How can one be Emperor Chongzhen without money?

Chapter 14: Fighting corruption is not the goal; serving the Ming Dynasty is! (Bonus chapter at midnight tonight)

The candlelight flickered in the signing room of the governor's office, casting a long shadow of Emperor Chongzhen onto the wall covered with maps. Wei Zhongxian quietly withdrew, and once the heavy door closed, the cold autumn wind, rain, and noise outside were shut out.

Before long, Wei Zhongxian's voice rang out from outside the door: "Your Majesty, General Sun has arrived."

"Send it over." Zhu Youjian's voice was not loud, but it was clearly heard in the quiet room.

As soon as the door opened, Sun Zushou walked in. He had changed into clean cotton armor, but the marks of wind and sun on his face had not yet faded. Seeing the emperor standing in front of the map, he hurried a few steps forward, about to lift his robe and kneel down.

"No need." Chongzhen turned around, his gaze falling on him. He walked to the desk and picked up a long object wrapped in yellow silk.

“Minister Sun,” Chongzhen said calmly, “outside the drill ground of Santunying, you even pawned your family heirloom iron waist knife to the grain shop to raise funds for the army. I have redeemed it for you.” As he spoke, he untied the yellow silk, revealing a long knife wrapped in sharkskin on its sheath, which was the very knife that Sun Zushou had pawned that day.

Sun Zushou was taken aback, his hands trembling slightly as he took the knife: "Your Majesty... Your subject..."

"Take it!" Chongzhen interrupted him, his tone turning serious. "You love your soldiers like your own children, you don't exploit them, you don't keep personal servants, and you have a reputation for integrity and bravery. That's very good. Everyone in Jizhou respects you, and that's what I value most about you."

He paced back and forth, his back to Sun Zushou, and lowered his voice: "However, I see that when you lead troops, you are more about showing kindness and affection than about establishing authority and discipline. You are too good to your subordinates, so good that... they easily put you on a pedestal and you lose your sense of proportion. This makes me uneasy about entrusting the heavy responsibility of reorganizing Jizhou to you alone."

Sun Zushou's heart skipped a beat, and he gripped the knife tightly, his knuckles turning white. He understood the emperor's meaning—he didn't exploit his soldiers, nor did he maintain a private army. Although he had the hearts of the troops, he lacked the real power to command them. He lacked the leverage to negotiate with his superiors and couldn't control his subordinates…

Emperor Chongzhen turned around, his gaze sharp as lightning, and stared at Sun Zushou: "Changping Guard! According to the rules established during the Hongwu era, it should have 280,000 mu of military farmland under its jurisdiction of 5,600 soldiers! I ask you, how much has your Sun family embezzled over the years?!"

Sun Zushou felt a rush of blood to his head, his face burning hot. His legs went weak, and he collapsed to his knees with a thud, his forehead slamming heavily against the blue bricks. His voice trembled as he cried out, "Your Majesty... Your Majesty is guilty! The Sun family... has seized approximately... approximately ten thousand mu of farmland in Changping Guard..."

“Ten thousand mu…” Chongzhen repeated, his expression unreadable. He looked down at the kneeling general and said slowly, “It seems this isn’t entirely your fault. You’ve been guarding the borders for many years, so naturally the elders in the clan have taken care of things at home. But,” his tone suddenly sharpened, “Minister Sun, you are ultimately the pillar of the Sun family this generation! You must shoulder this responsibility!”

Sun Zushou trembled and suddenly looked up: "Your Majesty! I deserve to die! I will immediately write home and order them to... clear out all the land they have forcibly seized!"

"Return them?" Chongzhen waved his hand dismissively. "I don't want your land. If you return all your land, you, the pillar of the Sun family in Changping, will truly be left with no one to command. Who will listen to you then?"

Sun Zushou was stunned.

Chongzhen's voice deepened: "What I want are heroes who can risk their lives to kill the Tartars for me! Minister Sun, I ask you, how many such heroes can your Sun family produce?"

He held up five fingers: "Fifty! Fine young men who wear double-layered iron armor, can ride two horses, can draw a strong bow, and dare to charge into battle! All of them shall be granted the rank of centurion and shall be under your personal training and command! If your Sun family can produce fifty such iron cavalrymen, I will consider this ten thousand acres of land as your Sun family supporting the army for the court, and I will forgive and forget about it!"

Sun Zushou's eyes lit up instantly. The emperor wasn't trying to seize his family's property; he wanted his family's manpower and resources! He was exchanging land for elite troops!
"Your Majesty! The entire Sun family will fight to the death! Not to mention fifty iron cavalry, even..." Sun Zushou's voice trembled with excitement.

Emperor Chongzhen raised his hand to stop him, his finger slamming heavily on the map at the location of "Changping Guard": "Not just your family! The entire Changping Guard, in theory, has 280,000 mu of military farmland! I don't care how much is left now, or who holds it! I only want the result—based on the standard of one soldier for every 200 mu of farmland, Changping Guard, produce 1,400 soldiers who can fight! Equipment and rations will come from these fields, and I will raise the military pay! These 1,400 men will all be under your command, considered your personal guard! Sun Zushou, can you do it?"

He turned around, his gaze fixed intently on Sun Zushou: "If you can, gather these 1,400 heroes for me and bring them to the walls of Beijing so I can see them with my own eyes! If I am satisfied, the seal of the Jizhou Garrison Commander will still be yours! Your next task will be to help me reorganize the military farmland of the entire Jizhou Garrison!"

Emperor Chongzhen walked to the map, his finger tracing the long defensive line of Jizhou: "I don't want all of it, I want two-thirds! These two-thirds of the land will be directly managed by the Jizhou Garrison Commander's Office! The most important task is to solve the food problem for the 100,000 soldiers of Jizhou and their hundreds of thousands of families! I promised to ensure Jizhou receives full pay and rations; I'll find a way to ensure full pay, but full rations depend on these military farms. In short, the soldiers must be well-fed, and their wives and children must have some porridge! Sun Zushou, do you dare to take on this heavy responsibility?!" Sun Zushou felt his blood boiling. The blueprint drawn by the emperor was the very vision he had dreamed of throughout his life of military service!

He kowtowed heavily, his voice choked with emotion yet resolute: "Your Majesty's entrustment is a heavy responsibility, and I... will not shirk it even at the cost of my life! This is my lifelong wish! I will do my utmost to train elite troops for Your Majesty, clear the fields, and stabilize the Jizhou garrison!"

Emperor Chongzhen helped him up and patted his arm: "Get up! I know this matter is of great importance. Are you afraid?"

Sun Zushou raised his head, meeting the emperor's gaze: "Your Majesty, I am not afraid! I dare to brave mountains of knives and seas of fire! But..." He paused, a hint of worry on his face, "The nobles in the capital are deeply entrenched, and this matter of military lands is a complex and interconnected affair. I fear... that I will be too hesitant to act and will fail Your Majesty's trust."

"What's there to be afraid of?" A sharp glint flashed in Chongzhen's eyes. "Those nobles in the capital, I will handle them with reason and persuasion. Just go ahead and do it! Remember, fighting corruption is not the goal. The goal is to serve the Ming Dynasty, to earn a living for the 100,000 soldiers of Jizhou and their families, and to give them the confidence to defend the country! I will make them understand this. Go, prepare your 1,400 heroes!"

Sun Zushou's pent-up emotions vanished, replaced by overwhelming gratitude and soaring fighting spirit. He clasped his hands in a fist and bowed deeply once more: "Your subject obeys the decree!"

Watching Sun Zushou's tall figure disappear outside the door, Chongzhen's expression remained serious. He sat back down at his desk, picked up his brush, and wrote "one thousand four hundred armored soldiers" heavily next to "Changping Guard." Then he said in a deep voice, "Summon Duke Zhang Weixian of Yingguo and Duke Zhu Chunchen of Chengguo."

The night rain poured down, washing over the bricks and stones of the Great Wall. The beacon tower west of Qiangzi Ridge had long since collapsed, and among the ruins, several Mongol scouts climbed the wall like ghosts. The centurion leading the group wiped the rain from his face and squinted at the pass—in the pitch-black wilderness, only a few scattered lights could be seen, those were the Ming army's military farms.

"Nobody's here." The centurion grinned. "Just like the commander said, the Ming dogs aren't even sending out sentries anymore!"

A whistling arrow tore through the rain. Soon after, Shu Bu's three thousand vanguard cavalry surged like a flood through the breach in the collapsed city wall. The thud of their horses' hooves, coated in wet mud, was muffled by the rain. They headed straight for the nearest light—the British Duke's estate in Cuijiayu.

Old Cui, the village head, was squatting on the kang (a heated brick bed) counting copper coins when he suddenly heard a strange noise outside the courtyard. He had just opened the window when a heavy arrow pierced his forehead. With a muffled thud as his body fell to the ground, Mongol cavalry burst through the courtyard gate, hacking and slashing at anyone they saw.

"The grain is in the cellar!" A Mongol soldier who could speak Chinese grabbed a villager by the hair. "Lead the way!"

The cellar was piled high with newly harvested wheat. Shu Bu grabbed a handful of grains, rubbed them in the firelight, and sneered, "The Duke of England's estate? Very well!"

At his command, the cavalry split into several groups. Some went to break open granaries, some searched house to house for ironware, and many more charged relentlessly towards the next fortified village. Shu Bude reined in his horse and stood on a high hill, gazing at the continuous flames stretching for miles.

"Issue the order!" he suddenly shouted, "Change the flag for the entire army!"

The guards quickly unfurled the Eight Banners flags they had prepared beforehand—plain yellow, bordered white, bordered blue… The Later Jin army's flags fluttered in the night wind. Shu Bu grinned: “Let those Ming dogs know, the iron cavalry of the Great Jin has arrived!”

"kill!"

Five thousand cavalrymen surged through the gap in the Great Wall like a black tide, their iron hooves crushing the mud, heading straight for Santunying. The beacon towers along the way were deserted, and the sentry fires had long since gone out. Shu Bu sneered; the Ming army had become so lax!

"The Eight Banners of the Great Jin have breached the pass! Those who surrender will be spared!"

The Mongol cavalry roared in unison, their voices like thunder, shaking the villages along the way and causing chickens and dogs to scatter in panic. The people opened their windows in fear, only to see countless iron cavalry rushing past in the night, the banners of the Eight Banners fluttering in the firelight.

—The Jurchens are here!
(End of this chapter)