Chapter 302 Chapter 301 Money opens the way

Author: Burning Dream Starry Sky

In June of the seventeenth year of Chongzhen, Xuzhou.

Huang Chengdong looked anxiously at Zhang Xianzhong, who had a frosty look on his face.

Although he had not been seen for more than a month, Zhang Xianzhong was obviously getting older and his face became more aggressive.

It looks more fierce and more unpredictable.

Of course, Zhang Xianzhong massacred all of Chengdu before leaving Chengdu, and then took a detour to attack Jiading Prefecture and then massacred Jiading Prefecture as well. This kind of cruelty is indeed frightening.

Then Yang Zhan actually ran away again, which I heard made Zhang Xianzhong very irritable.

Moreover, they had just received another explosive news: Beijing had been captured by Li Zicheng, and the Ming emperor had died.

In contrast, although he was proclaimed emperor, Zhang Xianzhong was not only still trapped in Sichuan, but was also entangled with Li Ping, an officer and army with only tens of thousands of troops, and was in pain.

This is a world of difference!

It's quite embarrassing and frustrating.

Of course, the biggest shock was when Beijing was breached and the Ming Emperor died.

Everyone's thoughts have changed, and everyone knows that the land they live in has undergone fundamental changes.

Now, Huang Chengdong didn't even dare to take a breath, for fear of accidentally offending this demon who was already mentally disturbed and severely stimulated.

He found that he had overestimated his courage to face Zhang Xianzhong, and he became more determined to leave.

Especially since he had a premonition that the White Cripple might already know something about him.

Facing Zhang Xianzhong's menacing army of one million troops, it was certainly impossible for Li Ping to wait in Luzhou to be besieged.

Luzhou is located at the intersection of the Yangtze River and Tuojiang River, and Luzhou City is directly on a peninsula between the two rivers. It is very similar to the geographical characteristics of Chongqing City. This is probably a feature of ancient city building.

Since it is faster to reach Chengdu along the Tuojiang River from the north, this is why Zhang Xianzhong originally went north along the Tuojiang River from Luzhou to Xuzhou and then went straight to Chengdu, instead of continuing westward along the Yangtze River through Jiading Prefecture and then to Chengdu.

But this kind of city defense, like Chongqing City, is very helpful in defending against the armies advancing westward, but it is also a great benefit to the armies advancing eastward.

Zhang Xianzhong could easily and directly trap Luzhou City by joining forces along the two rivers.

In this case, Li Ping would not wait foolishly to be surrounded and launch some defensive counterattack, and he was not a person who liked to lose the initiative.

As soon as Zhang Xianzhong's army approached, his army rushed forward with great fanfare, sending the signal "I know you are coming and I am not afraid of you."

Of course, it can also be understood as a show of force.

In other words, the frontline armies of both sides have actually begun to confront each other. Although the organized troops have not yet made substantial contact and maintain a certain safe distance, the reconnaissance troops of both sides have begun to communicate with each other.

However, at this time, neither Li Ping nor Huang Chengdong would actually attack the other party, but the problem is that this is something only the upper management understands. It is an important secret and cannot be told to the subordinates and then let them act.

As a result, both parties can only control their contact with each other because there is really no need to incur losses.

But in this case, it is inevitable that some abnormal signs will be revealed.

Moreover, in order to reassure Li Ping, Huang Chengdong simply asked several of his subordinates to directly take the deployment information of his army and run away to be captured by Li Ping's troops.

Bai Wenxuan is not an idiot. Huang Chengdong feels that this guy always looks at him strangely during this period and pays more attention to him than usual.

He was very worried that Bai Wenxuan might have noticed something.

"The emperor of the Ming Dynasty is gone, so why should we fight? Send someone to talk to Li Ping. Li Zicheng is in the north, and I am willing to share the south with him. We have copied so much gold and silver, and given half of it to him

Go. There is so much gold and silver. Just looking at it scares me to death. If you don’t believe it, Li Ping won’t be tempted. Even if Li Ping can’t figure it out, there’s no way his subordinates won’t be tempted.” Zhang Xianzhong said through gritted teeth.

As soon as he finished speaking, a shocking sound came from the hall that had been quiet all this time.

Everyone was stunned.

The generals who had already turned into a group of kittens in front of Zhang Xianzhong became bold enough to look left and right, their eyes flashing with various lights, but no one whispered to each other.

Huang Chengdong looked straight at Zhang Xianzhong with a bewildered expression, then his mind began to spin rapidly, and an extremely complicated expression gradually appeared on his face.

Fortunately, no one paid special attention to him at this time, and no one thought it was a big deal.

"Give him half the gold and silver, why?" Wang Zhaoling, the 20-year-old Prime Minister of the Left, said with wide eyes.

He clearly disagrees.

This was young Wang Zhaoling's instinctive reaction. Now he is the only one who dares to take Zhang Xianzhong's words.

The reason why Wang Zhaoling, who has also become a demon, can be so rude is because this is really a huge fortune, a super huge fortune, a fortune that can make anyone dizzy.

Speaking of these, we must mention how rich the Sichuan vassal king was in the Land of Abundance.

Zhang Xianzhong invaded Sichuan and killed two extremely wealthy vassal kings, King Rui of Chongqing and King Shu of Chengdu.

According to historical records, when the Western Army conquered Chongqing, the land rent base of Zhu Changhao, the last king of Rui, was as high as 2 million acres, so that Shaanxi, Henan, Shanxi, and Sichuan provinces had to share it and increase taxes to pay the prince's "yearly income".

rent".

Of course, due to the Great Tomorrow and the continuous wars, it is estimated that most of these additional taxes will not be collected in fact, and will not reach the hands of King Rui, but it is certain that King Rui is very rich.

The King of Shu, Zhu Zhishu, was not inferior to the King of Rui, Zhu Changhao. His palace and farmland accounted for 70% of the Dujiangyan irrigated land area (about 3 million acres) at that time, and more than 2 million acres were adequate.

Since the land owned by King Zhu Zhishu of Shu is visible, the King of Shu is truly rich and truly extremely wealthy.

There is an unverified source that believes that if we make a rough estimate with reference to the land tax standards of King De and King Lu of Shandong in the Ming Dynasty (3 qian silver per mu for high-quality cultivated land, 1 qian and 7 cents silver for medium-grade cultivated land), then King Rui and King Shu

Wang could earn at least 280,000 taels of income every year just by collecting land rent and silver (one tael in the Ming Dynasty was equal to 16 qian, let's assume that the upper-class and medium-class cultivated land in the "Land of Abundance" in the Chengdu Plain were half each).

It can be deduced from this that the official silver obtained by Zhang Xianzhong in Sichuan and the royal treasury silver will not be less than 10 million taels, which is equivalent to a total weight of about 373 tons.

But this is only theoretical.

Due to some other factors, including the inability to collect a lot of money and the circulation of silver, as well as the fact that a lot of wealth exists in the form of more valuable jewelry and rare items or food and cloth, it is definitely not that exaggerated in fact.

But even if it's only half, or even just one-third, or even one-tenth, it's still amazing.

Then add in the fact that Zhang Xianzhong massacred Chengdu and robbed all of Sichuan, and the number is even more astonishing.

And don’t forget that before entering Sichuan, Zhang Xianzhong also robbed the equally wealthy King Chu of Wuchang and the less wealthy King Ji of Changsha, not to mention the other minor kings.

Taken together, this number is quite terrifying.

Of course, it is impossible for Zhang Xianzhong to monopolize all this wealth. A considerable part or even most of it should be in the hands of his huge number of subordinates. However, the amount in the hands of Zhang Xianzhong, the great devil who loves beauty and treasures, should also be extremely considerable.

Maybe Zhang Xianzhong himself doesn't necessarily know how much money he has, but just looking at it can make him confused.

In 2018, Eguchi Chen Yin, who was a hot topic in the search, came out of the water and revealed from one side that many legends are really not legends.

That's why the subordinates, who had always been silent in front of Zhang Xianzhong, collectively couldn't control their behavior.

Zhang Xianzhong’s plan is too cruel!

"If you don't have sincerity, can people believe you? If you don't give up your roots, can people be tempted?" Zhang Xianzhong sneered.

Wang Zhaoling was stunned and said anxiously: "Your Majesty, you can't do that! The capital of the Ming Dynasty has been destroyed, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty is also dead, and the Ming army is like a bereaved dog. It is the time when morale is low and the six gods have no master. Our army must attack with millions of troops at this time.

Sheng. How can you make peace with that Li Ping and then give him half of the gold and silver? Doesn’t this increase others’ ambitions and destroy your own prestige? Your Majesty, think about our great cause!”

Hearing this, Huang Chengdong actually nodded and quickly showed an annoyed expression.

He suddenly realized that Wang Zhaoling seemed to have some sense, and then he began to wonder how Li Ping could resist this million-strong army.

The capture of Beijing and the death of the Ming Emperor were completely unexpected events beyond Huang Chengdong's imagination.

Huang Chengdong was not a novice, so he could certainly imagine that this matter would have a huge impact on the Ming army.

Not to mention that there will be serious chaos, at least the army will have no fighting spirit!

Although he has never seen it with his own eyes, he has heard a lot about the situation where the whole army is destroyed when the head coach is defeated.

Moreover, this was the death of the army and the biggest boss in the entire Ming Dynasty.

An army without fighting spirit can still play ball.

But surprisingly, Zhang Xianzhong did not hesitate at all and said resolutely: "I can't bear to let go of my children to trap the wolf. I have made up my mind. No one can persuade me. Don't make me angry."

There was silence in the hall for a moment.

Wang Zhaoling moved his lips and wanted to say something, but after looking at Zhang Xianzhong's increasingly fierce and unquestionable expression, he finally said nothing.

After glancing around with satisfaction, Zhang Xianzhong stared at Zhang Rujing, who was always standing aside with his hands down, and said solemnly: "Zhang Rujing, you can handle this matter. I'll give you a chance to make meritorious deeds, make the battle bigger, and show my sincerity to me.

Bring them here, expose all the gold, silver and jewels, and be sure to blind the eyes of the officers and soldiers in Li Ping's army along the way."

Zhang Rujing was obviously very surprised to be named, and he almost didn't react.

However, under Zhang Xianzhong's glance, he hurriedly and excitedly knelt down in front of Zhang Xianzhong to accept his order.

Seeing this, Huang Chengdong looked up helplessly and rolled his eyes. No one knew what his mood was now.

Is it upset, happy, scared, or something else.

Since the two armies were already facing each other, Zhang Xianzhong's request for peace was naturally a special matter. Zhang Rujing set off just one day later.

And in order to achieve the effect Zhang Xianzhong requested, Zhang Rujing did not choose the faster, more convenient and more conducive way to ensure the safety of gold and silver treasures by boat. Instead, he chose to take the land route and put all the gold and silver treasures in an open cattle cart.

Let the carts of gold and silver treasures shine in the sun.

And this indeed caused a huge sensational effect.
To be continued...