Chapter 131 You really hurt me

Emperor Tianqi's rebellion came suddenly and ended quickly without causing much splash. Even the Jizhen troops, whom he had been concerned about, did not counterattack in the north.

Several imperial doctors who delivered the message to him were beheaded on the same day. Most of the imperial doctors in the Ming Dynasty were hereditary. Considering that their ancestors had cured and killed several emperors, their act of delivering the message for Emperor Tianqi might be the greatest contribution these imperial doctors made to the royal family.

Although it's of no use.

The decisive battle between the New Liao soldiers and the Jizhen soldiers was not as spectacular as the loyal ministers of the Ming Dynasty had imagined. The combat effectiveness of the Jizhen Cheying soldiers formed by Wang Xiangqian was only 30% to 40% of that of the fully paid border soldiers.

It is directly proportional to the salary they actually receive.

Yan Mingtai was a man of good temper. After his defeat, he committed suicide by jumping into a well. Most of the remaining Jizhen soldiers surrendered, and a few fled out of the city. The surviving Jizhen generals escaped even faster with their servants. Of course, a few of them also surrendered to Marshal Li.

"This is where Yanbudang jumped into the well!"

Dozens of surrendered Jizhen soldiers led the new commander to find the well.

Many small courtyards in the south city do not have their own wells, and water is mainly obtained from public wells or water vendors.

"Fill him out and bury him outside the city. Cover the grave with bricks and stones, and find someone with good calligraphy to write a decent epitaph." Li Hao ordered coldly.

It is difficult to get water in winter. When Yan Mingtai left, he didn't even think about what water the people nearby would drink.

The surrendered Jizhen generals all held relatively low positions and had poor backgrounds; none of them came from a family of generals from the Nine Frontiers.

"Generals, assign soldiers to the camps according to your original positions, just like the soldiers under my command, and they will be paid and fight together!"

According to the old rules, demoted generals will retain their original ranks and military positions, and will be promoted only if they perform well, while those who do not work hard will be demoted.

Marshal Li himself was a fierce general who was always the first to charge into battle, so naturally he would not be counted based on the number of heads taken like the civil officials. The reward system of the entire Liao army system gradually returned to normal, with capturing flags, beating generals, and being the first to charge into battle as the main criteria for evaluation, and the number of heads taken in battle became secondary.

Even Marshal Li had issued an order that soldiers should not be greedy for heads when engaging the enemy, but many soldiers had already developed the habit of grabbing heads first. Marshal Li did not impose in-depth control, and once the soldiers got used to the new reward and punishment system, heads would naturally become less important in their hearts.

After clearing out the city of Beijing, the new Liao soldiers took a rare few days off and celebrated the New Year.

The order in Beijing was also recovering rapidly. When the people found out that Marshal Li really only hunted down powerful officials, a large number of peddlers began to appear in the streets and alleys.

The New Year goods they bought have not been sold yet. The vendors have little capital and dare not waste money on them.

After the vendors took to the streets, people also slowly went to the streets to buy New Year's goods. Although they came a little late, at least they made up for the food and decorations that they needed for the New Year.

……

Military Council Hall in the Western Garden of the Imperial City.

Shang Jinghui, dressed in a linen servant's robe, sat in front of Marshal Li's desk, recording the collected salaries in a book.

This is a very typical beauty from Jiangsu and Zhejiang. Her beautiful facial features make her face look quite small. She has a round skull and a slightly square chin, and her overall temperament is quite gentle.

Shang Jinghui originally fled south with his mother, but after learning that his father Shang Zhouzuo was defeated and captured, he returned north and took the initiative to find the Liao soldiers, claiming that he would exchange his life for his father's exemption from hard labor.

Seeing that she was proficient in poetry and had good handwriting, Li Hao kept her as a ghostwriter, and later asked her to supervise the accountants who were responsible for keeping accounts.

Of course, Marshal Li would occasionally ask her to warm the bed, and this girl had no intention of shirking her responsibility, and she openly atones for her father. So Li Hao decided to give her a legal status after she became pregnant.

"Shang Dianli, what happened to the stolen money that was recovered from the eunuchs' homes?"

Taking advantage of the time when the new Liao soldiers were taking a break, Li Hao had been checking the accounts everywhere to prevent anyone from taking the opportunity to embezzle.

"In reply to the Marshal, the most money was seized from Hu Liangfu's family, nearly 200,000 taels, all of which were kept by his relatives or money houses. Recently, it was discovered that Feng Jiahui had embezzled more than 45,000 taels of silver when he rewarded the Beijing troops. This amount of silver was seized from the homes of Wei Yan and his vassals. Should it be included in the 740,000 taels that Hu Liangfu lacked?"

This money was a very bad account. According to Hu Liangfu's servant, the eunuch embezzled a total of 1.1 million taels of silver. However, the remaining 300,000 taels were confiscated by the Ming court before the Liao army entered the city. Later, they were embezzled by Feng Jiahui, who was responsible for rewarding the Beijing camp.

A considerable portion of the remaining 740,000 taels of silver went into the pockets of Wei Zhongxian and other eunuchs. It was confiscated by the Ming court and then embezzled by corrupt officials, making it impossible for Shang Jinghui and others who were responsible for collecting the money to settle the accounts.

"We'll settle them separately under different names. We have to remember these accounts clearly every time they pass through someone's hands. There will be plenty of time to settle them slowly later." Marshal Li was quite patient with the matter of torture and pay. If nothing unexpected happened, he would be able to find quite a few people to be beheaded.

Killing these corrupt officials would not only increase his chances of passing the test, but would also make the common people applaud and reduce food consumption. In a word, it would kill two birds with one stone.

Shang Jinghui wrote furiously, turning the Marshal's orders into practical actions.

Shang people are practical people, and Shang Zhouzuo himself is an honest official. Li Hao plans to take time to let Shang Zhouzuo try to manage Shuntian Prefecture in the capital area so as to quickly restore order.

Halfway through the audit, Marshal Li's godsons brought the generals into the military meeting hall, whereupon the accountants who were using abacus and the supervising clerks all withdrew, leaving room for the generals to discuss military affairs.

"Godfather, I have some good news. Uncle Li Tianyang has brought 30,000 troops from Ningyuan into the pass. The Liao militia at Shanhaiguan opened and surrendered the city without much effort. The ministers of the Ji Liao Jinglüe King have been captured and are waiting for Godfather's decision."

"We have prepared all the siege equipment and are ready to attack Tongzhou City at any time. The new brothers are ready to fight. Sun Chengzong will not live long!"

"It is said that soldiers in the west are also clamoring for pay, and the Qin soldiers turned back on their way. Neither the governor-general of the three borders nor the governor-general of Xuanda led troops to rescue the capital."

There were actually quite a few soldiers coming from Xuan Da, which was worthy of the salary paid by the court.

"Then we should attack Tongzhou first, and then head straight to Tianjin to cut off Shan Yongbing's escape route to the south."

The 30,000 combat troops in Ningyuan can be said to be the most capable border troops in the entire nine borders. As long as they are commanded and rewarded and punished properly, those 30,000 people can actually sweep away all the garrison troops south of Northern Zhili.

The reinforcements, mainly consisting of soldiers from the Shanhaiguan and Yongping camps, were the only support of the Ming court in the east. If they were defeated, only the three Qin towns in the west would be able to cause some casualties to the Liao soldiers.

After a short New Year, the huge army of the New Liao soldiers marched towards Tongzhou City, sixty miles away.

It took a day and a half to march, half a day to set up camp, and only an hour to attack the city.

The commander-in-chief did not even need to use the catapult to climb up the city. The new Liao soldiers, who had received their salaries, climbed up the ladders with a howl. Although the Ming army defending the city fought in good shape, the gap in the strength of the two sides was too great. After the new Liao soldiers climbed up the ladder like ants, Tongzhou City fell into the hands of Marshal Li without any surprise.

Sun Chengzong hanged himself in the lobby of the Tongzhou garrison office, giving the Ming court a decent face. Once he was hanged, the officials and garrisons of Tongzhou no longer had any psychological pressure and surrendered one after another.

After all, there are only a few stubborn people who are willing to do something even though they know it is impossible.

As for Old Man Sun, Marshal Li ordered that he be given a decent grave.

Of course, the torture of the Sun family in Baoding still had to be carried out. Several famous civil officials with the surname Sun in the late Ming Dynasty were basically born into large landlord families, especially Sun Chengzong and Sun Chuanting, who were the richest.

After cleaning out the Tongzhou City Garrison Office, several of Marshal Li's godsons and generals actually teamed up to give the commander-in-chief a gift.

Li Hao vaguely guessed what they were going to do, but when he saw the Nine-Beam Crown and Robe appearing in front of him, he still felt a little angry.

"What are you doing? How can you let me wear such outrageous and presumptuous clothing?"

The generals laughed and put the black robe, yellow skirt, white silk belt, yellow kneeling robe and other crown clothes on Marshal Li, oh no, their emperor.

"I am also a loyal minister of the Ming Dynasty. I have received the Ming Dynasty's salary. You are causing me great suffering!"

Of the nine-beam crowns, only one was left that was not worn on Li Hao's head.

Even his godsons did not dare to let their godfather wear the Nine Liang Crown.

With mixed feelings, Li Hao took the initiative to put on the Nine Liang Crown and accepted the three kneelings and nine kowtows from the generals.

He had originally been waiting for his wives and concubines, such as Dong Sulan and Wang Qi, to give birth to sons in Liaoyang City before discussing the matter of giving up his throne with the terminally ill Zhu Youxiao. However, he did not expect that the generals could not wait any longer and now wanted to take credit for following the emperor.

Everyone knows that His Majesty the Emperor has to shoulder the responsibilities of governing all the country, which really makes things difficult for him!
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(End of this chapter)