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

Chapter 717 A mistake
As the Grand Chancellor, Lu Yin naturally had the qualification and authority to listen to memorials.

In the Ming Dynasty's ruling order, the main officials of various ministries, temples, departments, bureaus, and other government offices were responsible for devising specific methods for handling official matters within their respective jurisdictions.

After receiving these solutions, the Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet take overall control. They weigh the feasibility of specific measures and coordinate and negotiate for projects involving multiple departments.

The Grand Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs effectively held the power to review the entire process.

Simply put, Lu Yin's authority corresponded to the Six Ministries.

Lu Yin could reject any draft opinions submitted by the cabinet that he deemed inappropriate, but he did not have the power to directly formulate policies.

Similarly, the Six Supervising Secretaries of the Outer Court also had the power to reject imperial edicts.

However, this is all theoretical.

The actual power of a position depends entirely on the power granted to him from above and the extent of the constraints imposed on him.

For example, a certain deputy commander, because of his affiliation in Nanjing, was usually completely ignored and lived a life of unbridled pleasure.

If you want to go to Shandong, go to Shandong; if you want to go back to Beijing, go back to Beijing. If you can't get what you want, you can always go to Jiangxi and beat up Li Mengyang.

Although the Six Ministries were quite powerful when facing the emperor, they had too many powerful figures in their positions. They could be assertive to the emperor, but not to others.

Moreover, the prestige they've accumulated will eventually need to be cashed in, and when that time comes, won't they just end up working as lackeys in various government offices?

In this situation, which of the Six Ministries' Censors would stand up for himself?
Lu Yin not only held the power to review draft proposals, but also controlled the three unreasonable and violent institutions of the Eastern Depot, Western Depot, and Embroidered Uniform Guard. Moreover, he had an advantage that even Zhu Houzhao could not match.

That is, when faced with various proposals from the imperial court, he could arbitrarily reject them.

Because he was a eunuch, he could be shameless, brazen, and unafraid of being condemned by the world.

Who wouldn't have a headache if they met someone who doesn't conform to worldly definitions and refuses to be morally coerced?

Lu Yin wanted to hear the memorial, but Sun Jiao could only assume that Zhu Houzai was still on the throne and submitted his memorial as usual.

"Zijing Pass, Daoma Pass, and other places have also reported a shortage of grain. After taking stock, the Ministry of Revenue found that Yizhou and Tang County still had grain-for-silver reserves that had not been handed over, totaling more than 34,000 taels. The Ministry of Revenue suggested that this silver be allocated to various places in advance to prepare for unforeseen circumstances..."

Lu Yin looked at Yang Tinghe, "What is the Cabinet's opinion?"

Yang Tinghe pondered, “When the Dalu invade, we must close the passes and defend them to the death. If we don’t make plans now and allocate resources in advance, I’m afraid that when the time comes, we will be powerless to deal with it.”

"What if the officers and soldiers were trapped at that time, with scarce supplies and low morale?"

Lu Yin was knowledgeable in military affairs.

As a military eunuch who had led expeditions to Turpan, garrisoned Xuanfu, and fought against the Bazhou army, Lu Yin basically agreed with Yang Tinghe's statement. So he smiled and slowly said, "That makes sense. Although guarding a city doesn't require money, having money can keep one's mind at ease and calm."

"We've got this in mind. Anything else?"

Just as Lu Yin was helping the Ministry of Revenue sort out the financial expenditures, Zhu Houzhao, with a sullen face, descended the steps alone and headed towards the rear hall of the Fengtian Hall.

He had just gone around to the back when he saw Pei Yuan waiting there.

Zhu Houzhao was not surprised and nodded slightly to Pei Yuan.

Pei Yuan was about to pay his respects when Zhu Houzhao waved his hand to stop him and gestured for Pei Yuan to walk a little further away.

When they reached a place where they could barely hear the conversation in the main hall, Zhu Houzhao asked in a deep voice, "Did you hear everything?"

Pei Yuan nodded.

Zhu Houzhao asked directly, "What do you think?"

Pei Yuan was also quickly thinking about how to handle the situation at hand.

Before Pei Yuan could respond, Zhu Houzhao spoke to himself with a stern face.

"I received a secret report from the Office of Transmission yesterday, and I knew this would happen today. First, they used various excuses to spend all the silver in the Ministry of Revenue, the Imperial Granary, and the prefectures and counties, and then they revealed their true colors by demanding the abolition of paper money and the collection of silver..."

Zhu Houzhao sneered, his smile somewhat chilling.

"Throughout the entire seventh year of Zhengde's reign, the imperial court only released a total of 2.18 million and a few hundred taels of salt tax. Now, just for replenishing military supplies for the border towns, we need to release more than 2.252 million taels."

"It's not even the end of the first month yet! The rebellions in Jiangxi and Sichuan are still unsettled; unrest has broken out again in Yansui and Yunyang; and in Guangxi, because the Wolf Warriors were transferred to Jiangxi to quell the rebellion, the sorcerer Li Tongbao has gathered the Miao people to cause trouble. Now all the salt permit money has been used up, what will happen to other places?"

“If it were before, I would still be confused. After listening to your words last time, I truly had an epiphany.”

"Now I'm increasingly realizing the importance of paper money. I'm already trapped by silver; won't I end up paying even more for it later?"

Pei Yuan breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that Zhu Houzhao's attitude toward the paper money remained unchanged and he was still very determined.

"Your Majesty, there's no point in panicking about these things; we have to deal with them one step at a time."

Then Pei Yuan said, "Leaving aside other matters, the replenishment of military supplies for the major border towns is indeed urgent."

Zhu Houzhao looked at Pei Yuan in disbelief, "Even you support the Ministry of Revenue's plan?"

Pei Yuan shook his head and said in a deep voice, "I am not supporting the Ministry of Revenue's plan, but these are things that we really have to face."

“When I was gathering intelligence, I happened to meet some merchants from the north. They told me that the climate in the north has been bad in recent years. The winters are extremely cold, and many livestock and horses have frozen to death. Many tribes on the grasslands have been migrating south one after another.”

"In other words, this invasion by the Mongol prince is different from what the court had anticipated. They did not come to attack the Ming Dynasty specifically to plunder. Instead, a large number of Mongol tribes are moving south. They have already arrived; they are already outside the Great Wall."

"Therefore, they will not return, nor will they cease their raids. In the next year or two, or even several years, the Ming Dynasty will likely face continuous raids from the Mongols."

“From Ningxia and Shanxi to Datong, Xuanfu, and even to western Liaoning, all were directions from which the Mongols attacked.”

Zhu Houzhao's anger visibly subsided, replaced by a look of bewilderment and panic.

"This is……"

After a long pause, Zhu Houzhao finally uttered the rest of his words, "Is this true?!"

After Zhu Houzhao intervened in military affairs, he had a general understanding of the current situation of the border troops.

Once his godson got drunk, he didn't hide anything from him.

The border troops are currently extremely weak in combat. Apart from the elite guards held by the various military officers, the regular imperial border troops have almost no fighting spirit left. The farmland in the border towns has long been distributed, and many of the soldiers in the border towns now live off the meager allowances allocated by the imperial court.

Given the current tax revenue capacity of the imperial court, many remote border troops can only get a few bites of food. Who would be willing to fight for the imperial court on an empty stomach?
The main tactic the imperial court used to deal with the invasion of the northern barbarians was to retreat to strategic locations and avoid battle.

Because the government troops occupied strategic locations, the Dalu dared not venture too far. Each time, they would only plunder the border before fleeing like frightened birds with their belongings.

Often, when you take things into account in hindsight, the actual losses, based solely on the data, may be smaller than the losses from fighting a war.

However, this tactic becomes completely ineffective if the Mongol tribes launch a large-scale southward invasion.

This place will soon become their home ground.

They could quickly return to their tribe with the loot and then launch another swift attack. With the tribe's support, they could even use their numerical advantage to pick off the isolated government troops guarding the passes one by one.

Pei Yuan certainly didn't actually believe what the Hu merchant said; rather, he fabricated a reason based on the actual historical events.

The excuse is not important; Pei Yuan only needs Zhu Houzhao to realize what the outcome will be.

Moreover, Pei Yuan felt that his reason was quite plausible.

Without the large-scale southward migration of the Mongol tribes, the Little Prince's tireless harassment would not have been able to be sustained.

Pei Yuan immediately and confidently replied to Zhu Houzhao, "That's for sure."

The topic then shifted back to the Ministry of Revenue's proposal.

Pei Yuan said in a deep voice, "I dare not comment on how much self-interest the Ministry of Revenue's proposal had, but I can assert that their proposal, by sheer accident, led to the most correct decision."

"This is probably the golden period for the Ming Dynasty to prepare for war."

The Ming Dynasty has just quelled the rebellion in Bazhou, and is now ushering in a great harvest that can be described as a continuation of the Ming Dynasty's national fortune.

The current social atmosphere is stable, food is plentiful, and the prices of various commodities are very stable.

If we prepare for war according to the Ministry of Revenue's plan and take advantage of this brief period of stability to send supplies to the border towns, then the future situation will definitely improve significantly.

Zhu Houzhao fell silent again.

The new situation in the northern border that Pei Yuan told him about left him breathless, as did the Ministry of Revenue's relentless pressure.

In the silence between the two, the voice from the front hall came clearly.

"Last year, after the great earthquake of the sixth year of Zhengde, Bazhou experienced several smaller earthquakes. This was certainly a sign of the Emperor's might punishing the traitors, but what had the local people done wrong? Now, seven counties including Bazhou and Gu'an in Shuntian Prefecture have suffered many casualties due to the disaster. We hope that the court can exempt these seven counties from this year's taxes."

Lu Yin's reply came over, "What the Grand Minister said is correct, but how can it be that everyone in seven counties suffers from disaster and is injured?"

“The taxes exempted by the court may not necessarily benefit those who are injured in the disaster. Those who are truly injured will not have their situation changed just because of the exemption of these taxes. I think the taxes should still be levied, and then a portion of them should be set aside specifically for disaster relief.”

Sun remained silent for a long time.

Fei Hong took over the conversation, saying, "Alright, let's do as Eunuch Lu says."

Sun Jiao did not agree, but continued, "What about the prefectures of Zhili and Fengyang, and the counties of Xuzhou and Shouzhou, which suffered from drought this year? What should we say then?"

"Yan'an Prefecture in Shaanxi Province is suffering from a drought, and the Left Guard of Xi'an is on the verge of mutiny due to food shortages. How should these situations be handled?"

"The disaster is raging, and we can't wait any longer. Many people are already poor and unable to pay their taxes. If we pressure them to pay, it will cause trouble, and the money and grain from the court's relief efforts may not even reach them before the tax collection causes chaos."

"By then, who will be able to shoulder the responsibility?"

Lu Yin did not respond upon hearing this.

His idea was good, but the premise was that the money and grain had to be collected first before they could be distributed.

Those landlords and powerful families certainly don't lack this little bit, but the truly affected people might be ruined by such a small amount.

Once the money and grain are collected, who can guarantee that these disaster victims will receive more relief?
Lu Yin remained silent for a while, then smiled and said, "Then let's think about it some more. With so many talented people in the Ministry of Revenue who are good at managing the country and benefiting the people, they will surely come up with a solution that will satisfy everyone."

Sun Jiao raised his voice a few decibels, as if deliberately making sure that Zhu Houzhao, who was hiding in the back hall, could hear him clearly.

"Whether the relief can reach the people is another matter, but the court should at least show some attitude. If this causes unrest in those places, I'm afraid the money to quell the unrest will be enormous."

Zhu Houzhao felt even more troubled upon hearing this.

He asked Pei Yuan, almost helplessly, "Pei Qing, what should we do?"

The border issues must be resolved, and the problems of the disaster-stricken people cannot be delayed.

Unfortunately, the imperial treasury was almost completely depleted during the suppression of the rebellion in Bazhou.

Upon hearing this, Pei Yuan considered Zhu Houzhao's current predicament and suddenly had an extremely bold idea.

He looked at Zhu Houzhao and asked, "Your Majesty, I would like to ask you first, how much silver is left in the imperial treasury?"

Zhu Houzhao's expression was not good. After a long while, he said in a low voice, "It's what you just heard."

Pei Yuan was slightly taken aback and subconsciously asked, "What?"

Zhu Houzhao said in a calm tone, "One hundred and five thousand taels."

Seeing that Pei Yuan hadn't realized it yet, Zhu Houzhao explained, "After I received the warning yesterday, I sent someone to check the Ministry of Revenue's accounts. There are only 105,000 taels of silver left in the Taicang granary."

Then he added, "It's the money that Sun Jiao just mentioned for replenishing the fodder in the dam area."

Upon hearing this, Pei Yuan couldn't help but gasp.

Elder Sun, you're really something!

He came out with incredible abilities right away.

You're going to use the last of Taicang's silver reserves to buy fodder? And you deliberately brought it up so casually at the very beginning.

I thought you were saving your ultimate move for later, but you emptied Ah Zhao's magazine right at the start.

(End of this chapter)