On the sixth day of the sixth month of the first year of Longwu, a mysterious group of people was slowly boarding a ship at the dock of Tianjin.
The people boarding the ship were all wearing ordinary clothes and cloth shoes, looking like commoners. However, the troops guarding them were all elite imperial guards. Among them, there was even a group of people with rifled flintlock muskets watching from a distance. They seemed to attach great importance to this group of people boarding the ship.
Of course, it looked strange. However, if one listed the names of this group of people in ordinary clothes, one would understand why the most elite imperial guards of Daqin would appear here.
Former Ming King Zhu Yiguo.
Former Ming King Jin Zhu Minchun.
Former Ming King Jingjiang Zhu Rencheng.
Former Ming King Zhou Zhu Gongyi.
… … …
Although not many people had heard of them, they were indeed representative of one of the greatest abuses of the Ming Dynasty.
Zhu Yuanzhang rewarded his descendants so generously that in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, the annual income of the whole country was not enough to cover the expenses of the imperial family. In the end, the Ming court and the emperor were very passive and had to use all kinds of means to reduce the expenses of the imperial family.
However, the imperial family of the Ming was not allowed to engage in the four occupations of the common people. They were not allowed to be farmers, merchants, merchants, and merchants. As a result, some of the imperial family members in remote areas had to rely on crime to earn the right to eat in prison and thus maintain their lives.
However, this was the treatment given to remote members of the royal clan. For close relatives like King Chu, King Zhou, and King Qin, they would definitely be given full salaries and allowed to indulge in debauchery and have children. They would definitely not have to suffer the treatment of being sent to prison to eat.
It was this group of people who used their status to suck the blood of the entire Daming Dynasty and local gentry, dragging down the finances of the Daming Dynasty. Of course, this group of people did not meet a good end. They were either killed by the peasant rebels or the Manchurian Qing. Basically, they did not have a good end.
The Zhu imperial family did indeed meet a tragic end.
After Xiao Ruxun ascended to the throne, he decided not to kill them out of his promise to the imperial family of the former Ming Dynasty. However, they had to listen to the arrangements of the Daqin Emperor and could not object to the arrangements of the Daqin Emperor. Otherwise, the promise would not be fulfilled.
The former Ming Empress Dowager personally wrote a letter to all the important relatives and vassal kings in various regions, stating the pros and cons to them, telling them to surrender without a fight, not to resist, to let the Qin Army do whatever they want, otherwise their lives will be in danger.
Those who were sent to do these things were all elite officers and soldiers from Burma. They were loyal to Xiao Ruxun and the Daqin. They were the best candidates.
Most of the clan members chose to surrender because the situation was already like this.
Daqin was no longer a threat, and on the surface, they still had hope to recover the Daming. However, the Daming court's guard against them was no weaker than Xiao Ruxun's guard against them. Many people around the vassal kings were spies of the court.
Now that the court had surrendered, the remnants of the Imperial Bodyguard had been digested into the Central Investigation Department and were all in the hands of Xiao Ruxun. The lives of the vassal kings had also fallen into the hands of Xiao Ruxun, so it was not difficult to deal with these vassal kings.
Although there were some who tried to resist, such as the King of Chu, he and his brothers tried to escape from the prison and gather the loyal people of the Daming to continue to resist. However, he was soon controlled by the former Imperial Bodyguard spies around him.
Then the other spies opened the city and surrendered. The King of Chu and his family were directly captured and reported the fact that they tried to resist.
The other vassal kings could still keep some of their property, but the King of Chu was deprived of all his property because of his resistance. He could not keep a penny and was directly sent to the capital for strict supervision.
None of the brothers of the King of Chu escaped. They were directly ordered by Xiao Ruxun to be beheaded in front of the King of Chu.
Xiao Ruxun implemented a zero-tolerance policy for the behavior of these people who did not know what was good for them. One resisted and his whole family was caught. The man killed the woman and was imprisoned in the Musical House. In the following persuasion letters, he also asked Empress Dowager Li to add these contents to warn the vassal kings and members of the royal family.
After learning that the brothers of the King of Chu had been killed, Empress Dowager Li was extremely angry and angrily questioned Xiao Ruxun why he did not keep his promise.
"As the emperor of a country, you actually did not keep your promise! How dare you rule the world?! "
Xiao Ruxun did not care about this at all.
"I said that they were not allowed to make any resistance and came to the capital obediently. I promised to save their lives and part of their property, but I didn't say that I would forgive them if they resisted. Those who resisted would definitely die. The mastermind, the King of Chu, should have died. I spared him because of the face of Empress Dowager Ming. What else do you want?"
Empress Dowager Li was so angry that her face turned blue. She threw away the pen and refused to continue writing persuasion letters.
Xiao Ruxun's face turned cold.
"I hope Empress Dowager Ming can understand one thing. For the sake of your son, I treated you well. I didn't hurt your life and gave you the corresponding treatment. This is the result of my strong opposition. Most of the officials want you to die, because your survival makes them feel like sitting on pins and needles.
Letting you live is my biggest and last mercy. Immediately write these things down and send them out. Tell those vassal kings and relatives not to resist. This is an order, not a discussion. If you don't do it, I will slaughter them! "
Xiao Ruxun did not want to continue talking nonsense with her.
Empress Dowager Li looked at Xiao Ruxun incredulously.
"Will you do it or not?"
"Xiao Ruxun … Where is your conscience?"
Empress Dowager Li pointed at Xiao Ruxun and said, "Aren't you afraid of being struck by lightning?"
"Come here."
Xiao Ruxun's face calmed down.
Li Sheng came forward and said, "Your Majesty."
"Send the order to behead the former King of Chu. All the men in his family will be beheaded, and all the women will be buried in the Musical House."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Li Sheng turned and left.
Empress Dowager Li was stunned.
"You … how dare you …"
"This is the first one. If you don't write it down, the next one is King Lu."
"You …"
Empress Dowager Li trembled all over.
"Then the Prince of Qin, the Prince of Zhou, and the Prince of Jingjiang. One by one, if you don't write it down, we will kill them all. If they continue to resist, we will not hold back either. The previous agreement will be nullified, and none of you will survive. In any case, the courtiers who have surrendered to us want you to die more than us."
Xiao Ruxun just looked at Empress Dowager Li.
"I write it down. You can't hurt them."
Empress Dowager Li gritted her teeth and made such a decision.
"You write it down. Except for King Chu, the others can live."
"You can't kill King Chu either!"
Empress Dowager Li stared at Xiao Ruxun.
"It's too late. This is the condition just now. King Chu must die. Now if you don't write it down, I will immediately order to kill King Lu and his family."
"You! You … "
"Do you write it down or not? I will count to three. The lives of King Lu and his family are in your hands. "
Xiao Ruxun raised three fingers.
"One, two, three …"
"Enough! Enough! I write it down! I write it down!! "
Empress Dowager Li broke down. Her trembling hand immediately grabbed the pen and quickly wrote a letter to persuade them to surrender.
After a while, Li Sheng returned to Xiao Ruxun.
"Your Majesty, the former King of Chu has been beheaded. All the men in his family have been beheaded, and all the women have been buried in the Musical House. Everything is in accordance with Your Majesty's order."
Xiao Ruxun nodded.
"Hmm."
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