Chapter 40

Even though bandits had already risen everywhere in the Great Ming, these members of the imperial clan remained incredibly curious about everything before them.

Fortunately, these members of the imperial clan encountered basically no danger on the road.

It was reasonable to think so; they were moving in columns of several thousand people at a time.

Moreover, although these Wang Fu had lost their military power,

they still retained at least a regiment of the Guard Bureau.

That was still nearly two thousand official soldiers.

Ordinary mountain bandits, even a hundred or two hundred people, were the absolute limit.

Meeting this group,

even highway robbers would have to take a detour!

The Great Ming imperial clan caused such a huge commotion that Gao Yingxiang, who had been constantly waging war, couldn't help but be stunned.

After all, with so many people, there was no need to fight.

Just standing there was enough to be intimidating.

The Capital.

Officials at all levels of the Ministry of Rites had long been dragged by Zhu Youjian into the Imperial Palace.

Zhu Youjian's face was gloomy as he stared fixedly at the crowd before him and asked,

"Have you calculated it all? Exactly how many imperial relatives does our Great Ming have?"

"Your Majesty, it is roughly calculated. There are thirty Wang Fu, with a total population of four hundred eighty-six thousand five hundred people..."

By the early years of the Chongzhen reign, excluding Chongzhen's three sons,

the entire Great Ming had a total of thirty Princes of the Blood.

The Commandery Princes, Fengguo Generals, Zhenguo Generals, and Captains of each Prince's princely mansions added up to over four hundred thousand.

Even though he had prepared himself mentally, upon hearing this number,

Zhu Youjian still couldn't help but draw in a sharp breath of cold air.

Even counting every man, woman, and child of the Manchu Eight Banners, there were only three hundred thousand people!

If the realm were still lost under such circumstances,

Zhu Youjian would have no face to see Old Zhu even in death!

Zhu Youjian, standing stunned in place, took a deep breath and asked through gritted teeth,

"How many are under forty years old?"

"Reporting to Your Majesty, there are about two hundred fifty thousand."

Zhu Youjian suddenly turned around and looked at the War Ministry clerk standing not far away, asking,

"If all these people are organized and trained into a new army, how many troops can be fielded?!"

"Your Majesty, two hundred fifty thousand people can train one hundred thousand elite soldiers and one hundred fifty thousand auxiliary troops, but Your Majesty, these are all imperial relatives!"

Zhu Youjian gritted his teeth and roared,

"The Great Ming has reached this point, and you are still talking to me about imperial relatives?!"

"If even the Zhu family won't go up, who else do you expect to go up!"

Zhu Youjian's face was cold and gloomy as he stared fixedly at the map before him and said through gritted teeth,

"Go to the Capital Camp and the mansions of the various meritorious relatives to prepare five thousand officers and soldiers; wait for orders outside the city!"

"Yes!"

Zhu Youjian's face was gloomy.

These current imperial relatives simply did not yet know what the court had summoned them to the capital to do.

At present, Zhu Youjian also faced a very important problem.

— That was how to make these members of the imperial clan willingly go to the battlefield!

However, since raiding Zhou Kui's house,

Zhu Youjian had not logged into the chat group.

Now that he had finally freed up his hands, Zhu Youjian decided it was best to report to Zhu Yuanzhang first.

Emperor Sizong Lie:

"Great-Grandfather, the Ministry of Rites and the Imperial Clan Court have finished the statistics."

"Our Great Ming, as of the seventh month of the fifth year of Chongzhen, has a total imperial clan population of four hundred eighty-six thousand five hundred, of whom two hundred fifty thousand are young and strong, capable of forming a new army of one hundred thousand!"

When Zhu Yuanzhang saw this number, he couldn't help but fall silent for a long time.

At this moment, Old Zhu had only one thought in his mind.

— They are truly damn good at breeding!

Having many children brings many blessings is indeed true.

So many.

Can the body really withstand it?

However, soon Zhu Yuanzhang came to his senses.

Emperor Taizu Gao:

"Stop talking nonsense with me. How much silver is stored in your father-in-law's house?"

Emperor Sizong Lie:

"Great-Grandfather, please don't ask..."

Emperor Taizu Gao:

"I am saying, since we are in-laws, don't be too excessive; leave them something."

"Even if someone's family is wealthy, it doesn't necessarily mean the money was gained through corruption."

"By the way, what did your father-in-law's family do for a living back then?"

Emperor Sizong Lie:

"Setting up a fortune-telling stall on Qianmen Street..."

Taizu Gao Emperor:

"..."

"We told you to find wives, to find daughters from decent families."

"We didn't tell you to be this decent!"

"It can't be just a few taels of silver, can it?"

"We are all family. If it really doesn't work out, take two jars of good wine over there and apologize to them."

"Do you think he'd dare to push his luck?"

Emperor Sizong Lie:

"No, no, no need to apologize."

Taizu Gao Emperor:

"No need to apologize? Exactly how many taels of silver? Don't try to pull the wool over our eyes!"

Emperor Sizong Lie:

"Just... over five hundred thousand taels, plus over one hundred thousand shi of grain..."

Upon seeing this number,

Zhu Yuanzhang fell silent.

A fortune-telling stall!

You certainly can't claim your ancestors saved it up, can you?

Even if you were a Treasure-Seeking Captain, you couldn't save up five hundred thousand taels of silver!

39, open the door! Embroidered Uniform Guard!

Zhu Yuanzhang in the chat group fell silent for a moment.

After a while, Deng finally realized what was happening and frantically started typing in the chat group.

Taizu Gao Emperor:

"Didn't you say you dared to kill people?"

"What are you standing there for? Hurry up and sharpen your knife!"

"Just a father-in-law of the Emperor dares to embezzle five hundred thousand taels of silver!"