Zhu Yuanzhang Returns from Modern Times

Chapter 244 Girl, don't worry, those people are having a really good time being tortured by Li Zicheng.
When his sister asked about the fate of these people, Zhu Yuanzhang smiled.

He was laughing heartily.

"At that time, how should I put it, many people's minds were no longer on the Ming Dynasty, but they were hoping for its demise."

He even wanted to personally contribute to the effort and help Li Zicheng destroy the Ming Dynasty.

They wanted to change their allegiance and join Li Zicheng's side.

They recognized Li Zicheng as the new ruler.

They viewed my Ming Dynasty as an old house that could collapse at any moment.

When Li Zicheng arrived in Beiping, the city fell without much effort.

The attack on the city began at noon on the 16th, and the outer city of Beiping was breached in about an hour.

This was naturally the work of those who were eager to change dynasties and sell the Ming Dynasty for a good price.

According to records, it was the eunuch Cao Huachun who opened the door.

But Cao Huachun was no longer in the capital at that time, and someone else opened the door.

Why were the eunuchs pushed to the front?
Naturally, those who are upright, honest, loyal to the emperor, and patriotic are unwilling to reveal their names.

They wanted to pin the blame on the eunuch.

Some groups even want to cover up their shame and try not to let others see their mess.

Of course, this is also largely related to Li Zicheng's actions after arriving in the capital.

If Li Zicheng had occupied Beiping and established the Great Shun Dynasty, it would have prospered. But as you can see from the records, it would have been a completely different story.

How could a eunuch like Cao Huachun be worthy of opening the door for the esteemed Emperor Taizu of the Great Shun Dynasty?
Go as far away as possible and die!

"What about Emperor Chongzhen?"

After a moment of silence, Empress Ma looked at Zhu Yuanzhang and asked about Emperor Chongzhen.

Although I learned from my own family's story that Chongzhen, a descendant of Emperor Chongzhen, was not a very good emperor.

But they are still their own children and grandchildren, so at least their intentions are good.

As the last emperor of the Ming Dynasty, it's natural to feel concern at such a time.

"Li Zicheng once sent Du Xun and others who had surrendered into the city to meet with Chongzhen and negotiate with him."

For example, he demanded a million taels of silver and declared himself king in the Northwest and other regions.

After the mission is accomplished, it will help Chongzhen fight against the Jurchens and eliminate the bandits.

But Emperor Chongzhen refused.

Empress Ma nodded. It was good that Chongzhen refused; how could she possibly agree to such conditions?

It's said that he occupied the Northwest and declared himself king, and that he fought against rebels and such.

At that time, the Ming Dynasty had been defeated to this extent.

Even if Chongzhen agreed, the other party would definitely not let it go.

It was all just a scheme by the other side.

"After receiving the news, Li Zicheng began to order the bombardment of Beiping City."

As a result, the fighting started at noon, and after only about an hour, the city gates were opened.

The outer city of Beiping thus fell.

Upon learning this news, Emperor Chongzhen wanted to summon generals and requested troops from the three major battalions to guard the inner city.

As a result, the soldiers of those three battalions had already fled, leaving no troops available.

Emperor Chongzhen climbed Coal Hill and looked around the Forbidden City, realizing he could not escape.

Finally, he summoned his brother-in-law, wanting them to gather the servants to protect him.

According to the regulations of the Ming Dynasty, a prince consort was not allowed to have servants.

Therefore, they simply couldn't muster many people.

After thinking for a long time, Chongzhen summoned the eunuchs Wang Zhixin, Li Zongzhou, and Wang Zhijun, and ordered them to quickly take the Crown Prince, Prince Ding, and Prince Yong out of the palace to the side of Duke Cheng, Zhu Chunchen, and others.

After sending Crown Prince Zhu Cilang away, he summoned his concubines together for a meal.

Then he ordered all the concubines to go back and commit suicide.

After returning home, Empress Zhou hanged herself as Chongzhen had instructed.

The other concubines hesitated to take action.

Emperor Chongzhen then drew his sword and killed them. He then went to find his daughter and killed her as well.

One of them had only his arm severed; he wasn't killed...

Empress Ma couldn't help but clench her fists.

She naturally knew why Chongzhen did this.

The periods of dynastic change throughout history have always been brutal.

When the rebels captured the capital, the former royal family, especially the women, faced little hope.

Emperor Chongzhen did this in order to prevent his concubines and children from being defiled.

Even so, it still weighs heavily on one's mind and is extremely distressing.

When a country is destroyed and a family is destroyed, many people's lives are no longer their own; too many are powerless to control their own destiny.

After doing all this, Chongzhen returned to the Qianqing Palace, changed into eunuch's clothes, and, holding a three-eyed gun, led Wang Chengen and many other eunuchs to charge towards Chaoyang Gate, attempting to break through the encirclement.

After failing, they tried other doors, but still couldn't pass through them.

Finally, they returned to the palace and changed back into the emperor's robes.

Later, he took Wang Ji'en to Coal Hill and chose to hang himself on a crooked tree on the hill.

Beside him, dying alongside him, was the eunuch Wang Chengen.

He also left behind a blood-stained edict, saying that he was not a ruler who would bring about the downfall of the country, but that his ministers were ministers who would bring about the downfall of the country.

Let the thieves dismember my body, but do not harm any civilians."

Empress Ma's eyes reddened upon hearing this, and tears fell.

Emperor Chongzhen was a man of principle; he didn't disgrace the Zhu family.

Faced with life-or-death decisions, countless emperors were no different from ordinary people.

Throughout history, countless emperors have displayed their ugliness in their final moments.

The emperors of the Song Dynasty, in particular, were utterly despicable.

The fact that Emperor Chongzhen was able to preserve his dignity in his final moments by choosing suicide and leaving behind the words, "Let the rebels tear my body apart, but do not harm a single commoner," is indeed lamentable and not shameful.

Zhu Yuanzhang sighed, his mood equally unsettled.

"Girl, we feel there's something wrong with what he said."

Where did those thieves outside the city come from? Were they born thieves?

No!

So many of them started out as ordinary people, but they were forced into thievery because they couldn't survive.

Before, they were all citizens of my Great Ming Dynasty.

For example, Li Zicheng, who led the army, once came to the rescue of Beiping City with the government troops, and later became a courier for the Ming Dynasty.

However, he soon lost his job again.

They were just ordinary people struggling to survive, just like everyone else in the past.

Empress Ma shook her head slowly upon hearing this.

“Zhongba, it is already extremely rare for him to have achieved this level. We cannot be too demanding of him.”

"Girl, you're right about that."

Zhu Yuanzhang readily accepted good advice.

"It was also because the fourth prince later moved the capital to Beiping, and Emperor Chongzhen hanged himself on Coal Hill, that our Ming Dynasty did indeed gain a lot of reputation."

Therefore, in later generations, when people mentioned the Ming Dynasty, they often said, "The emperor guards the nation's gates, and the monarch dies for the state."

"That's certainly an apt description."

Empress Ma nodded.

Although hearing of the fall of the Ming Dynasty at this time is saddening and not a good thing.

But there are some aspects that make it less painful. At least our Ming Dynasty, even in its demise, still had some backbone.

Unlike the disgraceful events of the Song Dynasty.

"What about the Crown Prince? Did he manage to escape? Did he gather enough men to continue the Ming Dynasty?"

After a brief silence, Empress Ma looked at Zhu Yuanzhang and spoke again, but Zhu Yuanzhang shook his head.

"The ending was not good; he was handed over to Li Zicheng."

Later records also state that Li Zicheng led his brothers to fight against the Tartars from outside the Great Wall.

There have been no proper records since then.

Later, the case of the princes from the North and South emerged, but it was also shrouded in mystery and difficult to discern the truth.

The real Zhu Cilang most likely died in the chaos of war…

Queen Ma remained silent.

"Sister, if anyone is to blame for this, it's Chongzhen. The biggest responsibility should be placed on his shoulders."

After all, even before Li Zicheng led his troops to Beiping, some court officials had suggested that the Crown Prince go south to Nanjing, which is now Yingtian, to take charge of the situation in case of unforeseen circumstances.

The situation in our Great Ming Dynasty was special. Although the fourth prince moved the capital, it was not a complete relocation.

In Nanjing, an administrative team is still in place.

The palace, the six ministries, various government offices, and eunuchs were all there; the only thing missing was an emperor.

If Crown Prince Zhu Cilang were to come here to take charge of the situation, even if Beiping were to fall, it wouldn't be a complete collapse.

The situation in the Southern Ming Dynasty would not be so difficult.

Given the prevailing trend, it will be difficult to restore the glory of the Ming Dynasty.

But at least it wouldn't be such a chaotic mess. Zhu Yuanzhang got a little angry when he talked about this.

Emperor Chongzhen was truly a non-stick pan; he didn't want to take any responsibility or infamy whatsoever!

He was afraid people would say he had abandoned the capital, and he was also afraid of becoming an emperor emeritus.

Ultimately, this resulted in the loss of both the emperor and the crown prince, leading to chaos and the rapid collapse of the Southern Ming court.

"Chongba, what about those who opened the gates and surrendered?"

What became of them?

"Judging from what you said earlier, Chongba, it seems they don't have a good ending."

After a moment of silence, Empress Ma looked at Zhu Yuanzhang and spoke again, asking about the matter.

"Girl, you're right. These people are going to have an amazing time from now on."

Many people believe that with the arrival of the rebel leader, justice will prevail.

Their lives will get better.

They can then smoothly switch allegiances.

Li Zicheng couldn't do without these people from the old dynasty.

They could succeed, bringing their vast wealth to Li Zicheng, where they would be highly valued and employed by him.

They could continue to live a life of luxury and wealth, relying on the vast sums of money they embezzled from the Ming Dynasty to maintain their prosperity.

But they all made the wrong decision.

Li Zicheng was a bandit leader who led a group of desperate, starving people.

Especially after shouting the slogan, "When the rebel king comes, we will not pay taxes."

Although it gathered a lot of strength and won the hearts of many people in a short period of time.

But in reality, this also meant that his foundation was too weak.

This slogan was both its strength and its weakness.

Banditry has no future.

To succeed, you need your own space to operate continuously.

Only then can one withstand failure after failure.

Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help but comment on Li Zicheng.

"He conquered Beiping, destroyed the Ming Dynasty, and then ascended the throne here as emperor."

So many people need money and food.

With so many soldiers needing rewards, where will the money come from?
You can't just conjure it up out of thin air!
If the treasury of the Great Ming Dynasty were full of money and grain, then he could naturally make a fortune and solve the problem.

But my Great Ming Dynasty was already impoverished to death.

The emperor has to raise money from his court officials, so the national treasury, including the imperial treasury, is completely empty. Even a rat would leave crying if it went in.

If Li Zicheng wanted to acquire a large amount of wealth, he could only do so by taking it from the fat pigs in the city.

Thus, the much-anticipated and vigorous campaign of extorting money was quickly launched.

Numerous officials were arrested and subjected to severe interrogation.

This matter was directly handled by Liu Zongmin, who set up a headquarters in Tian Hongyu's residence and established a special "Bixiang Zhenfu Division".

Liu Zongmin and his generals were the main executors, using soldiers of the Shun army and surrendered Ming officials and yamen runners to guard, register, and urge them to comply.

They used a variety of methods, appealing to their emotions and reasoning with them, including but not limited to using torture devices such as clamps, branding irons, nailing fingers, head clamps, iron collars, leading horses by the reins, imprisonment, shackles, and severe torture.

For example, officials would be made to sweep the floor for the soldiers.

Through personal insults and mental punishment, they are tortured and their money is extracted to the maximum extent.

Liu Zongmin is indeed a talented person; he has a knack for this.

He also established clear standards and lists for recovering stolen assets, which were divided into several categories.

For example, each Grand Secretary of the Cabinet, a high-ranking official, received a fixed allowance of 100,000 taels of silver.

The quota for high-ranking officials such as ministers, vice ministers, officials in the capital, and officials of the Embroidered Uniform Guard is 70,000 taels.

The quotas for officials such as the Six Supervising Secretaries, the Thirteen Circuit Censors, and officials from various ministries and departments, including directors and assistant directors, ranged from 50,000 to 10,000 taels.

There was no specific quota for imperial relatives and nobles, but the pursuit was extremely ruthless, often targeting their entire fortune.

Although merchants and wealthy households were not the primary targets, they were still affected and asked to "contribute to the war effort."

In this matter, the first person to bear the brunt is Grand Secretary Wei Zao De.

The quota was 100,000 taels, but Wei Zaode initially only paid 10,000 taels. He was tortured by Liu Zongmin until his head split open and his brains splattered out, and he died. In the end, he still failed to pay the full quota.

Grand Secretary Chen Yan voluntarily offered 40,000 taels of silver, but was later tortured and killed after his servants reported him for hiding gold and silver.

Ministers and vice ministers of various ministries, such as Li Yuzhi, Minister of Personnel, and Zhang Jinyan, Minister of War, were mostly tortured and extorted for amounts around 70,000 taels of silver.

Many officials died from torture.

For example, after Liu Zongmin tortured Zhou Kui, the Earl of Jiading, he was eventually forced to hand over 520,000 taels of silver and several hundred thousand rare coins.

In terms of silver, the total amount far exceeds 500,000 taels. Zhou Kui, that good-for-nothing, paid the money but still didn't survive.

He was eventually executed.

Top noble families such as Zhu Chunchen, Duke of Cheng, and Zhang Shize, Duke of Ying, were all considered easy targets.

They were all tortured to death.

The same applies to many families of marquises, earls, and imperial sons-in-law.

Cao Huachun was spared death after offering tens of thousands of taels of silver, while Wang Zhixin, the Grand Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial and the Director of the Eastern Depot, was considered to be extremely wealthy and was tortured to death.

More than 100,000 taels of silver and a large number of treasures and antiques were recovered.

Even Du Xun, the eunuch who surrendered, was not spared and was still pursued.

After Liu Zongmin entered Beijing, he also forcibly took possession of Wu Sangui's beloved concubine, Chen Yuanyuan.

Subsequently, Wu Xiang was tortured and extorted to recover the stolen goods...

This incident can be considered one of the direct triggers that led to Wu Sangui's surrender to the Qing Dynasty and ultimately resulted in the Battle of Shanhai Pass.

The total amount of silver obtained from this tax collection was around seventy to eighty million taels!
In the late Ming Dynasty, in a normal year such as the Wanli era, the national fiscal revenue, converted into silver, was approximately 20 million taels.

In other words, Li Zicheng's extortion of taxes this time, compared to the Wanli era, suddenly generated the equivalent of three or four years' worth of tax revenue for the entire Ming Dynasty.

Considering the situation during the Chongzhen era when taxes could not be collected, the tax revenue would be far lower than the normal 20 million taels in the Wanli era.

In other words, compared to the Chongzhen era, the revenue from this tax collection is at least equivalent to the income of the Chongzhen era itself!

Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help but laugh as he said this.

They all complained of being poor, and none of them had any money. They were all honest and upright people who didn't care about money.

As a result, Li Zicheng pulled this stunt, and everything was exposed.

Everyone thought that once the rebel leader arrived, they could live a life of wealth and glory and rise to prominence.

After a series of actions, they were all made to behave.

For Zhu Yuanzhang, who particularly hated corrupt officials, Li Zicheng's actions were incredibly satisfying.

This is why he remembers Li Zicheng's extortion of wages so clearly.

This is so refreshing and enjoyable, why not watch it several times and savor it properly?
Empress Ma was at a loss for words after hearing Zhu Yuanzhang's words.

This is truly ironic.

So many officials were asked by the emperor to contribute money to pay the army's salaries, but they refused.

As a result, all that money went to Li Zicheng, who captured the capital.

Especially the father-in-law of the emperor, Zhou Kui, was full of irony.

His son-in-law, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, personally approached him, wanting him to donate more to set an example, but he kept crying poverty and refused to donate no matter what.

Even though his daughter gave him five thousand taels, he could still keep two thousand taels for himself.

However, as it turned out, the amount of money Li Zicheng extorted from him was the largest.

So much money, and not a single penny was saved.

He even lost his life because of it.

It can only be said that some people are too short-sighted and extremely selfish.

With such a generous reward, it is truly not unjust at all.

You deserve it!
And as for the many ministers, just as Chongba had said, many of them were thinking of changing the dynasty.

They thought the new court would still need them, and that they could protect the money.

But Li Zicheng pulled this stunt.

Comparing their true colors, the things they did, and the outcomes, it's truly satisfying.

"Zhongba, with Li Zicheng doing this, I'm afraid he won't be able to stay in Beiping for long, will he?"

Li Zicheng's various acts of extorting money and demanding wages certainly sounded incredibly satisfying.

However, the hidden dangers are also particularly significant.

From Chongba's account, we can see that Li Zicheng's foundation was unstable.

Arriving in the capital at this time and pulling such a stunt, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that they've completely lost the hearts and minds of the people.

Especially after eating this batch of fat pigs, it will be difficult to find so many fat pigs to eat in a short period of time.

With funds and supplies running out, it won't be easy to sustain operations in the long run.

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded: "Sister, you're right, that's exactly it."

After Li Zicheng entered Beiping, he soon engaged in battle with the Manchus from outside the Great Wall.

After a crushing defeat at Shanhai Pass, losing Beiping, they fled in disgrace.

Upon hearing that her guess was true, Empress Ma felt no joy; on the contrary, her heart pounded with anxiety.

Because she thought of something she didn't want to think about.

Could it be that another foreign race has invaded and taken over the Central Plains?!
(End of this chapter)