Late Ming Dynasty: So what if Emperor Chongzhen was inactive?!

Chapter 292 The Emperor is penniless; there's no more profit to be made from him!
If there's not enough money, increase taxes. The problem is that the people are already impoverished, and if they keep collecting taxes, it will continue until the seventeenth year of the Chongzhen Emperor's reign.

Spending money is easy, but making money is hard. He tried all sorts of methods, but on a national scale, the money he earned from things like glassmaking, soap making, perfume extraction, and winemaking was barely enough to make a living.

He even wrote a fictional novel about the old slave and his sons called "The Story of Nurhaci, the Slave Chief," which sold quite well, but he only earned a few dozen taels of royalties.

For ordinary people, this was a huge sum of money; for an emperor, it was less than what he could earn by casually painting a few ducks and selling them. Zhu Youjian was heartbroken and abandoned the letter.

Readers were heartbroken. Although the novel was poorly written and tasteless, it seemed to have no taboos. It dared to ridicule even the former emperor of the Ming Dynasty and even curse the current emperor.

Aside from some content that is difficult for ordinary people to accept, it really revealed a lot of secrets. Its knowledge is extensive and far beyond what is comparable to the romance novels written by ordinary impoverished scholars.

Although it is not as entertaining as "Romance of the Three Kingdoms," it is better because it deals with contemporary events. Everyone speculates that the author may be a minister in the court who wrote this absurd novel because of his hatred for the Jurchens and his dissatisfaction with the current government.

The reason why the "three-foot-long silk under the tree" stopped updating is still a matter of much debate.

A well-connected enthusiast, whose aunt's younger sister was the personal maid of the concubine of a certain military officer's third uncle in the Northern Garrison, discovered that the novel's discontinuation was not due to the author's reckless remarks being banned by the court, but rather for a deeper reason, which he couldn't explain.

After he left, more than a dozen different sequels appeared, creating a vibrant and flourishing scene.

However, while these sequels may contain some well-written and ornate pieces, their petty and narrow-mindedness is undeniable, and the original work's essence remains unmatched to this day.

"Where can I get the money?" Inside the Qianqing Palace, Zhu Youjian pondered deeply, holding a white jade pen in his mouth.

Outside, the north wind howled, and inside, the lamp flickered. He was still not quite used to the newly replaced oil lamp. It produced black smoke and had a strange smell when it burned. Most importantly, it was not bright enough, making it difficult to read memorials.

Having heard that wealthy families in Jiangnan used whale oil imported from the West, Zhu Youjian thought that when he became rich, he would definitely use whale oil lamps too. He needed to ask the gentry of Jiangnan what brand they used, so he wouldn't be outdone. But for now, being a poor nobody, he'd better stick to candles.

Zhu Youjian felt that Bi Ziyan was not honest either. He was crying poor, which meant he wanted the emperor's private treasury to pay for it!
The palace's annual expenses were around 1.2 million taels of silver, which was not spent by Zhu Youjian's small family. In fact, it was necessary to support a large group of people, including palace maids, eunuchs, and personal guards.

Zhu Youjian was willing to spend money to reward the army to beat the Jurchens, but disaster relief was like a bottomless pit; no matter how much money was put in, it probably wouldn't even make a ripple.

After this year's autumn harvest, grain prices in the north have dropped somewhat. Zhu Youjian plans to use the remaining two to three million taels of silver to continue purchasing grain. At the same time, grain storage is also a problem, requiring significant financial investment.

Anyway, the situation is deadlocked: there is a locust plague in northern Zhili, a flood in the south, and even more ridiculously, a fire broke out in Hangzhou. The fire burned for a whole day and night before it was extinguished, burning down half the city, tens of thousands of houses, killing hundreds of people, and leaving tens of thousands homeless.

Winter has arrived now. In recent years, it has snowed in Guangdong and Guangxi provinces. Even coconuts from Hainan dare not drift north.

If the imperial court ignores these tens of thousands of people, most of them will likely freeze or starve to death. However, the Ministry of Revenue is unwilling to pay, and Zhu Youjian is also unwilling to pay.

That damned cabinet is inhuman! Four out of the six elders advised the emperor to provide emergency aid first.

Sun Chengzong went the furthest. Not only did he ask him to contribute money, but he also lectured him, saying things like, "Anyway, the entire Ming Dynasty belongs to the Zhu family, and all the people are your subjects, Emperor. If you don't contribute, who will? Why not do something that benefits the world even if it's just a small contribution?!"

Zhu Youjian was so angry in the middle of the night that his head was practically steaming: "You, Sun Chengzong, I called you Imperial Tutor, and you really think you're so great?! I should have just let you eat sand to your heart's content in the Northwest!"

In a fit of anger, Zhu Youjian tore the red strip of paper from Sun Chengzong's memorial to the emperor, and then picked up his red brush and wrote: "Who doesn't know that Hangzhou is the richest place in the world! The fire in Hangzhou, do you, as the prefect, bear no responsibility at all?"

The people have no food, so you open the Ever-Normal Granaries and Reserve Granaries in Hangzhou to release grain! Don't tell me the official granaries were also burned down. Are you trying to play the fire dragon game with me? How come you didn't get burned to death?!
If there is nowhere to live, then temples, Taoist temples, county government offices, and county schools will be vacated for the people to live in!
Aren't the people of Hangzhou supposed to be very devout Buddhists? They have money to support bald monks, but don't they have money to help their suffering fellow villagers back home? Ask the local gentry of Hangzhou to donate! You corrupt county magistrate, you exterminate your entire family, what kind of official are you?
Go ahead and do your thing, if you cause trouble, I'll send troops to wipe you out; if I find out that a large number of people have frozen or starved to death, I'll send troops to wipe you out too!

After Zhu Youjian finished writing in a long and eloquent manner, he held it up to the lamplight and read it twice, quite pleased with himself: This writing is superb, it already has three-tenths of the Taizu's skill!

Unfortunately, he only has 4,500 Imperial Guards, which is far less than the twelve Imperial Guards under Zhu Yuanzhang.

He wasn't born a nice guy; if he could, he'd like to learn from Old Zhu and chop things up!

Next, Zhu Youjian followed suit and issued similar approvals to various localities. There was no money, but the work had to be done. Local officials were encouraged to exercise their initiative and not to constantly trouble the organization. Alright!
"Sigh, I hope we don't drive someone to suicide." Zhu Youjian sighed slightly. If he really drove a local official to suicide, his reputation as emperor would be ruined.

After much deliberation, he allocated another few hundred thousand taels of silver. Each affected county could receive a few thousand taels; that was better than nothing. And this was all his money!
He could certainly force the Ministry of Revenue to pay, but the Ministry of Revenue really didn't have much money left. If something happened again, the Ministry of Revenue, even without money, would still ask him for help, so nothing would have changed.

"Your Majesty, it is late at night. Even if there are many more memorials, let's wait until tomorrow to see them!" Empress Zhou walked over carrying a chrysanthemum-shaped candle. Her steps were very light, even a little cautious.

She curiously examined the furnishings inside the Maoqin Hall. She rarely came to this place, and she wondered if her sudden intrusion would displease the emperor.

Zhu Youjian beckoned to her, and Zhou Yufeng hesitated for a moment before walking to the emperor's side.

Zhu Youjian took the candle from her and placed it next to the oil lamp on his desk. This made the area on the desk much brighter, and the hazy Chinese characters on the memorials looked as if they had been upgraded from 480P to 2K resolution.

"Sit down," Zhu Youjian said.

"Huh? Where should we sit?" Zhou Yufeng's face flushed. "Of course, we'll go over there and get a brocade stool to sit on. You don't expect us to let you sit on my lap, do you?" Zhu Youjian said, pursing his lips.

"Oh!" Zhou Yufeng gave Zhu Youjian a very resentful look, and then went to move a stool with a pitiful expression.

After she brought a stool and sat down, Zhu Youjian casually pulled out a memorial and shoved it into her hand. Zhou Yufeng looked at Zhu Youjian in confusion, and Zhu Youjian said fiercely, "Why are you looking at me? Look at the memorial!"

Empress Zhou was at a loss. She lowered her head, tears welling up in her eyes. She quickly wiped her eyes with the back of her elbow, because only in this way could she see the words on the memorial clearly. She was also afraid that the tears would smudge the words on the paper and make the emperor even more displeased.

She didn't know what she had done wrong. She just wanted the emperor to rest early, but today was her turn to serve him in bed. She hadn't done anything out of line.

Zhou Yufeng felt increasingly aggrieved. She could understand every single word and sentence in the memorial, but she didn't know what it meant when put together, because she hadn't paid any attention to the content.

Zhu Youjian crossed his arms and looked at her profile. Wow, this is incredible! Zhu Youjian felt that his little empress had made a comeback: she looked ordinary when she was a teenager, but now that she was twenty and had given birth, she had blossomed into a beautiful woman. Even among Zhu Youjian's large group of beautiful women, she was considered a goddess. She looked beautiful even when she cried. She was breathtakingly beautiful.

Half an hour later, Zhu Youjian took the memorial from Zhou's hand and asked, "What's written in this?"

Empress Zhou had just been reflecting on what she had done wrong to anger the emperor, but now, suddenly being questioned, she was completely dumbfounded. Her mind went blank, her face turned pale, and she stammered, "Liao, Liaoxi, no, Liaonan, Lu, Lu Shengxiang, there is an official named Lu Shengxiang who said he needs money and grain."

"It's Lu Xiang-sheng, he's my newly appointed Liaodong Military Commissioner. Money and grain, yes, how much money and grain does he need? How much silver, and how much rice, wheat, and millet?" Zhu Youjian continued to ask.

"Twenty, thirty silver coins?" Zhou Yufeng kept probing Zhu Youjian's expression, but seeing the emperor's brows furrowing more and more, she suddenly broke down, choking back tears, "I, I don't know, sob sob sob, I'm sorry! I can understand it, I just didn't remember it, please let me take another look!"

Zhu Youjian covered his eyes, somewhat helplessly: Is the price of beauty really brains?

"You're such an idiot!" Zhu Youjian said angrily.

He put down his pen and paper, picked up Zhou Yufeng, and headed straight for the East Warm Pavilion.

The Maoqin Hall fell silent, with only a lamp and a candle burning, the wick occasionally crackling softly.

Not long after, Wang Chengen, who had been waiting under the porch, pushed open the palace door and walked in. He was also holding a candle in his hand, but the candlestick was not as ornate as the chrysanthemum lantern that the empress had just brought.

He looked at the messy desk, frowned slightly, but did not tidy it up.

He pulled a small metal spoon from his sleeve and extinguished the two lamps on the table, as well as the dozen or so lamps in the corners. The room instantly became incredibly dark, with only a faint light remaining in his hand, illuminating only a few steps around him. Facing the entire dark hall, he felt utterly powerless.

Wang Chengen did not leave immediately. He waited a while until the candle he had extinguished stopped emitting white smoke before turning to leave.

He closed the palace gate and hung a copper lock on it. Zhu Youjian had never seen this lock before, because the palace gate was already unlocked when he came every day. In the summer, it would be opened for ventilation, and in the winter, it would be closed and the floor heating would be turned on. The guards, eunuchs and palace maids on duty would also be in place.

On the other side, Empress Zhou, lying in bed, was still in low spirits. She had her pride too!
The emperor's words calling her a fool bothered her greatly, as she felt she was not stupid at all.

She was filled with regret, realizing she hadn't seized the opportunity and had been lost in thought. Only now, belatedly, did she understand what she had missed!
Zhou Yufeng couldn't sleep. She stared wide-eyed at the emperor's somewhat blurry outline in the dim light, her expression shifting between resentment and gritted teeth. She muttered weakly, "I'm not stupid, I'm not stupid, sob sob sob, I'm not stupid..."

So what if she's a fool? Zhu Youjian didn't really have any strong obsessions. Capable women were already quite rare, and he couldn't expect every concubine in his harem to be a female strategist. If that were the case, he probably wouldn't be able to sleep again.

The most recent victim of interference in politics by the empress dowager is someone I know quite well: Ligdan Hutuktu Khan of the Chahar Mongols.

He put his eight wives in command of troops, each in charge of an ostok, and now the grass on his grave is two feet high.

However, Lin Dan Khan's wives were indeed remarkable. After Lin Dan Khan's death, his wives actually prospered.

Zhu Xieyuan, that old scoundrel, is really wicked. I don't know what he learned from Wang Xiangqian, but he actually suggested that he take one of Ligdan Khan's wives, Namuzhong, as a concubine, saying that since the emperor is indiscriminate in his desires and likes to form alliances, taking her would come with 15,000 followers as a dowry.

Lin Dan Khan's wife, how old must she be! Recalling the two so-called noble ladies from the Golden Family sent by the Tumed and Khorchin tribes before, with their unsightly appearances and outrageous hairstyles, Zhu Youjian shook his head vigorously.

A few days ago, Bi Ziyan told him with great distress that another Mongolian Empress Dowager, Sutai, had led seven thousand followers to join Ajige!

Upon hearing that Ajige had married the Mongolian Empress Dowager, Zhu Youjian was greatly shocked: "No wonder he was the ruthless man who could kill Huang Taiji. This kid looks ordinary, but he actually has a good set of teeth!"
The fact that Ajige tipped off the Ming army was not a secret among the Ming high command, but few people on the Jurchen side knew about it. Although everyone had some guesses, there was no substantial evidence.

The Ming Dynasty's decision to keep Ajige's secret wasn't out of affection, but rather a pretext to blackmail him.

I want to tell him, "We'll live off this secret for the rest of our lives!"

Unfortunately, the Ming Dynasty didn't have any substantial written evidence. Even if the Ming Dynasty publicly announced that Ajige had sold Huang Taiji out, he could still deny it.

(End of this chapter)