347 is ironic

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When these merchants heard that they wanted all the young people in their clan to go to the city wall to defend against the Tartars, they would make it clear that they would send their children to death!

With the virtue of the children of those rich merchants, they are idle all day long, let them flirt with a folk girl, visit a kiln, drink and enjoy themselves.

Let them deal with the Tartars, I guess they won't even be able to pick up their knives and guns.

King De used this method to force these merchants, if he didn't put some pressure on these guys, King De knew that these people were probably not willing to spit out even a penny.

Soon, Hou Jitong and a group of other people gathered around and quarreled for a long time, and finally got a result.

"Lord Wang, the old man has discussed with several shopkeepers of the trading house, and we will take out a million taels at most.

Among them, the old decay represents our Hou family, and is willing to take out 60,000 taels, which is already the all-powerful of the old decay, and we can't retreat from the Tartars, let our whole family beg along the street. ”

Hou Jitong walked up to King De and said, at this time, Jitong's heart was like a knife, and he took out 60,000 taels of silver for nothing.

King De looked at Hou Jitong's performance in front of him, and sneered in his heart, he knew this group of guys clearly, King De was not Chongzhen, and he was not so easy to fool.

"You have a heart, but one million taels is not enough, so let's double it, two million, not a single point less, and we will make it up tomorrow.

If there is no silver, it can be replaced by treasure calligraphy and painting. King De completely ignored the expressions of these merchants at this time, and spoke.

As soon as King De's words fell, he saw Hou Jitong's age of nearly seventy years old, and he directly 'fluttered' for a moment, and knelt on the ground, crying and crying: "Lord Wang, you can't, you are going to die of old age!" ”

Originally, Hou Jitong and other businessmen discussed, but they had seven or eight large commercial houses, dozens of large and small merchant families, and they came up with one million taels, which could barely be accepted by them.

As a result, now King De's words doubled their one million taels and turned them into two million taels, that is, the sixty thousand taels that Hou Jitong originally planned to donate suddenly became 120,000 taels.

This is no longer cutting his flesh, this is simply drinking his blood!

With Hou Jitong's initiative to take the lead, other businessmen also knelt down for King De one by one, begging, crying and shouting, which was simply ugly.

These big men who are high up on weekdays and respected by their subordinates can only beg bitterly in front of King De at this time, just to be able to give a little less silver.

No way, no matter how rich they are, no matter how rich they are, they are just businessmen, and when they meet the powerful King De, they really have no good way but to beg.

Faced with a kind of merchant's plea, King De calmly sat on his chair and drank tea, unmoved.

At this time, a guard of King De ran in and handed Zhang De a note, and after Zhang De read it, he leaned down to King De's ear and muttered.

Peng......

"A good Yu family, it is really rebellious, after being famous, he did not hesitate to collude with the Tartars and collaborate with the enemy in wartime, Zhang De, you immediately notify Governor Liu and lead troops to surround Yu's house."

King De directly smashed the teacup in his hand to the ground, and then roared with an angry expression on his face.

"Yes, my lord, I'll go here."

Zhang De left with his hand, and before leaving, he sneered at the group of businessmen who were kneeling on the ground.

King De's sudden anger made Hou Jitong and other businessmen who were kneeling on the ground at this time startled, and their pleading voices stopped abruptly, and they all looked at King De.

King De felt the gaze of everyone looking at him, and said coldly: "Yu Jianqing, dignified at home, and the son of Yu Lao Shangshu, actually colluded with the Tartars at this time, trying to cooperate with the Tartars and sacrifice Jinan City.

Fortunately, Governor Liu and others discovered it in time, so they did not let Yu Jianqing's conspiracy succeed, and now Governor Liu has led troops to surround Yu's mansion. ”

King De's words were like a thunderbolt on a sunny day, splitting everyone into scorching on the outside and tender on the inside, which was unbelievable.

The Yu family is a well-known official family in Jinan, and the Yu family is the son of an official in the imperial court, as many as 20 people, and even the old man Yu, who has just passed away for only two years, is still the secretary of the transfer department.

And the current head of the Yu family, Yu Jianqing, is also famous, and even has been an official, but two years ago, because of a major corruption case, he was dismissed by the imperial court, and he has been staying in Yufu.

A famous family like the Yu family, an official family, is not as good as a merchant family like the Hou family, and the two are not on the same level at all.

In this year, how can the status of a businessman be too far behind these officials of the scholar clan, let alone a family like the Yu family, which has published books and has many official children in the family.

"Lord Wang, could it be a mistake, how could the Yu family betray the enemy, there must be a misunderstanding in this!" Hou Jitong asked cautiously.

"Regardless of whether there is a misunderstanding or not, at this time, our Jinan City is in the most critical period, and anyone suspected of treason cannot be let go, Governor Liu will temporarily detain his family and investigate after the war is over."

Although King De said so, Hou Jitong and the others were somewhat enlightened in their hearts at this time.

The Yu family probably didn't defect to the enemy at all, but refused to raise money from King De, so they would be retaliated by King De.

There has always been a contradiction between the Yu family and the Dewang Mansion, and many people in the entire Jinan City know about it, and this time the Dewang just took advantage of this opportunity to attack the Yu family.

"Hey, King De is killing chickens and making an example of monkeys! It seems that today's two million taels of silver are decided, and King De does not hesitate to make a move on his family, compared with the Yu family, we are not even a fart!

That's it, that's it, it's time to break the wealth and avoid disaster. "Hou Jitong is old and refined, how can he not see what King De's trick is at this time, what he wants.

In the end, Hou Jitong said to Zhu Youshu: "Lord Wang, for the sake of the people of Jinan City, the old decay is out of the way, and our Hou family will smash the pot and sell iron, and we will also make up 120,000 taels."

I only hope that the prince will give us some grace so that we can have time to raise money. ”

"Okay, the old man really understands the righteousness, and the king is approved." King De said happily.

King De knew that Hou Jitong, the old thing, had seen his practice of killing chickens and setting an example for monkeys, and the Yu family was not a weak chicken, so Hou Jitong obediently softened.

There are many smart people among these businessmen, and at this time, there are also several businessmen who understand this, and they can also experience the same helplessness as Hou Jitong in their hearts.

"Lord Wang, our Zhang family is also willing to donate 100,000 taels of silver to raise food and wages to defend against the Tartars."

"Lord Wang, our Sun family is also willing to donate 80,000 taels of silver,......

"Lord Wang, our Qian family is also willing to donate ......"

One by one, the businessmen who saw the situation clearly relented, and they had to bleed honestly, and they were bleeding heavily, and when they said these words, these people trembled with pain in their hearts.

But there is no way, in the face of the safety of the whole clan, these riches seem insignificant, and for them, these silvers are only two-three tenths, and it is not unacceptable to take them out.

"Okay, okay, haha, it's rare for you to be so knowledgeable, thank you in advance, but time is pressing, and all the money must be gathered within a day.

This king will not leave you here to stay longer, you should hurry back to raise money, and I will let Zhang De go to your mansion to collect it later. ”

King De was really ugly, and after exploiting these merchants with his front foot, he immediately drove them away with his back foot, urging them to go back and raise money.

Soon, Hou Jitong and other businessmen left the Dewang Mansion, and everyone's faces were as if they had died of their father, which was extremely ugly.

"Old lady Hou, we really have to pay this silver, King De is too domineering." Someone said indignantly.

"Hey, you have also seen the attitude of King De, and this time we have produced this silver, it is really fortunate that the Tartars can really retreat.

If the Tartars really break through the city of Jinan, don't say 100,000 taels, that is, all the property in your family, including your wife, children, and children, will be taken away by the Tartars and given to them as slaves and maids.

Go back and raise money, don't think about it so much. After Hou Jitong said these words to everyone, he let one of his valued grandsons support him back.

King De has already secretly obtained the support of several officials such as the prefect of Jinan and the soldiers and horses, and no matter who King De attacks this time, they will also go out to follow.

After all, they also knew that after Jinan was captured by the Tatars, the fate of these officials would not be very good.

And as long as the Tartars can withdraw and keep the city of Jinan, they will be great heroes afterwards, even if someone tells the court at that time, King De has his own way to deal with it.

Before dark, it took only three and a half hours for King De to 'blackmail' the merchants and other officials and nobles in the city.

With the promise of these businessmen and officials, every big family in Jinan City paid a sum of silver.

Finally, in the middle of the night, King De asked his subordinates to calculate that they were 'extorting' 2,870,000 taels of silver from these merchants and big households.

Among them, those merchants occupied the lion's share, with a full two million taels, while the other 870,000 taels were sent by King De from Jinan City, those eunuchs, nobles and others.

After seeing this number, King De had an irrepressible smile on his face, and even couldn't help but laugh out loud at the end.

"In this way, this king only needs to take out another 140,000 taels of silver, and he can make up enough for three million taels, and now it depends on how Li Zixiao contacts with Tartar."

King De was in a very good mood, he was complacent about his wisdom, and in the end he didn't pay much money at all, and after the Tartars withdrew from the army, he wanted to keep the good reputation of Jinan City.

"Zhang De, is there any movement over there from that Li Zixiao?"

King De couldn't fully trust Li Zixiao at this time, after all, this matter was too important, and Zhang De had been sending people to monitor Li Zixiao.

"That Li Zixiao has been with Lu Xiangsheng since he was separated from the prince at noon, during which he sent a personal guard out of the city, probably to contact the Tartars."

Zhang De said respectfully.

"Oh? Yes, the personal guard that Li Zixiao sent out of the city was not attacked by the Tartar cavalry after leaving the city? ”

"Lord Qiqi, no, the Tartars didn't seem to see the guards who went out of the city at all, and they didn't send cavalry to pursue them."

"Haha, in this way, that Li Zixiao really persuaded Tartar, okay, Zhang De, you will bring people tomorrow morning, and the whole city will collect the money from door to door, and you must collect all the money within one day."

"Yes, lord."

On the other side, Li Zixiao played chess with Lu Xiangsheng all afternoon in the Jinan Mansion.

Anyway, at this time, the Tartars will not attack the city, and they also know that King De sent people to monitor them, of course, they have to make an example for King De.

"Lord Lu, Lord Li, this is a letter from the prince of my family to you, my prince has worked hard for a day, he is a little tired, and he has been resting in the mansion."

After dark, King De sent his men to deliver a letter to Lu Xiangsheng and Li Zixiao.

After the two opened the letter, Li Zixiao couldn't help laughing, and said to Lu Xiangsheng: "Lord Lu, how is it, our prince is really resolute!"

A full three million, and it only took one afternoon to raise it.

Back then, I heard that Lu Xiangsheng and Shengshang spent several days in order to raise military salaries for the Guanning Iron Cavalry, and the dignitaries and eunuchs in the capital donated only tens of thousands of taels of silver.

Now Lord Lu still thinks that the hands of those court ministers, eunuchs, merchants, and relatives are really poor and white? ”

Li Zixiao said, Lu Xiangsheng's face became more and more ugly, and finally slapped the table and said coldly: "It's really ironic!" ”

…………………………………………

On the other side, Tie Dan, who went south with Li Zixiao's handwritten letter during the day, also hurried overnight, and arrived at the temporary garrison of Li Yan and Zhao Zilong the next day.

This time, Li Zixiao got such a talent as Li Yan, and he just planned to test him well with this transaction with Tartar.

asked him to preside over this matter, Qi Wei, Luo Chao, and Zhao Zilong assisted him.

Li Zixiao must stay in Jinan City all the time, so as not to let King De become suspicious, and things outside the city need a brave and resourceful person to assist him.

Li Zixiao asked his infantry and baggage soldiers of the White Dragon Army, under the leadership of Liu Chong, to retreat to the south of Shandong, close to Dushan Lake and Zhaoyang Lake near the boundary of Xuzhou, and joined Wei Hong's army.

When the time comes, Wei Hong will take the naval troops he has collected in Lianghu and go north along the canal by boat to meet Li Zixiao and them.

The cavalry team that left Qi Wei and Luo Chao was responsible for this operation, under the full command of Li Yan.

The next day, when Tie Dan found Li Yan, they handed Li Zixiao's handwritten letter to Li Yan.

"Generals, everything is going well in Jinan City, let us proceed according to the original plan, and then, we will take a risk under the noses of the Tartars."

Li Yan said very politely to Qi Wei and Luo Chao, after all, when he first arrived, he was entrusted with a heavy task by Li Zixiao, so Qi Wei and others were not convinced.

Li Yan naturally understands this reason, so while he plans to take every step of his actions, he must also deal with the relationship with Li Zixiao's generals.

"The general is fine, okay, since the general asked us to obey your command this time, you can tell us what to do next."

Qi Wei said.

"Okay, then let's take that Tartar prince north immediately, and I'll tell you about our next actions to the generals on the way."