How can one be Emperor Chongzhen without money?

Chapter 85 It's too dark! The Emperor's heart is truly too dark! (Fifth update)

The East Pavilion was eerily quiet. Several ministers and nobles exchanged glances, their hearts sinking.

The Grand Secretary is going to take drastic measures! Is he going to wipe out the entire Prince of Dai's family?
Sun Chengzong, who had remained silent until now, nodded heavily and spoke, his voice deep and resonant: "The Grand Secretary is right! A rebellion by a vassal king is a catastrophe, how can we just punish one leader and call it a day? Those seven princely mansions live in the same city as the Prince of Dai's mansion, they're practically inseparable, can you really say they know nothing? Who are you trying to fool? For the sake of the stability of the country, we must investigate thoroughly! Every single one of them, punish them all according to the law!"

Vice Minister of War Li Banghua immediately chimed in, without hesitation: "General Censor Sun is right! The safety of the border is of paramount importance! The Prince of Dai was able to collude with the Mongols to smuggle weapons and provisions. Could this have been done without the cover-ups of those other princes? If we don't investigate and punish them severely, how can we rectify the border towns? I second that proposal!"

Minister of Revenue Bi Ziyan, with a stern face, bowed and said, "I also agree! Those seven princes have lived in Datong for over two hundred years, and they must have done plenty of things like embezzling land and evading taxes. We can take this opportunity to settle accounts with them all, and the money and grain confiscated can be used to pay the Liaodong military expenses and train new soldiers!"

Minister of Justice Xue Zhen and Minister of Works Li Congxin exchanged glances, instantly understanding—this wasn't Huang Lijie and Sun Chengzong's intention at all; it was clearly that the prince in Tsinghua University, taking advantage of the victory, wanted to thoroughly destroy the Daiwang family! This was disregarding kinship and wanting to confiscate their property to fill the national treasury!

Although the emperor was ruthless, no one dared to contradict him on this occasion. After all, the evidence of the Prince of Dai's rebellion was irrefutable... Zhu Chunchen was arrested from his residence! Zhu Chunchen was also suspected of colluding with Hudun Tuhan!
This would solidify the charge that the Prince of Dai colluded with the Tartars and conspired with the head of the Beijing garrison to commit treason... This charge is terrifying. Anyone even remotely implicated would be finished!
Having figured this out, the group didn't hesitate any longer and quickly got up:
"I second the proposal!"

"That's exactly how it should be done!"

"It must be investigated strictly!"

Zhang Zhiji, the heir apparent of the Duke of Ying, and Xu Xigao, the Duke of Dingguo, both representatives of the nobility, were sweating profusely. Seeing the united front of the civil officials, they were filled with apprehension. If the Emperor could use the Prince of Dai as a pretext to eliminate all seven princes in one fell swoop, couldn't he use Zhu Chunchen as a pretext to deal with all the nobles in Beijing?
The princes are fat pigs, but the nobles aren't? They're even fatter, right? The capital garrison is almost emptied out by the nobles... more than a million taels of silver and six or seven hundred thousand shi of grain a year!

No, I have to pledge my loyalty right now!
The two men dared not delay and quickly stood up to express their opinion: "We also believe that the Prime Minister and all the other officials are right! Members of the imperial family who break the law should be punished the same as ordinary people! This must be thoroughly investigated!"

In the blink of an eye, all the ministers in the room offered their utmost loyalty to the Emperor sitting in Tsinghua Garden!
Grand Secretary Huang Lijie looked at the scene with a blank expression on his old face, only nodding slightly: "Since all the officials have no objections, then the Ministry of Justice, the Censorate, the Court of Judicial Review, and the Embroidered Uniform Guard shall handle this together. Investigate the case of the Prince of Dai's rebellion, along with the affairs of those seven princely mansions, thoroughly, write a clear report, and await His Majesty's decision!"

"We second that!" the crowd chorused, their voices tinged with a strange excitement. Everyone understood that the wealth accumulated over two centuries by the princely mansions of Datong would now be confiscated and become part of the emperor's private treasury and the national coffers.

Huang Lijie seemed quite satisfied. After resting for a while, his dim but sharp old eyes swept around the room again before calmly bringing up the next topic: "The matter of the Prince of Dai's family has been settled. Now let's talk about something more important—the Beijing Garrison!"

The moment those two words were uttered, the atmosphere in the East Pavilion immediately tensed up again, especially for Zhang Zhiji and Xu Xigao, who broke out in a cold sweat again.

"The rotten things in the Beijing Garrison have been going on for a long time, everyone knows that." Huang Liji spoke calmly, as if he were talking about everyday matters. "They embezzle salaries, withhold rations, force soldiers to do private work, and resell military supplies... they do all sorts of despicable things! As a result, more than half of the Emperor's personal guard is missing, making them completely incapable of fighting and practically useless! This is the number one hidden danger in the capital!"

He looked at Li Banghua and Sun Chengzong: "The most important thing right now is to carry out a thorough rectification! Any officer who has committed the above-mentioned crimes, no matter how high his rank or what his background is, will be investigated and punished without exception! Those who should be beheaded will be beheaded, and those who should be exiled will be exiled. There will be no leniency!"

"What the Grand Secretary says is exactly what the Ministry of War is thinking!" Vice Minister of War Li Banghua immediately chimed in, without hesitation. "In special times, severe punishments are necessary! The Beijing Garrison is so rotten that we can't control these bastards without drastic measures! I think we should take this opportunity to thoroughly investigate all those who are drawing salaries without working, embezzling, or neglecting their duties, and punish them one by one!" Sun Chengzong also nodded slowly and said in a deep voice, "That's indeed the right thing to do. The Beijing Garrison is the Emperor's imperial guard, the foundation of his defense. Now there are so many vacancies, and most of the military funds have been stolen and sold off. Who can we rely on if something really happens? Only by severely and swiftly punishing a group of the most heinous criminals can we rebuild the garrison. I second that proposal."

Here we go again! It's the "Imperial Party" and the Donglin Party singing in unison, setting the tone immediately!

Zhang Zhiji and Xu Xigao sat there, their scalps tingling. They knew perfectly well—this wasn't Huang Lijie or Li Banghua's doing; it was clearly that young master from Tsinghua University's doing! This little emperor… was going to torture people to death!
Who here doesn't know about the dirty dealings of the Beijing Garrison? As the heads of the nobility and the biggest beneficiaries of the Beijing Garrison, their officers were drawing salaries without working and exploiting the soldiers. What was going on without their tacit approval or even interference? Now that Zhu Chunchen's rebellion has been exposed, the Beijing Garrison's hollowed-out secrets have been revealed. Seventy or eighty key officers are still being held at Tsinghua University writing reports... How could they not be involved in that?

The real issue isn't whether the Beijing garrison is involved or not, but how far the emperor wants to investigate and how ruthless he wants to go! Will he follow the trail and steal the biggest piece of the story from them as well?

The two exchanged a quick glance, both seeing the other's fear and helplessness. The situation was dire; the Emperor held the leverage, and he had just won a battle, basking in his newfound power! What else could they do but "please surrender"?

Zhang Zhiji, the heir apparent of the Duke of Yingguo, stood up first, his face filled with grief, but his tone was unusually resolute: "Prime Minister, esteemed officials, the state of the Beijing Garrison is in such a state. We, the sons of noble families, have truly let down the Emperor. Our sins are grave! We must thoroughly investigate and punish them severely! No matter who is involved, we must not be lenient! The Duke of Yingguo's mansion... fully supports this!"

Duke Dingguo, Xu Xigao, quickly followed up, speaking even more bluntly: "Yes! Investigate! Investigate thoroughly! Kill those who deserve it! This will free up space to select truly capable people to serve the country!" These words almost explicitly stated that he was willing to make concessions to ensure peace.

Huang Lijie, seeing that the two nobles were "deeply understanding of the greater good," showed no intention of letting them off the hook, and proceeded with even more specific and ruthless rectification measures according to the established plan:
“Simply investigating and severely punishing will not eradicate the root cause or rebuild the Beijing Garrison.” His voice was calm, but his words were explosive. “His Majesty’s meaning is very clear—the number of personnel in the Beijing Garrison must be drastically reduced, streamlined to a mere 50,000!”

This figure even slightly moved Sun Chengzong and Li Banghua. Fifty thousand! That's more than half of the more than one hundred thousand they currently have in their accounts!

Huang Lijie continued, "That's not all. The existing military organization will be completely dismantled and reorganized. All officers and soldiers, from the commander-in-chief to the lowest soldier, will be re-selected! Only ability and merit will be considered. The strong and capable will be kept, and those with outstanding battle achievements will be employed. The old, weak, vacant positions, and those who are unusable will all be eliminated!"

His gaze swept over the crowd, finally settling on Zhang Zhiji and Xu Xigao: "Combating corruption is a temporary solution, but downsizing, restructuring, and reorganizing the troops is the real solution! Only by doing this can we truly achieve a well-trained army with sufficient supplies and superior weapons, allowing the Beijing Garrison to once again become the most elite force in the land, worthy of the title of the Emperor's personal army!"

ruthless! Too cruel!
Zhang Zhiji and Xu Xigao were horrified. Cutting 50,000 men, disorganizing their ranks, and re-electing all of them… this was a ruthless attempt to seize control of the Beijing Garrison from the Emperor!
But would they object? No. Because they are "loyal"!
The two had no choice but to get up again, their voices even more "sincere" than before:
"Your Majesty is wise! The Grand Secretary is experienced and capable in governing the country! The Beijing Garrison is in such a state that this drastic measure is necessary! We, your subjects, fully support it!"

"Yes! That's how it should be done! We...have no objections!"

Huang Lijie took in everyone's reactions and concluded: "In that case, I would like to ask Vice Minister Li of the Ministry of War to write a detailed memorial on the matters discussed today—severely punishing the Prince of Dai's family, thoroughly reorganizing the Beijing Garrison, reducing personnel, and re-electing officers and soldiers—and submit it to His Majesty for His Majesty's decision!"

(End of this chapter)