Chapter 30: Paying Silver (2)

  "This, Your Majesty, has not yet happened. The imperial physician says it is just an unconscious action." Wang Cheng'en disappointed Chongzhen Emperor, but immediately added: "But it's estimated that he will wake up soon."

  "Hmm, it's better than before. Pass the order to let the imperial physician and that Qi take good care of him, striving to wake up Zhong Jinwei as soon as possible."

  Chongzhen Emperor knew that he was too happy too early and also understood that it was impossible to get better all at once, after all the toxicity was so strong.

  "Your Majesty, it's time for dinner." Wang Chengen reminded.

  The Chongzhen Emperor then remembered that he had not yet eaten his late dinner and so set up a meal.

  On a winter night, Beijing city was shrouded in darkness, except for some necessary places.

  "Kill!" Jian Yu's face was twisted in a fierce scowl, as he led the charge onto the city walls of Jing Shi, the defending Ming army crumbling like paper, without any resistance.

  The Chongzhen Emperor ran while shouting: "Save the throne, save the throne!..."

  But no one paid attention to him, and everyone ran faster than him.

  Chongzhen Emperor finally ran to a desolate place, only to find a cavalry unit waiting there, with a large flag fluttering in the wind bearing the character "Yuan".

  At this time, the rebels were catching up again. Emperor Chongzhen hurriedly ran towards that cavalry unit, waving his hand as he ran: "Yuan Love, come and save me, come and save me."

  That cavalry saw Emperor Chongzhen running over and actually turned around and ran away, leaving him feeling desperate.

  Suddenly, another group of Ming soldiers appeared on the side, their clothes tattered and worn. They looked at Emperor Chongzhen, who was just about to open his mouth to let them come and rescue him. But that group of Ming soldiers suddenly surrounded him, each one stretching out their hands, shouting: "Silver, silver..."

  "Ah!" Emperor Chongzhen suddenly sat up in bed, his spirit slightly settled, and only then did he realize that he had just been dreaming. But the dream was so clear, every detail of which Emperor Chongzhen remembered clearly.

  Tonight, Tian Fei was attending to him. She was startled awake by Chongzhen Emperor and saw that he had a terrible nightmare. Soon she discovered the sweat on his forehead and quickly took out the silk handkerchief from beside the bed to wipe away his sweat for Chongzhen Emperor.

  Chongzhen Emperor remained motionless, allowing Empress Tian to wipe his sweat. After a while, he let out a sigh.

  At this time, the inner attendants and palace maids had all been startled and rushed over.

  The Chongzhen Emperor waved his hand at them: "Nothing's wrong, what time is it now?"

  "The third watch of the fifth hour."

  The Chongzhen Emperor thought about it and decided to get up anyway, as he usually got up around this time.

  After sitting in the imperial study, he picked up a copy of "Zizhi Tongjian" and started reading, but soon became distracted. That dream was too frightening, Jianyuan was so powerful, yet his own army was so useless. Could it be, could it be that I really have to become the king of a fallen country?

  I recall the pairs of hands reaching out to him in my dream: Silver, the sound of Silver's cries seemed to be right by my ear. I couldn't help but sigh, Silver, if only I had a treasure basin.

  It's been a long time, and I finally woke up from my contemplation. Looking at the sky, it's about time to discuss matters. The things I asked the Ministry of Revenue and the Grand Council to discuss yesterday, I don't know if they've come to a conclusion or not.

  As usual, all the ministers of the Grand Council and the Six Ministries were present in the Wenhua Hall.

  Although the Minister of War, Sun Chengzong, is already 67 years old and only arrived in the capital last night, none of these factors seem to have any impact on this old man now, his body is really not bad.

  On the contrary, the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue Bi Ziyuan was a bit mentally unwell.

  But now is not the time for everyone to ask about each other's well-being, Emperor Chongzhen first asked if there was a conclusion to yesterday's discussion.

  Everyone was silent for a moment, then Bi Ziyuan stepped forward and said: "Your Majesty, we ministers discussed it for a long time last night and coordinated with various departments. It is estimated that the current silver in the imperial court can only be used for one month's worth of food and grass for the 300,000-strong army, not to mention the soaring grain prices in the capital."

  "What about the silver for the troops?" Emperor Chongzhen asked with a frown.

  "Your Majesty, we think it would be better to take out a portion of the inner treasury to relieve the urgent situation."

  "What?!" The Chongzhen Emperor was furious upon hearing such a preposterous idea! "The previous few times the military salary was issued, my internal treasury was already emptied. Now even mice can run around in my inner storehouse!!"

  Chongzhen Emperor looked at the ministers below, just standing there without speaking, as if they thought they still had many internal worries. He felt a bit wronged: "Since I ascended to the throne, according to what you said, I abolished various taxes and levies. However, when I took this position, the national treasury was already empty, and military expenses alone were not enough to cover expenditures. Do I need to say more?"

  He paused, then continued: "It's laughable to say it, but fortunately, after confiscating Wei Zhongxian's property, we obtained a considerable amount of silver. Only in the past two years have we managed to barely get by, and the Liaodong rations were reduced by 10%."

  "You still don't believe me? Let me calculate the accounts for you. The annual revenue of the palace is about one million taels, including the gold and silver used by the imperial harem and the light cavalry. However, the expenses are enormous: eunuchs, miscellaneous officials, the Eastern Depot, the Imperial Guard, totaling around 100,000 people; 9,000 palace maids; 81,900 imperial guards in the capital...and then there's the stipend for meritorious nobles and imperial relatives, all of which come out of the inner court's coffers. You do the math - is one million enough? It's just like the national treasury, always running a deficit every year!"

  "We know, but there is still one more trick we can use." Bi Ziyan's voice grew softer and softer.

  Chongzhen Emperor was delighted when he heard it, having a good son is a good thing, but why did his voice get lower and lower as he spoke, as if he had done something wrong.

  "It's fine as long as there is a way, come quickly."

  "Your Majesty, if you abolish the Eastern Depot and the Imperial Guard, some silver can be diverted for use."

  "What? Say that again." Upon hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen felt a surge of blood rush to his head, and his eyes turned red.

  Bi Ziyan didn't dare speak anymore and knelt down.

  "This is rebellion! Do you think I am made of clay?" The hands of Emperor Chongzhen were shaking, and he saw a stack of memorials on the imperial desk, grabbed them directly and threw them at Bi Zichang.

  The other officials and the Premier knelt down together: "Your Majesty, calm your anger!"

  "Your Majesty, I have no personal motives, only for the sake of national affairs. At present, it is indeed difficult to come up with silver."

  Chongzhen Emperor looked at Bi Ziyuan's two panda-like eyes and understood that he had not slept all night because of the silver matter. His heart softened a bit, he didn't speak, lowered his head, and stared straight at the imperial desk.

  Time passed minute by minute, second by second, and inside Wenhua Hall it was quiet and still, without a sound.

  After a long time, Emperor Chongzhen raised his head, looking much older, with a somewhat dull voice: "I know that you, Bi Qing, are also a clever woman who cannot cook without rice. I remember that your brother, Bi Zisu, also died because of the silver allowance. I won't make it difficult for you. There are still some silver utensils in the palace, I'll have them melted down and distributed. Additionally, everyone's monthly allowance will be halved from now on. Let me help you out a bit."

  "Your Majesty..." A sixty-year-old old man fell to the ground and began to sob.

  After a while, Emperor Chongzhen composed himself and said to those below: "All of you may rise."

  After all the ministers stood up, Emperor Chongzhen said to Han Chen, "You are the chief assistant of the inner cabinet, do you have any strategy to open up resources?"

  What Bi Ziyuan proposed to abolish the Dong Factory and Jin Yiwei was actually the intention of the cabinet, wanting to take advantage of this opportunity to get rid of the hated factory guards, but he himself did not dare to say it, so he forced the Minister of Revenue to be the scapegoat.

  Han Shi replied to the Chongzhen Emperor's inquiry about his strategy for opening up resources: "I think that the Liaodong ration cannot be reduced. This time, the enemy has invaded, and it is inevitable that the ration will increase. Not only should the original amount of the Liaodong ration be restored, but it would also be most appropriate to add another 20% to meet the needs of resisting the enemy."

  Chongzhen Emperor heard this and thought of what Zhong Jiwei had said about the common people, and immediately negated it: "Besides increasing taxes, do you have any other good strategies?"

  "Having said that, looking at others, he added: 'You gentlemen have any good ideas, don't hesitate to speak up.'"

  No one spoke up, as speaking out of turn would offend many people. However, Sun Chengzong remained silent because he was not good at financial matters and couldn't think of a solution.

  The Wenhua Hall fell silent again, and Emperor Chongzhen felt a wave of disappointment.

  Suddenly, an imperial guard rushed into the palace, trembling with fear, and knelt down to report: "Your Majesty, there is an urgent military report from the front."

  Chongzhen Emperor listened and couldn't help but discuss the matter of opening up sources and cutting off expenses, he hurriedly looked at the military situation report.

  As expected, it's another bad news: Jian Xi suddenly turned around and rushed towards the capital, and Yuan Chonghuan's troops were unknown where they went. Tongzhou has already shown signs of instability.

  The Chongzhen Emperor has already become numb, and there hasn't been a single good piece of news during this period. He keeps thinking that there will be a loyalist army that defeats the bandits in one fell swoop, or at least drives them back, but there is no sign of such a miracle happening.

  He then passed on this urgent report to the officials below and said: "Tongzhou is very close to the capital, which of you gentlemen is willing to go and comfort it?"

  Sun Chengzong thought that he could finally make a move, so he stepped forward. The grand hall echoed with his unique loud voice: "I am willing to go."

  Chongzhen Emperor was delighted to see someone willing to help: "Master Sun, is there anything you need?"

  "I hurried to the capital, with only one family member by my side. The attendants from the Ministry of War have not yet arrived. If I were to proceed to Tongzhou now, something might happen on the way that would affect official business."

  "This is natural." Chongzhen Emperor hastily replied, he glanced at Bi Ziyuan and then said to Sun Chengzong: "I order the Imperial Guards to select some elite personnel to follow Master Sun."

  Sun Chengzong expressed no opinion.

  "When can Master Sun set off?" The Chongzhen Emperor was getting a bit anxious.

  "Your Majesty, if there is nothing else for me to attend to here, I wish to depart immediately." Sun Chongzong also urged.

  "Alright, I'll leave the Tongzhou matter to Master Sun." Emperor Chongzhen looked at Sun Chengzong and solemnly entrusted him with the task. The person recommended by Zhong Xing was indeed capable and practical.

  At this time, Tongzhou nearby has appeared to build a yurt and explore horses, the refugees of the capital area all went to Beijing city to rush over, under the emperor's feet, it is always a safe point.

  Sun Chengzong went to Tongzhou Road, and met Jian Yu's horse several times. Thanks to the sacrifice of 26 Jin Yiwei guards who escorted him with their lives, he arrived safely in Tongzhou, but five Jin Yiwei guards were killed on the way.

  Fortunately, they arrived just in time and caught up with General Yang Guodong, who was about to flee. They pulled him back and began inspecting the city walls, making arrangements for defense, stabilizing the morale of the soldiers and calming down the panic among the civilians inside the city.

  Immediately afterwards, Huang Taiji also brought the main force of the Later Jin to the capital city of the Ming Dynasty.