How can one be Emperor Chongzhen without money?

Chapter 42: Failure means the extermination of nine generations of one's family; success means seizing control of the court! (Please add to your favorites and read on!)
November 17th, the seventh year of the Tianqi reign (1627), Beijing.

Before the Qianqing Palace, the plain white curtains swayed slightly in the cold wind. Zhou Yufeng, dressed in a ceremonial robe and wearing a crown with nine dragons and four phoenixes, slowly stepped onto the steps. There was no accompanying music or ceremony, unlike the noisy and extravagant investiture ceremonies of the past. Emperor Chongzhen, Zhu Youjian, stood before the hall, calmly watching her approach step by step.

He remembered how magnificent Zhou Yufeng's coronation ceremony was in his previous life—the magnificent Fengtian Hall, where officials prostrated themselves, and bells and drums resounded. But now, he only allowed the Ministry of Rites to hold it according to the bare minimum.

"This is what it means to be hardworking and simple, and to stay true to our original aspirations!" he murmured to himself, a slight smile playing on his lips.

The eunuch faction has practically been accepted as lackeys! The nobles are still somewhat resentful, but Zhang Weixian, the most senior member, has already surrendered. Zhu Chunchen is still causing trouble, but it doesn't matter; his Five Armies have been taken over by Zhang Zhiji. Every day that passes, his influence as the governor-general of the Beijing Garrison over the main force of the Five Armies will diminish. If he could just keep courting disaster, all the better.
Further on, there were also the gentlemen of Donglin.
Thinking of this, Chongzhen felt a surge of joy.

"Your Majesty." Zhou Yufeng walked to the emperor's side and bowed gracefully.

He reached out to help her up and said gently, "From this day forward, you will be my Empress."

Zhou Yufeng raised her eyes, tears glistening in them, but quickly lowered them again, and whispered, "I will certainly be diligent and thrifty, and live up to Your Majesty's expectations."

Emperor Chongzhen nodded slightly, his gaze sweeping over the civil and military officials standing solemnly below the steps. The nobles' expressions varied; some feigned respect, while others had shifty eyes. He knew that many of these people were still scheming about how to protect their own land, power, and even... how to trip up this young emperor.

But it doesn't matter. In this life, he already knows who is loyal and who is treacherous, and who is the enemy of the Ming Dynasty!
Just as he was pondering, Gao Yushun, who had just been promoted to Grand Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial, quietly approached and whispered, "Xu Qinian has returned from Liaodong, and he has brought three valiant generals with him."

Emperor Chongzhen raised an eyebrow slightly—the three valiant generals have finally arrived!

He nodded calmly: "Let them settle in at the Jishuitan camp first."

Gao Yushun bowed and withdrew.

The coronation ceremony proceeded as scheduled. After the ceremony, Chongzhen returned to Qianqing Palace with Zhou Yufeng. On the way, he whispered to Zhou Yufeng, "Go back to Kunning Palace as a token of appreciation, and then live with me in Qianqing Palace. From now on, we will be together every day and never be separated."

According to the system, the Empress of the Ming Dynasty should have lived in the Kunning Palace—however, Emperor Chongzhen, who was used to living in a "small house" in the new Celestial Empire, was not used to not living in the same "community" as his wife. Moreover, his "separation" from Empress Zhou was not only too expensive, but also detrimental to security.

His personal guards numbered only about ten thousand, and their training was already very demanding. At most, he could spare a little over a thousand men to serve as palace guards each day. Those few men had to be concentrated as much as possible; if they were scattered around, it wouldn't be enough.

Zhou Yufeng obediently agreed, then curtsied and took her leave.

On the same day, at the Suning Earl's residence.

Inside the attic in the back garden, the charcoal fire glowed faintly, but it couldn't dispel the winter chill. Hou Xingguo, wrapped in a mink coat, unconsciously tapped the rim of his teacup with his fingers, his gaze fixed on Wei Liangqing opposite him with a gloomy expression.

"How is Your Highness doing lately?" he asked in a low voice.

Wei Liangqing sneered: "He's gotten senile. He's handed over 90% of his family fortune, and he's busier than ever, spending all his time at the Inner Transport Warehouse with that Wang Chengen."

What is he doing at the internal transport warehouse?

“Managing the money and land for the young emperor,” Wei Liangqing said sarcastically. “He’s collected over two million taels of silver for redeeming crimes, over one million mu of land for redemption, and a whole bunch of real estate and antiques. Shouldn’t he be managing these things properly? Wang Chengen knows nothing. Who else can he rely on if not my uncle?”

Hou Xingguo narrowed his eyes: "So, Your Excellency is now... truly the Emperor's accountant?"

Wei Liangqing scoffed: "Otherwise what? What kind of trouble do you think he can cause?"

Hou Xingguo was silent for a moment, then suddenly lowered his voice: "Is it possible that those stinking soldiers in Xuanfu and Datong might mutiny?"

Wei Liangqing frowned and shook his head, saying, "His Majesty has some money to spare now. Apart from allocating a sum of money to repair the late Emperor's tomb, most of the rest has been spent on supplementing salaries and providing disaster relief. Most of the land that has been acquired has also been distributed to meritorious soldiers or used to supplement military settlements in Jizhou."

He said this through gritted teeth: "This shows that the emperor cares about the soldiers and is actually willing to spend some money... Those stinking soldiers have met a wise ruler, how could they possibly rebel?"

Hou Xingguo sneered, "The Emperor only cares about Jizhou. He's given all the good things to Jizhou, so of course the 100,000 soldiers there are satisfied. But what about Xuanfu, Datong, and Changping? They're not worried about scarcity, but about inequality!"

Wei Liangqing still shook his head: "His Majesty still has hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash and hundreds of thousands of acres of land, which can appease them."

Hou Xingguo stared at him, then suddenly lowered his voice and said, word by word, "What if we add the Kharachin Mongols and the Eight Banners troops of Jianzhou?"

Wei Liangqing shuddered, his pupils shrinking sharply: "You... what did you say?"

Hou Xingguo's lips curled into a sinister smile: "To be honest, after I fled Daning City, I went straight to Shengjing with Boss Fan from Zhangjiakou to pay my respects to the Great Khan Huang Taiji..."

Wei Liangqing abruptly stood up, his teacup shattering on the floor with a crash, shards of porcelain flying everywhere. "Are you insane?!" he whispered, unable to conceal his shock and rage. "Colluding with the Jurchens! This is a crime punishable by the extermination of nine generations of your family!"

Hou Xingguo slowly rose to his feet, his words icy: "Brother Wei, failure will result in the extermination of nine generations of your family, but success will allow our two families to turn the tide, and Your Majesty can regain control of the court!"

Wei Liangqing remained silent, staring at the shattered teacup on the ground, cold sweat trickling down his temples.

"Brother Wei, do you think you can still extricate yourself?" Hou Xingguo sneered, slowly pulling a letter from his sleeve and gently waving it in the candlelight: "Brother Wei, do you recognize this?"

Cold sweat poured down Wei Liangqing's forehead—it was his own handwritten letter!

"In June of this year, you asked Fan Yongdou to deliver a letter to Shu Bu, which discussed the resale of saltpeter!" Hou Xingguo said, emphasizing each word. "This letter bears your personal seal."

Wei Liangqing suddenly stood up, his chair overturning with a thud: "You... how could you have this?!"

"This was given to me by Master Fan." Hou Xingguo smiled coldly. "He said that if anything unexpected happens, this letter can save my life."

Wei Liangqing trembled all over, his eyes filled with fear.

Because he sent more than one letter through Fan Yongdou to Shubu and the Kharachin Mongol Taiji. If the emperor saw these letters, the story of the Doyan Guard taking advantage of the mutiny in Jizhou to invade would probably develop into the direction of someone colluding with the Tartars to rebel!

"Brother Wei, do you think the Emperor will remain in the dark forever?" Hou Xingguo pressed on. "He just hasn't found out yet! Once he does, your entire Wei family will be wiped out!"

Wei Liangqing was breathing rapidly, and his vision was blurring.

There are no secrets that stay hidden forever. If we're determined to investigate, how could we not find out? If someone provides some evidence, the investigation will be even faster.

"But if...we win..." Hou Xingguo suddenly lowered his voice, his eyes flashing with a crazed light, "If the emperor is gone, the court will surely be in chaos! At that time, you and I will be the most meritorious officials in supporting the new emperor!"

"Are you insane?!" Wei Liangqing screamed. "This is treason! This is betrayal of the country!"

"Treason?" Hou Xingguo sneered. "Brother Wei, you have long been guilty of treason! You colluded with the enemy to invade Jizhou, causing the deaths of countless Ming soldiers. Do you think the Emperor will forgive you?"

Wei Liangqing's face was ashen, his lips trembled, but he could not utter a word of rebuttal.

"As for the Xuanda mutiny..." Hou Xingguo continued, "That was a disturbance caused by nobles and hereditary military officials. What does it have to do with us? We just need to sit back and watch the tigers fight, and incidentally send a message to Jianzhou."

“But…but His Majesty still has silver and the Imperial Guards…” Wei Liangqing’s voice trembled.

"Silver?" Hou Xingguo scoffed. "After the Emperor's meager silver is used to pay the back wages of Jizhou, Xuanfu, and Datong, how much will be left? As for the Imperial Guard... a mere few thousand men, can they withstand the Jianzhou cavalry?"

Wei Liangqing stared intently at him, her eyes filled with a mixture of struggle and fear.

"Brother Wei, your uncle Wei Zhongxian held immense power throughout his life, but what about now? He's nothing more than an accountant counting silver for the emperor, and his future is uncertain!" Hou Xingguo sneered. "Are you content with that? Are you at peace with yourself? Don't you want to taste the feeling of wielding great power again?"

Wei Liangqing remained silent for a long time before finally raising his head, a ruthless glint in his eyes: "...What do you want to do?"

Hou Xingguo's lips curled into a sinister smile: "It's very simple. Keep an eye on those nobles who are still causing trouble. As soon as they try to incite a mutiny to undermine the young emperor, immediately send a message to Fan Yongdou."

“Fan Yongdou?” Wei Liangqing frowned.

"He will send the message to Shengjing," Hou Xingguo said in a low voice. "The young emperor is reckless, like Emperor Yingzong and Emperor Wuzong. If there is a mutiny in Xuanfu, he will most likely personally lead the army to quell the rebellion, especially if the Heavenly Army of Khan Huang Taiji marches westward at that time."

"My lord, you know about Tumu Fortress, right? Emperor Yingzong had so many troops, and even a veteran general like Duke Zhang Fu was with him, yet it collapsed inexplicably. What responsibility did the officials in the court bear? No one!"

"The core of the Emperor's personal guard is still the Imperial Horse Administration's troops, and those more than ten thousand eunuchs are still around, right? If the Emperor were to perish outside, would these people listen to Eunuch Wei, or to Zhang Zhiji and Zhu Chunchen?"

"Isn't today the day Zhou is being crowned Empress? Whether Empress Zhou or Empress Zhang becomes Empress Dowager is ultimately up to His Highness, isn't it?"

"Even if things don't work out, so what? The Emperor slaughtered Daning before, the Kharachin Mongols went to Shengjing to beg for mercy, and Khan Huang Taiji sent troops to seek justice for the vassal. That's reasonable, isn't it? No one will suspect you! You were just secretly informing the Tumu Fortress back then. It's not like no one was passing messages to the Tartars!"

Wei Liangqing took a deep breath, the last trace of hesitation in his eyes replaced by madness: "...Alright, let's do it! If we're exposed, we'll be rebels; but if we succeed, we'll be powerful ministers who will reshape the world!"

(End of this chapter)