Cutting over the end of the Ming Dynasty: a dog-leg knife at the beginning

Chapter 662
Fan Yongdou and others were taken into custody together with their family members, and their servants were temporarily imprisoned—who knows if there are any Houjin spies in there?You can't go wrong with being cautious.

After driving everyone out of Fan's residence, Lu Xiangsheng strode into Fan's residence and said calmly: "Let's do it, let them spit out everything they ate!"

The soldiers of the Tianxiong Army promised to start their journey of ransacking the house.Luxurious gold and silver utensils, precious furs, pearls, wild ginseng sold from Houjin, ingenious furniture... The wealth accumulated by the Fan family for several generations has been carried out continuously. Everyone was dumbfounded.Looking at the mountain of belongings, Lu Xiangsheng secretly took a breath.One must know that Datong is just one of Fan Yongdou's foundations, and so much property was confiscated just in Datong, so how much should be confiscated in Zhangjiakou, his hometown in Qi County?
Lei Shisheng rushed over and bowed his hands to Lu Xiangsheng: "My lord!"

Lu Xiangsheng asked: "Did you copy the Wangfu and Tianfu?"

Lei Shisheng said, "Copy it!"

Lu Xiangsheng asked: "How much property was stolen?"

Lei Shisheng smiled bitterly: "Sir, you'd better go and see for yourself... If you don't see it with your own eyes, you won't believe it!"

Lu Xiangsheng was a little surprised, he rode on a fast horse and followed Lei Shisheng straight to the palace.

The palace was crowded with people, and the people who came after hearing the news surrounded the place on three floors and three floors outside. There were comments everywhere, some were amazed, some were angry, and some were envious.Lu Xiangsheng separated from the crowd and walked in, only to see Tianxiong Army soldiers staggering out carrying silver winter melons one by one.The soldiers responsible for carrying things are all men with outstanding physical strength, but now they are so pressed that they can't even lift up their waists - this damn silver winter melon weighs several hundred kilograms, which makes them grinning from ear to ear!

Lei Shisheng pointed to the silver winter melon placed at the door, and said: "After the general was ordered to take down all the servants of Wang Dengku's family, he began to search the property, but found that the property in Wang Dengku's house was pitifully small. Counting all the utensils, it is only 10,000+ taels of silver, which is too inconsistent with his net worth. The general is confused, and a Jin Yiwei who is lurking in the palace shows up to show his identity, and the general finds the entrance of the underground vault , what a home, it’s full of silver winter melons, there are hundreds of them!”

Lu Xiangsheng asked: "You mean that after he made money, he melted the silver into silver winter melons and put them in the vault?"

Lei Shisheng said: "Yes! The Jin Yiwei said that Wang Dengku was afraid that thieves would come to the door, so he deliberately melted the silver into silver winter melons, so that even if a thief broke into the underground vault, he couldn't move it out!"

Lu Xiangsheng sneered: "Sure enough! But I think now he must regret that he made the silver winter melon so heavy and gave us an advantage in vain, right?"

Lei Shisheng laughed.

At this time, Zu Dabi, who was in charge of searching Tianfu, came on horseback to report: A large number of gold bricks were found in Tianfu!
"They melted the gold and cast it into a square, square piece, then spread it on the ground, then covered it with floor tiles and carpets. They did it in an extremely secretive way. If it weren't for the royal guards lurking in their house, we would really have let them They cheated!" Zu Dabi was holding an exaggeratedly large gold brick and was talking and gesticulating with excitement.His Adam's apple twitched for a long time, and he managed to say: "In all my life, my ancestor has never seen so much gold!"

Lu Xiangsheng asked, "About how much gold is there?"

Zu Dabi said: "It's scary! 20 taels is nothing to worry about!"

20 taels of gold is already a frightening wealth. Thinking back to when Wanli sent mine supervisors to dig gold everywhere, only a thousand taels of gold came into the account a year, and everyone in the world scolded him half to death. He spent 20 taels of gold and won the reputation of a great benevolent person. If Wanli knew about it, he would be so angry that he would jump out of the coffin, jump to the highest point of Juyongguan and yell at him!

Lei Shisheng scolded Wanli: "These bastards are so good at making money!"

Lu Xiangsheng said: "They are all rare talents. If they can cooperate with us, they will definitely take our business to a higher level and benefit thousands of people! Unfortunately, they have gone astray. , and insisted on going all the way to the dark, hitting a wall and refusing to turn back... What a pity!"

Looking at the silver winter melons being carried out one after another, Lu Xiangsheng let out a deep sigh, with regret and hatred intertwined on his face, obviously he had complicated emotions towards these Shanxi merchants.On the one hand, he hated the selfish and shameless acts of Shanxi merchants who betrayed the country, sold stolen goods for Jiannu, and helped Jiannu bloodletting Daming in a disguised form. It is admirable to become a group that is so rich that it can even shake the foundation of Ming Dynasty.These Shanxi merchants are undoubtedly rare business geniuses, but unfortunately, what they made was a fortune in national calamity, and every ingot of silver they earned was stained with the people of the Ming army and civilians. Facing such a stubborn and extremely selfish As for the group, he can't think about it, so he can only kill the killer.

Lu Xiangsheng wrote a memorial overnight and hurriedly sent it to the capital—this kind of thing should be told to the emperor, otherwise it would be too embarrassing.Jin Yiwei's actions were surprisingly fast, and in just one day and one night, the memorial was placed on Chongzhen's desk.This is related to the welfare of the entire Jinyiwei, so what can we do if we don't work hard?
The next day, Chongzhen went to court, and when he reviewed Lu Xiangsheng's memorial, he was furious and roared: "Those lowly merchants are so mad, selling military weapons to Jiannu, and putting the Ming Dynasty in a place of eternal doom? I... I can't forgive They! I will seize their families and exterminate their families, and destroy their bones and ashes!"

Civil and military officials rolled their eyes, Boss, it's not news that Shanxi merchants sell military weapons to Jiannu, why are you so excited?Wu Zongda came out of the shift and said: "Your Majesty, Shanxi merchants have always been known for their diligence, thrift and integrity. How could they do such a despicable thing? Is there some misunderstanding here?"

Chongzhen was furious: "Misunderstanding? They tried everything possible to ask Su Yihou to sell their two hundred best firecrackers, and then ignored Suyihou's persuasion, and handed these firecrackers to Bao Chengxian, the spy leader of Jiannu, in addition to borrowing the goods. Our army caught him right away, and he took all the stolen goods, so what misunderstanding can there be!?"

Wu Zongda disagreed: "Perhaps the servants did it without telling the master? Besides, how useful are only two hundred firecrackers? I thought that Marquis Su Yi's reaction was too violent. Such a small matter, a small punishment would be a big punishment." It’s enough to quit, why bother to go to war?”

Wang Yingxiong said: "The minister seconded the proposal! When the water is clear, there will be no fish. It is really necessary to thoroughly investigate. Few of the generals and officials on the nine borders are clean. Such a large-scale fight is not beneficial to prohibiting smuggling at the border. ..."

Chongzhen let out a roar: "Do you know how much money those people who are not as good as pigs and dogs have made by smuggling? Su Yihou just copied a few of their properties in Datong, and they copied nearly 300 million taels of silver!"

There was an uproar in the court... Everyone knew that Shanxi merchants were very rich, but they never thought that they were so rich!Just by copying their properties in Datong, they got nearly 300 million taels of silver, which almost covered the tax of Ming Dynasty for a year. If all the properties of the eight major surnames of Shanxi merchants were copied, how much would they have to copy?This is definitely a number that can scare people out of a heart attack!Fu Zonglong boldly came out to play: "Your Majesty, the musket made by Marquis Su Yi is ingenious and powerful. It is indeed a powerful weapon for the country. It is related to the safety of the Ming Dynasty. How dare the damn Shanxi merchants sell it to Jiannu? They have already been greedy for profit and have lost their conscience! We must not be soft on these kind of people who have lost their conscience, the old minister asks His Majesty to issue an order to confiscate the families of the eight major surnames of Shanxi merchants!"

Immediately, dozens of officials shouted eagerly: "Yes, they must be ransacked and exterminated, and let them know the fate of betraying Daming!"

"Fan Yongdou, Wang Dengku, Tian Shenglan, etc. should also be executed Ling Chi, and their wives and daughters should be sent to Jiaosifang!"

"Not only the eight major surnames, but all Shanxi merchants are guilty! I believe that this matter must be investigated and dealt with strictly. If anyone is found to have colluded with Jiannu, his family will be confiscated and his clan will be destroyed. He will not tolerate it and serve as a warning to others!"

Sure enough, no big reason is as good as money. When it comes to ransacking the family and exterminating the family of Jin merchants, quite a few big figures came out to speak for Jin merchants; Silver (actually more, the number reported by Lu Xiangsheng has shrunk), the eyes of all civil and military officials suddenly turned red.Fuck, I have been an official all my life, and I worked so hard to make money, how much money did I get?You, a lowly businessman, actually saved so much money, and still don't use it to honor us, this is absolutely unbearable!There’s nothing to say, just copy Ya’s house!Not copying is not a person!
The unprecedented unity of civil and military officials who have always liked infighting is for the safety of the Ming Dynasty, for the protection of justice, for the rejuvenation of the military and civilians of the Ming Dynasty, and most importantly, for making a fortune. These officials from all over the world, regardless of age Young and old, regardless of party affiliation, worked together, united under the banner of making a fortune, and reached an agreement with unprecedented efficiency: copy, copy, copy!

What made them dissatisfied was that Chongzhen didn't believe them gentlemen. All the gentlemen volunteered to go to Shanxi to preside over the family raids, but Chongzhen refused all of them. Leave it to him to deal with it. In the final analysis, isn't it because they are afraid that they will enrich their own pockets and use public affairs for their own benefit?Well, in fact, what they are playing is the idea of ​​false public benefit and making a lot of money.

The emperor nodded. Naturally, Lu Xiangsheng was not very polite. With an order, the cavalry of the Tianxiong Army and the Jinyiwei rode out in all directions, rushing towards Taiyuan, Yanggu, and Qixian with lightning speed, and a storm of house raids began. Expand.The family members of the eight major surnames were arrested one after another. The huge profits they made by selling food, ironware, cotton cloth, intelligence and other military weapons to Houjin made Tianxiong's army come to a pot.Amidst their heart-piercing cries, boxes of gold, silver and jewelry, and huge silver melons, were carried out of their vaults. Their shops, mansions, and fields did not escape, and they were all destroyed. seized.The amount of gold and silver confiscated by the Tianxiong Army soared at a rocket-like speed. The total amount was so large that even the officers and generals who led the team to raid their homes felt terrified!

Too much money can also scare people to death!

The storm of house raids spread throughout Shanxi, and the business empire built by the eight surnames of Shanxi merchants collapsed overnight.Perhaps it was not until they were thrown into the prison that they remembered that people are doing what the sky is watching, so who will the sky spare?
The destruction of the eight major surnames of Shanxi merchants triggered a major earthquake in the Ming Dynasty, and the shock waves quickly spread to Shenyang.After learning during the morning court that all the eight major surnames had their homes confiscated and exterminated, Huang Taiji, who was deep-tempered and emotionless, shook his body a few times and spat out a mouthful of blood.The Manchu and Han officials were so horrified that they cried out: "Master, take care of the dragon body!"

Huang Taiji struggled to stand up, and walked down Dan Bi with a wry smile, his steps were frivolous, staggering, and he might fall down at any time.Fan Wentong hurried up to help, but was pushed aside by him, only to hear him muttering to himself: "It's over... It's over..." Ignoring the eyes of the officials, he just walked out in a daze. It was covered with a layer of death.

Hou Jinzhong Baylor was also like a mourning concubine, wanting to cry without tears, even Dorgon, who had always been at odds with Huang Taiji, didn't have the heart to gloat, and everyone felt a chill to the bone.

This is the second heavy blow to Houjin after the Lushun fiasco. This blow is even more deadly than the Battle of Lushun where Houjin lost [-] troops. It means that Houjin lost the channel to sell stolen goods and obtain strategic materials , the noose wrapped around their necks became tighter and tighter.

(End of this chapter)