The room goes through the late Ming Dynasty, and the back door leads to North America at the beginni

Chapter 136 King Chong: Use the lonely king to blackmail the court?good idea!
More than a quarter of an hour passed before Gao Douheng came to the main hall to report that the palace guards had gathered.

Zhu Youfan was helped out of the main hall by Shen Wandeng.

After all, Gao Douheng had been Zhu Youfan's follower since he was a child. When he saw this, he couldn't help but ask: "What's wrong with your Majesty?"

"It's nothing, Gu just accidentally twisted his waist, just let Shen Youji support him."

Arriving at the small square in front of the main hall, Shen Wandeng saw that there were indeed 500 royal guards gathered here.

They all looked quite tall, but not many of them were serious about wearing armor. There were only a few dozen people wearing cloth armor.

The others were all wearing military attaché uniforms made of good material, and most of them had fair complexions, like young men from rich families.

The queue behind the assembly was loose, and there were even many people chatting in low voices.

Shen Wandeng looked at it and thought to himself: Is this what the palace guards are like?One of my servants can fight five!
At this time, Wang Sanjia came closer and whispered: "They are basically all here."

Shen Wandeng nodded and said to Zhu Youfan: "Your Majesty, give the order."

Feeling the sharpness in his waist, Zhu Youfan had no choice but to shout at the top of his voice: "Follow Gu's order and put your weapons under the steps!"

The guards looked at each other in shock.

Gao Douheng finally realized something was wrong.

Looking at Shen Youyi's hand that was always on Zhu Youyi's waist, he couldn't help but said angrily: "Shen Wanteng, how dare you hold the king hostage?!"

There was also a commotion among the palace guards.

Shen Wandeng frowned, thinking that she was really troublesome, so he might as well chop Zhu Youfan off with a knife.

But this was the first job Liu Sheng gave him, and he couldn't fail.

Then he said in a low voice: "It seems that the king's order does not work."

Feeling that the sharp edge in his waist was about to pierce the brocade robe, Zhu Youfan was so scared that he wanted to cry.

He quickly shouted: "Didn't you hear the solitary king's order? Put down your weapons! Gao Douheng!"

Gao Douheng is really loyal.

Seeing this, he sighed heavily and threw the knife down the steps.

With him as an example, most of the palace guards stepped forward to disarm.

However, a few people felt that it was too dangerous to disarm and ran away directly for fear of being killed.

However, he was shot to death with bows and arrows by the guards of the Xiaoqi Battalion who had already surrounded the small square.

After several people died, no one dared to escape anymore.

Then, several of King Chong's concubines and a group of children were also escorted over and imprisoned directly in the main hall.

The most important among them are undoubtedly the three sons of King Chong, the eldest son Zhu Cihui, the second son Zhu Cikun, and the third son Zhu Ciyao.

Shen Wandeng and Yang Kuiwu repeatedly found someone to confirm that the three princes were all the same, and then they felt relieved.

Then he sent someone to report to Liu Sheng.

···
Before Shen Wandeng set off for Prince Chong's Mansion, Peng Youyi and Yang Heqing sent people to report, saying that they had taken control of the west gate and the south gate.

Liu Sheng then transferred the four civilian brave regiments outside the North City Gate into the city.

After learning that Shen Wandeng controlled Prince Chong's Mansion, he left two militia groups to guard the government office and the nearby county government office.

Then Hu Dongliu led three sentries, one regiment and one battalion, to take charge.

He took Zhao Deyou and the other three sentries from the first regiment and the first battalion, two civilian brave regiments and the Huben battalion to Prince Chong's Mansion.

With the participation of more than 1000 people, the Chongwang Mansion, which covers an area of ​​several hundred acres, can be truly controlled.

Then, Liu Sheng asked Zhao Deyou to take several sentry-level military and political officers to count and count the various properties of Prince Chong's Mansion with the assistance of Huben Camp and Xiaoqi Camp.

Liu Sheng, accompanied by Shen Wandeng, chatted with Zhu Youfan.

"As the first vassal of the Ming Dynasty to fall into the hands of us, how does King Chong feel?"

Zhu Youfan didn't expect Liu Sheng's first question to be so heartbreaking, and he immediately broke his guard.

"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu"

Zhu Youqi sat paralyzed under the eaves of the corridor and cried loudly. It was really sad for those who heard it and shed tears for those who heard it.

When Liu Sheng saw it, he couldn't help but said: "Don't cry. When Li Zicheng breaks through Luoyang next year and captures Prince Fu's family, Prince Chong will know that it is actually a blessing to fall into our hands."

"What?" Zhu Youfan suddenly stopped crying, "Did Li Zicheng conquer Luoyang?"

“Not yet, but definitely next year.”

Shen Wanteng looked over in surprise.

Li Zicheng naturally knew.

That was a giant bandit as famous as Zhang Xianzhong and Luo Rucai.

Liu Sheng actually vowed so confidently that he would conquer Luoyang next year. Was he well-informed or a prophet?

Shen Wanteng didn't know.

When Liu Sheng mentioned this matter at this time, in addition to teasing King Chong out of interest, he also wanted to let Shen Wandeng know about his extraordinary status.

It's not that he was afraid of Shen Wandeng, it was just a matter of course.

Liu Sheng saw Zhu Youfan in a daze, and then said: "There are some refugees outside Ruyang City who are so hungry that they exchange their children for food. King Chong is so white and tender. If we strip him of his clothes and throw them to those refugees, I wonder what will happen?"

Zhu Youqi had never seen how the refugees outside the city lived.

When he went out of the city, he always had guards to clear the way, and dispersed the crowds far away, so that he could not see the suffering of the people.

But he had heard about people exchanging their children for food - the Wen magistrate mentioned this many times when he came to persuade him to spend money to feed the hungry people.He always felt that those refugees were far away from him, but he didn't expect Liu Sheng to say that.

He shuddered as he thought about it.

He was so frightened that he knelt down in front of Liu Sheng and kept kowtowing: "Chief, spare your life, please don't give me to the hungry people. I don't want the money and food from Prince Chong's Mansion and the royal villages outside the city. I just ask the leader to spare my life." One life.”

Liu Sheng sneered, "I have already taken control of Prince Chong's Mansion and captured your family. Naturally, the money and food in Prince Chong's Mansion belong to my rebel army. If you use these to survive, do you think I am as stupid as you?"

Zhu Youfan was speechless for a moment, his face full of despair.

Liu Sheng was too lazy to tease him anymore and said bluntly: "I will give you a clear path. Write a letter to Chongzhen and ask him to send [-] shi of food. I can save your family's life for a year."

In addition, tell the Ming court not to send troops to Runing Mansion, otherwise the rebels will not be polite to your family. "

This is Liu Sheng's temporary treatment of Prince Chong's family.

The second reason is that the reputation of King Chong's line is not bad - no matter how good their reputation is, the people below will still rely on the power of the palace to dominate and oppress the people, and it is still related to them.

Most importantly, the Huabu rebel army was very different from the Li Chuang peasant army that conquered Luoyang in history.

At that time, Li Chuang's peasant army grew rapidly within three or four months, and brought a large number of hungry people, refugees, refugees, and bandits with them.

These people were full of resentment towards the Ming Dynasty, and they hated corrupt officials and vassal kings who were lying on the people to suck blood.

If Li Zicheng wants to control such a huge team, he can only go with the flow - the team is mainly made up of hungry people and full of anger, so he must let the team vent their anger.

Therefore, it is recorded in later generations that Li cooked King Fu after breaking through Luoyang, which may not be true.

Although Liu Sheng's rebel team also came from hungry people, they had undergone certain training and even allowed the soldiers to see a bright future, so Liu Sheng could fully control it.

In this way, it is natural to maximize the interests of the captured vassal king.

If Li Zicheng followed Li Zicheng's example and directly killed King Chong, he would only attract heavy troops from the Ming Dynasty to suppress him because of his reputation as the first to kill a vassal.

Therefore, we might as well use Prince Chong’s family to extort some grain from Chongzhen.

One hundred thousand stones is neither too much nor too little. Most of them are on Chongzhen's red line of patience, and he might succeed.

Next year, when King Fu, King Xiang, and King Tang were slaughtered by the peasant army one after another, his arrest of King Chong would no longer be conspicuous.

Zhu Youfan and Shen Wandeng next to him were surprised when they heard Liu Sheng's words.

Shen Wandeng thought to himself: He actually thought of using the vassal prince to extort food from the court. No wonder he made the rebellion popular in less than half a year. This guy is much smarter than me.

Zhu Youfan was stunned for a moment, but then he was overjoyed and said hurriedly: "This is a good idea. I'll write a letter now!"

In his opinion, one hundred thousand shi of grain was nothing.

The emperor would definitely be willing to exchange such a small amount of food for the lives of his family for a year.

When Liu Sheng saw Zhu Youfan's cooperation, he pulled him up and shouted with a smile: "Come here, prepare pens, inks, paper and inkstones for King Chong!"

···
After three o'clock in the afternoon.

The rebel army finally settled all the organized Ming armies in Ruyang City, pacified the streets and alleys, and initially took control of this big city.

The reason why we say "settled" rather than eliminated is because after learning that Fu Ruwei and Wen Shiyi were captured, Zhu Guobao and Cui Zhen died in battle, and Shen Wandeng surrendered to the rebel army, most of the Ming troops who fled throughout the city surrendered.

There were also some rural soldiers recruited from the city who took off their military uniforms and returned home, transforming themselves into ordinary people.

What consumed more of the rebels' time was the ruffians, mainly local ruffians and hooligans who were looting everywhere.

Under Liu Sheng's strict orders, the rebels killed a group of people and quickly quelled the chaos in the city.

It should be noted that generally speaking, after such a big city is captured by the enemy, it will be in chaos for two or three days.

It took the rebels most of a day to take control of the city, which was definitely considered fast.

Subsequently, the four gate guards and the two battalions patrolling the city all sent people to report to Liu Sheng on the completion of their respective tasks.

On the contrary, the money and food statistics of Prince Chong's Mansion were not initially completed until after dinner at night.

Prince Chong's family was driven to the side hall because the main hall was occupied by Liu Sheng.

Zhao Deyou, the military and political officer of the Third Regiment, Cheng Song, the military and political officer of the Huben Battalion, and Duan Lei, the military and political officer of the Xiaoqi Battalion, each took an account book and reported to Liu Sheng one after another.

“Prince Chong’s Mansion has one large granary and two small granaries.

The large granary contains raw grains that have not been shelled, with rice, wheat, and millet being the most common staples, as well as sorghum and beans. According to the palace accounts and our preliminary inspection, there are a total of 13 shi of old grain and [-] shi of new grain.

The small granary is filled with shelled rice, flour and other grains, and one is filled with polished rice, white flour and other fine grains for King Chong and others to eat, totaling nearly three hundred shi.

In one place are ordinary rice and noodles for the guards and slaves, totaling 1000 and [-] shi. "

Liu Sheng couldn't help frowning after hearing this, "That's all?"

15 shi of food is naturally a lot.

But it is rumored that Prince Chong's Mansion owns more than 1 hectares of land.

In a normal year, summer wheat and autumn millet in dry land can produce two stones a year.

In Ruhuai River Township, good paddy fields can produce two dan of rice a year.

Even if calculated as 200 hectares (not hectares, one hectare in the Ming Dynasty = one hundred acres), the total annual grain output is [-] million shi!
Even if there is a famine for several consecutive years, the annual grain output is calculated as a quarter, and the total annual output is 50 shi.

Even if Prince Chong's Mansion only collects half of the rent, it still has 25 shi of food a year.

Could it be that most of them were sold?

Seeing Liu Sheng's confusion, Zhao Deyou smiled helplessly and explained.

　Second more.

　　[Let’s talk about it: The data seized by the government in Chapter 133 has been modified, and I have made the old habit of making it big again. Thanks to the book friend for reminding me.Now it is changed to 8000 taels of silver in the treasury, and 25 taels of silver in Taicang.It shouldn't be any lower. I've written a reply to the reason. If you're interested, you can read it yourself. 】

　　Good night~
　　
　
(End of this chapter)