Chapter 68: No Loyalty to Their Sovereign

The scene before him had taken an unexpected turn. Empress Zhou wore the exact same expression on her face as Fang Zhenghua had moments ago, while the palace maids, eunuchs, and guards each reacted differently — some sobbing uncontrollably, others trembling and unable to speak a word.

At this moment, the Chongzhen Emperor spoke again:

"Fang Zhenghua, what are you still standing there for?"

Fang Zhenghua hastily wiped away his tears and rose to his feet. He naturally understood what the Chongzhen Emperor was referring to, and immediately waved his hand grandly, leading the guards to escort Western Li away.

This time, Western Li's face held no trace of hope, not even the slightest resistance. She understood that when these words were spoken personally by the Chongzhen Emperor, her cause was already lost.

When the Chongzhen Emperor returned to the warm pavilion, Wang Cheng'en was waiting anxiously.

"Your Majesty, this is terrible! The Donglin scholars are gathering to make trouble, spreading rumors harmful to the court everywhere. The director in charge of the Relief House has led the common people in rebellion!"

"Rebellion? Someone actually dares to rebel in the capital?"

The Chongzhen Emperor had barely sat down when he heard these words and shot back up with a 'leap'. It was then that he suddenly remembered that the Great Ming had a welfare system he had selectively forgotten about.

The Relief House was equivalent to the welfare homes of later generations. As early as the first year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang had issued a special edict:

"Those who are widowed, orphaned, alone, disabled, or ill and cannot support themselves shall be cared for by the government."

At that time it was still called the House for the Solitary Elderly, the predecessor of today's Relief House.

Not long after, the House for the Solitary Elderly was renamed the Relief House, and its scope of care naturally changed as well, mostly taking in 'those among the people who were alone, disabled, or ill and could not survive on their own.' To ensure the implementation of the relief policy, the Hongwu Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang incorporated it into the Great Ming Code.

"Where there are widowed, orphaned, alone, or gravely ill persons who are poor, without relatives to rely on, and cannot sustain themselves, if the local authorities should take them in but do not, they shall be punished with sixty strokes of the rod; if clothing and grain should be provided but officials embezzle or reduce them, they shall be judged as stealing from what they guard."

During the Yongle era, the Relief House developed on a large scale, existing in every prefecture, subprefecture, and county across the realm. During the Hongzhi era, the Relief House began to expand from inland prefectures and counties to the various guard stations along the frontiers.

In this Chongzhen era, the historical Chongzhen Emperor had also issued an edict stipulating that all Relief Houses within Shuntian Prefecture belonged to guard stations; refugees within three hundred li were to be verified and sent back to their registered places of origin, where the authorities would take them in, while those beyond three hundred li or unable to travel were to be provided for by local officials.

The first half sounded very inspiring, as if the court was about to begin accepting refugees, but in fact, the second half was the exact opposite.

After the Chongzhen Emperor promised a pile of empty words in the first half, he began in the second half to strictly order all Relief Houses across the land that henceforth they were not permitted to take in the solitary elderly on their own authority.

For the Relief Houses in the capital, the Chongzhen Emperor had detailed provisions in the edict: henceforth, only when the Emperor issued a decree during a great state ceremony or grand celebratory event, with the ministries deliberating and the counties implementing, examining the old, sick, orphaned, poor, and beggars inside and outside the city walls, could they be taken in.

In other words, as long as the Chongzhen Emperor did not issue a decree, welfare institutions like the Relief Houses throughout the realm would forever remain in a state of suspension, nothing but empty shells.

Say what one will, the historical Chongzhen Emperor was simply too thin-skinned. He wanted to openly take back the Relief Houses, no longer filling this bottomless pit, yet he also did not want to damage his imperial dignity in the process.

But how could such a good thing simply wait for him in this world? The only result in the end was that the money and grain of the Relief Houses were not recovered, and instead the common people across the realm were filled with complaints, adding another wave of fresh troops for Li Zicheng.

In other words, from that point on, as long as the Chongzhen Emperor did not issue a decree, welfare institutions like the Relief Houses throughout the realm would forever remain in a state of paralysis, nothing but empty shells.

Since the Wanli era, disasters had been continuous across the land — crop failures, land annexation, and all sorts of problems converging together. The people could not fill their stomachs, and refugees overflowed into disaster.

There was only so much local capacity, money and grain had long since failed to keep up, and there was also the unchecked corruption in officialdom. The Relief Houses had long since existed in name only.

In fact, the Relief House was not the only thing that had become hollow before the Ming dynasty did. The postal relay stations — the ones that put Courier Xiao Li out of work and drove him to rebel in anger — were among them.

Beyond that, there were also the People's Benefit Medicine Bureaus under the Imperial Academy of Medicine and other government-run institutions across the realm, which only consumed money and grain if kept around.

The hollowing out of these government institutions seemed to foreshadow that the Ming dynasty was about to collapse. So from another perspective, this edict was not unreasonable.

But facts proved that after such an edict was issued, the situation did not improve; instead, it added fuel to the fire. It was equivalent to the court admitting that the Relief Houses had lost their proper function, and it indeed stirred up no small commotion that year.

For the current Chongzhen Emperor, these welfare institutions run by the court for the people had now become a pile of dry firewood that could burst into roaring flames at the slightest spark.

When the person holding this pile of dry firewood was the Donglin Faction, that was when it could be ignited at any moment.

In the Chongzhen Emperor's memory, the last time the Relief Houses in the capital had taken in anyone was during the Tianqi era. There should hardly be anyone left by now — how many people could possibly rebel?

Just as he was thinking this, he heard hurried footsteps from outside the door. Li Chun ran in frantically, dropped directly to his knees, and shouted loudly:

"Terrible news, Your Majesty! Director Li, bearing the imperial decree to search the Li residence, was beaten and injured by household retainers!"

Right behind him, several young eunuchs ran in, and what they reported was also about the Eastern Depot and Embroidered Uniform Guard encountering resistance and suffering casualties while carrying out house searches by imperial order.

According to what these young eunuchs said, in the short time the Chongzhen Emperor had spent in the inner palace dealing with Empress Zhou and Western Li, the capital had already descended into complete chaos.

The convicted criminals had shut their mansion gates tightly with their household retainers and were putting up stubborn resistance. Refugees who had come out of the Relief Houses were spread throughout the city, causing trouble everywhere, while the various offices of the Five Wards Troops and Horses Office seemed to have agreed in advance to turn a blind eye, with not a single constable dispatched to quell the disorder.

In addition, the Donglin scholars no longer hid in their homes. Under the direction of their examination patrons, they began rushing about everywhere, tirelessly spreading all sorts of rumors that the current Son of Heaven was muddle-headed and that the Depot and Guard were monopolizing power.

If the historical Chongzhen Emperor had heard all this news, he would likely have been terrified, his face turning pale, and begun pondering how to pacify popular grievances that did not even exist, thereby throwing away all his previous achievements.

Although the current Chongzhen Emperor was furious in his heart, no one here had been scared into submission. He felt no fear. He was the Emperor, with military power in his hands — was he supposed to be afraid of these refugees and literati?

It seemed he had overestimated the patience of the Donglin Faction. How long had it been, and already so many incidents had arisen inside and outside the capital specifically targeting him, the Emperor?

The Chongzhen Emperor was willing to show mercy, but the Donglin Faction had not the slightest loyalty to their sovereign!

"The dynasty has nurtured its scholars for over two hundred years. Now the bandit Li has not yet arrived, still in Shanxi, yet these ungrateful wolves, having rendered no service, have instead already conceived thoughts of overstepping their station!"

"Very well then — clean it all out in one stroke!"

Having said this, the Chongzhen Emperor laughed coldly again and again. His rage turned to laughter as he suddenly slammed the table and rose to his feet:

"By decree: Earl Wei Xiao, Zhou Jingwu, shall lead the Divine Martial Army to seal off the capital — entry permitted, exit forbidden, violators beheaded! Seal-holder of the Directorate of the Imperial Horses, Fang Zhenghua, shall lead the Tengxiang Four Guards Camp to protect the Imperial City, violators beheaded! Duke of Ying, Zhang Shize, and Count of Xinjian, Wang Xiantong, shall each lead the Capital Camps out through the Gate of Heavenly Success and the Eastern Flowery Gate to quell the disorder, violators beheaded!"

"Also, have Governor-General Dong Qi lead the Jiayi Camp to station troops outside the city walls, ready to receive orders at any time!"