The skill of drawing salaries without working isn't limited to Han Chinese officials; Manchu officials also enjoyed it. Moreover, even if some still did, their character was likely questionable—either too old or too young. As for their actual combat effectiveness, only heaven knows.
"Furthermore, regarding this rebellion in Sanyuanli, the gentry in Guangzhou will all have to contribute money. Not too much, just five million taels of silver," Tacha continued. This was the reason for reporting the number as eight thousand at once; the more reported, the more they would receive!
"Impossible. If a mere peasant uprising in Sanyuanli costs five million taels of silver, then when Zhu Yuanzhang comes, will it cost fifty million taels?" Ye Mingchen retorted directly.
As the Governor of Guangzhou, why did he wield such power, and why could he so easily sideline Sai Shang'a, the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi, and even the Imperial Commissioner? It was all because of collusion between officials and merchants. Actually, in this era, it wasn't called collusion between officials and merchants, but rather collusion between officials and gentry.
If the gentry were to bleed so much money at once, Ye Mingchen's position as Governor of Guangzhou would likely be over. Therefore, it's not surprising that Ye Mingchen vehemently opposed it.
"Four million then," Tacha said with a smile. Five million taels, after all, was just a figure of speech; he hadn't really expected that much.
"The civil unrest in Sanyuanli, though troublesome, is just troublesome. With the Governor-General's battalion, my own battalion, and Your Highness's Plain Red Banner, it should only take a few days. Therefore, I think 100,000 taels is a very appropriate amount," Ye Mingchen cautiously probed.
“My brave soldiers from the Eight Banners have traveled all the way from Shengjing to get here, and they’re only worth 100,000 taels of silver? Three million taels is the lowest possible price.”
"The journey has been arduous, that's true. But the problem is, you're only here to train a new army, so two hundred thousand taels is already a very generous offer."
...
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Chapter 46: "Biographies of Traitorous Officials in the Imperial History," their infamy will last for eternity.
Five hundred thousand taels of silver—this was the final result reached after a long debate between Ye Mingchen and Tacha. It wasn't a huge sum, but it wasn't a small amount either.
Ye Mingchen felt that he had done his best. Given the wealth of the local gentry in Guangzhou, a mere 500,000 taels of silver probably wasn't a big problem.
You have to understand, the Thirteen Factories were located in Guangzhou. Each of those thirteen extremely wealthy families, if not tens of millions, certainly had a net worth of at least tens of millions. In addition, there were all sorts of smaller trading companies; you could easily scrape together 500,000 taels of silver with just a little bit of their money.
Besides, this is a good opportunity to take more money for myself. I reckon no one would care if I embezzled one or two hundred thousand taels.
But who should they ask? The Wu family, the heads of the Thirteen Factories? The Pan family? Or...?
As Ye Mingchen pondered the situation, he realized how chaotic it was. Chen Ming, the bandit leader of Lushan, had actually launched a rebellion, constantly clamoring about the distinction between Chinese and barbarians, and between Manchus and Han Chinese. It was truly...unbelievable.
Moreover, why did the good situation of my Great Qing Dynasty suddenly disappear overnight? So many peasants rose up in rebellion without any consideration for the court.
While Ye Mingchen was contemplating the state of the world, Lin Yang, in the distance, was discussing him with Shi A.
"This man is the chief representative of the local gentry in Guangzhou. He has a good relationship with them and serves as a channel of communication between the imperial court and the gentry. Moreover, he is a Han Chinese. Am I right?" As he spoke, he glanced at Huang Qiying beside him.
At this time, Huang Qiying held the official rank of Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, specifically responsible for intelligence gathering within Guangzhou. This position was actually quite suitable for him, as the current Embroidered Uniform Guard intelligence personnel were mostly former members of the Hongmen (Triads).
Huang Qiying was originally one of the local underworld bosses in Guangzhou. Now, he has transformed into a commander of the Imperial Guard, and it's quite normal for his underlings to have gone straight to the legitimate world.
“What you say is very true. Although this man is a treacherous official, he has an excellent relationship with the local gentry,” Huang Qiying explained in a low voice.
He was neither Zheng Hong, nor Zuo Zongtang, nor Old Pierre, and in terms of strength, he wasn't even a third-grade grandmaster. Therefore, he naturally dared not directly address Lin Yang as Tianxuan, so he could only call him Zhenren (True Person).
As for the claim that Ye Mingchen was a treacherous minister, that makes even more sense. In the words of Chen Ming, the restoration emperor of Lushan, these Han officials, though called Han officials, were in reality major traitors.
They were all accomplices to evil, aiding the court and suppressing ordinary people; they were truly first-rate traitors. In the future, a monument to these traitors must be erected.
At the same time, another "Biographies of Traitorous Officials in the Imperial History" should be produced, recording the information of these traitorous ministers in detail. Let them be "remembered for generations" and "infamous for eternity."
This policy, once proposed by Chen Ming, quickly became popular throughout the land. The vast majority of rebels applauded it. Even our Emperor Zhu thought it was quite good.
Upon hearing this, Lin Yang thought for a moment and nodded. The losers must be treacherous officials, must be villains. Regardless of who the victors were, the Qing Dynasty was undoubtedly the loser. Therefore, labeling the losers as villains was perfectly justified.
"Shi'er, you can make your move in a moment. Just severely injure this person. If you can make him unconscious, that would be even better. As for me, I can't control the intensity of my attacks if I only use martial arts, so I'll leave it to you," Lin Yang said calmly.
“When that happens, once this person is seriously injured, the gentry in the city will lose their means of communication with the Manchus. Those two guys, Tachar and Saisanga, won’t speak up for the gentry.”
"At that time, they will be lambs to the slaughter. Let a few of them die and let them pay more money. Wouldn't the people's hearts naturally turn to you, my lord? Qiying, do you know what to do?"
Hearing Lin Yang's words, Huang Qiying immediately nodded. This Taoist priest was truly cunning. However, upon closer examination, it was quite possible that this would happen.
"Rest assured, Your Excellency, I already know what to do. Once this man is seriously injured, immediately spread rumors to sow discord between the Manchus and the Han, causing the gentry and the Manchu officials to drift apart." Huang Qiying's eyes grew brighter as he spoke; this was indeed a merit.
Sitting in the sedan chair, Ye Mingchen kept thinking about Zhu Ni's affairs while trying to rest with his eyes closed. However, as he sat there, he began to feel that something was wrong.
He had a feeling that something terrible was about to happen. Then, Ye Mingchen looked around nervously.
Fifty fully armored guards remained. These guards were private soldiers he had recruited, all battle-hardened veterans selected from the barracks. Each one was a ruthless killer, a force to be reckoned with.
With ten people working together, they could easily surround and kill even a master of the Innate Realm. Fifty people forming a military formation would give even a Grandmaster like myself a headache.
In addition, there were ten imperial bodyguards. These were specially assigned to him by the imperial court when he took office as the governor of Guangzhou. They served both a protective and a surveillance function. Moreover, each of these imperial bodyguards was a master of the innate level.
In addition, he had three subordinates, all of whom were innate masters. His steward was also a fourth-rank master.
Furthermore, if anything happens here, Sai Shang'a and Tacha'er will arrive within half an incense stick's time. Within the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the four thousand garrison troops stationed in Guangzhou will arrive.
Therefore, after thinking it over, Ye Mingchen didn't think the murderer had any chance. So he stopped paying attention to it, closed the curtain again, and began to rest with his eyes closed.
As I walked, I came to an alley. The alley was dark, narrow, and quite long.
Seeing that everyone had arrived, Shi A waved his hand, and the dozens of men in black around him raised their crossbows in unison.
This is the advantage of having a storage ring, something that naturally doesn't exist in this world. Even if they did, they would be extremely rare, and the space inside would be pitifully small.
Unlike Shi A and Lin Yang, who carry seven or eight of these around, anyone who doesn't carry at least seven or eight of them would be embarrassed to call themselves a chosen one.
As a standard commodity in the main world, the storage ring itself isn't very valuable. You can buy a very good quality one for around a thousand or a few thousand taels.
However, these unassuming storage rings are among the most popular items in the worlds experienced in the Land of Reincarnation.
A storage ring that is ten feet long, ten feet wide, and ten feet high can easily be fitted with more than ten powerful crossbows and a hundred arrows, if one so desires. Then, carrying a few more rings would provide dozens more crossbows, wouldn't that be enough?
Cai Yan then used a storage ring to exchange for hundreds of thousands of scrolls of books from Emperor Zhu. This was only because Emperor Zhu had only collected a few hundred thousand scrolls. Once Guangzhou was recaptured, it wouldn't be impossible to have millions of scrolls.