Ming Dynasty entry: I am Chongzhen, the greatest emperor of all time!

Chapter 9 Jinyiwei Blessing Entry

The words fell instantly.

Wang Chengen and Li Ruolian were both stunned.

Especially the former, who has followed Chongzhen since he was still Prince Xin, can clearly feel the changes in him today.

He summoned all the ministers to the Qianqing Palace in the middle of the night, and also gathered the Jinyiwei, and even transferred the Jinyiwei Qianhu Division, which had been hiding and not even discovered by Wang Chengen.

And we still have to talk about Zhou Kui’s corruption.

Is the Emperor going to execute all the cabinet ministers?!
If this were true, the Ming Dynasty would have collapsed without the need for the rebels to attack the city.

Our own emperor will also be infamous for eternity!

The more Wang Chengen thought about it, the more frightened he became. He quickly knelt on the ground and kowtowed repeatedly, "Your Majesty, please think twice! This is a time of national crisis. You can't act so rashly!"

Li Ruolian didn't think too much about it. He was still ecstatic because he had just obtained the position of commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

Hu Teng knelt down and said, "The Emperor is the heaven of the Jinyiwei. Whoever the Emperor wants to kill, the Jinyiwei will kill!"

"Li Ruolian, you...you are ungrateful to God!" Wang Chengen almost vomited blood.

Zhu Youjian then realized that these two guys thought he was going to attack important officials.

"I have no intention of taking action against the officials in the court. I just want to have a chat with them. Don't worry too much, my Lord. Just do it."

Although Wang Chengen didn't quite believe that it was just talk, since his own emperor said so, he could only do as he was told.

The places he was going to this time were at least the homes of the six ministers, and he had to go there in person.

Seeing that there were only two hours left until the hour of Hai, Wang Chengen called a few young eunuchs and hurried out of the imperial city.

While waiting for the Jinyiwei to gather, Zhu Youjian also hurried to take a nap.

……

It’s past mid-afternoon.

It was probably around four o'clock in the afternoon in my previous life.

The Jinyiwei in the capital city have finally assembled.

Zhu Youjian, who was awakened by Li Ruolian, never imagined that there were as many as 5,000 Jinyiwei in the capital!

Plus the one thousand Jinyiwei given by the system.

More than 6,000 people crowded into the inner training ground.

Like the Jinyiwei of the system, there are only a few who are properly equipped and have a balanced physique, and there are probably less than a thousand of them.

The rest of the people were dressed in cloth, some as farmers, and some even in the clothes of domestic servants!

There were less than two thousand people carrying swords.

You should know that there were no restrictions on swords and knives in the Ming Dynasty!

These people seemed to be attending a large party, gathering in groups of three or five, chatting about recent events and gossiping.

The inner parade ground seemed to have turned into a large market.

Is this still the Jinyiwei?!?
Sensing Zhu Youjian's displeasure, Li Ruolian explained, "Your Majesty, please allow me to report this."

"Ever since the rise of the East Factory during the Tianqi era, funding for the Northern Pacification Office has been repeatedly reduced. By the fourteenth year of the Chongzhen reign, with the severe drought and the defeat at the Battle of Songjin, the money allocated to the Northern Pacification Office was only enough to support a thousand-household unit."

"The rest of us can only find another way out..."

"However, Lord Luo Yangxing should have a thousand households under his control, but they are not here now."

Zhu Youjian nodded. On the surface, there were indeed only a thousand people who could be called Jinyiwei.

Although the development of the Jinyiwei was beyond his expectations, it was also consistent with his stereotype of the late Ming Dynasty.

It’s all because of poverty!

Although there were more than 5,000 people, less than half of them were available, and none of the officials above the rank of 1,000 households came.

This is the greatest contempt for imperial power.

Re-open the Jinyiwei page and ignore those shocking negative entries.

Zhu Youjian directly added the newly drawn purple entry [Emperor's Personal Guards] to the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

Like the Yongwei Battalion, the Jinyiwei present shuddered and knelt in unison as if they had just seen the emperor.

The chaotic shouts, "We kowtow to the Emperor!"

This time, the purple entries only bless loyalty and corruption.

So those Jinyiwei who had degenerated into farmers and servants still looked timid at this moment.

However, there are probably more than 2,000 of them who can barely pass.

It is enough to support Zhu Youjian’s next plan.

He called Li Ruolian over and pointed at the crowd below, saying, "I will only give you half an hour. Before the evening hour, eliminate half of the Jinyiwei, leaving only 2,500 elite soldiers. I will also give you 500 of Xu Feng's men, for a total of 3,000 Jinyiwei to lead."

"I don't care what they do, I want to see the wealth of the dukes, nobles, and ministers of the six ministries in the capital before midnight!"

Li Ruo Lian knelt again and kowtowed heavily, "I obey your command! Either the account books of the dukes and ministers are placed before the emperor before midnight, or I place my head before him!"

Zhu Youjian nodded, asked Xu Feng to leave 500 people to Li Ruolian, and then took the remaining Jinyiwei and 3,000 cavalry battalions and went straight to the Ministry of War.

He also wanted to take a break, but the mess Chongzhen left for him was too big!

The Yongwei Battalion currently has strong combat effectiveness, but its equipment is not good at all.

This kind of elite division's equipment doesn't need to be as good as the 3,000 cavalry battalions provided by the system, but at least it must be fully armored.

According to my memory, the largest armory in the capital was in the Arsenal of the Ministry of War.

The equipment for the capital's garrison and border troops in each dynasty was distributed by the Arsenal.

Even if the Ministry of War is seriously corrupt, with such a large scale, it should still be able to gather enough equipment for several thousand people.

……

At the hour of You, a thin layer of mist hung over the capital.

The air was filled with the smell of rust.

When Fan Yongkang, the Deputy Minister of the Ministry of War, was looking for the key to the armory under the supervision of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, he was extremely panicked.

It has been seventeen years since the current emperor ascended the throne, and there is no mention of him ever visiting the Arsenal!
How did I get myself into this mess?!

The last time anyone entered that place was a year ago, when Duke Chengguo escorted a batch of military equipment in and pulled out a batch of weapons and armor that needed to be "scrapped" due to "improper maintenance."

After a year, who knows how rotten it will become.

If the emperor sees this, he will lose his head!
The more Fan Yongkang thought about it, the more frightened he became. It would take some time for their Minister of War to arrive, so they had to delay for a while.

Even if someone is held accountable, you can't put the blame on a mere official guarding the armory!

The action of looking for the key paused slightly, and Fan Yongkang took out a twenty-liang silver ingot from his sleeve without leaving any trace.

He smiled and stuffed it into the arms of the Jinyiwei behind him.

"Sir, the key to the armory has been misplaced by someone so blind that it will take some time to find. Why don't you take the brothers to Cuixiang Tower to have some drinks and rest for a while?"

Normally, after paying this ingot of silver, the Jinyiwei should have cooperated with the Ministry of War with a smile.

However, the subsequent developments were beyond Fan Yongkang's understanding.

The captain of the Embroidered Uniform Guard took the silver ingot with a smile, ignored Fan Yongkang, and shouted outside.

"Lord Fan, Deputy Director of the Arsenal Department of the Ministry of War, rewards you with twenty taels of silver!"

Fan Yongkang was confused.

It would be fine if you didn't hide it secretly, but why did you report it to the emperor?!

When did the Jinyiwei become so clean?

The general flag officer did not explain for Fan Yongkang, but handed the silver to a small flag officer and asked him to hand it over to the emperor.

Then he looked at Fan Yongkang with a smile and said.

"Fan Dabing, hurry up and search. If you can't find it, don't blame us for being too harsh."

Hearing the sinister words, Fan Yongkang shuddered.

How come the Jinyiwei who was so servile when they met him yesterday seemed to have changed like this today?
(End of this chapter)