Chapter 25: Father and Son of One Mind, Raising Funds with the Imperial Sword (Seeking Recommendations)

The Chongzhen Emperor's words had long been within Zhu Cilang's expectations — this didn't even need brainpower to analyze; a knee could figure it out. When had the Chongzhen Emperor ever chosen the optimal solution on a major issue? Refusing to flee was exactly right. If he had been willing to flee, then Chongzhen had probably had his soul swapped too!

Fortunately, the escape plan in Zhu Cilang's mind had never been limited to just one. Fleeing together with the Chongzhen Emperor, Empress Zhou, and the others on the evening of the sixteenth was merely the optimal plan among many. Even if it couldn't be realized, there were still several other plans to choose from.

Moreover, holding Beijing for a while might not necessarily turn out worse than fleeing immediately. Fleeing now, with empty pockets, would mean running short of money the moment they left Beijing. So staying a few more days to raise a bit more silver before fleeing wasn't bad either — it was just riskier, which was why it didn't count as optimal.

Still, the price the Chongzhen Emperor had offered — jointly commanding the inner and outer military camps with Wang Cheng'en and taking charge of the nine gates — was far too low.

Seeing his son sigh and fall silent, the Chongzhen Emperor's own mind began churning with uncertainty.

What he was calculating was holding Beijing and then achieving the great cause of restoring the Ming. The things Zhu Cilang had done, in ordinary times, could of course have been undone. But the situation was different now; holding Beijing had already become an obsession for the Chongzhen Emperor.

Chongzhen was a single-minded man, stubborn by nature; once he set his sights on a goal, he would follow that one road to the end. Holding Beijing was certainly the first objective, while fleeing south to the auxiliary capital was, in his view, something that could only happen as a last resort, when the assembled ministers wept and wailed and physically carried him out of the Gate of Imperial Supremacy.

And now, with the ancestors' blessing, he had been given a life-saving straw named Zhu Cilang, one that gave him a certain chance of holding Beijing — what reason did he have not to seize it firmly?

As for Zhu Cilang's crimes of swindling Wang Cheng'en, swindling Wu Xiang, and swindling a crowd of able-bodied men in the capital, those were naturally not as important as holding Beijing. The principle of settling accounts after the autumn harvest — Chongzhen understood that well enough! It was spring now; autumn had not yet arrived!

So the most urgent matter was not settling accounts with his son, Wang Cheng'en, and Wu Xiang, but holding Beijing — though this was also Zhu Cilang's fault for being too good at swindling, having bound himself together with Wang Cheng'en, Wu Xiang, Wu Sangui, and several thousand stout volunteers. If Chongzhen wanted to move against Zhu Cilang, he would have to round them all up in one net. It seemed he didn't have that kind of power, and even if he rounded them all up, who would go fight Li Zicheng? Who would defend Beijing?

Only by holding Beijing could he continue being a wise sovereign to the millions of subjects of the Great Ming! After that, would he still lack opportunities to deal with the Crown Prince's faction?

If he failed to hold it, he would immediately become the benighted ruler who lost the dynasty, and in death he would have no face to meet his ancestors!

How could a sovereign as wise as he allow the dynasty to perish? That was not permissible.

Having made up his mind, the Chongzhen Emperor gritted his teeth and spoke to Zhu Cilang with redoubled emphasis: "Chun Ge'er, We have firmly resolved to lead the hundred officials, the ennobled, the Capital Camps, and the palace attendants in defending the capital to the death, awaiting the arrival of Wu Sangui's great army!"

Your self-regard is truly impressive! Zhu Cilang thought to himself: even at a time like this, you still believe the hundred officials, the ennobled, and the palace attendants will die with you? If they don't open the gates and surrender, they'll already have done right by heaven and conscience!

"Imperial Father," Zhu Cilang spoke calmly, "your son does not want the commission of commanding the inner and outer military camps and taking charge of the nine gates."

Chongzhen nodded, thinking: at least he knows when to advance and when to retreat!

Zhu Cilang continued: "Your son wishes to leave the palace to comfort the troops, to take overall command of all military affairs in the Metropolitan Province, and to request the Imperial Sword, with authority to execute princes and below, nobles and officials alike!"

What? The moment the Chongzhen Emperor heard Zhu Cilang's demands, his temper flared. Taking overall command of military affairs in the Metropolitan Province was one thing — after all, once Li Zicheng's great army arrived, the capital would be a city under siege, and the rest of the Metropolitan Province would be out of contact anyway. But the Imperial Sword with authority to execute princes and below, nobles and officials — that could not be given!

That was true power over life and death... Within the walls of the capital, only the Emperor could hold such power!

Seeing the displeasure on the Chongzhen Emperor's face, Zhu Cilang sighed and said: "Imperial Father may ask Companion Wang: if we do not count your son's three battalions, how many troops are there now within the capital? Can they even fill every crenel on the inner and outer walls? And how much silver can be produced to pay them? Will the money handed out be enough for them to feed their families?

Furthermore, how much grain is stored in the various warehouses within the capital? How long can it feed several hundred thousand soldiers and civilians?"

The Chongzhen Emperor quickly turned to look at Wang Cheng'en. Wang Cheng'en said: "In reply to His Majesty, if we do not count the Young Master's troops, the Capital Camps have five thousand men, and the Palace Guard has three thousand. Every soldier who mounts the walls for duty receives one hundred cash per day, and provides his own meals... The grain stored in the capital's various warehouses is not little; it can still hold out for one or two months. It is only the military pay that is truly insufficient — the state treasury and the palace treasury combined hold only a little over one hundred thousand taels of silver and a little over thirty thousand taels of gold."

Zhu Cilang laughed coldly several times: "Add the three thousand men your son has recruited, and there are barely over ten thousand defenders, all of them a motley crew. The circumference of Beijing's inner and outer walls is forty-eight li. Defending it with a little over ten thousand men comes to only two hundred men per li. If we must divide them into day and night shifts, that leaves only a hundred... Defending one li of wall with a hundred men — how pitifully sparse! I fear they will be stricken with terror before battle is even joined!"

"This... what is to be done?" The Chongzhen Emperor looked at his son, and in his heart he found himself vaguely hoping that the ancestors who had appeared in his son's dream had taught him some brilliant stratagem.

"The only way is to mobilize the able-bodied men of the ennobled, the hundred officials, and the palace eunuchs' households to mount the walls," Zhu Cilang said. "And to encourage the soldiers and stout volunteers on the walls, how can a hundred copper cash a day possibly suffice? If the Roving Bandit truly comes, we must give at least one tael of silver per day! And for those who lead the troops, the pay must be doubled... How many days can the pittance in the state and palace treasuries support that?

Moreover, when Wu Sangui's great army arrives, we can hardly be stingy, can we? A million taels in military pay should still be given! Otherwise, on the road to Nanjing, I fear sudden disaster will strike!"

With Zhu Cilang putting it this way, the Chongzhen Emperor now understood the purpose of the Imperial Sword... This power over life and death had to be given. If it were not given, the capital could not hold out for more than a few days!

But if he did give it... would there really be money? Those officials all looked dark and gaunt; he had heard that many officials and nobles were selling their houses and their belongings. Did they really have money? Even if they did, would they be willing to donate? What if this stirred up panic and drove everyone over to Li Zicheng's side?

"Imperial Father, your son knows who has money and who does not... the Exalted Emperor, the Great Founder, told your son all about it in the dream." As Zhu Cilang said this, his gloomy, piercing gaze settled on the Chongzhen Emperor's trusted eunuch, Wang Zhixin.

Wang Zhixin had money! He was the richest man among the eunuchs. He and Wang Cheng'en had jointly managed the Eastern Depot for many years, but Wang Cheng'en had too many other duties and was too busy, so the affairs of the Eastern Depot were actually run by him. Anyone arrested and brought into the Eastern Depot — except in cases personally decreed by the Emperor — could buy their way out of disaster with money!

Moreover, he had a younger brother named Wang Zhiren, who had not become a eunuch but had joined the military. Under his patronage, he was now serving in Jiangnan as Regional Commander of Suzhou-Songjiang — a fat post indeed!

The Regional Commander of Suzhou-Songjiang was a Regional Commander who also oversaw the seaports, with responsibility for suppressing smuggling. And suppressing smuggling — wasn't that just protecting smuggling?

The Chongzhen Emperor also noticed that Zhu Cilang's gaze was fixed on Wang Zhixin. He found it a little strange, and so he too turned his eyes toward Wang Zhixin — which frightened Wang Zhixin nearly to death.

At that moment, Zhu Cilang spoke in a deep voice: "Wang Zhixin, you are in charge of the Eastern Depot. Surely you know which households have money?"

"I know..." How would Wang Zhixin dare say he didn't know?

Zhu Cilang smiled and said to Chongzhen: "Imperial Father, why not let Wang Zhixin accompany your son, and together we will raise funds to defend the city."

"This..." The Chongzhen Emperor looked at his son, thinking: the ministers are now all ministers of a dying dynasty, and the eunuchs are all honest eunuchs; only this Crown Prince has suddenly shown some ability, and seems capable of holding Beijing.

A trace of a smile finally appeared on Chongzhen's gray-white, stern face: "Chun Ge'er, We will give you the Imperial Sword, but you must not go about casually executing people with it. We permit you to execute only ten people."

Zhu Cilang kowtowed once more: "Your son receives the decree."

He paused, then added: "Imperial Father, there is no time to lose. Please issue the palace decree first."

The matter of the Crown Prince going out to comfort the troops and supervise the fighting seemed to have no precedent in the history of the Great Ming. If it were brought to court for debate, it would probably drag on endlessly. So Zhu Cilang simply asked Chongzhen to issue a palace decree first.

"That is fine. We shall issue the decree immediately!" The Chongzhen Emperor was naturally happy to issue a palace decree, because a palace decree was not a lawful imperial edict and could be revoked at any time. If Zhu Cilang really did manage to raise military funds and recruit stout men, he could simply declare the palace decree invalid, remove him from overall command of military affairs in the Metropolitan Province, and take back the Imperial Sword...

(End of Chapter)