Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 1248 Playing Tricks

After quelling the internal strife and resolving the Liaodong war a couple of years ago, the Ming Dynasty finally achieved true stability. However, restoring production and resettling the population required money. Furthermore, although the climate had improved in recent years and the years of drought had been alleviated, the damage caused was real.

Putting aside other issues, tax reductions and exemptions in the Northwest and Central Plains are still in effect, and population and production have not yet fully recovered. Weather-induced crop yield reductions have also led the Ming Dynasty to purchase large quantities of grain from countries in the South China Sea to make up for the shortage, all of which require money. In addition, there are immigration policies for Xiaoliuqiu, Liaodong, and even the New World, for which the court is also injecting silver. Furthermore, the rebellion in Shadingzhou, Yunnan, requires even more money and grain to supply the war in the Southwest. All of these expenses combined are not insignificant.

Besides these, Zhu Shenzhui also adjusted the salaries of Ming Dynasty officials twice. The salaries of Ming Dynasty officials were unprecedentedly low compared to any other dynasty. At the founding of the Ming Dynasty, Emperor Taizu specifically calculated official salaries and implemented a low standard. In Emperor Taizu's view, being an official was not about making money; an official's salary should be enough to support themselves. Giving too much was not only inappropriate but would also increase the burden on the court. Therefore, Emperor Taizu's salary calculations were meticulous, and the final salary standard was frighteningly low.

Moreover, Emperor Taizu was not afraid of anyone being corrupt. As someone who came from a poor background, Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't stand the existence of corrupt officials. In his view, anyone who embezzled money should just be killed. Anyway, there were plenty of people in the world who wanted to be officials. There might be a shortage of farmers, but there would definitely be no shortage of officials. As long as people were killed in droves, even using cruel tortures like skinning and stuffing straw, there would naturally be no more corrupt officials.

That's what he thought, and that's what he did. Countless corrupt officials were killed during the Hongwu reign. There were even instances where, due to the large number of officials killed, there was no one left in the government offices to handle the cases, leading to situations where officials whose executions were postponed were working in the main hall with their shackles on.

Even so, corrupt officials in the Ming Dynasty were not eradicated. After the death of Emperor Taizu, the cruel punishments used against corrupt officials quickly became ineffective, and the corruption among officials rapidly worsened. Every official, from top to bottom, was involved in embezzlement. Of course, the methods of embezzlement were not limited to bribery; there were many different ways to do it. Simply embezzling and accepting bribes were considered low-class. More sophisticated methods were everywhere. It should be noted that the salaries of officials in the Ming Dynasty were extremely low. Without finding ways to obtain some silver, it was impossible to support oneself. This was an unavoidable situation.

Therefore, the Ming Dynasty produced only one Hai Rui, and no one else. Officials admired Hai Rui, but no one wanted to become Hai Rui. This was the reality of the officialdom in the Ming Dynasty.

In light of this situation, Zhu Shenzhui adjusted officials' salaries twice to alleviate the rampant corruption. Of course, this was not the ultimate solution. The so-called "high salaries to encourage integrity" is inherently contradictory. If officials truly want to be corrupt, no matter how high their salaries are, they will still reach for the moon. Therefore, simply increasing salaries is not the fundamental solution. However, as long as officials' basic living needs are met, and there is a slight surplus after covering the expenses of hiring servants and secretaries, then at least for some officials with ambition, their worries about the future are eliminated, thus reducing the number of corrupt officials.

Besides these, the most fundamental issue is the system of oversight of officials. Since officials' salaries have been increased to meet their living and personal needs, if they still embezzle, they shouldn't blame the emperor for being too ruthless. A two-pronged approach is needed to solve the problem of official corruption, especially the latter, which is why Zhu Shenzhui has placed particular emphasis on training censors, increasing the number of censors to inspect local areas, and establishing the Embroidered Uniform Guard to supervise officials, along with the increasingly powerful Censorate.

The implementation of these policies, along with the Ming Dynasty's massive investment in the navy, all require financial support. Therefore, although Yang Sichang, the Minister of Revenue, is living a much better life than in previous years, the Ministry of Revenue's expenses remain enormous.

After thinking it over carefully, Yang Sichang said to Zhu Shenzhui, "I have considered it. If it is only for disaster relief, the Ministry of Revenue can provide eight...one million yuan (silver dollars)."

"One million?" Zhu Shenzhui frowned slightly. One million was not a small amount. If it were during the Chongzhen era, let alone one million, he might not even be able to come up with one hundred thousand.

The problem is that the disaster is so severe now that one million is a lot, but it is not much in the three prefectures and seven counties. Whether it is relief for the affected people or subsequent resettlement and production recovery, one million is probably not enough!
"Your Majesty, the Ministry of Revenue has the funds, but they have already been used up," Yang Sichang said with a wry smile. "The salaries of officials in various departments of the court in the capital alone will require 760,000 yuan in the second half of the year. In addition, the expenses for the imperial clan under the Imperial Clan Court will be 480,000 yuan. These two combined amount to a staggering 1.24 million yuan. Furthermore, the Ministry of War's military pay will be 1.8 million yuan, and the cost of replacing military equipment will be 630,000 yuan. The four major shipyards—Longjiang Shipyard, Qingjiang Shipyard, Wuhumen Shipyard, and Liujiagang Shipyard—require an allocation of 3 million yuan. There is also 700,000 yuan to be transferred to Yunnan soon. All of these together amount to a whopping 7.73 million yuan."

"This doesn't even include other miscellaneous expenses. If all of them are included, the estimated cost is around 8.5 million yuan, and there's more... and more..."

"What else?" Zhu Shenzhui pressed.

Yang Sichang gritted his teeth and said, "There's also the repair of the palace halls and the maintenance of the gardens, which will cost at least a million. So, all in all, it's already ten million. Besides, although the Ministry of Revenue has silver, it still needs to keep some in reserve, right? So, after all my calculations, I can barely come up with a million." Zhu Shenzhui's face turned somewhat ugly. According to Yang Sichang, the Ministry of Revenue wasn't short of silver, but all that silver had places to go. A little was spent here, and a little was spent there, so it all added up to quite a lot.

Officials' salaries are untouchable; this money is their wages, and touching it would cause serious trouble. Wasn't that what happened during the Jiajing era? The court had no money to pay salaries, leaving officials without even money for the New Year. This eventually led Hai Rui to submit a memorial, pointing his finger at the Jiajing Emperor and cursing, "Jiajing, Jiajing, every family is ruined!" Although there are no more figures like Hai Rui in the Ming Dynasty, if this money were touched, those officials, though perhaps not saying it aloud, would certainly curse him behind his back.

The same applied to the imperial clan. After Zhu Shenzhui became emperor, he adjusted the policy towards the imperial clan, reorganized the Imperial Clan Court, and gradually adopted a policy of nominally granting fiefs to princes in various parts of the Ming Dynasty, thereby gradually reclaiming the lands held by the imperial clan in the localities.

For this reason, the expenses of the imperial clan are currently higher than before, but in the long run, it is worthwhile. Moreover, this policy must not be changed frequently; it must be maintained stably. As long as it is maintained for a period of time, and internal changes are gradually made within the imperial clan, the Ming imperial clan will not become a burden on the court as before.

As for the funds for military pay and the replacement of weaponry, these cannot be touched. The army is the foundation of national stability, even more important than officials' salaries. The same applies to the investment in the Ming Dynasty's four major shipyards; this forms the basis of the Ming Dynasty's three navies and is a long-established policy that absolutely cannot be changed. The situation in Yunnan is even more unacceptable. Sha Dingzhou is on the verge of defeat, and with some effort, the unrest in Yunnan can be completely quelled. Therefore, the expenditures in Yunnan must be guaranteed, as this is crucial to the overall situation in Yunnan.

This is what Yang Sichang meant by the repair of the palace and the maintenance of the gardens. Although he was forced to say this, Zhu Shenzhui understood Yang Sichang's purpose as soon as he heard the words. He couldn't help but curse the old man in his heart for being so unfilial and deliberately bringing this up.

Zhu Shenzhui was not like the Chongzhen Emperor. His throne was not only obtained through military force, but he was also one of the few emperors in the Ming Dynasty since Hongwu and Yongle who held real power. Moreover, Zhu Shenzhui's rise to power was based on wealth accumulated through smuggling and trade, and he could easily understand Yang Sichang's ulterior motives with a little thought.

Yang Sichang was simply feigning poverty in front of me, saying that the Ministry of Revenue really didn't have any extra money for disaster relief. The Ministry of Revenue could barely come up with one million yuan at the moment, and if it wanted more, it would probably have to cut other expenditures. Of the series of expenditures he just mentioned, the only ones that could be cut were the palace repairs and garden maintenance, since these were only for the emperor's enjoyment and did not fall under military and political expenditures, so even a slight reduction wouldn't be a problem.

If the emperor were to approve the temporary allocation of these funds as disaster relief, the Ministry of Revenue could come up with two million yuan, which would be sufficient for disaster relief given the current situation. However, the problem was that this precedent couldn't be set. Once it was, who knew what might follow? The repair and maintenance of the palace and gardens were already part of the imperial budget, and the Forbidden City hadn't undergone any repairs for over twenty years since the main halls were renovated during the Tianqi era. After such a long period, many parts of the palace were in dire need of repair.

When Emperor Tianqi wanted to build the palace, the court proposed a budget of 20 million taels of silver. However, due to Emperor Tianqi's insistence and his own expertise in carpentry, he personally supervised the construction and the final cost was only 5 million taels of silver, which was only a quarter of the original budget.

Currently, the Ministry of Revenue is only spending one million yuan. From this perspective, Zhu Shenzhui is already exceptionally frugal. These expenses are only for the maintenance and material replacement of palaces that need repair, plus some simple work on the imperial gardens. If he really wanted to undertake large-scale construction projects, or large-scale projects like the Summer Palace or the Old Summer Palace in the history of the Qing Dynasty, this amount of money would be a drop in the ocean.

Even this small expense was being targeted by Yang Sichang, who even intended to get Zhu Shenzhui to ask for the funds to help disaster victims. Wasn't this deliberately setting a trap for Zhu Shenzhui? How is this any different from Emperor Chongzhen being tricked into taking money from the Imperial Treasury to fill the Ministry of Revenue's shortfall? If this precedent is set, there will be many problems later. If Zhu Shenzhui wants to ask the Ministry of Revenue for money for the maintenance of the Forbidden City in the future, the Ministry of Revenue will have a similar excuse to shirk responsibility and directly shift the blame onto the emperor.

"Heh, you think you can outsmart me? Yang Sichang, you little brat, you've actually set your sights on my purse strings! You've got some nerve!" Zhu Shenzhui's expression remained calm, but he cursed inwardly. Over the years, he had used various means to continuously weaken the Ministry of Revenue's power, including the Imperial Household Department, the Royal Bank of the Ming Dynasty, the Zongli Yamen (Foreign Ministry), and the Customs Service. These institutions were all quite independent, some even directly possessing some of the Ministry of Revenue's functions. In particular, the bank monopolized currency issuance, and the Zongli Yamen and the Customs Service monopolized customs duties, forming a relatively independent financial system detached from the Ministry of Revenue. As a result, the Ministry of Revenue's power was significantly reduced, and it lost control in many aspects. How could Yang Sichang, as the Minister of Revenue, be comfortable with this?

(End of this chapter)