Chapter 1030: The Eight Great Locust Merchants Return to the Court

The army returned and went back to their camps to rest.

The soldiers who received the reward, who had families and children, left the money at home.

Those who have no wives and children basically take the money and go to brothels to have sex.

Seeing this, Su Mingzhe thought of the old, weak, women and children from the grassland tribes he brought back, so he found Ding Yi and asked him to arrange a 'blind date meeting' for these bachelors.

As long as a soldier with military merit takes a fancy to a captured woman, he can pick one directly based on his military merit.

First come, first served.

As soon as the news came out, tens of thousands of newlywed couples appeared in Yuguan.

After playing the role of matchmaker, Su Mingzhe stopped going out and stayed in the dragon tent for two consecutive days.

Xu Jinjue was initially worried about Su Mingzhe's health.

He waited until Su Mingzhe was full of energy and asked him to send the women of Daishan, Huang Taiji, Manggurtai and others into the big tent. Only then did he put his worries aside.

On the third day.

Su Mingzhe was about to continue his absurd behavior, but Xu Jinjue reported:
"Your Majesty, General Ding Baiying is here!"

"Let her wait a moment!"

Su Mingzhe quickly stopped his absurd life, left the two gentle and lovely ladies in the tent to help him put on clothes, and sent the other twenty or thirty women to the big tent next door to rest.

Among these noble ladies, twelve were presented by Manggus.

The remaining dozen or so were wives and daughters of Jurchen nobles such as Daishan and Huang Taiji.

Because of her good looks, Su Mingzhe kept her.

Most of these women do not understand Han etiquette, and relying on their beautiful looks and the love that men have for them, they have become quite arrogant these days.

After a while.

Su Mingzhe put on his casual clothes, greeted Ding Baiying calmly, and then asked her to sit down with a smile.

It has been several days since we returned to Yuguan.

The rewards for lower-level officers and soldiers have already been distributed.

The rewards for mid- and high-level military generals will need to be discussed after returning to the court.

Before returning to Yuguan, Su Mingzhe found Ding Yi and told him that he wanted to take Ding Baiying as his concubine.

As a military general, Ding Yi naturally could not refuse the emperor's request, so he could only agree to it on the spot.

Unexpectedly, Ding Baiying came here angrily today.

Doesn't she agree?

Su Mingzhe was just thinking about the purpose of Ding Baiying's visit when he saw her clasp her hands together and kneel down to perform a military salute:
"Your Majesty, I only want to guard the border. Please take back your order!"

"There's no rush."

Su Mingzhe naturally would not take back his order, but he also did not want to push too far, so he changed the subject and said:

"The Qi family army has made great contributions in this battle. There will be no more wars on the border in the future. Therefore, I plan to transfer the Qi family army to Guangdong Province to defend against pirates and Japanese pirates. Before that, Miss Ding should follow the Qi family army back to Nanjing!"

"The Qi family army has fought for the country for more than 50 years and sacrificed too much. The Ming Emperor Zhu can't see it, and I can't turn a deaf ear to it. The courtesy and rewards that should be given are indispensable."

Ding Baiying looked up at Su Mingzhe, who had a sincere expression, and couldn't help but curse in his heart: Dog emperor!
I came here to refuse to enter the palace to become an imperial concubine.

As a result, the dog emperor actually talked to him about the reward for Qi's army.

Isn't this using Qi's army to threaten me?
Ding Baiying thought a lot, but had to stand up from the ground and leave angrily.

The situation is better than people.

Ding Baiying had to accept the threat.

Send Ding Baiying away.

Su Mingzhe did not continue his ridiculous life, but called Xu Jinjue to ask what he wanted him to do:

"Have you found out the details of the eight major families?"

"Your Majesty, I have already checked it out!"

Seeing that the emperor had regained his wisdom and might, Xu Jinjue quickly reported the news that the Han general had secretly gathered over the past two days:
"The eight families reported by Manggus are from the right side (west) of the mountain. These eight families have been engaged in business for generations and have been secretly communicating with the tribes on the grassland for seven or eight generations. On the surface, they trade in food and horses, and secretly transport salt, iron, and intelligence... Fan Yongdou is the main one among them... The one they bribed is the commander of Zhangjiakou..."

Xu Jinjue told everything he had heard.

After hearing this, Su Mingzhe just yawned and waved his hand:
"Since the evidence is clear, take him. Treat him as a traitor and exterminate all nine generations of his clan!"

Since ancient times, there have been countless people who have sold out their country for personal gain.

For the eight great families who have forgotten their roots, being cut into pieces is not enough to appease the public anger. Su Mingzhe only exterminated the nine clans, which was considered polite.

Late August.

After Su Mingzhe and other eight major families had dealt with their affairs, he rode back to the court with three thousand Han generals.

Qi's army arrived one step earlier, sailing back to the capital from Peking.

Early September.

Civil and military officials went out of the city ten miles to welcome him.

At the end of last year, members of the Zhu clan of the Ming Dynasty rebelled one after another.

Su Mingzhe had already prepared for this and resolved the situation easily without showing any ability.

This year, Su Mingzhe led an army of 100,000 out of the border, killed more than 100,000 enemies, captured more than 100,000, and at the same time crippled the Jurchen and Tatar tribes.

A group of scoundrels in the government and the country were finally frightened.

With everyone's advocacy, Su Mingzhe's military achievements were comparable to Xu Da's sweeping across the Northern Yuan Dynasty in the early Ming Dynasty.

Fortunately, Su Mingzhe still has some shame.

Although Xu Da's martial arts skills were not as good as his own, he was much better than himself in terms of military achievements.

Everyone came to the Taimiao to offer sacrifices.

Because Su Mingzhe accepted the abdication of the Ming Emperor, he still retained the ancestral temple sacrifices of the Ming Emperor.

Su Mingzhe was an orphan and was considered the founding emperor, so he didn't need to pay too much attention to red tape.

Wait until you return to the court.

Sun Chengzong, the chief minister, brought out the proposal for rewards that had been discussed for a long time by the cabinet, the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of War and other departments.

Su Mingzhe read it through and found that most of them were in line with his proposal, so he immediately issued an order.

After the emperor, the person with the greatest military achievements was Ding Yi, the chief general of Qi's army.

Ding Yi was conferred the title of Duke of Yue, stationed in Guangdong Province, and led an army of 50,000.

At the same time, he ordered Ding Yi's daughter to enter the palace as a concubine.

Ding Yi quickly stood up and declined.

He did not dare to refuse his daughter from entering the palace, but just wanted to transfer the military merits to Qi Jiguang's descendants.

After hearing this, Su Mingzhe agreed to Ding Yi's request.

First, the deceased Qi Jiguang was posthumously conferred the title of Duke of Qi.

The title was also passed down to Qi Jiguang's eldest son Qi Zuoguo, who inherited the title, and the title was passed down through three generations.

Finally, Qi Jiguang's nephew Qi Jin was conferred the title of Duke of Lu, and the title was hereditary after three generations.

When the court officials heard this, some were surprised, while others felt it was natural.

When Qi Jiguang passed away, his descendants were mediocre, and the former Qi family army was led by several generals and his younger brother Qi Jiming.

Qi Jin is Qi Jiming's son.

After Qi Jiming passed away, Qi Jin was the de facto leader of the Qi Family Army.

Over the years, Qi's army has fought in many battles and made great achievements, which are basically closely related to Qi Jin.

Qi Jin participated in two of the three major expeditions of the Wanli period.

Despite his outstanding contributions, the court only rewarded Qi Jin with the title of General Wusong of Jiangnan.

During Su Mingzhe's regency, Qi Jin found that something was not right, so he resigned and returned to his hometown Dingyuan on the pretext of a relapse of his old illness.

Now, Ding Yi has transferred the credit.

Su Mingzhe took the opportunity to confer the title of Duke of Lu on Qi Jin.

The Qi family army produced three dukes. Although the title of duke can only be inherited for three generations and will be demoted to marquis after three generations, this made the noble families in Jinling City jealous and crazy.

Since the establishment of the Great Zheng State.

Su Mingzhe issued an order that the former Ming nobles in the Zheng Dynasty should be demoted from generation to generation.

Under the title system of 'Duke, Marquis, Earl, and Sixth-rank Generals', the highest-ranking dukes were no different from ordinary people after eight generations.

Last year, the Zhu clan rebelled. In Jinling city, it was discovered that three noble families had correspondence with these Zhu clan members. They were then stripped of their titles and their entire clans were exterminated.

Now that the Zheng Dynasty has its own nobles, the old nobles are naturally disappointed.

(End of this chapter)