Chapter 47 Extortion to make huge money

Li Lianying is a big celebrity in front of the Empress Dowager Cixi. Whatever request he has, Cixi will always agree.Once, Li Lianying obtained the consent of the Empress Dowager Cixi and was given a month's time to go home, so she went home in a good mood. People in the village don't have rules like those in the palace, but Li Lianying is not angry, and he is very kind to the people in his hometown, which may be related to his desire to make a good reputation in his hometown. Li Lianying's kindness to his fellow villagers could not conceal his cruel exploitation and blackmail in the officialdom.He searched for Cixi's property in different ways, and no matter what, as long as there was Cixi, Li Lianying also kept a share for himself at the same time.Li Lianying has been by Cixi's side for so many years, how much property he has looted, I'm afraid he can't tell.According to available statistics, Li Lianying owns 220 hectares of land. In addition to the 60 hectares near Jia Village, there are also 60 hectares in Niangzhuangzi, Dacheng County, 20 hectares in Momen Village, and Jiugongzhuangzi. Twenty hectares, fifty hectares in Liuzhuangzi, Jinghai County.

Not only did Li Lianying have a lot of land, but in order to show off his family's power to others, a stone tablet was erected on each piece of land, with the three characters Li Jiacun engraved on it.In each Zhuangzi, Li Lianying sent Zhuangtou and Baochang, who lived in the Zhuangzi all the year round, and collected rent and debts from tenants for his family.Most of these Zhuangtou and Baochang are his relatives or close neighbors.These Zhuangtou and security chiefs also rely on Li Lianying's power to be domineering and arrogant, often forcing some tenants to leave their hometowns.

The land is Li Lianying's cash cow. As long as there is land, there is no fear of finding tenants to farm.Therefore, their family's land tax is very heavy.The land alone has accumulated a lot of wealth for Li Lianying. In addition, Li Lianying also has a large number of houses and courtyards.The house in Li Lianying's hometown covers an area of ​​20 to 30 mu, with 145 to 50 rooms. It was specially designed and built by people from Beijing Qintianjian. The gates of the two roads are completely symmetrically arranged according to the gossip.The gilt knockers, the rivets of weathered brass, and the black-lacquered doors gleamed.The couplet outside the main gate was written by Lu Runxiang, the number one scholar: Dongbi Library, West Garden Hanmolin.

There are not only living room, study room and bedroom in the courtyard, but also mill, tea room, large kitchen (servant’s kitchen), small kitchen (master’s kitchen), gold and silver storehouse, grain storehouse, garage, eagle house, stall, etc. Everything is available. Although Li Lianying's house in Beijing is not as luxurious as her hometown, most of her belongings are stored in Beijing, and the rest are stored in Dacheng County and Tianjin respectively.Li Lianying has many real estate properties in Beijing, including Jiuku Bureau, Public Library, Huanghuamen Street, Mianmian Hutong, Mahua Hutong, Dongxinglong Street, Liu Lansu Hutong, Caihefang, Duanfangju, Fangxian Hutong, etc. , Mianhua Hutong covers an area of ​​12 mu, and the public warehouse and Caihefang each occupy an area of ​​7.5 mu.Due to the regulations of the Qing Dynasty, only princes can live in houses with more than 100 rooms, and each property of Li Lianying has 99 rooms.

In addition to buying land and real estate, Li Lianying also operated a variety of businesses.In Tangzi Hutong outside Xizhimen, there is Yongdetang cobbler's shop opened by Li Lianying, with about 30 houses; there is a bathhouse in Yandaixie Street of Gulou; there is an antique shop in Langfang Toutiao outside Qianmen.Not only that, he also invested heavily in silk and satin shops, gold and silver shops, etc. Li Lianying opened an antique shop mainly for convenience, because many officials bribed gifts of antique calligraphy and paintings in order to meet the Empress Dowager Cixi through him, so Li Lianying considered opening an antique shop.On the one hand, they can be exchanged for gold and silver, and on the other hand, they can earn money from those bribers.Therefore, some antiques have been going back and forth among Li Lianying's official Li Lianying, but all the money spent in vain has entered Li Lianying's pocket.

Li Lianying's mansion in Beijing On the 60th birthday of the Empress Dowager Cixi, she was planning to celebrate it greatly. As early as three months ago, in the name of Emperor Guangxu, she issued a decree to the whole country to celebrate the Longevity Day for the Empress Dowager Cixi. Zhu Gu (that is, congratulations on the birthday).In fact, it is to inform everyone early to prepare gifts. Although princes, ministers, and officials from all walks of life do not have the great talents to govern the country and stabilize the country, they have the ability to flatter horses, and there are decrees for this purpose, so they work harder to search for the people.They all did everything possible to sharpen their heads to get in the way of Cixi and Li Lianying, and Li Lianying made a lot of money because of this.

A former imperial minister knew that the Empress Dowager Cixi admired foreign clocks and watches the most, so he bought a chime clock at a high price, but was afraid that Cixi would look down on him, so he found an opportunity to ask Li Lianying to guard it, and brought the chime clock to Li Lianying's house.Don't think that the imperial minister is a first-rank official, so he has to be polite in front of Li Lianying. This minister brought this thing is indeed a good thing, as long as the hour hand reaches twelve o'clock, a little man with yellow hair, high nose, blue eyes, and wearing a suit will jump out of the attic on the clock, and then knees Kneeling down, and at the same time the chiming bell rang loudly, the villain held up a banner with both hands, and jumped out one by one the four words Longevity and Boundless.After knocking, the little foreigner automatically returned to the attic, and the workmanship was very exquisite.

Li Lianying was so tempted by this gift that she decided to present it to Empress Dowager Cixi herself.He first praised the gift greatly, and then pointed out the major flaws in it. This thing is well decorated, and Lafayette will like it when he sees it.But a machine is not a human after all, and no one can guarantee that it will not go wrong. If something goes wrong with the banner of Wanshou Wujiang in that little man's hand and only jumps out of Wanshou Wujiang, it will be a serious crime.Although it is the birthday of the Empress Dowager Cixi, it is inevitable that Cixi will blame her, and her life will be in danger at that time.

Li Lianying's words really frightened the minister, and he quickly thanked Li Lianying for his reminder, and said that he would return the chime bell and choose another gift for him. Li Lianying's goal was finally achieved. The next day, she found this shop and ordered to buy this chime clock.The merchant also knew that Li Lianying was the favorite of Empress Dowager Cixi, so he sold it to him at a low price. After Li Lianying bought the chiming clock back, he ordered someone to remodel the chiming clock, replacing the four characters of Wanshou Wujiang with the characters of Shou Shou Shou Shou, just using a different font.In this way, even if there is a problem, there will be no mistakes in the meaning of the word, and it will be safe.

Li Lianying later presented this remodeled gift to Empress Dowager Cixi. Cixi was really happy and rewarded him heavily.Inside and out, Li Lianying made a fortune.