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

Seeing Zhu Cilang ask this question, Hong Niangzi's pretty face flushed slightly, and she whispered:

"Your Highness misunderstands. You are the Crown Prince, how could I dare to arrest you? I believe Your Highness will not put my husband in a difficult position."

Hong Niangzi was very good at talking and passed the question back to Zhu Cilang.

If Zhu Cilang really escapes, Hong Niangzi will definitely stop him; she cannot allow the former crown prince to leave the capital.

Since Zhu Cilang had no intention of escaping, how could Hong Niangzi admit that they had come to arrest him?

Zhu Cilang, of course, understood Hong Niangzi's intentions. Seeing that Hong Niangzi was being hypocritical, he smiled faintly and said:

"Don't worry, if we wanted to leave, we would have gone south a few days before the fall of the capital. We wouldn't be foolish enough to only think of leaving now. We are really training, a 20-mile run, and we will return to our base afterward."

"Yes, Your Highness, I believe you."

Matchmaker nodded repeatedly, then changed the subject and asked:

"My personal guard sisters also want to train. Could they spar with you? Your Highness, please don't misunderstand. There is absolutely no intention of supervising you."

Knowing that the Ming army was utterly corrupt, Hong Niangzi wanted to test the abilities of the Crown Prince's guards and proposed that her personal guards serve as sparring partners.

Since he was in Li Yan's army camp, Zhu Cilang knew that the capabilities of his troops would be exposed sooner or later, so he wouldn't refuse Hong Niangzi.

"No problem, let's train together!"

After Zhu Cilang finished speaking, he waved to Fang Zhenghua and Gao Wencai:

"Keep training!"

"Here you go!"

The two men received the order and immediately led their troops forward.

The matchmaker smiled sweetly and said to the group of female soldiers:

"Sisters, let's go and run with them! Who says women are inferior to men!"

The Crown Prince's guards, still in rows of three, walked briskly along the mountain path, their footsteps echoing in unison.

Accompanied by two eunuchs, Zhu Cilang followed at a leisurely pace behind the procession.

Hong Niangzi, accompanied by Ziwei and Xiaocui, ran quickly ahead of her personal guards, about five steps away from Zhu Cilang.

Hearing footsteps behind him, Zhu Cilang knew that the women's army was indeed following behind, and he couldn't help but chuckle to himself.

The daily training task is ten kilometers. After running ten kilometers, we turn around and return, which is exactly twenty kilometers.

Don't underestimate twenty li (approximately 10 kilometers). In ancient times, when people were often hungry and lacked nutrition, it was difficult for most to complete the entire distance.

Zhu Cilang was not short of money, and the food was always good. His men were also elite, so they had no major problems running the 20-mile inspection route.

Before the fall of the capital, they had been training at Jingshan Park, running ten miles without breaking a sweat and still full of energy.

The women's army was not at a disadvantage at all; they followed closely behind, and not one of them fell behind. Zhu Cilang nodded secretly in approval.

"That's right, it's not a waste of space."

Unfortunately, they couldn't withstand praise. Perhaps because they hadn't been chased for a long time, the women's army's stamina began to wane.

After five miles, they couldn't keep up with the pace. They were panting and their steps were unsteady. Their faces were flushed, and glistening beads of sweat slid down their pretty faces.

Zhu Cilang turned to look at Hong Niangzi and found that she was the same, her pretty face flushed, and her breasts heaving. Zhu Cilang quickly looked away and dared not look anymore.

Hong Niangzi followed not far behind Zhu Cilang, observing the young crown prince's situation from time to time. Zhu Cilang's behavior once again shocked her.

The young prince was about to finish the twenty-mile run, yet he still walked briskly, showing no signs of fatigue, unlike someone who had spent most of his life in the deep palace.

It should be noted that Zhu Cilang was the Crown Prince of the Ming Dynasty, a figure of great power and prestige. Yet now he has set aside his status and is training alongside the soldiers.

Before meeting Zhu Cilang, Hong Niangzi never dared to even think about it; he was a symbol of imperial power, a god-like being.

At this moment, the Crown Prince was sweating profusely. Anyone who did not know his identity would certainly think he was just an ordinary military officer.

After this incident, Hong Niangzi not only did not look down on him, but the image of the Crown Prince suddenly became much more impressive in her mind.

Hong Niangzi arrived in front of Zhu Cilang, panting, and said apologetically:

"The army really needs to train frequently. These women used to be very fast runners. Back then, the Ming army could only see their backs."

"Having escaped pursuit for over a year, I'm already this exhausted after running only twenty li. If we were to encounter an enemy attack, I'd be practically defenseless."

Zhu Cilang smiled slightly:

"Training through combat is also acceptable. You used to train through combat, and the willingness to pay the price of your lives can further enhance your fighting spirit."

"An army that is capable of fighting does need to maintain consistent training. Once it relaxes, it will become lazy and gradually lose its fighting power."

Hong Niangzi nodded silently, feeling that the young prince before her was becoming increasingly mysterious...

Zhu Cilang waved to Hong Niangzi and led his men back to the camp to rest.

An hour later, they began practicing rapid ammunition loading and three-row salvo firing. In the afternoon, they would also train infantry gun and shield tactics.

……

When Zhu Cilang led troops in training, the Hall of Supreme Harmony was also bustling with activity.

"Your Majesty, what do you think of my plan? I've stayed up all night trying to raise the money for you, hehe!"

This morning at court, Liu Zongmin proposed a complete plan for torture.

Liu Zongmin didn't sleep a wink last night because of this plan; there was no other way, the profits from copying were just too great.

To ensure the torture could proceed smoothly, Liu Zongmin ordered five thousand sets of torture racks to be made overnight. He wanted to see whether the Ming Dynasty officials were more stubborn or the torture racks were tougher.

Liu Zongmin chuckled and handed the plan he had prepared to Li Zicheng.

Liu Zongmin is illiterate; he did not write the plan himself, but rather dictated it and had someone else write it down for him.

Li Zicheng took over Liu Zongmin's plan. He looked at it with his one eye and found that he couldn't understand it. He wasn't very educated either; to be precise, he didn't know many characters.

"Prime Minister Niu, read it to me."

"As you command!"

Old Niu hurriedly accepted the order, stepped forward to take the copy of the plan, and began to read it. It was roughly like this.

One hundred thousand taels of silver for a Grand Secretary of the Cabinet.

Seventy thousand taels for ministers.

The officials of the capital city received 50,000 taels of silver.

Officials of the Embroidered Uniform Guard were paid between 70,000 and 30,000 taels of silver, depending on their rank.

The imperial examination fee was 50,000 taels.

The Imperial Censor was awarded 30,000 taels of silver.

The salary for a member of the Hanlin Academy ranges from 10,000 to 30,000 taels of silver, depending on their official rank.

Mid-level officials, such as the heads of the Six Ministries, received between five thousand and ten thousand taels of silver.

Relatives of the emperor and the state are numerous and varied; they value money more than life, and will go to any lengths to bankrupt them.

The rules of torture stipulate that if someone cannot produce the required amount of silver, they must be severely tortured until they donate the stipulated amount.

Note that if a family has surplus funds beyond the initial donation limit, they must increase their donation amount further.

For example, Zhu Chunchen, as the Duke of the Ming Dynasty, lived with the country for more than two hundred years, and his mansion had one million taels of silver in it.

As required, Zhu Chunchen donated 100,000 taels of silver, which was clearly far from enough. He should donate at least 800,000 taels of silver. If he still had any private hoarding, his house must be confiscated.

……

"Okay, very good, that's settled then, I second that, I second that..."

After Niu Jinxing finished reading, cheers erupted in the court. The officials of Da Shun seemed to see nothing but gleaming silver, and almost all of them agreed.

Only Li Yan frowned deeply. Liu Zongmin was truly greedy; he wanted to wipe out all the officials of the Ming Dynasty, high and low!

With the establishment of the new dynasty, the generals of the Great Shun Dynasty were almost all brutes, and it was necessary to use Ming Dynasty civil officials to govern the country, otherwise chaos would inevitably ensue.