"Yellow Tiger" Liu Zongmin's name was naturally known to Chen Yan, the former chief assistant scholar. That was a general under the command of Chuang Ni, and his big head was of great value to the officers and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty in the past!
But now, seeing with his own eyes Liu Zongmin himself who had become General Quan and Ruhou, Grand Scholar Chen was still surprised.
I thought that Li Zicheng's general must be extremely ferocious, maybe a monster with a red beard and green eyebrows. But now, the man who appeared inside the Chengtian Gate was a man dressed as a Confucian scholar in blue clothes and a scarf. Although he has a big beard with sideburns, he is not cruel and speaks very kindly, even politely.
It seems that it is not unreasonable for Dashun Dynasty to win the world! Such a general cannot be obtained by the Zhu Thieves!
Including Chen Yan, more than 2,000 ministers crowded outside Chengtian Gate. Although their bodies were wet from the rain and the cold wind was blowing, their hearts were warm.
They have finally met the Ming Lord!
Oh, Mingzhu hasn’t met yet. The Ming Lord is busy and has many things to do, so it is understandable that he does not have time to see these two ministers. But Liu Zongmin and Liu Houye, who represented the Ming Lord, still made everyone feel the warmth and care of the Ming Lord.
Look at Mr. Liu, wearing a Confucian scarf and blue robe. He is so simple and elegant, with no airs at all. How can the nobles of the Zhu Thieves compare? Moreover, he spoke softly, always had a smile on his face, and called everyone "Master" affectionately. He also asked the accompanying officials to record everyone's name, official position, address, and whether they were willing to serve the new dynasty. He also said that if there was an appointment, someone would be sent to notify him. How thoughtful!
Chen Yan and several other officials who were eager to serve, such as Zhang Ruoqi, the former official of the Ministry of War (the guy who tricked Hong Chengchou's 130,000-strong army), Yang Guanguang, the young official of Zhan Shifu and a scholar at the Hanlin Academy, and Chang Luyan. Wang Sunhui, the envoy of fortune, and others all showed their talents, either writing memorials to persuade people to move forward, or poems praising the new dynasty of Dashun, and some also wrote poems praising Li Zicheng.
Liu Zongmin also received them one by one, greeted them kindly, and asked the servants around him to write down the names of several people. It seems that the ministers who were not fully prepared were very envious!
When Liu Zongmin heard that Chen Yan had applied for the official position of his predecessor as the first assistant bachelor, he smiled from ear to ear. He even held Chen Yan's hand enthusiastically and said that he wanted to treat him to dinner, which made Chen Yan feel a little embarrassed. .
Liu Zongmin was actually a little disappointed, because there were not many big fish among the Ming courtiers who threw themselves into the net today. The big fish are telling Zhu Cixiang to let that bastard go!
In addition to Chen Yan, the former chief assistant, there are Wang Yongzuo, the eunuch of etiquette, Bingbi Wang, Li Jiantai, a bachelor of Dongge who was escorted back to Beijing by Liu Fangliang's soldiers, Xue Lian, the Marquis of Yangwu, and several earls who are considered big fish - -This Xue Lian didn't run away with Zhu Cixiang for some reason, but those counts were captured and their wealth was basically lost outside Beijing.
Liu Zongmin, who felt that there was little oil and water, sent people to find Wang Dehua, Du Zhizhi and other loyal ministers. He also recruited Wang Zhengzhi, the left minister of the Ministry of Revenue, Li Huaxi, the governor of the three sides who had no way to take office, and Jin, the minister of war. Zhijun, barely managed to gather a table of people. A banquet was set up in the lobby of Beizhen Fusi in Jinyiwei Yamen.
The place where the wine is placed seems a bit inappropriate. Where is the place to have wine in Fusi, Beizhen? But Liu Zongmin said that his government office was at the original location of Jinyiwei, so it was hard for him to say anything. So they all followed.
After three rounds of wine and five tastes of food, everyone was enjoying the meal. Liu Zongmin, who had a friendly face, probably drank too much, suddenly put down his wine glass, looked at everyone with a smile, and suddenly asked: "Do any of you miss Emperor Chongzhen?"
What? Miss that foolish emperor Chongzhen? How can it be?
Everyone present shook their heads and expressed that they were loyal to the new master wholeheartedly and would never miss Chongzhen.
"Really not?" Liu Zongmin asked with a smile, "Although Emperor Chongzhen is confused, he is still very kind to you people. Is it possible for you to make a lot of money? Well, Dashun is not that lenient to corrupt officials. You will never be merciful! Are you corrupt officials?"
Why does this sound wrong?
Chen Yan and the others had not drunk much, but now they were all alert.
"Master Hou, I have always been honest and honest, and I am definitely not a corrupt official..." Chen Yan tentatively defended himself.
"Oh," Liu Zongmin nodded with a smile, "I will definitely tell the emperor what Mr. Chen Ge said... But what if Mr. Chen Ge has a fortune of tens of millions?"
"This, this..." Chen Yan already felt something was wrong. There are 40,000 taels of silver buried in the yard where I live temporarily!
"No, it's nothing!" Chen Yan gritted his teeth.
"Hahaha." Huang Hu and Liu Zongmin sneered, then turned to look at Li Jiantai, "What did Mr. Li Ge say? Some people say that your family is worth millions, is that true?"
Li Jiantai is a fat man with a beard that reaches his belly button. He looks rich, but he is actually really rich. However, his money did not come from corruption. His family was Shanxi merchants and they were already rich.
"There's not as much as a million..." Li Jiantai didn't dare to say that he had no money. "Xiaguan's family is a Shanxi businessman. His ancestors have accumulated good deeds and saved a little bit of family property. When they were in their prime, they had hundreds of thousands. But now that the war is in chaos, there is nothing. Whatever is left...oh, you can give it to Dashun! Give it to Dashun for payment!"
"Okay, okay," Liu Zongmin said with a smile, "I don't want much, just bring me 150,000 taels of silver."
As soon as the price was reported, Li Jiantai was fine, but everyone else present turned blue with fright.
How come this Dashun court is just like the original Ming Dynasty, and is also obsessed with money as soon as it enters the city?
"Excuse me, I will ask my family to bring the money..." Li Jiantai said with a trembling voice.
"No rush, no rush." Liu Zongmin said, "There is ready accommodation here in Fusi, Beizhen. You all will stay here tonight, and tomorrow you will raise money with your family."
Early tomorrow morning, Dashun's soldiers, led by the Shuntian Mansion Yamen sent by Luo Yangxing, will capture the Ming Dynasty officials of sixth rank and above, earls and above, and the chamberlains in charge of the twenty-four Yamen who are in Beijing. With a few exceptions, everyone else was captured and taken into custody by Beizhen Fusi!
Then he would pursue the stolen goods from them according to his official position and title.
Liu Zongmin said in a calm tone: "I don't want much from you. Those who have been in the cabinet will get one hundred thousand taels, the ministers and ministers of the six departments will get 80,000 taels, the dukes don't seem to have any, the marquis will get 300,000 taels, and the earl will get 20,000 taels." Ten thousand taels... The chief eunuch of the Twenty Yamen will give you 150,000 taels! Everyone here, please pay according to this!"
"Master Hou," Chen Yan was so frightened that he trembled, looking at Liu Zongmin who had revealed his true face, "There really aren't that many lower-ranking officials!"
He really doesn't have that much money. Although he has worked very hard in corruption and bribery, he still spends a lot. As soon as he became an official, he had an affair with his chamberlain and spent a lot of money on it, and then he rose through the ranks and became the first assistant bachelor. Most of the money I finally got through greed was spent, and not much was left in my hands. Moreover, he exchanged it for properties in Beijing. These properties had dropped in price during the chaos of war, and it took more than a month to sell them, for a total of only 40,000 taels of silver. Where can I find another 60,000 taels to make up the 100,000?
Liu Zongmin didn't listen to him and smiled coldly: "It doesn't matter what you say! I've already had five thousand pairs of clamping sticks made. The sticks have edges and are connected with iron nails. They can crush limbs! Wait until you try it. Once you know the taste of clamping sticks, and if you say you have no money, I will believe you!"
What? Want to crush your limbs? It turns out that the Dashun New Dynasty, no, the bandits were so vicious!
Regardless of whether they could come up with the amount requested by Liu Zongmin, all of the people here turned pale, and in their hearts they began to miss Emperor Chongzhen and his cunning and cruel Crown Prince... Your Majesty, Crown Prince, we were all wrong, Come back quickly and save us!
