The Revolt of the Three Feudatories: All-in at the start in Beijing

After Liu Mu entered Beijing, all the residences in the inner city were inventoried, placed in the palace, and managed by Zhao Fengnian.

Moreover, Liu Mu's plan to relocate wealthy households has been ongoing, and currently involves 1,200 households.

The price for accommodation has been reduced from 50,000 taels to 30,000 taels, and it will continue to decrease in the future. However, once the inner city is filled with wealthy households, it will mean that the emperor is richer than the country.

Liu Mu did not believe that the state should compete with the people for profit; he only believed that if the emperor had no money, he would hang himself on a crooked tree on Coal Hill and become a mourning companion to Emperor Chongzhen.

If an emperor is wealthy, as long as he isn't a tyrant, he'll at least think about the people. After all, the idea of ​​"acting as the ruler of the people" is ingrained in the emperor's very being.

The three-courtyard house that Liu Mu bestowed upon Pan Feng was located in the former Bordered Blue Banner area, and was very close to the imperial city.

When Pan Feng arrived at the three-courtyard mansion with the key, she was stunned when she saw the plaque above it.

"The Wang Family Compound???"

What a small world!

Pan Feng's mother-in-law, who was standing nearby, also thought of what happened last year and found it unbelievable.

"Young master, is this the Wang family mansion, the same Wang family that wanted to take Xiao Cui as a concubine? They're a powerful family in Taiyuan, aren't they?"

Seeing Pan Feng nod, Pan Feng's mother-in-law immediately looked at the porters behind her, revealing a smug expression.

"My goodness, it really is true that fortunes change every thirty years! My son-in-law was just a common soldier back then, and now he's the master of this Wang family compound in just one year!"

"You guys need to work harder too!"

Although the porters looked envious upon hearing this, they couldn't help but feel that the old woman was a bit too much.

Pan Feng was speechless upon hearing this. She picked up her brother-in-law and strode into the Wang family compound, not wanting to embarrass herself any longer by following her mother-in-law.

The Wang family, as expected of a wealthy family with a net worth of over 300,000 taels of silver, has transformed their original three-courtyard house, which was simple and dignified, into a place where the windows have been replaced with glazed tiles and the main hall is filled with vases of various vibrant styles.

After arranging for the porters to put down their belongings, Pan Feng plopped down in the main seat, holding the jade pendant bestowed upon her by the emperor, and began to examine it closely.

This is an ironclad guarantee.

The first one in the Han Dynasty.

The inscription was densely engraved with small characters in clerical script, which generally described Pan Feng's merits and awarded him a special iron certificate.

However, recalling the novel he had read before, he immediately looked puzzled and glanced at the eunuch beside him.

"In the plays and novels, it's said that the imperial edict is made of iron, like a tile. Why is this shaped like a jade pendant, and even made of top-quality Hetian jade?"

The eunuch standing nearby, who was in charge of the houses in the inner city and was considered one of Zhao Fengnian's confidants, chuckled upon hearing this.

"This is top-quality mutton-fat Hetian jade, a royal tribute during the Ming Dynasty, which ordinary people couldn't use. This small piece alone is worth two thousand taels of silver!"

"This was specially arranged by His Majesty. He said that a meritorious official should not be given a mere scrap of iron; the gift must be thoughtful, and it also signifies that he will not break his promise!"

Pan Feng breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this, since the reputation of the "Iron Certificate of Merit" had not been so good since Zhu Yuanzhang's time.

In any case, not a single person was able to use it successfully, and even fewer survived and preserved their family after obtaining it.

Pan Feng's mother-in-law, upon hearing that it was worth two thousand taels of silver, immediately picked up the imperial edict and carefully placed it in her bosom, revealing a smile as bright as a chrysanthemum.

"Your Majesty is very thoughtful. Even if the Pan family declines in the future, this jade pendant might be a lifesaver."

The young eunuch was speechless. Surely no one would dare to sell such a precious document as the "Iron Certificate of Imperial Authority."

Then he looked at the sky and took out an account book and a cinnabar inkpad from his pocket.

"Lord Zhongyong, that's settled for today. Sign and put your fingerprint here, and this house will be yours from now on."

Pan Feng wouldn't tolerate it and immediately pressed her fingerprint on the document.

Just then, Pan Feng's brother-in-law, Xiao Dong, stumbled in and slammed a gold bar the size of a brick onto the coffee table.

"Brother-in-law, gold! Lots of gold!"

Upon hearing this, both Pan Feng and the eunuch showed solemn expressions. The Wang family was a wealthy household, and the ministers of the six ministries knew about the 300,000 taels of silver they had handed over.

Is there any left over?

Thinking of this, the two couldn't wait any longer and ran with Xiao Dong to the place where the gold had been found.

This is money, and the emperor is most in need of money. Whoever can get money for the emperor will see their status rise rapidly.

When they arrived at the location, Pan Feng and the eunuch were dumbfounded, because the gold was hidden in the outhouse, and it was an abandoned outhouse with a leaky roof.

Xiao Dongzi excitedly stepped on a mud brick, and when the mud brick crumbled, a gold brick was revealed inside.

"Brother-in-law, the gold is hidden inside the mud bricks!"

We've struck it rich! How many gold bricks must this be? There are at least a hundred earthen bricks here, that's worth at least fifty or sixty thousand taels of gold.

Thinking of this, Pan Feng immediately gave the order.

"Big Head, call the rest of the flag brothers over here immediately!"

Upon hearing this, the man standing to the side immediately turned and left.

Pan Feng was quite shrewd. With so much gold hidden here, and judging from the age of the bricks, it definitely didn't belong to the Wang family of Taiyuan. So the gold might be from the early Ming Dynasty.

Only with multiple people present can it be proven that Pan Feng is not corrupt, and only then can some trouble be avoided.

For example, the greedy eunuch standing to the side, if no one is called over, this guy will probably try something funny.

Soon, the Imperial City Guard arrived and smashed the mud bricks one by one. They even dug up the entire latrine three feet deep. After confirming that there was no other gold, they found one hundred gold bricks, each weighing fifty catties, for a total of fifty thousand gold pieces.

At that time, one tael of gold was equal to fifteen taels of silver, which would amount to seven or eight hundred thousand taels of silver, or seven or eight hundred thousand shi of grain, enough to feed an army of one hundred thousand for a year and a half.

Without a second thought, Pan Feng immediately sealed the gold and sent it to the palace to be kept by Liu Xin.

Along the way, Li Guangdi and Ouyang Jing, along with officials from the six ministries, blocked the Meridian Gate and tried to persuade Pan Feng in various ways, explaining how difficult life was for the common people.

However, Pan Feng retorted with a single sentence, "These were all dug up from the private property bestowed upon us by His Majesty. Therefore, this gold belongs to the Emperor. If you disagree, go and argue with His Majesty!"

While these civil officials in Beijing were arguing endlessly over hundreds of thousands of taels of silver, far away in the western regions of Kazakhstan, at the border of the Altai Krai and Novosibirsk Oblast, Subutai had already clashed with the Russian army.

There were 8,000 troops on the Russian side, including 2,000 Cossack cavalry and 3,000 regular Russian soldiers dressed in gray uniforms, all armed with large-caliber matchlock muskets.

At the very front were twenty three-pound cannons. It wasn't that there weren't larger cannons, but the Siberian plains were full of swamps and rivers, making it impossible to carry any heavier cannons.

Finally, there were five thousand miscellaneous troops, which were composed of various prisoners, natives, and slaves.