How can one be Emperor Chongzhen without money?

Chapter 219 Chongzhen's Land Speculation, Huang Taiji's Tomb Raiding
The afternoon sunlight slanted into the west warm pavilion of the Qianqing Palace.

Emperor Chongzhen sat on his imperial couch, his face tense. The war was over, and news of the victory had long since spread, but the detailed battle report had not yet arrived. He was anxious, but he couldn't show it on his face.

Wang Chengen stood by with his hands at his sides, eyes downcast, seemingly lost in thought, not daring to utter a sound.

The footsteps approached from afar, sounding somewhat hurried.

It was Cao Huachun. He was covered in dust, with mud splattered on the hem of his official robe, and his face showed signs of fatigue from the journey, but his eyes shone brightly.

"Your Majesty! A great victory! A great victory at Baliqiao!" Cao Huachun knelt down with a thud before he could even stand properly. His voice was a little hoarse, but very clear.

Emperor Chongzhen leaned forward slightly: "Explain in detail!"

"Governor Lu and General Sun jointly report a victory!" Cao Huachun pulled a sweat-stained document from his pocket and held it high above his head. "This servant just returned from the Balizhuang camp and witnessed firsthand the great victory!"

Wang Chengen quickly took it and presented it to Chongzhen.

Chongzhen didn't rush to look, but stared at Cao Huachun: "How are Lu Xiangshan and Sun Zushou? How are the casualties among the soldiers?"

Cao Huachun paused for a moment, then quickly replied, "Your Majesty, Governor Lu has a cut on his arm, while General Sun is unharmed, though he's been working too hard and his eyes are bloodshot. As for the soldiers... there will be casualties, but morale is extremely high!"

Emperor Chongzhen then hummed in agreement and unfolded the victory report to examine it closely. He read it slowly, tracing each line with his finger.

Cao Huachun added from the side, remembering the numbers clearly:

"More than 5,000 bondservants were captured, mostly of Korean origin and early Han Chinese from Liaodong..."

"More than 6,000 heads of genuine Tartars were killed in battle and surrendered as armored men. Among them, about 1,500 were confirmed Jianzhou slaves and their family bondservant guards..."

"We captured over 1,500 sets of well-preserved Jurchen iron-inlaid cotton armor and cloth-covered iron armor, as well as over 1,200 warhorses..."

"Our army suffered over 2,100 dead and over 6,000 wounded, mostly from arrow wounds. We also lost over 500 horses, and the consumption of gunpowder and lead bullets was enormous..."

Emperor Chongzhen put down the victory report and let out a soft sigh. He looked at Cao Huachun: "Are these figures accurate?"

Cao Huachun bowed even lower: "Your Majesty, it is true! Governor Lu specially sent a secretary from his hometown of Yixing, surnamed Zhou, with dozens of clerks to check and verify overnight, eliminating any possible false reports from each camp, and there were almost no errors!"

A smile slowly spread across Chongzhen's face. He tapped the kang table with his knuckles: "Excellent! Lu Xiangshan, a true military genius! Sun Zushou, also a pillar of the nation! He fought with great courage and settled accounts clearly!"

He turned to Wang Chengen and raised his voice: "Wang Daban, write this down! Immediately allocate 300,000 taels of silver from my imperial treasury! 200,000 taels will be used to reward the soldiers on the front lines, and 100,000 taels will be used to compensate the wounded and injured and to treat the injured! It must be done quickly; the silver must be distributed to the soldiers in full as soon as possible!"

Cao Huachun's eyelids twitched. Three hundred thousand taels! The imperial treasury still had that much silver? He secretly glanced at Wang Chengen and gave him a meaningful look.

Wang Chengen's face was expressionless; he only nodded slightly.

Emperor Chongzhen noticed Cao Huachun's subtle actions and suddenly laughed heartily: "Grand Tutor Cao, why are you looking at Wang Chengen? Are you afraid that my private treasury is empty and I won't be able to come up with the money?"

Cao Huachun trembled in fright: "This servant wouldn't dare! This servant only... only..."

"Don't worry!" Chongzhen waved his hand. "My private treasury is full of silver! Just go and tell Lu Xiangshan and Sun Zushou to reward them generously! The soldiers have risked their lives, and I cannot let them down!"

Cao Huachun was even more suspicious. The Emperor's confidence… could it be that he'd promised another pirate's wife a concubine or mistress? Could her body handle it? He dared not think further, nor could he understand (he had no experience in this matter; he wasn't interested in women), and quickly kowtowed: "This servant obeys! Your Majesty is wise!"

"Go ahead," Emperor Chongzhen waved his hand in a good mood.

Cao Huachun left, his steps becoming much lighter.

After he left, Chongzhen suddenly stood up from the couch, paced around the warm pavilion twice with his hands behind his back, and then burst into laughter: "We won! We won! This time we really won big!"

A person emerged from behind the screen; it was Liu Yueying. She held an account book in her hand and had a smile on her face.

“Your Majesty,” she said in a light voice, “the preliminary calculations are complete.”

"Speak quickly!" Emperor Chongzhen's eyes lit up.

"Taking advantage of the panic in the capital region, the Imperial Treasury, through the Imperial Estate Bank, joined forces with banks such as Qin Jinyuan and Lu Shengfeng to acquire superior farms, shops, and residences in Beizhili at extremely low prices, mainly around the capital and in Tongzhou and Liangxiang. The accounts valued the assets at over 2.07 million taels. This doesn't even include the investment from the banks and money shops in which the Imperial Estate Bank invested, which hasn't been accounted for yet."

Emperor Chongzhen rubbed his hands together: "Worth it! Absolutely worth it! Under normal circumstances, these properties wouldn't even be worth four million taels of silver!"

Liu Yueying nodded, looking at Chongzhen with admiration: "What's most ingenious is that less than 500,000 taels of silver from the imperial treasury were used to pay the two million taels. The rest was paid with official notes from the imperial estates and notes from Qin Jinyuan and Lu Shengfeng. Your Majesty's financial skills are truly admirable."

Wang Chengen listened from the side, an incredulous expression on his face. He was in charge of the inner transport warehouse and knew the family's assets. In the past, let alone two million, even moving two hundred thousand in cash was a struggle.

Emperor Chongzhen smiled smugly: "This is the power of credit! The power of finance!" Wang Chengen pondered for a moment, then reminded him: "Your Majesty, after taking out that 300,000, there won't be much cash left in the Imperial Treasury's accounts. How about we lend out some land?"

"No rush, no rush." ​​Chongzhen waved his hand repeatedly. "Wang Daban, Yueying, just watch. Once this storm passes and people's hearts settle down, the real estate in the capital will rise sharply under my management. Now is not the time to sell. If the Imperial Treasury is short of silver, just use those fields as collateral at the Imperial Estate, Qin Jinyuan, and Lu Shengfeng."

Will it surge again?

Liu Yueying looked somewhat doubtful. She couldn't see any particular potential for a significant increase in Beijing's real estate market.

Wang Chengen bowed deeply: "Your Majesty's wisdom is truly enlightened. This servant...this servant has truly broadened my horizons."

"These properties right now," Chongzhen said, his smile fading, "manage them well, but don't rush to liquidate them. Hold onto them and wait for their value to rise!"

"Yes!" Liu Yueying and Wang Chengen replied in unison.

The warm room was filled with an excitement that seemed to precede a great era.

……

As darkness fell, the Shahe River flowed slowly in the north of Beijing.

On the slopes of the north bank of the Shahe River, a scene of utter devastation unfolded. Broken flags, shattered guns, and dead horses were scattered everywhere. Even more numerous were the people, slumped on the ground in small groups, their faces covered in dust and blood, their eyes vacant. Many were listlessly plucking ears of green wheat from the field and stuffing them into their mouths to chew.

Huang Taiji stood atop a slightly elevated mound, gazing south. Beyond Baliqiao, the Ming army's pursuers were nowhere to be seen; only deathly silence remained. But on his side, he looked utterly wretched, as if his spine had just been broken.

Hauge stood behind him, his arm haphazardly wrapped in cloth—he had been grazed by a lead bullet while protecting his father during the retreat north; the injury wasn't serious, but it hurt quite a bit. Tulai was ashen-faced, Turg had his head bowed, and Sony, clutching his sword, was panting heavily. Lengri—Yanguli's younger brother, who had just died in battle—had his armor askew and a bloody gash on his face; he looked terrible. Tong Yangxing seemed terrified, his eyes darting around. Fan Wencheng was in the worst shape; his robes were torn, his shoulders were wrapped in thick cloth, blood was still seeping out, and his face was frighteningly pale. He had fought incredibly hard in this battle to enter the city, even losing his own brother! But the matter of raising the banner was still unresolved. With the battle going like this, how could they possibly assess merit?

No one spoke. The only sounds were the rustling of the wind through the wheat stalks and the occasional suppressed groans of the wounded soldiers.

Suddenly, Huang Taiji laughed. At first, it was a low laugh, then the sound grew louder and louder until it became a loud laugh, and his shoulders shook from laughing.

The laughter sounded particularly jarring and eerie in the deathly silence of the defeated army.

Hauge couldn't help but call out, "Father Khan?"

Huang Taiji stopped laughing, turned around, his eyes sweeping over the surprised and uncertain faces of the crowd, and pointed south: "I'm laughing at Lu Xiang-sheng! A mere scholar, his military campaigns have come to an end!"

He paused, his voice laced with sarcasm: "The terrain here slopes from north to south, and the river bends here, offering a wide field of vision. If I were commanding troops here, I would have secretly laid an ambush of three thousand elite cavalry on the north bank! No more than three thousand! When our army has just suffered a defeat and crossed the river, exhausted and disorganized, crammed onto this riverbank, the ambush would suddenly strike..."

He made a chopping gesture: "In less than half an hour, we will all be reduced to dust! Hahahaha!"

Upon hearing this, Hauge, Turg, and Soni turned deathly pale. They were all well-versed in *Romance of the Three Kingdoms*, and immediately recalled the story of Cao Cao's defeat at the Battle of Red Cliffs, where he fled laughing all the way, only to be beaten again with each laugh. The men turned and looked around in unison at the wheat fields and distant woods, as if a vast army truly lurked within them. Soni even muttered under his breath, "The Khan… could he be possessed by Cao Cao's spirit…?" He also remembered Huang Taiji taking several of Ligdan Khan's widows as concubines, and his heart sank even further.

Even Fan Wencheng forgot the pain and looked at Huang Taiji in horror, wondering if the big sweater had been too shocked and gone mad.

Huang Taiji saw everyone's reaction, his laughter stopped abruptly, and his face instantly turned icy: "Look at your cowardice! So scared! If there were an ambush, they would have already attacked! The fact that there's still no movement shows that Lu Xiang-sheng lacks courage, or that the Ming Dynasty has no one left to rely on!"

His words were like a bucket of cold water, waking everyone up. Yes, if there really were an ambush, they would have rushed out long ago.

"Issue the order!" Huang Taiji's voice was cold and hard. "Rest here tonight, eat something, and bandage your wounds. Tomorrow morning, assemble the army and march to Changping to meet up with the Fourteenth Prince!"

Hauge couldn't hold back any longer: "Father Khan, our army has just suffered a defeat and morale is low. The best course of action is to quickly leave the pass and return to Shenyang! What are we going to Changping for?"

Huang Taiji turned his head, his gaze sweeping coldly over Hauge's face, then over Turg, Sony and others, before finally landing on Fan Wencheng.

“Mr. Fan,” Huang Taiji’s voice was not loud, but it carried a chill, “you are well-versed in history, do you know which two special official positions Cao Cao established at the end of the Han Dynasty to supplement his military funds?”

Fan Wencheng trembled, his mind went blank, and he subconsciously replied, "Reporting to Your Majesty, it is...it is the Tomb Raider Captain...and, and the Tomb Raider Lieutenant General..."

Huang Taiji slapped his thigh: "That's right! The Tomb Raiders, the Lieutenant Generals of Excavation! Zhu Youjian's ancestors have been lying under Tianshou Mountain for over two hundred years! It's time to bring out their treasures to bask in the sun and help our Great Jin!"

He glanced at the stunned crowd and said, enunciating each word clearly, "We're going to Changping to become 'treasure hunters' for a day!"

Turg and Son were initially shocked, but then they realized what was happening and a sinister smile appeared on their faces.

Yes, so what if the Ming army can win between Beijing and Tongzhou? They can dig up their emperor's ancestral graves in Changping and see who feels more pain!

If Emperor Chongzhen wanted to protect the ancestral tombs, he would force Lu Xiang-sheng and Sun Zu-shou to go north to Changping, which would be a good opportunity for the Jin army to come to their aid!

(End of this chapter)