Chapter 8: Alright, You Needn't Say Any More (Please Add to Collection!!)

The matter of moving south was not entirely out of the question, but Li Banghua raising this proposal openly in court was tantamount to showing not the slightest respect for the Chongzhen Emperor—truly an act of gross insubordination.

Whether this fellow was genuinely stupid or deliberately playing the fool, many who heard it laughed inwardly, though this was hardly surprising—after all, was this blockhead Li Banghua lacking in foolish deeds?

Let him prance about for now; we'll wait and see what comes next. Whether the Chongzhen Emperor agreed or not, it had no bearing on their own interests—they were hedging their bets on both sides anyway.

If they followed Li Banghua's suggestion and the Crown Prince and the assembled ministers moved south to the old capital, then what about him—sit trapped in the capital waiting to die, running to Coal Hill to hang himself like the Chongzhen of history?

"What are your intentions!?"

The Chongzhen Emperor sat on the dragon throne, looking at the chest-out chin-up Li Banghua and the ministers below murmuring among themselves. By now he felt not a trace of nervousness, and laughed in fury instead:

"Li Banghua, We have not yet issued the decree formally installing the Crown Prince. Drop this matter."

"But..." Li Banghua tried to speak again, but this time the Chongzhen Emperor's attitude was especially unyielding, and he bellowed directly from the hall:

"Li Banghua, We told you to stop speaking. Do you not understand?"

"This... Your servant obeys the decree...!"

Li Banghua's eyes went wide with shock, cowed by the Chongzhen Emperor's sudden aura. He stumbled back several steps before collecting himself, and realizing he had offended the imperial countenance, hurriedly prostrated himself on the ground.

This reaction from Chongzhen caught not only Li Banghua off guard, but the assembled ministers as well—everyone had been expecting to watch the emperor make a fool of himself.

Normally, the timid and fearful Chongzhen would shrink back obediently when faced with such problems. What was different this time, that he had suddenly turned so hard-line?

"Your Majesty, Li Ruolian is but a lowly court clerk—what virtue or ability does he have to sit in the high seat of Guard Commander? Moreover, Your Majesty's reinstatement of the Directorate of the Imperial Horses seal-holder—could it be that you harbor intentions to rebuild the Eastern Depot?"

But the assembled ministers had no intention of giving Chongzhen any chance to catch his breath. Barely a few breaths after Li Banghua fell silent, the Chongzhen Emperor heard someone call out.

Rebuild the Eastern Depot—the moment those four words were shouted, the hall erupted into an uproar.

Thanks to possessing all the memories of the previous Chongzhen, the current Chongzhen Emperor knew at a glance that this man was Wang Aoyong, Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, and immediately sneered with contempt—so it was this dog of a traitor jumping out.

In history, Wang Aoyong was a turncoat who first surrendered to the Shun and then to the Qing. When Li Zicheng was extorting contributions in Beijing, this wretch had to cough up a full two hundred thousand taels of silver to save his own skin—his family coffers were exceedingly deep.

A Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, even saving every penny for years without eating or drinking, could never reach two hundred thousand taels.

Seeing this wretch's smug face, the Chongzhen Emperor suddenly recalled that last night Vice Regional Commander Dong Qi of the Capital Camps had come to see him, saying the camps had been forced to halt recruitment for lack of silver.

With the current thousand-odd men, if their monthly pay could not be issued by month's end, mutiny would be hard to prevent.

The Chongzhen Emperor had not slept a wink over this matter. If the Capital Camps could not be sustained, he would have no military power. With this first step stuck, many plans not yet proposed would likely run aground—and he would be one step closer to the noose.

In his previous life, he had at least won two million—though he died before spending it all—but who would have thought that becoming emperor meant worrying about money, with patches on his underclothes. What kind of emperor was this?

Aside from Empress Zhou in the rear palace and a few comely noble consorts, Chongzhen felt not a single thing like an emperor. What a stifling existence!

The Chongzhen Emperor knew these loudmouthed monkeys of the Donglin Faction were all dripping with wealth, and he had been looking for a monkey to make an example of before the rooster. Now, as luck would have it, one had just hopped out—and by the look of it, thinking himself quite noble and pure.

Wang Aoyong had no idea of the sinister plans brewing in the Chongzhen Emperor's mind. After stepping forward he stood ramrod straight, wearing an expression of serving the state and sovereign, and declared with great righteousness:

"Your Majesty, Your servant—"

"Alright, you needn't say any more." Before he could finish, the Chongzhen Emperor waved his hand and cut in, "Take him down and give him twenty strokes first. Mind you don't beat him to death—bring him back and we'll continue."

"This..."

The Chongzhen Emperor's words stunned everyone—the man hadn't even spoken and you were already having him beaten? What kind of reasoning was this?

The two tall, burly guards who strode in cared not whether there was any reasoning. When the emperor gave an order, they obeyed. Before the assembled ministers, they seized Wang Aoyong by both arms and hauled him out of the hall, and without a word, pressed him to the ground and went at it.

But since the Chongzhen Emperor had just declared that twenty strokes were to be a lesson, and he would still be questioned upon return, these civil officials were frail and weak, squealing like monkeys—if they accidentally beat him to death, that would be troublesome.

As they struck, the two burly guards felt immense satisfaction. They cared not what medicine the Chongzhen Emperor, who had once trusted the Donglin Faction so implicitly, had taken—such opportunities were far too rare. Had they not been instructed otherwise, even if these twenty strokes didn't kill him, they would have crippled him to vent their spite.

Hearing Wang Aoyong's shrill screams from outside, the ministers in the hall edged their bodies inward, shrinking their necks, terrified that the Chongzhen Emperor seated above might notice them and order twenty strokes before any questioning.

When Wang Aoyong was brought back, it was by being dragged into the great hall by the two guards wearing looks of disgust. Seeing the trail of blood from outside to in, several ministers actually vomited on the spot.

"Ugh..."

Catching the faint scent of blood in the great hall, many covered their noses. The Chongzhen Emperor's stomach also churned, and furrowing his brow, he said coolly to the man prostrate below:

"Whatever you wish to say, you had best think it through this time."

Wang Aoyong now resembled a defeated rooster—head drooping, face twisted in pain, utterly unable to utter a word. Seeing his example, many behind him hesitated and held back, and for a moment the hall fell silent.

"Fine, you won't speak—then We will." The Chongzhen Emperor shifted in his seat and began:

"In ordinary times, you, Vice Minister Wang, were a 'pure official' praised by all. We truly never imagined that the household of a mere Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue would conceal over two hundred thousand taels of silver. In normal times, We would never have believed such things."

"Your Majesty, Your servant... Your servant..."

Wang Aoyong's pained face was suddenly written over with shock, but he truly could find no way to explain himself. Since Chongzhen had even stated the amount precisely, the Embroidered Uniform Guard must have already investigated—he immediately had the sense to shut his mouth.

He was but a small figure; speaking too much would likely implicate even more people.

Moreover, he did not believe the Chongzhen Emperor would simply kill him over this, because there were some people whom even he dared not provoke, rather than risk offending the Chongzhen Emperor.

"Heh heh, keeping quiet is the right choice, because some of you below—your backsides aren't necessarily clean!" The Chongzhen Emperor sat on the dragon throne with a cold sneer, and waved his hand:

"Wang Cheng'en, proclaim the edict."

Wang Cheng'en, the chief eunuch of the inner palace standing in attendance, glanced at Chongzhen and immediately shouted at the top of his lungs:

"Upon preliminary investigation, Wang Aoyong, Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, is found guilty of corruption and bribery amounting to over two hundred thousand taels of silver, betraying the high hopes placed in him. The Northern Bastille of the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Court of Judicial Review are hereby ordered to jointly confiscate his household property, with all assets forfeited to the state treasury, sons conscripted to the frontier garrisons, and concubines and daughters sent to the Bureau of Music as prostitutes..."

"... Wang Aoyong, though guilty of grave crimes, does not merit death, yet his living punishment cannot be spared. All ranks and stipends are hereby stripped, he is to receive fifty more strokes of the court cane, expelled from the capital, and never to be employed again!"