The Iron (Wu Qu, 武曲) in the Wealth palace (Cai Bo, 财帛)
The Wealth palace is about money coming in and going out. The money star. Hard and decisive — effective more than warm.
What the classic says, Zi Wei Dou Shu Quan Shu (紫微斗数全书), volume two
Plenty, and with a benefic transformation, a great household fortune. Without benefics, money made in busy places. With the Disruptor (破军), in from the east and out to the west — nothing first, something after. With the Minister (天相), abundant, made through people of standing. With the General (七杀), made from nothing. With the Wolf (贪狼), wealth only after thirty. With the Blade, Millstone, Flare and Ember (羊陀火铃) it does not gather, and the Void (空亡) is worst of all.
武曲丰足化吉有巨万家资，无吉加闹中进财，破军同东来西去先无后有，天相同财帛丰盈，遇贵生财成家，七杀同白手生财成家，贪狼同三十年后方发财，加羊陀火铃不聚极怕空亡。
“Well placed” and “badly placed” refer to the star’s brightness in the branch the palace falls on: the same star in the same palace reads differently bright and dim, and the clause says how.
How this placement actually turns up
- Well placed (exalted or strong) in 51% of those charts, badly placed (fallen) in 0%, in between the rest.
- Alone in the palace in 18%; sharing it with The Treasury (天府) 17%, The Disruptor (破军) 17%, The General (七杀) 17%, The Wolf (贪狼) 16%, The Minister (天相) 15%.
- Carries a birth-year transformation in 40%: Fortune (化禄) 10%, Power (化权) 11%, Merit (化科) 10%, Trouble (化忌) 9%.
- How often the conditions the classic’s line names actually occur — one of the four difficult stars (擎羊陀罗火星铃星) in the palace with it: 30%; Earth Void or Earth Robbery (地空地劫) with it: 15%; one of the six helper stars (左辅右弼文昌文曲天魁天钺) with it: 39%.
Counted by casting every day from 1950 to 2009 at each of the twelve hours — 262,980 charts, 8.3% of which have The Iron here (every main star sits in every palace in about one chart in twelve). A count, not a reading.
Never read alone
Zi Wei reads a palace together with the one opposite it and the two in trine. For the Wealth palace those are Wellbeing (福德) opposite, and Career (官禄) and Self (命宫) in trine. Whatever stars sit there change what The Iron means here — which is why a page like this one can only give the classic’s line, and your own chart has to give the rest.
If a transformation lands on it
- Fortune (化禄): eases it and finds gain inside it — the star still does what it does, but smoothly and to some profit
- Power (化权): intensifies it and puts you in charge of it — more of the star, and more of it under your hand
- Merit (化科): makes it visible and gives it a name — the star's workings become something you are known for
- Trouble (化忌): sharpens it and makes it cost — the star's difficulty is where the chart puts its weight
What each transformation does to a star is this site’s reading, not a line from the classic.
Which star is in your own Wealth palace?
That needs your birth hour and place. The hour is corrected to true solar time, using the clock your birthplace actually kept that year.
The Iron in other palaces: Self · Spouse · Career · Property · Parents · Siblings · all twelve
Other stars in the Wealth palace: The Emperor · The Strategist · The Sun · The Blessing · The Mystic · The Treasury · The Moon · The Wolf · The Voice · The Minister · The Elder · The Disruptor