How can one be Emperor Chongzhen without money?

Chapter 82 The New Capital Garrison: Time is of the essence! (Second Update)
Too hasty?
When Grand Secretary Huang Lijie heard Chongzhen's question, his heart skipped a beat: This young emperor is too ruthless and too swift! He quickly bowed deeply and immediately pledged his loyalty: "This old minister dares not! Your Majesty's decisive and swift action has cleared away the gloom in Xuanfu in one fell swoop. This minister... can only admire you!"

Sun Chengzong's expression was grave. While the emperor's actions were certainly gratifying, they had thoroughly offended the nobles in the capital, the imperial family in Datong, and the wealthy merchants of Shanxi. But he couldn't dissuade him; the victory at Xuanfu was a genuine military achievement, and the emperor's prestige was at its peak. Besides, the crimes of those people were undeniable!
He could only say in a deep voice, "Your Majesty is wise. Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures. The ills of the Beijing Garrison, the Dai Prefecture, and the Shanxi Merchants are indeed beyond cure."

Vice Minister of War Li Banghua and Minister of Revenue Bi Ziyan followed closely behind, bowing and echoing, "We second that proposal."

When Emperor Chongzhen saw that the four senior officials had expressed their opinions, his smile grew even wider!

Winning battles boosts prestige! Those reforms that were difficult to implement before defeating Hudun and Tuhan can now be put into practice during this great victory.

As for the cost... it includes the nobles in the capital, the princes in Datong, and the wealthy merchants in Shanxi!
Huang Lijie stepped forward and asked again, "Your Majesty, the affairs of the Beijing Garrison, the Prince of Dai's residence, and the Shanxi merchants are numerous and complex. I wonder how you intend to proceed in the right order? We will respectfully follow Your Majesty's decree."

Emperor Chongzhen tapped his fingers lightly on the imperial desk.

"Didn't Li Banghua, Lu Jiude, and Zhang Zhiji investigate the matter of the Beijing Garrison thoroughly?" His tone was calm, yet brooked no argument. "Of the hundreds of thousands of soldiers, less than forty thousand were embezzled. What a huge hole, what audacity!"

He raised his voice: "Take this to the court council! Let the cabinet, the nine ministers, the censors, and all the nobles discuss it! I want to hear how to deal with this embezzlement of funds without proper authorization, and what the regulations are for the reorganization of the Beijing garrison!"

Huang Liji understood immediately: this was an attempt to pass the buck to the entire court, letting the "Emperor's Party" and the Donglin Party attack the nobles and officers of the Beijing Garrison. He cautiously pressed, "Please enlighten me, Your Majesty..."

Emperor Chongzhen sneered, "I am lenient and considerate of their ancestors' merits, so I cannot bear to impose harsh punishments so hastily. However," he said coldly, "the fines for their crimes and the land they should be given for redemption must be paid in full, not a single coin or acre less! Let the court draft a set of regulations, clearly specifying who should be fined how much!"

The people in the warm pavilion immediately understood.

The Emperor is using the "Imperial Party" and the Donglin Party to squeeze every last drop of money from the nobles and officers of the Beijing Garrison! These people have lost their military power and the Emperor's favor, making them the easiest targets to squeeze, and they should be squeezed hard, preferably until they burst!

Emperor Chongzhen scoffed inwardly.

These parasites are just another batch of "price" to pay for the "Chongzhen New Deal"! What reform doesn't come with a price?

Those wealthy people in Jiangnan are out of reach right now, so we'll hold off for the time being.

The border generals, who truly wield power, might rebel if pushed too far; the only option is to allow them to atone for their crimes through meritorious service. Wang Shiqin and Wang Tong have performed exceptionally well and deserve high praise!
Only these nobles and officials of the Beijing Garrison have embezzled their very means of survival. So don't blame me for being ruthless. They'd better pay the price and bleed! If they're eager to contribute, I'll accept them as my dogs for confiscating property. In the future, they can go to Jiangnan to deal with and replace the nobles of Nanjing—those people are even more useless than the nobles of Beijing, yet they're just as greedy. It would be a disservice to our ancestors not to plunder their gold coins.

"Furthermore," Chongzhen continued, "after the corrupt officials are dealt with, the court must also come up with a plan on how to reorganize the Beijing Garrison. With over a million taels of silver and six or seven hundred thousand shi of grain a year, even if it's modeled after the Imperial Guard, raising fifty thousand elite soldiers who can fight shouldn't be a problem, right?"

He spoke as if to himself, yet also as if addressing his ministers: "Perhaps... we could merge the Xinjing Garrison and the Imperial Guards to form a new Xinjing Garrison of 60,000 men, which would also be good for protecting the capital."

Huang Lijie and the other two were shocked once again.

The Emperor has completely given up on the old Beijing Garrison and intends to start anew, creating a new army entirely loyal to him! And he plans to use the Beijing Garrison's funds and provisions to support this new army…

"We understand," the three replied in unison.

"As for the Prince of Dai's residence..." Chongzhen's tone grew even colder, "it must be confiscated! Prince Zhu Naijun of Dai harbored the wanted criminal Zhu Chunchen, colluded with foreign powers, stole military supplies, and embezzled military farmland. The evidence is irrefutable, as reported by Prince Ergeng in Jinhe and Tian!"

He looked at Huang Liji: "Let the court discuss how to handle this. I want to hear public opinion."

Huang Lijie immediately bowed: "Your Majesty, for such an unforgivable crime, the laws and ancestral rules of the country are still in effect. I believe that the court must request an imperial decree to confiscate his property and demote him to commoner status, in order to uphold the law!"

Sun Chengzong and Li Banghua nodded in agreement. This was a grave crime; no one dared or would speak on behalf of the Prince. The Prince's Mansion was finished. Over two hundred years of accumulation would instantly become "imperial property"! Truly, over two hundred years of hard work had been reduced to nothing in a single day, returning to the state before the Ming Dynasty.

Emperor Chongzhen nodded, showing no surprise at the outcome.

But raiding just one Prince Dai's residence wasn't enough! He continued, "The Prince Dai lineage is thriving. There are seven other princely residences under it, and I've heard that the Lingqiu Prince's residence is particularly impressive, with over a thousand members of the imperial clan. When the Prince Dai plotted rebellion, they were all in cahoots, right there in Datong. Are they all deaf and blind? Didn't a single one participate, didn't a single one know anything about it?"

His voice wasn't loud, but it carried a chilling edge: "The court must have Tian Ergeng and Xu Xianchun investigate this thoroughly for me! Investigate it to the end!"

A chill ran down the spines of Huang Liji and his two companions.

The Emperor is not giving up; he intends to follow the trail and expose all seven princely mansions as well! The Prince of Dai is the "main lineage," and with his patriarch's rebellion exposed, these "minor lineages" will all be charged with "concealing information" and "condoning and protecting"—they will absolutely not escape punishment.

Moreover, the Emperor intends to use court deliberations and public opinion to deal with them! And the villains will be made to be the court officials!

“Your Majesty is wise,” Huang Liji said in a low voice, “Members of the imperial family who break the law are subject to the same punishment as commoners. After the investigation is completed, how should they be dealt with?”

Emperor Chongzhen said indifferently, "Those who should be demoted should be demoted, those who should be stripped of their titles should be stripped of their titles, and those who should be sent to the high walls of Fengyang should be sent there! The Ming Dynasty has no need for these treacherous princes and members of the imperial family who betray their country and collude with foreign powers!"

"The ministers obey the order."

Finally, Emperor Chongzhen's gaze deepened as he mentioned the last item.

"And those 'border merchants'." His tone was filled with undisguised murderous intent. "I've heard about the Eight Great Shanxi Merchants? I think they're eight major parasites! I've already ordered Wei Zhongxian and Tian Ergeng to follow the trail of Zhu Chunchen, Wang Dengku, and the Prince of Dai, and thoroughly investigate them, tracing the clues back to their source!"

He paused, then emphasized, "This matter involves military secrets, so there's no need for a court meeting first. Once the truth is uncovered and we have solid evidence, then we can let the court discuss how to strictly manage these border merchants in the future! The ironware and gunpowder of the Great Ming must never become weapons used by the Jurchens outside the city to kill our soldiers!"

"Yes!"

The four of them accepted the order in unison, and the warm pavilion fell silent again, with only the soft crackling of the charcoal fire remaining.

Emperor Chongzhen waved his hand, signaling them to leave.

Watching the high-ranking officials bow and leave the warm pavilion, Chongzhen slowly leaned back in his chair, his gaze fixed on the gray sky outside the window. He murmured to himself, "On the 27th day of the tenth month of the second year of Chongzhen's reign, Huang Taiji personally led an army of 100,000, detouring through the Kharachin Mongols. It will take a little over a year and eight months to break through Xifengkou. Time is running out!"

He withdrew his gaze, spread out the specially made yellow paper, and began to write rapidly.

"Zhongxian: You have rendered meritorious service in the Xuanfu affair, which greatly pleases me. However, the northern barbarians have not yet been pacified. Although Hudun and Tu have been defeated, their power still remains, and they will inevitably become a border threat in the long run."

It turns out that Emperor Chongzhen intended to pacify Hudun Tu Khan!
His previous tough stance towards Hudun Tu Khan was for two reasons: first, to "win"—who doesn't have some understanding of winning? If you win the war, you can justify anything! Second, to scare this fleeing Mongol Khan into submission so he could be used as a lackey to tear apart the Jurchens!

The Jisi Incident is just around the corner; every bit of strength we have to fight against the Jurchens is crucial!

Chongzhen continued, "Now we have Wang Tong, who has redeemed himself on the battlefield and is familiar with the routes beyond the Great Wall. He can be entrusted with important responsibilities. I instruct you to send your trusted confidants, together with Wang Tong's reliable subordinates, to choose a secret route to contact Hudun Tuhan. Be sure to keep it secret."

Having written this far, he recalled Su Tai, the second most beautiful woman of Yehe, who had been captured, and added a few more lines:

"How is Yehenara's injury? If her injury is still manageable, Tu Wenfu may escort her to Tsinghua Garden to see me!"

Finally, he wrote down his words with heavy strokes:

"This matter concerns the northern frontier; you are hereby ordered to act swiftly and secretly! Report all progress directly to me. Be sure to act decisively!"

After writing, he took the small seal and solemnly stamped it.

(End of this chapter)