Ming Dynasty entry: I am Chongzhen, the greatest emperor of all time!

Chapter 37: They are richer than the imperial court!
On one side was an iron pot of porridge emitting thick smoke, and on the other side was an execution ground with heads and blood flying everywhere.

Tens of thousands of people knelt on the ground, and no one dared to make a sound.

Thousands of war horses neighed from time to time.

The only voice was Xu Feng's words of accusation.

Zhu Youjian just watched quietly.

Although it was the first time he had seen such a bloody and cruel scene, he did not feel anything unusual.

Or perhaps it was the silver he had looted that diluted his emotions.

Not to mention the nobles and officials, if they are not greedy, they are not worthy of being an official of the Ming Dynasty.

Among the sixty-seven grain merchants in the capital alone, sixty-two were involved in reselling military rations and selling taxes.

For the worst-hit families, all their food was even military rations!
It would be strange if Zhu Youjian felt disgusted.

What they are greedy for is my flesh and blood!

It was not until the last grain merchant's head flew off that Zhu Youjian regained his composure.

Looking at the huge crowd below, he slowly spoke according to the speech he had prepared long ago.

"You are all my subjects."

Xu Feng led a hundred strong men to repeat the words, and then a thousand cavalrymen and a thousand Jinyiwei guards under the city conveyed the words to every refugee.

"You have no home to return to and no land to farm, yet you still have to pay rent to the landlords and taxes to the court every year. I know all of this."

There was a rustling commotion among the refugees in the front row, and an old man in a tattered jacket banged his forehead heavily on the snow.

They didn't know what the Emperor's words had to do with the present.

Isn’t this what these common people who work in the fields deserve?
Seeing that the refugees did not respond, Zhu Youjian continued.

"In fact, I have divided the land among you and reduced your taxes, hoping that you can live in peace and stability."

Whether it was reduced or not was up to one's mouth. Anyway, Zhu Youjian couldn't take it back even if he wanted to.

"Later, I learned that the land I gave you was taken away by these filthy pests! The tax cuts went into their pockets. They stole your food and burned down your houses!"

Zhu Youjian pointed to the headless corpse that was still steaming on the execution ground.

"Look at these termites! They drink your blood, and I will chop off their heads!"

Hundreds of strong men shouted in unison, "Kill!"

The roar was so loud that the war horses raised their hooves and neighed loudly. A lame young man among the refugees finally jumped up and said, "My father was forced into a corner by Master Wang. He took our land and our food. He had no choice but to eat Guanyin soil and died! Please, Your Majesty, help me!"

Although Lame's acting wasn't very convincing, the refugees didn't notice it.

Throughout history, if you want to unite hundreds of millions of people, is there anything more effective than a grievance meeting?
Although he was the largest feudal landlord, it did not affect his ability to use this method to control the people.

After these words were shouted, the crowd finally became noisy, and first a few brave refugees started to cry out for their grievances.

Then more and more, more and more...

Everyone has suffered countless grievances, but among the tens of thousands of people, many have become numb.

Zhu Youjian took the opportunity to increase his efforts.

"Okay, I'll make the decision for you!"

"But these parasites don't want to. They hide it from me, plunder at will, bully the people, and even collude with the rebels to kill me as well. They won't let me make the decision for you. What should I do?"

The refugees were all stunned. In their eyes, the rebellion was like a flood and a beast. Even the emperor couldn't defeat it, so what could they do?

It was still the lame young man who was the first to stand up and shout when the crowd was stunned.

"Kill Chuangni!"

This time, few people agreed with him.

Zhu Youjian suddenly changed the subject, "Did Li Zicheng ever give you a grain of rice?!"

"He won't. You can ask the people who escaped from the rebellion."

"The only thing a rebel will do is kidnap your wife and daughter! Take away every last morsel of chaff!"

The crowd exploded in a thunderous roar, and the lame young man's eyes were red as he tore open his torn jacket in time, "That's how my sister died! Those beasts tortured my sister all night, and before she died, she was still digging at my heart for food!" Zhu Youjian took the opportunity to draw the Embroidered Spring Knife from Xu Feng's waist, and the blade slashed across his palm.

"Today I swear an oath of blood with all the people of the world!"

"As long as I have even a drop of blood left, I will let you drink a mouthful of thick porridge with rice oil!"

After saying that, Zhu Youjian pointed to the back of the porridge stall.

The Jinyiwei promptly opened the doors of hundreds of carts covered with green cloth, and golden rice poured out like a waterfall.

"I took all this out of my own treasury! It's not poisonous! It's not sandy! Even if I don't eat it myself, I'll make sure you're full!"

The crowd of 100,000 people was completely boiling.

The white-haired old farmer crawled forward on his knees. "The emperor swore an oath to us! Woohoo! Dashuan, it would be a blessing if you could live just one more day!"

The ragged boy rolled on the ground, "Mom! This is food! Give it to my sister. She won't sleep after she eats it."

More refugees began to bang their heads against the ground, their faces covered in blood, but they were still screaming, "Long live the emperor! Long live the emperor!"

Zhu Youjian is still increasing his efforts, "Kill the rebels and divide the land!"

"Kill the rebels and divide the oxen among us!"

"Kill the rebels, and I will be your master from now on!"

“Long live Grandpa!” Inhuman howls erupted from the sea of ​​people, and the entire earth was shaking.

The one-armed man rushed forward with a crutch, and the lame old man held his grandson on his head as a ladder.

I just want to move forward and see the holy king who saves them from danger, shares food with them even if he himself doesn't eat it, and is willing to swear an oath with blood to make decisions for them.

"I didn't save you."

Zhu Youjian raised his arms, "It's you who want to avenge your parents and earn a living for your children!"

"Follow the emperor to kill the rebels!" Xu Feng and his men shouted together.

"We can divide the land!"

"I can take revenge!"

“There is a way to survive!”

One hundred thousand people jumped and roared on the bloody ice on the ground, and the sound waves shook the heads on the execution ground.

"Revenge! Revenge! Divide the land and eat the food!!"

……

The entire speech lasted until the afternoon. Zhu Youjian did not dare to say that the hundreds of thousands of refugees immediately united, but at least before the food supply was cut off, the refugees were the last line of defense for the capital!
Dragging tired steps, he returned to the imperial city again.

He hadn't had a good sleep for three nights, and today he could finally get a good sleep.

The last shortcoming of the capital has been made up. From now on, you only need to provoke Li Zicheng while steadily making money and drawing entries.

Before he returned to the Qianqing Palace, Li Ruolian hurried over with several Jinyiwei.

He reached out and picked up a bill.

"Your Majesty, the silver has been deposited into the warehouse. Here is the account."

"How much cash was seized in total?" Zhu Youjian asked as he flipped through the bills.

"Your Majesty, a total of 147 households were confiscated, and 2.23 million taels of silver were seized." Li Ruolian said calmly.

These officials don't actually have much money, they just have the advantage in numbers.

The most money found in one household was only 70,000 taels.

There are quite a few other precious items, such as pearls and jade.

Unfortunately, it couldn’t be sold for much in the war-torn capital.

Zhou Kui's record of 530,000 taels has not been broken yet.

Zhu Youjian looked through the meticulous accounts and couldn't help but sigh, "Each of these people is richer than the imperial court."

(End of this chapter)