At this time, under Zhao Qian's deliberate instigation, all the soldiers and civilians in Haimen Guard City already knew that King Lu had ascended the throne in Taizhou to supervise the country, and when they came to Haimen Guard City, they also heard that King Lu was recruiting troops in Haimen.
Resisting the Qing army, I also heard that the commander-in-chief of the Qing army, Bo Luo, was coming from Hangzhou with an army of 100,000.
People were panicked for a while.
Rich people are preparing to escape, but poor people are still busy struggling with three meals a day.
Mr. Zhao Qian instigated him, and everyone didn't care so much. They all came to King Lu to ask for pay.
Even if the Qing army comes, you have to be a dead man first, right?
Isn't it nonsense to force everyone to return to the camp to defend the city and fight without giving them enough silver and moon food?
If you don't work for a day, there will be no food for the family.
The General's Mansion was surrounded and impenetrable.
Everyone was more concerned about the payment arrears than the news about the imminent arrival of the Qing army's 100,000 troops.
Lao Zhu could only feel heavy-hearted about this.
Haimen Guard City was originally managed by the Haimen Guard Commander. Later, after Qi Jiguang became the first Taizhou General to garrison Haimen, the General's Yamen became the top administrator of the Acropolis.
Wu Kai, the commander of the guards, Qian Shi and other generals, and the guards stood in sincerity.
"How much money and food can the city bring out now?" Lao Zhu asked directly. The guards and camp soldiers all owed money and pay, and there were many cases of fake names. Now Lao Zhu doesn't want to deal with these bad debts for the time being.
To quell the riot, we must first come up with some real money and rice.
If you can't see, who will listen to those nonsense?
Wu Kai is not only Taizhou General, but also has the title of Haimen Guardsman. His family has been in Haimen for generations, and he belongs to the kind of military leaders and wealthy landowners who have occupied the military fields of the guards for generations, and then take some soldiers' blood and draw some pay.
Taking advantage of Haimen's convenient geographical conditions, they did some smuggling trade, so the Wu family had a good fortune.
The guard station was poor and the military camp was poor, but the old Wu family was quite wealthy.
Wu Kai also knew that this incident was going too far, so he could only grit his teeth and donate.
"There is no money or food in the guardhouse or camp, and all the rats have escaped from the warehouse. The general is willing to donate three thousand taels of silver to cover his expenses."
Lao Zhu glanced at Wu Kai and said, "How can we allow ministers to donate to national affairs?"
"Borrow it. I just borrowed 20,000 taels of silver from Mr. Zhang Guojun, the commander of Jinyiwei, at a monthly profit of three cents. General Wu will also lend it to Gu at this profit. Gu will give you an IOU."
Wu Kai was stunned for a moment.
Then his face looked a little unsightly. What does "Jian Guo" mean? You don't look down on three thousand taels. Is it too little?
What did Zhang Guojun say when he borrowed 20,000 taels and got 30% of the profit? Is this a direct request for 20,000 taels of silver? Wu Kai felt depressed and sad. Although the old Wu family had some wealth, this was the last three years that the eleven generations of the old Wu family had lived in Haimen.
What I have accumulated little by little over the course of a hundred years is what I have picked up through my teeth, and I have taken risks.
He could afford 20,000 taels, but this was almost all the Wu family's cash. Some of it was stock money or loans from banks, shops, etc., and he had to collect it in advance.
Otherwise, we can only sell some gold and silver property or land and shops first.
Lao Zhu glanced at Wu Kai and said, "I will write a note of three thousand taels to General Wu now. It will be for three years first. The interest will be three thousand two hundred and forty taels for three years. The principal and interest will be repaid upon maturity for a total of six months."
One thousand two hundred and forty taels." As he said this, Lao Zhu asked Wang Chuang to get some paper and ink so that he could pay the IOU on the spot.
Wu Kai, who looked like a bear, was stunned for a moment and then immediately came to his senses.
"Your Highness, I would like to donate 20,000 taels of silver to support my salary. It is a donation, not a loan."
Lao Zhu just laughed.
Emperor Chongzhen also asked ministers to borrow money, but Chongzhen's borrowing of money turned out to be a farce that made people feel sad. He borrowed 100,000 taels of silver from his father-in-law, and even made his father-in-law an earl in the first place. However, Zhou Kui only agreed to borrow money.
Five thousand taels.
In the end, he felt that five thousand taels was too much, so he ran into the palace to find the queen's daughter to complain about her poverty. The queen sold her jewelry to raise five thousand taels to give to him. As soon as Zhou Kui left the palace, he put two thousand taels into his pocket and only donated
However, after Li Zicheng entered Beijing, Zhou Kui and his family were tortured and robbed, but he handed over hundreds of thousands of taels of silver.
The dignified chief minister Wei Zaode cried out for poverty and took his family's furniture and utensils to the street to set up a stall, and finally gave Chongzhen 500 taels of silver. Then when Li Zicheng came to Beijing, he was arrested and tortured, but he immediately took out 10,000 taels.
After being beaten to death, his house was ransacked, but tens of thousands of taels of silver were confiscated.
Zhou Kui, the head of the state, and Wei Zaode, the first assistant, were not an exception at that time, but a common situation. Chongzhen asked ministers and relatives to borrow money. Everyone cried out about poverty. They even wore patched rags in the previous court because they didn't need money anyway.
Lao Zhu doesn't think he has more dignity than Chongzhen, but he does have no money now.
He could only shamelessly ask someone to borrow it, but he really intended to borrow it, not steal it.
However, Wu Kai was a smart person, and he got into trouble again today. For a moment, he made a mistake, and he didn't care about his heartache. He took the initiative to be heroic and was willing to donate 20,000 taels.
Lao Zhu lamented that the guards camp was so poor that they couldn't get rid of the problem. The 3,000-person co-camp only supported 120 soldiers, but the general's family could easily come up with 20,000 taels of silver. It seemed that the Ming Dynasty was poor.
It's just that the imperial court, the emperor, the civil servants, military officers, and officials were not all poor.
"Wu Qing is very loyal, and I accept it with my heart."
Lao Zhu picked up his pen and wrote an IOU, borrowing 10,000 taels, with a monthly interest of three cents, for three years, borrowing 10,000 taels, and paying back 20,800 taels after three years.
He solemnly signed his name under the IOU, and then specially stamped it with the gold seal of King Lu and his own private seal.
"Just borrow ten thousand taels. I can't let Wu Qing break his family to help me."
Wu Kai took the IOU with trembling hands, already thinking that the ten thousand taels were wasted.
However, having an IOU can still comfort the injured heart.
Who let his confidant Mr. Qian named Zhao make trouble? The one who killed Qian Dao was his brother-in-law. It is impossible to lose money and bleed money. Besides, the situation outside is fierce. If those damn guys don't see some real gold today,
Bai Yin probably won’t give up either.
I'm used to numbness at ordinary times, but occasionally it rebounds.
It has to be comforted.
"Commander Liu, the national crisis is at the forefront. I wonder if Commander Liu can be generous and lend me some money first?" Lao Zhu smiled at the Haimen Guard Commander Liu Yiming next to him who had always had a stiff face and looked more like crying when he wanted to laugh. The old man looked at
He looked like he was about to be buried, and he had always had this dead expression since he came in.
Liu Yiming opened and closed his mouth, closed and opened it again, and kept opening and closing it. After a long time, he finally made up his mind, "My family is poor and cannot compare to General Wu. I can only afford three thousand taels."
Wu Kai frowned on the side. Both the Liu family and the Wu family were local gangsters, and they were even relatives for hundreds of years. "Uncle Liu, the national crisis is at the forefront. The Supervisor has personally asked you to borrow money. You have to do your best no matter what. You can borrow five thousand at least."
."
Liu Yiming had a look of pain on his face, "I can't take it out. There are many adults in my family, the expenses are high, and there is no income."
Wu Kai's eyes indicated, "Think of a way. It's really difficult to turn around at the moment. I'll help Uncle Liu pay the difference of two thousand taels first."
Liu Yiming was full of reluctance, but in the end he had no choice but to agree.
Lao Zhu didn't have a good expression on the old guy, so he finally wrote him a five thousand tael IOU.
"All the generals, gentry, and local powerful businessmen present here, I promise that this is a loan, and the IOU can be redeemed when it expires. The interest of three points is not low."
Wang Chuangzi snorted on the side, "The Tatars are about to go south. Many of you here must have been to Yangzhou and seen the prosperity of Guangling. Now it has been massacred by the Tatars and turned into a ghost town hell. If we can't hold on,
Our own homeland, all the great people and foreigners who have been favored by the country will be nothing more than lambs slaughtered by the Tatars."
Lao Zhu said with a smile, "I reiterate, this is borrowing money, just treat it as a normal loan turnover. The profit of three points is still quite high. Ordinary transactions don't have this kind of profit. Don't worry, everyone, I, Zhu Yihai, always keep my promises.
Debts must be paid!"
At this point, one is the murderous Yongwei camp guerrilla Wang Chuangzi, the other is the friendly Lu Wang Jianguo with a smile on his face, and outside are groups of fully armed Yongwei camp officers and soldiers and the red-haired ghost
Franconian Musketeers.
"I would like to lend you two thousand taels."
"I would like to lend you one thousand."
"I can give you one thousand two hundred taels, but I can only give you so much."
·····
Someone else offered 8,500.
However, Lao Zhu just agreed with a smile, expressed his gratitude, and issued IOUs one by one, signed and stamped his name.
A thousand taels is never too much, a hundred taels is never too little.
However, he naturally remembered those who were sincere in paying more today, and those who were obviously stingy and refused to pay more, he also remembered them one by one.
"Wang Youyi, you immediately send someone to go back to the house with these adults to collect the money. Don't waste time. Thousands of people outside are waiting for the money. If you delay for a long time, if there is any uncontrollable trouble.
, but it will be troublesome." Lao Zhu said.
Wang Chuangzi immediately nodded knowingly, called his brothers, and escorted (held) the respectable officers, gentry, businessmen, and landowners in the guard city back to withdraw their money.
