The Revolt of the Three Feudatories: All-in at the start in Beijing

Seeing Shang Zhixin arrested, Zhao Liangdong was not surprised at all, because this was already planned. He pressed forward step by step on land, while the navy spread rumors at sea, saying that they had gone to Southeast Asia to suppress the locals.

Otherwise, how could Shang Zhixin have thought of escaping? Even though he was decimated in Nanchang, he still had 20,000 to 30,000 troops under his command. If he had chosen to retreat step by step, it would have been a headache.

Seeing Shang Zhixin's helplessness, Xu Chuang pulled out a middle-aged Portuguese general from the side, paused deliberately, and then spoke in a clear voice:

"Shang Zhixin was truly unlucky. He had tried to escape from the Pearl River Estuary, but he encountered a raging storm. His ships were not large to begin with and could not withstand such a storm. He had no choice but to turn back. He dared not return to Guangzhou and could only flee in panic to Xiangshan'ao with his remaining troops for temporary refuge."

"When the Portuguese inquired and learned that we were traitors to the Great Han, they arrested us all, and even handed over to us every single one of our accompanying ships!"

"Do you know what's on that ship?"

As Xu Chuang spoke, he revealed a mysterious expression, held up a finger and shook it, then burst into laughter.

"Three ships full of gold, silver, jade, and other treasures, estimated to be worth nearly ten million taels of silver. Now I'm not worried about how to report to His Majesty!"

Upon hearing this number, Zhao Liangdong subconsciously swallowed hard, thinking to himself, "Is the South really this rich? Are people in the tens of millions so easily? What kind of life did I live back in Shandong?"

However, Yin Huasheng, who was standing to the side, had ancestors who had also been wealthy, and when he heard that it was ten million taels, he showed a disdainful look.

"You're all ignorant. Shang Kexi has been running things in Guangdong for so many years, and with the Qing Dynasty's maritime ban, which merchant who wants to go to sea doesn't have to defer to the Shang family?"

"Adding the wealth plundered from the massacre of civilians back then, which accounted for at least 50 or 60 percent of Guangdong, I estimate that if the entire Shang family's property were confiscated and sold, it could fetch as much as 50 million taels of silver."

As the governor-general who went south, Zhao Liangdong's main responsibility was to raise money. Upon hearing about such a huge sum of money, he had no interest in dealing with Shang Zhixin and simply waved to the two minor officials.

"Those two... they even cast Shang Zhixin in bronze!"

"Just put it with his father!"

With that, Zhao Liangdong led the group away in a hurry, rushing towards the Prince's Mansion.

As soon as Zhao Liangdong left, the two minor officials immediately arranged for people to start boiling copper and making molds. Upon seeing this, Shang Zhixin immediately struggled.

"Don't torture me, it's better to just kill me first!"

Unfortunately, no one paid him any attention. Only the onlookers pointed and whispered among themselves, and even the children watched intently through their fingernails!

Not long after, a mournful sound came from the South Gate!

……

According to Liu Mu's orders, after Zhao Liangdong captured Guangzhou, he was to quickly plunder the wealth of the Shang family and several other wealthy merchants and then escort them all to the capital.

Previously, Zhao Liangdong came from a very humble background and, seeing the ordinary-looking Prince's Mansion, assumed that the Shang family had little money left after three years of raising an army, so he only arranged for a few accountants to investigate.

Sure enough, when Zhao Liangdong entered the Prince's mansion, the accountants were already working on their abacuses until they were practically smoking.

One of the older men immediately went up to Zhao Liangdong and complained as soon as he entered.

"My lord, the private property of this Prince's mansion alone has reached a staggering five million taels of silver, not to mention so many shops, fertile fields, pawnshops... We old men could work ourselves to death here today and still not be able to calculate it all!"

Zhao Liangdong wasn't angry at all; instead, he was all smiles. After all, the more money the confiscated, the more the emperor would like it, and the greater his merit would be. So he quickly gave orders to his personal guards.

"Go and invite all the well-known accountants in the city to the Prince's mansion. Ten taels of silver per person, no delays!"

Knowing that he had tens of millions of taels of silver, Zhao Liangdong was not stingy with money, and his first offer was a high salary of ten taels of silver.

After a short while, due to the city's lockdown, there wasn't much business to be done. The first group that came in was over fifty accountants, all of whom were top performers in their respective fields.

Under the combined efforts of these people, the final estimate was completed by noon the next day. Upon seeing the list, Zhao Liangdong felt utterly humiliated and cursed:

"That damned Shang Kexi, no wonder he was so detached from worldly desires, even his death was so swift. Turns out his family is incredibly wealthy; even His Majesty might not have enjoyed such a life!"

The list showed a total of 120,000 to 130,000 taels of silver, which amounted to 18,630,000 taels of silver.

The key point is that this is still a preliminary estimate. Pawnshops, fertile land, and precious jewels have all been discounted. If they were all sold at the original price without any discounts, it would be impossible to avoid spending fifty or sixty million taels.

Xu Chuang, who was standing nearby, immediately reminded him upon seeing the amount.

"Governor Zhao, Yin Huasheng and I still need to transport troops to Korea. In my opinion, we should report to His Majesty as soon as possible and have these things escorted to Beijing immediately!"

The nearly 50 million taels of silver was ten times more than the wealth their navy had gained from conquering Bavaria. Xu Chuang, who preferred to be cautious, wanted to leave as far away as possible, but he was afraid that Zhao Liangdong would covet the silver, so he could only suggest that they be escorted away.

Unfortunately, Zhao Liangdong had the same thought at the time, fearing that Xu Chuang and Yin Huasheng might have ulterior motives.

……

When Liu Mu arrived at Yongding Gate in Beijing, it was already the tenth day of the twelfth lunar month, and the wheat fields in the Western Zhou Dynasty were growing well.

Since there was no prior notice, Liu Mu assumed that no one would greet him and that he would still be riding in the imperial carriage. However, to his surprise, there were still thousands of people waiting for the army to arrive outside Yongding Gate.

Most of these people are military and political enthusiasts from Beijing. They like to watch the military and chat about important matters. Guarding the gate is nothing to them!

"Dingbian, prepare the horses!"

After sighing, Liu Mu reluctantly dismounted from the imperial carriage. He lamented that being a wise ruler or an emperor on horseback was too difficult, and being a tyrannical ruler was the most comfortable, as one could do whatever one wanted.

"Long live His Majesty the Emperor!"

When the people saw Liu Mu, dressed in armor and riding a Ferghana horse, galloping among the Imperial Guards, they cheered enthusiastically, and the commotion caused by the thousands of people was quite loud.

Just then, a fast horse galloped past, and before long, the minor official of the Imperial City Guard at the city gate had already begun to focus his energy in his dantian.

"Good news from Guangzhou! The Southern Route Army has captured Guangzhou. Shang Kexi and his son Shang Zhixin, lackeys of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, have murdered over a million Han Chinese. His Majesty the Emperor hereby orders their bronze statues to be cast at the Great South Gate, so they may repent for eternity!"

The people hate traitors the most, and Shang Kexi was the biggest traitor besides Wu Sangui. Now that Wu Sangui has been cast in bronze and Geng Jingzhong is gone, one can imagine how happy the people are to hear this news.

This means that all the traitors have been executed!

As the clerk continued to sing, the sound of firecrackers soon filled the city, crackling and popping incessantly. Some wealthy families even set off daytime fireworks.

All the men went outside and clapped in celebration.

Unmarried women would secretly embroider.

Turn the page, and you'll find yourself in another world.