golden scales

Because of Zhu Cihong's intervention, Chongzhen did not hang Longevity Mountain, but changed to a seagoing ship in Tianjin, and quietly arrived in Laizhou.With the release of the imperial edict of the emperor Nan Xing, many loyal ministers who were about to die also went south one after another. According to the edict, they went there for use.

The reason why Li Zicheng didn't stop them was because there were too few of them.There were nearly 23 officials in Beijing, and there were only [-] death festivals in the original historical script, but now because Zhu Cihong took some away in advance, there are only a dozen officials who left for Nanjing.Moreover, in Li Zicheng's eyes, these ten or so families were just mosquito meat. Now that he hugged the fat pig's leg, he didn't care at all.

As for other officials...

"The intruder issued a false edict on the 21th of this month: one responds to civil and military officials, casts their titles on the 22st, and sees the court on the [-]nd. Those who are willing to be false officials will be promoted according to their talents, and those who are unwilling will be allowed to return home. If there is any For those who hide, let the family and neighbors rectify the Fa together." Before boarding the ship, Zhu Cihong obtained Song Hongye's biography, from which it can be seen that Li Zicheng did not have his own administrative team, and mainly had to rely on the Ming Dynasty to demote him.

The civil servants of Ming Dynasty did not disappoint Li Zicheng, and rushed to vote for him.

On the 22nd, when I met the Asahi, the registration officials were all in Tsing Yi and caps, and they crawled outside the Meridian Gate to listen.Those who are old-fashioned, clever, talented, sharp-tongued, and conceited... By this time, they all looked shy and numb, allowing the soldiers to make fun of them Dare not speak out.

Tian Jianxiu and Niu Jinxing were at the Meridian Gate—now Li Zicheng has renamed it Wufenglou—according to the roll call, and the first batch of recruits was 96 people.All recruits go out of Donghua Gate to the Ministry of Officials to listen to the election, and there are still long-term family members accompanying them, and there are no escorts.

Li Zicheng was also a little helpless about this. Dashun had a shallow foundation after all. Although it was the destiny of heaven, half of China was still out of his hands.If you want to use officials to manage the people, you can only appoint Zhu Chao to demote officials.At the same time, because Dashun had no taxation system, and chanted the slogan of exempting food for three years all the way, the military salary and silver food could still only come from the recovery of stolen goods.

"Those who are above the third grade must have family property. They don't use them all, and they all have to chase after the stolen goods!" Sitting in the Hall of Martial Arts, Li Zicheng felt that his feet were vain, and he felt a little restless.The conversation between Chengtou and Prince Zhu that day always made him brood, and from time to time there was a chill in his heart.

"Below the fourth grade, let them consciously donate their salary, and those with a good reputation will be sent directly to the camp to recover their salary." Li Zicheng walked down the court case with his surname, walked slowly to Niu Jinxing, and said angrily: "The more I think about that Prince Zhu, the more I think about it." Damn it! Before leaving, he piled up the money outside and let others pick it up!"

Zhu Cilang issued 200 million taels of national debt. Although the interest is negligible, the money is not actually in his hands.In the end, almost all the livestock in Yanjing City were collected, with a value of up to 10 taels.The remaining 190 million taels of gold and silver, after deducting the generous wages of the civil service in the capital, the surviving military pay owed to officers and soldiers in the Beijing camp, and a series of expenses such as the purchase of grain and non-staple food, there is still 150 million taels that cannot be spent.In the end, it piled up like a mountain in front of Chengtian Gate, which is the real mountain of gold and silver.

Although it is rumored that Zhu Cihong left it to Li Zicheng to buy the lives of the people in the capital.But what happens to a mountain of silver that is left unguarded in an open field?

Of course it was taken away!

In the face of unowned silver, the people of the capital displayed great fighting power and labor enthusiasm. As soon as Zhu Cihong left Xizhimen, and before the rear team left Chengtianmen, some people dared to pick up silver.Although Li Zicheng heard about the money Zhu Cihong left behind to buy his life, he went to the Chengtian Gate and saw nothing.

"Marquis Ze," Li Zicheng called out, "I want a large army to march south, who can take this job."

Tian Jianxiu is now the No.1 military general, and according to Dashun's rule of using martial arts to write, he can also be said to be the No.1 in the court.However, Tian Jianxiu's surname is lukewarm, unlike Liu Zongmin who is taboo by civil servants.He stepped forward and said: "Your Majesty, I don't think the matter of the Southern Expedition is the most important thing right now."

"Oh? What's more important than the Southern Expedition?" Li Zicheng said displeased: "If the wealth in the south is not brought up, the north will not be safe for a day. Doesn't Marquis Ze know?"

"Your Majesty," Tian Jianxiu glanced at Niu Jinxing, "Remnant Ming set up troops in the north of the Yangtze River, and there is a natural moat in the Yangtze River. I thought that [-] soldiers would be needed to flatten the south. Now Marquis Mian (Yuan Zongdi) is leading troops in Huguang and Zuo When bandits are fighting, instead of sending troops to the south, it is better to send more troops to Marquis Mian, and taking Huguang will be regarded as occupying the world's granary."

After Li Zicheng entered Jin from Shaanxi, Zhang Xianzhong also entered Bashu with the main force of the army.When Zuo Liangyu saw a weak spot in Jingxiang Huguang area, he naturally wouldn't let it go.At that time Yuan Zongdi had already captured Qingyang and was about to join most of the Chuang army when Li Zicheng ordered him to go south directly to Jingchu to fight Zuo Liangyu.

And after entering Shanxi, Li Zicheng's one hundred thousand army was divided into three parts.Ren Jirong and Li You led [-] troops to garrison Guguan Zhending, and guard Jingxing, one of the eight Xings of the Taihang, to ensure the smooth road from Gyeonggi to Shanxi.Liu Fangliang’s [-] people from Zuoying went to Henan and Hebei, and now they are blocked in Baoding. They have not yet reached Yanjing, and it is even more impossible to abandon Baoding and go south.

There are only [-] soldiers and horses in the capital, all of whom are elite battalion warriors, but they are exhausted from prolonged battles and must rest before they can be used again.

"Your Majesty!" Niu Jinxing stepped forward and said, "Master Wang has come all the way to the east, and Xuanda and other places use generals from the Zhu Dynasty. If the capital is empty, we can't guarantee that they will not be dissatisfied!"

It's not just Xuanda, the guards everywhere are basically the old generals.If you want to worry about their splitting hearts, then the 6 people you own are nailed to death in Yanjing, unable to move at all.

Li Zicheng didn't count on the integrity of those surrendered generals, he just said: "It's okay. I left Zhang Tianlin in Datong because I was prepared." Zhang Tianlin was nicknamed "Guo Tian Xing". He rebelled, and finally surrendered and became Li Zicheng's general.Although his combat achievements are not obvious, it is enough to guard the place.

"It's a pity that the officers and soldiers of the three major battalions of the capital are all rotten, otherwise we could have collected [-] to [-] yuan." Li Zicheng muttered to himself, and suddenly asked: "How is Li Guozhen now?"

Li Zicheng was quite happy when Xiangcheng Bo Li Guozhen surrendered, but he didn't know that it was a puddle of mud until he saw Junrong in person. Even if he wanted to fight, it would be a waste of time to kill people.

"Li Guozhen has been sent to the camp." Gu Junen finally found the opportunity to leave the shift, and stepped forward to respond.But he didn't finish talking - Li Guozhen's ankle was broken because of insufficient recovered stolen goods, and he secretly hanged himself to death.

Li Zicheng's thinking was divergent, and he asked casually, but he didn't really care about this surrendered general.When he saw Gu Junen, he remembered the achievements of this counselor along the way, and asked, "Mr. Gu, what do you think about going south?"

"Your Majesty," Gu Junen cleared his throat, "Without the food from Huguang, and only relying on recovering stolen goods and donating money, my smoothness will not last long."

"That Bai Wang is really incompetent! He has 8 or [-] horses in his hand, and Yuan Zongdi's front battalion has dragged on for so long!" Li Zicheng said displeased.

Gu Junen decided not to mention this problem, so as not to create a gap with the lieutenant general.He said again: "Your Majesty, apart from Huguang, I think Jingdong and Shanyong also have to be on guard."

"Didn't Emperor Zhu confer Wu Sangui the title of King of Guangning before he left? He will take care of himself as his king, and I will also make him a prince." Li Zicheng waved his hand.

Gu Junen smiled wryly in his heart, but he didn't dare to show it on his face, and said: "Your Majesty, Emperor Zhu named him king, following the example of the Joseon Dynasty, in order to use him to restrain me, Dashun."

"Hahaha, if I also recognize this kingdom, wouldn't Emperor Zhu's painstaking efforts be in vain?" Li Zicheng laughed loudly.

Gu Junen knew that this hero had limited vision for political matters, so he said patiently: "Your Majesty, Wu Sangui will not accept my Dashun edict, unless Shanhaiguan and the four cities of Yongping are sealed to him."

Li Zicheng was taken aback.

"If you do that, Yanjing will be under the iron hoof of Liaozhen, and there will be no more screens." Gu Junen said.

They are also princes, and the princes of Daming can be used to gather all the civil servants and officials, which is very useful.The prince of Dashun is in danger of splitting his subordinates, and at the same time he has to bear the reputation of being ungrateful and betraying his master.Wu Sangui is a smart person, how could he surrender before he got real benefits? (To be continued.)