Without money, what is the point of being a traitor?

Chapter 716 How can we save the Ming Dynasty while dealing with these insects?

Pei Yuan had known all along that the Taicang silver was going to have problems.

When Pei Yuan first went to Huguang and heard Lu Yin talk about the massive stockpiling of grain and fodder at the front, which caused an exaggerated waste, he deduced that someone was up to something and that there would definitely be problems with the Taicang silver.

After that, whenever Pei Yuan had free time, he would repeatedly ponder and study when the thunder would explode.

Unexpectedly, all Pei Yuan had been calculating and plotting, he ended up getting this bomb thrown right in his face!

This is simply unreasonable!
Pei Yuan flew into a rage, "These scoundrels are courting death!"

If the Ministry of Revenue were to use the opportunity of the Mongol prince's invasion to detonate the Taicang silver, then in order to maintain the war in the north, Zhu Houzhao might actually be forced to retract his previous plan to levy taxes using the Great Ming Treasure Notes.

If this were done, not only would Zhu Houzhao, who was known for going back on his word, be considered a laughing stock.

Pei Yuan has spent a lot of silver, and the trust he has painstakingly built up with his banknotes will be completely lost.

If the Ming Dynasty's paper money were to disappear, what would be the point of implementing the Single Whip Law or binding taxes to paper money?
Most importantly, Pei Ayuan is probably the one who holds the most precious paper money in the world today. If the money were to explode, a large portion of his wealth would be wiped out.

pain!
It hurts 10 out of 10!

Thinking of this, Pei Yuan gritted his teeth and said, "How can we save the Ming Dynasty by associating with these insects? I am irreconcilably opposed to those treacherous dogs!"

Seeing that Pei Yuan's sincerity was evident in his actions, and that he was filled with loyalty and courage, Yin Sheng couldn't help but secretly admire him.

He quickly replied, "That's exactly what His Majesty meant. Yesterday at the banquet, His Majesty received a copy from the Ministry of Justice in advance, and at that time His Majesty said that this matter could only be discussed with Commander Pei."

Pei Yuan immediately whispered, "Don't worry, Your Majesty, I'll listen right here. Unless they step over my head, I won't let them shake His Majesty's plans."

Yin Sheng was deeply moved and quickly sent someone to bring Pei Yuan a small stool.

Only then did he go to the front hall, where he remained standing quietly beside Zhu Houzhao.

At this moment, the Ministry of War was presenting a report. Zhu Houzhao noticed that Yin Sheng had been gone for a while and had also heard some faint noises behind him. He immediately glanced over.

Yin Sheng nodded emphatically, and Zhu Houzhao immediately felt reassured.

Pei Yuan listened intently to the commotion inside the hall, afraid of missing the matter of demanding the re-collection of silver at the customs.

Unexpectedly, the very thing being discussed inside surprised Pei Yuan.

It turns out that this was a transfer order issued by the Ministry of War.

The request was made to transfer Wang Xun, the general who was stationed in Gansu, to Yansui, and then to promote Jin Fu, the commander-in-chief, to temporarily act as the vice commander-in-chief, to replace Wang Xun, the original general of Gansu.

Commander-in-Chief Li Jin was appointed as the deputy commander-in-chief, responsible for assisting in the defense of Yunyang in Huguang.

Pei Yuan listened to these two pieces of news and compared them with what happened before the New Year.

One reason was that the imperial court dismissed Hou Xun, the commander-in-chief of Yansui, and Wang Xian, the deputy commander-in-chief of Huguang, under the pretext of "greed and cowardice".

Another appointment was made: Zhang Chun, the prefect of Yingtian Prefecture, was promoted to Right Vice Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate to govern Yunyang; and Jin Xianmin, the Shandong Provincial Surveillance Commissioner, was promoted to Left Vice Censor-in-Chief to govern Yansui.

On the last day of the seventh year of the Zhengde reign, the imperial court urgently replaced the governors of the two regions.

On the first day of the grand court session in the eighth year of Zhengde's reign, a new commander-in-chief was urgently appointed.

Judging from these personnel appointments and deployments, it appears that a rebellion, not recorded in historical annals, must have occurred in these two locations.

Pei Yuan wasn't particularly worried about this matter.

Since it wasn't recorded in history, it means the matter was ultimately resolved satisfactorily. It's just that some things are better left unsaid.

Pei Yuan was thinking about the situation in Yunyang Prefecture and wondered if he should take the initiative to contact them.

This relocation of the Ministry of War must have been made with the cabinet's consent in advance.

After Lu Wan reported the matter, the cabinet quickly approved it.

Zhu Houzhao had no opportunity to participate in the discussions throughout the process; the cabinet only consulted him after the final decision was made.

Zhu Houzhao naturally had no objections and immediately ordered the Directorate of Ceremonial to use the seal.

Afterwards, the Ministry of War submitted a report on some personnel changes, and Lu Wan again proposed the plan, which was approved by the cabinet and sealed by the emperor.

It's like a formulaic process.

Pei Yuan guessed that most of these contents were probably agreed upon by the Ministry of War and the Cabinet. The two sides had discussed them in advance, and the arrangements were very smooth, so there was no room for Zhu Houzhao to intervene.

Even if Zhu Houzhao wanted to intervene, what were his reasons? What would be a better solution?
Your Majesty, you can't possibly think that your sudden inspiration on the spot is equivalent to the collective wisdom of the ministers and Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet, can you?

Zhu Houzhao was powerless to intervene, nor did he have any opportunity to do so.

What he saw was already the result shown to him at the very end.

This repeated adherence to tacit understanding and formulaic practices naturally rendered the emperor powerless.

Today is the first grand court assembly of the eighth year of Zhengde's reign. In addition to addressing some backlogged official business, the assembly will also provide a general overview of the government affairs for the coming year and conduct a thorough review to identify and address any shortcomings.

Pei Yuan listened for a while and felt he had gained quite a bit of insight.

The ability to decide the outcome of events is merely a facade of power.

Because whether you agree or disagree, you're dealing with what they're handing you.

The process that led to this outcome seems to be the true power itself.

Pei Yuan thought for a while, then suddenly heard Sun Jiao reporting outside, and immediately perked up.

He couldn't sit still any longer, so he tiptoed up the steps to the back of Zhu Houzhao's throne, behind the screen.

The two eunuchs guarding the back gate of Fengtian Hall stared in astonishment, never expecting that someone would be so bold as to hide behind His Majesty's screen.

They dared not utter a word lest they cause trouble, and could only lament their bad luck in getting caught up in such a thing.

Sun Jiao began by saying that the Ministry of Revenue's granaries, such as the one at Bashang, were short of fodder and should purchase it from merchants, which would cost more than 105,000 taels of silver.

Pei Yuan's heart skipped a beat when he heard about the silver.

Zhu Houzhao, sitting in the front, was also somewhat nervous. He had received a secret report beforehand, knowing that today the Ministry of Revenue would use the excuse of insufficient silver in the Taicang granary to abolish Zhu Houzhao's order to collect paper money at the seven major customs posts and resume collecting silver.

Since we already knew the Ministry of Revenue's purpose, we didn't even need to guess what this appetizer was meant to do.

This must be an attempt to drain the already strained resources of Taicang to the last drop of blood.

Before the cabinet could speak, Zhu Houzhao interrupted, "I remember there was a surplus of fodder in the dam area granaries. Why is there such a large shortfall this year?"

Sun Jiao was taken aback upon hearing this. "The fodder in the dam area has always been insufficient. There has never been a surplus. Your Majesty must be mistaken."

Zhu Houzhao frowned upon hearing this, and turned to look at Lu Yin beside him. "Is that so? Or have I misremembered?"

Upon hearing this, Lu Yin immediately bowed and said, "This is easy. If it exists, it exists; if it doesn't, it doesn't."

"The warehouse on the dam isn't far from here; it only takes five or six days to travel there and back by fast horse. Your Majesty can send a close minister to take a look. This old servant remembers that it exists; perhaps the servants have made a mistake."

Sun Jiao was stunned. "How could this be wrong?"

"Last year, in order to quell the rebellion in Bazhou and raise funds for horse purchases, the Imperial Stud opened a special horse tax and purchased a large number of horses from border markets and private individuals."

"Many of these suddenly increased horses were transported from the dam area for fodder. Naturally, this led to a deficit. There are detailed account books to prove this."

"Damn it!" Pei Yuan couldn't help but curse under his breath as he listened from behind the screen.

Just now, Pei Yuan was still a little unsure, but after Sun Jiao said that, Pei Yuan was certain that the guy was lying.

The Imperial Stud did indeed implement a horse tax last year, and Song Chunniang's position as a captain was obtained by taking advantage of this horse tax, directly buying it for seventy taels of silver.

Later, in order to take up his post at Xinghe Garrison Command, Chen Xinjian also went through connections at the Imperial Stud, buying blank documents at a high price and obtaining a donation-based position as a commander.

But how could Commander Pei not know whether the money was used to buy horses?

Where did Yun Buxian get the horse price silver from Shanxi through shady dealings? Where did Pei Ayuan get the 30,000 taels of betrothal money to marry Han Qianhu?
The Imperial Stud spent a total of 60,000 taels of silver to buy horses. Pei Yuan alone pocketed 30,000 taels. After dividing the rest among everyone, how much silver would be left to buy more horses?

They haven't even bought enough horses, so how could they possibly have gone bankrupt on the grasslands of Bashang?
In his grief and indignation, Pei Yuan wished he could rush out and confront these corrupt officials face to face!

However, Zhu Houzhao was naturally unaware of these things. Seeing that Lu Yin cooperated well, he secretly praised him and said directly, "The Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs' opinion is very much to my liking. Let's send someone to investigate in Bashang first. If it is indeed the case, then we can discuss the purchase of fodder."

Sun Jiao frowned and said, "Your Majesty, this might delay the army's reserves. As the saying goes, 'An army marches on its stomach,' so this matter cannot be taken lightly."

Zhu Houzhao laughed and said, "Minister Sun just heard Lu Yin say that the round trip will only take a few days. Does that mean the warhorses in the army will starve to death if it's a few days less?"

“This…” Sun Jiao was speechless and could only say, “I hope Your Majesty will expedite the verification of this matter.”

Zhu Houzhao immediately said to Lu Yin, "Did you hear that? You arrange for someone to handle this matter and bring me a result as soon as possible."

Lu Yin immediately responded, "This old servant obeys the order."

Seeing that things weren't going well at the start, Sun Jiao exchanged glances with the others and then submitted another memorial, saying, "Your Majesty, the government troops in places like Gubeikou are short of food and we plan to borrow 15,000 taels of silver from the Ministry of Revenue."

Upon hearing Sun Jiao's words, Zhu Houzhao dared not speak recklessly.

The location of Gubeikou is very important, situated between Shanhaiguan and Juyongguan, guarding the northern gateway to the capital.

If something goes wrong in Gubeikou, the consequences will be unimaginable.

Zhu Houzhao remained silent. The three cabinet members whispered among themselves and immediately agreed, "Approved."

Sun Jiao then turned his attention to Zhu Houzhao.

Zhu Houzhao could only nod, "Let the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs use the seal."

Seeing that things had returned to their familiar rhythm, Sun Jiao immediately petitioned again, "Since Your Majesty ascended the throne, the Mongol prince has repeatedly invaded the border, causing great losses to the border towns. Now, apart from Gubeikou, the military reserves of Xuanfu, Datong, Yansui, Ningxia, and Gansu are insufficient."

"Some lack food and fodder, some lack weapons and armor, and some border towns don't even have enough warm clothing."

"Many of the fortified bunkers anchored in the grasslands are on the verge of collapse due to a lack of supplies."

"Although the border towns have repeatedly organized teams to go and resupply, the Dalu have plundered along the way, and not only have they failed to resupply the border forts, they have also lost a lot of resources."

"Now the Mongolian prince is still up to his old tricks and wants to make a comeback. The time has come when we have no choice but to take action."

Zhu Houzhao pursed his lips, feeling somewhat helpless about the terrible situation.

Even though he knew the Ministry of Revenue was setting a trap for him, the Ming Dynasty was already in such a terrible state that he had no other choice but to jump in.

So Zhu Houzhao could only ask, "What does the Ministry of Revenue mean?"

Sun Jiao hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, I request that the salt tax of the Lianghuai, Changlu, Hedong, Shandong, Fujian, Liangzhe Salt Transport Offices and the Sichuan Salt Tax Office be increased by more than 2,252,500 taels for expenditure."

“In remote border towns where rice is expensive, if no merchants are willing to go, we can collect the rice in cash and then send it to various places for merchants to buy it, or we can directly give it to the soldiers at a discounted price and let them buy it themselves.”

Zhu Houzhao's expression changed.

In addition to collecting taxes, the imperial court had two other major sources of revenue.

One was a salt certificate for selling salt, and the other was silk woven in Jiangnan.

Sun Jiao's method could solve the problem of insufficient military supplies in the border towns immediately, but after releasing as much as 2,252,500 taels, the silver revenue for the entire eighth year of Zhengde would be stretched thin!
Zhu Houzhao braced himself and asked, "Does replenishing military supplies at the border towns require as many as 2.25 million salt permits?"

Upon hearing this, Sun Jiao leisurely replied, "Soldiers may be hungry, but they can tighten their belts. Without weapons and armor, how can they hold their own against the enemy?"

Zhu Houzhao was speechless for a moment.

However, this expenditure is too large. Once it is used to replenish the military reserves of the border towns, the remaining funds in the Taicang treasury will soon be exhausted.

What should the imperial court do then?
If it really comes to that, the major customs offices will have no choice but to collect silver.

Zhu Houzhao never expected that before they even got to the main topic of the discussion, he would have to call for backup from outside the venue.

He winked at Lu Yin and said with a forced smile, "This matter is of great importance, please allow me to think it over carefully."

As he spoke, he got up and started to walk behind the screen.

Lu Yin smiled and took over the conversation, saying to Sun Jiao, "Is there anything else at the Ministry of Revenue? I'll listen on behalf of His Majesty."

(End of this chapter)