Chapter 16: Zhang Shize Replaces Wu Xiang as Commander of the Beijing Garrison

Zhou Kui said this with a smile on his face, but in his heart he was cursing Chongzhen ten thousand times over—he had clearly said farming as an excuse to brush things off, yet the Emperor still had to dig to the bottom of it. They were family, after all—was he really going to send the Embroidered Uniform Guard to check on the land?

Just as he finished speaking, Wang Cheng'en stepped forward again, bowing as he said:

"Your Majesty, this old servant has accumulated quite a bit of savings over the years. Now that the court has need, I donate three hundred thousand taels of silver."

Li Ruolian, Regional Military Commissioner of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, immediately stepped forward after him, cupping his fists and saying:

"Reporting to Your Majesty, ever since I took up this post, the various lords of the capital have sent me no small amount of silver. I have not touched a single piece of it—it is all sealed and stored in the inner treasury. Reckoning it up, it should come to over a hundred thousand taels. This time I donate it all, to do my utmost for the nation!"

Wang Cheng'en shot Li Ruolian an appreciative glance. Previously he had thought that Chongzhen had Li Ruolian replace Luo Yangxing as Regional Military Commissioner of the Embroidered Uniform Guard because this desk-bound official had no background and would be easy to control.

Now it seemed he had been thinking too simply.

The moment Li Ruolian said this, Minister of War Zhang Guowei and the several other Donglin civil officials immediately lowered their heads, hands clenched tightly, looking extremely nervous.

The warm chamber was only so big—Chongzhen the Emperor took in every little movement of each person, but said nothing more, wanting to wait and see what they would do next.

Zhou Kui, who normally wouldn't part with a single hair, had donated ten thousand taels, but compared to his family wealth, it could hardly be called generous—probably not even one or two tenths of it.

Everyone else understood that the current Chongzhen Emperor was no longer the man who had been completely in the dark before. He must have had the Eastern Depot and the Embroidered Uniform Guard investigate them before summoning them here. If they didn't donate a good amount this time, weren't they just waiting to have their households confiscated?

Minister of Personnel Zheng Sanjun was the first to leap out. After performing the full ceremonial bow, he said:

"Reporting to Your Majesty, your minister has served as an official for many years. My parents, wife, and children—the entire household—depend on my salary for support. My family truly has no wealth. I offer what little I can, donating thirty thousand taels of silver. I am truly ashamed."

Minister of Works Xue Fengxiang glanced at Zheng Sanjun, then stepped forward to memorialize:

"Your Majesty, my household can barely make ends meet, so I can only offer ten thousand taels."

The several ministers each donated something more or less. Chongzhen the Emperor had long held in his hands the true state of each of these ministers' family wealth. Throughout the entire process he did not utter a word, only sneering coldly in his heart.

Among them, apart from the Emperor's father-in-law Zhou Kui, the one who donated the least was Wei Zaode, Second Grand Secretary of the Grand Secretariat. A grand secretary of such standing had actually produced less than three thousand taels—one wondered whether he was truly stupid or just pretending to be poor.

This man Wei Zaode had no real ability, but he was quite good at spouting rhetoric. His fate in history was somewhat tragic—even after being crushed to death by Liu Zongmin, he only produced a few tens of thousands of taels. This was hardly uncommon among capital officials.

Chongzhen the Emperor forcibly suppressed his anger, thinking to himself that he still had to finish the proper business. Turning his head, he asked:

"My minister Ni, how much silver and grain does the national treasury currently hold? If the bandit troops besiege the city, how long can we hold out?"

Minister of Revenue Ni Yuanlu heard the question and stepped forward to say:

"Reporting to Your Majesty, the Ministry of Revenue holds less than five hundred thousand taels of silver. Should the bandit troops besiege the city, your minister estimates that grain and fodder can sustain us for at most half a month."

Ni Yuanlu spoke in a measured, methodical manner. Although he knew Chongzhen the Emperor's mood was probably not good at the moment, at a time of such crisis one could not worry about personal safety. Since His Majesty had placed him in charge of the nation's money and grain, he naturally had to speak the truth.

"Mm."

Chongzhen the Emperor nodded upon hearing this. What Ni Yuanlu had just said was indeed not far off from what the Eastern Depot had discovered. Turning his head, he said:

"Grain and fodder not even sufficient to last half a month—that simply will not do. My minister Ni, there are considerable grain reserves in the surrounding areas. I leave this matter entirely in your hands. Time waits for no one—you must gather enough grain and fodder to sustain us for over a year as quickly as possible."

Ni Yuanlu raised his head to look at Chongzhen the Emperor, then quickly knelt on the ground, kowtowing and crying out:

"Your minister obeys the decree!"

If Chongzhen the Emperor had harbored any lingering doubts before, Ni Yuanlu's answer just now had completely dispelled them. This man was the one with the cleanest record among all the high ministers present.

In the fifteenth year of Chongzhen, the Jianzhou barbarians invaded, wreaking havoc throughout the Zhili region. There was no great general outside to repel the enemy, and no worthy minister inside to offer counsel—the Ming armies collapsed on all fronts.

Ni Yuanlu had originally grown disheartened with the court and resolved never to serve again, but upon hearing the news he burned with anxiety. He scattered his family wealth to recruit soldiers to support Beijing, and presented strategies to Chongzhen the Emperor for repelling the enemy. Only then was he appointed Minister of Revenue once more.

Chongzhen the Emperor had great confidence in Ni Yuanlu. With his straightforward, blunt personality, it was no wonder he couldn't get along with the other ministers. Turning his head, he said:

"In that case, I have nothing more to say. Wang Cheng'en, Li Ruolian, Zhang Shize, Fang Zhenghua—the four of you stay. The rest of you may disperse."

Chongzhen the Emperor had nothing more to say, and the ministers likewise breathed sighs of relief. Only after they had all left the warm chamber one by one did Chongzhen the Emperor let his expression sink.

Originally, Chongzhen the Emperor had still held a sliver of hope for these high ministers of the Great Ming. He had put on his imperial airs, reminding these Donglin ministers that he held leverage over them, hoping they would smoothly contribute more silver and save him the trouble that lay ahead.

But he truly had not expected that he had still overestimated them!

Zhou Kui went without saying—wealth beyond measure, and as the current Emperor's father-in-law. He had once been a street doctor and fortune-teller who had stumbled his way into becoming a relative of the imperial family. He had gained no small amount of benefit from the Great Ming, yet he remained insatiably greedy.

Chongzhen the Emperor had reminded him more than once just now, his meaning expressed as clearly as could be—you and I are family; if you could just part with your money willingly, there was naturally no need to make things too awkward.

Zhou Kui truly lived up to the title of "iron rooster" that history had bestowed upon him. No matter how Chongzhen the Emperor signaled him, in the end he could only twist up his face and produce ten thousand taels.

As for those Donglin ministers, they were hardly any better!

Even before his very eyes, donating a few tens of thousands of taels was as painful as losing their own lives. Wei Zaode, a proper Second Grand Secretary of the Grand Secretariat, had actually managed to produce less than three thousand taels to fob him off. Once he had his hands free, he would deal with them one by one.

After this affair, Chongzhen the Emperor's feelings toward these people had become complete despair. Counting it up, the total of all this silver was only a little over five hundred thousand taels, and more than half of it had been donated by the men he himself had promoted.

Wang Cheng'en, Fang Zhenghua—these were the very "eunuch faction" that the Donglin ministers ceaselessly denounced as bringing calamity to the nation and harm to the people. Yet when it truly came to a moment of crisis, the ones who stepped forward to give their all for Chongzhen and the Great Ming were precisely this group of eunuchs.

In the end, wasn't it all just these "gentlemen of integrity" who had blackened their reputations with their pens? In Chongzhen the Emperor's eyes, the eunuch faction was immeasurably more reliable than the Donglin Faction.

"Li Ruolian, you did well today—my heart is greatly comforted! I hear you still have an elderly mother at home to care for. Keep three thousand taels of this silver to support your household."

Upon hearing this, Li Ruolian quickly stepped forward and said:

"Your minister comes from humble origins and has never rendered the slightest merit, yet has repeatedly received boundless favor. I shall surely die in service to Your Majesty!"

Chongzhen the Emperor waved his hand impatiently, his heart still seething with resentment that was hard to calm.

"Duke of Ying, do you know why I summoned you here?"

Zhang Shize had been called to the warm chamber in a daze and treated to quite a show. He felt even more disgust toward these Donglin partisans. He had thought he would be leaving when it ended, only to be kept behind—he was already somewhat bewildered. Now he hurriedly stepped forward and said respectfully:

"Your minister does not know."

"You saw it just now—do these people hold me, their Emperor, in any regard at all?" Chongzhen the Emperor had grown utterly despairing of the Donglin ministers, and his attitude was gradually turning hard:

"Zhang Shize, from this day forward you are appointed to oversee the Capital Camps. I entrust all this silver to you—it must be spent on the edge of the blade. The soldiers need not be elite, but they must dare to fight!"

The line of the Duke of Ying had managed the military affairs of the Capital Camps for generations, and were the most steadfast imperial loyalists among the nobility. Had history followed its course, the current Duke of Ying, Zhang Shize, would have gone out to battle in place of Chongzhen a little over a month later and died outside the city walls.

Zhang Shize was strikingly handsome and martial in appearance, but he was no ornamental vase—pretty yet useless. He naturally knew that was a battle from which there would be no return, yet he still went without hesitation!

When Chongzhen the Emperor had first arrived, his mind had been in a state of shutdown. Coincidentally, Wu Xiang had come for an audience, so he had gone with the flow and put him in charge of the Capital Camps. But observing him over these days, Wu Xiang's movements were still somewhat timid and hesitant—far too slow!

In history, it was Wu Xiang who managed the Capital Camps, yet by the time Li Zicheng marched in force to besiege the capital, the Capital Camps still had no combat effectiveness whatsoever. Letting him keep at it would only lead to the same ending.

Though it had not been long since Wu Xiang was appointed to reform the Capital Camps, and suddenly changing personnel might give the impression of being suspicious of one's subordinates, and might invite gossip, Chongzhen the Emperor clearly could no longer afford to care about such things.

Right now, apart from Zhang Shize, there was no better candidate.