How can one be Emperor Chongzhen without money?

Chapter 282 Yin Dingshengtian? He Can Only Win by a Little Bit (6 chapters today, please vote with monthly tickets)
Before dawn, the imperial envoy's residence in Huai'an City was already lit up.

Hong Chengchou sat at the head of the table, his eyes deep-set, but his gaze was frighteningly bright. Fang Huazheng and Gao Yigong sat on either side, one in charge of the money pouch and the other holding the knife handle, both with stern faces.

The construction drawings of Gaojiayan were spread out on the table, the ink almost blurred by the rain.

"Eunuch Fang," Hong Chengchou's voice was terribly hoarse, "has the money arrived?"

Fang Huazheng quickly pulled out a hard leather folding document from his pocket and handed it over with both hands: "Minister, the 'Lu Shengfeng' bank in Huai'an and Yangzhou has prepared 450,000 taels of silver in cash, which can be withdrawn at any time. This is the voucher for redeeming the bills. In addition, there are 50,000 taels of silver in cash kept in the River Conservancy Office, with special personnel watching over it, so there is absolutely no risk."

Hong Chengchou didn't take it, only glanced at it: "Okay. Go and do two things immediately."

"The minister gave the order."

"First, establish 'official markets' in Huai'an and Yangzhou. Sacks, ropes, timber, and shovels will be purchased with clearly marked prices! 20% higher than market prices! Cash settlement, absolutely no delays!"

"Second, recruit laborers. Each able-bodied man will be paid 150 cash per day, with two full meals provided, and it will be paid daily! Tell those in charge of the river management officials that anyone who dares to withhold even a single cash will face the wrath of the Hetao soldiers, who cares who is behind them!"

Fang Huazheng took a deep breath: "I understand! I'll go and post the notice right away!"

Hong Chengchou turned his gaze to Gao Yigong: "General Gao."

Gao Yigong suddenly stood up: "Your subordinate is here!"

"Take your men and go to the canal wharf." Hong Chengchou pointed to the location of the canal garrison on the map. "Pass on my message: Once the canal boats are unloaded, get to the dikes and carry out flood control! Your wages and food will be the same as those of the civilian laborers, and those who do a good job will receive additional rewards! Anyone who slacks off or causes trouble will be executed on the spot according to military law!"

"Understood!" Gao Yigong clasped his hands in a fist salute, the leaves rustled, and he strode out.

Hong Chengchou then looked at Fang Huazheng, his tone becoming serious: "Eunuch Fang, you are in charge of managing the city's finances and provisions. You are in charge of all procurement and payments; you don't need to ask me anymore."

Fang Huazheng nodded emphatically: "Don't worry, Minister, I know what's important."

"Go," Hong Chengchou waved his hand. "Time waits for no one."

The two left quickly. Hong Chengchou sat alone under the lamp, listening to the pattering rain outside, which seemed to have lessened but still continued. He reached out and pressed hard on his throbbing temples.

……

In just one or two days, the Gaojiayan embankment had changed.

The once lifeless dike is now bustling with activity. Soldiers in their uniforms and laborers in tattered clothes, a dense, dark mass, bustle like ants on the muddy dike slope.

Several veteran river workers who had come from Beijing were shouting orders.

"Here! Dig it open! Clear out all the mud inside!"

"New soil! Add new soil! Tamp it down firmly!"

Basket after basket of black, foul-smelling mud was scooped out of the dike, only to be replaced by loads of yellowish-brown fresh soil. Strong men chanted work songs as they carried massive stone rammers, pounding them down until the ground trembled.

Gao Yigong rode his horse, patrolling back and forth along the dike. His Hetao cavalrymen were scattered around, their sharp eyes fixed on each section of the dike.

A junior officer from the grain transport army, who had been temporarily brought in to take charge, tried to deduct wages from several of his laborers. This angered his men, and as they were arguing, Gao Yigong's personal guards dragged him out.

"General's order! Anyone who withholds wages shall be whipped twenty times!" the guard shouted.

The sound of the whip striking flesh was crisp and loud. The little flag's screams were mostly drowned out by the sound of the wind and rain. After the whipping, the man was tied to a wooden stake on the embankment for public display.

The efficiency of work on the entire dam visibly increased.

Hong Chengchou trudged through the muddy water, occasionally squatting down to grab a handful of freshly filled soil and rub it between his fingers, or to stomp on the compacted ground. River management director Li Ruoxing followed behind him, his face blank—he had worked on river management for quite some time, but had never imagined that the Gaojiayan Dam would be so busy one day.
"Silver... it's really a good thing." Hong Chengchou looked at the bustling scene before him and suddenly muttered.

Li Ruoxing paused for a moment, then didn't reply.

Hong Chengchou didn't need him to respond and continued speaking on his own: "See? With daily cash payments, these laborers and soldiers work ten times harder than they do for the government!"

He raised his head and looked north, his gaze seemingly piercing through thousands of mountains and rivers. "Back then at Sarhu... if we had had enough silver to support our provisions and allow our Ming elite troops to advance step by step, steadily and surely, and fight the Jurchens at a loss, why would we have had to split our forces into four routes and advance recklessly, only to be devoured piece by piece?"

He abruptly withdrew his gaze, staring at Li Ruoxing with a hint of worry: "Therefore, the key to next year's Northern Expedition is not whether the soldiers on the front lines fight to the death, but whether the supplies and provisions in the rear can keep up! If Your Majesty can raise this life-saving silver now, you can raise the supplies and provisions for pacifying Liaodong next year!"

Li Ruoxing blushed, feeling quite ashamed: "Hengjiu is right! It's all my fault; I have failed the Emperor's trust."

Just then, a clerk from the river administration office came running over, sweating profusely and looking distressed: "My lords, something terrible has happened! The prices of sacks and shovels in the city are skyrocketing! All sorts of food, clothing, and daily necessities have gone up in price too, and the people are cursing and complaining!"

Hong Chengchou's face darkened: "Hoarding and speculation have reached my doorstep. Tell those unscrupulous merchants that anyone who dares to raise prices at this time will be treated as a traitor and their property will be confiscated!"

"Yes...yes!" The clerk scrambled away.

Li Ruoxing sighed, "Hengjiu, this money is being spent... like water flowing away." Hong Chengchou was silent for a moment before saying, "That's His Majesty's ability. If His Majesty hadn't managed to get so much money, this Gaojiayan..." He looked up at the gloomy, rainy sky and didn't continue.

Just then, another group of people escorted an official sedan chair, struggling to ascend the embankment. The curtain was lifted, and the Grand Canal Transport Commissioner Yang Yipeng stepped down with a livid face.

"Minister Hong!" Yang Yipeng's voice was filled with suppressed anger. "You've mobilized all my grain transport troops to repair the dikes, and all the grain transport boats are empty and moored at the docks! The grain transport has been interrupted! What about the provisions and salaries for the capital and the nine border regions? Can you afford to take responsibility for this?!"

Hong Chengchou turned around abruptly, his gaze sharp as a knife: "Minister Yang! If the canal transport is interrupted, there is still sea transport to support it! If Gaojiayan collapses, the entire Huaiyang region will perish! In times of emergency, expediency is necessary! I am acting on imperial orders, and I will bear all the consequences! If you are dissatisfied, you may submit a memorial to impeach me! Now, please leave!"

Yang Yipeng was so angry that he trembled all over. He pointed at Hong Chengchou and said, "You...you! Hong Hengjiu, you wait! I will definitely impeach you!" After saying that, he turned around angrily and got back into the sedan chair. The group then went down the embankment with difficulty.

Li Ruoxing said in a worried whisper, "Hengjiu, this..."

Hong Chengchou waved his hand, interrupting him: "We can't worry about that now! This rain just won't stop! It's as if God wants to concentrate all the rain that hasn't fallen in the past few years into this year, pouring it all down at once. The report says that Shaanxi, Shanxi, Henan, southern Beizhili, and Shandong are all experiencing heavy rain! All the rivers and streams in these places eventually flow into the Yellow River and the Huai River, and the only thing Huai'an and Yangzhou can rely on is the Gaojia Weir!"

Li Ruoxing's expression changed drastically: "Then, what about the area north of the Huai River? What if the Yellow River breaches its banks?"

Hong Chengchou sighed deeply: "Silver isn't everything! And there isn't that much of it!"

……

Under the same sky, the Forbidden City in Beijing was also brightly lit.

In the West Warm Pavilion of the Qianqing Palace, Emperor Chongzhen stood by the window, his back to the door. Gao Guiying stood quietly in the shadows.

Xu Yingyuan entered quietly, carrying a thick stack of memorials and urgent reports, his face grave.

"Your Majesty, a joint memorial from Minister Hong and Fang Huazheng has arrived from Huai'an via express courier service. Also... there are memorials from several censors of the Censorate, as well as impeachment memorials from Yang Yipeng, the Grand Canal Transport Commissioner."

He paused, his voice growing deeper, "Furthermore... urgent reports from governors and river management offices in Shaanxi, Shanxi, Henan, southern Beizhili, Shandong... are pouring in like snowflakes, all saying... it's raining heavily, the Yellow River and its tributaries are experiencing continuous and dangerous situations, and they are requesting the court to quickly allocate funds and grain for disaster relief!"

Chongzhen didn't turn around, but just stared at the endless rain outside the window: "Nian."

Xu Yingyuan first read Hong Chengchou's report, which detailed the establishment of official markets to purchase materials, recruitment of laborers, reorganization of the grain transport army, and the pressure of rising prices. The report emphasized that although all efforts were being made to repair the damage, the upstream waters were surging, the water level of Hongze Lake was rising daily, and the situation remained extremely critical.

Then, he began to read the impeachment petition, the content of which was intense:
"The censor impeached Hong Chengchou and Fang Huazheng for 'wasting national funds and indiscriminately bestowing rewards, causing prices to soar and public resentment to grow'!"

"Yang Yipeng impeached Hong Chengchou for 'forcibly conscripting grain transport troops, disrupting grain transport, and cutting off the lifeline of the capital; his intentions are despicable!'"

"Furthermore, the censor impeached the two for 'disregarding discipline, bypassing officials, acting arbitrarily, and seizing power under the guise of authority'!"

The warm room was deathly silent, with only the unsettling sound of rain outside the window.

Emperor Chongzhen remained silent for a very long time.

These corrupt officials of a fallen dynasty never forget their factional strife and gossip! Few are actually capable of getting things done, and they're constantly bombarded by those who only know how to talk big. It truly is the end of a dynasty!

He walked to the imperial desk, picked up the vermilion brush, and began to review the documents with vigorous, flowing strokes; his characters were so powerful they seemed to penetrate the paper.
"Issue the imperial decree! Severely reprimand those who submit memorials that are unclear on the matter and obstruct disaster relief! All actions of Hong Chengchou and Fang Huazheng are in accordance with my will! They are permitted to continue to act as they see fit, and the court shall not interfere!"

He paused, took a deep breath, and continued writing: "Order the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Works to take overall command and, except for Gaojiayan, prioritize the safety of major cities such as Xuzhou, Shangqiu, and Kaifeng! In other areas, order the governors and waterway officials to mobilize manpower and resources to defend the city at all costs, with the court providing support as needed! There must be no mistakes!"

"This servant obeys the decree." Xu Yingyuan bowed and accepted the decree, cold sweat pouring down his back. This decree practically tacitly agreed to temporarily sacrifice the interests of some regions in order to protect the core area with all efforts.

As Chongzhen watched his retreating figure, he wearily rubbed his temples and whispered to Gao Guiying beside him, his voice filled with an unfathomable sense of powerlessness:
"Silver can motivate laborers... but it can't move the Ming Dynasty's nearly dead system, much less plug the leaks that are everywhere in the country... Shaanxi, Shanxi, Henan, Shandong... I wish I had ten Hong Chengchou, ten 500,000 taels of silver! But for now, I can only hold down... the most critical one!"

……

The night in Huai'an City was brighter and noisier than usual because of the lights of the official market and the carts and horses transporting materials.

On the levee, torches stretched out in a winding ribbon of light as laborers and soldiers worked through the night to complete the repairs. There was no definite completion date, but everyone felt an invisible, ever-increasing pressure from the rising water level and the bad news coming from upstream.

Hong Chengchou, his legs feeling like lead, inspected another section of the newly reinforced dike. The earthy smell mingled with the stench of sweat, filling the damp air. He had just received documents delivered by courier: the Wei River in Shaanxi had overflowed, the Fen River in Shanxi had risen, and the Yellow River in Henan had reached a new high for the summer… Every word weighed heavily on his heart like a stone.

Fang Hua was following behind him, his account books growing even thicker, and his face looking increasingly haggard.

“Eunuch Fang,” Hong Chengchou stopped, his voice so hoarse it was almost inaudible, “how long can our money last?”

Fang Huazheng did a quick mental calculation and cautiously replied, "If we continue at this rate... ten days, at most half a month."

Upon hearing this, Hong Chengchou's lips curled into an extremely bitter smile: "Ten days? Half a month?..." He pointed upstream, "But the rain is still falling in Shaanxi, Shanxi, and Henan... All that water will eventually flow here. Can we really stop this inexhaustible force?"

Just then, another swift horse broke through the rain, galloping straight from below the embankment, its hooves beating like drums. The rider's shouts ripped through the night sky:
"Report! Your Excellency! Urgent report from the scouting boat of the Water Standard Battalion! The water level of Hongze Lake... has risen another two feet overnight! News from Sizhou upstream indicates that the flow of the Huai River's main stream has increased significantly!!"

(End of this chapter)