Chapter 412: Donating Men to Fund the Troops, Tearing Apart Quilts to Sew Clothes

Chongzhen was silent for a moment, then pretended to be moved and said, "Your Excellency is loyal and devoted to the state. At this time of battle, whatever the army needs, speak frankly—I will grant it all."

Zhou Yuji said with fervor, "Your Majesty, this humble general has received the nation's grace deeply; I am prepared to die wrapped in horsehide on the battlefield, ten thousand deaths without hesitation.

But the soldiers under my command have gone months without pay, and now they are about to fight to the death. Without generous wages to steady the troops' morale, I fear their spirit will flag and they cannot hold on. Moreover, grain and weapons are also lacking—I beg Your Majesty to make up the shortfall—"

Chongzhen frowned: "How much silver do you need?"

Zhou Yuji's soldiers had already gone eight months without pay. By regulation, each man's commuted wage was one tael six mace per month—that alone came to sixty-four thousand taels.

Adding in the meat and wine to reward the troops before the great battle, and the compensation payments to be issued, seventy thousand taels would not be excessive.

But Zhou Yuji also knew the court's finances were strained, and he dared not apply for the full amount. He gritted his teeth and said, "Fifty thousand taels—"

Chongzhen's face darkened, and he said, "I will find a way. Your Excellency need only focus on slaughtering the rebels!"

With that, he said to Wang Cheng'en, "Bring the Imperial Sword."

"Yes." After a moment, Wang Cheng'en emerged bearing the Imperial Sword.

Chongzhen took the sword and placed it in Zhou Yuji's hands, his expression solemn: "The survival of the capital, the safety of hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians—all rests upon you alone, General.

I grant you the Imperial Sword, with the authority to execute first and report afterward, and to act as circumstances dictate. The weight of state and family, I entrust to you, General."

Zhou Yuji, receiving such high regard from the Emperor, knelt to accept the sword without even bothering to remove his armor, and said through clenched teeth, "This humble general will fight to the death with all his might!

"Go and arrange the city defenses."

With that, Chongzhen watched Zhou Yuji withdraw from the platform with a smile. Once he was far away, the smile vanished completely, and he said to Wang Cheng'en, "Summon Zhang Yixian, Liu Yuanbin, and Gao Qiqian."

These three were all eunuchs. When Chongzhen had ascended the throne, he had detested eunuch interference in governance and had never formally received eunuchs on the platform. But now that the state's ruin was imminent, he could no longer afford such formalities.

Before long, the three entered the platform and paid their respects to Chongzhen.

Chongzhen slumped wearily on the imperial throne and said, "How many troops remain in the Capital Camps?"

The three exchanged glances, and Zhang Yixian, seal-holder of the Directorate of Ceremonial, spoke up: "The original establishment of the Three Great Camps of the Capital was one hundred twenty-eight thousand six hundred men. After years of reductions and hereditary military household members fleeing to extinction, those now on the rolls—"

Chongzhen sighed: "At a moment like this, I am asking about troops fit to fight."

Zhang Yixian lowered his voice cautiously: "This slave—this slave estimates, we can scrape together five thousand—

There are also the eunuch troops of the inner guard camp under the Directorate of the Imperial Horses, totaling one thousand fifty men—"

"Six thousand—ha." Chongzhen's voice was weary. "Yuanbin."

"This slave is here." The eunuch whose name was called immediately shuffled forward two steps on his knees.

"You are an old hand in the Directorate of the Imperial Horses, and you once commanded the Valiant Guard Camp. You may be counted as one who knows war. This army of six thousand, I entrust to you. When the rebel troops press upon the city, you will face the enemy together with General Zhou's five thousand men."

"This slave obeys the decree."

Chongzhen sat up from the throne, fixed his gaze on Liu Yuanbin, and said in a low voice, "I chose you to command troops alongside General Zhou—do you understand my intent?"

Liu Yuanbin kept his head lowered and said, "This slave understands. When battle is joined, this slave will keep a close watch on Zhou Yuji. If he fights bravely, so be it; but should he show the slightest intention of defecting or turning his coat, this slave will surely rid the realm of this traitor on behalf of all under heaven!"

Chongzhen waved his hand lightly: "In these next few days, reorganize the troops, and find ways to recruit able-bodied men to expand the forces. Go and handle it."

"This slave obeys the decree." Liu Yuanbin answered obediently, then bowed his head and backed out of the platform.

After a pause, Chongzhen spoke again: "Gao Qiqian."

Gao Qiqian's body trembled. He shuffled forward on both knees and crawled up: "His Majesty, this slave is here."

"Several days ago I issued an edict ordering the Guan-Ning army to enter the pass to rescue the throne. Counting the days, they should have reached the Yongping and Zunhua area by now. You will go and urge them to advance with all speed.

This time, do not disappoint me again!"

Gao Qiqian kowtowed repeatedly, spoke many words of loyalty, and then withdrew. He set out that very night, hurrying to Shanhai Pass.

Zhang Yixian's expression was mournful.

No one knew the movements of the Guan-Ning army better than he, the seal-holder of the Directorate of Ceremonial. So many days had passed since the imperial decree was issued, and Zu Dashou had not budged an inch.

Never mind marching to Yongping or Zunhua—he had not even set foot through Shanhai Pass.

With the situation as it was, Chongzhen could only insist that reinforcements were coming, and send eunuchs to supervise this army of reinforcements that did not exist at all. Without this small hope, people's hearts would scatter.

Zhang Yixian was lost in his grief when Chongzhen's voice called out to him: "Yixian, how goes the matter of donating men and contributing to military funds?"

Since Lu Xiangsheng and Hong Chengchou had suffered successive defeats, the Ming dynasty's elite field forces were nearly exhausted, and both the national treasury and the privy purse were completely empty.

Chongzhen had no choice, so he came up with this business of donating men and contributing to military funds. In simple terms, it meant calling on everyone to donate money and people to the court.

The scope of the call covered all of the Ming's privileged classes, including civil officials, military officers, imperial relatives by marriage, and eunuchs.

The Ming dynasty had truly reached the end of its rope. Even donating a fool, even donating a single copper coin, was of use.

Zhang Yixian steeled himself and said, "Reporting to His Majesty, seven out of ten officials in the capital have submitted donation registers—"

Chongzhen's eyes lit up. He sat up straight and said urgently, "Truly? How much have they donated in total?"

"The Chief Grand Secretary led by donating five hundred taels of silver. Below the Second Grand Secretary, those of third rank and above gave as much as a hundred taels, and as little as thirty to fifty.

Most of the directors of the Six Ministries gave ten to twenty taels—

As of noon today, the officials' donations total thirty-eight thousand seven hundred taels—"

Chongzhen's vision went dark before his eyes upon hearing this. With the enemy now near the capital, this was not the time to punish officials. He forced himself to swallow this anger: "The officials are hard up—what about the nobles and imperial relatives?"

Zhang Yixian paused, his tone growing even more cautious: "The Earl of household retainers submitted his donation register this morning. He said his household has many mouths to feed, the estates' harvests were poor, and his Jiangnan properties were seized by the rebel troops, so his expenses are tight. His household can only eat coarse rice to fill their stomachs, and they sold off pots and scrap iron to donate three thousand taels to share the court's burden—"

"Three thousand taels! Three thousand taels?" Chongzhen flew into a rage, shrieking, "Three thousand taels counts as sharing the court's burden?

In the capital alone, the Earl of household retainers's mansion has three residences. His grain shops occupy most of a street in the southern part of the city. And in Tongzhou, Baoding, Hejian, Zhending—where does he not have private property?

With such wealth, at a time of national crisis, he donates three thousand taels! This is my fine father-in-law?"

Wang Cheng'en and Zhang Yixian both prostrated themselves on the ground, begging Chongzhen to calm his anger.

Chongzhen was so angry his face turned red, but in the end he still held it in and collapsed back onto the throne: "What about the other imperial relatives?"

"The Duke of Cheng, the Duke of Ding, and several others—they are all watching the father-in-law's figure—they also submitted their registers this morning, all around a thousand taels—" "Bang!" Chongzhen slammed his fist heavily onto the imperial desk, sending the teacups and brush rest crashing to the floor, porcelain shards flying, wolf-hair brushes clattering everywhere.

In his extreme rage, he had struck with too much force, and blood flowed from his broken knuckles without his even noticing.

Wang Cheng'en saw it and urgently called for a young eunuch to summon the imperial physician.

Chongzhen looked back at Zhang Yixian: "And what about you lot of slaves? How much have you donated?"

Zhang Yixian secretly wiped his sweat and said in a low voice: "Some of us eunuchs donated our private savings, some pawned our homes and farmland — altogether we scraped together over thirty-eight thousand taels."

The amount was almost identical to what the civil officials had donated. To say there was no collusion would be impossible.

The enemy army would soon be at the city gates, and the people were already panicked. Even a fool like Chongzhen wouldn't dare offend both the outer ministers and the eunuchs at the same time.

He could only coldly sneer: "What fine servants!"

"Your Majesty!" Zhang Yixian could only wipe his tears and wail, "Your servant only regrets that he cannot share Your Majesty's burdens. Your servant is useless—"

"Wah wah wah—"

Just then, a young eunuch came to the platform to report: "Your Majesty, Physician Wu of the Imperial Academy of Medicine has arrived—"

Chongzhen grabbed an inkstone and hurled it directly at him.

The inkstone smashed against the wall with a crack, shattering into pieces.

Everyone was so frightened they prostrated themselves on the ground. Chongzhen flicked his sleeves and headed toward the inner palace.

Only after the Emperor had left did the young eunuch who had delivered the message step out of the platform hall and say to Physician Wu, who was waiting outside: "His Majesty is in a foul mood today. No need to trouble yourself, Physician."

Physician Wu heard this, sighed, said nothing, clasped his hands in salute, and departed.

Wang Cheng'en saw Chongzhen striding rapidly through the palace, heading straight for Kunning Palace, and said: "Your Majesty, shall your servant send someone ahead to announce your arrival?"

Chongzhen said icily: "No need. And no one is to bow or cry out!"

Then he said grimly: "Cheng'en, regarding the levy of donations to support the troops — how much did you donate?"

"Your servant donated three thousand taels."

"Three thousand taels," Chongzhen murmured. Wang Cheng'en was his personal eunuch; Chongzhen had a good idea of how much he had embezzled. Three thousand taels was nearly half of Wang Cheng'en's entire fortune.

Chongzhen laughed bitterly at himself: "Even you, a castrated man, understand the peril of the state, yet Zhou Kui thinks only of his own gain. Truly, he is my fine Imperial Father-in-Law!"

Wang Cheng'en quickly said: "Your Majesty flatters your servant. The Earl of household retainers also has— Your Majesty—"

Before he could finish speaking, Chongzhen had already walked far ahead. Wang Cheng'en could only trot along behind him.

They made their way to the outside of Kunning Palace. Along the way, the eunuchs and guards saw the Emperor's grim expression and, with Wang Cheng'en gesturing for silence on the side, dared not make a sound. Seeing the hall brightly lit, Chongzhen strode forward and pushed the door open.

A startled cry rose from within the palace, and then Empress Zhou and the palace maids all recognized the Emperor's face and hurriedly curtsied in salute.

Chongzhen stepped forward with a cold face. He saw that the bed, tables, and chairs in the Empress's bedchamber were covered with needles and thread, along with several half-sewn military uniforms, with the stitching left exposed on the outside.

"What is this?" Chongzhen's tone was hostile.

Empress Zhou said: "A great battle is about to begin outside the city walls. My sister-in-law and I wished to do our part, so we led the ladies of the inner palace in sewing some military clothing. The cloth was taken from old garments and bedding in the palace. Your servant thought—"

"Absurd!"

Chongzhen cursed under his breath.

The two of them had a very good relationship; ordinarily Chongzhen rarely spoke harshly to Empress Zhou.

At this sudden outburst, Empress Zhou was startled and hastily knelt to beg forgiveness, saying she begged the Emperor to calm his anger.

Chongzhen strode quickly to Empress Zhou's bed and flung open her thin quilt.

He found the quilt was feather-light. Feeling it carefully, the coverlet was nothing but a single layer of coarse, stiff cloth — the original gauze-silk outer covering

and brocade lining had all been removed.

Chongzhen then opened the wardrobe. Inside there were only two or three summer garments left; the winter clothes had all vanished entirely. The wardrobe held only one set of bedding left for rotation, and the rest of the quilts and pillows were gone as well.

With his back to everyone, Chongzhen felt his eyes sting with heat, and tears nearly fell.

As for the situation of his sister-in-law, Empress Zhang, Chongzhen had not seen it himself, but from Empress Zhou's words, it must be much the same over there.

Chongzhen had been exhausted by affairs of state, not having slept a full night in months, and had not visited the inner palace in a long time.

He never imagined that an empress of two reigns would be reduced to tearing apart her own clothing and bed curtains to subsidize the soldiers at the front.

For a moment, Chongzhen's heart was filled with shame and indignation, with heartache, with guilt — truly a hundred emotions intermingled.

But he quickly composed himself, remembering why he had come.

Thinking of the father and daughter — the Earl playing the pitiful role of tearing up quilts in the deep palace, the Empress's father eating coarse grain and feigning poverty outside the palace — he felt a deep sense of being fooled.

In a surge of hot blood, all his heartache and guilt turned to anger.

He turned around, stared down at Empress Zhou on the ground, and said with biting sarcasm: "You and your father put on quite a show!"

Empress Zhou was bewildered: "What does Your Majesty mean by these words?"

Chongzhen walked to the entrance of Kunning Palace and said coldly: "Issue the decree: The Empress shows no understanding of the greater good, her words and deeds are perverse, and she has failed the dignity befitting the Central Palace. She is confined to her quarters for one month as a warning to others."

A flicker of reluctance passed through Wang Cheng'en's eyes, but he still said: "Your servant obeys the decree."

Upon hearing this, Empress Zhou's tears welled in her eyes, and she choked out: "Your servant accepts the decree—"

Chongzhen departed. The great doors of Kunning Palace stood wide open, and the cool night breeze of early summer poured in. Empress Zhou finally let her tears fall.

The maids hurriedly called for the doors to be closed, then helped Empress Zhou to her bed and said soothingly: "Your Grace, do not be sad. His Majesty is merely exhausted from affairs of state and in a foul mood — those were just angry words. Your Grace's heart is with the realm, and His Majesty sees it well."

Empress Zhou sobbed quietly, and all the maids in the palace came to comfort her.

After grieving for a while, Empress Zhou recalled Chongzhen's mocking words about her and her father, and connecting them with the situation in the palace and the recent matter of "levying donations to support the troops," she began to form a vague suspicion.

She dried her tears and said to her maids: "Bring me all my jewelry."

The maids brought the jewelry box. There were not many pieces inside, but each was exquisite and precious — some were gifts from her natal family, others were bestowed at her wedding.

She also removed all the jewelry she was wearing and placed it in the box, then said to her maids: "As soon as the palace gates open tomorrow, take these ornaments to a pawnshop in the city and sell them."

The maids were shocked and said: "Your Grace, most of these are ceremonial items from your investiture — gifts from the Emperor. They cannot be sold!"

But Empress Zhou's mind was made up: "If the state is to perish, what use are these rules and formalities? Go sell them!"

Early the next morning, as soon as the palace gates opened, Empress Zhou's attendants split into two groups — one to summon her father, the Earl Zhou Kui, to the palace, and one to sell her jewelry.

When the eunuch bearing the Empress's decree arrived at the Earl's mansion, the entire Zhou family was in the middle of breakfast.

On the table were several delicate dishes: pine-nut and goose-fat rolls, crystal dragon-phoenix cakes, steamed crucian carp in lees, candied kumquats, and a bowl of bird's-nest and chicken-shred congee for each person. Beside them, thirty-year-aged Shaoxing yellow wine was kept warm.

The room was filled with fragrant steam — extravagance and indulgence to the utmost.

Upon hearing that someone from the palace had come to the door, Zhou Kui choked on a mouthful of congee and coughed repeatedly: "Cough, cough, cough— Quick, quick, clean this up, hurry!"

The Zhou household servants had drilled for such inspections until they were flawless, and they moved into action the moment they heard the order.

Some servants were responsible for carrying away the decorative ornaments in the hall, some for clearing away the table of fine delicacies, and still others for bringing up bowls of coarse rice porridge—so thin that one could see one's reflection in it—with a small dish of salted mustard greens beside it, so scant that the pieces could be counted one by one.

The household's coarse rice porridge was boiled at every mealtime, prepared specifically to deal with palace inspections at any moment. If needed, it was set out; if not, it was given to the servants to eat.

At the same time, the masters and young masters of the Zhou household, along with all the servants, had to change clothes collectively, stripping off their fine Chaozhou silk and Suzhou embroidery and putting on coarse cloth garments covered in patches.

All surplus tables, chairs, and stools were also removed, and anything that truly could not be taken away was replaced with cheap wood versions.

The Zhou family had many servants, and they had long rehearsed this routine—the whole operation flowed like water and was executed with great speed.

By the time the eunuch bearing Empress Zhou's decree arrived at the residence, he saw only a desolate household: weeds growing thick in the cracks between the bricks, scarcely a servant in sight, and clutter piled all over the courtyard—a scene of utter dilapidation and ruin.

Walking to the main hall, he saw the National Father and his family eating coarse rice porridge, surrounded by bare walls.

The decree-bearing eunuch was stunned on the spot: "This—this this, how could the National Father have come to such a state? When was your residence robbed?"

National Father Zhou Kui declared with great righteousness: "For the stability of the nation, a little hardship counts for nothing. If you have come, Eunuch, to collect levies for the war effort, this humble household still has several dozen catties of coarse rice and two jars of pickled melon. This old minister is willing to offer them to the court to support the war."

The decree-bearing eunuch said: "No, no—Her Majesty the Empress has sent me to summon the National Father to the palace."

Zhou Kui breathed a sigh of relief inwardly, rose to his feet, and said: "Very well, then let us be on our way."

"Will the National Father not change into different clothes?"

Zhou Kui smiled bitterly: "These are already the finest clothes this old minister possesses."

The decree-bearing eunuch cast his gaze around the residence—he truly could not find a single item of value, and even the bowls the family ate from were chipped.

He was deeply shaken, filled with the utmost admiration for the National Father, and led Zhou Kui all the way into the palace.

Inside Kunning Palace.

Empress Zhou saw her father wearing a set of patched coarse cloth clothes and was instantly dumbfounded. Knowing full well what sort of man her father was, she dismissed the servants.

"Father, the nation is in crisis. You sit upon vast wealth, yet instead of sacrificing your fortune for the state, you play at poverty and plead misery. Have you considered—if the rebel soldiers truly break into the city, how will you fare then?"

Zhou Kui said with a mournful face: "Alas! Blame that King Yama! That King Yama seized more than fifty thousand mu of our family's farmland back home, twenty-three shops, and even our ancestral home and ancestral graves are gone. Your five grand-uncles and three grand-aunts' heads—"

Empress Zhou said: "Stop right there! I did not summon you today to listen to your complaints. Take this silver and present it to His Majesty. You are the foremost of the consort kin—once you take the lead, the other nobles and consort relatives will eagerly donate silver as well."

The moment she finished speaking, eunuchs carried in three heavy little chests, each containing one hundred taels of gold ingots.

Zhou Kui's eyes gleamed with gold light, and he said repeatedly: "Good daughter, where did you get so much money?"

Empress Zhou said: "That is not for you to worry about. Just promise me that you will present this money to His Majesty today."

Zhou Kui agreed readily. After leaving the palace, he called over several trusted attendants to carry away the three chests of gold.

Once the gold was transported home, he took up his brush to write the donation register—and by carelessness, omitted one horizontal stroke from the character "three," turning it into a "two." Thus the register read "two hundred taels of gold."

Zhou Kui ordered his servants to deliver the register and two hundred taels of gold to the Office of Revenue and Works Administration—a new government bureau established in the second year of Chongzhen, managed by Zhang Yixian, which at present was chiefly responsible for the matter of levying men and collecting funds for the war.

As for the remaining one hundred taels of gold—

Zhou Kui summoned his steward and instructed: "Take out all the silver from the capital vault, exchange it for gold, and store it together with that hundred taels of gold from the study inside the rockery of the back garden. Then prepare the carriages and horses."

His daughter had reminded him today, after all—if the rebel soldiers truly broke into the city, how should he handle himself?

Why, flee at once!

As long as he had his wealth in hand, he could move elsewhere and live just as happily!

Near dusk, a string of death-row prisoners was brought out of the Shuntian Prefecture prison. The yamen runners issued each man a long spear and a uniform jacket—and that counted as conscripting a new soldier.

Even ruffians, hoodlums, and beggars were forcibly dragged in.

These new recruits were then dispatched to the Capital Camps to serve as cannon fodder.

Those seized within the city also included able-bodied men with families—these men had relatives in the city and were easy to control, so they were forcibly incorporated into Liu Yuanbin's troops.

Thanks to this, the Ming army's defensive strength expanded rapidly, reaching over fifteen thousand men.

At the same time, because yamen runners had been drawn off into the army, and death-row prisoners and ruffians were pressed into service on the streets, public order in the capital deteriorated swiftly—within a single day, there were more than ten brutal cases of home invasion, murder, and looting.

The powerful and noble families of the capital were largely divided into two factions.

One faction felt that the capital's walls were tall and its moats deep, and that the Great Xia army could never break in—so while the people's hearts were panicked, they made massive purchases of grain, hoarded it to corner the market, drove up food prices, and prepared to make a killing.

The other faction sold off their family properties, prepared carriages and horses, and sat on the fence watching—ready to flee south through the city gates the moment the war turned unfavorable.

The capital's city walls stretched over forty li in circumference. Even if the Qing army and the Xia army joined forces, they could not surround it. As long as one ran fast enough and early enough, one was certain to escape.

By this time, the Dashing King had already advanced east into Henan, leaving the nobles little room to flee—but no matter how one looked at it, avoiding the blade at one's throat first was never wrong.

While the nobles were preparing to flee south, Chongzhen also began to entertain thoughts of moving the capital south, and there was indeed a chorus of voices in court and among the people hoping to relocate to Jinan or Kaifeng.

But to flee south on the eve of battle, handing over the national capital as a gift, was far too cowardly and incompetent—it was certain to earn eternal infamy.

Therefore Chongzhen absolutely would not raise the matter himself, and merely convened his grand secretaries for court deliberation.

What surprised Chongzhen was that all the grand secretaries, from Wen Tiren on down, resolutely opposed moving south—indeed, they all acted as if they were prepared to die, vowing to live or die together with the capital.

For the grand secretaries, if the Great Xia attacked and broke through, they could still abandon the city and flee for their lives; and if that failed, they could always surrender and trade for a way to survive.

If the Great Xia were beaten back, they would be meritorious ministers like Yu Qian.

But once they agreed to move south, if anything went wrong, they would surely bear the blame and suffer punishment.

Under such circumstances, proposing a move south would make one a fool.

Chongzhen was held hostage by the Grand Secretariat he himself had assembled. Helpless, after a full day of court deliberation, the move south had made no progress whatsoever—instead, defending the capital to the death had become a settled matter.

That evening, Lei Sanxiang's vanguard arrived at Tongzhou. The defending general of Tongzhou abandoned the city and fled, and the entire city's soldiers and civilians surrendered.

At the same time, the Hai River shipping channel also terminated at Zhangjiawan in Tongzhou. This place was still forty li from the capital, and from there on, only overland travel was possible.

The Northern Expedition army was short of horses, and transporting cannons and baggage was difficult—thus the forty li would take roughly a day and a half to two days to cover.

The next day at the hour of Mao, the conch horns sounded, and the great army set forth.

The sand boats carrying baggage turned back, while the Sea Wolf warships and bird boats sailed into the waters of the Hai River.

Ajige's scout cavalry soon detected the Xia army's movements. The Qing army immediately drove the common people to drive wooden stakes and pile up earthen dams downstream of the Lugou River and the Feng River, compressing the operational space of the Great Xia navy.

At the same time, Ajige personally led two thousand cavalry to advance near Huangcun, due south of the capital, seizing the high ground, concealing their traces amid the woods and thickets, and looking down from above upon the entire open battlefield outside Guangqu Gate.

At this point, the three forces were interlocked like fangs, all converging upon the flat wilderness within fifty li to the southeast of the capital.

Yahei

Fenyuan

Pen