How can one be Emperor Chongzhen without money?

Chapter 76: Money is the key to winning battles; winning battles allows you to plunder even more money (available Wednesday)
On the 21st day of the first month of the first year of Chongzhen's reign, at Tsinghua Garden.

Inside the Yihai Hall, Emperor Chongzhen, dressed in casual clothes, held a warm rosewood cup, his gaze fixed on the pile of documents on his desk. The cold wind continued to blow outside the window, and the hall remained silent.

Xu Yingyuan stood by, watching the emperor review the documents one by one.

The first thing he picked up was a thick stack of urgent documents from Datong, bound together with two other documents.

Emperor Chongzhen untied the silk ribbon and looked at the first document. It was a joint memorial submitted by Wang Zaijin, Zhang Zongheng, Tian Ergeng, and Liu Wenzhong, detailing the process of surrounding the Prince of Dai's residence and searching for Zhu Chunchen.

Upon seeing the words "captured on the spot," Chongzhen's lips twitched slightly.

The report details the entire arrest process in great detail. Pang Yugui, acting on the king's orders, attempted to silence the witnesses, but his hands and feet went limp. He and two eunuchs, armed with sharp blades, ended up "fighting" with Zhu Chunchen and his servants, who were wielding fire pokers. One was shrill, pleading for surrender, while the other roared, demanding to expose the crimes of the Prince of Dai's mansion.

Wang Zaijin, Tian Ergeng, Prince Zhu Naijun, and a large group of others listened to the farce inside through a door.

"Heh." Chongzhen chuckled softly and shook his head. "A bunch of useless fools... The Prince of Dai's mansion can't even handle a simple murder. Zhu Chunchen is useless too, a dignified commander of the Beijing Garrison, unable to take down a eunuch! What hereditary military merit..."

He paused, his eyes turning cold, thinking to himself, "In my previous life, I actually relied on such scum to protect the capital... How foolish!"

Next, he turned to the interrogation summary at the back. This was the confession obtained by the Embroidered Uniform Guard from Zhu An, Zhu Chunchen's trusted steward, during interrogation.

After glancing at it a few times, the smile on Chongzhen's face vanished, replaced by an icy chill.

"Good, very good." His voice was deep. "You traitor, you've truly betrayed us!"

The report stated that Zhu An confessed: Zhu Chunchen, through the Shanxi merchant Wang Dengku, colluded with Wang Shiqin, the deputy general of Xuanfu Garrison, and Wang Tong, the assistant general, to repeatedly smuggle prohibited items such as ironware and gunpowder outside the walls using their official positions. The recent mutiny in Xuanfu was also instigated by Zhu Chunchen, with Wang Shiqin and Wang Tong fanning the flames to help Ligdan Khan break through the pass amidst the chaos, thus giving Zhu An an opportunity to march north to Xuanfu and defeat the enemy.
Emperor Chongzhen remained silent for a moment, his eyes flashing with murderous intent. But he ultimately did not erupt, and instead picked up his vermilion brush and wrote beside the confession: "Order the Northern Garrison to investigate thoroughly, without wrongly convicting or letting anyone go unpunished. Those involved in the case shall be placed under strict surveillance."

He put down this one and picked up another urgent report from Datong, which was jointly written by Li Huaixin and Ma Chengen on the front lines beyond the Great Wall.

The report was concise: the two men led three thousand elite cavalrymen, braving the snow to venture beyond the border wall, to search for and annihilate the old camp of Hudun Tu Khan. They found the winter camp of the Hana Tumen Wanhu Ordo and utterly defeated it. They beheaded over a thousand, captured two thousand women and children, and seized tens of thousands of cattle, sheep, horses, and camels. They also captured one of Ligdan Khan's eight principal wives, named Sutai, who claimed to be the daughter of Jintai Shi, the chieftain of the Yehe tribe.

Upon seeing "the daughter of Jintai Shi," Chongzhen's gaze sharpened.

"Lindan Khan's wife... the daughter of the Yehenara family... has Ma Chengen caught her?" he whispered. "Good!"

Having just received his paycheck, he immediately went beyond the Great Wall to achieve merit and even caught this big fish. It seems the saying "The Ming army is invincible when its pay is not full, but when it is fully paid" is indeed true!
Immediately, he recalled his previous life, where Li Huaixin, Ma Chengen, and others died in the Jisi Incident, proving themselves to be loyal and valiant.

Since he is loyal and brave, he should be given an important position!

The year of Ji Si... that's next year!

Chongzhen's eyes darkened, a sense of urgency gripping his heart. "No, the money isn't enough, the knife isn't sharp enough... we need to harvest more!"

Without further hesitation, he picked up his vermilion pen and wrote in red on the military report: "The captured Mongolian noblewoman shall be immediately escorted to Xuanfu Town and handed over to Wei Zhongxian for strict guard. The rest shall be seized and distributed as rewards to the officers and soldiers. The merits of Generals Li and Ma, as well as other meritorious officers and soldiers, shall be discussed separately."

After finishing his business in Datong, he picked up the next document. This was an urgent report sent by Sun Zushou, the General of Jizhou, from the Lianghekou camp.

Opening it revealed the budget for the city's construction. Sun Zushou planned to build a brick and stone castle at the confluence of the Kuanhe and Luanhe rivers, capable of housing 5,000 elite soldiers, and included estimates for materials, manpower, weaponry, and provisions.

The final figure made Chongzhen's eyelids twitch – 250,000 taels of silver!

He stared at the number, his fingers tapping on the table. Two hundred and fifty thousand taels... that was nearly thirty percent of the confiscated silver from the Duke's mansion.

However, without the slightest hesitation, his gaze fell upon the Datong report he had just finished reading—the document that reported the preliminary inventory of the Prince Dai's wealth.

"The money... will come," he whispered, as if calling out to Sun Zushou in the distance, "The defeat at Kuanhemu Fortress must never be repeated!"

He picked up his brush, dipped it in vermilion, and wrote on Sun Zushou's memorial: "Immediately allocate funds from the Imperial Treasury." A side note read: "Approved: 250,000 taels. The Imperial Transport Treasury, the Ministry of Works, and the Ministry of War are to jointly manage this. Construction must begin in the spring, without delay, and be completed within one year!"

Just after the approval was completed, Xu Yingyuan reported: "Your Majesty, Vice Minister Li Banghua and Eunuch Lu Jiude are waiting to see you. The accounts of the Beijing Garrison have been audited."

"Bring him in." Emperor Chongzhen put down his pen.

A moment later, Li Banghua and Lu Jiude bowed and entered, their faces showing exhaustion and shock. Li Banghua presented a thick ledger: "Your Majesty, this is a summary of accounts confessed and revealed by officers of the Beijing Garrison and above in Tsinghua Garden... It is appalling."

Emperor Chongzhen didn't translate: "Name a number."

Li Banghua took a deep breath: "Your Majesty, according to the confessions and account records, the nominal strength of the Beijing Garrison is over 164,000, but the actual number... is probably less than 40,000! Most of them are old and weak, recruited and privately employed by various government offices, nobles, eunuchs, and generals, accounting for seven or eight out of ten. The number of soldiers capable of fighting... is probably less than 8,000!"

He paused for a moment: "In the past five years, Zhu Chunchen's faction alone has embezzled funds, misappropriated military pay, and resold military equipment and provisions, embezzling more than... 1.5 million taels of silver!"

Lu Jiude added: "This only involves the core of Zhu's party; if we include other forms of exploitation... the amount is even larger."

The hall was dead silent.

Emperor Chongzhen showed no joy or anger, and gave a soft "heh," his voice icy cold.

“Parasites!” he spat out. “My capital garrison, with over a million taels of silver and six or seven hundred thousand shi of grain a year, has produced less than forty thousand old, weak, and useless people, and a bunch of national magnates!”

He stood up and pointed to the account book: "Stolen silver, cash, and stolen goods shall be deposited into the Imperial Carriage Treasury and a separate account shall be set up for the Imperial Guard!"

He glanced at the two men: "Taken from the thieves, used for the soldiers! I will use this silver to retrain a new army!"

"Your Majesty obeys!" Li Banghua and Lu Jiude bowed and accepted the order. Both understood that the Emperor was about to abandon the old Beijing Garrison and establish a new one!

After the matter was over, the two men withdrew.

Emperor Chongzhen paced to the window, gazing at the gray sky to the north, and asked, "Xu Yingyuan, over in Xuanfu... has Wei Zhongxian made any moves?"

Xu Yingyuan replied, "Your Majesty, the Xuanfu Garrison reports that Governor Wei and the two generals, Hou and You, have not stopped despite the snow. They have dispatched elite cavalry as the vanguard to clear the snow and advance step by step towards Dushikou. Nearly half of the 300-li road has been cleared. Once the road is clear, the main force of the army can rush straight to the city."

A hint of approval flashed in Chongzhen's eyes: "Good! This is the border army of my Great Ming!" He pondered for a moment, then turned and said: "Draft an edict and tell Xu Qinian: lead the Imperial Guard's vanguard, central camp, and rear camp to set off immediately for Xuanfu Town!"

Xu Yingyuan was taken aback: "Your Majesty, these Imperial Guards are His Majesty's confidants..."

Chongzhen's gaze sharpened: "Precisely because they are trusted confidants, they must be taken to the real battlefield to see bloodshed! Tell You Shiwei that these three battalions of soldiers will be under his temporary command when they arrive in Xuanfu! Tell him that my personal guards receive double pay, eat good food, and receive double compensation if they die in battle... They are meant to fight tough battles! If the battle at Dushikou becomes a stalemate, they will be sent to fill in!"

"This servant obeys the decree!" Xu Yingyuan bowed and accepted the order.

After a brief silence in the hall, Chongzhen pondered and said, "Draft two more edicts, one for Wei Zhongxian, and the other for You Shiwei, Hou Shilu, and Zhu Zhifeng."

Xu Yingyuan listened with his head down.

"First, draft a secret edict for You, Hou, and Zhu." Chongzhen said solemnly, "There is new evidence in the case of Zhu Chunchen's traitorous party, involving Wang Shiqin and Wang Tong, former subordinates of Xuanfu Town, who are suspected of colluding with the barbarians and inciting rebellion."

"However, with a great battle imminent, it is detrimental to the army to execute generals on the battlefield. You Shiwei is hereby ordered to immediately relieve Wang Shiqin and Wang Tong of their military command, and to incorporate them, along with their household guards and confidants, into the vanguard and trap unit, still under the command of Hou Shilu. This is an act of divine grace from me, granting them an opportunity to atone for their crimes through meritorious service! If they bravely fight on the front lines, slaying enemy chieftains and defeating the enemy, their previous crimes may be pardoned. If they harbor disloyal intentions or are cowardly in battle..."

Emperor Chongzhen snorted coldly: "Execute them all, their entire families!"

"Yes!" Xu Yingyuan noted it down.

"I will draft another proposal for Wei Zhongxian," Chongzhen continued. "Su Tai is a good card to play. I will have him find an opportunity to contact Hudun Tuhan and probe for peace talks. We must win the war, but after the war, we might as well give him the opportunity to 'lead his troops to surrender and be enfeoffed by the Ming Dynasty.' I want victory, but I also want to be able to fight the Jurchen's allies. I will let him know his limits, fight and negotiate at the same time, and use war to promote appeasement!"

Xu Yingyuan replied, "Yes! This servant will draft the imperial edict and seal, and send it to Xuanfu by express courier, six hundred li away!"

Emperor Chongzhen looked up at the northern sky once more, his gaze colder than the depths of winter.

He whispered, “Only with money can we win battles. Only by winning battles can we plunder even more money… I truly understand this principle now.”

"It's time to cleanse the parasites in the army with the flames of war! Once they're cleaned up, the Beijing garrison's annual revenue of over a million taels of silver and six or seven hundred thousand shi of rice will be enough to fund the new army!"

(End of this chapter)