Nanchang.
Niu Maxing Inn.
Shopkeeper Wang adjusted his abacus and glanced at the empty courtyard outside the window, feeling unhappy in his heart.
"How are you going to live this day, damn the Ming army?"
The 4th Brigade of the 1st Division of the Ming Army has entered Poyang Lake, and its troops are heading towards Nanchang.
The Qing navy in Poyang Lake was shattered by a touch.
The people watching on the shore saw clouds of smoke rising from the Ming army's sail battleships before the melon was split, followed by the "rumbling" sound of cannons.
Then, those Qing naval forces were defeated.
This time, Nanchang exploded.
There are rumors everywhere that "the Ming army was overwhelmingly invincible" and "Poyang Lake defeated Chen Youliang". No, it was "Poyang Lake defeated the Qing Navy."
Every landowner is packing up his things and running away.
They were afraid. For what they had done, they would definitely be hung on the old crooked neck tree and enjoy the treatment of Emperor Chongzhen.
Shopkeeper Wang originally wanted to take advantage of the opportunity and sell the cattle and horses in his hands to make some money.
But who are those landlords and gentry?
If you sell cattle and horses to me, do you have my consent?
Grab it for me!
In just one day, everyone who could haul things at Niu Maxing Inn was robbed.
As for reporting to the official.
The county magistrate also came to snatch some horses.
Shopkeeper Wang complained, but his hands were not slow in flipping through the account books. He was going to return to his hometown in Changsha after clearing the account books.
At this time, more than a dozen people came in from the door. They were dressed in coarse cloth shirts and carried large and small bags on their backs.
Shopkeeper Wang glanced sideways and advised him to retreat.
"I have no horse!"
Shen Lian, the commander of the Ming Dynasty Jinyi Guards, placed the large package behind him on the ground, walked to the counter and took out a piece of broken silver.
"Shopkeeper, we don't want to rent your horse, but we just want to ask a question."
Shopkeeper Wang put away the money, took a bite in his mouth, and immediately changed his face to a smile.
"Master, please ask!"
"Has the shopkeeper ever seen a large convoy entering the city?"
"What do you mean? I have the impression that about a month ago, a group of Qing soldiers escorted more than 600 large vehicles.
There weren't many things on the car, but it was so heavy that the axles were bent.
Alas~ When these gentlemen ask this matter, they don’t mean to..."
When Shopkeeper Wang said this, he took a step back, his eyes full of vigilance.
It's over. Before the Ming army came, they encountered horse bandits.
Shen Lian laughed, shook his head and led everyone away.
Meeting a dozen other people outside the door, the group walked through the desolate streets and turned from a small alley into a dilapidated house at the end of the alley.
"Quick, put up a high-power radio to send a report. The whereabouts of the "treasure" have been traced."
The so-called "treasure" refers to the large amount of gold and silver that Jiaqing obtained after copying thirteen lines.
The Ming Dynasty blocked the Manchu and Qing sea trade. Jiaqing thought that the pig Thirteen Lines was of little use, so he simply used the momentum of killing Xu Zhaochun to kill them too.
This batch of gold and silver has been touched many times by countless local officials from the 13th Bank to Nanchang, and has shrunk by more than half.
That's it. The remaining 600 or so carts are estimated to have 80 million taels of silver.
Daming was very interested in this money.
Shen Lian left half of the people to protect the radio station and led the others out of the alley again.
He remembered the rumors he heard when he first entered Nanchang.
The Li family in the north of the city is carrying out a lot of construction work, saying that they are going to dig a pond.
Shen Lian understood after a moment's thought that the Ming army was so close that it was too late to transport the gold and silver away. He might as well find a place to bury it first and wait until later.
Everyone dispersed and began to rush towards the Li family in the north of the city.
Shen Lian entered an alley again, which led to the back door of Li's house.
At this moment, Shen Lian's steps slowed down, and he heard slight footsteps behind him.
"Jie Jie Jie~ Which little kid has ideas about my Li family?"
Shen Lian turned around and saw a strong eunuch with a shrill voice and a "lantern" in his hand.
"The sticky rod?"
"Jinyiwei?"
The two of them were at opposite ends of the alley, and the identities of both parties were guessed at the exit.
When the eunuch saw that Shen Lian had nothing on his body, the corners of his mouth curved up and he smiled sinisterly.
"I heard that the musket is very sharp. Why don't you see the Jin Yiwei carrying it?"
The eunuch said, winding up the blood droplet, the saw blade at the bottom opened, and the blood droplet swayed in circles in his hand.
He looked arrogant and introduced: "I don't know if you Jin Yiwei have seen the blood drops. This thing was made by the blacksmith master.
I just need to put it on your head, and the sharp blade can snap your neck.
At the sticky pole, there are more than a dozen people as skilled as me! "
The eunuch confirmed that I had the advantage, and the blood droplet shook out flowers in his hand, and he kept telling the horror of this weapon in words.
In the past, the ministers of the Qing Dynasty were so frightened that they peed when they saw blood drops on the stick.
He also wanted to see the look of fear on Shen Lian's face, but failed.
Shen Lian shook his head and made a quick movement with his right hand.
"biU~" sound.
The 1799-style pistol equipped with a silencer fired a bullet and accurately hit the eunuch between the eyebrows.
The eunuch's smile was fixed on his face, and his body slowly fell backward.
The drop of blood fell to the ground, as if it touched some mechanism, and the bottom blade shrank and closed.
"biU~biU~"
Shen Lian shot two more shots into the left and right chests, then picked up the blood drops, very curious.
He imitated the action of the eunuch just now, wound the clockwork again, and let the blade open.
Shen Lian glanced inside and raised his eyebrows.
"That's it? Isn't it just the clockwork storing energy, driving the gears, and opening a circle of blades?
I thought it was a high-end product, not even as good as my desk clock.
Not to mention the several precious difference machines in the General's Mansion. "
The so-called difference engine is a purely mechanical computer. Zhu Zaiming bought it to the General's Mansion for use in ballistic calculations of self-made artillery and making gun charts.
Shen Lian felt very bored, so he put the drop of blood on the eunuch's head, and touched the top of his head to the internal mechanism, triggering the mechanism.
With a "click", the eunuch's head fell off and was put into the cage.
Blood flowed all over the floor.
"Hey, it's quite fun~"
…
Jinling Forbidden City.
Zhu Zaiming hurried to the telecommunications room, followed by Chen Xian, Secretary of the Ministry of Revenue, Army General Kong Er and Navy General Shen Yulong.
After receiving the news about Shen Lian, several people immediately put down their work and came to the telecommunications room.
At this point, new telegrams were translated.
Zhu Zaiming read out in a low voice: "The "treasure" is hidden in the Li family in the north of the city, at the bottom of the pond, about 80 million!"
Zhu Zaiming smiled, and Chen Xian even danced.
The British Empire's 50 million taels of silver compensation from the East India Company has been delivered to Chongming Island.
The 12 million taels of silver for the 12 fortress-class cruisers France ordered from the Ming Dynasty were also sent to Xinxiang from the North American colonies.
The landowners confiscated by the Ming Dynasty in the Jiangnan ruling area also had 60 million taels of silver in their accounts.
Today, the household department of the Ming Dynasty has 122 million taels of silver, making it the richest department in the entire Ming Dynasty.
If we add these 80 million taels, then the Ming Dynasty's finances will directly exceed 200 million!
Many officials from other departments visit the Ministry of Revenue whenever they have nothing to do to enjoy themselves.
At the same time, various plans were sent to the cabinet and presented to Zhu Zaiming.
Jinling City reinforced concrete renovation? Right.
Five-story residential high-rise construction? Right.
First-year subsidies for people in areas newly occupied by the Ming Dynasty? Right.
As long as it is a serious project, Zhu Zaiming will give the green light almost all the way with the mentality that money is only what he spends.
This also made people everywhere's favorable impression of Ming Dynasty skyrocket. When officials went to the streets to do things, they were always praised by the people, giving officials in various ministries more face.
The army and navy were also interested in collecting money from the Ministry of Finance.
