How can one be Emperor Chongzhen without money?

Chapter 33 Next, we'll have to really take advantage of the nobility! (Please add to your favorites and keep reading!)
The Suning Marquis's residence, night.

The candlelight cast flickering light on Wei Zhongxian's old face. He slumped in his armchair, clutching the imperial pardon in his hand, his knuckles white and veins bulging, as if someone were trying to snatch this imperial treasure from him.

Tu Wenfu, Li Yongzhen, and Wang Tiqian, the three eunuchs in charge of writing at the Directorate of Ceremonial, stood with their hands at their sides, not daring to breathe. Wei Liangqing knelt on the ground, his forehead pressed against the cold blue bricks, cold sweat pouring down his face.

"Uncle," Wei Liangqing's voice trembled, "I know I was wrong."

Wei Zhongxian seemed not to hear, only staring at the candlelight and muttering to himself, "Corrupt officials... nobles, corrupt officials, nobles."

Tu Wenfu and Li Yongzhen exchanged bewildered glances. Wang Tiqian's eyes darted around, and he suddenly lowered his voice, saying, "Your Majesty, is His Majesty asking us to hand over a few corrupt officials? And then... to use them as a pretext to shift the blame onto the nobles?"

Wei Zhongxian suddenly looked up, a glint of shrewdness flashing in his cloudy old eyes: "Say it again?"

Wang Tiqian swallowed hard and said cautiously, "When His Majesty mentioned 'corrupt officials and nobles,' does he mean we should first befriend a few corrupt officials, and then let them implicate nobles?"

Li Yongzhen's eyes lit up: "This is great news! If the Emperor really starts fighting with those nobles, wouldn't we be able to breathe a sigh of relief?"

Tu Wenfu nodded repeatedly: "Yes, yes, yes! Those nobles are deeply entrenched, and their connections with the hereditary military officers of the Nine Garrisons and Thirteen Towns are intertwined. They have people in the Capital Garrison and the Embroidered Uniform Guard. Even though the Emperor has temporarily secured Jizhou, it's difficult for him to touch them!"

Wei Zhongxian sneered: "Taking them down wasn't easy? Taking us down was easy? Aren't we completely controlled by the Emperor right now?"

The room fell completely silent.

After a long pause, Tu Wenfu tentatively asked, "So how exactly should we help the Emperor shift the blame to the nobles?"

Wang Tiqian narrowed his eyes: "His Majesty's meaning is crystal clear: this fire will start with corrupt officials and spread all the way to the nobility. It's the same old formula: greed for money, not treason!"

Wei Zhongxian sat up abruptly: "That makes sense!" He paused, then asked in a sinister tone, "Then who should we hand over?"

Wang Tiqian smiled sinisterly: "Minister of War Cui (Cui Chengxiu) and Minister of War Tian (Tian Ji) are definitely doomed. Nobles are greedy for money, so of course they'll embezzle military pay and pocket salaries. How can the Minister of War be clean? And..." He lowered his voice, "...Sun Zhouwan!"

Wei Zhongxian was taken aback: "Zhou Zhouwan (Zhou Yingqiu)? Isn't he the Minister of Personnel?"

Wang Tiqian nodded: "But he's greedy! The title of 'earning 10,000 a day' isn't for nothing!"

Wei Zhongxian was silent for a moment, then suddenly grinned, revealing a few yellowed teeth: "Good! Then hand over Zhou Riwan as well!" He slammed his hand on the table, "If the Emperor wants money, we'll give him money! If he wants land, we'll give him land! If he wants to punish the nobles, we'll fan the flames for him!"

Wang Tiqian added in a sinister tone, "Your Majesty, we can also have Cui Chengxiu and Tian Ji expose how Zhu Chunchen and Xu Xigao have been embezzling salaries and occupying military lands over the years, and they've made quite a bit of money!"

Wei Zhongxian nodded emphatically: "That's how it'll be done! Whoever helps me draft the memorial, I'll light the torch for the Emperor right away!"

Zhengxintang Teahouse, Donglin Gathering.

Qian Qianyi, dressed in a simple robe, held a teacup in his hand and listened with a smile to the flattery of the scholars around him. The candlelight illuminated his lean face, making him appear exceptionally refined.

"Mr. Mu Zhai's petition to the emperor this time, impeaching the eunuch Wei Zhongxian, is a great service to the country! His position in the cabinet is just around the corner!"

"Exactly! As long as we impeach Huang Lijie, Shi Fenglai, and Zhang Ruitu, those three eunuch lackeys, the court will be a place of integrity!"

Qian Qianyi smiled modestly: "You flatter me. I am merely fulfilling my duty as a subject."

Li Banghua sat to the side, his brows slightly furrowed, and turned his gaze to Sun Chengzong, who had remained silent: "Lord Kaiyang, what do you think?"

Sun Chengzong put down his teacup and said slowly, "The Emperor's mind is not on eliminating the eunuch faction."

Qian Qianyi was taken aback: "Oh? What makes you say that, Lord Kaiyang?"

Sun Chengzong said calmly, "What the Emperor wants is balance. Only with the Donglin Party, the eunuch faction, and the noble families checking and balancing each other can he sit firmly on the throne."

Qian Qianyi's expression changed slightly: "Then haven't we wasted our time?"

Sun Chengzong shook his head: "No. The Emperor needs the Donglin Party to check the eunuch faction and the nobles, and he also needs the eunuch faction to check the nobles and us. As long as we do our job well, we will have a bright future."

Qian Qianyi seemed to be deep in thought, his eyes slightly narrowed.
In the warm pavilion of the Qianqing Palace, Emperor Chongzhen, with his sleeves rolled up, stood with Zhou Yufeng before a table. On the table were a bowl of fish paste, a bowl of minced meat, and steaming hot meat cakes.

"Your Majesty, these fish balls need to be stirred in one direction with even force," Zhou Yufeng instructed softly, her slender hands gently manipulating the fish paste in the basin.

Emperor Chongzhen smiled and nodded, his hands still moving: "I know, it's just a fish ball, isn't it? Back in my day..."

"Back then?" Zhou Yufeng blinked her almond-shaped eyes, looking at him curiously.

Emperor Chongzhen chuckled: "Back then... I had a dream. I dreamt that a long, long time later, I arrived at a place called Jingzhou City in Handong Province. The people there love to eat fish balls, meat balls, and meat cakes made by steaming fish and minced meat together. Together they are called 'Jingzhou Three Delicacies.' I learned how to make this dish in my dream."

Zhou Yufeng said softly, "Your Majesty learned this skill in your dream, and I must learn it well."

Chongzhen continued working, his tone relaxed: "I'm in a good mood today, so I personally cooked for Yu Feng. I also gave him another sum of money today. Wei Zhongxian handed over one million mu of land, and I'm preparing to give him another 1.5 million taels of silver as compensation!"

Zhou Yufeng paused, a hint of surprise flashing in her eyes: "So many?"

Emperor Chongzhen chuckled: "This is just the beginning. I will make those nobles spit out the land they hold, bit by bit."

Just then, Wang Chengen entered quietly: "Your Majesty, Empress Zhang has arrived with Consort Tian and Consort Yuan."

Emperor Chongzhen looked up and said, "Please come in."

A short while later, Empress Zhang led Tian Xiuying and Madam Yuan into the warm pavilion. Tian Xiuying was about sixteen or seventeen years old, with beautiful features; Madam Yuan looked even more youthful, timidly following behind. The two bowed respectfully to Emperor Chongzhen.

Chongzhen looked at them, feeling somewhat unaccustomed—in his previous life in Handong Province, he only had one wife, but now he had to deal with three women, which he was really not used to. However, he did not show it on his face, and only said gently, "Please sit down, let's have dinner together today."

Tian Xiuying and Madam Yuan were flattered and carefully sat down at the end of the table. Seeing this, Zhou Yufeng smiled and served Madam Yuan a bowl of fish ball soup, saying, "Sister, try this. It was made by His Majesty himself."

Mrs. Yuan quickly accepted it and thanked her softly.

Empress Zhang glanced at Emperor Chongzhen and suddenly said, "Your Majesty, although we are currently in mourning, the issue of offspring is of utmost importance. Consort Tian and Consort Yuan are both sensible; perhaps..."

Chongzhen understood her meaning and shook his head, saying, "The late emperor has not yet passed his hundredth day of mourning; this matter will be discussed later."

Empress Zhang wanted to persuade her again, but Zhou Yufeng gently tugged at her sleeve and said with a smile, "Your Majesty, it's a rare occasion for us to be together today, let's have our meal first."

Inside the warm pavilion, the charcoal fire crackled, and everyone sat around the table, enjoying their meal amidst soft laughter. Emperor Chongzhen watched this scene, and his heart warmed. Not for any other reason than for the sake of his family, he had to protect the Ming Dynasty!
To preserve the Ming Dynasty's rule, the next step was to "cut off" those nobles and meritorious officials inherited from their ancestors! Without cutting them off, the poor men of the nine border regions and thirteen towns of the Ming Dynasty would not have enough to eat!
The foundation of the Ming Dynasty's military system was the military settlement system of cultivating land to support soldiers. The sheer size of the Nine Garrisons and Thirteen Towns meant that it was impossible to rely entirely on taxes collected from Jiangnan to solve the problem of food and provisions for the Nine Garrisons and Thirteen Towns. Even if the wealthy people in Jiangnan were willing to accept being "ripped off," given the current transportation costs, it was necessary to rebuild the military settlements in the Nine Garrisons. Transporting grain overland for thousands of miles, a 20% "delivery rate" would be considered very good!
Therefore, those nobles and the hereditary military officers who were deeply intertwined with them had to be "cut off"! However, these people were not as easy targets as the eunuch faction; after all, they had armies under their command, so they had to be "cut off" carefully. It was best to "cut off" them without breaking the alliance.

Outside Shengjing City, the wind and snow howled.

Hou Xingguo wrapped his fur coat tightly around himself, stepped through the deep snow, and climbed into a horse-drawn sleigh, with Fan Yongdou following closely behind.

"This damn weather!" Hou Xingguo rubbed his hands together and cursed under his breath. "If it gets any later, it will be almost Chinese New Year."

Fan Yongdou squinted, the snowflakes hitting his face like knives. He tightened the bundle at his waist, which contained a precious sword bestowed by Huang Taiji and a secret letter bearing Huang Taiji's seal, addressed to the leader of the Kharachin tribe.

"Young Master Hou, if we go back now, we'll be walking with our heads on the line," Fan Yongdou said in a low voice. "What if the young emperor finds out you've been to Liaodong?"

"What's there to be afraid of?" Hou Xingguo sneered. "I left Beijing to 'sell my family property,' who can find out? Besides," he patted his chest, "I've already prepared 200,000 taels of silver and deeds to more than 2,000 mu of land, which I've 'hard-earned' these past few days."

Fan Yongdou was silent for a moment, then suddenly said, "You think Wei Liangqing wouldn't betray you?"

"How could that be?" A sinister glint flashed in Hou Xingguo's eyes. "He's an accomplice! If he doesn't betray me, the young emperor will most likely be kept in the dark; if he does betray me, he won't be able to clear himself of the truth either!"

The sled sped through the snowstorm, its tracks quickly buried by the fresh snow. In the distance, the outline of Shengjing City gradually blurred, leaving only a vast expanse of white.

Fan Yongdou gazed ahead and murmured, "This trip back will either bring me wealth and honor, or leave me with nothing but ashes."

Hou Xingguo didn't speak, but simply gripped the precious sword in his arms tighter.

(End of this chapter)