How to measure collector current in BJT?
Let me show the voltages and collector current (IC).







simulate this circuit &ndash; Schematic created using CircuitLab

As you can see, \$V_B = V_{BE} + V_E = V_{BE} + I_E \cdot R_E\$. 

Since \$I_C \approx I_E\$, the equality above turns into \$V_B \approx V_{BE} + I_C \cdot R_E\$. Finally, $$I_C = \frac{V_B - V_{BE}}{R_E}$$
(I will not show what VB is since it can be found with simply voltage divider rule.)

See? Collector current is independent from collector load!

NOTE: Placing a resistor to emitter creates a constant current source. It also guarantees the thermal stability.