Li Shiwen didn't even know what happened. He only vaguely remembered that he lost fifty taels of silver in the first three games.
Because the five taels and one ingot of chips placed in the small bamboo tube next to it were lost by half in less than an hour.
There is no big or small gambling table, and with the prince supporting him, Hong Chengchou naturally does not need to consider the feelings of the other three families.
He showed his sharpness from the beginning, and with good luck, he won three consecutive victories with astonishing skills, which can be described as terrifying.
Not to mention Mr. Chief Assistant who played the "horse hanging leaf" skillfully, even Zuo Maodi, who played the game vigorously, couldn't resist it.
If Shangshu Hubu, who has the worst poker skills among the four, wants to stop his losses, he can only rely on Lao Hongtou to cheat.
It's a pity that Hong Chengchou, with Yu Yong's winning streak, is getting better and better as he plays, making it difficult for his opponents to take advantage.
Although a certain prince has never seen other people playing mahjong, it is estimated that Lao Hongtou's ability should be among the top three courtiers.
When the annual meeting is held during the Chinese New Year, mahjong will probably become popular by then, and the most skilled people in the court can gather at a table to see who can become the biggest winner in the end.
Yaoji would not feel sorry for Li Shiwen, because Hu Dabai's model was not handed over to everyone at all.
With Hong Chengchou's current luck, it would not be difficult for Hu Qing to compete. I'm afraid Li Shiwen would lose his qualification for the competition.
This is because the third hand of Lao Hongtou is a "quasi-tianting" card, that is, if you take one card, you will get the upper hand.
The rules set by Yaoji were not allowed to be heard by the Qing Dynasty, so Hong Chengchou had to follow the rules step by step, but it also scared the other three families into cold sweats.
Even Xue Guoguan believed that the other party was either cheating or stealing cards, but there was nothing he could do without evidence. What's more, Li Shiwen sent him to the court again before he could think of a countermeasure.
With such a magical assist, Hong Chengchou certainly would not refuse, and he successfully got the cards he wanted, which made the chief assistant almost depressed to the point of injury.
What broke this unfavorable situation was the new Shaanxi Governor Zuo Maodi, who successfully counterattacked and avoided the possibility of Hong Chengchou's fourth consecutive victory causing further embarrassment to everyone.
But for Li Shiwen and Xue Guoguan, it didn't make much difference, because they both continued to lose money.
Strangely enough, until Shangshu Hube lost all the chips in his hand and was kicked out, he still failed to win a single hand.
Hong Chengchou was the biggest winner of this event, winning five hands in total.
Zuo Mao was second, winning three games. No matter how bad Xue Guoguan was, he still won two games.
Zhang Guowei, a veteran of the Great Wall, replaced Li Shiwen, but he was unwilling to be beaten and won.
After the game, when the accounts were settled, Hong Chengchou already owned one hundred and sixty taels including principal and profit, and those sixty taels were a net gain for everyone.
According to the gameplay formulated by a certain prince, all participating players can keep their principal and profits as their own.
Zhang Guowei won one victory and three losses, but he still pocketed eighty taels, which was regarded as an appearance fee for the master to build the capital.
There is nothing fancy about dinner, just go straight to the barbecue, which is the favorite of my foodie brother Zhu Cijiong.
Since barbecue hurts the stomach, a certain prince stipulated that he could only eat it once a week. He was probably impatient.
The Yao Chicken was eaten with the surrounding courtiers, and it didn't matter whether Zhu Cijiong still needed to rely on the rockery to digest his food after eating it.
From the beginning of the military pay embezzlement case to the quelling of the rebellion in the capital, these ministers were disturbed and unable to sleep for many days.
A certain prince gave everyone a short holiday today to engage in some team activities that are beneficial to physical and mental health.
I believe everyone will be very happy to even get money to eat barbecue, except that the Minister of the Ministry of Finance is a little upset...
Early the next morning, Fang Zhenghua came to report: "Your Highness, nearly a thousand tea merchants' family members are outside the imperial city to request His Highness to pardon the arrested people!"
"Have they collected the money?" Yaoji was curious that these family members still had the nerve to come and plead for mercy.
Yesterday, Dongchang wanted to arrest all the family members of tea merchants, but a certain prince thought over and over again, and finally decided to arrest them all in one fell swoop, instead of making up for the remaining taxes in full and on time.
But the notice was sent to all the tea merchants and their families. They didn't expect it to turn out like this. They all took advantage of a certain prince's kindness as stupidity.
Fang Zhenghua knew that the prince only cared about money, but these tea merchants' family members were also ignorant and dared to come openly to petition: "In my opinion, they have never been together!"
Almost no one came with boxes, and all of them were empty-handed. They just wanted to let the prince give him some face and let the head of the family go. It was like a daydream.
"Humph! Then why are they here? Can't they demonstrate to me?"
Yang Shicong, who had been fooled by his cleverness before, once persuaded the supervisors of the Imperial College to do this once, but was beaten by a certain prince, and his family was ruined.
Obviously, these tea merchants' family members haven't figured out their own position yet, and they don't think they will end up like Yang Shicong, so they dare to slap their noses in the face.
"...I will send people to disperse them now!"
Fang Zhenghua would not use his own money to fill holes for tea merchants. He didn't want to do this, and he didn't have such great financial resources. He could only let these things go back to wherever they came from.
"No need, everyone who comes will be detained. Dongchang will arrest the family members of the tea merchants who have not come here in the whole city. They will also ransack their homes. No one will be spared. They can only be released if the missing taxes are paid!"
These people are like this. They think that by showing weakness, they can push forward and do whatever they want. When the scapegoat is still in power, they can just throw away a few taels of silver like a beggar.
"Call Huang Degong!"
Don’t you think I am a soft persimmon who can be manipulated at will?
It's easy to handle, I have found an extremely hard, big and thick helper who will make you want to die!
Soon, the idiot who lived in Ruimen came to see him wearing armor. A certain prince allowed him to ride to the gate of the East Palace and wear a sword to come to see him. This is the highest honor given to a military commander. He usually rides until noon. The door is at the end and you have to dismount and walk.
"Huang Degong, the commander-in-chief of the Yongwei Battalion..."
Huang Degong had long heard the noise outside. He went to check and found out that the family members of the tea merchants had come to petition. However, there would inevitably be people with ulterior motives in the crowd, so he ordered the Yongwei Battalion guarding the imperial city to be on high alert in case of any eventuality. .
When Huang Degong heard that the prince summoned him, he instinctively thought that the prince could not bear it anymore, so he asked him to mobilize the Yongwei camp to arrest all the tea merchants' family members, or to kill them on the spot to show the power of God.
"No need to be polite, just be on your own!"
A foot-picking idiot is best suited to deal with these unreasonable shrews. This is considered a perfect match.
Of course, Huang Degong cannot fight alone. If it is 1vN, Ming Dynasty will lose another strong general.
"The soldiers of the Brave Guard Battalion are brave and not afraid of death. They have made great contributions in guarding the inner city. Has the Ministry of Household Affairs ever paid out a full amount of silver rewards according to the results of the battle?"
If there is another problem in the Household Department, then Li Shiwen was beaten with mahjong by Hong Chengchou yesterday, and he will be beaten with a board by Jin Yiwei today.
Although the two things are both made of wood, their lethality is definitely different. No matter how much meat there is on the buttocks of the general minister, he cannot withstand the imperial staff ten times.
Usually, the ministers who were ordered to give imperial sticks by the emperor would be taken to the Meridian Gate, where they would be supervised by the eunuch in charge of the imperial rods, and the royal guards would spank them.
The end of the stick used is shaped like a mallet. Although it is made of wood, the head of the mallet is covered with iron because there is an iron hook attached to the iron sheet and is specially used to tear flesh.
According to the degree of the emperor's anger, the strength of the imperial staff is also divided into three levels.
The beating is just a normal force, as long as you mean it. Even if you hit twenty times, the person being beaten can still be alive and kicking.
If you really fight, you must teach the offending minister a lesson so that you will not contradict the emperor in the future.
Beating with all your heart means beating to death. If you don't beat to death, you won't be able to show the majesty of imperial power.
Before hitting someone, Jin Yiwei would observe the shape of the toes of the eunuch and eunuch.
The outward horoscope is to give the other party a way out, and the inner horoscope does not need to be thought too much. Use as much strength as you want...
But in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, ministers took pride in disobeying the holy will and taking the imperial staff, so this method failed.
Therefore, a certain prince would not be able to use the court staff easily. Since he was in charge of the country, there has not been a court staff incident.
Firstly, it shows the benevolent governance of the country, and secondly, there is a more effective way to replace the imperial staff.
"Your Highness, the Ministry of Revenue completed the statistics of the final general's battle results yesterday, and the reward money will be distributed today."
In Huang Degong's opinion, the work of the household department is already extremely efficient. In the past, this kind of work would have taken at least seven or eight days.
Even so, the silver reward cannot be paid out in full, and 20% will definitely be withheld, and the Ministry of War will deduct another 20%.
When it comes to their hands, only 60% will be left. At most, only 70% will be left. This will require a lot of thanks.
"That's good. If there is any procrastination or even corruption in the household department, I can report it directly to this palace, and I will make the decision for the soldiers!"
Because of the corruption of the Qin army's pay and silver, many moths in the Ministry of Household Affairs have been caught.
If something like this happens again, the entire household department will probably be in trouble.
"At the end of the day, I will lead my troops to thank the Holy Family!"
With the crown prince's strong support, the Yongwei camp will no longer have to worry about food, wages and weapons.
Huang Degong felt that "there are people in the court who can do things easily" was right. He had suffered a lot in the past.
"I call you here for the sake of reward! Those tea merchants ignored my order and could evade taxes. They dared to come and ask for amnesty for the arrested tea merchants. They are clearly defying the order! I couldn’t bear the killing, so I specially called my beloved to come here.”
If I don't teach these lawless family members an unforgettable lesson, I will really be treated as a soft persimmon.
"His Highness just orders the general!"
Huang Degong was a little confused when he heard this. Last time the prince said that he could not bear to kill, he ordered the Yongwei camp to kill three thousand prisoners of the Beijing camp. This time he said again, could it be...
"I have clearly ordered Fang Zhenghua to go and pay the taxes. Those who make up the amount will not be held responsible. Those who refuse to pay, as long as they are between the ages of fifteen and forty-five, the male family members will be escorted to Shandong to mine, and the female family members will be incorporated into the Jiaofang Department. If there is resistance, we will kill without mercy."
This time Yaoji did not intend to make concessions to the tea merchants, and instead adopted zero-tolerance measures, otherwise he would always be taken advantage of by the other party as a fool.
"The general will obey the order!"
Huang Degong thought it was a normal order-keeping operation. It was not the first time that Yongweiying had done this kind of thing. He was very experienced and there would be no mistakes.
"Can the Yongwei Battalion take a break from participating in the battle to defend the city?"
Yaoji felt that it was time to brush up his loyalty. If he didn’t brush up his loyalty now, it would be much later.
"Your Majesty, I will send him to wait for orders outside the imperial city!"
Huang Degong thought that the prince was dissatisfied with the too long rest time in Yongwei Camp, so he hurriedly catered to the holy will.
"Okay, except for the seriously injured people who are being treated, everyone will be mobilized to assemble outside Chengtian Gate and be on standby!"
If you are seriously injured, you will not be able to participate in this entertainment activity, otherwise you will die in the middle of the game, which cannot be counted as death.
"The general will obey the order!"
Huang Degong immediately took the order to do it, guessing that the prince was going to carry out another operation.
But gathering thousands of people just to deal with the tea merchants' families would be a bit of a fuss.
"Your Highness, only five tea merchants have chosen to pay the remaining taxes, and the remaining 161 families are continuing to petition outside the imperial city!"
Fang Zhenghua was also very embarrassed about such a huge disparity. The tea merchants' family members were clearly working together to resist the decree. They were collectively putting pressure on the prince in an attempt to impose a law without blaming everyone.
"Haha, they want money more than their lives!"
Yaoji did not intend to leave a way out for them, and decided to implement the "Final Solution to Tea Merchants and Their Families", and having the Yongwei camp assembled on standby was an obvious signal.
In just half an hour, the Yongwei battalions stationed throughout the inner city were all those who had participated in the battle to defend the city.
The first group was led by deputy general Zhang Yilong and supervisor Wang Yumin, and was mainly the city defenders in the early stage.
The other unit was led by Zhou Yuji, and they were all mixed units that took the initiative to attack the Beijing camp in the later period.
The two groups combined have more than 3,000 people, so they can easily deal with nearly a thousand tea merchants' family members.
"Separate the men and women, and capture all the female relatives and imprison them in the mansion of Wuding Marquis Guo Peimin!"
A certain prince was at the Chengtian Gate, looking sternly at the pretentious family members of the tea merchants below, and then gave Huang Degong an order.
After the Yongwei battalion received the order, the wolf-like soldiers immediately rushed into the crowd and began to capture the female relatives.
"What do you want to do?"
When a male family member saw that the soldiers were about to take away the woman next to them, they wanted to stop him.
"screw you!"
As a result, he was kicked to the ground by a glaring strong man and threatened with a sword.
For these tea merchants who deliberately evaded taxes, no one in the Yongwei camp had any sympathy at all.
"Ah~"
"Oh no!"
"Killing people..."
An old man who was relying on his old age wanted to have a fight with a soldier. He fought with a soldier for a while, but when he saw that it didn't work, he bit him. As a result, he angered the soldier and had his neck chopped off.
When the people around saw this situation, they immediately became agitated and started running and calling, hoping that the prince on the top of the city could stop the barbaric behavior of his soldiers.
At this time, the tea merchants' family members began to feel really scared, because the prince had mobilized the Yongwei camp instead of Dongchang or Jinyiwei, which meant that they would be guarded.
"Hmph!"
Yao Ji simply ignored these people's cries and begging for mercy. No matter how they displayed their superb acting skills, it was impossible to impress a certain prince who had made up his mind.
Only a handful of people were slaughtered, and most of them finally gave up the struggle and surrendered, otherwise their lives would not have been saved.
A certain prince ordered Huang Degong to cooperate with Dongchang in arresting the family members of tea merchants throughout the city. No one could be passed over, especially the female family members, who would be used as military supplies...
