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

"You old stubborn fool, sit down!"

Zhu Cilang forcibly pressed Wang Xiantong down onto the wooden chair before sitting down opposite him.

"Have some tea!"

"Here you go!"

This time, Wang Xiantong was very obedient. He immediately picked up his teacup, took a few small sips, and then put down the teacup, waiting for the Crown Prince to speak.

Zhu Cilang picked up his teacup, took a small sip, and said solemnly:

"Li Zicheng captured the capital, and my father was forced to die for his country. The Jurchens are ambitious and will soon enter the pass. Your surrender was a last resort."

"If the Earl of Xinjian has troops, surrenders and occupies Tongzhou, he can protect many loyal and useful people of the Ming Dynasty; otherwise, they might all be slaughtered."

"The responsibility of the newly appointed Earl is heavy and cannot be taken lightly. He may appear to be surrendering, but he is actually an undercover agent. We must know how to be flexible and adaptable, and be flexible according to the wind."

"Don't worry about how they treat me. I have my own ways to deal with it. You just need to preserve your strength and wait for me to lead my troops to recapture the capital."

Wang Xiantong finally understood why the Crown Prince wanted him to surrender; it turned out he had a good intention.

He was very happy and gratified. Although the Crown Prince was young, he was quite resourceful, and Emperor Chongzhen seemed to be far inferior to him.

If Emperor Chongzhen had possessed such strategic acumen, he would have moved the capital south long ago, regrouped his troops, and fought again to recover lost territory, instead of being forced to die for his country.

"Your Highness is wise, and the guilty minister obeys the decree!"

Wang Xiantong excitedly knelt down again, as if he could see the future glory of the Ming Dynasty!

Zhu Cilang helped Wang Xiantong up:

"Uncle Xinjian, Li Yan has already taken the artisans from the Armory Bureau out. You take their families back to Tongzhou and give each family fifty taels of silver as a resettlement allowance. Make sure they are properly settled."

"I will leave you some elderly craftsmen. You should recruit some more craftsmen to build firearms according to the blueprints. Remember to do this secretly."

"I expect your soldiers to complete the replacement of old and new weapons within two years. Remember to use swords and spears more openly, while seemingly maintaining a 500-man firearms battalion."

"Also, there is a lot of land in the capital's garrison. You should take this opportunity to cultivate more land. You can't be too different from the other surrendered people, otherwise you will seem out of place."

"To avoid being sent to the battlefield, the true size of the army under their command should not be revealed. When not training, the soldiers should dress up as ordinary people and farm."

Zhu Cilang's words made Wang Xiantong admire the young crown prince even more, and he hurriedly bowed in respect.

"Your Highness, rest assured, I will not fail your expectations. I will do everything according to Your Highness's instructions and await Your Highness's reconquest of our homeland!"

Zhu Cilang nodded in satisfaction, then whispered to Wang Xiantong:

"Many people in the capital own land and shops in Tongzhou, especially corrupt officials and nobles. Go back and send men to impersonate bandits and rob them of everything to fund your future army."

"what……"

Wang Xiantong was taken aback, but then secretly rejoiced.

"Hehe, Your Highness is so cunning, but I quite like it. I've been fed up with those people for a long time..."

Seeing that Wang Xiantong remained silent, Zhu Cilang assumed he was unwilling and said calmly:

"Don't feel any pressure. If you don't do it, someone else will. I estimate that within ten days, Li Zicheng will order an expansion of the torture range. We can't let them get away with it."

"As for you, Marquis of Xinjian, with a large army at your command, Li Zicheng probably wouldn't dare to torture you. He might even offer you tens of thousands of taels of silver to bribe you."

Before Zhu Cilang could finish speaking, Wang Xiantong burst into laughter:

"Haha, that's for the best! If they dare to break into the newly established Marquis's mansion, I'll lead my troops to rob their silver!"

Yes, Wang Xiantong wasn't afraid of death, so what was he afraid of being tortured?

Historically, Li Zicheng did not touch the generals of the Ming army who surrendered.

After the two conversations ended, Zhu Cilang instructed a young eunuch to summon Li Yan and inform him of the arrangements made for the craftsmen's families to be relocated to Tongzhou.

Li Yan did not object and hosted a banquet for Wang Xiantong.

As for Li Yan, as long as Zhu Cilang doesn't flee or incite his troops to rebel, Li Yan will obey him in everything.

After the banquet, Wang Xiantong reluctantly bid farewell to the Crown Prince and returned to Tongzhou with his craftsmen and their families.

As the local tyrant of Tongzhou, Wang Xiantong will be cracking down on local bullies and gentry tomorrow.

Those people's land, shops, and residences will be forcibly taken back, and resettling these artisans' families will be very simple.

……

Da Shun Court

With insufficient funds, the issue of copying has been brought up again.

Before entering the capital, the first thing the Shun army did after capturing the city was to torture the prisoners.

The targets of the torture were mostly wealthy merchants, gentry, and officials; it was relatively mild for ordinary people, and the impact was not significant.

When Liu Zongmin proposed torture again, the entire Da Shun court agreed, and no one objected.

Liu Zongmin proposed that four families support one soldier. Niu Jinxing wanted to dissuade him, but seeing that Li Yan was unmoved, he didn't dare to speak up.

Li Yan, who used to frequently oppose, has learned his lesson under Zhu Cilang's subtle influence and no longer speaks out easily.

At a single command, the Shun army swarmed out like locusts, throwing the capital into chaos...

Zhu Cilang robbed Shanxi merchants once, and this time they suffered again, their residences and shops in the capital were completely looted.

Wang Qi, a wealthy merchant from Huizhou in the capital, was caught in a sudden disaster when a group of soldiers broke into his home and began looting without saying a word.

Like autumn leaves swept away by the wind, his million-dollar fortune was robbed, and he hanged himself in anger.

The scholar surnamed Wang next door did not run away, thinking that his family was poor and would not suffer. As a result, everything was swept away, and all the grain was taken away.

Many merchants had some silver at home, thinking that if they hid it well, they would be safe. In the end, their relatives reported them, and the rebel army beat them up and confiscated their property...

The storm intensified, and some people who usually relied on their wealth and influential status were reported by others.

The result was that their family property was confiscated and they were beaten half to death.

Given the conditions at the time, they've run out of money and can't get effective treatment; they won't live more than a few days...

Why were they called the rebel army and bandits?

At that time, they rose up in rebellion to survive, and were chased and killed by government troops. They fled all the way, robbing officials, gentry and landlords along the way. The authorities called them bandits!

Because they were so-called bandits, they were very adept at their old ways and generally did not harm ordinary people.

At this time, there were many troops in the capital, including not only the genuine rebel army but also Ming troops who had surrendered to the Shun dynasty. They didn't care who you were or what your family was, and they attacked you directly.

Few officers and soldiers in the late Ming Dynasty adhered to military discipline.

The troops under Sun Chuanting and Lu Xiangsheng were disciplined and generally did not harm the people.

However, many armies were different. Zuo Liangyu, Tang Tong, Ma Ke, Liu Zeqing, and others had lax discipline and treated ordinary people worse than bandits.

Killing innocent people and claiming credit for their crimes, as well as plundering the people, were common occurrences. The most heinous of these were Liu Zeqing and Zuo Liangyu.

Liu Zeqing's army almost completely plundered the civilians in the garrisoned area, leaving the land he guarded with widespread famine.

Zuo Liangyu was even worse; when he retreated from Wuchang, he not only looted all the people's money and grain, but also almost slaughtered all the people of Wuchang...

……

Wang Sheng is an ordinary citizen with a wife and son, who is only six years old.

Their family's land had long been seized, so they could only work as tenants for landlords, barely surviving on two meals a day.

I was just about to make lunch when someone kicked open their old wooden door, shattering it into pieces and sending splinters flying everywhere...

Before they could react, a dozen soldiers stormed into the low, thatched hut, shouting and yelling...

"Hand over the money and grain!"