That evening, Prime Minister Qin Ruhui summoned all the civil and military officials of the Daxin Hongxi regime to hold a unique "evening court" in the Golden Palace.
This can be considered the first time in the history of the Great Xin Dynasty!
The only theme of the "evening court" was to plunder all the wealth and resources of the people of Nanjing and even the entire rich Jiangnan region.
In Qin Ruhui's words, not a single copper coin should be left for the rebels!
In fact, since the death of Emperor Jian'an Zhao Gan and the ascension of Emperor Lingwu, Qin Ruhui had always adhered to this principle of conduct, taking it as his duty to exploit the people.
Otherwise, even Qin Ruhui, who held the high position of prime minister, only received an annual salary of 1,200 taels of silver.
To accumulate his current fortune through his salary, he would have had to work from the Yin-Shang period until the second year of the Lingwu era of the Daxin dynasty to barely scrape together 12 million taels of gold, let alone 97 million taels of silver.
It should be noted that the annual tax revenue of the entire Xin Dynasty was only a little over 20 million taels of silver.
In other words, Qin Ruhui amassed enough embezzled silver to equal ten years' worth of tax revenue for the Xin Dynasty in less than three years as prime minister. His speed of embezzlement was comparable to that of Heshen, a favorite of Emperor Qianlong in later generations.
After the first "evening court" of the Daxin Dynasty ended, Qin Ruhui hurriedly went to the Stone City Wharf outside the city to see off his family who were about to go to Chengdu Prefecture.
Meanwhile, the court officials were full of complaints, especially Su Chen, who was the Governor-General of Liangjiang and the Commander-in-Chief of the Battle of Nanjing.
Because Prime Minister Qin Ruhui publicly assigned him a task of 30 million taels of silver in the court, simply because the Liangjiang region under Su Chen's jurisdiction was the richest place in the south of the entire Daxin Dynasty.
Qin Ruhui wanted to use this short-sighted approach to leave behind nothing but chaos for both the Lingwu regime represented by Wu Sanjia and the Jingnan army represented by Chen Huai'an, who would later storm the capital.
In the imperial court, Su Chen did not dare to refuse Qin Ruhui's order to his face. He thought that after returning to the Liangjiang New Army camp, he would completely raise the banner of turning against the treacherous minister Qin Ruhui.
However, when Su Chen returned to the camp, he found that something was wrong.
Outside the Liangjiang New Army camp, a large number of rattan armor soldiers appeared, with a force at least twice that of the Liangjiang New Army, and had completely surrounded the Liangjiang New Army camp.
"What... what exactly is going on?"
As soon as Su Chen returned to the central command tent, he angrily questioned his deputy general.
"Reporting to the Governor-General, the rattan armor soldiers outside the camp say they are here on the orders of Prime Minister Qin to assist our Liangjiang New Army in defending the Yangtze River!"
The lieutenant replied with a helpless expression.
snort!
Su Chen snorted coldly and finally remembered why Qin Ruhui had imposed a tax of 30 million taels on him. It turned out that this was money to buy the lives of the rattan armor soldiers of Nanzhao Kingdom!
"They're up to no good, like a weasel offering New Year's greetings to a chicken!"
Su Chen said in an icy tone, "Pass down the order: make sure the brothers are on high alert. If the rattan armor soldiers dare to do anything rebellious, they should immediately be driven out by this governor and go to the north bank to join Emperor Lingwu's Tiger Warrior New Army!"
"Yes, sir!"
Meanwhile, at the Stone City Wharf.
The Qin family's gold, silver, and valuables filled three large ships. Together with the escorting Red-Clad Guards and the Qin family members, a total of over a thousand people, they began to board the ships in an orderly manner.
Qin Ruhui stood on the dock and bid farewell to his eldest son, Qin Tianchao, whispering, "Tianchao, remember to keep a low profile once you arrive in Chengdu."
Qin Tianchao nodded and said, "Father, don't worry, I know the principle of not flaunting wealth!"
Um!
Qin Ruhui continued, "Once we arrive in Chengdu, Father has already arranged everything there. The garrison commander of Chengdu, Yang Yi, was promoted by Father himself; he will take good care of you."
"Furthermore, these eight hundred Red-Clad Guards are the retainers your father left you for self-protection. After you arrive in Chengdu, give them plenty of silver to settle down. At any time, having soldiers and weapons in your hands will give you the confidence to stand tall!"
"besides......"
As he was about to leave, Qin Ruhui wished he could pass on all his life experience to his eldest son, Qin Tianchao.
After all, the future of the Qin family rests on his shoulders.
Finally, as the three treasure ships laden with gold and silver jewels set sail, Qin Ruhui released his eldest son Qin Tianchao's hand, gesturing for him to board.
"Go ahead. After I've settled things in the capital, I'll personally send someone to bring you back!"
"Father, I'm leaving!"
Qin Tianchao and the Qin family members standing on the bow deck were reluctant to part, but eventually, after the large ship set sail, they gradually moved away from the Stone City dock.
They also moved far away from Qin Ruhui, the head of the Qin family, who stood on the dock gazing at them.
This journey will take us thousands of miles, and we may never meet again.
As the large ship, laden with family members, gradually disappeared into the Yangtze River waterway, Qin Ruhui finally felt relieved.
Having spent thirty years navigating the treacherous waters of officialdom, Qin Ruhui was able to lay such a foundation for his descendants during his lifetime, so his life can be considered worthwhile.
As he thought this, he ordered the carriage to return to its residence.
Little did they know that all their scheming would ultimately be in vain—a complete waste of time and effort!
On a July night, with a bright moon and few stars and high visibility, three large ships laden with gold and silver treasures sailed on the Yangtze River, their only sound the rushing of water.
Late at night, the Qin family members were all asleep in their cabins on the ship.
Clang!
Suddenly, a violent tremor woke Qin Tianchao from his sleep.
He instinctively drew the sword from the bedside table, and without even bothering to put on his armor, rushed out of the cabin with the sword in hand.
As he walked, he shouted, "What's going on?"
At this moment, a red-clad guard who was accompanying the group came to report: "Reporting to the young master, our boat has collided with another vessel on the river!"
What?
Qin Tianchao was furious and shouted, "Who is so audacious as to not see the flag of the Prime Minister's Mansion flying on the mast at the bow of the ship?"
"They even dared to ram the Prime Minister's ship! They have some nerve, don't they? They're tired of living!"
As Qin Tianchao spoke, he beckoned a group of Red-Clad Guards to grab their swords and charge toward the bow of the ship with murderous intent.
I'd like to see which blind fool dared to ram the Prime Minister's ship!
A moment later, Qin Tianchao and his group arrived at the deck at the bow of the ship.
The moment they saw the boat that caused the accident, everyone, including Qin Tianchao, was stunned!
It was not only because the ship involved in the accident was tall, sturdy, and powerful, but also because a scarlet four-clawed yellow dragon flag was flying on the mast of the ship involved in the accident.
On the flag, the large "晋" (Jin) character was particularly dazzling under the moonlight.
What Qin Tianchao encountered was actually the Longcheng naval fleet heading north along the Yangtze River, heading straight for Nanjing!
This is going to be really funny!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com