How can one be Emperor Chongzhen without money?

Chapter 158 His Majesty has given us far too much! (Fifth update)
The wind in December was like a knife, sweeping across the dilapidated earthen walls of the old post station in Mizhi County.

Next to the post station was a dilapidated tavern.

Inside, Niu Jinxing wrapped his cotton robe tighter around himself and looked at the two courier soldiers opposite him, who had long and worried expressions.

The two men were uncle and nephew. The younger one was the uncle, Li Hongji, who later became Li Zicheng. He was in his early twenties, with a youthful naiveté still on his face, but his eyes were full of ruthlessness. The older one was Li Guo, the nephew who had watched Li Hongji grow up. He was about twenty-five or twenty-six years old and looked more composed, but he was also sighing at the moment.

On the table were two jugs of the cheapest liquor and a dish of nearly empty salted beans.

"Damn it!" Li Hongji gulped down a mouthful of cheap liquor, slammed the bowl on the broken wooden table, spilling the liquor everywhere. "This job is almost over! Rumors are circulating that the post stations are going to be shut down! Isn't this pushing us to our doom?"

Li Guo gently kicked his uncle, clasped his hands in a fist salute to Niu Jinxing, and said cautiously, "Please don't be offended, my uncle is still young and has a quick temper... There's really no other way in this situation."

Niu Jinxing claimed to be a "military advisor to the Beijing garrison," and said he was on orders from Sun Chuanting, the assistant military administrator of the Beijing garrison, to recruit soldiers in Yulinwei. He stopped at this post station on the way and "coincidentally" ran into the uncle and nephew.

When Niu Jinxing met Li Zicheng and Li Guo, they immediately hit it off and invited them to have a drink to warm themselves up.

"Oh? Abolish the post stations?" Niu Jinxing picked up the wine pot and filled Li Hongji's empty bowl. "I've heard about it too. Someone in the court mentioned it, saying they wanted to save some money and grain."

"Who's so heartless? Don't we couriers want to live?" Li Hongji's eyes widened, and his voice rose. "The land is so dry it's practically smoking, the tree bark has all been eaten away! Ansai County produced Gao Yingxiang, the Gao Chuang King, who broke through the county town and opened the granaries to distribute grain! That's what you call a way to survive! And here we are, trying to cut off our way to survival!"

Li Guo's expression changed, and he quickly tugged at his uncle's sleeve: "Uncle! Be careful what you say!"

Niu Jinxing laughed and waved his hand, "It's alright, there are no outsiders here. Li Zhuangshi is a straightforward man, and what he said is the truth." He then changed the subject, looking at Li Hongji, "However, do you know why Vice Commissioner Sun sent me to Yulin Guard?"

Li Hongji said irritably, "What else can we do? Recruit soldiers, of course."

“Yes, recruit soldiers.” Niu Jinxing leaned forward, lowering his voice but enunciating each word clearly, “But do you know how many soldiers we need to recruit?”

He held up two fingers: "Let's raise 100,000, 200,000!"

"How much?" Li Hongji was stunned, and even Li Guo looked up, his face full of disbelief.

"Two hundred thousand?" Li Hongji scoffed, his tone full of mockery. "Counselor, are you kidding us? Where will the court get the money? The back pay of the northwestern garrisons is piling up like a mountain! Recruiting soldiers? Go recruit ghosts!"

Niu Jinxing wasn't angry. Instead, he slowly took another sip of wine before looking at Li Hongji with a glint in his eyes: "Li Zhuangshi, you only see the yellow earth of Shaanxi, but you don't see the emperor's shrewd methods in Beijing."

He put down his wine bowl and tapped his fingers lightly on the table: "You say the imperial court has no money? That was the emperor of the past! The current emperor's ability to make money is something else!" He gave a thumbs up, "And what he makes isn't the money from selling children of the poor, but the ill-gotten gains from corrupt officials and wealthy merchants who are richer than a country!"

Li Hongji and Li Guo both held their breath and stared at him.

"First, negotiate the fines and the land for redemption. Make those corrupt officials spit out everything they've swallowed!"

"The second thing they did was confiscate the Chengguo Duke's mansion in Beijing and the Daiwang Mansion in Shanxi! Their wealth was worth far more than a million taels of silver."

"The third thing is to inform the Imperial Uncle, Prince Fu, to relieve the country's difficulties, and to obtain another one million taels of silver!"

Li Hongji stared wide-eyed, and Li Guo, forgetting his caution, opened his mouth wide.

Niu Jinxing's tone grew even more somber as he dropped the most shocking statement: "That's not all. Some time ago, His Majesty also made a stroke of genius... selling Jeju Island of Korea, along with the title of a Ming Dynasty prince, for two million taels of silver to a wealthy merchant from the southeastern seas, a man named Zheng Zhilong!"

"Sell...sell the island? And sell the title too?" Li Hongji almost dropped the wine bowl in his hand. "This...this is the face of the imperial court..."

"Face?" Niu Jinxing chuckled. "Can face be eaten? Your Majesty's move is truly brilliant! Zheng Zhilong obtained Jeju Island and immediately brought the entire island under his control, then was granted the title of Prince. Jeju Island instantly became an inner vassal state of our Great Ming! The Emperor got something for nothing, acquiring a huge sum of money and expanding the territory at the same time!"

He paused, looking at the dumbfounded uncle and nephew, and added fuel to the fire: "It's not over yet. His Majesty has also taken a 'pirate girl' as a concubine, the sister of Liu Xiang, a wealthy merchant from Guangdong. I heard her dowry is one million taels of silver!" Li Hongji was completely dumbfounded, counting on his fingers: "The Duke of Cheng, the Prince of Dai's mansion... the Prince of Fu... Zheng Zhilong two million... Liu Xiang one million... How much silver is that?"

Niu Jinxing slapped him hard on the shoulder: "Just the Zheng and Liu families alone have brought in three million taels of silver! Brother Hongji, tell me, with these three million taels as a base, is it still difficult to raise two hundred thousand soldiers in Shaanxi and wipe out those rebellious thieves who refuse to submit to the king's rule?"

A flicker of fear crossed Li Hongji's face—he had once considered defecting to Gao Chuangwang! Luckily, he hadn't actually done so. If the young emperor were really that good at making money, throwing away three million to raise two hundred thousand soldiers to defect to Gao Chuangwang would have been suicide.

He blurted out, "Amazing! Absolutely amazing! With three million taels of silver, what kind of soldiers can't we recruit? With two hundred thousand soldiers, what kind of bandits can't we quell?"

Gao Yingxiang and Gao Chuangwang have now become "thieves"!

It must be said that Li Hongji was a shrewd and pragmatic man.

Li Guo murmured, "If that's really the case... perhaps Shaanxi can truly be saved..."

Seeing that the time was right, Niu Jinxing said no more. He pulled a heavy cloth bag from his pocket and slammed it down on the table in front of Li Hongji.

“Hongji is a hero! Li Guo is a valiant and steady man. I see you two stuck in this post station; even if you're not laid off, you won't have much use for yourselves. What a waste!”

He stared intently at the young Li Hongji: "Why not come with me and join Vice Director Sun's Imperial Guard? We'll eat the emperor's grain, receive full pay, ride fine horses, and wield sharp blades! In the future, we can earn fame and fortune on the battlefield, secure a good position for our wives and children, and bring glory to our ancestors. Wouldn't that be better than staying here to suffer poverty and wait to die?"

Looking into Li Hongji's shining eyes, he knew that the matter was about 70-80% settled.

"Consider this bag of silver a deposit! Please accept it!"

Li Hongji and Li Guo stared intently at the bag of silver on the table. The bag wasn't tied tightly, revealing gleaming white silver ingots inside—probably twenty or thirty taels!

This was a huge sum of money that the uncle and nephew couldn't accumulate even after working at the post station for several years! And Master Niu just casually took a picture of it?
Really give!
Li Hongji swallowed hard, his hands trembling slightly. Li Guo was in a similar state, his breathing becoming heavy.

"thump!"

It was the older Li Guo who reacted first, pulling his still somewhat dazed uncle along, and kneeling down directly before Niu Jinxing.

“Master Niu! You…you have done me such a great favor…” Li Guo’s voice trembled, and he could barely speak.

Li Hongji also kowtowed sharply, his forehead touching the cold ground, his voice choked with sobs: "Master Niu! My worthless life, Li Hongji's (Li Guo's), belongs to you from this day forward! I will obey your every command, even if it means going through fire and water!"

Niu Jinxing stroked his short beard with satisfaction, bent down to help the two up, and said in a gentle but authoritative tone: "Get up! This silver does not belong to me, Niu Jinxing."

He pointed eastward and said solemnly, "This is 'settlement money' specially allocated by His Majesty out of compassion for the poor men of Shaanxi! Every brave soldier who is qualified to be selected for the Imperial Guard is entitled to a share! You two, ten taels each!"

Ten taels per person! Li Hongji felt a surge of heat rush to his head.

Niu Jinxing continued, "This is just the resettlement allowance! Once you're selected as a cavalryman, your monthly salary will be this much—" He held up two fingers, then bent them up halfway, "a full two taels and five mace of pure silver! It will be paid monthly, without delay!"

Monthly salary is two and a half taels! And it will never be delayed!
Li Hongji and Li Guo exchanged a glance, both seeing unbelievable elation in each other's eyes. This treatment was several times better than that of the officials in the border troops!
"Your Majesty... Your Majesty's grace is boundless!" Li Hongji turned abruptly, facing the direction of Beijing, and bowed deeply, thumping his head three times. He shouted at the top of his lungs, "This humble servant, Li Hongji (Li Guo), thanks Your Majesty for your grace! From this day forward, my life belongs to Your Majesty! I will serve Your Majesty to the death!"

Li Guo was so excited that his face turned red, and he kowtowed repeatedly.

Seeing the two future troublemakers so grateful to Beijing, Niu Jinxing smiled faintly – for these troublemakers in Shaanxi, the Emperor had given them far too much!

(End of this chapter)