In the Forbidden City in Beijing, hundreds of officials gathered in darkness in front of the Meridian Gate.

When they heard that Emperor Yongchang of Dashun had continued to appoint officials from the previous dynasty, officials from all over the capital swarmed in, scrambling to be the first, fearing that they would lose their official positions if they were too late.

In front of the Meridian Gate, there were more than a thousand officials, headed by Zhang Jinyan, the Minister of War, and Wei Zaode, a great scholar, and officials from the six ministries, large and small. They were all in court uniforms, full of robes and beasts.

Zhang Jinyan and Wei Zaode were full of self-confidence. Zhang Jinyan believed that he had contributed to the opening of the city. Not to mention entering the cabinet, at least he had to remain the Minister of the Ministry of War.

Wei Zaode, on the other hand, relied on his talent as the top scholar and was full of knowledge. Among a group of bumpkins, he became a literary star...

Everyone else is also waiting anxiously. There are too many officials coming for interviews. Can they be retained?

As for surrender, everyone surrenders anyway, and you are not alone. No one will laugh at anyone, and will only call those who know the current affairs as heroes.

However, several hours passed, and Emperor Yongchang still did not summon him. The officials blocking the Meridian Gate became more and more anxious. Several Dashun officials came with their chests raised, and Zhang Jinyan and others kept bowing and forcing smiles.

Seeing General Quan Liu Zongmin and his entourage enter the palace, Wei Zaode immediately stepped forward with a flattering smile and asked: "General Quan, my subordinate Wei Zaode was the number one scholar in the 13th year of Chongzhen's reign in the former Ming Dynasty, and he was promoted to the cabinet bachelor. I don't know when your Majesty will go out to summon you.

Shall I wait?"

"No. 1 pick?" Liu Zongmin looked him up and down in surprise.

Wei Zaode immediately straightened his back. The No. 1 scholar is synonymous with glory and prominence. The common people regard the No. 1 scholar as a Wenqu star descending to earth, and they cannot lose their status.

Unexpectedly, Liu Zongmin glanced at him and cursed: "What a bullshit number one scholar, wait here, if you keep talking nonsense I will kill you!"

Wei Zaode was stunned for a moment. After he realized what he was doing, he immediately lowered his eyebrows and nodded in agreement. Facing the strange looks from the officials around him and the mocking words of the Shun Army gatekeepers, the No. 1 scholar remained motionless. He was like a puppet, and he didn't even dare to

Make a sound.

It took a long time before the Meridian Gate slowly opened. Zhang Jinyan immediately stepped forward with his watch in hand, knelt down and shouted long live Emperor Dashun Yongchang.

Unexpectedly, the eunuch Wang Dehua who walked out of the room was Wang Dehua, the eunuch who was responsible for the ceremony. When he came up, he slapped Zhang Jinyan several times and cursed: "You are a traitor to the country, what are you doing here?"

Zhang Jinyan was hit so hard that stars appeared in his eyes. He immediately became angry and cursed: "You are a slutty eunuch, aren't you going to surrender? Why are you pretending to be loyal?"

Wang Dehua was slapped in the face on the spot. He was so angry that he was shaking all over. He was punched, kicked and cursed again, just like a woman cursing in the street.

When the soldiers guarding the Meridian Gate saw the dog biting the dog, they all laughed, clapped their hands in applause, and sometimes used various insults.

All the ministers had been waiting here since the morning before the Chengtian Gate was opened. It was not until it was almost dark in the evening that the palace sent someone to call them in.

In the Huangji Palace, Li Zicheng sat on the throne and saw hundreds of officials filing in. He felt very happy in his heart. Niu Jinxing and other civil servants around him were even more elated.

How could they not be proud of their advanced academic qualifications, which were defeated by a group of scholars, scholars, postmen, blacksmiths, and grooms?

Wei Zaode and others stood in line respectfully, knelt three times and kowtowed nine times to Li Zicheng, and then knelt on the ground obediently.

Niu Jinxing, Prime Minister of Dashun, walked down and counted the number of people in the palace by touching the heads of the surrendered ministers. He said he smiled and touched the dog's head, but no one in the palace dared to say anything.

Niu Jinxing said: "Who is the Minister of Honglu Temple? Stand up and call for roll call!"

The minister from Honglu Temple crawled out and tremblingly began to call the names on the spot.

"Wei Zaode, the great scholar of Wenyuan Pavilion..."

Wei Zaode quickly stood up, took a deep breath and said, "I'm here."

Niu Jinxing walked up to him and saluted with a fearful expression: "Student Niu Jinxing, I have met Mr. Wei Ge!"

He learned so well that Wei Zaode was completely confused. He didn't know what to do for a while, which made the Dashun officials burst into laughter.

Niu Jinxing cupped her hands again and said with a smile: "Mr. Wei Ge, please come this way!"

The direction he pointed was clearly towards Li Zicheng. Wei Zaode was so frightened that he immediately backed away and said he didn't dare. Only now did he realize that Niu Jinxing was playing tricks on him.

Niu Jinxing suddenly waved his sleeves again and said coldly: "Is there anything else that you, the Number One Scholar, don't dare to do? Come on, drag him outside the palace and beat him with thirty military sticks first!"

Niu Jinxing was a civil servant in the seventh year of the Apocalypse. In the tenth year of Chongzhen, he had an affair with a wealthy gentry from his hometown. He was falsely accused of resisting tax arrears and seizing eighteen women. He was deprived of the title of civil servant and was exiled to the Lu family to serve in the army.

Humiliating Zhuangyuanlang, a great scholar, at this time was purely to vent his dissatisfaction and frustration over the years.

Wei Zaode screamed repeatedly after being beaten, and all the officials turned pale when they looked at each other. Immediately, a censor stood up and added insult to injury: "Your Majesty, please punish Wei Zaode, the treacherous official of the country, and Zhang Jinyan!"

Li Zicheng was sitting high on the throne, wearing a pointed white felt hat and a blue cloth horse jacket. He scolded: "What the hell are you doing? Why didn't the Chongzhen Dynasty see you impeaching them? Get out!"

Seeing these demoted officials cowering in fear, Li Zicheng felt more and more disgusted as he looked at them.

At this time, Zhang Jinyan, the Minister of War, who opened the city gate, straightened his clothes, stood up, and sang a hymn: "My Majesty, Emperor Yongchang of Dashun, condoned the people's crimes and brought order to chaos. It is the blessing of my Dashun subjects. I have the honor to look at the sky."

Admiring the saint is a blessing for three lifetimes..."

Li Zicheng looked at the licking dog and suddenly asked: "I heard that Emperor Chongzhen was in danger and appointed you as Minister of War, responsible for defending the city. Why did you open the door and dedicate the city?"

Zhang Jinyan said righteously: "Chongzhen went against heaven, and my ministers disdain him. Our Emperor, you are the master of the world, and you are worthy of my ministers' allegiance!"

Li Zicheng was unhappy and became angry, shouting sternly: "How can there be such a shameless, unfaithful and unjust person like you in this world? Get out of here!"

Zhang Jinyan was startled, broke into a cold sweat, and hurriedly rolled away and crawled away.

Li Zicheng felt more and more disgusted and ordered on the spot: "Lock all these former prisoners and put them in prison!"

The officials were so frightened that their bodies could not help but tremble, and many even cried on the spot.

Li Zicheng said to Liu Zongmin: "Jixuan, I leave these people to you for trial."

Liu Zongmin was a little confused and said: "What is the trial for?"

Li Zicheng waved to him and whispered in his ear: "Silver!"

Liu Zongmin immediately understood that whenever the Dashun army passed through a place, they would confiscate and torture the properties of some local dog officials, and they would get a lot of gold and silver. These dog officials in the capital must have richer families. If this shovel goes down, tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk

!

On that day, the Dashun Pay Town Fusi was formally established, with Liu Zongmin in charge, and Li Guo, Li Mou, and Tian Hu as deputies. They began to recover stolen property and provide salary support to demoted officials, and the amount of pay and silver was determined according to their official rank.

It was stipulated that all the property of Xun Qi’s family was confiscated, including 100,000 taels for cabinet ministers, 70,000 taels for the six ministries, 50,000 taels for senior officials such as the Metropolitan Procuratorate and General Affairs Department, 30,000 taels for Jinyiwei officials, 50,000 taels for Kedao, and 30,000 taels for Hanlin officials.

.

It only costs a few thousand taels for the six ministries and below, and local officials are also pursuing the stolen goods. If they resist or cannot pay in full, they will all be tortured and beaten to death!
Chapter completed!