How can one be Emperor Chongzhen without money?

Chapter 319 No banquet is ever a good banquet, no gathering is ever a good gathering.

Inside Huai'an City, in a brightly lit hall of the Lianghuai Salt Transport Office, the atmosphere was oppressive and suffocating.

All eight major merchants of the Huaiyang salt industry were present. Four were from Anhui, wearing Ningxia silk robes; two were from Shaanxi, wearing thick satin jackets; and the other two were from Shanxi, their faces radiating competence, with large, conspicuous rings on their fingers.

They were "invited," told only that Imperial Envoy Cui Chengxiu had important matters to discuss. But upon arrival, they found no trace of Envoy Cui, only a hall filled with guards standing with their hands on their swords, their eyes icy cold. This was no invitation to dinner; it was clearly an inescapable disaster.

The eight men exchanged glances, their hearts pounding with apprehension. With the Emperor residing in Huai'an, grain prices were fluctuating daily; gathering these salt merchants together at this time was surely not a good sign.

But they dared not refuse! It was Cui Chengxiu, the Salt Commissioner of Lianghuai, who personally came to arrest them—no, to invite them!
They had been thinking that since their family had given Master Cui a lot of money over the years, Cui Chengxiu should, perhaps, be on the same side as them.
To their surprise, Cui Chengxiu seemed completely unafraid that they would expose his bribery.
Just as they were feeling uneasy, the curtain of the side door was lifted, and a person strolled in. He was pale-faced and beardless, with sinister eyes, and wore a brand-new python robe—clearly a high-ranking eunuch! Only then did they see Cui Chengxiu bowing as he followed in.

The eunuch who could make Cui Chengxiu follow him around like a shadow was undoubtedly Wei Zhongxian, the Grand Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial and Duke of Ningguo!

"Esteemed esteemed masters, is everyone present?" Wei Zhongxian swept his gaze around with a forced smile, his voice high-pitched and chilling.

The eight landlords' hearts skipped a beat. They quickly stood up, bowed, and said, "Your humble servants pay their respects to Your Excellency!"

Wei Zhongxian didn't offer them seats. He walked to the head seat and sat down himself, slowly picking up his teacup and skimming off the foam with the lid, but not drinking. The hall was eerily quiet, with only the soft tapping of the lid against the rim of the cup, each sound a gentle knock on one's heart.

"I've invited you all here today because I have an extraordinary fortune to bestow upon you all," Wei Zhongxian said, setting down his cup.

Everyone was taken aback, and their doubts deepened.

Wei Zhongxian, however, remained unhurried and gave a wink to the eunuch beside him. The eunuch presented a thick stack of documents. Wei Zhongxian casually picked up the top one and opened it.

"However, before we offer you wealth and honor, we must first settle old scores." His tone suddenly turned cold, and his gaze swept over everyone like a knife. "You all know Xu An, the garrison commander of Nanjing and the chief steward of the Duke of Wei's mansion, right?"

The eight major merchants felt a jolt of fear.

“Xu An handles no less than ten thousand yin of smuggled salt every year. According to his confession, all of this salt flowed out from the hands of your eight families.” Wei Zhongxian’s voice was not loud, but every word was like a hammer blow. “And the Zhu family of Funing Marquis, the Zhao family of Xincheng Earl, the Liu family of Chengyi Earl in Nanjing… their people have also had a lot of dealings with you, haven’t they?”

With each name he announced, the faces of the people below paled a little more. These were their powerful backers, the very foundation upon which they held their positions as the head of the salt industry!
"The imperial court has decreed that anyone caught smuggling salt will be executed! How much have you eight families smuggled? Over decades, even centuries, can you even count it all?" Wei Zhongxian slammed the dossier onto the table with a loud "bang." "As the head salt merchants, leading the smuggling and profiting immensely! This is undermining the very foundation of the imperial court! According to the Great Ming Code, what is your punishment?!"

"Your Honor, I'm innocent!" A head merchant from Huizhou knelt down with a thud, his voice trembling. "That...that was all done by the steward of the manor in private. It has nothing to do with us lowly people!"

"No involvement?" Wei Zhongxian sneered, picking up another confession. "Xu An signed it in black and white! The time, place, amount, and people involved are all clear! Do you want me to read it to you?"

He stood up, strode over to the eight men, and said in a sinister tone, "Just the fact that you were smuggling salt is enough to wipe out your entire families! And that's not all!"

He paused, then emphasized, almost spitting out the words through gritted teeth: "Now that Huaibei is suffering from disaster, the Emperor is concerned for the people and has personally come to provide relief. But what about you? You control the banks and pawnshops in Huaiyang, and you control almost all the grain stores! Taking advantage of the natural disaster, you are hoarding and speculating, driving up grain prices! What are you trying to do? Are you trying to incite those hundreds of thousands of disaster victims to revolt?!"

Wei Zhongxian suddenly pointed at them and shrieked, "You're not just smuggling salt, you're plotting a rebellion! Rebellion...you'll be executed along with your entire family!"

The word "treason" struck like a thunderbolt, leaving the eight men terrified. Their legs went weak, and they collapsed to their knees, kowtowing repeatedly: "Your Excellency, spare our lives! Spare our lives! We would never dare! We would never dare!"

"Dare not?" Wei Zhongxian snorted coldly, sat back in the main seat, and stopped looking at them.

Just as the eight men were about to faint, a gentle voice came from the side door: "Eunuch Wei, calm down, calm down."

Everyone looked up and saw Duke Yansheng, Kong Yinzhi, walking in slowly. He had a refined and scholarly appearance, with a compassionate expression.

"Duke Yansheng!"

These eight men had previously had dealings with the Duke of Yansheng's mansion (there was also smuggled salt in Shandong!), and now, as if they had grasped a lifeline, they all turned to Kong Yinzhi and kowtowed.

Kong Yinzhi first bowed to Wei Zhongxian, then turned and helped up the kneeling merchant in front, sighing, "All of you are wise men, why did you have to go to such lengths?"

He said earnestly, "What Eunuch Wei said has some basis, but the crime of 'treason' is too serious. How can it be judged lightly? In my opinion, your smuggling and hoarding are either due to being misled by your servants or under pressure from powerful figures, which is understandable."

This gave them a way out. Everyone agreed.

Kong Yinzhi changed the subject: "However, smuggling salt and disrupting market prices are ultimately violations of the law. According to the Great Ming Code, smuggling more than one 'yin' of salt is punishable by 100 strokes of the cane and three years of penal servitude, or even more severe punishments... Alas, Emperor Taizu Gaozu's laws were the strictest back then. Those who smuggled salt were beheaded and their families were exiled three thousand li away! The number of you all... is enough to warrant dozens of beheadings."

He cited the precedent set by the founding emperor, which was even more chilling than Wei Zhongxian's threat. Merchants in the Ming Dynasty feared the rules set by Zhu Yuanzhang the most. Looking at the eight men, whose faces were ashen, Kong Yinzhi slowly said, "His Majesty is benevolent. Considering you are long-time merchants who may have rendered some service to the country and its people, he is willing to give you a chance to atone for your crimes."

Wei Zhongxian coldly chimed in, "To you, there's not much difference between slow slicing and beheading, between exterminating nine generations of your family and confiscating your property. But the Emperor is merciful and has shown you a way out; whether you choose to take it or not is up to you."

Kong Yinzhi nodded: "Now is the time to redeem yourself. His Majesty intends to implement 'food rationing' in the disaster-stricken areas of Huaiyang and Huaibei to stabilize food prices and provide relief to the victims. This matter requires your full assistance. If you handle it well, your previous offenses may be reduced or forgiven."

Wei Zhongxian added: "Furthermore, write down in detail how you colluded with the Nanjing nobles and the Donglin faction, including Qian Qianyi and Tang Hui, to engage in smuggling! This is called whistleblowing!"

Whistleblowing? Actually, it's a pledge of loyalty!

Once these incriminating materials were submitted to Emperor Chongzhen, it was tantamount to offending the Nanjing nobles and Donglin gentlemen to death! From then on, they could only obediently serve as the emperor's dogs! If they disobeyed in the slightest, as long as their confessions appeared on the desks of those nobles or Donglin leaders, they would not survive without Emperor Chongzhen's intervention.

Of course, if Emperor Chongzhen ever wanted to take action against those nobles and gentlemen, their accusations and denunciations would become the knife that would kill them!
But no matter what, these eight major merchants were already fish on the chopping block, how could they dare to say a word against it? The incriminating evidence against them was already in Wei Zhongxian's hands!

Moreover, in Huai'an and Yangzhou, there are over ten thousand Imperial Guards—the sharpest blades of the Ming Dynasty! In addition, there are over a thousand minor officials in the "training institute" system—these people, in some ways, are even more terrifying than the ten thousand Imperial Guards. Because they are local strongmen in the Jianghuai region. A powerful outsider might not be able to figure out the businesses and family branches of these large salt merchants, but these local strongmen know it all too well!

So they had no choice but to kowtow and express their willingness to do their utmost to report and expose the crime.

Soon, writing materials were brought in. With the "assistance" of agents from the Eastern Depot, the eight men nervously wrote their confessions. Many of the misdeeds of Nanjing nobles and Donglin Party leaders were exposed.

After writing and signing the document, Wei Zhongxian carefully put it away, a smile appearing on his face, and exchanged a glance with Kong Yinzhi.

At that moment, the side door opened again. Emperor Chongzhen, dressed in casual clothes, walked in slowly. He had a faint smile on his face, revealing neither joy nor anger.

Wei Zhongxian and Kong Yinzhi quickly bowed and stepped back. The eight major merchants knelt on the ground, not daring to raise their heads.

Emperor Chongzhen walked to the main seat and sat down, picking up the still-wet ink materials presented by Wei Zhongxian and casually flipping through them. The hall was so quiet that only the rustling of paper could be heard.

After a long while, he put down the materials and calmly glanced at the eight trembling people at his feet.

"Everyone, get up."

Emperor Chongzhen's voice was calm, revealing neither joy nor anger. His gaze swept over the group of wealthy merchants at his feet who had just escaped death, and he slowly said, "To know one's mistakes and correct them is the greatest virtue. From now on, I will rely on you all for the salt industry and finances of Huaiyang."

He paused, then asked casually, "I've heard that seven or eight out of ten of the money shops, pawnshops, and grain stores in Huai'an and Yangzhou are controlled by you few, along with other salt merchants. Is that true?"

The eight major merchants, who had just stood up halfway, felt their legs go weak again upon hearing this. The leader, a merchant from Huizhou, quickly bowed, his voice trembling, "Your Majesty... Your Majesty, we... we do indeed run small businesses, barely... barely making ends meet..."

"Hmm." Chongzhen responded noncommittally, but then abruptly changed the subject, steer the conversation to something they hadn't expected at all. "Right now, in Beizhili there's 'Huangzhuang,' in Shaanxi and Shanxi there's 'Qin Jin Yuan,' in Shandong there's 'Lu Sheng Feng,' and in Huguang there's 'Ba Wang Zhuang,' all of which have established money lending associations and set up interbank lending markets to facilitate the exchange of goods and services and stabilize interest rates. How come my Jiangnan, this land of wealth, has fallen behind others?"

His words were spoken calmly, but to the eight men, they were like a thunderclap. Establishing a Money Exchange Association? This was tantamount to shaking the very foundation of all monetary transactions in Jiangnan!
"I think," Chongzhen continued without giving them time to think, "that in Jiangbei, there should also be a General Money Exchange Association to oversee important matters of money lending, so as to prevent the money supply in the market from fluctuating and disturbing people's livelihoods. You eight major merchants have a solid foundation, shouldn't you also join forces, along with the capital from the Lianghuai Salt Transport Commissioner's Office, to set up a 'General Salt Money Exchange' to specifically handle matters such as salt tax remittance and capital turnover? Go and discuss this carefully."

This was no longer a discussion, but an imperial decree. The meaning of establishing this General Salt Industry Bank and the General Money House was crystal clear: the Emperor intended to use the "General Salt Industry Bank" to firmly grasp the lifeblood of finances in the Jianghuai region.

Before they could process the meaning behind his words, Chongzhen turned his attention to the grain merchants. "Furthermore, the grain merchants in Huai'an and Yangzhou are a mixed bag. There should be a trade association to establish regulations and stabilize grain prices. I am thinking of implementing a 'rationing system' in Huai'an, Yangzhou, and the entire disaster-stricken area of ​​Huaibei."

His tone turned cold, carrying an unquestionable air: "Everyone must be registered and recorded, and purchase grain at a discounted price per person using the 'ration cards' issued by me. This matter is precisely what your grain dealers need to handle. I will allocate the grain from Huguang."

Emperor Chongzhen paused, his gaze sharp as a knife, slowly sweeping over the crowd: "If anyone outwardly complies but inwardly defies, or if the authorities fail to effectively control the grain merchants, allowing them to hoard and speculate on the life-saving grain I have allocated, and then sell it at exorbitant prices..."

He didn't say anything more, but the chilling pressure made the eight men feel as if they had fallen into an ice cave, their undergarments soaked with cold sweat. They knew perfectly well that this "rationing system," ostensibly to appease the people, was in reality a tight rein, binding them and the entire grain industry they controlled. The Emperor had woven an invisible net around the two lifelines—money and grain—using the names of "general association" and "rationing."

"Your Majesty, we...understand! We obey your decree! We will do our utmost to fulfill the imperial mission!" The eight men responded in unison, their voices trembling with the relief of surviving a disaster, and with a chilling sense that their life force had been seized.

Emperor Chongzhen nodded slightly, said nothing more, and got up to leave.

In the main hall, the eight major merchants collapsed to the ground, as if they had just returned from the brink of death. They finally understood that from this day forward, not only their lives and fortunes, but also the salt industry, money flow, and food supply of the entire Huaiyang region, and even the Jiangnan region, were firmly in the hands of this young emperor.

They, and their backers in Nanjing, are likely to face difficulties in the days to come.

(End of this chapter)