Chongzhen Wiretapping System

Chapter 268
"I know that you are actually people who have been coerced by thieves, and you have no choice but to follow the thieves! Therefore, I have decided to forgive you for what you have done this month, and you can go home! But..."

When Sun Hanqing first listened, he couldn't help but feel overjoyed.The emperor is merciful, and he really wanted to let them go home, which is really great.What he saw with his eyes, he could also see the happy expressions of other people.

But before they had time to be happy, they heard Emperor Chongzhen say "but". Immediately, that happy expression condensed on their faces. Could it be that there will be a price to pay after all, right?
Emperor Chongzhen saw their expressions and knew that they had misunderstood, so he continued: "But I know that many of you have been harmed by thieves, your wives and children have been separated, your family has been destroyed, or your fields or shops have been destroyed. Spoiled..."

Hearing this, Sun Hanqing and the others suddenly remembered what happened to them, and their mood immediately became heavy.There were even many people who could not help weeping because of the sadness welling up from the bottom of their hearts.

Some restrained themselves a bit and just wept silently; however, some couldn't help whimpering when they thought of their dead relatives and their happy home in the past.

Among the nearly [-] people, even if only a small number of people cried out, the gathered voice was loud enough.

This time, Emperor Chongzhen waved his hand, signaling to the soldiers below not to scold them, but let them cry for a while to vent their anger.

Although some thieves have been doing it for a long time, they have forgotten their sorrow.However, under this scene, many people still thought of their own experiences and memories that had been deliberately forgotten. Even if they did not cry, they still felt very heavy.

After a while, Emperor Chongzhen finally spoke.As soon as the people below heard the emperor begin to speak again, they wiped their tears and consciously stopped making any sound.

"For such a thing to happen, the imperial court cannot absolve itself of the responsibility, and I am also responsible..."

Emperor Chongzhen's words surprised many people.

You know, all along, they have heard that the emperor cannot be wrong, the emperor is always right, even if there is a mistake, it is the fault of the subordinates.

Those who are familiar with the emperor, who deal with the emperor every day, will naturally be familiar with the emperor, and they will know that the emperor is actually an ordinary person, just born well.Inevitably, mistakes will be made.

However, for ordinary people, or even ordinary soldiers, if the emperor is far away, they may not necessarily have such a view.

Although the Emperor Chongzhen had already issued an edict of guilt several times, he also admitted that he had a problem; but now, the emperor himself said that he was responsible in front of them, which shocked them.

This is the emperor, he actually said that he was responsible in front of so many people!

Li Guo, Li Dingguo and others, who had been silent all this time, opened their eyes wide when they heard this, and looked up at the emperor on the top of the city, with a hint of admiration on their shocked faces.

As for Emperor Chongzhen himself, he didn't think it was so rare, but continued: "...So, not only can you go home, but I have also decided to issue you bank notes, Daming Royal Bank bank notes, five taels per person. This bank note can be exchanged for cash at the branches of the Royal Bank of Ming Dynasty in various provinces. It can be exchanged at any time and will never be in arrears. If there is something that cannot be exchanged for silver notes in any place, you can go to the capital to file an imperial complaint, or you can go to the local government. You can file a complaint with the Metropolitan Procuratorate, or you can file a complaint with the factory guard; I know, and I will definitely punish you severely!"

The soldiers and thieves below have actually heard about the bank notes of the Daming Royal Bank before, which is what everyone is spreading, and the emperor used this bank note to exchange money and food with the feudal prince's mansion.Therefore, the people present did not hear it inexplicably and knew what was going on.

The ordinary people naturally have their own ideas. They think that those vassal kings are all from the Zhu family, and they are all members of the emperor's clan. This bank note from the Daming Royal Bank should not be fake, otherwise, The emperor's own clan would suffer.

With such an understanding, and in front of so many people, Emperor Chongzhen once again made a promise, guaranteeing that this bank note can be exchanged for Dao silver taels.And the good impression the emperor gave them before, all these factors added up, most people believed that the bank note was real and could be directly exchanged for silver.In other words, it's money!

And this is actually one of the purposes of Emperor Chongzhen taking the opportunity to promote bank notes.

There are nearly [-] people, although most of them are from Henan and Hubei, but after they disperse, the area they can cover is not small.With so many people using bank notes, at least one effect can be achieved.

In order for the Ming Royal Bank's bank notes to establish credibility and eventually be used as currency, enough people must first know about them.This time, using banknotes as severance pay, or compensation, can be regarded as killing two birds with one stone.

Regarding this point, only Emperor Chongzhen knew about it, even the two frontier officials beside him, Chen Qiyu and Zheng Chongjian, were not clear about it.

Hearing the emperor's announcement of this decision, he understood that not only did he not have to pay a price, but he could also get a sum of money. This made Sun Hanqing and the others feel extremely grateful. They didn't know who took the lead, and while kneeling down, They all spontaneously shouted "Your Majesty, long live, long live, long live".

Emperor Chongzhen looked at them and sighed slightly in his heart.In fact, people in this era are still very well managed.Just be nice to them and they will appreciate it without thinking too much!It can be described in one word, "simple"!I must work hard and strive to let them live a good life!
Of course, for these thieves who were less than a month old, or people who were coerced, Emperor Chongzhen not only issued bank notes from the Daming Royal Bank, but also asked Chen Qiyu, who was dealing with the aftermath, to pay attention to the placement of them by the local government.

For example, the fields, shops, houses, etc. that originally belonged to them must be returned to them.Although these matters are trivial, they are the personal affairs of these people. Emperor Chongzhen can't worry about so much. It is most reasonable for Chen Qiyu to follow up. Whoever made him the governor of the five provinces, these people are all him In charge.

After dealing with these common people, Emperor Chongzhen turned his head to look at another queue, that is, those who had been thieves for more than a month and less than a year.

These thieves also knew that the emperor was going to deal with them, so they couldn't help holding their breaths one by one to see what the emperor had to say.

To be honest, with the previous examples, many of them are optimistic.Some people even think that maybe the emperor will not only pardon them, but also give them some silver notes, but it may not be as much as five taels.

Just as they were thinking about it, they heard Emperor Chongzhen's serious face, and he said: "You have been thieves for more than a month and less than a year, and you have done a lot of evil things. Look at the nearly 10 people nearby. The suffering they caused is your share. Although you may be forced to do this, the harm caused to other people also exists."

In terms of his experience as a thief, it may be a bit absolute for him to say this.However, for the vast majority of people, it will not be wronged.Therefore, after listening to the people in this queue, some turned their heads to look at the queue over there before, some lowered their heads, and some felt a little bad in their hearts after hearing the emperor's words.

The people in the previous queue turned their heads to look at them, with more or less hatred in their eyes.Because Emperor Chongzhen was right, and of course these people were responsible for coercing them into becoming thieves.

Emperor Chongzhen continued: "Therefore, after comprehensive consideration, I have decided to give you the opportunity to atone for your sins. You will be organized into an army to rescue the people and work for the people; after one year, you will be pardoned for the people. Of course. , or you can continue to stay in the military and still work for the people; you can choose this freely; if you choose to continue to stay in the military, you will be paid military pay, and if you perform well and accumulate merit, you will be promoted."

When he said this, he used his hands to guide Yangcheng and said: "For example, the next thing you have to do is to build houses for the people of Nanyang, and then rebuild the moat near Nanyang, rebury the people who were killed before, and build Water conservancy and so on. The suffering you have brought to Nanyang and Xiangyang will be repaid with your labor."

After hearing this, these thieves were disappointed, but felt that this was okay, as the emperor said, it was atonement for the people of these two prefectures, and the time limit was not long, just one year.After one year is up, you will be free.After a while, it will pass.

At this time, they hadn't thought about staying in the military for construction purposes a year later.However, Emperor Chongzhen will tell Chen Qiyu not to be harsh on this army. I believe that after a year, some homeless people will definitely remain in the army and become the backbone of this army.

The purpose of Emperor Chongzhen, this kind of army for the purpose of construction, will always exist in the future.People who have experience in this field, even if they were born as thieves, can still be reused.

From now on, Daming must spend more effort on infrastructure construction.And this is indispensable for building an army.

Of course, in this queue, there must be some people who are envious of the queue just now, and they don't want to do this year's work in their hearts.However, the emperor made a decision, and they had no right to fight, so they could only accept it.

One thing that Emperor Chongzhen did not say was that during this year, if anyone was lazy and naughty, Chen Qiyu would not be polite.Because during this year, they are still prisoners of crime and cannot be rehabilitated. If they are severely punished, they will never be leniently spared.

After talking about the disposition of the second queue, Emperor Chongzhen turned his head to look at the queue with the smallest number of people.

When Sun Kewang and others saw it, they knew that it was time to decide their own destiny, and everyone became a little nervous.Because they also understand that being a thief for more than a year must be the biggest sin in the eyes of the emperor.According to the emperor's previous punishment, maybe how many years he has been a thief, how many years he has to work, so if he calculates it more than ten years, it means that he has worked like this for a lifetime?
To be honest, people who think like him are reluctant to work in the future for more than ten years.These old thieves have the highest status among the thieves, and they are usually popular, drink spicy food, and their treatment is basically much better than before they became thieves, and they are used to enjoying it.

While they were thinking, they heard Emperor Chongzhen say solemnly to their queue: "You are all thieves for more than one year. I believe that some of you have more than ten years of thieves experience. Bring the people all over the Ming Dynasty. The sufferings of the people who have been harmed by you are already hard to tell..."

Hearing the emperor say this, the hearts of many old thieves sank, it's a bit bad!
"...Although you may have your own reasons when you first became thieves, and the persecution of those corrupt officials is also inevitable." Emperor Chongzhen suddenly raised his voice when he said this, "But, this is not what you have been doing for so many years. Thieves, the reason to harm other people. Corrupt officials, I have just killed a few, and later found out that I will kill them all, and I will never tolerate them! And you thieves who have been doing harm for many years, it is better to follow my temper. Killed cleanly with one knife. But..."

The emperor's words were much more serious than before, but fortunately there was a "but" that allowed these old thieves to keep their hearts in mind and continue to listen to the emperor's condemnation of them.

After the Emperor Chongzhen paused, he took a look at Li Guo and the others, and then continued: "...there are some of you who still have a conscience, let me see that you still have a chance to be saved, so I decided to give you one too." An opportunity for redemption. The people of Liaodong are now in dire straits, and life is worse than death. Although the Jiankui have been driven out of the pass by me, the people outside the pass are still suffering. Therefore, I decided that you will go to Lu Xiangsheng's army to fight against Build captives, save the people, and use this to atone for your sins!"

"As long as you go to fight Jianlu, I will pardon your previous crimes, treat them like ordinary soldiers, and reward and punish them as ordinary soldiers. I believe that Governor Lu can treat you fairly!"

Having said this, Emperor Chongzhen glanced at the queue, and shouted coldly: "Of course, whether to go to Liaodong to fight Jianlu is entirely up to voluntary. Right now, those who voluntarily go to Liaodong to fight Jianlu, come out and stand to your left. "

Hearing this, Li Guo, Li Dingguo and others did not hesitate at all, turned around and left immediately, walked to the left of their queue, and formed a new queue.

When other bandits saw them moving, some followed them.Of course, others were not as sloppy as Li Guo and others, and they more or less hesitated and thought for a while.

Emperor Chongzhen was very patient, just waiting for the old thieves in this queue to go to the new queue continuously in twos and threes.

But there are still many people who didn't move because they didn't want to go.Sun Kewang, for example, was very hesitant.

Jianlu is so powerful, if he goes to Liaodong to fight Jianlu, he might die there!If you really want to die, then there will be nothing!

Thinking about it this way, it would be better to work for ten years. After ten years, at least I will still have a life to live and be free.

There are many people, like Sun Kewang, who think this way.They would rather choose to work for ten years that were not recognized by them before, rather than go to Liaodong and lose their lives.

In fact, many of the frontier troops in Shaanxi mutinied halfway when they were transferred to Liaodong.Because Jianlu has always been invincible, they felt that going to Liaodong must be a death.

Indeed, in the past, the troops transferred to Liaodong, even the famous Qi's army and the Baigan army, eventually died there.

It's one thing for these rogues to rebel without fear of death, but it's another thing to let them fight Jianlu without fear of death.

Emperor Chongzhen did not put enough pressure on them, did not force them to go to Liaodong, but just watched quietly from the top of the city after speaking.

After waiting for about a quarter of an hour, probably only one tenth of the thieves moved the queue, and then said again: "I know, you may be afraid of Jianlu and think that Jianlu is powerful. But I can tell you that Jianlu is also a human being." , Just at the beginning of the year, they also suffered a big defeat and lost 3 horses. I will definitely conquer Liaodong by myself in the future. Jianlu, there is nothing to be afraid of. I will give you another quarter of an hour, and I will not force you You, go to Liaodong to fight the Jian captives, it is all voluntary!"

After he finished speaking, he stopped talking, and the incense that marked the time was lit on the top of the city.

The words of Emperor Chongzhen caused some old thieves to start walking to a new queue after hesitating.

After a stick of incense was burned, Emperor Chongzhen declared without further delay, "When the time is up, there is no more chance to choose!"

At this time, there were only about 5000 old thieves who voluntarily went to Liaodong to fight Jianlu, and nearly 1 people remained in place, waiting for the emperor to deal with them.

In their view, it should be ten years of work, or some other punishment.Anyway, it must be much better than going to Liaodong to fight Jianlu.

Emperor Chongzhen didn't say the punishment for them right away, but just turned his head and looked at the generals behind him.

When Cao Bianjiao, He Renlong, and Zhou Yuji saw it, they immediately responded with cupped fists, and hurried down the wall.Needless to say, the emperor, because they have already explained to them in advance.

After a while, the three of them returned to their respective subordinates and began to mobilize the army.

Seeing this scene, many people were puzzled.Are you planning to organize those 5000 people into an army, or are you planning to escort these 1 people to where?Or do you want to do something else?
(End of this chapter)