How can one be Emperor Chongzhen without money?

Chapter 65 Raiding! Bloodbath! Is it too late? (Please add to your favorites and read on!)

Beijing, a snowy night on Lunar New Year's Eve.

The Chengguo Duke's mansion was brightly lit and warmly decorated. Musical instruments filled the main hall, while a lively opera was being performed on the stage. Zhu Chunxiao, the brother of the Chengguo Duke Zhu Chunchen, sat with his mother, Wang Shi, and the entire family, eating, drinking, and laughing. The table was laden with delicacies, and the festive atmosphere of the New Year seemed to have somewhat dispelled the gloom that had hung over the mansion.

It was just a tiny bit. The people in the manor didn't know that Zhu Chunchen had made a huge mess—he had run away to avoid punishment! They were still thinking that Zhu Chunchen had at most been a little greedy, and at most he would lose some money, pay some punishment silver, and redeem land, and that would be the end of it.

The other day, Old Mrs. Wang was saying to her son: "Our Chengguo Duke's Mansion is so big and powerful, it wouldn't hurt to give a little to that young emperor... But Zhu Chunchen is such a miser!"

"Good! Well sung!" Zhu Chunxiao wasn't as stingy as his brother—in noble families, the best things always went to the eldest son, and he, the second son born out of wedlock, wouldn't get much. What did it matter to him if the main family paid for their crimes and redeemed land? Even if the young emperor beheaded Zhu Chunchen in a fit of anger… hey, maybe the title of Duke of Cheng would fall to him, Zhu Chunxiao!
I was just thinking about how wonderful things would go...

"Second Master! Something terrible has happened! The manor... the manor is surrounded!" The steward stumbled in, his face pale with fright. "Outside... outside are soldiers everywhere! The Embroidered Uniform Guard! The Eastern Depot! And... and the servants from the Duke of Dingguo, the Earl of Xiangcheng, and the Marquis of Funing! They've completely surrounded our manor!"

"What?!" The jade chopsticks in Old Mrs. Wang's hand fell to the ground with a "clatter" and broke in two. The banquet table fell silent instantly, and the actors on the stage stopped singing in fright and huddled in a corner, trembling.

Zhu Chunxiao forced himself to remain calm and took a breath: "Open the door! I'll go see!"

He led a few trusted retainers and strode towards the gate. The heavy gate creaked open, and as soon as it opened a crack, a biting wind carrying snowflakes rushed in. Outside, the torches illuminated the area as if it were daytime!

A dark mass of people stood before the mansion gate, a forest of swords and spears, their armor gleaming coldly! At the very front stood five men:
Duke Dingguo, Xu Xigao, had a face so dark it looked like it could be wrung out of water.

Li Shouqi, the Earl of Xiangcheng, and Zhu Guobi, the Marquis of Funing, stood to the left and right, their eyes cold.

Tian Ergeng, the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, stood to one side, his hand resting on his embroidered spring knife.

Wang Tiqian, the Grand Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial, held a whisk, his face expressionless, his fair face appearing particularly sinister in the firelight.

Behind these five men were menacing Imperial Guards, Eastern Depot agents, and eunuch soldiers, as well as a vast horde of elite retainers from the Duke of Dingguo's mansion, the Earl of Xiangcheng's mansion, and the Marquis of Funing's mansion! They surrounded the entire Duke of Cheng's mansion like an iron barrel!
Zhu Chunxiao's heart skipped a beat. He forced a smile, stepped forward, and bowed respectfully: "Lord Xu, Lord Li, Lord Zhu, Commander Tian, ​​Eunuch Wang... On New Year's Eve, I don't know..."

"Take it!"

Xu Xigao suddenly shouted, like a thunderclap, cutting off Zhu Chunxiao's words! He didn't even glance at Zhu Chunxiao, his gaze passing over him and fixed on the mansion.

Several fierce-looking Imperial Guards pounced on him immediately, and without saying a word, they grabbed Zhu Chunxiao's arm and forced him to kneel on the cold snow!
"Lord Xu! What do you mean by this?!" Zhu Chunxiao was both shocked and furious, and struggled violently.

Xu Xigao then turned his icy gaze to him, his voice rising, revealing a ruthless determination to draw a clear line:

"Traitor Zhu Chunchen! His family has been blessed with the nation's favor for generations, yet he has never thought of repaying it! He dares to collude with foreign powers and the Hudun Tu Khan! He embezzles military pay, deducts grain and fodder, seizes military farms, and resells military supplies... His crimes are heinous and too numerous to count! He has now fled to escape punishment!"

His voice echoed in the dead of night, leaving Zhu Chunxiao completely bewildered!

Colluding with foreign powers? In league with the Tiger Mound Rabbit Khan?

He even fled to evade punishment...

You're greedy, fine, but why did you have to cause such a huge mess?
Xu Xigao hadn't finished speaking: "I, the Earl of Xiangcheng, and the Marquis of Funing, are acting on His Majesty's orders! Together with the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Directorate of Ceremonial, we are to search and confiscate the Duke of Cheng's mansion! No one is to move without authorization! Anyone who disobeys will be killed without mercy!"

Li Shouqi and Zhu Guobi immediately stepped forward and shouted in unison, "By imperial decree, we are to search and confiscate your property! Anyone who disobeys will be executed!"

Tian Ergeng added ominously, "Seal all doors immediately! Everyone inside the mansion, stay put! Anyone who dares to make a move will be treated as a traitor!"

Wang Tiqian's high-pitched voice carried an unquestionable authority: "His Majesty has said that this time, the confiscation must be carried out thoroughly! Not a single tael of silver, a single grain of rice, a single inch of cloth, or a single sheet of paper can be missed! The residences of the close relatives of the Duke of Cheng's family shall be sealed off immediately! They shall not be unsealed until it has been determined whether any property has been transferred or hidden!"

"Listen carefully!" Xu Xigao's gaze swept across the dark mass of people behind him like lightning. "Servants from the three mansions, Imperial Guards, and Eastern Depot personnel, form mixed teams! Three people per team, keep an eye on each other! Register everything confiscated on the spot! Anyone who wants to leave the mansion must be searched and inspected by another team! Anyone who dares to conceal or smuggle anything, or who dares to collude in secret..." He suddenly drew his sword from his waist, a cold glint in its light!
"Kill without mercy!"

Upon hearing these words, Zhu Chunxiao understood immediately—the Duke of Cheng's mansion was finished!
……

Kuanhebao Battlefield.

Flames leaped and crackled against the pine-wood walls, billowing thick smoke that blotted out the sky. The heat stung Li Juzheng's cheeks.

"Withdraw the artillery! Retreat to the earthen embankment!" he roared, his voice barely audible amidst the roaring flames.

The gunners, shirtless, carried and pulled the heavy breech-loading cannons, pressing deep trenches into the frozen ground, as they laboriously moved towards the low, arched wall—the last barrier they had built day and night by digging, piling, and freezing the earth! The frozen ground was as hard as iron, and though not high, it was enough to shield them from arrows.

Furthermore, within fifty paces in front of the earthen wall, beneath the frozen snow, lies a hidden danger!
Those were dozens of deep pits that Li Juzheng and his soldiers had dug out with pickaxes, braving the cold wind! The bottom of the pits was filled with sharpened wooden stakes, the openings were loosely covered with thin wooden boards, and then covered with a layer of floating snow, blending in with the surrounding ground, just waiting for the prey to come to them!

"Boom!"

The wooden wall on the south side finally gave way and collapsed with a roar in the raging fire! Burning logs crashed down, sparks flying everywhere, revealing a huge gap! It was ultimately just a wooden structure; how could it withstand days of fire and axe blows? If there had been money and provisions, this fortress wall could have been replaced with bricks and stones, and it wouldn't have come to this!
"Woo-ho!" The roar of the Mongol cavalry was like that of wild beasts. Their warhorses neighed, and their iron hooves trampled over the charred wreckage like a flood bursting its banks, pouring into the fortress!

The centurion at the front, seeing the low earthen wall, grinned maliciously and whipped his horse's rump! His warhorse reared up, about to charge across the seemingly flat snowfield!
“Plop—Crack!”

The warhorse's forelegs lurched into the air! The thin wooden planks shattered instantly! Horse and rider crashed into a deep pit! Sharp wooden stakes at the bottom of the pit, like venomous fangs, pierced the horse's belly in an instant! The centurion didn't even have time to scream before he was violently thrown out by the immense inertia, his head slamming heavily against the frozen ground, the crisp sound of his neck breaking clearly audible!
This sudden turn of events left the following cavalry with no time to react!

"Xilulu——!"

"Splash! Splash! Crack! Crack!"

One after another, warhorses stumbled and fell! The horses neighed in despair, the riders screamed in agony, and the sounds of breaking bones and the dull thuds of stakes piercing flesh instantly drowned out the roar of the flames! The once orderly charging formation was reduced to chaos in the blink of an eye! Those cavalrymen who were lucky enough not to fall into the pit reined in their horses in terror, only to be violently struck by their comrades who couldn't stop in time, resulting in a tumble and trampling of each other!

"Release him!" Li Juzheng's eyes were bloodshot as he slashed down with his sword!

"BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!"

Behind the earthen wall, the fully loaded breech-loading cannons roared in unison! The scorching bullets, like a death storm from hell, poured out in a fan shape! The Mongol cavalry, huddled at the edge of the pit, panicked and trying to rein in their horses or go around, fell one after another as if swept by an invisible giant scythe!

"Archers! Fire!" Li Juzheng's voice was already hoarse.

"Bang bang bang!"

A hail of bullets rained down, precisely reaping lives amidst the chaos. Mongol soldiers fell in droves once more, their blood quickly freezing into dark red lumps on the cold snow.

"Kill the Tartars! Cut off their heads!" Li Juzheng stepped forward, his foot landing on the blood-splattered frozen earth. He raised his blood-stained sword high, his voice echoing across the land. "A genuine Tartar head, ten taels of silver! A hundred acres of military farmland! Elevate me to the Imperial Guard! Kill them all!"

"Kill! Kill! Kill!"

The Ming army, facing utter desperation, erupted in a thunderous roar! muskets, bows and arrows, spears, sabers—all available weapons were unleashed upon the chaotic enemy! Their morale soared, their advance unstoppable! Buyan Ahai, watching from afar, was terrified. He screamed for retreat with all his might, but his voice was drowned out by the deafening shouts and screams of agony.

However, the wooden city of Kuanhebao was still burned open!

(End of this chapter)