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

An honest official is not greedy and could not possibly produce the silver that Liu Zongmin demanded.

Corrupt officials have money, but Liu Zongmin wanted too much, and they were unwilling to easily part with their savings.

Liu Zongmin wanted to easily empty their coffers, but without really taking action, it wouldn't be easy.

When Emperor Chongzhen called for donations of silver, many officials cried and pleaded for mercy, some donating tens of taels, some hundreds of taels, but most officials donated no more than a thousand taels.

They used the same trick again in front of Liu Zongmin.

Seeing this group of people playing the victim, Liu Zongmin wouldn't tolerate them; he wanted to make an example of them.

At a single command, Wei Zaode, the Grand Secretary of the Ming Dynasty, was imprisoned in a dark room, where Liu Zongmin personally tortured him.

"Wei Zaode, as the Grand Secretary of the Ming Dynasty, you must donate 100,000 taels of silver, or else you will be subjected to severe torture."

Wei Zaode trembled with fear. He really didn't have 100,000 taels of silver. His face was contorted with grief as he pitifully begged:

"General, spare my life! I have just taken office as Grand Secretary and have been robbed by thieves. At most, I can only donate 30,000 taels of silver..."

Liu Zongmin snorted coldly:

"Bullshit, what a coincidence! I told you to donate, and your house is robbed. Not a single penny of the 100,000 taels will be missing. Otherwise, you'll be severely tortured."

"I really don't have any, please have mercy, General..."

Before Wei Zaode could finish speaking, a Shun soldier grabbed a leather whip and started beating him!

"Clap clap clap..."

The whip lashed his body like a storm.

Wei Zaode, with his delicate skin, could not endure such torture and was soon beaten until his skin was torn and his screams echoed in agony...

Wei Zaode cried and shouted:

"You cannot treat me like this. The new dynasty has been established, and the rebel leader has ascended the throne as emperor. I am needed to govern the country. Release me at once."

Liu Zongmin was so angry at Wei Zaode that he laughed. He glared at him and cursed:

"You spineless official, you dream big. The Great Shun Dynasty has no need for a traitor like you to serve as an official."

"Someone, bring the leg clamps. Let's see if he's tough on his words or if the leg clamps are tougher."

"Here you go!"

Several Shun soldiers immediately stepped forward and quickly applied the clamps to Wei Zaode, shouting slogans and pulling together!

"1 2 3"

"Crunch, crunch..."

The clamps on his fingers and head tightened almost simultaneously, and Wei Zaode instantly felt the pain of his fingers being connected to his heart and his head splitting with pain. He screamed desperately:

"General, spare my life! Emperor Chongzhen is tyrannical! I sincerely want to serve the new dynasty. How can you torture me like this? Stop it now..."

Liu Zongmin waved his hand, and the soldiers immediately stopped.

Liu Zongmin stepped forward and slapped Wei Zaode several times, making him dizzy, blood streaming from his mouth, and almost causing him to faint from the pain.

Old Liu wiped the blood from his hands with a handkerchief and began to curse at Wei Zaode:

"A mere scholar passed the imperial examination with top honors, served as an official for three years, and has already risen to the position of Grand Secretary of the Ming Dynasty. In what way has Emperor Chongzhen wronged you?"

"You actually turned around and accused Chongzhen of being tyrannical. I may say Chongzhen was tyrannical, but what face do you high-ranking officials of the Ming Dynasty have to speak ill of him behind his back?"

"Look at your ugly faces! How could the new dynasty dare to employ such unscrupulous people as you? I won't be satisfied until I personally slap you a few times."

Liu Zongmin threw away his handkerchief and gestured to his subordinates:

"If the 100,000 taels of silver isn't in place, keep going!"

"Here you go!"

At a command, the torture continued. Wei Zaode screamed, his head lolled to the side, and he fainted...

Seeing that Wei Zaode had fainted, Liu Zongmin called over a minor leader and asked:

"How much silver was confiscated from his residence?"

"Reporting to Marquis Ru, there are fifty taels of gold, more than thirty thousand taels of silver, and antiques and paintings worth about thirty thousand taels."

Liu Zongmin frowned deeply; he couldn't believe that the Grand Secretary of the Ming Dynasty only had tens of thousands of taels of silver.

"Damn it, what use are antiques and paintings? I only want gold and silver. Pour some water on him to wake him up and continue torturing him."

Liu Zongmin was a rough and uncultured man; antiques and paintings were worthless to him and would not be included in the number of copies he made.

In fact, Wei Zaode didn't have much money. He had just become the Grand Secretary and hadn't had time to plunder the people's wealth when Li Gong captured the capital.

Zhu Cilang robbed more than 80,000 taels of silver, and he could still come up with more than 30,000 taels of silver. He had definitely emptied his savings, but Liu Zongmin had no idea.

A basin of cold water was poured on Wei Zaode's face. Wei Zaode shivered, opened his eyes, and felt pain all over his body, including his head...

Wei Zaode truly couldn't produce 100,000 taels of silver, and if things continued this way he would be beaten to death sooner or later. Having no other choice, he revealed his last trump card.

"General, spare my life! I truly have no money. If you don't mind, my daughter is quite beautiful; I can offer her to you as a concubine!"

Wei Zaode was truly frightened. He dared not refer to himself as "I" anymore, and instead called himself "this lowly person." He even offered up his daughter, hoping that Liu Zongmin would let him go.

Upon hearing that Wei Zaode's daughter was quite beautiful, Liu Zongmin's eyes lit up.

Wei Zaode's decision finally hit his weak spot: he liked money, but he liked women even more!

"Bring Wei Zaode's daughter here."

"Here you go!"

While taking care of Wei Zaode's daughter, Liu Zongmin ordered the torture to stop, and Wei Zaode was temporarily spared from further torment, finally feeling relieved.

Wei Zaode's daughter was pretty, with delicate features, a well-proportioned figure, and snow-white skin.

When brought before Liu Zongmin, Liu Zongmin grinned from ear to ear, having not slept with such a beautiful woman in a long time.

Everyone knows that Liu Zongmin was a blacksmith by trade, so they assume he has never slept with a beautiful woman.

Actually, that's not the case. When fighting against local tyrants and gentry, and killing corrupt officials and nobles, there were many beautiful women in those wealthy families. How could Liu Zongmin possibly be a paragon of virtue?

He took Wei to bed, and after they finished sleeping, Liu Zongmin summoned two of his trusted confidants:

"Brothers, you've done a good job. This woman is yours for the taking. Remember to do your job well from now on!"

His two trusted subordinates were overjoyed at the unexpected stroke of luck and hurriedly expressed their gratitude.

"Thank you for your kindness, General! We brothers will swear to serve you to the death!"

The two trusted men thanked the general and prepared to return to share Miss Wei with their brothers. Before leaving, they remembered Wei Zaode in the dark room.

With so many people sleeping with other people's daughters, they should let the Grand Secretary of the Ming Dynasty off the hook and inquire cautiously:

"General, what should be done with Wei Zaode?"

Liu Zongmin chuckled:

"Hehe, what are you thinking about?"

"How many tens of thousands of taels of silver is a woman worth?"

"Keep the torture on. Money or their lives—the choice is theirs. Go!"

"Here you go!"

The two trusted confidants decided to lock Miss Wei up first, and then come back to play with her after the torture was over!

The tragic Grand Secretary of the Ming Dynasty, Wei Zaode, was incredibly resilient. He was slowly tortured by the Shun army for six days until his brains spilled out before he finally breathed his last.

……

The Grand Secretary of the Ming Dynasty failed to achieve his goal of paying 100,000 taels of silver.

Liu Zongmin intensified his efforts, making the torture even more brutal, with virtually no rules whatsoever.

Some officials paid the required amount of silver, yet were still severely tortured, their family fortunes emptied, and they were still tortured to death.

This caused even greater panic among the gentry and officials, who seemed to see the end of the world...

The Emperor's father-in-law, the Earl of Jiading, Zhou Kui, was in a terrible predicament this time. Emperor Chongzhen called for donations and wanted his father-in-law to take the lead, but Zhou Kui only donated a few hundred taels.

Empress Zhou couldn't bear to watch any longer, so she sold her jewelry to her father, asking him to set an example.

The old man was definitely the stingiest father-in-law of the emperor in history. He only donated 13,000 taels of silver and then embezzled the money his daughter had raised!

Emperor Chongzhen died for his country, and Li Zicheng occupied the Forbidden City. He wanted to buy an official position with silver, but before he could even be tortured, he hurriedly handed over 100,000 taels of silver!