prosperous age

“Ziyu might not agree. It’s almost the end of the year, and we’re facing financial summaries. Taicang is also a bit tight.”

Wei Guangde hesitated for a moment before speaking.

The Ministry of Revenue was clearly the biggest obstacle to sending troops; a single sentence, "no money," could thwart their plans.

This time, nearly 80,000 troops were mobilized, along with more than 20,000 naval personnel. The Ministry of Revenue has already paid the Ministry of War a staggering one million in military pay, squandering almost all the gold and silver accumulated over the past two years.

This doesn't even include the grain and fodder collected, stored, and transported; truly, the sound of cannons could bring in a fortune.

Moreover, at the end of the year, the Ministry of Revenue still needed to store the silver for officials' salaries and rewards, so it would naturally not easily use the already limited silver reserves.

Nevertheless, Wei Guangde still agreed with Zhang Ke's suggestion to recruit local soldiers from the southwest and Liaodong to participate in the war.

It costs a little money, but it can deplete their youth and strength.

In fact, if used well, these people can even make them feel a sense of belonging to the Ming Dynasty.

After the war, once they return to their respective regions, they will undoubtedly become more loyal supporters of the Ming Dynasty's rule in those areas.

"Shan Dai, how about I go to the Imperial Stud and ask for some money under the pretext of buying horses?"

Zhang Ke was aware of the current financial situation, so he tried to explain.

If we're talking about which government office is the richest right now, it has to be the Changying Treasury of the Court of Imperial Stud. Apart from the two annual allocations for buying horses, it basically only takes in money and doesn't give it out.

Of course, because there were many restrictions on the amount of money that could be spent from the Changying Treasury, some officials in the Ministry of War were actually discussing whether the operating rules of the Changying Treasury should be changed, for example, to include some military expenditures in the scope of payments from the Changying Treasury.

In the mid-to-late Wanli period, the Changying Treasury was completely depleted, largely because the Wanli Emperor relentlessly demanded more money from it.

At that time, the expenditures of Changyingku were no longer limited to the purchase of horses. The emperor's rewards for the border towns and the military pay for suppressing mutinies were mostly paid from Changyingku, which turned Changyingku from a place that was only responsible for purchasing horses into the Ministry of War's money bag.

It seems that any expenditure related to the military can be siphoned off from the Changying Treasury.

Of course, the reason why the civil officials at that time were so shameless in siphoning money from the Changying Treasury was probably because they were forced to do so, since the emperor kept asking for money from here to prepare for his son's wedding and enfeoffment.

The Ministry of War was slow to act, and the silver was taken by the emperor.

This was the last bit of capital accumulated by generations of Ming emperors, which was squandered by a bunch of spendthrifts. As a result, when the Ming Dynasty was beset by internal and external troubles, it had no money to burn and could only resort to self-destructive measures such as raising taxes to quell rebellions.

Now Zhang Ke wanted to reach into Changying Treasury and plunder the silver, and Wei Guangde frowned slightly.

"The silver there has its own rules for coming in and going out, and these rules should not be changed lightly."

Wei Guangde shook his head and said slowly.

Because Zhang Ke had previously told him that this suggestion was not actually made by Zhang Ke, but by someone below him.

Because I was quite interested, I told Wei Guangde about it and wanted to see his attitude.

However, Wei Guangde strongly opposed it at the time, so the plan had to be abandoned.

Now that it's the end of the year, a sensitive time, it's unlikely that we'll get any money from the Ministry of Revenue if we ask again.

Unless the Ministry of War can withstand the criticism from officials in the capital and do its job.

Even if the Ministry of Revenue is forced to give the money, it will definitely turn around and cut the salaries of officials in the capital, causing all officials to turn their anger towards the Ministry of War.

Don't think that Zhang Xueyan couldn't do it; he rose through the ranks step by step through struggle.

He would do anything to protect his official position and reputation.

Even with Wei Guangde standing behind him, Zhang Xueyan would never hesitate to fight for what his own department needed to do.

Otherwise, the Ministry of Revenue's staff would fall apart, and he could forget about continuing as Minister.

"If all else fails, you can talk to Ziyu privately and have them borrow money from Changying Treasury in the name of the Ministry of Revenue, and use the loan to recruit soldiers from the Southwest and Liaodong."

Having served as governor of Liaodong, he should know the benefits of this move and would likely approve of it.

However, the Ministry of War still needs to consider how to repay the debt; it can't put all the blame on the Ministry of Revenue.

Wei Guangde spoke up.

"The Ministry of War will repay? What means do we have to repay? Although there are some taxes, they are all used to hire servants and sedan chair carriers for various ministries and government offices. The Ministry of War can only ask the Ministry of Revenue for money for its major expenses."

Zhang Ke quickly retorted.

"I know that under normal circumstances, the Ministry of War does not have the funds to repay, but..."

Wei Guangde looked at Zhang Ke and whispered, "We're currently at war with Japan, so there should be some significant gains on Sado Island."

The Ministry of War could request a portion of this wealth to subsidize the cost of recruiting soldiers.

Remember, don't be too greedy.

The same goes for Iwami. It's impossible to take all the gold and silver from the mines with you; there must be some stockpiled. There's also gold and silver ore mined before the war, which, when refined, would also be a considerable sum of money.

As for the imperial court, it naturally controlled the output there, which is why they paid tribute of gold and silver to the court every year.

What Wei Guangde was referring to was actually a tacit rule of the Ming army, or rather, of all dynasties: spoils of war.

The small amount was naturally divided up among the soldiers below.

However, large sums of wealth, especially the treasures stored in enemy countries, had to be handed over to the imperial court as spoils of war, while the items belonging to the enemy king had to be handed over to the inner court.

Of course, not all of this wealth could be handed over; in fact, most of it was divided up at the local level, and only a small portion was handed over.

Wei Guangde's decision to have the Ministry of War intervene in the distribution of this wealth somewhat broke this unspoken rule.

Because of this rule, the generals in command would send some of the spoils to the homes of important officials in the court, so that everyone could benefit and naturally no one cared about how the spoils were distributed.

I didn't see that Yu Dayou and Li Chengliang transported some of their spoils from Burma to the capital and distributed them to various families.

That's to buy peace of mind; since everyone has shared the money, no one cares about this privately divided wealth.

"This is a bit against the rules."

Zhang Ke had led troops to suppress Japanese pirates in Zhejiang and knew how the spoils of war were divided; he was even one of the recipients of the spoils.

Judging from Wei Guangde's words, the Ministry of War was also going to actively participate in the distribution of this wealth, which undoubtedly made him frown.

This may seem like a minor issue, but it will inevitably leave some dissatisfaction in the minds of frontline commanders.

"Tell them that the portion collected by the Ministry of War is for recruiting local soldiers and supporting their consumption."

The imperial court was unable to continue sending reinforcements to Japan. The local troops, whether from the southwest or Liaodong, were far more powerful than the garrison troops. If their strength was increased and they were allowed to win the war, what more could they possibly want?

Go back to the Ministry of War and immediately estimate the money and provisions needed to recruit 10,000 men from the southwest and Liaodong, then send someone to deliver the account books to them.

"If they need reinforcements, hand over the money; if not, then forget it."

Wei Guangde immediately said, "However, you should discuss the matter of recruiting more soldiers with Zhang Xueyan in a little while. We can borrow some money first and let the Ministry of War raise the funds."

"Once the silver returns, we can simply return it to the Ministry of Revenue."

Wei Guangde didn't believe Wang Xijue or Qi Jiguang would oppose the plan to reinforce the troops. For them, while the silver was tempting, could anything be more alluring than military achievements?
If they win, they get promoted and ennobled; if they lose, they can't take anything with them.

"I estimate that the fighting on Sado Island should be over by now. The Ministry of War should send someone there as soon as possible."

Otherwise, once the money over there is distributed, it will be difficult to get it back.

Wei Guangde further reminded, "To the outside world, say that the Ministry of War sent people to Sado Island to check the situation. Once the situation stabilizes, they should go there together with officials from the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of Revenue."

The Ming Dynasty didn't just want to occupy Sado Island as a naval base; they also wanted to mine the gold and silver mines there.

At that time, the Ministry of Works will definitely send someone to oversee the mining affairs.

The refined gold and silver were transported to Iwami to be minted directly into coins. Other mineral resources from Japan and Korea were collected and then transported back to Japan.

In this way, the coins stationed by the Ming Dynasty circulated among the surrounding vassal states, and the Ministry of Revenue could also get a share of the profits during the minting process, which can be described as a win-win situation.

It would be even better if the barbarians also used coins minted by the Ming Dynasty.

If all countries in the world used the coins minted by the Ming Dynasty, the Ministry of Revenue would make a million taels of silver a year from it.

This is not a small amount; it is an astonishing fortune.

Wei Guangde's idea stemmed from the fact that the Spanish silver dollars they brought were so ugly; they were clearly silver ingots, not silver coins.

This shows that Europe's coinage technology at that time was only so-so, and it can be inferred that Europe's smelting and casting technology was also far behind that of the Ming Dynasty.

In other words, while China was engulfed in war, Europe at the same time saw a significant increase in its smelting and casting technologies due to the influx of large amounts of gold and silver and the influence of the Holy War, thus providing rich technological support for the later Industrial Revolution.

It's even possible that the foreigners did indeed acquire Eastern technology from the Ming Dynasty, which they then integrated with Western technology, improving their production efficiency.

Later, rumors circulated online that Europe had stolen the "steam engine" technology from the Ming Dynasty. However, after Wei Guangde transmigrated, he also read through the Yongle Encyclopedia. Although it contained some Chinese technology and machine blueprints, it did not contain a steam engine, but rather similar equipment, albeit for other purposes.

A steam engine cannot be considered a steam engine unless it is used as an output power source.

The Ming Dynasty used steam primarily for refining minerals such as mercury, rather than for power generation.

As for the widespread rumor that Zheng He's treasure ships used steam engines, that's utter nonsense.

In this era, all ships relied on sails or human oars for navigation.

The main reason Zheng He's fleet was able to sail to the Western Ocean was that it learned from the navigation experience of Middle Eastern Arab merchants and knew how to use monsoon winds to navigate the oceans.

Chinese coastal fishermen actually understand these things, but they are not familiar with the sea conditions in the Indian Ocean and need to learn from Arab merchants.

Zhang Ke left, saying he was going directly to the Ministry of Revenue, while Wei Guangde took the memorial from the Ministry of War and went directly to the Qianqing Palace.

This matter cannot be concealed from Emperor Wanli, lest we be punished later.

Besides, there are still the Embroidered Uniform Guards there. If Liu Shouyou is constantly helping to conceal information, trouble will inevitably break out sooner or later.

Wei Guangde wouldn't take the risk, so he told the Wanli Emperor directly and tricked him into agreeing.

After all, Wei Guangde had a valid reason.

The gold and silver on the Japanese islands belong to the Ming Dynasty only if we win the war; otherwise, it's all just wishful thinking.

To win, you naturally need to invest money; the more capital you have, the better your chances of winning.

As expected, after Wei Guangde explained his considerations in detail in the Qianqing Palace, Emperor Wanli thought for a moment and nodded in agreement.

Now that the war has begun, there is absolutely no reason to give up halfway.

Moreover, even if the Iwami region is embroiled in fierce fighting and the situation seems slightly unfavorable to the Ming Dynasty, Sado Island has already been controlled. It will not only become a gold mine for the Ming Dynasty in the future, but also a port for the Northern Sea Fleet.

The Ming Dynasty now holds a trump card. Regardless of the final outcome of the battle in the Iwami region, the Ming Dynasty has already acquired a mining area, so the mission is half completed.

The gold mines on Sado Island, once successfully exploited, were sufficient to support the Ming Dynasty's war against Japan.

"The Ministry of War should send someone to Sado Island as soon as possible to inspect the war effort. As for extracting a portion of the profits from the gold mines on Sado Island to sustain the war effort, I have also approved it."

Master Wei, you can tell Minister Zhang that if the Ministry of Revenue doesn't have enough money, they can borrow from the Changying Treasury.

Of the output from Sado Island, aside from the 20% revenue allocated to the inner court, the remainder can be prioritized to repay loans to the Ever-Prosperous Treasury.

The Wanli Emperor expressed his stance in one sentence: as long as the inner court's share remains unaffected, the court's share is entirely at your disposal; he will not interfere.

After leaving the Qianqing Palace, Wei Guangde couldn't help but look back at the palace gate.

He now understood the source of some Ming Dynasty enthusiasts' dissatisfaction with the Wanli Emperor; this emperor truly loved money, and it was already very obvious.

No wonder later generations said that when this man heard that there were gold and silver mines in overseas vassal states, he sent people to inquire about them and even wanted to start mining operations.

"Has he ever lacked money?"

Wei Guangde thought for a moment, then shook his head. By the time this young master was old enough to understand, Prince Yu was already the Longqing Emperor.

Although both Xu Jie and Li Chunfang controlled some of the money the Ministry of Revenue allocated to the inner court at that time, the palace should not have been short of money.

As Wei Guangde slowly walked toward the cabinet, he lowered his head in thought. Finally, as he passed the Long'en Hall, a flash of inspiration struck him, and he guessed that the reason why Emperor Wanli was so fond of money might be related to Emperor Longqing.

After all, this man almost had to request to be enfeoffed as a prince in his early years because he was short of money.

The experiences of that period had a significant impact on the Longqing Emperor; it's possible that he might have said a few words about it to his son, Zhu Yijun.

His words had a far greater impact on the Wanli Emperor than those of anyone else.

Therefore, in his mind, the emperor absolutely cannot lack money. He must find ways to amass wealth for the inner court and fill his own purse to the brim in order to cope with other storms.

The emperor could command people if he had money, but couldn't do anything if he didn't.

As for the imperial court, the emperor had no control over it; it was a court ruled by civil officials.

Wei Guangde was unsure if his guess was correct, but he had no other explanation for why the Wanli Emperor loved money so much.

"Oh, that's it."

Emperor Wanli loved money, and Wei Guangde really had no good way to teach him a lesson.

After all, this is not an easy task.

Even if all the imperial funds were sent into the inner palace, it might not be enough to satisfy the emperor's appetite.

However, if silver were strictly controlled, it might lead Emperor Wanli to another extreme.

Giving money is problematic, not giving money is also problematic; it's a dilemma.

"Spend"

Wei Guangde knew that only the cabinet and the Minister of Revenue could be careful to strike the right balance. The emperor wanted money, and they couldn't refuse, but they also couldn't agree to it outright.

Just like in business, give some, but not too much.

I'll have to tell Zhang Xueyan about this later, and also inform the future Minister of Revenue. (End of Chapter)