Saving the Ming Dynasty: I can exchange bodies with Chongzhen

Chapter 212: Not as Good as Prince Xin's Hair

capital,

"Your Majesty, the 64 guards including Taiyuan Left Guard, Taiyuan Right Guard, Taiyuan Front Guard, Datong Left Guard, Dongtong Right Guard, Yanshan Left Guard, Taishan Guard Reform, Xi'an Left Guard, Xi'an Front Guard, Xi'an Back Guard, Yan'an Guard, Hanzhong Guard, etc. have voluntarily returned the land of the military households. I only hope that Your Majesty can give them a lighter sentence for their many years of loyalty and patriotism."

"Loyal to the emperor and patriotic? They are corrupt, occupy the farmland of military households, and cause the people to rebel. Is this how they are loyal to the emperor and patriotic?" Zhu Changgan's face was cold. "Tell Sun Chuanting and Lu Xiangsheng, kill them but don't bury them!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

"How is the land investigation going?"

"Your Majesty, it has already been implemented, but local reactions are fierce and no one is willing to cooperate."

Zhu Changgan was discussing with Xu Cifu the anti-corruption efforts in various garrisons and the land survey in the four southeastern provinces. As many rebel kings entered the four southeastern provinces, and Sun Chuanting had already begun a land inventory in Shanxi, Henan, and Shanxi.

He believed that the time had come to conduct a land inventory. The bandits had set a precedent before, so why couldn't the Ming court do the same?
As an official in the Department of Integrity, Xu Cifu would naturally be pushed to the front.

"Looks like we need to add fuel to the fire!" Zhu Changgan was racking his brains to figure out how to solve the problem of the land inventory when he heard the eunuch outside suddenly running over, "Your Majesty, the Empress and Empress Zhang fell into the water while boating in the lake."

Ok?
Zhu Changgan's eyes suddenly focused, "Didn't I order that all the cruise ships in the Western Garden be burned and not preserved? Who provided them?"

There are six seas in the capital of the Ming Dynasty. The first three seas, namely the North Sea, the Middle Sea and the South Sea, are closest to the imperial city. Because these three seas are located to the west of the imperial palace, they are called the Western Garden.

In order to prevent the emperor from disappearing into obscurity, he chose to do it once and for all. He couldn't understand who would dare to go on a lake cruise in Xiyuan again?

"Your Majesty, this is the new dragon boat that the ministers built for you."

"The ministers built the dragon boat for me?" Zhu Changgan's forehead was bulging with blue veins. "Wang Chengen, call Ma Shiwei over to me and investigate. Investigate thoroughly. All officials who participated in the construction of the dragon boat will be thrown into prison."

"The mastermind will be killed along with all his clan!"

"If you are worried about the abundance of incense in your home, then just come over and see if it is enough for me."

As the emperor, I have ordered all the cruise ships to be burned, but you still refuse to give up and do not hide your guilt at all. So don't blame yourself for being ruthless.

Not long after, the Jinyiwei found out a large number of people.

The leaders among them were almost all officials from Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Southern Zhili, and Huguang.

Zhu Changgan squinted his eyes as he looked at the lists. "What did he realize? He wants to fight to the death?"

……

"Master Li, the truth has been revealed!"

"What?" Upon hearing this, the Imperial Censor Li Chunli was shocked and ran out immediately. But just as he reached the door, he heard footsteps outside and ran to the backyard again.

However, he did not expect that someone was already waiting at the back door, and he threw the person to the ground.

"take away!"

Such a scene was played out in the capital city, and two people among them were particularly noteworthy.

Qiu Yu, whose courtesy name was De Ru and pseudonym was Ju Huai, was from Yicheng County, Xiangyang Prefecture, Huguang.

He became a Jinshi in the fifth year of the Tianqi reign, and initially served as a Shujishi and Jiantou. In the middle of the Chongzhen reign, he was promoted to Shaozhanshi. He was supposed to enter the cabinet at the end of the Chongzhen reign, but this time he was thrown into prison by the Jinyiwei.

There is another one, Cai Yichen.

He became a Jinshi in the 14th year of Wanli, and served successively as Yuwenlang, editor, Langzhong of the Personnel Department of Wenxuan, admiral of Siyi Pavilion, Shaoqing of Taichang Temple, prefect of Shuntian Prefecture, Qing of Dali Temple, and You Shilang of the Ministry of Justice.

He later entered the cabinet, but not during the Chongzhen period, but during the Southern Ming Dynasty, when he served as the Minister of Rites, the Prince's Grand Tutor, and the Grand Secretary of Wenyuan Pavilion during the Hongguang regime.

Almost all of these officials were local wealthy people. Their families had been officials for several generations, and some could even be traced back hundreds of years, accumulating countless fortunes over many generations.

Now the emperor has extended his hand to Jiangnan.

Between giving up their family fortune or sacrificing their pawns to save their chariot, they chose to take the risk.

Just like the three major cases of "The Stick Attack Case", "The Red Pill Case" and "The Palace Move Case".

The muskets of the Jinyiwei and the Eastern Depot were chilling, and as the Jinyiwei were tortured, more information was revealed. In addition to these people, bureaucrats and gentry from many places such as Jiangnan were also involved.

"Since they are so brave, why am I still so polite to them? What's going on?" After Zhu Changgan pondered for a moment, he suddenly had an idea.

……

Wuchang, Governor's Office.

Lao Han is interrogating the assassin.

"As a death warrior of those families, you should understand what will happen to your mother and sister once you die."

Chai Yufang fell silent for a moment.

How could she not know that once she died, her mother and sister would no longer be of any help to those families, and the only one with a conscience would be to drive them out.

As for those dishonest ones...

Chai Yufang raised her head and asked, "Can you help me rescue my mother and sister?"

"As long as I agree, I will do my best to save him."

"Are you really a woman?" King Xiang looked at the other person with some disbelief. He had big arms and a strong waist. Except for the fact that he had no beard, there was no way to tell that he was a woman.

"Replace it if it's fake!"

Chai Yufang reached out to take off her robe, but Chongzhen stopped her immediately, "No need for that. Tell us what you know so that we can find your mother and sister as soon as possible."

"it is good……"

We learned from Chai Yufang that she was originally the daughter of a military household.

As an ordinary military household, the family's land had long been annexed by the generals and gentry, but they had to participate every time a war broke out.

Since there was no son in the family, her father consciously let Chai Yufang practice martial arts.

Girls from other families sit in their boudoirs every day, embroidering handkerchiefs for their sweethearts. They also want to be graceful and beautiful and get married, but a severe drought comes and nine out of ten houses in the village are empty.

As a last resort, Chai Yufang fled with her family. In order to survive, she killed people and robbed people, and her muscles were stronger than those of men.

She once hoped that she could dress up as a red lady, but no one was willing to marry her.

Perhaps it was because of fighting all day and going hungry one day and eating the next, that Chai Yufang's female physiological problems became irregular since she was seventeen.

Later on, as I became stronger, I stopped having periods completely.

There is a cruel truth in the Ming Dynasty: women marry men because men can provide money, power, or protection.

The value of women to men lies in their fertility.

She was big and strong, with no feminine features at all, and her fertility had long been lost because of this arduous journey.

So no matter how good Chai Yufang is at fighting or how strong she is, she can never marry another man.

In addition, her father later died in a siege by bandits. In order to keep her mother and sister alive, Chai Yufang had no choice but to join a large family in Jiangsu and Zhejiang.

He took his mother and sister hostage and worked for them.

"The Liu family of Yingtian Prefecture, the Shen family of Suzhou Prefecture, the Gao family of Hangzhou Prefecture... the Jiangnan Weaving Factory?" Chongzhen murmured, "I didn't expect it to be them?"

In order to strengthen the management of silk trade during the Ming Dynasty, a weaving bureau was set up in Nanjing, and the court set up three weaving bureaus in Jiangning, Suzhou and Hangzhou in the Jiangnan region, which were later known as Jiangnan Weaving Bureaus. They were specifically responsible for supervising the production and procurement of silk for the court, and were managed by eunuchs in the Ming Dynasty.

Among them, the Jiangning Weaving Factory was the most famous because they produced brocade and silk for the royal family.

Most of the official titles in the imperial court, such as the flying birds in front of civil officials, the walking beasts in front of military officials, and the dragon robe worn by the emperor, were produced by the Jiangning Weaving Factory.

The three major weaving factories may not seem to be high-ranking officials, and their rank is only equivalent to the sixth rank. However, with the strength of the manufacturing industry in the Ming Dynasty, they would be comparable to the top state-owned enterprises such as oil, state power, and tobacco in later generations.

The most amazing thing is that they have the ability of spies, and the people inside are also responsible for delivering intelligence about Jiangnan to the Ming Dynasty.

On the surface, the legal income of these families was more than 100,000 taels a year. In comparison, the Cabinet Grand Secretary Sun Chengzong only earned 100 taels a year.

This shows the economic strength and status of these three companies.

After Prince Xiang and Old Han took Chai Yufang away, Chongzhen suddenly swept away everything on the table, "Bastards... I trusted them so much in the beginning, but... they actually..."

Chongzhen knew that the Jiangnan Weaving Supervisor was a lucrative job, so after he ascended the throne, he replaced all three major weaving supervisors with his own people.

The "confidant" whom he helped to get promoted sent assassins to assassinate him? How ironic!
……

When Chongzhen appeared again, his whole appearance had been completely changed. "Has the matter of Lady Hong been resolved?"

Old Han shook his head. "This person is too cautious. She sleeps very lightly at night. She wakes up as soon as our people get close. She even has people take shifts day and night. If we force her, I'm afraid..."

Chongzhen pondered for a moment, then nodded and said, "Then slowly look for opportunities. We can also take advantage of this attack to buy more time."

"Next, check the situation of these Jiangnan weaving factories for me."

"Yes!"

Since these three families are so eager to attack me, it means they have something to hide, otherwise why would they send people to assassinate me?

What are they afraid of?
"Bring Sun Kewang, Miao Haishi, Shi Daoshen and the others over to me, and have them pull all the troops back to show our strength!"

It's a good opportunity to intimidate the various rebel kings.

……

Shi Daoshen was a fierce general under Prince Xin.

Unlike Sun Kewang and Lao Han, Shi Daoshen is a general who has emerged under Chongzhen in the past two months.

Since he captured Wuchang Prefecture, he followed the orders of Prince Xin and went to the vicinity of Wuchang Prefecture to clean up corrupt officials, evil officials, bad gentry, and temples.

At the moment, they had just swept a temple, and the soldiers were carrying food outside, while Shi Daoshen and a few others were interrogating where the treasures in the temple were.

"You don't want to tell me, right? Come on, keep pressing me into the water." Shi Daoshen was furious. "Damn it, let's see how long you can hold on."

At this moment, a messenger came running over, "Report! General Shi, Prince Xin has ordered you to return."

"Huh? What happened?" Shi Daoshen looked at the other person's eyes and saw something wrong, so he couldn't help but ask.

"It is said...it is said that Prince Xin was assassinated."

"What?" Shi Daoshen jumped up on the spot. "When did it happen?"

"Today at noon."

Shi Daoshen suddenly threw the stick he had used to hit the fat monk to the ground, "Everyone, listen up. Stop the work. Gather, assemble all the teams."

"What about the grain and silver? And these monks?"

"The grain that has been loaded onto the carts has been transported away. All that has not been loaded onto the carts will be discarded, and the same goes for the silver... As for these monks, they will all be killed."

Upon hearing this, the monks who had just been beaten turned green in the face and knelt on the ground with a plop. "General, please don't. I... I'll tell you where I can find the silver. It's at the widow Zhang's house in Jiadian Village. I have hidden a lot of money in her house. Don't kill me, don't kill me!"

"Puff~" Shi Daoshen cut off his neck with a knife.

Blood spurted out with a hissing sound, and the fat monk stared with eyes wide open in disbelief.

He has already told it himself, why should he be killed?

Shi Daoshen kicked him down and said, "Your gold, silver and jewelry are not even worth a hair of Prince Xin. What have you been doing?"

He then shouted loudly: "Hurry up, don't want it, don't want anything, you can get the silver anytime, but think about who gave you everything you have now, it was Prince Xin, now Prince Xin has been assassinated, what should we do?"

"kill!"

"kill……"

The shouts were deafening, one after another.

Their shouts were all from the heart. When he was under Zhang Xianzhong, Shi Daoshen was just a small captain who was hungry and cold every day. Every time they attacked a city, they would charge at the front.

But when it comes to cleaning up the battlefield, they stand aside.

Zhang Xianzhong had countless gold, silver, and jewelry, as well as countless emeralds, pearls, and jadeite. When he was in Gucheng, he gave hundreds of thousands of taels of silver to corrupt officials, but these people couldn't even afford a pair of trousers.

But now that they are following Prince Xin, they are treated as human beings. After conquering a city, they are first allowed to share the silver and food.

Shi Daoshen also started to tremble. Not to mention that he led tens of thousands of troops, even the lowest-ranking men under Shi Daoshen had dozens of taels of silver in their hands.

Eat whatever you want and drink whatever you want.

There is only one thing.

You have to buy it, you can’t steal it from ordinary people.

Not only did they have no worries about food and drink, some brothers even took the opportunity to find wives. They trained in the barracks during the day and went back to continue training at night. Some of their wives were already pregnant.

What is the most popular thing in Wuchang Prefecture?

blacksmith.

With money, these soldiers were willing to invest in themselves, such as horses, armor, helmets, bows and crossbows, swords and guns... all of which were life-saving and enemy-killing tools. After all, having a handy tool might save their lives on the battlefield.

Before this, that was unthinkable.

In their eyes, Prince Xin was the one sent by the compassionate Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva to save the poor people. Neither the Eighth King Zhang Xianzhong nor the King of Rebellion Li Zicheng could save them, only Prince Xin could do it.

But now, someone wants to assassinate Prince Xin, how can we tolerate this?

Even without Shi Daoshen's words, these people had already gone crazy, screaming and shouting, wanting to rush back to see what had happened to Prince Xin.

Such a scene also happened in Sun Kewang's camp.

When he heard that Prince Xin had been assassinated, he immediately gathered all his troops and rushed towards Wuchang City.

This is his respected teacher. Compared with the Eight Great Kings, he feels that he has found the meaning of life.
Moreover, this big tree is much thicker than Zhang Xianzhong. He had never thought about being crowned a king or a marquis before, but now he dares to dream of it.

How could he not be anxious when he suddenly heard that Prince Xin had been assassinated?
"Return to Wuchang Prefecture!"

……

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(End of this chapter)