On the 23rd, hundreds of black-pressed officials gathered outside the noon gate, all of them with crowns and belts of court clothes, full of well-dressed beasts, and the number of people exceeded 1,000. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info

Among these people, there are chief ministers of the cabinet such as Chen Yan, a scholar, Wei Zaode, a scholar, and other chief ministers of the cabinet, as well as Zhou Kui, the national abbot, and Zhang Shize, the British minister. There are also six officials, Dali Siqing, and small and medium-sized ministers in each section. There are also Wei Yunwen, Yang Changzuo, Lin Zengzhi and other ministers.

They are here to congratulate and see what the new dynasty means, whether they will be chosen.

In particular, Wei Zaode, Chen Yan and other scholars are full of self-confidence, and with their status as cabinet ministers, they are also university scholars, and they are all full of wealth, and they will definitely be used by the new dynasty and seek wealth again.

On the day he tried his best to prevent the southward move, saying that the monarch should defend the society, but after the city was broken, the monarch really died in the community, and he Guang Shiheng descended in a blink of an eye. So what, it will fall, and he will not be the only one who will descend anyway.

He is very promising, and he can also do a career in the new dynasty, and continue to be impassioned and fiercely admonished.

Looking at the somewhat strange eyes cast by others, Heng Yi did not move in the light.

The hundred officials gathered with great anticipation, but they waited from the hour to noon, and there was no movement in the Forbidden City. They talked a lot, and whenever they met Dashun officials, they all smiled deeply and asked tentatively. At this time, suddenly the dwarf Song Zi Song offered advice, and several people knelt down and asked if the new lord was out of the court?

Song Xiance scolded: "It's a blessing that you didn't slaughter your generation, but when you wait, how can you be impatient?" ”

The crowd said yes.

It was not until the sunset, that is, the time of Shen, that is, from three to five o'clock in the afternoon, that they were finally called in, but it was the temple of the highest building.

The three major halls of the Forbidden City, the Imperial Palace, the Middle Pole Palace, and the Jianji Palace. Because the Huangji Hall burned down, the Middle Pole Hall was the smallest, so Li Zicheng placed it in the Jianji Hall to open the dynasty. Before the main hall ceremony, the emperor often changed clothes here, and when the queen and prince were ordained, the emperor was also congratulated in this hall, and sometimes officials also worshiped here.

When entering the magnificent hall, the hundred officials and people took a deep breath one by one, and the time had come to decide their own fate.

When they entered the hall, they saw Li Zicheng standing on the throne, wearing a pointed white felt hat and a blue cloth horse coat, and Niu Jinxing, Liu Zongmin, Li Guo, Yuan Zongdi, Liu Xiyao, Gu Junen, Song Xiance, Zhang Lanran, Song Qijiao and other officials were sitting on the left and right.

Seeing the hundred officials coming in, they looked at them one by one, their faces were full of raised eyebrows and high-spirited expressions, especially Niu Jinxing's face, full of arrogance.

The civil and military officials of the Ming Dynasty who came in with squinted eyes were full of emotion in their hearts, and the so-called wealth did not return to their hometowns, such as brocade clothes traveling at night. Although I haven't returned to my hometown yet, I feel more deeply. Think about the time when I worked hard in the countryside to farm iron, I couldn't imagine that our old Liu family, Lao Li family, and Lao Niu family would have such a day, right?

This scene also made the civil and military officials who came in complicated moods, those people in the palace in the past, the military generals were nothing more than blacksmiths, carpenters, grooms, farmers, etc., they were the ones who were on the dragon throne, and they were just pawns. As for the clerks, the highest is no more than a person, most of them are shabby talents, not middle school children, and they are ......

However, the king is defeated, the reality is like this, and you can only obey!

After a glance, the officials didn't dare to look at it or think about it, they lined up respectfully, knelt down three times and bowed nine times, and shouted long live.

Li Zicheng didn't speak, Niu Jinxing walked down, he touched the top of the officials' heads with his hands, and read: "One pair, two pairs, three pairs, four pairs......" He read the words, touched them one by one from the top of the officials' heads, checked the number, and finally counted, there were more than 1,300 people.

Li Zicheng looked at the full crowd below and sighed: "This generation is so unrighteous, is the world safe and chaotic?" ”

Seeing that some of the people in it had their hair cut clean, they looked like monks, and they frowned even more.

He said to Liu Zongmin, Li Guo, Gu Junen and others next to him: "All officials are loyal to the city when they break the sun, and they can die." If the body is skinned, and the parents who receive it dare not destroy it, and the person who shaves his hair is even more unfaithful and unfilial, what can he keep? ”

Niu Jinxing also saw these people who cut their hair, but they were all ministers, such as Song Zhisheng, Lin Zengzhi and others, he roared: "Since you have already shaved yourself, why do you sign up?" ”

His angry shouts frightened these people's whole bodies, and Niu Jinxing did not stop, and ordered the rest of the hair of these shaved people to be plucked out.

Then he threw the roster on the ground, took the pen and spent it at will, and dared to use a military stick to those who were late, and beat some people so badly that they were disgraced by the attention of all officials.

Then Niu Jinxing made Honglu roll call again, and when he came out to meet the officials, he either laughed, or scolded angrily, or coldly, and was unexpected, proud, and swayed his undesirable emotions back then. However, all of these officials obediently obeyed the order, and no one dared to say a word, let alone express their dissatisfaction.

Li Zicheng became more and more disgusted when he saw it, and murderous intent appeared in his heart.

At this time, he was named to Wei Zaode, a scholar of the East Pavilion University and a cabinet minister, and he slowly came out of the ranks, and bowed with the best demeanor and the most magnetic voice: "Wei Zaode, a scholar of the East Pavilion University and a cabinet minister, greets my majesty. His Majesty set aside the troubled times and reversed them, De Sui was prestigious, held the imperial calendar, and worshiped the way of heaven as if God was coming. Today, he met His Majesty the Emperor, looked up to the sky, and rushed to the camp. Weichen is honest and fearful of the first speech, the emperor is both orthodox and unorthodox, when the ministers of all states and counties, the line of benevolence flows, and the blessing of Hongmo Qiyou, and the recreation of Dai Yaoren. ”

As he spoke, he kept prostrating.

It took Li Zicheng a long time to understand what Wei Zaode said, and it turned out that he was asking for help. He looked at the person below and said coldly, "Wei Zaode? Bachelor's degree? Cabinet Ministers? It seems that the emperor treats you well. Since you are reused by the emperor, you should die for the community, why do you live secretly? ”

Wei Zaode heard that this was not right, he had said everything in vain before, he speculated about Li Zicheng's psychology, and hurriedly kowtowed: "If Your Majesty pardons, you will definitely repay you with all sincerity." ”

Li Zicheng shouted: "Disloyal and unjust, the generation of the Qin Dynasty and the Twilight of Chu, the Ming Dynasty has you, how can you not die?" Get down! ”

Wei Zaode's heart was shocked, and he came down in a cold sweat, and hurriedly retreated.

Chen Yan, a scholar, originally wanted to use it like Wei Zaode, but when he saw this scene, he didn't dare to say anything more.

……

After the roll call was completed that day, Niu Jinxing pulled out ninety-two people, and sent soldiers to escort the Song Qijiao of the government to listen to the use, and the military department gave the matter to Guang Shiheng was also inside. Not only is the number of people small, but also the civil and military officials above the third grade will not be hired.

Those who are not selected, each official uses two horsemen, holding a knife to escort, and the officials are in a panic, and suddenly a holy decree comes: "Escort to the West Fourth Archway." Immediately, they were chained with iron chains, one for every five people, and their faces were as colored as earth, that is, the university scholars Chen Yan, Wei Zaode and others, and their bodies trembled like chaff.

Then the horsemen galloped and drove away the officers like sheep and pigs, and walked a little slower, and immediately the back of the sword fell in disorder, and the officers wailed, and some of them fainted on the ground, and were trampled into flesh. It was so frightened that everyone's soul was scattered, and many even cried.

Before I walked to the West Fourth Archway, another holy decree came: "All the offenders of the previous dynasty will be sent to the right general Liu Fuzhong to listen to the execution." Immediately, the horses turned around and drove the officials to the palace of the Harada Emperor, where they were again condemned to the previous offense.

But when he was escorted here, Liu Zongmin was cheering with prostitutes, and he didn't have time to pay attention to it, so he still ordered all soldiers to keep watch in order to meet the future date.

At the same time, on this day, the Shun army was all over the streets and the city, and he was even detained while walking on the road, like a chicken in a pot. Not only that, but many noble eunuchs who did not go to Chaohe were also driven over, such as Wang Dehua, Wang Zhixin, Wang Xiangyao and others who took refuge.

They were all put into prison uniforms, all of them strong, locked up in dark rooms, and the guards did not give them food, so that they starved for a day and a night. In the past few days, many officials and soldiers have broken down, and they just want to escape from this hellish place.

On the 24th, the "Comparison of Salaries and Towns and Fu Division" was formally established to recover stolen goods and help salaries, with Liu Zongmin in charge of his affairs, Li Guo, and Liu Minzheng as his deputy. Li Guo is Li Zicheng's nephew, and Liu Minzheng is Li Zicheng's hair and blacksmith. Of course, Li Zicheng trusted the two of them very much, so he placed them in a high position below Liu Zongmin.

On the same day, Liu Zongmin tried a new clamp stick, and the two of them were in Tianjie, and they died the next day, which made him very satisfied.

On the 25th, Liu Zongmin came out in the afternoon, and the civil and military who had been claustrophobic and hungry for a day and night were called by name. To the official to offer silver, a grade official shall not be less than 10,000 taels, Kechen and other minor officials shall not be less than 1,000 taels, silver to the release, do not offer silver, the punishment is served.

At the same time, on this day, Bi Yusi also held a famous thorn, summoned the Beijing gentry Liu Yuyou, Sun Chengze and others, and asked them to offer silver, such as Liu Yuyou 40,000 taels, Sun Chengze 20,000 taels, and threatened: "It should be early, if it is two days late, it will not be calm." ”

Wang Dehua was the first to offer silver, and the shot was 50,000 taels, among the eunuchs, he was the most clever, when Li Zicheng entered the city, he was also the first to lead 300 people to Deshengmen to greet him, and sure enough, Liu Zongmin was very happy, and immediately released people.

Li Zicheng was also very pleased to hear this, and still ordered him to be the chief eunuch in the palace, at this time the eunuchs in the palace had been dismissed by Li Zicheng to only more than 100 people, and Wang Dehua was in charge of more than 100 people.

Wang Dehua took the lead, and the officials successively offered silver, and the former abbot, Jiading Marquis Zhou Kui was afraid, and he gave an astronomical amount of silver taels, 500,000 taels of silver.

You must know that on the tenth day of the first month of March, when his son-in-law Emperor Chongzhen asked Zhou Kui to help him with his salary, he announced that he asked for help again and again, Zhou Kui was only willing to give 10,000 taels, and he also wanted his daughter Empress Zhou to intercede, and now he actually gave fifty times the silver taels in one go.

Seeing that the officials were receiving more and more money, Liu Zongmin smiled happily, but after the scholar Chen Yan offered 40,000 taels of silver, things suddenly changed.

It turned out that in order to avoid leakage and recover the stolen silver, the "Biyu Zhenfu Division" made a secret report, and for each case, the reward ranged from 50 to 50 taels, and Chen Yan's servants were greedy for the silver, so they denounced Chen Yan. Liu Zongmin was suspicious and sent people to Chen Yan's mansion to excavate, and sure enough, there was gold and silver everywhere, and 40,000 taels was just the tip of the iceberg.

Liu Zongmin was furious and decided to torture the silver, and some of the people who were put back were arrested again, such as Guozhang Zhou Kui and others.

At the same time, he increased the amount of ransom silver on a large scale, announcing that the cabinet Shangshu asked for 100,000 taels of silver, the ministry and the Jingtang Jinyi Shuai 70,000 taels, the department officials 50,000 and 30,000, the Hanlin 10,000, and the ministry Cao Qianji.

……

"Ah......h

The screams of pain sounded, and Chen Yan, a university scholar on the stick, fainted suddenly.

At this time, he was put on a clamping stick, which was more than three feet long, made of poplar wood, more than five inches to the ground, and was pierced with iron bars, and each of them was tied with three pairs of clamps. When a person is to be clamped, he shall hold it upright, and one person shall hold it upright, and put it on the toes of the person being tortured, and put a stick on the left side of the foot, so that the person being tortured cannot move. Then use a large pole six or seven feet long and more than four inches in circumference, and slam the shin from the right side, causing the foot to bleed and spill on the ground.

People say that ten fingers are connected to the heart, and the same is true for the toes, and there are various superstick combinations of clamping sticks, which can clamp hands, feet, and thighs, which is the most torturous.

At this time, Chen Yan was already tortured, whether it was the bones of his fingers, or the bones of his toes, or the bones of his thighs, he had broken everywhere, and the flesh and blood all over his body were blurred, and drops of blood gushed out from the wounds, flowing all over his body, shocking blood marks.

In particular, his clothes were red, and his thighs were even red.

He hung softly, and then a basin of cold water poured over him, and he woke him up, and the sharp hatred that welled up at the wound could not make him die on the spot, or faint directly, but this was only a luxury.

The former cabinet minister, a scholar, burst into tears, and he whimpered and begged: "The lower official is really out of money, please spare me." ”

Liu Zongmin, who was staring at him, jumped up violently, and he roared angrily: "Donkey Qiuzi, you corrupt officials in the Ming Dynasty are the most dishonest, saying that there is no silver, and as a result, you have copied out five hundred taels of gold and two taels of pearls...... There must still be silver, continue to torture our Lao Tzu ......"

There was another terrible howl, and the torturer slammed his shin with a big bar, and Chen Yan only wanted to die on the spot.

……

If he had known about today's events, he would have either escaped from Beijing as soon as possible, or resolutely defend the city to the end, all of this would be like in a dream. However, the sharp pain in his fingers told him that it was not a dream.

He screamed miserably, while listening to Liu Zongmin on the other side roaring and asking him: "As a cabinet minister, why are you so chaotic in the country?" ”

Wei Zaode instinctively replied: "I am a scholar, I don't know about political affairs, and the first emperor has no way, so that's it." ”

Liu Zongmin said angrily: "You are just a scholar, the emperor promoted you to the champion, and after three years as an official, you were promoted to a cabinet minister, where is the emperor sorry for you, and dare to accuse him of being a dumb king?" ”

He personally went down to the hall and slapped Wei Zaode's dozens of big mouths hard, and when the executing soldiers saw this, they even pulled the sticks violently, Wei Zaode howled violently, and all ten fingers were broken.

Liu Zongmin copied silver to him again, and Wei Zaode cried and complained: "The lower officials are still short of officials, and it is too late to embezzle, except for 10,000 taels of silver, there is really no silver." ”

He offered advice to Liu Zongmin, the emperor has a lot of silver, look carefully, there will be something, Liu Zongmin was furious: "Lao Tzu rummaged through the palace, the emperor's gold and silver are only more than 300,000 taels, not as much as Chen Yan's boy." He also died fiercely, and we all admire him...... You are a traitor, first accuse him of being unreasonable, and then slander him for being greedy, you are really mad, come to someone, and give Lao Tzu a brain turn......"

……

The sound of burnt skin and flesh sounded, Jiading Hou, Guozhang Zhou Kui opened his mouth in pain, behind him was a copper pillar heated by hot oil, at this time he was tied to the copper pillar by labor, but he was tortured with cannons.

There was blood and tears in his eyes, everything was over, and in the past two days, he watched his wife and daughter-in-law hang themselves after being tortured. His eldest son, his second son, and his nephew died after being tortured.

He handed over a huge sum of 700,000 taels of silver, which was already his entire family property, but Liu Zongmin was still not satisfied and was still torturing.

All this was really ironic, as if to laugh at his stupidity, he remembered that day his son-in-law sent the eunuch Xu Gao to ask him for help, saying: "What is the benefit of saving and being prolific when big things go?" ”

At that time, I didn't think so, but now I only regret it deep in my bones, and I shouldn't be stingy with donations, so that I let the thieves enter the city.

His tears rolled down and he muttered, "Your Majesty, the old minister regrets it......"

When he was dying, he vaguely heard Liu Zongmin's roar: "It's already 700,000 taels, there must be silver, and then the execution...... By the way, his flesh and skin are already cooked, with an iron comb! ”

"Your Majesty, the slave regrets it."

Wang Zhixin's leg bone was clipped, and when he fainted in pain, he just regretted it. As the great eunuch who commanded the East Factory, he was unjustly arrested, and he had to be a brother and nephew of Jinyi and a hundred households, and Wang Zhixin's family was rich, but he was stingy with donations.

The emperor asked the noble eunuch to donate, but he only barely scraped together 10,000 taels of silver, and now Liu Zongmin asked him to pay 300,000 taels of silver, he had already paid 200,000 taels, and he really couldn't make up anything else. Maybe what awaits you is the end of being caught alive.

The cry of "woo woo" sounded in the dark room, and the cry was full of the deepest pain and despair. As a national prince, he is the target of Liu Zongmin's key greetings.

He had been beaten with sticks, branded with cannons, had brain turns, and even had red embroidered shoes that cut off his hands and feet, which made him ...... all over his body And before that, his wife, his son, and his daughter had all been tortured to death.

What awaits him is the same as being beaten to death.

And died so badly.

He Zhang Shize is a hereditary duke, and his ancestor Zhang Yu is a famous general of Jingnan, and after Chengzu ascended the throne, he was called the first hero of Jingnan, and was posthumously crowned the Duke of Rongguo and the King of Hejian. Then the ancestor Zhu Neng led tens of thousands of troops to quell the Annan rebellion, canonized the British duke, hereditary replacement, passed down from generation to generation, even if Liu Jin and Wei Zhongxian were in power, the family was also stable, and no one dared to move.

But now......

Zhang Shize whimpered and cried, and he said in a low voice: "I should die in battle when defending the city, and I should also be martyred when the city falls, Your Majesty, Weichen is ashamed." ”

"We're ashamed."

"We're ashamed ......"

He muttered, his eyes still wide open as he finally lost his breath.

……

Liu Zongmin's "Comparison of Salaries and Towns" achieved fruitful results, and the amount of stolen silver rose steadily, soon exceeding 70 million taels of silver, which was an astonishing figure.

In fact, it is far more than that, because not all of them are chased by Liu Zongmin. Many officials were either trapped in the battalions or in prisons, and everyone had to be tortured, and it is difficult to say how much silver was hidden.

Under torture, many officials and nobles were tortured to death, such as the death of the national ruler Zhou Kui's family, and the death of the British prince Zhang Shize's family. The family of Dingguo Duke Xu Yunzhen died, the great eunuch Wang Zhixin was tortured to death, the scholar Wei Zaode was tortured by cerebral turns, and his brain flowed out and died, his son was arrested and tortured to death, and his daughter was used as a prostitute.

In order to avoid disaster, many officials offered their wives and daughters, sang and played tricks for thieves, such as Yang Rucheng's beautiful maids who were exempted and not retained. Zhang Xin was sentenced to his wife without being punished, and he was released with 10,000 taels of silver. There are young people with white faces, and even do Longyang to avoid disaster.

Anyway, from the 25th, the users will be high-crowned and fresh, and on Chang'an Road, those who do not use will be forced to make money, crying, miserable to the neighborhood, officials and relatives, and people and money. (To be continued.) )