The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 76 Prince Lu, Get Out of Here
Wanli began to confiscate property crazily.

The Jinyiwei and the Beijing Camp dispatched a total of 40,000 to 50,000 troops, and no one knew how many mansions in the capital were surrounded.

The residences of the Wuding Marquis' line, Zhang Cheng and his relatives, as well as the Wuqing Marquis's son Li Wenquan and the Minister of Works He Qiming were all raided.

The people of the capital really had their fill of watching the show this time. There were thousands of families in the Wuding Marquis line alone.

The two sides of Wudinghou Hutong in Jinchengfang, south of Fuchengmen in the west of the city, are almost entirely filled with the mansions of Wudinghou's family. There were 30,000 to 40,000 Jinyiwei and Beijing camp soldiers who confiscated property here alone.

There were five to six thousand horse-drawn carriages, and the entire Wudinghou Hutong was bustling with traffic and people, and it was very lively.

The south of the city is more lively. Although Zhang Cheng has few relatives, Zhang Xin is a well-known bully in the south of the city.

This guy finally got his comeuppance for all the bad things he did.

The people in the south of the city applauded and cheered.

The four families raided this time happened to be dukes, nobles, corrupt officials, royal relatives and powerful eunuchs in the palace.

They are the main force of the vested interest group, and their families are not ordinary rich.
The richest one here is undoubtedly the Wuding Marquis Mansion.

The Wuding Marquis family originated from the Hongwu Dynasty, which is more than ten to twenty years earlier than the Chengguo Duke Mansion, the Yingguo Duke Mansion, and the Dingguo Duke Mansion.
They had accumulated wealth for nearly two hundred years, and since Wuding Hou Guo Xun came to power, Wuding Hou's family had been wildly corrupt and rapidly expanded, embezzling countless interests of the Ming Dynasty.

In order to save face, Emperor Jiajing did not even strip Wu Dinghou of his title, so naturally he would not confiscate Wu Dinghou's family property. This benefited Wanli completely.

The Wu Dinghou family was extremely wealthy. The gold and silver they confiscated alone were worth more than three million taels.

There are also land deeds totaling nearly one million acres.

When Guo Xun, the Marquis of Wuding, was in charge of the Beijing Camp, he was frantically annexing the military farms and horse ranches of the Beijing Camp. This guy even used various methods to forcibly seize the military farms and horse ranches annexed by corrupt officials and other princes and nobles. The amount of land he robbed was really extraordinary.

There was also the confiscated grain, which was enough to feed the 60,000 troops in the Beijing Army for more than a year. There were also shops, property, houses, courtyards, etc., which were countless.

Although Zhang Cheng had not yet been promoted to the position of the Chief of the Imperial Household, he had made a lot of money by leveraging the power of Marquis Wuqing, Zhang Hong, Zhang Jing, and even Empress Dowager Li. The amount of gold and silver he had taken alone was more than one million taels.

Li Wenquan, the son of Wuqing Marquis, and He Qiming, the Minister of Works, were also greedy. The gold and silver in their homes were worth nearly one million taels.

Wanli really made a fortune this time. The gold and silver he confiscated alone were worth more than six million taels, filling up several side halls of the Qianqing Palace.

He has exceeded the task of raising food and wages this year, and next year he can expand the Beijing camp madly.

This was a strategy he had already decided on, to use confiscation of property to raise food and money and expand military force.

He had originally wondered whether arresting a group of corrupt officials would scare other corrupt officials into hiding their property, but this time he didn't have to worry.

Because he used the excuse of rebellion, which would punish the entire clan, and confiscation of property was incidental.

The corrupt officials in the court certainly didn't expect that this was just the beginning. As the military power in his hands increased, he would continue to copy and copy until the officials dared not to be corrupt!

It’s so cool to raid a house. It’s so cool to raid it all the time.

Unfortunately, he couldn't keep confiscating, and this was all he could confiscate this time. As the amount of gold and silver sent to the Qianqing Palace became less and less, this confiscation of property was slowly coming to an end.

Early that morning, around noon, he was about to summon Qi Jiguang and Zhu Yingzhen to inquire about the progress of the confiscation, when Li Xuancheng suddenly burst in like a thief, saying with some lingering fear, "Your Majesty, the Empress just sent someone to send me to the Cining Palace."

Didn't you get scolded for this expression?
Wanli was quite puzzled and asked, "Why did she look for you?"

Li Xuancheng said carefully: "She actually asked me to pass a message to you."

Oh, no one from the Cining Palace can enter the Qianqing Palace. If Empress Dowager Li wants to pass on a message, she can only order someone to call Li Xuancheng over.

Wanli nodded slightly, then asked, "What message did she ask you to convey?"

Li Xuancheng said carefully: "She asked you why you raided my eldest brother's house."

Humph, how can we be fair to the border soldiers if we don’t copy?

Wanli said coldly, "Marquis Wuqing knows best what my uncle did. Ask him to ask Marquis Wuqing whether his property should be confiscated. I have already given them enough face by not confiscating Marquis Wuqing's mansion as well."

Okay, let’s not talk about this.

Li Xuancheng said carefully: "She also said that Prince Lu is getting married soon. As the emperor's brother, you should give him some money."

Humph, I just made a little fortune from confiscating property and you're already thinking about it.

Wanli snorted inwardly, then asked, "How much?"

Li Xuancheng looked at him carefully, then stretched out five fingers and said through gritted teeth: "Five million taels." Damn, this woman really dares to ask for such a high price!
In history, this woman really took such a big bite out of the Ming Dynasty's treasury.

This bite took away most of the Ming Dynasty’s treasury.

The extravagance of Prince Lu's wedding was unprecedented. She bought up all the jewelry in the capital. Such a thing has never happened in history.

This woman is so selfish. A huge dynasty is not as important as her precious youngest son.

Everyone can live a miserable life, but Prince Lu must live a life of luxury!

What about dreaming?
Wanli said angrily, "Tell her that I don't have five million taels. I'll only give her five hundred thousand taels. It's up to her to take it or not."

This one.

Li Xuancheng said fearfully, "You only gave her so little. She'll probably get so angry that she'll curse."

Humph, I still want to curse.

Wanli said angrily, "She has all the over one million taels that Feng Bao's family confiscated. Isn't nearly two million taels enough for a marriage? Does she want to build a mountain of gold and silver for Prince Lu?"

Well, okay.

Li Xuancheng had no choice but to go and deliver the message.

According to the rules of the Ming Dynasty, once a prince got married, he would be considered grown up and would be sent to a fiefdom.

This kid Prince Lu is always a hidden danger if he stays in the capital, so get him out of here immediately.

Wanli thought for a moment, then said aloud, "Tell the chief minister, Shen Shixing, to come and see me."

The confiscation of property in the capital is in full swing right now. Why does the little emperor want to see him?
Shen Shixing was now a little afraid of this extremely rebellious little emperor.

The little emperor summoned him and he did not dare to neglect him at all.

He hurried over, respectfully performed the etiquette of a monarch and his subjects, and then asked carefully, "May I ask your Majesty, what may I do for you?"

Are you scared, you two-faced bastard?
This is just the beginning, you will be more scared later.

Wanli said expressionlessly, "Has Prince Lu's fiefdom been decided?"

Oh, asking about this.

Shen Shixing nodded repeatedly and said, "Your Majesty, the fiefdom of Prince Lu has been chosen. It is Hengzhou Prefecture in Huguang."

It seems that Prince Lu’s fiefdom was Weihui Prefecture in Henan.

However, Hengzhou Prefecture is better than Weihui Prefecture.

The farther this guy gets away, the better.

Wanli nodded slightly and said, "Okay, you pass on my order and send a letter to the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Works, asking the Ministry of Revenue to allocate 500,000 taels of silver and requisition 1,000 hectares of land, and the Ministry of Works to immediately send officials to Hengzhou Prefecture to gather craftsmen to build the Prince of Lu's Mansion."

You only give me this little money and this little land?
Shen Shixing was stunned for a moment when he heard this, but he quickly bowed and said, "Your humble servant obeys your order."

As soon as this guy left, Li Xuancheng came back like a thief, saying with a bitter face, "Your Majesty, the Queen said that the Ministry of Revenue must allocate at least four million taels for Prince Lu's wedding."

your mother!

Later, the Qing Dynasty praised you so much, like a saint.

You are such a spendthrift. You asked for four or five million taels for the Prince of Lu to get married, and you will ask for another four or five million taels for the fiefdom. As the Prince of Lu, you are going to squander all the achievements of Zhang Juzheng's ten years of reform.

Wanli said angrily, "I said it's 500,000 taels, take it or leave it."

Li Xuancheng shrank his neck and said, "Your Majesty, the Queen is scolding me."

Why are you so afraid of your elder sister?
What is there to be afraid of this stupid woman? Are you afraid of me or not?

Wanli simply said: "If you are afraid of being scolded, let her come and talk to me herself."

That’s great, finally I don’t have to be a punching bag anymore.

Li Xuancheng nodded repeatedly, then turned around and turned into a streak of green smoke.

(End of this chapter)