The people in the capital did not know that the imperial court was trying every means to ease the crisis. Ordinary Han people did not know. The Eight Banners children knew some news but their incompetent brains could not understand it at all.
These dudes who don’t like to learn or analyze new things, and are always digging deep into the hidden rules of old traditions, can only look at problems from a perspective they can understand.
Then they are left with the last emotion, which is despair!
The forced exchange of gold began on April 19, and the people of the capital were dumbfounded. They watched as the shops in Nancheng and Prince Zheng's palace were looted.
At first, they had the illusion that the court's knife would only chop at fat sheep, and that they, a small family, would not have any problems.
However, on April 20th, the Qing Times began to continue to publicize the gold exchange order with strong words, forcing all the people in the capital not to store gold privately.
All personal possession of gold is illegal!
On April 20th, the homes of Prince Lao Li and Prince Rui were also ransacked. The people had no idea how much gold was exchanged.
However, for the purpose of publicity, the streets outside the palace were not under martial law and people were allowed to watch.
On this day, the disciples of the Eight Banners were all frightened. They found out how ridiculous their previous luck was. Today, the palace was so strict that the doors were wide open. Groups of soldiers rushed in, and groups of palace people were "politely" Please come out.
The imperial court would never say that they were here to raid the house. All they had to do was exchange the gold politely. But how could the servants who had been loyal to the prince for several lifetimes let the imperial court take away the master's gold?
There are some dilapidated bannermen on the outer wall of the back garden. You can hear intermittent screams inside through the wall. People say that someone inside accidentally fell and hurt their foot. Do you believe it?
Anyway, after screaming for a long time, boxes after boxes of gold were carried out from the gate of the palace!
The crowd exclaimed and gasped. No one had imagined that there would be so much gold in the palace. There were hundreds of boxes flowing in and out, and the lids of some boxes could not be closed. A golden light shone out from inside.
Occasionally, two golden melon seeds fell out from the cracks in the box. A naive child rushed over to pick them up. The old man next to him was so frightened that he dragged them back and slapped them on the buttocks, which made the child cry loudly!
"Young and old gentlemen! Prince Lao Li didn't hold on, and Prince Rui's house was also ransacked... This court is really serious!"
"Tsk, tsk, tsk... I never expected this to happen. People used to say that Prince Zheng and Long Live Lord were not dealing with each other, and they conspired to betray Long Live Lord. That's why they ransacked their homes under the pretext of exchanging gold..."
"But it doesn't look like it now. Prince Lao Li is too old to rebel. Why was he copied..."
"Shhh... keep your voice down, don't let these southern barbarian soldiers hear. These southern barbarian soldiers from Wuyi Mountain are not related to us, and they are all very capable..."
"That's right, even Xishan Camp is not a good thing. It is full of Han Chinese coolies from Zhili Shandong. Once they are robbed, they will come back to bully us. Do you see how clean they ransacked our homes?"
"Haha, how about kidnapping horses? Those wild Jurchens were all trained by Rakshasa devils. The Rakshasa devils over there in the Xing'an Mountains were killed during the Kangxi period. These wild Jurchens have long forgotten that we are from the same ancestor. Got it!"
"They are so ruthless each and every one of them...the gold veneer on the furniture was all removed..."
"What is this? You don't know that the gold paint on the large gilt copper vat in the palace to prevent water leakage was scraped off with a knife!"
"Damn... all this gold will be sent to the Chinese to buy their foreign guns and cannons and eventually blow up our own people!"
"What's going on this year? What's going on..."
The crowd was discussing carefully, and suddenly, like a cold wind blowing across the grassland, a group of chirping grasshoppers suddenly shut up!
It turned out that a group of cavalrymen marched over quickly and rushed in front of them with great power. The whole family of seven dissatisfied and eight dissatisfied dandy boys put on flattering smiles.
The storm had just begun. On April 21, another shocking news came to the people of the capital. A large number of soldiers were suddenly stationed in the idle Prince Gong's Palace, Prince Qing's Palace, and Prince Chun's Palace.
I don’t know where these soldiers got the information, but they actually searched several secret gold hiding places in three palaces. The gold copied from the three palaces alone amounted to more than 200,000 taels.
"It's over! It's over! Even King Kong's Mansion has been dug out of gold. This is like digging three feet into the ground..."
All the bannermen felt that the knife was about to fall on their heads. At this time, when they heard the shouts of the commander and the policemen on the street, cold sweat broke out on their backs.
"Exchange gold... The soldiers and civilians of the capital are urging us to exchange gold... Let's face the national crisis together!"
"During the war, no one is allowed to own gold... Young and old gentlemen, please take the initiative to exchange it..."
Boom boom boom... The gong rang, and the people's hearts and minds were trembling. A few days ago, they thought it was just for show, but when they saw that the prince couldn't block the knife, how could they be spared? Woolen cloth?
On April 22, four days have passed since the capital exchange for gold, and today it is finally time to close the net!
The entire Capital Police Headquarters led by King Yu was dispatched. The Capital Police Headquarters evolved from the Nine Gates Admiral's Office. All the soldiers from the original Nine Gates Admiral's Office were directly transferred to King Yu's command for reorganization.
The Jiumen Admiral's Mansion is an important defense force in the capital, with a standing force of about 20,000 people. Later, when the capital was hit by a refugee disaster, the King of Yu followed the imperial decree and expanded the army by 10,000, and selected 10,000 victims of the disaster to join the police force.
On the one hand, it solves the problem of feeding the victims, and on the other hand, it also increases the manpower of the police.
Thirty thousand police officers, and the New Army allocated more than 10,000 troops. Starting today, King Yu ordered his officials, large and small, to begin forcibly exchanging gold for the people of the capital in separate areas.
"Everyone, listen up! Your Majesty is kind and righteous, and has given the people of the capital four days to be free and happy... But! These unruly people who don't know kindness and righteousness have no heart!"
"Within four days, no one came to exchange gold!"
"The imperial court is furious! From today on, you will go door-to-door in your respective areas to exchange gold. Anyone who dares to hide his secrets will be punished for collaborating with the enemy!"
"Regardless of Manchu or Han, regardless of official position, regardless of status...the palace has already spoken out. Even if the Queen Mother Lafayette is behind the scenes or it is Long Live Lord himself, this gold still has to be exchanged!"
"Someone...bring out the gold yuan coupons...Listen carefully, there is no accounting clerk from the Account Department following this exchange, so we can't issue a receipt..."
"These are gold yuan coupons, one or two units of gold yuan coupons... As much gold as you exchange for gold, you will give as many gold yuan coupons to the people. In the future, let the people use these gold yuan coupons to collect gold from the Ministry of Household Affairs!"
"Haha... The Qing Dynasty has supported you for more than two hundred years, and it's time for you and the country to work together in the same boat!"
"Action! Don't let anyone go!"
"Hey! I swear to serve the imperial court to the death..." Forty thousand people rushed into the streets and alleys of the capital like wolves and tigers, and ransacked homes from the north city to the south city. It was a real rush!
