How can one be Emperor Chongzhen without money?

Chapter 113 Becoming a feudal lord, doing civil engineering, building fortresses, expanding territory! (Third update, 10,000 words completed daily)
Inside Yihai Hall.

Mao Wenlong, Zu Dashou, and He Kegang hung their heads, their expressions shifting between anger and uncertainty.

760,000 taels sounds terrifying, but after layers of deductions, if even half of it actually reaches the intended recipients, that would be a blessing from the ancestors. Maintaining 10,000 elite troops? Guarding crucial locations like Jinzhou, Ningyuan, and Lushun, 10,000 troops gathered together would easily be surrounded and killed, while scattering them would be far too few.

Emperor Chongzhen sat above, observing the expressions of the three men. He picked up his teacup, blew away the foam, and said calmly, "My three beloved ministers, is there anything troubling you? You are all pillars of the nation here today, so please speak freely. I will not hesitate to tell you anything, and no one will be punished for speaking out!"

He glanced at Wang Zaijin and Bi Ziyan beside him, and raised his voice: "Even if there are any shady dealings such as 'departmental expenses' or 'regulations,' just speak up! Minister Wang, Minister Bi, you are both honest officials whom I trust! If anyone in the Ministry of Revenue or the Ministry of War dares to tamper with the Liaodong military pay and make a fortune from the national crisis, what do you say should be done?"

Wang Zaijin immediately cupped his hands, his face solemn: "Your Majesty is wise! As the Minister of War, I will strictly investigate any embezzlement by clerks. If anyone dares to embezzle Liaodong's pay, once verified, they will be executed without mercy! Of the 760,000 taels, the Ministry of War will not add a single coin for fire loss!"

Bi Ziyan followed up immediately, his tone resolute: "Your Majesty, rest assured regarding the Ministry of Revenue! The funds will be disbursed directly from the Imperial Treasury, bypassing prefectures and counties, and circumventing layers of government offices! Anyone who dares to interfere will have their claws chopped off by this old man himself! The 760,000 taels will be paid in full and on time!"

The two ministers thumped their chests loudly.

Mao Wenlong, Zu Dashou, and He Kegang exchanged glances, their eyes met, and finally they gritted their teeth.

Zu Dashou spoke first, his tone troubled: "Your Majesty, Minister Wang and Minister Bi are honest and upright, and we can certainly trust them. However... this force of ten thousand soldiers is truly insufficient. Facing Jinzhou, the Jurchen cavalry can easily charge in with tens of thousands of iron cavalry. It is already difficult for ten thousand soldiers to defend the city, let alone to go out of the city to hold out posts and patrol for protection. I'm afraid... it will delay Your Majesty's important affairs!"

He Kegang interjected, “Your Majesty, furthermore, the Liaoxi and Liaonan regions have been ravaged by war for years, causing prices to soar. In the capital, one tael of silver can buy one shi of rice, but in Ningyuan, it would be difficult to even buy eight dou. This 760,000 taels seems like a lot, but in reality, it would be good if it were only worth 500,000 taels. If the soldiers don't receive enough pay and can't eat their fill, then the army... will be impossible to lead.”

Mao Wenlong finally pointed out the crux of the matter: "Your Majesty, if we only have three isolated cities—Jinzhou, Ningyuan, and Lushun—and the Jurchen army surrounds them without attacking, while diverting troops to cut off our supply lines, then these three cities will become dead ends."

After the three finished speaking, they all lowered their heads, waiting for the emperor's reaction. Every word they spoke was true, and it was also their biggest concern.

Upon hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen was not angry at all; instead, he nodded.

“What you three ministers are concerned about is all true.” He responded first, then changed the subject, “Let’s talk about prices first… Rice is expensive in Liaodong, why not ship it by sea from Dengzhou, Laizhou, and Tianjin?”

He walked up to the map of Liaodong and pointed to the coastline: "You only need to choose a place with deep, sheltered water within your jurisdiction, build a simple dock, and prepare a few seagoing vessels, and you can travel back and forth to purchase goods on your own. Grain prices in Shandong and Beizhi are always cheaper than in Liaodong, right?"

Mao Wenlong smiled bitterly: "Your Majesty, the sea is not only treacherous, but the Jurchen cavalry frequently harass the coast. Building docks and stockpiling provisions makes us extremely vulnerable to their surprise attacks. Juehua Island was lost because of this..."

Upon hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen laughed.

"That's because there are no bastion guards!"

Just then, a muffled "boom" came from afar outside the window!
The shelling began.

Chongzhen listened intently, his smile widening: "Listen, the barbarian cannons are firing. If even such heavy artillery can't break through that earthen rampart outside Tsinghua Garden, are you still afraid of the Jurchen cavalry harassing us?"

He looked intently at the three men: "Build a bastion next to the dock! It doesn't need to be big, just big enough to house two or three hundred soldiers and store provisions. With the bastion protecting the dock and the dock connecting to sea routes, there will be no worry about supplies, so why fear an siege?"

He paused, his tone tinged with a hint of mockery: "Who told me that a few days ago? Something about 'using the city to defend the cannons, and the cannons to defend the city.' The idea is sound, but building a brick and stone city to defend the cannons would easily cost two or three hundred thousand taels of silver. Less is fine, but more than that, the Ming Dynasty doesn't have that kind of spare money right now."

He tapped his finger on the table: "But that fort outside Tsinghua University, with two or three thousand strong laborers, took twenty days and cost less than five thousand taels of silver! It was made of wood and the soil used to dig the trench!"

The expressions of Mao Wenlong, Zu Dashou, and He Kegang immediately became extremely complicated.

They had witnessed firsthand the formidable power of the Tsinghua Garden fortress. Over five thousand elite troops couldn't take it! If, as the emperor said, the construction cost was only five thousand taels… that's not just cheap, it's practically free!

If we could find some refugees, tenants, or even have soldiers take turns working, it wouldn't cost that much silver at all! If this kind of earthen fortress could really withstand the cannons of the Japanese...

That's absolutely amazing!
Seeing their changing expressions, Chongzhen knew the time was right. He stood up and laughed, "Let's go, seeing is believing! Let's see if the fortress that this foreign monk Johann Adam Schall von Bell boasts about can withstand a cannon blast!"

"If we can really hold out..." he said steadily as he walked out, "you all stay in western and southern Liaoning and build as many as you can for me! Build ten or eight of them!"

“Each bastion is garrisoned with three to five hundred soldiers, so ten bastions would be three to four thousand. They can echo each other from afar, and their beacon fires can be seen from each other. The main force of seven to eight thousand soldiers will still guard the main city. In this way, the points and lines are connected, and the city will no longer be an isolated city hanging outside.”

"If the Jurchens come, they will have fewer troops, so you can send your troops from the main city. If they have more... we'll all retreat together! Want to surround them to death? Heh heh, a few thousand surrounding a few hundred, it's hard to say who will starve to death first!"

The reason why Emperor Chongzhen wanted to establish three vassal states in Liaodong, with each vassal state only given 10,000 troops, was precisely because he valued the advantages of the fortified positions.

This bastion is the most disgusting to defend.

Even with a few hundred men guarding it, it would be difficult for even several thousand to break through. Before Marshal Vauban of France developed his method of digging parallel trenches, the only option was basically to besiege it.

But bastions require fewer troops—defending a bastion only requires placing more people on the protruding ridges, so it doesn't consume many soldiers. Fewer soldiers mean less food; let's compete in starvation!

These bastions, with their low cost, high durability, and low manpower requirements, are perfect for defending territory. A main city, with ten bastions, can easily control a large area. The main city is in the center, and the bastions are on the outside. Attacking the main city without first taking down the bastions is suicidal. And taking down the bastions... that will be a long and arduous process!

The area protected by the bastions can still be cultivated. If it can be strategically positioned to take advantage of the terrain, the territory it can occupy can be even larger!
As they spoke, the group left Tsinghua University and arrived at the artillery position on one side of the training ground.

Ten jet-black cannons stood in a row, wisps of smoke rising from their muzzles.

A tall, bearded Western missionary, dressed in Ming Dynasty official robes and speaking broken Mandarin, was loudly ordering the gunners to load the guns.

"Make sure the explosive charge is evenly distributed! Compact it! Aim at that angle—yes! Right there!"

It was Johann Adam Schall von Bell, a foreign official from the Imperial Observatory.

Upon seeing the emperor arrive, he hurriedly came over to pay his respects.

Emperor Chongzhen waved his hand: "Mr. Tang, there's no need for such formalities. Continue testing the cannons! I want to see just how hard this clod of earth really is!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Johann Adam Schall von Bell ran back to his position excitedly, waving his arms. "All cannons, prepare—fire!"

"boom!!"

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

A series of earth-shaking explosions erupted as shells whistled and crashed into the lone earthen bunker a mile away.

For a moment, smoke and dust filled the sky, blocking out the sun.

Everyone held their breath, waiting for the dust to settle, to see if this clod of earth, costing "five thousand taels" to build, could withstand the most ferocious cannon of the time.

The cannons roared, and the smoke was choking.

Ten cannons fired in turn, solid iron projectiles piercing the air and slamming into the distant earthen fortress. Each hit kicked up a cloud of dust, making the fortress appear as if it were being peeled away layer by layer from a distance.

Zu Dashou and He Kegang held their breath. They were both veterans of the battlefield and knew the power of such heavy artillery. Ordinary brick and stone walls would have collapsed and crumbled long ago after being bombarded like this.

Mao Wenlong squinted with his one eye, observing very carefully.

However, after several rounds of shelling, the billowing smoke gradually settled, and the expressions of the crowd changed from solemn to astonished, and finally to disbelief.

That bastion still stands there!

The anticipated collapse didn't materialize at all. The rammed earth wall displayed astonishing resilience; heavy cannonballs either embedded themselves directly in the rammed earth, as if swallowed whole, causing little damage to the wall, or were simply bounced off by the sloping surface and rolled into the moat. The five protruding ridged platforms remained intact. These platforms were solid, low, and sloping, with sharp outward-facing corners, making them extremely difficult to attack.

"This..." Zu Dashou's throat bobbed, his voice dry, "...it can actually withstand it?"

He Kegang gasped, muttering, "Even the cannons of the Red Barbarians... can't do anything to this earthen fortress? If we use this fortress to protect the grain routes and docks, we can rest easy when the Jurchen cavalry attacks!"

Mao Wenlong didn't speak; he just stared intently at the fortress. He seemed to see it all: along the coast of southern Liaoning, one after another such fortress rose up, protecting his granaries and docks, even wedging themselves directly behind enemy lines, like poisonous thorns, making Huang Taiji restless and uneasy.

All previous doubts and calculations vanished in the face of this undeniable fact.

Ten thousand soldiers may seem few, but if they are dispersed and stationed in ten such fortresses and one main city, it is more than enough! More importantly, these bastions are cheap to build. Ten of them would only cost a few tens of thousands of taels of silver.

To be a feudal lord, to work on construction projects, to build fortresses—this future was more than just bright!
The Chongzhen Emperor's voice rang out calmly from the side, carrying an air of complete control: "I have granted you Ningyuan, Jinzhou, and Lushun. But how much territory you can occupy depends on how far you can build your fortresses. This territory can be expanded! How much you can expand depends on your ability to manage the territory."

"How is it, my three ministers? Do you still feel that the number of soldiers I have given you is too small, and that there is not enough money to spend?"

They can also use bastions to expand their territory... This deal looks very profitable, with a bright future ahead!
Mao Wenlong turned around abruptly, knelt on one knee, clasped his hands in a fist and said in a deep voice, "Your Majesty is wise! This humble general is willing to guard Dongjiang for Your Majesty forever, and will surely use the fortified position to block Liaonan, making it impossible for the Jurchens to take an inch!"

Zu Dashou and He Kegang exchanged a glance, then without further hesitation, bowed simultaneously: "Your Majesty, we are willing to serve you forever, guarding Jinzhou and Ningyuan!"

Emperor Chongzhen smiled sincerely and reached out to help them up, saying, "Good! Very good! Get up, all of you."

"From now on, the safety of Liaodong is entrusted to my three beloved ministers. I await your good news!"

(End of this chapter)