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

Chapter 1250 Advice
Hong Chengchou wasn't angry. He smiled and said, "A few days ago, a friend from Jiangnan sent me some tea through someone. Why don't you come over to my place and have a taste?"

Yang Sichang thought for a moment and nodded slightly. The two returned to the cabinet one after the other and then went straight to Hong Chengchou's office.

As the Grand Secretary, Hong Chengchou's office was different from others; it was a separate room. Upon entering, Hong Chengchou invited Yang Sichang to sit down, and he also took out tea leaves to brew tea. Soon, the aroma of tea filled the air. Hong Chengchou personally poured a cup of tea for Yang Sichang and gestured for him to taste it.

Yang Sichang had no interest in drinking tea at the moment, but he still had to put on an act. He took a sip, nodded slightly, and said, "Good tea."

"It's good tea, but good tea needs good water to brew it, and the heat for brewing tea is also quite particular. If the water is not good, or the heat is too high or too low, this good tea will be ruined." Hong Chengchou picked up his teacup and sipped it with relish, saying this leisurely.

"What do you mean by that, Brother Hengjiu?" Yang Sichang asked, slightly taken aback.

Hong Chengchou put down his cup, looked at Yang Sichang, and said thoughtfully, "It doesn't mean anything, I just wanted to tell Brother Ziwei that some things are better left unsaid. What you did today was a bit too much."

"That's too much?" Yang Sichang sneered. "Could it be that I said something wrong today? Or is it that the Ministry of Revenue really can't come up with that much silver? As the Grand Secretary and Minister of Revenue, what wrong is there in me, a subject, speaking the truth when His Majesty asks a question?"

Seeing Yang Sichang's attitude, Hong Chengchou shook his head slightly and advised, "Method and approach are both essential. I understand the Ministry of Revenue's problem, and I can guess your intentions. Since you say so, let me ask you, does the Ministry of Revenue really not have the money? Or are you trying to use this to embezzle funds for the palace's repairs, hoping to get His Majesty to back down?"

“I…” Yang Sichang’s eyes widened, and he was about to defend himself when Hong Chengchou waved his hand and said, “Ziwei, Ziwei, I know what you want to do. You just feel that the Ministry of Revenue’s authority has been weakened in recent years.”

Upon hearing this, Yang Sichang was indignant and retorted righteously, "The Ministry of Revenue is in charge of the court's finances and is one of the six central ministries. As the Minister of Revenue, I must act in accordance with the court's rules. Currently, there is a flood in Huaibei. Although the Ministry of Revenue has a lot of money and grain, it is all limited. It is already difficult to squeeze out some. As a subject, what is wrong with telling the truth? As for what Hengjiu said, I dare not agree with it. I believe that my response was justified. On the contrary, Hengjiu played a very good game of evasion, seemingly sealing the truth but actually keeping it a secret."

Hong Chengchou sighed inwardly, thinking that Yang Sichang was simply being stubborn. There were only the two of them here, and no one else was around. Why did he still refuse to admit his little schemes?
Not everyone in the world is a fool, especially since Hong Chengchou is the Grand Secretary of the Ming Dynasty. He clearly saw through Yang Sichang's intentions today, and the Emperor had seen through them even earlier. If he hadn't decisively stopped Yang Sichang and used the suggestion of creating a time difference to maneuver, it would have been difficult to salvage the situation if Yang Sichang had continued to reveal the truth or if the Emperor had become furious.

Hong Chengchou knew exactly what Yang Sichang wanted to do: he felt that the Imperial Household Department, the Royal Bank, the Zongli Yamen (Foreign Ministry), and the Customs were taking away power from the Ministry of Revenue. Although Yang Sichang was a Grand Secretary, he was still the Minister of Revenue, and naturally, he was unwilling to have less power in his hands.

In Yang Sichang's view, all the court's revenue should be under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Revenue, rather than being divided among these departments. Now, not only has the Ministry of Revenue failed to maintain its previous authority, but many of its powers have been delegated after the establishment of these departments. In particular, some taxes and grains that should have been collected and managed by the Ministry of Revenue have fallen into the hands of these departments. How could Yang Sichang be comfortable with this?
Today, Yang Sichang deliberately used the excuse of insufficient funds in the Ministry of Revenue and even brought up the expenses for repairing the palace, clearly intending to use this as an excuse to embarrass the emperor. If the emperor, considering the urgency of disaster relief, decides to suspend the palace repair expenses and divert the funds to disaster relief instead, Yang Sichang will have achieved his first objective.

Once this precedent is set, the Ministry of Revenue can find various reasons to reduce palace expenditures, forcing the emperor to relinquish the powers of those departments back to the Ministry of Revenue, thereby elevating its status among the Six Ministries. Moreover, this would not only benefit the Ministry of Revenue but also greatly benefit Yang Sichang himself. As a minister, his uprightness and concern for the people, advising the emperor against indulging in pleasure and urging him to use money wisely, would, once word spread, make him a pillar of the current upright faction. He would not only gain widespread fame but also gather a large group of upright officials around him, thus forming his own faction.

Hong Chengchou saw all of this clearly and was even more surprised by Yang Sichang's audacity. However, considering the actual situation and his position as the Grand Secretary, Hong Chengchou did not let Yang Sichang succeed at that time and directly intervened to stop the matter. It can be said that Yang Sichang failed today because Hong Chengchou ruined his plans. Under such circumstances, how could Yang Sichang give Hong Chengchou a pleasant look?

Picking up the teapot in front of him and refilling his cup, Hong Chengchou said calmly, "Ziwei, you've gone too far. That's not how things are done. Putting aside whether His Majesty agrees with your statement, even if His Majesty takes into account the Ministry of Revenue's insufficient funds, he will absolutely not be led astray."

"Our Emperor is no ordinary man. Don't forget how the current Emperor came to power. He's intolerant of any wrongdoing. Besides, his establishment of the Imperial Household Department, the Bank, and the Zongli Yamen, along with the dispatch of customs officials, is highly significant. Even if he stripped the Ministry of Revenue of some of its power, he didn't pocket all the money. There's still the annual settlement with the Ministry of Revenue, isn't there?" "So what? You can't generalize like that!" Yang Sichang retorted. "If the Ministry of Revenue really can't come up with the money, wouldn't they find a way through these means? The easiest way is to divert the available funds. Hasn't the Ministry of Revenue been doing this for years?"

“Times have changed!” Hong Chengchou warned, “Things are different now. His Majesty is not so easily fooled. In other words, what will you do if His Majesty forces the Ministry of Revenue to borrow money from the Royal Bank?”

"A loan? Heh, let them lend it, what's the harm? Once the money reaches the Ministry of Revenue, what's there to fear from the Royal Bank demanding it back?" Yang Sichang sneered. In his view, this was no different from taking money from the Imperial Treasury. Wasn't this how Emperor Chongzhen was fooled back then? The Ministry of Revenue kept crying poverty, saying they had no money. To solve the military expenditure problem, Emperor Chongzhen had no choice but to take money from the Imperial Treasury and lend it to the Ministry of Revenue. But in reality, this so-called loan was like throwing a meat bun to a dog—gone forever.

For over a decade during the Chongzhen reign, the Ministry of Revenue had borrowed an enormous amount of silver from the Imperial Treasury for this reason, nearly depleting the wealth accumulated by the Wanli Emperor over several decades. The Ministry of Revenue had no intention of repaying these loans. When the Chongzhen Emperor inquired about repayment, the Ministry simply shrugged and claimed they had no money to repay. Furthermore, the Chongzhen Emperor valued his reputation, and the loan agreement was merely a verbal promise without any written record. Even if the Ministry of Revenue denied it, the emperor could do nothing about it. This matter remained unresolved even after Zhu Shenzhui ascended the throne, becoming a deeply unresolved debt.

Therefore, Yang Sichang felt that since he could do it this way before, he could do it this way now. As long as the emperor made concessions, he could take this opportunity to force the emperor to divert the money, and then use this as an example, things would be much easier afterward.

"Why not?" Seeing Yang Sichang's simplistic thinking, Hong Chengchou was both amused and exasperated. Did Yang Sichang really think the current emperor was the Chongzhen Emperor of yesteryear? This emperor was a man who did not tolerate any injustice. Hong Chengchou said, "Your Majesty doesn't need to take action yourself. You can simply have the Ministry of Revenue negotiate with the Royal Bank or the Imperial Household Department. These two departments are not among the Six Ministries of the court, and they will not give the Ministry of Revenue any face."

"If the Ministry of Revenue doesn't have money, it's very simple. Just like doing business, they can use goods as collateral, and the Royal Bank can lend money to the Ministry of Revenue."

"A mortgage? What could the Ministry of Revenue possibly offer as collateral?"

"Taxes!" Seeing that Yang Sichang still didn't understand, Hong Chengchou simply explained it clearly. He said to Yang Sichang, "The Ministry of Revenue's power over taxation can be used as collateral. In that case, how much power do you think the Ministry of Revenue will have left? Once this is mortgaged, what use will the Ministry of Revenue be?"

"This is impossible! How could someone scheme like this!" Yang Sichang couldn't help but exclaim.

"If you can scheme against others, why can't others scheme against you? Even if His Majesty does this, what can you do? You're the one who said there was no money, but it was His Majesty who tried to help the Ministry of Revenue solve the problem. No matter how you look at it, this matter is not His Majesty's fault. Moreover, the power to collect taxes is only a nominal collateral. In principle, it can return to the Ministry of Revenue once the loan is repaid. But Ziwei, don't forget the bad debts that the Ministry of Revenue borrowed from the Imperial Treasury in the past. If all of these are brought up later, the taxes will no longer be under the Ministry of Revenue's control. After a few years, what can the Ministry of Revenue do?"

"I..." Yang Sichang was speechless for a moment. He never expected such a method, but upon closer inspection, Emperor Zhu Shenzhui might actually do such a thing.

Compared to the Chongzhen Emperor, who was obsessed with saving face and suffered for it, Zhu Shenzhui was not only not so easily fooled, but also, once he took action, he went all out. Take the previous Beijing Inspection and Jiangnan Case, for example. Who in the world didn't know how powerful the Donglin Party was back then? Donglin Party members were practically everywhere, both inside and outside the court. But what about now? The Donglin Party was long gone. Its core members split into three factions. One faction was persecuted to the point of near death by the court using the Beijing Inspection and Jiangnan Case, with many losing their heads. Another faction, led by Qian Qianyi, directly surrendered to the emperor, transforming themselves into his lackeys. The third faction, disheartened, simply gave up and never regained its former glory.

If Emperor Zhu Shenzhui, disregarding all shame, directly used the Ministry of Revenue's authority to mortgage its tax collection power to the Royal Bank, and then the Royal Bank provided a loan to the Ministry of Revenue to solve its funding problems, would Yang Sichang, as the Minister of Revenue, agree or refuse?
If he agreed, Yang Sichang would be relinquishing power, with extremely serious consequences. If he refused, it would be tantamount to slapping himself in the face; he had just said the Ministry of Revenue had no money, but now he refused to lend money—did he suddenly conjure up funds? How could Yang Sichang explain this?

If Hong Chengchou hadn't intervened decisively and found a suitable reason to smooth things over, giving both sides a way out, the matter might have become unmanageable, just as Hong Chengchou predicted. Thinking of this, Yang Sichang fell silent, his gaze fixed on the teacup in front of him, as if a flower bloomed within it.

(End of this chapter)