lcionline Chapter 721 The Battle of Luoyang (Part 2)
Chapter 721 The Battle of Luoyang (Part 2)
Mr. Yu Shi was the pseudonym of Lü Weiqi, the former Minister of War in Nanjing. Besides his impressive official career, he was also one of the most prominent Confucian scholars in Henan. Lü Weiqi studied Neo-Confucianism from a young age, passed the imperial examination at the age of twenty-six, and was appointed as a judge in Yanzhou. He was later promoted to a principal officer in the Ministry of Personnel. However, after offending the powerful official Wei Zhongxian, he resigned and returned to his hometown, where he established the Zhiquan Lecture Hall to spread Neo-Confucianism. In the first year of the Chongzhen Emperor's reign, he was reinstated as Minister of War in Nanjing. Due to his ineffective suppression of bandits, he returned to Luoyang, where he established the Yiluo Society, recruiting many disciples, writing books, and attracting students throughout the country. Therefore, although he was a retired official, his words still carried considerable weight in Luoyang.
Ordinary people who come to the Prince of Fu's mansion to seek an audience this late at night will most likely be turned away, but Lü Weiqi's status is extraordinary, and the people of the mansion dare not neglect him and welcome him in.
Lü Weiqi followed the steward of the Prince's Mansion through the front courtyard and back garden. Along the way, he saw brightly lit buildings, magnificent halls and pavilions, babbling brooks, and gardens bursting with colorful flowers. Although it wasn't his first time there, he was still overwhelmed by the luxury and grandeur. Even the Nanjing Imperial Palace might not have been this splendid. He shook his head repeatedly in disbelief.
Upon arriving at a grand hall, the steward first announced their arrival and then led Lü Weiqi inside.
Outside the palace, only the faint sounds of string and wind instruments could be heard. After the palace doors opened, the sounds of various musical instruments and the soft singing of courtesans rushed out. The aroma of wine and meat mixed with the scent of cosmetics, making Lü Weiqi feel as if he had entered another world.
Faced with the scantily clad songstress, the nearly sixty-year-old Lü Weiqi dared not even lift his eyes, staring at the ground and silently reciting "Do not look at what is improper, do not listen to what is improper" until he reached the seat of Prince Fu, at which point he dared to raise his head.
Zhu Changxun was a fat man weighing over 300 pounds. Lying on his side on the couch, he looked like a huge lump of meat, making it difficult for him to move. The only thing he could move was his eyes. Seeing Lü Weiqi's serious expression, he rolled his eyes, reached out and pressed down, and the music and dance stopped abruptly.
"What brings you here so late, sir?"
Lu Weiqi said earnestly, “Your Highness Prince Fu, Luoyang is currently besieged by the rebel Li Zicheng. The slightest mistake could lead to the city's fall and the loss of life. All males over the age of fifteen, whether soldiers or civilians, are required to defend the city. The resettlement allowance and pensions must be paid in full, and the treasury is already running a deficit. Therefore, the Governor, Prefect, and General of Henan have recommended me to come and request an audience…”
Upon hearing this, Zhu Changxun's face fell, and he replied, "Defending the city is your business, what does it have to do with me? I can't possibly pay for these resettlement and relief funds, can I?"
Lu Weiqi had long heard that Prince Fu was incredibly wealthy yet extremely stingy, and today he finally witnessed it firsthand. He sighed inwardly and patiently advised, "If the lips are gone, the teeth will be cold. If Luoyang falls, how can the bandits let Prince Fu's mansion go? Even if you don't care about the hundreds of thousands of people in Luoyang, for Your Highness's own safety, please do your part in defending the city..."
Zhu Changxun tilted his head and thought for a moment. It seemed to make sense. If the outer city had fallen, the Prince of Fu's residence would be hard-pressed to escape unscathed. If that was the case, then paying some money would make him feel a little better. He asked with some reluctance, "How much do you intend for me to pay?"
Lü Weiqi: "The governor's office and the prefect's office have calculated that, excluding the soldiers who are paid, there are more than 20,000 recruited militiamen. The treasury has been emptied, and there is still a shortfall of 18,000 taels of silver..."
"No, we don't have that much silver!" Zhu Changxun interrupted the other party. "The Prince's mansion has large expenses and low cash flow. We can only offer a maximum of one thousand taels. Any more than that is out of the question."
Lu Weiqi was dumbfounded, never expecting this prince to be so stingy. After a long while, he finally reacted and held up one finger: "A thousand taels is just a drop in the bucket, how about ten thousand taels?"
"Two thousand taels at most, take it or leave it!"
"That eight thousand taels?"
"No."
……
After some haggling, Prince Fu agreed to three thousand taels. Seeing he couldn't get any more money, Lü Weiqi had no choice but to leave dejectedly. It seemed the only option left was to try and get the remaining silver from the wealthy families in the city.
The next day, the silver collected from various places was transported to the city walls and distributed to the soldiers and civilians according to the number of people, but the amount was reduced by half from what the government had promised. The soldiers and civilians were very dissatisfied with this treatment and discussed the news they had heard in private.
"I heard the government is short of money and tried to raise funds from wealthy families, but they couldn't raise enough, so they only gave us half..."
"What do you know? The wealthy families in the city are quite generous, giving anywhere from tens to hundreds of taels of silver depending on their means. But the Prince of Fu's mansion, I've heard, is even richer than the Emperor, yet they're only willing to offer three thousand taels of silver—I've heard that even the bowls and chopsticks and floor tiles in the mansion are made of gold. This amount of silver could be enough for a few sets of bowls and chopsticks or a few bricks—they're so rich, yet they're unwilling to use it to reward the troops. We're guarding the city on empty stomachs, what are we doing here?"
"Is that so? Damn it, if it weren't for my whole family being in the city, I wouldn't even want to defend it. I'd rather wait for the bandits to storm the city and loot the Prince of Fu's mansion!"
The murmurs reached the ears of two men who were dozing on the ground nearby. They quietly opened their eyes a crack, looked at each other, and nodded slightly. It turned out that these two men were only pretending to sleep and were not actually asleep.
After a while, one of them pretended to go to the toilet and went down the city wall. The other waited for a while, then also pretended to go to the toilet and followed behind.
"Did you hear that? This garrison isn't a monolithic force either. They don't even provide adequate resettlement allowances and pensions. At the slightest setback, they'll scatter like monkeys falling from a tree..."
"Yes, we need to find a way to inform our brothers outside the city about the situation in the city as soon as possible."
After whispering among themselves and agreeing on what to do, the two pretended to be nonchalant and returned to the city wall one after the other.
As night fell, Liu Heizi came to Li Zicheng's tent to request an audience.
"You mean the garrison in the city is dissatisfied with Prince Fu and harbors resentment, so the opportunity to attack the city has come?" Li Zicheng asked, squinting.
"Exactly. Our brothers who entered the city said that Prince Fu is incredibly wealthy, spending hundreds or even thousands of taels of silver on a single banquet. However, when faced with a large army besieging the city, he is unwilling to spend money to recruit civilians to defend it. After much persuasion, he is only willing to offer three thousand taels of silver. Currently, the soldiers and civilians defending the city have only received half of their resettlement allowance, and if they die in battle, they will not receive any compensation. They are very resentful, which is a perfect opportunity for Prince Chuang to launch a major attack on the city."
While Liu Ye was encouraging Li Zicheng to attack Luoyang, he sent intelligence agents to infiltrate the city and coordinate with the army outside the city.
Li Zicheng said with a forced smile, "Your general is practically a reincarnation of Zhuge Liang. He plans everything in advance. My army hasn't even arrived yet, and your spies have already entered the city. Your methods are brilliant!"
Liu Heizi smiled and said, "This is just to prove our general's sincerity in cooperating with Chuang Wang. There is no other intention. Chuang Wang can rest assured about the city's funds."