Take the warehouse back to the end of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 753 Dealing with Corrupt Officials
It was snowing outside the window again, and the temperature was a little colder.

Cao Huachun squatted beside the fire, still shivering from the cold, the temperature of the fire was not enough to dispel the cold.

"This damn weather, it's endless, it keeps falling!" Cao Huachun looked in the direction of the door with a depressed expression on his face.

In the cold weather, people like Cao Huachun didn't have enough supplies to keep out the cold, and it was far from enough to just rely on the fire in the room.

Cao Huachun wanted to get some supplies to keep out the cold, but there was nowhere to get them in the middle of the night.

Cao Huachun put his hands in front of the fire and kept rubbing them, hoping to make himself warmer in this way.

The winter nights are long, and when the day dawns, another thick layer of snow falls on the ground.

Cao Huachun walked out of the room and sneezed.

It froze Cao Huachun so badly last night that he almost froze to death.

"Notify brothers, let's go to the palace to see what's going on in the palace now." Cao Huachun said to a personal guard behind him.

With Cao Huachun's order, the personal guard hurried to the back.

Not long after, people like Cao Huachun gathered in the yard.

Fortunately, the yard is big enough to accommodate them.

Cao Huachun trained the assembled soldiers for a long time, and then led them to jump over the wall.

Coincidentally, just as Cao Huachun and the others jumped out, they were discovered by a few soldiers patrolling here.

"There is a situation, there is a situation!"

A soldier in a new-style military uniform and a woolen overcoat looked at Cao Huachun who had jumped from the wall and shouted loudly.

When Cao Huachun and others heard the shout, they hurriedly turned around and ran away.

"Notify the troops behind, I'll go after them!" The leading soldier shouted at the people behind him, and then chased after Cao Huachun with the 56 Chong.

Cao Huachun originally wanted to touch the vicinity of the palace to see what the palace was doing, but it was too late to say anything now.

"Hurry up!" Cao Huachun turned his head and shouted at the soldiers behind him.

However, the snow was deep and the road was slippery, and they didn't sleep well all night, so how could their speed increase.

Cao Huachun and the others staggered in the snow, running forward with one foot deep and one foot shallow.

"Stop for me, or I will shoot!" The chasing soldier held a 56 in his hand and shouted at these people.

Cao Huachun and the others did not stop and fight back just because there was only one person chasing them, but still ran for their lives.

People like Cao Huachun have personally experienced the power of weapons in the hands of Zhao Wen's soldiers. How could they now make the move of hitting a stone with an egg?

Even if they have a large number, they dare not attack this soldier.
"Run separately, run separately, or no one will be able to escape!" Cao Huachun yelled at the soldiers behind him, and then ran in another direction.

Some of the soldiers behind Cao Huachun followed behind Cao Huachun, and some ran in another direction.

Seeing this scene, the soldiers chasing Cao Huachun didn't know which way to go.

In desperation, the soldier directly raised the 56 Chong in his hand and fired a few shots into the sky.

Gunshots rang out non-stop, and after hearing the gunshots, the surrounding soldiers began to gather here.

When the time came to noon, Cao Huachun and the others were blocked in a dead end by the pursuers.

At this time, there were less than [-] soldiers left around Cao Huachun.

These soldiers, like Cao Huachun, had panicked expressions on their faces.

After all, Cao Huachun was just a eunuch.

If it weren't for the fact that Chongzhen really didn't have anyone he trusted, Cao Huachun would most likely not have commanded the troops.

Cao Huachun is okay as the leader of Jinyiwei and Dongchang, but he is still not close to leading the army in battle.

"Put down your weapons and surrender, or the guns will not recognize you!" A platoon leader led his soldiers and blocked Cao Huachun and others in this dead-end alley.

The platoon leader held a 56 Chong in his hand, and shouted at Cao Huachun excitedly.

The armor and accessories on Cao Huachun's body are gorgeous, and they don't look ordinary.Therefore, the platoon leader thought that Cao Huachun was a big fish.

"Put down your weapon, or the gun will not recognize you!" the platoon leader shouted again.

The soldiers around Cao Huachun looked at the scene in front of them and became more and more flustered.

Not long after, a soldier threw the waist knife in his hand to the ground.

Following suit, when the first soldier threw his weapon on the ground, the rest of the soldiers also began to throw their weapons on the ground.

In an instant, only Cao Huachun was left with a weapon.

"Hold your head with both heads, squat on the ground!" The platoon leader shouted again.

The soldiers beside Cao Huachun hastily followed the platoon leader's instructions, put their hands on their heads, and squatted on the ground.

"You bastards, bastards!" Cao Huachun looked at these soldiers, couldn't help but yelled and cursed.

These soldiers didn't say a word, they squatted quietly on the ground, letting Cao Huachun curse there.

The platoon leader went forward with his soldiers and horses.

Cao Huachun looked at the soldiers coming towards him, and seeing that the situation was over, he also dropped the weapons in his hands, and squatted on the ground like the soldiers under him, holding his head in his hands.

Cao Huachun was also afraid of death, and did not want to die.Now it is the end of the road, and death at this time is a death in vain.

Not long after, the platoon leader led his men to escort Cao Huachun and others out, and headed for their current station.

……

After Zhao Wen had breakfast, he came to the square outside the palace.

The eunuchs and maids under the control of Zhao Wen's personal guards were busy in the square with cleaning tools, clearing the snow.

The heavy snow last night covered this square again, these eunuchs and maids just had something to do, and they couldn't let them eat food for nothing.

Zhao Wen wandered around the palace with twenty personal guards.

The roads around the palace were heavily snowed due to the lack of personnel to clear them.

Zhao Wen walked on the snow, making a creaking sound.

The buildings around the palace are basically the residences of those dignitaries. Zhao Wen has not been in the city for a long time, so he has not started to clean up these dignitaries.

Although the dignitaries were not cleaned up, Zhao Wen also had these dignitaries be monitored.

Others don't know the details of these dignitaries, but Zhao Wen knows it all.

In history, after Li Zicheng entered Beijing, his general Liu Zongmin demanded money to recover money, and obtained 7000 million taels of silver from the officials of the capital and Xungui.

This is just silver, not including those pearls, jade, antique calligraphy and paintings.

If you bring all these things, I'm afraid it will be an astronomical figure.

Now Zhao Wen entered Beijing a few years earlier than Li Zicheng in history, but the money in the hands of these officials will not be much worse.

Of course, it is impossible for Zhao Wen to be like Liu Zongmin, who is unscrupulous in order to get money.

But even so, Zhao Wen estimated that he could get about 5000 million taels of silver.

Such a large amount of silver was more than Zhao Wen had ever seized before.

Zhao Wen was thinking about these questions while walking.

"These dignitaries have enjoyed it for more than 200 years, and their families are very wealthy. Poor Chongzhen still doesn't know how rich these people are. If Chongzhen knew the details of these people, he would probably be very angry." Talking to himself.

Zhao Wen walked around for a short time before returning to the palace.

At this time, Song Hu sent someone to send a military report about the battle in the capital.

Zhao Wen sat in the Hall of Central Harmony, watching the military newspaper sent by Song Hu.

According to the military newspaper, almost all the routs in the capital have been cleaned up, and the Anmin notice has been posted, and the capital has been completely taken down.

Zhao Wen put the military newspaper in his hand on the table in front of him.

Taking the capital was no surprise to Zhao Wen, it was a very normal thing.

There are not many people in the capital today, and it is not difficult to settle down.

"The capital has been stabilized, and now it's time for those corrupt officials to spit out what they eat!" Zhao Wen said as he took out a piece of rice paper and began to write on it.

Zhao Wen wrote an imperial edict in the name of the emperor, asking the officials and nobles in the capital to pay homage to him, the emperor.

Of course, this edict is not mandatory, all officials and dignitaries can come if they want, and forget it if they don’t want to.

After Zhao Wen finished writing, he stamped the seal he carried with him and handed it to a personal guard.

"Take this edict to find Song Hu, and ask him to notify the officials and nobles in the entire capital according to the edict I wrote.

Remember, you can't force it when you notify. These officials can come whenever they want, and forget it if they don't want to. "Zhao Wen exhorted.

"Follow your Majesty's order!" The guard bowed his hands at Zhao Wengong and walked outside with Zhao Wen's edict.

Zhao Wen is not like killing innocent people indiscriminately like Liu Zongmin, nor is he like Liu Zongmin who doesn't distinguish between good and evil.

Therefore, Zhao Wen came up with this method.

If the imperial edict is passed on, those who can come to pay respects to Zhao Wen, I dare not say that all of them are corrupt officials, but they are almost the same.

Which loyal minister would come to meet his new master the day after his former master died?
The chances of being able to come here at this time are corrupt officials.

The officials who did not come dare not say that all of them are upright officials, but they are similar.

This method can distinguish those who are corrupt officials and those who are loyal ministers in the shortest time.

After Song Hu got Zhao Wen's edict, he sent out the soldiers and horses in his hands, and began to notify the officials in the city.

Fortunately, Chongzhen at that time did not allow the officials in the capital to leave the city, otherwise, the officials in the capital would have run away long ago.

In the afternoon, a large number of officials and nobles came to the square outside the palace.

Although it was still snowing heavily, these officials stood respectfully on the square as if nothing had happened.

Some people came, and naturally some people didn't come, but the number of officials and nobles who didn't come was not many.

Zhao Wen did not meet these officials and nobles, but asked his subordinates to ask the names of these people and write them down one by one.

Zhao Wen did this for the convenience of subsequent matters.

Zhao Wen's personal guards shuttled among the crowd in the square, holding pens and booklets.

Almost all of Zhao Wen's personal guards can read and write, and literacy is a rigid target for Zhao Wen's personal guards.

"What's your name?" A guard stopped in front of a middle-aged official.

This middle-aged official has a rosy face and an upright face, looking like a very upright and loyal official.

"My name is Liu Fuyu, and I'm an official from the Ministry of Rites. After I knew His Majesty's will, I didn't even have time to eat, so I rushed here." Liu Fuyu said to the guard with a smile.

Liu Fuyu said it very naturally, as if he was originally an official of Zhao Wen.

"Liu Fuyu, write it down!" The guard quickly wrote down Liu Fuyu's name on the booklet.

The personal guard then walked to the back and recorded the officials next to and behind Liu Fuyu in the booklet.

"Brother Liu, what do you think we are here for?" A fat official standing next to Liu Fuyu looked at Liu Fuyu suspiciously.

This fat official is also an official of the Ministry of Rites, and he is a colleague of Liu Fuyu, named Jingfeng.

"I don't know, it shouldn't be a bad thing. Now that the Ming Dynasty is gone, Chongzhen is gone, and now the world has been completely pacified by His Majesty.

No matter what your majesty's purpose is, there is nothing wrong with us coming earlier, maybe we can get an official position! "Liu Fuyu looked natural, His Majesty called very smoothly, without any sense of disobedience.

"That's right, it's not bad for us anyway!" Jing Feng said with a confident face.

There are not a few officials who have the same idea as Liu Fuyu. In the eyes of these officials, as long as they come this time, they will be fine, and maybe they can take advantage of this opportunity to gain some benefits.

……

After dark, the names of these officials were recorded, and Zhao Wen also asked these officials to leave.

Zhao Wen sat in the Hall of Central Harmony, flipping through the recorded names.

I don't know if I don't read it, but I was shocked when I saw it. There are really many names on it, and there are hundreds of people densely packed.

"If Chongzhen knew that there would be so many officials and dignitaries coming to visit me with one of my edicts, I don't know what kind of mood he is in." Zhao Wen put the booklet in his hand on the table, and said to the guard in front of him: "Let Song Hu come over!"

Not long after, Song Hu came to the Hall of Zhonghe.

"Meet Your Majesty!" Song Hu saluted Zhao Wen respectfully.

Zhao Wen waved his hand, "Okay, there is no need to be too polite. I came to you today because I have a matter for you to do."

"This is the list of officials recorded today. You take this booklet and investigate these officials according to the list above. If they are really corrupt officials and treacherous officials, use a red pen to circle their names. This matter should be carried out in secret. Don't make too much noise." Zhao Wen said to Song Hu while holding the brochure.

"The minister obeys the order!"

Song Hu took the booklet given by Zhao Wen and withdrew.

After Song Hu left, Zhao Wen started to deal with things again.

Nowadays, there are very few people in the capital. Although there are not many things, there are also many things. Zhao Wen must personally watch over every item.

The candles on the table were dimly lit, not as bright as the electric lights, but that was the condition.

(End of this chapter)