The Ming Dynasty: Starting with the border troops, it was overthrown and the Qing Dynasty was destro

Chapter 13 A mutinous army must look like a mutinous army.
Seeing that the pretense had been broken, Jiang Han stopped pretending and threatened:
"Master Liu, our Yansui garrison of several thousand soldiers has not had enough to eat for several days."

“The brothers are all clamoring to plunder everywhere. If anything unexpected happens, I, Jiang, cannot guarantee the safety of Liu Family Village.”

Faced with Jiang Han's threat, Master Liu showed no panic whatsoever, but instead appeared disdainful.

If it were the previous mutinous soldiers, I would be somewhat afraid of them, but you, surnamed Jiang, are an official of the imperial army. Do you dare to let your troops plunder my family, a noble family?

Master Liu took a leisurely sip of tea:
"Alas, even the landlords don't have surplus grain."

"Here's what we'll do: if you can move the imperial blue-and-white porcelain jar in the courtyard, feel free to take it and exchange it for money; if you can't, then there's nothing we can do."

After speaking, he put down his teacup and pointed to Dong Erzhu and Heizi behind Jiang Han:

"Perfect, let that big oaf behind you and that skinny black monkey carry it."

Upon hearing Master Liu's words, Hei Zi and Dong Erzhu forgot their anger and immediately looked at the large vat in the courtyard. Unexpectedly, this inconspicuous vat was actually a gift from the emperor.

The two had been beasts of burden their entire lives, and now they wanted to share in the dragon's aura.

They hurriedly ran into the yard, intending to move the large vat back.

Despite their best efforts, including using every ounce of strength they had, the large vat remained completely still.

Master Liu looked at Hei Zi and Dong Erzhu in the courtyard and sneered incessantly.

This imperial dragon-patterned jar was placed in the courtyard by him specifically to suppress the feng shui. He had already asked the craftsmen to lock it up. How could these two idiots think they could move it?

Jiang Han looked at Dong Erzhu and Hei Zi in the courtyard and walked over helplessly:
"What are you two doing? You just move things because he tells you to?"

Dong Erzhu scratched his head:
"Second Brother Han, that old man said this is a gift from the Emperor; we can exchange it for a lot of grain if we take it back, why don't we take it?"

Jiang Han was so angry he laughed, and slapped Zhu Zi on the head:

"You still think you were the same as before? You'd just do manual labor when you were told to?"

"We're a chaotic army now, you understand? A chaotic army!"

Jiang Han tightened his armor and said solemnly:
"A mutinous army should act like a mutinous army. Watch me set an example for you!"

Jiang Han shoved the two aside, drew his mace from his waist with a clang, and swung it around, smashing it against the large celadon vat in front of him.

Just then, Master Liu was sipping hot tea when a loud "crack" was heard in the courtyard, and his imperial dragon-patterned vat shattered on the ground.

“Bold!”

Master Liu slammed his fist on the table and roared:
"This is a gift from the Emperor! You are showing disrespect to your sovereign! This is utter disrespect!"

Jiang Han strode into the main hall, carrying a dripping mace, his footsteps making a "thump-thump" sound on the blue bricks.

Looking at the murderous Jiang Han before him, Master Liu sprang up from his armchair, his voice trembling:
"You, you, you! What are you trying to do? I'm warning you, I am the grandfather of the current Imperial Son-in-Law!"

Jiang Han grinned, hooked his arm around Old Master Liu's neck, and whispered in his ear:

"Old man, I'm speaking to you politely because I'm being courteous and respectful."

"If you don't want to be dignified, then I'll help you be dignified."

"Do you believe I can immediately mobilize troops and slaughter everyone in your Liu Family Village, leaving no one alive, then set fire to the village to destroy the evidence?"

Jiang Han's words grew increasingly harsh, causing cold sweat to pour down Old Master Liu's forehead:

"As for you old bastard, I'll immediately order your men to tie you to the back of a horse and drag you for ten miles!"

Master Liu's face turned pale and then red, and he quickly begged for mercy:
"Lord Jiang, let's talk this out, let's talk this out!"

Jiang Han remained silent, grinning maliciously as he continued to tighten his grip on Master Liu's neck.

Mr. Liu was an elderly man, and when Jiang Han exerted a little force, he was choked and couldn't breathe.

Before he was strangled to death, Mr. Liu mustered all his strength to squeeze out a few words:
"Wait, wait! My Liu family is willing to give a portion of our resources, a few percent of which, to the soldiers outside!"

"They are all the elite troops of our Great Ming Dynasty, the army that came to the aid of the emperor. I, Liu, should do my part!"

Hearing that the miser had finally relented, Jiang Han's brows relaxed, and he released his right hand: "Good! Good! Good! Mr. Liu truly has the ambition to serve his country! I admire you, but I wonder how much you can offer?"

Mr. Liu was panting heavily, and it took him a while to come to his senses.

Facing Jiang Han's predatory gaze, he looked pained.
"Here's what we'll do. I previously bought over three hundred warhorses from your general. I've sold quite a few, and there are still over a hundred left. Let's settle the bill together."

"At fifteen taels per horse, that's four thousand five hundred taels."

Upon hearing the price, Jiang Han quickly raised his hand to interrupt Master Liu:

"Wait! Master Liu! You can't calculate the price of this warhorse like that!"

"These warhorses are the beloved relatives and brothers of our border troops!"

Jiang Han paused for a moment,

"You have to pay more!"

Master Liu felt a wave of dizziness upon hearing this. Could it be calculated like this?
But Jiang Han's prized horse was still dangling in front of him, so how could he dare to disobey? He had no choice but to grit his teeth and double the price of the warhorse, raising it to thirty taels, for a total of nine thousand taels.

But this was far from enough for Jiang Han. He wouldn't give up until he squeezed every last drop out of this landlord.

Jiang Han's eyes lit up, and he said with a smile:

"Master Liu, when I came here just now I saw two rather large granaries behind the estate. The brothers haven't had any food for several days. I wonder if we could borrow some more grain to tide us over?"

Upon hearing this, Master Liu cursed Jiang Han's ancestors for eighteen generations in his heart.

This greedy little thief wasn't satisfied with just taking the silver; he even set his sights on the granary!

Borrow grain? Hmph, lending it out would be like throwing a meat bun to a dog—it'd be gone forever!

Looking at the smiling Jiang Han, he felt a surge of anger, wishing he could tear Jiang Han's mouth apart immediately and see if he could still smile!

But thinking of the thousands of troops lurking outside the manor, Master Liu had no choice but to suppress his anger and force a smile:
"My servants just went to check, and one of the granaries has been almost completely looted by the mutinous soldiers, with only about a thousand bushels of miscellaneous grains left."

"There are still about two thousand shi of fine grain left in the other granary, but Lord Jiang, you must leave some food for my Liu family, right?"

Upon hearing this, Jiang Han grinned:
"Wait a minute! Master Liu, this can't be settled like this. I already gave up a lot of profit for the warhorses earlier."

"My Yansui garrison brought out more than 500 warhorses this time, so how come there are only 300 left when it comes to Master Liu?"

"Did the remaining two hundred horses grow wings and fly away?"

Upon hearing this, Master Liu immediately became anxious and explained:

"Lord Jiang, I have settled the payment for those two hundred bolts of horsemanship with General Wu."

"The money is all with him, you can go ask him, you can't pin this on me!"

Seeing this, Jiang Han patted him on the shoulder, his tone gentle:
“I say, Master Liu, my General Wu died long ago in the chaos of war.”

"You're bringing up General Wu now, which puts me in a difficult position. I can't exactly bring General Wu back to life, can I?"

"How about I take you downstairs to find him and check the accounts?"

As he spoke, Jiang Han would occasionally wave the mace in front of Master Liu.

Master Liu's eyelids twitched as he watched, and he quickly begged for mercy:

"Lord Jiang, please spare me! My Liu family may have some wealth, but we don't have that much cash!"

"Moreover, my Liu Family Village has just suffered from the ravages of war, and we certainly cannot afford this money!"

Jiang Han chuckled:
"It doesn't matter if we don't have cash. Didn't Master Liu just say that all the valuables are still intact?"

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(End of this chapter)