Saving the Ming Dynasty: I can exchange bodies with Chongzhen

Chapter 180 Chongzhen's Cruelty
By taking advantage of this military exercise, the entire court could be shocked and all the civil and military officials could be concentrated so that the greatest strength could be concentrated to deal with the affairs of the southeast.

If they still refuse to change their ways, don't blame me for chopping my butcher knife down on their necks.

Just at this moment, Wang Chengen walked in from outside and said a few words in a low voice.

After hearing this, Zhu Changgan hesitated for a moment and asked, "Is there nothing else?"

"no!"

"Then leave him alone and have someone keep watching him."

In the capital,

Wu Sangui found an acquaintance and asked her to deliver a letter to the palace.

Not long after, the acquaintance returned the letter intact. "Yuanyuan said that the matter is over. Although the Earl of Jiading had promised her to you, he did not marry her. Now that she has entered the palace, the past will not be mentioned anymore."

Wu Sangui unfolded the letter and looked at the indenture. He was silent for a long time and said, "Tell her that one day she will regret it."

He got up, tidied up his things, went to the back of the yard, led out a horse, and climbed on it.

……

Inside the palace, Chen Yuanyuan's personal maid asked her master in confusion, "My beauty, you refused without even looking at me..."

Since the Han Dynasty, concubines have been divided into fourteen ranks, with beauties ranking fifth until the Chongzhen period, after which this title no longer existed.

Chen Yuanyuan sighed, "I am doing this not only for myself, but also for my future children."

"You have followed me for so long, you should understand that we, the entertainment households, have a low status in the eyes of everyone. Many people would rather die without descendants than bring their suffering to future generations."

"How did your mother die? Have you forgotten?"

Gui'er's eyes were red and she said nothing.

People in later generations thought that it was a good thing for musicians as they did not have to farm or fight in wars and could make a living by singing and dancing. However, in the feudal era, musicians were nothing more than "livestock" in the cattle and horse department.

"Only by entering the palace, only by entering these palace walls, will people outside stop pointing fingers at us, the concubines."

Chen Yuanyuan fell into deep thought for a long time.

Gui'er's mother was ten years older than Chen Yuanyuan. She was beautiful and a good singer. She originally thought she could earn more money.

She could even buy some snacks, and when she was buying rouge and powder, she would bring some for Chen Yuanyuan.

The more popular the coke business is, the more dangers and temptations it brings. When Guier's mother was immersed in the hope that she could make money and control her own destiny after growing up, life showed its fangs.

When she was sixteen, the local county magistrate celebrated his sixtieth birthday, and Gui'er's mother was invited to sing a song.

He sang six large pieces and three small pieces that day, and the county magistrate rewarded him with a lot of silver.

It was originally a happy occasion, but then the class owner was called away, and then Guier's mother was also called away, and it took a long time for the two to come back.

She was brought back in a sedan chair, but when you went forward and lifted the curtain, you found that Guier's mother had fainted.

His face was pale, there were cuts at the corners of his mouth, and bruises on his neck.

When Gui'er's mother woke up, the class owner came over and drove everyone out.

You vaguely heard the class owner outside scolding himself as a beast for not taking good care of Gui'er's mother, but he knelt on the ground and begged Gui'er's mother for something...

Gui'er's mother asked Chen Yuanyuan, "Why is this happening?"

Chen Yuanyuan didn't know how to answer. A few days later, the county magistrate's sedan chair came again.

The troupe's business was more prosperous than before, but Gui'er's mother moved out and lived in a small courtyard.

Chen Yuanyuan once went to see it. She heard that the people living in this alley were all other people's mistresses. She couldn't help asking them, "Why do you treat yourself so badly? He has abused you... What's the difference between this and accepting a thief as your father or becoming a prostitute?"

"How can we compare to prostitutes? They run a business in public, but what about us? We can only do it secretly and perform our duties to the government every year, but when has the government ever paid us?" Gui'er's mother angrily said, "I am still considered good. At least I am with a master."

"If others don't treat us as human beings, we have to treat ourselves as human beings."

Gui'er's mother smiled and said, "Just wait and see. You will end up like me."

"I won't be like you..."

Chen Yuanyuan woke up suddenly. She wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes, looked at Guier, and touched her hair.

Guier's mother's fate was eventually discovered by his original wife. She was beaten half to death right after she gave birth to Guier. Before she died, she entrusted her daughter to Chen Yuanyuan.

Since then, you have been caught in all kinds of whirlpools. You have been favored by officials and wealthy businessmen. Fortunately, you were only beaten and did not lose your virginity.

Just when you were about to give up, you were spotted by Earl of Jiading and brought to the capital as a bargaining chip in exchange for political resources.

Along the way, there is only one way to stand up straight, and that is to enter the palace.

Only by becoming the emperor's woman can she truly avoid following the footsteps of Gui'er's mother.

So Chen Yuanyuan did not read Wu Sangui's letter, let alone meet him. She murmured, "Sister Caner, I did it. I got rid of the prostitutes. I don't have to worry about what others say in my life."

"Your children can live like ordinary people, which is different from what I used to do..."

Chen Yuanyuan pinched her fingers hard and remained silent for a long time.

At this moment, the little maid whispered in her ear, "Beauty, His Majesty is here."

……

Lunch, Zhu Changgan had lunch at Chen Yuanyuan's place.

In the afternoon, it suddenly started raining inside the palace wall.

The wind carried raindrops, as if searching for something on the ground, crashing into the mountain in the east and then into the mountain in the west.

After a while, the rain began to fall with a crackling sound, getting heavier and heavier like a bucket of water.

The rain is as dense as a waterfall, like smoke, like fog, like dust...

It's a good thing. Not only is the mud trapping the ox cart, but I'm also worried that fish and dragons may escape onto the flat land.

……

At this time, Chongzhen had been adapting for a whole morning, but he still could not perfectly adapt to his current identity.

Bandit leader?!
He had already read the "letter" Zhu Changgan left for him, which simply asked him to hide among the bandits.

Only by understanding the bandits and disintegrating them can we defeat them... We can prevent them from joining other bandits and eventually lead them to surrender to the Ming Dynasty, and solve the problem of insufficient manpower for the expansion of the five major camps.

As for the torment and distrust of Jinyiwei Han Qianhu and others, Zhu Changgan has already sent Ma Shiwei over with the imperial edict, and he believes that it can be resolved soon.

Huang Degong, Sun Chuanting, Sun Yingyuan and others would also receive imperial edicts and would let Chongzhen go when they met him.

"My lord, the most important thing right now is to find something to eat for everyone." The old blind man bowed and asked for advice.

"Food, yes, food..." Chongzhen pondered for a long time, "Well, take some people to the villages and towns where we went before to borrow some food."

"Got it!"

Upon hearing this, the crowd was overjoyed and rushed into the village ahead like a torrent.

But half an hour later, Chongzhen's face turned green, "Borrow... Is this what you mean by borrow?"

These refugees were seen running out of the villages and towns carrying bags of food, followed by crying and shouting people.

Chongzhen was beating the refugees in front of him, feeling extremely angry.

A refugee was beaten so hard that his teeth were bared. He couldn't help but reply: "When I was under Marshal Zhang, this is what he meant by borrowing!"

"Who is Zhang Xianzhong? How can he be compared with the lord?" The old blind man stood up, "The lord is a benevolent and righteous man, and he leads a benevolent and righteous army. The so-called borrowing is naturally a real borrowing."

Under the guidance of the old blind man, Chongzhen finally wrote down a promissory note and borrowed one day's worth of food from several towns.

Soon the food was gone, and the old blind man made a suggestion, which was to rob the corrupt officials of their money and food.

Chongzhen gritted his teeth and said, "Then rob the corrupt officials."

Finally they chose a place, Zaoyang County.

The county magistrate had a very bad reputation, was corrupt and did all kinds of evil. The key point was that Zaoyang County was not big, and the city wall was not thick, so it was easy to break through.

As the sky gradually darkened, outside Zaoyang County, the ground was full of bandits wearing turbans. In the middle was a conspicuous large flag with the words "Carrying out Justice on Behalf of Heaven" written on it.

"Have our people gone in?"

"We're in, just waiting for dark to start the general attack."

The old blind man's apprentice said, "There is no militia in Huguang, and there are no important officials in Zaoyang County who are recuperating here, so there will definitely be no problem."

When everyone heard this, they couldn't help but laugh, filled with heroism.

Chongzhen's face looked a little ugly. Well, he didn't need to worry about these things at all. The old blind man would take care of them in an orderly manner.

"He must be blind. If he were not blind, would he really want to be Liu Bowen?!"

Chongzhen actually believed the old blind man's words that his master's grandfather and Liu Bowen were brothers in the same school. This old man was not someone who was willing to be an "ordinary person".

What's more, what he learned was the art of Yin and Yang, which made Chongzhen even more alert.

How?
Does he want to be the second Black-robed Prime Minister Yao Guangxiao?
Thinking of this, Chongzhen couldn't help but ask, "Old blind man, are you planning to plan another 'Jingnan Campaign' to help me ascend to the throne?"

The old blind man waved his hands, "Not really, not really. You are destined to be a righteous ruler. The Jingnan Campaign was too bloody..."

He wanted to continue talking, but suddenly turned his head because someone came running over, "My lord, our people have sent a message, we can attack at any time."

"Then fight!"

With a loud shout: "Everyone, go and grab the food!"

"Grab the food!"

Suddenly, a huge flood of refugees rushed towards the gate of the county town, followed by shouts from within the city.

"The bandits are coming, the bandits are coming..."

"dong dong dong~~"

The sound of drums was deafening, and torches, smoke, and shouts mixed together.

Before the soldiers and civilians defending Zaoyang County could react, the city gate below was opened by the refugees who had entered first, knocking down a few of them.

The magistrate of Zaoyang County thought that since it was not far from Gucheng and Zhang Xianzhong's troops had just been destroyed, no one would come to attack the county again, so he was not on high alert.

This is why hundreds of refugees were able to enter.

The city gate was opened, and thousands of refugees rushed in like crazy. After killing the garrison troops who wanted to resist, they rushed towards the county government office and granary.

There were not many garrison troops in a county town, so they quickly broke into the county government office and pulled out the magistrate of Zaoyang County.

Lou Fengzhu!
Eighty thousand taels of silver were found in the county government office alone. The area under the county magistrate's bed was filled with silver, piled high.

Chongzhen was originally reluctant and wanted to spare his life, but seeing this, he could not help but shout: "I never thought that you, a mere county magistrate, could have embezzled so much money?"

At this time, the old blind man's apprentice searched out the account book from the county government office. Chongzhen found the problem after taking a few glances. He asked a few people to do a rough calculation and found that there was a deficit of 10,000 taels.

Chongzhen laughed angrily, "Oh, the government office is short of 10,000 taels, but you want to leave with 80,000 taels?"

No wonder the Ming Dynasty invested millions of taels of silver every year, but not a single sound was heard. It turned out that all of it benefited corrupt officials like you?!

"Someone, chop it up for me!"

County Magistrate Lou Fengzhu was so frightened that his legs went limp. "General, please listen to my explanation. I am not the only one who is greedy. This is a common practice. This money was not all collected by me. It was given by bureaucrats and gentry. If I don't take it, my relationship with the bureaucrats and gentry will be bad, and if it is not good, I will not be able to carry out my work. In the end, it will be the people who are affected, right?"

"Besides, most of it is to be sent up there. If I don't take it, how can they get it?"

"It affects the common people?" Chongzhen's face turned dark blue. "Is this the practice you mentioned?"

Lou Fengzhu's mouth turned down with a bitter smile, "What I said is all true. When I came to Zaoyang County, my predecessor also left me a deficit of 8,000 taels."

"The prefect above has to pay five thousand taels, the governor has to pay five thousand taels, the governor-general has to pay five thousand taels, and the sitting teacher in the capital has to pay ten thousand taels... Who doesn't need to pay tribute if they want to advance?"

Chongzhen's face turned dark, and he slowly stood up. "How much do you spend a year?"

Lou Fengzhu could only continue to count, "Let's talk about my expenses. Let me calculate for you. The county magistrates in Central Plains and Huguang have a clear price tag of two thousand taels. To hire a legal advisor, it would cost one thousand two hundred taels a year, which would be twelve thousand taels in ten years."

"Maids and servants, the household expenses must be at least two thousand taels a year, and there is also..."

The county magistrate recounted in detail how he donated money to become an official, how he failed to get an official position as a Jinshi, how he had to borrow money from a bank, and how he was forced to pay back by the bankers, and how he had no choice but to engage in corruption.

"How much is the official income of a county magistrate? An annual salary of 40 taels, plus an additional 600 taels of silver. How can this be enough? I can only take the money from those bureaucrats and gentry..."

Lou Fengzhu had no idea that Chongzhen had walked up to a man with a knife.

Chongzhen stared at Lou Fengzhu with a fiery gaze, "You only talk about your own difficulties. Have you ever thought about the people who were forced to death by you? Every time you collected taxes, you conspired with the wealthy families to impose the wealthy families' taxes on the people, and let the yamen runners and soldiers open the people's doors and rob them of their winter rations. Why didn't you say anything?"

"It's fine that you robbed the people of their food, but you also cut off their heads and killed innocent people to pave the way for your promotion. Why didn't you say anything?"

"Do you think that if you wash off all the blood on your body, the stench won't be overwhelming?"

With a "clang", Chongzhen pulled out the knife from a person nearby and chopped it directly on the other person's neck.

The blood splattered high and stuck to the plaque behind him, "Officials are clean and the people are peaceful, the clear and turbid are clearly distinguished", and then dripped onto the ground.

It is true that Chongzhen was the emperor.

But he is not a soft-hearted person.

On the contrary, he was a ruthless man who killed 7 governors, 11 governors, and before his death, he also killed his 6-year-old daughter and 15-year-old Princess Changping.

Just hearing these few words from the county magistrate, he could no longer suppress the murderous intent in his heart.

"Bah, the Ming Dynasty has been destroyed by parasites like you!" Chongzhen threw the knife on the ground and cursed.

"Search for me, dig out all the valuables in the county government office. Also, the former legal advisors and county magistrates, if they are corrupt or abuse their power, chop them all off."

In addition to punishing and killing corrupt officials, Chongzhen did not forget to restore the normal operation of the county government.

Chongzhen asked the refugees to take out the grain from the granary and provide porridge outside. In addition, he also distributed 80,000 taels of silver to the refugees. If they wanted to eat something, they could go outside and buy it with money.

He issued an order: Anyone who robs the people of their clothes and food will be beheaded!
Before they left Zaoyang County, an old woman actually beat the drum to complain that her son was set up for gambling, owed high-interest loans, and was beaten to death.

The person who set up the trap was the master's brother-in-law.

Chongzhen was furious. "It is the national policy of the Celestial Empire. I didn't expect that someone under me would openly set up gambling and cause a death. Bring the person to me."

The case was not complicated. After being beaten with a stick, the lawyer's brother-in-law confessed.

Chongzhen naturally did not tolerate him and had him beheaded.

Not only was the master's brother-in-law chopped off, but all the big gamblers who set up the gambling were also chopped off.

As soon as the news came out, the whole Zaoyang County became lively. People came one after another to seek justice, and the number of onlookers exceeded a thousand each time.

Chongzhen tried dozens of cases and killed hundreds of people, but they were "bandits" after all and could not be delayed for too long.

We have to leave in two days at most.

"Come back, everyone, we have to go, let's go back!"

What Chongzhen found unbelievable was that these people were so grateful that they called them "righteous soldiers" and "righteous men" and called Chongzhen "the great judge" and were reluctant to let them leave.

Chongzhen felt a strange feeling in his heart, the people's eyes were like fire, but his whole body was trembling and his eyes were red.

“Is this what it feels like to be respected?”

What is respect?

He had never felt this way in the court before, but today he felt the power of respect from these people.

But at the same time, his face turned purple, "I never thought that the first time I was respected was because I became a bandit?!"

"Irony, great irony..."

(End of this chapter)