Chapter 1429: Army Expansion and House Seizure
Seeing Zhao Tingchen's head fall to the ground, the people below were shocked.
They didn't expect that this group of people actually chopped Zhao Tingchen to death.
He was the Governor-General of Yunnan and Guizhou, the Commander-in-Chief of the XHQ Han Army, an unattainable figure in their eyes. How could he be killed so easily?
The people below began to .
"I am innocent." Immediately a young man climbed onto the platform.
"What's the grievance?" Mu Tianbo laughed.
"We are suing Chuncheng prefect Zhao Dehai. After taking office, he has been corrupt and has been asking merchants to pay an extra 10% in silver taxes on top of the imperial taxes. If anyone refuses to pay, he will destroy their stall. Please, sir, help us."
"Duke, what is the crime of corruption in the Ming Dynasty Law?" Han Yu asked.
"Your Highness, Taizu stipulated that those who bought more than fifty taels of silver would be skinned and stuffed with straw."
Mu Tianbo said quickly.
"Since this is the ancestral instruction of our great ancestor, let's do it."
Han Yu nodded.
"Execute!" Mu Tianbo waved his hand.
Immediately the executioner began to work.
Seeing this, the people in the audience were encouraged.
They all climbed up onto the platform and told out their years of grievances.
Of course, not all of them sued officials; some sued the local gentry.
Han Yu did not stop him and accepted it all.
Send people directly to the scene to arrest people. When the two sides confront each other, as long as the accusation is true, the sentence will be made on the spot and the execution will be carried out on the spot. The efficiency is terribly fast.
After a day of public trial, almost all the arrested officials were killed.
Few were able to enter the mines to perform hard labor.
Not only that, those clerks and gentry who followed the officials to do evil were also caught in one fell swoop. Most of them were killed, and the rest were imprisoned in mines and forced to do hard labor to atone for their sins.
Even some petty thieves and bullies were imprisoned in the mine.
By the time the last case was tried, it was already time for lighting. The soldiers lit torches, illuminating the execution platform clearly.
The people below still refused to leave. They finally saw officials who were willing to make decisions for them, so they were willing to stay here for a while.
Seeing that the emotions were basically in place, Han Yu announced that Chuncheng would return to the rule of the Ming Dynasty and began to recruit soldiers. Those with families would be given priority, with a monthly salary of 10 taels of silver, pensions, and jobs would be arranged for the disabled, and lifelong retirement would be provided.
After hearing the conscription conditions announced by Han Yu, many people below were tempted.
There is no other reason, the main reason is that the salary is too high.
A waiter in a busy restaurant, equivalent to a lobby manager, only earned two taels of silver a month.
Being a soldier can earn you 10 taels of silver as salary, which is a salary they can't even dream of.
Moreover, they also understood that with so many people being publicly tried today, they were equivalent to being tied to Han Yu's chariot.
If you want this kind of life to continue, you can only hope that Han Yu can guard this place.
Otherwise, once the Qing troops come back, the accounts of the deaths of all the officials in the city will be settled.
Given the character of the Qing soldiers, it was not impossible for them to massacre the entire city.
Therefore, even for their own sake, they have to help Han Yu defend this place.
Therefore, after Han Yu announced the conscription, many people responded.
Han Yu asked Mu Tianbo to be in charge of this matter. He made sure to verify everyone's identity and give priority to those with a clean background and families.
Only people like this can use it with confidence.
In addition, the property of those criminal officials also belonged to Han Yu.
Han Yu ordered Mu Jiansheng to deal with these matters.
He himself lived in the Prince of Pingxi's Palace.
After a night, Han Yu got up and saw Mu Tianbo standing outside the door.
His eyes were bloodshot, obviously he hadn't slept all night.
However, Mu Tianbo was in high spirits, obviously having gained a lot last night.
"Your Highness, after screening, a total of 20,000 qualified young men have been recruited."
"So many?" Han Yu raised his eyebrows. He originally thought that it would be good to have a few thousand, but he didn't expect there to be as many as 20,000.
"Thanks to that bastard Wu Sangui, who allowed his men to run rampant in Chuncheng in order to entertain his soldiers, causing unrest and complaints from the people. Otherwise, there wouldn't be so many people willing to join us."
Mu Tianbo said.
"Have all the information been reviewed and verified?" Han Yu asked.
"We have done the preliminary check and there is no problem," said Mu Tianbo.
"We will continue to check and make sure that every household is covered. The army is our foundation and we cannot afford to lose it."
Han Yu said.
"Yes." Mu Tianbo agreed.
"Since we have recruited so many young and strong men, we need to expand the team. So, split the original First Grenadier Corps into two corps. All the old men will be promoted to officers, and these young and strong men will be mixed into the two corps. You will still be the commander of the First Corps, and as for the Second Corps, let Mu Jiansheng take on this responsibility."
Han Yu thought for a moment and said.
"I will not refuse death."
Mu Tianbo fell to his knees.
Now, there are only two legions in the entire Ming Dynasty, and both legion commanders are appointed by this father and son. What a favor this is.
Mu Tianbo believed that as long as they succeeded this time, their Mu family would be able to regain its former glory.
In fact, one step closer than before.
Once again permanently stationed in Yunnan Province.
"Don't always think about Yunnan Province. Be bolder. For example, how about Myanmar? As long as it can be accomplished, Yunnan Province, your province, and Myanmar will be divided into one area and you will be in charge of them all."
"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your grace."
Mu Tianbo knelt on the ground again.
Myanmar is a hurdle in Mu Tianbo's heart. Too many of his comrades have fallen on this land.
If Myanmar could be included in his jurisdiction, it would relieve Mu Tianbo of a regret.
"Alright, Duke Qian, please stand up."
Han Yu pulled Mu Tianbo up.
At this time Mu Jiansheng walked in.
"Your Highness, the criminal's property has been counted. Please review the account book now ."
Mu Jiansheng handed an account book to Han Yu.
"I won't look at the account book, just tell me the total."
Han Yu waved his hand.
Money is just a tool to him. As long as it is enough, he has no interest in managing it directly.
"In total, we found 20 million taels of silver, 1 million taels of gold, 3,600 pieces of gold, silver and jade, 300,000 pieces of cloth, 300,000 dan of grain, 80,000 sets of weapons and armor, 60,000 horses, and there are so many real estate deeds that we are still counting them. We estimate that the preliminary results will be available by noon."
Mu Jiansheng said while holding the account book.
"Twenty million silver?"
Although he was mentally prepared, Han Yu was still stunned by the number.
You know, Li Zicheng broke into the capital, tortured a group of civil and military officials, and finally got 10 million taels of silver.
He conducted a thorough investigation of Chuncheng and found out 20 million taels.
Although Wu Sangui was a huge corrupt official, this is enough to make people shocked.
There were also large quantities of cloth, food, weapons, armor, horses, and so on.
As long as he makes use of all these, he can easily form an army of 100,000 people.
By then, not to mention the entire Yunnan Province, he would even dare to sweep across the southeast.
