Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 232 Reinstatement through meritorious service
Li Chengming would never have looked down upon the reward given to the two Dongning Guards for commanding the Qianshi.

None of the nobles in the capital has the position of commander or governor. They don't even look down on the first- and second-grade officials. How can they think highly of the fourth-grade commanders?
But now, these two positions are the Li family’s life-saving straw——

Whether the Li family can keep it and whether it can turn around in the future depends on these two positions.

As the number one official outside the capital, Li Chengming, Marquis of Wuqing, was well informed and knew that the emperor intended to open up Dongning Guards. The official position of Dongning Guards that had been conferred now might become hereditary.

He even vaguely heard that the emperor had the intention to change Dongning Wei Shiguan to Spyker. According to rumors, the hereditary commander is the hereditary viscount.

If this statement comes true, the Li family will have two viscounts in the future. Although he is not comparable to the current Marquis, he is still noble.

This shows that the emperor did not intend to kill them all. He just felt that the Li family was unreliable and wanted to drive them out of the capital. At the same time, the family property was inspected to replenish the internal treasury.

By this time, Li Chengming had no intention of keeping the family property. After knowing that the emperor was serious, his biggest thought now was to protect the Li family.

If the emperor ignores them, even if he does not put them in jail and hold them accountable, the men and women of the Li family will suffer humiliation when their homes are ransacked, and they may even be swallowed up by other surrounding families after the property is ransacked.

Therefore, the two commanding positions are now the life-saving straw for the Li family. This shows that the emperor has not completely given up on the Li family and may revolt in the future.

In this case, both the factory guards who ransacked the house and the surrounding families who were watching eagerly would put away their dark thoughts. The losses suffered by the Li family during the raid will be minimized.

His idea was good. After the emperor's order was issued, the factory guards who had just been running around like wolves and tigers in the mansion became much gentler.

The rewards given by the two commanding officers let them know that the Li family still had a place in the emperor's heart, and they might rise again in the future, or even be transferred to the Jinyi Guards.

If they go too far at this time, they may be retaliated by the Li family in the future, which will cause a lot of trouble.

Moreover, after the emperor ordered that the men and women of the Li family be allowed to take their belongings with them, it became even more difficult for them to snatch the jade pendants and headscarfs that the Li family carried with them. These personal belongings can be taken away by the Li family. If they rob them, they might be prosecuted.

Even Wang Yongzuo, after receiving the emperor's order, ordered to respect the Li family and not touch them.

Therefore, the factory guard's actions were much gentler. Even though stumbling is inevitable, I still have some concerns.

Li Chengming looked at this scene and felt grateful to the emperor in his heart.

He knew that if it weren't for the order just issued by the emperor, the Li family would never have received such preferential treatment——

The catastrophe of confiscating a house can cause the Li family to lose many people.

When Zhang Juzheng's home was ransacked, Qiu Li sealed the door and starved to death more than ten people. Even the women's obscene clothes were searched. That incident was not far away from now, and Li Chengming had heard about it.

The emperor granted official positions to the Li family and allowed the men and women of the Li family to take their personal belongings with them to avoid humiliation. This is truly benevolent.

Not having the courage to complain to the emperor anymore, Li Chengming felt grateful and thought that he would never be able to save his family property, so he might as well dedicate it completely to the emperor.

This will make the emperor feel better, and it will be smoother when he turns his command into a hereditary viscount in the future.

So he immediately ran back to his study and asked people to find out the account books, land deeds, etc. of Wu Qinghou Mansion, intending to present them to the emperor in person.

The factory guards didn't dare to stop him and let him run around the house. It is true that Li Chengming had his rank reduced, but his two sons were still appointed as commanders, so they had to save face no matter what——

Maybe one of these people will be transferred to Jinyiwei and become their boss.

Calling his two sons, Li Chengming shouted:
"What are you still doing? Hurry up and follow me into the palace. I want to thank His Majesty for your kindness!"

Afraid of not being able to see the emperor, Li Chengming thought of a reason and took Li Guorui and Li Guochen into the palace to express gratitude on the grounds that they had been canonized.

Li Guorui's expression was distorted, and he was obviously unwilling. How could he be willing to accept the fact that the good prince Marquis turned into a commanding officer?

Li Guochen's mood was a bit complicated, with both reluctance and secret joy. He was unwilling because he didn't want to go to Dongning Guard, which was a waste of time, but he was secretly happy because he had become a commanding officer like his younger brother——

This shows that in the emperor's heart, he and his younger brother have the same status. If the Li family regains its title in the future, both of them will have a chance.

This is a great opportunity for him. At this time, he had decided to work hard in Dongningwei, at least to compare with his younger brother.

With this in mind, the Li family, father and son, hurried to the palace and asked to enter the palace to express their gratitude.

It's ironic to say that before Zhu Youjian fined and confiscated the Li family's money, they were unwilling to hand it over, but now that the Li family's house was confiscated, they wanted to thank him. This made Zhu Youjian sigh, some people just have the means, otherwise they would not know what the emperor's power is!

"Let them all come in!"

"I want to take a closer look to see what Li Chengming and his son have to say."

After giving this order, Li Chengming and his son quickly arrived at Qianqing Palace with ease.

They were not summoned in the front hall, but in the harem. This gave Li Chengming some peace of mind, knowing that the emperor still regarded the affairs of the Li family as family affairs and did not completely handle business affairs.

So as soon as he arrived at the palace, he immediately confessed——

This was not the time to defend himself. To defend himself would be to say that it was a mistake for the emperor to confiscate his property. The emperor will be angrier and less merciful.

Therefore, Li Chengming readily admitted his crime and admitted that he had been deceived by Wei Ni and had unintentionally committed the crime of treason.

Not quite convinced by his explanation, Zhu Youjian said sharply:

"Whether intentional or not, being rebellious is rebellious."

"This is an objective crime of subjugation and must be punished."

"If it weren't for the sake of Empress Dowager Xiaoding Li, your Li family would be in jail today."

"Together with Wei Zhongxian's relatives, they will all be assigned to Dongning Guards."

Li Chengming was frightened, and at the same time he was sure that the emperor did not intend to punish him severely. He just drove the Li family to Dongning Guard without using the name of distribution.

Otherwise, the situation of the Li family would be even more difficult if he went to Dongningwei in the name of being assigned. How can I still go to the palace to express gratitude like this?

This made him constantly plead guilty and thank the emperor for his mercy.

No matter what they thought in their hearts, Li Guorui and Li Guochen continued to thank the emperor under his urging.

Seeing that the Li family has been tamed, they dare not feel resentful. Zhu Youjian nodded slightly, knowing that it was right to give them a way out.

Otherwise, if the Li family's fishnet is broken, it is hard to say how much trouble it will bring to itself. At least it will not look good on the face. People in the world will also say that they treat their relatives harshly.

So Zhu Youjian looked at Li Guorui and Li Guochen and said to them:
"You should know about Dongning Guard. In the future, I plan to convert the official to a noble and allocate territories."

"If you do well and make great contributions, it is possible to be promoted from viscount to marquis."

"I promise that you will be promoted if you have merit, and there will be no obstacles under the Marquis!"

He plans to create numerous knights overseas, but a mere marquis is nothing. What's more, they need to work hard and make enough contributions.

When the three members of the Li family heard this, they suddenly felt happy. These words of the emperor showed that their commanding position had been confirmed to be hereditary, and it also made it clear that the Li family had a chance to regain their title.

Even if this title is overseas, it will not be as comfortable as before. Li Chengming recognized it now and knew that the Li family might still be wealthy in the future.

This made the last bit of dissatisfaction in his heart disappear. He presented all the account books and land deeds he had brought and asked the emperor to accept them. They even requested that their personal belongings be declared and matched one by one with the account books, so that the factory guards who raided the house would not deceive them and swallow up those belongings.

He was very satisfied with this. The reason why Zhu Youjian was not very willing to ransack his home before was because it was easy to lose money during the process. Now that the Li family is actively cooperating, it will be much smoother. The property of the Li family can be accepted by the inner treasury to the greatest extent and become one's own.

So he was happy and ordered:
"The Li family's personal property can reach up to 10% of the total property, which will be used for your needs when you settle down south."

"Except for Li Guorui and Li Guochen, I allow the rest of the Li family to settle in Quanzhou and move there after Dongningwei is established."

"In order not to be bullied by local officials in Fujian, Li Chengming, you should also add a commanding officer to your body. If anyone else in the Li family can inherit this position, it can be passed on in the future."

"In this way, the Li family will have three commanders. Let's see which one succeeds. After meritorious service, he will be restored to the title of Marquis of Wuqing."

(End of this chapter)