Taichang Ming Dynasty

Chapter 192: Farmers' Struggle

Liu Yirong could no longer remember how he got on the sedan chair, or how he was carried back home. When he stepped off the sedan chair and landed on the ground again, he felt his body was very heavy, as if he were being pressed down by a huge rock.

"Master." The old housekeeper of the Liu Mansion came forward and bowed respectfully before saying, "Master Han is here."

"Ah?" Liu Yirong's mind was still in a state of chaos, and it took him a while to come back to his senses. "Ah! Yu Chen is here, where is he?"

Where else could it be? In the living room.

The butler was frightened by the master's state. In his memory, the master's face was always calm and composed. Even if he was angry or hurt, it was mostly pretended. Only when a reckless servant interrupted his reading would his face briefly show true anger.

"Master, what's wrong with you?" the butler asked with concern.

"How many years have you followed me?" Liu Yirong suddenly asked.

"Master, I was bought by the great master. I've been serving the Liu family since before you were born. So, I've been with you all my life." Liu Yirong was a legitimate son, but not the eldest, and therefore didn't inherit Liu Yuecai's lineage. After Liu Yuecai's death, his three sons split up the family line, and Liu Yirong was separated to form his own lineage. Until then, the old housekeeper had always addressed Liu Yirong as the Third Young Master. "Master, why do you ask that?" the housekeeper was bewildered and panicked.

"Nothing. I just suddenly thought of something." Liu Yirong smiled silently and shook his head. "You wouldn't understand even if I told you. It would only add to your troubles. Take me to see Yu Chen."

Liu Yirong's mind was still in a state of confusion, but performing the ceremony had become instinctive. No need to think about it.

According to the Book of Rites, when the host pays homage to the guest, he should bow to the guest first; when the guest pays homage to the host, he should bow to the host first.

Liu Yirong and Han Yu held similar positions, both serving as Minister of Rites and Grand Secretary of the Dongke Academy. However, Han Yu was older and a year older than Liu Yirong, having achieved the Jinshi degree in the Renchen year of the Wanli reign (1644-1716). Therefore, when the two met in the reception room after a long absence, Liu Yirong, as the host, bowed first, and Han Yu returned the gesture.

"I guess Yu Chen should have been reinstated by imperial decree, right?" Liu Yirong shook his head and spoke first.

"Yes, I received a notice from the palace at 5 p.m." Han Yu nodded and said, "Then I went to the cabinet, but only Lord Shi and Lord Shen were on duty. Lord Shi said that Ye Ci Fu had been summoned to the Hongde Hall by the emperor, so I wondered if you had been summoned as well."

"Prime Minister Fang was there too. Besides the three of us, six ministers were also present," Liu Yirong added, "and General Luo from the Imperial Guard."

"Are you talking about the beating in court and the redress?" Although he didn't witness it with his own eyes, Han Yu had heard about it.

"The emperor didn't even mention these two things. He just said that we should follow the will of heaven and eliminate current ills. But I think the emperor's real purpose should be to finalize the Tianjin issue." Liu Yirong rubbed his temples.

"Yeah." Han Yu nodded and asked, "Does anyone object?"

The powerful faction of the Donglin Party had already reached a consensus on the opening of Tianjin. If anyone had sincerely opposed it at the time, they would have been immediately attacked by Liu Yirong, Xu Guangqi, and Li Ruhua. Of course, Li Ruhua was not a Donglin Party member, and he only discussed the matter with Xu Guangqi.

"Ye Ci Fu and Huang Butang didn't say anything." Liu Yirong shook his head.

In closing Yuegang and opening Tianjin, Liu, Han, and even Ye Xianggao and Shi Jixie were wary, as they were also from Fujian. However, since Shi Jixie was not invited, Liu Yirong did not mention him.

"Is this how it's done?" Han Yu asked.

"It should be. At least the cabinet and the six ministries have finalized it, but after this trend continues, officials from Guangdong, Fujian, Zhejiang and even Nanzhili will definitely not remain silent. Alas!" When Liu Yirong mentioned the local interest connections, he thought of what Xu Guangqi had said to him.

"As long as the emperor is determined, these are minor issues." Han Yu had no idea what Liu Yirong was thinking and thought he was just worrying too much. "What I'm really worried about is smuggling."

Xu Guangqi insisted on abolishing Yuegang because the southeastern coast was too far from the capital. Even an expedited journey of 800 li would take nearly two weeks. With officials abolished and officials displaced, even if Yuegang's tax system were reformed and tax officials or even eunuchs dispatched to Fujian to supervise tax collection, there was no guarantee they would not be corrupted. Ultimately, the court would likely collect little revenue and face criticism. It would be better to abolish it outright and build a new port in Tianjin, where the emperor's spies could travel back and forth in a single day.

But this presented a new problem. Jiangnan had been prosperous since ancient times, and the Zhejiang region was a hub of industry and commerce during the Ming Dynasty. Furthermore, ocean-going merchants did not come from the north, but rather traded goods from the south to the north. This not only incurred additional transportation costs but also taxes. Driven by profit, smuggling by officials and gentry was likely to resurge along the southeastern coast.

"When weighing two benefits, choose the greater one; when weighing two harms, choose the closer one. Anyway, Yuegang doesn't engage in smuggling and doesn't pay taxes to the court. As long as a ship comes to Tianjin for trade, it's good for the court." Liu Yirong's heart ached again. The more he spoke, the more he felt like a mean person who was strict with others but lenient with himself. It felt like a thorn stuck between his ribs, scratching and hurting with every beat of his heart.

Han Yu nodded. "You're right. The Ming Dynasty's main problem is that private interests are enriching while public interests are declining. It's time to reduce private interests and enrich the public. Didn't Xu Zixian say he would build a navy in Dengzhou, Lushun, and other places? Let's fire our guns inward, sink a few of his smuggling ships, and then bring the people behind them to justice. The rest will naturally behave themselves." Han Yu's thinking was simple. If they couldn't win the argument, as long as the overall cost of smuggling was greater than the transportation and tax costs saved, the merchants wouldn't take the risk. After all, there was money to be made.

“.” This time Liu Yirong did not respond.

"Is there anything else?" Han Yu asked again.

"Yes." Liu Yirong closed his eyes and rubbed his Jingming acupoint. When his spirit and mood relaxed a little, he opened his eyes and said, "There are also the cleanup of the inner court, the reduction of redundancy in the outer court, and the supervision of tax collection. These are all major matters." Liu Yirong recounted what happened in Hongde Hall. He only omitted his own advice.

"Great, great! There's hope for the Ming Dynasty's revival! Your Majesty is wise, Your Majesty is wise!" Han Yu couldn't help but stand up and bow repeatedly towards the Forbidden City. After a long while, Han Yu finally calmed down.

Han Yu had no intention of eating at Liu's house for free, so after learning everything he wanted to know, he decided to take his leave. Han Yu stood up, bowed to Liu Yirong, and said, "Ji Hui, if there is nothing else, I will take my leave first."

"Oh!" Liu Yirong was caught in the contradiction between his ambition and wealth. He wanted to find someone to talk to, but he didn't know how to start.

"Is there anything else?" Han Yu's tone sounded excited.

"I just want to keep you for a quick meal." Liu Yirong shook his head.

"I won't eat. My family is waiting for me." Han Yu was in a good mood and didn't notice that anything was wrong with Liu Yirong.

"Then I won't keep you here." The usually brave Liu Yirong acted like a coward this time. He hoped Han Yu would learn from Xu Guangqi or someone else about his advice in the Hongde Hall and then proactively question him. That way, he could easily resign.

"Goodbye." Just as Han Yu bowed and turned around, the old housekeeper of the Liu Mansion came over.

"Master, it's Lord Han." The old butler handed the envelope to Liu Yirong.

"Who handed it to you?" Liu Yirong asked. "A young man. He didn't say which government office he was from. He said that if I gave you this envelope, you would know the answer," the old butler replied.

"Okay." Liu Yirong didn't avoid Han Yu and opened it directly.

Han Yu had no intention of asking more questions. He just nodded to the old butler who greeted him and continued walking in the direction of leaving.

"Yu Chen!" Liu Yirong called out to Han Yu.

"What's wrong?" Han Yu turned around and saw Liu Yirong's sad expression.

The "master" butler also noticed something was wrong.

"Ji Hui, what's wrong with you?" Han Yu walked to Liu Yirong in two or three steps.

"Get out." Liu Yirong dismissed the butler.

"Master?" Aside from the disastrous defeat at Sarhu, the steward had never seen such a look on Liu Yirong's face. Even in the 21st year of the Wanli reign, when Liu Yirong failed the exam again, he hadn't looked as frightening as he did now.

"Get out!" Liu Yirong's expression was filled with conflict. He carefully held the paper in his right hand while slamming the coffee table beside him with his left. The force of his hand was so strong that even the teacup jumped.

"Yes." The housekeeper decided to ask a doctor for the master.

Han Yu did not say anything, but silently took out a square towel from his arms and wiped away the water that splashed onto the coffee table to prevent it from falling and wetting Liu Yirong's official robe.

Han Yu's actions soothed Liu Yirong. He took a deep breath and exhaled it long and tremblingly. "This is the Emperor's handwritten letter."

The emperor's handwriting had undergone a significant change since the orgy that rocked the capital, becoming soft and even clumsy, like a beginner trying to master calligraphy. Only recently had the emperor's brushstrokes begun to become firm and vigorous. But whether it was the initial elegance, the clumsiness after his illness, or the current vigor, the cabinet ministers all recognized it.

"Don't be discouraged?" Han Yu didn't understand.

"Have I told you about my family situation?" Liu Yirong asked instead of explaining immediately.

"If it's about Liu Fantai, I've heard you talk about it." Han Yu nodded. Liu Yirong had mentioned his father in casual conversation. In Liu Yirong's description, Liu Yuecai was a clean and honest man.

"The Liu family of Nanchang was established by my father's generation." Liu Yirong's eyes were full of fatigue and struggle.

"It's impossible to tell who the Nanchang Liu family's ancestors could be related to. After my father started the rebellion, some people flattered him, saying he could be related to the great Northern Wei scholar Liu Xianzhi. But my father didn't believe it, and neither do I. The Nanchang Liu family has been farmers for generations. It wasn't until my great-grandfather's generation that the clan finally had some savings, so they discussed and decided to mobilize the entire family to support a scholar. But after decades of examinations, two generations spent countless years of savings, and in the end, they didn't even produce a scholar."

"The clan couldn't hold on any longer and decided to give up because supporting a scholar was too expensive. Another exam would require selling their land. But my grandfather decided to take another gamble. He used the family land as collateral and borrowed thirteen taels of silver from other clan members to pay for his only son, my father, to take the exam one last time. They said it was a loan, but the clan members wouldn't force anyone to sell their land to pay it back." Liu Yirong gave a wry laugh. "In the final analysis, these thirteen taels of silver were the last struggle of the entire Liu clan after a hundred years."

"My father passed the imperial examination and became a scholar, then a juren, and finally a jinshi. He rose through the ranks, and the Nanchang Liu family went from being a peasant family that anyone could bully to becoming officials and gentry."

"." Han Yu listened quietly without saying a word.

"My father eventually became the Left Governor. He once told us brothers personally that no official holding this position is clean. What he called integrity was that he would not use new tricks to extort money. He would not miss out on any of the usual practices, filial piety, and what should be received and given. Otherwise, he would not be able to hold on to his position." Liu Yirong seemed to be torturing himself.

"My father was raised by the entire clan through the blood and sweat of countless generations, so even if it disgusts us, we have to do it until we die. Why would the Liu clan want to gamble on such a scholar? Is it because the clan has some ambition to benefit the world? Of course not! This is the ambition of us who have enough to eat. Farmers want to raise a scholar, isn't it just to avoid corvée and land tax?"

"Now that I'm full, I have ambitions. I want to survey the lands of scholars all over the world. But can I survey the lands of the Liu family in Nanchang?!" Liu Yirong leaned back and fell on the chair.

"Have you advised the emperor to measure the land and clear the labor force?" Han Yu did not realize that when he asked this question, his brows were involuntarily furrowed.

"Yes. After Li Hubu proposed to supervise and correct taxation." Long before Xu Guangqi came to Beijing to be appointed Minister of Rites, Liu Yirong and Han Yu had discussed the issue of measuring land and clearing the number of people.

Han Yu didn't know how to comfort Liu Yirong, so he could only say dryly, "It's indeed not the time now. But since the emperor wrote in person asking you not to be discouraged, it means he approves of your proposal. I have a..." Before he could finish his words, he was interrupted by Liu Yirong.

"It's good that the Emperor doesn't approve! I'm doing something else entirely. If anyone else leads the land surveyors to Nanchang, I'll simply resign. I won't cling to my post and embarrass the Emperor." Liu Yirong grew increasingly agitated. "I shouldn't have mentioned this. You should have been the one advising me. Rather than backing down and disappointing the Emperor, it's better to submit my resignation now!"

"What are you doing!?" Han Yu was anxious.

In terms of his own official career, Liu Yirong was a man of integrity and integrity, neither corrupt nor corrupt. In the spring of the 33rd year of the Wanli reign, his brother Liu Yikun served as a Langzhong in the Ministry of Personnel's Examination and Rectification Division, assisting Yang Shiqiao, then the Left Vice Minister of Personnel, in overseeing the imperial inspections. The then-chief minister, Shen Yiguan, sought to protect his cronies, including Qian Menggao and Zhong Zhaodou, and asked Liu Yirong to ask Liu Yikun to intervene, but Liu Yirong flatly refused.

In the spring of the 45th year of the Wanli reign, another imperial inspection was held. At that time, some people were planning to use this inspection to expel Sun Chengzong, Miao Changqi and others. Liu Yirong also submitted a petition to protect them and succeeded.

"Xu Zixian is right! I can't send someone like Hai Gangfeng to measure the land of the Nanchang Liu family." Liu Yirong was a bit self-destructive. "I can't attack the clan. I can't lead this land survey! I can't withstand the attack that is bound to come. It's not that I didn't realize this problem before, but I kept avoiding it, afraid to face it. I'm a hypocrite, lenient with myself and strict with others!"

"I have a plan." Han Yu couldn't stand it any longer. "I said I have a plan. Enough!" Seeing Liu Yirong still talking to himself, Han Yu slammed the table in a very rude manner.

"what?"

"Write a letter and ask your family to sell all the land."

"How will they make a living after they are sold?"

"Isn't Tianjin going to open up to the sea? To do business."

(End of this chapter)