How can one be Emperor Chongzhen without money?

Chapter 51 Wei Zhongxian's Struggle! (Please read on and add to your favorites!)
On the 18th day of the twelfth lunar month, in Xuanfu Town.

Inside the governor's yamen, the charcoal fire crackled and popped, while angry roars echoed from outside the window.

"Kill Wei!"

"Kill Wei!"

One sound after another, getting closer and louder.

Wei Zhongxian was so anxious he was practically spinning like a top. He suddenly stopped, pointed his finger at Zhu Zhifeng, the governor of Xuanfu, and Hou Shilu, the general, and shouted, "What are you all standing there for! Mobilize the troops! Suppress them! Chop these traitorous soldiers down for me!"

Zhu Zhifeng's face turned deathly pale, and his lips trembled as he said, "Father-in-law, please calm down, this..."

"Stop your anger!" Wei Zhongxian kicked over the sandalwood stool next to him. "If they keep making a scene, won't the Tartars under Hudun Tuhan pounce like wolves smelling blood when they hear the commotion? If Xuanfu is lost, our heads will be gone!"

Hou Shilu gritted his teeth, clasped his hands in a fist and said, "This subordinate will go and mobilize the standard battalion immediately!"

"No!" A rough, hoarse voice suddenly interrupted. Deputy Commander-in-Chief Wang Shiqin fell to his knees with a thud: "Governor! Commander! This is unacceptable! The brothers outside... they're starving! They're suffering! They haven't received their pay for over a dozen months, and when they finally got some annual rations, half of it was bran! They're not rebels, they're good soldiers of the Ming Dynasty! They're just acting out of momentary anger! If we send troops to suppress them, and swords clash, wouldn't that chill the hearts of the soldiers along the nine borders?!"

He crawled two steps on his knees and hugged Zhu Zhifeng's legs: "Governor! Think of Jizhou! Think of Governor Wang Yingzhi!"

The name "Wang Yingzhi" pierced the hearts of Zhu Zhifeng and Hou Shilu like an icicle. The Jizhou garrison mutinied, and Wang Yingzhi, who advocated suppression, was dismissed from office and returned to his hometown, while Sun Zushou, who advocated appeasement, became a trusted advisor to the emperor! Who dared not fear this bloody lesson?

Zhu Zhifeng swayed and slumped back into the armchair. Hou Shilu's hand, which had been resting on the hilt of his sword, also fell limply to his side.

"Please grant the imperial decree..." Zhu Zhifeng's voice was hoarse, "Yes, send an urgent message to His Majesty at six hundred li per hour, requesting his decree for a decision..."

"Request an imperial decree?" Wei Zhongxian's eyes turned bloodshot as he pointed out the window and roared, "By the time the imperial decree arrives, my head will have already been chopped off and used as a football!" He knew Chongzhen's methods all too well. That young emperor was a master at winning over the hearts of the soldiers! If things really got out of control in Xuanfu, it would be perfectly logical for them to use Wei Zhongxian's head to quell the soldiers' anger!
"Du Xun!" Wei Zhongxian suddenly turned to the supervising eunuch standing to the side, "Are there any wealthy families in the inner city of Xuanfu Town? The extremely wealthy kind!"

Du Xun was taken aback, then his eyes darted around, and he hurriedly bowed and said, "Reporting to the Governor, yes! Yes! Several main streets in the city are lined with the mansions of Shanxi merchants! The Wang Dengku, Jin Liangyu, Fan Yongdou and several other families all have properties here!"

"Shanxi merchants?" A sinister smile spread across Wei Zhongxian's old face. "Good! Excellent! Shanxi merchants are rich! Our family is saved!"

He flung his cloak aside and shouted sternly, "Tu Wenfu! Liu Yingkun! Gather the three thousand elite soldiers I brought! Grab your weapons! Come with me!"

"Father-in-law!" Zhu Zhifeng and Hou Shilu were shocked and hurriedly stood up to stop him. "What are you doing? Those Shanxi merchants... they all have powerful backers in the capital. We can't touch them!"

"Backer? Our family is their biggest backer. What's there to be ashamed of?" Wei Zhongxian kicked aside the low table blocking his way, shattering cups and saucers on the floor. "If Xuanfu falls, our family will be the first to lose our heads! You won't escape either! We can't worry about that now! Du Xun, lead the way! Seize the fattest family!"

He turned and stared intently at Zhu Zhifeng and Hou Shilu: "Governor Zhu! Commander Hou! You two, now! Immediately! Get up on the city wall! Tell those rioting soldiers outside that I, Wei Zhongxian, have personally gone to raise funds for them! Tell them to shut up! Anyone who dares to cause trouble again will not get a share of the funds when they arrive!"

The Wang family mansion is located on West Street in the town.

The two heavy, black-lacquered gates were tightly closed. Inside the courtyard, dozens of guards, armed with clubs and steel knives, stood tensely behind the screen wall.

"boom!"

With a loud crash, the iron gate dented inward! Several more violent slams followed, and the bolts groaned under the strain!

"Hold on! Hold on!" Butler Wang Fu shouted hoarsely.

"boom!"

With a final ramming, the gate burst open! Amidst the billowing smoke and dust, squads of Jingjun soldiers, clad in blue cloth armor and wielding muskets and spears, surged in like a tidal wave! The dark muzzles of their muskets instantly pointed at the people inside the courtyard.

"Put down your weapons! Anyone who disobeys will be killed without mercy!" Tu Wenfu's shrill voice pierced the chaos.

Those guards usually seemed quite capable, but now, faced with the gleaming muzzles of guns and the dense array of spear tips, their legs trembled, and their weapons clattered to the ground.

Wei Zhongxian stepped over the broken door and strode into the courtyard. His old face was expressionless, except for his eyes, which gleamed with the ferocity of a hungry wolf.

"Where's Wang Dengku? Get out here!" Liu Yingkun shouted sternly.

The main hall door opened, and Wang Dengku scrambled out, collapsing onto the cold gold bricks at Wei Zhongxian's feet, kowtowing repeatedly: "Your Majesty! Your Majesty, spare my life! I, Wang Dengku, am from the Suning Earl's mansion, a subordinate of Lord Wei! Family! Family!"

"Nine Thousand Years Old?" Wei Zhongxian's face darkened, and he kicked Wang Dengku hard in the shoulder, knocking him to the ground. "What kind of Nine Thousand Years Old is there in the Ming Dynasty? Who dares to be a thousand years younger than His Majesty? That's a capital offense! I am His Majesty's old servant, Wei Zhongxian!"

He looked down at the disheveled Wang Dengku on the ground, his voice low but each word icy: "I was ordered to provide relief to the troops, but the soldiers of Xuanzhen have mutinied and are demanding their back pay! The court is short of funds for the time being, so I have come to your house to 'borrow' some silver for emergency use! Lead the way to your treasury!"

Wang Dengku was kicked so hard he saw stars, and he couldn't express his bitterness. He had even helped the Duke of Cheng plot against Wei Zhongxian, and in the end, this old eunuch had actually led his troops to rob his own house?!

"Father-in-law...Father-in-law, please understand! I...I have no silver treasury..." Wang Dengku still tried to struggle.

"Nothing?" Wei Zhongxian waved his withered hand. "Search my house! Dig three feet into the ground! If you find silver, consider it a loan you gave to the court for military pay! Take my receipts to the Ministry of Revenue to offset commercial taxes! If you don't find silver..." He glanced menacingly at the limp Wang Dengku: "Then your Wang family is colluding with the enemy and funding bandits! Hiding military pay! It's tantamount to treason! Your family will be confiscated and exterminated!"

The words "colluding with the enemy and aiding the bandits" and "treason" struck Wang Dengku like a thunderbolt, terrifying him to the core. He looked up sharply and met Wei Zhongxian's bloodshot eyes, instantly understanding—this old eunuch, driven to desperation, was truly capable of killing entire families! He really wanted to rob him!

"Yes! Yes!" Wang Dengku scrambled to his feet, his voice trembling with tears. "This humble servant will lead the way! This way, sir! This way, sir!"

The western city wall of Xuanfu Town.

Hou Shilu, leaning against the cold battlements, gazed at the dark, restless crowd below, took a deep breath, and roared with all his might:
"Brothers! Quiet down! Listen to what I have to say!"

As the commotion subsided, countless hungry and angry eyes turned to the city wall.

"Eunuch Wei said!" Hou Shilu's voice carried on the cold wind, "The court knows your suffering! The court hasn't forgotten your pay! Eunuch Wei personally went to raise funds for your pay! Immediately! The silver will be issued soon! Two taels per person... to start!"

"Two ounces?"

"real or fake?"

"Can Wei Zhongxian's words be trusted?"

"Exactly, where can he get the money?"

"Liar."

The crowd outside the city immediately erupted in chaos.

Just then, Wang Tong, the adjutant standing next to Hou Shilu, suddenly pointed to the western horizon and cried out in alarm: "Beacon fire! Beacon fire! To the west! Hudun Tuhan has invaded!"

Everyone stared in horror!

In the dim twilight, on the distant western horizon, three thick black plumes of smoke, like ferocious dragons, tore through the gray sky and pierced straight into the heavens!

"Woo-wu-wu-"

Almost simultaneously, a mournful bugle call soared into the sky from the beacon tower on the west city wall, its heart-wrenching sound instantly drowning out all the commotion below!
The color drained from Hou Shilu's face in an instant, and his hand on the hilt of the knife began to tremble uncontrollably.

Below the city walls, there was a deathly silence.

What followed was even greater chaos and desperate screams:
"The Tatars are coming!"

"The Tartars have entered the country!"

Wang Family Treasury

The heavy iron-clad wooden door was chopped open by the Jing soldiers with axes. In the candlelight, rows of heavy pine crates were neatly stacked inside the storeroom. Tu Wenfu stepped forward and pried open the lid of one crate—

Pure white! Sparkling silver!
A whole chest full of silver! It gleamed alluringly in the torchlight!
"Good! Good! Good! As long as there's money." Wei Zhongxian said "good" three times in a row, and finally a relieved smile appeared on his face. "Quickly! Count! Pack! Ship!"

The soldiers of the Qing army swarmed forward and began to move the silver in a flurry of activity.

Wang Dengku slumped in the corner of the warehouse, his face ashen. He watched helplessly as boxes of his family's wealth, accumulated over generations, were carried away, his heart bleeding. His fists clenched tightly in his sleeves, as if he wanted to punch himself. How could he have dared to help Zhu Chunchen frame Wei Zhongxian?

Just then, a young eunuch from the Imperial Guard rushed in, his voice trembling with tears: "Your Excellency! Your Excellency! Something terrible has happened! Smoke has risen in the west... in the west! Three plumes of black smoke! The bugle has sounded! It's... it's the army of Hudun Tuhan that has invaded!"

The warehouse fell into a deathly silence.

Tu Wenfu and Liu Yingkun turned pale, and the guards who were carrying the silver froze in place.

Wei Zhongxian's smile froze instantly, and then his face twitched violently as an indescribable fear and rage surged to his head!
"Damn the Tartars! Damn the nobles! Damn the Shanxi merchants!" He kicked over a box full of silver coins at his feet, and the gleaming silver coins tumbled to the ground with a "whoosh".

He pointed tremblingly at the limp Wang Dengku, then pointed to the west, his voice trembling with anger:
"It's all your fault! You forced this upon us! You brought this upon ourselves!"

By this time, Wei Zhongxian fully realized that he was setting himself up on the path to the extermination of his entire family!
"Quick! Load it onto the carts! Don't leave a single coin behind!" He turned abruptly and roared at Tu Wenfu, "Once it's loaded, send it to the city wall immediately! Distribute it to those soldiers! Tell them..."

Wei Zhongxian's eyes flashed with a murderous glint, and he uttered each word as if squeezed out from between his teeth: "If you want silver, if you want to live, then pick up your swords and spears and defend the city! If you hold the city, you'll have plenty of silver! If you can't..."

He suddenly waved his hand, making a throat-slitting gesture, and said in a chilling voice, "We're all finished!"

(End of this chapter)