The people in Dongchang hurriedly opened the secret room behind the Ye family ancestral hall according to Ye Qixian's words, and then they found the room full of gold and silver, all of which were large ingots as big as grapefruits.
Zhu Youxiao had people carry out all the gold and silver and put them in Ye's garden. The eunuchs he brought with him to study arithmetic in the inner study hall counted them.
Finally, three million taels of silver and five hundred thousand taels of gold were counted.
"As expected, he is as rich as a country."
After Zhu Youxiao saw so much money, he looked directly at Ye Qixian: "Ye Qixian, how dare you deceive me! Do you know your guilt?"
Ye Qixian was in so much pain that he couldn't speak. His clothes were all wet and he could only bear the pain and replied: "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, Your Majesty, I forgive you! I, I deserve death for my crime!"
"Then use gold and silver to pay for your life. Seal all these gold and silver in the treasury of Yandao Yamen. Except for taking out two million taels as a reward, transport them all back to Beijing!"
Zhu Youxiao waved his hand and said, "Thank you."
That's right, Zhu Youxiao is obviously going to continue on the road of tyrant, taking all the gold and silver from others and asking others to thank him.
But Zhu Youxiao felt that he should take it, because if Ye Qixian's ancestor hadn't restructured the Kaizhong method when he was the Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, which resulted in the profits of the salt merchants and the increased military burden on the court, the Ye family would not have saved so much gold and silver. It can be said that these gold and silver originally belonged to the imperial court.
"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your kindness!"
Ye Qixian replied with great heartache. He wanted to call Zhu Youxiao a tyrant, but he didn't dare.
The Guardstown and border troops who followed Zhu Youxiao couldn't help but laugh.
After all, they didn't expect that the emperor would actually cash in the two million taels of silver reward without any discount.
Then, Zhu Youxiao continued to investigate other salt merchants.
Zhu Youxiao first pointed to Yao Sunju: "The next one, let's start with you."
Yao Sunju hurriedly kowtowed and said: "Your Majesty, your Majesty, Cao Min, Cao Min is not a big salt merchant, Cao Min doesn't have much money! Cao Min doesn't even have one hundred thousand taels of silver!"
"Another one who wants money rather than life! Clip!"
Zhu Youxiao said something.
"ah!"
Yao Sunju screamed.
In the end, Zhu Youxiao stole gold and silver from the Yao family with a total value of no less than five million taels of silver.
Then, other salt merchants were also investigated one by one.
There are those who are knowledgeable and honest, and there are also those who are clever and want to hide it and get through, but are found out and beaten hard.
In the end, Zhu Youxiao directly commandeered more than 20 million taels of gold and silver in Yangzhou.
This is an amount that Zhu Youxiao himself did not expect.
Because if there are 100,000 silver circulating in the market, it would be considered very large.
Therefore, Zhu Youxiao had to admit that the wealthy businessmen of this era really didn't know how to play with capital. They would rather hide so much silver they earned than let it turn into more advanced technology, stronger weapons, and more powerful weapons. Lots of territory.
However, Zhu Youxiao did not intend to extort the salt merchant like this from the beginning.
It was mainly the salt merchants who pissed him off.
He just wants these salt merchants to remember that don't try to stop yourself, the emperor, from asking for money. As long as the emperor doesn't take away all your money, just be honest and grateful.
If you can, rebel and overthrow the emperor.
…
"The tyrant has arrived in Yangzhou!"
"This cruel king actually extorted salt merchants in Yangzhou and even used torture. His cruelty is outrageous!"
"This tyrant and his army are like robbers and bandits! The merchants and people are all resentful!"
And Zhu Youxiao's arrival in Yangzhou and what he did in Yangzhou soon spread to Yingtian Mansion.
The rebellious gentry in the Yingtianfu area quickly posted anonymous announcements about Zhu Youxiao's southward movement in the outer city of Nanjing.
And these unveiling posts have nothing good to say, because they are in territory controlled by the rebels, so these unveiling posts directly call Zhu Youxiao a tyrant, without being like the salt merchants in Yangzhou who can only curse in their hearts. Even these people directly call Zhu Youxiao a tyrant. What you did in Yangzhou was no different from that of a robber.
Zhu Youxiao also quickly saw these announcements, but he just smiled lightly and did not make any comments.
Historically, Duduo's move south relied on the "Ten Days in Yangzhou" to shock the people of Jiangnan, causing most of the people in Jiangnan to voluntarily surrender.
And Zhu Youxiao was naturally unwilling to be a butcher like Duduo, who was so cruel to the Han people, and even encouraged the imperial elites who were also Han people to massacre the Han people.
Therefore, Zhu Youxiao could only use this cruel method of cruelty to salt merchants to scare the Jiangnan gentry.
"I tell all the people in the south of the Yangtze River not to be disloyal to me like some salt merchants in Yangzhou. Although I am a kind king and do not want to kill too many people in the world, but if you are really disloyal to me, don't blame me for raiding your home. Seize his wealth! Use it to pay for your sins!"
Zhu Youxiao gave Han Xu instructions at this time.
Han Xu hurriedly issued an order.
And then, the officials and gentry in Gaoyou, Zhenjiang and other places did not dare to take any chances. They also knew that even Yangzhou could not stop the emperor, and they themselves were even less able to stop him, so they all went to Zhu Youxiao honestly. At that time, he came out ten miles away to greet him.
"When Zhu Youxiao arrived in Gaoyou, all the officials and gentry of Gaoyou came out to welcome him. Zeng Butang, who became an official in Gaoyou, actually invited the best fifteen theater troupes in the south of the Yangtze River to flatter him! He really has the reputation of being a great scholar in Gaoyou!"
As soon as Zhu Youxiao left Yangzhou for Gaoyou Prefecture, the release of the Yingtianfu rebel-controlled area also updated Zhu Youxiao's news in a timely manner.
Moreover, not long after Zhu Youxiao arrived in Zhenjiang, and the Zhenjiang gentry took the initiative to seize Cui Chengyuan, the prefect who had defected to the rebels, and greeted him outside the city, the Yingtianfu rebel-controlled area updated the announcement of Zhu Youxiao's arrival in Zhenjiang.
"The Emperor has arrived in Zhenjiang!"
At this time, a post like this was posted outside Zhengyang Gate in Nanjing. The content was very simple, but it revealed a lot of helplessness.
And because of this, before Zhu Youxiao arrived at Yingtian Mansion, the rebels in Yingtian Mansion began to fall apart.
Because Xiao Jingao, Xu Shaoliang and other rebel leaders from Yingtian Mansion had gone south to attack the city and seize territory, most of the rebels who stayed in Yingtian Mansion disbanded on their own initiative.
After Zhu Youxiao passed Zhenjiang, he was about to arrive in Nanjing.
The content of the Nanjing Outer City post has changed again.
"The Holy Lord has arrived in the southern capital, which is a great blessing for the people of Jiangnan!"
"Long live my emperor! The virtue of the Holy King can be seen in the sun and the moon! Once the Holy King arrives, all the rebels and thieves will be destroyed, and all the people in the south of the Yangtze River will find peace!"
"Woohoo! The people of the south of the Yangtze River look forward to the arrival of the Holy Spirit as much as they look forward to the rain!"
Zhu Youxiao looked at the welcoming post still on the city wall. For a moment, he couldn't believe that a rebellion had just occurred here.
It wasn't until Lu Xiangsheng of the Guards went to Lanchun Garden to learn about Zhou Yuji's siege, arrested Huang Zunyi and the Xu family, and listened to Zhou Yuji's report on what had happened before, that Zhu Youxiao had some concrete feelings about the rebellion.
"Xiong Aiqing! You go and pass the order, and the border troops will seize all the Jin gentry who actively participated in the rebellion and confiscate their homes and exterminate their clans!"
"Han Aiqing! Go and appease the murdered soldiers and people on my behalf. All those who are famous will be registered. Those who can be called loyal and martyrs will be reported and given a generous burial and generous compensation!"
Zhu Youxiao immediately issued the corresponding decree. He would not let go easily for those who took the initiative to participate in the rebellion, even if they surrendered at this time. He would naturally have to commend those who would rather be killed than participate in the rebellion. After all, He needs this spirit.
"Ling Chi immediately! Ling Chi with three thousand six hundred swords! No need to wait any longer! In addition, Xu Shaoliang's nine tribes will be wiped out to comfort the sacrificed Yu Linwei!"
Then, Zhu Youxiao issued a decree and patted Zhou Yuji on the shoulder: "Go and take revenge!"
"yes!"
Zhou Yuji saluted Zhu Youxiao with tears in his eyes. Then, he pulled out his knife and once again led the remaining officers and soldiers of the patrol battalion to Lanchun Garden.
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