Chapter 128: The Kong Family? Ten clans are not enough to kill, we need eleven clans

Guang'anmen in the capital, Xuanda military camp.

A large number of Xuanfu and Datong firearms soldiers formed a battle formation, with their backs to their own military camps and the west city wall, ready to fight against the invading Liao soldiers.

Some large artillery had already fired several rounds, but the Liao soldiers still launched their attacks at a distance of about a hundred steps. In addition to various chariots, the Liao soldiers were also accompanied by several catapults and surrendered soldiers from the Beijing camp who pushed the equipment.

The generals and lieutenant generals of Xuanfu and Datong each led their horsemen and servants to stand on both sides and at the rear of the army, staring at the Xuan army with eager eyes.

Even if the enemy cavalry disrupted the formation of Xuan's soldiers, they could not be allowed to collapse, because there were city walls and strongholds behind them, with nowhere to retreat. As long as they were properly organized, they could quickly counterattack again.

But it was obvious that the generals, lieutenant generals and guerrillas of the two towns of Xuanda misjudged the situation, and the Liao soldiers had no intention of launching an attack.

"Brothers from Xuanfu and Datong, Marshal Li has sent you salaries."

Under the watchful eyes of tens of thousands of eyes in the two towns of Xuanda, the Liao soldiers' catapults threw boxes of small silver bars and copper coins into the Xuanda army formation three or four times.

The Xuan soldiers, who had traveled five or six hundred miles, had not yet eaten the first meal of rations supplied by the capital when they saw the wages sent to them by Marshal Li.

Silver falling from the sky, pure silver!
Who can bear this?
The army formation suddenly became chaotic, and everyone instinctively rushed to the scattered boxes and started looting.

The armor had no pockets and the soldiers could not hold the silver and money in their arms, so they put the stolen money into gunpowder bags and then held them tightly in their hands.

If the imperial court did not change, this silver might be the only money they could get on this trip.

"These are all from the high officials in the capital who were extorting money from their families. Marshal Li is not only asking for money for Liao Town, but also for the other eight border towns. The soldiers who follow the marshal are all paid double."

The Liaozhen cavalry galloped back and forth in front of Xuanda's army, announcing Marshal Li's policies to the public.

If Xuan Dabing was a sergeant in a fortress, he would usually receive a single salary, which was enough silver to buy one stone of grain, about three or four coins per month, because the grain price in Shanxi where they were located was much lower than that in Liaodong.

Double pay is generally only available to special types of soldiers, such as family servants and night guards, who work very hard to get double pay.

Although the recruited soldiers from various places also received double pay, the two towns of Xuanda had a large number of garrisons themselves, so not many soldiers were recruited. Only those at the passes and big cities had garrisons. As for this time, not many soldiers from the garrisons in the passes came to defend the capital, because they also had to guard against attacks from Mongolian soldiers.

"Don't rush, hold your ground!"

"The Emperor will pay the brothers, and anyone who steals the rebels' money will be beheaded!"

The generals of Xuanfu and Datong began to quickly suppress the looting soldiers. They were afraid that the Liao soldiers would charge at this point, but the situation developed completely differently from what they had imagined. The Liao soldiers once again threw large boxes full of silver and money over.

Most of the items were copper coins in bulk, with very few small silver ingots, but they were tempting enough for the Xuan soldiers who failed to rob the silver.

The army became increasingly chaotic, and even the generals and their retainers could not suppress it.

After a short rest, it was the third round of scattering silver. The Liao soldiers kept adjusting the positions of the catapults so that the boxes would land evenly so that most of the Xuan soldiers would have a chance to grab them.

"There is also salary. Even the laborers pushing the carts can receive silver. Pure silver."

"Marshal Li said that we can collect our salaries at Xizhimen. Besides the salary, we will also provide food rations. We can get as much as you want."

"Marshal Li will compensate you for the amount of wages you were owed. Everyone will get a share and you can collect it at Xizhimen."

The silver and money offensive was much more efficient than Marshal Li personally going on the battlefield to chop people down. The Xuanda army was in chaos like a vegetable market. The soldiers who failed to grab the silver and money near the boxes actually waved their fists to grab the gunpowder bags of their comrades. The suppression by the servants of the two towns of Xuanda made the scene even more chaotic.

Gradually, the soldiers who had robbed the money began to flee, and the general's servants on horseback were busy re-forming the army formation and had no time to surround the fleeing soldiers. So, led by a few soldiers, Xuan's army began to flee on a large scale.

Many of them headed directly for Xizhimen in the north, as they clearly remembered that Marshal Li would pay them salaries.

Even the Liao soldiers had to retreat quickly. The large-scale collapse of the battalion soldiers was the most terrifying. At this time, their combat effectiveness was at its peak, and they would fight to the death with anyone who tried to stop them.

Marshal Li, who was surrounded by many generals, was at a distance on the battlefield. He was not needed in the battle against the Ming reinforcements. Otherwise, the Ming army would rather stay in the camp than set up a battle in the city.

"Today's battle is over. Let's go back immediately. You guys go to Xizhimen to distribute the salaries and gather the scattered Xuanda soldiers. I will go back to torture them."

The wealth of the capital city far exceeded the Liao soldiers' imagination. Even the Liao soldiers who came according to the rules began to secretly collect various small items when the commander was away, causing the amount of property to be handed over to be reduced.

Therefore, Marshal Li issued an order that without his supervision, Liao soldiers, Beijing camp soldiers, and civilian laborers were not allowed to go to the residences of the powerful and wealthy to collect salaries.

The generals obeyed the order and led their own soldiers to join the retreating Liao soldiers and return to Beijing from Fuchengmen.

……

The Imperial City West Garden, near Xi'an Gate. The West Garden was originally a royal garden, and the Leopard House of Emperor Zhengde Zhu Houzhao was not far from here. After occupying the entire Imperial City, Marshal Li used this place as his residence. Except for the Liao soldiers stationed at the various gates, the rest of the old brothers who came from Liaodong stationed here with the Marshal.

The reason why Li Hao chose this place was very simple. Most of the powerful people in the capital who could squeeze the most money lived in the West City. Going out of Xi'an Gate was Anfufang and Xiaoshiyongfang. A little further south was Dashiyongfang, all of which were the residences of dukes and marquises.

It is convenient for him to collect the salary.

"General, I have already found out that Li Hongji's main assets are in Nanjing and his farmland is in Qiyang. This mansion in Beijing is just a temporary residence for his family while they are working in Beijing."

As soon as they arrived at the military meeting hall in Xiyuan, a large number of Liao soldiers' captains and captains surrounded the commander-in-chief to answer questions. The first thing they asked was the Linhuai Marquis's property that Marshal Li had been thinking about.

When the house was searched before, only tens of thousands of taels of silver were found in the property of the hereditary marquis Linhuai. Not to mention that it was at the bottom among the marquises, even compared with the several earls who had been searched, the Linhuai family was the poorest.

Li Hao was unwilling to give up and naturally sent people to investigate. Unfortunately, all the male members of Linhuai Hou's family had been killed by Marshal Li. After several days of investigation, they finally found out where the family property was from the servants and women in the family.

"Got it. What about the list of dukes, marquises and earls who were tortured by the officials of the Ministry of Rites? Have you made it?"

After motioning the old brothers to sit down, Li Hao began to interrogate them about the details of the torture bit by bit.

The military pressure from the Liao soldiers was actually not that great. A few days ago, he sent Kong Youde and his men to sneak back to Ningyuan City, and asked the Ningyuan generals to quickly capture Shanhaiguan while a considerable number of soldiers from the Shanhaiguan camp had left. As long as a large number of Liao soldiers entered the pass, it would be useless for Sun Chengzong of Tongzhou to mobilize more elite soldiers and generals.

Therefore, Marshal Li's main focus was on plundering the city of Beijing. With money, he could quickly increase his military strength.

"To reply to the Marshal, it has been listed."

The person who was speaking was Li Liangfu. He was born in the Jinyiwei and had some knowledge of matters of punishment. After the Liao army captured the imperial city, many low-level Jinyiwei surrendered directly, and these people were then under his jurisdiction.

"There are seven ranks of nobility in the Ming Dynasty, divided into first-class duke, second-class duke, first-class marquis, second-class marquis, third-class marquis, first-class earl, and second-class earl. A total of 170 people were conferred titles, all of which were conferred during life, and posthumous titles were not counted. Among them, the duke is the Duke of Wei..."

The titles of nobility are divided into hereditary and non-hereditary titles. Most of the titles conferred during the founding period and the Jingnan period were hereditary titles. After Renzong, most of the titles conferred on military generals and civil officials were non-hereditary titles.

"From the sixty-five nobles of the founding of the country, only eight have been passed down?"

Although Li Hao knew that Zhu Yuanzhang was mean, this number still shocked him. His son, Emperor Yongle, was more humane than him. Twenty-six of the fifty-four titles conferred during the Yongle period were passed down.

"There are only eight families: Duke of Wei, Marquis of Huaiyuan (from the line of Duke of E, Chang Yuchun), Marquis of Linhuai (formerly Duke of Cao), Marquis of Dingyuan (formerly Duke of Wei), Marquis of Lingbi (formerly Duke of Xin), Earl of Chengyi, Duke of Qian (formerly Marquis of Xiping), and Marquis of Wuding.

Apart from the Marquis of Wuding, most of the property and farms of the other families are in Nanjing or near their hometowns, and most of the property of the Duke of Qian is in Yunnan, where he is stationed. The mansions of these eight families in Beijing have basically been plundered, and the total value of the property found in various places is more than 2.7 million taels, and there are still 600 to 700 shops that are still being sealed. "

Among the eight nobles at the beginning of the country, only the Wuding Marquis family was an exception. Guo Xun of his family was very powerful during the Jiajing period, so most of the family assets were in Beijing, and there were quite a few shops. Even in Tianjin, Tongzhou and other places, there were many shops of the Wuding Marquis family.

There are quite a few surprises among the twenty-six nobles of the Jingnan Rebellion. The extortion of money from these mansions is still going on rapidly. According to the property looted from the previous few families, Marshal Li estimates that a total of 20 to 30 million taels of silver can be extorted from these twenty-six families. Of course, the land deeds from various places will account for a considerable proportion.

Although the nobles have a lot of wealth, they do not have as much cash as the eunuchs in power or the corrupt officials. Their main assets are farms outside the city and shops in major cities.

"General, there is one more thing that needs to be reported. The brothers have arrested several people from the Kong family. The leader is Kong Shangren, who is said to be the uncle of Yanshenggong Kong Yinzhi. He is in charge of the Kong family's farm in Shuntian Prefecture, but a man named Zhou Kui was also involved. The brothers dare not deal with the Kong family or Zhou Kui privately, please give instructions, General."

A captain in charge of patrolling the streets reported back.

the Kongs?

Ten clans are not enough to kill, at least eleven clans must be gathered.

The father has four, the mother has three, the wife has two, and the students have two.

"Have you found out how many acres of land the Kong family has in Shuntian Prefecture?"

The Bei Kongs were a rare gentry family that embodied all the evil deeds. Bullying men and women was their standard trait, and occupying farmland was even more of a given. Several White Lotus uprisings in Northern Zhili and Shandong cleverly avoided the Kong family's land.

Marshal Li had no intention of being polite to the Beikong family.

"Brothers, after a little torture, Kong Shangren finally remembered his family's land in Shuntian Prefecture. He said that there were more than 12,000 acres of land, which he managed before. After Zhou Kui's daughter was chosen as the Princess of Xin, the Kong family planned to transfer the land in Shuntian Prefecture to Zhou Kui for management, and the land was being transferred around the twelfth lunar month."

Zhou Kui was the future father-in-law of Prince Xin. Concubine Xuanyi chose Zhou Kui's daughter to be Prince Xin's wife, but the two had not yet married.

"The Kong family has made a good plan. Prince Xin is the crown prince, and Zhou Kui gets the income from more than 10,000 acres of land for free."

Li Hao thought about it and gave the order: "Zhou Kui will be beheaded in line, Kong Shangren and others will be tortured to death at Xuanwu Gate, and the people are allowed to buy rice and meat to eat."

PS: Please give me recommendation votes and monthly votes.

(End of this chapter)