Chapter 29 Chasing stolen goods and providing payment
"Gao Banban, you're not dead?"
Zhu Gaoyuan was also quite surprised. This was Xiaoqiang who couldn't be beaten to death.
He jumped up, dived deep, and ran to Zhu Gaoyuan's horse. He said with a flattering look on his face: "Your Majesty has great blessings all over the sky. This old slave only got a little bit of blessing and survived by chance."
Zhu Gaoyuan said: "Okay, just follow me and serve you."
If it doesn't work this time, I'll give you a chance next time and finally let you become the eunuch king.
Gao Qiqian responded with a cry, and then happily took the reins of Zhu Gaoyuan's horse.
Zhu Gaoyuan turned back and said: "Hurry up and pack your bags, and then set off south."
Wang Jiayan took a step forward and said, "Your Majesty, are you going to return to Yanshan for temporary refuge?"
"You're right." Zhu Gaoyuan nodded and said, "The Mongolian army from Chahar is coming, and we can't stay in the grassland any longer."
Hu Xinshui then said: "The Gongtu tribe has been severely damaged. The other tribes just want to expel us. At this time, it is a wise move to return to Yanshan for temporary refuge."
Zhu Gaoyuan's heart suddenly moved. Hu Xinshui started to offer suggestions? What a good sign.
However, he said calmly on the surface: "Returning to Yanshan does not mean that we can sit back and relax. The tribal coalition forces of Chahar Mongolia will not fight us to get the Gongtu tribe to enter Yanshan, but the bandits will never be kind.
Give it a rest, Li Yan’s vanguard cavalry will definitely be followed by a large army!"
Wang Jiayan said: "But it won't be worse than before."
Officials such as Meng Zhaoxiang and Wu Linzheng also said: "Yes, we have persevered in such a difficult and desperate situation. Now that there are a thousand barbarians in Guan Ning's army, a few thousand thieves are nothing."
Gao Qiqian said: "The main reason is that the Holy One has great blessings and is blessed by the ancestors."
"Shut up!" Zhu Gaoyuan's face immediately fell and he cursed, "The talk of great blessings and blessings from ancestors and ancestors are all nonsense! I can only survive now because of the bloody battles of my soldiers."
The nearby Ming army officers and soldiers all looked towards Zhu Gaoyuan.
After rising high and diving, Weiwei stepped back, thinking that he was patting the horse on the leg again.
Today's Holy Emperor is really difficult to serve, and life is difficult.
…
Li Zicheng also felt that life was not easy and governing the country was too complicated.
Unexpectedly, Wei Zaode, the "former chief assistant" of the Ming Dynasty, and Chen Yan, the "second assistant", brought hundreds of high-ranking officials of third rank and above to kneel down outside Chengtian Gate to petition.
Li Zicheng wanted to go out to do errands, but was blocked.
Facing Wei Zaode's questioning, Li Zicheng said angrily: "Use you? If I use you, I'm afraid I will become the second in Chongzhen."
"Your Majesty, this is a big fallacy." Wei Zaode said boldly, "I really have the talent of a prime minister. Chongzhen did not listen to his words, which is why he is today. If he had been willing to listen to his words, he would have become a lost dog."
"Shut up!" Li Zicheng was really angry now and cursed, "No matter how unbearable Chongzhen is, he is still the king, and he promoted you to be the chief minister of the puppet Ming Dynasty. You don't want to report to the emperor and bring peace to the people, but instead you come to me to ask for help."
Official, you still call your late master a lost dog? As long as you still have some responsibilities as a minister, you should follow the example of Ni Yuanlu, Li Banghua and others who committed suicide and became benevolent."
On the night when the Dashun Army entered Beijing, on the night when Zhu Gaoyuan led a thousand mobs to break through, thousands of officials and gentry, led by Ni Yuanlu, the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, and Li Banghua, the Minister of the Ministry of War, all hanged themselves in despair.
Or throw yourself into a well, the Jiashen national disaster will inevitably happen after all.
Facing Li Zicheng's reprimand, Wei Zaode did not blush at all.
Instead, he said shamelessly: "Your Majesty is a famous monarch, and I have long been willing to assist you."
When Li Zicheng heard this, he laughed angrily, pointed at Wei Zaode's nose and cursed: "I have never seen such a shameless person. Come on, put this old man in jail and torture him severely!"
Wei Zaode and the others finally brought about a catastrophe of death for themselves.
Since entering Beijing, Liu Zongmin and Niu Jinxing have been persuading Li Zicheng to launch a large-scale recovery of stolen goods and subsidies, but because of the obstruction of Li Yan and Song Xiance, they have been in a state of vacillation.
But now the balance in Li Zicheng's heart finally tilted towards Liu Zongmin.
Of course, the more important reason is that the Dashun Army has also run out of military pay and is in urgent need of money.
At that moment, Li Zicheng said to Liu Zongmin who was accompanying him: "It seems that we are still too polite to the demotions of the pseudo-ming, and everyone is starting to bite their noses."
Liu Zongmin said happily: "Brother, do you agree?"
Li Zicheng nodded and said: "Yes, just let your hands and feet go and catch up! Let these royal relatives, corrupt officials and eunuchs pay the price for their evil deeds!"
Liu Zongmin was overjoyed and said: "Okay!"
So a large-scale pursuit of stolen goods and subsidies began.
That morning, an edict left the Forbidden City and spread throughout the capital.
The edict stated that all high-ranking officials in Beijing and high-ranking Jin gentry and eunuchs, regardless of whether they were officials in the Dashun New Dynasty or not, would be paid, and the amount of the transfer was also preliminarily determined.
The highest amount is for the bachelor of the cabinet, which is one hundred thousand taels.
This shows how crude the Dashun army's methods of doing things were.
Because the richest people in Beijing are not academicians, but relatives of the emperor.
But fortunately, Liu Zongmin quickly improved his method and began to implement a floating quota system.
To put it simply, you pay as much as you have until all your property is donated!
This was amazing. In just a few days, more than 70 million taels of silver were recovered from the torture. Among them, Chongzhen's father-in-law Zhou Kui contributed 600,000 taels of silver, as well as gold, pearls and a large number of rare antiques.
However, problems inevitably arise in the process of recovering stolen money and subsidies.
The officers and soldiers of the Dashun Army, who had previously done no harm to the common people, began to break into houses unscrupulously, openly seize the property of wealthy families, frequently kill the original owners, and the harm to the female family members was also inevitable and frequent.
In the end, the scope of the infringement even expanded to the small people in Beijing.
Some Dashun soldiers even sealed off the alley and then began to do whatever they wanted.
When Li Zicheng saw that this was not going to work, he quickly stopped pursuing the stolen goods and paying them.
But the impact has already been caused. This time the pursuit of stolen goods and strict pay have shaken the unstable foundation of the Dashun Army, and also caused irreversible damage to the discipline of the Dashun Army.
Wu Sangui finally got the opportunity he had dreamed of.
Although Dorgon has not yet given a clear answer, he does not want to wait any longer.
On the second day after Li Zicheng stopped the pursuit of stolen money, which was the fourth day of April, Wu Sangui led Guan Ning's army in a sudden attack on the pretext that his concubine had been robbed. He easily defeated Tang Tong's troops and regained control of Haishan Pass.
The window of opportunity that Zhu Gaoyuan had been thinking about for half a month has arrived.
…
But Zhu Gaoyuan didn't know yet at this time.
At this time, Zhu Gaoyuan was still hiding in the depths of Yanshan Mountain with Li Yan, Li You, and Gu Kecheng.
Guan Ning's army of one thousand Yiding can indeed fight. If Gu Kecheng's two thousand cavalry had not arrived in time, Li Yan's cavalry would have been killed by a thousand Yiding, and Li Yan's three brothers might have died on the grassland.
.
But even so, Li Yan only has less than 500 riders left under his command!
Not long after, Li You also came with three thousand cavalry to join them.
Now the situation was reversed, with the Dashun army chasing the Ming army.
Facing more than 5,000 rogue cavalry, Zhu Gaoyuan did not get too excited and engage in a decisive battle with the opponent. Instead, he decisively adopted the tactic of leading the rogue cavalry in circles deep in Yanshan Mountain.
From March 28th to April 4th, I have been riding in the mountains for seven days.
Thanks to the help of a thousand Yiding, the Ming army could always easily get rid of the bandits.
During these seven days, Zhu Gaoyuan resolutely rejected the specialization proposed by Wang Chengen and Gao Qiqian, and also rejected the kind reminders from Wang Jiayan and other civil servants, and insisted on eating and living with a thousand Yiding.
Of course, Hu Xinshui was always monitored separately during this period.
To win over people's hearts is to win over people's hearts, but you still need to take necessary precautions.
When it was time for lunch again, Zhu Gaoyuan took Wang Chengen to Wubatan's camp.
The army usually only eats two meals a day, lunch and lunch. Only when there is a war, it will be changed to three meals a day. If there is a night battle, there may be a midnight snack.
Now I only eat two meals if I'm not fighting.
"Your Majesty!" Seeing Zhu Gaoyuan coming, he said
Wu Ba Tan and his subordinate Yi Ding quickly stood up to pay their respects.
"No need." Zhu Gaoyuan waved his hand and sat down next to Wu Bangtan.
Conveniently, he covered the ears of the earthenware pot with a sweat towel, and took down the earthenware pot that was placed on the bonfire for cooking. The man on the other side had already handed over a wooden bowl with charcoal, and Zhu Gaoyuan poured a large bowl full of mutton.
Miscellaneous soup.
"Oh, not bad." Zhu Gaoyuan said with a smile, "There is actually haggis."
"In the morning, a settlement in the Gongtu tribe was slaughtered and dozens of lambs were robbed."
Wu handed the charcoal to Zhu Gaoyuan a large piece of wheat cake, and said: "It's barely enough for a meal of haggis soup."
Zhu Gaoyuan followed Yi Ding's example and tore the wheat cakes into pieces, soaked them in mutton soup until soft, and then ate them. He said, "The conditions are a bit tough now. I'll treat you to a big meal when we get to Jiangnan."
"Your Majesty, what delicious food is there in Jiangnan?" asked a Yiding.
"That's a lot." Zhu Gaoyuan said with his fingers, "There are all kinds of steamed, boiled, and stewed dishes, including chicken, duck, fish, and so on. The most delicious thing is anchovies. I'll be sure of my fate when I get to Jiangnan."
All the prefectures along the Yangtze River will pay tribute, and I will also let you have a taste of what is called real delicacy in the world."
"Gudu." Several Yiding swallowed their saliva.
It is really hard for normal people to resist eating.
Zhu Gaoyuan was talking happily when Hu Guozhu came over.
"Your Majesty," Hu Guozhu said, "if you don't accept anything in return at night, the bandits suddenly withdrew!"
"Withdraw?" Zhu Gaoyuan's heart moved when he heard this. It seems that something big happened in the pass, otherwise Li Zicheng would not have withdrawn Li Yan and his more than 5,000 cavalry.
