Ming Dynasty: Summoning game players at the beginning

Chapter 370 I'll stop once I've earned 30,000 taels

While they were handing out silver notes, the other side was trying their best to push them away. Li Wu and the head of the Imperial Guard were pulling and tugging at each other in full view of everyone, as if they were practicing Tai Chi for health, which made the other players quite unhappy.

There were at least a thousand players present. Li Wu wasted three minutes of everyone's time, which, rounded up, is about two and a half days!
Wasting a Kuntian's time is an heinous crime.

"What were you doing just now!" 'Wolf' spoke with a thick Northwestern accent.

"Oh dear, the Imperial Guards here are so polite, I have to be polite to them in return," Li Wu said, pointing to the stack of silver notes that had just been pushed back.

"You little brat, how dare you accept bribes in front of the brothers! I'll punish you on behalf of Heaven!" Wei Lang pretended to bring up the system window.

"Hey! I'm innocent." Li Wu grabbed Wei Lang's fingers with one hand, and with the other hand, he held his fingers together and pointed them to the sky, making a gesture as if he were swearing a solemn oath. "The integrity of my family for three generations has been on my shoulders, and it has finally protected me from the corruption of money. Even if you report me, you're just wasting your chance to do so. I'm doing this for your own good, brother."

The commander of the Imperial Guards was filled with doubt, wondering what the relationship was between Li Wu and Wei Lang.

Li Wu was, after all, a high-ranking official appointed by His Majesty. Even though the two were brothers, they appeared overly intimate in front of outsiders. Li Wu seemed to be very afraid of the other's frivolous behavior.

Could this person be a spy planted by His Majesty, not only to keep an eye on General Li's work, but also to intimidate the Embroidered Uniform Guard to perform their duties faithfully?
There are not only spies in the open, but there are also hidden "spies".

Alas, the commander felt he had acted rashly. No matter how hard he tried to cover it up, his act of handing over the silver note would still be remembered by the spies.

Although Zhu Ming's regime is currently teetering on the brink of collapse, all factions are desperately seeking a way out, and some are even secretly inquiring about ways to contact the rebel army.

Even the high-ranking members of the Embroidered Uniform Guard are paving the way, already being careful to restrain their methods to avoid offending people.

But before the fall of the capital, Xiao Zhu still had control over the city's defenses, and killing him, a mere commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, would have been incredibly easy.

Qianhu swallowed hard, thinking to himself that he must be very careful about his next move...

Seeing the Jinyiwei commander's terrified expression, and knowing that Li Wu had no silver notes on him, Wei Lang's stern face instantly brightened, and he smiled broadly, clapping his hands three times in quick succession. Then, he placed one hand on Li Wu's right shoulder and wrapped his arm around his neck—

“We’re like brothers, fighting side by side against the Tartars. How could I bear to report you?”

“That’s right, that’s right. Actually, I saw it a long time ago. Your eyes are full of trust, and you don’t care about the reward for a successful report at all…” Li Wu grabbed Wei Lang’s right hand tightly and gripped the tricycle with the force of crushing walnuts.

Wei Lang forcefully pulled his hand back, only to find that his right hand felt like a ripe crab. "Have you thought it through? How do you plan to investigate the rebels who plotted to murder the prince?"

"It's very simple. When I was live streaming before, the experts in the chat taught me the simplest interrogation method..."

Li Wu knew that there were always people smarter and more professional than him, and all he had to do was follow orders.

There were many servants responsible for taking care of the princes and even the concubines in the harem. There were palace maids and eunuchs. The two or three hundred people present knelt on the ground like a row of stone bricks.

Li Wu whispered a few words into the command voice, and the brothers immediately understood. All the servants were divided into groups of three and led to various corners of the side courtyard, where they obediently lay down on the ground.

In each group, the strongest player would sit on the waiter's waist and abdomen, then lean back and use the strength of their back to press down on the waiter's legs.

If one person isn't enough, then another person can lie down on top of them.

Before the torture even began, the palace maids and eunuchs pinned beneath them were already breathing heavily in fear.

Handkerchiefs and water were the two simplest items in the palace. Torn rags, old clothes, laundry water, and pot-washing water were all readily available; the Imperial Guards quickly obtained these items.

Seeing this, a group of Jinyiwei guards skilled in interrogation had no idea what the Black Flag General was up to. What could these two things possibly do?
Even if you want to torture prisoners by drowning, you should at least prepare an upside-down hanging device and a large bucket of water. Can this little bit of stuff really do the job?

Moreover, after receiving the water and the rag, General Black Flag didn't begin; instead, he had his men chant the same message in unison—

The gist of the question is to inquire of all the palace maids and eunuchs what they have been doing every day for the past ten days or half a month, including details such as the people, their names, the time, and the place.

If anyone is found to be wrong, bystanders must identify them; otherwise, the criminal law will continue until there are no more lies.

Before the palace maids and eunuchs could answer, tattered rags and scraps of clothing were covered over their faces, the colorful rags rising and falling with their rapid breathing.

A bucket of laundry water was poured over the waiter's head, the water mixed with filth quickly soaking through the rags and then being poured into the waiter's mouth and nose.

The fear of being unable to see amplified the intense feeling of suffocation several times over. In almost an instant, a large number of waiters began to tremble violently, their slender waists struggling to straighten, but they could not break through the strong man's back and waist pressure.

The feeling of drowning continued to intensify, and the whimpering cries for mercy seeped through the tattered cloth. The sounds of hundreds of people converged into a river, like a mournful funeral with its deafening roar.

"Stop!" As Li Wu's shout rang out, the players who were carrying out the torture stopped one after another.

The waiters, whose rags were pulled off, all coughed up water and gasped for breath, like a group of fish that had been pulled ashore.

"Time is running out. What have you been doing these past few days? Tell me quickly!"

Innocent people have the clearest minds, especially under such high tension, they simply don't have the energy to fabricate lies.

They shouted their names while recounting what they had done over the past few days, including the lunar calendar date, morning, noon, afternoon, and evening...

After the waiters finished speaking, the players shouted, "Say it backwards!" Before the waiters could react, they continued with another round of water torture.

After going back and forth three times, verifying the truthfulness of each person's testimony, they finally narrowed down eight major suspects.

Before the waterboarding could continue, these people confessed.

Watching the Black Flag Camp soldiers writing furiously, the Imperial Guards "supervising" them were quite surprised. With just two items, without causing wounds, pain, or even torture, they could make people obediently submit.

The conspiracy was not complicated; the emperor's "donation of funds" that resulted in deaths provoked resistance.

The nobles and civil officials rarely joined forces, and under the pretext of "avenging the emperor's relatives," they hoped to poison all of the emperor's young sons as a warning to Zhu Youjian to behave himself.

They spent a lot of money to bribe palace eunuchs and maids, and together with the imperial physicians, they added something to the princes' meals.

Of course, Li Wu didn't care whether the mastermind behind it was a noble family or a civil official group, or rather, the players didn't care about these things.

Whether Zhu Youjian or the princes lived or died was none of their concern.

They just want to use this opportunity to start a major prison and make a big splash.

The thousands of players had already arrived in the capital months earlier, were well-versed in local gossip, and knew the ways of the nobles and civil officials.

In history, any surrender of a city, whether by the rebel army or the Qing dynasty, was recorded in the "confession".

Whether there is concrete evidence or eyewitness testimony is not important. As long as the prisoner has uttered homophones or words that sound the same or agree with them, the players can write them down on paper.

The execution of all the emperor's sons meant that there were nobles surnamed Zhu among them.

The phrase "to proceed gradually" suggests that a duke surnamed Xu was involved.

Or, to be simpler and more direct, just write that a certain eunuch said it himself: "I heard that a certain Marquis Jiang cursed the Emperor at home..."

Before long, the summary slips were almost full of names. Even the Imperial Guards had to "praise" the Black Flag Battalion for being better at fabricating charges than they were.

Combining the common people's comments on the noble officials and the players' "self-expression," a large web of interests that rebels against the emperor emerges, involving more than a hundred people.

From nobles and imperial relatives to civil and military officials, there were almost no middle or lower-ranking officials among them.

Thanks to the skillful writing of certain literary enthusiasts, a mixture of three parts truth and seven parts pretense has been created, almost turning black into white, as if there were a "shadow cabinet" hidden in the shadows silently manipulating everything.

When the list and detailed confessions were delivered to Zhu Youjian, he was furious.

This gang of traitors has joined forces and is actually trying to kill all my young sons!
"Traitors! Villains!" Zhu Youjian roared angrily at the list. "They pretended to be righteous and upright in front of me, claiming to be for the country and the people, telling me not to compete with the people for profit, but behind my back they did all sorts of corrupt, vile, and despicable things! Shameless!"

In an instant, Zhu Youjian felt a cold sweat break out on his back. If these people had united because of the "donation" issue, wouldn't they have sidelined him? In that case, the Embroidered Uniform Guard's report that "there was no evidence" must mean that they were controlled by treacherous villains.

The Embroidered Uniform Guard can no longer be trusted.

The "confession" submitted by the Black Flag Battalion also stated that they suspected these thieves were in contact with spies of the rebels, intending to hand him over to the rebels for their own future.

Damn!

If he were to back down, he would not only lose his young child, but also his own life.

Fortunately, Li Qing helped him clear his mind and made him understand where to direct his efforts.

Otherwise, he would be like a headless fly, not knowing where to start investigating, and would have no choice but to let the Embroidered Uniform Guard fool him, abolish the "donation" system, punish a few palace maids and eunuchs, and pretend that the matter had never happened.

Fortunately, in this era of treacherous villains and encirclement, there is still a loyal and virtuous minister like General Li Wu who helps him investigate the wicked and carve out a way out for him!
A loyal minister will not betray me, and I will certainly not betray you!
However, looking at the densely packed list, Zhu Youjian realized that if he carried out a large-scale massacre, it would only arouse the resistance of these people, forcing them to take desperate measures and lead the vanguard of the rebel army into the city ahead of time.

For now, we can only eliminate the ringleader and arrest the accomplices, and deal with the rest of the gang members gradually.

So he suppressed his anger and ordered the investigation to be limited to 20%.

The mastermind will be executed along with his entire family; those who are coerced will be beheaded and their property confiscated; others involved but for whom there is little evidence will be fined between 10,000 and 50,000 yuan.

The Imperial Medical Academy underwent a complete overhaul, and some of the palace eunuchs and maids were to be dismissed or replaced. As for the treacherous officials who poisoned the princes, they were all executed by slow slicing.

The emperor gave the order, and the Black Flag Battalion carried it out with double the speed, marching through the streets and alleys with swords and clubs.

If a criminal dares to utter a single unnecessary word, the player will immediately pick up a stick and beat him mercilessly, causing the powerful and wealthy to cry out in pain. Anyone who dares to resist with weapons will be killed on the spot.

Arresting people wasn't the end of the matter; confiscating their property was the common goal of both the players and Zhu Youjian.

Whether they are powerful or officials, one can distinguish between true and false wealth by observing their manners in terms of clothing, food, housing, and transportation.

If they were truly wealthy, they would surely spare the patriarch's life, then beat him mercilessly with a short stick on the spot, demanding that he reveal the names of those who plotted to murder the prince. If he didn't tell the truth, they would keep beating him until he was killed.

Some civil servants, knowing they couldn't withstand investigation, blocked their doors and even called their family members to block the entrance, attempting to resist the Black Flag Battalion's investigation.

The soldiers of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, the Five Cities Garrison, and the Patrol Battalion were all locals. They all thought, "The rebel army is coming," and wanted to be lenient and leave themselves some good karma. They didn't want to do anything too extreme, in case the rebel army took a liking to them and made them high-ranking officials.

But players don't care about any of that nonsense about human relationships.

They kept arguing about seniority, official rank, and powerful connections, and refused to open the door.

The Black Flag Army would simply drag over the Red Barbarian cannons and blast open the gate with the same attitude they would use against the Tartars, or they would pile up gunpowder packs in front of the gate for a targeted explosion.

With a deafening roar, the Black Flag Army, armed with knives and spears, filed in, punching and kicking anyone they saw, beating them half to death.

The head of the household, beaten beyond recognition, is often dragged out and forced to look at steel knives hanging over the necks of his family members, ordered to reveal all the locations of hidden money, thus saving the player the trouble of searching everywhere.

If that scoundrel hesitates even slightly in his speech, an unlucky soul will lose their head.

It wasn't until the treasure chest hidden in the side wall of the well was hoisted up, the partition under the stone bricks of the side room was unearthed, and the secret room in the main house wall was smashed open that the old man who had been crying poverty and selling pots on the street was found to have 300,000 taels of silver confiscated.

Deafening cannon fire and explosions erupted one after another in various wards of the capital, leading officials to believe that rebel troops had stormed into the city and were waging a fierce battle in the streets. They wondered whether they should post notices of submission to the people.

Only after sending someone out to inquire did they learn that the Black Flag Army, ordered by the Emperor to arrest the rebels, had actually used cannons and gunpowder to blow up the official's house—it was utterly outrageous!

The rebels haven't even attacked yet, and our own people are already causing a ruckus. What kind of behavior is this!

Do they still want the dignity of the imperial court? Do they still want the prestige of the nobles and officials?
For a time, impeachment memorials poured into the palace like snowflakes, but Zhu Youjian kept them all inside and did not issue them.

As long as the palace is safe, the world cannot be turned upside down.

After numerous unexpected events and conspiracies, Zhu Youjian now trusts no one, and anyone could be a traitor plotting to assassinate him.

He only trusted Li Wu and the Black Flag Camp. Everything Li Wu did was right, even if using artillery and explosives to fight the rebels was a bit too cruel, it was a helpless measure in chaotic times.

Especially when the first sum of 700,000 taels of silver was deposited into the Imperial Treasury, Zhu Youjian immediately realized that the memorial impeaching Li Wu was just a counterattack by this group of treacherous villains, a noise meant to confuse the public.

The work of recovering stolen goods to fund military expenditures must not stop, absolutely must not stop!

Less than five days after Li Wu was appointed to apprehend the rebels, the operation to recover the stolen goods was nearing its end.

Along with the gold and silver treasures, a summary report on the recovery of stolen assets was also sent to the Imperial Treasury and Taicang.

The first line contains a simple and unadorned sentence—

The seized goods, including silks, satins, gold and silver jewelry, sugar, salt, pepper, etc., amounted to 13.14 million taels of silver. A batch of antiques, calligraphy and paintings, and rare treasures have not yet been settled.

More than thirteen million taels?

"?"

Zhu Youjian once suspected that his eyes were damaged, rubbing them repeatedly and staring intently at the character "万" after "千" more than ten times.

He even called on Wang Chengen to read it aloud for him.

Even though Wang Chengen read it at a measured pace, Zhu Youjian still felt as if it were a long dream, with every word so fantastical.

"Is this true?" Zhu Youjian took the report, stared intently at the string of numbers, and repeatedly scanned it, even wanting to cut out the numbers and tattoo them on his body.

"It's true, Your Majesty! It's all true!" Wang Chengen cried tears of joy. He knew that His Majesty had been worrying day and night about the military expenses, and today his wish had finally come true.

“13,140,000…” Zhu Youjian muttered to himself.

He pleaded with his ministers, but all he received was a paltry sum of several hundred thousand taels for military expenses.

He still feels a burning rage when he recalls that humiliation.

These people keep saying they have no money and that I am competing with the people for profit.

But each of them was a family with tens of thousands of taels of silver, so they only confiscated a few households and still managed to amass more than ten million taels of silver.

Those damned nobles and civil officials should all be killed!

The anger subsided, and the report that brought joy came into view again.

"This is real."

Zhu Youjian held the report as if it were a priceless treasure, then collapsed onto the ground in a state of indulgence. His long-suppressed frustrations, mixed with a sob, welled up from his throat.

"I'm rich! I'm finally rich!"

……

A teacup was held high in the air by a palm. As the palm was thrown downwards, the teacup crashed to the ground with a loud thud.

"The tyrannical emperor has allowed the Black Flag Army to wreak havoc in the capital; how can we sit idly by and do nothing!"

(End of this chapter)