Southern Ming Rebel Army

Chapter 221 Confiscating the house

"Zeng Daowei, Xu Yunjue, Zeng Ying, Zhang Guobi, and Wang Duo were arrested for plotting to assassinate King Zhou, which was a heinous crime. After the plan was leaked, they were sentenced to immediate execution after being jointly tried by the Inspectorate and the Department of Justice. Zeng, Xu, Zhang, and Wang were convicted of murdering the mastermind, and six shogunate officials were convicted of leaking secrets." As the verdict was conveyed.

Zeng Daowei, Xu Yunjue and others were tied tightly around their necks by iron chains. Their faces were as pale as death and their steps were staggering. Despair was revealed in everyone's eyes. They had already foreseen their tragic fate. Under the close supervision of the escort team, they slowly walked towards the execution ground.

Arriving at the execution ground, Zeng Daowei looked around and saw the executioner standing beside him, the sword in his hand gleaming coldly, and the people watching and whispering. Zeng Daowei shuddered, pretending to be calm, and sighed to the sky: "I wanted to help the country, but my luck was not good. I hope that the heaven will have pity on my ambition and not let my name be tarnished."

Xu Yunjue was so frightened that he wet his pants and became unconscious. He kept mumbling, "I am the Duke of Wei, I am the Duke of Wei..."

Zeng Ying said sadly: "I regret it now!" Baoguogong Zhang Guobi cried out: "I am not the mastermind, my crime does not deserve death..."

Wang Duo looked ashen and kept silent. At this point, there was no point in saying more.

Following the order from the supervising officer, the executioner swung his sword and slashed, blood splattered three feet, and the head fell to the ground. Seeing this, the people shouted loudly, and Meng Bian, who was on a tall building in the distance, looked at the cheering crowd and shook his head to Zhou Zhuo beside him and said: "As long as the official is killed, no matter who it is, the people will cheer loudly."

Zhou Zhuo thought about it and said, "Sir, that's not right. Look at Yue Fei and Yu Qian. They were killed by a tyrant. The people will definitely not applaud."

Meng Bian spat and said, "How can the king be compared to Song Gao Mingying!" Then looking at the crowd still gathered below, Meng Bian shook his head, turned and left, and Zhou Zhuo hurriedly followed.

That day, the sky was gloomy. Baoguo Duke Zhang Guobi, Weiguo Duke Xu Yunjue, and Wang Duo were found guilty of assassination. Not only were their heads and bodies separated, their mansions were also ransacked. The wealth accumulated by more than ten generations was completely destroyed.

The Blue Luan Guards poured into the mansions of the two former dukes like a tide. They looked grim and began to search without mercy. Following closely behind the team were the clerks who recorded all kinds of property. The Department of Justice and the Department of Supervision all sent people to supervise. The Blue Luan Guards were the ones who started the house search.

In the hall of the Duke of Wei's mansion, there were originally all kinds of precious antiques, calligraphy and paintings, but now they were registered one by one by the officials who confiscated the property, and then carefully moved away. Gold, silver, jewelry, brocade, silk, and mountains of property.

The same thing happened to the Baoguo Mansion. The gold, silver, pearls and agates inside were put into boxes like flowing water. The pavilions and towers in the mansion, those elegant places that were once used to entertain guests, were now the targets of the house confiscation. All the valuable decorations were removed and taken away.

Although Wang Duo's house was not as luxurious as the two dukes' mansions, it also contained many precious calligraphy and paintings. All three mansions were also sealed. Zeng Daowei and Zeng Ying had no property in Jinling City, so naturally there was nothing to rob. As for the Jinyiwei, after Zeng Daowei was arrested, some of them scattered, some fled, and some even wanted to join the Qingluan Guard.

At night, Meng Bian reported to Meng Jun, "Master, the proceeds from this confiscation are enormous. Xu Yunjue and Zhang Guobi own more than 50 mu of fertile land (one mu is about mu, and the total is more than mu). However, after Duoduo entered Nanjing, the two donated most of their land, leaving only a small amount, totaling mu. The jewelry, calligraphy and paintings, and precious cultural relics are of inestimable value. The silver and gold alone were seized from the two families, million taels, and more than taels. The jewelry, calligraphy and paintings, as well as those cultural relics, can probably be exchanged for to million taels."

Such a huge amount of money made not only Meng Jun but also Meng Bian stunned. After a moment of silence, Meng Jun ordered Meng Bian to deposit all the silver into the treasury. After Meng Bian left, Meng Jun stood up and took a walk outside the house, his mind already full of thoughts.

The large amount of money and land seized from these people's homes can be invested in firearms manufacturing, military expenditures and scientific and technological research and development. Meng Jun is already preparing to organize a large-scale pure firearms army, as well as the navy he has been thinking about. As for the cavalry, Meng Jun has given up. After the battle of Dengwang Mountain, Huang Cheng's cavalry lost more than half, and the most important thing was that there were not enough horses and there was no place to replenish them. All towns were reorganized after the war, but the number of Huang Cheng's cavalry did not increase but decreased. From the previous 5,000 cavalry, it has dropped sharply to less than 3,000 cavalry.

Ever since Meng Jun killed Lekedehun, he was full of confidence in expelling the Tartars and recovering the lost territory. He no longer felt the panic he had before. Things like nightmares never happened again. As long as he equipped himself with firearms on a large scale and cooperated with the heavy armored army, and went north along the canal under the cover of the huge navy, Meng Jun was confident that even if the Qing cavalry was more powerful, they could still break through the defense line of the heavy armored army under the baptism of firearms and cannons.

Today, Meng Jun is no longer afraid of imitation by the Qing court. He has lost the wealthy area of Jiangnan. The Qing court has just taken over the land of Huguang. Not to mention that there are still many rebels. How much property can Dorgon plunder from Huguang and Sichuan when the war has just ended? Should he maintain the ruined north, or develop firearms at all costs?

Three years had passed since Meng Jun had recovered Nanjing, starting from Suzhou City. As long as he was given enough time, Meng Jun believed that the history of the Qing Dynasty ruling the Central Plains and poisoning the world for hundreds of years would disappear. However, Meng Jun's ambitions were no longer limited to this. Even if the Han and Tang dynasties were unified in history, the Han people would still be restricted to the inland of East Asia. In this turbulent era of the great navigation in the 17th century, only those who controlled the oceans could gain a living space that spanned continents.

Spain and Portugal once opened the Age of Discovery and plundered a large amount of wealth from the Americas. Now is the golden age of the Dutch coachmen. Those powers that colonized the world have begun to set sail, while the Central Plains is still in chaos due to internal and external strife.

If he could obtain Zheng's ships and control the sea power of the entire South China Sea, he would be able to achieve great things. Unfortunately, Meng Jun now only has a navy and can only barely block the Yangtze River.

Meng Jun's mind was full of thoughts. After a long while, he patted his head and muttered to himself, "The world is ten-tenths, but I can only get one or two. I still want to sail now. I still have to take advantage of the truce now to reorganize the army and occupy the south!"