How can one be Emperor Chongzhen without money?

Chapter 283 Oh no, Emperor Chongzhen is broke again! (6 chapters today, please vote!)
The rain in the fifth year of the Chongzhen reign still hadn't stopped.

The Gaojiayan embankment has been soaked in wind and rain for almost a month, and it looks like a saturated earthen dragon, lying paralyzed on the east bank of Hongze Lake.

The embankment was packed with people, both on and off the banks.

The soldiers in their uniforms, the laborers in their tattered clothes, and the people who had poured in from Huai'an and Yangzhou were a dense, dark mass, struggling in the mud like ants.

Rainwater mixed with sweat streamed down people's faces, leaving everyone soaked through.

Hong Chengchou stood on a high point of the embankment, his official robes stained with mud and clinging tightly to his legs. His eyes were sunken, his lips were chapped, but his eyes, like two burning embers, were fixed on the western horizon where the water met the sky.

The sky over there was darker than elsewhere, and the sound of the water was louder.

Fang Huazheng trudged up the steep slope, his official hat askew, his face a mixture of rain and sweat. "Minister," his voice was hoarse, "urgent reports have arrived from upstream... from Sizhou and Xuyi! The Huai River... the Huai River has overflowed its banks! Huaibei... I'm afraid we can't hold it!"

Hong Chengchou swayed slightly, but without turning around, he squeezed out a voice through clenched teeth: "I understand."

He had long anticipated this day. The continuous torrential rains caused both the Yellow River and the Huai River to rise, and the Huai River was bound to overflow sooner or later. However, the extent and location of the overflow were uncertain.

If both Huainan and Huaibei were to fall apart, at least half of the Ming Dynasty would be destroyed! But if the wealthy Huainan could be preserved while the people of Huaibei suffered, then the Ming Dynasty would at most lose one-third or one-quarter of its territory.

Therefore, Emperor Chongzhen's order for Hong Chengchou to defend Gaojiayan in Huainan was actually intended to put Huaibei under considerable pressure.
"Silver..." Fang Hua was panting, his face drained of color. "Four hundred and fifty thousand taels... are all gone. The prices of sacks and timber in Yangzhou and Suzhou have increased several times over! We can't keep up with the cash!"

Hong Chengchou turned around abruptly: "What did you say?"

"We're out of money!" Fang Huazheng was almost in tears. "The laborers want their wages, and the materials need cash! If this continues, the people on the embankment will scatter on their own, even before the water comes!"

On the dike, the sounds of wind and rain mingled with the weary chants of laborers and the hoarse shouts of the overseers. If you listened carefully, you could also hear complaints and cries.

Gao Yigong rode up from the embankment on his horse, which was covered in mud. "Minister!" he reined in his horse. "Several soldiers from the canal transport battalion are threatening to quit if they don't get their pay! We can't keep them in check any longer!"

Hong Chengchou looked at the two men before him: one penniless, the other on the verge of collapse. The upstream floodwaters were approaching, and the dike beneath his feet trembled.

Is it finished?
The thought flashed through his mind. Was it really over? Had he betrayed the Emperor's trust and watched helplessly as Huaiyang became a vast expanse of water?

Just then, a hoarse voice rang out from the side.

"Minister! Eunuch Fang!"

Hong Chengchou and Fang Huazheng turned around at the same time upon hearing the sound and saw Li Ruoxing, the head of the river management department, leading a man in a hurry. The man appeared to be around fifty years old, with a thin face and a weary look on his face, but his eyes shone with a sharp light. He was none other than Cui Chengxiu, the salt commissioner of Lianghuai who had been sent to redeem himself after being imprisoned for "discussing his crimes and taking a loan," and a former member of Wei Zhongxian's faction.

“Envoy Cui?” Hong Chengchou frowned. At this critical juncture, what was he, an official in charge of salt tax, doing on the dike?

Cui Chengxiu disregarded formalities, bowed to Fang Huazheng, and spoke quickly: "Eunuch Fang, Minister Hong! The salt tax revenue for the first half of this year, totaling 800,000 taels of silver, has just been delivered to Huai'an and is currently sealed in the Salt Transport Office's treasury, guarded day and night by salt workers. According to regulations, it should be loaded onto ships and shipped to the capital's Taicang the day after tomorrow!"

Fang Huazheng was taken aback: "What is the purpose of Envoy Cui's statement at this time?"

Cui Chengxiu took a deep breath, turned his gaze to Hong Chengchou, and said earnestly, "Minister! Eunuch Fang! You both have seen with your own eyes that Huaiyang is now in dire straits, and the grain transport has been cut off! In the days I've been in Huai'an, I've watched this dike teeter on the brink of collapse, with the lives of millions of people hanging on its shoulders! If Gaojiayan cannot be held, Huaiyang will be turned into a vast expanse of water, and half of the imperial court's vital source of revenue will be finished! At that time, even if we safely deliver this 800,000 taels of silver to the capital, what good will it do? It probably won't even make a splash!"

He paused, lowering his voice but making it all the more resolute: "This humble official is willing to risk his life and fortune to implore Minister Hong and Eunuch Fang to immediately submit a joint memorial to His Majesty via the fastest courier: 'Please grant His Majesty's wise decision to temporarily retain these 800,000 taels of salt tax in Huai'an and immediately allocate it to the river works for flood control! I, Cui Chengxiu, will bear all the blame! Even if His Majesty were to behead me in the future, it would be better than watching millions of people in Huaiyang drown and earning myself eternal infamy!'"

Hong Chengchou stared at Cui Chengxiu, remaining silent for a long time. Fang Huazheng, however, panicked somewhat: "Envoy Cui! This...this is the capital's grain transported to Taicang! If it's touched...that's a matter of utmost importance!"

A bitter smile flashed across Cui Chengxiu's face as he pointed to the embankment beneath his feet and the busy crowd in the distance: "If the embankment is gone, Huaiyang will be lost, and we will both be sinners for all time. What use is this silver then? I am a criminal myself, and I understand the principle that when the nest is overturned, no egg remains intact! If we can use this tax revenue to preserve this prosperous land in the southeast and leave the court with a breath of life, I will die content!"

Hong Chengchou took a deep breath and grabbed Cui Chengxiu's arm: "Lord Cui! Is this true? The silver is indeed all in the treasury?"

“Absolutely true!” Cui Chengxiu nodded emphatically. “The keys to the warehouse and the ledgers are all here! I have already sent trusted salt workers to guard them closely! We are just waiting for the Minister and Eunuch Fang to give their approval, and then we can immediately issue a document, using the seals of both the Imperial Commissioner’s Office and the Salt Transport Office, to proceed with the procurement of materials as an expedient measure! At the same time, we will submit a memorial to the throne as soon as possible to request imperial approval!”

"Good!" Hong Chengchou's eyes flashed, and he turned to Fang Huazheng. "Eunuch Fang! Do as Lord Cui said, immediately draft an urgent memorial and send it directly to the capital by express courier! At the same time, use our imperial envoy seals to issue an order in advance: all official granaries and civilian goods in Huai'an, Yangzhou, and nearby prefectures, as long as they are urgently needed for flood control, can be requisitioned and purchased at a fair price with the approval of the Salt Transport Office, and the settlement will be made in the form of 800,000 taels of tax silver! Tell those clerks and merchants that this is an imperial proclamation, and anyone who dares to hoard goods and delay important matters will be treated as a traitor and executed on the spot!"

"Understood!" Gao Yigong's spirits soared. He mounted his horse, cracked his whip, and charged into the crowd, roaring like thunder: "Brothers! The pay has arrived! Eight hundred thousand taels! Real silver! Everyone gets a reward once the job is done! Anyone who dares to make a sound again, I'll chop off their head and kick it around like a football!"

The news spread like wildfire across the dike. The previously listless laborers and soldiers were suddenly in an uproar.

"We have silver now!"

"Eight hundred thousand taels! Meat at every meal!"

"We'll fight to the death! For our homes, for our money! We'll defy fate!"

The atmosphere of despair vanished, replaced by an almost frenzied drive. Money became the lifeline.

Hong Chengchou stood on the high ground, looking down at the sea of ​​people that had once again come to life.

A few days later, the grain transport boats arrived from the direction of Yangzhou and Suzhou, unloading mountains of sacks and timber. When the people of Huai'an and Yangzhou heard that they needed to protect their homes, they spontaneously organized themselves, pushing carts and carrying loads to send everything they could find to the dike.

Men jumped into waist-deep water to drive piles, while women and children passed soil and stones behind them. The firelight blended together, illuminating the rainy night.

This was no longer a simple matter of hiring, but a battle to defend one's homeland. The money lit the fuse, but the instinct to protect one's home was the real explosive.

Several veteran river workers who had come from Beijing, their voices hoarse from shouting, directed the laborers to repair a temporary "secondary dike" behind the most dangerous section of the embankment. Thick wooden stakes were driven in one by one, followed by sacks filled with soil and bundles of shovels.

"Hurry! Hurry! The water is coming!" came the hoarse cry of an old river worker.

The most dangerous moment for the Gaojiayan Dam has finally arrived!

Gao Yigong personally jumped into the mud and water, carrying sacks alongside the laborers. Fang Huazheng also rolled up his sleeves and directed the distribution of wages and meals. Even Yang Yipeng disregarded his dignity, busy coordinating the transportation of supplies.

At this moment, all partisan strife and grudges were temporarily set aside in the face of the raging flood.

They kept watch like that for three days and three nights.

At dawn on the fourth day, the rain subsided slightly. The water level of Hongze Lake was almost level with the raised dam, but ultimately, it did not overflow.

A faint cheer rose from the embankment, quickly drowned out by even greater exhaustion. People lay sprawled in the mud, too weak to even speak. Hong Chengchou leaned on a wooden cane, barely managing to stand. Fang Huazheng slumped to the ground, his official robes stained with mud. Gao Yigong, leaning on a wooden cane, gasped for breath; his Hetao soldiers were also utterly exhausted on the embankment.

Just then, a muffled thunderous roar came from the opposite bank, the north bank of the Huai River. It wasn't thunder, but the sound of a dam collapsing.

Then came faint, yet heart-wrenching cries.

A scout on horseback charged from downstream like a madman, tumbled off his horse, and cried out, "Minister! It's terrible! The entire north bank of the lower reaches of the Huai River, from Qinghekou to Yuntiguan, has collapsed! Andong and Haizhou... are all flooded!"

Hong Chengchou stiffened, slowly turned his head, and looked towards the north bank.

Over there, the former farmland and villages were now a vast expanse of muddy yellow water. Only a few rooftops on higher ground still struggled to stay afloat.

He defended the south bank, Huai'an, and Yangzhou.

The price was the destruction of the North Shore.

A mouthful of metallic sweetness surged up his throat, which he swallowed with all his might.

“Send people…across the river…to save one if possible.” His voice was hoarse, almost inaudible. “And…be on high alert…against the plague.”

……

In the Forbidden City of Beijing, in the Qianqing Palace, Emperor Chongzhen spent a sleepless night.

Cao Huachun and Xu Yingyuan took turns delivering urgent reports from various places. Each one felt like a cold stone hitting his heart.

The Yellow River breached its banks, the Huai River embankment collapsed, and countless people were displaced...

When Chongzhen saw the joint memorial from Hong Chengchou, Fang Huazheng, Cui Chengxiu, and Yang Yipeng, as well as the apology letter requesting "a temporary loan of 800,000 taels of salt tax to protect Huainan," he remained silent for a long time.

He walked to the huge map of the Ming Dynasty, his finger sweeping across the yellow area of ​​Huaibei, which represented floods, and down to the Huainan area, which barely retained its original color.

He picked up the vermilion brush and wrote three characters on the petition of apology:

"Accurate. Meritorious."

Then he said to Xu Yingyuan: "Issue the imperial decree. The governors of Shandong and Henan are to provide full relief for the disaster in Huaibei, but the main focus should be on local resettlement, and strict measures should be taken to prevent the refugees from fleeing south and impacting Huainan. The safety of Huainan depends on Gaojiayan. Hong Chengchou and others should continue to act expediently, and all necessary funds should be allocated with priority."

Xu Yingyuan whispered, "Your Majesty, the canal transport has been cut off, and the capital..."

Emperor Chongzhen interrupted him, his voice icy: "Tell the Ministry of Revenue to initiate maritime transport. Change the grain transport from the Grand Canal to the sea, and have Tianjin, Dengzhou, and Laizhou do their utmost to receive it. Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures."

Xu Yingyuan dared not say another word and bowed as he withdrew.

Emperor Chongzhen stood alone before the map, remaining silent for a long while before sighing to Gao Guiying and Liu Yueying, who had just been summoned: "I exchanged Huaibei for Huainan. In total, 1.3 million taels of silver were poured in... Gaojiayan has been temporarily defended, but this silver... has flowed away like rainwater."

In addition, a large sum of money was previously used to purchase grain.

He gave a wry smile and rubbed his temples. "Yueying, how much of our private treasury...does we have left?"

Liu Yueying replied softly, "Your Majesty, the previous expenses were enormous, and now we only have 500,000 taels available in the accounts."

Emperor Chongzhen gazed at the continuous rain outside the window and murmured, "Now... I'm broke again... There are still many places where I'll need money..."

After a major disaster, the next priority is disaster relief! Although Huainan managed to hold on, many other areas were not, and many places were submerged by floods!

Furthermore, the flooding of autumn crops in the northern provinces is estimated to reduce yields by 70-80%. In many places, even the summer crops that were previously harvested have been washed away. If relief efforts are not provided, there is a risk of banditry.

But to save them, we need to spend money!
What can I do if I have no money? It's so tough.
Shenyang, Qingning Palace.

Huang Taiji held the secret report delivered by the spies, first carefully examining it, then his facial muscles twitched slightly, and finally he couldn't help but burst into a low and hearty laugh.

"Excellent! Excellent! What a brilliant 'Heavenly River Upside Down'!" He abruptly stood up, slammed the secret report on the table, his eyes gleaming, and surveyed the assembled princes and ministers, including Fan Wencheng and Dorgon. "Listen to this! The Yellow River and Huai River of the Ming Dynasty have completely collapsed, turning the Central Plains into a vast expanse of water! Only the important town of Huainan has been barely held by the Chongzhen Emperor, who sold everything he owned! Hahaha, this is truly a blessing from the Eternal Heaven for our Great Jin!"

He walked to the huge map of Liaodong, his finger heavily tracing the Liaoxi Corridor, all the way to Shanhaiguan. "Since Chongzhen ascended the throne, he has been busy building up the army and strengthening military power, acting against the tide of history, and attempting to contend with our Great Jin! And now what? Heaven has sent down calamity, flooding the country! This is the will of Heaven! Heaven is determined to destroy the Ming!"

He whirled around, his gaze sweeping fiercely over the crowd: "The Ming Dynasty's fate is sealed! Such a devastating disaster will inevitably severely damage its national strength and alienate the people! Emperor Chongzhen must be in a state of utter chaos right now, busy with disaster relief. Can his meager resources withstand such a drain? When he runs out of money, has no more pay to his troops, and the morale of the army collapses..."

Fan Wencheng stepped forward at the opportune moment, bowed, and said, “Your Majesty is wise! This is indeed a golden opportunity that comes once in a lifetime. The Ming Dynasty has suffered a great calamity, like a warrior cutting off his own arm. Although it has preserved its core, it has also been severely weakened. Our army can take advantage of its weakness and finish it off!”

The impetuous young Dorgon could not contain himself and stepped forward to request permission to fight: "Great Khan! This is an opportunity not to be missed! Please allow me to immediately prepare the army. Once autumn is here and the horses are fat, we can march south and strike straight at the capital!"

Huang Taiji nodded heavily, his voice resolute: "Well said! We can't wait for him to send troops to Liaoxi to their deaths! We must take the initiative and make it impossible for Chongzhen to save him!"

He took a deep breath and issued a series of orders:
"Convey my decree!"

"Is Grand Prince Daishan to coordinate the supply of provisions and intensify preparations for war. All banners must be fully equipped with armor and weapons before autumn!"

"Order Prince Dorgon and Dodo to select the best troops and train them relentlessly, keeping a close eye on the movements of the Ming army in Liaonan! If the Ming army changes course, or if Chongzhen is unable to provide the border supplies, immediately seize the opportunity to strike and take Fuzhou!"

"Instruct Fan Wencheng to immediately send spies into Ming territory to spread rumors that the Ming Dynasty's fate is sealed and divine punishment is imminent! Also, secretly contact the Mongol tribes and tell them that if they follow the Ming Dynasty, this sinking ship will only sink with them! If they follow the Jin Dynasty, they will share the Ming Dynasty's territory!"

"Tell your sons to sharpen your swords and arrows, and feed your warhorses! Before long, all the wealth, women, and land of this vast Central Plains will belong to the warriors of our Great Jin!"

"Yes, sir!" The crowd responded in unison, their voices echoing throughout the hall, their eyes burning with greed and fighting spirit.

Huang Taiji looked at his fierce army with satisfaction, and finally turned his gaze southward, as if he could see through thousands of mountains and rivers to see the distraught figure of Emperor Chongzhen.

"Chongzhen... I see you have no money, what can I do?"

(End of this chapter)