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

Chapter 195 Hang all those Zhu bastards on the city wall!
Faced with the Qing Prince's Mansion, which was within easy reach, Jiang Han did not immediately order an attack.

He simply ordered his men to surround the city on all sides and then ignored it.

For Jiang Han, this royal city was already a sitting duck; he could take it whenever he wanted.

None of the many members of the royal family could escape.

In contrast, securing the city firmly in our hands is the most important thing.

Jiang Han first sent troops to take over the six city gates and key defensive locations of Yinchuan, and then personally led his men to suppress the riots within the city.

Of course, he also deployed heavy troops to guard other royal residences within the city, as well as important tax-generating sites such as official granaries and treasuries.

With over three thousand people, it would still be somewhat difficult to completely control the entire city of Yinchuan.

Jiang Han estimated that Zhu Zi would arrive with his troops in a day and a half at most.

Only then will the city be truly in his hands.

Although Jiang Han now has many newly surrendered government troops at his disposal, deep down he is still somewhat wary of these soldiers who have just laid down their arms.

These people are the most adept at changing their tune depending on the wind, jumping back and forth between different sides.

Today he can kneel before Jiang Han, but tomorrow he can stab him in the back.

Jiang Han had to be on guard before his own elite troops could completely control Yinchuan.

While Jiang Han was methodically reorganizing the city and patiently waiting for the main force to arrive, the people in the capital of Prince Qing were filled with anxiety.

When chaos broke out in the city, many members of the imperial family in Yinchuan, who had not heard the sound of war for a long time, were suddenly thrown into turmoil and were immediately terrified and fled for their lives.

Many nobles and members of the imperial family, including princes, generals of the state, and generals of the state, fled with their guards when the chaotic soldiers arrived, not even caring about their concubines.

Some lower-ranking members of the royal family, such as lieutenant generals, wanted to bring their families to the capital for refuge.

However, they were sent by the chief secretary of the Prince's Palace to guard the outer city with the garrison, becoming the first wave of cannon fodder to be sacrificed.

As for the master of this royal city, Prince Qing, Zhu Zhuohong, he had long since disappeared.

He found the group of relatives seeking refuge too noisy, crying and whining, which was bothersome.

He simply dumped all the defenses on the chief steward of the Prince's mansion, and then, with his personal eunuch, he dashed off to the cellar in the southeast corner of the mansion and hid there.

Hiding things in cellars is an old tradition of the Qingwang family.

Back in the day, during the Bo Bai Rebellion, the rebel army also broke into the Prince's mansion. His father, Zhu Shuaixin, was able to escape the disaster and save his life by hiding in the cellar.

At this moment, history seems to be repeating itself.

The cellar where Zhu Zhuohong is hiding is the same one where his father hid back then.

In the dimly lit cellar, Zhu Zhuohong looked at his personal eunuch He Rui beside him, his voice trembling:

"Hehe, tell me... tell me, can we escape this calamity?"

Upon hearing this, He Rui quickly forced a smile that looked more like a grimace and bowed to comfort her:
"Your Highness, you are blessed with great fortune. The spirit of the late Prince in heaven will surely protect you."

He paused and continued:
"Besides, Your Highness, once the imperial court learns of Ningxia's fall, it will certainly send troops to its rescue immediately."

"Back then, Bo Bai was so arrogant, but in the end, wasn't he still wiped out by the imperial army?"

"If we can hide in the cellar for a while, the bandits outside will surely be defeated by the imperial army soon."

Zhuohong felt slightly relieved upon hearing this, but his brow remained furrowed with worry: "I hope so..."

He silently clasped his hands together and prayed in the dim cellar, hoping that his deceased father would bless him.

However, Prince Qing, Zhu Zhuohong, was not as lucky as his father.

He hid in the cellar in fear for less than two days before being dragged out by a group of fierce and ruthless soldiers.

The one leading the group was none other than Zhu Xing, a fallen commoner from the imperial family.

As a member of the Qing family, Zhu Xing knew that the Qing family loved to hide in the cellar.

Therefore, when the army breached the royal city but could not find Prince Qing, Zhu Xing led the officials of the Prince's Palace straight to the cellar and caught Zhu Zhuohong red-handed.

From then on, the Qing Dynasty completely fell.

After the army had cleared out the Prince's mansion, Jiang Han, along with his generals Shao Yong, Li Laowai, and others, came to take over the mansion.

Perfect timing! I'll also take these brothers from humble backgrounds to broaden their horizons and see what the biggest landlord's family in Ningxia Town is really like.

The group slowly stepped into the royal city through the main gate of the palace—Lingxing Gate.

Looking out, one sees a vast square large enough to accommodate thousands of people and a smooth imperial road paved with bluestone slabs.

Along both sides of the imperial road, pairs of majestic stone beasts are neatly arranged.

As you walk along the imperial road, you can see the continuous guard barracks on the east side and the imposing Chief Secretary's Office on the west side.

The Chief Secretary's Office is the administrative center of the entire Prince Qing's Mansion, responsible for handling many complicated affairs inside and outside the mansion.

Further in, there is a tall inner city wall that protects the true core area.

The inner city wall also has three gates. The central gate is called "Duanli Gate," which is tall and majestic. The left and right sides are the East Gate and the West Gate, respectively.

Passing through the Duanli Gate, one is greeted by the main palace buildings of the Prince's Mansion.

Chengyun Hall, as the main hall of the Prince's Mansion, has a base that is six feet nine inches high and eleven bays wide. With its flying eaves, brackets, carved beams and painted rafters, it exudes luxury.

The decorations inside the hall are even more exquisite.

The ground was paved with polished blue bricks as smooth as a mirror, and the huge beams and pillars were decorated with elaborate and colorful paintings of dragons, phoenixes and auspicious clouds, which highlighted the noble status of the prince who shared the fate of the country.

Behind the Chengyun Hall are the Huan Hall and the Cunxin Hall, each with a unified architectural style yet unique characteristics, and all are quite grand in scale. Numerous auxiliary buildings, such as the left and right halls, are distributed on both sides of the palace, with a continuous stretch of buildings totaling as many as 138 rooms.

Of course, these carved beams and painted rafters, pavilions and towers were not what Jiang Han cared about most.

What he cared about most was the treasury of the Qing Dynasty.

The Prince's Treasury was located in the inner city, in a separate courtyard near Zunyi Gate, heavily guarded by soldiers.

Full of hope, Jiang Han ordered his men to open the treasury and went in first.

But when he came out after walking around, his face was full of disappointment.

The treasury did not hold a very large amount of silver.

A rough estimate puts it at around 6,000 taels of gold and over 100,000 taels of silver.

Most of the other items were antiques, calligraphy and paintings, porcelain and other collectibles that he wasn't interested in.

"That's it?"

Jiang Han was greatly disappointed. Where was the promised gold and silver mountain?

What can you do with so little silver?
Seeing Jiang Han's displeasure, one of the palace scribes who had been brought over immediately knelt down and tremblingly began to explain:

“The Great King is a prince from the northwest frontier, unlike the wealthy princes of Jiangnan and Huguang.”

"I...I belong to the lineage of Prince Qing, and I also bear part of the responsibility of supporting the border towns."

"Most of the gold and silver in the treasury were used to store grain in various places and to supply more than a thousand warhorses in the Weizhou pasture."

"These are the big ones."

He paused and continued to explain:

"Of course, there's also fertile land. Qing Fan owns approximately 8,300 hectares of farmland throughout Shaanxi, and over 600 estates under his name."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Han frowned even more deeply.

What he needs now is real money that can be converted into cash immediately and distributed to the soldiers!
He can't take these land properties with him, and he can't sell them either!

Seeing Jiang Han's disappointment, Zhao Sheng quickly spoke up to comfort him:

"General, please don't be anxious. There is more than just the Prince Qing's Mansion in Yinchuan City."

"Inside here, there are nearly ten other mansions of various sizes belonging to princes and generals, as well as the official residences of many officials from the Three Departments."

“We haven’t even had a chance to search these places yet. These people are like the mythical creature Pixiu, only taking in and never giving out.”

Upon hearing this, Jiang Han nodded, a sharp glint flashing in his eyes:
"Right."

He looked at Zhao Sheng and instructed him:
"In that case, you should interrogate all the captured officials and members of the royal family in the city."

“Summon the people to identify them. Those officials who have a slightly good reputation can be treated leniently and given a way out.”

"As for the rest, leave them all to Li Liyuan. Let him lead the team and search every royal mansion and official residence in the city thoroughly!"

"These bastards love nothing more than digging cellars and building secret rooms in their homes to hide gold and silver!"

"Let Li Liyuan go all out to extract funds. I refuse to believe that such a large city as Yinchuan can't even squeeze out a year's worth of military expenses!"

After four or five days of intensive searching and torture.

Li Liyuan, a "professional" with an astonishing talent for extorting money, brought his skills to the extreme.

For a time, cries and pleas for mercy filled the city of Yinchuan day and night.

Finally, when Zhao Sheng presented Jiang Han with the complete list of spoils, Jiang Han was astonished.

In total, he received:

Gold, 11,000 taels; Silver, 430,000 taels;
The grain and fodder totaled 43,000 shi; various antiques, paintings, calligraphy and jewelry filled 23 carts in total.
The land deeds for various estates filled fifteen large boxes; the prince's cellar held four thousand eight hundred jars of fine wine; and there were over three thousand three hundred mules and horses...

Jiang Han stared wide-eyed at the list of his spoils.

He looked at Zhao Sheng with an incredulous expression:

"so much?"

"Are you sure?"

Zhao Sheng's face was flushed with excitement, and he nodded excitedly:

"Ten royal residences, that must add up to quite a lot."

"Besides, Li Liyuan really went all out."

"With all sorts of torture instruments being used in turn, they were going to break those officials and gentry to pieces. How could they not confess honestly?"

"Many people only started crying and begging after they were put in the torture device, and then they confessed in detail the best places to hide silver, such as the cellar in their backyard and the secret room in their bedroom."

Jiang Han nodded slowly after hearing this.

Looking at the flimsy sheet in his hand, he couldn't help but sigh:
"So much wealth represents the blood and sweat of countless ordinary people."

He remained silent for a moment, his eyes growing increasingly cold.

"So much was found in Yinchuan alone, what about Luoyang, or the capital?"

Thinking of this, Jiang Han turned to look at Zhao Sheng:
"go."

"Hang every single one of these Zhu bastards up to the city wall."

(End of this chapter)