My father is Chongzhen? Then I have no choice but to rebel.

Chapter 244 How much money does the Ming Dynasty have now? Answer: Four hundred million taels of silver!
In fact, Zhu Cilang was not making things up, because a large coal mine was indeed discovered in this area in later generations.

Moreover, this coal mine was once plundered by thugs!
Even so, mining continued for nearly a century afterward.

Therefore, Zhu Cilang estimated that if used normally, it would definitely last for another two or three hundred years without any problem.

Zhu Cilang then continued:

"I have already sent the Embroidered Uniform Guard to escort officials and craftsmen from the Ministry of Works to investigate. Once the situation is confirmed, we can start mining coal directly."

"At that time, ordinary coal will be supplied to the army, and honeycomb briquettes will be supplied to the people."

"In this way, the fuel and winter survival problems in Liaodong can be completely solved."

Li Banghua instantly understood, his eyes filled with admiration, and he cupped his hands in greeting:

"Your Highness is truly insightful and far-sighted; I am ashamed of my own inferiority."

Zhu Cilang smiled and said:

"Lord Li, please don't be so modest. We will need your help in many matters concerning the Ming Dynasty in the future."

The two then discussed some other matters before Li Banghua left, satisfied.

Time flies, and several days have passed in the blink of an eye.

On this day, a messenger from the Ministry of Revenue suddenly came to inquire about when the cotton from overseas would be transported to the capital.

The Ministry of Revenue wanted to know the approximate timeframe so that it could prepare the necessary funds and arrange for personnel to receive the cotton.

According to the Ministry of Revenue, this shipment of cotton should be sent to Tianjin Port, just like the previous shipment of grain, and then the Ministry of Revenue would go there directly to receive it.

However, it was obvious that this matter didn't need to be so complicated, because all the cotton was redeemed by Zhu Cilang from the system.

That said, if the Ministry of Revenue hadn't sent someone to remind him, Zhu Cilang would have almost forgotten about it.

So after dismissing the Ministry of Revenue officials, Zhu Cilang immediately sent someone to find a hidden warehouse, and then went there himself.

With just a thought, five million tons of cotton filled the entire warehouse.

Although it consumed some system points, these points were negligible for Zhu Cilang at the moment.

After completing this task, Zhu Cilang summoned several trusted confidants and had them lead a group of people to impersonate the Zheng family's merchant caravan, transporting the cotton to the Imperial Warehouse, a special warehouse for storing cotton under the Ministry of Revenue.

Of course, he didn't forget to call over Ni Yuanlu, the Minister of Revenue, as this thing needed to be put into storage.

Standing in front of the imperial warehouse, Minister of Revenue Ni Yuanlu was stunned and incredulous when he saw the mountains of cotton piled up.

Because he really didn't know where these changes came from.

The Ministry of Revenue had not received any notification from the Zheng family, and the money for the cotton had not been paid. So how did these five million catties of cotton arrive directly in the capital?

"Your Highness, where did all this cotton come from? I haven't heard of such a large quantity of cotton entering the capital recently."

Ni Yuanlu finally couldn't help but ask, with a hint of doubt and unease.

Zhu Cilang, however, remained calm and composed, saying:

"This cotton was transported from overseas by the Zheng family. Knowing that the Ming Dynasty urgently needed this cotton to get through the winter, the Zheng family hired horse-drawn carriages to transport it directly to the capital after it arrived at the port."

"Since we entered Beijing at night, it's normal that you didn't know!"

Forehead.
Ni Yuanlu listened with a puzzled look. What he said didn't seem to have any problem, but he just felt that something was off.

However, seeing the cotton piled up right in front of him, he didn't say anything more and immediately arranged for people to register and put it into storage.

Just then, Zhu Cilang suddenly added:

"By the way, the money for this cotton should be sent to the East Palace first, and I will personally settle the accounts for the Zheng family!"

Although Zhu Cilang redeemed all this cotton using system points, he still had to pay every penny he was owed.

Anyway, the Ministry of Revenue is not short of money these days!
Upon hearing this, Ni Yuanlu quickly nodded and said:
"Your Highness, rest assured, once all the funds have been registered and deposited into the treasury, the Ministry of Revenue will immediately allocate the funds!"

Zhu Cilang nodded in satisfaction.

Zhu Cilang then looked at the cotton being moved into the warehouse and felt a little regretful.

Because he knew in his heart that he could only take care of the cotton needs of the Ming soldiers and some people at present, and could not ensure that all the people in the world had enough cotton to get through the winter.

Although the system can exchange cotton, if the quantity is too large, it will definitely arouse suspicion. Moreover, the sudden appearance of a large amount of cotton on the market will affect next year's cotton production and ultimately lead to chaos in the cotton market.

Therefore, in order to maintain market stability, Zhu Cilang could not exchange cotton indefinitely.

However, he had already issued an imperial edict, which was to vigorously promote the use of honeycomb briquettes throughout the country. Wherever there were coal mines, honeycomb briquettes had to be produced in large quantities to provide heating for the surrounding people during the winter.

As for places with coal mines that had not yet been discovered, Zhu Cilang marked them in detail and then ordered the Embroidered Uniform Guard to go and investigate with officials and craftsmen from the Ministry of Works.

In short, he just wanted fewer people to die this winter.

Just like he said before, the Ming Dynasty is really too difficult to save!
Two days later, the weather was unusually cool and not as hot as before.

A grand procession, resembling a winding dragon, marched majestically toward the Forbidden City.

The bright yellow flag fluttered fiercely in the breeze, displaying the majesty of the royal family.

This was Emperor Chongzhen's ceremonial retinue.

At this moment, Emperor Chongzhen sat upright on his magnificent dragon carriage, occasionally looking out the window at the towering palace walls, and couldn't help but sigh with admiration.

It must be said that he truly experienced a transcendent tranquility and serenity in the Taoist temple these past few days.

With ancient books and the sounds of morning bells and evening drums, one finds a tranquil and idyllic retreat.

But as time went on, this repetitive life became increasingly tedious and boring for Chongzhen, as if he were imprisoned in a monotonous world.

There was no way around it; after all, he was an emperor before, how could he endure such hardship?

Moreover, Emperor Chongzhen went alone, without the Empress or concubines accompanying him, which made his ordeal even more unbearable.

So less than ten days later, he could no longer hold back and decided to return to the palace.

Zhu Cilang naturally learned of this news in advance, but he had some matters to attend to, so he did not go to meet Chongzhen.

After finishing his various tasks, Zhu Cilang went to the palace.

Firstly, he wanted to pay his respects, and secondly, he thought he could take the opportunity to talk to Emperor Chongzhen about the recent events, both big and small, that had occurred in the court.

After all, tomorrow was the day for court, and Emperor Chongzhen had been away from the Taoist temple for so long; now that he had finally returned, he was bound to attend court.

At the same time, inside the palace.

After returning to the palace, Chongzhen went straight to Empress Zhou's Kunning Palace.

At this moment, Emperor Chongzhen had a smile on his face and walked with a light step, like a young man taking a spring outing, which was completely different from his previous appearance, which was slightly hunched over by the pressure of court affairs.

Although his trip to the Taoist temple was brief, it brought about significant changes in him over the past few days.

At this moment, his expression was filled with a rare ease and joy. The thought of seeing Empress Zhou soon made Chongzhen even happier.

Because Emperor Chongzhen made a sudden decision to return to the palace, Empress Zhou was unaware of it at first. It was only after Chongzhen's entourage entered the capital that Empress Zhou found out.

Therefore, Empress Zhou specially dressed up carefully.

At this moment, she was wearing a red palace dress embroidered with begonia flowers. The brocade was soft and fit her figure perfectly. With each step she took, the hem of her skirt swayed gently like a graceful butterfly.

Her long, jet-black hair was piled high in a bun, adorned with several gold hairpins inlaid with rubies, which shone with a captivating luster under the light.

She wore light makeup, her cheeks slightly flushed, like peach blossoms in full bloom in spring, delicate and beautiful.

Although Empress Zhou has been a mother for over a decade, she is only thirty-two years old this year.

So when Chongzhen stepped into Kunning Palace, Empress Zhou hurriedly went over and bowed slightly with graceful bearing, saying:
"I see you, Your Majesty!"

"Your Majesty, you're finally back! I've been so worried about you these past few days."

Emperor Chongzhen hurriedly stepped forward, steadily helping Empress Zhou to her feet with both hands. His eyes were filled with deep affection, and his smile deepened as he softly said:

"Your Majesty, I have caused you worry."

"Although the Taoist temple is quiet, it lacks a bit of human warmth without you by my side. I really couldn't stay there, so I came back."

If Zhu Cilang were here now, he would definitely get goosebumps from the sweet talk between Emperor Chongzhen and Empress Zhou.

After all, witnessing one's parents flirting is indeed a very shocking thing.

At the same time, after saying these words, Chongzhen naturally took Empress Zhou's hand, and the two intertwined their fingers, as if conveying their longing and affection for each other.

Even Wang Chengen, standing behind Emperor Chongzhen, was embarrassed to look at this scene.

Just then, Chongzhen suddenly thought of something and looked at Wang Chengen behind him, saying:
"Your Excellency, go outside and keep watch. I have important matters to discuss with the Empress. No one is allowed to approach Kunning Palace!"

After a pause, Chongzhen added:

"Even if that rebellious son comes, it won't work!"

The so-called rebellious son was none other than Zhu Cilang!
Upon hearing this, Wang Chengen quickly replied:
"Slave, you obey!"

Without saying a word, Chongzhen immediately took Empress Zhou to her bedchamber.
When Zhu Cilang arrived outside Kunning Palace, he saw Wang Chengen waiting respectfully to the side, seemingly waiting for him.

Before Wang Chengen could even bow, Zhu Cilang asked directly:
"Eunuch Wang, is the Emperor in Kunning Palace?"

Wang Chengen looked slightly embarrassed, hesitated for a moment, and then cautiously replied:
"Your Highness, His Majesty went straight to Kunning Palace to see the Empress upon returning to the palace. He specifically instructed that no one should disturb her, not even Your Highness."

As he said this, Wang Chengen's old face instantly turned red.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Cilang was taken aback.

But then, a sudden realization flashed through his mind, and an embarrassed look crossed his face. He already knew what Chongzhen was doing.
But thinking about it, it makes sense. Emperor Chongzhen was only 35 years old, which was still in his prime, so it was understandable that such a thing would happen.

But then again, couldn't he have waited until evening?
No no no
I really can't think about this anymore, it's just too damn embarrassing!

"Cough cough."

At that moment, Zhu Cilang coughed lightly to calm himself down, then looked at Wang Chengen and said:
"Remember this, I haven't been here today!"

How could Wang Chengen dare utter a single word of dissent? He immediately nodded and said:

"This servant has not seen the Crown Prince today!"

Zhu Cilang nodded, then turned and left without looking back, his steps hurried, as if he were fleeing some extremely dangerous place.

Just like he said, this kind of thing is so damn embarrassing!
We'd better run!

However, Zhu Cilang quickly put the matter out of his mind because something more important had happened!

That means the last batch of troops responsible for collecting overdue taxes has arrived in Tianjin, and they set off from Tianjin this morning. They are expected to arrive in Beijing tonight.

By this point, except for the war-torn regions of Henan and Shaanxi, the vast majority of the Ming Dynasty's tax arrears had been collected.

And all of this took less than a month and a half!

The reason for this was that the imperial court was serious this time and directly dispatched troops to collect the overdue taxes.

Anyone who dares to resist or evade taxes will be executed without exception!

After killing them, their families were confiscated and their clans exterminated; there was no room for negotiation.

Under such swift and decisive measures, the usually arrogant and domineering gentry and officials were all terrified and dared not put up any resistance.

Despite this, at least 20,000 gentry and powerful figures across the country were killed.

However, Zhu Cilang's attention was quickly drawn to the enormous wealth that had been confiscated, and he subconsciously ignored the gentry and powerful figures who had been killed.

After all, the amount of tax arrears collected this time is simply too large.

This time, the Beijing garrison brought back all the taxes owed by the provinces near Nanjing, amounting to a total of 130 million taels of silver.

Six million taels of gold!

This doesn't even include the countless rare treasures, grains, cotton, and other physical goods!
This astronomical figure sounds exaggerated at first glance, but Zhu Cilang thinks it is quite normal.

Because the South is a prosperous and wealthy region with thriving commerce and vast farmland, its tax revenue is naturally much higher than that of the North.

Given the accumulated tax arrears over the years, it is reasonable for them to receive such income now.

If all the taxes owed nationwide were added together, the final amount would be staggering, reaching 250 million taels of silver, 13 million taels of gold, as well as thousands of boxes of grain and various rare treasures.

It is worth mentioning that this does not include the grain and silver stockpiled in the surrounding provinces of Henan for use in attacking Li Zicheng.

Zhu Cilang recalled everything that had happened before and couldn't help but shake his head and chuckle.

Just as he had predicted, the Ming Dynasty was not short of money; it was just that Emperor Chongzhen dared not take action against the wealthy gentry and powerful clans.

He himself had no such concerns, and after a series of battles, he had countless amounts of silver and gold in his hands!

However, Zhu Cilang did not intend to hand over all the silver to the Ministry of Revenue at once.

After all, the Ministry of Revenue couldn't absorb such a large sum of money in a short time.

Therefore, after these tax arrears were transported to the capital, although they were nominally handed over to the Ministry of Revenue, they were actually stored in a separate warehouse.

Furthermore, Zhu Cilang specifically dispatched a large number of elite troops and the Embroidered Uniform Guard to guard the area closely, which made it impossible for Ni Yuanlu, the Minister of Revenue, to manage the funds.

Ni Yuanlu probably knew what Zhu Cilang meant, but he dared not speak out against it.

On the one hand, he knew that this crown prince was ruthless and not to be trifled with.

On the other hand, he worried that if he raised any objections, Zhu Cilang would be so angry that he would simply move all the silver into the imperial treasury.

If that were the case, the Ministry of Revenue would completely lose control of this enormous wealth.

In order to prevent such a thing from happening, Ni Yuanlu, as the Minister of Revenue, could only silently endure it.

In addition, Zhu Cilang also secretly manipulated the specific amount of tax arrears collected this time.

Whenever unpaid taxes were transported to the capital, he would have someone secretly withhold 30% and transport it to the Eastern Palace without anyone noticing.

He also took most of the rare and precious treasures and sent them to the Eastern Palace.

After all, these treasures might just be antiques in other people's eyes, but in Zhu Cilang's eyes, these things have a greater use, namely, they can be used to exchange for system points.

In fact, if he hadn't been worried about how it would look on the public, Zhu Cilang would have secretly kept all the rare treasures for himself.

Of course, Zhu Cilang also manipulated the accounts to ensure that no one would notice.

Even so, Zhu Cilang's system points soared, approaching 20 million.

If converted to silver, that's roughly three hundred million taels of silver!

However, Zhu Cilang did not intend to use all of these points to exchange for silver; he had a longer-term plan in mind.

In summary, although the actual total amount of taxes collected this time was 250 million taels of silver and 13 million taels of gold, what the public saw on the surface was only 170 million taels of silver and 8 million taels of gold.

The extra 80 million taels of silver and 5 million taels of gold were all secretly embezzled by Zhu Cilang.

However, using the word "embezzlement" seems inappropriate, since the world originally belonged to the Zhu family. He simply found a "safer" place to properly store these riches.

Even so, the 170 million taels of silver on the surface was enough to make everyone's jaw drop.

It should be noted that since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, the imperial treasury has never had such a substantial accumulation of reserves.

Even at its most prosperous period, the national treasury held no more than ten million taels of silver.

However, now, including the original silver held by the Ministry of Revenue, the total amount of silver held by the Ministry of Revenue has reached 200 million taels of silver.

If we include the silver that Zhu Cilang had hoarded and the silver in the imperial treasury, the court now possesses approximately 400 million taels of silver and 23 million taels of gold.

Upon learning this number, Zhu Cilang felt his head buzzing, as if he were in a dream.

Such enormous wealth is almost unbelievable.

But upon calming down and thinking about it carefully, it doesn't seem so difficult to understand.

According to the Jinyiwei's rough estimate, the number of gentry in the late Ming Dynasty was as many as 500,000!
This includes those who achieved academic success in the imperial examinations, namely Xiucai, Juren, and Jinshi, as well as current or retired civil and military officials.

The number of these people reached as many as 500,000 during the late Ming Dynasty!

If their families are included, the gentry class at the end of the Ming Dynasty numbered more than five million!
They only account for two percent of the national population!
Moreover, under normal circumstances, even the lowest-ranking scholar would typically own around 500 acres of land.

Of course, these land plots are usually just nominal, in order to evade taxes.

The highest-ranking officials, such as Zhou Yanru in the past and the current Duke of England, own hundreds of thousands of acres of land!
It is no exaggeration to say that the gentry class of 500,000 people owned at least half of the land in the Ming Dynasty!

And these lands have never been taxed before!

Imagine how shocking it is that two percent of the population occupies half of the country's land, and none of that land pays taxes.

At least half of the responsibility for the demise of the Ming Dynasty lies with these 500,000 people!

Zhu Cilang treated all these people equally, directly collecting taxes owed for nearly a hundred years from the Wanli era to the present, which is why he had so much silver!
In short, he did something truly earth-shattering!

After all, throughout history, no emperor or crown prince has ever been able to possess so much wealth all at once!

Of course, having too much silver isn't always a good thing, as it can cause inflation.

Fortunately, all this silver is in the hands of the imperial court, so it will not cause inflation for the time being.

Moreover, with more money, there are so many things you can do next.

For example, repairing those long-neglected official roads to make it more convenient for merchants and travelers to travel.

For example, expanding the army, purchasing superior weapons and provisions, and continuing to develop new firearms to enhance the Ming army's combat effectiveness.

Another example is continuing to purchase large quantities of food and other supplies from overseas.

Or we could just build a road!
In short, Zhu Cilang has a lot to do in the future, and all of these things require a lot of financial support!
Thinking of this, Zhu Cilang couldn't help but smile with satisfaction, his heart filled with anticipation for the future of the Ming Dynasty.

The Ming Dynasty is finally getting better and better.

Sure enough, the Beijing garrison escorting the tax collectors arrived in the capital at midnight that day.

As per Zhu Cilang's previous instructions, more than 30% of the gold and silver and more than 50% of the rare treasures were secretly sent to the Eastern Palace, while the remainder was sent to the Ministry of Revenue.

The next day happened to be the day for court.

Outside the Hall of Supreme Harmony, the morning light was faint, and the golden glow shone on the white marble steps, making them gleam.

After about ten days of seeking immortality and enlightenment, Emperor Chongzhen must attend the court assembly today.

After all, he left without a trace, and now that he has returned, he must at least make an appearance in court to appease the officials.

However, Zhu Cilang was a little worried that Chongzhen might miss the morning court session because he was "overworked" yesterday, so he specially sent someone to remind him last night.

Only after receiving a definite answer did Zhu Cilang feel relieved.

Sure enough, early the next morning, Emperor Chongzhen appeared in the court with a solemn expression, dressed in his dragon robe.

When the court officials saw Chongzhen's familiar figure standing steadily in the court, and not dressed as a Taoist priest, they finally felt relieved.

If Emperor Chongzhen were to sit on the dragon throne wearing a Taoist robe, at least half of the officials would have their mentality completely shattered!
(PS: I've checked a lot of information but couldn't find the exact amount of silver reserves at the end of the Ming Dynasty. However, according to some sources, the nobles in the capital and the eight great imperial merchants in Shanxi alone had 150 million taels of silver. Since this figure is for the whole country, 400 million taels is not an exaggeration.)
(End of this chapter)