As for these officials, they stayed there and cursed Zhang Shize and Li Zhicai crazy, as if they could scold them to death.

The civil servants' deliberate attacks had no effect at all. Instead, they served as stepping stones for Li Zhicai and Zhang Shize, which made their power grow faster.

Because of Li Zhicai's strict orders and iron-blooded methods, the gentry and powerful people in Nanjing did not continue to struggle fearlessly when they saw that they had no hope of confrontation.

In order to save their lives and hope of revenge in the future, they had to honestly pay the taxes, money and grain they owed.

After all, as long as the person is still there, everything is possible, and their family has great achievements, although it has been a heavy blow.

But it won’t have any practical impact on them. At worst, the rent in the past two years will be a little bit more serious, and you can get your blood back soon.

In addition to being good at exploiting and oppressing peasants, these people are also extremely proficient in internal struggles.

It can even be said that their natural ability can reach the point of self-learning without a teacher, otherwise they would not have been the first force in thousands of years of history.

This mighty action in Nanjing was led by Li Zhicai and assisted by Zhang Shize and Tian Ergeng. It took less than ten days to recover most of the money and grain.

With the idea of ​​quick battle and quick decision, Li Zhicai gathered all the carriages and donkeys of the government office and the army, and transferred them from the treasury day and night.

He also spent a lot of money to collect vehicles and livestock from private and merchants, and thus completed the arduous task in such a short time.

The Tiqi and the account holder of the Jinyiwei were also exhausted, and they could not even close their eyes for several days and nights.

Every time they take away a batch of grain from a family, they will be watched and resentful by dozens of pairs of eyes. Some of them are old and even faint on the spot and cannot accept the reality.

There were also some people who did not have enough grain to fill the gap. The Jinyiwei was also unceremonious and emptied all the valuable things in their homes.

If it was not enough, they sealed off all kinds of shops and fields in their homes until the number was sufficient.

After rough statistics and estimates, the antiques and gold and silver goods used for mortgages have reached nearly two million taels of silver.

Li Zhicai's eyes were also very open when he looked at these piles of grain and rice and those thick statistical books, and a nameless anger in his heart quickly rose.

No wonder His Majesty gave a death order to recover the money and grain belonging to the court at all costs.

These people are really rich, especially when they checked in the treasury of those big families, they were so shocked that they couldn't even close their mouths.

The old grains and rice they stored were unknown, and they could not count them. But they lived a tight life every day, and their daily rations were counted.

There are also those ordinary people who are even worse than them, and they cannot even solve the problem of food and clothing. Things like eating and hungering often happen.

Even Zhang Shize, the young master who was born with a golden key, felt incredible.

In terms of family property and background, the British Duke's Mansion is not bad for more than 200 years, but compared with these wealthy and powerful men in Jiangnan, they are like clowns.

After he learned how rich these gentry and powerful men were, he realized why His Majesty hated them so much and why they started killing in the court.

So he also added an order, and all the money and grains were collected, and the fresh food harvested in the first year of the Tianqi period were given priority.

Then, by analogy, if the first year of Tianqi is not enough, the 48th year of Wanli, and the 48th year of Chenliang for more than three years is not enough, and the assets are directly mortgaged.

This is also the main reason why the powerful households broke the defense in public. They handed over all the good grains and rice, and how did they accept the poor old grains?

If there is a chance or possible, they really want to cut Li Zhicai alive, but unfortunately the fact is exactly the opposite.

Some of them were directly ordered to be cut alive by Li Zhicai, and they also hung their heads on the top of the city to warn everyone.

These people, without exception, never accept it. They even organized servants and slaves to resist and fight against the army, just like Xue Yongheng.

Li Zhicai will naturally not let go of such a person's behavior. He must deal with it with the most severe means, otherwise he will not be able to establish his authority.

The money and grain were not included in the account books and Taicang of the Nanjing Ministry of Revenue, but were directly pulled into the warehouse in the military camp and stored.

Although it was not long, the harvest was full. The grain and rice recovered were more than 5 million stones, most of which were grains in the past two years, and the quality and taste were insignificant.

In order to ensure the safety of these money and food, Li Zhicai specially dispatched two thousand soldiers to guard day and night. Within a radius of three miles of the military camp, no one outside the guard was allowed to appear.

Even if Li Zhicai and Zhang Shize's personal soldiers want to check, they have to ask for instructions with the leader and general of the guarding force in advance. The approval of Li Zhicai and Zhang Shize and the official seal are also required.

Many traps and alarm defense facilities were set up on the periphery to ensure that the recovered grain and rice can be escorted north intact.

It can be said that we have been prevented to the extreme, and all risk factors and possibilities are calculated and excluded.

In the past half a month, there has been a solemn atmosphere in Nanjing, and it is not an exaggeration to describe it as a storm.

Naturally, such a big thing cannot be hidden for too long. The army came to the door directly and put a knife on its neck to urge taxes, money and grain to pay, spread all over Yingtian Prefecture.

What they value the most was that the army was about to leave the city to find them, the landlords and powerful people who lived in rural fields.

At first, some people didn't believe it, thinking that this was a rumor released by the court to scare them so that they could bleed.

But when such remarks are becoming more and more popular and spread more widely, they cannot believe it or not.

So they quickly searched through various sources to find out whether it was true. The results they got were the ones they least wanted to hear, and all of them were true.

This made them panic and quickly contacted other families and discussed countermeasures overnight.

Their reaction was indeed very fast, but unfortunately it was too late. In half a month, Li Zhicai's layout and arrangements had been basically completed.

Nearly 70,000 troops had already left the city and rushed to various regions in accordance with military orders. The entire Yingtian Prefecture was under the control of the army.
Chapter completed!