Transmigrating to the Chongzhen era, I started by confiscating the Donglin Party.

On the eighth day of the tenth month of the fifteenth year of Chongzhen's reign, at the hour of Mao (5-7 AM

The dawn completely tore through the night.

But the chill of the night still lingered on the white marble plaza in front of the Qianqing Palace. The frost in the cracks of the stones had not yet melted, shimmering with a faint, cold light in the rising sun.

Outside Donghua Gate, a large group of people knelt down.

They were not officials, but family members.

Twenty-seven sedan chairs were crammed together at the foot of the palace wall, their curtains all lifted, revealing empty interiors. The sedan chair bearers and their attendants huddled in a more distant corner, heads bowed, not daring to look at the kneeling people.

The people kneeling are the family members of the seven ministers who were arrested last night.

Zhou Yanru's eighty-year-old mother, supported by her two daughters-in-law, knelt at the front. The old woman's hair was completely white, and she wore the ceremonial robes of a noblewoman, but the lapel was stained with dust, and every wrinkle on her face trembled. Her lips moved as if she wanted to say something, but no sound came out.

Behind them were Chen Yan's wife and three daughters, all dressed in mourning clothes, their heads bowed to the ground, their shoulders heaving. Further back, from the Wang family, the Liu family, the Zhao family... women, children, the elderly, and the weak, a large group of fifty or sixty people knelt, most of them pale-faced and with vacant eyes.

They are waiting.

They waited for the emperor to show mercy, and for their husbands, fathers, and sons to be released alive from the imperial prison.

He had been kneeling for an hour.

The stone ground in October was bitterly cold. Several elderly people in the front row were already swaying precariously, but dared not fall—the eyes of the brave guards soldiers holding knives beside them were as cold as ice.

The palace gates remained tightly closed.

At the same time, at the Northern Garrison Command's office.

The sound of an abacus.

The dense, crisp sound of abacus beads clashing together never stopped from the hour of Yin (3-5 AM).

The main hall was temporarily converted into an inventory area, with eight long tables pushed together and piled high with account books, land deeds, house deeds, IOUs, and pawn tickets.

Sixteen senior officials from the Ministry of Revenue worked in pairs, one reading numbers and the other manipulating the abacus, their fingers flying across the page, sweat beading on their foreheads.

The air was filled with the musty smell of old paper, the smell of ink, and a faint, cool, metallic scent unique to gold and silver.

Li Ruolian stood at the entrance of the hall, watching as boxes of goods were carried in, labeled with numbers, and then opened and inventoried.

"Box No. 3, Class C, inventoried—" a clerk announced loudly, "Silver, one hundred taels per ingot, fifty ingots in total, totaling five thousand taels! One packet of gold leaves, weighing one hundred and twenty taels, equivalent to one thousand two hundred taels of silver! Five jade artifacts, pending appraisal!"

A clerk immediately lowered his head to take notes, and the abacus clicked away for a while.

Gao Wencai strode in from outside and whispered in Li Ruolian's ear, "My lord, the inventory at Chen Yan's residence is complete."

The account books hidden in the study's wall have been sealed, and nine boxes of cash and gold are on their way.

There was also a hidden cellar under the floorboards of his bedroom, where eleven drafts from Shanxi merchants' banks were kept, with a total face value of... no less than 80,000 taels.

Li Ruolian nodded without saying anything.

“Zhou Yanru’s family is more troublesome,” Gao Wencai continued. “His wife insists that there isn’t much cash in the house, but our people found a hidden compartment under his concubine’s bed with more than twenty salt certificates, all issued by Yangzhou’s largest salt shop, ‘Yufeng Salt Shop,’ with a total face value of… 100,000 taels.”

"Where is Wang Pujing's residence?"

"The inventory is complete. There isn't much cash, but the weapons, furs, and horse harnesses fill half the warehouse, all of them top-quality goods, unlike what the Xuanfu border troops should have."

Several unfinished letters were also found, addressed to his father, Wang Pu, in which he mentioned, "Master Fan, next time you deliver goods, you can use Zhangjiakou."

Li Ruolian's eyes narrowed: "Where's the letter?"

"Here it is." Gao Wencai handed over a stack of letters.

Li Ruolian took the letter and quickly flipped through it. The letter was written by Wang Ke, with messy handwriting and trivial content, but a few sentences stood out: "Father, Commander: Lord Fan sent someone to say that the goods in Liaodong are ready, and asked whether to go through Xuanfu or Datong next time... I think that Xuanfu is being inspected strictly recently, so it would be better to go through Datong. I have already taken care of things with Lieutenant General Zhang."

Master Fan. Lieutenant General Zhang.

Li Ruolian folded the letter and put it in his pocket. This was a clue, a clue that could lead to the border generals of Xuanda, to the Shanxi merchants, and even to Liaodong.

"Tell the people in the Ministry of Revenue," he turned to the busy clerks in the hall, "to prioritize the inventory of easily convertible assets such as silver, gold, and jewelry. List the totals of land and shops; detailed valuations can wait."

"Yes," the crowd replied.

An old official looked up, wiped his sweat, and said in a trembling voice, "Lord Li, we've only cleared out three households, and the cash amount has already exceeded 400,000 taels... If we clear out all seven households..."

He didn't finish his sentence, but everyone understood what he meant.

Li Ruolian didn't reply, but just looked out of the hall.

As the sky brightened, sunlight shone on the piles of chests and boxes in the courtyard. The white paper bearing the inscription "Sealed by the Northern Garrison Command" was dazzlingly white in the morning light.

At the beginning of Chen Shi (7-9 AM), at the main camp of the Beijing Garrison.

Zhang Weixian didn't sleep.

He stood on the command platform in the drill ground, looking down at the three thousand musketeers of the Brave Guard Battalion who were training.

Loading the explosives, compacting them, lighting the fuse, aiming—the movements were synchronized, but Zhang Weixian could tell that many people's eyes were wandering and their minds were not on the training at all.

Although we tried our best to keep it a secret, it was impossible for no word of what happened last night to leak out.

In particular, the two battalion commanders from the Fifth Army Battalion who attempted to mobilize troops were apprehended in public and imprisoned in the dungeon. Several officers from the Third Army Battalion were also disarmed and locked in their barracks.

The news spread quietly within the Beijing military camp, like an undercurrent.

"Admiral." Lieutenant General Sun Yingyuan strode up to the platform, the scar on his face appearing particularly menacing in the morning light. "I have just received a report from scouts in the Changping direction."

"explain."

"The Ma Ke tribe has three thousand men. They passed Juyong Pass yesterday at dusk and should be in the Huailai area this morning. Their marching speed is not fast, about fifty li a day. It doesn't seem like they are planning a surprise attack on the capital."

Zhang Weixian frowned: "Doesn't seem like a surprise attack?"

"Yes. The scouts said that their entourage had many supply wagons and their families with them, and they were moving slowly. They did send out a lot of scouts to scout back and forth along the Juyongguan-Changping line, as if they were... waiting for something."

What are you waiting for?

Zhang Weixian immediately understood—wait for news from the capital. Wait for the news of Zhou Yanru, Chen Yan, and the others' arrest to spread, wait for the court and the public to be shaken, wait for the emperor to compromise under pressure, or... wait for someone to open the city gates for them.

"Where are our people?" he asked.

"General Zhou Yuji's two thousand Shanxi soldiers secretly arrived last night at Shahe Town, southwest of Changping, about thirty li from the vanguard of Ma Ke's troops. General Zhou sent someone to ask whether to ambush them on the spot or let them come closer and then attack?"

Zhang Weixian pondered for a moment.

"Tell Zhou Yuji to hold off for now. Ma Ke is using the guise of 'serving the emperor,' and if we make the first move, we'll be in the wrong. Let them get closer and wait for His Majesty's decree."

"And what about the Beijing Garrison..."

"Continue training as usual." Zhang Weixian's gaze swept across the drill ground. "Tell all battalion commanders that from today onwards, all officers will live and eat in their camps and are not allowed to leave. Anyone who disobeys—" He patted the goose-feather saber at his waist, "will be dealt with according to military law."

Sun Yingyuan clasped his hands in a fist and said, "Yes!"

Zhang Weixian then looked towards the Forbidden City in the east and murmured, "I wonder how many officials Li Tongzhi has counted."

At 9:00 AM, in the West Warm Pavilion of Qianqing Palace.

Li Ce stood by the window, looking at the kneeling family members outside.

The morning light was bright, making the colors of the people's clothes somewhat glaring. The old man with white hair, the woman in plain clothes, and the child in brocade jackets—against the backdrop of the white marble square, they resembled an unfolded, silent plea.

"Your Majesty," Wang Chengen said, bringing in ginseng tea in a very low voice, "Minister of Revenue Fu Shuxun is waiting outside. Also, Assistant Magistrate Li has submitted his first report on the inventory."

"Let Fu Shuxun in." Li Ce didn't turn around.

Fu Shuxun was a thin old man in his sixties, wearing a scarlet official robe, but the robe was somewhat old, and the cuffs were worn shiny. He knelt down after entering the hall, holding a memorial in his hands.

"Your Majesty, this is the actual inventory of the Jingtong Warehouse." His voice was bitter. "The books show 460,000 shi, but after three days of inventory checks, the actual inventory is 320,000 shi."

Of the grain, less than 200,000 shi (a unit of dry measure) were immediately usable. The rest was all old grain, some of which...were probably already moldy.

Li Ce took the memorial, opened it, and looked at it.

The figures are very detailed, with warehouse numbers, types of stored grain, years of storage, and estimated losses listed clearly in each column.

"Two hundred thousand shi," he closed the memorial, ""how long will that feed the people of the capital?"

Fu Shuxun's forehead was covered in sweat: "If we calculate it at one jin per person per day, with a population of one million in the capital, it would take about... a month."

"One month," Li Ce repeated. "When will the grain transported from Jiangnan arrive?"

"The autumn grain that was supposed to arrive by the end of September is still..." Fu Shuxun said with a forced smile, "The grain transport ships are still stuck in Xuzhou. They say the waterway is silted up and they are dredging it. I sent someone to urge them, and they replied that it will be at least the end of the month."

end of the month.

Twenty days left.

Li Ce didn't speak. He walked to the map of the territory hanging on the wall and pointed to the location of Southern Zhili.

"Minister Fu, do you think those people in Jiangnan truly believe the river channels are silted up, or do they think... my sword isn't sharp enough?"

Fu Shuxun fell to the ground with a thud: "Your Majesty... Your Majesty does not know."

"You don't know, but I do." Li Ce turned around. "Let them block the way. Once I've taken stock of what I have, I'll have the money to buy and transport grain."

He walked back to his desk, picked up a pen, wrote a note, and handed it to Fu Shuxun:

"From the confiscated silver, allocate 100,000 taels and immediately send people to Shandong and Henan to purchase grain. Do not use the canal transport, but the land route; transport as much as you can."

"Allocate another 50,000 taels to repair the Jingtong granary. The moldy grain can be dried and mixed with new grain, which should last for a few more days."

Fu Shuxun accepted the note with both hands, her voice trembling: "Your subject... Your subject obeys the decree."

"Go down."

Fu Shuxun practically crawled out.

Wang Chengen then stepped forward and presented another secret report: "Your Majesty, this was handed over by Li Tongzhi."

Li Ce unfolded.

The handwriting on the paper was still neat, but the content was shocking:

"As of early morning, a preliminary inventory of the seven properties revealed: 684,000 taels of silver, 7,000 taels of gold (equivalent to approximately 70,000 taels of silver), and jewelry and jade items awaiting valuation. Land deeds and property deeds for the Zhou and Chen families alone exceeded 3,000 hectares, along with over 100 shops. Salt and tea permits, among other documents, were valued at approximately 150,000 taels of silver. Furthermore, numerous secret letters and bank drafts between Chen Yan and Shanxi merchant Fan Yongdou were discovered, involving a substantial sum. Further inventory is ongoing, with the estimated total amount far exceeding one million taels."

Li Ce stared at the number "million" for a long time.

Then he laughed.

A low, cold laugh.

"Wang Chengen, isn't this ridiculous?" He turned around and handed over the secret report. "Seven people, and the silver confiscated from their homes is enough to pay the Nine Garrison's wages for two months. And this is just the beginning."

Wang Chengen lowered his head, not daring to reply.

"Summon Li Ruolian." Li Ce walked back to his desk and sat down. "Also, have Zhang Weixian come."

At noon, in the same west-facing warm pavilion.

Li Ruolian and Zhang Weixian entered one after the other.

Both of them looked exhausted. Li Ruolian's eyes were dark and bluish, and Zhang Weixian's armor was still damp with morning dew.

"Sit down." Li Ce didn't stand on ceremony and pointed directly to the two secret reports. "Have you read them?"

The two nodded.

"Prefect Li," Li Ce looked at Li Ruolian, "tell me, should these seven people be killed?"

Li Ruolian pondered for a moment, then cautiously said, "According to the law, they should be executed. But... if all seven are killed, the operation of the court may be affected. Among the six ministries, the positions of vice minister in the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of Rites are already vacant, and the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of War will also be implicated. Moreover, the gentry and merchants of Jiangnan and Shanxi will surely take this opportunity to cause trouble."

"Admiral Zhang, what do you say?" Li Ce turned to Zhang Weixian.

Zhang Weixian clasped his hands and said in a loud voice, "This humble general is a rough man and does not understand politics. But this humble general knows that soldiers need to be well-fed before they can cut down the enemy with their swords. The silver confiscated from the homes of these seven people is enough for the border troops to eat their fill for several months—for that reason alone, this humble general thinks they should be killed."

Li Ce nodded.

"Then let's not kill them for now."

Both of them were stunned for a moment.

Li Ce picked up a new list from the desk and handed it to Li Ruolian: "In the imperial prison, prepare a quiet courtyard for these seven people. Make sure they have enough writing materials and tell them that within seven days, each of them must write a 'petition' clearly stating all the money they have embezzled, the things they have done, and the accomplices they have colluded with over the years, one by one."

"Those who have clearly written it out, I will spare their lives, exile them to Qiongzhou, and never employ them again."

"Things that can't be clearly written, or things that you still want to hide—" Li Ce paused, "The seven newly erected stakes outside the Meridian Gate are currently empty."

Li Ruolian took the list, which listed the seven men's deputies, protégés, and former subordinates, most of whom held official positions ranging from the fifth to the seventh rank.

"Go and make contact with these people," Li Ce said. "Tell them that I'm giving them three days to consider whether to continue following their old master, who is about to lose his head, or to switch sides and serve me."

Li Ruolian understood instantly.

This is not a simple murder.

This is... a blood transfusion.

"I understand," he bowed.

"Admiral Zhang," Li Ce then looked at Zhang Weixian, "where are they on Marco's side?"

"Latest intelligence indicates the vanguard has passed Huailai and is less than sixty li from Changping. General Zhou Yuji's two thousand men have already set up defenses at Shahe Town." Zhang Weixian paused. "This humble general requests permission to launch a preemptive strike."

"No need," Li Ce shook his head. "Take five thousand Imperial Guards, exit through Desheng Gate, and line up along the Changping line. There's no need to engage in battle. Just let Ma Ke see that the Imperial Guards' swords are already sharpened."

"What if they don't back down?"

Li Ce remained silent for a moment.

"Then let them see," he said, "how sharp my newly sharpened knife is."

Zhang Weixian clasped his hands in a deep fist salute: "This humble general obeys the order!"

Just as the two were about to leave, hurried footsteps suddenly came from outside the hall.

A eunuch tumbled in, carrying an urgent memorial in his hands, his voice trembling:

"Your Majesty! The Ministry of Justice has just received an urgent message from Jiangnan... a joint petition from sixteen retired officials and gentry members from the three prefectures of Suzhou, Songjiang, and Changzhou!"

Wang Chengen took the memorial, unfolded it, and glanced at it before his face turned pale.

He read in a trembling voice:

"Impeaching Li Ruolian, the Vice Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, for framing the Grand Secretary, abusing his power and perverting the law... and stating that if Your Majesty does not pull back from the brink, halt the new policies, and release the guilty officials, then this year's tax grain from Jiangnan... may not be able to be transported on time..."

He spoke the last few words so softly they were almost inaudible.

The warm room was deathly silent.

Li Ruolian's expression was calm, but her hands clenched slightly inside her sleeves.

Zhang Weixian's thick eyebrows shot up, and he was almost about to curse.

Only Li Ce suddenly smiled.

This time, I genuinely burst out laughing.

"I'm afraid it will be difficult to start the shipment on time?" He repeated, as if he had heard the biggest joke in the world. "A group of retired officials and a few local gentry dare to represent the 'popular uprising' in Jiangnan? They dare to threaten the imperial court?"

He stood up, walked to the map, and pressed his finger heavily on the location of "Nanjing".

"OK."

"Tell the Ministry of Justice to submit the joint petition as usual. I will approve it—"

He turned to look at Li Ruolian and Zhang Weixian, his eyes flashing with a cold light:

"What I approved was the letter of appointment for the 'Governor of Jiangnan,' the regulations for the 'Grain Transport Reform,' and the proposal for the 'Land Survey'!"

"They want to cut off the grain transport? Let them cut it off! When my ships are carrying rice from Southeast Asia and beans from Liaodong from Tianjin to the capital, I'll see whether they have more grain or my ships do!"

Before the words were finished—

"Report!!"

Another Imperial Guard rushed into the warm pavilion, covered in dust, and collapsed to the ground:

"Your Majesty! Urgent report from Changping! The vanguard of Ma Ke's troops has arrived ten miles outside Shahe Town and is confronting General Zhou Yuji's headquarters!"

Marco sent a messenger with a message saying, "Purge the court of corrupt officials and punish the treacherous ministers; Your Majesty, please release the imprisoned ministers!"

boom--

The final thunderbolt finally struck.

If civil methods don't work, resort to force. If the court doesn't work, take up arms.

Li Ce stood in front of the map, looking at the points of Beijing, Changping, Xuanfu, and Nanjing, as if he were watching a game of chess that had just been set up.

After a moment, he spoke, his voice eerily calm:

"Li Ruolian, continue the inventory and the interrogation. Zhang Weixian, muster the troops and march out of the city."

"As for that joint letter from Jiangnan—"

He picked up his pen, wrote two words on the blank memorial, and tossed it to Wang Chengen:

"Return".

Wang Chengen took it, and saw that the two words were:

"Read."

At 3:45 PM, outside Desheng Gate.

Five thousand troops from the Beijing garrison have been assembled.

Banners fluttered in the late autumn wind, and armor reflected the pale sunlight.

The soldiers were arranged in three square formations: musketeers at the front, spearmen in the middle, and cavalry on the flanks.

Zhang Weixian rode on his horse, watching the dust rising on the official road in the distance.

Those are Marco's men.

Further away, in the direction of Shahe Town, Zhou Yuji's two thousand Shanxi soldiers should have already formed ranks.

Three forces, like three swords, are about to clash in this region surrounding the capital.

The lieutenant rode forward and whispered, "Admiral, General Zhou sent someone to ask if Ma Ke's troops make the first move, what should we do..."

"Then let's fight." Zhang Weixian pressed his hand on the goose-feather saber at his waist, his voice rough. "His Majesty said that our swords must see blood. Without bloodshed, some people will always think our swords are just for show."

He paused, then looked in the direction of the Forbidden City:

"Besides... what His Majesty is waiting for is for someone to make the first move."

The wind blew even harder.

They scooped up the sand and dirt from the ground, and threw it at the armor, making a rustling sound.