120: Datong Wife

Chapter 119: Datong Women

"H-How much?"

This time, even Zheng Yi was somewhat surprised.

Damn it.

The total annual tax revenue of Great Yu was only around forty to fifty million taels.

Just by confiscating the Wang family and the Eight Great Merchants of Bing, they actually squeezed out nearly twenty years' worth of Great Yu's total tax revenue!

This...

At this moment, Zheng Yi's mind was entirely consumed with figuring out how to confiscate the assets of all the remaining aristocratic clans as well!

At that time, how much wealth would he have?

Not to mention training one hundred thousand of the New Army, training a million would just be a matter of time!

Liu Chengen didn't know what Zheng Yi was thinking, and continued speaking to himself:

"Indeed, Your Majesty, this is merely the amount of silver found in their cellars and shops."

"Other assets like gold, jewelry, pearls, antiques, calligraphy and paintings, farmland, and title deeds haven't been calculated yet. If all these assets are fully tallied, it will take at least half a year."

"By preliminary estimation, the property obtained from the home raids will be somewhere between 1.8 billion and 2 billion."

"Among them, the Wang family's property is the most extensive, with over three million mu of farmland alone, and countless treasures of gold and silver..."

"Hiss..."

This time Zheng Yi was truly shocked. Over three million mu of farmland—how many refugees could this damn thing feed?

And most importantly, these three million-plus mu of farmland were tax-exempt!

How much tax revenue did Great Yu lose every year just from these aristocratic families and officials?

This was the case for just the Wang family alone, let alone other aristocratic families.

Especially the southern aristocratic families; compared to the northern ones, they would only have more, not less!

"What else?"

Liu Chengen pulled out an account book from his bosom and respectfully handed it over.

"Your Majesty, this is the account book compiled by this old slave, which records all the currently confiscated properties of the Wang family and the Eight Great Merchants of Bing, but does not include their farmland, real estate, and so on."

Zheng Yi opened the account book to check it, and after the time it takes to brew a cup of tea, suddenly laughed and said: "I heard that you lured them all into the military camp under the pretext of celebrating your sixtieth birthday?"

Liu Chengen said embarrassedly: "Y-Your Majesty, to prevent alerting the enemy and letting them make preparations in advance, this old slave had to resort to this desperate measure to wipe them out in one fell swoop."

"Otherwise, once we directly raided their homes, it would not only trigger their fierce resistance, but also possibly cause a chain reaction of troubles."

"Almost every one of the Eight Great Merchants of Bing has built high walls and thick forts, claiming it's to fend off mountain bandits and outlaws, but in this old slave's view, it's completely prepared for a rebellion."

"Almost every family's warehouse stores a large amount of weapons and armor. If not for using extraordinary methods, it would really be hard to take them down."

"After all, the Eight Great Merchants of Bing have developed in Bing Province for many years, especially the Wang family. Nearly the entire border of Bing Province has been penetrated by them."

"If General Xu Mujun hadn't come to support, an accident might have happened at this time."

Zheng Yi nodded and said: "It has been hard on you."

"A portion of these treasures are the grand birthday gifts given to you for your fiftieth birthday by the Eight Great Merchants of Bing."

"Since they were given to you, then I won't take away what others love; I'll give them all to you!"

Liu Chengen was stunned for a moment, and hurriedly said: "Y-Your Majesty, th-this old slave is loyal to Your Majesty and is by no means doing this for these worldly possessions..."

Zheng Yi shook his head and said: "Those who make contributions must be rewarded. You have achieved great merit for me. If I don't reward you, how will the others view me?"

"In the future, will anyone still loyally work for me?"

"Th-Thank you, Your Majesty! Th-This old slave is terrified..."

He struggled for a moment, and finally gritted his teeth and said: "Y-Your Majesty, th-this old slave has another matter to report."

"Oh? What matter?"

"Th-This old slave also privately accepted women sent by the Eight Great Merchants of Bing. They are Datong women, numbering thirty-two, no, thirty-four!"

Zheng Yi casually threw the account book onto the table and looked at Liu Chengen with a half-smile: "I thought you wouldn't mention it."

With a thud, Liu Chengen quickly knelt on the ground and kowtowed frantically: "Y-Your Majesty, spare my life! Th-This old slave's eyes are dim with age, which is why I committed such a foolish act. Your Majesty, spare my life, Your Majesty, spare my life!"

"Old Liu, you lied after all."

"Your Majesty?"

Liu Chengen raised his head, his eyes confused as he said: "Th-This old slave doesn't understand...?"

"It is true that you accepted thirty-two Datong women from the Wang family and the Eight Great Merchants of Bing, but the other two should have been seized from the Wang family during the home raid, right?"

"Those two women should be the concubines of Wang Zhonghe's descendants, am I right?"

"Besides them, it seems there are another two women that you begged from the Jinyi Guard?"

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty!"

Liu Chengen slammed his head hard against the ground, producing a series of 'thud-thud' sounds.

"This old slave was foolish! This old slave was foolish! I was bewitched by that woman and thus committed such..."

"Enough."

Zheng Yi said: "The thirty-two Datong women are all pitiful people. Ask them where they wish to go. If any are willing to follow you, let them stay."

"But if any are unwilling to follow, give each of them a certain amount of silver and grant them freedom."

Liu Chengen pressed his forehead tightly against the ground and said with a trembling voice: "Y-Yes, Your Majesty!"

"As for the other two, find out if they are pregnant. Those who are pregnant shall be thrown into the celestial prison to await disposal."

Zheng Yi said coldly: "For those not pregnant, have the Jinyi Guard investigate their identities, and handle them the same way."

Liu Chengen's body trembled, and he kowtowed like pounding garlic: "Your Majesty! This old slave was wrong, this old slave was wrong..."

"You are loyal to me, and I am well aware of that, but I don't want my own people to leave behind any handles for others to use, understand?"

"This old slave understands!"

"Step down."

"Y-Your Majesty, those two Datong women begged from the Jinyi Guard are presented to Your Majesty by this old slave!"

Liu Chengen knelt on the ground and said: "Those two women are the best of the Datong women, trained by specialists, originally kept for winning over high-ranking officials, and they came into this old slave's possession."

"Although these two women come from humble backgrounds, their appearance and figures are first-rate, even better than the imperial concubines..."

"Sigh... I really cannot bear to watch these miserable children, so let them stay in the palace."

Zheng Yi waved his hand and said: "After dealing with your personal affairs, come back to serve."

"Understood!"

Liu Chengen kowtowed hard once more, then knelt on the ground and backed away continuously, like an old dog.

Until he retreated to the doorway of the grand hall, kowtowed a few more times, and only then slowly stood up and staggered away from the hall.

"Liu Chengen..."

Zheng Yi murmured: "After all, he is just an ordinary person, and already fifty years old, with not many years left to live."

"Let him enjoy his remaining years peacefully in the palace."

That night.

Inside White Jade Capital, Zheng Yi favored the two Datong women.

I have to say, as expected of the Datong women known as the 'head of the four famous courtesans', they were more enthusiastic and tender than ordinary women, making Zheng Yi linger and forget to return.

The seventh year of zhengyong, New Year's Day.

The emperor led all officials to worship Heaven at the Ancestral Temple. On this day, heavy snow fell from the sky, and the common people all rejoiced.

An auspicious snow promises a year of good harvest; this is a great omen!

The seventh year of zhengyong, the tenth day of the first month.

Under the imperial decree, Liu Chengen confiscated the properties of the Wang family of Datong and the Eight Great Merchants of Bing.

Confiscating 860 million taels of silver, 30 million taels of gold, and countless antiques, calligraphy, paintings, gold, and jewelry.

In addition, there are a large amount of farmland, mountain forests, real estate, shops, etc., awaiting confiscation.

Over sixty officials from the Ministry of Revenue, Ministry of Works, and Ministry of Rites were dispatched to carry out the confiscations, monitored by the Jinyi Guard. It is estimated to take about three months to fully complete the confiscation.

The seventh year of zhengyong, the fifteenth day of the first month.

Shangyuan Festival, the emperor personally bestowed the Shangyuan Lantern Festival to enjoy it with the people.

That night, a total of seventy-two fires broke out in the capital, destroying 235 houses of soldiers and civilians, with fifty-two civilian casualties.

The emperor was greatly enraged, rebuking the Five-City Gendarmerie Command and the Capital Magistrate, and ordering a thorough investigation.

At the same time, he ordered the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Works to repair the residents' houses and provide relief to the disaster victims.

The seventh year of zhengyong, the thirtieth day of the first month.

Grand Court Assembly.

Twenty-one officials of rank five or above impeached Liu Chengen, the Directorate of Ceremonial Directorate's Seal-holding Eunuch, accusing him of accepting bribes, suppressing dissidents, and harming loyal officials.

Furthermore, in the case of the merchants of Bing, he accepted bribes and seven women from the merchants, embezzled public funds, encroached on state assets, and should be sentenced to immediate execution by decapitation!

Liu Chengen angrily looked at the score of officials who stepped forward, his eyes practically wanting to kill someone.

He was working for Your Majesty!

Those treasures, Your Majesty had already promised to give to this old servant.

And those seven women were all willingly following this old servant; this old servant is a good person.

If they were sent back, they lacked special skills and only knew how to serve men; wouldn't their ultimate destination be the pleasure quarters?

In that way, why not follow him and still secure a peaceful and stable life?

Although he could not perform marital duties, he treated them extremely well.

How did it turn into seizing innocent women in the mouths of these officials?

This is simply... an injustice!

"Your Majesty..."

Liu Chengen turned his head with difficulty; his life and death were entirely in Zheng Yi's hands.

If Zheng Yi wanted to kill him, it would just be a matter of a single sentence.

At this moment, he finally understood the terrifying nature of power.

Zheng Yi said calmly: "Everything Liu Chengen did, I am already aware of, and it was also my idea."

A single sentence suppressed the words of these officials impeaching Liu Chengen.

The many officials were also helpless and could only step back.

At this time, Xu Mujun suddenly turned aside and said: "Your Majesty, this minister has a memorial to report."

"Oh? What important matter does Minister Xu have?"

Xu Mujun said: "This minister has been back in the capital for over a month. Now the Mang Huang Two Prefectures have just been pacified, but there are still a large number of Wu Country spies and bandits within the prefectures. This minister is willing to return to the Mang Huang Two Prefectures as soon as possible to suppress the unrest in the two prefectures."

Zheng Yi said: "Minister Xu, no rush. I still have important matters to discuss with you."

He certainly didn't want Xu Mujun to leave the capital so quickly; the matter concerning Xu Xuanwu hadn't been resolved yet.

Xu Mujun said: "I wonder what important matter Your Majesty has?"

Zheng Yi's heart stirred, and he said: "I intend to establish a Great Yu military academy, selecting suitable young soldiers in the army and scholars with the intention of developing in the military to enter the school for study, teaching young soldiers just like the Imperial Academy."

"Ah?"

Not only Xu Mujun, but even the other officials were dumbfounded by Zheng Yi's sudden surprise attack.

Military academy...

What kind of thing is that?

A place specially training generals and soldiers?

But our Great Yu has already occupied two prefectures of Wu Country, and the rebels within Great Yu have also been suppressed; there is nowhere to fight.

Why is Your Majesty still cultivating military generals?

"As the saying goes, be prepared for danger in times of peace. Great Yu has occupied two prefectures of Wu Country, and Wu Country will definitely not let go of this grudge."

Zheng Yi said: "Once the new king of Wu Country is established, he will inevitably counterattack the Mang Huang Two Prefectures. For this reason, Great Yu should pay even more attention to cultivating young military generals to replenish the army."

"My beloved ministers, do you have any objections?"

This...

The many officials whispered among themselves, their expressions strange.

Establish a military academy?

Same rank as the Imperial Academy?

Wouldn't that group of brute warriors who only know how to fight be put on par with them, the civil officials?

The eyes of the numerous officials all turned toward the Grand Secretariat at the very front.

Now in the entire Grand Secretariat, only three people remain, and their prestige is far less than before.

Lu Xiangqing hesitated for a moment, stepped out of the ranks and said: "Your Majesty, the scholars of our Great Yu are all proficient in the Six Arts of a gentleman—rites, music, archery, charioteering, calligraphy, and mathematics—none of which they are not well-versed in."

"In this humble minister's view, in times of national crisis, we civil officials can also go to the battlefield to kill the enemy. For this matter, I hope Your Majesty will reconsider carefully."

Li Yuanhao also stepped out of the ranks and said: "Your Majesty, what Lord Lu said is very true."

"The most urgent task for us is still to prioritize completing the 'Five-Year Plan' established by Your Majesty."

"Among them, the Yong Province Grand Canal has not yet started due to the rebel incident, and the Jing'an Grand Canal has just broken ground. These two projects require the mobilization of one million civilian laborers."

"The court's energy is truly limited."

Another assistant minister, Zheng Zongbing, did not speak, but was pondering something.

"Uncle Bing, what are your views?"

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