Prince Chongzhen

Chapter 80 Case Facts
According to the grain prices at that time, three thousand taels of silver could allow a family of four to live without worries about food and clothing for more than a hundred years. However, if it were changed to the grain prices in earlier years, this family of four would probably not be able to finish eating three thousand taels of silver of food even if they ate from the time when Zhu Taizu ascended the throne to the 17th year of Chongzhen.

If we look at it from this standard, three thousand taels of silver is indeed a lot of money, but if we look at it from another angle, we seem to be able to come to another conclusion.

There are historical records that in the late Ming Dynasty, wealthy families liked to bury the gold and silver they earned in their homes. There was even a family that had no more room to bury the silver.

It seems that the silver money is just something like paving floor tiles. It is indeed not a lot for Jintan County to use these three thousand taels of silver to get rid of Tulai.

The same three thousand taels of silver can mean very different amounts to different families. It really makes people sigh that comparison is the key.

Closer to home.

After receiving the three thousand taels of silver from Jintan County, Tulai naturally could not force him any further.

In the end, he and Cao Hu played the good cop and the bad cop respectively, and agreed on a price of two thousand dan of grain, six thousand taels of silver, and two thousand laborers. The people of Jintan finally agreed after some complaints.

To be honest, the money and food meant nothing to them, but the two thousand laborers really made everyone worried.

Why?

When the nose-cutting gang first started to make trouble, many tenants and slaves joined them. When the Qing army arrived, another large wave of them fled south. What's more, they wanted strong men, but where could the county get 2,000 of them?
"General, why don't you go further away?"

When the county magistrate said this, Tu Lai immediately became alert, but after he finished listening to the words, he couldn't help but look at Cao Hu.

According to the county magistrate, there were indeed not enough laborers, but if Tulai caught some people in the process of chasing and hanging the rioters, they were willing to pay to buy them in order to make up the number of 2,000.

does it work?
Tulai hesitated.

According to the prince's military order, they were only out to explore the way. Once they had a general understanding of the surrounding situation, they would send more troops out to collect food, fodder and laborers.

But, the money is real!

"Commander, why don't you send someone back to report this? I think the prince will understand your loyalty to the emperor and your country."

"How should I report back?"

"First, report the results of the battle. Then, tell me that the rioters are causing trouble in the village, causing most of the surrounding people to flee south. For the sake of the Qing Dynasty and for the sake of recruiting civilians, please pursue them."

For this reason, Duoduo would probably agree to let Tulai go deeper.

Without explaining whether the army was weak or whether enough civilians could be recruited, Duoduo was determined to blame the people's escape to the south on "rioters causing trouble in the countryside."

Of course, from the perspective of Cao Hu and Tu Lai, they naturally could not think of this level. After all, the commander and the general always have slightly different ways of thinking about problems.

Just like Zhu Cilang at this moment, even though he hated Liang Yungou to death in his heart, he still kept a smile on his face before taking action.

"Sir Liang, the rewards and pensions are not insignificant. Can the Ministry of War add some more?"

The rewards finally agreed upon by the Ministry of War were just as Zhu Cilang had expected. They only planned to use six or seven hundred taels of silver to send away the soldiers who participated in this battle.

This amount of silver may seem like a lot, but if it is distributed to each person, it is less than one or two taels of silver, not to mention that it also includes compensation for the fallen soldiers.

"Reporting to Your Highness, this is the law of the court, and I, an old minister..."

Liang Yungou's tone seemed to be full of regret, but his expression could not help but show some pride.

To be honest, when he first thought of surrendering to the Qing Dynasty, it was mostly out of disappointment with the imperial court and fear of the Qing army's might. But at this point, his original intention was no longer important, and proving his correctness had become his top priority.

It's just that Qian Qianyi seemed to be indecisive, and he couldn't shake Zhu Cilang at all by himself.

So Liang Yungou followed the long-standing tradition and kept making trouble for Zhu Cilang within the rules.

The benefits of doing this are very obvious. As long as Zhu Cilang still relies on the Ming system, he must fight against it in the battlefield set up by Liang Yun, so as to minimize its military advantage.

But the disadvantage of this method is also obvious, that is, it takes too long to take effect. If this method is implemented, it will probably take more than a year to weaken Zhu Cilang's prestige to a certain extent.

But this is not a big deal. After all, the Tartar army is just outside the city. As long as they can delay Zhu Cilang from time to time, the Tartars should be able to capture Yingtian within a few months with their strong military force.

By then it will be clear who is right and who is wrong.

At first, Zhu Cilang was extremely confused about Liang Yungou's behavior, but when he thought about the collapse of the Southern Ming Dynasty, he felt relieved.

After all, when the Southern Ming Dynasty was at its end, its ministers still did not forget about the internal strife. Even if the current situation is bad, it is much better than the situation where there is no hope.

"In that case, let's discuss it again."

Before Zhu Cilang finished speaking, Liang Yungou was too lazy to even respond and just walked towards the team with his head held high like a victorious rooster.

Such behavior was extremely hateful in the eyes of Yue Qijie and Xu Yu, but in the eyes of other civil officials, it was a way to win back a game in the confrontation between them and His Highness.

"Your Highness, Lingbi Marquis Tang Guozuo has something to report."

Liang Yungou hadn't even adjusted his standing position when he heard a voice coming from the crowd of nobles.

At this moment, he would not care what the group of cysticercosis had to report. He glanced at his colleagues beside him with a little reserve and then turned his attention to Zhu Cilang.

"Go ahead."

As he expected, the high-spirited young man had been controlled by his little trick to the point that even his voice became weak.

"Recently, an old man in the city filed a complaint regarding the murder of his son, but for some reason the Yingtian Prefecture Court was reluctant to accept the case, causing widespread public resentment. If it weren't for Old Master Xu's timely intervention, it would have almost led to a civil uprising. I hope Your Highness will take a closer look."

The words entered Liang Yungou's ears very clearly, but his mind was completely focused on observing Zhu Cilang's expression, so naturally he had no interest in the inexplicable case.

Zhu Cilang looked at Tang Guozuo with a sad face for a long time. When Tang Guozuo was a little terrified, he turned to Xu Yu and said, "Mr. Xu, do you know?"

"Your Highness, this matter is not entirely the fault of Yingtian Prefecture."

After Xu Yu stepped out and said something, he noticed that Tang Guozuo's mood seemed a little off, but he was responding and didn't care too much.

"There was only one governor left in the Yingtian government office. He could not review the files without the order of the prefect, so he wanted to seek permission from his superiors to deal with it. However, his position was low, and he spent a lot of time without success, so he made the common people and students gather outside the government office."

Xu Yu's words were fair, but when they reached Qian Qianyi's ears, they frightened him.

"Is your highness going to attack me?!"

(End of this chapter)