I am a temporary worker in Jinyiwei, how did I become a powerful official?

Chapter 206 There are only ancestors who stubbornly guard the government office, not descendants who hide like rats!

Fang Youshan opened the box, which contained stacks of brand-new banknotes.

The Ming Dynasty's paper money was only slightly more expensive than the yellow toilet paper used for wiping one's bottom, nothing more.

During the Northern Song Dynasty, Sichuan lacked copper, so iron coins were minted locally.

Later, Sichuan merchants printed paper money called "Jiaozi," which was not issued arbitrarily. The Sichuan merchants prepared a large amount of iron coins and promised to exchange them.

The amount of Jiaozi issued corresponds to the amount of iron coins held by the Shu merchants. Ordinary people could exchange Jiaozi for iron coins at any time, at a 1:1 ratio.

This is what later economists called "reserve funds".

During the Southern Song Dynasty, the government found paper money to be very useful and issued official paper money called "Huizi".

The paper money also had reserves, but less than the actual amount of paper money issued.

For every 100 strings of cash printed, the Southern Song court would prepare 28 strings of copper coins. This is known as "leveraging" in later economics.

The reserve leverage is increased to four times, which can not only ensure the stability of the currency value, but also appropriately promote economic development and prosperity.

When the Ming Dynasty was founded, Emperor Taizu ascended the throne. Although he was a wise and powerful founding emperor, no one is perfect, and he naturally made mistakes.

In the eighth year of the Hongwu reign, China had just ended its wars and been unified, and everything was in need of rebuilding. The country's fiscal revenue was pitifully small.

A civil official suggested that Emperor Taizu print paper money in the style of the Song Dynasty. Upon hearing this, Emperor Taizu slapped his thigh and exclaimed, "Hey, paper money is a great thing!"

As for reserves?
What a joke! Reserves are nothing more than a form of credit. Am I, the founding emperor of a dynasty, less creditworthy than a bunch of stinking coins?

Therefore, the Ming Dynasty began printing paper money, stipulating that one string of paper money could be exchanged for one thousand copper coins.

As for the reserve of paper money—zero.

With unreserved banknotes being printed in large quantities, it's easy to imagine how popular they were among the general public.

The paper money printed in the eighth year of the Hongwu reign could only be exchanged for two hundred copper coins for one string of paper money by the nineteenth year of the Hongwu reign.

The founding emperor also arbitrarily distributed large amounts of "gifted paper money" to his sons and ministers, which became the final straw that broke the back of the paper money system.

For example, in the 29th year of the Hongwu reign, the Ming army launched its thirteenth northern expedition, and Prince Yan, Zhu Di, won a great victory. The Hongwu Emperor was so pleased that he bestowed upon his beloved fourth son a precious banknote with a face value of one million strings of cash.

That's right, a single note had a face value of one million strings of cash, comparable to the gold yuan of later generations. The bald man was overjoyed.

With such indiscriminate and excessive issuance of paper money, its value is bound to decline year after year, even day after day.

By the fifth year of the Yongle reign, a single guan of paper money could only be exchanged for twelve copper coins.

By the eighth year of the Jiajing reign, a single guan of paper money could only be exchanged for two copper coins.

By the thirty-ninth year of the Jiajing reign, the paper money had lost all its value and could not be exchanged for a single coin.

When the imperial court was in financial straits and wanted to cut officials' salaries, it would use paper money to pay them.

Officials in the Ming Dynasty didn't rely on their meager salaries for food, so it didn't matter to them.

But the Ming army soldiers relied on their military pay to survive and support their families. Paying them with paper money was blatant embezzlement; it was better to owe them pay first, since there was always a chance of getting it paid later.

Fang Youshan opened the box and revealed the precious banknotes. The training ground immediately erupted in chaos.

The soldiers, already seething with anger from being instigated, were instantly ignited when they were paid in paper money.

They roared in anger: "We tolerated the reduction of military pay from five coins to four coins. We tolerated the cutoff of pay for our fallen comrades. Now you're paying pay with paper money? Does the court think we're livestock that can survive on grass?"

"Damn it! Which bastard came up with this way to cut off our livelihood? I'll chop that son of a bitch up!"

Fang Youshan quickly said, "Fellow countrymen! Please calm down! Let me explain!"

“I know that using paper money to pay military salaries is cutting off our comrades’ livelihood! But this order came from Huang Maoguan, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue!”

"I've tried to persuade Minister Huang several times, but he won't listen!"

"I want to fight for my comrades' survival. But I'm just a lowly fifth-rank official, with little influence. How could I dare disobey the minister's order?"

Among the soldiers, there was an informant who had been bribed by Luo Longwen in advance to speak on Fang Youshan's behalf, in case someone killed Fang Youshan in the heat of the moment.

The inside man shouted, "Brothers, don't make things difficult for Vice-Director Fang. The grievances have their source, the debts have their debtors; let's go into the city and find Magistrate Huang!"

Then someone shouted, "That's right! Kill that bastard Huang Maoguan first. If the court won't pay us our military pay, we'll take it ourselves!"

"Nanjing is full of wealthy families and powerful merchants. If the court owes us one tael, we'll take back one hundred taels from the city. The extra amount can be considered interest paid by the court!"

General Liao Jie, the guerrilla commander in charge of the camp, quickly shouted, "Comrades, please calm down for now!"

Before he finished speaking, several soldiers jumped onto the command platform and held their knives to Liao Jie's neck: "If you help us, we'll still acknowledge you as the warden. But if you're in cahoots with that corrupt official Huang Maoguan, we'll chop you up right now!"

The soldiers' steel blades were merciless. What could Liao Jie do? He could only remain silent.

Meanwhile, Lin Shisan rode a fast horse, leading thirty Jinyiwei comrades, and hurriedly arrived at the Zhenwu Camp's encampment.

Thirty people trying to stop five thousand from launching a mutiny is like an ant trying to shake a tree, or an egg hitting a rock.

The Zhenwu Battalion surged out of their encampment, these soldiers carrying knives and guns, fully armored and helmeted.

Lin Shisan blocked their way and shouted, "Brothers! I am Lin Shisan, a commander of the Nanjing Imperial Guard! The imperial funds will be allocated soon! Please be patient!"

A leading flag officer shouted, "The Ministry of Revenue just tried to fool us with paper money. We'd rather trust a dog than the imperial court! Brothers, kill that bastard from the Embroidered Uniform Guard!"

Lin Shisan was stunned: The military pay that Fang Youshan came to issue was—precious paper? It's over! It's over!
Fang Youshan was stunned when he saw Lin Shisan. He thought to himself: What's he doing here?

Lin Shisan was, after all, the sworn brother of Yan Shifan and Luo Longwen. Given the urgency of the situation, Fang Youshan didn't have time to think things through; his first thought was: I must save Lin Shisan's life.

Fang Youshan then hurriedly whispered a few words to one of the trial officers he had bribed.

Commander Shi shouted, "Brothers, don't kill innocent people by mistake! Commander Lin got into a fight with Minister Huang to fight for your military pay. They were both throwing punches like madmen!"

"He's one of our own! Forget about him, the important thing is to go to the Ministry of Revenue and settle accounts with Huang Maoguan!"

Upon hearing this, the soldiers all bypassed Lin Shisan and rushed towards the Ministry of Revenue's office.

Lin Shisan shouted hoarsely, "Come back! Come back, all of you!" But his voice was immediately drowned out by the angry shouts of the soldiers.

After the five thousand Tiger Wolf Division members had all fled, Lin Shisan sighed, "Alas, it's all over!"

He suddenly remembered that the soldiers had just been shouting that they were going to kill Huang Maoguan.

He thought to himself: Could it be that Huang Maoguan has offended Yan's faction? Did Yan's faction instigate this mutiny in order to get rid of Huang?

That doesn't make sense! The Yan family has countless ways of persecuting, killing, and framing people. If they wanted to get rid of Lao Huang, why would they resort to such a dangerous method as inciting a mutiny?
If it's not to get rid of Lao Huang, then what are they after?
Questions welled up in Lin Shisan's mind.

After a moment, he calmed down: No, the rebels are after Huang Maoguan. I have to hurry and warn him so he can hide.

Lin Shisan rode a tall, magnificent horse given to him by Xu Pengju. Four legs are much faster than two.

He ran wildly toward the Ministry of Revenue and rushed into the main hall before the rebel soldiers arrived.

Upon entering the main hall, Lin Shisan shouted at Huang Maoguan, "There's been a mutiny! The rebels are coming to the Ministry of Revenue to kill you! Minister Huang, you'd better change into civilian clothes and hide!"

Huang Maoguan calmly asked, "What happened?"

Lin Shisan told Huang Maoguan everything about Fang Youshan's trip to Zhenwu Camp to distribute paper money as military pay and the Zhenwu Camp mutiny.

Then he urged anxiously, "Minister Huang, quickly change into civilian clothes and leave! Hide! The traitors have been misled and have specifically targeted you for assassination."

Huang Maoguan stared at Lin Shisan, remaining seated firmly in his chair, showing no intention of leaving. Lin Shisan shouted, "If you don't leave now, it will be too late! Once the rebel troops surround the Ministry of Revenue, your life will be in danger."

Huang Maoguan stood up and straightened his official hat: "My Huang family has been officials since the Hongwu reign. We have only loyal ancestors who guarded the government office to the death, not cowardly descendants who hide like rats!"

It seems that Huang Maoguan has made up his mind to hold out in the Ministry of Revenue's office.

Lin Shisan held him in high esteem. But he still earnestly advised him, "Minister Huang, as long as the green hills remain, there will always be firewood to burn!"

Huang Maoguan shook his head: "I do not possess the strategic brilliance of Mr. Yangming, who single-handedly quelled the rebellion of Prince Ning in a white robe. But I do have the courage to face death."

After speaking, Huang Maoguan turned around, walked to the drawer of the magistrate's desk, and took out a set of keys.

Huang Maoguan then handed the bunch of keys to Lin Shisan: "These keys open the locks of two places. One is the Ministry of Revenue's treasury, and the other is the Ministry of Revenue's accounting office."

"There are only two thousand taels of silver and a few hundred strings of copper coins left in the treasury. If the rebels rob the treasury, it will be considered as replenishing their military pay."

"The accounting office is an extremely important place. I suspect that someone instigated a mutiny and provoked them to come to the Ministry of Revenue in order to burn down the accounting office and destroy the account books."

“If the ledgers are lost, the flow of a lot of money will be impossible to trace.”

"I'm giving you this set of keys. Please take your men and guard the Ministry of Revenue's accounting office!"

Huang Maoguan's guess made perfect sense. Lin Shisan, upon hearing this, was enlightened: So that's how it is. It must be that the Yan family has some terrible debts to settle with the Ministry of Revenue in Nanjing.

Guarding the Ministry of Revenue's accounts was not the duty of Lin Shisan, a sinecure official of the Nanjing Imperial Guard.

He could have simply walked away. Let the mutiny happen; if the sky falls, the big guys will hold it up. What does it have to do with a mere commander like him?

But he did not choose to do that.

Zhang Bo once commented on Lin Shisan: "You're not suited to be an official. Because you still have a conscience. Not much, but enough. That meager amount of conscience will eventually kill you."

Just as Uncle Zhang said.

Lin Shisan's conscience led him to choose to risk staying.

Lin Shisan cupped his hands and said, "Minister Huang, rest assured. Even if it costs me my life, I will ensure the safety of the Ministry of Revenue's accounts. I will take the brothers there now."

Lin Shisan led thirty of his comrades to the front of the Ministry of Revenue's accounting office.

Two quarters of an hour later, the mutineers stormed into the Ministry of Revenue's office. They shouted, "Swords in hand, follow me! Kill the officials and seize the military pay!"

Huang Maoguan straightened his hat and belt and walked steadily out of the hall: "I am Huang Maoguan, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue in Nanjing of the Great Ming Dynasty. Why don't you kneel down?"

Huang Maoguan originally intended to reason with the rebel soldiers.

However, when a scholar encounters a soldier, he cannot reason with him, and may not even have the opportunity to do so.

A group of rebel soldiers stepped forward and, without saying a word, swung their fists at Huang Maoguan.

Countless mutineers joined the fray, attacking Huang Maoguan. They rained blows upon him, punches and kicks flying. Huang Maoguan, a frail scholar, was doomed!

On his deathbed, Huang Maoguan uttered a final statement that would go down in history: "Ma Kun, Fang Youshan has ruined me!"

Ma Kun was the former Minister of War in Nanjing who reduced the military pay of the Zhenwu Battalion soldiers by one qian.

Fang Youshan then used a box of banknotes to ignite the anger of the Zhenwu Camp soldiers.

Moments later, Huang Maoguan died.

The only truly capable official among the various units left behind in Nanjing died at the hands of the rebel soldiers.

Huang Maoguan was a native of Putian, Fujian. In the sixteenth year of the Jiajing reign (1547), he ranked fifty-third in the Fujian provincial examination and forty-fifth in the second class of the imperial examination in the seventeenth year of the Jiajing reign (1548).

He was initially appointed as a principal clerk in the Ministry of Rites, then transferred to the Ministry of Personnel, and successively served as a literary selection officer, vice minister of the Court of Imperial Stud, minister of the Court of Imperial Stud, and prefect of Shuntian Prefecture.

In the thirty-sixth year of the Jiajing reign, he was promoted to Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue in Nanjing for his meritorious service in building the border wall at Chimukou in Ningxia, and later promoted to Left Vice Minister, and appointed as the Governor-General of Nanjing's grain and provisions.

He was diligent in his administration, and people at the time praised him, saying, "In the Nanjing garrison, only Mao Guan was of great help."

In the spring of the thirty-ninth year of the Jiajing reign (1550), the Zhenwu Battalion mutinied and he was killed.

Before long, several hundred soldiers rushed to the front of the Ministry of Revenue's accounting office.

Lin Shisan drew his Embroidered Spring Blade and declared with righteous indignation, "This is the Nanjing Ministry of Revenue's accounting office, a place of great importance. Anyone who trespasses will be killed!"

More than thirty Imperial Guards also drew their swords.

Because the incident happened so suddenly, Lin Shisan only took his waist knife with him when he left Dachanggan Street with his comrades. He did not take any spears, crossbows, or muskets, and none of them were wearing armor.

If hundreds of heavily armored soldiers wielding spears were to charge at them, Lin Shisan and his men wouldn't even be enough to fill their teeth.

But Lin Shisan showed no fear at this moment.

I have enjoyed five years of great wealth and honor. If my life is destined to end here today, then I will face death with valor!
History may only mention me briefly, or even leave my name unmentioned. But I have a clear conscience!

The head centurion glanced at Lin Shisan: "Is this the accounting office?"

Lin Shisan roared, "It's the accounting office! Trespassers will be killed!"

The centurion cursed, "We're looking for the treasury. Why are we going into the accounting office to do something so trivial?"

Just as he finished cursing, a soldier ran over: "Brothers, we've found the treasury! It's to the east!"

The centurion roared, "Brothers, go to the treasury and get the soldiers' pay!"

After saying that, they turned and left.

Lin Shisan thought to himself: Could it be that the reason Yan's party instigated the mutiny was not to settle scores?

Why would they risk so much to incite a mutiny?
After looting the treasury, the mutinous soldiers left the Ministry of Revenue and began plundering throughout Nanjing.

Lin Shisan stood guard in front of the accounting office until midnight, but no one dared to make a move.

Lin Shisan instructed his comrades: "You all stay here for now. I'm giving you a death order: anyone who deserts their post will be executed without mercy!"

His comrades had received plenty of benefits from Lin Shisan on a regular basis, and were extremely loyal to him.

The comrades declared, "Don't worry, Commander Lin, the accounting office is here as long as I am!"

Lin Shisan left the Ministry of Revenue and rode his horse to the Duke of Wei's mansion.

Suppressing the rebellion requires a legitimate cause. Xu Pengju, the Duke of Wei, is the garrison commander of Nanjing; Lin Shisan needs to find him first before making any plans.

The road to the Duke's mansion was a complete mess.

Everywhere were soldiers clutching their loot. Many passersby lay dead in the streets. There were also women, disheveled and crying, lying on the ground.

Lin Shisan galloped at full speed for a moment and finally arrived at the Duke of Wei's mansion.

Inside the Duke of Wei's mansion, the officials in charge of the Six Ministries and the Five Military Commands were discussing matters with Xu Pengju.

Lin Shisan strode in.

When Xu Pengju saw his fellow angler, he casually pointed to a spot and gestured for him to find a place to sit.

This meeting about suppressing the mutiny was a prime example of bureaucratic nonsense.

(End of this chapter)