How can one be Emperor Chongzhen without money?

Chapter 166 I'm worthy of the surname Zhu too! (Please subscribe and vote with monthly tickets)
On the fifteenth day of the second month of the second year of the Chongzhen reign, outside Taiyuan City, the sky was terribly overcast, and the gray clouds pressed down so heavily that it was hard to breathe. The remaining snow on the ground was trampled into a pulp by countless feet, mixing with the mud and turning into dark, icy shards.

Prince Zhu Qiugui of Jin stood atop the towering city wall of Taiyuan Prefecture. His brand-new mountain-patterned armor clung tightly to his obese body, making it hard to breathe. His hands gripped the cold bricks of the city wall so tightly that his knuckles turned white.

The wind blew by, carrying the stench of the crowd gathered below the city walls, along with faint sounds of commotion.

He glanced down furtively.

The dark mass was his newly assembled "Zhu Family Army." The banners were clearly displayed, but the formation was crooked and shaky. The soldiers in the front row were still moving around, unable to hold their spears properly.

Looking further afield, the bandits' formation was even more chaotic, with figures moving about like a boiling pot of porridge. There were so many of them; the clamor made Zhu Qiugui's heart pound.

"Yang, Vice Minister Yang, judging from the size of this bandit force, there must be tens of thousands of them!" His throat was dry, and he turned to ask Yang Sichang beside him.

Before Yang Sichang could answer, Wei Zhongxian, who was standing with his arms crossed, spoke up in a sinister tone: "Your Highness, rest assured, Vice Minister Yang and Assistant Director Sun are brilliant strategists and have made their own arrangements. Today is the perfect time for Your Highness to make a name for yourself."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Qiugui forced a smile that looked more like a grimace, his heart filled with even more uncertainty. He then glanced at the silent Governor of Shanxi, Song Tongyin, and General Zhang Honggong, both of whom also wore grave expressions, their eyes fixed solely on the city below.

Standing at the forefront of the army below the city, Zhu Qiuyue swallowed hard.

His brand-new blue cotton-padded jacket clung to his skin, yet it was damp with cold sweat. He was a member of the imperial clan, though an unregistered "illegal resident," but today, the position he stood in was that of a newly appointed squad leader! He commanded dozens of his clan brothers.

This was the opportunity he had waited twenty years for! To make a name for himself, to gain recognition, and to not bring shame upon his ancestors!

He glanced back at his dozens of men, each with a tense expression and darting eyes. He took a breath, mimicking the manner of officers he'd seen before, and growled, "Stand still! Don't embarrass the Prince!"

His voice trembled slightly, but he managed to shout it out. He gripped the knife tightly in his hand, the wooden hilt slippery from the sweat on his palms.

The bandits opposite him began to clamor, their voices like the howls of wolves, sending chills down one's spine. He saw the refugees, dressed in tattered coats and carrying hoes and wooden sticks, surging towards him like a tide.

"Hold on! Spears forward!" Zhu Qiuyue shouted at the top of his lungs.

But the ferocity with which the thief charged at them startled the new recruits in the front row, causing them to instinctively retreat and nearly knock over those behind them. The formation instantly fell into disarray.

"Don't retreat! Retreat and you'll be executed!" A servant supervising the battle (who had just arrived in Shanxi yesterday) shouted sternly, and the gleaming blade cut down a fleeing soldier, blood splattering high into the air.

Zhu Qiuyue's scalp tingled, and his bloodlust surged. With bloodshot eyes, he swung his sword and charged forward, colliding with a bandit who pounced on him. The bandit was strong but lacked discipline, and Zhu Qiuyue's haphazard sword slashed him across the shoulder, causing him to fall to the ground with a scream.

The sounds of fighting and screams instantly enveloped him. He couldn't care less about anything else; he just instinctively swung his knife, parrying and slashing. People around him kept falling—bandits, and even his own brothers who had been trembling with him just moments before.

This battle was fought without any logic; it was just a chaotic melee, a fight to the death.

In a mountain valley not far from the battlefield, however, a completely different scene unfolded.

Two thousand cavalrymen stood silently on their horses, both men and horses gagged, with only the warhorses occasionally snorting impatiently.

Cao Wenzhao and Zhou Yuji stood side by side, gazing at the chaos below the city in the distance.

Li Hongji was at the very front of the group, slowly wiping the blade of his waist knife with a coarse cloth. The blade reflected his expressionless face.

Li Guo, standing beside him, stretched his neck impatiently: "Uncle, are we just going to wait like this? Watch those good-for-nothings fight amongst themselves?"

Li Hongji didn't even lift his eyelids: "What's the rush? Let them wait. If Vice Commander Sun tells us to wait for the signal, then we'll wait."

He paused, a cold smile creeping onto his lips: "Government troops kill bandits, bandits kill government troops, death after death, and it's always the poor who suffer. Today, we'll use Wang Jiayin's head to change our future."

He raised his eyes, his gaze piercing through the chaotic battlefield, and precisely locked onto a burly man in the distance, wearing stolen Ming army armor, wielding a sword and shouting under a crooked "King" banner.

That's Wang Jiayin.

On the city wall, Zhu Qiugui watched as his own lines were shaky and nearly breached several times. He turned pale with fright and almost collapsed. Fortunately, a eunuch beside him supported him.

"Useless! All of you are useless! I spent so much silver!" He was both anxious and angry.

Wei Zhongxian scoffed, "Your Highness, this is just the beginning. The real show is yet to come."

Yang Sichang remained calm and said to Zhang Honggong, "General Zhang, have your personal guards take over and stabilize the central army."

Upon receiving the order, Zhang Honggong immediately waved his command flag. The several hundred guards from the General's residence, who had been resting and recuperating, charged into the battle like unsheathed blades. These men, well-armored and experienced in combat, quickly suppressed the most aggressive groups of bandits, barely stabilizing the crumbling defensive line. The battlefield descended into an even more brutal stalemate, with both sides repeatedly fighting for control of the frozen ground below the city, suffering heavy casualties, yet neither side could gain the upper hand. It was like two clumsy men rolling around in the mud, chaotic and bloody, leaving only a trail of carnage.

Just then, the soldiers on the city wall suddenly shouted, "They're here! Reinforcements are here!"

Zhu Qiugui suddenly looked up and saw dust rising from the side and rear of the battlefield, like a gust of wind blowing from flat ground!
Immediately afterwards, the sound of thunderous hooves approached from afar, shaking the ground!
Cao Wenzhao and Zhou Yuji took the lead, and their two thousand elite cavalrymen, like an iron torrent, crashed into the unsuspecting rear of the bandit army without any hindrance!

Like a red-hot knife cutting into butter, the bandits' ranks were instantly torn open with a huge gash!

Amidst the chaos of battle, Li Hongji's eyes blazed as he stared intently at the large banner bearing the character "王" (King). He crouched low, spurred his horse, and charged forward like an arrow released from a bow. Li Guo followed closely behind, brandishing his sword to clear a path.

Wang Jiayin had just cut down a Zhu family army officer wearing a new uniform with a single blow, and was feeling triumphant and laughing heartily, completely unaware of the deadly threat coming from his side and rear.

Li Hongji rode fast and arrived in the blink of an eye! Without uttering a sound, he used the momentum of his horse to draw a cold light with his waist knife, slashing diagonally from an extremely tricky angle into Wang Jiayin's ribs!

Wang Jiayin's laughter abruptly stopped. He looked down in disbelief at the blood gushing from his body and collapsed to the ground.

Li Guo rushed forward, swiftly severing the man's enormous head with a swift stroke. He held it high and roared with all his might, "Wang Jiayin is dead! Those who surrender will not be killed!"

The roar was like thunder, exploding above the heads of every bandit.

With their commander killed and then caught in a pincer attack by elite cavalry, the bandits' morale collapsed instantly. Countless soldiers cried out for their families, threw down their weapons, and knelt to beg for mercy. The battlefield, which had been fiercely contested just moments before, instantly transformed into a one-sided rout and pursuit.

Zhu Qiuyue was wrestling with a bandit when he suddenly felt the pressure ease. He looked up and saw the bandit running around like headless flies. He paused for a moment, then noticed the fallen "King" banner not far away.

A surge of adrenaline rushed to his head! He roared and charged forward without regard for anything else, kicking aside a minor leader who was still trying to protect the flag. He grabbed the filthy flag and waved it wildly, shouting at the top of his lungs, "The flag! I've taken the bandit chief's flag!"

The city gates swung open, and Prince Zhu Qiugui of Jin, surrounded by heavy guards, emerged, trembling with fear yet unable to conceal his excitement. The pervasive stench of blood from the battlefield made him nauseous, but the joy of victory overwhelmed everything else.

He first saw Zhu Qiuyue, who was brought before him, his face flushed with excitement, and the tattered flag in his hand.

"Good! Good!" Upon learning that the young general who captured the flag was also surnamed Zhu, Zhu Qiugui patted Zhu Qiuyue on the shoulder and exclaimed, "Good brother! This is a great achievement! I will certainly report to the Emperor and have your name included in the official register! You are now a member of our Zhu family! You are my brother!"

Zhu Qiuyue knelt down with a thud, stammering, "Thank... thank you, Your Highness! I will repay you ten thousand times over!"

Next, Li Hongji and Li Guo were brought before him. Zhu Qiugui looked at the two men, covered in blood and still exuding murderous intent, especially Li Hongji, who had personally killed Wang Jiayin, and felt even more delighted.

"Brave warriors! Truly valiant generals!" He ordered his men, "Take one hundred taels of silver and two brocade robes, and bestow them upon these two brave warriors!"

Li Hongji bowed his head, knelt on one knee, and said in a steady voice, "Thank you for your reward, Your Highness! I, Li Hongji (Li Guo), am willing to die for Your Highness!"

But beneath his lowered eyelids, his gaze remained calm and undisturbed.

Sun Chuanting had arrived at the battlefield with his central army at some unknown time, where he met with Yang Sichang, Wei Zhongxian, and others. They congratulated each other, tacitly understanding that this battle was less a real war and more a performance, a performance using human lives!
After cleaning up the battlefield and counting the surrendered soldiers, there were nearly 20,000.

Sun Chuanting cupped his hands to Zhu Qiugui and said, “Your Highness, this battle is over. Of these surrendered soldiers, the strong and brave ones, I will select two thousand to replenish the ranks so that they can continue to fight bandits for the court. The remaining troops will be used as Your Highness’s guards to help protect the vassal state.”

Zhu Qiugui naturally complied without question.

Sun Chuanting immediately ordered Cao Wenzhao to select men, giving him a few specific instructions. Soon, several men who appeared to be leaders were brought over: Liu Guoneng, He Jin, and Yuan Zongdi. Although these men were among the bandits, they were well-known for their bravery or chivalry.

Sun Chuanting glanced at them and said indifferently, "Now that you have surrendered, you are the imperial army. Past matters will not be investigated; we will see how you perform in the future."

The group immediately knelt down to express their gratitude.

As for the more than 10,000 surrendered soldiers who were not selected, they were unwittingly incorporated into the Prince of Jin's "Zhu Family Army" system. They were thus included in the official ranks and began to receive royal stipends.

On the other side, Zhu Qiugui looked at the army that had suddenly "grown" in size. Although most of them were surrendered soldiers, he couldn't help but feel a little smug and seemed to have more confidence in moving the fiefdom to the southwest.

Zhu Qiuyue, clutching the tattered flag, felt his feet sink and a bright light appeared before his eyes.

Li Hongji accepted his reward and silently returned to the cavalry ranks. He changed into a brand-new brocade robe, touched the heavy silver in his pocket, and looked up to the east.

Beijing, and the emperor... uh, Li Hongji, has arrived!
(End of this chapter)