How can one be Emperor Chongzhen without money?

Chapter 59 Wei Zhongxian—A renowned general whose talents were wasted on becoming a eunuch? (Please add to your favorites and continue reading)

The twenty-eighth day of the twelfth lunar month.

Tsinghua University, Yihai Hall.

The charcoal fire burned brightly, and Emperor Chongzhen, dressed in plain clothes, sat in the main seat. On the imperial desk in front of him lay an urgent report, covered in snow and mud, with worn edges.

Below the hall, cabinet ministers Huang Lijie, Shi Fenglai, Zhang Ruitu, Li Guopu, and Sun Chengzong, along with a group of nobles including Duke Cheng of Zhu Chunchen, Duke Ding of Xu Xigao, and Earl of Xiangcheng Li Shouqi, stood holding their breath with their hands at their sides.

"Xu Yingyuan," Emperor Chongzhen said in a low voice.

“This servant is here.” Xu Yingyuan, who was standing to the side, quickly stepped forward.

"read."

"Yes." Xu Yingyuan took a breath, picked up the urgent report, and cleared his throat:

"Your Majesty, your subjects Wei Zhongxian, Zhu Zhifeng, and Hou Shilu bow your heads a hundred times and respectfully report: On the night of the twenty-sixth day of the twelfth lunar month, taking advantage of the enemy's laxity due to the snow, we personally led a suicide squad, along with the elite troops of Xuanfu Garrison, to launch a night raid on the Hudun Tuhan camp of the Chahan tribe! Thanks to Your Majesty's great fortune, our soldiers fought desperately and defeated the enemy in one fell swoop."

Xu Yingyuan's voice echoed in the hall, each word striking the hearts of everyone like a hammer blow.

"In this battle, we chopped off more than 800 real Tartar heads and sealed them with quicklime! We captured one of Hudun Tu Khan's golden-topped tents, several golden arrows and tokens! We captured more than 800 ownerless warhorses! We burned more than 1,500 enemy tents! Hudun Tu Khan was so frightened that he fled to another camp, and his besieging army retreated twenty miles to the north! However..."

He paused, his voice growing deeper: "However, that Tartar leader seems unwilling to give up. Although his men have retreated, they are still lingering inside the Great Wall, not having gone far. We have already taken strict precautions and would never dare to fail Your Majesty's grace! Please, Your Majesty, consider this carefully!"

After reading it aloud, Xu Yingyuan bowed and placed the memorial back on the imperial desk before retreating.

The hall was deathly silent.

Over eight hundred real Tartar heads! A golden-topped tent! A golden arrow as a signal! Fifteen hundred tents were burned! The enemy was forced back twenty miles!
This...this is an incredible achievement! Was it done by that...that powerful eunuch Wei Zhongxian?

Huang Lijie, Shi Fenglai, and the other Grand Secretaries exchanged glances, their faces filled with "This is impossible." Sun Chengzong's white eyebrows furrowed, his eyes darting around as he rapidly calculated. On the noble side, Duke Dingguo Xu Xigao, Earl Xiangcheng Li Shouqi, and others were also dumbfounded. Only Duke Chengguo Zhu Chunchen's plump face suddenly drained of color, turning deathly pale, with veins throbbing on his forehead.

"Haha! Hahaha!"

Emperor Chongzhen suddenly burst into laughter, breaking the silence. He stood up, put his hands behind his back, and took two steps behind his desk.

"Well done! Well done, Wei Zhongxian! Well done, Zhu Zhifeng! Well done, Hou Shilu!" He stopped and glanced at the crowd. "I never expected that my Grand Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial, the one in charge of grain transport, would be able to don armor and go into battle, killing enemies and making meritorious contributions!"

A somewhat absurd thought suddenly popped into his mind: Could this guy be a talented general whose abilities were wasted on being a eunuch?
The thought flashed through his mind, but his gaze, like that of an eagle, was fixed on the face of Zhu Chunchen, who was at the very front of the noble line.

Zhu Chunchen felt that gaze was like an icicle, piercing him and making him feel cold all over. He tried desperately to force a "surprised" smile, but it looked worse than crying.

His mind was in turmoil: It's over! It's all over! Not only did Wei Zhongxian not die in the mutiny, and not be killed by Hu Dun Tu Khan, he actually won such a great victory! Even if those eight hundred men were out of their minds, and the seizure of the golden tent was fake, Hu Dun Tu Khan's retreat of twenty miles was real, wasn't it? The siege of Xuanfu was lifted!
Wei Zhongxian's victory proved him to be a loyal and useful old dog! Meanwhile, Zhu Chunchen had thoroughly offended Wei Zhongxian! Wei Zhongxian… was a man who held grudges and sought revenge!

Emperor Chongzhen saw Zhu Chunchen's cowardly behavior and sneered inwardly. He strolled back behind his desk and sat down, his fingers lightly tapping the tabletop; the sound was not loud, but it carried a cold hardness.

"Dong Cheng."

Zhu Chunchen trembled all over, hurriedly stepped forward, and knelt down with a thud: "Your subject... Your subject is here!"

"A few days ago, Eunuch Wei sent me a secret report," Chongzhen said calmly, as if he were having a casual conversation. "He said that when he brought 50,000 shi of wheat from the Tongzhou granary to Xuanfu and opened the bags, he found that more than half of it was bran! It was this bran that almost caused a mutiny among the soldiers in Xuanfu!"

He paused, his gaze sharp as lightning, staring at Zhu Chunchen's lowered head: "Minister Zhu, do you know who 'donated' this batch of wheat to the imperial court?"

"Om..."

Zhu Chunchen felt a loud bang in his head, and his vision went black!
Wei Zhongxian's revenge has arrived!

His previous plan—to incite a mutiny, force or kill Wei Zhongxian, then clean up the mess under the guise of "firefighting," and secretly make peace with the Mongols to gain credit—is now completely ruined.

Wei Zhongxian not only survived, but also defeated Hudun Tuhan, while Zhu Chunchen became the culprit who provided rotten military rations and almost caused a major disaster!

Cold sweat instantly soaked through Zhu Chunchen's inner shirt. His obese body trembled uncontrollably, and his hands, lying on the ground, gripped the cold cracks in the floor tiles tightly.

"Your Majesty..." Zhu Chunchen's voice was hoarse and trembling with sobs, "Your Majesty... Your Majesty, I am terrified! This matter... Your Majesty, I will investigate this matter thoroughly! I will give Your Majesty and the soldiers of Xuanfu an explanation!"

"Confess?" Chongzhen thought to himself, "I did give you a chance, Duke Cheng. A thorough investigation? What you should be doing now is confessing your crimes! Paying your fines! Offering land as atonement!"

Emperor Chongzhen stopped looking at Zhu Chunchen, his gaze sweeping over the assembled officials, and his voice regained its calm: "I have already ordered Zhang Zhiji, the heir apparent of the Duke of Yingguo, Li Banghua, the Vice Minister of War, and Tian Ergeng, the Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, to investigate! I believe we will have results soon."

Zhu Chunchen felt the world spinning around him; his last shred of hope had vanished. Zhang Zhiji had clearly "surrendered"; Li Banghua was a key figure in the Donglin Party, incorruptible and impartial; Tian Ergeng… he was the living devil of the Embroidered Uniform Guard! He used to be Wei Zhongxian's henchman! He was finished… the Duke of Cheng's mansion was finished…

He almost collapsed to the ground, large beads of cold sweat dripping from his forehead onto the floor tiles.

After reprimanding the head of the noble families, Chongzhen changed the subject and returned to the military affairs of Xuanfu. "My dear ministers," Chongzhen said with a hint of inquiry in his voice, "do you know how Eunuch Wei turned the tide and achieved victory in Xuanfu?"

The people below looked at each other, but no one dared to utter a sound.

Emperor Chongzhen answered his own question with a touch of emotion: "He was driven to desperation! He was cornered by the mutiny in Xuanfu and the army of Hudun Tuhan! He did something... something I never expected!"

He paused, his gaze sweeping over the astonished and uncertain faces of the crowd: "He led the Qing army to ransack the homes of several Shanxi merchants who were colluding with the enemy in Xuanfu City! They seized hundreds of thousands of taels of silver! Then, he piled the silver up on the city wall and distributed it as pay and rewards in front of tens of thousands of starving soldiers!"

Chongzhen's voice suddenly rose, tinged with admiration: "Those soldiers who were gathered under the city walls, on the verge of rioting, lit up with excitement the moment they got their hands on the gleaming silver! They were filled with energy! This silver is more effective than any grand principles! It transformed a group of starving, defeated soldiers into tigers and wolves willing to fight the Tartars to the death!"

He let out a long sigh, leaned back in his chair, his eyes unfocused, as if talking to himself, yet also as if addressing everyone:
"Wei Zhongxian... he really knows his stuff! I'm no match for him in this regard!"

Emperor Chongzhen immediately waved his hand abruptly, "Court adjourned!"

"We take our leave!" The crowd, as if granted a pardon, quickly bowed and filed out of Yihai Hall. Zhu Chunchen was practically carried away, stumbling and falling, his back view a picture of utter disarray.

As he watched the ministers disappear outside the door, the sentimentality on Chongzhen's face vanished instantly, and his eyes regained their sharpness.

"Xu Yingyuan".

"The slave is here!"

"Send men," Chongzhen's voice was icy, "to keep an eye on Zhu Chunchen. Don't do it secretly, do it openly! Let him know that I'm watching him. Also..." A cold glint flashed in his eyes, "and set up hidden sentries as well. When he... can't help but try to run away, then follow him and see where he runs?"

Chongzhen was quite confident that Zhu Chunchen would flee. In his previous life, he had been an "old anti-corruption veteran for thirty years" and was very experienced!
The reason why Chongzhen did not arrest Zhu Chunchen immediately is because... this time he not only wanted to arrest Zhu Chunchen for his "greed", but also for his "rebellion"!
Zhu Chunchen's escape was an act of fleeing to avoid punishment. If he fled north, he could be accused of treason, and no matter whose patron he sought refuge under, it would implicate a large number of people.
"This servant understands!" Xu Yingyuan's heart tightened, and he bowed to accept the order.

At the same time, thousands of miles away, in the valley of the Kuanhe River, a tributary of the upper reaches of the Luanhe River.

The cold wind of December whipped up snowflakes from the ground, stinging the face. The wide river was frozen solid, its surface like an iron plate.

A newly built wooden fort stands alone in the middle of the valley, blocking the main road from Daning to the heart of the Great Wall in Jizhou. This is the Kuanhe Fortress, a frontline fortress built by Sun Zushou on the banks of the Kuanhe River after he was ordered to lead an expedition beyond the Great Wall.

The fort walls were entirely constructed of thick pine logs, reaching a height of approximately two zhang (about 6.6 meters). One side bordered a wide, frozen river, using the steep riverbank as a natural barrier. The other three sides were fortified with deep trenches, the bottom of which was filled with sharpened wooden stakes. At intervals along the walls were cannon holes and mortises. In the center of the fort stood a taller watchtower, surrounded by several arrow towers.

The sky was overcast at dawn. A few wisps of smoke rose from the fort, only to be quickly dispersed by the cold wind.

Li Juzheng, a valiant-looking man in his early thirties, was patrolling the fortress wall with several personal guards. He wore imperial-bestowed cotton armor and a conspicuous gilded waist badge—the badge of an imperial bodyguard!

"Everyone, stay alert!" Li Juzheng's voice was a little hoarse in the wind. "The New Year is almost here, and the Tartars might come to raid our territory! Check all the gun emplacements and cannon positions again! The lookout posts can't be relaxed for a moment!"

"Yes, sir!" the soldiers replied in unison.

Li Juzheng walked to a gun emplacement facing upstream in the valley and squinted outwards. The frozen river stretched into the distance, its banks lined with white snow and dark pine forests, deathly still.

The quiet made him uneasy. General Sun had also built a fort on the other side of the Luan River; the two forts could support each other, but they were far apart. This Kuanhe Fort was isolated on the frontier, just an outpost with only a few hundred soldiers. What if a large force of Tartars came…

As he was thinking, a rapid, chaotic sound of hooves suddenly shattered the tranquility of the valley!

The sound is coming from upstream!

Li Juzheng's heart tightened, and he rushed to the edge of the battlements, shading his eyes with his hand as he strained to see.

On the ice surface of the upper reaches of the wide river, several small black dots were seen running frantically toward Mubao!
The night watchman he sent out on patrol last night!
Look at how they're fleeing for their lives...

Li Juzheng's heart sank to the bottom.

"On alert! All personnel on alert! Enemy situation!" he roared hoarsely.

Chaos erupted instantly on the fortress walls. Soldiers rushed to their positions, musketeers began loading powder, and gunners lifted their gun covers, nervously adjusting the angle of their cannons.

The dark dots were getting closer, and the riders' lowing bodies and their frantic whipping of the horses' rumps were becoming clear. They were fleeing for their lives!

Finally, the first rider charged to the fortress gate. The gate was already ajar.

"Tartars! The Tartars are coming!!" The scout on horseback shouted with all his might, but before he could finish speaking, his body suddenly swayed and he fell off his horse, landing heavily on the frozen ground with a "thud"!

Only then did everyone see clearly that two still-trembling arrows were stuck in his back! Blood had already soaked through the cotton armor on his back.

"Quick! Bring him in!" Li Juzheng roared, his eyes fixed on the direction from which the night constables had fled.

At the upper reaches of the valley, a dark mass of riders, like a tide overflowing the frozen river, pressed towards the small, wide-river fortress!
(End of this chapter)