The Ming Dynasty began in the seventeenth year of the Chongzhen Emperor's reign.

Let alone the residences of ordinary officials, Wang Chengen couldn't even get through to the gates of the mansions of Duke Cheng, Zhu Chunchen, and the Emperor's father-in-law, Zhou Kui...

Seeing this, Chongzhen was utterly desperate and angrily shouted:

"Traitorous ministers, traitorous ministers! They are all ministers who bring about the downfall of their country! Wang Daban, return to the palace!"

Seeing the Emperor's sorrowful face, Old Wang felt as if his heart was being torn apart; he didn't know how to comfort him...

"Your Majesty..."

……

Has Zhu Cilang already run away?

Of course not, the capital was already besieged, where could he run to?

Besides, Zhu Cilang had no intention of running away. He wanted to take advantage of the chaos to plunder and amass some silver to rebuild the country.

Historically, after the fall of the capital, Liu Zongmin demanded tens of millions of taels of silver, and Zhu Cilang also wanted to collect some interest first.

He ordered Fang Zhenghua and Gao Wencai to gather their men and prepare more than a dozen carriages.

With everything ready, Zhu Cilang approached the crowd, surveyed the eighty-odd people before him, and then loudly proclaimed:

"The capital is about to fall, and I will soon become the crown prince of a fallen kingdom. But I will surely restore the Ming Dynasty and rebuild our land."

Restoring the Ming Dynasty and rebuilding the land is no easy task; there will inevitably be many difficulties along the way, and perhaps few of you will live to see that day.

Today, I hereby swear that if you are willing to follow me, I will never betray you; if you wish to leave, I will never force you.

These people were all elites of the Embroidered Uniform Guard and powerful figures from the Western Depot. The Embroidered Uniform Guard were the royal hounds, and the eunuchs of the Western Depot were royal servants.

Since they were willing to follow the Crown Prince, they must have been prepared to die and never thought of betraying him.

Before Zhu Cilang could finish speaking, everyone knelt on one knee and said loudly:

"We swear to follow Your Highness to the death, even if it means going through fire and water. As long as we have a breath left, we will protect Your Highness."

Historically, after the fall of the capital, almost all of these people died fighting alongside Fang Zhenghua and Li Ruolian, so they can be completely trusted.

Zhu Cilang nodded and said:

"Thank you all for your trust. Please rise. For the sake of secrecy, I am no longer the Crown Prince, but your young master. Remember, from now on you must address me as 'young master.' Do you understand?"

With tears in their eyes, everyone said in unison:

"Here you go!"

Everyone rose, and Zhu Cilang then said:

"From now on, you only need to carry out my orders. There is no need to ask any questions. You must keep it a secret."

Everyone hurriedly bowed and accepted the order:

"Here you go!"

"Fang Zhenghua, with his superior literary talent, orders everyone to paint their faces with color so no one can see their true identities. Tonight, I'll take you to do something big!"

The two men, believing the crown prince was preparing to lead them to safety, immediately obeyed:

"Here you go!"

"Let's go, first to Du Xun and Du Zhizhi's residence!"

In ancient times, powerful eunuchs generally had a residence outside the palace, and the powerful eunuchs of the Ming Dynasty were no exception.

As supervising eunuchs, Gao Qiqian and Du Xun amassed even more wealth, each owning their own residence outside the palace.

The two eunuchs surnamed Du had just surrendered to Li Zicheng, and their property in the city should not have been transferred.

As Zhu Cilang had expected, more than 700,000 taels of silver were found in the two eunuchs' residences.

Zhu Cilang ordered all the gold and silver to be taken to the Imperial Garden and buried deep in a pit along with the assets of Fang Zhenghua and others, and then the flowers and plants were transplanted back onto the site.

To prevent discovery, the gold and silver were buried seven feet deep, and would not be exposed unless major work was carried out.

After everything was over, Fang Zhenghua asked:

"Young master, what's next?"

Zhu Cilang smiled and said:

"At Gwangseong's residence, I have ordered someone to be killed!"

"Here you go!"

Guang Shiheng had already been killed by Emperor Chongzhen, and Zhu Cilang had no intention of letting his family go.

If it weren't for the time constraints, Zhu Cilang would have wiped out Shi Heng's entire clan, not just his whole family!

"Bang..."

The gates of Guang Shiheng's mansion were kicked open, and dozens of soldiers in armor, their faces painted with greasepaint, stormed into the residence and killed anyone they saw...

About half an incense stick later, there was no one left alive in Guang Shiheng's mansion. The Imperial Guards and eunuchs began to search for valuables, and found about 200,000 taels of gold and silver.

After leaving Shi Heng's residence, Fang Zhenghua whispered in Zhu Cilang's ear:

"Young master, as far as I know, Wang Dehua, the head of the Eastern Depot, is the wealthiest eunuch..."

Zhu Cilang was taken aback:

"Wang Dehua?"

Wang Dehua was one of the most trusted eunuchs of Emperor Chongzhen, and also one of the most powerful eunuchs around him. He was the director of the Eastern Depot and the chief eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial.

There were two most authoritative eunuchs in the Ming Dynasty: one was the Grand Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial, and the other was the Grand Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial.

Wang Dehua was the chief eunuch, and Wang Chengen was the chief eunuch.

A month ago, Emperor Chongzhen dismissed Wang Dehua from his position as Grand Secretary, and now Wang Chengen concurrently serves as Grand Secretary.

Prior to this, Wang Dehua had used his power as the Grand Eunuch and the Director of the Eastern Depot to amass wealth. Fang Zhenghua had been oppressed by him and wanted to take the opportunity to retaliate against Wang Dehua.

Zhu Cilang recalled Wang Dehua's actions in history and found that this man was not loyal to the imperial family.

After the bandits entered the city, Wang Dehua took the initiative to open the Desheng Gate and personally led Li Zicheng into the imperial city.

"Lead the way to Wang Dehua's residence!"

"Here you go!"

Led by Fang Zhenghua, the group arrived at Wang Dehua's residence outside the imperial city.

"Kick open the mansion gate!"

At Zhu Cilang's command, several Imperial Guards immediately stepped forward and forcefully kicked open the mansion gate, and the group rushed in.

There were more than a dozen servants in Wang Dehua's mansion. When they saw someone breaking in, they rushed forward to stop him. Zhu Cilang waved his hand, and the guards were instantly defeated.

Hearing the commotion, Wang Dehua, supported by two beautiful women, calmly walked out...

Suddenly, they spotted an army with painted faces and wearing armor, standing imposingly in the courtyard. Wang Dehua cried out in a shrill voice:

"My family is the Chief Supervisor of the Eastern Depot of the Ming Dynasty. Why are you forcibly breaking into my residence?"

Before he could finish speaking, Fang Zhenghua flashed forward, his embroidered spring knife already pressed against his neck, and he shouted sharply:

"Enough talk, take us to the warehouse, or your heads will roll!"

Eunuchs have no heirs, and they are all greedy for money. How could Wang Dehua easily hand over his gold and silver? He was very nervous, but he still tried to put on a brave face.

"How dare you! My master is the head of the Eastern Depot. How dare you rob my family? Aren't you afraid of being beheaded and having your property confiscated by the Emperor?"

Fang Zhenghua applied slight pressure with the steel knife in his hand, and blood immediately flowed from Wang Dehua's neck.

The old eunuch trembled violently, nearly wetting himself in fear, and hurriedly screamed:

"No...don't do that, we'll take you to the secret room..."

Although eunuchs love money, they are even more afraid of death. Feeling a chill on his neck, the old eunuch had no choice but to risk his life for silver.

Wang Dehua's mansion had three secret rooms, and he originally intended to expose one of them to save his life.

But these people didn't play by the rules. They quickly searched the entire mansion, and the three secret rooms were soon exposed.

The three secret chambers were filled with piles of silver, totaling at least 500,000 taels, not including gold, jewelry, antiques, calligraphy and paintings.

Upon seeing this, Zhu Cilang couldn't help but click his tongue in amazement. The palace eunuchs were all rolling in money, making the emperor seem incredibly poor in comparison.

After looting Wang Dehua's gold and silver, Zhu Cilang led his men to the next stop...

After Zhu Cilang and the others left, Wang Dehua stumbled and ran to the secret room to investigate.

The secret chamber was empty. The old eunuch collapsed to the ground and burst into tears...

With so much gold and silver, Zhu Cilang simply couldn't take it all with him.

Of course, he did not intend to take it away, and ordered all the gold and silver to be sunk into the deep waters of the imperial city's moat.

He was confident that within two years at most, he would lead his army to the capital!

Duke Cheng's Mansion

Li Zicheng's army of over 300,000 besieged the city, but the actual number of troops in the capital that could be used was only tens of thousands.

In order to defend the capital, Emperor Chongzhen conscripted most of the servants from the mansions of the noble officials.

Despite this, the outer city of the capital, with a circumference of nearly a hundred miles, still could not be fully defended by troops. It was only a matter of time before the capital fell!

As the Duke of Cheng of the Ming Dynasty and one of the most trusted nobles of Emperor Chongzhen, Zhu Chunchen was thinking about how to surrender to Li Zicheng.