How can one be Emperor Chongzhen without money?

Chapter 329 The Ming Dynasty, Terrifyingly Powerful!
Nanjing in March.

Outside the courtyard of the "Mongol Kheshig Trading Company," carriages and sedan chairs were completely blocked. Gentlemen dressed in silk robes smiled broadly, exchanging polite greetings with clasped hands. Servants and attendants stood in a dense, dark mass, completely filling the alleyway.

Two people were sitting in a corner of the garden, looking rather conspicuous.

The man in the main seat was a Dutchman, dressed in a stiff, formal suit with a tightly pulled-back collar. He was Anthony van Diemen, a senior trade representative of the Dutch East India Company. He stood ramrod straight, his face bearing the characteristic arrogance of a representative of a maritime power. This time, he had come to Nanjing intending to bypass the troublesome local officials and the evasive Prince Fu, and go directly to the Ming Emperor to negotiate a favorable trade treaty for the East India Company.

As a result, he was caught off guard, and the emperor went north before him.

However, his trip wasn't in vain; he witnessed a spectacular show.

A Chinese assistant named Chen Ji stood bowing beside him. He looked to be in his forties, with a shrewd face and quick, intelligent eyes.

A low platform was erected in front of the screen wall in the middle of the garden. Wei Zhongxian, the Grand Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial, stood on it, his shrill voice drowning out the noise below.

"Quiet down, everyone!"

The garden gradually quieted down, and everyone stared at Wei Zhongxian, or more accurately, at the four gilded characters "Qie Xue Shang Gu" on the screen wall behind him.

"Let me repeat the rules!" Wei Zhongxian scanned the room like a vulture eyeing its prey. "The Mongolian Kheshig Trading Company will issue 500 shares! The starting price is 3,000 taels per share! The highest bidder wins!"

He paused deliberately, to whet people's appetites.

"One share for one 'Kheshig Bronze Token'! This token is bestowed by His Majesty and personally supervised by Empress Dowager Sutai of Southern Mongolia and Altan Hongtaiji! With it, you are a first-class Mongolian merchant registered in the official register!"

"Upon arriving in the Mughal Empire of India, they won't have to kneel before officials, and their trade will be tax-free! But that's nothing compared to what they'll achieve!" Wei Zhongxian's voice suddenly rose as he pointed to the air. "Most importantly, the license holder is a member of Princess Sarentuya's accompanying merchant caravan! He's the Crown Prince's personal imperial merchant! He's part of the Crown Prince's inner circle!"

The four characters “Royal Merchant” are like a red-hot iron block being smashed into a pot of boiling oil.

An uproar immediately erupted below.

Zheng Zhihu was the first to shout, "Eunuch Wei, enough nonsense! Start filming! I, Old Zheng, have been waiting for this stepping stone!"

Wei Zhongxian smiled insincerely: "General Zheng, don't be impatient. Let me make this clear from the start: only five hundred shares, a limited edition! This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! Let's begin!"

"The first share, three thousand taels!" Wei Zhongxian shouted as he began to bid.

"Three thousand five!"

"four thousand!"

"Four thousand eight!"

Prices skyrocketed, and bidding was almost nonstop. Merchants and nobles alike were green with envy.

Van Diemen, sitting in the corner, was first puzzled, then surprised, and finally showed a hint of contempt. He whispered to Chen Ji in Dutch, "Chen, are these Chinese crazy? Fighting so hard for a bronze medal?"

He felt it was a foolish speculation.

Chen Ji bowed and said in a low voice, "Mr. Van Diemen, they didn't buy the bronze medal."

"what is that?"

“It’s a talisman, a ladder to heaven.” Chen Ji spoke quickly. “You see, this trading company has the backing of the Ming Emperor and the Southern Mongolians. This sign is proof of their legitimacy.”

Van Diemen frowned.

Chen Ji continued, "On the surface, this trading company does business, but in reality, it's sending Mongols to the Indian Mughal Empire. This Indian Mughal Empire is actually the Indian Mongol Empire, established after the Mongols conquered most of India. They're said to be short of Mongols, so they approached the Ming Dynasty hoping they could act as intermediaries to import a batch from the Mongolian steppes. The people sent are Mongol warriors and licensed merchants, all under the jurisdiction of Prince Sarentuya. The princess is a direct descendant of the Golden Family and is to marry the crown prince of the Indian Mughal Empire!"

Van Diemen's disdain vanished instantly. His blue eyes widened in shock, then turned serious.

He no longer saw this as a farce, but rather as the beginnings of a colossus—an armed trading behemoth backed by three major empires. This was no longer a disorganized mob; it was a national strategy! It would directly challenge the East India Company's hegemony in the Indian Ocean!

Colonial instincts made him blurt out: "It must be stopped... while it's still weak... the company fleet should..." He raised his hand and made a cutting motion.

Chen Ji was startled and hurriedly whispered, "Sir! You absolutely mustn't! The Kheshig Merchant Guild is backed by the Ming Dynasty and the Southern Mongolian Mongol Empire. We can't afford to offend them!"

Van Diemen's hand froze in mid-air before slowly lowering. He understood. The path of resolving the issue by force was blocked—not that fighting was truly impossible, but rather that the matter was far too significant, simultaneously waging war against both the Ming Dynasty and the Mughal Empire of India. The Dutch East India Company's authorization was far from sufficient!
This time, the other side had played the international politics card to the extreme! He suddenly felt powerless, and beads of sweat appeared on his forehead. When he was in office on Java, he was used to letting the guns do the talking, but this time the guns were useless.

The auction on stage continued frantically. The share price had already surpassed 10,000 taels per share and was still rising. Maritime merchants like Zheng Zhihu and Yang Liu were determined to win, aiming to obtain the qualification to own their own ships. New tycoons like Xu Chengye and Liu Yongzhao were also making a desperate attempt to transform their families.

Every bid injects capital into this newborn behemoth.

This scene felt strangely familiar to Van Diemen!

Looking at the frenzied crowd and listening to the jarring bids, Van Diemen finally couldn't sit still any longer.

"Chen, let's go." He stood up, his voice hoarse.

"Sir, are you not going to watch anymore?"

“I’m not looking at it anymore.” Van Diemen’s face was grim. “This is too big of a deal…it’s beyond my authority. It must be reported to Batavia immediately…and even to the seventeen-member board of directors…”

He glanced one last time at the bustling platform, as if he could see a massive fleet of ships flying strange flags appearing on the sea in the future.

"...Our biggest challenge has arrived."

He left hastily with Chen Ji. The sun shone brightly in Nanjing, but he felt a chill in the air.

This Ming Dynasty... it's terrifying!
Emperor Chongzhen's carriage traveled north.

After passing through the severely affected Huaibei, Shandong, and southern Beizhili, we were finally almost at Beijing.

The Mughal envoy, Mizar, and his deputy, Amir Khan, rode side by side. The closer they got to Beijing, the more solemn their expressions became. The arrogance they had displayed on the way there gradually faded as the scene before them began to unfold.

The road was wide enough for several carriages to pass side by side. Carriages and horses moved constantly along it, and the stone-paved ground kept it relatively dust-free. Irrigation canals crisscrossed the roadside, and willow trees sprouted new buds. In the distance, the masts at the canal docks resembled a forest, and the calls of porters could be faintly heard.

This scene was completely different from the barren, arid lands we had seen along the way.

"Is this really the capital of the Ming Dynasty in the north?" Aamir Khan gripped the reins tightly and asked in a low voice.

Mizar remained silent, his eyes scanning his surroundings. What he saw wasn't just a commotion, but rather a force behind the scenes meticulously organizing everything.

The convoy bypassed the inner city and headed west of Beijing. The first thing they saw was a newly built city wall, not very high, but thick and sturdy, with a wide moat dug outside, a drawbridge that could be raised and lowered, and soldiers guarding it.

Beyond the city gate, a completely different scene unfolded. On the vast open space, countless laborers busied themselves like ants, their shouts of pounding bricks deafening. In the distance, the framework of some garden-like houses was already taking shape, with pavilions and towers, unlike the usual deep courtyards and mansions.

The accompanying eunuch from the Directorate of Ceremonial, Sun Shouli, pointed outside and said, "Your Excellencies, please look, this is the new western district of Beijing. These gardens all belong to the princes and nobles. His Majesty has granted special permission to build them here, both to settle the imperial relatives and to gather the imperial aura."

Mizar and Amir Khan exchanged a glance, both somewhat startled. Bringing their relatives to live on the outskirts of the capital was no ordinary tactic.

What surprised them even more were the people working there. Sun Shouli casually added, "There are hundreds of thousands of refugees here looking for work. They all fled from disaster-stricken areas like Shaanxi, Shanxi, and Henan."

The two looked closely and saw that although the laborers were dressed in tattered clothes, their complexions were not bad, and they worked efficiently, making the construction site orderly.

Sun Shouli nodded slightly, his voice low but clear: "This is all thanks to His Majesty's wise plan—work relief instead of economic relief. By having the princes build gardens and the court construct new cities, we can provide a way for the disaster victims to survive and also prevent them from causing trouble."

Mizar and Amir Khan were both shocked when they heard this. Organizing hundreds of thousands of people for such a massive project—the money, supplies, labor, and coordination capabilities required were simply unimaginable. Their Mughal Empire in India was considered wealthy, but they could never have imagined mobilizing such manpower and resources to undertake such a large-scale project during a year of great disaster.

The power of the Ming Dynasty and the methods of its emperor were truly unfathomable.

After passing the bustling construction site in the new city, the convoy entered Beijing's inner city.

The city walls were high and thick, and the guards were neatly dressed, their ranks as sharp as if cut by a knife, their eyes revealing the sternness of someone under the emperor's feet.

As soon as you enter the inner city, the noise hits you. The streets are wide, the shops are numerous, and the goods are piled high. People come and go, dressed smartly, with calm faces, as if they have no idea that there is a drought and locust plague to the north.

Mizar took a deep breath, his last bit of worry disappearing. This capital city was clearly a tangled mess of power and money. The fact that the Emperor could so smoothly bring things together showed that he had a firm grip on power. Amir Khan, however, was more focused on the equipment of the patrolmen, and also on the displaced people outside the city who could serve as soldiers, calculating how many helpers he could get.

Both remained silent, yet both were equally astonished. The Ming Dynasty was indeed a terrifying behemoth. Although it was not as wealthy as their Mongol Empire today—mostly due to poor harvests—its organizational, administrative, and military strength far surpassed that of the "Indian Mongol Empire," which lacked even a large enough population and had to import supplies from the Mongolian steppes.

Thinking of this, they couldn't help but have even greater expectations for the Chahar Mongols, who had been able to fight against such a powerful force for so many years. The fact that they could contend with such a formidable empire for so long speaks volumes about the ferocity of the "true Mongols."

If they could "import" more goods to India, their master Aurangzeb would surely be able to seize the throne of the Mughal Empire and even unify India.
(End of this chapter)