How can one be Emperor Chongzhen without money?

Chapter 12 I am the debtor of the Great Ming Dynasty, and all debts must be repaid!
Rain dripped from the edge of Chongzhen's straw hat, falling into the mud. He dismounted, his boots sinking into the mud, splashing mud that soaked the hem of his robe. Zhang Weixian rushed forward to help him, but the emperor stopped him with a gesture.

"I can walk by myself."

Zhu Youjian strode towards Sun Zushou, who was kneeling in the mud. The Jizhou garrison commander was soaking wet, his shoulders trembling violently as he knelt there. Chongzhen bent down, took Sun Zushou's arms with both hands, and slowly helped him up.

"General, you've suffered."

Those six words, like a warm breath, struck Sun Zushou's heart. The man could no longer hold back; tears mingled with the rain and streamed down his face. He opened his mouth, but only a hoarse sob escaped his throat.

Chongzhen patted him on the shoulder, then turned to look at the soldiers of Jizhou kneeling all over the drill ground. Rain streamed down their gaunt faces, their sunken eyes filled with despair mixed with a hint of hope, and they shivered in the rain.

Seeing these emaciated, ragged Ming border soldiers, Zhu Youjian felt a heavy weight on his chest. He knew the hardships the Ming border soldiers endured, but seeing them with his own eyes still caused him great pain. These soldiers had actually withstood attacks from both peasant armies and the Jurchens for seventeen years…

He whirled around and shouted sharply behind him, "Duke of Yingguo! Duke of Chengguo! Bring the silver! Pay my troops in Jizhou!"

Zhang Weixian and Zhu Chunchen quickly called to their men, "Quickly! Bring the silver cart over here, His Majesty is about to distribute pay!"

Thirty large carts covered with tarpaulins struggled forward through the muddy ground, finally coming to a stop in the middle of the drill ground. The imperial guards lifted the tarpaulins, revealing neatly stacked silver chests inside. When the lids were opened, they were filled with loose silver coins. The rain had stopped sometime earlier, and the sun peeked through the clouds, shining brightly on the silver.

Sun Zushou wiped his face and suddenly shouted at the top of his lungs, "Did you see that! His Majesty has come personally to distribute our pay! His Majesty braved this heavy rain and traveled hundreds of miles just to distribute our pay! His Majesty cares about us!"

His voice was hoarse but resonant, echoing across the rain-soaked drill ground. The 30,000 soldiers of Jizhou were stunned for a moment, then burst into a deafening cheer: "Long live! Long live! Long live!" The sound was like thunder, causing raindrops to fall from the treetops.

Emperor Chongzhen, wading through the mud, leaped onto the silver carriage and shouted, "Jizhou Garrison, line up! Distribute your pay!"

Sun Zushou immediately organized his personal guards to maintain order. Soon, a long line slowly formed in front of the silver carriage. Chongzhen rolled up his sleeves, personally opened the silver chest, and grabbed a handful of loose silver. Wei Zhongxian saw this and hurriedly stepped forward: "Your Majesty, let this servant do this rough work..."

"Get out of the way!" Emperor Chongzhen shouted without looking up. "Today I will personally distribute the silver to the soldiers... This is a debt I owe my brothers, and I must repay it myself!"

Wei Zhongxian retreated sheepishly. The first to receive his pay was an old soldier with gray hair and beard, his face etched with deep wrinkles, and his cotton armor tattered to the point of revealing the cotton wadding. He trembled as he extended his withered, twig-like hand to accept the silver from the emperor, his lips shaking so much he could not speak.

"How old are you, sir?" Chongzhen asked gently.

"Your Majesty, I am fifty-eight years old..." the old soldier stammered.

Emperor Chongzhen frowned: "At this age, why are you still in the army?"

The veteran knelt down abruptly, choking back tears, and said, "My youngest son died in battle last year, and there's an old woman with a paralysis at home... If I retire, my whole family will starve to death..."

Zhu Youjian felt a pang in his chest, then grabbed another handful of silver and stuffed it into the old soldier's hand: "Take this, buy some rice and grain for your family. Once I've reformed the military system, I will make sure no old soldier is left without support!"

The old soldier, clutching the silver, wept like a child, repeatedly kowtowing: "Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor!"

The second was a young soldier, his left sleeve fluttering in the wind. Chongzhen gave him an extra two taels of silver: "This arm, how did it get gone?"

"Your Majesty, last year when the Jurchens invaded, I followed General Sun to provide aid outside the Great Wall..." the young soldier said in a low voice.

Zhu Youjian patted him on the shoulder: "Good man! I will remember this, and I will never mistreat wounded soldiers in the future!"

And so, Emperor Chongzhen, Wei Zhongxian, Zhang Weixian, and Zhu Chunchen each took a different carriage and distributed wages to the soldiers of Jizhou. Each soldier received one tael of silver initially, and Emperor Chongzhen would give more to those facing particular hardship. Three hours passed, and the sun was already setting when they finally finished distributing the wages to the last person.

Emperor Chongzhen stood on the silver cart, surveying the drill ground. The soldiers, finally regaining their color, clutched their pay; some wept and laughed, others knelt and kowtowed repeatedly. He took a deep breath and proclaimed:

"Soldiers of Jizhou! I have just ascended the throne, and everything is in need of rebuilding. The court is truly short of funds. This time, I can only give each of you brothers in Jizhou one tael of silver... This is just the first payment of the year. I hereby swear that the court will make up for every penny of the back pay within the year! From next year onwards, Jizhou will be like Liaodong, with full pay and full rations! I keep my word!"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Weixian, Zhu Chunchen, and Wei Zhongxian all frowned slightly—how could the national treasury withstand such a promise?
Only Sun Zushou, with tears streaming down his face, knelt down and cried out, "Your Majesty is wise! On behalf of the 100,000 soldiers of Jizhou, I kowtow to thank Your Majesty for your grace!"

Thirty thousand soldiers once again shouted "Long live the Emperor!" their voices shaking the heavens. After distributing their pay, Wang Yingzhi and Zu Dashou came forward tremblingly to apologize. Chongzhen coldly glanced at the two men and said in a deep voice:
"Wang Yingzhi! As the governor, instead of trying to appease the soldiers, you constantly mobilize troops to suppress them, killing your own people. What crime should you be charged with?"

Wang Yingzhi knelt down with a thud: "Your subject knows his crime! Your subject knows his crime!"

"Considering you have only recently assumed office and the court is indeed in arrears with pay, I will spare your life for now." Emperor Chongzhen waved his hand. "Immediately remove you from your post as governor and send you back to the capital to be impeached!"

Wang Yingzhi felt as if he had been granted a pardon, and kowtowed repeatedly, saying, "Thank you for your great kindness, Your Majesty! Thank you for your great kindness, Your Majesty!"

Zhu Youjian then looked at Zu Dashou, his expression softening slightly: "General Zu was acting under orders, and I don't blame you. But what you did today was not very kind of you either."

Zu Dashou pressed his forehead to the ground and said, "Your subject knows his crime!"

Emperor Chongzhen stepped forward to help him up, took his hand, and said, "Ji and Liao are one family, we must unite. Here's what we'll do: Liaozhen will provide some grain so that the brothers in Jizhen can have a good meal for a few days. If the Jurchens attack Liaozhen in the future, I will bring the brothers from Jizhen to rescue you, how about that?"

Zu Dashou was taken aback, not expecting the emperor to speak like that. He quickly realized what was happening and hurriedly replied, "Your subject obeys! Your subject will immediately send someone to deliver the grain!"

Emperor Chongzhen nodded and smiled, "Zuqing, I heard that you have a brave warrior under your command named Huang Degong, nicknamed Huang Chuangzi. Has he come to Santun Camp this time?"

Zu Dashou was taken aback for a moment, then immediately replied, "Your Majesty, Huang Degong did not come with us. If Your Majesty is short of manpower, I will have someone summon him to serve Your Majesty."

Zhu Youjian smiled and shook his head, his face amiable: "No rush, no rush, your words are enough."

As the sun set, the evening glow painted the sky over Jizhou crimson. On the drill ground, the soldiers of Jizhou, clutching their newly received pay, finally wore smiles. Emperor Chongzhen, watching this scene, felt a mix of emotions. He knew this was just the beginning. The Ming Dynasty had nine border regions and thirteen garrisons… the unpaid wages of those thirteen garrisons amounted to at least several million taels of silver!
The combined revenue from the imperial treasury and the imperial coffers of the Ming Dynasty was probably only a little over six million taels of silver a year… The first seventeen years of the Chongzhen reign coincided with the worst of the Little Ice Age, with not a single year of favorable weather. It seemed unlikely that this emperor would ever be able to repay the debts he owed to the nine border regions.

Emperor Chongzhen smiled bitterly: So it turns out I am a "debt king" who is so indebted that I can't pay it back! But at least today, he has won over the hearts of these 30,000 soldiers.

The autumn rain fell like silk threads, endlessly shrouding the Yanshan Mountains. The commander of the Duoyan Guard could not help but rein in his horse, raindrops dripping from his iron helmet. He squinted at the layered mountain shadows to the south, where the Great Wall defense line leading to the Jizhou Garrison of the Ming Dynasty lay.

"Commander, the scouts have returned." A Mongol guard rode up and whispered, "Things are in chaos at Santun Camp. The Ming soldiers are protesting for their pay, and they're not even sending out sentries."

A cold smile tugged at the corner of Shu Bu's mouth. He was about fifty years old, and his face bore scars from his early battles with the Chahar tribe. As the de facto ruler of the Doyan Guard, he had long been tired of the meager rewards bestowed upon him by the Ming Dynasty.

"What did they say from Gelantai?" Shu Bu asked, turning around.

The guard leaned closer and whispered, "Gelantai Taiji has already assembled two thousand elite cavalry, just waiting for your command. The guide sent by Hou Xingguo said that the passes in the eastern part of Jizhou are very empty, and even the beacon tower at Qiangzi Ridge is unguarded."

A glint of shrewdness flashed in Shu Bu's eyes. He recalled the news brought by the Han envoy named Hou Xingguo—the newly enthroned emperor of the Ming Dynasty was personally escorting the military supplies to Santunying. This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!

"Pass down the order," Shu Bu said in a deep voice, "have all units assemble at Tiger Gully. Tell Ge Lantai that we will take action at dawn tomorrow."

Five thousand Mongol cavalrymen marched silently through the autumn rain, their hooves pounding on the muddy mountain path. Many of them wore cotton armor traded from the Ming army. Little did they know, the Ming border troops had long since become rotten.

“Governor, Black Valley is just ahead,” the guide whispered. “After passing through this valley, it’s another thirty li to Qiangzi Ridge.”

Shu Bu nodded, took out a leather pouch from his robes, and tilted his head back to gulp down a mouthful of mare's milk wine. The pungent liquid made him feel hot all over. He remembered Hou Xingguo's promised conditions—as long as they intercepted the Ming emperor, the emperor's cronies in the capital would help them escape unscathed. Even if that didn't work, the wealth in the villages, towns, and markets along the Great Wall would be enough for them to plunder to their hearts' content.

In addition, to show their sincerity, the Shanxi merchants surnamed Hou and Fan had already given a deposit of 10,000 taels of gold and promised to give another 50,000 taels of gold after the deal was done!

"May the Eternal Heaven protect us!" Shu Bu raised his wine flask high, spilling the wine mixed with rainwater onto the ground. "Men, come with me to meet the young emperor of the Ming Dynasty! Let him taste the might of the Mongol warriors!"

The Mongol cavalrymen roared and drew their scimitars. With a spur of their horses, the steeds neighed and charged forward. Five thousand Mongol cavalry, like a black torrent, moved silently through the rain-shrouded Yanshan Mountains, surging towards the Great Wall at Jizhou.

(End of this chapter)