"Wei Guogong, tell me honestly, how much land, shops, jewelry, calligraphy and painting, antiques, hoards of gold and silver your family owns, how many debts you have lent outside, how many open shares and dark shares you have bought? Tell me, how much is it probably worth? Money? Make me and the Holy One happy, and maybe your death penalty will be pardoned!"
Dakongfang is now owned by Prince Edward! A very wrong prince was smiling from ear to ear and talking nonsense while interrogating the father and son of Wei Guogong who had just been captured.
Chongzhen on the side could only sigh and frown as he listened to Zhu Cixiang's nonsense. How does Zhu Cixiang's words sound like they were spoken by a wise man? Is Mingjun so greedy for money? I heard that if you can get a lot of money, you will be spared the death penalty?
It should be that the more money you are greedy for, the more serious the crime will be!
Xu Hongji had nothing to say, he just closed his eyes and waited for death. His body and bones are already dead, and he won't live long if he doesn't kill him. What else can he say? But his son Xu Yunjue hasn’t lived enough yet! After hearing Zhu Cixiang's words, it was like grabbing a life-saving straw.
"Master Qiantose, please forgive me. My family is indeed rich. We have a lot of money. If we include all the branches, we are as rich as the country..."
"Not counting the lineage of Ding Guo Gong!" Zhu Cixiang said, "Ding Guo Gong is a hero who overcomes difficulties and is extremely loyal!"
Zhu Cixiang had a clear distinction between love and hate. Although Duke Dingguo and his family were just following him, they were still on the prince's side. If they could follow him, they would be rewarded, and they would also get some benefits when they arrived in Jiangnan.
"Yes, yes..." Xu Yunjue said, "Not counting Ding Guogong's northern branch, my family's land, shops, jewelry, calligraphy and paintings, antiques, hoards of gold and silver, various debts, and various open and hidden shares, If handled properly, there will definitely be 50 to 60 million taels of silver..."
"What? Five to six million taels! So much? You, you..." Emperor Chongzhen stood up suddenly and pointed at Xu Yunjue, "You are too greedy, too greedy, how can you be greedy?" so many!"
"Father, calm down!" Zhu Cixi smiled like a bright spring, "These 50 to 60 million taels should include the military land and other lands... After deducting the land, there is not that much. Xu Yunjue, Tell me how much land your family has in total!"
"Return, return to Master Qian Sui, I really can't remember the number of guilty ministers..."
Too much! There are just too many! Why did you remember to come here?
Chongzhen asked sternly: "Then give me an approximation!"
Xu Yunjue said with a mournful face: "The criminal family is huge and has many branches. Even the approximation is not clear for a while. If we only talk about the land directly descended from Wei Guofu, the military settlements occupy about 1.2 million acres, and there are about 1 million acres of other land. Among them, 700,000 acres are hidden fields, and the rest are rewards given to my family by the imperial court over the years..."
That is 2.2 million acres of land, of which 700,000 acres are hidden fields!
Zhu Cixiang smiled and said to Chongzhen: "Father, if the land can be bought and sold normally, these 2.2 million acres of land will be worth 30 to 40 million taels!
Even if land is not easy to buy and sell, the annual rent for these 2.2 million acres of land is 2 million dan! "
He turned to Xu Yunjue and said, "Go on! How much more property do you have? Let's talk about it."
Xu Yunjue responded: "The guilty minister's Wei palace has more than 1.8 million taels of silver, 170,000 taels of gold, 180,000 taels of money, tens of thousands of pieces of silk and cloth, and 110,000 shi of rice and wheat. The principal and interest of various debts placed outside are no less than 2 million taels, and the total value of open and hidden shares held is also around one million. In addition, there are three gardens, two to three hundred shops, eleven warehouses, and docks. one place......"
"Hahaha, you are so rich!" Zhu Cixiang rubbed his hands and said, "The Duke's family that has been in the family for more than two hundred years is really extraordinary!"
In fact, the dignitaries and ministers from Beijing who followed Zhu Cixiang to the south were all once rich. Although they were not as rich as the Wei Guofu, a wealthy family of more than 200 years, many of them were also extremely rich. It's just that when they fled, they could only take cash with them, not land, shops, or mansions, and the debts they placed outside were all bad debts, so they didn't seem to have that much money.
Emperor Chongzhen snorted coldly: "How can you repay the favor of the emperor for more than two hundred years like this? Damn it!"
"No, no, no... we can't kill, we have to give Xu Yunjue a way to survive." Zhu Cixiang quickly said to Chongzhen, "Although Wei Guofu has a lot of property, it is not easy to check and dispose of it. Without Xu Yunjue's cooperation, Maybe there won’t be much left if you just copy it. Xu Yunjue, do you think this is the truth?”
Naturally, Xu Yunjue kowtowed as if he were pounding garlic: "Yes, yes...I will definitely dedicate all my property to Master Qiantius and the Holy One, and not leave a penny behind."
"It doesn't have to be like this, it doesn't have to be like this." Zhu Cixiang waved his hands repeatedly, "You still have to keep some, otherwise how will you live in the future?"
Can we still live in the future? Does that mean you can really spare your life? Xu Yunjue felt an indescribable feeling of gratitude in his heart: The prince is really a benevolent king!
Seeing that he was about to kowtow again, Zhu Cixiang quickly raised his hand to stop him and said, "Wait, don't kowtow, I haven't finished speaking yet!"
Are there any conditions?
Xu Yunjue looked at Prince Zhu with a pleading look.
Zhu Cixiang said: "You have many brothers and cousins, and they are all going to be exiled to Dang Yuan Island! Do you know where Dang Yuan is? It is a barbaric and suffocating place, and it will be difficult to come back!
However, they will not go right away, but will go after you cooperate with Jin Yiwei to confiscate all the property in Wei Guofu. Before you go on the road, I will let them check your account! Whoever can find out the mistakes will stay in Nanjing and be the head of the Xu family, and you can go to Dajuan Island! Would you let them check for errors? "
Xu Yunjue said repeatedly: "The guilty minister will definitely not let them check for mistakes, because the guilty minister will never dare to make any mistakes..."
Zhu Cixiang nodded, "There are many women in your family. No matter whether their surname is Xu or not, I will not be embarrassed! I will arrange husbands for all concubines under 40 years old. Girls from the Xu family are not married. , as long as they are old enough, I will make arrangements for them. Everyone will give a dowry! As for those who are already married, I will not pursue them. You must appease them and don't let them think about committing suicide. "
Xu Yunjue responded quickly: "The guilty minister has received the edict, and the guilty minister must tell them all about His Highness's benevolence and righteousness... His Highness is truly the most benevolent monarch throughout the ages!"
Of course Zhu Cihong was a benevolent king, but sparing the women of the Xu family had little to do with benevolence. He made a promise with a group of officers and soldiers of the new army to overcome difficulties - the land will be there, and the wife will be there!
There is a lot of land now, but the wife has not yet settled down! Naturally, the family members of a bunch of "eunuch rebels" had to be used to make up the number.
"Okay," Zhu Cixiang smiled, "I've said all that needs to be said, Xu Yunjue... give your father a happy ending!"
What?
Ending?
Xu Yunjue was stunned and looked at Zhu Cixiang, seemingly at a loss.
Zhu Cixiang's face calmed down a little, and he said to Xu Yunjue: "What? I don't understand? If your Wei government has caused such a big stir, it's not an exaggeration for me to kill a bad old man with most of his body buried in the ground, isn't it? Rebellion! There must be something. Let’s give an explanation, right? He is the only one from your Wei government who will die. You and your son will stay, and the other men will be exiled to the Island of Generals. Live or die! As for the other houses in the south branch of the Xu family, do the same!"
Xu Hongji, who was originally calm, started to tremble after hearing Zhu Cixiang's words. His nose became sore and tears came down. He even let out a few wails. It was really the only way to die in this difficult time!
But it’s useless for the old man to cry now! Zhu Cixiang's punishment of Wei Guofu was extremely merciful, and it was not comparable to Zhu Yuanzhang or Zhu Di. Of course, he wanted money rather than his life (not that he didn't want his life at all, he just didn't want much), and his level of greed was far greater than that of Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Di. He even ransacked every house and found flowers.
Watching the "filial son" Xu Yunjue support his old father Xu Hongji, who was in tears, and left under the supervision of several East Palace guards and Jinyi guards (sending Xu Hongji to hang himself in a deserted place). Zhu Cixiang once again showed a bright smile and said to Emperor Chongzhen: "Father, are you satisfied with how my son and ministers have been dealt with? If you are satisfied, other eunuch nobles and ministers involved in the case should also be dealt with in this way. There should be as few people as possible. Kill, we need to get more money, land, shops, houses! No matter what, we have to steal hundreds of millions... After enough, we can reward the heroes!"
