Di Ming

Chapter 373 Iron-Blooded Suppression!

The first thing Ning Caiwei saw was the latest account of gold.

It clearly states on it: "...two hundred and fifty-two thousand three hundred and five taels!"

Just seeing the amount of gold gave Ning Caiwei goosebumps, and she suddenly felt the urge to go to the toilet.

She was already very rich. But the gold she had earned, and the gold she had looted from Osaka Castle, Manila and other places, added up to less than 100,000 taels.

This is just gold.

Ning Caiwei had heard Zhu Yin say that the richest princes in the Ming Dynasty were either the Prince of Qin or the Prince of Shu. As for the Prince of Fu, although he was greatly favored by Emperor Wanli, his reign lasted only a few decades, and his foundation was too shallow and his history too short to actually rank in the top ten.

The princes of the Ming Dynasty were incredibly wealthy, especially the founding princes of the early Ming Dynasty. Over two hundred years of accumulation had made each of their families richer than a nation. Even if they squandered their wealth, they could never spend it all.

Later scholars estimated that during the Wanli period, there were approximately 800 million taels of silver (including silverware) in Chinese society, while the amount of gold (including goldware) in existence was approximately over 50 million taels.

Of all that gold and silver, at least ten percent was in the hands of the princes and royal families.

Ning Caiwei was very familiar with the financial data of the national treasury and the internal treasury.

She knew that the current treasury of the Ministry of Revenue of the Ming Dynasty held 427,000 taels of gold, the Nanjing Ministry of Revenue held 93,000 taels, the Imperial Stud held 18,000 taels, the Ministry of Works held 9,000 taels, the Ministry of Rites held 12,000 taels, and the Ministry of War held 7,000 taels…

The combined gold reserves of all the national treasuries amount to less than 60 taels!

This is the national treasury. So what about the gold reserves of the Wanli Emperor's personal treasury?
Excluding the large amount of gold artifacts and jewelry in the palace, the Inner Treasury now holds 28.5 taels of gold, the Guangji Treasury holds 7.8 taels, the Tiancai Treasury holds 3.6 taels, the Gongyong Treasury holds 2.4 taels, the Siyue Treasury holds 4.1 taels, the Jiazi Treasury holds 1.7 taels, the Nanjing Garrison Treasury holds 4.5 taels... The total amount of gold in Wanli's various treasuries is less than 60 taels.

The combined gold reserves of the national treasury and the imperial treasury amounted to only about 110 million taels. Even including the gold artifacts and jewelry in the palace, the total would definitely not exceed two million taels.

But the Qin Prince's family actually possessed 25.2 taels of gold!

How much is that in silver? Over two million!
Ning Caiwei's eyes sparkled as she looked at the silver accounts.

"hiss--"

Four million five hundred and sixty thousand taels!
The national treasury doesn't have that much silver even now!

The Qin Prince's mansion's accumulation and plundering over two hundred years are indeed extraordinary. The gold and silver combined amount to seven million taels of silver!
This is just the accumulated gold and silver, not the total income. The Prince of Qin's mansion was extremely extravagant, spending money like water. With a large population and huge annual expenses, it still managed to accumulate seven million taels of silver in savings.

This is just gold and silver.

In fact, the Ming Dynasty had enough gold and silver reserves to meet circulation needs. However, most of the gold and silver were hoarded and did not participate in circulation, becoming family heirlooms symbolizing "wealth accumulation," remaining hidden from the world for many years.

This resulted in the Ming Dynasty being chronically short of gold and silver, leading to financial poverty and widespread poverty among the people.

Ning Caiwei then looked at the jewelry ledger, which listed countless pearls, gemstones, rare objects, ancient paintings, and famous porcelains, all of which were rare and extremely valuable. Otherwise, they would not have been specially numbered and stored away.

This item is not worth estimating. However, Ning Caiwei conservatively estimates that this item might be worth more than three million taels of silver!
The total value of the royal treasures in the carriage was equivalent to tens of millions of taels of silver.

Tens of millions of taels!

This doesn't even include the more than two million mu of fertile land, the businesses and industries scattered throughout the Northwest, or the real estate and other property that couldn't be taken with them.

If these are included, the total assets of the Qin Prince's Mansion are estimated to be tens of millions of taels of silver!
Ning Caiwei couldn't help but feel a little emotional. She, Little Tiger, and her younger sister, the three time travelers, worked together, making money and robbing money, and after several years, they only had a net worth of three million.

But it only accounts for one-tenth of the Prince Qin's mansion!
How much wealth did all the princes of the empire possess in total? It's laughable that at the end of the Ming Dynasty, the princes were all stingy, watching the imperial court's cash flow dry up and refusing to come to its aid.

As a result, they themselves were slaughtered like pigs and sheep, and all the gold and silver went to the rebel army and the Manchus.

Now that she has access to the Qin Prince's treasury, the Zhu family's total assets have increased several times over!
This time, the way they made their fortune was so ruthless and inhumane.

However, Ning Caiwei, after all, was once the head of a trillion-dollar conglomerate, and she quickly calmed down.

Only money that you can spend and use yourself is truly your own!
“Sister-in-law,” Wu You said as she came over, “I counted them. There were a total of one hundred and twenty double-drawn carts, each one heavy. They were exhausted after only ten miles, and the horses and mules were foaming at the mouth and covered in bloody whip marks.”

There was a hint of worry on her peony-like face, "We did a lot of calculations, but we never expected that the horses and mules wouldn't work."

Ning Caiwei walked over and saw a carriage covered in gold, its opening gleaming brilliantly. This carriage was probably carrying three thousand catties of goods.

Generally speaking, a two-horse carriage can only carry a little over a thousand catties (approximately 500 kg) for long-distance transport. However, the carriages in the Prince's mansion could carry twice that amount!
Even with two strong mules pulling the cart, and eunuchs and servants pushing it, the mules were exhausted. If they pulled it for another ten miles, they would most likely die from exhaustion.

How will we transport the goods? Where can we find so many horses and mules to replace them? There's not much time left.

“The mules and horses are no good; they probably can’t pull more than a few miles.” Ding Hongying checked the situation. “Aunt Wei, the King of Qin has no hope of escaping far. What do we do now? Even if we dig pits to bury gold and silver, there are only a dozen of us. We simply don’t have enough time for so many boxes; we won’t finish even by dawn.”

"Don't rush, let me think." Ning Caiwei plopped down on the threshold of the Dragon King Temple, wiping the sweat from her forehead as she pondered at high speed.

According to her original plan, the carriage was going to the Guangtong Canal, which transported grain, and was only about ten miles away from here. Several large ships belonging to the Northwest Wolf (Li Xuancheng) were already waiting at the riverbank dock.

Under the cover of darkness, the cargo was loaded onto the boat and transported downstream along the Guangtong Canal, which had been built during the Sui Dynasty. By daybreak, the boat had traveled over a hundred li to the Guangyang Wharf in Weinan, where the Ningyin Trading Company's warehouse was located and had been contracted out. The boat unloaded its cargo directly at the Guangyang Wharf, without anyone noticing.

This is the best policy.

There's also a less desirable option. If it's impossible to get the items onto the ship, then temporarily sink them into the nearby Jinglong Pond and try to salvage them later.

But whether it's the best or worst option, the mules and horses still need to be able to pull the cart. Even if it's the worst option, Jinglong Pond is five miles away. What if the mules and horses die on the way to Jinglong Pond because the cart is twice as heavy?
Then it would truly be a situation where one could cry out to heaven and earth in vain.

What should we do? Ning Caiwei frowned slightly.

It's currently 7:45 PM, and it's definitely too late to mobilize mules and horses in time. Besides, it would be too noisy and easily expose us.

So we can only rely on these mules and horses that could die at any moment.

“Let’s use these mules and horses!” Ning Caiwei suddenly said. “Four mules and horses can pull one cart, and they’ll definitely recover and be able to pull the cart again. We can then make the trip in two trips. At worst, we’ll have to make one more trip.”

“That’s right!” Wu You immediately chimed in. “The terrain here is higher, and the riverbank is lower. There are more downhill slopes than uphill slopes, so pulling four carts together should be no problem. Even if we pull the carts in two trips, it won’t take more than two hours. We should all be on the boat by the fourth watch of the night!”

Ning Caiwei stood up. "Then let's do it this way! Take half of it first! The gold will go first!"

"Sisters! Now that we've accomplished this great feat together, we're even more bound by a bond of life and death! We share both glory and misfortune! As long as I, Ning Caiwei, have a breath left, you will be my sworn sisters. We'll share the same breath, the same fate, and enjoy wealth and glory together!"

"The peace, joy, happiness, and well-being of my sisters are my peace, joy, happiness, and well-being! The relatives of my sisters are my relatives. For the sisters who are not yet married, I will take care of their life's important matters. I will choose the best husband's family for you and give you the most generous dowry... I will also regard the children you give birth to as my own children!"

The women were all very excited upon hearing this. The maids even bowed in unison and said, "We are willing to die for Lady Yaduan!"

Ding Hongying replied, "Aunt Wei, I'm not your sister, I'm your niece..."

Wu You also laughed and said, "You are my sister-in-law."

Ning Caiwei's starry eyes widened. "Is this the point I'm making? Is this the point?"

"Alright, stop joking. Let's get moving while it's dark and no one's around. We can't afford to waste a moment! The government troops are about to return to the town to suppress the rebellious civilians."

Ning Caiwei knew very well that there were tens of thousands of rebels inside and outside Xi'an. Even if the two thousand guards and four thousand city defense troops of the Prince of Qin's mansion rushed back from Qinglu'ao in time, they would have difficulty suppressing the rebellion and would most likely suffer a major defeat.

These city soldiers, usually inexperienced in battle, are more than capable of bullying ordinary people, but they have little chance of winning against a large number of rebels from the surrounding areas.

If they were to truly lose, the morale of the Hui people would be greatly boosted, and their strength would surge. This would quickly spread throughout Guanzhong, where two to three hundred thousand Hui people might respond, and then potentially the entire Northwest region, encompassing over a million Hui people, might rebel against the Ming.

By then, the Northwest will be ravaged by bloodshed and devastation, and Ning Caiwei will be a traitor to the nation!

Therefore, Ning Caiwei did not place her hopes on the two thousand Qin King's guards and the four thousand city defense troops from the very beginning.

Their combat capabilities are unreliable!
Ning Caiwei glanced at Xi'an, ten miles away, and then looked north.

There, there were the two most elite troops in the Guanzhong region.

One of them was the Lishan Cavalry Battalion, which had two thousand heavy cavalrymen. The Lishan Cavalry Battalion was one of the very few heavy cavalry units in the Ming Dynasty, and also the most elite cavalry unit in the Ming Dynasty. Most of the soldiers were surnamed Li, and they were composed of brave and fierce Han, Dangxiang, and Qiang men from the northwest who were good at riding.

The mission of the Lishan Cavalry Battalion was to guard Guanzhong. However, it was not very close to Xi'an, about seventy li away.

The other force was the Nine Border Guards stationed in Guanzhong.

Because Xi'an did not have the official title of Western Capital during the Ming Dynasty, but it effectively served as one, it, like the two capitals of the north and south, had a system of rotating garrison troops every five years. This year, the garrison troops rotating to Xi'an were the elite troops from the Yansui Garrison.

The elite cavalry consisted of 3,000 elite soldiers, but they were mainly infantry. They were stationed at Jingyang Fort, which was 60 li away from Chang'an City, not exactly close.

To mobilize these two armies to rescue Xi'an, it is essential that the King of Qin issue orders, the eunuchs guarding the passes, and the governors guarding the passes all be present.

Moreover, whether it's the Lishan Cavalry Battalion or the Jingyang Elite Battalion, if Xi'an City were to send someone to report the change and request reinforcements at this time, no matter how fast they were, the reinforcements would not arrive in Xi'an City until the next morning, and the troops would be exhausted.

For such a long time, Xi'an had mostly been controlled by the rebels from the Hui tribe. Xi'an was one of the most fortified cities in the world, and once it fell into the hands of the Hui tribe, it would be very difficult to conquer.

With this in mind, Ning Caiwei had Wu You and Huya forge the handwriting and seals of the King of Qin, the garrison eunuch, and the governor, creating a counterfeit document. They timed it perfectly, and the "troops" were mobilized this morning.

It arrived a full day early. If all goes well, the two armies should be arriving soon.

But Ning Caiwei wanted more than just a swift suppression of the rebellion and preservation of Xi'an; she wanted to eradicate it as much as possible to prevent the rebellion from spreading.

So she also issued a forged "transfer order" to the Weihe River Navy.

Then, the Wei River naval force west of Xi'an should also take action. Indeed, there is a thousand-strong Wei River naval force in Guanzhong, tasked with escorting grain shipments and combating river bandits.

Once the Wei River naval force reaches outside Xi'an, it can cut off the escape route of the rebellious rebels westward. In this way, with the combined efforts of the Ming army's land and naval forces to suppress the rebellion, the rebels in Xi'an will have nowhere to win or escape, and the government troops will be able to achieve complete victory.

If two of these three naval and land forces arrive in time, the situation can be resolved smoothly.

Without her prior secret order for Tiger Fang to forge the orders of the governor, the garrison eunuch, and the Prince of Qin, the Lishan Cavalry Battalion, the Valiant Cavalry Battalion, and the Wei River Navy would not have been able to arrive in Xicheng that night to participate in suppressing the Hui rebellion. If they had been delayed by even one day, and the Hui rebels had taken control of Xi'an and more Hui people had joined the rebellion, then the rebellion would have been much more difficult to suppress, and Xi'an would have been plunged into catastrophe.

She will never let that happen!
To ensure the safety of Guanzhong and suppress the rebellion, Lady Jiangning went to great lengths and exhausted herself, considering things even more thoroughly than her husband in the imperial court. Was it easy for her? The dozen or so women worked quickly, their bodies drenched in sweat. After nearly half an hour, they had harnessed four horses to half of the carriages. Fortunately, harnessing horses and driving carriages were basic skills for them, so they did it with ease.

"Let's go!" Ning Caiwei gave the order to depart with a sigh of relief.

Of the sixteen people, only Ding Hongying and her five sisters remained at the Dragon King Temple, while Ning Caiwei and ten others escorted the first batch of carriages to depart.

These mules and horses, accustomed to pulling carts, are very obedient. Not every cart needs a driver; as long as there is a leader in front and a rear guard behind, they will follow obediently.

This short half-hour was just enough time for the exhausted mules and horses to rest. Now, with four horses and mules pulling a cart, it was indeed much easier and perfectly feasible.

Soon, Ning Caiwei and her group disappeared into the night and could no longer be seen.

Galo, the most skilled driver, led the way with a bow and arrows at his back, while Wu You, like a ghost, kept watch along the route. Ning Caiwei brought up the rear. The women all had excellent night vision and didn't need lights, advancing by the faint daylight.

It was already past midnight, the night was deep and quiet, and there was no one on the road. Fortunately, no one was there, otherwise, according to the plan, the witness would have been silenced by the ninja Wu You.

The route was, of course, to follow the map directly. After about half an hour, the convoy had traveled more than ten miles, passed a manor, and sure enough, saw the dock of the Guangtong Canal.

Several boats were prominently moored on the dimly lit dock.

Seeing this, Ning Caiwei immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

As the convoy approached, a man in black drew a circle with a lantern and immediately came to greet them.

"Greetings, Madam! I am relieved to see you safe and sound!" the man in black said joyfully. "You are wise, Madam. I did not expect that the spoils of war would actually be brought back."

This person is Li Xuancheng, the head of Huya Northwest, codenamed Northwest Wolf.

“Northwest Wolf,” Ning Caiwei said, “there’s another trip, and the boat won’t set sail until the fourth watch of the night.”

"It's alright," Li Xuancheng laughed. "It's early past four in the morning. By the time it gets light, we'll have sailed dozens of miles downstream and disappeared from sight."

Ning Caiwei waved her hand, "Hurry up and get on the carriage and the boat!"

……

Just as Ning Caiwei led her people back to the Dragon King Temple to pull the other half of the carriage, the rebels from the Hui tribe, who had already looted and burned the Qin Prince's Mansion, finally regrouped under the orders of their leaders.

Although the goods were looted and the palace was burned down, the chieftains were furious.

Because they failed to catch up with the Qin king and his family, the vast majority of their gold and silver treasures were taken away.

hateful!

Bai Deshou roared, "You've lost your position! What did you do?! I put you in charge of chasing the King of Qin, and you've lost him!"

Li Bishi was his capable assistant, always very competent, but this time he stumbled and was escaped by the King of Qin.

Li Bishi knelt down, panting, and said, "Master! The Prince of Qin ran away too fast, I didn't expect it! I thought he must have run south, because his two thousand guards are in Qinglu'ao to the south. But I chased him south for seven or eight miles and found nothing!"

"I chased them eastward for another seven or eight miles, but still found nothing. It was pitch black outside the city at night, and I had no idea where they had gone!"

Bai Deshou, Ma Jiusang, and other chieftains all had ashen faces. They hadn't captured the Prince of Qin, nor had they obtained the vast amounts of gold and silver; what good was burning down the Prince of Qin's mansion?
What a fool!
However, they couldn't blame Li Bishi too much, because if any one of them had been in charge of the pursuit, they would have chased south, not east, much less north.

Since the Qin King's guards were suppressing potential rebels among the displaced people at Qinglu'ao, which was more than 20 miles away, the Qin King should have fled south, both morally and logically.

Suddenly, the thirteen or fourteen-year-old boy beside Ma Jiusang asked out of the blue:

“Brother Li Bishi, let me ask you, since the King of Qin took away the gold and silver, he must have used a carriage. Gold and silver are so heavy, there must be ruts on the road. If you shine a lamp on them, you can find the ruts. Why didn’t you think of that?”

This young man was Ma Shouying, the son of Ma Jiusang, a nobleman from the Hui tribe.

No one present knew that this young man would later lead his troops in rebellion against the Ming Dynasty more than thirty years later, and become the Shunyi King, nicknamed Old Hui.

Of course, he is still a baby now.

"Yes?" Bai Deshou, Ma Jiusang, and the others looked at Li Bishi together. Li Bishi was always shrewd and capable, why couldn't he think of this?
Li Bishi gave a wry smile. "Young Master, how could I not have thought of that? But outside the eastern part of Xi'an, because grain is frequently transported into the city, it's not a dirt road! It's a stone slab road with a thin layer of sand! Where are the tire tracks? Even if there are some tracks, once someone steps on them, the sand shifts and they become invisible. Not to mention it's nighttime!"

"I led five hundred brothers south for seven or eight li, but why did we turn back? Because after seven or eight li it was just a dirt road, and I didn't see any cart tracks!"

Ma Shouying nodded and said, "I see. So, that old dog King Qin actually went north?"

Li Bishi shook his head and said, "I don't know. Even if they went north, so much time has passed, they must be at least thirty miles away, or they might be hiding somewhere. It's too late to catch up at night."

"Da!" Ma Shouying looked at his father, "Give me three hundred brave men on horseback, and I'll go north to chase after that old dog, the King of Qin! Even if I escape thirty li, or even three hundred li, I'll keep chasing him!"

Ma Jiusang thought for a moment, "Alright! Here are three hundred brave riders for you to chase after! But don't go too far, or you'll fall into the King of Qin's trap!"

After a while, the rebels from the rebellious tribes gathered three hundred strong men on horseback and followed Ma Shouying in a thunderous chase.

Shortly after the young Ma Shouying led three hundred cavalrymen out of the eastern city of Xi'an, a commotion broke out on the south side of the city as two thousand Qin King's guards and four thousand city defense troops finally rushed back under the cover of night.

At this time, the Huibu had not yet taken control of the entire city.

Seeing the government troops return, the Hui troops had no choice but to take the initiative and defeat the Ming army before the 6,000 Ming soldiers entered the city.

"It's too late to control the whole city! Don't be afraid! We have even more brothers who have risen up, at least ten thousand! Kill!"

Bai Deshou shouted.

Ma Jiusang also climbed to a high place and roared, "After tonight, we will have tens of thousands of men! If we want to take Xi'an, we must first break through the Ming army outside the city! Kill!"

Tens of thousands of rebels from the surrounding areas converged into a torrent, rushing out of the city and launching an attack.

The Hui tribes, who had not previously risen up, now joined in, armed themselves and following suit. They already possessed weapons. In an instant, almost all the able-bodied Hui men inside and outside the city were mobilized, totaling fourteen or fifteen thousand.

The entire city of Xi'an was thrown into chaos, and the Han people kept their doors tightly shut, afraid to go out.

Some troops even stormed into the governor's office, the prefect's office, the county magistrate's office, and the garrison eunuch's office... but unfortunately, these officials had already fled the city.

Fortunately, by this time, 6,000 Ming soldiers had arrived, and torches lit up the area outside the city. The rebels could only leave the city to fight and were unable to commit violence against the people inside the city.

The 6,000 Ming soldiers did not expect that before they could even form ranks, the rebels from the Hui tribe would launch a surprise attack, putting them at a great disadvantage.

Seeing an unknown number of chaotic Ming soldiers rushing towards them like a tidal wave, these Ming soldiers, who were unfamiliar with battle formations and had never fought a tough battle, were momentarily stunned.

Many soldiers couldn't help but feel their legs trembling.

The garrison eunuch and a group of officials were in the army at the time. When they saw so many rebels from the returning tribe coming to attack, they panicked.

With a loud crash, the two armies clashed, turning into a chaotic free-for-all. The Ming army didn't even have time to form any battle formations before being met with close-quarters combat by the disorganized returning troops.

Many soldiers dared not fight and turned to run away.

"What kind of battle is this?!" The garrison eunuch and other officials were all bewildered.

The Ming army's response greatly disappointed them, and their sense of security vanished instantly.

"Don't panic! Don't panic!" the eunuchs, civil officials, and generals shouted, but no one heard them.

Just as the Ming army was about to collapse, a thunderous roar suddenly came from not far away.

"Boom boom boom—"

Even the earth trembled slightly. Both sides looked on in astonishment and saw a vast expanse of torches coming like a galaxy. Under the torchlight, there were squads of cavalrymen in gleaming iron armor.

"The Lishan Cavalry Battalion!" The garrison eunuch was overjoyed. "How did they arrive so quickly! I thought they wouldn't arrive until tomorrow morning at the earliest!"

Immediately afterwards, the clanging of armor echoed through the city, and then a large banner appeared on the city wall, signaling the arrival of the elite cavalry.

It turned out that they entered through the north gate, crossed the city walls, and directly attacked the rear of the rebel troops.

"It's the Elite Battalion!" The governor exclaimed, both surprised and delighted. "Strange! They arrived so quickly! What's going on?"

Almost simultaneously, mournful bugles sounded together, "Woo-woo-woo!"

The war drums of the two elite troops also sounded loudly.

The morale of the more than 10,000 Hui rebels, who were riding high on their momentum, wavered when they saw the two Ming armies suddenly appear.

With a loud "boom," the fierce cavalry of the Flying Cavalry Battalion charged into the returning main force.

The Han, Tangut, and Qiang cavalry, wielding their weapons fiercely, charged forward, unstoppable. The numerically superior Hui tribes were instantly torn apart like a tattered rag.

"The Ming army's elite troops have arrived! Retreat! Retreat westward!" Ma Jiusang and Bai Deshou shouted together.

At this moment, they knew there was no chance left. Their only option was to lead as many people as possible westward to break through and cross the Wei River! That was their only way out!

...

Note: The term "Dangxiang" still existed in the Ming Dynasty. It appears repeatedly in memorials, imperial edicts, local chronicles, and inscriptions. Therefore, the claim that the term "Dangxiang" disappeared in the Ming Dynasty is incorrect. However, it's important to note that the scope of the Dangxiang people in the Ming Dynasty was very small. It specifically refers to the descendants of the Dangxiang people in Guyuan, Hengshan, and Dangxiangzhai. These Dangxiang people mostly had the surnames Li or Dang, and although they had long been Sinicized, they still worshipped Li Jiqian and Li Yuanhao. The Dangxiang people were the source of the Ming army's most elite cavalry. The use of the term "Dangxiang" in the author's book is not problematic.

In addition, the Ming Dynasty did indeed have a navy on the Wei River.

(End of this chapter)