Wang Xijue was forced to do it. His family lived in Taicang Prefecture, which was the wealthiest place in Suzhou at the time.
After the Xu family was destroyed, Zheng Ying and Xie He's next target was the Wang family. Wang Xijue had been sent back to his hometown by Empress Dowager Li to be closely monitored because of Zhu Yijun's preparation for the mutiny. At that time, he had been living in his hometown.
It was also thanks to him that after knowing the fate of the Xu family, he knew that Xiao Ruxun was serious. She would really kill people, and she would not hold back. The whole of Suzhou had been instigated by a considerable number of farmers, and the riots were very intense.
After thinking it over, he personally made the decision and stood his ground to negotiate with Zheng Ying and Xie He. The result of the negotiation was that Wang Xijue's family would be split into three branches. Wang Xijue's younger brother's family would be moved to Wuchang, Wang Xijue's family would be moved to Jingshi, and the rest of the family would be moved to Guangdong.
All the land would be split and distributed to the tenants. The tenants would regain their freedom and pay taxes to the country. The land that should be distributed to the three branches of the Wang family would be distributed after they reached their migration destination.
In fact, Zheng Ying and Xie He really wanted to destroy them, but Wang Xijue had taken the initiative and kept making concessions, so they were too embarrassed to do it. Secondly, Wang Xijue's younger brother had a very good reputation in the local area. Their family was very good at creating momentum, so Zheng Ying and Xie He had to consider carefully and not kill them.
At that time, Li Tingji was preparing to send them to Jingshi, so he sent Wang Xijue's family along. In the end, the Lugou Bridge Mutiny happened the day after they arrived at the Lugou Bridge camp. Xiao Ruxun wore the yellow robe.
Other than Ye Xianggao, who had expected it, Li Tingji and Wang Xijue did not know about it. But after witnessing the drastic changes in their hometown, as survivors, Li Tingji and Wang Xijue could faintly sense that Xiao Ruxun's goal was not ordinary. But when they saw the scene of 200,000 people shouting "Long live Xiao Ruxun", they were really shocked.
Then they also realized that they had boarded a pirate ship.
Xiao Ruxun needed someone to support him in the face of the central government. They had no way out. In the camp, they would either die or follow Xiao Ruxun as a second minister.
Wang Xijue did not intend to resist. He planned to accept adversity. He was old and could not bear the torment. He did not dare to do it. Not to mention that his family was in Xiao Ruxun's hands. He did not have the right to refuse.
After Li heard Wang Xijue's reason, Li Tingji thought that he did not intend to cause torment. Li Tingji.
Then, on the night that Xiao Ruxun led her army to conquer the capital, Wang Xijue and Li Tingji were sent to the cabinet to help Xiao Ruxun sort through the documents.
Xiao Ruxun was also very considerate and gave a team of 50 clerks to Wang Xijue and Li Tingji, saying that they were at their disposal.
The two did not object and quietly began to work.
With this arrangement, Xiao Ruxun could gather all the civil and military officials in the capital in the Imperial Palace and do what he wanted. For example, he could learn from Li Zicheng's spirit and squeeze all the benefits out of these people.
Of course, he could not do it as badly as Li Zicheng.
He had to think of a fresh and refined reason. For example, the new dynasty had just been established and needed funds to renovate the capital. For example, there were too many soldiers and needed funds to settle them down. For example, there were too many starving people and needed funds for disaster relief.
Of course, empty promises could not be used. The bait had to be enticing, or else how could these people take the bait?
Thus, Xiao Ruxun expressed in the Imperial Palace that he was in dire need of money. Not only did he lack funds for the new dynasty to renovate the palace and the capital, he also lacked funds for the army and needed funds for disaster relief to treat the starving people.
The civil and military officials had strange looks in their eyes when they heard these words, but what Xiao Ruxun said next made them restless.
"Not only that, even the salaries for the officials are somewhat lacking. If everyone here can help out a little, this Xiao will not be stingy with his positions. Everyone here is an outstanding talent, and this Xiao will evaluate and appoint you."
Xiao Ruxun wanted to auction off his positions?
As expected, he was a general with no long-term vision. He still wanted to appoint us!
That was right! That was right! Everyone should work together and harmony would bring wealth!
Money? A trifling matter!
"This subject is willing to donate thirty thousand taels of silver to renovate the palace for His Majesty!"
The first to step forward was, as expected, Zhao Shiqing. When he saw that Xiao Ruxun had no intention of pursuing the past, Zhao Shiqing was greatly relieved. And when he saw that Xiao Ruxun was lacking money and needed the help of the court officials, offering money at this time was tantamount to paying a visit and would definitely benefit him.
Zhao Shiqing did not hesitate.
After all, thirty thousand taels of silver wasn't much.
However, Xiao Ruxun was very happy. He nodded with a smile and said, "Zhao Butang is indeed the pillar of the country. The country needs a pillar like Zhao Butang to govern it!"
When the other officials saw that Zhao Shiqing was praised and became the first person to eat crabs, they were instantly envious. They all spoke up, wanting to donate thirty thousand, twenty thousand, seventy thousand, eighty thousand taels of silver. In just a short fifteen minutes, the amount of donations was close to a million.
And at this moment, a large sum of money appeared.
"Subject Zhu Yinghuai is willing to donate two hundred thousand taels of silver to help His Majesty's army!"
This was a large sum of money!
In an instant, all the civil and military officials were shocked. To donate two hundred thousand taels of silver in one go, this was not following the rules! Who was this?
"Zhu Yinghuai? You are? "
Xiao Ruxun realized that he didn't recognize this person.
"This subject is the younger brother of the late Duke of Cheng."
Oh, I understand. The Duke of Cheng clan that had luckily survived under Shen Yicheng's butcher's knife didn't have a representative. This time, when Xiao Ruxun sent someone to summon the nobles, the Duke of Cheng clan didn't intend to sit still and wait for death. Thus, they nominated the younger brother of the previous Duke of Cheng to participate.
The other civil officials also knew that this was the work of the nobles.
These fellows specialized in making money, and they also had the home advantage. The civil officials' hometown wasn't in the capital, so their wealth couldn't catch up to the nobles'. The current situation was extremely critical. If Xiao Ruxun were to distribute the positions based on wealth, the civil officials would suffer a great loss. Who knew if Xiao Ruxun was willing to continue the Daming policy to suppress the nobles?
Could it be that the nobles wanted to make a comeback?
The civil officials immediately turned their hostile gazes toward the nobles.
But this was only the beginning.
Marquis Longping donated two hundred thousand taels of silver, Marquis Lingbi donated two hundred and fifty thousand taels of silver, Count Yingcheng donated two hundred and fifty thousand taels of silver, Count Xincheng donated three hundred and fifty thousand taels of silver, Count Anxiang donated one hundred and fifty thousand taels of silver, and Count Sui 'an donated two hundred and fifty thousand taels of silver …
Each one was more generous than the last, and each one was more generous than the last. In any case, these surviving nobles completely suppressed the civil officials, making them so angry that they were blowing their beards and glaring at them.
Just because you have the home advantage, you dare to run amok?
Do you still have any shame?
Thus, many of the civil officials also exploded. In groups of twos and threes, they agreed to borrow some money. In any case, 100,000, 110,000, 120,000, and 120,000 taels of silver were also offered. In any case, although they didn't have such a deep foundation, they couldn't lose too badly. Otherwise, after the new dynasty was established, if their status couldn't compare to these stinky bastards, then what would that mean?
What about the reputation of the scholarly lords?
Seeing that the civil officials had begun to exert their strength, the nobles also didn't want to fall behind. The marquises and earls went all out, swearing to show the civil officials how strong they were after two hundred years of professional money-making. The civil officials also didn't want to fall behind. They wanted to show these local bullies that a powerful dragon was still a dragon, and that snakes couldn't be compared to them.
They still had a vast territory to support them, but the nobles only had the capital region. The strength of the two sides was completely unbalanced.
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