuan! Quickly inform your superiors!"

"Treason!?"

Zhang Zhiyuan was taken aback upon hearing this. Zhang Jingzhen, who was standing beside him, already understood Zhang Kun's meaning and explained to her cousin:

"Even if it's not a real rebellion, we must make it look like one!"

Realizing what was happening, Zhang Zhiyuan immediately ran to Xu Bengao's side and loudly proclaimed to Huang Kezuan, the Minister of War in Nanjing, who was leading the group:

"Grand Marshal, someone is taking advantage of the fact that all the important officials from the capital are here to stage a rebellion!"

Huang Kezuan frowned slightly, feeling that Zhang Zhiyuan's motives for directly accusing him of treason were not pure.

But chaos had indeed broken out at Shuixi Gate, and orders were issued:

"Please take temporary shelter on the Jiangdong Gate tower! Zhao Zhongjun, you will lead my personal guard..."

Before he could finish speaking, more than two hundred cavalrymen from Xu Bengao's standard battalion were seen charging toward Shuixi Gate from not far away!

With Zhou Zhong as the main general and Cao Meng and Tang Sheng as his assistants, he led the guards and the household servants of the Duke of Ying.

"Run! Run!"

Some of the sharp-eyed men of the Qi clan noticed a cloud of dust rising in the distance. Upon closer inspection, they saw hundreds of cavalrymen charging towards them at high speed and exclaimed in surprise.

No matter how arrogant these Qi clan men were, most of them were just street thugs who came to cause trouble without even bringing weapons.

Upon seeing the heavily armored cavalry charging towards them, they were so terrified that they scattered and fled in all directions.

"Afraid...afraid of what!?"

Drunk, Zhu Ruixiong picked up a spear that a guard had dropped and staggered toward the Shuixi Gate.

Facing the approaching cavalry, he shook his head, raised his spear, and shouted in a theatrical voice:

"Listen up, all of you! I am the seventh son of Emperor Gaozu, and a descendant of Prince Qi, the Grand Marshal of the Northern Expedition!"

Now... now a wicked man is wreaking havoc in the capital; I alone hold the long spear in my hand, vowing to—ah!

Whoosh whoosh!

Several arrows pierced through the air and instantly pierced Zhu Ruixiong's body, causing him to scream in pain and drop his spear.

Immediately afterward, a cavalryman rushed forward, slashed open Zhu Ruixi's neck with his sword, and blood gushed out!

This descendant of the imperial family fell to the ground, his blood mixed with the dust, turning into red mud.