How can one be Emperor Chongzhen without money?

Chapter 157 The Great Ming Calamity (Fourth update, one more tonight, please vote and subscribe)

Smoke and dust billowed across the Loess Plateau.

A small cavalry force, though few in number, moved swiftly and charged straight towards Anse.

These two thousand-plus cavalrymen were the pride and joy of Sun Chuanting, Cao Wenzhao, and Zhou Yuji. Both men and horses were clad in crimson cotton armor lined with iron plates, looking incredibly sturdy. The large characters "Sun" and "Cao" on the crimson banners were striking. The sun shone on the tips of their spears, making them gleam coldly.

One man on two horses, running like the wind. Hooves kicked up dust, darkening the sky. The column was disciplined, exuding a menacing aura.

Under the central banner, Sun Chuanting, the Right Vice Censor-in-Chief in charge of military affairs in the capital, dressed as a military general and wearing a mountain-patterned armor, stared at the distant Anse City.

He said to his two generals, "Deputy General Cao, Deputy General Zhou. The Emperor endured public condemnation, confiscating property and collecting fines for crimes, all to train this well-fed and well-paid army. We are under the banner of the Beijing Garrison, but we are paid by the Imperial Guard!"

Today is the day to see the true test! Gao Yingxiang and his gang are a rabble! We must sweep them away with overwhelming force, wiping them out in one fell swoop! This will reassure the Emperor and show those restless souls what to do!

Cao Wenzhao clasped his hands in greeting and replied, "Minister Sun! This humble general has already dispatched elite scouts ahead. Anse will arrive in the blink of an eye! Once they have located the enemy, this humble general will personally lead his iron cavalry, and within half a day, we will surely crush their camp!"

Zhou Yuji, also in high spirits, chimed in, "What Vice-Director Sun says is right! Let's use these ignorant traitors as a sacrifice! Let the world see how these two thousand Shaanxi and Gansu heroes, bearing the name of the Beijing Garrison and receiving the Emperor's salary, can take on ten men each!"

This small but elite force consisted of soldiers recruited by Sun Chuanting from various border garrisons in Shaanxi. Clad in fine armor and riding swift horses, they charged towards Ansai with boundless energy.

But in Ansai County, the scene was quite different. It was chaotic and noisy.

The granary gates were wide open. Gao Yingxiang stood on a high point, looking down at the dense mass of starving people below. He raised his chipped sword, his voice hoarse, yet his shout echoed through the mountains:
"Fellow villagers! The grain in the government granary is our hard-earned money! Take it! It will save your lives!"

"King Chuang is benevolent and righteous!"

"Thank you, King Chuang, for saving my life!"

Cries and screams filled the crowd. A few emaciated men, carrying their newly distributed sacks of grain, finally showed a glimmer of life in their eyes.

Beside Gao Yingxiang, his nephew Gao Jie gripped his knife, his face showing eagerness for battle. His cousin Gao Yigong silently inventoried the remaining weapons. His niece Gao Guiying, dressed in shorts, scanned her surroundings warily. Zhao Sheng, the "lamp-lighter," Zhang Cunmeng, the "mud-free," and the veteran Wang Wu, who had come to join him, were all gathered around him.

"King Chuang, the people's hearts have been won over!" Dian Dengzi grinned.

Gao Yingxiang didn't laugh; his eyes were fixed on the barren mountain ridge in the distance. He was a horse trader who had traveled all over the country, and he knew very well that grain alone was not enough to survive.

The rapid sound of horses' hooves approached from afar, breaking the hustle and bustle of the city.

A minor leader scrambled over, his face pale: "King Chuang! Disaster! The government troops... the government troops have arrived! They're less than fifty li from the city! They're all elite cavalry in red robes and armor! There must be two or three thousand of them! Each rider has two horses! They've come so fast!"

"What?" Gao Jie jumped up. "Uncle! We just won a battle, and the brothers are in high spirits! The government troops have traveled so far, and they are exhausted. We should defend the city, or simply charge out and fight them to the death!"

"Fight?" Gao Yigong interrupted sharply, "What are you going to fight with? Those are two thousand elite cavalry who arrived quickly, each with two horses. They're incredibly tough! Fighting head-on is suicide!"

Gao Guiying also said anxiously, "Uncle Yigong is right! If we occupy Ansai, we'll become sitting ducks! The government troops will just be able to surround us!"

Gao Yingxiang suddenly stood up, a fierce glint in his eyes: "This Anse County is a ready-made coffin! Whoever wants it can take it! We're not staying here!" He looked at Dian Dengzi and Bu Zhan Ni, "Brother Zhao, Brother Zhang, you know the way, which way can we make Sun Chuanting miss us?"

Dian Dengzi immediately pointed west: "Chuang Wang! Head north, into the mountains! The area is full of ravines and gullies; if you go deep in, even ghosts won't be able to find their way! Large numbers of government troops go in and never come out!"

"That's right!" Buzhanni chimed in, "Once we're in the mountains, it's our territory! No matter how many officers and soldiers there are, they won't be able to do anything!"

"Good!" Gao Yingxiang slapped his thigh. "Pass on the order! The brothers in the old camp, only take dry rations and weapons! The rest should be distributed to the poor people in the city who haven't left yet! We'll break camp tonight and head into the mountains!" A stir rose in the crowd. Gao Yingxiang took a deep breath and jumped onto a nearby stone mill. His gaze swept over the panicked faces, and his voice suddenly rose:
"Brothers! I know you're scared! My heart is pounding just like yours!"

"But think about it! Why did the government troops arrive so quickly? Because the imperial court was afraid! Afraid of us peasants!"

"Look at Shaanxi! The land is cracked from drought! The tree bark has been eaten away! Our children are starving to death by the roadside! The officials only know how to make money! The border troops who are supposed to protect our country are all owed wages and starving! What is this? It is a natural disaster, but it is also a man-made disaster! It is also the end of the Ming Dynasty's fate!"

He paused, his voice laced with mockery: "Everyone knows what the situation in Shaanxi has been like these past few years. Heaven is against the Zhu family! This is a calamity of heaven! Of course, it's also a man-made disaster! Heaven not sending rain is a calamity of heaven! But there are still five military towns around Shaanxi, so many border troops, and countless descendants of the Zhu family waiting to be fed—that's a man-made disaster!"
What should the imperial court do now? Open the granaries to save the people? What will the hundreds of thousands of border troops eat? If the border troops have no food, they will surely rebel! Should they prioritize the border troops while ignoring the people? Look at all these starving corpses! The people will surely rebel!
As for transporting grain from other provinces, Shaanxi is located in the northwest corner and has no waterways for transporting grain. It can only be transported by land. Along the way, people and horses have to eat and drink. Even if one shi (a unit of dry measure) of rice is transported, it may not even reach the destination by one dou (another unit of dry measure). It is simply too expensive!
This is a damned dead end! A dead end that even the Zhu family emperors can't solve! It's the Ming Dynasty's doom! No matter how capable the few thousand cavalrymen sent by the court are, can they really slaughter millions of people in Shaanxi? Can they make the heavens send rain?

"So, brothers, don't be afraid! This is Heaven's will to destroy the Ming Dynasty!" Gao Yingxiang suddenly raised his fist. "This is the time for heroes like us to rise up and do great things! Zhu Hongwu was just a beggar monk back then, and he was able to rule the country. Why can't we?"

"We won't fight him head-on, we'll play games with him! If we can't stay in Shaanxi, we'll go to Shanxi or Henan! The harvests in those two places haven't been good these past few years either, they're like dry tinder everywhere, and we're the sparks to ignite it!"

“I am willing to follow you, Gao Yingxiang, and rebel against this Ming Dynasty that even Heaven cannot tolerate, to fight for a title of nobility and a lineage of dukes and marquises for generations to come. I will follow you!”

After a brief silence, the crowd erupted in a frenzied roar:
"Inverted!"

"Follow the rebel leader!"

"Strive for a better future!"

After Gao Yingxiang's analysis and encouragement, the poor people who originally just felt that they couldn't make ends meet suddenly had this feeling: the world is about to change!
Under the urging of Gao Guiying and Gao Yigong, the core of the uprising, a little over a thousand men, carrying enough food for two months and a large sum of money, slipped away silently through the south gate like water seeping into sand, disappearing in the blink of an eye into the gullies and ravines of the Loess Plateau. What remained were starving people who had received some food but whose eyes were blank, and an empty city that had been completely looted.

Several hours later, the crimson tide surged to the foot of Anse City.

The city gate was ajar. Sun Chuanting waved his hand, and the vanguard cavalry shot in like arrows. The city was deathly silent, the streets were dilapidated, and only a few emaciated people peeked in fear through the cracks in the gates.

The county government's treasury gates were wide open, and the inside was completely empty. The granary was completely devoid of even a single grain of rice.

Cao Wenzhao's face turned as black as the bottom of a pot: "Assistant Minister! The traitor has escaped! He absconded with the money and grain and fled into the mountains!"

Zhou Yuji slammed his fist on the earthen wall: "That peasant, he's quick on his feet!"

Sun Chuanting remained silent. He walked to the center of the street, looking at the desolation around him and the people who were about to breathe their last. A soldier approached and whispered, "Sir, I've inquired. Before Gao Yingxiang left, he distributed some of the grain he couldn't take with him to the poor."

Sun Chuanting clenched his jaw tightly. He looked up at the vast mountains to the west, the shadow of the Ziwu Ridge under the dim yellow sky resembling a crouching giant beast.

He missed it.

His gaze returned to the pillars of the county government hall. There, several lines of large, crooked characters were engraved:
"The officials force the people to rebel, leaving them no choice but to rebel. What can you lackeys do to me?"

Sun Chuanting stared at the words, as if he could see Gao Yingxiang's mocking face as he carved them. He threw a punch with all his might, but it landed on nothing. This Gao Yingxiang was no ordinary bandit; he needed a strong counterattack.

"Pass on the orders!" Sun Chuanting's voice was weary, yet firm as iron. "Set up camp outside the city and maintain strict vigilance. Deputy General Cao, send capable scouts into the mountains to investigate; do not advance rashly. Deputy General Zhou, open our rations, set up soup kitchens, and recruitment stations."

“Officer Sun, military rations…” Zhou Yuji hesitated.

"As you command!" Sun Chuanting said decisively. "The Emperor sent us here to quell the rebellion and bring peace to the people! To bring peace to the people, we must win their hearts and minds. After that, we must recruit the able-bodied men who might have joined the rebels into our own army!"

About half an hour later, the porridge distribution sheds and recruitment stalls were set up. Looking at the long lines in front of the porridge sheds and recruitment stalls, Sun Chuanting finally felt a little more at ease. As long as the imperial court could still spare some money to recruit the able-bodied men from the starving people in Shaanxi into the army, the Ming Dynasty could safely weather the crisis.
(End of this chapter)