Chapter 114 Coercion and inducement

Throughout Dayu, almost everyone was very attentive and concerned about the new firearms produced by the arsenal under Zheng Yi.

Unfortunately, due to Zheng Yi's strict order and the investigations of the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Eastern Depot, only a very small number of people in the court had seen the power of the new firearms.

As the new army swept away the rebels in Yongzhou, discussion about the new firearms once again heated up.

Although the area around the arsenal was well protected, it could not withstand the spies who were everywhere.

In just half a month, the East Factory captured hundreds of spies.

Because of the very few casualties among the new army, naturally some firearms, bombs, etc. fell into the hands of the public and were obtained by interested parties.

But this number is extremely rare.

Therefore, this group of merchants are even more jealous of new firearms.

Now that I have the chance, how can I not go and pay my respects to it?

When they arrived at the military camp, many people had already seen the flintlock rifles carried on the shoulders of the new soldiers, and their eyes were very excited, but without Liu Chengen's secret they did not dare to act rashly.

Liu Chengen, on the other hand, brought them into the big tent and continued serving the dishes, while nodding to Cui Xiawu who came over to greet him.

In the military tent, Liu Chengen shouted, "Everyone, did you see our army's new firearms just now?"

"That firearm can spray flames and steel pillars from three hundred steps away. It can easily tear a human body apart and blow down a city wall. It is a rare treasure from heaven and a blessing to our Great Yu!"

"The reason why Dayu was able to suppress the refugees and expel the Wu Kingdom so quickly this time was all thanks to your majesty and the firearms!"

"but……!"

Liu Chengen's tone suddenly changed, and he gritted his teeth and said, "There is another group of people who are colluding with the Wu Kingdom and secretly selling salt, iron, weapons, armor and other items to the Wu Kingdom!"

"This group of people deserve to die!!!"

"Bang bang bang..."

As soon as he finished speaking, teams of Jinyiwei suddenly rushed up from outside the military camp and surrounded the landlords and big businessmen in the camp like wolves and tigers.

The cold embroidered spring knife was pointed directly at this group of pale-faced people.

"Eunuch Liu, what do you mean?!"

Wang Zhonghe, with a pale face, stood up tremblingly.

He never expected that Liu Chengen, who looked so amiable and was drinking and chatting happily with them just a second ago, would change his expression so quickly!

"what for?"

Liu Chengen asked in return: "Why does Old Master Wang pretend to be ignorant?"

"Hmph! You can always find a pretext to accuse me of something. How can you prove my guilt without any evidence? You are slandering me. I want to see His Majesty!"

Wang Zhonghe glared at Liu Chengen with blood in his eyes.

If Liu Chengen didn't know the old man's true appearance, he would have almost been deceived by him.

At this time, the others also reacted. Although they did not dare to resist when facing the gleaming embroidered spring knife, they shouted: "It's unfair, Eunuch Liu, we are all good citizens!"

"Eunuch Liu, you are slandering me. When did we collude with the Wu Kingdom?"

"That's right! Where's the evidence? Where's the evidence of our collusion with the Wu Kingdom?"

"There is no evidence, you are making a false accusation!"

"Eunuch Liu, although we are just businessmen, there are loyal and righteous people in the court who will definitely report you!"

"You want evidence?"

Liu Chengen sneered and tossed several envelopes casually, and they landed in front of Wang Zhonghe and the heads of the eight major merchants.

"Here, this is the evidence you want!"

"Here are the letters you sent to the Wu Kingdom and the list of items sold, including salt, iron, weapons, armor, etc. We still have hundreds of these letters!"

"You all... still want to watch it?"

Several family heads tremblingly picked up the envelopes on the table, and almost fainted after just one look.

Can't go wrong.

These letters were indeed the contact letters they wrote to Heishan Guan Turga and the Meng family of the Wu State, as well as the list of transport items.

But...how could it be in Liu Chengen's hands!
In fact, Xu Mujun only found more than a hundred envelopes from Heishan Pass.

But maybe he just wanted to watch the fun, or maybe he wanted to take revenge on Dayu.

When the Wu Kingdom paid the war compensation, it actually threw all the letters, lists and other materials and evidence they had negotiated and traded with the Eight Major Nations over the years to Dayu.

In this way, the business is completely sold out!
In their opinion, since Heishan Pass was occupied by Dayu, they should not think about invading Dayu for at least the next hundred years.

In this case, why not sell out all the officials and businessmen of Dayu who were secretly contacting them?

This way, we can avoid part of the compensation and disgust Dayu in general. It is really a win-win situation!

Therefore, Zheng Yi had already obtained solid evidence that some ministers, big businessmen, and aristocratic families in the court were colluding with the enemy!
If those present knew that Wu State had betrayed them, would they regret it to the core?

The master to whom they knelt and served with flattering faces betrayed them and handed over all the evidence of their crimes to Dayu.

From now on, there is only one way waiting for them!

"Fake! It's all fake!"

Wang Zhonghe said angrily: "These letters are all fake, I want to see His Majesty!"

The other figures also reacted immediately and shouted in succession: "That's right! These envelopes are fake, all of them are fake!"

"We want to sue the emperor!"

"Liu Chengen, you are framing us!"

"That's right! Since they can't get any money from us, they try to frame us. This is a common trick used by the Jinyiwei!"

"We want to see His Majesty~!"

Liu Chengen chuckled and said, "How can you possibly see His Majesty?"

"But..."

His tone suddenly changed, and he grabbed the letter in his hand and slowly tore it into pieces.

Many businessmen present were surprised by Liu Chengen's move, and they all subconsciously stopped what they were doing.

Liu Chengen, what are you doing?
Why did he tear up the evidence?
"Hey hey hey..."

Liu Chengen chuckled and said, "Your Majesty is angry at what you did, but you also know that this is a trick of the Wu Kingdom to kill someone with a borrowed knife."

"Moreover, the heavens are merciful and kind. In recent months, Your Majesty has devoted himself to Buddhism under the enlightenment of Master Fayuan and has decided to reduce the killing."

"You are guilty of conspiracy and treason, and you deserve to die!"

"But Your Majesty understands the greater good, and considering that you have made contributions to the country, the future construction of the Grand Canal cannot be separated from your support, so I have decided to pardon your death penalty!"

As soon as the words fell, many businessmen present breathed a sigh of relief.

No need to die?
That's best.

Most people's eyes flickered, secretly wondering whether it was true or false. Liu Chengen was willing to make such a joke in order to plunder gold and silver?
"Although the death penalty can be forgiven, the living crime cannot be escaped!"

"Each of the eight families, Wang, Qiao, Chang, Meng, Hou, Qu, Kang, and Fang, must hand over one million acres of land as criminal land before we can pardon your death penalty. Otherwise, your entire family will be executed!"

what? !

After hearing Liu Chengen's words, everyone present was stunned.

One million acres of land?
Can the crime of colluding with the enemy country be forgiven?
This is simply... such a good deal!

A million acres sounds like a lot, and it is.

It accounts for almost 70%, or even 90%, of all the land they hold.

But compared with the lives of the whole family, it is simply insignificant.

and……

Several people present had flickering eyes and were determined in their hearts, and soon came up with a plan.

Qiao Maoyong suddenly stood up and said, "Eunuch Liu, my Qiao family accepts the punishment!"

"Please let my father and I go back. Three days later, my Qiao family will hand over the land deeds of one million acres to you."

But in his heart he was thinking that as long as he went back, he would immediately contact the group of bandits under his command. If all else failed, there was still that group of rebels. He would rebel against them all.

He even wanted to contact the other seven families. If the seven families rebelled together, it would inevitably cause unrest in the entire Bingzhou.

Some people from other families also thought of this problem and shouted, "My Meng family also recognizes it, one million acres of land!"

"Father, please let me go back. I will hand over the deed to you tomorrow."

"Although I am old, I can still ride a horse. Please let me go back..."

For a while, dozens of people were fighting for the list of people to return, and some brothers even fought each other.

Seeing this, Liu Chengen sneered and said, "You really treat me like a fool."

He pointed at a few of them and said, "Qiao Maoyong of the Qiao family, Yue Mazi, the bandit leader roaming around in Qixian and Quanyang County, is one of your men."

"There are also Old Taishan in Taigu, the Qinglang Mountain bandits in Yuxia County, the Blood Knife Gang in Yuanping County, and the monks of Nanwu Temple across Mount Wutai. They are all your people, right?"

"If we let you go back here, most of Bingzhou will rebel!"

"I finally got you all together, how can I let you go so easily?"

Wang Zhonghe frowned and asked, "How do you treat me, eunuch?"

"It's very simple. Each of you write a copy and hand it over to us. We will send someone to receive the land deed."

"As long as we get the land deeds for one million acres of land, we will release you immediately!"

"Otherwise, just stay with us."

"Come here! Take the gentry down, prepare their pens, ink, paper and inkstones, and decide who will write first!"

"We can make the decision. The first merchant to be listed only needs to pay 600,000 acres of land, and the remaining 400,000 acres of land will be replaced by others!"

"promise!"

The ferocious Jinyiwei rushed over immediately, tied up the merchants one by one, and pushed them out.

"I'll write! I'll write first!"

"My Meng family writes first!"

"Get lost! It was our Fang family who wrote it first!"

"My Chang family! Quick..."

Several people rushed over in a hurry, pushing and shoving each other, trying to fight for the writing brush, ink, paper and inkstone. Liu Chengen waved his hand, and the Jinyiwei retreated.

He smiled and said, "That's right, as long as you listen to me, I will never let you down!"

Soon, the heads of the three families, Meng, Fang, and Chang, wrote letters and handed them to Liu Chengen.

The three of them were the weakest and had the least money among the eight major mergers and acquisitions, which was why they compromised so quickly.

Liu Chengen took a careful look at the letter in his hand and said with a smile, "Okay, okay, you three are indeed enlightened gentry. I will decide to reduce the amount of land for the three families to 600,000 mu."

"The remaining 400,000 acres will be borne by the three families whose names are written last."

As soon as the words fell, the eyes of the three family heads suddenly lit up.

"Thank you, father-in-law! Thank you, father-in-law!"

The other five families were also extremely conflicted, and finally the heads of the Qu and Kang families hurriedly wrote down a fine of one million taels.

In the end, only the Wang family, the Qiao family and the Hou family were left.

These three families are the strongest and have the most wealth, especially the Wang family.

Wang Zhonghe stood up tremblingly, glared at Liu Chengen and said, "Eunuch Liu, aren't you afraid of criticism from the court for doing this?"

"Criticism from the court?"

Liu Chengen sneered and said, "We are dedicated to the public and to Your Majesty. The world can bear witness to this!"

"What does it matter if there are criticisms from the court? As long as His Majesty trusts us, we will repay you even if our bodies are broken into pieces!"

"We should persuade Old Master Wang to write it. All the people stationed here are Jinyiwei. They are loyal to Your Majesty and will never let out any news."

"Write a letter to your family, ask them to open the door, show them the title deed, and we'll leave right away!"

"Otherwise, the whole family will be executed, leaving no one alive!"

"you……!"

Wang Zhonghe glared at Liu Chengen, his eyes almost bursting with anger.

"I'm not afraid to tell you the truth. The court has restarted the military merit system. So many new recruits have made great contributions. Your Majesty has nothing to offer them or reward them. This is all Your Majesty's intention."

"But, our family has changed its approach."

"Old man, please don't be so shameless~!"

Under Liu Chengen's coercion, inducement and constant threats, the remaining three families had no choice but to write letters, asking their family members to open the door and hand over the land deeds in exchange for the lives of their entire family.

"Oh, by the way, wouldn't it be better if you just listened earlier?"

"It's written wrong here, it's not one million acres, it's one million and four hundred thousand acres!"

"My dear old man, we are all 1.4 million acres each. Write it down now!!!"

Looking at Liu Chengen walking out triumphantly with the envelope, Wang Zhonghe's eyes were almost spitting fire.

"Okay, okay! Very good!"

"Eunuch party Liu Chengen! My Wang family has remembered this. When I get out, I will fight you to the death!"

　Asking for a monthly ticket~
　　Asking for a monthly ticket~
　　Asking for a monthly ticket~
　　Asking for a monthly ticket~
　　Asking for a monthly ticket~
　　The last day of April, begging for monthly tickets!!!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)