A small soldier of the frontier army in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 859
On the 23rd, a crowd of hundreds of officials gathered outside the Meridian Gate. All of them were dressed in court clothes and crowns, and they were full of beasts. There were more than a thousand people.

Among these people are the chief ministers of the cabinet such as Chen Yan and Wei Zaode, the academicians, as well as honorable and veteran ministers such as Zhou Kui, the head of state, and Zhang Shize, the British Duke.There are six more officials, Dali Temple Minister, and middle and small ministers in each department.There are also Wei Yunwen, Yang Changzuo, Lin Zengzhi and other ministers.

They are here to congratulate the court, but also to see what the new dynasty means, whether they will be selected.

In particular, Wei Zaode, Chen Yan and other academicians are full of self-confidence. With their status as cabinet ministers, they are also academicians, and they are full of knowledge. They are sure to be used by the new dynasty to seek wealth again.

Guang Shiheng also stood calmly during the incident of Bingke. On that day, he tried his best to prevent the southward move, saying that the monarch should stick to the country, but after the city was broken, the monarch really died in the country, and Guang Shiheng surrendered in a blink of an eye.So what, he surrendered, anyway, he was not the only one who surrendered.

When he was prosperous and promising, he could also do something in the new dynasty and continue to be impassioned and fiercely admonishing.

Seeing the somewhat strange eyes cast by others, Guang Shiheng remained unmoved.

Hundreds of officials gathered together full of expectations, but they waited from Chenshi to noon, and there was no movement in the Forbidden City.They talked a lot, and whenever they met Dashun officials, they all smiled and bowed deeply, probing and asking.At this time, Zisong, the dwarf song, came to offer advice. At that moment, several people knelt down and asked if the new lord would leave the court?
Song Xiance yelled and cursed: "It's a blessing that you didn't slaughter your generation. How can you be impatient when it's just a mere time?"

Everyone said yes.

Until the afternoon of the sun, that is, Shen time, from three to five o'clock in the afternoon, they were finally called in, but it was Zhijianji Hall.

There are three main halls in the Forbidden City, Huangji Hall, Zhongji Hall, and Jianji Hall.Because the Huangji Hall was burned down, the Zhongji Hall was the smallest, so Li Zicheng placed it in the Jianji Hall to open his dynasty.Before the grand ceremony of this hall, the emperor often changed clothes here. When the queen and prince were appointed, the emperor also received congratulations in this hall, and sometimes officials also worshiped here.

When entering the majestic hall, all the officials took a deep breath, and it was time to decide their own destiny.

When they entered the hall, they saw Li Zicheng sitting high on the throne, wearing a pointed white felt hat and blue cloth horse clothes, and the two shifts on the left and right were Niu Jinxing, Liu Zongmin, Li Guo, Yuan Zongdi, Liu Xiyao, Gu Junen, Song Xiance, Zhang Linan, Song Qijiao and other officials sat down.

Seeing all the officials come in, they all looked at each other, their faces were full of elated and high-spirited expressions, especially Niu Jinxing's face, which was full of arrogance.

They squinted at the civil and military officials of the Ming Dynasty who came in, full of emotion in their hearts, the so-called wealth and honor do not return home, like brocade clothes and night ears.Although I have not returned to my hometown now, my feelings are even deeper.Think back to when I was working hard in the countryside and farming, I never thought that our old Liu's family, Lao Li's family, and Lao Niu's family would have such a day, right?

This scene also made all the civil and military officials who came in have mixed feelings. Those people in the palace in the past, the military generals were nothing more than blacksmiths, carpenters, grooms, farmers, etc., even the one who ranked high on the dragon throne was no more than a courier.As for the clerks, the highest is no more than Juren, most of them are poor scholars and unschooled children, and I...

However, winners and losers, the reality is like this, you can only obey!
After a glance, the officials didn't dare to look or think too much. They lined up respectfully, knelt down three times and kowtowed nine times, and shouted long live three times.

Li Zicheng didn't speak, while Niu Jinxing walked down. He put his hands on the tops of the heads of the officials, and said: "One pair, two pairs, three pairs, four pairs..." He muttered words, from the heads of the officials one by one. Touch it, check the number, and finally count, there are more than [-] people.

Li Zicheng looked at the crowd below and sighed: "This generation is so unjust, how can the world be peaceful?"

I also saw that some people in the room had clean hair and looked like monks, and they frowned even more.

He said to Liu Zongmin, Li Guo, Gu Junen and others beside him: "All officials are loyal ministers if they can die in the city. If the body is hairy, the parents who receive it will not dare to damage it. Those who cut their hair are even more disloyal and unfilial. What about him?"

Niu Jinxing also saw these shaved people, but they were all Ci ministers, such as Song Zhisheng, Lin Zengzhi and others. He roared: "Since you have already shaved, why sign up?"

His angry shout made these people tremble in fright, Niu Jinxing didn't give up, and ordered that the rest of the hair of these shaved people be pulled out.

Then he threw the roster on the ground, took the pen to spend as much as he wanted, and those who dared to respond late immediately used military sticks, beating some people to the ground and screaming, and all officials turned pale when they looked at each other.

Then Niu Jinxing asked Honglu to roll his name, and when he came out to meet the officials, he either laughed, scolded, or indifferently, unpredictably favored, triumphant, and let go of his frustration in the past.However, all these officials obediently obeyed orders, and no one dared to say a word, let alone express their dissatisfaction.

Li Zicheng became more and more disgusted when he saw it, and murderous intentions emerged in his heart.

At this time, Wei Zaode, a scholar of the Dongge University and a cabinet minister, was called, and he walked out of the queue slowly, with the best posture and the most magnetic voice: "Wei Zaode, a scholar of the Dongge University and a cabinet minister, pays homage to me." Your Majesty the Emperor. Your Majesty turned the troubled times back to the right. He held the talisman and the imperial calendar with virtue and prestige. He worshiped the way of heaven like God. Today, Gai Fu meets His Majesty the Emperor. He looks up to the heavens and worships the Holy Spirit. He is so enthusiastic. The ministers are sincere and fearful. As mentioned above, the emperor is upright and unified, and he should be a minister of all nations, transforming into a benevolent stream, and he will be blessed by Hongmo, and he will be rebuilt with Dai Yaoren."

As he spoke, he kowtowed continuously.

It took Li Zicheng a long time to understand what Wei Zaode said, and it turned out that he was asking for help.He looked at the person below, and said coldly: "Wei Zaode? University scholar? Cabinet minister? It seems that the emperor treats you well. Since you are highly valued by the emperor, you should die for the country. Why do you live on the edge of it?"

Wei Zaode heard that this was wrong, he had said nothing before, he speculated on Li Zicheng's psychology, he quickly kowtowed and said: "If your Majesty pardons, he will definitely repay it faithfully."

Li Zicheng shouted sharply: "If you are unfaithful and unrighteous, the generation of Qin Mu Chu, and Ming Dynasty have you, how can they not perish? Get out!"

Wei Zaode was terrified, and he came down in a cold sweat, and quickly retreated.

University scholar Chen Yan originally wanted to beg for help like Wei Zaode, but seeing this scene, he dared not speak again.

……

After the roll call was completed that day, Niu Jinxing selected 92 people and sent soldiers to escort them to the Songqi suburb of the official government to listen to them.Not only are the number of people small, but also civil and military bureaucrats of the third rank or above will not be hired at all.

Those who are not selected will be escorted by two horse soldiers for each official, holding knives. All the officials are in panic, when suddenly there is an imperial decree: "Destroy to the West Fourth Archway." Immediately use iron chains, one for each five , everyone's face is ashen, even the great scholar Chen Yan, Wei Zaode and others are also trembling like sifting chaff.

Then all the horsemen galloped away, and drove all the officials away like sheep hogs. They walked a little slower, and immediately the backs of their swords came down in disorder, making all the officials howling, and even some servants fainted and were trampled into mud.Everyone was scared out of their wits, and many even cried loudly.

Before reaching the West Fourth Archway, another imperial decree came: "All officials who committed crimes in the previous dynasty will be sent to General Liu's mansion for execution." A previous sin.

But when he arrived here, Liu Zongmin was cheering with prostitutes, and he had no time to pay attention, so he still ordered all the soldiers to watch for the coming date.

At the same time, on this day, the Shun army also filled the streets and cities with the appointment of scholars and bureaucrats, and they were even arrested while walking on the road, like a chicken in a pot.Not only that, many honorable eunuchs who did not go to congratulate were also driven over, such as Wang Dehua, Wang Zhixin, Wang Xiangyao and others who had taken refuge.

They were all changed into prison uniforms, and each of them was strong and powerful, and they were locked in a dark room, and the guards did not give them food, so they starved for a whole day and night.I don't know how many officials and scholars have collapsed day and night, just want to escape from this hell.

On the 24th, the "Biju Town Fusi" was formally established to recover stolen goods and subsidize wages. Liu Zongmin was in charge, and Li Guo and Liu Minzheng were deputy.Li Guo was Li Zicheng's nephew, and Liu Minzheng was Li Zicheng's younger brother, a blacksmith.Of course, Li Zicheng trusted the two of them very much, so he placed them in a high position below Liu Zongmin.

On the same day, Liu Zongmin tried the new stick with others, and held him and Suiqiu's servants in Tianjie. They died the next day, which made him very satisfied.

On the 25th, Liu Zongmin started to leave in the afternoon, and the civil and military officials who were claustrophobic and starved all day and night were called for roll call.According to the official status, the amount of silver offered should not be less than 1 taels for first-rank officials, and no less than 1000 taels for small officials such as Ke Chen.

At the same time, on this day, the Bijusi was also holding a famous assassin. He summoned Liu Yuyou, Sun Chengze and others from the capital, and asked them to donate silver, such as Liu Yuyou's 4 taels and Sun Chengze's [-] taels. It cannot be tolerated.”

Wang Dehua was the first to offer silver, and the price was 5 taels. Among the eunuchs, he was the smartest. When Li Zicheng entered the city, he was also the first to lead 300 people to Deshengmen to welcome him. Sure enough, Liu Zongmin was very happy and let him go immediately. people.

Li Zicheng was also very pleased to hear that, and still ordered him to be the chief eunuch in the palace. At this time, the eunuchs in the palace had been dismissed by Li Zicheng, leaving only more than 100 people, and Wang Dehua took care of these more than 100 people.

Wang Dehua took the lead, and various officials donated silver one after another. The original ruler, Jiading Hou Zhou Kui, was frightened, and even donated an astronomical amount of silver taels, 50 taels of silver.

You must know that on the tenth day of March, when his son-in-law, Emperor Chongzhen, asked Zhou Kui to help pay, he issued an edict and asked for help again and again. Ten times as much silver.

Seeing that the officials were getting more and more salaries, Liu Zongmin smiled happily, but after the senior scholar Chen Yan donated 4 taels of silver, things suddenly changed.

It turned out that in order to avoid missing out on the stolen money, the "Bi Xing Town Fusi" made a secret report, and the rewards ranged from 50 Wen to 4 taels for each case. Chen Yan's servants were greedy for rewards, so they reported Chen Yan.Liu Zongmin was dubious and sent people to Chen Yan's mansion to dig. Sure enough, gold and silver were everywhere, and the mere [-] taels was just the tip of the iceberg.

Liu Zongmin was furious and decided to torture and torture the silver. Some people who were released were arrested again, such as the head of state Zhou Kui and others.

At the same time, he increased the amount of ransom money on a large scale, announcing that the cabinet ministers would ask for 10 taels of silver, the ministries’ Jingtang Jinyi commanders would have 7 taels, the ministers’ ministers would have [-] to [-] taels, Hanlin’s [-] taels, and the minister’s Cao Qianji, Everyone has their own differences, and there is no fixed number of honors and relatives.

……

"what……"

There was a scream of pain, and Chen Yan, a bachelor on the stick, suddenly passed out.

At this time, he was impaled on a stick, which was more than three feet long, made of poplar wood, and went to the ground more than five inches, and was pierced with iron bars, with three sets of sticks tied to each stick.When you want to pinch someone, set up the stick, one person supports it, and put it on the toes of the victim, and use another stick to the left side of the foot, so that the victim cannot move.Then use a big stick six or seven feet long and more than four inches in circumference to strike the shin violently from the right, causing the foot to bleed on the ground.

People say that the ten fingers connect to the heart, and the same is true for the toes, and there are various combinations of sticks, which can pinch hands, feet, and thighs, which is the most torture.

At this time, Chen Yan was already suffering a lot. Whether it was the bones of his fingers, the bones of his toes, or the bones of his thighs, he had been broken everywhere, and his whole body was bloody. Yes, shocking bloodstains.

In particular, the clothes on his body were all red, and his thighs were even more red.

He was hanging limply, and then a basin of cold water was poured over to wake him up again. The severe pain emerging from the wound wished that he could not die on the spot, or fainted directly, but this was just a luxury.

The former cabinet minister, a bachelor, was in tears, and he whimpered and begged: "I really have no money, please forgive me, my lord."

Liu Zongmin, who was staring at him, jumped up, and he roared angrily: "Donkey ball, you corrupt officials of the Ming Dynasty are the most dishonest. You said you had no money, but you copied 500 taels of gold and two big dendrobiums of pearls... sure There are still silver ones, let me continue to torture..."

There was another shrill howl, and the torturer hit him hard on the shin with a big bar. Chen Yan wished he could die on the spot.

……

Zhuangyuan Lang, Wei Zaode, a university scholar, never dreamed that today would happen. If he knew what happened today, he would either escape from the capital early or resolutely defend the city to the end. All this is like a dream.However, the severe pain on his fingers told him that this was not a dream.

He screamed miserably, and at the same time he heard Liu Zongmin roared and asked him: "As a cabinet minister, why is the country so chaotic?"

Wei Zaode replied instinctively: "I am a scholar, and I don't know much about political affairs. The former emperor had no way, so I ended up here."

Liu Zongmin said angrily: "You are a mere scholar, the emperor promoted you to be the number one scholar, and after three years as an official, you were promoted to a cabinet minister. How can the emperor feel sorry for you, and dare to falsely accuse him of being a senseless emperor?"

He went down in person and slapped Wei Zaode dozens of big mouths. Seeing this, the execution soldiers yanked them with sticks.

Liu Zongmin copied money to him again, and Wei Zaode cried: "It's too short to be an official, and it's too late to embezzle. Except for 1 taels of silver, there is really no money."

He suggested to Liu Zongmin that the emperor had a lot of money and silver. If you search carefully, you will find something. Liu Zongmin was furious: "I have searched the palace, and the emperor's gold and silver are only 30 taels, which is not as much as that of Chen Yan. My father admires you for his fierce death...You traitorous minister, you first accuse him of being immoral, and then accuse him of being greedy, you are really insane, come here, give me a head-scratching..."

……

The sound of scorching skin and flesh sounded. Jiading Hou, Zhou Kui, the head of the state, opened his mouth in pain. Behind him was a copper pillar heated by hot oil. At this time, he was tied to the copper pillar by Lao Lao, but he was Sentenced to cannon fire.

There were blood and tears in his eyes, and everything was over. In the past two days, he saw his wife with his own eyes, and his daughter-in-law was handcuffed and then hanged herself.His eldest son, his second son, and his nephew died after being tortured.

He handed over a huge sum of 70 taels of silver, which was already his entire family property. However, Liu Zongmin was still not satisfied and was still tortured.

All this is really ironic, it seems to be mocking his stupidity, he remembered the day when his son-in-law sent the eunuch Xu Gao to ask him for help, saying: "The big thing is gone, what's the benefit of accumulating more and producing more?"

At that time, I didn't think so, but now I only regret deeply, that I shouldn't be stingy in donating and losing, so as to let the thieves enter the city.

His tears rolled down, and he murmured, "Your Majesty, I regret it..."

When he was dying, he vaguely heard Liu Zongmin's roar: "It's already 70 taels, there must be some silver ones, and then I will be executed... By the way, his flesh and skin are already cooked, use an iron comb!"

"Your majesty, this servant is sorry."

Wang Zhixin's leg bone snapped and was pinched, and when he passed out in pain, he just thought regretfully.As the chief eunuch in charge of the East Factory, he has been involved in crimes and injustices. He has a family of brothers and nephews, brocade clothes and guards. Wang Zhixin's family is rich, but he is stingy with donations.

The emperor asked the honorable eunuch to donate his salary, but he barely managed to scrape together 1 taels of silver. Now Liu Zongmin asked him to pay 30 taels of silver, and he had already paid 20 taels of silver, so he couldn't make up anything else.Perhaps what was waiting for him was the end of being caught alive.

In the dark room came the cry of "WooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooootyAs the Duke of the State, he is Liu Zongmin's key greeting.

He has been subjected to pincers, cannonballs, brain tumors, and even red embroidered shoes with severed hands and feet, which made him whole body... And before that, his wife, his son, and his daughter had all been tortured and killed. die.

What awaited him was the same fate of being beaten to death.

And died so uselessly.

He, Zhang Shize, was a hereditary duke, and his ancestor Zhang Yu was a famous general of Jingnan. After Chengzu ascended the throne, he was called the number one hero of Jingnan, and he was later named Duke Rong and King Hejian.Then the ancestor Zhu Neng led an army of tens of thousands to quell the Annan rebellion, and was canonized as a British prince, which was passed down from generation to generation.

But now...

Zhang Shize wept, and he said in a low voice: "I deserved to die in battle when defending the city, and I deserved to be martyred when the city fell, Your Majesty, I am ashamed of myself."

"My humble servant is ashamed."

"I am ashamed..."

He murmured, his eyes still wide open when he finally died.

……

Liu Zongmin's "Biju Town Fusi" has achieved fruitful results, and the stolen silver has been rising steadily, and soon exceeded 7000 million taels of silver, which is an astonishing figure.

In fact, it is far more than that, because not all people are chased by Liu Zongmin.Many officials were either trapped in various camps or imprisoned in prisons. Everyone in prison was sentenced to torture. It is hard to say how much silver was hidden.

Under the torture, many officials were tortured to death, such as Zhou Kui, the father of the country, and Zhang Shize, the British prince, and his family.Dingguo Gong Xu Yunzhen's family members were all dead, the eunuch Wang Zhixin was tortured to death, the scholar Wei Zaode was tortured by the brain, his brains leaked out and died, his son was arrested and tortured to death, and his daughter was used as a prostitute.

In order to avoid misfortune, many officials offered their wives and daughters, sang about intimacy, and played tricks for the thieves. For example, Yang Rucheng's beautiful maids were exempted and not retained.Zhang Xin punished his wife without punishment, and she lost ten thousand taels of silver and was released.Some young people with pale faces even pretended to be Longyang to avoid disaster.

Anyway, starting from the 25th, those who use it wear high crowns and fresh clothes, and walk on Chang'an Road, while those who don't use it force money.

(End of this chapter)