Chapter 102: Do You All Miss the Chongzhen Emperor? (Please Add to Favorites, Please)

Chen Yan, the former Chief Grand Secretary, naturally knew the name of "Yellow Tiger" Liu Zongmin. He was a great general under the Roving Bandit, and that big head of his had once been worth a fortune to the officers and soldiers of the old Ming!

And now, seeing Liu Zongmin in person — now a Quan General and Marquis of Ru — Grand Secretary Chen was still taken aback.

He had assumed Li Zicheng's great general would look utterly ferocious, perhaps even a red-bearded, green-browed monster. Yet the man who appeared in the gateway of the Gate of Heavenly Success was dressed as a scholar in a blue robe and square cap. Though he wore a full beard along his jaw, he did not look fierce at all; he spoke gently, even with courtesy and refinement.

It seems the Shun dynasty's winning of the realm is not without reason! A general like this — the Zhu traitor's side could never produce one!

Including Chen Yan, the more than two thousand turncoat officials crowded outside the Gate of Heavenly Success were soaked by the rain and buffeted by the cold wind, yet their hearts were all warm.

At last they had laid eyes on a worthy lord!

Well — not yet on the worthy lord himself. The worthy lord was busy, handling ten thousand matters a day; it was understandable that he had no time to see turncoats like them. But Liu Zongmin, Lord Liu, who represented the worthy lord, still let everyone feel the worthy lord's warmth and care.

Look at Lord Liu — scholar's cap and blue robe, so plain, so refined, not a trace of airs. How could the Zhu traitor's ennobled favorites compare? And he spoke gently too, always with a smile on his face, and even kindly addressed everyone as "Master," and had the officials accompanying him record each person's name, office, address, and whether they were willing to serve the new dynasty. He even said that if there were appointments, men would be sent to their homes to notify them. How thoroughly considerate!

Chen Yan and several other officials eager to prove their loyalty — such as the former Director of the Bureau of Operations in the Ministry of War, Zhang Ruoqi (the very fellow who had ruined Hong Chengchou's army of one hundred thirty thousand), Yang Guanguang, Junior Supervisor of the Supervisorate of Instruction and concurrently Reader-in-Waiting of the Hanlin Academy, and Wang Sunhui, Salt Distribution Commissioner of Changlu — each displayed his talents, some writing memorials urging the throne, some composing rhapsodies in praise of the new Shun dynasty, and some writing poems extolling Li Zicheng.

Liu Zongmin received each of them in turn, greeted them kindly, and had his attendants record their names. The turncoats who had come unprepared watched with great envy!

When Liu Zongmin heard Chen Yan announce his former office of Chief Grand Secretary, he grinned from ear to ear, warmly took Chen Yan by the hand, and said he must invite him to a meal — which left Chen Yan rather embarrassed.

Inwardly, Liu Zongmin was a little disappointed, for among the Ming turncoats who had walked into the trap today, there were not many big fish. The big fish had all been let slip by that bastard Zhu Cilang!

Apart from Chen Yan, the former Chief Grand Secretary, there were Wang Yongzuo, a brush-holding eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial; Li Jiantai, a Grand Secretary of the Eastern Pavilion, who had been escorted back to Beijing by Liu Fangliang's troops; Xue Lian, Marquis of Yangwu; and a few counts who counted as big fish — this Xue Lian had for some reason not fled with Zhu Cilang, while the counts had been captured and brought back, their fortunes largely lost outside the walls of Beijing.

Feeling the pickings were a bit thin, Liu Zongmin sent men to fetch Wang Dehua, Du Zhizhi, and several other surrendered chief eunuchs, and also dragged in Wang Zhengzhi, a Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue; Li Huaxi, a Governor-General of the Three Frontiers who had never been able to take up his post; and Jin Zhijun, a Vice Minister of the Ministry of War — barely scraping together a tableful of men. A banquet was laid out right in the main hall of the Northern Provost's office in the Embroidered Uniform Guard compound.

The place for drinking seemed somewhat inappropriate — the Northern Provost's office was no place for a feast. But Liu Zongmin said his own headquarters was on the original site of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, so no one dared object. They all followed him in.

After three rounds of wine and five courses of food, just as everyone was beginning to enjoy the fare, the ever-affable Liu Zongmin — perhaps having drunk too much — suddenly set down his cup, looked at them all with smiling eyes, and abruptly asked: "Do any of you miss the Chongzhen Emperor?"

What? Miss that muddle-headed Chongzhen? How could that be?

Everyone at the table shook their heads and declared one after another that they were wholly devoted to the new lord and would never miss Chongzhen.

"Truly not?" Liu Zongmin asked with a smile. "The Chongzhen Emperor may have been muddled, but he was good enough to you people, letting you line your pockets quite nicely, wasn't he? Our Shun is not so lenient — corrupt officials and wicked clerks will get no mercy from us! Are you corrupt officials?"

Why did those words sound so wrong?

Chen Yan and the others had not drunk much to begin with, and now they all grew alert.

"My Lord Marquis, this humble official has always been incorruptible, certainly no corrupt official..." Chen Yan ventured in his own defense.

"Oh," Liu Zongmin said with a smiling nod. "This marquis will certainly convey Grand Secretary Chen's words to His Majesty... But if Grand Secretary Chen should happen to possess a vast fortune, what then?"

"Th-this, this..." Chen Yan already sensed something was wrong. Buried in the courtyard of the house where he was staying were forty thousand taels of silver!

"No, no such thing!" Chen Yan gritted his teeth.

"Heh heh heh." Yellow Tiger Liu Zongmin laughed coldly, then turned to Li Jiantai. "And what does Grand Secretary Li say? Some say your family is worth a million. Is that true?"

Li Jiantai was a fat man whose beard reached his navel. He looked prosperous, and in fact he really was rich. But his money had not come from corruption — his family were Shanxi merchants, wealthy to begin with.

"Not as much as a million..." Li Jiantai dared not claim to be poor. "This humble official's family are merchants from Shanxi. My forebears accumulated merit and saved up a modest family fortune; at its height it was several hundred thousand, but now, with war and chaos everywhere, not much is left... Oh, it can all be offered to the Shun! Offered to the Shun to supply the troops!"

"Good, good, good," Liu Zongmin said with a laugh. "I won't ask for much. Just bring one hundred fifty thousand taels of silver."

The moment that price was named, Li Jiantai took it fairly well, but everyone else at the table turned pale with fright.

How could the Shun court, the moment it entered the city, be just like the old Ming — utterly obsessed with money?

"Th-this humble official will have his family bring the money at once..." Li Jiantai said in a trembling voice.

"No hurry, no hurry." Liu Zongmin said. "The Northern Provost's office has ready lodgings. All of you will stay here tonight, and tomorrow have your families go raise the money."

Early the next morning, Shun soldiers, led by constables of the Shuntian Prefecture dispatched by Luo Yangxing, would arrest all Ming officials of the sixth rank and above in the capital, all ennobled lords of count rank and above, and all eunuch managers of the Twenty-Four Offices. With a few exceptions, all would be taken to the Northern Provost's office and held under guard!

Then, according to the size of their offices and titles, they would be squeezed for restitution.

Liu Zongmin said in a flat tone: "I won't ask much of you. Those who have sat in the Grand Secretariat will pay one hundred thousand taels!"

"My Lord Marquis," Chen Yan was trembling with fright, looking at Liu Zongmin, who had now shown his true face, "this humble official truly does not have that much!"

He really did not have that much money. Though he had worked hard at graft and bribery, he had also spent heavily. From the moment he entered officialdom he had secretly cultivated eunuchs, spending no small sum on favors, and only thus had he soared to become Chief Grand Secretary. Most of the money he had so painstakingly embezzled had been spent; what remained in his hands was not much. And he had converted it into property in Beijing — property that had plummeted in value amid the chaos of war. It had taken over a month to sell it all off, and the total came to only forty thousand taels. Where was he to find another sixty thousand to make up the hundred thousand!

Liu Zongmin would hear none of it. He laughed coldly and said: "Whether you have it or not is not for you to say! I have already had five thousand sets of ankle-pressers made — the staves have ridges and are studded with iron spikes, enough to crush hands and feet to pulp! Once you have tasted the ankle-pressers and then say you have no money, perhaps I will believe you!"

What? Crush hands and feet to pulp? So the new Shun dynasty — no, the roving bandits — were actually that vicious!

Everyone at the table, whether or not they could produce the amount Liu Zongmin demanded, turned deathly pale, and in their hearts they all began to miss the Chongzhen Emperor and his cunning, ferocious Crown Prince... Your Majesty, Your Highness, we were all wrong — come back quickly and save us!

(End of Chapter)