"I know that you are actually common people who were kidnapped by bandits, and you had no choice but to become thieves! Therefore, I have decided to pardon you for what you have done within this month, and you can go home! But..."
When Sun Hanqing first listened, he couldn't help but feel overjoyed. The emperor was so kind that he really wanted to let them go home, which was really great. Wherever he looked, he could also see other people showing happy expressions.
But before they had time to be happy, they heard Emperor Chongzhen say "but" again. Suddenly, the happy expression condensed on his face. Could it be that he had to pay the price after all?
Emperor Chongzhen saw the change in their expressions and knew that they had misunderstood, so he continued: "But I know that many of you have been harmed by bandits. Your wives and children have been separated, your families have been destroyed, or your fields or shops have been destroyed." Was ruined..."
Hearing this, Sun Hanqing and others suddenly thought of their own experiences, and their hearts immediately became heavy. Many people even shed tears because of the sadness welling up from the bottom of their hearts.
Some were more restrained and just cried silently; however, some people couldn't help crying when they thought of their dead relatives and their former happy home.
Even if only a small number of the nearly 100,000 people cried, the combined sound was loud enough.
This time, Emperor Chongzhen waved his hand and motioned to the soldiers below not to scold them, but to let them cry for a while to vent their anger.
Although some thieves have been doing it for a long time, they have forgotten their sorrow. However, under this scene, many people still thought of their own experiences and memories that had been deliberately forgotten. Even if they did not cry, they still felt very heavy.
After a while, Emperor Chongzhen finally spoke. As soon as the people below heard the emperor begin to speak again, they wiped their tears and consciously stopped making any sound.
"When something like this happens, the imperial court cannot absolve itself from the blame, and I am also responsible..."
Emperor Chongzhen's words surprised many people.
You know, they have always heard that the emperor is never wrong and is always right. Even if there is a mistake, it is the fault of his ministers.
If you are familiar with the emperor and deal with him every day, you will naturally be familiar with the emperor. You will also know that the emperor is actually an ordinary person, he is just born well. Inevitably, mistakes will be made.
However, for ordinary people, even ordinary soldiers, if the emperor is far away, they may not necessarily have such a view.
Although Emperor Chongzhen had issued several edicts and admitted that he had problems; however, now, in front of them, the emperor personally said that he was responsible, which shocked them.
This is the emperor, and he actually said that he was responsible in front of so many people!
Li Guo, Li Dingguo and others who had been silent below suddenly opened their eyes wide after hearing these words, looking up at the emperor on the top of the city, with a hint of admiration on their shocked faces.
As for Emperor Chongzhen himself, he didn’t think it was so rare, and just continued: “… Therefore, not only can you go home, I have also decided to issue you with silver notes from the Ming Dynasty Royal Bank, each worth five taels. This banknote can be exchanged for cash at the branches of the Royal Bank of the Ming Dynasty in various provinces. It can be exchanged at any time and will never be in arrears. If somewhere happens that the banknote cannot be exchanged for silver, you can go to the capital to file a complaint, or you can go to the local court. You can file a complaint with the Metropolitan Procuratorate or the factory guard; if I find out, I will definitely punish you severely!"
The soldiers and thieves below had actually heard about the banknotes from the Royal Bank of Ming Dynasty before. It was the rumor that the emperor used this banknote to exchange money and food with the prince's palace. Therefore, the people present did not hear it inexplicably and knew what was going on.
The common people naturally have their own ideas. They feel that those vassal kings are all members of the Zhu family and the emperor's clan. These Ming Dynasty Royal Bank banknotes should not be fake. Otherwise, The emperor's own people would suffer.
With such an understanding, and Emperor Chongzhen making another promise in front of so many people, he guaranteed that the bank note would be exchanged for Tao silver. In addition to the good impression the emperor had given them before, combined with all these factors, most people believed that the bank note was genuine and could be directly exchanged for silver coins. In other words, it's money!
And this was actually a purpose for Emperor Chongzhen to take the opportunity to promote banknotes.
There are nearly 100,000 people. Although most of them are from Henan and Hubei, after they disperse, the area they can cover is still quite large. With so many people using banknotes, at least it can achieve a widespread publicity effect.
In order for the Ming Royal Bank's bank notes to establish credibility and eventually be used as currency, enough people must first know about them. This time, using banknotes as severance pay, or compensation, can be regarded as killing two birds with one stone.
Only Emperor Chongzhen knew about this, and even the two feudal officials around him, Chen Qiyu and Zheng Chongjian, didn't know.
Hearing the emperor's announcement of this decision, they understood that not only did they not have to pay a price, but they could also receive a sum of money. This made Sun Hanqing and others couldn't help but feel extremely grateful. They didn't know who took the lead. While kneeling down, Everyone spontaneously shouted "Long live the emperor, long live, long live, long live the emperor".
Emperor Chongzhen looked at them and sighed slightly in his heart. In fact, the people of this era are still very easy to manage. Just be nice to them and they will appreciate it without thinking too much! It can be described in one word, "simple"! You must work hard to let them live a good life!
Of course, for these thieves who were less than a month old, or the common people who were held hostage, Emperor Chongzhen, in addition to issuing banknotes from the Royal Bank of Ming Dynasty, also asked Chen Qiyu, who was dealing with the aftermath, to pay attention to the local government's arrangements for them.
For example, the fields, shops, houses, etc. that originally belonged to them must be returned to them. Although these matters are trivial, they are important personal matters for these people. Emperor Chongzhen cannot worry so much, so it is most reasonable for Chen Qiyu to follow up. Who made him the governor of the five provinces? These people are all his In charge.
After dealing with these people, Emperor Chongzhen turned to look at the other queue, which were those who had been outlaws for more than a month and less than a year.
These thieves also knew that the emperor was going to deal with them, so they couldn't help but hold their breath and wait to see what the emperor would say.
To be honest, with the previous examples, many of them are optimistic. Some people even thought that maybe the emperor would not only pardon them, but also give them some money, but maybe not as much as five taels.
Just as they were thinking about it, they heard Emperor Chongzhen's face was serious and he had already spoken: "You have been thieves for more than a month and less than a year, and you have done a lot of evil things. Look at the nearly 100,000 people next to you. You are your share of the suffering they have caused. Although you may have been forced to do this, the harm caused to other people also exists."
Judging from his experience as a thief, what he said may be a bit absolute. However, for the vast majority of people, it will not be unjust. Therefore, when the people in this queue heard this, some turned to look at the previous queue, some lowered their heads, and some felt a little bad after hearing the emperor's words.
The people in the previous queue turned to look at them, with more or less hatred in their eyes. Because Emperor Chongzhen was right, these people were certainly responsible for coercing them into becoming thieves.
Emperor Chongzhen continued: "Therefore, after comprehensive consideration, I have decided to give you the opportunity to atone for your sins. You will be organized into an army to rescue the people and work for the people; after one year, you will be pardoned for the people. Of course. , or you can continue to stay in the military and still work for the people; you can choose this freely; if you choose to continue to stay in the military, you will be paid military pay, and if you perform well and accumulate merit, you will be promoted."
When he said this, he pointed his hand to the city of Nanyang and said: "For example, what you have to do next is to build houses for the people of Nanyang, and then rebuild the moat near Nanyang, bury the people who were killed in the past, and build Water conservancy, etc. The suffering you have brought to Nanyang Prefecture and Xiangyang Prefecture will be repaid with your labor."
After hearing this, these thieves were disappointed and felt that this was okay. Just as the emperor said, it was to atone for the sins of the people of these two mansions, and the period was not long, only one year. After one year is up, you are free. After a while, it will pass.
At this time, they had not thought about staying in the army for construction purposes a year later. However, Emperor Chongzhen would tell Chen Qiyu not to be harsh on this army. I believe that after a year, some homeless people will definitely remain in the army and become the backbone of this army.
The purpose of Emperor Chongzhen, this kind of army for construction purposes, will always exist in the future. People with experience in this field can still be reused even if they were former thieves.
From now on, the Ming Dynasty must spend more time on infrastructure construction. And this is indispensable for building an army.
Of course, there must be some people in this queue who are envious of the previous queue and are unwilling to do this year's work. However, the emperor made a decision, and they had no right to fight, so they could only accept it.
One thing that Emperor Chongzhen did not say was that during this year, if anyone was lazy and naughty, Chen Qiyu would not be polite. Because during this year, they are still prisoners of crime and cannot be rehabilitated. If they are severely punished, they will never be leniently spared.
After finishing dealing with the second queue, Emperor Chongzhen turned to look at the queue with the smallest number of people.
When Sun Kewang and others saw it, they knew that the time had come to decide their fate, and everyone became a little nervous. Because they themselves also understood that being a bandit for more than a year would definitely be the biggest sin in the eyes of the emperor. According to the emperor's previous punishment, maybe the number of years he has been a thief will mean how many years of work he has to do. In total, if he has more than ten years, it is equivalent to working like this for the rest of his life?
To be honest, people who think the same way as him are reluctant to work for more than ten years in the future. They are old thieves who have the highest status among thieves. They usually enjoy popular food and drink spicy food. Their treatment is basically much better than before they became thieves, and they are used to enjoying it.
While they were thinking about it, they heard Emperor Chongzhen say seriously to their group: "You have all been thieves for more than a year. I believe some of you have been thieves for more than ten years. This will bring great benefits to the people all over the Ming Dynasty. The sufferings of the people you have harmed are hard to describe..."
Hearing the emperor say this, the hearts of many old thieves sank, something was not good!
"...Although you may have had your own reasons when you first became thieves, you were also forced to do so by corrupt officials." When Emperor Chongzhen said this, he suddenly raised his voice and shouted, "But this is not what you have been doing for so many years. Thieves, the reason to harm other people. I have just killed several corrupt officials. If I find out later, I will kill them all without mercy! And you thieves who have caused harm to other people for many years are not as good as if you follow my temper. A clean kill with one knife. But..."
The emperor's words were much more serious than before, but fortunately there was a "but" that allowed these old thieves to keep their hearts in mind and continue to listen to the emperor's condemnation of them.
After Emperor Chongzhen paused, he glanced at Li Guo and others, and then continued: "... there are still some of you who have consciences that are still intact. Let me see that you still have a chance to be saved. Therefore, I decided to give you one too. An opportunity to atone for your sins. The people of Liaodong are now in dire straits, and life is worse than death. Although the Jianlu have been driven out of the pass, the people outside the pass are still suffering. Therefore, I have decided that you will go and serve in Lu Xiangsheng's army to fight Build captives, save the people, and atone for your sins!"
"As long as you go to fight against the captives, I will pardon your previous crimes and treat you like ordinary soldiers, with rewards and punishments like ordinary soldiers. I believe that Governor Lu can treat you fairly!"
When Emperor Chongzhen said this, he glanced at the queue and shouted coldly: "Of course, whether you go to Liaodong to build captives or not depends entirely on your own free will. For now, those who volunteer to go to Liaodong to build captives should stand on your left. "
Upon hearing this, Li Guo, Li Dingguo and others immediately turned around and left without any hesitation, walking to the left of their queue to form a new queue.
When other bandits saw them moving, some followed them. Of course, others were not as sloppy as Li Guo and others, and they more or less hesitated and thought for a while.
Emperor Chongzhen was very patient and waited for the old thieves in this queue to continue to the new queue in twos and threes.
But there are still many people who haven't moved because they don't want to go. For example, Sun Kewang was very hesitant.
Jianlu is so powerful. If you go to Liaodong to fight against Jianlu, you might die there! If you really die, then there will be nothing left!
Thinking about it this way, it is better to work for ten years. After ten years, at least I will still have a life to live and be free.
There are many people who think like Sun Kewang. They would rather choose to work for ten years that was not recognized by them before, rather than go to Liaodong and lose their lives.
In fact, many of Shaanxi's frontier troops mutinied midway when they were transferred to Liaodong. Because Jianlu had always been invincible, they felt that going to Liaodong would definitely mean death.
Indeed, in the past, the troops transferred to Liaodong, even the famous Qi Family Army and Baigan Army, eventually died there.
It is one thing for these bandits not to fear death for rebelling, but it is another thing entirely for them to fear death for rebelling.
Emperor Chongzhen did not put enough pressure on them or force them to go to Liaodong. He just watched quietly from the top of the city after speaking.
After about a quarter of an hour, only about one-tenth of the bandits moved their queue, and then they spoke again: "I know that you may be afraid of Jianlu and think that Jianlu is powerful. But I can tell you that Jianlu is also a human being. , just at the beginning of the year, they also suffered a big defeat, losing 30,000 horses. I will definitely conquer Liaodong personally in the future. Jianlu, there is nothing to be afraid of. I will give you another quarter of an hour, and I will not force you. You go to Liaodong to fight against the rebels, all on your own free will!"
After he finished speaking, he stopped talking, and the incense marking the time was lit on the top of the city.
Emperor Chongzhen's words made some old thieves start to move towards the new queue after hesitation.
After the stick of incense was burned, Emperor Chongzhen did not delay any longer and announced directly: "The time is up, there is no chance to choose anymore!"
At this time, there were only about 5,000 old thieves who volunteered to go to Liaodong to fight against the rebels, and nearly 10,000 others remained in place, waiting for the emperor to punish them.
In their opinion, it should be ten years of hard work or some other punishment. Anyway, it would definitely be much better than going to Liaodong to fight against the rebels.
Emperor Chongzhen did not immediately say the punishment for them, but just turned to look at the generals behind him.
When Cao Bianjiao, He Renlong, and Zhou Yuji saw him, they immediately responded with fists in their hands and hurriedly left the city. The emperor didn’t even need to say anything, because he had already told them beforehand.
After a while, the three of them returned to their respective subordinates and began to mobilize the army.
Seeing this scene, many people were puzzled. Are you planning to organize those five thousand people into an army, or are you planning to escort these ten thousand people to where? Or do you want to do something else?
.
